"Then, I'll run a hundred circles as punishment."
Under the brilliant sun of a beautiful autumn afternoon, rays of sunshine poured through the window, lent a soft halo to Flossie Wright standing close to it. The light strayed into her dark, luminously glassy eyes, rendering her unintentionally intimidating and overwhelming.
Her words left everyone present frozen in shock.
What, a hundred circles?!
At first, everyone doubted their hearing. They could not believe such lightly uttered words came from Flossie Wright. Yet, after reconfirmation through eye contact, they had to accept this astonishing fact.
All of a sudden, shock and surprise filled the dormitory. Everyone looked at each other, clueless how to react.
If Flossie Wright had said ten circles, they could have believed it. She was prideful and competitive, refusing to admit defeat even when faced with impossible tasks. But her utterance of a hundred circles, such an astronomical figure, was like intentionally courting disaster, greatly surprising everyone present.
Jocelyn Carrington narrowed her eyes slightly, scrutinizing Flossie with an intensified gaze. In her impression, Flossie was indeed impulsive but not utterly irredeemable. However, it was a fact that she could not fold blankets...
Unable to retract the spoken words, Jocelyn Carrington reined in her emotions after a brief pause and looked at Flossie Wright coldly before speaking arrogantly, "You said it yourself. If there's any trouble, don't blame it on others!"
Glancing at Jocelyn Carrington, Flossie Wright's lips curled into a smile, unconsciously. She shrugged her shoulders without responding, instead turned towards the deputy squad leader, speaking in a tone barely above a whisper, "Could I bother you for a moment?"
"Oh… oh," the deputy squad leader responded, slightly stunned by Flossie moving towards her. She regretted agreeing so readily once the words left her mouth.
When Drake Easton was not around, as the deputy squad leader, it was her responsibility to manage their squad. And yet, she simply watched Flossie and Jocelyn argue, without even attempting to intervene, allowing the two to stoke the fire of conflict.
Gauging between the seriousness of a hundred push-ups and running a hundred circles, the deputy squad leader couldn't help but sigh. She then pulled out her blanket, resolutely dedicating herself to teaching Flossie.
In the interior regulations of the forces, there are clear provisions on how to fold military blankets: Three vertical folds, four horizontal folds, fold facing front, and placed at one end of the bed in the middle.
The entire process consists of six steps - compress, measure, cut, tuck, dig, and fine-tune. Each step needs to be performed with extreme care, as though creating a piece of art. Any slight mistake in any step, and the blanket would be a complete mess.
While demonstrating how to fold the blanket, the deputy squad leader achieved a state of total focus, effectively smoothening all creases and folds. Observing her move meticulously, Flossie's face slowly turned serious and her expression more solemn.
The only thing she had ever devoted such seriousness to was the various guns she had been using for many years.
She hadn't expected life in the forces to be so absurd, to the point that even a blanket needed to be treated like a treasure.
"Did you learn?" Finished neatly folding all the creases, the deputy squad leader finally satisfied, dusted off her hand. However, remembering her task, she looked at Flossie with concern, "If there are any parts you don't understand, I can demonstrate again."
If Flossie was only supposed to do a hundred push-ups, she could have let it slide, at most she would do the push-ups alongside her. But now, involving whether Flossie should run a hundred circles or not, she had to be extra careful to prevent any mistake from happening.