After hearing Tang Guo's explanation, Shen Mounong couldn't help but smile bitterly in her heart, but her face grew even colder. If she didn't scare Tang Guo a little, who knows if she would keep her obsession with beauty and seek out Ye Qiu for such ridiculous things again. With a stern expression, she reprimanded, "Guoguo, you're still young and in the prime of your growth. Why are you so concerned about your chest? You're a girl; how can you expose your body like that to others? You must never do this kind of thing again, or I will have to tell Uncle Tang."
"Mounong sister—Tang sister—" Tang Guo clung to Shen Mounong, speaking pitifully, "I just had a moment of confusion. Your chest is so big; you wouldn't understand our suffering. If you were like me—"
Before Tang Guo could finish, Shen Mounong, noticing that Ye Qiu was still nearby, blushed slightly and interrupted her, "Alright, alright, let's not talk about this. In any case, you're absolutely not allowed to do this again."
"Okay, okay. I love listening to Mounong sister the most," Tang Guo nodded repeatedly.
Shen Mounong walked up to Ye Qiu, gracefully apologized, "I'm sorry for the misunderstanding earlier. My attitude was a bit harsh; please don't hold it against me."
Ye Qiu, taking in Shen Mounong's fragrance, finally replied, "It's fine. I understand."
"That's good," Shen Mounong's face returned to its calm and cold demeanor. "In the future, don't go along with Tang Guo's antics. She's still a child, but you're not."
Ye Qiu smiled bitterly, thinking, *How do you know I'm not?*
Shen Mounong also gave Lin Bao'er a stern look. She knew this little girl too well—like a little devil, always stirring up trouble wherever she could. Tang Guo doing such a foolish thing was likely Lin Bao'er's idea.
Lin Bao'er put on a face of grievance but didn't dare to explain. The truth was that it was indeed her idea.
After Shen Mounong went upstairs to rest, Tang Guo ran up to Ye Qiu and quietly asked, "After that procedure, will I—be like her in the future?" She pointed to Lin Bao'er as she spoke.
"No," Ye Qiu replied.
"Why not?"
"Because we were interrupted, and some of the acupuncture points were not fully opened," Ye Qiu explained.
"What? Not fully opened? So, you're saying that all those times you needled me were for nothing?" Tang Guo glared at Ye Qiu in anger.
Ye Qiu tried not to think about the unintended implication in her words and said, "Not exactly. The human body has many meridians, and opening one is beneficial to a certain part of the body. It wasn't completely in vain."
"With no effect, it's still in vain! Damn it, Ye Qiu, you pervert, you took advantage of me!" Tang Guo grabbed a cushion from the sofa and threw it at Ye Qiu's head, completely forgetting that the words had come from her own mouth.
Amidst the anticipation of the new students, the military training at Shuimu University finally began.
The nation advocated the comprehensive development of young people in moral, intellectual, physical, aesthetic, and labor education. Although there was no mandatory requirement for every adult man to serve in the military for three years, the tradition of a one-month military training during university had always been maintained.
As one of the top universities in China, Shuimu University had particularly strict military training. In many other universities, military training was conducted on campus, with instructors from the army guiding the students. However, at top universities like Shuimu and Yanjing University, all freshmen were transported by military vehicles to an actual military camp for training. This made students from other schools envious, regretting not studying hard enough to get into such prestigious institutions.
The freshmen were both excited and fearful about the military training—70% eager and 30% anxious. The unfamiliar arouses curiosity. The green military camp, the iron discipline, and the fearless charge under a hail of bullets deeply attracted them, and they even heard there was a chance to handle real guns. For ordinary students, this was an irresistible temptation.
The fear stemmed from stories told by seniors about the terrifying military training at Shuimu University—the strictness of the instructors, who allegedly devised all sorts of ways to torment the students. Sometimes there wasn't enough food, the water would suddenly stop while you were showering, and if you yawned while standing at attention, you'd have to run twenty laps around the training ground, which was larger than the school's soccer field. The men were mostly fine with the challenges, but the girls, hearing these stories, turned pale. They could barely handle the thought of hardship, let alone the idea of getting stuck mid-shower with soap all over.
Ye Qiu, as the president of the Archaeology Department's student council—and the only student council member—was naturally given a significant responsibility: to serve as the leader of the male students' squad. As for the female squad—there wasn't one in the Archaeology Department. The only girl, Lan Kexin, was assigned to another department's female squad.
Dressed in the freshly issued camouflage uniform, Ye Qiu stood at the front of the team, holding the Archaeology Department flag. Behind him, the other eighteen male students stood tall and straight, each wearing a look of determination, ready to march off to battle. Wearing the military uniform, they all felt something different stirring within them, and their expressions became more serious, with fewer jokes being exchanged.
After the school leaders gave their speeches at the rally, rows of military trucks drove onto the large soccer field at Shuimu University.
Once the trucks stopped, a soldier in uniform got off to greet the leaders, then ran to a military truck, stood at attention, saluted, and brought down a squad of instructors.
A group of well-built soldiers, dressed in training uniforms, their faces sharp and their eyes resolute, descended from the truck, drawing gasps of admiration from the girls.
"Wow, so handsome—"
"Yes, this is what a real man looks like—"
"So cool. I definitely want to marry a soldier in the future—"
The boys, too, watched intently, not taking their eyes off the soldiers. Normally, they might have made sarcastic comments if a group of girls were praising someone like this, but not today. Faced with these soldiers, the boys felt nothing but respect.
The department counselors quickly stepped in to quiet down the students.
After a brief exchange with the officer, the instructors headed toward their assigned squads. Because the Archaeology Department had too few male students, they were combined with the male students from the Psychology Department to form a single squad. But even so, they stood together when it was time to line up.
A handsome, slightly dark-skinned instructor walked up to Ye Qiu, looked at the neatly lined-up Archaeology and Psychology students, furrowed his thick eyebrows, and said sternly, "I don't care what department you were in before, from this moment on, you are one unit, a unit that I will lead. You have one minute to reorganize into a single squad."
Chaos erupted immediately. The two departments barely knew each other, and everyone had brought large suitcases for the trip. With only a minute to reorganize, they were frantically scrambling around.
Seeing his fellow students running around like headless chickens, dragging their luggage, Ye Qiu couldn't help but smile wryly. They still hadn't figured out whether the Archaeology students should merge with the Psychology students or vice versa. Both sides were running back and forth, dragging their suitcases.
Noticing the instructor's increasingly dark expression, as he glanced at his watch, Ye Qiu grabbed two students and told them, "You two stand in a row with me and be the front line."
Then he shouted to the others, "Everyone line up behind us according to height!"
With direction, the students finally understood what to do and quickly formed three long lines.
The instructor gave Ye Qiu a surprised look and asked, "What's your name?"
"Ye Qiu," Ye Qiu replied calmly.
"Before answering, add 'Report, Instructor' to your response."
"Yes, sir."
"Your surname is Ye?"
"Report, Instructor. Yes, my surname is Ye." Ye Qiu was puzzled; why did the instructor care about that?
The instructor didn't pursue the matter, but glanced at the small bag Ye Qiu was carrying and asked, "Where's your luggage?"
"Report, Instructor. In my bag."
The instructor looked at the other students, who were all carrying large suitcases as if they were going on vacation, and then at Ye Qiu, and felt even more satisfied.
"Listen up, everyone. I am your military training instructor, Lei Da. You may address me as Instructor Lei during training; what you call me privately is your own business. Now, grab your luggage and follow me to the truck." With a wave of his hand, Lei Da led the three squads toward the green military trucks.
Everyone struggled to load their heavy luggage onto the trucks, with some needing help to lift their suitcases. Ye Qiu, with only his small bag, managed with ease. Yang Le and Li Dazhuang, seeing how little Ye Qiu had brought, felt embarrassed and carried only small luggage bags, though they still had more than Ye Qiu.
Lei Da boarded the same truck as Ye Qiu's squad. Once everyone was loaded up, the convoy began to move slowly
.
They drove out of Yanjing City, heading into the suburbs, then onto the highway, and eventually off the highway again. With the instructor in the vehicle, the truck was eerily silent, and no one dared to speak.
After two or three hours of bumpy travel, the convoy finally came to a stop.
Lei Da opened his eyes and said, "Get off."
The students were relieved as they got off the truck, happy to have finally arrived. Spending any more time with this stern-faced instructor would have driven them crazy.
But once they got off, they were stunned. Where were they?
In the distance was a towering mountain peak, and where they had disembarked, there was no sign of the green military camp they had been eagerly anticipating.
"Form up," Lei Da shouted.
The students, still in a daze, quickly snapped out of it and reformed their squads. This time, they did it quickly, not even needing a minute.
"Do you see the red flags along the road?" the instructor pointed to the small red triangular flags tied to the trees.
"Report, Instructor. We see them," the students responded in unison.
"Good," Lei Da nodded. "Now, follow these red flags and run. When you reach the end, you'll be at the military camp. Remember, the last ten people in each squad to arrive will not have lunch. Carry your own luggage, no helping each other. If you do, you'll face the same punishment as the last ten."
The students gasped in shock. This was intense!
"Quiet!" Lei Da barked. Then, with a wave of his hand, he shouted, "Run."
With that, he glanced at his watch and climbed back into the green truck.
"Hurry up and run!" Ye Qiu gave Yang Le and Li Dazhuang a push and then took off at full speed.
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8