Must make progress.
Must learn.
As she walked up the mountain path, Cheng Feng’s legs – the ones with the pulled muscles – felt as if they were dragging invisible weights, constantly pulling her downward, trying to force her to stop and rest for a while.
Cheng Feng wiped her nose. The cold morning air in the woods had made her nose run. She stopped and looked up toward the heights, watching the branches intertwining and stretching beneath the lights. Her mind wandered off into the distance, drifting as she thought: How big is the gap between me and Tao Rui?
And how big is the gap between me and the top analysts in the league?
If only that gap could be made visible, like this mountain path – then she could catch up, step by step.
When she reached the first selected site for the model, Cheng Feng stopped, took out her pen and paper, and began recording the data.
Her thick gloves made it hard to write. She bit the tip of one glove and pulled it off, stuffing it into her pocket. But soon her bare fingers grew stiff in the cold wind, and the lines she wrote came out crooked and shaky.
The mountain path hadn’t been cleared at all. Rocks and weeds retained their wild, untamed nature, scattered messily everywhere. Walking through the grayish morning light, Cheng Feng passed by uneven pits and nearly tripped several times.
She was alone, so her data recording was quite slow.
Half an hour later, a beam of light swept across the distance as someone approached. Cheng Feng glanced at the time on the device clipped to her chest – 6:05 a.m.
The sky wasn’t fully bright yet. Most of the early-rising students should still be waiting at the base camp entrance right now, getting ready to set out.
Cheng Feng slowed her pace and waited for the person to draw nearer.
As the figure approached, a tall silhouette gradually emerged. Cheng Feng stared for a long while but still couldn’t make out the face beneath the light source. It wasn’t until the person spoke – “What are you doing?” – that she recognized Tao Rui.
The two stood there, one slightly higher up the path than the other, staring at each other wide-eyed.
Cheng Feng asked with an indifferent expression, “Why are you working so hard?”
Tao Rui shot back, “Why are you working so hard?”
Cheng Feng was very displeased.
Here she was, barely managing to catch up on an assignment, and she just had to run into the top student. How absurd.
The two stopped talking to each other and went about their own tasks.
Cheng Feng wanted to stay as far away from Tao Rui as possible, afraid that his peculiar aura might affect her. Unfortunately, their work efficiency was very similar. Even though they weren’t surveying the exact same locations, they were heading toward the same destination – one faster, one slower – and she kept running into him anyway.
Cheng Feng grew anxious, feeling that this might be a very bad omen.
After daybreak, more people began moving through the forest. Students formed small teams and rushed over to collect data. The atmosphere was much lighter than yesterday – no heavy gear to carry, and they could walk arm in arm and joke around with each other.
Cheng Feng started sweating. She unbuttoned her uniform and took off her cap.
On the trail, some senior saw her and said hello. After finishing their own assigned data sections, they headed back to base first. Cheng Feng tore off the relevant assignments and asked them to take them back for her.
By the time Cheng Feng finished recording the main data for the five models, it was already evening. The mountains were nearly empty and had become very desolate. Since she hadn’t eaten lunch, she spent the latter half of the trek in a state of hunger – pale-faced and weak in the legs.
Cheng Feng sat on the ground, leaning against a tree trunk to rest for a while. She buried her head in her notes, adding remarks next to the messy parts so she wouldn’t forget later. After reviewing everything one more time, she unexpectedly ran into Tao Rui again, as if it were inevitable.
Both of them looked a bit haggard. Their eyes met, but neither wanted to start a conversation. They headed back to the base one after the other.
They hadn’t been walking back for long when Cheng Feng ran into Shen Dan coming the other way.
When Shen Dan saw them, her expression was full of shock. Her eyes darted between them several times. She opened and closed her mouth, then pointed at Tao Rui with her right hand and asked in anguish, “Why are you with him instead of me? Are you two that close?”
Cheng Feng explained, “We just happened to run into each other.”
Shen Dan wasn’t entirely convinced.
She could come up with a hundred different excuses for “just happening to run into” someone – none of them the same.
The real issue was that Cheng Feng had gone out secretly to study without taking her along. How cold and heartless was that?
Cheng Feng asked, “Are you heading back?”
“I still have one problem to work on,” Shen Dan said, turning her face away. She waved her hand and added, “You go ahead. While you’re at it, help me move my blanket.”
Cheng Feng replied with an “Oh,” and then really did leave first.
Tao Rui heard the footsteps of the person behind him and turned back in disbelief. He opened his mouth and asked with a hoarse voice, “You’re not going to stay with her?”
“Why would I need to do that?” Cheng Feng said with some confusion. “Watching her study while I have nothing to do would make me feel terrible. And I’m really hungry.”
She paused, then added the most important point: “Besides, it would distract her.”
Tao Rui felt he no longer understood the friendship between girls. Wasn’t it said they even hold hands when going to the bathroom?
Cheng Feng thought about tonight’s dinner and couldn’t help picking up her pace. After several days of intense training, she could still manage a light jog through the mountains. Tao Rui tried to shake her off but couldn’t.
By the time Cheng Feng returned to the base, the square was completely empty. The gate, which had been tightly shut, was now wide open again, putting on a welcoming facade that was almost misleading.
Shen Dan’s blanket was nowhere to be seen, nor was Cheng Feng’s own. She figured some considerate roommates must have carried them back to the dormitory.
Cheng Feng silently sent her blessings to those two kind souls, then rushed into the cafeteria in a whirlwind. Unfortunately, they had already closed. All she could do was buy leftover steamed buns and rice balls from the vending machines nearby.
When she finally wandered back to the dorm, several of her roommates, now in clean clothes, were sitting at the table writing the still-unfinished mech combat analysis report.
The air, filled with the fresh scent of body wash, gained an extra layer of sweat the moment Cheng Feng walked in.
Her roommates stopped their quiet chattering and waved, saying, “You’re back.”
Cheng Feng nodded, finished the food in her hands in a couple of bites, grabbed her clothes, and went in to take a shower.
It wasn’t until she came out, clean, that she realized the base had returned the optical computers to the students.
Cheng Feng tapped the screen open. The message pinned at the very top was the schedule released by the instructor.
[Tomorrow at 18:00, training will begin on time, and optical computers must be turned in.]
So the base was being generous and giving them a day off.
Below that were all kinds of private messages.
Some were from people just looking for entertainment.
What’s Good About Summer: I was wondering where you’d disappeared to. So you’re in intensive training. Life at the base must be great, right? Those instructors must be especially kind and gentle, huh?
Some were from the worried type.
Mr. Kong: Don’t get into fights. The people in this base won’t go easy on you. If they curse at you, just let them. They’ve had it rougher than you in their early years. Rolling around in mud and swimming in filthy water is nothing. Just think about that and you’ll feel better.
And then there were messages from those who had no idea what was going on.
Song Zheng: Boss, help me retweet a lottery, please! Much appreciated!
Swiftness Prevails: Let’s have another match. I’ve done some research this time. I will definitely win.
As Cheng Feng scanned through the messages, she finally spotted someone talking about something serious.
Xiang Yunjian: [Image] Every day when I pass by this road, I can see your little owl sitting on the windowsill contemplating cat life. If this keeps up, it’s going to become a landmark at UFU.
In the image, a small white lump could be seen huddled on the windowsill. There really were students standing on the street taking photos of it. The only problem was that the direction pointed toward the balcony of the female dormitory – this kind of behavior could easily lead to some subtle misunderstandings.
Before Cheng Feng left, she had set the little owl to standby mode. But this combat robot had always been naturally disobedient – if it didn’t want to go into standby, it simply wouldn’t.
Last time, it went out to pick a fight, and Cheng Feng scolded it. Repairing its feathers cost a huge amount of money. If it weren’t for Cheng Feng’s generosity, it would already be on the path of becoming a bald eagle, with no turning back.
Although Cheng Feng didn’t modify its programming, the intelligent robot’s capacity for learning and self-improvement still took effect. It no longer dared to go out wandering on its own. But it couldn’t wait for Cheng Feng to return either, so it just crouched on the balcony, craning its neck in eager anticipation.
Looking at the little creature’s short, chubby figure, Cheng Feng actually felt a twinge of sympathy. She replied carefully.
Ye Guicheng: It’s a howl.
Ye Guicheng: Take it out for some fresh air.
Xiang Yunjian: Why does a robot need fresh air?
Xiang Yunjian: It can’t even beat a stray cat.
The little owl was indeed useless now, but hearing it said so directly still felt like a knife in Cheng Feng’s heart. It brought upon her, at an entirely inappropriate moment, a sense of regret – the kind that comes with a hero’s decline.
Xiang Yunjian: Have you seen Tao Rui yet? And Shao Anyang and the others? They’re all pretty formidable deputy commanders. But Tao Rui’s style is more orthodox, so he’s better to use as a reference.
This person’s name had come up several times already, but Cheng Feng still didn’t have an accurate understanding of his abilities. She had never seen him build a model in person either.
Reminded by Xiang Yunjian, Cheng Feng switched to San Yao and quietly typed in Tao Rui’s name.
Tao Rui was a third-year university student. He had made it to the finals of the league in both individual and team formats. San Yao had a lot of video material about him stored, and the officials had even invited him for two personal interviews.
If you typed his name as a keyword in the forums, dozens of pages of discussion threads would pop up – covering everything from evaluations of his professional knowledge to revelations about his private life. He was arguably one of the most closely watched students among recent military university cohorts.
For some reason, Cheng Feng felt a twinge of guilt, as if she were sneaking around. She clicked on a thread titled, “Why are people still asking who Tao Rui’s father is?”
The main post contained a few photos and a short video clip.
Judging from the screenshots of comment replies in the thread, Tao Rui’s growth trajectory was very clear – he had been in the spotlight from an early age, and he himself had never tried to avoid it.
Both of Tao Rui’s parents majored in Type B Command. One is a university professor, and the other is an active-duty soldier in the expeditionary force – truly red-rooted and upright, with a strong family legacy in the field.
Tao Rui himself is exceptionally talented. At eleven, he won the gold medal in the Alliance’s Youth Modeling Competition, competing across age levels. As a freshman in high school, he had already aced the professional subject assessments of various military academies, ranking near the top. However, his parents felt his temperament wasn’t steady enough yet, so they had him train and mature for another two years.
After graduating from high school, he was specially recruited by the First Military University. Rumor has it that the First Military offered him an astronomical scholarship – though the exact amount isn’t confirmed.
Staring at the long string of zeros behind the number, Cheng Feng’s eyes started to blur. She thought to herself that even if the actual amount wasn’t what the rumors said – even if it shrank to one-tenth of that – it would still be several times higher than her own stipend.
Was Tao Rui really that valuable?
His image in Cheng Feng’s mind instantly turned radiant with the shimmer of gold.
But after indulging in this fantasy for just a few seconds, Cheng Feng snapped back to reality.
No.
She needed to find UFU and ask for more money too.
