Chapter Twenty-One: The First Day at the Base (Part Two)

Dinner time. After finishing cleaning, Lu You returned to the dormitory and took off his jacket.

During the assembly earlier, Instructor Liu had told them that apart from the morning flag-raising ceremony, they no longer needed to wear their military jackets—just the short-sleeved uniform would suffice.

Lu You picked up his lunchbox and placed the canned fermented black beans with dace fish, olive vegetables, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, and dish soap he had bought that morning into a plastic bag, preparing for a second attempt at the mess hall.

He headed to dorm room 206.

Li Yu was sitting on the bed. Seeing the lunchbox in Lu You’s hand, his brow immediately furrowed with reluctance. “You’re going to the mess hall again? Aren’t there any other options? Like instant noodles or bread?”

“Of course we have to go to the mess hall. We can’t eat instant noodles and bread every meal; I won’t last. Come on, the second group has arrived, and if we don’t go now, we’ll be stuck in a long line for food later,” Lu You urged.

“Sigh.” Li Yu sighed, knowing he couldn’t argue. “Did you bring canned food and such?”

“I did. If I hadn’t, there’d be nothing to eat,” Lu You said, shaking the heavy plastic bag in front of him.

Li Yu stopped hesitating, grabbed the lunchbox, and followed Lu You out of the dorm.

When they reached downstairs, Li Yu recalled the conversation between Lu You and Tang Wan at noon and asked, “Didn’t Tang Wan say she’d treat you to dinner? Aren’t you waiting for them?”

“No need. When I was sweeping, I told her to remember it, and we’ll just buy a milk tea later. Everything here is overpriced; I don’t want to waste money. Besides, they’re probably showering now; they wouldn’t wait anyway.”

“Do they take a long time to shower?” Li Yu asked curiously.

“How would I know? But my mom takes at least half an hour,” Lu You shrugged.

“Oh, then no point waiting.”

...

They got their food and found a spot under a fan.

Li Yu glanced at the gradually crowding mess hall and clicked his tongue. “This crappy mess hall still has so many people eating here.”

“There’s only one mess hall here. No matter how bad the food is, where else can we go?” Lu You said with a hint of helplessness.

Their lunchboxes contained nothing but brick-like rice and some oil lettuce. Compared to the morning’s long water spinach, this looked more edible. As for meat, they gave up entirely, not even glancing at it.

Lu You first opened the Lao Gan Ma chili sauce and canned dace fish, scooping two spoonfuls of Lao Gan Ma into the lunchbox, then poured some oil and fermented black beans from the can. Finally, he mashed the rice with a spoon, mixing everything evenly.

After mixing, the lunchbox exuded a spicy chili aroma combined with the salty fragrance of fermented black beans.

“This flavor and appearance are really not bad,” Lu You praised and then began eating.

Seeing Lu You enjoying his meal, Li Yu was tempted and imitated his method.

After mixing and taking a bite, Li Yu felt as if he had been reborn.

“How is it? Edible, right?”

“More than that! I feel like even the mixed rice at five-star hotels isn’t half as fragrant,” Li Yu said, exhaling contentedly.

“Hextech mixed rice really is delicious. Now I have enough confidence to survive this purgatory mess hall.”

Before long, they finished their mixed rice cleanly, the lunchboxes as spotless as plates licked by dogs.

Rubbing his stomach, which felt a bit warm after eating the spicy Lao Gan Ma, Lu You summarized: “The olive vegetables are a bit redundant but can be saved for breakfast. As for Lao Gan Ma and fermented black beans with dace fish, they’re tied for first place in the world.”

“These two are like my rebirth parents during military training. When we get back, I’ll have someone make models of them and set them up in the Carp Club as offerings,” Li Yu said, his mood very cheerful.

Lu You laughed. “Others might think your shop even provides meals with those.”

“Hey? That’s not impossible.” Li Yu suddenly sat up straight, as if struck by inspiration. “Then we can move the board games and tables upstairs and open a milk tea shop on the first floor.”

“You think about that yourself. I’m going to wash the dishes first,” Lu You said, picking up the lunchbox and dish soap.

...

After dinner, they returned to the dormitory. It was 5:45 p.m.

Lu You took out his change of clothes, lifted the plastic bucket, and went to the balcony outside the bathroom to shower. The bathroom door was almost useless, and the other dormmates all washed themselves on the balcony in their underwear without any awkwardness, so he just joined them. As for changing underwear, he wore a towel around his waist and went into the bathroom to change.

He placed the bucket at the faucet beside Meng Yi, then took off his shirt and tossed it into the bucket.

Meng Yi was shirtless, rolling up his pants, washing clothes with his head down. Seeing another figure beside him, he turned his head.

“Holy crap!”

Lu You had just placed his hand on his waistband intending to pull down his pants when Meng Yi’s sudden exclamation startled him, causing him to shiver.

“Damn it, what are you doing? You scared me,” Lu You took a few deep breaths to calm himself.

Meng Yi stared intently at Lu You’s upper body, his eyes almost glowing.

“You’re such a beast! You actually have abs!”

Lu You gave him a side-eye. “That’s called abs? It’s just the lines from being skinny. Others have them too.”

“I don’t.”

“Neither do I.”

...

Suddenly, several people gathered around. Lu You sensed the atmosphere turning strange.

“Class leader, can I touch to feel what it’s like?”

“I want to try too.”

“Save me a spot!”

Lu You hurriedly pushed through the crowd, trying to hide his panic. “Get lost! No touching between guys, keep some boundaries!”

Unfortunately, the weak resistance only stirred the wolves’ fangs more.

After a round of harassment, Lu You lay on the bed with dull eyes, murmuring to himself, “I’m no longer pure, I’m no longer pure...”

“Hey class leader, did you train specifically for this? I’m skinny too, but my abs aren’t as defined as yours,” another classmate, who had also taken advantage of the opportunity to grope, asked.

“Hm?” Lu You snapped back to reality. “No special training, just regular exercise. Those who train specifically are way tougher than me.”

“I’m done. I still need to shower; otherwise, I won’t have time to wash clothes later.” He stood up and returned to his spot.

Meng Yi sneakily reached out to touch him again, but Lu You slapped his hand away.

“Again? Enough already. Don’t get greedy.”

Meng Yi pouted, withdrew his “pig’s hoof,” and looked down at his own faintly defined abs, then at Lu You’s, sighing deeply.

“Why is the difference between people so huge?”

Lu You glanced at his big belly. “Control your mouth, move your legs, and persevere. That’s all there is to it.”

“Forget it, having more fat is better for warmth.”

...

That evening, the entire class gathered again.

Instructor Liu stood before the line, his expression less stern than during the day.

“Students, tonight’s schedule is simple. First, we’ll have a meeting at the rain shelter training ground. Your grade director will give a speech. Actually, it’s nothing important—just some nonsense. As long as you don’t disturb the order, you can do whatever you want.”

“After the meeting, the four companies of our performance battalion will gather, chat, play games, and get to know each other better—basically, an icebreaker. It should end around ten o’clock. After that, you can go back, shower if you need to, or have a late-night snack. Lights out at eleven. There will be night patrols all night, so don’t be reckless; get some rest. That’s all. Class leader, lead the team and follow me!”

...

At the rain shelter training ground.

...

It was eight o’clock at night, and darkness had fallen.

The long, foul-smelling meeting was over. Students from other battalions had left the rain shelter to their own gathering spots. The performance battalion stayed inside the shelter, waiting for the instructors’ next arrangement.

Lu You sat at the front of the line, feeling almost moldy. During the meeting, he had to sit upright, pretending to listen attentively to the director and various other obscure leaders. Afterward, surrounded by unfamiliar girls, he dared not say much for fear of making mistakes and becoming the target of teasing.

Meanwhile, Tang Wan sat near the back of the second class girls’ line, resting her chin on her knees, staring blankly at Lu You’s back.

Xu Nian and others were chatting, discussing topics to get Tang Wan’s opinion. Turning around, they saw her lost in thought, gazing in one direction.

“Wanwan. Wanwan? Wanwan!”

Three calls in a row, but no response.

The girls chatting with Xu Nian fell silent, looking at Tang Wan.

“What’s got you so mesmerized?”

Xu Nian stretched his neck to see the direction Tang Wan was looking, and the others followed suit.

Lu You suddenly felt many eyes on his back but dared not turn around, enduring it. At that moment, he longed for Instructor Liu and Captain Fu, hoping they would appear before him.

“Isn’t that the class leader of third class?”

“Sitting at the front, it must be him.”

“Which one?”

“The really good-looking one. You know, the one who looks like he could actually eat the food in the mess hall.”

“Oh, I remember now. He’s really handsome. I bet he’s in my dreams tonight.”

As the girls whispered, Xu Nian quietly leaned toward Tang Wan’s ear and whispered, “Is he good-looking?”

“Very,” Tang Wan instinctively replied but immediately blushed, stammering, “The... the night view outside is really... really beautiful.”

Xu Nian smirked teasingly. “Ah, the night view isn’t as good-looking as Lu You, right, Wanwan?”

Tang Wan blushed scarlet, speechless, burying her head in her knees and muttering almost inaudibly, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Xu Nian looked at Tang Wan, who resembled an ostrich hiding her head, feeling a bit melancholic. His little cabbage was probably doomed.

Damn it, dog man!

He gritted his teeth, glaring at Lu You’s back, wishing he could tear him apart.

Lu You felt as if a knife was at his neck, his hairs standing on end, struggling to breathe. He finally couldn’t help but turn his head to see who was staring.

Damn! Really handsome!

Though Xu Nian had seen Lu You a few times, this glance was still striking.

“Wow, such a beastly look!”

“Same here.”

“Same here.”

...

Hearing their exclamations, Xu Nian sighed internally, thinking quietly.

Indeed, a beast. Wanwan’s already fallen for his looks; few could resist. Need to observe his character closely.

Xu Nian wanted to ask Tang Wan some questions, but at that moment, an instructor carrying a microphone and dragging a large speaker climbed the platform. After testing the microphone, he waved to the crowd, signaling it was time to begin.