Chapter 391 299: The Two Pots from Lin Ruoxi

On the day military training began, the guys from dorm 622 were up bright and early.

"Jiang Yuan is pretty thoughtful. She even sent me a belt," Zhao Chaojie said. Thinking it would be a waste not to take something free, he grabbed one too.

Xue Rui smiled faintly. 'Jiang Yuan is really getting obsessed.'

When they were picking up their training uniforms yesterday, he had casually mentioned to Jiang Yuan that he didn't have a belt. In response, Jiang Yuan had smugly announced that she'd already had her family send a whole box of them, as if she had just one-upped him.

He could have easily taken credit for it if he'd wanted to, but it would have been too blatant an attempt to curry favor, far too opportunistic.

Besides, most fashionable pants these days required a belt, so the majority of students already had one. Even those who didn't had remembered to get one in advance, recalling their military training experiences from middle and high school...

As a result, Jiang Yuan hadn't managed to give away many of her belts. Xue Rui's comment had just been a way to get a free one for himself and his girl...

Of course, Jiang Yuan was completely oblivious to all this.

When the group arrived at the cafeteria and lifted the insulated door curtain, Cai Huazhou instinctively blurted out, "Holy shit."

Xue Rui gazed at the sea of colorful but unappetizing radishes and cabbages. He was long used to this; whenever the freshmen arrived for the new semester, the upperclassmen were in for a rough time.

The freshmen's meal schedule was rigid, and they swarmed the cafeteria with a speed that the lazy upperclassmen, accustomed to a more relaxed lifestyle, couldn't possibly match.

An upperclassman glanced in from the doorway and complained, "Damn, it's like this every year when the freshmen arrive. I'm just gonna skip class and eat later."

Xue Rui shook his head and walked back out of the cafeteria.

"You're not eating?" Qian Huabiao asked.

"I'll skip military training to eat later," Xue Rui said.

"Holy crap! Are the freshmen this slick this year?" a passing upperclassman said, giving Xue Rui an impressed thumbs-up.

Skipping military training and skipping class were on completely different levels. Even they wouldn't dare to pull a stunt like that if they had to participate in the training now.

Military training was a mandatory course that counted for academic credit.

If you skipped too much of it in your freshman year and failed, you'd have to make it up as a sophomore...

Xue Rui stood by the entrance, his vision swimming as he scanned the crowd. Now that everyone was wearing the same uniform, it was hard to spot his girl at a glance.

Just as he was thinking this, he felt a familiar hug from behind. His girl was on her tiptoes, resting her chin on his shoulder.

Xue Rui couldn't help but laugh. His girl was as sharp-eyed as ever. 'Sometimes I swear she has the nose of a hound,' he thought. 'She can find me no matter where I am.'

He turned around to see his girl looking up at him with a beaming smile, her cap perched on her head. She nuzzled her head against his chest.

The other guys from dorm 622 felt a pang of envy so sharp it was almost painful, and they all turned away.

They didn't want to watch this public display of affection; they'd rather just get in line for breakfast.

"Oh, don't go! I bought some for all of you," Lin Ruoxi said, handing a bag to Qian Huabiao. "Thanks for helping us carry everything yesterday."

She had bought a lot of things for Xue Rui, and his roommates had helped carry it all upstairs.

Qian Huabiao suddenly lost his appetite, remembering how he'd been schooled about UPS power supplies the day before.

He just wanted to one-up them to feel better, but every time he tried to pick a fight, he'd stumble right into Lin Ruoxi's area of expertise.

He couldn't help but feel that this young couple, Lin Ruoxi and Xue Rui, were his natural-born nemeses!

In front of them, he'd never once succeeded, whether he was trying to act cool or just pick an argument!

After breakfast, the group headed to the athletic field to assemble. Buses were parked nearby, and numerous drill instructors in military fatigues were already waiting in neat formations on the field.

Lin Ruoxi pulled a can of sunscreen spray from her large backpack. She hadn't bought it—her classmate, Gu Muxue, had.

She sprayed Xue Rui all over, from head to toe.

"Tch, so dramatic," Qian Huabiao scoffed.

"Even though you're already pretty tan, you still need sunscreen, you know. Want some? Sunburns really hurt," Lin Ruoxi said, holding the can out to him.

Xue Rui nodded in satisfaction. He wasn't sure if his girl had gotten better at witty retorts or if she was just a natural, but she delivered the verbal deathblow with such sincerity and gentleness that her opponent was left completely speechless.

The corner of Qian Huabiao's mouth twitched. He patted his own mouth and muttered, "Why do I have such a big mouth?"

Before long, the military training officially began, and Jiang Yuan led everyone to their designated assembly point.

As expected, it started with a school administrator giving some perfunctory opening remarks, followed by the standard show of force: one hour of standing at attention.

"Huh?"

Groans rippled through the students. They knew all too well what standing at attention was like. A full hour to start things off?

Due to his height, Xue Rui was assigned to the very back, with his girl positioned directly in front of him.

During the first half-hour, female students with weaker constitutions would occasionally collapse and be carried to a nearby pavilion to rest under the care of the supervising teachers.

The students watched the drill instructor from the corners of their eyes. The moment his gaze shifted away, they would hastily shift their weight or wiggle around to relieve their stiffness.

Xue Rui's gaze was fixed on the back of his girl's head. 'She's being too earnest,' he thought. Her posture was the most perfect in the entire formation; she hadn't moved an inch.

Even the drill instructor couldn't find any reason to correct Lin Ruoxi's posture, simply nodding and saying, "Good."

Xue Rui wasn't worried about getting a tan himself, but he was afraid his girl would. He whispered from behind her, "Want to take a break?"

Lin Ruoxi flinched slightly and whispered back, "No."

Xue Rui sighed. 'Of course she's being this obedient to impress the teachers.'

'But I'm only keeping this up for one day. Tomorrow, I'm finding an excuse to get out of it.'

After what felt like an eternity under the scorching sun, Xue Rui saw Secretary Li approaching at a leisurely pace. A woman followed half a step behind, making it clear at a glance who was in charge.

When Secretary Li reached their formation, Xue Rui knew this was an opportunity he couldn't miss. He whispered to Lin Ruoxi, "Xixi, fall down. Now."

Lin Ruoxi faltered for a second. She didn't know why Xue Rui was telling her to do this, but her body reacted faster than her mind. 'If Xue Rui says fall, then I should fall.'

She fell straight backward, trusting that Xue Rui was there to catch her.

Catching her, Xue Rui shouted, "Instructor, report! Lin Ruoxi has fainted!"

Lin Ruoxi blinked. 'Did I faint?'

'Well, Xue Rui said I fainted, so I guess I should close my eyes.'

Secretary Li whipped his head around, only to see Lin Ruoxi collapsing into Xue Rui's arms.

The young drill instructor scratched his head. He was no stranger to students fainting, but this one was... odd.

The girl had fallen straight back like a plank. It didn't look fake at all; who would dare risk cracking the back of their head on the pavement?

The male student had caught her securely, as if he'd been expecting it.

'Right, he must have noticed the girl in front of him was struggling and got ready.'

'But her complexion looked healthy, and her posture was the most standard in the entire formation. Why would she suddenly collapse out of nowhere?'

'And here I was, thinking of making her the poster child for our platoon!'

"Lin Ruoxi, what happened?" Secretary Li asked, hurrying over.

After the good fortune of recruiting Lin Ruoxi, he'd been constantly thinking about how to persuade her to transfer to the university's top major—a move the chancellor also supported. And now, an opportunity had presented itself!

He glanced at Xue Rui, then walked over to say a few words to the drill instructor before motioning for Xue Rui to carry Lin Ruoxi away.

"Someone else go help him," the instructor called out to the formation.

"Report! I'll go!"

The formation immediately broke into a clamor as many students tried to seize the opportunity to get a break.

However, Xue Rui shattered their hopes with a single sentence: "I can manage by myself."

With that, he scooped Lin Ruoxi up in a perfect princess carry.

Lin Ruoxi remembered the first time Xue Rui had carried her like this. She had really fainted that time, and her heart had been full of wariness toward this strange boy. But it was different now. Xue Rui was the person she was closest to...

The corners of her lips curled up unconsciously. She cracked her eyes open just a sliver to peek at Xue Rui. She didn't know what he was planning, but she loved being held by him.

The instructor rubbed his eyes. 'Was I seeing things?'

'Did I just see that girl smile?'

He had the distinct feeling that he was being deceived by the pair of them. But with the department head looking so concerned, what could he possibly say?

'I'm just here for the stipend,' he thought. 'It's an extra two hundred-plus yuan a day. Better to mind my own business...'

Xue Rui shot his girl a look of mock anger.

'Your acting is terrible! Secretary Li is still watching, and you're smiling?'

'You're totally blowing my cover!'

The female teacher standing nearby asked in surprise, "Why is she smiling?"

Sure enough, Secretary Li's brow furrowed as he shot them an unfriendly glare.

Xue Rui's expression remained unchanged. He knew Secretary Li was an old fox who had seen through their ruse in an instant.

"Secretary, Lin Ruoxi is unwell. She's fainted and is delirious."

He couldn't possibly admit the truth with so many people watching; Secretary Li would lose face. He gave his girl's waist a little squeeze, signaling her to make the act more convincing.

Thinking Xue Rui was genuinely angry, Lin Ruoxi panicked. The corners of her mouth drooped unconsciously...

"Hmph. Well, hurry up and get her somewhere to rest properly."

Once they reached a tent in a corner of the field, Secretary Li dismissed everyone else.

"Alright, Lin Ruoxi, you can stop pretending. I know what's going on," Secretary Li said with a chuckle.

Lin Ruoxi kept her eyes squeezed shut, her lips turning pale and losing their usual rosy hue.

She was terrified. 'Xue Rui was cross with me just now,' she thought. 'It's because I was being difficult and didn't do what he asked...'

She was so scared he wouldn't forgive her. And he still hadn't told her to open her eyes.

The tent fell silent. Secretary Li was suddenly struck by the odd thought: 'Could it be that Lin Ruoxi really did faint?'

After a moment of silence, Xue Rui whispered, "You can get up now. Secretary Li has eyes like a hawk; he saw through it ages ago."

'This girl,' he thought with a sigh. 'Sometimes, being too obedient isn't a good thing.'

Hearing Xue Rui's voice, Lin Ruoxi slowly sat up from the temporary cot. She looked at him timidly, her head bowed like a small child caught misbehaving by a parent.

"I... I'm sorry," Lin Ruoxi said, her eyes turning red.

Xue Rui hadn't been stern with her in a very long time—not once since they had officially gotten together. During that brief moment of his silence just now, all sorts of terrible thoughts had flashed through her mind...

She was afraid that one day, Xue Rui might just ignore her...

"It's alright. If you're feeling too tired, there's nothing wrong with taking a rest."

Secretary Li said softly, his voice like he was coaxing a small child.

It couldn't be helped. Lin Ruoxi had such a pitifully lovely face, and to see it streaked with tears... no man could possibly stay angry with her.

The strange part was, countless students faked fainting during military training every year. It wasn't a big deal, strictly speaking. So why was she so terrified?

Why was Lin Ruoxi acting as if she had committed some terrible crime?

"Rui, I'll listen to you from now on. Please don't be mad, okay?" Lin Ruoxi's voice trembled.

Xue Rui was about to explain, but then he saw the look Secretary Li was giving him—it was like daggers...

He swallowed hard. He'd only been pretending to be angry, not *actually* angry. 'Didn't she realize that?' he thought.

'I'm screwed.' With just a few words, his girl had pinned all the blame on him.

And she'd made him the bad guy twice over...