Li Xueqing looked ghastly. She was about to say something when Yang Dawu hollered, “Shut up!”
Ma Zheng folded his arms and turned around unhappily.
Jiang Chun tried to smooth things over, saying, “Ma Zheng, you’re the only man in your group. Just let your female comrades have their way.”
“I was letting her have her way too much, that’s why this person pushed her luck.” Ma Zheng was furious. “Li Beinian has been practicing every day, and she’s more capable than me. In the end, she doesn’t even kick up a fuss, whereas this Li Xueqing creates a din, that’s so annoying!”
“Enough!” Ma Lin stood up. “You’re all my soldiers. It’s just 200 push-ups. I’ll do 100, Ma Zheng will do 40, and the other two girls will get 30 respectively. Let’s just get it done and over with.”
“No way!” Yang Dawu rejected without thinking, his expression sullen. “It’s true that you’re in the wrong that they don’t get along, but this is their punishment!”
The others were watching this like it was a joke, some of them were whispering.
Li Beinian was silent for a long time before she finally said, “Indeed, there’s no such logic. We’re at the bottom of the group. We admit it. There are 200 push-ups. Ma Zheng and I will take 70 each. Li Xueqing’s stamina is poor, so she’ll take 60.”
Li Xueqing gritted her teeth and kept quiet.
Ma Zheng wasn’t convinced. “Why should I? I won’t have it. I’ll do 50 at most. Let Li Xueqing do the rest.”
“Then you’ll take 50, Li Xueqing will take 60, and I’ll take 90.” Li Beinian sighed. “This time, Li Xueqing is the weakest link. However, we’re a team too. We haven’t been encouraging her during training. She has never suffered like this before, so it’s normal that she can’t take it. I take 90, it’s not a problem.”
Ma Zheng’s expression changed. “It’s not that I can’t do so much. I just feel that it’s not worth it.”
“Yes, it’s not worth it.”
“Beinian, she’s slacking off. Don’t spoil her.”
“Forget it.” Li Xueqing gritted her teeth and shouted, “I’ll do a hundred, and each of you will do fifty, alright!”
Ma Zheng said with disdain, “You’re talking about a hundred? You’d be half dead doing fifty. Sigh, forget it. Let’s just do as Beinian says. You’ll take sixty, and we’ll take seventy each.”
After settling on this, the three of them started their push-ups.
Yang Dawu looked at Ma Lin and said, “You, five-kilometer weight-bearing cross-country!”
Ma Lin straightened up and saluted. “Yes!”
Everyone was speechless.
“Five-kilometer weight-bearing cross-country!”
“This punishment is too severe!”
“This is the training of the special forces. They’ve retired and yet have to handle small matters like us. There’s not much time left, so everyone should make good use of it.” Liu Wei hinted, “Some people who can’t do it should just pack up and go, it’s not easy for the soldiers.”
After that, the group was dismissed.
After completing 70 push-ups, Li Beinian felt like she was about to die.
Her face and body were drenched in sweat.
The moment she was done, she laid on the ground catching her breath.
Ma Zheng had done just over 60 and counting.
Li Xueqing, on the other hand, was much weaker. She had only managed to achieve thirty over, and her hands were shaking.
The surroundings seemed to have fallen silent. Li Beinian stared at the yellowish-green field in front of her in a daze.
After some time, a shiny black shoe appeared overhead.
It was a pair of exquisite men’s leather shoes.
Li Beinian was stunned more a moment and looked up.
The blazing sun hung high above the man’s head. Li Beinian squinted.
However, she recognized him immediately.