CHAPTER 362: CHAPTER 212: THE WAR DRUMS WILL SOUND

A light mist wrapped around like a gossamer veil, the newly risen sun draping the entire space in a warm, orange glow that radiated comfort from deep within.

The solemn atmosphere of the campus seemed no different from usual, but upon closer inspection, one could sense something was indeed different.

The neatly arranged lines of people, the even straighter postures, the shouting slogans...

Dormitory of Class 3.

"Hurry up, everyone, we only have twelve minutes left," Yu Na said as she applied face paint, calling out to the others.

"Will this not corrode our skin?" Yao Juanjuan hesitated as she held up a paint stick, "I’m already sad about getting a tan, if my skin gets rougher, how will I ever get married?"

Yu Na glared at her, "If you want to get married early, don’t enroll in a military academy, Yao Juanjuan, I’m warning you, dating in the academy can really get you expelled."

Luo Ye pursed her lips secretly in amusement. Who was it that declared war on her? She looked at Xing Nong and burst out laughing, "Let’s not be so funny, okay?"

Xing Nong fluttered her big, beautiful eyes, "They just described the general way of painting, but they never said we had to do it exactly like that. We need to have our own style, right?"

Several pairs of eyes fixated on Xing Nong, and then burst into laughter. While everyone else drew two to three uneven lines, she went and drew three horizontal ones, with thin stripes by the mouth, looking like a cat demon incarnate.

The smug Xing Nong struck a pose, "The purpose of applying camouflage paint is to conceal natural lines to achieve the effect of camouflage. Can you even tell who I am now?"

"Redo it!" Yu Na suppressed her smile and turned serious, "Camouflage paint shouldn’t be symmetrical, yours looks like it’s been measured with a ruler. Wipe it off and redo it quickly, the military demands discipline, let’s see if you can still laugh when you’re singled out for punishment!"

"Alright, I was just trying to make everyone laugh and relieve some tension," mumbled Xing Nong as she wiped her face with a tissue, "I don’t get it, why do we need to apply camouflage paint for selection? Are they worried the leaders will be too impressed with me?"

Luo Ye slapped her hand away and helped her clean up with a wet wipe, "What, do you think your face is a pig’s butt? You’ll rub your skin raw."

Yao Juanjuan continued with a pained expression, "Maybe in less than a year, our faces will be worse off than a pig’s butt, at least a pig’s butt is still white."

Bai Qingchu looked at her earnestly, "The butt of a black pig isn’t white."

"Are you trying to annoy me?" Yao Juanjuan examined her face in the mirror with three black stripes and sighed, "My beautiful dreams, they’re shattering bit by bit!"

"Most leaders have their own families, don’t fret about it."

"But the leaders still have sons and grandsons," Yao Juanjuan retorted, then upon realizing, rushed forward and furiously slapped Bai Qingchu, "You heartless jerk, I will fight you!"

"Someone’s sore spot is hit, now furious and trying to silence... murder... "

...

At precisely seven in the morning, the new cadets from Teams Five and Six gathered at the spacious East Playground, ready to welcome the arrival of the leaders.

Glancing at the clean faces of Team Six, Xing Nong whispered, "I seriously suspect that the Instructor is doing this because she’s worried about being overshadowed by the cadets’ beauty. With this comparison, she’ll definitely be the prettiest."

Yaoguang stretched her head forward, "Don’t you think we look quite imposing like this?"

Xing Nong said wistfully, "It would be truly impressive with a gun and a beret."

"Dream on!" Yaoguang retracted her head, muttering softly, "Daydreaming doesn’t cost a thing."

At 7:10 am, cadets from other squads of the school also arrived at the East Playground, and the vast playground suddenly seemed much more crowded. The cadets from Team Five, however, still stood out conspicuously.

Noticing the amused glances from the older students, Xing Nong dejectedly hung his small head: "I get it now, the instructor is particularly highlighting our team of black monkeys."

Miaomiao chuckled: "Xing Nong, you’ve got to look on the bright side. Even if we lose face, they can’t tell who is who, right?"

"Smart." Just as Xing Nong was about to snap his fingers, he noticed Hang Menglin marching briskly towards Squad Five and quickly stood up straight.

"At ease!"

"Attention!"

Hang Menglin, with a stern face, said: "Today is equivalent to everyone’s first performance report. I hope you all show your true capabilities and aim to secure all thirty spots. Do you have the confidence?"

"Yes!"

"Sit at ease!"

The students of Squad Six nearby all turned their gaze towards Ye Mo, clearly a blatant challenge. Did they think Squad Six was made of soft clay?

"Are you confident?" Ye Mo smiled as he looked at everyone.

"Yes!"

Their thunderous shouting attracted the attention of the senior squads. Most of them had been trained by Hang Menglin, and they knew Hang Menglin’s temperament quite well—maybe not perfectly, but at least to a significant extent. Seeing the high morale of the squad Ye Mo was leading, they all were hopeful that Ye Mo would give Hang Menglin a solid defeat.

At seven-thirty.

The school principal Han Leming and the head of teaching Li Qingqi accompanied the officials walking towards the East Playground.

There were a total of five leaders visiting. Luo Ye recognized three of them: Jiang Zheng, his own Uncle Wen Song, and Lei Dawei, the direct supervisor of Special Combat A Division.

Since his return, this was the first time Luo Ye had seen Lei Dawei. Excitement flashed in Luo Ye’s eyes. If not for this upright ’uncle,’ Uncle Jiang wouldn’t have been able to easily change Luo Ye’s name and let him stay in the team all those years ago.

After the leaders were seated, the principal approached the microphone: "Fellow students, the leaders are here inspecting GF University despite their busy schedules, which shows the utmost importance they place on us!"

"Whooosh whooosh whooosh..."

"The leaders who have come for the inspection include Vice Chairman Lin of the Military Commission, Minister Zhan of the United Front Work Department, Vice Military Commander Lei of A Army, Captain Jiang of A Army’s Special Combat A Division, and our own father figure of Sha City, Secretary Wen Song..."

Xing Nong gently pinched Luo Ye: "Is that your uncle?"

"Mhm." Luo Ye nodded. With his uncle now promoted to Secretary of the Municipal Committee of Sha City, it was only natural for him to accompany Vice Chairman Lin on this inspection.

"So many big shots coming all at once, it’s kind of scary."

"They’re here now, you can’t just send them away."

Xing Nong rolled her eyes, opened her mouth but ended up saying not a word.

By this time, the principal had finished speaking and invited Vice Chairman Lin to the stage. Vice Chairman Lin appeared to be in his fifties, with a thin and long face, his eyes gave a sweeping glance and revealed a satisfied smile: "Everyone’s spirit is high, which I like. Young people, especially young soldiers, should be like little Tigers - brave and full of vigor!"

As the applause died down, he continued: "Many students must be wondering why there is such a grand inspection this time. Let me unveil the mystery now. The A Army is about to become an experimental unit for the Special Combat A Division, and you all are the talents that this Division is keen on welcoming. We are here to build connections ahead of time, haha..."

Instantly, the stage and the audience erupted into laughter, and Luo Ye couldn’t help but pat his forehead. The old leader was quite humorous; why did he like Hang Menglin’s stoic face so much?

The first update from Nu’an is here, woo, I can’t rush it out, I’ll upload what I have for now. (To be continued, if you want to know what happens next, please log in to www.qidian.com for more Chapters, to support the author, and to support genuine reading!)