Chapter 45: 43

“Strength is unity~!”

The broadcast was still blasting in everyone’s ears. The loudspeaker was hidden behind the door. The broadcast wasn’t only played in the lodging room; the broadcast outside the window underneath the shaded path was also singing. “This strength is iron, this strength is steel!” 

The hallway was filled with screaming. Despite all their reluctance, they still had to enthusiastically get up.

After Hou Jun flipped over, he remembered the instructions the instructor had given him the day before, and violently sat up in his bed. He looked for his military training uniform with his eyes closed and then pulled it roughly over his head. “We only have fifteen minutes, we’ll fight every second, let’s wake up Kai zi! Stop sleeping!”

 

 

Tan Kai was like a walking corpse, and his consciousness had left him. His hands felt like they were a thousand jin. “I’m so sleepy, I suddenly feel like studying makes me happy…”

Hou Jun smashed a pillow over at him. When having to mobilise his members, Class President Hou wasn’t afraid of anyone. The other pillow landed squarely on Xu Sheng’s head. “Stop talking about studying, all of you get up!” 

Xu Sheng, “…”

 

Only then did Xu Sheng sit up. He supported himself with his two hands against the bed, and he glanced sideways to see that Shao Zhan had already finished changing into his military training pants and was standing by his bed, his back facing him as he put on his shirt. The boy’s upper half was naked, bare; the line of his spine smooth and prominent, his shoulder blades sharply jutting out. Underneath was his thin waist, carrying an aura unique to his youth.

Xu Sheng had only glanced sideways for a second. A moment later, the tattoo on his shoulder blade was covered.

Shao Zhan raised his hands and buttoned his shirt up. He didn’t question why Xu Sheng’s gaze had landed on him, and merely reminded Xu Sheng, “You still have ten minutes.”

 

Only then did Xu Sheng say, “Fuck”, and push aside his quilt to change his clothes.

It didn’t take long to put on his clothes and brush his teeth. Organising his things took up the most time and effort. Hou Jun finally folded his quilt into a model tofu block with much difficulty. He was worried that the school tyrant wouldn’t follow the rules; if he remembered correctly, this master didn’t even listen to Instructor Wang’s instructions yesterday.

Hou Jun turned around to urge him on, and as expected, came face to face with a Master Xu leaning against the bedrail loafing around. “Sheng ge you…”

 

You should follow the rules and do something! 

These words did not leave Hou Jun’s mouth, because he saw the study god currently helping him fold his quilts. The words when they reached his lips. “…Your quilts have been folded quite well.”

Xu Sheng expressed his acknowledgement. “I think my deskmate’s quilts have been folded quite well too.”

Yesterday, Xu Sheng had thickened his face to beg Shao Zhan, so he was even more willing today: I don’t know how to do it, anyways you slept in this bed yesterday, do you want to turn face and not recognise it after sleeping here?

Shao Zhan threw out a phrase after folding. “Fold it yourself tomorrow.” 

Xu Sheng, “Okay, tomorrow I’ll find another way to beg you.”

Shao Zhan was stopped from talking again. He finally picked up Xu Sheng’s military cap from the bedhead with a cold face, and put it on his head, blocking most of his vision. “Button up your clothes, go down and assemble.”

Ten minutes later, the broadcast changed from “unity is strength” to an urgent siren. Accompanying the sound of sirens was the sound of an instructor at the entrance of the building giving a countdown with a loudspeaker in hand. “Students, you still have five minutes left. Three minutes, two minutes…last minute!”

The hallway entrance was crowded with people. The students hurriedly walked out. 

Xu Sheng wasn’t very rushed. He sauntered over slowly, joining the line at the last second.

The morning training schedule was just running around the track, girls five times and boys eight.

 

As the physical education class representative, Tan Kai almost ran away half his life.

Instructor Wang said, “Keep enduring, there’s still two laps left, believe you can do it…” After the instructor finished speaking, he saw Tan Kai, whose pace was lagging and had dropped to the first row of students. He asked disbelievingly, “You brat, are you really the gym class representative?” 

Once Tan Kai spoke, he had even less strength. He immediately dropped down to the second row. “…I am.”

The moment he dropped down, the entire class couldn’t help laughing at him. “Kai zi aren’t you ashamed!”

Tan Kai, “…”

Xu Sheng was also extremely amused. He laughed as he ran and used his elbow to poke at Shao Zhan who was next to him. “How did he end up being our class representative? If the gym teacher was here, he’d have removed him from his post immediately.” 

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Under everyone’s laughter, Tan Kai simply gave up and became slower the more he ran, until he was in the last group of runners, shoulder to shoulder with Xu Sheng and the others. “Sheng ge, Zhan ge, stop laughing at me, if you mock me any more I’ll fall behind into another school’s group…”

Hou Jun was exasperated that his own offspring could not live up to expectations. “If you fall behind to another school’s group, don’t think about coming back!”

It wasn’t just the people around him. The voices of everyone in Class Seven rushed towards him with unstoppable force.

Shao Zhan squinted his eyes, and thought to himself, was the morning sun usually this strong? 

“Good, very good. With no one to lead our Seventh Troop, we are relying on our own unexpected perseverance, other than our gym representative.” After the stretching exercises, Instructor Wang said, “This deserves praise.”

After the stretching exercises, the Seventh Troop students lined up at the cafeteria for breakfast.

After a half-hour break, they gathered again at 9 o’clock, and immediately began their morning activities.

After a day of familiarising themselves with the layout of Green Boat Base, the students were already very used to the cafeteria. They were already extremely hungry. Green Boat Base’s cafeteria was very mediocre, but for once the usually picky people actually thought it was excellent. “I must be faint from hunger. Why does this boiled egg taste so good?” 

“And this flour bun, delicate!”

Shen Wenhao expressed his praise. “Soft but doesn’t lose out on its texture. The bitterness has a sweet aftertaste, spreading from the tip of the tongue to the bottom of the heart. The flour’s fragrance floods your nostrils—”

 

Hou Jun was unwilling to show weakness. He lowered his head to sip at his porridge, and followed along with the praise. “This bowl of millet porridge has less grains and more soup. There are only two words I can think of while drinking this. “Smoothly refreshing!”

Tan Kai stared dumbly as all the things on the table were thoroughly praised by them, and his gaze could only land on the remaining pickled vegetables. “This…this level of difficulty is a little high.” 

Xu Sheng, “…”

Shao Zhan, “…”

Xu Sheng set down his chopsticks, and entered the bullshitting train. “Let me.”

“This pickled vegetable…” Xu Sheng paused, completely forgetting his talent for speaking. He could only think of the word ‘refreshing’ after a long while, but before he could even say it, someone bumped against the corner of the table. 

Their table was very close to the window, separated from the next row by an aisle. The movement wasn’t a small one, and the entire table was bumped a few centimetres off.

“Do you know how to walk? How are you bumping into tables?” The voice was very familiar.

Xu Sheng raised his eyes, and saw Yang Shiwei walking out from behind the person who had bumped into the table, carrying a plate. The group of them were all wearing the Hong Hai military uniform, and it looked like they were all together. He smiled derisively and said, “Still not going to apologise?”

Xu Sheng immediately went to looked at Shao Zhan’s reaction, and noticed that it was frighteningly cold. 

The one being mocked by Yang Shiwei chuckled and apologised, “Sorry, I was carrying something and couldn’t see.”

Only after he apologised did Yang Shiwei let go of that person’s collar, and stood by Shao Zhan’s table. “I met you earlier, and didn’t even get the chance to chat properly. Who would’ve known that we were destined to meet. Ah, that’s right, let me introduce myself. I’m Shao Zhan’s middle school classmate.”

The words themselves seemed normal enough, but the atmosphere was off, and the tone of his voice even moreso.

Hou Jun and Tan Kai were glancing at each other, not knowing if they should say hello or not. 

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Yang Shiwei had clearly just begun, and was planning to make a big show.

Shao Zhan wasn’t afraid of him, and also wasn’t afraid of what he was saying. Ever since Xu Sheng told him about the Hong Hai people, he’d already mentally prepared himself. Yang Shiwei wasn’t easy to handle, and this matter would be troublesome. He had just put down his chopsticks and got up, but before he could say ‘if you have a problem, let’s handle it outside’, Xu Sheng had already spoken up, “There’s no need for introductions, there’s nothing to gain from it.”

Yang Shiwei’s attention had been solely on Shao Zhan, and he hadn’t expected that, so he was shocked.

He turned his head to look, and only just noticed the youth sitting across the table. 

He’d never met him.

With a face like that, it was unforgettable. He looked nonchalant, holding a despicable smile on his face to the end with two words written on it: Please get out.

 

“Oh, and,” Xu Sheng continued, “Don’t stand here, you’re blocking the way.”

Yang Shiwei admitted that there were few who dared to be arrogant in front of him. One of them was Shao Zhan, and this second one who had popped in front of him out of nowhere. 

Who the fuck is this! Yang Shiwei shouted in his head.

Where did he come from, and how dare he challenge him.

Yang Shiwei was dumbfounded by Xu Sheng’s words, and had completely forgotten what he wanted to say.

Hou Jun was good at reading people, and it was obvious that Yang Shiwei held a grudge. He picked up his plate and said, “Everyone finished eating? Let’s go let’s go, we have to head back and catch up on rest.” 

But Shen Wenhao and Yuan Ziqiang were stunned, “I haven’t finished…”

“Still eating for what?” Hou Jun took the bun that Shen Wenhao was holding and put it back on his place before calmly telling him, “You’ve finished eating.”

Yang Shiwei, “All right, then let me be direct, you may not know…”

Xu Sheng glanced over Yang Shiwei’s shoulder and said, “Instructor.” 

Yang Shiwei was surprised and looked behind.

Xu Sheng made Shao Zhan wear his hat, and after Hou Jun and the others retreated, Xu Sheng also picked up his plate and lazily stood up, his other hand pulling down on his cap as he signalled, “What are you all standing around for, let’s go.”

This scene of obfuscation allowed Xu Sheng to give the other students time to get away.

“Where? I don’t see the instructor.” 

“What instructor?” Yang Shiwei grumbled under his breath, before saying, “I’ve been tricked.”

Yang Shiwei glared at Shao Zhan’s retreating figure, gritting his teeth. “… This isn’t over.”

Shao Zhan cleared his plate, and Hou Jun and the others stood by the entrance to the mess hall, waiting. They didn’t ask anything when they saw Shao Zhan, but just glossed over the matter entirely.

Today’s activities, other than marching drills, was also a visit to the military hall, so they didn’t bump into any of the people from Hong Hai. The base was too large, and sometimes they didn’t even see people from their own school, let alone those from Hong Hai. Unless they came straight to their door, the chances of them bumping into one another were small. 

Their nighttime activities ended early.

Xu Sheng came out of the shower, and Shao Zhan wasn’t in the dorm. “Where’s my seatmate?”

 

Hou Jun, “Lao Meng came by just now and called him away. Seems like it’s to discuss something about hosting the closing ceremony, I’m not sure.”

Xu Sheng didn’t pry, and looked at the time on his phone, there were several unread notifications. 

One was from Zhang Feng: Down to play some games?

The others were from Tang Kai.

Tang Kai: My mom said they reformed the exam structures this year, and there’ll be a new syllabus.

Tang Kai: The content in the exam is quite a lot. 

Tang Kai attached pictures of a few books. The cover was a painting, and the one on the very top was titled “Sketching Landscapes”, and other than that there were two other books, “Colours of Scenery”.

Xu Sheng hadn’t been to the art studio in a long time, and Tang Kai occasionally still sent him relevant news. Most of the time it was due to the hidden reason of “help me check this drawing”.

Tang Kai was also worried about his goal being too obvious. After that day at the station, the two of them mainly communicated online.

He just so happened to be at the studio. 

After half a day without a reply from Xu Sheng, he couldn’t help but open his WeChat and add: My mom wanted me to send it to you, no other reason.

After he sent that, he actually received a kind of reply.

S: Mn.

S: How is Auntie Tang doing lately? 

Tang Kai: Pretty okay, she’s always nagging and wondering when you’ll come and visit her. I’m starting to think I’m not her flesh and blood anymore.

The two of them chatted for a while. After Xu Sheng sent his message, he was waiting for Tang Kai to reply so he scrolled up their conversation from earlier. He hesitated for a couple of seconds, and saved the pictures of the books.

Right at that moment, someone knocked on the door. An unfamiliar boy was dawdling by the open door. “Is the Study God here?”

Hou Jun was closest to the door. “Our Zhan ge isn’t here, if you have something to tell him I can pass on a message.” 

“There are a few people outside… Not from our school. They wanted me to look for him,” the boy said. “They said if they don’t see him in five minutes, then we shouldn’t blame him for being merciless. He said he’ll… he’ll spill the beans.”

Hou Jun, “Ah?”

 

Xu Sheng stopped typing halfway.

Just as he had thought that unless they came right to their doorstep, they would have almost no chance of bumping into each other, they really did come. 

Five minutes.

Whether Shao Zhan could return in five minutes was certainly a problem.

Xu Sheng once again thought of the image of Shao Zhan sitting by the window with the wind blowing last night, and the way that gang of people in the mess hall was looking for trouble earlier, and became angry for some reason. “Where are they?”

The messenger boy had also been stopped by that gang and told to pass the message. “At… At Section A, in the alley next to the second building.” 

 

On the other side.

Tang Kai was planning to draw some pictures, and after talking about his situation at home for a bit, he turned the topic back. Now that this Art God Xu Sheng wasn’t drawing anymore, not only did it hurt him, it also hurt his mother.

Hurt because the art industry had lost a genius! It was the loss of all major art academies! 

Xu Sheng’s drawings from two years earlier were still hanging on the walls of his mother’s art studio.

Tang Kai was just about to type, when he received a message.

S: I’m leaving, I have something to do.

Kang Kai: ? 

S: I need to go pick a fight.

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