Chapter 596: Chapter 596

This military training primarily included military skill training and military theory teaching, which also featured a twenty-kilometer cross-country march and shooting practice.

It is no wonder it is the top institution of Hua Country; even the military training sounded prestigious.

So, the five-kilometer load-carrying run this morning was just an appetizer before the race. From now on, every morning would involve running this far. It sounded tough, but it was still far from the real challenge!

Zhou Yiyi and his peers from the Information College formed a company called Seventeen Company; their class within the company was Class One, consisting of 28 people.

The instructors conducting their military training were soldiers from the Army Chemical Defense College, whose arrival was marked by resounding steps and an impressive, handsome demeanor, drawing admiring glances from the academically brilliant students.

Because, after a month, they would also participate in a parade, and this event was no ordinary ceremony. It was extremely formal, involving formation displays and combat exercises and even carrying guns, complete with guard of honor and bands. The formality was beyond imagination, a level of grandeur that they did not dare to dream of, and it vastly broadened the horizons of these simple country folks.

As the instructors concluded, Yiyi’s heart was filled with shock and immense pride to be standing among them.

The five-kilometer run with load wasn’t a brisk walk. From the moment they entered Tsinghua’s gates, the male students’ abdominal muscles and the female students’ defined waistlines, which once seemed a dream, were soon to be achieved with continuous physical training day and night.

Zhou Yiyi’s physical condition was fair—not quite at Long Gang’s level—but thanks to daily chores, swimming, and yoga, his body was gradually recalling memories of past military training.

From hats to socks and boots, to the backpacks they carried, everything was supplied by the school. There was also a handbag holding the books for theoretical lessons and a water bottle, these too were customized by Tsinghua and were only used after breakfast; for morning exercises, the backpack was all they needed.

When their team started running, it was inevitable for the four girls to lag behind; the others simply had longer legs.

Thinking of this, Zhou Yiyi couldn’t help grinding his teeth. In their class, only two boys were under six feet tall, yet even these two were above five feet nine. All the others were over six feet tall with many of them also quite handsome. Aren’t prodigies naturally infuriating?

No wonder people say all the good-looking ones end up serving the country. Isn’t that the truth?

With all the boys in class having such long legs, how could these few shorter girls not lag behind?

During the runs, Yiyi was the first of the shorter ones in this column—the team was arranged by height; at a height of five feet three, he was worlds apart from Zhou Mo!

Luckily, they didn’t start off running too fast, and the coach kept teaching them how to breathe and find their rhythm. Although it was tiring, they managed to keep up during the five kilometers.

After the morning run, they followed the grand red flag of Seventeen Company to the cafeteria. Along the way, due to the impressive size of their group, they drew many sidelong glances.

In addition to students from their own school, there were some visitors whose gazes contained both envy and hope. Yiyi thought that if she were an onlooker, she too would hope that her children could one day be part of this team.

After eating, they returned to their dorms to freshen up, needing to regroup at various rallying points by 7:30 to begin the morning’s military training.

Since it was the first day, they started with basics such as standing at attention, marching, and squatting.

The Information Science and Technology College consisted of four major departments—the Computer Science and Technology Department, the Electronic Engineering Department, the Automation Department, and the Microelectronics and Nanoelectronics Department—so together, they numbered over one hundred people (specific enrollment figures are fictitious), which was just right to form a large square formation.

Initially, they trained by class, but they would gather together for parade training before the event.

Since it was military training, everything they did was time-bounded, even eating was much faster than usual. Moreover, the school had specially prepared meals for the training, which were not only more nutritious but also free. Yes, the meals for this month were free (fictitious). Read complete version only at novelꜰire.net

"How are you holding up?" Zhou Mo asked with concern during a meal as he sat across from her.

"It’s fine, I can handle it." Afterwards, there wasn’t much time for chatting as everyone hastened to clear their uniformly arranged meals, neatly placed them in the sinks, orderly exited the cafeteria, and lined up to head towards Zijing Apartments. After washing up, they gathered at Zijing Playground, which was their training ground.

Yiyi rushed into the dorm, frantically heading into the bathroom. Her intuition was right; her period had started, picking just the right moment. She cursed quietly, resignedly got changed, worried about leakage, she even added extra padding in the front and back. The longest pad available this era was probably about 14 inches; the over-16 inches super long ones hadn’t appeared yet.

When she emerged pale-faced from the bathroom, Qiao Shan asked concernedly, "What’s wrong? You look so pale."

"My period started; how could I look good?"

Initially, everyone was unfamiliar with the term ’elder aunt’ because back then all sorts of expressions existed: ’menstrual period,’ ’relative visit,’ ’Little Red,’ anything could be referred to, that was until the military training drew near and she mentioned her aunt was due soon, then everyone came to know this term.

"No way? That accurate? Do you need to take a leave?"

Zhou Yiyi shook her head, "It’s fine, I always feel uncomfortable during my periods, but it doesn’t reach the point of severe menstrual cramps, so I can endure."

Zhou Yiyi then mixed some brown sugar water with the thermal mug and spring water provided by the school, brewing a warm cup.

After cleaning up, everyone put on their hats, picked up the school-issued handbags, and walked to the gathering point.

When they arrived, the instructors were already there. Since it was still very hot in mid-August, the coach instructed them to spread their handbags on the ground, take off their long-sleeve jackets, fold them neatly, and train in short sleeves only.

Zhou Yiyi was already feeling unbearably hot, so these words were almost liberating—she quickly took off her jacket, got organized, and when the whistle blew, they assembled, ready for training.

Actually, these instructors were only a few years older than them. On the first day of military training, they definitely needed to show off their skills. So, the instructors gathered together and had all the freshmen form a circle to demonstrate the movements they would need to learn over the next month.

They first demonstrated fall-to-ground maneuvers; each of their movements, rigid and straight, resembled a sequence of dominoes falling, meanwhile, the screams around the area were akin to those at a fan-chasing event.

Besides this, there were also nine instructors who hand-flipped over a four-meter wall in less than 40 seconds.

Obviously, all the training items they demonstrated were also what they would be encountering next.

Watching was thrilling, but when it came to doing it themselves, they realized how tough it was.

Merely standing at ease and attention for the morning was taxing—not because she struggled with the actions, but because she had to keep up with everyone else.