Before He Zhilan could respond, Gu En continued, "What could possibly be fun about the military? No streets to roam, no food, just a bunch of men training. Wherever you go, there’s the stench of their sweat. What’s so appealing about that? If you have nowhere to go during National Day, come hang out with me! I’m planning a vacation for National Day!"
"No, I’m going to visit the army." He Zhilan declined with a firm shake of her head, the tone of her voice was rather resolute. She was implying that she would go, not merely wanted to, indicating a certain determination that declined Gu En’s inexplicable hospitality.
Gu En rolled her eyes at He Zhilan and then lay back down, muttering something under her breath. He Zhilan could not hear clearly what she was muttering, but Gu thought that she was unbearably boring or something.
After this call, He Zhilan awaited the arrival of National Day in her daily life. Even though she didn’t receive a letter back from He Teng, it didn’t bother her one bit.
What puzzled He Zhilan a bit was that Gu En would inexplicably start to cozy up to her after that day. Whenever it was time to eat, Gu En would suddenly show up, not giving He Zhilan any opportunity to refuse, she would drag her to eat. She would occasionally bring some food and items from her house for He Zhilan, and practically force them on her.
This sudden change from Gu En surprised both Jiang Biyun and Chen Xiting, their eyes almost popping out with shock. Conversely, Gu En began to spend more time at the dormitory, seemingly because of He Zhilan.
In the blink of an eye, it was time for military training. The weather in the Capital did not cool down despite the first-year students’ prayers. Even though it was early autumn, it was still unbearably hot. There was no sign of autumn in the weather at all.
Looking at the instructor clad in green military uniforms in the front, He Zhilan too felt that this was a bizarre coincidence amidst the excited whispers of the female students.
"My name is Lin Deng, I will be your military training instructor for the following week. I hope that in just one week, you can demonstrate your conduct as university students. At the same time, during this week, you are not university students under my command, you are recruits! Being a soldier, you must unconditionally follow the orders of your superiors."
He Zhilan, standing in the second row, kept looking at Lin Deng and she could swear he smiled at her. She recalled how Lin was humiliated by Gu En as if he was a meek servant, seemingly paradoxical to his manner of driving maniacally like a spoiled rich kid. Unable to link Lin with a soldier, He Zhilan was left baffled.
However, He Zhilan has heard that those who came as instructors to Capital University are all outstanding students from the military academies. At this moment, Lin, looking serious and firm, could barely pass as a soldier.
Lin Deng and Lin Chan had similar features, but perhaps due to being a soldier, Lin Deng was more robust and tanned. However, as for height, Lin Chan seemed to be slightly taller.
A young, sturdy and handsome military academy instructor could easily excite many female freshmen. But before the excitement could take hold, it was overpowered by the harshness of the first training session.
He Zhilan was never very good at sports throughout elementary school and high school. Many times she barely passed the Physical Education tests. Even in high school, she had to retake the long-distance running test multiple times to finally pass. So, the initial five-kilometer long run was quite the challenge for her.