Chapter 42: Untitled

Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

“Are you asking me out to play soccer?” Ji Zhiyao asked. “Does the university soccer team allow boys and girls to play together?”

“…” The girl looked at him blankly.

Until they had finished collecting the items and left the office, Ji Zhiyao was still unclear what exactly the complicated look that the girl had on before she left meant.

Yang Bing seemed to know, but other than a showing condemnation all over his face, he was determined not to say a single word. He said, “That girl was so fair and pretty, and you didn’t know to treasure that. Reckless waste of nature’s gift! I never want to speak to you again!”

With a look of madness, he made it such that even Ji Zhiyao was not really willing to deal with him.

…

The burning sun was high in the sky, and it was a quiet and windless day.

All four people in dorm 1306 were placed in male squad 2 and stood in a row.

Usually, the first day of military training was stricter. Only in the subsequent stages would training become easier. This strictness applied not only to the demands in terms of the squad formation but also break times—they could only have one break in one afternoon.

As a result, just as the instructor announced a ten-minute break for everyone, the boys that were initially standing perfectly straight instantly sat on their butts like a pool of mud.

Ji Zhiyao sat with his knees bent on the ground and used his hands to wipe the dense beads of perspiration on his forehead. Then, he opened his bottle to drink.

“I’m such a fool, really,” Yang Bing said after drinking. “When you guys were applying sunblock in the afternoon, I actually called you guys gay. I was wrong. With this temperature, by the end of military training, I’d be the same tone as coal. Talk about finding a girlfriend…”

Ji Zhiyao shifted his bottle away from his mouth, at a loss of whether to cry or to laugh. “Other than knowing to find a girlfriend, what else do you know?”

“Nothing else. Can’t help it, I don’t really have any dreams.”

Placing the bottle back to its original spot, Ji Zhiyao stood up at the same time. “How are you any different from a salted fish?”

“You can’t say that. There are still advantages having me as a dorm mate.” Yang Bing mysteriously reached out, tugged all three of them down at once, and said, “Do you guys remember the girl that Old Ji almost knocked down two days ago? Now in Squad 6, she is… Xing Chuxue ¹ . Her skin is so fair it reflects light; that’s what’s known as a beauty. I reckon she will be the belle of our faculty. In these few days, there have been so many guys going forth to appeal to her. Old Ji, do you feel very regretful now?”

Ji Zhiyao did not understand. “Regret what?”

“That line ‘Do you like Messi!’ It’s so obvious that she was interested in you, and yet, you thought she was inviting you to play soccer. You’re way too dense…”

“…”

Ji Zhiyao exchanged glances with Ning Lichao and Wen Heng. Directly overlooking the cheap smile on the corner of Yang Bing’s lips, Ji Zhiyao also ignored him, pretending that he could not hear anything.

Coincidentally, the ten-minute break had ended, and the instructor walked out from the shade of the trees while blowing on the whistle.

“Everybody, fall in!”

“Hey, I was being serious! Why are all of you ignoring me? Are you guys interested or not!” Yang Bing took small little steps to shift back to his spot while at the same time peeking at Ji Zhiyao, who was standing beside him and looking steadily forward. He called out. “Old Ji, speak up! if you aren’t interested, such a pretty girl cannot be given up to others, and I am going to take action!”

Ji Zhiyao wholly pretended not to hear anything, and his tall and skinny body continued to stand upright.

But Yang Bing had already caught the instructor’s attention.

“Fifth row, third man, fall out!” The instructor kept a stern expression. “Have I said before that you must ask for permission to speak? What were you saying?”

Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, Yang Bing’s dark and red face from being tanned flushed to an even stranger shade of red. “Sir, I…”

“Speak properly! Muttering and mumbling, what kind of man are you!”

Yang Bing continued to keep quiet, not speaking one word.

As the instructor with a fierce look was about to take a step in his direction, a clear voice suddenly sounded from the crowd. “Permission to speak Sir.”

Ji Zhiyao performed a military salute and stepped out, saying with a straight face. “He needed to use the toilet but was embarrassed to go himself, so he was asking if I was willing to accompany him to the toilet.”