“What are you all doing?”
The instructor’s voice suddenly rang out.
Everyone froze, hastily parting to open a path.
Hao Dazhi strode over with a dark face. His eyes swept over the yellow-haired boy lying motionless on the ground, then over to Jiang Fuyue who stood off to the side, calm and seemingly innocent.
“Fighting?!” The ending note of his question rose sharply, carrying a weight of anger.
No one spoke. They exchanged nervous glances.
Say it?
Or not?
Hao Dazhi walked up to the yellow-haired boy. “Which school are you from?”
“O–Ocean University.”
“Can you stand?”
The boy almost said “No,” but strangely, when he lightly pressed his arm, he found he could stand up. Wait, what the h*ll was that “Joint Dislocation Technique”?
His hand wasn’t broken?
With a stunned expression, he looked toward Jiang Fuyue, but she stood there composed, her eyes steady, as if nothing had happened.
“Now,” Hao Dazhi said, “who’s going to tell me what actually happened here?”
Jiang Fuyue stayed silent.
The yellow-haired boy’s eyes flickered. “Instructor! She hit me!”
A commotion rippled through the crowd.
“What a shameless guy, he’s actually tattling!”
“Will the instructor punish Sister Yue?”
“So petty! The girl didn’t even say anything, and this man’s smaller-minded than a needle.”
“Can’t believe Haida has people like that…”
The instructor didn’t respond right away. Instead, he turned to Jiang Fuyue. “Did you hit him?”
“Report! I don’t think it counts as hitting.”
“Then what was it?”
“A friendly spar.”
Hao Dazhi blinked.
“I saw this… uh, classmate,” she said mildly, “was agile and seemed to have good technique, so my hands itched to try a few moves.”
The yellow-haired boy: “?” Who are you calling yellow-hair?! You’re yellow-hair! Your whole family’s yellow-hair!
“Then why does—” Hao Dazhi nearly said “the yellow-haired boy” himself but caught it in time. “Why does this student say something different from you?”
“That’s a question you should ask him, Instructor, not me,” Jiang Fuyue said evenly. “Winning is fine, but the real problem is when someone can’t accept losing.”
“You—! Who can’t accept losing?!” The boy exploded, pointing a shaking finger at her, ready to lunge.
Jiang Fuyue met his eyes coolly. “Then did you not lose?”
The boy froze.
The image of himself being pinned to the ground under her foot flashed through his mind and in front of everyone. He couldn’t even deny it.
After a long pause, he muttered, “…Losing or winning has nothing to do with you hitting me! You’re twisting words!”
Jiang Fuyue raised an eyebrow. Not completely stupid, she thought.
Unfortunately, that didn’t help him.
“I’ll say the same to you—‘a spar is a spar.’ Losing doesn’t suddenly make it a fight.”
“You, you’re completely turning black into white!” The boy trembled with fury, tongue nearly tripping over itself.
Suddenly he burst out, “Instructor! If you don’t believe me, ask the others! They all saw it!”
Hao Dazhi pointed randomly to a student. “You. Tell me, what were they doing just now?”
The student jumped nervously, gesturing while stammering, “They were, uh, like this… and then like that… and then… that’s it.”
Hao Dazhi: “?”
“…‘Like this’ is how, exactly?”
“Like this!” The student mimed wildly in the air.
Hao Dazhi took a long, deep breath. “Fine. Then tell me is ‘like this’ fighting?”
The student fell silent for so long everyone thought he wouldn’t answer but then he slowly, firmly shook his head. “…No. Not fighting.”
Hao Dazhi grunted lightly.
The yellow-haired boy: “? What the—?”
Everyone else: “……” What a pro.
Finally, after Hao Dazhi personally checked the boy’s hand and confirmed nothing was wrong, the incident was dropped.
Before returning to formation, the boy glared fiercely at Jiang Fuyue: Just you wait!
She only smiled slightly, calm and composed.
Li Chen had seen everything and in that moment, he was utterly convinced.
No wonder he lost before. His opponent was simply too strong.
The farce ended. Training resumed.
***
After lunch, Jiang Fuyue and her friends were walking back from the cafeteria when they ran into Li Chen, Liang Jingzhou, Cheng Lian, and Gu Huaiyu.
Four men, four women, meeting head-on under the trees, the air crackled with a sense of standoff.
“What is it?”
Li Chen said, “Can we talk?”
Jiang Fuyue agreed.
They stepped aside. “Talk about what?”
Li Chen coughed lightly. “About earlier, sorry for targeting you before. Can we… coexist peacefully from now on?”
“Sure,” Jiang Fuyue replied easily. But then her tone changed. “Liang Jingzhou and Cheng Lian, one’s my ‘grandson,’ the other’s my ‘son.’ What about you? What are you good for?”
Li Chen froze. “I…”
Yeah. What could he be?
“I can… work like an ox?”
Jiang Fuyue’s mouth twitched. “Not necessary.”
“Then how about being your follower? Do errands, carry things?”
To be honest, Jiang Fuyue found him a bit useless: couldn’t fight, couldn’t curse, no particular skill.
As if sensing her thoughts, Li Chen immediately switched to bragging mode: “Okay, I can’t fight, but I’ve got money. I’m not great at trash talk, but I’ve got money. I don’t have much strength, eat a lot, but still got money!”
Then, summarizing: “Basically I’m rich.”
Well. On that one redeeming quality, Jiang Fuyue reluctantly accepted him.
Then Gu Huaiyu suddenly chimed in, “What about me?”
“?” Jiang Fuyue looked at him.
“I’m rich too,” he said seriously.
After a pause, he added, “Richer than Li Chen.”
Li Chen: “???”
Gu Huaiyu was the only one of the four who hadn’t personally been beaten by Jiang Fuyue but he had watched the other three get thrashed.
“I thought it over,” he said. “If the end result’s the same, might as well surrender now. Saves me from getting beaten up. Efficient, right?”
It was like knowing you were doomed, some people still charged toward that one-in-a-thousand chance and got slaughtered; Gu Huaiyu, on the other hand, just laid down flat, enjoyed himself, and waited for death to arrive peacefully.
Ah, what a blissful salted-fish life~
Just like that, Jiang Fuyue gained two new little brothers.
Liang Jingzhou clicked his tongue. “Buy one get one free, huh? Didn’t think you had it in you, old Gu, pretty sly!”
Gu Huaiyu retorted, “What do you know! This is called strategy. When the enemy’s about to strike, I strike first by surrendering myself! Sincere and smart!”
Cheng Lian, hands in his pockets, expression blank: “All I see is cowardice.”
Gu Huaiyu: “…” D*mn it!
“So how do we rank in seniority now?” Li Chen suddenly asked.
“What… seniority?”
“Well,” Li Chen said, “me and old Gu are Sister Yue’s little brothers, so we’re her peers. Cheng Lian lost a bet and calls her ‘Dad,’ so he’s a generation below. As for Liang Jingzhou…” He tutted. “Grandson.”
Poor guy~
With that, the two of them slipped away before Liang Jingzhou exploded.
Cheng Lian’s face was so dark it could drip ink.
Liang Jingzhou stood stunned for a beat before roaring after them: “You’re the grandsons! Both of you!”
Why, why had he called himself that earlier?!
Being a little brother was so much better!
Cheng Lian turned toward him. “That means you should call me ‘Dad,’ right?”
Liang Jingzhou: “???”
Life was too hard. Truly.
***
Seven days of military training had passed in a flash.
“Next,” Hao Dazhi announced, “is the most important phase, combat simulation!”
This was always the fiercest competition during the seven-school joint training.
The exercise results would be recorded under the “Student Physical Readiness” metric in the national university rankings, directly affecting each school’s placement for the next three years.
Last time, in the final simulation, B University, Q University, and Central University fought for the top three—
Q University had won, B University placed second.
For the past three years, Q University had held its lead over B.
So this time, for B University it was revenge and redemption; for Q University, defense and dominance; for Central University, a desperate gamble.
And for Ming University—
“What’s the point of competing? Can we just surrender now?”
“Does simulation taste better than sleep?”
“Right now I just want to sit under a tree with an ice pop.”
“Anyway we’re going to lose, is there any point in taking part?”
“We Ming U students can’t do anything right; the only ‘advantage’ is knowing our place! If we can’t win, just admit it early, why put ourselves through that suffering?”
“Exactly! We’re used to losing; what’s one more time?”
“Who’ll go ask the instructor for us? I think you can do it!”
“No no no… I go weak in the knees whenever I see an instructor.”
“Then you go?”
“Worse! I—I—I stutter! S-s-s… se-serious!”
“I think you should stop volunteering to be the spokesman. If anyone should go, go yourself.”
“No way! I—I—I… I stutter too!”
“…”
They passed the responsibility around like a hot potato, nobody wanted to volunteer, but nobody dared to speak up.
“Why don’t we let Sister Yue go ask?”
“That could work!”
“I agree!”
And just like that, Jiang Fuyue, who had just come down from the training ground and was about to head to the cafeteria, found herself suddenly surrounded by a pressing crowd.
Huo Fanjin: “W-what’s happening?”
Cen Qiaoqiao: “Are we under siege? Protect our Sister Yue!”
Liu Sisi said nothing; she immediately stepped in front of Jiang Fuyue.
After hearing everyone’s purpose, Jiang Fuyue was silent for a moment, then shook her head —
“I won’t go ask.”
“Why not, Sister Yue?”
“You’re afraid of the instructor? Doesn’t look like it…”
“Anyway it’s pointless; none of us want the hassle.”
“It’s a lost cause, wasting energy is pointless.”
“…”
Voices buzzed.
After letting them finish, Jiang Fuyue waited until things quieted, then spoke again: “You haven’t even competed yet, how do you know you’ll lose?”
Someone muttered, “We’re always last; of course we’ll lose.”
Jiang Fuyue’s clear eyes swept the group; she said evenly, “What if I promise we won’t be last this time?”
“Ha, not last…” Wait!
“Not last?!” Everyone was shocked.
Jiang Fuyue nodded. “Yes, I promise but on the condition that each of you follows my commands and does exactly as I say.”
“Really, we won’t be the last? Then I’ll join!”
“I’ll join too!”
“Me too!”
“…”
The mood shifted completely.
In the end, nobody mentioned “giving up” anymore; everyone looked at Jiang Fuyue with bright, excited eyes, a thrill of anticipation flickering within them.
It was like being lost at sea in thick fog and suddenly spotting a lighthouse.
Hope rekindled; the path ahead cleared.
Li Chen and Gu Huaiyu exchanged glances. “Only Jiang Fuyue could change everyone’s minds with a single sentence.”
Gu Huaiyu chuckled twice. “Lucky I didn’t make an enemy of her.”
He could brag about that forever!
Look how astute Gu Huaiyu was, he could bow and he could stretch!
Cheng Lian: wants to punch him.
Liang Jingzhou: fists clench.
…
On the day of the live exercise the sun burned like a furnace, baking the ground.
Seven universities, nearly two thousand students, dressed in camo, carrying rucksacks, stood on the training ground ready to deploy.
The rules were simple: the seven universities formed seven teams; in the forest were seven hidden “camps.”
Teams entered the woods in order; their goal was to find and annihilate opponents’ “camps.” Destroying a camp earned 100 points; taking a single enemy soldier earned 1 point.
When only one team remained in the field, the exercise ended and rankings were decided by score.
Chief instructor: “Now each school send one student up to draw lots to determine the entry order into the forest!”
Anyone with common sense knew: the earlier you entered the woods, the easier it is to find good concealment, hide, ambush, you gain a natural advantage.
The last team to enter would likely be food on the table, meat for the slaughter.
Q U —perpetual lucky draw winner drew number 1.
A roar of cheers rose from the audience.
Number 2 went to the Finance University.
Number 3 to Ocean University.
Number 4 to Trade University.
With the first four taken, B U grew anxious.
They breathed a little easier getting number 5 but compared to Q U, that joy vanished.
Ming U naturally sent Jiang Fuyue to draw.
Her luck wasn’t great, she drew number six.
“Oh no, that’s it…”
“Fine! We’ll just surrender as soon as we go in.”
“The five schools ahead will turn us into Swiss cheese in minutes, mark my words.”
“Ming U is cursed every joint training. If we don’t draw sixth we might as well draw seventh. The best we ever did was fourth and then Trade U ambushed and wiped out a third of us.”
“D*mn! Did our school offend the heavens?”
“Anyway, it’s bad luck every year. Think about it.”
“…”
Ming U’s morale sank.
Even worse, Central U drew number seven, entering last, the most dangerous ‘piece of meat’!
After drawing, Jiang Fuyue showed no extra expression at seeing number six; she didn’t linger on stage but turned back to the team and joined a few guys up front in whispered conversation.
Li Chen and his group were among them.
“…Understand?”
“Yes!”
After hearing her plan, those boys shook off their gloom and their eyes lit up.
Soon Q U entered the woods first then Finance, Ocean, Trade…
Ming U set out five minutes after Central U.
The jungle thick and canopy-closed, the blazing sun was mostly blocked, but the light grew dim and the surroundings gloomy.
Jiang Fuyue gave a look to Li Chen and Gu Huaiyu; Cheng Lian and Liang Jingzhou at the rear nodded in understanding.
In no time, hundreds of people split up and vanished into the dense forest.
So when Central U entered and looked around, Ming U’s people were nowhere to be seen.
“Strange… where’d they go?”
“We were only five minutes behind them; a few hundred people can’t have gone that far.”
“Maybe they snuck off somewhere to slack off?”
“Do we even bother searching them?”
Yes, even though Central U entered last and were themselves vulnerable, they still wanted to punish Ming U. If it were any other school Central U probably wouldn’t dare. But Ming U had drawn earlier, so who could blame them?
The weak get bullied, the weak get hit, it’s always been that way.
“Expand the search! Keep looking! I still don’t believe they tunneled underground.”
For a while the sight of Central U students scrambling around looking ridiculous had everyone in stitches.
Five minutes passed… nothing.
Ten minutes… still nothing.
“Whoa! Did Ming U sprout wings?”
“What the heck? Is this some trick?”
“Pfft, Ming U rich kids pulling a stunt? I’d say frying is more likely!”
“Hahahaha…” Laughter broke out.
Just then, bang bang bang, shots rang from all directions.
Before the Central U students could react they were hit with colored rounds, all wiped out.
“?”
“??”
Hundreds of faces scrambled into blank confusion.
What happened?
Am I dead?
D*mmit!
The lead few still held guns; they looked at each other in disbelief.
They’d been wiped out by Ming U in one fell swoop?
This must be a dream.
Liang Jingzhou stepped forward and snorted, “Now who’s the one getting fried?”
Central U: “……”
Gu Huaiyu pulled him back. “Alright, don’t waste time, tally up the numbers, we need to chase Cheng Lian’s group.”
Liang Jingzhou nodded, “Got it.”
Then with a vicious look at the Central U survivors he snarled, “You got lucky today, I’m in a hurry.”
Soon the battlefield was cleared: Central U, two hundred and fifty-three people, none survived.
All dead.
Gu Huaiyu: “Collect their weapons.”
Liang Jingzhou: “Right! Almost forgot.”
“Everyone get ready, we move in two minutes!”
“Yes!” Voices full and eager.
“Wait…” the Central U leader suddenly said.
Gu Huaiyu: “What is it?”
“Where did you all pop up from? We searched this whole area and found nothing!”
Gu Huaiyu pointed to a denser patch of forest behind them.
“No way, such a distance, you’d make noise getting here, impossible no sound at all!”
“It wasn’t that we made no sound, your laughter was too loud, you didn’t hear us.”
The leader’s face reddened with shame.
They’d underestimated them.
“What if we hadn’t laughed? Would you have still been surprised by the ambush?”
Gu Huaiyu: “Then we wouldn’t have attacked. Once you leave, we come out.”
“…” So sly!
He bowed his head; then suddenly paused mid-glance: “Wait, you must be more than just this group! Where are the others? Still in the woods?”
Gu Huaiyu’s mouth twitched. “I say, aren’t you asking too many questions?”
He forced a smile. “Let me be clear on something, okay?”
“They’re not in the woods.”
“Then…”
Gu Huaiyu: “Don’t you know what ‘divide and conquer’ means?”
He knew that but why split the troops?
Thinking of B U who’d entered before Ming U, he suddenly felt a chill: “Do you mean you intended to—”
“Shh!” Gu Huaiyu made a shushing gesture. “If I tell you, it won’t be fun. Gotta leave some suspense for the readers.”
“…”
Gu Huaiyu left a meaningful smile, ignored the stunned expression on the leader’s face, and shouted, “Everyone, move out in full force!”
They set off.
Liang Jingzhou, who had been walking ahead, suddenly stopped, doubled back, and snatched the submachine gun from the group leader’s hands. “Hand it over!”
“…” What audacity.
After Ming U left, the Central U folks slunk out of the forest looking dejected.
The instructors standing at the entrance, who had been chatting, were stunned —
“What school are you from? What on earth happened?”
“The exercise started half an hour ago, why aren’t you in yet?!”
The students glanced at each other and lowered their heads. Better to say nothing when your face is gone.
The instructors grew angrier: “Cat got your tongue?! Answer someone!”
“We’re, we’re Central U.”
“Why didn’t you go in? Are you even competing?! Previous years Central U were all-in, what happened this time, where’s your spirit?”
“…Instructor, we didn’t just not go in, we went in and came out.”
“Why come out?”
“…”
Huh, what’s with these students? Why are they suddenly silent again?!
At that moment, a soldier responsible for on-site observation ran out, scratched his head, and answered for them: “Because Central U… cough… were completely wiped out.”
Instructor: “!”
Sister Yue is about to start tormenting people, no, tormenting a school.
