Chapter 149: Oasis
On the first day of formal military training, the students, wearing the shoddy military uniforms issued last night, hurriedly gathered on the sports field.
It was five in the morning.
As the homeroom teacher, Tong Yao had to get up early with the students. She had woken up at past four, prepared breakfast for Dongyang in advance, and then quietly went out. The sky was not yet bright. Under the dark blue sky, she felt sleepy even while walking.
“Class 9, assemble!”
Instructor Wang roared from a corner of the sports field.
Then, he had the student who had arrived earliest hold the class flag to serve as a marker.
Tong Yao took a look. The marker was none other than Xia Zhi. Her thin body looked even smaller under the huge flag.
There had been no class officer election last night, because it was a better way to choose after getting to know each other through military training. Even so, the class had quickly formed various circles. Humans are creatures who like to form groups, as if they would be eliminated and ostracized if they didn’t. They were all more active than the other.
Among the boys’ circles, the most popular was the boy named Li Minghe.
Looking at the star-studded Li Minghe, Tong Yao couldn’t help but frown.
She didn’t want the core of the class to be such a hooligan-like student. That would lead the whole class astray.
The queen bee among the girls was named Song Zhifei, and she was very familiar with Li Minghe. Her hair was yellowish and slightly curled. Her middle school entrance exam scores were so low in this bad school that it was like blatantly telling others, “I paid to get in.” On the day of registration, Tong Yao had told her to fix her hair, but she had said it was natural. When she called to ask, her parents also said so.
For a moment, she could only choose to believe it.
“Why is the assembly so slow!” the instructor roared. “You should have assembled in one minute, but you’ve dragged it out for five. You’ll be standing for an extra fifteen minutes later!”
The students began to complain in low voices with long faces.
“Who—is—talking!” The instructor’s voice was layered, one over the other.
His gaze slowly swept over, his expression almost ferocious. His fierce momentum instantly shocked the students. The students realized that this person would really hit people.
Tong Yao stood quietly on the side, watching the students line up according to their height.
In the end, she became the only scenery in the eyes of the students who were standing at attention.
In the early morning, the school leaders gave a speech about the military training. The sun gradually rose. After breakfast, the formal training truly began.
Standing at attention, resting, in a cycle. Five minutes of rest, half an hour of standing at attention. The people who had originally thought that standing at attention was not tiring also slowly began to be unable to hold on. Nearing noon, the sun was scorching. Only those who had experienced military training would understand how hot the sun was. 38 degrees Celsius outside, the heat wave rushed to meet them, as if they were being placed in an oven. Even the wind could not bring a trace of coolness.
Xia Zhi was not tall or short and stood in the middle, drenched in sweat.
Her legs had long since gone soft.
Every time Instructor Wang’s gaze moved away, she would take the opportunity to bend her knees to relieve her fatigue. When Instructor Wang looked over, she would quickly straighten up.
She felt that the instructor was very scary.
Under the scorching sun, Instructor Wang walked into the ranks, patted the spines of the students who were not standing straight, and pulled back the shoulders of the students who were not sticking out their chests and sucking in their stomachs. She pursed her lower lip, not wanting to be touched by others, so she tried her best to stand as standard as possible, and the price was that she was even more tired than before.
“Who told you to move?”
She heard the instructor behind her, to who knows whom, say coldly.
“Everyone, add five minutes.”
Everyone was very tired. Adding five minutes was simply fatal.
But no one dared to protest.
—Except for Li Minghe.
From the crowd, a voice that was not loud but clear was heard.
“Damn.”
The air became even quieter.
Instructor Wang, with his hands behind his back, walked to the source of the voice and asked calmly, “Who cursed?”
He was like a gathering storm cloud, who knows when he would thunder in anger.
Li Minghe raised his head defiantly and said, “I did.”
“Who told you to speak!” Instructor Wang’s face changed in an instant. He walked up to Li Minghe, his eyes wide with anger. “Did you report?!”
During military training, you had to report before you spoke.
Li Minghe fell silent, but his loose and sloppy posture showed his silent protest.
“You can’t stand properly, can you?” the instructor sneered. “Get out!”
Then, to everyone’s shock, Instructor Wang grabbed Li Minghe’s arm. The 1.8-meter-tall boy was dragged to the front by him like a little chicken. Even though he struggled hard on the way, he couldn’t resist the instructor’s strength.
“Then let everyone see your posture, and see if you can stand properly!”
Li Minghe’s clothes were messy. Being watched by the girls in the first row, he felt that he had been greatly humiliated.
“Because of him,” the instructor stood in front of the first row, pointed at Li Minghe, and then at the whole class. “All of you, stand for another ten minutes. I’m warning you, don’t pretend with me. If you’re fierce, I’m fiercer than you.”
In the class, no one dared to make a sound anymore.
**
So hot, so thirsty.
Xia Zhi licked her dry lips, feeling that her throat was smoking.
Some classes had already started to rest. That group of people were sitting in a shady place, pointing at their classes that were still standing, with pity, with mockery, and with criticism. Some instructors were fierce, and some were kind. Why were they assigned to such a fierce instructor?
Xia Zhi glanced at Teacher Tong, who was standing under the shade of a tree, reading a book. She suddenly understood that this was probably a kind of balance.
The military training was entirely the responsibility of the instructor. Many of the other homeroom teachers had gone back to the office or their dorms, but Teacher Tong had stayed here to accompany them.
“Reporting.”
A girl suddenly spoke up. It was Song Zhifei.
The instructor walked over. “Speak.”
“I’m not feeling well. I want to rest for a bit.”
“…” The instructor was silent for a moment, then tossed his head to the side. “Alright.”
Song Zhifei showed a triumphant smile, sat down in a shady spot, and drank a large gulp of water, which made the boys’ hearts extremely unbalanced.
Isn’t it just because you girls have your periods!
Xia Zhi pursed her lips. She had a slight discomfort in her lower abdomen. Her period was in these few days. She was also very tired, and her heels were sore, but it wasn’t to the point where she couldn’t hold on. And, even if she were to ask for leave to rest, she wouldn’t dare.
The instructor was so fierce. Would he be impatient with the second girl who asked for leave and think it was an excuse?
She just stood there, never daring to shout the two words “reporting.”
Suddenly, a hand patted her shoulder.
“Add three more minutes,” the instructor said slowly.
Just now, she hadn’t held on. Her legs had gone soft, and her body had clearly tilted forward.
The whole class’s gaze seemed to be focused on her, because she was the sinner who had harmed the whole class.
Xia Zhi’s face was pale. In her self-blame, she bit her lip until it bled.
While the instructor was staring at them, Li Minghe, who was standing at the very front, fiercely gave the instructor’s back the middle finger.
Tong Yao saw it, but at this moment, she didn’t know what to do.
Under the scorching sun, the flow of time became exceptionally slow.
Is he trying to roast them into human jerky? Xia Zhi thought in a daze.
Instructor Wang glanced at his phone and, without any warning, said, “At ease.”
The students subconsciously took a step out with their left foot.
“Rest on the spot.”
There was no cheer, only a large wave of panting and exhaling. Regardless of whether they were boys or girls, they all sat down directly on the dusty ground, not even having the strength to move to a shady spot.
After resting for a while, they went to drink water. Many people’s water bottles had been placed in a shady spot before, but as the sun rose, that place was no longer shady, and they had all been turned into hot water.
Having hot water to drink was better than nothing.
And Xia Zhi, among a group of water bottles, was in a daze, unable to find her own.
Her water bottle was a finished bottle of Mizone. Because it was not easily deformed, she had bought it to use as a water bottle. Now she couldn’t find it. It had probably been cleaned up as trash.
“What are you looking for?”
A voice, like a clear stream, flowed into her heart.
She was suddenly a little nervous.
“Teacher Tong, I… I can’t find my water bottle.”
“What kind?”
“Mhm… just a drink bottle.”
“A cleaning lady came over just now. Maybe she took it,” a gust of wind blew. Tong Yao blocked her scattered hair with her hand, like a swaying wind chime, and her voice was the accompaniment for the wind chime. She took out her own water cup from her bag and said, “If you’re thirsty, you can drink mine first.”
Xia Zhi was in a daze for a moment.
Unconsciously, she had already taken it.
Teacher Tong’s water cup… was very exquisite, and also very small, probably only two hundred milliliters. When she shook it, she could hear the splashing of water inside.
With a “thump,” like her heartbeat.
“Th-thank you, Teacher Tong.”
For some reason, she didn’t dare to drink in front of Teacher Tong. She turned around, opened the lid, raised her head, and carefully poured it into her mouth.
The water was cold.
On such a hot day, it was like sweet dew.
As she was drinking, she suddenly trembled. Her lips accidentally touched the rim of the cup. She quickly took the cup away, and embarrassedly, she secretly looked back and found that Teacher Tong was not looking at her. Only then did she let out a sigh of relief.
“Teacher Tong…” she put the lid on the water cup and said in a small voice. “I’m done drinking. Thank you.”
“Mhm,” Tong Yao took the cup, put it back in her bag, and continued to read her book.
Xia Zhi suddenly didn’t know what she should do.
She squatted down quietly, and then slowly sat down. Her eyes glanced to the side, and she could see the lowered head of Teacher Tong, her serious and elegant face, her bright and dark eyes moving with the turning of the pages. Her head was a little lower, trying to see the name of the book. In the end, she was frustrated to find that it was all in English.
CAROL.
She remembered this word in the middle.
On the scorching sports field, it seemed that because of Teacher Tong, a small circle of serene tranquility had formed.
A few minutes later, a whistle for assembly came from where the instructor was standing.
“Ah, again?”
“I haven’t rested enough…”
“Damn,” this was said by Li Minghe.
But, this time, the assembly was not for standing at attention.
The instructor had brought a blanket from somewhere, spread it on the ground, and said, “Next, I will teach you how to fold a tofu block. After the lunch break, I will come to check the dorms. Whoever hasn’t folded it well… just wait.”
His words were full of a threatening tone.
No one dared not to watch seriously.
The instructor, while folding the blanket, told them stories about folding blankets in their unit.
The first-year high school students, having just come out of middle school, were actually no different from third-year middle school students. For a creature like an instructor, they were both in awe and curious.
Folding a tofu block required skill. The one the instructor folded was like a neat block of raw tofu, while the ones the students folded were like fried stinky tofu.
After the teaching was over, the instructor announced dismissal and to go to the cafeteria for lunch. Tong Yao was also tired. Looking at the time, she didn’t have a chance to buy groceries and cook, so she simply went to the cafeteria to get lunch for herself and Dongyang.
Fortunately, Dongyang was not a picky eater.
She went to the faculty and staff’s food window, got two bowls, and the cafeteria had a sign that said there was free soup. She turned to look and found a large vat. A student in a military uniform was in charge of serving soup to the people who came.
—It was Xia Zhi again.
Is this child a part-time warrior?
