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In the boys’ dormitory, each room housed eight people, with bunk beds.
The conditions were worse than the girls’ side—two extra beds crammed into the same space made it feel even more crowded.
While the girls’ dorm was quiet and dark, the boys’ side was noticeably noisier.
Chi Yao slept on the top bunk, sitting half-upright after finishing his shower. He had changed into his own clothes.
These boys, eager to team up for gaming, started adding each other as friends: “I’ll play the top lane. Brother Yao, add me.”
Chi Yao recited a string of numbers from his bunk above.
The boy replied enthusiastically: “Got it!”
After entering the digits into the search bar, he froze when he saw the contact’s profile picture: “Your profile picture… is pretty cute, huh.”
Chi Yao didn’t respond.
He was busy deleting a random person who had added him recently. Once done, he said: “Someone else picked it.”
“Is it your little sister?” The boy immediately assumed Chi Yao came from a family with multiple children. “Girls really like these kinds of pictures. If it were me, I wouldn’t be able to stand it for long—I’d find a way to change it.”
“You can’t change it.”
Chi Yao neither confirmed nor denied but simply added: “She doesn’t make much sense. She throws tantrums and cries easily.”
________________________________________
On the other side, Tang Shuxuan stared at the message “You are not yet friends with this contact” and the sudden red exclamation mark that popped up. She fell silent: …
Tang Shuxuan: Great.
Tang Shuxuan: He deleted me.
Lin Zhe Xia wasn’t sure how to comfort her and could only type: He’s like that. Do you know what my nickname for him is?
Tang Shuxuan: What?
Lin Zhe Xia: Chi Dog.
Tang Shuxuan: Very fitting.
Tang Shuxuan: Before I came here, someone on the forum warned me about him.
Tang Shuxuan: It was a girl who once gave water to Chi Yao. She said, “I suggest everyone stop giving water to Chi Yao. Let him die of thirst.”
For some reason, even though it was Chi Yao who rejected her, Lin Zhe Xia felt an inexplicable sense of guilt. After a moment, she sent another message: Don’t be sad.
Tang Shuxuan proved surprisingly resilient, recovering quickly: I’m not sad. There are plenty of men in the world—why bother with tough nuts? There’s a handsome senior in Grade Eleven. I’ll try my luck with him someday.
Lin Zhe Xia: …
________________________________________
The intensity of the military training increased over the next few days. Every day, they were required to stand in formation for an hour under the scorching sun.
As if fearing the worst, their drill instructor turned out to be particularly strict, demanding perfection and punishing the entire class whenever he found something unsatisfactory.
That day, their squad formation wasn’t aligned properly, so while other classes went to eat lunch, their class was held back by the instructor.
Under the midday sun, the military caps became unbearably hot.
Tang Shuxuan whispered to Lin Zhe Xia: “Though I always complain about the cafeteria food, having something to eat is better than nothing.”
After the incident where Tang Shuxuan asked for Chi Yao’s contact information, the two had grown unexpectedly close, becoming friends.
Lin Zhe Xia: “I’m starving.”
Tang Shuxuan: “My stomach just growled. Did anyone hear it?”
A moment later, Chen Lin chimed in from the back row: “I heard it.”
Lin Zhe Xia tried to comfort herself and the others: “I don’t think he’d really let us starve…”
The instructor, hearing their whispers, shot them a sharp glance and demanded: “Who’s talking? Step forward.”
“…”
No one moved.
Lin Zhe Xia mustered her courage and took a step forward: “It’s me.”
Instructor: “What were you discussing? Tell me.”
Lin Zhe Xia: “Just sharing some thoughts.”
Instructor: “Go ahead.”
Since she was already standing there, Lin Zhe Xia decided to brazenly say: “Health is the foundation of revolution, so eating is very important.”
However, she underestimated the instructor’s ruthlessness. Her words had no effect—they still missed lunch.
Starving through the afternoon, they finally ate dinner, but hunger returned shortly afterward.
This hunger wasn’t just because they hadn’t eaten lunch—it was like a breaking point after several days of poor meals. The feeling of being “underfed” hit especially hard that night.
That night, the dorm chat revolved around naming dishes.
“I want hot pot, I want barbecue…”
“Actually, given our situation, instant noodles would be the most practical. There’s a hot water dispenser outside the corridor. Did anyone bring instant noodles?”
“…”
Silence.
“Alright, let’s sleep. You can have anything in your dreams.”
Though they talked about sleeping, no one could actually fall asleep.
The less they slept, the hungrier they felt.
Around ten o’clock, Lin Zhe Xia tapped Chi Yao’s avatar in the chat window while lying under her blanket.
The chat interface immediately displayed a “tap tap” notification.
She assumed Chi Yao was already asleep at this hour, but to her surprise, he responded with a “?” almost instantly.
-You’re not asleep? What are you doing at midnight!
He replied without delay.
-Playing games.
Lin Zhe Xia: Oh, then go ahead and play.
Chi Dog: Aren’t you sleeping?
Lin Zhe Xia: I can’t sleep.
Lin Zhe Xia typed weakly: I’m too hungry to sleep.
After saying that, she couldn’t help but complain about the instructor: He’s practically a psycho. He didn’t let us eat lunch. I told him health is the foundation of revolution, and he got even angrier.
Chi Yao didn’t reply further.
Lin Zhe Xia figured he must have started his game, so she stopped bothering him.
Meanwhile, inside the boys’ dormitory building.
“Shit, you cast your ultimate too late.”
“The enemy Flashed. Chase them!”
“Brother Yao, save me!” one boy shouted. “Why aren’t you moving in the jungle? Is your connection lagging?”
Chi Yao: “Replying to a message.”
“You can even switch out to reply during a game? Is this the confidence of a true master?” In the middle of a crucial moment, the boy said, “Even if someone came at me with a knife right now, I’d stay rooted and finish my damage output before running.”
Another boy chimed in: “Not necessarily. You need to stay rational. Personally, I’d run while finishing my damage output.”
“…”
The moment these two finished speaking, a notification popped up: A friend has left the game.
There was a slight movement from the top bunk.
Chi Yao pushed off the bed, bypassing the ladder entirely due to his height, and jumped down directly: “I’m going out for a bit.”
“?”
“At this hour? Where are you going?”
“What are you doing? And isn’t the base gate locked? They don’t allow going out.”
Chi Yao pushed open the dorm door and walked out.
________________________________________
Back in Lin Zhe Xia’s dorm, silence reigned for nearly twenty minutes.
Everyone tried to resist hunger by sleeping, but twenty minutes later, a loud grumbling sound suddenly broke the stillness.
Chen Lin opened her eyes: “My stomach growled.”
Tang Shuxuan also opened her eyes: “I can’t sleep at all.”
Not knowing who started it, the group burst into laughter over the grumbling sound, completely losing any intention of sleeping.
Lin Zhe Xia laughed for a long time.
At this moment, her phone screen lit up with a new message notification.
She unlocked her phone and saw Chi Yao had sent only two words:
-Come downstairs.
Come downstairs?
What did he mean by “downstairs”?
Her first reaction was confusion.
The military training base had strict rules—students weren’t allowed to leave their dorms after lights-out.
And at this hour…
What was there to do downstairs?
But based on her understanding of Chi Yao, though he often acted inconsiderately, he wouldn’t send such a message to toy with her.
So Lin Zhe Xia asked the others: “Is the door downstairs locked?”
Chen Lin: “Not yet, I think it locks at midnight. Why?”
Lin Zhe Xia: “…I might need to go down for a bit.”
With that, she got up, changed into some clothes, grabbed her phone, and quietly slipped out of the dorm, closing the door behind her. Before leaving, she left a parting remark: “Comrades, if I don’t return, remember—the murderer is Chi Yao from Class One, Grade Ten.”
At this hour, whether it was the hallway or the lobby downstairs, the lights were off. Only a few streetlights outside provided faint illumination, casting dim light around the building.
Lin Zhe Xia wore an oversized pair of pajamas and loose blue-green shorts.
This outfit was utterly casual and unrefined.
After stepping outside, she looked around but saw no one in sight.
The rubber pathway in front of the dorm was deserted. Even the boys’ dorm next door had its lights off—no one was around.
-I swear
-If you’re messing with me
-You’re dead
Lin Zhe Xia crouched, angrily tapping each word into her phone screen.
-I’ll make sure you never see tomorrow’s sunrise
-I’ll kill you
-I!! REALLY WILL KILL YOU!!!
She didn’t dare get too close to the light sources, fearing patrolling teachers might spot her, so she crouched on the side of the building.
Surrounded by darkness, mosquitoes swarmed everywhere.
After swatting two mosquitoes, Chi Yao finally replied.
Once again, it was just two short words:
-Turn around
Behind the dormitory building was a tall wall enclosing the entire military training base.
Upon seeing “Turn around,” Lin Zhe Xia froze, an incredulous thought forming in her mind.
She turned her head and, in the pitch-black darkness, saw an indistinct figure climbing over the wall. The figure stepped onto the wall ledge and, with the advantage of height, landed effortlessly on the ground.
As the person approached, she realized he was carrying a plastic bag.
“…Chi Yao?”
“How did you climb the wall?” Lin Zhe Xia never expected Chi Yao to appear before her in this manner. Still crouching, she looked up at him in shock: “You sneaked out… to hang out with someone?”
The night breeze carried a slight chill, unlike the heat of the day.
Chi Yao hummed in response: “I went out to fight.”
“In a bad mood, itching for a fight, I wanted to beat someone unconscious in a sack.”
Lin Zhe Xia gaped: “So how many did you fight?”
Chi Yao casually replied: “Three or four.”
Lin Zhe Xia: “Did you win?”
Chi Yao: “If I hadn’t won, I’d probably be in the hospital right now.”
“Even if you won, you shouldn’t be here,” Lin Zhe Xia said, still shocked but retaining some logic. “You should be in jail.”
Chi Yao didn’t continue the topic. Instead, he almost dismissively tossed the plastic bag in his hand to her.
Lin Zhe Xia nearly caught it with her face, stumbling slightly as the heavy bag landed in her arms.
It was too dark, and Chi Yao’s dramatic entrance made her overlook the bag entirely—she hadn’t noticed what was inside until now.
Holding the bag, she finally saw its contents.
It was full of food: her favorite milk-flavored cookies, milk bread, two bags of candy, and most prominently, several instant noodle cups that were likely only meant to appear in her dreams—braised beef flavor.
Lin Zhe Xia hugged the pile of food and asked: “Didn’t you go to fight?”
“Halfway through, someone cried and begged me to spare them,” Chi Yao said. “They bought all this useless stuff to bribe me.”
Even Lin Zhe Xia, slow as she was, realized that Chi Yao’s “fighting” story was a lie.
She felt a dizzying wave of unexpected happiness.
Looking at Chi Yao, she found him unusually agreeable today.
Lin Zhe Xia didn’t hold back her praise: “I apologize for what I said a few days ago. You’re as handsome as Pan An. Your stunning face shakes heaven and earth—it’s truly awe-inspiring. I only said you were average because I was jealous of you.”
“The day I went crazy calling you a super handsome guy, I was actually blurting out my true feelings but was too embarrassed to admit it.”
As she spoke, she gave Chi Yao a thumbs-up.
“Jealousy is the highest form of praise I can give you.”
Chi Yao: “Continue.”
Lin Zhe Xia was in an excellent mood now. Not only could she spout flattery, but she’d happily keep going all night if needed.
“I can switch to English too.”
The lamppost stretched their shadows long across the ground.
Lin Zhe Xia began haltingly and awkwardly in English: “I’m sorry about… uh, i say you ugly.”
Chi Yao: “Grammar error.”
Lin Zhe Xia: “Oh, I’m not good at English. Let’s just forget it…”
She wanted to say, since you don’t want to hear it, the English version ends here.
But Chi Yao didn’t let her off so easily: “Since you can’t resist praising me—”
“When we get back, write an essay of no less than 300 words in English and send it to me.”
Lin Zhe Xia: “…”
How could someone accept flattery about their appearance so…
Calmly??
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