After a quick assembly, everyone was instructed to collect their camouflage uniforms for military training and then assigned dormitories.
“I swear, this uniform smells weird.” Huo Fanjin shook open the one she’d just received and almost fainted from the stench.
“Really?” Cen Qiaoqiao leaned in to sniff—“Ugh, this smell is so strong!”
Liu Sisi held hers up, face showing no emotion.
“You don’t think it stinks?”
“It’s tolerable.”
“…”
Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue had already unpacked, neatly arranging soap, shampoo, and sunscreen into the locker. She shut her suitcase and kicked it under the bed then began changing into the uniform. Midway through, her movement paused.
Yeah… not the best smell.
Huo Fanjin, sitting on her bed, grinned. “Smells good, huh?”
Jiang Fuyue: “…”
Cen Qiaoqiao pouted so hard she could hang a soy sauce bottle off her lip. “How can they make us wear this kind of thing?”
“Should we ask to exchange them?” Huo Fanjin wrinkled her nose at the jacket she’d thrown on the floor. “Smells like stinky socks, who can stand that?”
Cen Qiaoqiao hesitated. “Um… would that even work?”
Suddenly, a sharp whistle sounded from downstairs. A booming voice followed: “Assembly!”
The hallway erupted with the thunder of footsteps, mixed with the occasional excited squeal from the girls.
Jiang Fuyue said, “Smelly or not, deal with it. Get dressed and move!”
Liu Sisi, who always followed her lead, immediately threw on the uniform at top speed.
Huo Fanjin and Cen Qiaoqiao froze, still unsure what to do.
“What are you standing there for?! Change!” Jiang Fuyue barked.
…
Five minutes later, the four of them joined the crowd downstairs just in time, hearts pounding wildly.
Everyone who came after them was stopped by the instructor and barred from joining the line.
Cen Qiaoqiao patted her chest, terrified. “We almost didn’t make it…”
Huo Fanjin nodded, gasping. “Scared me half to death!”
Liu Sisi nudged Jiang Fuyue. “Look—”
Jiang Fuyue looked up. Sure enough, a number of students hadn’t had time or perhaps refused to change into the uniforms.
“Time’s up!” the instructor’s voice boomed like thunder.
Silence fell.
“Everyone still without uniform counted as late. Now run ten laps around the field!”
A collective gasp—
“Ten laps?!”
“That’s brutal!”
“Confirmed: devil instructor.”
“Oh my god, it’s so hot, we’ll die out there!”
“I can’t even run one lap, ten is impossible…”
“Whew, lucky it’s not us.”
“They’ll cough up blood at this rate! Just a few seconds slower and they’d have been fine…”
“Guess we better run faster next time. That was terrifying!”
“….”
Most were relieved. Some were gloating.
The ones who’d been punished just stood there, dazed and motionless.
The instructor shouted, “What are you waiting for?! Run!”
The roar hit like a whipcrack. The group froze again.
“Can’t understand human speech? I said run! Move!”
He lunged forward and kicked one boy squarely on the rear. The boy stumbled but managed to start running, face burning red.
Then the second, the third, one after another like startled ducks, they began to run.
Those who lagged behind were not-so-gently “motivated” by the instructor’s boot, running off with dusty boot prints on their pants. Funny until the instructor spoke again.
“Where are your uniforms? Why didn’t you change?” His eyes swept over them coldly.
“Not enough time!”
“And the uniforms stink, can we get new ones?”
“Mine too!”
“Me as well!”
“Same here!”
“ID number please!”
“…”
Their complaints clattered in the hot air, adding to the chaos and irritation.
“Silence!” The instructor’s voice cracked like a whip, instantly cutting them off. “All students without uniform stand to the left.”
Everyone rushed over, thinking he was about to count heads and give them clean clothes.
Cen Qiaoqiao looked on enviously. “Should we… go too? Maybe we can swap for a new one.”
“It really reeks,” Huo Fanjin muttered, thinking. “Let’s go then.”
“But… we’re already wearing them!”
“That’s easy.” Huo Fanjin smirked. “Just take them off.”
She started unbuttoning.
Most of those on the left were holding their uniforms instead of wearing them, refusing to put them on because of the smell. Huo Fanjin’s plan was to take hers off and blend in, maybe score a new one.
But—
“If you’re not afraid of being punished, go ahead.” Jiang Fuyue’s voice was cool.
Huo Fanjin froze. Cen Qiaoqiao’s eyes went wide.
“Sister Yue, don’t scare me…”
“Don’t believe me? Try it.”
They immediately stayed put.
Over on the left, the instructor roared again, veins bulging. “Move faster!”
He barked another order: “Both sides, stand at attention!”
The two groups straightened.
“Those without uniforms, five hundred squats, then ten laps!”
Everyone on the left went pale.
Five hundred squats? Plus ten laps?
Surely he’d made a mistake.
But the instructor said coldly, “You heard right.”
Huo Fanjin exhaled in relief. “Good thing…” she muttered, “we listened to Jiang Fuyue.”
Otherwise, they’d be dead meat.
Of course, not everyone accepted the punishment quietly.
Liang Jingzhou, among the ununiformed, raised his chin. “Why are we being punished?”
“You got a problem?” the instructor said from the podium.
“Yes, I do!”
“Good. Add five laps.”
Liang Jingzhou sneered. “You crazy or something?”
“Ten laps.”
“Don’t push your luck!”
“Twenty.”
“…”
Jiang Fuyue looked away. Too stupid to watch.
Cen Qiaoqiao whispered, “Thirty laps now? Won’t he die?”
“Tsk. Some people just ask for it,” Huo Fanjin muttered, half amused.
Clearly, the instructor was using this as a warning to establish authority from the start. Anyone who stood out was a ready-made example.
“You may be princes and princesses outside,” the instructor said coldly, “but here, my word is law. You will obey, no excuses! Smelly? No time? None of that justifies disobeying orders! No bargaining!”
“In the army, you follow army rules. Now squat if you’re told to squat, run if you’re told to run unless you want extra laps like him.”
All eyes turned toward Liang Jingzhou.
The young master curled his toes in his boots, mortified.
Li Chen and Gu Huaiyu exchanged glances, sorry, bro, you’re on your own.
Before long, everyone started squatting. Liang Jingzhou, seeing no choice, gave in and began running laps.
When that was done, the instructor’s gaze turned to those on the right.
Huo Fanjin instinctively straightened her back.
Cen Qiaoqiao did the same.
Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi were already standing perfectly.
“Attention! Face right, at ease! Attention!”
Within seconds, the formation was perfectly aligned.
“Introducing myself, name’s Hao Dazhi—”
“Pfft—” someone couldn’t help laughing.
Hao Dazhi?*
*Sounds like “so huge” in Chinese
Tall, handsome, and commanding yet cursed with such a comical name.
“What’s so funny?!”
“…” Silence.
Well, it was funny.
“I’m from the Reconnaissance Division of the 3rd Army, Western Yong District. From today, I’m your military training instructor. There are only three rules: First, obey. Second, obey. Third, still obey!”
“Understood?!”
“Understood…”
“Louder!”
“Understood!”
“Remember, whenever you speak during formation, you must first say ‘Reporting!’”
“Yes, sir!”
“Good. Now let’s start formation drills. You—” Hao Dazhi pointed randomly.
Gu Huaiyu froze.
“Yes, you, front row, first column.”
He stepped out, brows furrowed. “What is it?”
“Why didn’t you say ‘Reporting’ first?”
“…Reporting, I forgot.”
“Louder! Don’t sound like a girl!”
Gu Huaiyu’s eyes darkened. “Reporting! I have no confusion about my gender identity!”
Hao Dazhi: “…” “Return to ranks. You—” He pointed to Li Chen. “Front row, second column, step out.”
Li Chen obeyed, heels together, hands to seams. “Reporting! Awaiting your command, instructor!”
Hao Dazhi jumped down from the platform, stood before him. “Go to the admin building and bring me a chair.”
Li Chen: “…”
Everyone: “…”
“You got a problem?”
“Reporting! I’m not a porter.”
“So, you refuse?”
“Reporting! I refuse.”
A collective gasp—
“D*mn, he’s bold!”
“Respect!”
“True warrior—”
“Legend!”
Hao Dazhi smirked. “Five laps.”
Li Chen didn’t argue, just started running.
“You—” Hao Dazhi called on Cheng Lian next.
The poor guy was having a bad day.
“Bring me a chair.”
Cheng Lian complied calmly. Ten minutes later, he returned. “Reporting!”
“Speak.”
“Chair delivered!”
“Put it down. Back to formation.”
Then Hao Dazhi sat down under the shade while the students stood under the blazing sun.
Anyone who spoke, moved, or wiped sweat without permission had to yell “Reporting!” first.
“Reporting!” Li Chen, drenched in sweat.
“Speak.”
“Five laps completed.”
Hao Dazhi gave him a look. “Return to ranks.”
The sun scorched. Some girls began trembling, faces pale.
“Reporting!”
“Speak.”
“Instructor, I’m dizzy. May I rest?”
“Unless you faint, you keep standing.”
…
The entire morning passed in military posture. At noon, they marched to the cafeteria.
The formation tense, orderly, was oddly impressive.
Each school had its designated area. Ten people per square table. Bowls, chopsticks, and four serving dishes sat in the middle. The kitchen staff came around with ladles, filling the dishes: soy-braised pork with beans, mapo tofu, stir-fried greens, pumpkin soup, and ten steamed buns.
Huo Fanjin swallowed. “We’re eating this?”
Cen Qiaoqiao pouted. “All the meat’s fat!”
Liu Sisi stayed quiet, she’d eaten worse during training and never complained.
Jiang Fuyue: “Just eat.”
They weren’t even allowed to sit until the instructor gave the command. Everyone stood, staring at the food like starving ghosts.
Once every group was served, Hao Dazhi finally gave the word to start.
Huo Fanjin sat and immediately rubbed her sore legs. “They’re falling off…”
Cen Qiaoqiao whined, “It’s too hot. My neck’s peeling, look!”
Huo Fanjin peeked. “Whoa, red blotches all over!”
“It’s itchy…”
“Don’t scratch, you’ll get infected.”
Cen Qiaoqiao’s eyes grew misty.
A pampered princess like her had never suffered like this.
“I just… wanna go home…”
Huo Fanjin sighed. “Same here. Should’ve brought a fake medical note…”
Jiang Fuyue looked at the two of them. “Eat first.”
Huo Fanjin muttered an “oh,” picking up her chopsticks but quickly setting them down again. The sight of the greasy dishes turned her stomach.
Cen Qiaoqiao’s expression matched. “I can’t eat this…”
Liu Sisi said flatly, “Eat anyway. There’s training this afternoon.”
Cen Qiaoqiao stared at the plate of pork, it looked nauseating.
Jiang Fuyue handed her a bun. “Try it with the soybeans.”
“Does it taste okay?”
“It’s fine.”
“I’ll try then…” Cen Qiaoqiao smiled faintly and did as told.
Not tasty but edible.
Huo Fanjin copied her and, with pumpkin soup to wash it down, found it not so unbearable.
Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi, the whole time, ate steadily and wordlessly, bite after bite.
As if completing a mission.
“Do you two really have to be like this?” Huo Fanjin bit into her steamed bun. The dough was so dry that crumbs flew everywhere when she opened her mouth, and she quickly gulped down some pumpkin soup to wash it down.
Liu Sisi didn’t even glance up. “You need to be full to have the energy to train.”
Jiang Fuyue nodded. “Hurry and eat. Instructor Hao keeps checking his watch, it’s probably timed. Once the limit’s up, he’ll call stop, and you won’t get another bite.”
Sure enough—
The words had barely left her mouth when Hao Dazhi put down his bowl and chopsticks and stood up briskly. “Everyone, stand! Now! Put your chopsticks down, no more eating!”
Forewarned, Huo Fanjin shot to her feet instantly, pure reflex.
She still held half a bun, completely out of sync with her refined image, and suddenly her eyes darted. “Ow!” She stuffed the whole thing into her mouth in one go, swallowing without a care whether it would go down.
Cen Qiaoqiao pursed her lips, looking at the uneaten half bun in her bowl, sulky.
If she’d known, she would’ve eaten faster…
At the exact instant Hao Dazhi spoke, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi calmly put down their bowls and chopsticks and stood up, composed and unhurried.
“The girl at Table 1, didn’t you hear me say stand up?!”
Everyone turned in unison. A girl at Table 1 was still bent over, eating.
Hao Dazhi’s brows darkened. He strode over, raised his hand, and with one swift motion flipped the bowl out of her hands.
Clang—
The bowl flew, hit the ground, and shattered with a sharp crack. Soup splattered across the space between Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi.
Drops inevitably splashed onto both of them.
The entire hall froze, as if someone had hit pause.
Even students from other schools craned their necks to look.
The girl whose bowl had been flipped sat in shock. Before she could react, Hao Dazhi’s cold, hard voice lashed down on her—
“Didn’t you hear me?! Or are you pretending to be deaf? Speak!”
“I—I hadn’t finished eating…”
“Report first! Didn’t I teach you that?!”
“Reporting!”
But the voice didn’t come from the girl, it was Jiang Fuyue’s.
Hao Dazhi looked over.
She spoke again.
“Speak.”
“Instructor, I have a question.”
“What question?”
“When you knocked over that student’s bowl and the soup splashed on me, shouldn’t you say sorry?”
His face turned cold.
“Reporting!” Liu Sisi spoke up right after.
“Speak.”
“The soup splashed on me too. So if Instructor is going to apologize, please include me as well.”
Hao Dazhi’s jaw tightened. “You two, utterly undisciplined! No respect for authority!”
“Reporting! You’re not our superior,” Jiang Fuyue calmly corrected.
The air froze.
Huo Fanjin glanced nervously at the instructor’s stormy face, breaking into a cold sweat for the two of them.
Cen Qiaoqiao trembled, eyes flicking over Hao Dazhi’s expression, half in fear.
Around them, whispers spread.
Even Li Chen, Gu Huaiyu, Cheng Lian, and Liang Jingzhou couldn’t help looking over.
“She’s got guts.”
“Hasn’t that been obvious? You’re only realizing now?”
“Geez… I’m starting to think she’s not human, more like Iron Man.”
“You—say—that—again.” Hao Dazhi glared at Jiang Fuyue, gritting out every word.
“Reporting! I just said, you’re not our superior!” Her cool eyes stayed straight ahead, unruffled.
And, in fairness, she wasn’t wrong.
He really wasn’t their “superior.”
They were students, not soldiers, not enlisted, no military hierarchy applied.
No matter his actual rank or position, here he was merely their “instructor.”
Their eyes met, his blazing, hers steady. Sparks flew in the air.
The tension stretched taut, like a string ready to snap.
Silence.
The whole hall was still.
Then—clap, clap, clap.
Hao Dazhi suddenly applauded. “You’re right. I’m not your superior. And about the bowl incident, sorry. That was… improper of me.”
Jiang Fuyue nodded slightly. “It’s fine.”
Liu Sisi added right after, “I’m fine too.”
Hao Dazhi: “…”
Everyone had expected a showdown but the scene ended peacefully.
“Lunch break is two hours. Tidy your dorms; we’ll be inspecting at random. Also, hand over any prohibited items to the duty desk downstairs. They’ll be returned intact after training.”
“Don’t test my patience by hiding contraband. If we find or receive reports, your entire dorm will be punished!”
“Reporting!”
“Speak.”
“Instructor, what counts as prohibited items?”
“Anything not essential for daily use: phones, tablets, e-books, snacks, fruit, sunscreen. Understood?”
“Dismissed!”
Only then did everyone relax and trickle out of the cafeteria.
On the way back to the dorms, chatter buzzed—
“The instructor’s actually kinda handsome.”
“And that body… but he’s so fierce! I prefer the gentle, scholarly type.”
“Don’t you think his name’s hilarious?”
“Hahaha, ‘Hao Dazhi’—‘Big Hao.’ Was he born huge or what?”
“Still, flipping someone’s bowl like that was harsh. Poor Ren Xiaoqiu was terrified.”
“She deserved it! He said stop eating, and she just kept going like nothing happened.”
“You can’t put it like that, it’s day one. People don’t know the rules yet. The instructor went overboard.”
“Anyway, Sister Yue is a legend.”
“I love her!”
“Same! Instant fan!”
…
Back in the dorm, the four began unpacking.
Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi each had a single medium suitcase: simple, easy to sort.
Huo Fanjin and Cen Qiaoqiao, though, were a mess, one had a mountain of beauty products, the other a hoard of snacks.
“Qiaoqiao, did you move an entire convenience store here? Even gum, you’ve got five flavors! D*mn!”
Huo Fanjin hugged her sunscreen like a lifeline. “I’ll give up my cleansers, my face creams but not this! Without sunscreen, I’ll come out of training crying!”
Meanwhile, Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi lounged on the bed, calmly munching on Qiaoqiao’s chicken wings.
Might as well eat what they’d have to surrender, waste not.
Jiang Fuyue said lightly, “You’re telling the wrong person. Go negotiate with the instructor.”
“…Never mind,” Huo Fanjin sighed. She’d rather be tan.
Cen Qiaoqiao swallowed hard and grinned. “Hehe, Sister Yue, can I have one too~?”
Before 1:00, they turned in all “contraband” to the duty desk.
Huo Fanjin and Cen Qiaoqiao handed over their boxes so reluctantly that the staffer almost laughed.
At 1:30, inspection began.
From the first floor up, Hao Dazhi and two other instructors checked each dorm.
“Ugh, why can’t I fold it right?” Cen Qiaoqiao groaned, collapsing on her bed.
Jiang Fuyue completed her final fold, the quilt sat neat and square like a block of tofu.
Liu Sisi said, “Mine’s done too.”
Huo Fanjin came over, poking the crisp edges. “Whoa, this is the legendary tofu block! How do you two even know how?”
Jiang Fuyue: “Self-taught.”
“Hehe, Sister Yue, teach me!”
“Me too!”
Bang, bang, bang—
A heavy knock shook the door.
“Inspection!”
Jiang Fuyue opened it. Her gaze met Hao Dazhi’s before she stepped aside. “Please come in, Instructor.”
He glanced at her, then walked in with the others.
“The floor’s dirty, the closet’s messy, shoes misplaced, sheet wrinkled… The quilts—hm, decent fold, but the direction’s wrong.”
“Reporting!” Huo Fanjin blurted.
“No need for ‘report’ here.”
“Instructor, you didn’t teach us those details, how could we know?”
Expressionless: “I’m teaching you now.”
“…D*mn.”
“Listen carefully. According to Article 7 of the Dormitory Regulations for University Military Training…”
He went on to describe every rule, from folds to mosquito nets to shoe placement with military precision.
“Got it?”
Everyone nodded whether they did or not.
As he left, he suddenly turned back. “You, what’s your name?”
“Jiang Fuyue.”
He nodded. “Mm.” Then strode out.
After he left, the girls got ready to nap.
“I’m so tired…” Huo Fanjin yawned.
“I don’t even want to unfold the quilt,” Cen Qiaoqiao murmured. “I’ll just wear more clothes and sleep on top.”
…
The dorm had no private bathroom, only shared facilities per floor.
Jiang Fuyue, who always washed up before naps, took a basin and towel to the public wash area.
No showers, no hot water, she made do with a quick wipe using cold water, then changed into clean clothes.
Refreshed, she headed back only to bump into a girl carrying her own basin.
“Sister Yue!”
Jiang Fuyue turned. “Yes?”
“Thank you for earlier in the cafeteria.”
It was the girl whose bowl had been flipped
“I’m Ren Xiaoqiu, a freshman, Finance Department! If you hadn’t helped me, I would’ve been humiliated. Really, thank you so much.”
Her eyes were sincere and a little nervous.
Jiang Fuyue waved it off. “No need.” And walked on.
…
At 2:00, the dorm was quiet.
Only the ceiling fan hummed; breathing was slow and even.
Everyone was dead asleep.
Until—
A sharp whistle blared.
“Wake up! Assemble downstairs! Move!”
Jiang Fuyue shot up, threw on her uniform, muttered under her breath, “…He’s insane.”
She took a breath and shook the others awake.
Liu Sisi was already up.
…
On the training ground, Hao Dazhi held a stopwatch. “Time’s up! Anyone not in formation, ten laps, plus thirty push-ups!”
Thankfully, their dorm was safe.
“Right turn! You,” he pointed, “run down that second path on the left. Not far, five kilometers round trip. Under twenty minutes: excellent. Twenty to twenty-five: good. Twenty-five to thirty: fair. Over thirty-five: fail!”
“Anyone who finishes in under twenty gets tomorrow morning off!”
The murmurs began immediately—
“Five kilometers in twenty minutes? You think we’re track stars?”
“Yeah, Olympic trial level!”
“But the reward’s tempting…”
“Dream on, that’s just bait.”
“This is a new recruit drill, isn’t it? We’re students!”
“New recruits get 19 minutes for excellent, and he’s only giving us one minute extra? What a joke.”
Complaints rose, but when the starting gun fired, everyone still ran.
“Maybe we really can do it!” Huo Fanjin shouted, charging ahead.
Cen Qiaoqiao lasted barely five hundred meters before gasping, “I’m done, go on without me!”
Jiang Fuyue and Liu Sisi exchanged a look and pressed forward, Huo Fanjin trailing.
“Five minutes thirty-two,” Liu Sisi said, checking her watch.
Jiang Fuyue scanned the road. “We’re only a quarter through. Too slow. We need to speed up.”
“…What?!” Huo Fanjin wheezed.
Meanwhile, at the finish line, Hao Dazhi and the other instructors smoked idly.
“Old Hao, heard one of the Ming University girls mouthed off to you at lunch?”
He shot a glare. “Who told you that?”
“Everyone saw it, man.”
“Bah, nothing worth talking about.” He crushed his cigarette underfoot.
Fifteen minutes passed. No finishers.
“Kids these days are weak,” one instructor sighed.
“Especially those rich Ming University brats, complaining the loudest.”
“Q University’s students are tougher.”
“B and Central U are fine too.”
“What about Marine U’s defense students?”
“They tested well, but we’ll see. Tests don’t mean much.”
“Exactly. You only know a horse by running it.”
“Bet Ming University won’t even place.”
But at seventeen minutes—
“Hey—look!”
Three figures appeared in the distance: Jiang Fuyue, Liu Sisi, and Huo Fanjin, neck and neck.
Hao Dazhi checked the timer—
19 minutes 20 seconds.
The skeptical instructors fell silent.
The three Ming University girls were the only students across all seven universities to earn “excellent.”
Hao Dazhi muttered, “No wonder she dares talk back…”
She really had the skill.
The afternoon was hotter, dirtier, and harsher than the morning, pure exhaustion and sweat.
After dinner, darkness finally fell, and they could rest.
Collapsed on their beds, bliss washed over them.
It was only the first day of training.
Only the first.
