Chapter 97: Each to Their Own

Chapter 97: Chapter 97: Each to Their Own

Shortly before 11:00 AM on Sunday, Yu Zhiming, his eldest sister, Fourth Sister, and Gu Qingning arrived together at the Binhai Jiaotong University campus.

For the students undergoing military training, the weather was actually quite good. A thin layer of clouds veiled the sun, so it wasn’t too intense.

However, it was still a bit muggy.

As they walked through the campus, Yu Zhiming and the others frequently saw platoons of students in camouflage uniforms. In the large open spaces between buildings, they were practicing formation drills or goose-stepping to the loud commands of their drill instructors.

Every now and then, they would also see one or two students being pulled out of formation to be drilled separately.

The most common reason was a same-side gait.

"Fifth Brother, is having a same-side gait a kind of illness?"

It was Yu Xiangwan who asked the question, but Gu Qingning also pricked up her ears to listen.

Yu Zhiming recalled what he had studied and said, "You can’t really call it an illness, since it doesn’t have much of an impact on daily life."

After a brief pause, he continued, "A same-side gait can generally be attributed to two causes. One is congenital, meaning it’s an issue with the brain itself."

"The other is when it’s caused by trying too hard under immense stress, which paradoxically makes it worse."

Yu Zhiming elaborated, "The congenital type is often related to poor brain lateralization."

"To put it simply, the brain doesn’t fully differentiate between left and right. When these individuals are exposed to external stimuli, their brain can’t issue timely commands to make the body react in a coordinated way."

"The outward signs for people like this include a same-side gait, a poor sense of direction, and making mistakes in activities like gymnastics and dance."

"As for the stress-induced version, it happens when someone is overly anxious and wants to do something so perfectly that their efforts backfire."

"When people like this start marching with a same-side gait, the more you try to correct them, the less likely they are to get it right."

Yu Zhiming pointed to a guy nearby who, to the soft chuckles of his classmates, had nearly turned sideways and was shuffling along like a crab.

"He’s probably just too nervous."

"A same-side gait from either cause can be corrected with training."

"It’s just that the congenital type is a bit more difficult to correct."

Just then, a harsh shout reached Yu Zhiming’s ears.

"Does your reflex arc have to wrap around the Earth?"

"Why are you so slow to react?"

"Follow my commands... Right face... Left face... About face..."

"You’re doing this just to piss me off, aren’t you?"

"Let me tell you, I’ve dealt with plenty of hotshot recruits, and you’re not even in their league..."

As Yu Zhiming’s group rounded a classroom building, they saw a drill instructor in a small plaza about seven or eight meters away, yelling practically nose-to-nose with a male freshman.

"Attention! Stand at military posture for half an hour!"

Then, the instructor strode over to the class platoon standing nearby and bellowed, "Alright, everyone..."

"Attention! Half an hour of military posture!"

Yu Zhiming couldn’t help but glance again at the unlucky soul who had dragged the whole class down with him.

’This guy is probably going to be on his whole class’s bad side now. He’s in for a rough time.’

But that one glance made Yu Zhiming turn and stride quickly toward the unlucky guy.

The unlucky fellow was tall and thin, wore glasses, and had a pale complexion—the very picture of a frail scholar.

What drew Yu Zhiming’s attention was the sweat pouring down the student’s face. It collected on the tip of his nose and chin, dripping off in a continuous stream like beads from a broken string.

The expression "sweating buckets" is usually hyperbole.

But when it’s literally happening to someone, it’s not a good sign.

It often means the body, particularly the internal organs, is being pushed past its limits, essentially overclocking itself.

As Yu Zhiming approached the student standing in military posture, he noticed the young man sway from side to side, only to purse his lips stubbornly and force himself steady.

In a few long strides, he was in front of the student and placed a hand directly on his chest.

The heartbeat, a frantic THUMP-THUMP-THUMP like a military drum, hammered against Yu Zhiming’s palm. It felt as if the heart was about to burst out of the student’s chest.

’Holy crap, his heart rate is 160.’

"Hey, who are you?"

"What do you think you’re doing?"

The drill instructor, along with a young counselor who had been standing in the shade, saw what Yu Zhiming was doing and rushed over.

Yu Zhiming ignored them. He took the student’s hands and looked into his seemingly dazed eyes.

"Do what I say. Squeeze my hands. Hard."

After two or three seconds, Yu Zhiming felt a response.

But the strength of the grip was far weaker than what one would expect from someone of his age and physique.

"What else are you feeling?"

The student mumbled, "Dizzy... nauseous..."

The counselor, who had rushed over, now saw that something was clearly wrong with his student.

"Is it heatstroke?"

Yu Zhiming shook his head. "His body temperature isn’t particularly high, so it’s not heatstroke. Sluggish reflexes, limb weakness, dizziness, nausea, tachycardia..."

"I suspect he’s having a hypokalemic attack."

Hypokalemia could be considered a relatively common ailment among students.

In students, low potassium levels are mainly caused by things like a picky diet and drinking too many carbonated beverages like soda.

Military training that goes on for days in hot weather, combined with excessive sweating and high consumption of carbonated drinks, can cause a rapid loss of intracellular potassium, triggering a severe hypokalemic attack.

There’s a chance it could lead to serious issues like cardiac arrhythmia or even cardiac arrest.

"It could be life-threatening. He needs to be taken to the hospital immediately..."

Before Yu Zhiming could even finish, the drill instructor had thrown the student onto his back and was sprinting north.

Yu Zhiming watched, stunned.

After a brief, stunned moment, the counselor also took off in hot pursuit.

In no time, both the drill instructor and the counselor had vanished from sight.

Seeing this, Yu Zhiming walked over to the front of the class platoon, who were still standing at attention and looking completely bewildered.

He put on an authoritative air and, with a serious expression, barked an order, "Alright, everyone..."

"Dismissed! Take a break on the spot!"

Then, at an unhurried pace, Yu Zhiming rejoined his eldest sister, Fourth Sister, and Gu Qingning, who were waiting nearby, and they continued on toward the School of Finance.

Yu Zhaoxia asked, "That student will be all right, won’t he?"

Yu Zhiming explained quietly, "Binhai Medical College is ranked among the best in the country, so their university hospital must be competent."

"Hypokalemia is a fairly common condition, so the university hospital is certain to have extensive experience in handling it."

"As long as he doesn’t go into cardiac arrest, he’ll be fine. He’ll recover after a few IV drips."

A few minutes later, Yu Zhiming’s group ambled over to the School of Finance. In the large open space in front of the main building, three class platoons were doing formation drills under their instructors’ commands.

Fu Xiaoxue was 167 cm tall, quite slender and graceful.

It didn’t take them long to find her in one of the platoons—the little rascal with a short ponytail who kept winking and making faces at them.

Yu Zhiming and the others waited in the shade of a nearby tree for ten to twenty minutes until it was lunchtime and her platoon was dismissed.

Like a little bird, Fu Xiaoxue ran up to Yu Zhiming, flapping her arms, and threw herself onto his arm.

"Uncle, I’ve been worried sick about you these past three days! Everything’s all over now, right?"

Yu Zhiming took the camouflage cap off Fu Xiaoxue’s head and chuckled. "It’s all in the past. You don’t need to worry anymore."

"Let’s go get some lunch first. We can talk while we eat."

Fu Xiaoxue chirped an "Okay!" and then turned to Yu Zhaoxia, calling out sweetly, "Mom."

Then, her gaze landed on Gu Qingning.

"Hello, Auntie Gu!"

"My aunt has mentioned you to me more than once. You’re even prettier than your pictures!"

Gu Qingning’s eyes curved in a happy smile. "Xiaoxue, you’re very pretty too."

After a pause, she added with a correcting tone, "Xiaoxue, I’m not that much older than you."

"Let’s not stand on ceremony. You can just call me Sister Qingning."

"You’re so grown up already. Calling me ’Auntie’ makes me feel ancient..."