After parting ways with Jiang Yu, Shi Jing carried the turtle tank and made a detour to the athletic field.
Following the opening ceremony, military training officially began. Starting the next day, they would undergo half a month of training.
During the lunch break earlier that day, the Academic Counselor had tagged everyone in the class group chat and instructed them to collect their military uniforms from the field.
As he passed by the library, Shi Jing spotted a rather familiar internet celebrity.
As one of the country’s top universities, Landa University naturally attracted attention. Many street-interview influencers loved coming there to find interview subjects.
Shi Jing wasn’t particularly surprised by it.
He was about to leave when someone suddenly called out to him.
“Classmate!”
The influencer was a young man with striking green hair.
He was fairly handsome and was a Douyin creator with tens of millions of followers.
Shi Jing paused.
Before he could say anything, the young man jogged over, slightly out of breath.
“Hello, classmate. I’m No Cilantro from Douyin. Could I take up one minute of your time for a quick interview?”
Shi Jing nodded.
“Sure.”
Only after he answered did the cameraman beside the influencer point the camera toward him.
No Cilantro asked,
“You had your opening ceremony this morning, right? What are your thoughts on the freshman representative?”
He had already interviewed more than ten people at Landa University and had gathered enough footage.
Originally, he had been preparing to call it a day.
Then he spotted another handsome guy.
Based on his previous interview videos, whenever a good-looking guy appeared, the views and likes would skyrocket.
So No Cilantro had immediately come running over.
Jiang Yu, this year’s freshman representative, already carried enormous popularity.
The drama he had starred in over the summer had become the biggest breakout hit of the year.
As long as the conversation could somehow be steered toward Jiang Yu, even a few casual compliments from this handsome freshman would guarantee decent traffic.
“The freshman representative…”
Shi Jing pondered briefly.
“He’s average.”
No Cilantro: “…”
“Then, classmate, which city are you from?”
“Lingcheng Province, Canghe City.”
“What rank did you place in the college entrance examination?”
Shi Jing pressed his lips together.
Clearly displeased, he replied,
“Second place.”
No Cilantro’s eyes lit up.
“Then you and Jiang Yu must know each other pretty well, right?”
“More or less.”
Shi Jing’s expression remained indifferent.
His inner thoughts were equally indifferent.
Aren’t you interviewing me?
Why does every topic somehow circle back to that bastard Jiang Yu?
“Uh…”
No Cilantro hesitated before continuing.
“Then could you tell us in more detail what you know about Jiang Yu?”
Shi Jing maintained a straight face.
Licking his lips, he said,
“For example, the reason Jiang Yu was able to take first place—”
He paused.
Under No Cilantro’s expectant gaze, he coldly finished:
“—was completely luck.”
No Cilantro: “…”
“Hehehe…”
A few seconds later, he laughed awkwardly and tried to ease the atmosphere.
Then he cleared his throat and shifted his attention to the turtle tank in Shi Jing’s arms.
Inside the square tank, a little green turtle was lying quietly.
Quickly changing the subject, he asked,
“Is this turtle your beloved pet?”
“Yes.”
“Does it have a name?”
“It does.”
Shi Jing looked directly into the camera and smiled.
“His name is Jiang Yu.”
No Cilantro: “…”
Handsome guy.
You just killed the conversation.
Military training arrived quickly.
Although Landa University was located in the northern part of the country, summer temperatures were still brutally high.
Every afternoon, the heat nearly reached forty degrees Celsius.
On the athletic field, the rubber track baked under the direct sunlight, releasing a strong plastic odor.
Rows upon rows of students stood motionless in camouflage uniforms, arranged by class and maintaining military posture.
Sweat soaked through their clothes.
It dampened their eyelashes.
Shi Jing bit the tip of his tongue and forced himself to stay awake.
After another thirty seconds, he shouted,
“Report!”
The Military Instructor turned around.
“What is it?”
“I feel nauseous and want to throw up.”
The Military Instructor looked him over.
Shi Jing’s skin was naturally fair. After standing under the blazing sun for half an hour, his face had turned bright red.
Sweat soaked his hair, while his lips had gone pale.
The instructor mercifully relented.
“Go have the infirmary take a look.”
Upon hearing that, Shi Jing secretly sighed in relief.
Removing his cap, he headed toward the infirmary.
Ever since military training had begun two days earlier, the infirmary had become the most popular destination on campus.
Every day, countless students pretended to be sick.
Every imaginable excuse had already been used.
Pushing open the infirmary door, Shi Jing immediately felt cool air brush against every pore on his body.
He happily narrowed his eyes and walked inside.
The school doctor wasn’t there.
Only two female students sat in chairs, both of whom turned to stare at him simultaneously.
Shi Jing asked,
“Where’s the doctor?”
One of the girls replied,
“Went out to buy ice cream.”
Shi Jing: “…”
From the patient ward area inside came the sound of quiet conversation.
Since there were only two girls in the front area, and Shi Jing had basically no experience interacting with girls throughout his life, he felt slightly uncomfortable.
So he headed further inside.
There weren’t many people in the ward section.
Scattered around the room were fewer than ten students.
The person currently speaking sat on a bed near the middle.
He was fairly handsome, with flaxen-brown hair styled in a textured perm.
His nose bridge was high, and his profile looked exceptionally refined.
Shi Jing’s gaze swept across his face.
The man seemed vaguely familiar.
However, his attention was quickly drawn to the person sitting in the chair beside the bed.
That person sat with his back facing him.
He wore a black sleeveless tank top that exposed broad shoulders and clearly defined muscles.
His skin was very fair.
The contrast between his skin and the black fabric was striking.
His youthful aura was impossible to hide.
From that back view alone, Shi Jing immediately recognized him.
He had seen that back countless times.
For two whole years, from the second year of high school to the third—
Monthly exams.
Midterms.
Finals.
Mock exams…
Across all those tests, he had always sat directly behind Jiang Yu.
Chen Zhiyan was currently trying to persuade Jiang Yu to return to the dormitory that night and carry him in a game.
Unfortunately, Jiang Yu considered him terrible at gaming and had absolutely no interest in helping.
While opening WeChat to check for new messages, Jiang Yu said,
“I just reached Ace rank. If I play with you, I’ll definitely lose points again. Go play with your little girlfriend.”
Chen Zhiyan replied,
“She already lost a bunch of points carrying me these past few days.”
Jiang Yu scoffed.
“So now you’ve come to drag me down instead?”
“Yu-yu, with the relationship we have, isn’t that a little too distant?”
As soon as Chen Zhiyan finished speaking, he casually looked up.
The moment he saw Shi Jing, he fell silent in astonishment.
Meanwhile, Jiang Yu had already developed goosebumps from being called Yu-yu.
He was just about to curse at Chen Zhiyan.
Then he noticed Chen Zhiyan’s expression and instinctively turned around.
Shi Jing stood not far away, dressed in camouflage.
The belt of his uniform was cinched tightly around his waist, making it appear remarkably slender at first glance.
“Are you sick?”
The cold indifference on Jiang Yu’s face disappeared completely.
“No.”
Shi Jing guiltily scratched his head and avoided eye contact.
After all, he had just mocked Jiang Yu during that interview the other day.
Although No Cilantro still hadn’t uploaded the video, he couldn’t help feeling guilty.
Shi Jing sighed.
In the end, his heart was simply too soft.