Credits: Valerie & Kathrien.
Original Author: 牛油果桃儿.
Tang Yuran surpassed her. She still looked fairly arrogant, but probably was just as tired as Li Jiao since she was dragging her feet.
The girl who had two braids was half a lap slower than Li Jiao and was running slowly behind her.
Li Jiao stopped and rested a bit.
She looked up at the field. Half a lap more to run.
Her hair under her cap was wet with sweat, and when she was stood still, she could feel beads of sweat drip down from her head. The sun burned her cheeks rouge-like two red apples.
Li Jiao pursed her dry lips, revealing two small dimples. Her round and apricot-like eyes, looking at the track ahead of her, revealed a tinge of determination.
Just half a lap more. She could do it.
After standing still for a while to gain back some energy, Li Jiao started running again.
When she passed by the flowerbed where the others were resting, they too started running again.
Li Jiao looked at the five people who appeared in front of her, didn’t speak, and continued to run.
The five people ran two laps less than everyone else, therefore they surpassed Tang Yuran quickly and ran to the front.
Tang Yuran didn’t rest and was becoming slower and slower.
Li Jiao also ran slowly but tried to catch up to Tang Yu Ran since she was only a few steps away.
With a “bang,” Tang Yuran fell to the ground with a sprained ankle.
“Yuran.”
Li Jiao ran over and helped her up.
“Are you alright?”
Tang Yuran frowned, bit her lip, and shook her head.
Li Jiao looked at her ankle. “Do you need to go to the infirmary?”
Tang Yuran got up slowly with her hand against the ground. “I’m fine. It’s alright.”
“But,” Li Jiao tried to convince her to go to the infirmary but was interrupted.
“I don’t need you to help me. I can walk by myself.”
As she spoke, she let go of Li Jiao’s hand and moved on, looking crippled.
“I’ll help you.”
Li Jiao went over to help but was waved away.
“No need.”
Tang Yuran looked annoyed. Her expression was cold, and her slender eyes looked down at her.
Li Jiao was stunned, unable to understand why Tang Yuran hadn’t liked them ever since the start.
She didn’t talk to anyone in the dormitory and didn’t accept anyone’s help. Why was she so against everyone?
Tang Yu Ran, still crippled, had already walked away for a short distance. Li Jiao looked at her for a few seconds, didn’t talk, and then silently ran past her.
Since she didn’t like her, there was no point in being friendly.
Li Jiao saw that Zhang Jiuling was waiting for them at the finish line after completing her last lap.
Beside him, there were the few girls who had finished their laps first.
Li Jiao tried to run faster and reached the finish line, panting.
Zhang Jiuling glanced at her and looked at the two people who were still running.
One of them limped, and the other was slow. After about five or six minutes, Tang Yuran and the other girl finally reached the finish line.
With the eight girls all having arrived, only the five girls who had run less than everyone else were not breathing heavily.
Of the other three people, the girl with the braids had fallen straight to the ground. Tang Yuran, however, was stubbornly standing with her legs shaking slightly. And as for Li Jiao, after the red on her face ceased, she looked pale and couldn’t breathe properly.
Zhang Jiuling turned, faced the girls, and said coldly:
“Every one of you, line up!”
The girls lined up quickly and looked at him.
Zhang Jiuling glanced at everyone indifferently.
“First row, fifty push-ups for going against the rules.”
“Get ready now.”
“Why?”
The girl called Lulu spoke up first.
Zhang Jiuling glanced at her and said, coldly:
“During your military training session, you did not listen to the instructor’s commands. You rested lazily when you were supposed to run.”
As soon as these words came out, the five girls were stunned. So the instructor had seen everything.
Tang Yuran still kept her arrogance. She looked up and asked:
“Then instructor, why do we need to do push-ups as well even though we followed the rules?”
Zhang Jiuling said: “If one person makes a mistake, then the whole row receives the punishment.”
“How come?”
“It’s the military’s rule!”
“But we’re not soldiers.”
“But you are undergoing military training!” Zhang Jiuling said, “During your training, violations of rules will be handled in accordance with military regulations!”
“…”
Zhang Jiuling: “Understand?!”
“Understood.” Tang Yuran lowered her head, still defiant.
Zhang Jiuling looked at the others. The rest of the girls looked scared. The instructor was quite scary when he was shouting.
“You all too. Understood?”
“Understood.”
Zhang Jiuling raised his eyes slightly. His expression was stern, and he said:
“On the ground, ready!”
The eight girls laid on the ground and began doing push-ups after running.
“One, two, three……”
Li Jiao was in the corner. Her pretty eyebrows were tense, and she was biting her whitish lips. Furthermore, sweat kept dripping to the ground.
She had just finished running, and her legs hurt a lot. Now she had to push-ups. Her whole body was tired and lacking energy like a chunk of dough.
The ground seemed to pull her down, and she couldn’t move.
“Nineteen.”
“Twenty.”
Zhang Jiuling glanced at the person at the end of the row. The girl looked like she was stuck to the ground. Everybody else was getting up, but she remained still.
He shouted again, “Twenty.”
The seven girls laid down and got up again.
Li Jiao, who was at the end of the row, didn’t move at all…
Zhang Jiuling: “Twenty.”
“Why’s there another twenty?”
The other girls did the push-up again, clenching their teeth.
Li Jiao, who was in the corner, still didn’t move…
Zhang Jiuling stopped shouting as if he were waiting for someone.
Li Jiao realized that he was waiting for her. She clenched her teeth, tried to push herself up with her hands, and failed to get up.
No matter how hard she tried, she didn’t move.
Once again, Li Jiao breathed in, summoned some energy, and pushed at the ground.
“Boom—“
Everyone heard the sudden sound, and Li Jiao was the only one that felt the pain. She used her hands, but she didn’t use her legs.
And, facing the ground, she kissed the soil.
When her face touched the ground, Li Jiao felt like the whole world was silent.
Other than the pain from her nose and her forehead, she kept asking herself: What should I do, what should I do, what should I do now?
Should I pretend that nothing happened and continue training, or pretend to faint…
Time passed a second by a second, and Li Jiao laid on the ground, not able to see anything, hearing only the distant slogan shouts from the military training field.
Uh, where was the instructor, and why did he stop counting?
If he didn’t count, then how was she supposed to continue training?
While Li Jiao was thinking anxiously, she heard footsteps coming nearer. It sounded like the instructor’s military boots were stepping on the ground.
At last, the sound stopped beside her.
Then, she smelled a faint, familiar, and cold fragrance.
At the same time, a deep voice came from the top of her head:
“How long do you plan to lay here for?”
Li Jiao raised her head abruptly and looked Zhang Jiuling in the eyes. She was able to see her own reflection through his deep pupils.
At that moment, the atmosphere was quite awkward.
Zhang Jiuling squatted beside her and examined her. The girl’s forehead and nose had small dots printed from the plastic track like freckles. It was inexplicably funny.
Why was it her again? She said that he was dark, and now she was laying on the ground?
What a difficult person to deal with.
Li Jiao’s mind went blank as she looked at the instructor. After a moment, she said:
“Good afternoon, instructor.”
“…”
After she said this, Li Jiao regretted it.
What are you saying?
Good afternoon?
Does the instructor need your regards???
Is right now the right time to say good afternoon????
We got off on the wrong foot before, and now you’re saying good afternoon while being punished. Aren’t you afraid that the instructor will think that you’re an idiot?
Sure enough, after she said this, Zhang Jiuling started looking at her weirdly. He glanced at her hands.
And he asked: “Is there glue on the ground?”
Li Jiao shook her head like a seal, “No, not at all.”
“Then why were you lying on the ground?”
“I’m… I-I’m too fat, I fell.”
Oof—
It was as if Li Jiao heard an arrow pluck through her head. Oh God, what type of excuse was this?
How did she gain the courage to say this?
Zhang Jiuling didn’t say anything. He simply stood up and said:
“Continue.”
And then, he walked to the other side.
“Twenty-one, twenty-two…”
Li Jiao repeated the action mechanically. She couldn’t even remember how she continued.
She only had one thought in her head right now.
It was over. Now the instructor must think that she’s an idiot.
And also a…. Fat idiot.
The sun slowly glided towards the west side, and it was already 6 pm in a blink of an eye.
Today’s training was now over. Night training hadn’t started yet. Therefore, they didn’t have to practice after dinner.
Class 1 of Grade 19 had no plans, so they could go back to their dorms to rest.
After a day of training, Li Jiao couldn’t feel her feet anymore. Thankfully, Zhang Yue had carried her back. Otherwise, she probably would’ve had to crawl back to the dorm.
After she returned, she didn’t leave her bed. Even her dinner had been brought to her by Su Linlin.
At night, after showering, Li Jiao sat on a stool and looked at her scarred feet.
There were blisters everywhere.
When she picked at the blisters using a needle to make them pop, it hurt so much that she had screamed in pain and kicked the air.
Zhang Yue had tried to hold her still but was kicked instead.
At last, she looked at her feet, now covered with band-aids, and Zhang Yue who she had kicked.
With a regretful face, she said: “Sorry, boss.”
She was afraid of pain and hadn’t meant to kick her…
Su Linlin tried not to laugh while Zhang Yue stood with a gloomy face.
“Jiao, did you think I hadn’t eaten enough food to the point where you had to give me that trotter of yours?”
“Ha, hahahahaha…..”
Su Linlin couldn’t hold it anymore and started laughing.
Li Jiao apologized again guiltily: “Sorry boss, I was wrong.”
Looking at Li Jiao’s little pitiful appearance, Zhang Yue couldn’t be hard-hearted. She waved her hand and said:
“Forget it, forget it. It’s not a big deal. Just buy me an ice-cream later.”
Li Jiao nodded, raising two fingers, “Two would also be fine.”
Zhang Yue smiled and said:
“Okay, you can rest. Linlin and I need to go to the classroom. You can sleep early, just leave the door slightly open for us.”
The class needed some books. Zhang Yue and Su Linlin, as class president and secretary respectively, had to go.
Li Jiao was only the activities organizer, and as she couldn’t move her feet, she didn’t have to help.
After waving goodbye, she sat in the dorm to rest.
After a short while, her phone ringed. It was from her mom.
Li Jiao looked at Tang Yuran’s bed. Her curtains were closed, and the lights were open.
She struggled to move, walked to the balcony, and picked up her phone.
“Hey, mom.”
“I’m not in the middle of training right now. No worries, I can do this.”
“Yeah, military training has just started. Holidays are at the end of the month. I’ll come back on National Day.”
“When I come back, I want to eat dad’s sour and sweet cooking…”
When she spoke with her family, she unconsciously used a pleading tone. When Li Jiao spoke like that, she sounded both gentle and cute at the same time.
Speaking of this, it was the first time she had left home by herself.
She was from this city and hadn’t gone to a boarding school. University was the first time she had ever been alone.
Now, she missed home.
Li Jiao looked at the moon in the sky while calling. The moon was an oval and shined brightly.
Noise came from the field which was not far away. Her voice, containing homesickness, mixed gently into the peaceful night.
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