Chapter 6

Tang Yuran ran up from behind, surpassing her. Her back still appeared extremely proud, but judging from the steps she couldn’t lift, it seemed she wasn’t doing any better than Li Jiao.

The girl with braided hair, even slower than Li Jiao, lagged behind by a small margin, still running slowly.

Li Jiao stopped and took a break in place.

Glancing at the running track, there was still half a lap to go.

Her hair under the hat was wet with sweat, and when standing still, she could even feel the beads of sweat flowing from under her scalp. Her cheeks were sunburned, and with her originally fair skin, she now looked like a tempting red apple.

Li Jiao licked her dry lips, revealing a small dimple at the corner. Her round apricot eyes fixed on the road ahead, showing a hint of determination.

The last half lap, she could do it; come on.

After a while of rest and recovering some strength, Li Jiao started running again.

When passing by the resting flower bed, the few people who had been standing still followed suit and started running again.

Li Jiao glanced at the five additional people in front, said nothing, and continued to focus on her own run.

Those five people hadn’t run for two laps, naturally still had energy, and quickly surpassed Tang Yuran, running to the front.

Tang Yuran didn’t rest but slowed down.

Li Jiao ran slowly and saw Tang Yuran just a few steps ahead. She was about to speed up to catch up when she heard a “thud,” and Tang Yuran twisted her foot, falling to the ground.

“Yuran.”

Li Jiao ran over and helped her up.

“Are you okay?”

Tang Yuran furrowed her brows, biting her lip and shaking her head.

Li Jiao glanced at her foot and asked, “Do you need me to take you to the infirmary?”

Tang Yuran struggled to stand with Li Jiao’s help. “I’m fine; I can manage.”

“But.”

Li Jiao wanted to persuade her to get checked, but Tang Yuran interrupted her.

“There is no need for you to help me; I can walk on my own.”

Saying this, she released Li Jiao’s hand and limped away.

“Let me support you.”

Li Jiao went to help her, but Tang Yuran waved her hand dismissively.

“No need.”

Tang Yuran’s expression turned cold, and her long eyes seemed a bit impatient.

Li Jiao was puzzled for a moment, not quite understanding why Tang Yuran seemed to dislike them from the beginning.

Not talking to anyone in the dorm and refusing help from others, where did her hostility come from?

Tang Yuran limped a short distance away. Li Jiao watched her for a while, said nothing, and silently ran past her.

Since she didn’t like them, there was no need to force herself to make things uncomfortable.

After finishing the last lap and preparing to return to the military training field, Li Jiao saw Zhang Jiuling standing at the finish line, waiting for them.

Beside him were the few girls who had returned first.

Li Jiao picked up her pace, gasping for breath as she reached the finish line.

Zhang Jiuling glanced at her indifferently, then continued to focus on the last two individuals.

Tang Yuran and the other girl, one injured and the other running slowly, took about five to six minutes to reach the finish line.

All eight girls were in position, except for the five who ran less, showing no signs of exertion.

Of the remaining three, the girl with braided hair sat directly on the ground. Tang Yuran, who had twisted her foot, stood stubbornly, both of her legs trembling slightly. After the intense redness faded from Li Jiao’s face, her small face became extremely pale, and she still hadn’t caught her breath.

Zhang Jiuling turned around, facing the group with a cold tone.

“Everyone is here; line up!”

The girls quickly got into formation, awaiting instructions.

Zhang Jiuling glanced at the eight girls with an indifferent expression.

“The first row, violation of discipline, fifty push-ups.”

“Get down on the ground and get ready.”

“Why?”

The girl named Lulu was the first to speak up.

Zhang Jiuling gave her a cold glance.

“During military training, you didn’t follow the instructor’s command. While running, you took unauthorized breaks.”

As this was said, the faces of the five girls turned awkward; it seemed the instructor had noticed.

Tang Yuran, still supporting herself, stood tall, maintaining her pride, and asked.

“Then, may I ask, Instructor, since we didn’t take any breaks, why do we also have to do push-ups?”

Zhang Jiuling responded coldly, “One person makes a mistake; the entire team faces the consequences.”

“Why?”

“This is military regulation!”

“But we’re not soldiers.”

“But you are undergoing military training!” Zhang Jiuling said, “During the training period, any violation of discipline will be dealt with according to military regulations!”

“…”

Zhang Jiuling continued, “Do you understand?”

“We understand,” Tang Yuran said, lowering her head, still not entirely convinced.

Zhang Jiuling glanced at the others. The remaining girls were scared and confused. The instructor’s stern expression and loud voice moments ago were intimidating.

“You all as well, do you understand?”

“We understand.”

Zhang Jiuling lifted his eyes slightly, his gaze cold and stern, saying, “Get down on the ground and get ready!”

The eight girls, having just finished running, now get down to the ground and begin doing push-ups.

“One, two, three…”

Li Jiao, in a corner, had her delicate eyebrows tightly furrowed, her lips bitten until they turned pale, and sweat constantly dripping to the ground.

Having just finished running, her feet were in pain, and now, doing push-ups, her whole body felt weak, like a limp mass of plasticine.

The ground seemed to have a tremendous gravitational pull, holding her firmly in place, unable to move.

“Nineteen.”

“Twenty.”

Zhang Jiuling glanced at the girl at the end of the line. The small figure seemed glued to the ground, unlike the others who had risen. She remained on the ground, as if her height hadn’t changed at all.

He shouted again, “Twenty.”

The other seven girls uniformly dropped and then got back up.

Li Jiao, at the end of the line: remained completely motionless…

Zhang Jiuling: “Twenty.”

“Why another round of twenty?”

The other girls gritted their teeth and did it again.

Li Jiao in the corner: still didn’t move…

Zhang Jiuling didn’t shout again, as if waiting for someone.

Li Jiao also realized her problem. She gritted her teeth. Trying to push herself up, she couldn’t.

Trying again, still unable to get up.

For the last attempt, Li Jiao took a deep breath, poured all her strength into her palms, and pushed hard.

“Thud—”

The others only heard a thud. Only Li Jiao knew the pain. As she exerted force with her hands, her legs gave way.

Then her face met the ground, kissing the earth…

When her face touched the ground, Li Jiao felt the world go silent.

Aside from the pain in her nose and forehead, inside, she kept asking herself, What should I do, what should I do now?

Should she get up, acting like nothing happened, or should she just pretend to faint…

As time passed, Li Jiao lay on the ground, unable to see anything, only hearing the distant chants from the military training ground.

Hmm, where is the instructor? Why isn’t he continuing the count?

If he doesn’t shout, how is she supposed to get up from the ground?

In the midst of Li Jiao’s anxious hesitation, a sound of footsteps gradually approached her ears, as if the instructor’s boots were stepping on the ground, coming closer.

Finally, they stopped by her side.

Then she caught a familiar and faintly cold fragrance.

At the same time, a low, chilly voice came from above.

“How long do you plan to lie there?”

Li Jiao suddenly lifted her head, directly locking eyes with Zhang Jiuling. In the dim and profound eyes of the instructor, she saw her own reflection.

For a moment, the atmosphere became a bit awkward.

Zhang Jiuling squatted down, closely observing the girl in front of him. Her forehead and nose were imprinted with the particles of the plastic running track, each dot resembling small freckles, looking somewhat amusing.

Why is it her again? Previously, she called him dark, and now she’s lying on the ground again?

It turns out she’s a troublemaker.

Li Jiao, looking at the instructor so close, felt her mind go blank. After a moment, she uttered a sentence.

“Instructor, good afternoon.”

…

The moment the words came out, Li Jiao regretted it.

What are you saying?

Good afternoon?

Does the instructor want you to greet him right now?

Earlier, you made a mistake, and now you’re being punished, and you greet him with a good afternoon? Are you not worried that the instructor thinks you’re a fool?

Sure enough, the next moment after she spoke, Li Jiao felt that Zhang Jiuling’s gaze toward her was off. He glanced at her hand, supporting her on the ground.

He asked, “Is there glue on the ground?”

Li Jiao shook her head like a seal. “No, there isn’t.”

“Then what were you doing lying on the ground just now?”

“I, I, I’m too fat; I didn’t lie down properly and fell.”

Pfft—

Li Jiao felt as if she heard the sound of an arrow shooting and hitting her head. Oh god, what kind of excuse is this?

How did she have the courage to say that?

Zhang Jiuling didn’t say anything. After standing up, he said, “Continue.”

Then he walked to the other side.

“Twenty-one, twenty-two…”

Li Jiao mechanically repeated the movements. She couldn’t even remember how she managed to get up in the end.

Right now, there was only one thought in her mind.

It’s over; the instructor must think she’s a complete idiot.

And a… fat idiot.

The sun slowly descended towards the west, and in the blink of an eye, it was already 6:00 PM.

Today’s training was considered over. There was no night training scheduled, so there was no need for evening exercises. If there was a lecture, they would attend it; otherwise, they could rest in the dormitory.

Class 1 of the 2019 batch had no arrangements, so they could rest in the dormitory.

After a day of training, Li Jiao felt like her feet were crippled. Thanks to Zhang Yue carrying her back to the dormitory, or she might have had to crawl back.

After returning, she didn’t leave the dormitory. Su Linlin brought her dinner.

In the evening, after taking a shower, Li Jiao sat on a stool, looking at her feet covered in scars.

Her toes and the soles of her feet had blisters; some burst, and some were still intact.

When she used a needle to pierce the blisters, it hurt so much that she screamed, kicking her feet in pain.

Zhang Yue tried to hold her down but ended up getting kicked.

In the end, she looked at her feet covered in band-aids and Zhang Yue, who got kicked by her.

Full of guilt, “Sorry, Boss.”

She’s afraid of pain, and for a moment, she couldn’t hold back, so…

Su Linlin was trying hard not to laugh on the side, while Zhang Yue had black lines all over her head.

“Jiao, it’s probably because I didn’t eat enough. That you give me a serving of braised pig’s trotters.”

“Pfft hahaha…”

Su Linlin couldn’t hold it in any longer, collapsing into laughter on a nearby chair.

Li Jiao felt guilty and said, “Sorry, Boss, I was wrong.”

Seeing her pitiful look, Zhang Yue couldn’t bear it, waved her hand, and casually said, “Forget it, forget it; it’s not a big deal. Treat me to an ice cream later.”

Li Jiao nodded and raised her finger. “2 ice creams, okay?”

Zhang Yue laughed and said, “Fine, you rest. Linlin and I have something to do in the classroom. Rest early, and just leave the door open for us.”

The class needed to move books, and both Zhang Yue and Su Linlin, as the class monitor and the secretary, had to go.

Li Jiao was the cultural committee member, plus her injured foot, so she was exempted from this task.

After waving goodbye to the two, she sat in the dormitory to rest.

After a while, her phone rang, and it was a call from Li Jiao’s mother.

Li Jiao glanced at Tang Yuran’s bed, with the curtain drawn and the light on, not knowing if she was resting.

She struggled to walk to the balcony and answer the phone.

“Hello, Mom.”

“I don’t have training right now, so don’t worry. I’m fine.”

“Yeah, military training has just started. We won’t have a break until the end of the month, and I’ll come back for the National Day holiday.”

“When I come back, I want to eat Dad’s sweet and sour pork…”

When talking to her family, she unintentionally used a somewhat coquettish tone. With the softness characteristic of the Jiangnan region, her intonation was gentle, and the tail of her voice was slightly curled, sounding a bit playful.

Speaking of which, this was her first time away from home.

She was a local and never lived in a dormitory during high school. Going to university this time was her first taste of independence.

Now, she was starting to miss home a bit.

As Li Jiao talked on the phone, she looked at the moon in the sky, a half-moon shape, slightly curved, pure, and bright.

From the nearby sport field came a few scattered voices. The gentle words of the girls, with a hint of homesickness, blended with the hazy night.