Chapter 199
The night was as black as ink, and the lights on the sports field stretched people's shadows out long.
Comprehensive evaluation bonus points—to college freshmen, this stuff was like a carrot dangling in front of a donkey. Who wouldn't be tempted?
Not to mention, getting to show your face in front of thousands of freshmen in the whole school—what kind of glory was that?
After a brief silence, a female voice rang out.
"Sir! I'd like to try!"
Lin Yu shot up like a rocket, straightening her back. She stared at the drill instructor with burning eyes, her face written all over with determination to win.
She deliberately adjusted her stance, sucking in her stomach to make herself look even more upright.
The instructor looked at her with some surprise and nodded.
"Commendable courage. Anyone else?"
Lin Yu turned her head, sweeping a provocative gaze toward Ye Zhenzhen, who was sitting in the middle of the crowd.
The latter had her head down, boredly plucking at the blades of grass beside her hand, seemingly turning a deaf ear to the commotion over here.
She was even secretly yawning, a teardrop forming at the corner of her eye.
Lin Yu sneered in her heart.
Who are you trying to fool?
A chance to show off like this, I don't believe you're not tempted.
Since you're playing dead, don't blame me for stepping on you to climb to the top.
Ye Zhenzhen was once again innocently caught in the crossfire.
"Instructor!"
Lin Yu shouted loudly again.
"I've practiced dance before, and I have good physical coordination. I can definitely handle the position of squad leader! I will put in many times more effort than anyone else!"
This impassioned declaration immediately won the applause of quite a few boys nearby.
The instructor was a straightforward guy and ate this right up, a trace of approval showing on his face.
"Good! Very spirited! Then I'll put you on the shortlist for now."
Lin Yu proudly raised her chin, looking like a victorious rooster.
...
The next day's training was pushed to maximum intensity.
During the break, the other students were all paralyzed under the shade of the trees, panting like dead dogs.
Only Lin Yu stood alone in the sun, still practicing the goose-step.
"Instructor, do you think I'm lifting my leg high enough?"
"Instructor, does my arm swing need to be held a bit firmer?"
She was sweating profusely, her makeup slightly ruined, but she still persevered.
That look of "I'm working so hard" and "I'm so diligent" really fooled quite a few people.
"This girl Lin Yu is really going all out."
"Yeah, looks like the squad leader position is definitely hers."
Hearing the discussions around her, Lin Yu felt secretly thrilled.
As she wiped her sweat, she used her peripheral vision to glance not far away.
Ye Zhenzhen was sitting in the shade, holding a chilled plum juice that Gu Ran had brought her.
She and Zhao Xiaoxiao were talking and laughing, looking incredibly cozy.
Lin Yu ground her back teeth.
Drink up, chat away.
Wait until I become the squad leader and stand at the center of the whole school's attention.
No matter how pretty you are, Ye Zhenzhen, you'll still have to be my foil!
Becoming the focus of everyone's attention is what's most important.
In the afternoon, it was time for the breakdown training of the goose-step.
This was the most boring and tiring event in military training.
Supporting yourself on one leg while kicking out and holding the other leg.
Standing there for minutes at a time, legs shaking so much they could sift chaff.
Many girls stood unsteadily, wobbling and falling right onto their butts.
Lin Yu held on purely by a breath of arrogance.
Her thigh muscles were trembling wildly, and her toes were starting to go numb.
But she still forced a stiff face, maintaining a precarious balance.
She felt that her current appearance must be full of a resilient yet fragile beauty.
"Stop!"
The instructor suddenly roared, interrupting everyone's torment.
Lin Yu felt a sense of relief. She put her leg down, getting ready to receive the instructor's praise.
But she saw the stern-faced instructor walk straight to the other side of the formation.
"Everyone, look over here!"
The instructor pointed at Ye Zhenzhen, who was standing in the first row, and spoke loudly.
Everyone looked over in unison.
They saw Ye Zhenzhen standing on one leg, the other leg kicked out straight, her toes pointing down, perfectly parallel to the ground.
The highly anticipated girl was currently drenched in sweat.
No way, no way, she had just secretly slacked off a bit.
How could she be discovered even for this?!
Just when she thought the instructor was about to scold her, the words that came out of his mouth brought her immense relief.
"Look at how she stands!"
Phew!
Thank goodness, he was here to praise her.
The girl gave herself a mental pat on the back.
"For freshmen, this is the standard!"
The instructor did not stint on his praise, then turned his head toward Lin Yu's side and shook his head imperceptibly.
"Some students have commendable spirit, but their movements are stiff and their core strength is too poor! Stop just trying to move yourselves, and learn more from student Ye Zhenzhen!"
Lin Yu's brain buzzed.
She didn't understand how her hard-earned training couldn't compare to a casual kick from that bitch Ye Zhenzhen.
She was obviously the one who worked the hardest, so why wasn't she being praised!
Thinking this, she looked at the girl who made her grind her teeth in hatred.
Her gaze gradually turned vicious.
"Student Ye Zhenzhen."
The instructor looked at the girl in front of him with a pleasant expression.
"I can see you have a very good foundation. Are you interested in being the female squad leader?"
As soon as these words came out, Lin Yu's face instantly turned deathly pale.
The eyes of the entire class focused on Ye Zhenzhen.
There was envy, jealousy, and anticipation.
Ye Zhenzhen blinked, retracted her leg, and stood firm.
She glanced at Lin Yu, gently shook her head, and spoke in a soft but firm tone.
"Reporting to the instructor, I don't want to."
"Why?" The instructor was stunned.
"I... I'm not suitable. It's better to leave the opportunity to a student who needs it."
Besides, she didn't want to fight for any attention; studying was what mattered.
"Pfft—"
Someone in the formation couldn't help but laugh out loud.
The instructor sighed, looking regretful.
Lin Yu stood frozen in place, her nails digging into her palms.
The thing she dreamed of, Ye Zhenzhen discarded like an old shoe.
This kind of indifference was ten thousand times worse than just losing the selection!
...
...
ine. During your journey, you save an abandoned baby girl and become her elder brother】 【You rely on each other, becoming each other's support】 【At the end of the simulation, you shield the now-grown girl with your life, sacrificing yourself to block numerous demonic cultivators. You die, and the light in the girl's eyes fades】 …… 【Second Simulation: You are transported to a world where steam and magic coexist】 【You immerse yourself in the study of magic, obsessed with its research. One day, while out, you encounter a half-blooded demon girl wandering the streets. You take her in as your student】 【You teach the demoness what it means to be human, show her the beauty of the world, and nurture her into a miracle that surpasses even the gods】 【At the end of the simulation, you die of old age in front of the nearly immortal demoness due to your mortal lifespan】 …… One simulation after another, one encounter after another. Xu Xi suddenly felt something was off: "Wait, you said you're coming to the real world to find me?"
s the Eldest Princess, renowned for her cold and aloof detachment, became the most docile of lambs, obeying his every command without question. But when the final move was played on the chessboard, as Gu Chenghan seized everything and ascended on the verge of apotheosis, that very Princess suddenly embraced him from behind, her tone carrying a dependence never heard before: "Wait... you haven't yet... commanded me to love you forever." Gu Chenghan froze abruptly. She... hadn't been hypnotized?! ... [The Eldest Princess's Diary] [When my soul was extracted, becoming the sole spectator outside my own shell] [At first, there was overwhelming fury, until I saw] [How he used my sword to effortlessly shatter my inescapable doom] [How he wielded my authority to eradicate fatal conspiracies I had never even detected] [Like a deity, he rescued me from the deep mire I was trapped in] [If not for those annoying vixens, he and I would be a match made in heaven] [I think I am ill, gravely ill] [My deity should belong to me alone] ... "Hypnosis? Oh, it succeeded, my dear Master." "Only this time, it's my turn to hypnotize you."
nd fell into a coma while saving his younger sister from an out-of-control car. He became a vegetable. No one knew that his consciousness had crossed into a world of cultivation. Over the course of sixty years, he began as the lowest kind of mine slave, struggling to survive amid mountains of corpses and seas of blood. By sheer chance, he eventually obtained the complete memories of a fallen Immortal King. Alchemy, medicine, formations, feng shui, physiognomy, artifact forging… Every great inheritance of the cultivation world was now his. But when he opened his eyes again, he discovered that ten full years had passed in the modern world. To pay for his treatment, his father had sold the family’s shop and house, leaving himself covered in lasting injuries and illness. His mother had cared for him day and night, and more than half of her hair had already turned white. His younger sister, who had been only fifteen back then, was now twenty-five. To help repay the family’s debts, she had been forced to lower her head and put on a smiling face in places of glittering lights and endless revelry. Only then did Chen Xuan understand that what he had lost was not merely ten years. He had lost the life his entire family was meant to have. The good news was that he had brought back the memories of an Immortal King’s entire lifetime. The bad news was that his soul had returned alone—his cultivation had not come with him. Spiritual energy was scarce, resources were depleted, and the modern world still had firearms, surveillance, capital, and laws. If he wanted to protect his family, break free from everyone’s control, and become truly invincible beneath the heavens, he would have to start all over again.
e bizarre and supernatural had descended. The previous emperor was a thoroughgoing tyrant; no longer satisfied with human women, he had set his sights on a stunningly beautiful supernatural entity. He met his end in his bedchamber, drained of all his vital essence. As the legitimate eldest son and crown prince, Wang Hao was thus hastily enthroned, becoming the young emperor of the Great Zhou Dynasty. No sooner had he awakened the "Imperial Sign-In Intelligence System" than he was assassinated by a Son of Destiny—a classic villain's opening. The Great Zhou, ravaged by the former emperor's excesses, was in national decline. The great families within its borders harbored their own treacherous schemes, martial sects began to defy the imperial court's decrees, and border armies, their pay and provisions in arrears, grumbled incessantly against the central government. Fortunately, the central capital was still held secure by the half-million Imperial Guards and fifty thousand Imperial Forest Army who obeyed the court's orders, along with the royal family's hidden reserves of power, barely managing to suppress the realm. As the Great Zhou's finances worsened and supernatural activities grew ever more frequent, the court sat atop a volcano. Ambitious plotters everywhere dreamed of overthrowing the dynasty, and even some reclusive ancient powers emerged, attempting to sway the tides of the world. At the first grand court assembly, the civil and military officials nearly came to blows, fighting tooth and nail over the allocation of fifty million taels of silver from the summer tax revenues. The spectacle opened Wang Hao's eyes—the Great Zhou's bureaucracy was not only corrupt but also martially proficient, a cabinet of all-rounders. Some officials even had the audacity to suggest the emperor release funds from the imperial privy purse to address the emergency. Wang Hao suddenly felt weary. Let it all burn.
