Shen Changqing left, and Sheng Qingyan walked alone for a long, long time...
His thoughts were also chaotic, very chaotic.
The corners of his eyes felt warm, tears constantly falling...
Sheng Qingyan, with a stern face, lifted his head, wiped the corner of his eye, and looked at his open palm – it was filled with tears. He muttered somewhat displeased, "It’s all because the onions were cut too much today."
"Go back to the dorm and wash my eyes."
Thinking of this, Sheng Qingyan stopped wandering around and directly took a Floating Car back to the dorm. Once there, he immediately brought out the treatment instrument and quickly repaired his swollen eyes so that no trace of crying could be seen.
Sheng Qingyan stared at himself in the mirror, seeing no trace of the swollen puffy eyes, he finally felt relieved.
Sheng Qingyan collapsed on the soft sofa, closed his eyes, and lazily pretended to nap, wondering whether he should skip today’s stable cleaning punishment.
Skipping once means an additional week of punishment.
To skip?
Or not to skip?
Skipping, bearing an extra week of punishment, is too harsh.
Not skipping, but today Sheng Qingyan really had no interest in joining everyone; he didn’t feel like moving at all...
Caught in this dilemma, his communicator suddenly started ringing like crazy—
Sheng Qingyan opened his eyes, somewhat unwillingly answered:
Chu Jiaojiao bellowed directly: "Hurry up and come clean, you have 5 minutes. If you don’t, I’ll beat you to death."
Sheng Qingyan pouted: "I don’t want to go."
Chu Jiaojiao rolled her eyes and scolded: "So what if you cried a bit? What’s there to be ashamed of? Who hasn’t cried in their lifetime? Stop the nonsense, come over quick!"
Sheng Qingyan: "..."
Annoyed, Sheng Qingyan retorted: "Who said I cried? Was it Aqing who betrayed me?"
Chu Jiaojiao responded irritably: "Do I need Shen Changqing to tell me? I was standing right beside you. When you cried, when you secretly wiped onions, I saw everything clearly."
Sheng Qingyan: "..."
Sheng Qingyan stamped his foot: "I didn’t cry."
Seeing his truly embarrassed and about to jump in frustration, Jiaojiao raised her hand to her forehead, her tone softened, and said: "5 minutes, if you don’t come, I’m reporting to Teacher Mu and I’ll double your punishment."
Sheng Qingyan defiantly: "Punish if you like."
Chu Jiaojiao: "..."
Sometimes, Sheng Qingyan could be so stubborn, truly like ten bulls couldn’t pull him back, he could argue with you until the seas dry and rocks crumble...
For instance—
Ever since vowing to become a great Mechanical Warrior as a child and then experiencing the death of a loved one, he began to detest war intensely, to the extent that he abandoned his dream and refused to study hard, merely dragging through each day, listening to no one’s advice.
Grandpa Sheng was deeply distressed by this, but once Sheng Qingyan decided to give up his dream, he wouldn’t change.
Grandpa Sheng had no choice but to use some harsh methods to force him...
Chu Jiaojiao, Shen Changqing, and Sheng Qingyan, the three families were neighbors in the same community, the adults were close, and the kids grew up familiar with each other, but Chu Jiaojiao, who grew up in the military camp and with high Combat Power, didn’t like playing with the two weak chickens, Shen Changqing and Sheng Qingyan, during their childhood, because they couldn’t withstand even one punch from her.
But you know?
Sheng Qingyan, this guy is clearly so weak yet his confidence is bursting at the seams, always trying to challenge Chu Jiaojiao’s authority, but every time he ends up getting beaten up by her, still stubbornly antagonizing her...
Later on, Sheng Qingyan suddenly stopped seeking death, saying he no longer wanted to be a Mechanical Warrior, but rather a carefree scoundrel...
Chu Jiaojiao didn’t believe it, but as it turned out, many, many years later, from their childhood to adulthood, Sheng Qingyan never challenged Chu Jiaojiao again. During this time, Chu Jiaojiao tried all kinds of ways to provoke him, but he was like a dead pig that wasn’t afraid of boiling water...
Even now, Sheng Qingyan remains the same.
Speaking of being stubborn, Chu Jiaojiao only admits to Sheng Qingyan.
At this moment, seeing Sheng Qingyan showing such a lazy rogue manner again, Chu Jiaojiao took a deep breath and said, "I saved you a portion of braised pork ribs rice. If you don’t come in 5 minutes, I’ll give it to Shen Changqing."
Huh?
Sheng Qingyan jumped up in one second: "Really?"
Chu Jiaojiao sternly replied: "When have I ever lied to you?"
Sheng Qingyan already pulled open the door and rushed out: "Wait for me, I’ll be there soon."
Chu Jiaojiao turned off the communication.
Beside—
Ji You looked at Chu Jiaojiao with a slanted eye and couldn’t help but ask: "Pork ribs rice? When did you cook an extra portion?" The pork ribs rice was in limited supply, and although Ji You could call upon favors from Senior Shi Ya, exemptions were not possible, she could only scrounge some soup and a piece or two of meat; how could Chu Jiaojiao possibly have cooked an extra portion? Moreover, she clearly saw Chu Jiaojiao finishing the pork ribs rice during dinner.
Chu Jiaojiao waved her hand, seemingly indifferent: "I didn’t, I lied to him."
Ji You: "..."
Ji You made a remark: "Having childhood friends like you really is lethal."
Chu Jiaojiao giggled and couldn’t help saying: "Ah— Thinking back on how Ji You looked as a kid, I bet it was super cute. Of course, Ji You looks even cuter and prettier now."
Out of the blue, a wave of flattery hit.
Ji You turned and walked away.
...
Arriving at the equestrian field, Sheng Qingyan didn’t find the braised pork ribs and indeed threw a fit, but still reluctantly began cleaning the equestrian field under Chu Jiaojiao’s threatening gaze.
Lanyue Star Military Academy sprawled over a vast area, hence its buildings, facilities were all built very sturdy and spacious, and of course, the equestrian field was no exception, just walking around the field on foot takes at least five to six hours...
Of course, the students didn’t have to clean on foot, as there were vehicles available.
Chu Jiaojiao, Ji You, Shen Changqing, Sheng Qingyan, Yue Qiguang... several unlucky ones each took responsibili...
As usual, they first cleaned the stables, removing dung and so on. Then, they had to cut a patch of grass for each stable.
After that...
Of course, cleaning the stables was not smooth sailing, with the almost free-roaming horses being very wild and easily kicking someone inattentively. Thus, everyone also had to be wary of getting kicked.
In addition, Ji You and the others had to also care for the pregnant mares and newly born foals, with any slight negligence immediately being recorded by the stable’s managing robots.
Furthermore, these horses were quite combative, especially the males in the group would fight to nearly death each day, resulting in injuries all over. If not for human intervention, it’s feared that the male horses in the stable would have been wiped out. Therefore, Ji You and the others also need to have some veterinary knowledge on hand, ready to run out to rescue an injured horse at a moment’s notice...
...
After a long time, the students were all out of spirits.
But the gains weren’t completely absent, at least, unbeknownst to everyone, their spiritual power had increased.