Chapter 238 - 236: Unexpected Skill

Chapter 238: Chapter 236: Unexpected Skill

After breakfast, with Jiang Xia and Lin Yanwan connecting the two groups, the eight students from the two dorms headed toward the East University Playground together.

Zhou Zijian and Zhao Ning were both a little excited. There were too few girls in their class, and now, walking with the beauties from the School of Economics and Management, they felt like they were floating on air.

But the girls were clearly not interested in the two of them. Tang Qiuting trailed behind Lin Yanwan with her head down, Si Si wore a calm expression, and only Cui Jiaying would occasionally exchange a few words with Su Qing.

A little over ten minutes later, the group arrived at the East University Playground. The field was already densely packed with people, so they split up to find their respective class advisors.

The School of Fine Arts had so few students that their main contingent was just on the edge of the playground. Jiang Xia’s class had only ten people in total. They didn’t even need a class monitor to get organized; the ten of them simply stood in a line, which was significantly shorter than the class next to them.

So, at the vice dean’s request, the entire school’s two hundred-plus students gathered into a single formation, which finally looked a little more proper. Jiang Xia figured they would probably be split into two companies for the upcoming military training. He just wondered if Tsinghua University would separate the men and women.

"How’s it going? Not too hard, right?" Jiang Xia asked in a low voice.

Luo Peng was standing right in front of him. At over 1.75 meters tall and weighing an estimated 90 kilograms, the big guy was perfect for blocking others’ line of sight.

"Yeah, it’s not hard. It’ll just take a few more days to get completely used to it," Luo Peng said.

After all, anyone who could get into the Qingmei School of Fine Arts had a solid foundation in art. Simple character designs like those in Cat and Mouse were still pretty easy to master.

"Haha, keep it up. Oh, right, let me introduce you. This is Su Qing. Like you, he’s joined us too."

Luo Peng froze for a moment, then glanced at the person behind Jiang Xia. He had a good impression of Su Qing, who looked like the type of person who excelled at everything. He hadn’t expected him to join Jiang Xia’s studio too.

"Hello."

"Hello," Su Qing said with a smile.

The two quietly exchanged a few thoughts on drawing, and before they knew it, it was 8:00 a.m. The "Athletes’ March" started playing over the loudspeakers. At the sound of the familiar music, the students from every school quickly fell into formation. When the music ended, the vast playground fell utterly silent.

Next came the typical, monotonous speech from the university president. He went from well wishes for the new semester, to the school’s faculty and educational system, to Tsinghua’s culture and history, and finally rambled on for over an hour about every miscellaneous aspect of life and academics.

Jiang Xia was so bored he could have fallen asleep. Standing under the sun was also incredibly irritating. He had finally endured the president’s speech, only for another school administrator to get on stage and drone on and on.

Then came a faculty representative and an upperclassman representative, both of whom spoke about matters related to academics.

It was already past ten in the morning when a military officer in uniform took the stage and the microphone. First, on behalf of all the officers and soldiers conducting the training, he offered his heartfelt congratulations to the students. Then, he delivered a long, rousing speech about the military training, clarifying its purpose and significance.

Jiang Xia sighed to himself. ’Thinking about Tsinghua’s history, and that ironclad rule—to work healthily for the motherland for fifty years—this military training is definitely going to be intense.’ He guessed that he might finally get his wish of trying live-fire shooting, something he’d never experienced before.

Another twenty minutes passed before the officer’s speech finally ended. Then, a team of drill instructors walked up to the large formations and began to organize them into smaller units.

As expected, the male and female students were separated. The School of Fine Arts had fewer than fifty female students, just enough for a single platoon. The remaining male students were divided into four platoons and led away by their respective drill instructors to their training grounds.

Luo Peng looked miserable. He wondered how much of all this fat on him would be left after the military training was over.

Losing weight should be a happy occasion, but the process was sheer torture. Especially for a big guy. Others could stand at military attention for an hour; he could barely last twenty minutes. He was probably going to be the drill instructor’s special project.

To Jiang Xia’s surprise, he and Lin Yanwan were assigned to the same basketball court, in adjacent training areas. It seemed Elder Yue was silently working his magic again.

"Be back here at 2:00 p.m. sharp! Everyone, remember to change into your training uniforms. For the men, no long hair. You will all get buzz cuts. Otherwise, I’ll take a pair of scissors to your heads myself. Do you hear me!"

"Heard."

"That was pathetic! Did you skip breakfast? Louder!"

"HEARD!"

"Very good. Dismissed."

Hearing those words, the freshmen instantly relaxed and began to disperse. They had been standing under the sun for over three hours. They were tired, hot, and many couldn’t bear it any longer.

Jiang Xia rubbed his aching calves and glanced over at Nanny Su, who looked completely unfazed. It was clear that moments like these really highlighted the difference in physical fitness that came from regular exercise.

He turned to look at his girlfriend’s platoon, which was also finally dismissed after shouting "Kill!" a few times.

He hurried over to her. Seeing Jiang Xia approach, her three dormmates tactfully stepped aside.

"Are you okay? Do your feet hurt?"

"Mm, they don’t hurt much. It’s just so hot."

Lin Yanwan wiped the sweat from her neck with a tissue. ’The sun is so strong, no amount of sunscreen is going to help. By the time this training is over, my skin will probably be a shade darker,’ she thought.

"This training goes all the way until the 20th. Three whole weeks. It’s going to be a tough grind," she said with a sigh.

Although the drill instructors might be a little easier on the girls, their stamina and physical conditioning were generally no match for the boys’, so it would be just as exhausting for them.

"Let’s go get something to eat."

"Okay," Lin Yanwan nodded. She was already starving.

They followed the crowd to the cafeteria, where they each got their preferred dishes and found a small round table that they just managed to fill.

"Handsome Jiang, that stylish side part of yours clearly violates the rules. You’re going to have to get it cut, right?" Cui Jiaying’s gaze lingered on Su Qing for a few moments before she turned to tease Jiang Xia about his hair.

"Yeah. After lunch, I have to go to the student center for a haircut. The line will probably take forever," Jiang Xia sighed.

Tsinghua’s freshman class had over three thousand students, and girls only made up about thirty percent of them. Probably more than half the guys didn’t have short hair. Luckily, the campus had a good number of barbershops, so they could just about manage to get everyone’s hair cut over the lunch break.

’The good thing is, Nanny Su’s hair is about as long as mine, so he has to get his cut too. At least I’ll have some company. If we can’t get it done in time, we’ll get punished together,’ Jiang Xia thought.

"Brother Jiang Xia, I... I know how to cut hair," Tang Qiuting suddenly said in a very soft voice.

Instantly, everyone turned to stare at her, their eyes wide with shock. ’She even knows how to do *that*?’

"I have a younger brother who’s still in middle school. I’ve been cutting his hair for him ever since we were kids."

Tang Qiuting said meekly.