Considering that He Teng walked with a cane, He Zhilan took small steps, occasionally turning around to walk backwards in front of He Teng, facing him, watching as he walked forward one cane step at a time without any anger under the surprised gazes of others.
He Teng never allowed the opinions of others to alter his actions. In spite of how strange he looked in the military academy, attracting the attention and speculation of many, He Teng seemed unfazed.
"He Zhilan, stand up straight, turn around, and walk properly!"
Before He Teng could finish his sentence, He Zhilan had bumped into someone and was repeatedly apologizing. Only then did she hear He Teng’s words, stuck her tongue out, and reluctantly returned to He Teng’s side.
Watching He Zhilan’s behavior, He Teng fell into silent laughter, "That’s what you get for not walking properly, with eyes hardly on your head, how do you look walking backward? Do you think you can walk however you wish like on the main road in our village, with almost no cars or people?"
"Village occasionally has bicycles!" He Zhilan argued back. "There are two or three primary school teachers in the village who go to work by riding bicycles! But bicycles, can’t kill people! Ha ha!"
"Stop making excuses, are you feeling unwell?" He Teng gave He Zhilan a glance before asking about her health. "If you continue to feel unwell, don’t try to be tough. Remember to take your medicine on time. Don’t throw it away when I’m not watching."
"I’m fine, I fully recovered!" He Zhilan chuckled. The doctor had prescribed that she take medicine three times a day, but she had thrown the medicine into the trash the moment she returned to her dorm. To her, taking medicine was truly a difficult chore.
"Brother, I heard that the weather in the capital will bring snow after a while. And it’s not like the snow we have in the south. Are you excited?" He Zhilan smartly changed the subject, "Back home, whenever it snows, you could only see some snow on the mountain tops and rooftops in the morning. Here in the capital, it’s different. The winters here bring a lot of snow. You can go sledding on a small hill, make snowmen, have snowball fights, how fun is that!"
"You speak as if you’ve played in the snow before." He Teng was not fond of snow. After leaving his hometown for the north, every winter he would be bothered by snow. Snowfall meant that training conditions would become harsher and that at any time a disaster could strike due to the snow. As a soldier, he had to constantly engage in rigorous training while remaining on standby to provide aid.
However, seeing how excited He Zhilan was about the snow, He Teng refrained from ruining her mood by sharing these concerns.
He Zhilan did have some memories of playing in the snow, but her memories weren’t strong. She vaguely remembered sledding down a small hill on a wooden board, with many people following her, worried she would tumble into the snow.
"Brother, look, isn’t that Lin Deng and Jiang Biyun? They’re taking a walk too!" He Zhilan pointed out a male and female figure in the distance, pulling He Teng’s attention towards them. As they got closer, she confirmed that indeed it was Lin Deng and Jiang Biyun, who were walking and laughing happily together.
"He Platoon Leader!" From a distance, Lin Deng noticed He Zhilan and He Teng, called out to Jiang Biyun, and walked over. He glanced at He Zhilan, was about to say something, but stopped. In the end, he turned to He Teng and asked, "How are you adapting to the military academy? Is Feng Zheng slacking off? If he’s not behaving well, you can tell me. I will report it to the school leaders and get you a new classmate."