Chapter 23

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At 6:40 in the morning, the sky was already half-lit. The fiery sun revealed a bit of its forehead, and golden dawn rays radiated in all directions.

They cast it onto the grass, training field, and rooftops, coating everything in a beautiful shimmering gold, brimming with hope.

In the various dormitory buildings of Nanjing University, there were bustling sounds as students began to rise.

The sound of doors opening, the gushing water from taps, the sound of brushing teeth, laughter, and the sound of someone knocking on a door, “duangduang,” echoing from some unknown dormitory building, pierced through the quiet morning.

“Brother!!!”

“Hurry up, I need to use the bathroom!!!”

“……”

Then there were those who hadn’t woken up yet, angrily shouting with morning grumpiness.

“Keep it down!!!!!!”

Oh, right, it’s Saturday today. Most students have no classes and were planning to rest and sleep in. Unfortunately, they were interrupted.

Li Jiao and the other freshmen like her still had military training, even on Saturdays. Upon hearing the alarm clock by her pillow, she reached out groggily, grabbed her phone, and turned it off.

Continuing on, she turned over, rubbed her eyes drowsily, and got up to start getting dressed.

Climbing down the stairs from her bunk bed, yawning, she made her way to the balcony.

“Ah~”

As she opened the balcony door, a bit of warm, refreshing morning air greeted her.

Inside the dormitory behind her, there was still a lingering coldness from the air conditioning of the previous night, which quickly dissipated upon encountering the outside air, then assimilated.

Su Linlin and Tang Yuran were at the washbasin brushing their teeth. Hearing the noise, Su Linlin, with a mouthful of white toothpaste foam, turned around, speaking unclearly.

“Jiao… um… Jiao… is… up… um…”

Li Jiao was still a bit dazed, wearing an oversized military training uniform, loosely hanging, with the belt around her waist still unfastened. Her already slender figure appeared even smaller under the loose clothing.

She scratched her hair, forming a small bird’s nest, with a clump of stray hair sticking up on her head, her eyes sleepy, and her voice soft and sticky.

“Linlin, good morning.”

“Good… um… morn… ing…”

Su Linlin replied, with toothpaste foam almost dripping out of her mouth. So she quickly turned around, spat into the sink, took a sip of water to rinse her mouth, and began brushing again.

At this moment, Tang Yuran, next to the washbasin, finished tidying up and was about to go back into the room. Seeing Li Jiao blocking the doorway, she glanced up, her expression neither warm nor cold.

There wasn’t much expression on her face; to be precise, it was even a bit indifferent. Seeing this, Li Jiao awkwardly said, “Good morning,” then stepped aside to let her pass.

Tang Yuran didn’t respond; she just went straight into the room and started doing her makeup.

Li Jiao let out a small sigh. She didn’t know why, but Tang Yuran always seemed so distant. Despite the long period of military training, she never talked to anyone, always keeping to herself.

Her neck was always held high, as if she didn’t care about anything, looking down on everyone and showing contempt for anyone.

Once, a boy from another class came over to chat with her.

Others chattered away, but she didn’t respond to a single word. The boy thought she was too arrogant to even look at him, so he tried to impress her.

“Yuran, how about next time I take you for a ride in my car?”

Upon hearing this, Tang Yuran glanced at him faintly. The boy’s vanity was instantly satisfied, and he became very pleased with himself.

“Let me tell you, my car is a BMW X5 given to me by my dad as a coming-of-age gift, worth tens of thousands.”

After saying this, the boy eagerly waited for her approval. However, Tang Yuran just sneered.

“Just tens of thousands.”

Then she turned around and walked away.

That boy came from a wealthy family and had a temper. Seeing Tang Yuran not give him any face, he felt embarrassed and tried to confront her several times afterward. It only settled down recently.

The incident caused quite a stir, and almost the entire grade knew about it.

Tang Yuran herself didn’t take it seriously. As her roommate, Li Jiao and the others weren’t particularly close to her either. Tang Yuran kept to herself and didn’t really integrate into the dormitory life, so everyone minded their own business.

“Jiao Jiao.”

Su Linlin had finished rinsing her mouth and saw Li Jiao still standing there, lost in thought, so she called out to her.

“Jiao Jiao, what’s wrong? Hurry up and get ready; we’ll go to the cafeteria for breakfast in a bit.”

“Oh, okay.”

Li Jiao replied, then stood by the washbasin, picked up her toothpaste, and started squeezing it onto her toothbrush.

Just as she took the water, she heard the toilet door behind her “bang” open.

Zhang Yue came out with a pack of tissues and quickly closed the door, wearing a comfortable expression on her face and thoroughly enjoying herself.

“Feels good…”

Su Linlin was still hanging towels on the balcony when she caught a faint but distinct smell, wrinkling her brow in disdain.

“Zhang Yue, do you have stomach issues or something?”

Zhang Yue tucked the tissues under her armpit, turned on the tap, humming a tune, and happily washed her hands.

In response to Su Linlin’s remark, she retorted.

“Oh, like your poop doesn’t stink.”

“No, at least mine doesn’t suffocate people.”

“Oh, go away.”

Zhang Yue, being carefree as usual, didn’t get offended by the joke. Instead, she laughed and said,

“Would you believe I could lock you in the bathroom?”

Su Linlin waved her hands in fear. “No, no, please spare me, brave one.”

“Look at you!” Zhang Yue turned around, smiling as she patted Li Jiao’s shoulder. “Hey, Jiao, you’re always the nicest to me.”

“Right, Jiao.”

“Jiao? Jiao?”

Not getting a response, Zhang Yue grabbed Li Jiao’s shoulders with both hands, turning her around. Li Jiao had one hand still holding the toothbrush, her eyes dazed, and foam still in her mouth.

Zhang Yue instantly panicked, thinking she had fainted again. She grabbed her shoulders and shook her frantically.

“Jiao, what’s wrong? Don’t scare me, okay?!”

“Jiao, Jiao, what’s wrong with you?”

“……”

The 1.6-meter-tall Li Jiao was being vigorously shaken by the 1.76-meter-tall Zhang Yue, feeling dizzy and disoriented, with more foam bubbling from her mouth.

“Jiao, Jiao, what’s wrong with you?!”

Zhang Yue shouted anxiously, but Su Linlin, feeling sorry for Li Jiao, stepped in and stopped her.

“Zhang Yue, if you don’t let go, Jiao Jiao might really faint.”

“Oh, okay, okay.”

Obediently, Zhang Yue quickly released Li Jiao. Li Jiao immediately turned her head, spitting all the toothpaste foam into the sink, then started coughing violently.

Seeing this, Zhang Yue realized what was happening and awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck.

“Um, Jiao, you could have just told me you were rinsing your mouth.”

Li Jiao, leaning on the washbasin, weakly turned her head to look at Zhang Yue.

“You didn’t give me a chance…”

“……….”

With such a scene early in the morning, everyone was a bit overwhelmed. After finishing their morning routines, they all sat at their desks, facing the mirror, applying various creams and lotions.

Layer after layer of sunscreen was applied to cheeks, necks, behind ears, and arms—no part of the body was spared.

Despite the many days of military training, it hadn’t rained at all. For two weeks straight, it had been sunny every day, drying up even the artificial lake beside the training grounds.

Because of this, almost every day, freshmen would be seen kneeling on the ground, praying for rain. They tried all sorts of methods, each more creative than the last. From “I’m willing to be single for four years in exchange for heavy rain” to “Heavenly elders, please send forth the sea dragons quickly,” and even setting up their own ritual formations…

The variety of methods was quite entertaining.

However, despite all efforts, there was still no rain. Everyone was baffled.

Until one day, after seeing what the seniors had posted…

“Dear God, I’m willing to stay single for four years and pray for scorching sun during military training. It’s okay if we suffer, but please let the freshmen experience the joy of military training.”

After seeing this, the freshmen finally understood why their prayers for rain were in vain, and they couldn’t help but curse.

“The seniors are really something, using their own singledom to enact such a’malicious’ curse, aren’t they?”

“Indeed, the old ones are the craftiest.”

The senior students smiled and modestly replied, “Oh, you flatter us.”

Thanks to the seniors’ efforts, it had been almost half a month of military training, and yet no one had even seen a single cloud. Truly, it was “wonderful”!

As Su Linlin applied sunscreen to her hands and walked over to Li Jiao, she glanced at her and sighed, enviously remarking,

“Jiao Jiao, how come you haven’t gotten any darker?”

Most of the others had gotten several shades darker after so long in military training, but Li Jiao’s complexion hadn’t changed much at all.

With her hair tied up, Li Jiao thought for a moment before replying,

“It might be because I drank a lot of milk when I was young. Hmm, it could also be genetic. Both my parents are quite fair-skinned.”

Su Linlin became even more envious. “I really wish I had skin that doesn’t tan.”

Li Jiao stood up, put on a hat, and chuckled.

“It’s not like I don’t tan at all. It’s just not as obvious as others.”

While she was indeed fair-skinned, she wasn’t immune to tanning. It’s just that her tanning process was slower compared to others. While others might darken by three shades, she might only darken by half a shade.

Regardless, Su Linlin couldn’t help but admire Li Jiao’s fair and smooth skin, sighing with envy.

“Sigh~”

“Why didn’t my parents make me drink more milk when I was a kid?”

After finishing tidying up, Zhang Yue walked over and muttered to herself.

“Oh, come on, even if you drank milk, it wouldn’t have made a difference. It’s clearly just your body’s constitution.”

“If you drank too much milk, you might have turned into a cow by now.”

“Alright, alright, hurry up and finish getting ready. I’m starving.”

In the dorm, Tang Yuran had already finished getting ready and left. Li Jiao and Zhang Yue waited for Su Linlin to finish organizing herself before heading straight to the nearest cafeteria from the dormitory.

Today was Saturday, so the cafeteria wasn’t crowded—just a few people wearing camouflage uniforms for military training.

With fewer people, there was no need to wait in line. Li Jiao bought a bowl of porridge, grabbed an egg, and got a bun. Finding a seat, Zhang Yue and Su Linlin joined her soon after.

Su Linlin brought back a bowl of fried rice, Zhang Yue got a bowl of noodles, and she also grabbed two large steamed buns and a cup of soy milk—quite a hearty meal.

In her words, “Military training is hard enough; I don’t want to faint on the field because I’m not full.”

At 7:40, after breakfast, all the freshmen stood on the military training ground.

According to the schedule, these days were dedicated to learning military boxing. On the vast military training ground, each class arrived at their designated positions and began training.

“Next, let’s review the first eight movements of military boxing.”

“Everyone, military boxing.”

“Combat, get ready!”

“Ha!”

The resounding voices echoed through the sky, spreading far and wide across the training ground, through the tree-lined paths, all the way to the dormitory buildings.

The collisions between the dormitory buildings reverberated with the sound.

For the seniors who could finally sleep in:……

“I have something dirty to say, and I’m gonna say it now!”

In Li Jiao’s class, Zhang Jiuling’s progress was quite rapid. The sixteen movements of military boxing had already been taught in full.

Now, it was just a matter of reviewing and correcting the movements.

At the front of the class, Zhang Jiuling stood tall and straight, his whole demeanor stern and imposing. With his sharp eyebrows and deep, black eyes, he exuded the aura of a soldier, along with his own inherent coldness, making him utterly formidable.

Leaving aside everything else, the entire class felt that just in terms of demeanor, their instructor outshone everyone else by a mile.

For Li Jiao, who found herself admiring him every day, seeing their instructor amidst the hardships of the military training ground was indeed a rare comfort.

It’s quite surprising, even for Li Jiao, to find herself looking forward to military training every day just to see the instructor.

His cool gaze swept casually over the crowd, and his voice was calm and clear.

“Let’s review military boxing.”

“Everyone, military boxing. Combat, get ready!”

“Ha!”

“Begin.”

“Ha!”

“Ha!”

“……”

The whole class was doing quite well. Zhang Jiuling made some simple corrections to the movements and practiced a few more times. Considering the hot weather, he let them rest for a few minutes.

After the previous games and educating some male students about caring for plants, Class 1 also realized that their instructor wasn’t as stern as they thought. He was just strict in his demands.

Some brave male students even tried to strike up conversations with him later, and he didn’t ignore them. Now, he allowed them to take breaks during training, and he wasn’t as strict as before.

All the changes attributed to Zhang Jiuling were credited to Li Jiao. Everyone thought it might have been Li Jiao’s fainting incident last time that made the instructor have a “conscience awakening.”

“Hey, do you guys think our instructor is single or not?”

During the break, a girl asked curiously.

“I don’t know, but I heard that soldiers in the army tend to get married pretty early.”

“Look at the instructors in other classes; I heard some of them already have kids.”

“Oh, really?” The girl exclaimed in surprise. “But they’re only in their twenties; how could they get married so early?”

“Yeah, early marriage seems to be trendy nowadays.”

“Ah~” A girl sighed beside her, expressing her admiration.

“Our instructor is so handsome, he probably already has someone.”

“Yeah, it’s true. Why do all the good men get taken so early?”

“Sigh~”

Li Jiao heard every word of the conversation among the girls nearby without missing a single word.