Chapter 25: The Little Pitiful One’s Military Training – 5

Gu Xizhou became famous overnight. Following her online persona as a “little miserable wretch,” she became a hero in the eyes of No. 1 High School students, someone who dared to stand up to a villain.

Su Zhiyi wanted to treat Gu Xizhou’s wounds. At lunchtime, Gu Xizhou carried two boxed meals and followed Su Zhiyi up to the sixth floor.

Thankfully, her suppressant patch was working well, and no one could tell her gender. Even so, the walk from the second floor to the sixth floor made her heart pound with unease.

The omega dormitory… If the instructor found out, she’d be punished to death!

Well, they could just apply medicine downstairs. Why did she have to follow Su Zhiyi back to her dorm?

The two quickly arrived at the sixth-floor dormitory entrance. When Su Zhiyi pushed open the door to the empty room, Gu Xizhou froze stiff, not daring to move.

Oblivious, Su Zhiyi turned to look at Gu Xizhou and softly called out: “Come in. They haven’t come back yet; no one will see.”

Gu Xizhou’s heart hammered in her chest. No one seeing them is the biggest problem, right?!

She was an alpha!

0820 clicked its tongue, somewhat disdainfully: “Foolish young alpha!”

Gu Xizhou didn’t have that strong a sense of gender distinction, but 0820’s reminder suddenly struck her. The thought that this person might be her future “wife” made her ears burn bright red.

Cheeks hot, Gu Xizhou retorted in a very small voice: “Shut up!”

No one asked for your opinion.

Despite her brave words, when Su Zhiyi called her again, she still carried the two boxes, moving stiffly and awkwardly into the female omega dormitory.

The base provided standardized uniforms and bedding. Upon entering the dorm, the familiar sight of neat, cyan-green blankets folded like tofu blocks lined up in rows on white sheets met her eyes.

Su Zhiyi led Gu Xizhou further inside and stopped by a camp bed in the middle. “This is my bed. Have a seat for now.”

“Oh…”

The ponytailed girl, wearing a clean white t-shirt and military green pants, crouched down by the bed. One hand rested on the white sheet while the other reached under the bed to pull out her large 30-inch suitcase.

Her dark ponytail brushed across her slender shoulders, revealing a snow-white neck. The sight made Gu Xizhou’s heart race wildly.

0820 started complaining frantically in her mind: “Doesn’t the military base have an infirmary? Such a small injury requires medicine up here?”

“She has no sense of precaution, and you’ve forgotten all sense too, coming here so readily.”

“Ulterior motives, you deserve to get beaten up by Su Nanfeng.”

Gu Xizhou’s face flushed red as she mumbled her defense: “What does this have to do with Su Nanfeng…”

She just… she didn’t know why she’d agreed so thoughtlessly either.

Su Zhiyi dragged her big suitcase out, took out the first-aid kit, and placed it on the bed. She turned her head to look at Gu Xizhou. “Come over here and sit properly. Let me treat your wounds.”

Her bright eyes made Gu Xizhou’s ears burn even hotter.

This was a mistake, Gu Xizhou thought.

Even so, she obediently nodded. Following Su Zhiyi’s instructions, she carefully placed the food boxes on the small table by the bed, lifted the bedspread a little, and cautiously sat down.

Su Zhiyi took out band-aids and alcohol wipes. Looking back, she saw Gu Xizhou had lifted the sheet and was sitting on the bare board, and looked a little surprised. “Just sit directly; no need to be so fussy.”

Gu Xizhou placed her hands on her knees and pursed her lips. “Pants… dirty…”

They’d been training all morning, sitting on the ground constantly. Her pants were covered in grass dust. How could she just casually sit on Su Zhiyi’s bed?

Su Zhiyi didn’t mind at all, smiling brightly. “It’s fine, just dust them off.”

She held up the alcohol wipe and gestured for Gu Xizhou to look up. “Come on, lift your chin. Let me clean that wound.”

Gu Xizhou pressed her hands on her knees and instinctively raised her head, revealing the cut at the corner of her mouth.

Su Zhiyi’s alcohol wipe pressed down gently as she asked with concern: “Does it hurt?”

A familiar cherry fragrance mixed with the scent of sunshine slowly enveloped Gu Xizhou. Amidst her nervousness, she was utterly mesmerized by this warm scent.

Gu Xizhou’s mind went blank. All she could see were those gentle eyes. She answered dazedly: “It doesn’t hurt.”

The wound had already scabbed over. Where would the pain come from?

Su Zhiyi’s delicate nose wrinkled slightly in displeasure. “The instructors, really… They punished you all last night, couldn’t they have treated your wounds first?”

“A girl’s face is very important, you know.”

Gu Xizhou’s heart was beating totally out of control. She just mumbled an “Mm,” not knowing what else to say.

Su Zhiyi carefully cleaned the wound at the corner of her mouth. Looking at the swollen, bruised lip with a scabbed cut, she said worriedly: “Gu Xizhou…”

Gu Xizhou looked up at her. “Mm?”

Su Zhiyi sighed, looking at the wound on her small, fair face, hesitating: “I feel a little sorry… I thought Nanfeng, she…”

Su Zhiyi bit her lip, her expression troubled. “You’re alone, and they’re a whole group. I might be able to control Nanfeng, but I can’t control the others.”

“What if this happens again? What will you do?”

Last night’s incident was entirely staged by Ding Yi to curry favor with Su Nanfeng.

Su Nanfeng’s targeting alone was bad enough, but now Gu Xizhou had provoked a whole group. If these people, acting under their own names, targeted Gu Xizhou… Su Zhiyi didn’t know what to do.

Gu Xizhou pursed her lips, thought for a moment, and said: “I’m not afraid of them. They didn’t get the better of me either.”

“If they try anything like this again, they won’t have an easy time.”

At worst, we all end up in juvenile detention together. No one’s afraid of anyone here.

“Alright…” Su Zhiyi felt helpless. She put down the alcohol wipe, unwrapped a strawberry-print band-aid, and carefully applied it to Gu Xizhou’s face. “If there’s trouble, find a teacher. If they bother you again, you can also come to me.”

Su Zhiyi smoothed the band-aid down, put the leftover trash aside, and patted Gu Xizhou’s shoulder reassuringly. “I can help you.”

Gu Xizhou felt a warmth in her heart. The evaporating alcohol on her face stung her eyes.

Her hands on her knees clenched. After thinking a moment, she looked at Su Zhiyi, who was putting away the first-aid kit, and bit her lip. “Are you so nice to me… because Su Nanfeng bullied me?”

Su Zhiyi let out an “Ah?” and turned her head. Her bright eyes widened slightly.

Gu Xizhou’s heart was a mess. She stared straight at her and said: “If you’re doing this because Su Nanfeng bullied me, and you want to make amends for her or something… it’s really not necessary.”

“I told you before, you are you, and she is she.”

“My issues with her have nothing to do with you.”

She wouldn’t be so foolish as in the “future,” pouring her unspent anger and retaliation onto an innocent person.

Su Zhiyi was a good person. She deserved better.

Su Zhiyi closed the lid of the first-aid kit and considered her words for a moment. After a pause, she replied: “To say it’s not that… might not be entirely honest.”

“To say it is that… you’ll probably think I’m being overly polite.”

Su Zhiyi sighed softly and leaned towards Gu Xizhou. “Can’t you just accept that I can’t stand seeing you like this and want to be a little nicer to you?”

It seemed… maybe it was okay.

Gu Xizhou didn’t speak. Su Zhiyi picked up the lunch boxes beside them and shoved them into her arms. “Alright, let’s eat first.”

“Finish your meal and go back for your afternoon nap. You still have training this afternoon.”

Gu Xizhou stared blankly at the boxed meal in her hands. As Su Zhiyi sat down beside her on the bed without any airs, appearing completely natural, Gu Xizhou tensed up completely.

Like a startled cat, she jumped up, clutching the food boxes, and said hastily: “I… I’ll just go back to my own dorm to eat.”

“Thank you for treating my wounds.”

As she said this, she was about to flee, but a slender, delicate hand caught the hem of her clothes.

She turned her head and saw Su Zhiyi sitting on the bed, pulling at the fabric near her waist, looking up at her. “Can’t you stay and eat with me?”

Su Zhiyi’s lips turned down slightly, looking somewhat disappointed. “I just treated your wounds…”

Gu Xizhou’s voice stuck in her throat.

Su Zhiyi’s eyes were watery and pleading. “Please, there’s no one around at noon. Just keep me company while I eat.”

“O… okay…” Gu Xizhou’s head was spinning. She stammered, but still sat back down on Su Zhiyi’s bed to have lunch with her.

They opened their boxes and took out their chopsticks in near synchrony.

The cafeteria food was quite good: two meat dishes, two vegetable dishes, even a chicken drumstick. Gu Xizhou focused only on shoveling food into her mouth, wanting to finish quickly and run.

After a couple of bites, she heard Su Zhiyi ask: “Do you eat chicken drumsticks?”

Gu Xizhou turned, confused. “Huh?”

Su Zhiyi placed a chicken drumstick into Gu Xizhou’s box, looking a bit troubled. “I don’t think I can finish all this food, and I don’t want to waste it. Can you help me eat some of it?”

Gu Xizhou stared wide-eyed at the extra drumstick in her meal.

Su Zhiyi put on that pitiful expression again, pleading: “Please, help me out…”

0820 egged her on from inside her mind: “Hurry up and help her eat! The more you eat, the taller you’ll grow.”

Cheeks puffed out, Gu Xizhou mumbled dryly: “Fine…”

Fine, fine… What else could she do but eat?

In the vast dormitory, the two sat together on the bed, eating. Su Zhiyi brought up light, harmless topics, like the mosquitoes last night.

That’s when Gu Xizhou remembered her promise: “I have mosquito repellent, insect spray, and mosquito-repellent patches. I can bring them to you this afternoon…”

She’d meant to bring them in the morning, but she’d been so tired she’d forgotten completely.

Su Zhiyi’s eyes immediately lit up. “Great! Then later I’ll go with you to your dorm to get them.”

Gu Xizhou’s voice shot up in alarm. “No!”

Su Zhiyi blinked, puzzled. “Why not? You came up to our dorm, can’t I go to yours?”

“And I also need to check on Nanfeng and those bad guys.”

She had to make an appearance, let people know that Gu Xizhou was under her protection.

Gu Xizhou’s scalp went numb. Her mind was in a daze. “This matter…”

Su Zhiyi held her lunch box, looking at Gu Xizhou with her big, deer-like eyes, glistening. “Gu Xizhou, is it a yes or a no?”

Gu Xizhou thought for a moment, then gritted her teeth and said: “No.”

“I’ll go down and bring the stuff up to you.”

There was absolutely no way she was letting Su Zhiyi go to the female alpha dormitory. Otherwise, Su Nanfeng would definitely beat her to death next time!