Volume 1: The Starting Point Chapter 26: Training

  Before leaving, the uncle only left him two things: a laptop and a ring. These were also his most treasured possessions, which he had always kept with him, fearing that they would be lost.

  Hand over the ring to the training camp, don't be afraid of ten thousand, just fear one in ten thousand, what if it's really lost? Later when the big brother comes back, how will he explain to his uncle?

  Uncle is the most respected person in his life, not only has he saved his life but also taught him many principles. He cannot betray Uncle no matter what and he also cannot take such a risk.

  According to the training camp's rules, trainees must hand over all personal belongings. Xia Wenjie refused to hand over his ring even if it meant being eliminated. Neither side would back down and the situation became deadlocked.

  Not long after, Yan Duo walked in from outside. Looking at Xia Wenjie and his assistant who were staring at each other, he asked: "Xiao Ke, what's going on?"

  "Yan team, Xia Wenjie refuses to hand over his necklace." said Xiao Ke, the assistant.

  "Oh?" Yan Duo turned his gaze to the pendant hanging above Xia Wenjie's chest. After staring for a few seconds, he asked: "You'd rather be eliminated than hand over the necklace?"

  "Yes." Xia Wenjie said firmly as usual.

  "Does it have any special meaning?"

  "It's a keepsake, my father's keepsake." Xia Wenjie didn't want to be eliminated like this either, but he couldn't find a suitable reason not to hand over the necklace, so he had to come up with a temporary lie.

  Moreover, he has always regarded his uncle as his master, calling him "father", which is not excessive.

  "It turned out to be like this." Yan Duo had looked through Xia Wenjie's file and knew that he was an orphan, his parents having died in a car accident when he was very young. Perhaps it was because of this that he treasured the things left behind by his father so much.

  He thought for a moment, nodded and said: "This time, I'll make an exception just for you, but only this once, don't take it as a precedent." After finishing speaking, he looked deeply at Xia Wenjie, turned around and walked out of the dormitory.

  Yan Duo had already agreed that Xia Wenjie could keep the necklace as an exception, and Ke Ye also secretly let out a breath of relief, but on the surface, he still glared at him fiercely before following Yan Duo out with two soldiers.

  As they left, everyone in the dormitory let out a sigh of relief. Yao Jia secretly breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, thinking that their team had almost lost a member at the very beginning.

  He patted Xia Wenjie's arm with a lingering fear, laughing: "Young man, you're great, you even tamed that old Yan Wang."

  Xia Wenjie smiled wryly and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, saying in a low voice: "Maybe, the instructor knew I was an orphan and gave me some special consideration."

  Upon hearing his words, even the usually indifferent Shao Bing looked up at him. Tang Xin walked over to his side and hugged his shoulders tightly, smiling: "Wen Jie, don't be sad, no matter what, you've already set a precedent for opening a training camp this time."

  The storm has passed, and everyone returned to their beds. Yao Jia broke the silence first, saying: "Since we are a team, we should elect a leader, what do you all think?"

  Xia Wenjie, Tang Xin, Xu Jiehui and Zhang Zhaoyang all nodded in agreement, indicating that his words were not wrong.

  Tang Xiang smiled and said: "Yao Jia, you finally made a constructive suggestion, but who should be the team leader?"

  Yao Jia's eyes rolled around and she said slowly: "I think, the team leader must have organizational skills, be able to speak eloquently, and be able to boost everyone's morale."

  He started talking about his strengths, which was also exactly Shao Bing's weakness. As he spoke, he deliberately glanced at Shao Bing, who lay on the quilt on the floor, without any reaction.

  Tang Xiang couldn't help but hear his meaning, he just wanted to be the group leader himself! She said nonchalantly: "I think a group leader must have the ability to convince others, and have the power to convince others." The implication was that Shao Bing was the most suitable.

  Yao Jia rolled her eyes and turned to look at Zhang Zhao Yang and Xu Jie Hui, asking: "Zhao Yang, Jie Hui, what do you two think?"

  "As a team leader, at least you must be fair."

  "You also need leadership skills."

  Xu Jiehui and Zhang Zhaoyang said one after another.

  "It seems like this will never come to an end, let's just vote on it," Xia Wenjie suggested.

  "Alright, it's been democratically decided and is fair and reasonable." Tang Xin and Xu Jiehui said in unison.

  "Alright then, let's decide by voting." Yao Jia shrugged indifferently. He asked Shao Bing first, "Old Shao, who are you voting for?"

  "Can I abstain?" asked Shao Bing, without opening his eyes.

  "Of course not."

  "Then let's go with Tang Xin." said Shao Bing.

  Yao Jia did not expect Shao Bing to choose Tang Xin, and was shocked with wide eyes, asking: "Why?"

  "Women are meticulous," said Shao Bing slowly.

  Yao Jia rolled her eyes and showed a "I'm too lazy to care about you" expression, then turned to Xia Wenjie and asked: "Wenjie, what about you?"

  "I also choose Xiang Jie." Xia Wenjie said with a smile.

  "Why?"

  "Lack of motherly love."

  "I'm going to get him."

  "Jiehui, you say."

  "Sorry, I also choose Tang Xin. As for why, among the six of us, only Tang Xin is the best-looking and has the most pleasant voice. Not choosing Tang Xin would be a disservice to my own eyes and ears."

  "You must be out of your mind! Are you trying to provoke me?"

  "Hmm, well... I'll choose Tang Xin too. I've never had much of my own opinions anyway, since everyone else is choosing Tang Xin, I'll just go with the flow." Zhang Zhaoyang scratched his hair and chuckled foolishly.

  Yao Jia rolled her eyes, looked around at the crowd, and secretly shook her head. One was blindly choosing with his eyes closed, one had been deprived of motherly love since childhood, one was infatuated, and one was a country bumpkin who came out of nowhere. It seemed like all the weirdos had gathered in this group, how did she end up being so unlucky to be assigned to this group of weirdos?!

  Such a voting result was also unexpected by Tang Xiang, but she didn't mind the identity of the group leader either. She smiled and looked at Yao Jia, saying: "Little Jiajia, I voted for you."

  "You don't have to be pitied." As he spoke, he turned over on the quilt, his back to everyone.

  "Everyone chose me as the team leader, actually, I wanted to choose you as the deputy team leader..."

  "Huh? Hearing this, Yao Jia's ears immediately perked up, and her body, which had just turned away, turned back again. Her eyes shone brightly as she stared at Tang Xin."

  "But just letting you be deputy group leader might make others unhappy, so let's see how you perform first."

  Yao Jiaxin's flame that had just been ignited was instantly extinguished by her cold water. "Too tired, sleep." He muttered carelessly and closed his eyes.

  In fact, everyone was indeed tired, and soon, even breathing sounds came from the dormitory.

  Just as they entered the dormitory, less than two hours later, suddenly a loud crash was heard, and the door of the dormitory was kicked open from outside. Immediately afterwards, two tear gas canisters were thrown in from outside.

  As soon as people opened their eyes, they felt that familiar burning pain again. Yao Jia shouted loudly: "Fuck, it's coming again?" He got up from the ground, covering his mouth and nose with his back, and rushed out quickly.

  He had just rushed out of the door when he was met with a flurry of batons, which came crashing down on his head and face. At the same time, people nearby were shouting loudly: "Assemble, assemble! You're too slow, you're too slow!"

  He was beaten until he was dizzy and fell to the ground without seeing anything clearly. Xia Wenjie, Shao Bing, Tang Xin, Zhang Zhaoyang, and Xu Jiehui rushed out afterwards, but they were five people, and with several clubs distributed among them, it wasn't so scary after all.

  Withstanding the blows of the surrounding soldiers' clubs, Xia Wenjie and others joined forces to pull up Yao Jia who had fallen to the ground, and then stumbled towards the assembly point.

  After about two minutes of chaos, most of the math team members finally arrived at the gathering point. People looked at each other, some with bruises on their faces, some with bandages all over their heads, and others with purple and green marks on their arms and bodies. Almost no one was unscathed.

  "You are indeed pigs! Take a good look at each other, don't you all see a bunch of pig heads? If the person who ambushed you had used knives, how many of you would still be standing here?"

  Yan Duo walked towards them while loudly scolding.

  Just as he finished scolding, two students limped and ran over, wanting to stand back in line. Yan Duo saw this and shouted loudly: "Those two pigs, stop right there!"

  He glanced at his watch and said, "Two minutes and thirty seconds left, did you sleep to death in the dormitory?"

  "Reporting to the instructor, we were the first to leave the dormitory, but... but... we were beaten down by them..." As they spoke, the two cadets deliberately turned their heads to glance at the soldiers holding batons.

  "Is being knocked down your excuse for being late? Being knocked down, why didn't your teammates help you?"

  "This..."

  "Not even your own teammates are willing to help you, why should I keep you here? Get out!" After yelling at the two students, Yan Duo looked at the crowd of students in front of him and shouted: "Report your numbers."

  "One, two, three..."

  After the roll call, 96 students had 5 people absent, and 91 people actually arrived. Yan Duo said in a low voice: "You all remember, two minutes is the standard for assembly, latecomers will be eliminated."

  Upon hearing this, the students present were all left with lingering fear in their hearts. Yao Jia was even drenched in cold sweat, and at the same time, she glanced gratefully at Xia Wenjie and others beside her. If it weren't for them pulling her over in time, she would have also been eliminated early like those five people.

  "I suppose you've all had a good rest just now. Now let's add some small dishes for you, five kilometers, complete within twenty-five minutes."

  "Reporting officer, we just rested for over an hour..."

  "Six kilometers."

  "Reporting to instructor..."

  "Seven kilometers."

  As long as a student speaks up, Yan Duo will add one kilometer on the basis of five kilometers.

  Old Yan Wang is simply a mad dog! The students all had the same thought in their minds, but no one dared to say another word.