Chapter 16

On both sides, students began to drink water, and those who felt tired collapsed. Most people chose to sit down where they were. Here, Li Jiao and Zhang Jiuling, who were standing, seemed somewhat conspicuous.

Fortunately, they were standing on the side, so they didn’t attract too much attention.

Li Jiao hung her little head, her eyes darting around as she felt more and more eyes on her, making her increasingly uncomfortable.

The hat in her hand felt like a hot potato; neither giving it nor keeping it seemed right.

Just as she hesitated whether to take the hat back, suddenly her hand loosened, and the hat was taken from her.

Looking up again, Zhang Jiuling put the hat on her head, lifted his foot, walked past her, and left a gust of wind behind.

With a clear and warm voice, he left a sentence.

“Rest where you are.”

Then he walked to the front of the line.

Li Jiao was stunned, her gaze following the figure ahead. It took her a while to come to her senses.

The corners of her mouth slowly lifted. Her eyes squinted, the corners of her eyes raised, and two cute dimples appeared, making her look sweet and charming.

Suddenly, her heart fluttered a little.

The girls from Class 2 had been paying attention to Zhang Jiuling all along, including witnessing the scene where Li Jiao handed the hat to someone. Now they were discussing it quietly.

Li Jiao was in a good mood now and suddenly felt a sense of self-satisfaction about this kind of gossip from others.

Haha, the instructor took my hat, took my hat…

She sat down, took out her water bottle, and took a sip of water.

After a while, the line started moving again.

The time wasn’t particularly early; they had to return to school before the sun set.

At first, everyone was still spirited about heading back to school. Halfway there, under the scorching sun and rising temperature, everyone grew tired, and their steps slowed down gradually.

The leading instructor, walking at the front, wiped the sweat off his forehead and encouraged the group.

“Come on, students, keep going; we’re not far now!”

“Let’s pull ourselves together!”

“Let’s go, everyone!”

“Let’s sing a military song, starting with each one of you.”

“Give me a steel gun, one after another.
Two, two, two, two
Without further ado, for the motherland
San Ya, the three armies and three services, diligently cultivated, enjoying it tirelessly
Home from all over the world
Hey, hey, hey
Where am I?
Where am I?
Where is there?”

“One, two, three, four

One, two, three, four

One, two, three, four

The soldier’s song

…”

Inspired by the military song, after enduring ten hours and spending a whole day, the military training team of Nanjing University finally completed the field training at Maple Lake and returned to school.

At five o’clock in the afternoon, exhausted students stood on the training ground, listening to the summary of the training from the chief instructor. With a “dismiss,” the orderly formations dispersed, and groups of students scattered, crisscrossing each other.

Most people chose to go back to their dormitories to rest first, while some opted to go to the cafeteria to replenish their energy.

The tens of thousands of people were divided into two large waves, each heading in different directions.

Following the camouflaged crowd, Li Jiao returned to her dormitory, wiped off the sunscreen from her face, grabbed her shower gel and shampoo, and took the lead in taking a shower.

“Ah…”

The sweat and grime were washed away, leaving her feeling refreshed.

The evening breeze brought a slight chill, causing Li Jiao, who had just come out of the bathroom and stood on the balcony, to shiver slightly.

“Achoo…”

Rubbing her nose with a slight stuffy tone, she muttered, “Hmm, why is it still a bit cold?”

“Bang!”

The balcony door swung open, and Su Linlin walked out, carrying a set of clean clothes.

“Jiao Jiao, are you done showering? Come inside quickly.”

“Okay.”

After soaking her military training uniform in the water bucket and adding detergent, Li Jiao felt it would be better to rest for a while first. After walking all day, her legs were weak, and she couldn’t stand for long.

Stepping from the balcony into the dormitory, she quickly closed the door behind her. With the air conditioning on in the room, the stuffy heat was kept outside, and the temperature inside dropped suddenly, becoming cool and refreshing.

Zhang Yue was the first one to finish showering and had already returned from the cafeteria with her meal, sitting at her desk and eating heartily.

One foot dangled in the air, while the other was propped up on a stool. Holding her lunchbox, she managed to give the braised chicken an impression of being served from a communal pot.

Turning around while scooping rice onto her plate, she said to Li Jiao, “Jiao, I got you a portion. It’s on the table. Eat it while it’s hot, or it’ll get cold soon.”

“Okay, thanks, boss.”

Approaching the table, on the clean and tidy surface were two lunchboxes and a pair of disposable chopsticks.

White rice, tender stewed chicken, accompanied by soft and yellow potatoes, and adorned with green and red peppers. Plus a spoonful of fragrant gravy—mmm~ the moment you opened the box, it emitted an enticing aroma.

Pulling out a stool and sitting at the table, despite the delicious-looking meal, Li Jiao took only a few bites with her chopsticks, not feeling like eating much.

After a whole day of training, she had no appetite. Covering the meal, Li Jiao climbed onto her bed and called out to Zhang Yue in the neighboring bed.

“Boss, I’m going to take a nap first. When it’s time to go, please wake me up.”

“Okay.”

Zhang Yue continued eating without turning her head, her eyes fixed on the variety show playing on her phone, occasionally laughing out loud.

After sleeping for more than half an hour, when Li Jiao woke up, her forehead was covered in sweat, and her clothes were soaked with sweat. Despite the air conditioning in the dormitory, she felt feverish in the icy temperature.

Realizing it was the backlash of a fever, after being woken up by Zhang Yue, she took another packet of cold medicine, thinking that she needed to get some more medicine.

At seven-thirty in the evening, with the sky still bright, the remnants of the sunset hadn’t yet dissipated, staining half the sky with a crimson evening glow. The clouds were blown apart by the wind and stretched and contorted into various shapes—turtles, rabbits, dogs…

On the way to the training ground, many people stopped, looked up at the sky, and couldn’t help but take out their phones, wanting to capture this beautiful scene.

The evening breeze gently brushed by, bringing down the scorching daytime temperature. The wind became cool and soothing, sliding over people’s skin, incredibly comfortable.

Although they had endured the daytime training, there was no escaping the nighttime training.

After dinner and a brief rest, all the freshmen gathered again on the training ground to begin their night training.

Because they had sweated earlier, many people had changed into fresh uniforms, so tonight they were allowed to wear their regular clothes as an exception.

On the vast training ground, with its vibrant colors and densely packed with people finding their positions, murmurs of complaint could be heard.

“What’s the deal? Training during the day and at night?”

“Does the school want to kill us or what?”

“This is ridiculous; my legs are still weak.”

“Should I pretend to faint now? Who will take me to the hospital?”

“I really can’t do this anymore; not even Iron Man could handle it.”

“… ”

On the podium, the chief instructor held a megaphone and shouted:

“Attention!”

“Stand at attention!”

Upon hearing these words, the previously lazy and relaxed crowd immediately stood at attention, their posture erect and their chins lifted high.

After so much military training, it had become almost reflexive.

Looking at the instantly quiet training ground, the chief instructor nodded in satisfaction, raising the megaphone to continue speaking.

“Today, everyone has worked very hard during the training.”

“I know everyone is very tired.”

“Do you feel tired?”

“Tired~”

A small group of people responded wearily.

“Are you tired?!”

“Tired!”

“Louder, I can’t hear you! Haven’t eaten?!”

“Are you tired?!”

“Tired!”

Almost everyone shouted it out, deafeningly loud, the sound echoing all the way to the distant teaching buildings.

On the podium, the chief instructor paced back and forth.

“Since you’re tired, shall we skip tonight’s night training?”

A cautious voice cautiously spoke up, weakly and full of anticipation.

“Hahaha—”

“Hmph!” the chief instructor snorted coldly, unamused. “Dream on.”

“Now, warm up for the night training.”

“Instructors, get in position and lead your squads; run two laps around the track!”

“Quickly!”

“Ah~”

The whole field was filled with cries of agony.

“Devil, you’re all devils!”

“Mom, I want to go home!”

“Oh my god, Monet, save me.”

“Running again; they want me dead!”

“I survived the day training, only to die here at school.”

“… ”

Once all the instructors were in position, they began organizing the run.

Zhang Jiuling walked to the front of the formation and began giving commands.

“Attention everyone, run—march!”

There was no time for further complaints; Class 1 was already on track, and the rest of the classes had no choice but to follow suit.

“One, two, one, one, two, one!”

“One, two, three, four!”

“One, two, three, four!”

“One, two, three, four!”

“One, two, three, four!”

Before the night training began, everyone did two laps around the track as a warm-up.

Under normal circumstances, these two laps wouldn’t be much. However, after a whole day of training, everyone was already exhausted. After these two laps, it felt like they had given up half of their lives.

After finishing the run, everyone collapsed on the ground, panting heavily.

“Rest for two minutes, each class!”

After giving the order, the chief instructor on the podium jumped down and headed towards the tents.

“I really can’t do it anymore.”

“I think I’m about to have an asthma attack.”

“I can’t do it anymore; I need to sit for a while.”

“We still have training later…”

“So tired…”

“… ”

“Jiao Jiao, why don’t you sit down and rest for a while?”

Li Jiao maintained the squat position within the military posture, one leg bent, the other supporting her, both hands obediently placed on her knees. Her tired eyelids blinked, and she saw some blurred images in front of her.

Unable to muster the strength to speak, she could only shake her head.

After running two laps, for some reason, her head felt especially heavy, and her mind felt especially dull, as if she were being pressed underwater, struggling to breathe.

Her face was deathly pale, and cold sweat was dripping from her forehead. She tried hard to focus her eyes on one spot, but she felt unusually exhausted, gradually losing focus.

She shook her head vigorously. No, she couldn’t faint.

Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and the surroundings seemed to turn into shadows, making it difficult to see clearly.

With a thud, Li Jiao’s body swayed and fell towards the female classmate who had been speaking to her earlier.

The classmate was resting and was startled to see Li Jiao collapse in front of her. The young girl was stunned for a moment before she realized what had happened and urgently shouted:

“Li Jiao, Li Jiao!”

“Li Jiao fainted!”

“Instructor, instructor!”

“Instructor, someone fainted!”

Zhang Jiuling was not around; he had just been called away by someone.

Their class was resting in a corner of the training ground, and with the sky darkening, nobody noticed for a while.

The surrounding classmates quickly reacted and rushed over to help lift her up.

“Jiao Jiao!”

“Jiao Jiao!”

“Step aside, step aside; don’t crowd around!”

“Don’t crowd around her!”

“Pinch her philtrum; quickly pinch her philtrum!”

The classmates had never experienced such a situation before. They were all talking at once, offering suggestions in their anxiety.

Some helped support Li Jiao, while others helped to disperse the crowd. Everyone watched with concern as Li Jiao remained unconscious…

In the chaos, Zhang Yue, relying on her strength, squeezed her way out of the crowd and exclaimed urgently:

“Jiao, Jiao!”

She quickly squatted down, supporting Li Jiao and pinching her philtrum with force.

The pillar lights on the training ground cast a dim yellow light, illuminating Li Jiao’s pale face, her eyes tightly shut, showing no signs of response.

“Jiao, Jiao,” Zhang Yue leaned close to her ear, “can you hear me talking?”

“Jiao!”

Li Jiao’s eyes remained shut, showing no response.

“She’s out; she’s out cold!”

“Call 911 quickly!”

“Call an ambulance, call an ambulance!”

“Hurry!”

“…”

Class 1 was making a lot of noise; you could see them gathered in a group from afar, shouting and yelling. Class 2, resting nearby, had their instructor called Liuzi.

Upon hearing the call to “dial 911,” he quickly ran over.

“What’s going on?”

A girl supporting Li Jiao was on the verge of tears, frantic.

“Instructor, instructor, Li Jiao fainted.”