"Zhao Yuan!" w.a.n.g Xiang uttered a pained cry. If something bad happened to Zhao Yuan, it would be impossible for him to escape censure. He had studied the map and topography of the mountain very well. There was no way that there would be a waterfall here.
For a moment, Zheng Kai forgot to release his grasp on Lin Wenxi. Only when Lin Wenxi began struggling that he remembered him and immediately let go. The two of them crawled to the sh.o.r.e. If the waterfall was about ten meters high, the bamboo raft would probably have hit the waters by now. The raft flowed along the current and swiftly disappeared out of sight. Meanwhile, the pool of water under the waterfall was so quiet that it was terrifying.
Lin Wenxi couldn"t help wanting to climb down the waterfall but Zheng Kai was dragging him across the water and hauling him up the sh.o.r.e. He could only stare foolishly at the deep waters underneath as if he was possessed.
"Climbing is prohibited!" The sounding of the horn was swiftly buried under the thunderous booming sound. The helicopter hovered high up in the sky a short distance away let down a rope ladder. Two familiar-looking and fully armed guards climbed down the ladder and leaped into the waters midair. The three people on the sh.o.r.e heaved sighs of relief. They lay on their stomachs to watch the guards" rescue mission, understanding that while this wilderness field training was only just beginning, it was likely already the end for Zhao Yuan. Even so, all was fine as long as Zhao Yuan was safe. This was the thought shared by all three of them. In particular, w.a.n.g Xiang was so worried that his tears flowed freely down his face. In his mind, he recalled all sorts of memories with Zhao Yuan since the beginning of university.
The guards emerged from the surface of the waters. Just as they were about to dive in again, a drenched figure a short distance away hastily climbed out of the waters, staggered, and collapsed on the sh.o.r.e. Even so, he was yelling firmly, "It"s not you people who saved me! I still haven"t lost, not yet!"
w.a.n.g Xiang enveloped Zheng Kai into a hug and began crying tears of cry. Zheng Kai was so moved that both of his eyes were tinged with the faintest of red but he didn"t forget to say, "You d.a.m.ned h.o.m.o, don"t hug me." w.a.n.g Xiang clasped his face and wriggled his body. "I"m going gay. I"ve fallen in love with Zhao Yuan." Zheng Kai and Lin Wenxi were both silent. However, limpid tears were sliding down Lin Wenxi"s cheeks.
Zhao Yuan was like a hero that had descended from heaven. Several guards that had climbed down the helicopter pointed at the seven to eight warning signs with bold, red letters and sternly reprimanded them. The four of them turned their heads around and saw the words written on the signs: "Waterfall ahead; entry is forbidden." Who knew that they would completely miss the plates while amusing themselves? Fortunately for Zhao Yuan, he wasn"t eliminated. The guards wrote this in their records: "Student Zhao Yuan escaped the pool of water with his own efforts and didn"t ride the helicopter. We"ll consider this friendly support. Even though the four of them ignored the warning signs, we"ll refrain from deducting their points seeing as it"s their first offense."
It was only then that they learned that their credits would be deducted if they were found not extinguishing the fire they built to cook in the wild and throwing their rubbish everywhere. They swiftly recounted everything that had happened since the beginning of the wilderness training. Besides Zheng Kai spitting phlegm into the water as well as capturing a sparrow and sticking chewing gum onto its body, they didn"t seem to have committed any mistake. The guards didn"t act ambiguously and showed them the way by pinpointing the direction with a twig. They then pulled an iron chain over the area to blockade this creek as to prevent any more accidents.
Having escaped a great catastrophe with their lives intact, w.a.n.g Xiang kept hugging Zhao Yuan while crying throughout their entire journey. Zheng Kai tried yelling and scolding him but he was unable to stop w.a.n.g Xiang from unleashing his natural instincts. In the end, he gave it some thought and said solemnly, "You"re f*cking crying over failing to read the map, aren"t you? You might have the ability, but you"re not proficient at all! We"re all not blaming you anymore!" These words struck right where it hurt. w.a.n.g Xiang immediately stopped crying and began smiling throughout the whole journey. It wasn"t until then that Zheng Kai understood that unfortunately, w.a.n.g Xiang had been playing the sympathy card. He was very unhappy as he thought about this during the journey. In the end, he grabbed w.a.n.g Xiang and threw a few punches at him. To his surprise, w.a.n.g Xiang admitted his mistake giddily.
Zhao Yuan and Lin Wenxi found Zheng Kai"s words to be rather accurate. w.a.n.g Xiang was indeed an all-rounder; he was well-versed in poetry, literature, astronomy, geography, and even painting. He could even sing well too. The only thing was that none of his skills was superior to others. For example, when it came to poetry and literature, even Lin Wenxi"s impromptu poem recitation earlier had far surpa.s.sed w.a.n.g Xiang"s skills. When it came to astronomy, the forgetful w.a.n.g Xiang mistook Ursa Major for Taurus simply because the brightest stars of the Taurus constellation, the Alpha Tauri and Beta Tauri, connected with six or seven stars in the sky to form a Y-shape and it shared a resemblance to a funnel. Yet w.a.n.g Xiang forgot that Taurus would typically only appear in the winter sky. When it came to geography, their thrilling misadventure earlier had cost all of their trust in him.
When Zhao Yuan was still confused about direction while struggling in the waters, what flashed across his mind wasn"t only the image of his sickly father but also the accidental image of Lin Wenxi"s faint smile. What he saw was Lin Wenxi"s beautiful eyes clouded with unceasing tears. This was something he had to keep to himself. Though his behavior was appropriate, he was harboring other thoughts in his mind. His inviting cheeks were as pale as snow, and his gait was graceful and fluid. He looked exactly like the person in books Zhao Yuan met as a child. Zhao Yuan couldn"t help feeling a gentle shiver in his heart.
"Wenxi, did you worry about me?" Zhao Yuan grinned joyfully, patting Lin Wenxi on the shoulders.
Lin Wenxi stared at him for some time before slowly saying, "Can"t you be a little normal?"
Zhao Yuan was somewhat dumbstruck. He couldn"t help rubbing his chin. "Since when am I not normal?"
Lin Wenxi said only the first half of his sentence before ignoring Zhao Yuan. Zhao Yuan understood neither the heads nor tails of it but his train of thought was disturbed by the noise w.a.n.g Xiang was making. Thus, he was unable to grasp Lin Wenxi"s thoughts in the end.
It was said that good fortune was sure to follow after one escaped from calamity. The guys of Dorm No. 216 were the first team to arrive.
It was said that a number of their senior brothers, even their senior sisters, had attempted to build bamboo rafts and flow down the creek. They would either float only a short distance, be surrounded by perils, or give up because the raft making process took too much time. These seniors were nowhere near as good as they were. Not only could they swiftly pinpoint the creek, but they could also build and operate the raft efficiently. Their names were engraved in glittering gold on the honor roll of the first supply point.
For the first time, Zhao Yuan, Zheng Kai, Lin Wenxi, and w.a.n.g Xiang held tight onto each other"s hands and took the lead in setting off for the second depot.
When Chen Wanxin and her group arrived at the depot and saw the names engraved in gold on the honor roll, it took them a while to recover their senses. Their conclusion was: "True love can make one conquer every obstacle." They vowed to stick close to the guys from now on and thus, made no attempt to rest. They hastily rushed to the next stop.
There was evidently a clear superiority for the guys when it came to physical strength. Leaving four to five hours ahead of everyone else was enough to help them disappear out of sight. When they came across Zhang Dong, Shu Xiaoman caught hold of his loudspeaker in a moment of desperation and roared, "Listen here, Zheng Kai! Chen Wanxin has fainted! Hurry up and return to the first depot!" She then gently pushed Chen Wanxin toward at a dumbstruck Zhang Dong.
Chen Wanxin made a slight shift with a gentle turn in her footwork. With expectant eyes and a well-timed lovely smile, she returned the loudspeaker to Zhang Dong. Zhang Dong opened his mouth as if there was something he wanted to say but Chen Wanxin raised her lily-white hands and cast him a clouded gaze. She put together her forefinger and middle finger and placed them on her lips, indicating for him to keep quiet. She raised an eyebrow at him.
Zhang Dong"s sense of righteousness flared. "Your team is suspected of violating discipline. Your punishment is to stay put for three hours."
Chen Wanxin"s pretty face alternated between turning dark and red. She mumbled to herself, "Is he still considered a man?"
While speaking, Zhang Dong lifted the loudspeaker and yelled, "Dorm No. 216, there were girls who violated discipline and are now being penalized. Everything is secure for now. Please swiftly move to the next site."
The girls hadn"t believed that the loudspeaker would be able to reach the guys considering how capable they were. They were merely trying to joke around. What they didn"t know was that Zhang Dong was one of the person-in-charge of their wilderness training and his loudspeaker was connected to all the security crew. How could the guys of Dorm No. 216 not know?
Zheng Kai abandoned his knapsack and tried to return dressed in lightweight gear for battle as soon as he heard. When w.a.n.g Xiang heard Shu Xiaoman"s voice, he knew Zhang An"an was certainly with her. It was a serious offense to violate discipline. He himself was also worried. Just as he was about to abandon his knapsack, Zhao Yuan said pensively, "Let"s go together." He dragged Lin Wenxi along but the latter refused.
"Only when the four of us work together, can we take the lead. Trust me. We"re the best team!" Zhao Yuan secretly whispered into Lin Wenxi"s ear. He then said in jest, "Of course, you"re not at all useful at the moment."
Lin Wenxi stood in place with a faint red coloring his cheeks. "I"m well aware of that, so I don"t dare to slow you all down."
"Don"t! It"s so much more interesting with you around. It boosts our morale!" Zhao Yuan said, grinning.
"No harm would be done if contrast doesn"t exist, isn"t that right?" Lin Wenxi sneered.
Zhao Yuan could tell that there was something off about Lin Wenxi"s tone but didn"t know what exactly was wrong. He was determined to drag Lin Wenxi along but the latter shook him off with force. "I wanted to go on my merry way in the first place."
"Be careful of a rabbit biting you to death or a mouse taking you away!" Zhao Yuan couldn"t help feeling a little angry.
"Even if that"s the case, it has nothing to do with you!" Lin Wenxi said powerfully. He walked off in another direction on his own. Zhao Yuan wanted to go after him but w.a.n.g Xiang was already running far in the direction they had come in. He stomped his feet and went after w.a.n.g Xiang. Lin Wenxi turned his head ever so slightly, suddenly feeling a tartness in his nose.
Zhang Dong left behind a military instructor to watch over the three girls. After the instructor kept an eye on them for a little over an hour, three figures showed up from a distance while furiously panting. Other students looked curiously at the people who had gone the wrong way and returned to the first depot, all not understanding what had happened. The three girls were even more astonished, so much so that they couldn"t stop their jaws from falling. "You guys managed to hear that?" Shu Xiaoman added at the same time, "Where"s Lin Wenxi?"
"Instructor Zhang"s communication device is connected to all instructors! Not only are you punished, so is he! Go back, the three of you! These girls have violated discipline in deliberately misleading you all to return," the young military instructor said with a frown.
"w.a.n.g Xiang, I"ll have to stay put here for three hours," Zhang An"an said, pouting.
Chen Wanxin raised three fingers and flashed a wide smile at Zhao Yuan. Zheng Kai"s eyes instantly widened with anger and he gave Zhao Yuan a little push.
Shu Xiaoman continued to ask, "Where"s Wenxi?"
Zhao Yuan could only reply, "He abandoned us."
Shu Xiaoman was speechless.
Zhao Yuan said solemnly, "Hm? We came back ourselves to top up our supplies. We estimated that we have seven days" worth of journey left but we left so hastily that we didn"t bring our flashlight and enough water." He then spread his hands, putting on an act of helplessness.
"Oh, everyone is given the same allocation. If that"s the case, come with me to check the registration record," the military instructor said, smiling.
"Instructor, even if we didn"t return for this reason, it"s also our freedom to come back. Time is tight and the mission is crucial. Since nothing of consequence happened, why don"t you turn a blind eye, brother? Moreover, you"ve already punished them for enough hours. It"s also the first offense for these three young girls. When it comes to punishment, it"s fine if it"s effective. Punishment is a tactic, not the goal. Don"t you agree, brother?" Zhao Yuan said conversationally, trying to persuade the military instructor. The intelligent Chen Wanxin immediately played along and added, "That"s right. We"ve really learned our lesson. We won"t violate disciple again! You were once as young as we were. Who at our age hasn"t made a mistake or two?" Zhang An"an and Shu Xiaoman also played along by putting on weak and innocent expressions.
The military instructor"s expression gradually relaxed.
"Besides, we"re all students that Instructor Zhang personally taught. We also want to fight for a better placement so that he can be proud of us. Being his subordinate, you"ll also be benefitting from it! Isn"t mutually-beneficial cooperation the goal of this wilderness training?" Zhao Yuan said earnestly.
The military instructor waved his hand. "That"s enough. It"s commendable that you"re admitting your mistake. But remember not to repeat it!"
The girls gathered around him, chattering and laughing nonstop. The military instructor grinned and then excused himself.
Chen Wanxin"s gaze at Zhao Yuan was shrouded in a fresh layer of gentleness. Simultaneously, she also found Zheng Kai to be a truly muscular but simple-minded guy. She couldn"t help disliking him even further.