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Chapter 12
At five in the morning, everyone got up for training.
Youyi was woken up from her sleep, groggily putting on her clothes. By the time she stepped out, she finally realized what Fu Cheng meant by going to bed early.
A full five kilometers.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, with no sign of the sun yet, only a hint of pale light on the horizon. A group of university students, most of whom rarely exercised, struggled to run the five kilometers. They were already gasping for breath before reaching the halfway point.
Fu Cheng ran with them.
He showed no signs of exhaustion, running with ease. To him, it seemed like this was not five kilometers but merely fifty meters.
As they neared the camp, a sudden rainstorm broke out.
There was nowhere to take shelter, and without an order from the instructor, everyone had to keep running in the rain.
Wei Jing took off his jacket and ran a few steps ahead to shield Youyi from the rain.
His gesture caught everyone’s attention.
After the two of them were punished together yesterday, there had already been speculation. Now, with Wei Jing being so eager to shield her from the rain—
Youyi was momentarily stunned. Even though it was raining, she stepped away, declining his help: “No need, you should just keep running.”
Wei Jing was worried she would get soaked and insisted on shielding her.
Youyi was helpless. She glanced in Fu Cheng’s direction before saying to Wei Jing, “If the chief instructor sees us again, we’ll get punished.”
Wei Jing, being somewhat simple-minded, finally realized that Youyi almost got punished again because of him.
Reluctantly, he put his jacket away.
The rain came quickly and left just as fast, like a gust of wind. In about ten minutes, it was completely over.
But by then, everyone was thoroughly drenched.
Upon returning to camp, they were supposed to continue with half an hour of standing posture training. However, due to the rain, Fu Cheng allowed them to go back and change clothes first.
“Oh my gosh, I just washed my hair last night, and now look at it, just a few hours later.”
“Who didn’t? We queued up so late last night, and now it was all for nothing. Totally wasted.”
In the dormitory, everyone changed clothes and dried their hair, grumbling nonstop. Huang Youyi had short hair and wore a cap, so she didn’t get too wet.
After changing her clothes, Huang Youyi remembered something and asked Youyi, “Where did you shower last night? How did you finish so early?”
They had been in line together, but halfway through, Youyi had disappeared. When she returned, she was already done with her shower, and her hair was nearly dry, while there were still more than ten people ahead of them.
“I—I just showered in the bathroom, where else could I have gone?” Youyi stammered, evading the question.
Apart from the women’s and men’s bathrooms, there weren’t any other options.
That’s true.
Although Huang Youyi couldn’t quite figure it out, it wasn’t important enough to press further.
“Ten minutes until assembly at the training ground!”
The girls hadn’t even finished tidying up, let alone had time to sit down and rest, when the loudspeaker outside blared another announcement.
“I’m so exhausted, really exhausted. I feel like my legs are going to detach from my body. I can’t take another step.”
Sheng Sheng, having changed clothes, didn’t even bother drying her hair. She collapsed onto her bed, completely defeated.
She had raved about Fu Cheng’s looks and physique before coming, but now she didn’t even want to see him.
This was nothing like the military training in their freshman year. The exhaustion was on a whole other level, with Fu Cheng pushing them to meet the standards of new recruits.
At least during military training, they didn’t have to get up in the middle of the night to run five kilometers. Back then, the atmosphere was great, and everyone sat together to sing at night.
Today felt like hell.
By the end of the day, everyone was drenched in sweat. As soon as they hit their pillows, they didn’t even want to shower.
Youyi sat cross-legged on her bed, looking at her ankles. Blisters had already formed on her heels.
They had run five kilometers in the morning, stood in military posture for hours, and still had physical training in the afternoon. Even a body of steel would have struggled to endure it all.
Youyi’s calves were sore beyond belief.
Having been inactive for so long, the sudden increase in physical activity led to a buildup of lactic acid in her muscles.
She could already tell that by tomorrow morning, her legs would be useless.
“This is inhuman.” Youyi muttered under her breath, her face sullen.
“Who?” Huang Youyi, from the neighboring bunk, leaned over, surprised to hear Youyi swearing.
“The chief instructor,” Sheng Sheng, from the upper bunk, helpfully clarified.
They had started at five in the morning and trained until eight at night, with barely any rest besides meal breaks.
“He was with us the whole time today, and he didn’t even seem tired,” Sheng Sheng added, agreeing with Youyi. “You’re right, he’s really not a human being!”
*
On the fourth day at the base, they began the main activity of the training—
Orienteering.
The nearby area was full of forests, with numerous checkpoints scattered throughout the mountains, some even halfway up. These checkpoints marked the scope of the orienteering challenge.
Unlike school cross-country activities, this orienteering challenge spanned two days, with a points-based system determining the winners. There was a campsite for resting overnight, but they had to navigate to it themselves using a map.
To ensure the students’ safety, the entire forest had been pre-mapped, and the checkpoints were set up accordingly. Each participant was also given a GPS-enabled watch and a compass.
Youyi’s dormitory group of four temporarily teamed up, gathering around to study the map.
The first thing they had to do was figure out their direction. Only once they had determined that could they accurately find the places they needed to reach.
“We’re at this triangular point right now, and these flags mark the checkpoints we need to find.”
The area was vast, and many of the checkpoints were likely hidden in concealed spots. If they didn’t thoroughly understand the layout of the hills and valleys on the map, they might reach the location without ever finding the checkpoint.
“Let’s take this route. It looks the easiest,” Huang Youyi suggested, pointing to a path leading south. “We should aim to find three checkpoints. No need to push ourselves too hard. And before nightfall, we should reach the campsite to rest.”
When it came to outdoor activities, none of the four girls had much experience, so they followed Huang Youyi’s lead.
Each of them carried a backpack filled with food, first aid supplies, and communication equipment. The combined load made their bags quite bulky.
They had relied too much on digital maps like Gaode, so when suddenly handed a paper map, and in the midst of unfamiliar forest paths, they felt completely out of their depth.
Never before had they felt quite so incompetent.
The dots on the paper map didn’t move along with them. Coupled with the need to estimate distances and analyze terrain, after walking for half an hour, they were utterly confused about their location.
Earlier, they had confidently declared that they would find three checkpoint markers. But now, looking at the situation, they weren’t even sure they could find the campsite.
So, the group had no choice but to stop and study the map again.
Huang Youyi pointed at a few dense lines on the map and said, “The contour lines indicate valleys, right? Here are two circles, with a waterline in the middle. This must be a valley.”
It was impressive that a science student like her could still remember high school geography. She spoke with such confidence that no one dared question her.
“Where’s the valley?” Sheng Sheng looked around, trying to recall the path they had taken, but saw nothing particularly distinctive.
“Look for a river,” Huang Youyi said. “Follow the river, and we’ll definitely get there.”
It sounded good.
No issues so far.
Tian Ning cautiously raised a question: “But where exactly are we on the map right now?”
A great question.
Everyone fell silent.
“It’s here,” Huang Youyi pointed, saying softly, “The lines here are sparse, which means the terrain is relatively flat. We’re around here.”
“Exactly,” Youyi nodded, suddenly enlightened.
“We should head northeast now.”
This time, they were more cautious, starting to calculate their distance based on the map’s terrain so that they wouldn’t get lost again.
The checkpoint they were looking for was a hundred meters down from a valley, next to a large tree. Unfortunately, there were plenty of trees around.
The path grew steeper and more complicated, making it difficult for Youyi to walk. As she climbed down, a tree branch accidentally scratched her ankle.
It seemed to have broken the skin, though there was no bleeding.
But it hurt quite a bit.
Youyi started limping more as she walked.
“Youyi, why don’t you sit here and rest? Don’t push yourself any further,” Huang Youyi urged her to sit down while the others went ahead to find the checkpoint.
The path was too steep, and with her injured foot, it would be difficult for Youyi to continue.
Youyi didn’t argue and obediently sat down, not wanting to be a burden.
About half an hour later, they returned.
They had successfully found the first checkpoint, earning ten points.
With that initial success, everything felt easier. At least now, they all had confidence in themselves.
Confidence was crucial.
But Youyi’s ankle was hurting more and more.
It wasn’t just a scratch—she must have twisted it too. When she rolled up her pant leg to check, her ankle was slightly swollen.
Still, she didn’t want to hold everyone back.
It was Huang Youyi who first noticed something was off.
“Youyi, is it really hurting a lot?”
Youyi shook her head. “It’s fine.”
Fine? Her clenched fist gave away that it clearly hurt quite a bit.
Huang Youyi took out the map and estimated that they had about two kilometers left to reach the campsite. There was a small pavilion nearby where they could rest.
“We’ll head to the camp to find the instructor. You wait here.”
Youyi nodded obediently.
They had only walked a few hundred meters when they ran into Fu Cheng.
The group hesitated about whether to mention Youyi’s injury. They thought he might help, but they weren’t sure, so they exchanged uncertain glances. Fu Cheng spoke first.
“Where’s Ding Youyi?”
The four girls were in a group, and since they were all here except for Youyi, her absence was obvious.
“She’s hurt,” Huang Youyi pointed back, but before she could finish speaking, Fu Cheng cut her off.
“I’ll go get her. You keep going.”
“But—” Huang Youyi started, but Fu Cheng was already striding ahead.
Fu Cheng knew the terrain and paths in this forest well.
He found Youyi within ten minutes.
She was sitting on the pavilion’s steps, one pant leg rolled high, her pale, slender leg resembling a delicate shoot. She was in clear pain, her brow furrowed, and she couldn’t stop wincing.
Fu Cheng’s heart sank.
“Are you hurt?” His tall figure loomed over her like a mountain, casting a shadow as he asked in a low voice.
Youyi looked up and, upon seeing Fu Cheng, felt both angry and aggrieved.
The hardship of the past few days had all stemmed from him. Although everyone had faced the same challenges, at this moment, it was just the two of them, and her emotions surged uncontrollably.
He crouched down in front of her.
Fu Cheng grasped her ankle, inspecting the swollen joint. Her leg also had a scratch, with blood beading at the surface. His brows furrowed as he turned his back to her.
“Get on,” he commanded.
“I can walk, it’s just—” Youyi started to say she didn’t need to be carried, worrying that it would be awkward if someone saw them.
“Doesn’t it hurt?” Fu Cheng’s tone softened, sounding almost helpless. “Get on,” he repeated.
**
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