“Everyone, assemble on the athletic field within five minutes, or bear the consequences yourselves!”
“Report to the athletic field within five minutes. Anyone who is late will face the consequences!”
“…”
The loudspeaker blared continuously, echoing through the military training dormitory corridors at three or four in the morning.
Just as Zhou Yu had expected, the instructors launched their surprise midnight operation. While the dormitory broadcast system repeatedly played the assembly order, the instructors themselves marched through the corridors with megaphones, shouting outside every dorm room.
Since there was a distinction between male and female dormitories, the male instructors could not conveniently enter the girls’ dorms. They had even thoughtfully brought in female instructors to help wake everyone up.
It clearly wasn’t a spur-of-the-moment decision. It looked more like a conspiracy that had been planned for quite some time.
Fortunately, because of the instructors’ unusually friendly attitude the previous evening, as well as their repeated reminders for everyone to get to bed early, Zhou Yu had already sensed that something was off. She had prepared herself mentally in advance.
The moment she heard the loudspeaker, Zhou Yu immediately got out of bed, quickly straightened her clothes, put on her shoes and socks, and headed for the athletic field.
Most of the freshmen, however, had not been as prepared as Zhou Yu. None of them had expected something like this to happen in the middle of the night, and they were now scrambling around in panic.
There were also plenty who simply did not want to get out of bed. After all, they had spent the entire afternoon standing at attention under military training the day before. Everyone was exhausted and wanted nothing more than to keep sleeping.
But under the relentless blaring of the loudspeakers and the instructors’ personal supervision in the dormitories, the freshmen ultimately dragged themselves out of bed despite their unwillingness.
Even so, many of them were deeply dissatisfied with being forced out for training in the middle of the night. As they slowly made their way toward the athletic field, they muttered complaints under their breath.
“This is way too inhumane. They’re tormenting us in the middle of the night!”
“Exactly! I’m exhausted. I didn’t want to get up, but they practically dragged me out of bed. It’s so annoying!”
“…”
The instructors looked at the noisy crowd gathering in scattered groups but said nothing. Only when almost everyone had arrived did Zhou Yu hear nearly all the instructors speak at the same time.
“Only a handful of students made it down within the allotted time. The vast majority arrived more than five minutes late, and some even needed instructors to personally go and fetch them.”
“Now, all students who were late will immediately go run thirty laps around the athletic field!” an instructor announced sternly.
The students who had been late and those who had arrived on time were standing in separate lines. It was obvious at a glance that only a single-digit number of students in each group had managed to arrive on time. In Zhou Yu’s squad, there were only five students who hadn’t been late.
The moment the late students heard the instructor’s words, their eyes widened in shock.
They had originally assumed that being a few minutes late would result in at most two penalty laps. Most of them had thought that would be bearable. But thirty laps?
The freshmen who had arrived late instantly exploded with outrage.
“Why should we be punished with thirty laps? It’s not like we committed some huge mistake!”
“We were only a few minutes late! Look what time it is right now!”
“…”
“If you don’t finish the laps, you won’t get breakfast. And if anyone has objections, I’ll add another ten laps!” the instructors continued coldly, completely ignoring the students’ complaints.
The freshmen exchanged uneasy glances.
They had already explored the military training base and knew there was nothing here except the cafeteria. There weren’t any convenience stores or snack shops nearby. If they refused to do as instructed, they really might end up going hungry.
Besides, if they kept openly opposing the instructors and the matter was reported to the school, they could end up with a disciplinary record. That would be even worse.
In the end, despite their reluctance, the late freshmen lined up one after another and headed toward the track.
Once all the late students had begun running on the field, only five students remained in Zhou Yu’s squad, including Zhou Yu herself.
“You’ve all done quite well,” the instructor said with a friendly smile, praising them. “You managed to get down here within the required time.”
But his tone quickly changed.
“However, training is still training. Now the five of you can go run twenty laps around the athletic field as well.”
“…”
Zhou Yu was speechless. She had known it wouldn’t be that simple. Sure enough, she still couldn’t escape the fate of running.
Still, speechless or not, she had to run. Besides, being assigned ten fewer laps than the latecomers wasn’t a bad deal.
The athletic field at the military training base wasn’t some tiny track. It was a standard four-hundred-meter track, which meant twenty laps came to eight kilometers. For an ordinary person with no athletic training, that was no small distance.
And whether before or after transmigrating into this novel, Zhou Yu had never been particularly athletic. Running eight kilometers was torture for her.
By the time she finished all twenty laps, nearly an hour and a half had passed. She was so exhausted that even walking had become difficult.
Fortunately, after the twenty laps were completed, the instructors didn’t assign any additional missions to the students who had arrived on time. They simply told them to wait by the side of the field until the main group finished running and everyone could assemble together.
Zhou Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief. At last, she could rest for a while.
She found an empty spot and sat down. When she looked up, she noticed that sitting not far away was the bespectacled boy named “Mingye.”
Earlier, while resting in her dormitory, Zhou Yu had finally remembered why the name “Mingye” sounded so familiar.
Before she had transmigrated into the novel, her father’s full name had been Zhou Mingye. Moreover, the father in her memories had also worn glasses.
Could this Mingye actually be her father when he was young?
The question had been lingering in Zhou Yu’s mind the whole time. Now that the opportunity had presented itself and the boy happened to be sitting alone, she endured her physical discomfort and got up, walking over to sit nearby.
Mingye noticed her as well. He couldn’t help but wonder whether Zhou Yu had something she wanted to say to him.
“Hello, my name is Zhou Yu. May I ask what your full name is?” Zhou Yu asked awkwardly. She had no idea how to start the conversation and, after struggling for a long while, ended up blurting out a question about his name.
Zhou Mingye found her a little strange. He had thought she was about to say something important, only to discover that she merely wanted to know his name.
If she wanted to ask, she could have just asked. They were classmates, after all. There was no need to be so awkward about it.
Still, despite finding her behavior somewhat odd, Zhou Mingye politely replied, “Oh, hello. My name is Zhou Mingye.”
“And what is your exact birthday?” Zhou Yu continued.
She knew it was rather impolite to ask someone’s birthday the first time they met. But she honestly had no idea how to inquire more tactfully. After all, there wasn’t a single person in the class she was familiar with.
When Zhou Mingye heard Zhou Yu’s question, he found her even stranger than before. He frowned slightly, but still answered, “My date of birth is September 13, 1968.”
Zhou Yu proceeded to confirm a few more details, such as where his hometown was. By now, she could basically be certain that this Zhou Mingye was indeed her father in his youth.
The image of her father in Zhou Yu’s memories had long since become blurry. He had passed away from illness when she was around twelve years old.
Yet the father sitting before her now was so young and healthy.
For a moment, Zhou Yu’s eyes reddened.
She had never imagined that she would have the chance to see her father again.
“Are you alright?” Zhou Mingye asked when he noticed that something seemed off about her emotions.
By nature, Zhou Mingye wasn’t particularly fond of girls who cried easily. Yet seeing Zhou Yu looking as though she were about to burst into tears, he felt no irritation whatsoever. Although he still thought she was rather strange, he found himself instinctively wanting to comfort her.
He didn’t know why he seemed to treat Zhou Yu differently.
“I’m fine. I just got some sand in my eyes,” Zhou Yu replied after collecting herself.
Then something occurred to her.
“Do you know Su Qiuyan?”
Zhou Yu remembered her mother mentioning that she had met her father shortly before university began. They had happened to sit together on a train bound for the capital, then attended the same university after getting off the train. Gradually, they had become acquainted.
According to her mother’s account, her parents should have already met by this point.
That was why Zhou Yu couldn’t resist trying to find out more about her mother’s whereabouts.
Although Zhou Yu’s excuse from earlier had been rather unconvincing, Zhou Mingye had not called her out on it.
Now, however, the moment he heard her suddenly mention Su Qiuyan, his face immediately reddened.
“I-I know Student Su,” he stammered. “She’s a student in the class next door. I…”
Seeing her father’s reaction, Zhou Yu found it rather amusing.
She had never expected that her father had been so shy when he was young.
Could it be that he had fallen in love with her mother, Su Qiuyan, at first sight?
Just as Zhou Yu was about to ask a few more questions, a girl walked over and sat down beside her.
“Why were you talking about me just now?” the girl asked Zhou Mingye with a bright smile.
Zhou Mingye’s face immediately turned even redder, like a cooked shrimp.
Zhou Yu couldn’t help laughing out loud.
The girl laughed along with her.
Zhou Yu turned to look at the girl beside her and instantly remembered who she was.
Wasn’t she one of the five girls in their group who had managed to arrive on time earlier?
And if Zhou Yu remembered correctly, this girl was staying in the dormitory right next to hers.
Since this girl had just said that “Su Qiuyan” was her name, then didn’t that mean she was Zhou Yu’s mother in her younger years?
“Hello, I’m Zhou Yu.” Zhou Yu extended her hand and introduced herself.
“Hello, I’m Su Qiuyan.” Su Qiuyan shook her hand, then continued with a smile, “I just heard the two of you mention my name.”
Zhou Mingye was about to explain when Zhou Yu hurriedly interrupted him.
“Qiuyan, you must’ve heard wrong. We weren’t talking about you.”
Logically speaking, this was the first time Zhou Yu had ever spoken to her mother in this world. That made it extremely strange that she had brought up the name “Su Qiuyan” in front of Zhou Mingye earlier.
That was why she had hurriedly cut him off. Otherwise, it would be very difficult to explain herself. If she ended up causing unnecessary misunderstandings between her parents, that would be bad.
As for calling her mother “Qiuyan,” Zhou Yu felt somewhat awkward and disrespectful doing so, but she didn’t really have a choice. It was still better than calling her mother by her full name or some other form of address.
Seeing Zhou Yu giving him a meaningful look, Zhou Mingye didn’t think much of it and simply followed her lead.
“That’s right, Qiuyan. You heard wrong.”
“Really?” Su Qiuyan clearly didn’t believe them, but she chose not to pursue the subject. Instead, she lowered her voice and changed the topic.
“Running twenty laps just now nearly killed me. I wonder if those instructors have any more tricks up their sleeves. What a headache.”
“Exactly. And today is only the first day. Military training is going to last an entire month,” Zhou Yu replied.
Seeing her parents healthy and young filled her with an indescribable joy. For once, she couldn’t help joining in and complaining alongside her mother.
“Tell me about it. I just hope military training ends soon so we can get back to school,” Su Qiuyan said.
…
Zhou Yu continued chatting with her mother, Su Qiuyan, for quite some time.
Meanwhile, Zhou Mingye sat beside them, smiling as he watched the two of them talk. Every now and then, he would chime in with a comment or two.
The three of them got along with an indescribable sense of warmth, as though they naturally belonged together.