Chapter Twelve: I'd Rather You Hate Me Now

  "It's snowing heavily!" The sky had completely darkened, and the people of Class 6 were all preparing to go to bed when they suddenly saw Ma Xiaotian rush into the room from the corridor, shouting loudly.

  "Really?" said Wang Jin, he and Ma Xiao Tian were both children from the south, one from Guangdong, one from Ningbo, rarely saw snow falling from the sky, quite surprised, hurriedly ran out to take a look.

  Guo Xiangyang shook his head and said to Li Dongkuan, "Old Li, I think we'll have to sweep the snow tomorrow. Why don't you bring back a few of the squadron's big brooms and put them in our squad, so we won't have to fight with other squads for them tomorrow?"

  "I'll go get a few more. Don't take too many, or we'll get scolded again when we get back." Li Dongkuan said after thinking for a moment.

  "Should we bring a few big iron ladles?" Guo Xiangyang also stood up and got ready to go together.

  "Don't take it for now, I reckon the team will organize snow sweeping tomorrow and definitely give out iron shovels. Iron shovels are not like brooms, there are more of them in the team. Let's talk about it again tomorrow."

  Qū Míng Jùn glanced out the window, it was pitch black outside, and a layer of fog had condensed on the windowpane, making everything invisible. Actually, he also wanted to go out and take a look, but always felt that he shouldn't be as childish as them, might as well wait till tomorrow.

  Until the duty officer blew the prepared-to-extinguish signal, Wang Bin and Ma Xiaotian came back from outside with a smile on their faces, excitedly saying something about goose feathers falling heavily and how cool and refreshing the air was.

  Choi Ze rolled his eyes, these guys haven't seen the kind of heavy snow that piles up to their knees in Northeast China yet, they'll be scared to death when they do.

  After lights out, everyone under the command of Guo Xiangyang still completed the routine push-ups and sit-ups. As for deep squats, they had already been cancelled after three months of intensive training.

  The next day, after getting up, the sky was still gloomy and dark, with a layer of beautiful frost on the window. The snow outside had stopped, and after a night's time, the accumulated snow on the ground was already knee-deep.

  As expected, the whole college stopped morning exercises and mobilized to sweep snow. The 14th team's task was not only in front of and behind their own building, but also to go to the big playground to sweep snow, responsible for clearing the several hundred meters of road on the west side of the three dormitory buildings of the Third Company, so as to facilitate everyone to attend classes.

  With the crunching sound of snow underfoot, Class 6 arrived at their designated area. Although it was still dark, the snow-covered ground reflected the early morning light, making the entire sky seem to be shrouded in a blue sapphire cover, giving off an especially quiet and enchanting atmosphere.

  "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..." The sound broke the tranquility of heaven and earth. The Shihmen Army Academy's grand parade ground, said to be the largest in Asia, began to bustle with activity. Class 6 was well-prepared, having brought several large brooms, and under the organization of the platoon, each person took a shovel, making the cleanup much more efficient.

  Soon, Class 6 had swept and shoveled the snow on the cement road to the grass beside the road, and then started patting the snow according to the team's requirements. The leader had asked in advance that the snow should be patted neatly, not scattered all over the place, and the snow piles should have edges and corners. Qu Mingjun thought for a moment, actually it's better to scatter them open, at least the snow will melt faster.

  Wang Jin and several other local students were excited, looking at the work in their hands was almost done, they actually pinched up snowballs and started chasing each other. Before long, several old soldiers also joined in. With this movement, the entire playground was filled with laughter and cheers, hehehe.

  Qu Ming Jun's mouth curled up with a smile, unexpectedly they were all soldiers now, Wang Jin and the others were still like middle school students, playing snowball fights. He himself was thinking old-fashioned thoughts in his heart, but he didn't think that he was also just an eighteen-year-old young man, it seemed that he had been pretending to be cool for too long.

  "Bang!" A snowball suddenly exploded on the back of Qu Mingjun's neck, and that icy feeling made Qu Mingjun shrink his neck, jumping up in an instant, hurriedly wiping away the accumulated snow with his hand.

  Ma Xiaotian's face was frozen bright red, and he hurried over to help Qu Mingjun wipe off the snow. However, his gloves were covered in ice and snow from making snowballs earlier, so when he wiped Qu Mingjun's face, he ended up icing him a few more times instead.

  Ma Xiaotian smiled awkwardly and apologized continuously. Qu Mingjun didn't want to be angry with him either.

  Wang Jinyuan threw a snowball at Xiao Tianma from afar, and Xiao Tianma turned around to pick up the snow and make another snowball. Qu Mingjun's eyes lit up with excitement, and he couldn't help but laugh as he grabbed some snow and stuffed it into Xiao Tianma's collar. Wang Jinyuan burst out laughing...

  Far away, no one noticed that Captain Yan Weidong was standing on the steps at the entrance of the squadron, looking over here.

  ……

  "Comrade captain, the whole team has assembled, please give instructions."

  "Take a short rest."

  "Yes!"

  "Take a short rest!" The officer on duty ran back to the head of the troops.

  It's time for the last two classes in the afternoon, usually not organized, everyone is free to exercise, play ball, run, and if the weather is bad, they can also study indoors.

  This afternoon, the second district team had agreed to play a football match with the third district team. Unexpectedly, at more than three o'clock, it started snowing again, and it's estimated that it will be postponed.

  At this time, Captain Yan Weidong raised his head and looked at the gloomy sky, heh-heh, and laughed.

  "Comrades, let's stand at attention for two classes this afternoon. Everyone has been very relaxed lately after passing the three-month intensive training! To help you recall the taste of past training, let's stand at attention for two classes and reminisce about the bitterness and sweetness. "Yan Weidong said it lightly, but in fact, he saw that many people had started to relax themselves after the three-month intensive training, not only were they not actively exercising and learning in their daily lives, but even during regular class hours, discipline was not very good. Some instructors began to reflect that some students often chatted or did things unrelated to the classroom during class. Yan Weidong wanted to use this heavy snowfall as an opportunity to tighten up the string of discipline in everyone's minds."

  Although some were dazed and dissatisfied, the usual training quickly prompted everyone to stand at attention in formation on the playground. With their stomachs tucked in and chests out, hands tightly against their thighs, and eyes fixed straight ahead. Qu Mingjun quickly got himself into top condition, earning a nod of approval from his squad leader.

  To ensure everyone stands in a standard military posture, a piece of paper is placed between each person's legs, just like when they first entered school. As soon as the muscles relax slightly, the paper will gently float to the ground.

  One hundred and forty people stood upright in the heavy snow, as if one hundred and forty small cypresses that would never bend their waists had sprouted up on the playground. Yan Weidong also stood at the front of the formation with a stern military bearing.

  Before long, ten minutes had passed, half an hour had passed, an hour had passed...

  The snow fell bigger and bigger, until the sky and earth were a vast expanse of white, the cold wind mixed with accumulated snow slapped everyone's face, icy and numbing...

  Qiu Mingjun clearly felt the numbness and tingling sensation spreading from his toes up to his ankles, calves, and thighs due to poor blood circulation. This was still bearable. The old soldiers had also taught him a relaxation technique for such situations: he would clench his ten toes tightly on the ground, repeatedly curling and relaxing them, repeating this process several times. In this way, without affecting his military posture, the numbness in his lower limbs could be slightly alleviated.

  But don't forget that the sky is still snowing heavily, and the snow is slowly accumulating on everyone's hat and shoulders. As the body temperature rises, the snow begins to melt quietly. The snow on the shoulders is okay, but the water from the snow on the head slowly seeps into the neck through the hat, and when it flows down to the warm chest under the neck, the tingling sensation makes people shiver uncontrollably. Originally numb toes were covered with snow, Qu Mingjun felt that his entire foot was gradually losing temperature, as if an ice lump was frozen in the snowy shoes.

  Several people could no longer bear it and began to secretly shrink their necks and move their legs while Yan Weidong was blocked by the students in front, when suddenly a loud shout burst out: "What are you moving? Can't you bear it?" Everyone involuntarily straightened up.

  Yan Weidong took a few big strides to the left side of the formation, standing on a raised platform and looking down at everyone in the team. He shouted sternly: "Don't forget your own identity! Once you put on military uniforms, you are soldiers. What is a soldier? Is it those who sneak around, swaying from side to side in the ranks? Can't even withstand a little snow? I see some comrades think they can get away with anything after three months of intensive training? In class, there are still those who don't follow discipline... I'm not sure if I believe it. When did my soldiers become like that? Now look at you all, and indeed there are such people! Fine, today was originally going to be a day off for everyone, but I think it's unnecessary now. Continue standing, stand until no one moves!"

  Everyone began to clench their teeth and endure, not daring to move, and there were many people in their hearts secretly scolding Captain Yan Weidong for being unscrupulous.

  Yan Weidong walked around in the team with a gloomy face, suddenly "Ah-choo" and let out a big sneeze.

  Looking at the 140 people in front of him, Yan Weidong suddenly burst out laughing and said loudly in the wind and snow: "Is someone starting to scold me? That's right! I'd rather have you hate me now than hope that when you leave here later, you'll still hate me!"

  I would rather you hate me now than hate me after you leave here!

  Qu Mingjun's eyes twitched, and it seemed that a soft spot in his heart was touched by this loud and clear sentence. This simple sentence sounded like it contained a deep sense of responsibility, as well as the proud mission that Yan Weidong had for himself. Qu Mingjun suddenly felt that the cold weather in front of him was not unbearable either.

  Endure, endure again... Qu Mingjun told himself that only those who can endure will achieve great things. If he can't even endure this little thing, how can he reach his dream of becoming the strongest soldier?

  The two hours finally passed, and after the captain gave the order to return, everyone couldn't help but start shaking off the snow on their bodies and loosening up their numb muscles.

  "My goodness, I'm freezing to death!" Back in the warm room, Wang Jin hastily took off his soaked cotton shoes and threw them next to the heater, while rubbing his numb feet and grumbling with discontent.

  Guo Xiangyang smiled and shook his head, saying: "Is this worth your cursing? Let's take a slow walk later, this one doesn't even count as a minor matter."

  "Wang Jin, the captain said that it's better for us to hate him now than to let us leave the academy and then hate him. Think about this sentence carefully." Qu Mingjun suddenly felt that Wang Jin's words were extremely piercing and couldn't help but speak out.

  Li Dongkuan and Guo Xiangyang were taken aback by Qu Mingjun's words, then they exchanged a smile, with a hint of self-satisfaction in their eyes, but it was unclear what they were satisfied about.