The girls of the female Dorm No. 419 invited Zhao Yuan to tea.
"You embarrassed him so much in public! You overdid it!" Zhang An'an said. "Did you see his gaze earlier? It was as sharp as a knife! It was so cold that it made one's liver and lung shiver! Moreover, he deserved credit for maintaining discipline and even when he was punished, he didn't show the slightest bit of reaction. He really knows how to grasp the bigger picture. I think Zhao Yuan will have a hard time nailing him." Zhang An'an was still having lingering fears over Lin Wenxi's gaze when they were in the square-shaped military boxing parade.
"No... I was doing it to vent anger on behalf of Wanxin," Zhao Yuan retorted self-righteously.
"Venting anger? That's one way to do it. But if you overdo things, how will you 'bend' him?" Shu Xiaoman interrupted.
"I think... it doesn't matter... whether he's 'bent' or not. We don't have to go all the way," Chen Wanxin suddenly said.
Zhao Yuan's eyes immediately brightened. "Why don't we drop this? We'll just let it be."
"No way, no way! That's completely insincere! What you have to do next is to treat him kindly! Suppress him and then praise him! When conditions are right, success will naturally follow!" Zhang An'an laughed while clapping.
After thinking about it, Chen Wanxin reluctantly nodded.
"I think the two of us must do something to suppress him or success will be far out of grasp," Zhang An'an said, smiling.
"What are you going to do?" Inevitably, Shu Xiaoman was on guard.
Zhang An'an flashed her a faint smile. "I care so much for Lin Wenxi; how could I bring myself to do anything to him?" She whispered into Shu Xiaoman's ears and the latter couldn't stop herself from howling in laughter.
"Could it be that you want me to make the move myself?" Chen Wanxin asked.
"No. If it's you, he'll either be dead or injured. Didn't you just make Zhang Liang from the next class swallow the love letter he wrote to you while crying the day before yesterday?" Shu Xiaoman immediately raised a hand to stop her.
"I heard there'll soon be a camp. There will be plenty of chances," Zhang An'an said, smiling.
The camp that Zhang An'an mentioned was the cruelest part of the military training for freshmen of Jifu University. The so-called training could be better described as a countryside survival contest. Students were free to form their own groups. Food was limited and each group would have to find a depot to replenish their stock. This year, the freshmen and sophomores would train together. There would be three thousand students in total. Only the first three hundred students to reach the depot would be qualified to enter the second round. The students would keep getting eliminated until the champion, first runner-up, and second runner-up were crowned at the final depot.
Wang Xiang was loudly reading the rules while slowly rubbing the stubble on his chin. He cast a sideward glance at Lin Wenxi's sleek-as-jade neck and chin and clicked his tongue while sighing.
"How boring." Zheng Kai smiled faintly. To him, any sort of university-level military training was nothing more than child's play.
"Don't tell me you're afraid, Brother Kai?" Wang Xiang chuckled. Then, he heard a loud noise as the board that supported his bed creaked miserably and a force penetrated the board to deliver a stinging pain on his butt. Wang Xiang glared at Zheng Kai with a grimace. Zheng Kai withdrew his hand, acting as if nothing had happened.
Zheng Kai indeed thought of such training as child's play. Being a graduate of the Green Fields Military Academy, he was a strong and sturdy person who had long experienced many battles. There was no way he could accept Wang Xiang mocking him like that.
Zhao Yuan changed his position after hearing their conversation and neatly made a paper airplane. When Wang Xiang opened his big mouth to ask again, the paper airplane flew straight into his mouth. He took out the paper airplane moodily. Zhao Yuan leisurely said, "Unfold the airplane and read what's inside."
Wang Xiang's mouth widened as he read. Zheng Kai also couldn't help holding his breath as he listened with rapt attention. Lin Wenxi maintained the state of being fast asleep or being dead. Zhao Yuan turned Wang Xiang's No. 23 jersey in his hands and tried to measure it against his body.
Jifu University was established five years ago by the Education Bureau Chief of the town, Lin Ziwei. It was a university that operated among commoners and had an incredibly strict militarized supervision and terribly harsh admission conditions. Every year, they would admit only one thousand and five hundred students to its nine majors of English language, Chinese language, sports studies, international trade, computer science, law, physics, communications engineering, and machine automation. The university would never publicly or directly attract new students, only leaving their faculty to gather students with proper qualifications from all over the country. Thus, in the first year of the university's operation, only a little more than one hundred students were recruited. Later on, the admission criteria were even relaxed until the talents of Lin Wenxi and Zhao Yuan's batch were fully recruited. However, students from all over the country rushed to enter this university for the sole reason that of the more than one hundred students of the first batch, ten were sent to the United States as exchange students. It was said that they went to Harvard, Yale, and MIT. That was only when everyone found out that the origin of the reputation of Jifu University was abroad.
Even the investment to establish the university that the omniscient Lin Ziwei garnered came from overseas. They might not be able to write recommendations for students to study in the top universities in the country, but the ivy leagues overseas were offering their olive branches to Jifu University instead. This way, the faculty didn't even have to run around. Students from all over the country who didn't wish to go the ordinary way would take the initiative to enter Jifu University.
However, the number of students who could receive a recommendation for the ivy leagues overseas was small and there were countless tests that the students would have to endure before getting their wish. The military training at the beginning of their admission in the past three months was a cudgel that aimed straight for their faces. The results of the military training and the countryside camp were their best rewards. The rewards of the past years weren't as good as this year's simply because the first student who graduated from Harvard in the past five years was too remarkable and helped Jifu University obtain an incredible advantage. Thus, the countryside camp was abruptly turned into a countryside survival contest for both freshmen and sophomores. The only thing was that the reward was so great that the five obstinate and unreasonable old men concealed all the details of the camp. In the beginning, they planned to only announce it at the first turning point. Unexpectedly, the granddaughter of one of the obstinate old men stole the information and it eventually ended up in Zhao Yuan's hands.
What sort of rewards were there?
The first thirty students to reach the endpoint would receive ten recommendation credits each. What was the use of recommendation credits? According to the final-year credit accumulation ranking of the university, the higher up the ranking one was, the better the university one could choose. For example, one could opt for Harvard or Cambridge. This was significant as the top scorer of every grade for cultural and societal practices would be eligible to obtain one credit. The top rankers of the various knowledge competitions organized by the university would also receive only one credit. If one was elected as the leading youngster of the small town or given a courageous award, one would receive five credits. Only those who were selected as having "moved the world" and made a name for themselves on the cultural or national competitions on various television stations would receive ten credits. Thirty credits would be awarded to those whose papers, inventions, and the like received national-level and international recognition. That was to say that the first thirty students who reached the endpoint would basically receive the treatment of someone who has "moved the world"!
The top three guys and three girls out of the thirty people would receive 30 recommendation credits. The champion for both genders would be eligible to apply for the recommendation for Harvard and receive a scholarship of 500,000 yuan.
"My brothers and sisters, could I be dreaming?" Wang Xiang felt as if he had been awakened from a dream but his words seemed to have plunged his listeners into dreamland instead.
Everyone in the dorm was burning with desire. Even Lin Wenxi, who was internally and externally cool, was inevitably moved. Simultaneously, he was also a little displeased. There was no word from his father at all about this sort of reward.
Very soon, someone came to investigate. This information was top secret before its announcement. The senior sisters had stolen the information and passed it onto Zhao Yuan. Naturally, she would have to collect it back from Zhao Yuan. Several soldierly-looking crews of the defense studies stared long and hard at the regulations that was once again folded into an airplane but left without saying a word. Later on, they heard that the senior sisters was expelled by the university. They also heard that Zhao Yuan was indifferent toward the outcome and didn't put on a show of being so touched that he would give himself to the girl. Due to this, the other senior sisters felt their enthusiasm dampened a little. It wasn't that Zhao Yuan was indifferent. Rather, he had simply picked up a paper by the road. He was simply thinking of teasing Lin Wenxi with it. After all, the kid hadn't spoken to him for several days.
Fortunately, the guards came to the conclusion that this had nothing to do with Zhao Yuan. Even so, this was a confidential matter that couldn't be publicized. Zhao Yuan was also rather happy and unrestrained to have many disappointed senior sisters stop bothering him.
The information on the reward had spread far and wide. The freshmen and sophomores now had a vested interest in the upcoming survival contest.
The group of fujoshi representatives, spearheaded by Shu Xiaoman, had already neglected the ultimate reward. Perhaps, it was better to say that they personally believed that they didn't have the capability of even getting close to the reward. They put all their focus on discussing how to make Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi into a pair. The verdict was working together to manufacture an exceptionally good opportunity for Zhao Yuan and help him succeed. However, the girls led by Chen Wanxin were used to watching scheming palace harem dramas. They had a very different idea when it came to the concept of manufacturing an exceptionally good opportunity. Thus, Zhao Yuan's supplies inexplicably disappeared. Wang Xiang, being a person who would rather advance and retreat together, shared his supplies with him. However, Wang Xiang's supplies disappeared as well. Thus, the members of the dorm discussed and came to the conclusion that everyone, except the weakling Lin Wenxi, would guard
Zhao Yuan abruptly pulled onto the drapery in a moment of panic. Pitch-black darkness shrouded the inside of the tent. He immediately turned on the light. The people outside would want nothing more than to break into the tent and see what was going on. However, they were afraid that the delicate Lin Wenxi would easily collapse. Thus, all of them transformed into the young imperial guards of the Ming Dynasty, searching for crevices in the tent or pushing open the draped door ever so slightly. Unfortunately, even though it was Wang Xiang who helped Lin Wenxi build the tent, Lin Wenxi had many nuisances helping him reinforce the tent. The tent was built so tightly sealed that not even wind could enter. Inside the tent, Lin Wenxi also heard the commotion outside. He said nothing but kept his hands over his eyes. "Hey, even if it's a girl who saw me like this, I don't think she'll have such a big reaction? Haven't you gone nude in your upper half?" Zhao Yua
The group traced the terrain under Wang Xiang's leadership and studied the topography of the mountain. To their surprise, they discovered that they didn't have to go down the mountain via the winding road and could instead follow the creek downward. They soon saw another mountain top, where the first supply point was located. The flow of the creek was neither fast nor slow. It wasn't a shallow creek either. Based on the topography of the mountain, Wang Xiang concluded that there couldn't possibly be a waterfall. Thus, it was completely safe for them to follow the creek downward. However, there would be strange stones protruding from the sides of the creek every now and then. If they went down from the coastal side, they didn't know if they would be able to get a direct route. A glimpse through the binoculars told them that there were already a significant amount of olive-green silhouettes hidden from the view in the forest beneath the mountain. From the looks of things
"Zhao Yuan!" Wang Xiang uttered a pained cry. If something bad happened to Zhao Yuan, it would be impossible for him to escape censure. He had studied the map and topography of the mountain very well. There was no way that there would be a waterfall here. For a moment, Zheng Kai forgot to release his grasp on Lin Wenxi. Only when Lin Wenxi began struggling that he remembered him and immediately let go. The two of them crawled to the shore. If the waterfall was about ten meters high, the bamboo raft would probably have hit the waters by now. The raft flowed along the current and swiftly disappeared out of sight. Meanwhile, the pool of water under the waterfall was so quiet that it was terrifying. Lin Wenxi couldn't help wanting to climb down the waterfall but Zheng Kai was dragging him across the water and hauling him up the shore. He could only stare foolishly at the deep waters underneath as if he was possessed. "Climbing is prohibited!" The
Sure enough, their journey to the second depot was much more difficult than getting to the first depot. With the girls stopping by every now and then to poke at the flora, their journey was greatly delayed. Zhao Yuan appeared a little anxious. He handed his knapsack to Wang Xiang and ran ahead of everyone else. He was unable to get through to Lin Wenxi on the phone. Several days ago, Zhang Dong had reminded them that the signal was very unstable on the mountain and requested the students to work in teams. Zhao Yuan was currently regretting not making Lin Wenxi stay earlier. The only thing was no one could guess what Lin Wenxi was thinking, with his temper and tendency to speak in half sentences! Zhao Yuan ran back to the spot where he separated with Lin Wenxi earlier and then traced him via two different directions for a good ten minutes. When he saw no sign of Lin Wenxi, he couldn't help feeling somewhat anxious. He cleared his throat and yelled all over the place. Th
Lin Wenxi fell on the ground, and his face twisted in agony. He was a little out of breath. "What's wrong? You're still so lively earlier!" Zhao Yuan felt Lin Wenxi's forehead. "I feel... weak all over," Lin Wenxi said with great difficulty. "Eat something first." Zhao Yuan then went off to look for Lin Wenxi's knapsack everywhere, only to find some of the food items and commonly-used tools soaked. The tent had already flown god knows where. It turned out that this pit was a large slope. When he looked down, he saw a muddy marsh with a sign erected atop: "Danger. Do not enter." Having experienced falling down a waterfall, Zhao Yuan wouldn't try and force it. However, there was no way for Lin Wenxi to consume those things. Worried, Zhao Yuan propped up Lin Wenxi and tried to help him walk upward. Lin Wenxi dropped to a squat. "Make the call and tell them I'm giving up. I don't want to walk anymore. Just let me s
"Dear God! What did I just see?!" Shu Xiaoman's screech caused Zhao Yuan to immediately relax his hand. He said solemnly, "You know how to play along." Lin Wenxi instantly stopped crying and nodded. "Damn it! Isn't it just a little fall? You're just like a girl, crying that much! I didn't even say anything!" Zhao Yuan said loudly as he rubbed Lin Wenxi's hair roughly. He also tried weaving a braid with Lin Wenxi's hair. "Isn't it because you're too fat and squashed me?!" Lin Wenxi retorted hatefully. "I'm fat? Lin Wenxi, don't you think your reason is too far-fetched?" When Zhao Yuan saw that Lin Wenxi had yet to recover his senses, he had no choice but to add, "I just farted, that's all. To think you'll get such a fright that you fell down! How strange!" Lin Wenxi was momentarily stunned. He suppressed the smile that was threatening to show up on his face and replied, "Good that you know yo
The sun descended in the west, blanketing the world in a layer of sunset glow. The golden evening light spilled on a bunch of tired but excited faces. The air seemed to have become completely still as the autumn scenery stretched on before them. Silence fell over everyone, submerging them in tranquil peace. The setting sun returned to the mountain, unveiling curtains to the night and the starry sky that washed away all the daytime clamor. Every now and then, autumn insects would make some noise. The breeze passed through the forest and caressed their faces. The air was so fresh that one couldn't help wanting to take a deep breath. In the dark night without the city lights, young hearts could find those innocent flavors of life more easily. The group carefully studied the map before deciding on their route for tomorrow. However, they found out that they were still nearly one hundred kilometers away from their second stop. Everyone estimated that they had unexpectedly wa