Their first day of training went smoothly, but Erica and Tessie were both exhausted.
Wesley had specially arranged a room for them, and asked them to follow the schedule of the other soldiers.
As soon as Erica saw the bed, she immediately climbed into it without even washing her face and feet. When her back touched the soft mattress, she fell asleep in a second.
Watching Erica sleeping soundly, Tessie shook her head helplessly. She had managed to wash her face first before going to bed.
The next morning, Gifford came to the military base again, but this time he was alone. As soon as he arrived, he first looked for Erica, who was currently doing some sit-ups. "Come with me," he ordered.
To his surprise, she refused. Shaking her head, she said unhesitatingly, "No, I won't go with you. I'm already doing well here."
Her training officer wasn't strict with her, and she could be lazy sometimes. Moreover, she was enjoying the company of the other soldiers in this squad.
If she followed Gifford to his squad, her life would be miserable.
Gifford had been indifferent to her since she returned, so she knew that he was still angry with her. If she joined his squad, he might vent his anger at her through their training activities. She wouldn't let him make her training experiences miserable.
Gifford looked at her discontentedly and said, "Why are you disobeying me? Just follow my command. Inside this base, you are not in the position to refuse."
"No way! I've already adapted to the training here. If you want to go, go by yourself." She could hardly imagine her life being trained by him for half a month.
Of course, Gifford knew what was in her mind. 'She knows that no one else can train her strictly other than me. She sure wants to train indolently, ' he thought.
The group of soldiers who was doing push-ups not too far away was stealing glances at them from time to time, and it didn't escape the sharp-witted Gifford. When their eyes met his, they immediately looked away and continued doing their push-ups.
Suddenly, Gifford thought of something. Matthew had already known that Erica was training here, and he was on his way here. "Okay. You can stay here if you want." He thought that Matthew would take her away anyway, so there was no need to change her current routine anymore.
Erica was happy, but she was confused as well. "Gifford, why did you suddenly change your mind? Are you—"
Before she could finish her words, he interrupted her impatiently, "Am I what? Do you want to go with me now? If you join my squad, I'll let you run eight hundred laps around the training ground first."
Seeing his disgusted look, Erica lay back and continued to do her sit-ups in silence.
This time, Gifford's heart had softened again. "If you need anything, just tell me. I'll leave now."
But she just ignored him, and did ten sit-ups in a row between clenched teeth.
He sighed helplessly and thought inwardly, 'Forget it. I can't afford to offend her.'
It was almost noontime when a black luxury car slowly drove into the military base and stopped in the parking lot.
After receiving a phone call, Gifford immediately went to check on Erica, who was currently practicing shooting with the other soldiers.
He then left and went to the parking lot without letting her know that he was there.
A few minutes later, two men in a suit walked to the training ground with Gifford.
Erica's shooting posture still looked awkward even though the training officer had already asked an excellent subordinate to teach her all kinds of shooting stances.
Matthew hadn't seen her for a long time, so he was a little surprised when he saw her wearing a camouflage uniform, and her long black hair braided into two. A man in the same outfit stood behind her. Since he was teaching her the proper position to shoot, his arms were around her shoulders.
Matthew stood still expressionlessly, with his hands in his pockets. His eyes locked on the petite figure, who had no idea that he was there.
'Is my father-in-law sure that he sent Erica here to punish her? Looking at these handsome young soldiers here, why do I feel that she is enjoying the kind of punishment given to her? She once said that she wanted to have an imperial harem where she could keep all kinds of handsome men, ' he thought unhappily.
Knowing Matthew, Gifford couldn't help smiling. He then suggested, "Why don't you go and say hello to Rika?"
But Matthew shook his head.
Gifford raised his eyebrows. If he hadn't seen the fury in Matthew's eyes, he would think that he wasn't jealous at all.
'Never mind. Let me do it for him.' Shaking his head helplessly, he shouted like a commanding officer, "Erica Li!"
"Yes, sir!" After two days of training, Erica had developed the habit of responding this way whenever someone called out her name.
She then turned around and saw three people standing ten-odd meters away from them.
Her eyes fixed on the man that she missed days and nights.
'Oh, my God! Matthew is here to see me!' she exclaimed excitedly in her mind.
All of a sudden, her exhaustion from the training dissipated.
She got so excited that she immediately dropped the weapon in her hand and ran towards him.
Matthew's anger had subsided a little when he saw Erica running towards him with a bright smile on her face.
She looked so beautiful while her braids were swinging with the wind. Since the sun was glaring, her fair skin had tanned a little.
However, it didn't make her less beautiful and lovely.
Being bold as usual, she jumped into Matthew, wrapped her arms around his neck tightly and her legs around his waist, under everyone's gaze.
Matthew had to wrap his arms around her waist so she wouldn't fall.
Feeling his arms supporting her, she let go of his neck, held his face with both hands, and lowered her head to kiss him hard on the lips.
She was so free and willful to do whatever she wanted without minding all the people around them.
Witnessing such a scene made the dozens of soldiers not far away feel envious.
Even Gifford, who was standing next to them, couldn't help feeling envious too. He wondered if Chantel would also treat him like this one of these days.
"Matthew, I miss you so much!" After taking advantage of Matthew's lips, Erica wrapped her arms around his neck again and pressed her head against his cheek.
Despite his anger, he couldn't resist her enthusiasm and passion. She was like a bright sun that suddenly lightened up his mood. The fury in his eyes turned into sweetness in an instant.
Not far away, the soldiers who were training with Erica just now gathered and discussed among themselves. "What is the meaning of this? Why is Erica hugging him like that?"
"And she kissed him too. Do you think she is doing this on purpose to make single men like us jealous?"
"Erica said that her husband was very nice to her, and I believe her now. Look! They have been hugging for so long, but he still has no intention of putting her down. They are really showing off to us!"
"Oh, no! I can't watch them anymore. My heart is now full of envy."
Matthew could feel the people's envy from their stares.
But before he could say anything, Gifford glared at Erica and said, "Get down now. This is not a place for you to show off. Many people are watching you right now. Don't you feel ashamed? Go home if you two want to make out."