The military training for first-year students, which had lasted for half a month, was finally coming to an end. The group of freshmen who had been tortured to death were like birds freed from their cages. They were extremely excited.
They held the closing ceremony of the military training in the school's track and field arena.
The students from each class came on stage one after another. They'd had a competition on the training results for the past two weeks. The school would grade them and award prizes to the class with the best performance.
In the shade around the field, many senior students came to watch.
Since they had experienced these exercises before, they had fun watching the first-year students yell slogans while sweating under the hot sun.
Su Chen and Guo Lei tagged along with Pan Xiaojie, suggesting they join in. They stood in the shade with cold Cokes in their hands, discussing the pretty girls.
"Look, your Mengmeng is going on stage." Pan Xiaojie's elbow hit Su Chen as he pointed to the team formation that entered the field.
"I saw that."
Su Chen smiled and nodded, looking at Lin Yumeng, who was in the line.
She wore a military uniform with a military cap, and her lovely face was slightly red under the hot sun. She had a little sweat on her forehead and her nose. It looked lovely and dear at the same time.
"The next team coming toward us are the students from the Foreign Language Department. Look at their healthy figures and their neat and powerful march…"
With the commentator's loud voice, Lin Yumeng's team marched in with neat steps. They walked to the front of the rostrum led by Instructor Zhang Jun.
"Attention, turn right, be at ease…"
Zhang Jun backed them up with his hands and shouted commands in a sonorous and powerful voice. The students wore serious expressions and uniformly performed on command.
Su Chen looked at Lin Yumeng's serious face. He took out his phone, zoomed in, and took a good shot.
"Gee! Brother Chen, do you have to do that?"
Pan Xiaojie looked at him in disgust and rolled his eyes.
Guo Lei was giggling at them from one side.
"Brother Lei, how can you have the guts to laugh? I can tell you, man—If you really like Qian Manman, you have to be quick." Pan Xiaojie tilted his head and looked at Guo Lei.
"There is no hurry. No hurry." Guo Lei blushed.
He was usually careless and straightforward. He had never been in love before, however, and he felt too shy to talk about it.
"Not in a hurry yet?"
Pan Xiaojie's facial expression became stern, and he said like someone who had experience, "Let me tell you. A girl who just entered university would be eager to date someone like you after experiencing the boring three years of high school. You have to be quick before someone else takes her. You will regret it then."
Guo Lei's face turned sullen when he heard this. He looked at Qian Manman, who was in the line. He felt a hand clutch his heart.
"I agree with what Old Pan said. Brother Lei, you have to work up your courage if you are a man. Learn from me." Su Chen patted his chest in a boastful manner.
They both rolled their eyes.
After this guy had fallen in love, he had been boasting in front of them several times per day.
"I've decided. I'm going to confess to her," said Guo Lei firmly as he clenched his teeth.
"Good for you." Pan Xiaojie smiled and patted him on the shoulder.
"Brother Lei, I look up to you. I hope to test out that one day too. Qian Manman seems to have a good impression of you too. You might just succeed in your confession," said Su Chen with a smile.
"Really? When and what did you say to her?" Guo Lei widened his eyes and grabbed his shoulder excitedly.
"Hiss…Grab gently! Gently!"
Su Chen bared his teeth and begged for mercy.
"I'm sorry." Guo Lei quickly smiled and let go.
Su Chen angrily stared at him and then told Guo Lei the situation when he had tested out Qian Manman's feelings.
Guo Lei was getting more excited as he listened to him. His left leg shook, and he showed the nervousness in his heart.
"Looks like there's hope if he listens to Brother Chen." Pan Xiaojie stroked his chin and grinned cheekily.
"How should I do it? Can you two help me? I have no experience!" Guo Lei looked at the two of them imploringly.
Then, the three gathered together and talked among themselves. They planned to help Guo Lei succeed in his declaration of love.
***
Around 4 o'clock, the school leaders finished awarding the prizes to the winners. After a long speech, they announced the official end of the freshmen parade.
"Oh…"
The cheers of the freshmen rang through the entire campus. They threw their green hats into the sky, which caused a chaotic scene.
"Mengmeng!"
Su Chen waved and shouted.
"Brother Chen."
Lin Yumeng's pretty face bloomed with a smile when she saw Su Chen. She trotted toward him.
Qian Manman and Li Jia followed quickly behind her.
"Here, drink some water." Su Chen opened the cap of the mineral water in his hand and handed it to her.
"Thanks." Lin Yumeng took it with a sweet smile.
Su Chen winked at Guo Lei and tilted his head in the direction of Qian Manman, who was coming over.
Guo Lei took a bottle of water. His face was tense, and he was a little hesitant.
Pan Xiaojie gave him a push in the back. Guo Lei staggered a few steps forward. Then he clenched his teeth and walked toward the front of two girls.
"What are you doing?" Qian Manman looked at Guo Lei, who was blocking them. She looked as if she noticed something and blushed as she asked that.
"D…Drink some water." Guo Lei handed over the mineral water to her with a nervous, trembling voice.
"Thank you!" Qian Manman's face blushed more than his had, and she took the mineral bottle in panic.
Li Jia gave them a meaningful look.
"Li Jia!" shouted Pan Xiaojie as he threw a bottle of water to her.
Li Jia held out her hand to catch it and said thanks with a light smile on her lips.
"Brother Chen, this is…:
Lin Yumeng looked at both Guo Lei and Qian Manman curiously. Then she shot a questioning look at Su Chen.
Su Chen smiled and gave her a "you know that" look on his face.
Lin Yumeng nodded as her big eyes shone.
"Su Chen!"
The military training chief instructor, Xie Anguo, came over with a group of instructors. He stopped after he shouted when he saw Su Chen.
Su Chen looked at the direction of the voice. They looked slightly stunned and then smiled and greeted each other. "Hi, company commander. Hi, instructors."
"Zhang Jun, is this the boy you said pushed off the company commander with just one move?"
"Impossible! This boy does look handsome. But is he as strong as you said?"
The group of instructors had heard about Su Chen, but they didn't believe that a toyboy like Su Chen could beat their company commander.
"Yes, that's him. I'm not joking with you all. This guy is awesome!" said Zhang Jun as he grinned.
"Su Chen, you didn't come and talk with me to share your experiences with me when you had time, even though I asked you to. We are leaving today. Why don't we…have a spar?" Xie Anguo looked as if he was eager to try.
Su Chen had run away from him when they met that day. Xie Anguo wanted to try the boy's real strength.
"Forget it!" Su Chen decisively shook his head to refuse.
With his skill now, even ten of Xie Anguo could not beat him. It would be meaningless for them to spar.
To keep Xie Anguo from losing his reputation, it was better to forget it.