As newcomers, the college students acted like country bumpkins who’d never seen the world—gawking at everything, asking endless questions, and touching anything they could lay their hands on. They were like Granny Liu visiting the Grand View Garden from Dream of the Red Chamber.
“Holy shit, this field is huge!”
“Even the birds here seem prettier than the ones back at school.”
“No idea what these machines are for… Ow! It shocked me!”
“Hey, Lao Jiang, doesn’t that guy look like your dad?”
…
After over an hour of touring, Wang Ye led the Jingjiang University group to an empty lot and announced, “This is where you’ll be living for the next month.”
Huh?
“Captain Wang, there aren’t any houses or beds here. How are we supposed to live?” someone asked, baffled.
Wang Ye deadpanned, “If you’re asking me, who should I ask? My orders were just to bring you here. No idea about the rest. Maybe tents are coming later.”
“Seriously? That’s so lame!” someone grumbled. “I’ve never slept in a tent before. No clue if I’ll even get used to it.”
“Keep it down. You wanna be rewarded with five laps of warm-up? Five laps here will kill you.”
Wang Ye smirked but stayed silent, waiting.
Soon, a few military trucks pulled up beside the lot, loaded with canvas, poles, and other supplies for setting up tents, along with daily necessities.
The drivers called out, “Kids, come get your supplies!”
The students exchanged glances before looking at Wang Ye.
He jutted his chin. “Go on. They’re talking to you.”
Some weren’t happy. “We have to set up the tents ourselves? Talk about terrible service.”
Ye Qingyi was the first to step forward, collecting supplies from the driver and picking a spot. Su Mo and Xia Qingqing followed suit.
Seeing them move, the rest grumbled but eventually lined up.
The “supplies” were minimal: a single-person tent, a backpack, and two sets of training uniforms.
The lot was divided into grids, marking designated camping spots. A red line split the area in half—one side for boys, the other for girls.
Su Mo and Ye Qingyi wordlessly chose spots near the boundary, about ten meters apart.
“Hey, look! The goddess is by the dividing line! Let’s grab spots there!” someone shouted.
But the smarter ones had already quietly claimed their spots. Soon, the boys’ side formed a semicircle around Su Mo’s location, as if drawn by a magnet.
“Qingyi, you’re really popular,” Xia Qingqing said, unable to hide her envy.
Su Mo shook his head, sighing. “Ugh, I don’t even try. It’s just how it is. So annoying.”
From a girl’s perspective, Su Mo realized how childish and cringeworthy this behavior was.
Wait… so this is how we guys act?
Xia Qingqing was left speechless and sulked while setting up her tent alone.
The single-person tents were easy to assemble—anyone with half a brain could figure it out.
Some boys, after finishing theirs, came over to help the girls, showing off their chivalry. Wang Yun, for instance, earned plenty of praise.
Ye Qingyi worked with practiced ease, as if she’d done it before—hardly the spoiled rich girl people might expect.
They say men look their best when focused. Turns out it’s true. I was pretty cool just now.
Suddenly, a girl caught Su Mo’s eye—not heading toward him, but toward Ye Qingyi.
The girl was pretty, with a great figure, and she approached Ye Qingyi with an innocent demeanor, whispering something.
Next thing he knew, Ye Qingyi followed her to help set up her tent.
Damn, impressive. Already attracting beauties, huh?
Once the tent was up, the girl gazed at Ye Qingyi with admiration, clearly impressed.
“Next, she’ll probably ask for his WeChat,” Su Mo muttered.
Sure enough, the girl pulled out her phone—but Ye Qingyi seemed to decline before walking away.
Hah! She actually looked a little shy just now.
Wang Ye patrolled the camp, ensuring everyone had set up their tents. He joked to a colleague, “Kids these days haven’t suffered much. Always complaining. Back in our day, we didn’t even have bunk beds, let alone single tents.”
“Right? I remember once, monkeys stole the food we’d scavenged. Almost starved to death in the woods. After that, I hated monkeys.”
The other Beidou members swapped stories of their training days—some bitter, some sweet.
With tents set up, the students had the rest of the day free, aside from a 7 PM assembly.
Wang Ye’s exact words: “Assembly at 7 PM. The rest of the time is yours.”
Su Mo saw nothing wrong with that. Relaxation before intense training was precious.
But unlike the others, he didn’t wander around. Instead, he stayed in his tent, practicing the Jade Seed Technique.
Nearby, Ye Qingyi also sat meditating. Though this body hadn’t been rigorously trained, it was sturdy enough.
At lunchtime, Ye Qingyi invited Su Mo and Xia Qingqing to the cafeteria.
“Two beauties joining me for lunch? What an honor,” Ye Qingyi teased.
“Hi, I’m Xia Qingqing. You’re Qingyi’s friend, right? She mentioned you,” Xia Qingqing said, offering her hand.
“Hi, I’m Su Mo,” Ye Qingyi replied, shaking it briefly.
In truth, all three knew each other well, but Ye Qingyi had to play it cool, acting like she and Xia Qingqing had just met.
Xia Qingqing naturally took Su Mo’s hand. Ye Qingyi’s brow twitched—irritation flickering inexplicably.
“Aren’t you afraid of getting beaten up for being so close to me?” Su Mo suddenly asked, raising an eyebrow at Ye Qingyi.
“Since when can’t the school beauty have guy friends? Besides, if it weren’t for busybodies, no one would even care.”
“Fair enough.”
Her logic was sound, so Su Mo dropped the act. They’d just act like normal friends—because that’s all they were.
On the way to the cafeteria, they passed other schools’ campsites, drawing stares and whispers. But Su Mo was used to it by now.
“Qingyi!” someone called from behind.
Su Mo froze. The voice was unfamiliar. He glanced at Ye Qingyi, who looked equally confused.
Great. More improv.