Su Tang didn't teach her any sophisticated fighting techniques, nor did she teach her any complicated tactical hand signals.
She knew very well that last-minute cramming, especially for someone like Chen Xiaocao with zero foundation, would not only be useless but would also make her more confused and insecure.
Su Tang only told her to focus all her energy on two things.
First, improve physical fitness.
Secondly, her innate talent—plant identification.
The little grass burst forth with an astonishing perseverance that even frightened herself.
It was four in the morning. The sky was still dark.
The entire camp was shrouded in a deathly silence, with the cold wind whistling and howling across the empty training ground.
While Qiao Lin, Zhao Yan, and others were still sound asleep in their warm beds in the dormitory, a small, thin figure had already appeared on the track.
Chen Xiaocao carried a backpack filled with stones, weighing ten kilograms, and ran lap after lap on the empty training field.
"Huff...ha...huff..."
The cold wind savagely pierced my throat like knives, each blow causing a burning pain, making my lungs feel like they were about to explode. My legs felt as heavy as lead, and every step I took felt like a desperate battle against gravity.
Several times, she was so exhausted that she almost collapsed to the ground, and her vision blurred.
But every time this happened, Su Tang's words would ring in her ears: "Breathe, Chen Xiaocao, use the three-step inhale, three-step exhale method I taught you. Don't use your mouth, use your nose. Yes, that's it, keep the rhythm steady, you can do it."
Chen Xiaocao's mind went blank; she could only subconsciously listen and imitate.
"Tap, tap, tap, inhale; tap, tap, tap, exhale..."
She clenched her teeth, forcing her chaotic breathing to keep up with the rhythm.
It was very painful; it felt like my internal organs were shifting.
Surprisingly, when she actually persevered, the feeling of suffocation actually lessened slightly. The burning pain in her lungs was replaced by a warm breeze.
So, Chen Xiaocao gritted her teeth and pulled herself back from the edge of her limit time and time again.
Ten kilometers, rain or shine.
As the sun rose and the other trainees walked sleepily toward the training field, she had already finished her extra training for the day, her whole body soaked as if she had been pulled out of the water.
Su Tang handed her a military water bottle and a cornbread that was still warm.
"After you finish eating, rest for ten minutes, and then go to participate in regular training."
She silently took it and ate it in big bites, swallowing all her gratitude and determination.
After the regular daytime training ended, while others rushed to the canteen or returned to their dormitories to rest, Chen Xiaocao immersed herself in the shooting range again.
She used up all of her daily ammunition quota.
The recoil from the gun made her shoulders ache, and the area between her thumb and forefinger was rubbed red and blistered. When the blisters burst, she simply wrapped them with a strip of cloth and continued practicing.
She didn't aspire to achieve a perfect score like Su Tang; she only hoped that she wouldn't be unable to hold the gun properly at crucial moments and become a burden who needed to be protected.
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
On the shooting range, her gunshots were stubborn and resolute.
Her persistence quickly became a "unique sight" in the training camp.
At first, some people who didn't think highly of her would stand by with their arms crossed, watching her make a fool of herself as they passed by.
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