When the march ended and they returned to the camp, it was already evening, and the cafeteria happened to be serving dinner.

After the instructor gave the command “Dismiss,” the team rushed to the cafeteria.

As assistant instructors, Liang Qiuchi and Xiang Bei were entitled to faculty privileges and could dine on a separate floor without having to compete for food with the hungry crowd.

“It’s only in terms of eating that the treatment is okay. Otherwise, how many credits would it take to make me want to endure this suffering?” Xiang Bei was also hungry enough, lowering his head to shovel rice into his mouth while his eyes were fixed on the chicken drumsticks on Liang Qiuchi’s plate.

Liang Qiuchi threw the chicken leg into his bowl. “Shut up and eat more.”

Xiang Bei chuckled and pretended to be polite, “You should eat it.”

“I need to control my body fat.” After finishing his soup, Liang Qiuchi glanced at the time, then got up to take the tray and leave. “Take your time eating. I’ll go check on the infirmary first.”

Xiang Bei, knowing his strong sense of responsibility, waved his hand at him without lifting his head. “Go ahead, we’ll meet at the playground later.”

When Liang Qiuchi arrived at the medical room, the person whose arm was broken by Mo Xin was getting his cast bound. Liang Qiuchi asked, “What about the other one?”

“Sent to the hospital, I couldn’t handle it.” The team doctor glanced up, smiled familiarly upon seeing Liang Qiuchi, “Oh, you’ve only been here for a year and you’re already an assistant instructor?” Liang Qiuchi had been a popular figure on campus since he enrolled last year, and almost everyone knew his name.

Liang Qiuchi smiled, “I just help out.”

The team doctor nodded, “You’re an assistant now, but in the future, you’ll be a leader. Train well.”

Liang Qiuchi peeked into the inner room of the medical room and asked, “Has the new recruit who had a fever and sprained his foot come to see you?”

“Haven’t seen him, he’s my only patient.” The team doctor finished binding the cast for the injured person, then lightly tapped it. “All set, don’t touch water, keep it on for a month.”

The injured person groaned in pain, his face contorted.

Liang Qiuchi thanked the team doctor and helped the injured person up, then escorted him back to the dormitory.

Then he saw Mo Xin in the water room, brushing his shoes.

After cleaning the shoe surface, Mo Xin turned it over and brushed the soles meticulously, painstakingly removing every speck of mud from the grooves on the sole.

Liang Qiuchi couldn’t help but click his tongue.

Mo Xin glanced up at him, furrowing his brows.

Liang Qiuchi walked over, turned off the running tap water, and looked at Mo Xin’s fingertips, which had turned red from soaking in cold water. “People with cleanliness habits aren’t really suitable for military academies. There will be a lot of training in mud pits in the future.”

Mo Xin retorted, “I don’t have cleanliness habits.”

Liang Qiuchi glanced at the shoes in his hand. The soles were even cleaner than Xiang Bei’s dinner plate, which obviously lacked persuasiveness.

Mo Xin didn’t explain further, bypassed Liang Qiuchi, and limped out of the water room, placing the shoes under the dormitory window to air.

When he saw that Liang Qiuchi still wanted to follow him into the dormitory, his eyes became a little sharp. “Do you have something else to say?”

“I’m the instructor. Your training and life are within my jurisdiction.” Liang Qiuchi raised his chin at him. “Still running a fever?”

Mo Xin put the basin and shoe brush under the bed, saying, “No more fever.”

Liang Qiuchi looked at the empty dormitory, then retreated to the doorway to look at the occupancy list posted on the door. It should have been a full eight-person room, but only three people were living there.

“Where are your roommates?” Liang Qiuchi asked. “Have you met them all?”

Mo Xin replied coldly, “I’m here to train, not to make friends.”

Liang Qiuchi raised his eyebrows, walked over, pushed Mo Xin down onto the bed, and bent down to look at his ankle. Unexpectedly, he saw a bruise peeking out from under the cuff of his pants.

Mo Xin tried to pull his foot back, but Liang Qiuchi held his knee.

“Don’t move!”

Liang Qiuchi furrowed his brows and lifted his pants leg, discovering that the bruise was almost as long as Mo Xin’s straight calf. The purplish bruise looked somewhat glaring against his fair skin.

“What happened?”

“It’s none of your business.” Mo Xin pushed Liang Qiuchi away unkindly and covered the bruise with his pant leg. “Old injury, not within your jurisdiction.”

Liang Qiuchi chuckled out of frustration. “So, did you drag that injured leg all the way during today’s training? Impressive, aren’t you afraid of overexerting yourself?”

Mo Xin bit his lip. “I don’t want them to look down on me.”

Liang Qiuchi instantly understood. So, it was his pride at play.

“But you should still know your limits. If you collapse on the first day, what will you do for the rest of the training? Quitting in regret and becoming a laughingstock?” Liang Qiuchi glanced at the time. “Alright, don’t go for evening training. Rest in the dormitory, I’ll give you leave.”

Mo Xin was about to refuse, but Liang Qiuchi continued, “Tonight is just singing and socializing, and you don’t need to make friends right? Then just sleep here.”

He walked to the dormitory door and turned back to remind him, “Remember to set your alarm clock. Don’t be late for morning training tomorrow.”

After closing the door, Liang Qiuchi sighed.

He hated encountering such strong-willed and silent individuals. He couldn’t ask too much, but he couldn’t ignore them either, as he bore a responsibility.

He could only be more vigilant and keep an eye on this iceberg-like new student.

Fortunately, Mo Xin was very quiet. As long as others didn’t provoke him, he wouldn’t cause trouble. He always stood quietly at the back of the formation, earnestly completing every instruction from the instructors.

He could endure hardship and persevere, which Liang Qiuchi actually admired about him.

As the new students gradually adapted to military life, they would start taking turns on night duty. Xiang Bei was responsible for arranging the duty roster and was now scratching his head in front of the computer. “How am I supposed to handle this?”

“What’s the matter?” Liang Qiuchi had just returned with hot water and was pulled by Xiang Bei to the computer.

“Night duty requires two people per shift, I’ve arranged it,” Xiang Bei pointed at the screen, “but now there’s only Mo Xin left. Who should he be on duty with?”

“Shouldn’t the new students be in pairs? Why is there a single one?” Liang Qiuchi asked.

“Isn’t there one whose nose Mo Xin punched crooked?” Xiang Bei poked at Mo Xin’s name again.

Liang Qiuchi gave him a glance. “Stop talking nonsense, he broke it himself.”

“Come on, who are you trying to fool? That guy always asks for a beating with his mouth. This matter has been circulating privately.” Xiang Bei brought the topic back. “The key is, the one with the crooked nose won’t come back, so it’s left with one person, right? No one wants to be on duty with this living Buddha. Everyone begged me not to pair them with Mo Xin, or they’ll take leave or something. Then I have to rearrange the roster, which is really troublesome.”

“How about rotating? whoever it is, is paired up. The partners don’t need to be fixed.” Liang Qiuchi smiled.

“I thought of that too, but these newbies won’t agree. They surrounded me chattering for half the day, begging me not to pair them with Mo Xin in any situation.”

Xiang Bei, feeling irritable, slumped on the chair and suddenly fixed his gaze on Liang Qiuchi’s face, grinning. “Ge.”

“Cut it out,” Liang Qiuchi waved his hand. “I’m not falling for your tricks.”

“Ge, please sit,” Xiang Bei flattered, giving up his seat to Liang Qiuchi. “I didn’t go home this holiday, just accompanied you here, camping out. Ge, please do me this favor, and I’ll treat you to a month’s worth of meals after the military training!”

“You stayed because you didn’t want to be nagged by your dad, not for me.” Liang Qiuchi chuckled at him.

“My dad scolds me because he keeps comparing me to you, right? In the end, the responsibility still falls on you. Please, help me out, ge. I’m going to bed.” Xiang Bei rushed to the water room like the wind, leaving Liang Qiuchi with no room for negotiation.

Liang Qiuchi looked at the lonely name on the computer screen and sighed helplessly.