Chapter Six Military Training

  If you can't change the environment, then you must change yourself.

  Fengmao Middle School, a semi-public and semi-private middle school in District C, is ostensibly a branch of the 85th Middle School, but in reality it is a privately-run school. For many years, it has been ranked among the top few middle schools in District C and even the entire city due to its high graduation rate and high scores. However, behind this high graduation rate lies a highly closed management system, which means that students have to spend more time on studies than those in other schools. It was this school that Ou Yang chose to attend, and many years later, when he looked back on the past, he would often sigh with emotion, wondering if everything would have been different if he hadn't gone to Fengmao.

  We continue to tell the story, this day is Xiao Ouyang's first day at school, of course, here he found his primary school classmates, Wang Lin, Li Jun, Xu Xue Mei. Coincidentally, Ouyang and Wang Lin, Xu Xue Mei were all assigned to class 1. After the class assignment ceremony ended, immediately followed by parents drawing for the head teacher, Ouyang saw Wang Lin's father walking towards the flag-raising platform, then their head teacher was drawn out like this. Ouyang heard nearby parents discussing which teacher is better, he himself didn't understand these things, what he needed to consider was only the upcoming military training issue.

  "Hey, I heard we're going to a military camp for training," Wang Lin said to Ouyang.

  "How long will it take?" Ou Yang asked.

  "It'll probably take about a week," said Xu Xue Mei.

  Three little kids each had their own dreams about their first military training life, and so, that day finally arrived.

  Feng Hongyan packed a large pile of clothes and food for Ouyang, who looked at them impatiently and said, "Mom, I'm only going out for a week, not fleeing in a hurry, why do you prepare so many things for me?"

  "This is your first time leaving home and going far away, of course I want to prepare everything for you, so that you won't be at a loss later." Feng Hongyan said while packing.

  So, Little Ouyang carried two big bags and set off on his military training journey. Today, the school gate was already parked with army trucks, and one by one, the children saw this scale of vehicles, their eyes filled with excitement. Little Ouyang thought to himself: It's still better in city schools, unlike Mais' broken school, where they only know how to march on the playground.

  On the bus, Ou Yang and his classmates started chatting. There were 56 people in total, with an equal number of males and females. Among them, four were from District D: Ou Yang, Wang Lin, Xu Xue Mei, and a boy whose name was not mentioned. The rest were all from the city. As Ou Yang looked at his new classmates, he felt a sense of familiarity that he couldn't quite put into words. Of course, there were also some annoying people among them. One classmate in particular, named Zhao Jun Yi, rubbed Ou Yang the wrong way for no apparent reason. Every time Ou Yang saw him, it was like looking at a younger version of himself. Meanwhile, Zhao Jun Yi seemed to be constantly chatting and laughing with his two friends, cracking jokes nonstop and occasionally casting disdainful glances at their fellow classmates.

  The girls in the class, most of them didn't leave a deep impression on Ouyang, but unlike primary school, the girls in this class seemed to have a sense of not belonging. Unlike primary school where the girls quickly became close friends, in this class, Ouyang found that the girls were all chatting in pairs or small groups of three. Ouyang thought these female classmates seemed very cunning. Xu Xue Mei had become acquainted with several girls and brought them over to chat with Ouyang and Wang Lin together.

  "Hello, my name is Xu Yuejie. This is my friend Mu Yuhan." The girl who spoke gave off a very weak impression. Ouyang looked up at her and saw that she had her hair tied up in a bun, her face was slightly chubby, but her skin tone was still quite pale. It seemed to Ouyang that every normal person was paler than herself. Yuejie's eyes were very large, giving off a sense of closeness, and Ouyang liked people with big eyes. In comparison, Yuhan wore glasses, and Ouyang had always wanted to ask why he wore them since the beginning of middle school, but she held back and didn't say anything. Yuhan seemed to have a cold personality, not liking to talk much, and when speaking to others, wouldn't look at them directly, always keeping his head down. Ouyang disliked this very much, remembering that her mother had once told her that no matter whether she was right or wrong, when speaking to others, she should always look at them, showing basic respect.

  As they chatted, the car stopped. Ouyang looked at his watch and saw that it was already 5 pm. He looked outside and saw that the sunset was still beautiful. The students got off the bus and lined up in formation. Then, their class teacher and instructor arrived. Ouyang and his classmates were usually assigned to be the leaders of these instructors' classes. The instructor's surname was Wang, and everyone called him Wang Jiao. Instructor Wang led the students to their dormitory. When Ouyang entered the room, he found that except for the arrangement of the furniture being similar to what he had seen in TV dramas, the room was surprisingly large. All the boys in the class were squeezed into this one room. Everyone was tired from a day's journey and busy arranging their belongings. Ouyang was no exception. At this time, it became apparent that some students could quickly arrange their beds while others needed help. The worst kind of student wouldn't know how to do anything and would leave their things scattered all over the place. It was clear that Ouyang belonged to this last category. At home, he didn't have to do anything as his mother had already arranged everything for him. He was a spoiled young master who only needed to stretch out his hand for clothes and open his mouth for food. Fortunately, Wang Lin often did household chores at home and helped Ouyang clean up.

  "Hey, I didn't expect that someone from District D wouldn't even make their bed. Aren't people from your place supposed to be diligent?" The voice came from Ouyang Chao, who was clearly mocking Zhao Junyi. Ouyang didn't say anything, but Wang Lin spoke up instead, "So, may I ask, who usually makes your bed for you?"

  "Needless to say, it's definitely my mom. Do I need to make my own bed?" Zhao Jun replied without hesitation.

  "So, are you saying that Chen Xi is a city person like you, or are you saying that you and Chen Xi are both country bumpkins from District D?" Wang Lin continued to ask. This left Zhao Junyi speechless, his face flushing bright red. "You little brat, got what's coming to you, just wait," he said, before walking out with a few classmates, leaving behind the messy bed that had been half-made. Ouyang and Wang Lin couldn't help but laugh.

  After finishing cleaning the dormitory, the students gathered to have dinner. Four people sat at a table, and everyone stood up, waiting for all the teachers and instructors to enter the dining hall. Then, with Instructor Ouyang's command of "start eating", the students sat down to eat. After a tiring day, everyone had a big appetite. Dinner consisted of steamed buns, a large pot of braised pork belly with rice, and stir-fried eggplant, potatoes, and green peppers. Although Instructor Ouyang only found three pieces of pork in the pot, Wang Lin was slow at eating since he was young. When he finished his first bun, he discovered that there were no more buns on the table, and not much food left either. Wang Lin sighed, and then Instructor Ouyang broke his own bun in half and gave it to him, saying "Here, consider this a thank you for speaking up for me earlier." Wang Lin smiled happily.

  That night, when everyone returned to the dormitory and finished washing up, they all thought about going to sleep. Ouyang returned to the dormitory around 10 o'clock because there were too many people in the bathroom, and the lights had already been turned off while he was washing his face. When Ouyang lay down on his bed, Wang Lin was beside him. As soon as he lay down, he glanced sideways and saw that Wang Lin was staring at him with wide eyes, which gave Ouyang a fright.

  "What's wrong?" Ouyang asked.

  "Morning dawn, will you miss home? I feel like I couldn't sleep, and have been lying here for twenty minutes." Wang Lin said with some fear.

  "Hey, that's the thing, I'd rather be at home, it's better to be out, one person can do whatever they want." Ouyang said lightly.

  "Yes, but I don't think so. It's great to be at home. My dad will play chess with me and my mom will tell me stories. Hey, what do your parents usually do with you when they're at home?" Wang Lin seemed to have gained interest and continued to ask.

  "My dad is always outside, what can he do to accompany me? My mom is busy every day, she doesn't have time to accompany me. I'm always alone reading books and playing games." Yu Yang said.

  "Hey, you two, stop talking, let others sleep," came Zhao Junyi's voice. The two people made a disdainful expression, and Ouyang said another sentence "Forget it, close your eyes and count sheep, then you'll fall asleep." Then he turned around to sleep, but after a while, Ouyang found that he couldn't sleep either. Not just him, he thought maybe everyone in the room couldn't sleep, after all, they were all away from home for the first time, spending their first night out. Although Ouyang had lived with his grandma and Mais before, coming to a completely strange place to live was both exciting and scary for him. He didn't know how to face everything unknown. Thinking of this, he thought of Feng Hongyan's appearance when she packed his things during the day, and somehow tears flowed down. "Mom, I miss you," Ouyang said to himself.

  At this time, in the Ou Yang house, "Old Ya, it's your phone." Feng Qinglian's voice came from the living room. Feng Hongyan walked out of the bathroom. "It seems to be her father," Feng Qinglian continued. "Oh," Feng Hongyan said, picking up the phone. Feng Qinglian sat for a while, looking at the girl's expression as she listened to the phone call, which was somewhat strange and couldn't tell if it was anger or sadness. So he went into the house to coax Ma Si to sleep.

  On the other end of the phone was Ou Yang Mu Bo's voice, "I'm sorry, I've been deceived, wife. Now there's only enough money left to buy a house."

  "Don't even think about that money, I won't let you have it no matter what. Now are you happy?" Feng Hongyan tried her best to suppress her anger.

  "And another thing, I've sold our house in Zhuhai." Ouyang Mu Bo continued.

  "Who gave you the right to sell it without asking me?" Feng Hongyan asked loudly.

  "Don't be angry first, I'll use this money to study a master's degree in business administration, and it will be easier to find a job later."

  "You tell me, how much money do you owe outside now." Feng Hongyan continued to ask.

  "Most of it was borrowed from banks, and then I owed my classmate 200,000 yuan," said Ouyang Mubo.

  "You let him cheat you and you're still going to school with him, what are you thinking? Don't you know you have a son? Don't think about getting another penny from me!" With that, Feng Hongyan hung up the phone.

  "Old aunt, what's wrong?" Feng Hongyan turned her head and saw Mais standing at the door of the small room looking at herself. "Old aunt, why are you crying? Come quickly and take a look." Mais saw that Feng Hongyan had tears streaming down her face, so she rushed into the house shouting. By the time Feng Qinglian came out, Feng Hongyan had already locked herself in her own room, secretly weeping.

  Feng Hongyan understood that from today on, the Ouyang family would have to live a hard life. The previous lifestyle would no longer exist. They wouldn't be able to buy a watermelon for Little Ouyang every day or take him to buy Mickey Mouse clothes every week. Those days were gone. She had to learn how to cook, wash clothes, and many other things. But what she couldn't understand was why such a thing would happen to her. She hadn't enjoyed this life enough, and she couldn't accept this reality.

  Go to sleep, maybe tomorrow morning, someone will tell her that all this is not true, Feng Hongyan thought so and closed her eyes.

  The night is still long.