“Jiang Lu, what’s wrong? Why do you look so pale? Are you feeling unwell?”

Jiang Lu’s expression froze. In an instant, all thoughts were drained from his mind. He whipped his head around and found himself staring into Qi An’an’s clear eyes.

She was looking at him earnestly, her gaze filled with undisguised concern.

Jiang Lu stared at her for two seconds, then turned his head away.

He was going crazy.

Out of nearly two hundred people on the team, it just had to be Qi An’an. He had already decided not to look back, yet heaven kept placing temptation right before his eyes again and again. He had no idea when this cruel joke would finally end.

Qi An’an knew Jiang Lu’s temperament. Worried that he wouldn’t speak up, she continued to persuade him gently, “Jiang Lu, are you sick? Military training is really tough. If you’re feeling unwell, you should take a break in time, it’s okay.”

A bitter feeling welled up in Jiang Lu’s chest. Never mind that he didn’t feel tired— even if he did, with her by his side speaking to him in that sweet and gentle voice, no amount of hardship could reach him.

Just then, the instructor came over and patted Jiang Lu on the shoulder. “How are you, Student? Do you need a rest?”

“I’m fine, no need.” Jiang Lu had excellent physical endurance. After half a minute of recovery, he had already returned to his usual sharp and composed demeanor.

The instructor nodded. Though he didn’t smile, there was no hiding the admiration in his eyes. After years in the military, he could clearly recognize the innate fierceness and resilience in someone’s bones. Before coming to lead military training, he hadn’t expected a student this young to possess such presence.

“Let me see the two of you walk through it once.” The instructor said.

Though Qi An’an was a few centimeters shorter than Qi Zhen, she wasn’t considered short among the girls. More importantly, the instructor had a good sense of each student’s performance. Those who trained seriously wouldn’t go unnoticed.

Once the two finished walking through the routine, the instructor nodded. “Not bad. Don’t keep your body so stiff. No need to be nervous. The more you practice together, the more natural it’ll feel.”

Jiang Lu knew exactly who the instructor was talking to when he said that.

“Standard-bearers, you’ll have to endure a bit more hardship. Queue drills can’t be skipped. After disbanding at seven every evening, the standard-bearers will stay for an extra hour of practice. Any objections?”

They both answered, “No.”

“Return to the team, then.”

On the way back, Qi An’an couldn’t hold back and asked in a low voice, “Jiang Lu, are you really okay?”

“Yeah.”

Qi An’an added, “Then…… do you want to have dinner together tonight?”

She had heard from Yu Tianyang that Jiang Lu hadn’t had much of an appetite lately. Boys usually weren’t that attentive. If they saw someone eating less, they just noted it without saying anything.

Jiang Lu declined softly, “No, thanks.”

Being able to be alone with her during the extra training was already a pleasant surprise, and he was grateful. For the rest of the time, for the sake of her reputation, it was better to stay away from her.

────ρя


That evening in the cafeteria, Jiang Zifan chatted while eating, “Yang’ah, did you notice? Brother Lu had a pretty good appetite today. I don’t think I’ve ever seen him finish all the food on his tray before. Maybe after all these days, he’s finally feeling hungry?”

The boys weren’t too particular and just sat wherever. Their table was next to Jiang Lu’s. If they’d been at the same table, Jiang Zifan wouldn’t have dared speak so loudly about him.

Yu Tianyang, who got along well with Jiang Zifan in their dorm, was focused on gnawing a chicken leg and gave a half-hearted response, “Mm, good that he’s eating more. He’s got an extra hour of training tonight.”

“Speaking of that, it’s tragic.” Jiang Zifan shook his head with lingering fear. “Seven o’clock is everyone’s happy hour. From now on, Brother Lu’s happy hour will be delayed by a full hour. It’s just brutal, seriously brutal.”

At that, Zhou Qi looked up from his sweet and sour pork. “Brutal?”

Jiang Zifan was shocked. “You don’t think it is?”

“Doesn’t he have someone to keep him company?”

Yu Tianyang chimed in with a sigh, “So it’s double the brutality. Tragic on top of tragic.”

Zhou Qi had nothing more to say and went back to focusing on his sweet and sour pork.

On the other side of the cafeteria, Ji Ruomeng was also worried. “An’an, you’re staying late for extra practice tonight. Eat more.”

Ji Ruomeng had been sighing since the afternoon, and Qi An’an couldn’t help but laugh. “It’s fine. It’s just an extra hour, right? It’s my honor.”

“Jiang Lu clearly has great physical endurance. When you’re training together, remind him to rest a bit and don’t let him be too embarrassed to say it. But since you two were classmates before, he should look after you a bit, right?”

Ji Ruomeng nagged like a mother, “There’s no instructor watching the extra practice. But someone from the student council’s sports department will supervise, and the instructor will check the results the next day. I heard from last year’s students that some people even practiced an extra half hour or more just to get perfect coordination. Don’t be that crazy, okay?”

Qi An’an agreed readily, “Got it, don’t worry. Oh, and if you want anything to eat tonight, just tell me. I’ll bring you some after training.”

“As if.” Ji Ruomeng waved her off. “We finish earlier than you. If I want anything, I’ll just buy it myself. Oh right, Cai Yatong went back to the dorm just now. She told me that Qi Zhen called her dad and said she didn’t want to do the training anymore. Her dad already came to pick her up.”

Qi An’an already knew. Qi Hong had called earlier and offered to take her too, but she had directly refused, so he didn’t push it.

Now that Qi An’an thought about it, maybe Qi Zhen really was injured badly. Qi An’an asked, “Where did Qi Zhen get hurt? Did she hurt a tendon or a bone?”

“Where else could she be hurt?” Ji Ruomeng scoffed. “Cai Yatong had accompanied her to the school clinic. She’d just scraped her skin a little. The doctor didn’t even keep her and just said she could continue training. She was just being delicate.”

Qi An’an nodded and sighed inwardly. Maybe her previous understanding of the female protagonist’s character was flawed, or maybe this world had a bug somewhere.

Her heart for shipping the main CP completely cooled. She no longer had any thoughts about pairing Jiang Lu and Qi Zhen together.

────ρя


After the main group disbanded at seven, only the students staying for extra practice remained on the field, along with a few upperclassmen out for their nightly jog.

The one practicing with the standard-bearers was a senior student from the sports department. She was tall and well-built, with a loud voice. She went around giving guidance to each standard-bearer, but paused when she came to Jiang Lu and Qi An’an.

“Your instructor sure knows how to pick people.” She said with appreciation, eyes lighting up. “Practice hard.”

This senior was extremely easygoing— so much so that she was less strict than the students themselves. After walking around twice and demonstrating the correct posture for everyone, she simply sat down on the steps, pulled out her phone, and started playing games.

Jiang Lu and Qi An’an practiced for several rounds. Suddenly, Jiang Lu slowed his pace, hesitated, and asked, “Qi An’an, are you feeling unwell?”

He had noticed something off about her. Normally full of energy, she now seemed rather listless.

“No, I’m fine. Maybe it’s just too hot today. Even at night, it’s still sweltering.” Qi An’an looked at him and smiled sheepishly. “Am I that off with my movements?”

That wasn’t it. He was just too focused on her.

Today really was scorching hot— the hottest day in the history of military training. Once Jiang Lu met Qi An’an, he seemed to lose all his principles and boundaries. After a pause, he said, “Let’s not practice anymore today—”

“No, no, I’m okay! I already got through the midday heat, what’s there to fear about the evening? Come on, let’s keep going.”

Qi An’an knew he was doing this entirely for her. Jiang Lu was never someone who gave up easily. She straightened her back and assured him, “I’m really fine. I still have plenty of energy. It’d be embarrassing to run off now. Look, the senior’s watching us.”

Jiang Lu turned his head and saw the senior putting down her phone and waving at them. “Keep going, don’t stop!”

Qi An’an waved back with a smile, then nudged Jiang Lu’s arm. “Come on, let’s keep going.”

She didn’t notice the dark look that briefly flashed in Jiang Lu’s eyes as he looked back at her. “You’re really okay?”

“Totally okay.”

So they kept practicing. An hour passed quickly, and the senior finally dismissed everyone. Those who still wanted to practice could stay.

Qi An’an looked up and asked, “Jiang Lu, should we keep practicing?”

A gentle evening breeze stirred, lifting the strands of hair on her forehead and brushing them across her fair cheeks before swaying lightly on the tip of her nose.

Jiang Lu’s fingers twitched uncontrollably, then clenched tightly. In a low voice, he said, “No, let’s go back.”

He glanced toward the steps and added, “Wait for me here a moment.”

When Jiang Lu approached the senior, she was just shouldering her large backpack, about to return to the dorm. She raised her eyebrows when she saw him. “What is it, Junior? Need something?”

Jiang Lu said, “Delete the photo.”

The senior was stunned, then gave an embarrassed laugh. She asked cautiously, “Ah…… you saw that? Sorry, sorry! I’ll delete it right now.”

Jiang Lu calmly met the other party’s gaze. He could tell she hadn’t taken the photo out of malice or with ill intent.

“Here, look, I’m deleting it.” The senior handed him her phone and deleted the photo right in front of him. Her phone camera had surprisingly good resolution. For such a dimly lit training ground, the photo turned out beautifully.

Under the night sky, the boy and girl stood facing each other in military uniforms, their eyes locked— stunningly picturesque.

Jiang Lu swallowed hard, unable to look away from the image.

The senior decisively deleted the photo in front of him. Jiang Lu silently noted that it had been saved in a folder labeled ‘Perfect CP.’

Afterward, she even opened the recycle bin and permanently deleted the photo again. “All gone, don’t worry. I never sent it to anyone. Haha…… don’t take it the wrong way, I really didn’t mean anything by it.”

He knew she meant no harm. If she had, he wouldn’t have been so polite.

Still…… it was a shame about the photo.

When Jiang Lu returned, Qi An’an asked curiously, “What was that about?”

“I asked about our performance.” Jiang Lu said simply. Other standard-bearers had gone up to the senior earlier to ask for feedback on their coordination.

Still a good kid at heart, Qi An’an thought.

She didn’t think much of it. “Jiang Lu, I want to go to the school gate and buy something to eat.”

She still felt hot and uncomfortable and was planning to buy an ice cream. “Do you want anything? Want to come with me?”

There weren’t many people on campus at this hour, so walking together wasn’t a big deal. Besides, the gate was some distance from the dorms. Even though it was still on campus, it didn’t feel right to let her go alone at night.

Jiang Lu said, “Let’s go.”

When they were about a dozen steps from the gate, Jiang Lu stopped. There were more people up ahead and it was bustling. He didn’t want to go any further. “You go. I’ll wait here.”

Qi An’an didn’t know what he was thinking. She smiled and asked, “Okay. Then what do you want to eat? I’ll bring it for you.”

Jiang Lu curved his lips slightly. “As long as you’re eating, I’m fine. I don’t want anything.”

Qi An’an headed off with ease and confidence. She returned in just a few minutes with an ice cream in her hand.

Jiang Lu frowned when he saw it. “You bought ice cream?”

Qi An’an nodded, scooped a spoonful into her mouth, and pointed at the extra spoon in the cup. “Want some, Jiang Lu? I brought two spoons.”

Jiang Lu paused. “It’s autumn now.”

Qi An’an didn’t care and laughed carelessly. “It doesn’t matter. It’s still really hot today. I’ve been thinking about getting ice cream all evening, hehe.”

Jiang Lu didn’t know what to say. This was the girl he wanted so badly to protect. If he had the right, he would’ve taken the ice cream from her hand and told her that cold things in this season were bad for her health.

But he didn’t have that right. No matter how much he cared, he could only follow helplessly.

On the way back, they occasionally passed other students. Jiang Lu deliberately lagged two steps behind Qi An’an to keep some distance. At first, his gaze didn’t quite focus on her, but then he suddenly froze.

In an instant, his ears turned red and his expression darkened.

“Stop eating that.” He caught up in just a few steps and snatched the ice cream from her hand.

Qi An’an looked at him, confused. “What’s wrong?”

He was losing it— completely losing his temper. Without a word, Jiang Lu tossed the ice cream into a nearby trash can, took off his jacket, and handed it to her.

“You…… Put this on.”

He didn’t even know what he was saying anymore. “……Cover up.”