EBE Chapter 302
Chapter 302
The entire sports field instantly fell silent.Students from all the formations turned their heads, casting countless gazes upon Rong Yu like spotlights.
The name Rong Yu was more or less familiar to everyone.
Whether it was because of chasing stars, scientific research, or the campus forum's beauty ranking, in short, she was considered a prominent figure among the freshmen.
Zhang Haoyu looked at Rong Yu from a distance, a smile suddenly rising on his face.
Meeting Rong Yu at Huaqing University and singing songs on the same sports field was truly a very lucky thing.
It was a pity his abilities weren't quite enough; otherwise, he could have entered the Tianxingjian class and become classmates with Rong Yu.
But things were already pretty good as they were.
He strained his voice and shouted, "Rong Yu, Rong Yu, you're too slow! Did you skip dinner?!"
"The physics department has thick skin, singing out of tune like a leaky window!" Yu Kexin shouted back loudly. "If you want to know who sings best, it has to be—"
The entire Tianxingjian class shouted loudly in unison: "Our class beauty, Rong Yu!"
Rong Yu's forehead darkened with speechlessness.
When did she become the class beauty?
Before she could think too much, the boys in the class, led by class monitor Duan Fei and Sheng Ciyuan, beat their water bottles like war drums. The girls waved their flashlights and cheered. Yu Kexin pushed Rong Yu right to the front, the lights gilding her with a golden rim.
With no microphone and no accompaniment, her voice was like an unsheathed sword cleaving through the twilight.
"The wind is howling, the horses are neighing—"
When she sang, she didn't use any vocal techniques or embellishing trills, but every word was like a tempered blade, piercing straight into people's hearts.
As soon as the first line left her lips, everyone present collectively lost their voices.
Sheng Ciyuan thought silently, how hard must his older brother work to be worthy of a Rong Yu like this?
Song Huai stared at her blankly. The beam of the sports field's searchlight passed through her flying hair, casting fine shadows beneath her eyelashes. Such an old, cliché red song was actually sung by her with a completely different feeling.
"The Yellow River is roaring! The Yellow River is roaring!"
Sheng Ciyuan was the first to follow the rhythm, followed closely by the entire Tianxingjian class, and finally, the whole sports field joined in this grand chorus.
The night wind swept past the teaching buildings, making the sycamore leaves rustle.
The collective revelry didn't end until nine o'clock in the evening.
Just as they returned to the dorm, Yu Kexin let out a shriek: "My god, Rong Yu, you've shot up to first place on the campus beauty ranking!"
Xue Yun wasn't interested in these things and went to take a shower first.
Rong Yu spoke up, "Can I withdraw from the campus beauty contest?"
"Of course not." Yu Kexin's voice was filled with excitement. "When we were singing tonight, your voice amazed everyone. Someone uploaded a video of you to the forum, causing countless people to flood in and vote for you. The original first place was Luo Xuan from the art department, but now you've surpassed her. The art department is going crazy trying to canvass for votes."
Rong Yu was left speechless.
By the time the three of them had showered and lain down, it was already past eleven at night.
It was the first day of military training, and their bodies hadn't adapted yet. They felt as if their entire bodies were falling apart, so the three fell asleep as soon as they hit the bed.
"Beep—beep beep!"
The sharp sound of a whistle pierced their eardrums like a knife. Rong Yu suddenly bounced up from her bed.
She glanced at the time; it was three minutes past two in the morning.
Instructor Yan's roar came from downstairs: "Three minutes, assemble on the sports field!"
"What the heck, assembling in the middle of the night?" Yu Kexin was completely bewildered. "Did the handbook say anything about a midnight assembly?"
Xue Yun quickly put on her military training uniform. "Two and a half minutes left."
Rong Yu was already fully dressed. As she tied up her hair, she said, "It takes a minute to get downstairs. Yu Kexin, speed it up."
The whole dormitory building was in chaos. A crowd of people rushed downstairs in a panic, mixed with all sorts of complaints.
On the sports field, Instructor Yan stood under the streetlight like a fierce deity, coldly watching this group of disheveled freshmen.
He said coldly, "Look at yourselves! During an enemy air raid, you wouldn't even qualify as cannon fodder!"
"What era is this, still talking about enemy air raids? This is purely torture!"
"I paid tuition to study, not to be a soldier!"
"Mom, save me, boo hoo hoo..."
"Attention all!" Instructor Yan roared. "Run three laps around the field!"
The group resentfully ran their laps. After finishing, they returned to the dorm to sleep. It felt like they had just closed their eyes when the alarm went off; as soon as they opened their eyes, it was already daylight.
After three or four consecutive days of military training, a group of raw recruits gradually adapted from their initial state of chaos.
On the fifth day, the program changed. From standing at attention, running laps, and goose-stepping, it changed to a weighted cross-country march.
The whole class was particularly looking forward to this cross-country event and was extremely excited.
At 6:30 in the morning, dozens of military trucks rolled over the muddy suburban roads, kicking up billowing yellow dust.
The vehicles stopped, and Instructor Yan's voice rang out with authority: "There's a five-kilometer mountain trek ahead. You are to plan the route yourselves. Everyone, get off!"
As soon as they got out of the vehicles, everyone was dumbfounded.
The imagined green hills and clear waters turned into a ferocious mountain forest. There was no decent road ahead at all, only a wide muddy ditch winding deep into the dense forest. Thorny bushes grew taller than a person, and barbed vines sprawled aggressively across the inevitable path.
Yu Kexin was stunned: "T-this is cross-country training? How are we supposed to walk?"
Xue Yun, who rarely showed any expression, swallowed hard: "I think... I saw a snake. There are snakes here..."
The freshman class of the sports department, being the physical standouts, had already begun exploring the path and heading into the mountain forest.
Afraid of falling behind, Duan Fei spoke up loudly: "All boys clear the way, girls stay in the middle. Let's get through this section first, then we'll plan the route!"
After all, they were carefully selected students of Huaqing University. Their innate resilience was actually stimulated in desperate situations. Amidst the mountain forest, this group of favored children of heaven showed strong adaptability.
Duan Fei led a group of boys to push aside the thorns.
Sheng Ciyuan rushed to the very front to scout the route.
Song Huai observed the movements of the other classes from a distance.
Rong Yu was originally quite worried about Yu Kexin and Xue Yun, but after the two got over their initial fear, they gradually calmed their minds and joined the boys in clearing the thorns on the path.
Soon, the Tianxingjian class made it out of the thorny area and reached an open space where small paths branched out in all directions.
Duan Fei took out a map, his fingertip pointing to an almost invisible dashed line: "If we take this woodcutter's path, we can save two kilometers. Let's strive to take first place in the freshman camp!"
Song Huai frowned and leaned in: "Are you sure this path is passable?"
Sheng Ciyuan pointed to the path they came from: "Just now, it was covered in thorns, yet didn't we carve out a path? If there is no road, we'll trample one out!"
Xue Yun was a bit hesitant: "What if something happens..."
"Scared already?" Duan Fei pushed up his glasses. "Do us Huaqing students lack even this bit of adventurous spirit?"
The boys' blood immediately boiled with excitement: "Let's go, we'll take this path. We want to be number one!"
Rong Yu looked ahead.
For some reason, she thought of more than seventy years ago, when Ji Zheng took her on a shortcut to avoid an ambush, successfully shaking off the enemy troops... The competitive spirit dancing in the eyes of these young students before her also ignited a spark within her.
Youth is fleeting; when there's a challenge, one must embrace it.
She asked, "Yu Kexin, Xue Yun, can you hold on?"
Yu Kexin said loudly, "Yes."
Xue Yun nodded: "I'll follow the group."
However, this path was much worse than they had imagined.