Chapter 34

“Alright, students, let’s start the training now.”

“First, let me see how well you perform the military boxing.”

Wang Haonan quickly got into character and began leading the training.

“Everyone, military boxing.”

“Combat preparation.”

“Ha!”

“Begin.”

“Ha!”

“…………”

After a set of movements, Wang Haonan nodded in satisfaction. Not bad, not bad, indeed, the class was trained by the boss.

“Good, nicely done.”

“Let me check your steps now.”

“Everyone, at ease, stand at attention.”

“March in step—Go!”

“Tap!”

“Tap!”

The uniform and powerful steps echoed as their shoes hit the ground with a synchronized thud.

The strict demands from Zhang Jiuling earlier were now clearly evident. Each student was full of energy and spirit, and their demeanor was distinctly different from other classes.

“Hey, the girl at the end of the first row, watch where you’re going.”

Wang Haonan slightly turned his body and looked at Li Jiao, who was at the end of the first row. Having just learned that the instructor had left, she was feeling very down; her expression was sullen and distracted.

Twice, she almost stepped out of line.

Although Wang Haonan was gentler than Zhang Jiuling, he still maintained strictness in training. He had noticed that this girl had been listless all along, and even her steps were wrong twice during the simple marching.

He frowned slightly, “The last one in the first row.”

“Here.”

Li Jiao instinctively answered loudly, looking towards the front of the line, only to find that it wasn’t the familiar person she expected.

The light in her eyes dimmed instantly, filled with extra sadness.

Before, when the instructor didn’t know her name, he also called her “the last one in the first row.”

Wang Haonan said, “The last one in the first row, step out.”

“Run two laps on the track and come back.”

“Yes.”

…………

That day, Li Jiao kept making mistakes due to her distraction during training. Wang Haonan singled her out to run laps two or three times, but she still remained listless.

She looked like a flower deprived of water, wilting in a pot, lifeless, and spiritless.

“Jiao Jiao, are you alright?”

Su Linlin and Zhang Yue ran over, looking worriedly at Li Jiao.

Throughout the day, Li Jiao hadn’t really trained; she had been running penalty laps.

Seeing Li Jiao’s pale face, Zhang Yue asked with concern, “Jiao Jiao, are you alright? Do you need to rest for a bit?”

Li Jiao weakly shook her head, barely managing a smile, resembling a fragile white rose.

“I’m fine; I’ll finish running first.”

After speaking, she lifted her heavy feet and started running along the track again.

“Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao!”

Su Linlin and Zhang Yue anxiously watched as the thin figure ran further away, concern filling Su Linlin’s eyes.

“Is Jiao Jiao okay? With the instructor gone, what are we going to do?”

……

“Alright, today’s training is over. See you tomorrow, students.”

The day’s training ended, and Wang Haonan stood at the front of the line with a proper posture, revealing a row of big white teeth as he smiled, straightforward and pure. He looked like an upperclassman radiating sunshine.

Although he was much gentler than Zhang Jiuling, he was still principled. For military training, based on their condition, he was strict when necessary and never lenient.

However, when the training was over, he quickly stepped out of character.

With a bright smile, he stood at the front, waving goodbye to everyone.

So, although the training intensity was about the same as before, the students seemed to prefer Wang Haonan’s style more. Sunny and handsome, his smile was like a real-life version of the ‘grand prince’. Anyone who saw him would easily develop a good impression.

In just one day, most of the class was already charmed by his personality.

After training, the students formed a camouflage-clad crowd heading towards the dormitory building. The area was filled with chatter and laughter, with several girls discussing Wang Haonan.

“Wow, I really like this new instructor. He’s so handsome.”

“Hey, I heard he was supposed to be our instructor originally.”

“Really? Oh my, this is too good to be true.”

“I also really like the new instructor. His smile is so healing.”

“I can’t take it, I’m dying, I’m dying.”

…………

Under the high streetlights on the training ground, the orange-yellow light bathed the students below, making everything look warm. Everyone was lively, discussing interesting things with each other.

Li Jiao was swallowed up by the crowded tide and pushed and jostled along. Distracted, her eyes were empty, like a soulless zombie.

Instructor, are you really never coming back?

She didn’t know how to describe this feeling. It just felt like… her chest was heavy, and inside her heart, it felt like something was missing, leaving an empty void.

Back in the dormitory, she sat in her spot alone for a long time.

Su Linlin called her several times before she finally took off her clothes and went to the bathroom to shower.

“Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao?”

With the lights out, Zhang Yue, noticing Li Jiao’s listlessness all day, stood by the bed, calling her softly from behind the bed curtain, wanting to bring her something to eat.

“Jiao Jiao, Jiao Jiao?”

“Forget it; she might be asleep. Let’s not wake her up.”

Su Linlin glanced at the tightly closed bed curtain, feeling worried as well.

“Let’s go back.”

Hearing the footsteps fade away outside the curtain in the darkness, Li Jiao turned to face the wall. With everything pitch black before her eyes, she blinked silently, and a hot tear slid down her cheek, soaking the pillow.

…………

Outside the Nanjing University campus, the commercial street was still brightly lit and bustling.

Stalls covered with large canopies took over the street, with tables and benches set up. Old-fashioned yellow bulbs hung above, and a single menu served the entire stall.

Along a snack street, colorful signs could be seen everywhere. “Spicy Hot Pot,” “Brother Two’s BBQ,” “Cold Mixed Noodles,” “Braised Chicken,” and many more small signs crowded together, vying for attention.

The noisy chatter and car horns, “beep, beep,” mixed with the heart-wrenching shouts of the city management officers, “Move out of the way!”

Around a corner, a small-scale BBQ stand stood somewhat away from the chaos.

A couple at the BBQ stand, surrounded by smoke and sweat, skillfully handled skewers, occasionally looking up to greet customers with smiles.

“Hey, hello, what would you like to eat?”

“Find a seat inside.”

Seven or eight plastic tables and chairs were filled with people, mostly men. Their faces were flushed, and a large area in front of them was littered with green beer bottles as they continued to shout incoherently.

“Come on, good brothers, let’s have another one.”

At this time, those coming out to eat were not students. Most were people working in the area, coming over for a few drinks and some grilled skewers after their late shifts.

In the noisy environment, inside the barbecue stall, a table with five or six seats was occupied by only two people.

A large plate of delicious grilled skewers was on the table, but there was no alcohol, just a bottle of iced cola with a straw.

Wang Haonan, wearing a green short-sleeved shirt and black shorts, sat with his legs spread apart. He pulled the straw out of the bottle and threw it on the table, then took a big gulp from the bottle.

Then he grabbed a skewer of grilled chicken wings and started biting into it.

Mumbling, he said, “Boss, I finally came back, and you treated me to this?”

Across from him sat a man. Hearing this, he lazily lifted his eyelids and glanced at Wang Haonan, his attitude somewhat indifferent.

“There are lobster and abalone, but…” He paused, the orange-yellow light from above reflected in his clear eyes, making him seem more serious.

Looking at Wang Haonan, he slowly said each word.

“You don’t deserve it.”

“Come on, boss, I wanted to ask you yesterday, Are you going through menopause or something?”

Wang Haonan, chewing on the grilled meat, spoke excitedly, spraying bits of meat everywhere.

Across from him, Zhang Jiuling frowned. Dressed in black, he seemed to blend into the surroundings, yet his powerful aura set him apart from everyone else.

A breeze blew by, causing the small light above to flicker, making the shadows on the ground dance.

The dimmer light obscured his handsome face slightly but made his sharp features more pronounced. His straight nose and slender eyes gave off a cold, indifferent vibe.

Looking at Wang Haonan, he replied.

His tone wasn’t as cold as it appeared, but rather a bit impatient, with a hint of a Beijing accent.

“Eat more, so I won’t have to burn extra offerings for you next Qingming Festival.”

(T/N:The Qingming Festival, literally meaning Pure Brightness Festival, takes place on the fifteenth day after the spring equinox. As a holiday devoted to remembering and honoring the deceased, people sweep and decorate grave sites, burn incense. and paper money, and make food offerings.)

Hearing this, Wang Haonan’s chewing stopped abruptly. He couldn’t swallow the meat in his mouth, nor could he spit it out.

Finally, he looked at Zhang Jiuling helplessly and said,

“Boss, I feel like your words are getting more venomous.”

Saying this, he glanced at the grilled meat in his hand and took a big bite, chewing noisily.

“Boss, what are you really thinking?”

“I told you before I wanted to come back and lead the military training, but you weren’t happy about it and sent me to Jiangnan instead.”

“So why the change of heart now?”

Upon hearing this, Zhang Jiuling’s deep eyes seemed bottomless.

He replied coolly, “There are other arrangements.”

Seeing Zhang Jiuling’s demeanor, Wang Haonan knew he wouldn’t get any more information.

Not wanting to press further, he changed the topic.

“Hey, boss, I led the military training today and found that the students are doing pretty well. They’re well-trained.”

Zhang Jiuling raised his hand, picked up the ice water jug next to him, and poured himself a glass of water. He responded blandly,

“You are just the stepmother taking over; the kids have already been taught well for you.”

“Your purpose,” Zhang Jiuling said, holding the cup and glancing at him, “is just to be a human stand-in, to watch over things.”

“Boss, can you stop hitting where it hurts? If I hadn’t had a last-minute task back then, I wouldn’t have ended up as a stepmother.”

Speaking of it, Wang Haonan felt quite indignant. Why did there have to be a task just at that moment?

Zhang Jiuling slightly curled his lips, raised his cup, and took a sip of water.

“Hey, boss,” Wang Haonan suddenly leaned forward.

“I noticed there are more girls in this class. Isn’t it a bit hard to manage?”

“When I took over today, there was a girl who kept daydreaming, really out of it. I made her run laps a few times as punishment.”

“Sigh~” Wang Haonan bit into a grilled chicken heart.

“Honestly, I felt kind of bad about it.”

“She’s quite a pretty girl, very fair-skinned, with big eyes. Everyone else got tanned from the training, but she’s still quite pale.”

“Sigh~ She just doesn’t focus much during training. I made her run laps under the sun, and she nearly passed out.”

After hearing this, Zhang Jiuling’s face turned exceptionally dark and menacing.

He abruptly stood up, grabbed Wang Haonan by the collar, and dragged him outside.

“Wait, boss, what are you doing? I’m eating BBQ here!”

“Now we have extra training, a five-kilometer obstacle run.”

“Boss, what’s gotten into you? I haven’t even finished my BBQ.”

Dragged along by Zhang Jiuling, Wang Haonan looked back at the large plate of skewers with teary eyes and said, “My little BBQ, wait for me.”

Turning his head, he shouted to the BBQ stand owner.

“Boss, save my food! I paid for it; I’ll come back to eat it later!”

…………