Chapter 56: Three Months of New Recruit Training p3
Lu Qing had originally been sitting in the classroom. Suddenly, someone from the hallway outside came into the classroom and shouted, “Zhou Wanfeng from Class Three is fighting with someone!”
He shot up from his seat and looked down. The area below was full of students. All he saw was Zhou Wanfeng hitting an old man who looked like a beggar.
He quickly ran downstairs. What was going on?
Zhou Wanfeng kicked out and sent him to the ground. Ding Daqiang got up, and was kicked down again.
The homeroom teacher, Xu Lei, came running over and saw that the classroom was surrounded by three layers of people. Wu Junfeng quickly explained what had happened.
Seeing Zhou Wanfeng kick the person down again, Xu Lei quickly grabbed her. “Zhou Wanfeng.”
Zhou Wanfeng turned to look at the homeroom teacher and pointed at Ding Daqiang, who was getting up from the ground. “He’s trying to rob me.”
Jiang Chen immediately gave her a thumbs-up. He had nothing to say. He was impressed. She could even find such a suitable reason for hitting someone.
When Ding Daqiang saw Xu Lei, he looked at him with drunken eyes. “Are you a teacher? Your student is hitting me! Are you going to do something about it?”
The students next to him all shouted, “Weren’t you trying to rob her?”
Ding Yanhua came out of the classroom.
Ding Daqiang suddenly remembered again. He looked at Xu Lei and chuckled. “Teacher, has my big daughter, Ding Yanhua’s, tuition fee been paid? If it has, you can refund it to me.”
“You can’t have it! That’s my tuition fee! My mom gave it to me!” Ding Yanhua cried out.
“Nonsense! What’s yours? Everything you eat and use is mine! Of course I have to take the money back! You don’t have to go to school anymore! You’re all going to make me poor with your schooling!” Ding Daqiang said, going up to Xu Lei and rubbing his hands. “Teacher, refund her tuition fee to me. Ding Yanhua is not going to school anymore.”
Ding Yanhua broke down and cried, “If you don’t let me go to school, I’ll die!”
“Die what? Come home with me! You’re not young anymore! I’ll find you a good man…” Ding Daqiang said, and then he burped.
These suffocating words made everyone look at Ding Yanhua with sympathy.
The next second, Ding Yanhua really did charge at the wall.
All the students screamed. Xu Lei even wanted to grab her.
But Zhou Wanfeng was faster. She flew over and knocked her away.
Smack. All they saw was Zhou Wanfeng pull Ding Yanhua up and slap her. The classmates next to her were all stunned.
“You’re going to die for this? You want to die for this rotten person?” Zhou Wanfeng’s voice was ruthless and cold.
Ding Yanhua covered her face and cried, “Then what do you want me to do? He’s just a rotten person! What can I do? Waaah, he hits my mom! He hits her whenever he drinks! Waaah, there’s nothing I can do!”
Ding Yanhua started to wail. She grabbed Zhou Wanfeng, as if venting all her suppressed and frustrated feelings, crying and shouting, “Why do I have a father like this? Why, waaah?”
Ding Daqiang was still cursing and was about to come over. Zhou Wanfeng was holding the money and shouted at him coldly, “Take the money and get lost!”
The moment he saw the money, his eyes went straight. He was so obsequious and fawning, as if he had seen his own father. “Money, money, my money!”
He nodded repeatedly, as if afraid someone would snatch it.
The money was thrown over. Ding Daqiang pounced on it like a dog. He wanted to say something, but was forced to swallow his words by Zhou Wanfeng’s cold gaze. He just muttered, “I’ll deal with you when I get home,” and then he staggered back.
Xu Lei waved away the students of Class Three and Class Four.
A few girls pulled Ding Yanhua up and tried to comfort her. Xu Lei took her to the office.
The scene of Ding Yanhua trying to hit the wall had stimulated many people. Xu Lei’s psychological work had to be done thoroughly.
But Zhou Wanfeng knew that for a family as terrible as that, a few words of comfort were not enough.
So when Ding Yanhua came back, Zhou Wanfeng directly took her out.
Yun Jingya watched, a slight look of surprise in her eyes.
The two of them went to the playground and sat down with their backs to the wind.
The first thing Zhou Wanfeng said was, “Your father is terrible, rotten. But it’s not your fault.”
Ding Yanhua’s expression was numb, like a clay sculpture in a daze.
“You’ve been practicing the Southern Fist I taught you very well. But for actual combat, it’s still combat techniques. From tomorrow on, I’ll teach you combat techniques,” Zhou Wanfeng’s voice was very low and deep.
A crack appeared in Ding Yanhua’s numb expression. She looked straight at Zhou Wanfeng, as if she didn’t quite understand what she meant.
“In a short time, no matter how well you study, it won’t solve the current emergency. If you have the determination to die by hitting a wall, then you should use that ruthlessness in the right place. The more of a scoundrel he is, the more he’s afraid of pain, afraid of death,” Zhou Wanfeng said, her eyes narrowed. “That kind of person is not a father, just a beast. If a dog barks at you, you pick up a stick or a stone and throw it at it. It will be afraid. Next time, it will just hide from you.”
Ding Yanhua understood. Her clenched fists were covered in sweat. But when she looked up at Zhou Wanfeng, her tears couldn’t be stopped and streamed down her face.
“Don’t think about dying. What will your mom do if you die? Can’t two people beat one drunk? Don’t talk about that filial piety bullshit. You just have to think about making your own life better.”
Zhou Wanfeng glanced at Ding Yanhua’s hair and said coldly, “Cut your hair. It’s hard for a girl to break free if her hair is grabbed. Next time you go home, if he wants to hit someone, you can grab a kitchen knife. If you don’t want to kill him, then go for his arm or his hand,” Zhou Wanfeng suddenly turned around, pressed her hands on Ding Yanhua’s face, and the moment their eyes met, Ding Yanhua subconsciously didn’t dare to move, as if a wild beast would come out of those dark pupils.
All she heard was Zhou Wanfeng’s deep voice, “Don’t lower your head. Stare at him. Don’t be afraid. Anything hard you can find will be your weapon. Your teeth too. You can’t reason with a beast. You can only beat it until it’s afraid of you, terrified of you.”
Zhou Wanfeng stood up and was about to go back to the classroom. “If you’re afraid and can’t do it, then I can only say that you deserve it.”
Living in such an environment, Zhou Wanfeng knew too well that no one could really help you. You had to be more ruthless, stronger than the other person.
Ding Yanhua suddenly stood up, her neck stiff with nervousness, but she still opened her mouth and shouted, “I won’t be afraid! I want to go to university! I want my mom to live a good life!”
Zhou Wanfeng turned her head, her eyes cold, her tone devoid of any mockery. “When you fight back, just don’t accidentally kill him.”
“Alright,” Ding Yanhua shouted, feeling as if the frustration and embarrassment in her body had dissipated in an instant. Her life, which had always felt oppressive, seemed to have been torn open at a corner, and something new had come in.
Ding Yanhua felt a long-awaited sense of relief. She looked at Zhou Wanfeng’s straight back, her heart filled with gratitude. It was the first time someone had said this to her. Her mother had always said to just endure it and it would pass.
Now, someone was telling her to fight back, as long as she didn’t kill…
No one knew what Zhou Wanfeng and Ding Yanhua had talked about, but there was a light in Ding Yanhua’s eyes.
Every day at noon, behind the first cafeteria, Zhou Wanfeng would take out ten or twenty minutes to teach Ding Yanhua combat techniques.
For someone like Ding Daqiang, whose body was weak and whose lower body was unstable, the key was to attack his legs.
Ding Yanhua was a very serious student. In fact, when she went back to the dorm, she found the dorm manager and borrowed a pair of scissors, and in the manager’s room, in front of a mirror, she cut her own hair.
Until she was in the second year of high school and the arts and science classes were split, and until she graduated from the third year, Ding Yanhua always had short hair and never grew it long again.
Zhou Wanfeng’s high school period was very fulfilling. If there was anything worth remembering about high school, it would be a school sports meet in the second year.
At that time, the arts and science classes had already been split. Many people had left the class, and many people had come in from other classes. The homeroom teacher of First Year, Class Three was still Xu Lei.
Yun Jingya had chosen the arts and had been assigned to another class with Wang Feili.
Jiang Chen, Ding Yanhua, and Wu Junfeng were still in Class Three. Lu Qing was in the arts and was in the same class as Yun Jingya. Only then did Zhou Wanfeng find out from Jiang Chen that Lu Qing’s dream in junior high was to be a photographer.
And Jiang Chen himself wanted to go to medical school.
Ding Yanhua wanted to major in a computer-related field.
When everyone heard that Zhou Wanfeng was going to apply for a military academy, they were all surprised. Only Yun Jingya had known about this early on.
After Lu Qing had also found out that Zhou Wanfeng was going to apply for a military academy, countless ripples arose in his heart, but he didn’t understand what it meant.
High school life was hard. Everyone encouraged each other. They were constantly studying, taking exams, and participating in the cultural activities and school sports meets organized by the school.
Zhou Wanfeng had participated in the autumn sports meet in the second year of high school. If it weren’t for the school’s rule that one person could sign up for at most two events, Wu Junfeng would have had Zhou Wanfeng participate in all of them.
Everyone had seen Zhou Wanfeng’s strength. She could run and jump. Apart from the class’s collective tug-of-war, which she had lost, she was far ahead in the events she had participated in.
The physical education teacher looked at Zhou Wanfeng’s results and said that if she were sent to a sports school to train, she could be an athlete.
By the time they entered the third year of high school, everyone felt that time was passing too quickly. There was not enough time. It was very tiring and hard. There were endless test papers to do, and not enough sleep.
Everyone was gritting their teeth and holding on. The homeroom teacher kept telling the students to persevere and not to slack off.
After getting through these hard days, everyone would thank themselves for this time in the future.
Zhou Wanfeng’s final sprint in the third year of high school was a blur. She was just doing test papers all day. The teachers of all the subjects were constantly printing test papers and doing test papers. Later, they didn’t even have time to explain them.
There were exams every two or three days, and the students’ nervous hearts had become numb. From being afraid of that day to come, to hoping that that day would come soon.
After the exam, Zhou Wanfeng slept at home for a whole day. She had graduated from high school, and she was also an adult.
Zhou Zhiru’s condition had been gradually improving these past few years. Yun Lan had been taking care of him with all her heart, not asking about her children. Yun Jingya had come to terms with it and would occasionally talk about it with Zhou Wanfeng.
Zhou Wanfeng, on the other hand, was not concerned at all.
She had to go to a designated place to fill out a political review form, have an interview, and a physical examination. It wasn’t until the beginning of August that she finally received her admission letter from the military academy.
The military academy had a supply system. New students like Zhou Wanfeng did not have to pay the expensive tuition fees, and there were no accommodation or food fees. Even the clothes were all standard issue.
On August 15th, the new students registered and participated in a three-month new student training.
But after all the new students had arrived at the school this time, they were led by the senior class president of the student brigade to get two sets of camouflage uniforms, two sets of regular uniforms, two sets of physical training uniforms, two pairs of training shoes, and a few pairs of socks. They were not even assigned a dorm room before they were pushed onto a military green trailer. On the highway, down the provincial road, into the village road, and up the mountain road, it was bumpy and shaky. First, they threw up what was in their stomachs, then they threw up acid. It was the most uncomfortable when there was nothing left to throw up.
The bumpy ride seemed to be about to shake their souls out. In their minds, they seemed to hear the sound of water sloshing back and forth.
Their legs were numb and weak. They huddled together like a group of pitiful little chicks.
When there was a click, the back of the trailer was lowered.
A stern shout, “Everyone, get off the truck immediately!”
All the cadets helped each other down. Only when their feet were on the ground did they see that the surrounding area was empty. Apart from the camp in front of them, there was really no village in front or a shop in the back.
The driver who was in charge of transporting the cadets walked to a distance and saluted two people, making a report.
“This group of cadets’ physical fitness doesn’t look very good. Look at their physical fitness. They’re all swaying. They don’t look like soldiers at all,” Qin Zhe said with a frown. The camp had only given him three months to temper this group of delicate cadets. He would rather go to the new recruit company to train new recruits. At least he could train them with full force.
“They’re being sent here for you to train this year so that you can whip them into shape. But there are also some who look not bad. Look at that one. Her head is not dizzy, her eyes are not blurry, and her legs are not weak. She’s standing straight. To be able to come from that road and still be in this state, this cadet’s quality is quite good,” the political instructor, Chang, said with a smile, looking at the cadets who were getting off the trailers one by one. His gaze was fixed on a short-haired girl who had gotten off the first truck. Compared to the others, this one was full of spirit.