Chapter Seventeen: Framed

  After the registration was completed, the officials of the training class preparation office began to review and assess the identities of the trainees. During this period, another batch of people were eliminated. In the end, including those who joined later, there were only about 1,000 people left in the entire training class.

  The head of the training class was nominally Dai Li, the helmsman of Military Intelligence, but he only held a part-time position. Except for giving a speech at the opening ceremony, he did not appear again, and the daily management affairs of the training class were presided over by Deputy Director Yu Lesheng. The chief instructor was Xie Ligong, a well-known training expert in Military Intelligence.

  After the opening, it was a month-long military basic training, with the aim of improving the overall quality of the students with varying physical levels. For Lin Xiaotang and others, this was a piece of cake, so he and Da Tou, Xiao Pi also became the most frequent truants among the students. After all, there were thousands of people, and a few less instructors would not notice at all.

  This month's time was very comfortable for Lin Xiaotang, lying on the soft grass, smoking a cigarette, and it gave him a kind of illusion, as if he had returned to his carefree university days.

  During this time, there was a surprise that wasn't too big or too small. Lin Xiaotang met Fang Rou, and it turned out that this little girl had also arrived at the training class. This time, she was a member of the newly established women's class, which had a total of sixty people. Fang Rou and Er Gou came to Changsha together because they were short on money and didn't have any relatives to rely on, so the two of them signed up for the military together. Er Gou joined the 58th Army and then lost contact with Fang Rou. Meanwhile, Fang Rou was directly recruited into the training class.

  Fang Rou saw Lin Xiaotang, and was naturally surprised. Da Tou and Xiao Pi had known her since Nanjing, and knew she was Lin Xiaotang's little follower, so they treated her like a younger sister. Seeing Fang Rou's appearance, Lin Xiaotang felt very relieved. After such a long time, the gloom in Fang Rou's eyes had finally disappeared, and there was more determination in her expression. It seemed that this period of experience had made the girl grow up a lot.

  The addition of the girls' class brought a breath of fresh air to the entire training class, and the male students' mental outlook was greatly improved. The training also became more intense. Lin Xiaotang, Da Tou, and Xiao Pi looked on with schadenfreude at the big men sweating profusely on the playground, frequently lamenting that the instructor's intentions were truly too vicious.

  Before long, a month of military training came to an end. The trainees were divided into two battalions and one female company directly under the headquarters. Each battalion had three companies, which were further divided into intelligence company, action company, and reconnaissance company, also known as military company, for specialized training.

  Professionally trained on the surface is to solicit student opinions, free choice, but in fact it has been predetermined. The actual team selection criteria are: all students with a high school degree or above and relatively intelligent and alert are selected for intelligence training; physically strong, slightly less knowledgeable but brave and courageous are selected for action teams; those with some foundation in military science but poor knowledge are selected for reconnaissance teams to learn military theory and guerrilla warfare. The women's team has set up two majors: telecommunications and accounting, and students choose their major based on their individual circumstances.

  Lin Xiaotang and two others were unexpectedly assigned to the Intelligence Platoon, which belonged to the First Battalion's First Company. The company commander was Duan Jianguo, the political instructor was He Jixiang, and there was also an instructor named Shen Zui, who was the head of the Training Class General Affairs Section. Due to a shortage of instructors, he was temporarily assigned to the First Company as an instructor.

  The moment Lin Xiaotang saw Shen Zui, he had a feeling of déjà vu, which made him involuntarily think of one person - the former Shen Squad Leader Shen Chang who fought side by side with him but shed blood on the battlefield.

  Shen Zui's eyebrows and eyes have some resemblance to Shen Chang, but the two people's temperament is quite different. Shen Zui is of medium build, slender figure, with a pale face and a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, looking like a university student who has just graduated in his early twenties.

  But Lin Xiaotang looked at his smiling face, and for no reason felt a chill, he had a hidden flavor that couldn't be said, just like the same kind of ghost in his own body. Lin Xiaotang looked at the almost worn-out finger joints that Shen inadvertently exposed, and was even more certain that this Shen was absolutely a deeply hidden master.

  The only thing that made Lin Xiaotang feel unhappy was that he had been assigned to the same squadron as a big, spoiled brat he had seen when reporting for duty. The guy's name was Pei Gang, and it was said that his family members were in charge of important departments in the Ministry of National Defense. Because he couldn't stand the hardships of military life, he had been sent here to get some experience and then go back out to find a good job. He hadn't even participated in military training, but instead had been hanging out with friends in Linxian County, living it up until now when he finally showed up to report for duty.

  As soon as the two men met, they drew their swords and glared at each other, and it just so happened that these two men were representatives of the two types of people in the training class. By Pei Gang's side was a group of young aristocrats who had joined the training class simply to pass the time; while Lin Xiaotang was the leader of the fugitive students, with a bold personality and decent martial arts skills, he loved to take up justice and often stood up for the students, becoming an unconscious leader in the eyes of these passionate young people from all over the world. A group of elite students gradually gathered around him, such as Yan Xun, Deng Yifu, Li Baichu, Liu Benqin, etc.

  Two groups of people walked together, often quarreling, although Pei Gang and others had a deep background, but the officers in the training class were also not convenient to be overly partial, often making things ambiguous, major issues became minor, minor issues became non-existent, but the consequences of doing so were that contradictions gradually accumulated, and one day they would erupt.

  The training class was very simple and boring, with the afternoon mainly consisting of ideological education, where the political instructor and the instructor would enthusiastically indoctrinate the students. This made Lin Xiaotang's head ache, so he usually used this time to take a nap with Da Tou and Xiao Pi.

  Afternoon was professional training, nothing more than collecting and processing intelligence, assassination, tracking, eavesdropping and other training, which for Lin Xiaotang were basically effortless, so in the afternoon, it was still his sleeping time.

  Since then, Shen Zui had been secretly observing Lin Xiaotang. He had participated in such training classes before, but he had never seen a student like him. Obviously, for the whole day, he was either skipping class or dozing off, and several instructors didn't like him very much. However, he was never stumped by any exams or tests, always ranking among the top. It's really puzzling how he managed to do it. And those eyes of his seemed to be sizing himself up intentionally or unintentionally, with a hint of sharpness flashing in his lazy gaze, making people dare not underestimate this young man.

  This afternoon was a judo class, and the instructor was a Korean named Kim Min-geol. He was said to have been recommended by the Ministry of National Defense and had served as a bodyguard for high-ranking government officials on several occasions. He was not one to smile or speak unnecessarily, and students who made mistakes would be met with a flurry of punches and kicks. However, he listened to Pei Gang's words and often used him to teach a lesson to those who had offended him in the past. Several students from the exiled group had suffered at Kim Min-geol's hands under the guise of "teaching" but actually as an act of revenge.

  Lin Xiaotang walked into the classroom with a lack of enthusiasm. This was actually two middle school classrooms that had been connected, with several large cushions scattered chaotically on the floor in the middle of the room. Lin Xiaotang rarely participated in this kind of practical course, and there was only one reason for this - in his eyes, these things were completely worthless.

  Lin Xiaotang still practiced diligently every day, even though he slept in and skipped class. After lights out and every morning were his practice times, and the various skills brought by the Phantom were being slowly digested by him, this progress could be described as rapid.

  Pei Gang, who had not appeared for a long time, also showed up in the classroom with several people. Seeing Lin Xiaotang was also in the group, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of excitement. In recent conflicts, his side had never gained the upper hand, and his subordinates had been beaten by Lin's loyal followers, Da Tou and Yan Xun. If this continued, how could they win? Moreover, Lin Xiaotang was cunning and elusive, even the instructors couldn't do anything about him. This time, he had finally caught him.

  Bai Gang pretended to be unintentionally strolling, walked to Jin Minjie's side and whispered a few words, Jin Minjie frowned, then nodded slightly.

  The grappling class is taught while practicing, the instructor leads the students to practice the basic movements, and then it's the students' turn to practice, which means someone has to be the instructor's human sandbag.

  As expected, Jin Minjie nodded in agreement and chose three students who had fled to participate in the confrontation exercise. Before long, the three students were beaten to the point where they couldn't get up. Lin Xiaotang and others saw it clearly - these three people were indeed the same ones who had clashed with Pei Gang and his friends a few days ago. This was clearly Pei Gang taking revenge.

  Lin Xiaotang glanced at Pei Gang with the corner of her eye, and indeed, this kid was holding a cup of hot tea, looking very pleased, and kept calling out in admiration.

  Shen appeared at some unknown time outside the classroom window, his eyes shining brightly under his glasses.

  Jin Minjie was still kicking three students who were not standing, ordering them to get up and continue training. Lin Xiaotang couldn't bear it anymore, just about to step forward to stop him, when someone jumped out from beside him, none other than Yan Xuan, a fugitive student from Hebei.

  Yan Xiu is from Cangzhou, Hebei Province. The folk martial arts in Cangzhou are thriving, and almost everyone practices martial arts. Yan Xiu comes from a family of martial artists. In his daily life, he gets along best with Da Tou. They are the two people with the best results in their class, aside from Lin Xiao Tang. Usually, when collecting protection fees from Pei Gang's henchmen, they can handle it on their own and don't need Lin Xiao Tang to intervene.

  Yan Xun's personality is straightforward, and as soon as he came up, he directly accused Jin Minjie of avenging personal grievances, acting as a thug for the high-ranking officials' children, without giving any face to the instructor.

  Jin Minjie looked at Yan Xun with a gloomy expression, and only said a few words stiffly, "Alright, you come!"

  Regarding Jin Minjie beating up his classmate, Yan Xiu had been holding back his anger for a long time. At this moment, his blood was boiling and he couldn't care about anything else. He took off his top and rushed onto the scene, and Lin Xiaotang tried to stop him but couldn't.

  As soon as the two men clashed, Lin Xiaotang slightly shook her head. Yan Xun's martial arts were in the Northern style, with a lot of flashy moves that seemed powerful but were actually impractical and focused too much on showiness. On the other hand, Jin Minjie was clearly professionally trained, his moves swift and deadly, each strike aimed at his opponent's weak points.

  In less than twenty moves, Yan Xun had taken two heavy blows in a row, and blood was oozing from the corner of his mouth. But he, being stubborn by nature, wiped his mouth with his hand and shouted as he charged forward again.