Chapter 26: Bad, too bad!
Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
After dinner, the sky began to darken. An the drill ground, instructor Zhang Lizheng’s face was black as he looked at the students of Company 39 expressionlessly. He did not speak.
The atmosphere was so quiet that it was suffocating. One by one, the students started to feel uneasy as they did not know what sort of punishment was to come.
Mo Wen, however, was not all that nervous. Instead, he was slightly pensive as he looked over to the crowd of bystanders in the far distance; at first, he was suspicious and did not understand why anyone would find faults with him for no reason. Afterwards, when the second wave of people had dashed out, he saw Cheng Hao and understood in an instant.
He saw Cheng Hao standing at the side and looking around. When he suddenly met Mo Wen’s gaze, his expression changed a little and he subconsciously retreated a step. However, he promptly regained his cold expression and looked back at Mo Wen sinisterly, his eyes filled with provocation.
Even though an accident had happened today and he was unable to kill off Mo Wen, he still had a chance. He had more than enough methods to kill him; if he were Mo Wen, he would not bet on his luck for the next time.
He attributed today’s failure of the plan to Mo Wen’s good affinity with people since there were many people who stepped forward to help him; but he still had many other ways to kill off Mo Wen.
A cold look flashed through Mo Wen’s eyes. He had always been a person that would not provoke another if he was not provoked first; but once he was provoked, he would take revenge that would be a hundred times worse.
Even though Mo Wen, the miracle physician in the other lifetime, had a peaceful personality and did not engage in vicious fights with others, there weren’t many people who dared provoke him either. This was because those who provoked him were often met with a bad ending. It was not just a simple revenge.
Although Cheng Hao was in the same military region as Mo Wen, he was not a member of the same battalion; he was from the 3rd Battalion, whereas Mo Wen was from the 4th Battalion. Normally, they trained at different battalion sites, so Mo Wen did not notice him previously.
As for the people who had taken action, they were also from the 3rd Battalion, 4th Company. They had been with Cheng Hao for a short week, but the two groups had already been won over by Cheng Hao.
The atmosphere was a little tense. After a moment of silence, instructor Zhang Lizheng finally uttered something.
“Did you win the fight?”
The students exchanged glances, baffled. They did not know what the instructor had meant in his words and did not dare to casually reply.
Finally, it was still the squad leader, Chen Zhongqing, who stepped forward and responded.
“Yes.”
Zhang Lizheng nodded slightly and his expression softened a little.
“Very good.”
His gaze fell on the other instructor who was not far away, disciplining the other group of people who had started a fight with them.
The other side was where the 3rd Battalion, 4th Company had gathered.
“Hm? Lost the fight? Very good.”
The instructor on the other side had a cold expression on his face as he nodded his head.
“Since you’re so daring to fight openly and go against the rules, you should already have been prepared to receive your punishment. Considering that you are all still students under military training, I will not make things difficult for you. Just run three miles while carrying weights.”
“Five blocks of bricks. Not a single one can be missed,” the instructor hollered coldly. His voice was especially loud, and even those who were far away could hear him as well.
The faces of the students who had picked on the others changed the moment they heard him. Running three miles on its own was already a huge test of a person’s fitness, not to mention running three miles while carrying weights.
A block of bricks was generally 6.6 pounds, so five blocks amounted to 33 pounds. Although it was not especially heavy to the boys, adding it on top of running three miles was simply asking for their lives.
They were students who had just joined military training and were not the experienced soldiers who had been training for years. Even though the punishment could be completed, losing one’s skin due to blisters and scratches was unavoidable.
“You guys heard it. Going against the military rules would require you to face the punishment.”
Zhang Lizheng coldly glanced over to the other side and said, “I won’t say anything more. Ten blocks of bricks in addition to running three miles.”
When the students of company nine heard him, their faces went pale one by one. If five blocks of bricks could make one lose a layer of skin, wouldn’t 10 blocks of bricks claim one’s life? The instructor was just too ruthless!
After Zhang Lizheng had finished his words, he called over a warrant officer of rather high rank that was seemingly his subordinate. After telling him a few things, the warrant officer left with quick steps.
The other company that initially had their faces full of despondence immediately started to ride on their misery upon hearing those words. 10 blocks of bricks! That would be 66 pounds and was twice as heavy as the others. All of this in addition to the three mile run was akin to torturing them.
Not long after, the warrant officer ran back. Following behind him were another 10 warrant officers. They were each holding a huge backpack in their hands. The backpacks were drum shaped and squarish, looking very heavy.
“Let them put it on,” Zhang Lizheng said coldly.
Immediately, the bags were deposited in front of Mo Wen and the others one after the other. The warrant officers who had set the bags down wiped away the sweat on their heads. The bags were seemingly really heavy.
When the students of Company 9 saw the bags, their faces started to turn pale.
Chan Zhongqing gritted his teeth and was the first to pick up the bag off the ground and carry it on his back.
“Dang it, I’m going all out! Brothers, let’s all carry them. What are we afraid of?”
However, in a second, his expression turned odd and he looked at instructor Zhang Lizheng in confusion.
The others also took a deep breath and picked up the backpacks that were on the ground one after the other. But the moment they picked up the bags, everyone’s expression also turned odd.
The people of Company 9 exchanged glances, but nobody spoke.
When Mo Wen picked up his bag, he smiled a little amusedly. The bag was not as heavy as he had imagined. In fact, it was so light that it appeared to not have anything inside at all. He used his hand to pinch the bag, and indeed, the inside was soft and elastic. It definitely not full bricks, but foam instead.
“Oh my goodness! It’s so heavy that my back can’t even support it.”
Wang Yuan’s face was full of agony as he stooped down, as his body was weighed down by a weight that was too difficult to bear. He also shouted, “Not fair! Why is it that we have to carry 10 blocks of bricks and they only have to carry five? It’s not fair!”
Wang Yuan’s yelling could be heard even from far away. It was so deliberate, as if he was afraid that others would not be able to hear him.
When he had just finished, the other people in Company 9 immediately started to put on a glum expression one by one and scream out loud that it was not fair.
On the other side, instructor Wang Shenling hardened his expression and furrowed his brows before he said expressionlessly, “You guys heard them. Their weight is 10 blocks of bricks. Since this is so, you guys will carry 10 blocks as well.”
The moment Wang Shenling had finished saying that, the people of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Company started to complain of hardship. Beforehand, they were still riding on the others’ misery. But now, they felt like crying but couldn’t cry either. Suddenly, they did not hate their instructor so much anymore. Instead, it was directed at instructor Zhang Lizheng. If not for him, how would their punishment be increased to twice as much?
“Ah! It can’t be!” They said.
Not long afterwards, a group of warrant officers who were moving blocks of bricks walked over. At the same time, a soldier from the logistics department carried a pile of bags and ran over.
Over 10 of the soldiers packed the blocks of bricks on the spot, and in no time at all, over 20 drum-shaped backpacks were placed in front of the people of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Company.
These were true blue blocks of bricks — not imitated goods.
“Instructor, we are going to fulfill our punishment!- oh my goodness, it’s so heavy!”
Wang Yuan laughed and looked over at the other side, mildly riding off of their misery. Then, he acted as if his load was unimaginably heavy as he ran off. As he ran, he panted heavily, as if it was difficult to even lift his feet.
When the others of Company 9 saw this, they all laughed and straightened their posture before they ran onto the track.
Their faces reddened one by one and their footsteps grew heavy. They started to pant as if they were really carrying an entire mountain on their backs.
Mo Wen laughed bitterly and ran, following behind them. Wang Yuan and the others were acting very convincingly. It was a shame that they weren’t actors.
There were two types people running the three miles. One type was running the three miles on mountainous terrain on a time limit while the other type was running the three miles on a track without a time limit.
At this moment for the punishment of Mo Wen and the others, they naturally chose the three miles on the track. Since the instructor had not said anything, only a fool would choose the three miles on mountainous terrain.
In addition, the instructor had not set a time limit, so they could run slowly and act as though the weight was so unimaginably heavy that even small movements were impossible; with regards to a “weighted long-distance run” that had no weight at all, there was absolutely no pressure on Mo Wen.
Instead, it was the people of the 3rd Battalion, 4th Company that were complaining. For them, it was truly a 66 pound load. And even if there wasn’t a time limit, having to complete the three miles would have already left them half dead.
“Too bad, too bad.”
Wang Yuan discreetly ran by Mo Wen’s side and acted as though he was short of breath while laughing darkly.