Ye Qiu was utterly baffled. He didn't even know this guy, so why was he being targeted as if there was some deep grudge between them?
In the military, an officer's orders are absolute. Ye Qiu didn't want to stand out by resisting. In the military, if nothing else, a man must have endurance and resilience. So, he started running.
Lei Da was naturally displeased with the guy who objected to his appointment. Initially, he had high hopes for Ye Qiu from the Archaeology Department, thinking this young man was not only smart but also seemed familiar with military customs. Another reason was Ye Qiu's surname—Lei Da had a personal preference for it.
However, after Ye Qiu was reported for violating orders, Lei Da had to reconsider. Since he couldn't appoint Ye Qiu, he decided to choose someone from the Psychology Department, given they had more students than the Archaeology Department. He picked someone who didn't particularly annoy him.
The guy who had reported Ye Qiu didn't seem interested in becoming the acting squad leader himself. After seeing Ye Qiu punished with a marathon, his hostility seemed to subside, especially since Lei Da appointed someone from the Psychology Department. He had no further objections.
After giving a few more instructions, Lei Da dismissed everyone to go eat. Lunch was served at twelve o'clock in the military camp, and if you were late, you wouldn't get any food. This place wasn't like McDonald's, open 24 hours a day.
As Ye Qiu saw Yang Le and Li Dazhuang approaching with their lunchboxes, he quickly put on a show of being exhausted, even squeezing out a few drops of sweat on his forehead. If they saw him running with ease, it would be too shocking.
"Ye Qiu, how many laps have you done?" Li Dazhuang and Yang Le jogged up to him, keeping pace.
"Just one," Ye Qiu said with a wry smile. The training ground was enormous, more than twice the size of the largest soccer field at their university. If he claimed to have run more, it would raise suspicion. This was all about killing time.
"Ye Qiu, do you know that guy?" Yang Le asked in a serious tone.
"No, I've never met him before. I was just wondering if I might have offended him somehow," Ye Qiu replied, equally puzzled.
"Maybe you stole his girlfriend or something?" Li Dazhuang speculated. "Or maybe his girlfriend saw you once and was so smitten that she fell in love at first sight?"
"Ah, I remember!" Li Dazhuang exclaimed, slapping his forehead with his lunchbox. "Remember the last time we were at that restaurant near the school, and a pretty girl came up to you to wipe your sweat when you were drinking? Could she have been his girlfriend?"
"That's impossible. If she was, wouldn't he have confronted me already?" Ye Qiu felt even more aggrieved—how had he become someone's enemy for no apparent reason?
"Let's find a chance to ask him directly," Yang Le suggested with a smile.
Ye Qiu nodded. Noticing that Yang Le and Li Dazhuang had already run most of a lap with him and showed no signs of stopping—though Yang Le seemed to be holding up fine, Li Dazhuang was clearly at his limit, pale-faced and dripping with sweat—Ye Qiu stopped and said, "You two should go eat. Don't worry about me."
"What are you talking about? We're sticking with you until the end," Yang Le said, giving Ye Qiu a push.
"Yeah, why should only you be punished? We were in on it too," Li Dazhuang forced a smile, though his exhaustion was clear.
"You don't need to stay with me. Go eat before the food runs out," Ye Qiu said, touched that Li Dazhuang had brought an extra lunchbox for him. "I'm getting hungry too. After you eat, make sure to bring me something back."
"Dazhuang, you go eat. I'll stay with Ye Qiu," Yang Le said, handing his lunchbox to Li Dazhuang. He could see that Ye Qiu was struggling, and he worried that Ye Qiu might not make it through the marathon without collapsing.
"What do you mean by that? You think I can't do it? I'll run it if it kills me!" Li Dazhuang said, clutching the three lunchboxes and starting to run ahead, only to be stopped by Ye Qiu. "Yang Le, you and Dazhuang should go eat."
Yang Le noticed the seriousness in Ye Qiu's expression and realized that Li Dazhuang couldn't continue like this. Nodding, he said, "Alright. We'll bring you something after we eat. Take your time running—you don't have to rush. No one's supervising, so rest if you get tired."
"I got it. You two go ahead. Without you here, I can save my energy by not talking," Ye Qiu said with a smile. He waved them off and resumed running, though he made sure not to appear too fatigued—he didn't want them to worry.
When Yang Le and Li Dazhuang arrived at the cafeteria, it was already packed with students in their new camouflage uniforms, holding lunchboxes and waiting in line for food.
"Hey, where's Ye Qiu? It's just you two?" A female voice called out. They turned to see Tang Guo and Lin Bao'er behind them, each holding a lunchbox. Since Ye Qiu and the others had carried their luggage, they had gotten their food early.
"Ye Qiu's been punished with a run," Yang Le said with a bitter smile.
"What happened? Did he do something wrong again?" Lin Bao'er asked, her mouth full of food as she spoke, not seeming to care much.
Ye Qiu was being punished because of them, yet they seemed completely unconcerned. This attitude infuriated Li Dazhuang, who snapped, "It's all because of you."
"Because of us? What happened?" Tang Guo's smile faded, replaced by a serious expression.
Fuming, Li Dazhuang recounted how Ye Qiu had been appointed as acting squad leader by the instructor, only to be reported for violating orders by helping Tang Guo and Lin Bao'er with their luggage. This led to his punishment and removal from the position. Tang Guo's face turned pale with anger, her hand clenching her lunchbox tightly, veins bulging on her knuckles.
"Who reported him? How can someone be so shameless?" Tang Guo demanded.
"I did." A burly young man with a group of followers carrying lunchboxes approached them.
Initially, Xie Zhiyuan had been drawn to Tang Guo and Lin Bao'er's beauty. Even in their standard green camouflage uniforms, they stood out. But when he noticed his enemy standing next to them, he moved closer and overheard the entire conversation.
"Who are you?" Tang Guo glared at Xie Zhiyuan.
Yang Le stopped Tang Guo from doing anything rash. He needed to clear up the situation, so he stepped forward and asked, "Do you have a grudge against Ye Qiu?"
"No," Xie Zhiyuan replied with a smile, shaking his head.
"Then why did you get him in trouble?" Yang Le pressed.
"Kid, you still don't get it, do you? My grudge is with you," Xie Zhiyuan said coldly.
"With me?" Yang Le was shocked. Had he unwittingly caused trouble for Ye Qiu? Even Li Dazhuang was confused.
"You don't even know me," Yang Le said.
"But you know my brother, don't you?" Xie Zhiyuan said, his tone icy.
"Who's your brother?"
"Are you pretending not to remember beating someone up? My brother is Xie Zhigao, the Taekwondo vice president you put in the hospital for days," Xie Zhiyuan said, seething with anger.
Xie Zhiyuan had always been close with his brother, and they both had a passion for Taekwondo. They trained together, sparred together, and eventually both joined the same university's Taekwondo club. Xie Zhigao had quickly risen to the position of vice president, only to return home bruised and humiliated after being beaten by Yang Le.
Xie Zhiyuan, who was also a member of the Taekwondo club, learned the details of the incident and began gathering information on Yang Le. When he found out that the Psychology Department had been grouped with the Archaeology Department, he saw it as the perfect opportunity to take down Yang Le. Seeing how close Ye Qiu and Li Dazhuang were to Yang Le, he decided to take them down too. When he saw them helping the girls with their luggage, he was thrilled—his plan worked perfectly, getting Ye Qiu demoted.
"Your brother challenged me," Yang Le said, his face cold. He couldn't believe the whole situation stemmed from something so petty. These brothers were really holding a grudge over that?
"But you were too ruthless," Xie Zhiyuan shot back.
"Your brother refused to admit defeat and kept pushing Yang Le, like he wanted a fight to the death. What was Yang Le supposed to do, just stand there and let him hit him?" Li Dazhuang retorted, knowing the whole story.
Xie Zhiyuan's anger flared as he pointed at Yang Le and Li Dazhuang, "You two are next. Just wait—I'll deal with you both, one by one."
Tang Guo and Lin Bao'er had pieced together what was happening
—Ye Qiu had become a scapegoat in someone else's grudge.
Tang Guo raised her lunchbox and said, "Sister Tang Tang, the food here is as bad as they say."
"Then throw it away," Tang Guo replied.
"Okay," Lin Bao'er said obediently, and she promptly dumped her lunchbox onto Xie Zhiyuan's face.
To read the manga version, please click the YouTube link https://youtu.be/GnU613H6xm8