128 A Prince to Women, a Public Enemy to Men

With such a massive commotion, how could the Twelfth Platoon not react?

It was just that the Seventh Platoon’s instructor had arrived too quickly, before their own instructor had even had a chance to teach them how to respond.

After a few seconds of rest, the Seventh Platoon began to roar again:

"If I tell you to come, you come! If I tell you to sing, you sing! Being coy and shy is not the way, you look like—a big girl!"

*Clap~~* (The applause went from soft to loud and back to soft)

*Clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, clap, hey!* (Jeering)

"If they won't sing, we will!"

"My heart is waiting, forever waiting~~~~ My heart is waiting~~~ waiting~"

After this long chant, the Twelfth Platoon finally realized what was happening and struck back:

"The East Wind blows, the war drums beat, the Twelfth Platoon, who do we fear?

The red flag flutters, fluttering left, fluttering right, our singing is better than yours, better than yours~

If you tell me to sing, I’ll sing, but where does that leave my pride? If you tell me to sing, I refuse to sing, what can you do about it, what can you do~

The comrades opposite are starting to sing, starting to sing, starting to sing; don't be frightened by our morale!"

Seventh Platoon:

"Winter melon skin, watermelon skin, the other side isn't allowed to play dirty!"

Competition always managed to stir up people's enthusiasm. At this moment, everyone felt as if they had been injected with adrenaline. Even Lin Xia felt the weariness of the entire day vanish, replaced by a sense of vitality.

Returning home, Lin Xia still felt a lingering excitement, an impulse to write the scenes of military training into her novel.

With this in mind, she took action.

She jotted down a few notes on her computer and then continued to look for information. Baidu Baike was an open, free online encyclopedia launched by the Baidu company; its beta version had come out in April of this year, and the official version would not be released until 2008.

Therefore, looking up information right now was not all that convenient, and the workload of collecting and organizing content was quite massive. Whenever Lin Xia felt frustrated by these dry materials, she couldn't help but think of the old master Jin Yong.

Back when he wrote, "Flying Snow Covers the Sky and Shoots the White Deer, Laughing at the Book, the God, the Hero, Leaning on the Green Mandarin Duck," there was no internet, and none of these Baidu Baike-like resources.

It was truly admirable.

Thinking this way, the irritation that occasionally arose would dissipate. Over time, Lin Xia’s composure grew better and better.

If she could handle such tedious work, what else could easily provoke her anger?

Apart from not being used to it on the first day, Lin Xia gradually grew accustomed to it over the following days.

Furthermore, the instructors knew that the purpose of this military training for the students was to exercise their bodies, not to train them into hardened soldiers. Thus, they turned a blind eye to many things as long as it was acceptable.

From standing at attention and at ease, to marching in step and at attention, everyone slowly adapted to the intensity. During the breaks in place, they even had the mood to tell jokes, rather than drooping their heads in misery like the first day.

During a break today, as soon as they sat down, they heard the instructor say, "Is there anyone who needs to use the restroom? If you need to, go quickly. You only have five minutes; anyone who exceeds the time will be punished by standing."

Good grief, this was truly inhumane—even going to the bathroom was timed.

Sun Xiaoxiao whispered to Lin Xia: "Being a soldier really isn't a job for humans. Those who can be soldiers are gods!"

Lin Xia glanced at her. "Now you know. Why were people like Dong Cunrui and Huang Jiguang able to endure? It’s because they were trained to do so when they became soldiers."

Sun Xiaoxiao sighed, "They really are remarkable people! Tell me, would any girl want to be a soldier? Who could stand this?"

"How could there not be? So many girls want to be soldiers. Just imagine: in a military uniform, looking heroic and spirited, facing criminals without changing expression, spinning, kicking—taking down a man in a few swift moves. How cool is that!"

Hearing Lin Xia describe it, Sun Xiaoxiao seemed to see the scene and dreamed, "That’s right! To be invincible, walking the world like a female knight without any fear—how awesome!"

"Forget it. With your personality, a 'knightess'? You’d probably retreat after two days of training," Zhao Qian retorted mercilessly.

Lin Xia nodded. "Yes, don't look at how they subdue criminals in a few moves; the training is the real deal, not like our play-pretend stuff. If they say stand at attention for four hours, you stand for four hours without moving a muscle. And there’s running with heavy loads, running on rugged mountain roads, and when there’s a mission, not being able to bathe for ten days or half a month. Can you handle that?"

Sun Xiaoxiao shivered a few times. "Soldiers are truly great."

"Yes, soldiers are indeed the greatest people."

"Whoo—" The whistle blew. "Five minutes are up. Assemble!"

Lin Xia and the others quickly stopped their conversation, stood up, and snapped to attention.

Seven days passed neither too quickly nor too slowly, and soon it was the last day.

In the morning, there was a grand review, followed by each platoon marching around the field to show the school leaders what they had learned over the seven days, and then a banner was awarded to mark the end.

The afternoon was a half-day off, and the next day the school held an orientation for the freshmen, after which the formal high school life began.

Every school's opening ceremony was boring, whether in middle school or high school, and Rongcheng No. 1 High School was, of course, no exception.

Lin Xia sat on the crowded playground, leaning on Xie Xitong’s shoulder, thinking boredly.

Unlike the playground in Xishui Town that was planted with camphor trees, this school looked very modern with its red rubber track and green plastic lawn. The smell of sweat and the buzzing crowd filling the air made Lin Xia feel drowsy.

Her eyelids grew heavier and heavier. With the faint scent of Xie Xitong and the lingering laziness of late summer, she drifted off to sleep without realizing it.

It was as if she had lost consciousness.

In her dream, she seemed to be back at that small, dilapidated playground in Xishui Town. The track was made of black cinders, the middle was grey-yellow dirt, and on both sides were many tall, aged camphor trees.

That year in her third year of middle school, the classroom was right next to the playground. Every time class ended, she would walk to the playground alone, go under the camphor trees, and carve her current mood into the bark with a small knife, stroke by stroke.

What was the third year like?

What was her mood at the time?

She didn't remember.

People’s ability to forget is truly profound!

Lin Xia felt a bit dazed. For many noons, she had rested on her desk, the sunlight from outside the window filtering through the camphor trees, hitting the tips of her hair, carrying its unique, fresh fragrance.

Lin Xia was nudged awake. She opened her eyes to see Sun Xiaoxiao’s face, and turning her head, she saw Xie Xitong’s smiling eyes.

"You're really something, managing to fall asleep like this. Tongtong’s shoulder is probably sore from you leaning on it."

She sat up straight and stretched, yawning. Lin Xia asked lazily, "What time is it? Why isn't it over yet?"

"Look." Zhao Qian pursed her lips. "Brother Chen will be up soon. If it weren't for him and Ah Xin being representatives of the excellent students and freshmen today, we wouldn't be here suffering. It’s really hot."

Twisting her neck, Lin Xia said, "I just had a dream. I dreamt of my old middle school. It’s been over a year since I went back there. I wonder how the camphor trees are doing, and if the words I carved are still there."

"Are you talking about your hometown, Xishui Town?" Xie Xitong was quite interested. "When you have time, take us there to play. Staying here all the time is so boring. Going out for a walk and clearing our heads would be nice."

"Yeah, yeah! We can also see the place where Xiaxia grew up. Let’s go this Sunday, how about that?" Sun Xiaoxiao was a fun-loving person and immediately agreed with both hands.

Lin Xia gave a wry smile. "There’s nothing fun in the countryside, and there’s nowhere for me to take you."

"Oh, what places in the country haven't we been to? It’s exactly because it’s the countryside that we haven't seen it," Sun Xiaoxiao said. "It’s settled then. We’ll have Brother Chen drive us there for a ride."

Xie Xitong glanced at Lin Xia, whose expression remained normal, and thought to herself, *Only a young lady like Sun Xiaoxiao would say something so thoughtless. It’s fortunate that Lin Xia has a good temperament and has always known Xiaoxiao’s nature, so she doesn't hold it against her. If it were someone else, wouldn't they be angry? Aren't her words implying that Lin Xia is from the countryside?*

She laughed and said, "Xiaoxiao’s words make no sense; it sounds like you’re mocking Xiaxia. Aren't you afraid she’ll get angry?"

Lin Xia smiled. "Not at all. If others don't know her personality, we certainly do. With that mouth of hers, who knows how many people she’s offended? If I got angry every time, I’d be exhausted."

Sun Xiaoxiao quickly grabbed Lin Xia’s arm. "Good Xiaxia, I didn't mean that. Don't listen to Tongtong sowing discord; she’s just jealous that we’re so close."

"---Next, let’s invite the representative of the excellent students, Chen Zimo from Class 7, Grade 2, to the stage to speak to everyone..."

"Shh, stop talking, Brother Chen is on stage." Zhao Qian reminded them. Everyone looked up and saw Chen Zimo in a white shirt walking onto the podium as if he were taking a leisurely stroll.

It was just the simplest white shirt, yet he wore it with such elegance. His indifferent face and slightly cold corners of his mouth—just looking at him like this was enough to make one's heart race.

Such a Chen Zimo was the dream of countless young girls.

"Wow, so handsome."

"So cool."

"So elegant."

"He’s just like Yin Shaoze from Liu Yan’s *Girl, Don’t Cry*. He’s such a prince! Ah!"

"Yes, yes, such a prince! I’m so excited!"

From the moment he stepped onto the stage, the girls below exploded.

Hearing the last sentence, Lin Xia and Xie Xitong couldn't help but look at each other and laugh.

He really was a "prince"!

Looking at Zhao Qian and Sun Xiaoxiao beside her, they were already completely captivated by Brother Chen.

After a long time, Sun Xiaoxiao finally came back to her senses. "Tsk tsk, Brother Chen really has style. I’ve known him for so many years, but every time I see him, he still mesmerizes me."

"Mhm, it's dangerous, too dangerous." As she spoke, she shook her head, making Lin and Xie laugh again.

With such an appearance, all the girls in the audience were like they’d been injected with adrenaline, everyone full of positive energy. The buzzing sound on the playground turned into loud, excited chatter.

As for the boys, they all looked dejected and started gossiping on the side.

Looking like that, he was simply the public enemy of all men!

PS: If nothing goes wrong, there will be another update tonight. Please support the official version; my neck is killing me! Thanks to all who support the official version, and thanks to every reader who tipped. Your support is my greatest motivation.