Chapter 8: The Meaning of Military Training

The watermelon was sweet upon tasting, and Qin Muxue felt it was the most delicious and sweetest she had ever had.

Lin Beixiu, with his back to her, also saw that Qin Muxue had given her portion to the instructor, and he, in turn, gave his portion to her because he could feel that Qin Muxue was really thirsty, and he still had water and could hold on a bit longer.

Qin Muxue knew there wasn’t any extra, not one more piece or one less, so the piece she ate was Lin Beixiu’s, so her giving the watermelon to the instructor was seen by him.

She was very moved inside.

After resting, they continued to stand at attention, but with the replenishment of watermelon, they were all energized.

Soon it was time to dismiss, Lin Beixiu shook his empty bottle, still thirsty, he decided to go to the convenience store to buy a bottle of water.

As he opened the refrigerator door, about to grab a bottle, a familiar voice came from beside him.

“Lin Beixiu.”

Lin Beixiu turned his head to look, it was the familiar Qin Muxue.

Now, she was holding a bottle of mineral water, standing not far from him.

“Ah, you’re here too.”

Qin Muxue saw his slightly panicked look and couldn’t help but find it funny.

“Are you here to buy water?”

Lin Beixiu nodded, and Qin Muxue shook the water in her hand.

“I bought it for you.”

Lin Beixiu was stunned for a moment but still took his water and followed her out.

Qin Muxue looked at the water in his hand and told the cashier to pay for both. The cashier scanned the payment code on Qin Muxue’s phone.

Lin Beixiu watched her pay and then handed the water to him, he subconsciously took it.

The convenience store was quite crowded, and seeing this scene, the envious glances from the single folks were all directed at Lin Beixiu.

Qin Muxue ignored those looks and walked out, with Lin Beixiu following. He didn’t think much of it, just found those glances weird.

“It’s my way of thanking you for the watermelon this afternoon.”

Hearing Qin Muxue’s words, Lin Beixiu didn’t know how to respond, holding two bottles of water, looking somewhat comical.

“Uh.”

“Stop ‘uh’-ing, what are we eating tonight?”

Qin Muxue turned back to look at him, she was now completely convinced by Lin Beixiu’s cooking skills.

“No more vegetables, need to buy some.”

“Buy, buy more, I’ll come with you.”

Lin Beixiu saw her excited look and couldn’t help but smile, following her towards the direction of the vegetable market.

…….

The time after military training, everyone was still in pain yet enjoying it, and that day, during the break, Li Yuwei again bought a case of drinks at her own expense.

When Lin Beixiu came over with the drinks, everyone cheered.

But Li Yuwei explained the rules with a smile, boys and girls in pairs play a game, grab the drink in front of them, and the winner gets to drink.

This made the boys howl in despair, a bunch of big guys, really competing with the girls?

However, the game started, the boys quickly began to find girls to team up with, Lin Beixiu stood still, confused about whom to team up with, he really didn’t want to.

Eventually, his gaze fell on his roommate Qin Muxue, just as she was looking his way, their gazes met in the air.

Lin Beixiu mustered his courage and walked towards her, “Um, can I team up with you?”

Qin Muxue smiled, “Of course.”

He was the only person she knew in the class, she had wanted to team up with Lin Beixiu anyway, not expecting him to think of her first.

Then everyone else also found their teams, of course, since there were more girls in their class, in the end, there were teams of two girls.

Each pair sat opposite each other, with a drink in front of them, following the instructor’s command, they placed their hands on their knees, heads up, and then Instructor Zhang gave the order.

“Grab.”

In most groups, the girls grabbed, the boys didn’t move, or two who knew each other started grabbing together, only Lin Beixiu’s group, both looked at each other, neither made a move.

Lin Beixiu was baffled, “Why didn’t you grab?”

Qin Muxue’s expression unchanged, calmly said, “For you.”

Lin Beixiu felt a twinge in his nose at that moment, the feeling made him indulge in it, he turned his head away, his voice devoid of any emotion.

“No need, you take it and drink.”

“Male chauvinism? I’m not weaker than you, no need for you to let me.”

Lin Beixiu: …….

Their bickering quickly drew the attention of the class, after all, they had already started drinking their drinks, while the two were still sitting there staring.

A group of people whispered among themselves, with some bold boys whistling, their faces bearing teasing smiles, the class’s coldest two pairing up ended like this.

Of course, some were envious, wishing the school beauty would offer them drinks too, but compared to Lin Beixiu, they knew it was impossible unless you were more handsome.

Li Yuwei frowned, wanting to come over and see what was happening.

Qin Muxue’s words hit him hard, he just felt it was the right thing to do but didn’t know how to say it….

Lin Beixiu lowered his head, hiding his emotions.

“I…..”

This?

Qin Muxue saw his hesitant look but keenly sensed something was wrong with his emotions, not sure what was happening.

Qin Muxue sighed helplessly, took the drink.

“Thank you, I’ll drink this water.”

Li Yuwei came over and understood the situation, Qin Muxue simply said, they were both being polite to each other.

Li Yuwei patted his shoulder with a smile, “You’re a good class president.”

Lin Beixiu was still dazed, not having snapped out of it, looking at Li Yuwei’s smile, the clouds in his heart dispersed, feeling slightly better.

Just when the break was over, everyone cheered again, there were still drinks in another box, Li Yuwei treated her students equally, those who didn’t get one before could now go get one.

The boys quickly swarmed to grab the drinks.

Li Yuwei helplessly shouted, “Don’t grab, there’s enough for everyone.”

She also gave one to Instructor Zhang.

Finally, Li Yuwei patted Lin Beixiu’s shoulder, addressing everyone.

“Of course, I also want to take this time to say something to everyone.”

Everyone looked at Li Yuwei and Lin Beixiu next to her.

“I believe after these many days together, everyone has seen our class president’s ability, and everything the class president has done for each of us, let’s give our class president a round of applause, to thank him.”

Applause.

Everyone offered their applause, smiling at Lin Beixiu, he was stunned, looking at everyone’s sincere smiles, his eyes moistened.

“Class president, thank you, when I couldn’t keep up with standing at attention, you were punished for me.”

“Class president, thank you, when I fainted, it was you who helped me to the school clinic.”

“Thank you…”

Lin Beixiu smiled, he was happy, for the first time feeling this emotion, although he was not eloquent, he had indeed felt aggrieved, he didn’t understand why the teacher chose him as class president, nor why the class’s disorder resulted in his punishment.

But he soon understood, it was the instructor’s trust in him, the instructor’s encouragement. It was also the responsibility he ought to bear, he didn’t know how to do it, but he knew he was doing the right thing.

Perhaps this was the meaning of military training, to bring scattered hearts together, hearts from all over the place found a small home at this moment, finding a new sense of belonging again.

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