Next, the students needed to practice matching their strides. Those who marched well would be selected for the square-shaped military parade while those who didn’t would be selected for the square-shaped military boxing parade. Every day, the students would gather at the center of the field to practice military boxing. The only problem was that the center of the field was the field that the university had just freshly repaired. The grassy ground had been cleared out, leaving behind yellow soil. When wind swept the ground, sand would fly as well.

Wang Xiang found it hard to imagine why history books didn’t make records of the number of deaths that occurred during military parades in the fall in ancient times.

The guys and girls practiced on their own. Zhao Yuan was part of the frontline troops and the one beside him was Lin Wenxi. Zhao Yuan had been upset in many ways ever since drinking Lin Wenxi’s “Desiccation Water of Lin Clan” and the incident gave rise to the feeling of wanting to fight Lin Wenxi. When he observed Lin Wenxi coolly, he discovered that the latter had a weakness.

Thus, whenever Wang Dong would yell the rallying cry of “one, two, one” in front, Zhao Yuan would perform it to the best standard while mouthing the words “one, one, two; one, one, two” over and over to Lin Wenxi.

Lin Wenxi was already struggling to catch up in the first place. When he heard Zhao Yuan’s unceasing interruption, he obediently followed the wrong order several times and caused a great disorder in the parade.

“Lin Wenxi, step out of the ranks!” Following Zhang Dong’s imposing order, Lin Wenxi took a goose-step forward without hesitation.

“Try and march again.”

Frowning, Zhang Dong watched Lin Wenxi’s steps while helping the latter to follow the tempo.

“One, two, one; one, two, one…” In the beginning, Lin Wenxi marched very fluidly. Wang Xiang was also naturally reminded of a song lyric: “Majestic he steps into his office, dignified he strides to the courtroom.” He found this kind’s posture to be rather beautiful. However, after Lin Wenxi made two trips, everyone stared helplessly as he lost all sense of direction. The same time he moved his left foot, he would swing his left arm. The same time he moved his right foot, he would swing his right arm. He looked like a duck learning to walk. It caused thunderous laughter in everyone. The thing was that he was born with such a delicate and unique temperament. It was like a flawless gem that had a black dot on its surface; the blemish would become very apparent.

Naturally, Lin Wenxi was feeling extremely vexed deep inside. After marching for a while earlier, he heard a faint cry of “one, one, two” coming from god knows where. Though the voice was faint and barely audible, it nevertheless ended up occupying his whole mind and causing him to lose all reason. He glowered at the only one who stood perfectly straight without a change in expression, Zhao Yuan. He was very clear that if he skinned Zhao Yuan’s face, he would undoubtedly see an unconcealed large grin underneath.

“You, go over to a corner and practice by yourself.” Zhang Dong guided the other students in practicing the goose-step as if nothing had occurred.

“Report: I wish to request the help of the platoon leader.” For the first time in history, Lin Wenxi didn’t act mute.

Zhao Yuan felt a secret stab of fear. Such a request wouldn’t only delay his own training but also hinder the use of the frontline troops. The military instructor would likely disagree.

Zhang Dong nodded and ordered Zhao Yuan to step out of the ranks. Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi stared at each other as they stood face-to-face.

“You’re the one who caused this trouble,” Zhao Yuan said, smiling.

Lin Wenxi cast him a cold glance and walked to the middle of the training ground without permission. It was currently noon with the sun hanging directly overhead, spilling dazzling, and luminous sunlight. Standing under the hot sun was enough to make anyone feel dizzy. Even the strictest instructor, Zhang Dong, chose to conduct the training at the side of the training ground. Some of the other instructors even shifted their students to train in tree shade.

“Lin Wenxi, stop standing under the sun… Lin Wenxi, have you gone mad?” Zhao Yuan couldn’t help feeling startled. He felt very depressed.

Lin Wenxi felt a tiny sliver of the doubt after hearing Zhao Yuan’s contradictory words but remained calm and continued to march seriously on the field. Naturally, Zhao Yuan once again used his trick but Lin Wenxi didn’t react at all. For two consecutive days, Zhao Yuan felt as if his skin was close to shedding after standing under the hot sun. Lin Wenxi, however, seemed completely untouched. His skin still looked so glossy, soft, and tender. Zhao Yuan was uncomfortably parched as he stared at the four bottles of water tied to Lin Wenxi’s waist.

Zhao Yuan disregarded the rules and swiftly seized a bottle of water from Lin Wenxi. He cheerfully said, “Since you’re getting me to be the substitute instructor, you’ll have to pay tuition fee.” Lin Wenxi didn’t expect Zhao Yuan to be so shameless as to steal two bottles of water. It wasn’t until Lin Wenxi feigned dizziness that a flustered Zhao Yuan immediately returned a bottle to him. The two of them came to a tacit understanding to live in harmony for the time being.

The next day, the two of them continued their little warfare. However, Zhang Dong could no longer stomach it and went over to investigate.

“He has a limited talent for this. I think I’m incapable of training him well.” Zhao Yuan spread out his hands, looking as if there was nothing he could do.

Lin Wenxi took out a media player from his belt without a word and turned it on with a slight pop. Then, a voice that sounded as if it was delighting in someone else’s misery reverberated: “One, one, two; one, one, two. How obedient! You sure play along well! Pa, pa!” The final sound was Zhao Yuan happily clapping his hands as he cheered. Right now, it was like two resounding slaps on his face.

Zhang Dong’s expression immediately darkened. He stared fixedly at Zhao Yuan like a sudden bolt of lightning that split open a dense sea of dark clouds. Zhao Yuan couldn’t help trembling deep inside but he also quickly calmed down. He stood straight, perfectly following the military standard, and looked at Zhang Dong with rapt attention. The more obedient he was at this moment, the lighter his punishment would be. Zhao Yuan was well-versed in such affairs indeed.

“Lin Wenxi, tell me how you’d like to punish him.” Zhang Dong looked at Lin Wenxi. In a moment of absent-mindedness, Lin Wenxi felt as if he experienced a misconception. The way Zhang Dong looked at him seemed like the warm sunshine spilling through the eaves on a winter day. Zhang Dong’s gaze also looked the moonlight borne by the tiny wings of a firefly on a midsummer night. Lin Wenxi had never experienced anyone’s gaze at such a close distance. More importantly, he had never seen such a gentle gaze from a man.

“Lin Wenxi,” Zhang Dong said in a chiding tone. The gentleness on his face immediately turned into a strict coldness. Lin Wenxi couldn’t help feeling startled and promptly said, “Let him teach me until I learn how to march.”

“That’s considered a punishment?” Zhang Dong couldn’t help feeling doubtful.

Lin Wenxi smiled without replying. However, Zhao Yuan looked as if he had encountered his greatest enemy.

Zhao Yuan’s entire face seemed close to shedding off a layer of skin after tanning under the sun every day. On the other hand, Lin Wenxi’s face was painted with a layer of blush the color of sunset. The natural color blessed him an implicit charm. However, his bad sense of direction seemed to be completely gone. Zheng Kai and Wang Xiang were bewildered but Lin Wenxi ignored them. When Zhang An’an saw that Wang Xiang was still confused, she jabbed him hard on the temples. “Don’t you understand? He must’ve put on sunscreen of decent quality! How could a little uke who cherishes his face like him not have some form of skincare?”

The next day, Lin Wenxi habitually opened his bottle of facial cream and wiped it all over his face. Then, a spicy smell assailed his nostrils and his face immediately felt a searing heat!

Lin Wenxi hastily rinsed his face and glimpsed at Zhao Yuan who had just wiped the grin off his face and was burying his head into the pillow.

On the way to the military training, Zheng Kai felt that something was very wrong with Zhao Yuan.

“Why are you shaking your ass?” Zheng Kai asked rudely.

“Don’t you have better things to do than staring at someone’s ass?” Wang Xiang walked over to him.

Zhao Yuan patted Lin Wenxi’s shoulders. “What… did you do?”

Lin Wenxi walked away without saying a word.

Zhao Yuan, as the platoon leader, was late to the training.

After running ten laps around the field as a punishment and returning to the platoon, he put in a request for Lin Wenxi to learn under a different deputy instructor. Lin Wenxi resolutely refused the request. Zhang Dong looked pensive before putting on a cold smile. Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi were sent away with depressed looks, having been kicked off to the military boxing parade. There were only dozens of students that were slowly being eliminated to the military boxing parade. They could barely form a team. They would eat dust and soil over at the field each day, all while shouting, “The first style: protect the crotch!”

Lin Wenxi and Zhao Yuan turned into a pair of clay dolls. In the end, they were invited back to their class.

“How’s your progress? Can you match up to others’ strides now?” Zhang Dong asked without even raising his head.

“Yes,” Lin Wenxi and Zhao Yuan replied dispiritedly.

“I can’t hear you!” Zhang Dong bellowed. The two of them felt a sudden jolt of shock. They puffed their chest, sucked in their abdomen, and stood perfectly straight. They replied loudly, “Report: Yes!”

“Show me!” Following Zhang Dong’s order, the two of them made a round trip to demonstrate their marching while the rest students were taking refuge in the shade under trees. Just then, dark clouds suddenly covered the sky. It was as if a hole had been carved out of the sky and cold wind unexpectedly swept the area, bringing with it the pouring of water from the Milky Way. It turned into tens of thousands of dipper that rained down below. Just as Zhao Yuan was quietly whining about the hardship he was experiencing, he saw Lin Wenxi remain engrossed in marching without a change in expression. Lin Wenxi demonstrated the march step by step, surprisingly perfectly. Drenched, the two of them returned to the platoon under their classmates’ jest.

In order to catch up to everyone’s pace, Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi suspended their internal strife for the time being. They began putting in extra effort into their training. Whenever Zhang Dong waved his huge hand, the two of them would often leave the platoon all by themselves to undergo special training. Unexpectedly, Zhao Yuan displayed a startling talent in this area. Not only was he able to grasp the gist of every movement at once, but he was also able to master it at once. His mind and body were united as one, allowing him to learn extremely quickly. By contrast, Lin Wenxi’s memory was indeed impressive but the coordination of his movements was unnatural and unregulated. He kept falling further and further behind.

“We’ll all keep an eye on you, okay?” Zhao Yuan told Lin Wenxi, happily requesting from Zhang Dong the permission to return to the platoon and train. Thus, a wonderful scene appeared in the class. While everyone was training in a square-shaped formation, Lin Wenxi practiced by his own in a corner.

When it was a little after nine, the military songs choir came to an end and everyone was dismissed. However, Zhao Yuan had been unable to detect Lin Wenxi’s whereabouts for many consecutive nights. The only thing he knew was that Lin Wenxi would quietly tiptoe in past midnight and return to his bed to sleep only when it was close to one am. The uniform bedtime during the military training was before 10.30 pm and the military instructor would come and inspect the rooms unscheduled after that hour. That was because the next day, the instructor would have to wake up at 5.30 am to arrange internal affairs and welcome the inspection. Zhang Dong wasn’t quite as meticulous when it came to this aspect. He sought only results as well as for students not to arrive late and leave early, train seriously, and comply with the discipline. It didn’t matter to him if the students slept a little later. Thus, he had only inspected two times since the beginning of military training.

That night, Lin Wenxi returned to his dormitory very late. Once he came back, he immediately looked for his cell phone using a flashlight. Zhao Yuan peeked his head out of his top bunk and said happily, “Instructor Zhang came to inspect our dorm today. Oh, you didn’t bring your phone. When we called you, it’s sitting there making a helpless noise, a helpless noise…”

Lin Wenxi retorted coolly, “Thief!”

Zhao Yuan couldn’t help feeling panicked. “You’re the one who left it behind! It’s not my fault!”

Lin Wenxi said coldly, “Despicable! You don’t even dare to admit your wrongdoing after committing it!”

Seeing as his reputation was about to be tainted, Zhao Yuan loudly cried, “Don’t accuse me of things I’ve not done! No matter how you put it, I’m not the one who did it!”

Lin Wenxi said, “I don’t care how you dispute this.”

Zhao Yuan felt both angry and panicked. He couldn’t help hitting hard on the frame of the bed and then on the bedside. The bed was unable to resist the force and trembled. Zhao Yuan could feel the pain reaching deep into his bone marrow and sucked in a cold breath. The commotion had awakened both Zheng Kai and Wang Xiang, who vaguely heard the sound of people arguing. Zheng Kai said impatiently, “If it’s not you, then it’s not you. Why are you wasting your saliva?” Wang Xiang seriously explained things to Lin Wenxi. “It’s really not Zhao Yuan. I’m the one who found your cell phone.” When Zhao Yuan heard his words, he knew that his unjust treatment was being washed clean and he felt relieved of a burden. He then smugly awaited Lin Wenxi’s apology.

“Oh. Of course, I know that,” Lin Wenxi replied placidly. Then, no other sound came from him.

“You!!!” Zhao Yuan was so infuriated that he felt like his lungs were about to explode. He wanted to retaliate yet he didn’t wish to disturb his other dorm mates. Thus, he lay down on the bed while struggling. A few words from Lin Wenxi had successfully provoked him to this state. Lin Wenxi was too despicable!