Chapter 4 Before the Storm
During evening training, the instructor taught them to sing "Unity is Strength". During the singing, the instructor suddenly called a boy out of the team.
"Sing it yourself," said the instructor.
The boy held his head high and began to sing.
There was a burst of laughter in the audience. It turned out that the boy was from Guangxi and had a strong Guangxi accent.
The instructor taught him in a clear voice, "It's power! Power! Say power ten times."
However, the boy has not changed.
"Oh my god." The instructor rubbed his Jingmingxue and forced a smile.
Chi Jinjin and Tang Shi laughed so hard that they fell on each other.
Sometimes Chi Jinjin felt that the world was quite fair. For example, when she turned around, this boy laughed the loudest, and now it was her turn to laugh at him.
The tiring day ended in laughter. After returning to the dormitory, Chi Jinjin took a shower and started writing in his diary under the bed as usual. While writing, he suddenly caught sight of the orange pen in the pen holder, and the boy came to his mind.
Such a gentle boy must write very gentle words as well.
Chi Jinjin stretched out his fingertips to stroke the pen, lost in thought...
The next day, Chi Jinjin came to the osmanthus forest again, but unfortunately she did not see the familiar figure as she wished.
But then she thought, could it be in the cherry blossom garden?
So Chi Jinjin walked towards the cherry blossom garden again.
There were more cherry blossoms on the tree than last time. Chi Jinjin looked and saw that the boy was really there. He was standing under the tree, leaning against the trunk, looking down at the book in his hand. His slender fingers gently turned the pages, and cherry blossom petals slid from his clean school uniform to the ground.
Chi Jinjin took out the orange pen from her pocket, hesitated, bit her lower lip, and walked forward.
"Senior..." Chi Jinjin came to him and called him nervously and carefully.
The boy looked up at her, smiled slightly and said, "It's you."
Senior, do you still remember me?
Chi Jinjin felt very happy for some reason.
But even though she was secretly delighted, she still didn't forget the original reason for her visit. She raised her hand and asked, "Senior, I picked up this pen in the osmanthus forest the other day. Is it yours?"
The boy looked at her palm, reached out and took it, and said, "It's mine, thank you."
"You're welcome. To be honest, I have to thank you, senior. Thanks to you teaching me, otherwise I would definitely still be walking in the wrong direction." Chi Jinjin said gratefully.
The boy said, "So, you don't turn around anymore?"
"Yeah." Chi Jinjin nodded and said, "I stopped turning around that afternoon."
The boy turned the pen and suddenly inserted it behind Chi Jinjin's ear.
"Hmm? Senior?" Chi Jinjin took down her pen and looked at him in confusion.
The boy said with a smile, "I'm giving you my junior sister as a reward. I wish you good luck."
He closed the book in his hand, stood up lazily, and walked past her.
Chi Jinjin's gaze followed him, watching his back, holding his pen in her hand...
During the break in the military training, Chi Jinjin couldn't help but stare at the pen in his hand in a daze.
"Oh, which man gave this pen to her?" Tang Shi came to her side at some point, took the pen from her hand, and asked curiously.
Chi Jinjin came back to her senses and said, "No..."
"It's nothing. Don't tell me it wasn't given to you by someone else. I'm sure it was. With your frugal nature, how could you possibly afford to buy such an expensive pen?" Tang Shi said.
Chi Jinjin asked, "Is this expensive?"
"Of course, branded items cost around seven or eight hundred yuan each, and these are colored pens. A set would cost at least tens of thousands." Tang Shi replied.
"Tens of thousands!?" Chi Jinjin didn't expect that this seemingly ordinary pen would cost so much money.
"So... who sent it?" Tang Shi approached Chi Jinjin with an interrogative attitude.
Chi Jinjin lowered her head and replied, "Yes, the senior I told you about before."
"Really? Did you ask him what his name is?" Tang Shi sat closer to her and asked more excitedly.
Chi Jinjin looked at Tang Shi in surprise. Only then did she realize that she still didn't know the name of that senior. She hadn't thought about it yesterday, but even if she remembered it, she wouldn't dare to ask.
"Come on, judging from the look on your face, you probably didn't ask." Tang Shi smiled helplessly.
"Squad leader." Shen Moli suddenly said, "It's too hot. Go buy some water for everyone. I'll pay for it."
She walked up to Chi Jinjin and handed her two hundred yuan.
"Okay." Chi Jinjin took it, stood up and walked towards the store.
Tang Shi got up and ran to chase Chi Jinjin.
"What are you doing here?" Chi Jinjin asked.
Tang Shi said, "It's the whole class's water. How can you carry it by yourself? I'm here to help you."
"Thank you." Chi Jinjin said with a smile.
The two of them brought water from the store, and Shen Moli came over, took out two bottles and handed them to them, saying, “Leave the rest to me, you go and rest.”
Chi Jinjin nodded and pulled Tang Shi to sit next to her.
Shen Moli distributed the water to the classmates one by one.
"Committee member of the Cultural and Sports Committee, you are so kind!"
"Long live the cultural and sports committee member!"
All the classmates praised Shen Moli, especially some boys, who had the word "like" written on their faces.
Tang Shi was unhappy and grumbled, "We worked so hard, but no one said thank you to us. It seems like we have to suffer the hardship while she gets all the good things."
"Okay, these are just small matters, don't worry about it. They have already paid the money, so it's not too much for us to contribute." Chi Jinjin comforted.
Tang Shi said angrily, "You are so easy to talk to and don't care. If it were me, I wouldn't go. I would rather die than do something like this to help others."
Chi Jinjin found it funny and reached out to touch her head like she was stroking a kitten with its fur standing on end.
At night, Chi Jinjin lay on the bed, looking at the pen in her hand. She put the pen in front of her nose, and there was a faint woody scent on the pen.
Some people say that orange can make people forget time because the sun lives in it, but no one told her that there is also a young man living inside.
Chi Jinjin smiled slightly, then fell asleep holding the pen.
Two more days passed.
After standing at attention, the instructor asked them to rest for ten minutes. Chi Jinjin sat down beside them, holding her stomach.
Tang Shi noticed that her face looked a little strange, so she approached her and asked with concern, "Jinjin, what's wrong with you?"
Chi Jinjin leaned close to her ear and whispered, "I, I'm having my period, and my stomach hurts."
"Then why don't you file a report and tell the instructor?"
Chi Jinjin muttered, "I, I'm embarrassed."
If the instructor was a girl, she would definitely have said it, but the instructor was a boy, so how could she say it?
"Oh, there's nothing to be embarrassed about." Tang Shi turned around and shouted to the instructor, "Instructor! Let our squad leader rest. She's having her period!"
Everyone looked over at once.
Chi Jinjin didn't expect her to speak so directly and so loudly, which made her face turn red, and she hurriedly pulled Tang Shi's arm.
The instructor put his hands on his hips and said seriously, "Why do you need to rest when your period comes? You can ask your period to find a place to wait. The training will be over soon anyway, so it won't be too late to see your period after the training."
Some people in the audience laughed so hard that they squealed like pigs, and some of them laughed so hard that they pounded the ground and wiped their tears.
The instructor was confused and didn't understand what they were laughing at.
Chi Jinjin wanted to dig a hole for herself. All the face she had gained over the past ten years was completely lost in this military training.
Tang Shi explained calmly, "Aunt auntie is not that kind of auntie. Aunt auntie is menstruation. She is having her period!"
"Tang Shi, you, please stop talking..."
Shut up, big brother!
Chi Jinjin pulled Tang Shi and whispered to her. She was so embarrassed that she wanted to die on the spot. She regretted why she told Tang Shi. She would rather die in pain than die socially.
The instructor finally realized it, and a slight blush appeared on his dark cheeks.
Thanks to Tang Shi's words, the instructor directly asked her to go back to the dormitory to rest.
Tang Shi was in dire straits, however. Perhaps her rain-praying array had worked, but it really began to rain heavily. However, Tang Shi's joy didn't last even three minutes before the instructors handed out raincoats and told them to stand at attention in the rain...
Later, Chi Jinjin always passed by the cherry blossom garden intentionally or unintentionally, but she never saw the senior again. Chi Jinjin reached out and touched the tree trunk that he often leaned on, looked up, the branches swayed in the wind, and the cherry blossom petals fell and lightly hit her face.
Will I see him again?
She was worried that their fate was limited. People in the village often said that people who are destined to be together will meet each other even if they are thousands of miles apart, but people whose fate is over will not see each other even if they are by each other's side.
Chi Jinjin didn't know why she felt a sense of longing for a stranger whose name she didn't even know.
The military training was coming to an end unknowingly, and the instructors were about to say goodbye to them.
A month is neither too short nor too long, but it is enough for people to get to know the instructor who appears serious and cold on the outside but is warm and humorous on the inside.
Military training was very hard. Chi Jinjin prayed countless times that it would end soon, but when it was really about to end, he began to feel reluctant to leave.
The night before departure, the classmates urged the instructors to perform their talents. Tonight the instructors were unusually easy to talk to and came forward to perform a set of military boxing for everyone.
Then students from other classes came on stage to perform dance and singing. At the instigation of the class, Shen Moli also went on stage to play the guitar.
The beautiful guitar sound made people intoxicated. Chi Jinjin, who was in the crowd, couldn't help but envy their versatility, their confidence and composure.
After the song was finished, the audience burst into thunderous applause.
Later, the instructor of another class suggested holding a singing competition. Soon, the singing sounds echoed throughout the entire campus. Everyone shouted until their heads were deprived of oxygen and their voices broke, but they were still enthusiastic because that was our youth.
In those youthful days, we were like a weed, growing wildly and rebelling wantonly. The city generously lit up the entire night, just like a teenager who was not afraid of the long years...
"All teammates, please stand up!"
On the second day, the January military training chapter finally came to its end.
All the freshmen gathered at the main playground to show the results of one month's training to the chief instructor and school leaders and teachers.
The instructor still gave orders in a loud voice, "Start—step—go!"
Chi Jinjin followed the team, marching forward in unison, his nerves tense and highly concentrated throughout.
After walking around, they sat down on the football field in the middle of the playground, viewed the achievements of students from other classes together, and then listened to the speeches of various leaders.
Chi Jinjin listened attentively. Tang Shi felt bored, so she lowered her head to pull the grass on the ground and even made a bracelet for herself.
After the conference, they never saw their instructor again. Later they learned that after leading them through the entire course, the instructor packed up his bags and left.
When Tang Shi found out, she burst into tears immediately. She had even prepared a gift for the instructor, but hadn't had time to give it to him yet.
Others also ran anxiously to the floor where the instructors lived, calling their names.
No one expected that just now, that would be the last time they heard the instructor's orders.
Military boxing is their farewell ceremony, and marching in step is their farewell words.
They took nothing away, but left behind a will that could not be defeated by the scorching sun, a team that could not be dispersed by the pouring rain, a fighting spirit that could not be defeated by exhaustion, as well as dark skin and a green memory.
They returned quietly, while we advanced vigorously.
Some people say that military training is like a cup of coffee, which tastes bitter but leaves a lasting aftertaste.
After the military training, Chi Jinjin really started her life in High School A.
March slowly leaves, and April slowly comes. The sound of reading books still lingers in the air from the window. The sunlight outside the window has already scorched the dew. The peach blossoms are blooming again. The sunlight is embedded in the April in the world. Countless spring lights are Lin Huiyin's warm hope and the gentle lies of the world.
Chi Jinjin's life was a routine, and she would occasionally go to the osmanthus forest or the cherry blossom garden. The cherry blossom season was always so short, and the traces of cherry blossoms left in April were already minimal, and that boy never appeared again.
Sometimes she would have some ridiculous fantasies, thinking that the boy might be transformed from cherry blossoms, so she never saw him again, he came with March and left with March.
After all, there are no such good-looking people in the world.
"Jinjin, I want to drink a drink. Will you accompany me to buy one?" Tang Shi asked, pulling her school uniform.
Chi Jinjin nodded, put down her pen and followed her downstairs to the store.
Tang Shi bought two bottles of juice, put a straw in one of them, and handed it to Chi Jinjin, saying, "Here, Jinjin, this is yours."
"Thank you." Chi Jinjin took it.
Tang Shi took a sip of the drink in his hand and let out a sigh of satisfaction.
Tang Shi and Chi Jinjin walked back to the teaching building. Their classroom was on the third floor.
Tang Shi climbed the stairs, fanning herself with her hands and complaining, "What the hell is the weather like in City A? It's so hot in April! I really want to go back to Lotus Town."
Chi Jinjin nodded and said, "Indeed, it's much hotter here than in Lianhua Town."
When they were in junior high school in Lianhua Town, they could still wear coats during this month, but now they just have to wear short sleeves.
Just as they were thinking about it, something suddenly rolled down the stairs. Tang Shi and Chi Jinjin screamed at the same time, and immediately dodged to the side subconsciously, and their backs hit the guardrail hard.
Looking back, I saw that the person who just rolled down was actually a boy!
The boy struggled on the ground for a few times and finally stood up with the help of the wall. His school uniform was covered with footprints and mud, and his face was covered with bruises and blood.
Tang Shi and Chi Jinjin were terrified and stood there in a daze until they heard footsteps and came to their senses.
Chi Jinjin turned her head to look towards the sound of footsteps, and saw a pair of leather shoes coming out from the corner of the stairs. Looking up along the leather shoes, it turned out to be Song Ci!
Next to Song Ci stood Ji Yang, who was wearing a plaid shirt and holding a men's backpack in his hand.
There was a group of people standing behind the two of them, and a large group of people slowly came downstairs. It was pitch black, and the light in the corridor dimmed instantly, as if a rainstorm was about to come, making people feel depressed and suffocated.
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