Chapter 1

The scorching heat of summer has not yet dissipated. In September, the weather still carries its warmth.

At nine in the morning, the blazing sun has already climbed up the sky at a slant above. The sky is blue without a single cloud. The sunlight recklessly pours into every corner beneath the sky.

The trees on the playground are lush and green, but under the sunlight, they also appear somewhat listless.

On the long staircase next to the sports field, people are densely packed, like ants in camouflage, bustling and moving towards the military training ground.

“What’s this? Getting up at 6:30 to wash up, having a meeting at 7:00. Then it’s the military training mobilization assembly. I haven’t even had breakfast yet!”

“Yeah, I haven’t had breakfast either.”

“I’m so hungry. How can we do military training like this?”

“I’m afraid we’ll die on the training ground. Huh?”

…

In the crowd, a male student begins to lament that he hasn’t had breakfast. Others join in the complaints after hearing him.

Indeed, they got up early, attended two consecutive meetings, and haven’t even had breakfast. Now, they are being dragged straight to military training. Is this going to be the end for them?

The military training at Nanjing University is really inhumane.

Listening to the complaints around her, Li Jiao touches her own stomach. Fortunately, she ran fast this morning and even went to the cafeteria to have a bowl of millet porridge and three steamed buns.

“Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao.”

“Hmm?”

Hearing her roommate calling her, Li Jiao turns around, and her roommate Su Linyin expresses gratitude.

“Jiao Jiao, thanks to you for bringing breakfast to our dorm this morning. Otherwise, a few of us might have died on the first day of military training.”

Li Jiao smiles and reveals two cute dimples.

“No problem, just picked it up on the way.”

As they chat, another roommate squeezes through the crowd and happily greets them.

“Jiao, Lin, there you are! Finally found you.”

“Boss.”

“Boss.”

“Hey, hey.”

During the conversation, a slightly plump and well-featured girl squeezed through the crowd and finally reached the two of them.

As soon as she approached, she warmly hooked Li Jiao’s arm and said, “Jiao, thanks to you for bringing me breakfast this morning, or I wouldn’t have made it.”

She wiped the sweat off her forehead. Being a bit overweight, she was out of breath after a few steps. She hadn’t planned to participate in military training, but her parents forced her to come.

Facing the enthusiasm of her roommates, Li Jiao seemed a bit awkward, walking alongside them unnaturally, and said, “Boss, no need to thank me; it was just a casual thing.”

Her senior year body clock hasn’t adjusted yet, and she’s used to waking up early. When she woke up this morning, no one in the dormitory was up. Not wanting to disturb them, she went to the cafeteria alone, had her meal, and packed some for them as well.

It was just a small gesture, but she didn’t expect everyone to be so appreciative.

Zhang Yue is a girl from the northeast, very loyal to her friends. She waves her hand dismissively, showing a righteous and loyal appearance.

“Yeah, I know.”

“From today onwards, you’re under my protection, Jiao. If anyone dares to bully you, I,” she pats her chest, “got your back!”

“Huh?!”

Li Jiao was a bit surprised. How did it turn into this? Is she in a TV drama pledging allegiance to a leader?

It’s not that she doubts the sincerity of Zhang Yue’s words. She genuinely protects her friends, and her strength is off the charts. After all, Li Jiao saw her carrying a water bucket yesterday, huffing and puffing up five flights of stairs.

However, she just brought her breakfast. Isn’t the level of this event rising too high?

Seeing Li Jiao stunned and silent, Su Linyin nudges her with her elbow and whispers, “Just agree, or she might go ‘crazy’ again.”

Thinking about it, if she doesn’t agree, given this sister’s personality, she might do something else to return the favor.

Like, helping her carry a water bucket, emmmm.

So, Li Jiao smiles, nods, and says, “Thank you, boss.”

“Hey~” Zhang Yue waves her hand. “It’s no big deal. If you need anything, just mention my name.”

Li Jiao lifts her small face, solemnly nodding, “Alright.”

This long staircase leading to the sports field is truly long. Thousands of new students for military training are crowded together, but very few have actually reached the sports field.

Not to mention Li Jiao and her friends; they are stuck in the middle and have only reached halfway up the long staircase.

Taking advantage of her tall stature, Zhang Yue tiptoed and tried to look forward, only to see a sea of heads, all crowded together.

Immediately, she sarcastically remarked, “We’re going to die. So many rookies who haven’t had breakfast?”

“It took so long, and we’ve only covered half the distance?”

Li Jiao and Su Linyin couldn’t help but burst into laughter at her Northeastern accent, wondering if people from the Northeast naturally have a sense of humor. Anyway, Zhang Yue had a look of deep suffering, with furrowed brows.

It was hard not to laugh when seeing her like that.

Su Linyin also tiptoed and looked ahead. She was shorter than Zhang Yue and couldn’t see much even when she tiptoed, so she could only dejectedly lower her head.

Li Jiao pulled her and raised a smile, revealing her iconic dimples, which had a healing effect on the heart.

She laughed and said, “It’s okay; we’ll be there soon.”

Su Linyin suddenly felt healed, reaching out to pinch Li Jiao’s cheek and sighing.

“Jiao Jiao, why are you so adorable~”

Facing the “tiger claws” on her face, Li Jiao silently removed Su Linyin’s hand and rubbed her reddened cheek.

Muttering with grievance, “I shouldn’t have comforted you.”

Little did she know, this action of rubbing her cheek made Su Linyin even more smitten.

“Wow, Jiao Jiao, you’re too cute.”

Saying that, Su Linyin wanted to pinch her again but was stopped by Zhang Yue beside her.

After all, she had just promised to protect Li Jiao.

With a glance, the imposing aura of the Northeastern elder sister emerged.

What do you want?

Su Linyin timidly withdrew her hand, but her shiny eyes continued to stare at Li Jiao, revealing a hint of desire.

Li Jiao was scared by her “wolf-like” gaze and quickly turned her face away, continuing to rub her own cheeks.

She thought she should keep a distance from Su Linyin in the future.

Seeing this, Su Linyin reluctantly withdrew her gaze.

Can’t blame her; Li Jiao is just too adorable.

Originally a Southern girl, Li Jiao is petite at 1.6 meters, with fair skin and a cute appearance. Her eyes are round, and when she smiles, two shallow dimples appear, making her sweet and charming.

The day before yesterday, when she had just arrived, she thought Li Jiao looked like someone’s younger sister, like a high school student.

Su Linyin glanced at Zhang Yue beside her. If it weren’t for the boss being present, she would definitely want to pinch Li Jiao’s face. Do all Southern girls have such good skin?

Not to mention the fair complexion, Li Jiao’s skin felt soft and smooth when pinched, just like a delicate and smooth white egg.

“Hey, military training is about to start. I just hope our instructor can be a bit merciful and not too harsh.”

Unable to touch Li Jiao’s face, Su Linyin had to change the topic.

Li Jiao also said, “The instructor shouldn’t be too harsh. There are so many girls in our class.”

Nanjing University is renowned for its art programs, with countless students applying for the fine arts department every year, mostly females.

Li Jiao’s class is in the fine arts department, with a slightly better gender ratio compared to other classes, but among the forty students, there are only sixteen males.

Zhang Yue has already given up hope, saying, “I’m not worried. As long as we don’t die, anything is fine.”

Su Linyin, feeling a bit scared, said, “Boss, don’t say that. I’ve always been the worst in sports since childhood.”

Li Jiao nodded silently; she wasn’t alone in this.

If she were good at sports, she wouldn’t have chosen to study the fine arts.

Zhang Yue turned her head, revealing a somewhat intimidating smile, and said ominously, “Do you know that every year during Nanjing University’s military training, there will be… casualties?”

Hearing this, the timid Su Linyin and Li Jiao both shrank their necks in fear. Really?

Satisfied with scaring the two, Zhang Yue smiled and turned her head, planning to see how many people were still ahead.

But as soon as she turned her head, her smile froze on her face.

“Boss, what’s wrong?” Li Jiao asked.

Zhang Yue stared at a certain spot on the sports field, showing a wry smile, and muttered to herself.

“Jiao, if I die on the field today, you have to collect my body, okay?”

“Huh?”

Li Jiao hadn’t figured out what she meant, and then she heard people around them gasping in shock.

She turned her head and saw a handsome camouflage scene.

Dozens of people dressed in camouflage, wearing military caps, strode into the training ground with vigorous and powerful steps, displaying a heroic and imposing posture. Every movement they made was uniform, powerful, and full of dignity!

They came with the golden light of dawn on their backs, stepping on the dust like a group of divine warriors descending from the heavens—unstoppable!

The orderly footsteps echoed through the military training ground, resounding one by one. In that moment, it seemed like only the powerful and rhythmic footfalls remained in the world.

All surrounding noises disappeared, and everyone was awed by this formidable momentum.

The movements of the new students froze as they stood in place, gazing dumbfoundedly at the group of soldiers who uniformly stopped their steps, turned to the right, and listened to the words of the chief instructor on the platform.

Su Linyin was the first to snap out of it, a starstruck smile on her face. “Wow, the instructors are so handsome~”

Zhang Yue, after observing the entire process, sighed silently.

“These aren’t instructors; this is Yama coming to take my soul.”

(T/N: Yama is the king of hell.)

Immediately, she lowered her head, as if spitting out her soul.

Can she still return to the Northeast now?

Li Jiao looked at the instructor team. Each one was tall and sturdy. She lowered her head, then looked at herself—a body with barely any flesh, skinny arms, and legs like a little chick.

Silent tears streamed down, realizing how bad her physical fitness was.

After a while, it seemed that the chief instructor had finished his speech.

He took out a whistle and blew a long and resounding sound into the sky.

“Oh my, this whistle is powerful,” Zhang Yue said, covering her ears and commenting.

With the completion of the whistle, the chief instructor took out a megaphone and shouted.

“All new students, thirty seconds to get in formation!”

“Anyone exceeding the time will stand in attention for half an hour!”

“Now, begin!!!”

With these words, everyone panicked and rushed onto the training ground.

The scene was both spectacular and chaotic!

“Come on, run faster!”

“Mom, I haven’t had dinner yet!”

“Hurry up!!!”

“Oh no, who stepped on my foot!!”

“Goodness, sprint at full speed!”

“…”

Upon hearing the command, Li Jiao and her friends were still at least halfway from the training ground. Luckily, Zhang Yue reacted quickly, cursed “I’m screwed,” and immediately, with her left hand pulling Li Jiao and her right hand dragging Su Linyin, she forcefully created a path through the crowd!

On the vast military training ground, thousands of students dressed in camouflage training uniforms, like countless ants, rushed toward a specific destination, resembling a swarm of fleeing rabbits.

“Ten, nine, eight…”

The countdown began, and Zhang Yue, dragging two people, had already rushed to the center of the training ground but was still looking for the class’s position.

Where is Class 1 of the 2019 batch? Where is it…

“Three, two, one!”

“Everyone stop, don’t move!!”

With the chief instructor’s command, all the new students just managed to halt their steps. Most had reached the training ground, while a few were still a bit behind.

A couple of students who tried to sneak into their positions were noticed by the chief instructor. He shouted loudly, “Stop, don’t move! Do you think I can’t see you?”

Then he blew the whistle again as a warning!

Now, no one dared to move, standing in place, carefully catching their breath.

Those intense thirty seconds made their hearts almost run out!

Li Jiao and her friends were no exception, standing in place and breathing heavily.

The three girls had flushed faces and sweaty foreheads, and their legs were trembling slightly. It was evident they were genuinely in a rush.

It was only in the last second that they managed to reach their positions. Luckily, they made it just in time.

Li Jiao’s few strands of bangs in front were damp, and sweat beads appeared on her hairline. Her cheeks were bright red, but her lips were turning pale.

She clenched her lips tightly, her heart pounding faster, and she breathed in short gasps. She placed her hands carefully on her aching waist. The vigorous run just now caused a bit of pain in her digestive system.

“Jiao Jiao, are you okay?”

Worried, Su Linyin asked. She wasn’t in great shape either; even her neck was turning red.

Li Jiao shook her head weakly. “I’m fine, just a bit of discomfort. It’ll pass.”

Upon hearing this, Su Linyin nodded. She was in a similar state.

Then she glanced over at Zhang Yue, who was panting a bit but had no other signs of distress.

“Boss, your physical fitness is so good?”

Zhang Yue turned her head with a mournful expression. “Good my foot!”

“My whole body aches from running!”

“…”