Lin Wenxi looked at his watch. It was 3:00 am. He hurriedly pitched up his tent to have some rest. Zhang Dong walked back into the wood, nimbly jumped up and climbed up a thriving tree. As the tree had many branches, he put his backpack on some crossed branches and slept with his head on the backpack.
He squinted his eyes, looking at Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi mounted his flashlight to a tripod holder, letting the light shot toward the slowly flowing river. The river reflected the light back on his calm face. Zhang Dong somehow felt that the night became even quieter because of the calm look on Lin Wenxi's face. Lin Wenxi rubbed his tent and the hesitantly looked at Zhang Dong.
Zhang Dong smiled and turned around. He leaped to some other crossed branches of the tree and swiftly wove the smaller branches there into a nest for his head. After that, he tied himself up with two vines to create a swaying hammock for himself. He yawned relaxedly and glanced sideways at Lin Wen
"Your military instructor is talking to you. How can you be absent-minded?" Zhang Dong shouted and came at Lin Wenxi with claws. Lin Wenxi screamed and ran away. While running, he often looked back at Instructor Zhang, who still could not stand up straight and could only staggered along the way. Lin Wenxi laughed, and at that moment, a beam of sunshine happened to light up his face, making his smile look exceptionally bright. Zhang Dong was stunned upon seeing that laughing face. He quickened his steps to catch Lin Wenxi and lifted his fist. Lin Wenxi curled up upon seeing that, and then he felt that something was flicked off his head. The next moment, he saw a dried leaf falling down from his forehead. He looked back at Zhang Dong while beaming brightly. "Listen, if you want to talk, just say aloud. If you want to do something, just go for it. Don't be overcautious!" Zhang Dong shouted to Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi nodded earnestly.
Lin Wenxi looked at the photo silently, and gradually came out of his trance.A drop of tear flowed down his face and fell to the screen of Zhang Dong's cellphone. He wiped it off the screen and lifted up his head to look at the sky. By doing so, he stopped himself from crying. After that, he looked at Zhang Dong with a smile. "Come on. Be a man! When you want to cry, just cry. And when you want to laugh, just laugh," Zhang Dong tightly held Lin Wenxi's shoulders, his hands somewhat trembling. "Well, I remember!" Lin Wenxi replied smilingly. His smile was as bright as the clear blue sky. "I'll take a photo of you. You have to laugh out loud!" Zhang Dong smiled and lifted up his cellphone, with his camera focus on Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi raised a hand to make a V-sign and smiled slightly. "That's not good enough. Let's try again." Lin We
Lin Wenxi successively received calls from Wang Xiang, Zhang An'an and Shu Xiaoman during his trip. Some of them expressed concerns about his health, and some of them asked him what rank he thought he could get in the end. Wang Xiang teased him, "Have you collapsed to the ground?" Zhang An'an kept him asking if he was still sleeping together with Zhao Yuan in the same tent every night. When she knew that Zhao Yuan had left Lin Wenxi alone, she shouted in disbelief, "No way. That's impossible." Shu Xiaoman told him that they had returned to Jifu University and continued their miliary training there. She complained that she was a little bored with this training and said meaningfully, "Wenxi, when you come back, we'll have lots of fun. Hah-hah-hah." Upon hearing her dreadful laughter, Lin Wenxi was so scared that his heart began to race. He immediately hung up the phone. Tonight was the third night when Lin Wenxi slept on a tree alone. Wh
Zhao Yuan touched Lin Wenxi's forehead and said, "You caught up really quickly, and you recovered fast from the cold too." He turned to look at Zhang Dong and said, "Thank you very much for taking such a good care of my brother, Instructor Zhang." "That's alright, both of you are my brothers," Zhang Dong replied plainly. After that, he shouted to Zhao Yuan's military instructor, "You're really good for nothing. How come you look even more tired than your student?" Upon hearing that, Zhao Yuan's military instructor immediately stood upright and said, "Report to Instructor Zhang. My student never took a shortcut and kept traveling on the main road. He slept for only 3 or 4 hours a day, so did I. However, every day he would make a fire and fry some fish for himself. Besides, he had a good sleep every night before reaching the second depot. Compared to him, since the beginning of this military training, I've..." &quo
"Don't you think that you should go to take a shower first? You've changed from a lovely Young Pioneer into an ugly, dirty nestling from the desert." Someone sneered behind Lin Wenxi. Lin Wenxi turned around and saw Zhang Dong standing on the withered grass. It was late autumn, but Zhang Dong just wore a red vest and black shorts. Lin Wenxi looked down at himself and discovered that his olive green camouflage suit was smeared all over with his sweat and the mud that Zhang Dong had poured onto him. He thought to himself, "Wow, it has turned a muddy colour. It's indeed suitable for concealment in the desert. He stood upright and slightly lifted his chest while saying, "Well, you should say, 'You've changed from a marine into a desert eagle.'" "Stop showing off your flat pecs. Don't embarrass yourself." Zhang Dong smiled teasingly and added, "You haven't had a good rest for days! Go to take a sho
After talking with Shu Xiaoman on the phone, Lin Wenxi heaved a sigh of relief, and then he thought of his father. "My father asked me be ranked among the top ten. I've let him down this time. How am I going to explain this to him? Anyhow, I've tried my best. He'll at most punish me by asking me to recite a few more books. Well, he often asks me to read boring books, such as those on laws and civil service exams. He probably wants me to take the civil service exam in the future. "What's so great about being an official? My father worked hard his whole life, and even now when he serves as the deputy mayor of this city, he still can't let his family live a good life. My mother has to work day and night at the desk, sorting out her investigation notes and writing, and I have to be strict with myself all the time since my childhood and never be allowed to gain any benefit from my father's job. Back in my highschool, those schoolmates whose parents were officials were su
They met other boys from the same class in the small restaurant. Wang Xiang was very hospitable. He gathered everyone and drunk together. Lin Wenxi didn't want to drink at all. Shu Xiaoman was quite into it and Zhang An'an took a few drinks and asked Wang Xiang to pay the bills. Xin Wenxi was watching the waiter change the plates for Zhang An'an one after another. The plates were full of the broken shells of spicy shrimps, the bone of chicken feet, the fishbone of sweet and sour fish, the shell of clams and snails, the fat from pork belly and the scraps from tofu. Zhang An'an was using her chubby hands to slowly open a crab shell and sucked the butter in it. Shu Xiaoman persuaded Zhang An'an, "The crab is cold-natured, don't eat too much." She handed a dish of shredded ginger and said, "I know you don't like the taste of ginger, but you should eat some." Zhang An'an didn't respond. Shu Xiaoman was used to this. She saw the snacks
Zheng Kai shouted, "You want me to take the first place, I got it!" In a screaming cheer, Chen Wanxin pulled her face down. "Boring!" She turned and left. Zhang An'an and Shu Xiaoman shook their heads at the same time. "Lovers." Zheng Kai didn't expect Chen Wanxin to have any response. For a long time, he didn't know what to say. Hence, he passed the microphone to the champion of the girls' team, Wang Zhengjuan. Wang Zhengjuan wore a baseball cap and a yellow short-sleeved T-shirt. It was worn in black crocodile leather trousers. On her feet, it was a pair of well-designed shoes tailored by famous designers. The look was simple and refreshing. She might be recognized as a fair-skinned man if it was not for her black horsetail and the curve of her body. "Zhou Nannan, I love you!" Wang Zhengjuan shouted toward the field. It was really interesting that the confess came one after another. It was only two m