Hospital.
Mother Xu was anxiously waiting for the results.
Xu Sheng had called her earlier that day, and at first, she hadn’t believed it—after all, it was just something said by a classmate he had only recently met.
Still, she called her husband to ask for his opinion.
As a company executive, her husband thought it would be safer to get checked, especially since their son had indeed been walking with an awkward gait.
So Mother Xu immediately went to the school to pick up Xu Sheng and take him to the hospital.
The doctor asked some basic questions before sending Xu Sheng off for tests.
Since it involved a potential brain condition, he might need a CT scan, an MRI, or even a DSA examination.
Many people don’t understand why hospitals order so many tests.
The reason is simple: the more thorough the examination, the clearer the diagnosis, and the more precise the treatment.
The afternoon passed, and Mother Xu sat restlessly in the waiting area.
Xu Sheng, on the other hand, was the one comforting his mother.
"Mom, it’s fine. The doctor said that even if there is something wrong, it’s still in the early stages, so treatment will be straightforward."
Mother Xu gripped his hand tightly, her face full of worry. "Son, you can’t afford to be sick. You’re our only child. Your father and I still want to see you get married and start a family."
"It’ll be okay, really." Xu Sheng wasn’t entirely confident either, but as the man of the family, he had to stay strong—even if he was the one who was ill.
That was just his nature. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have pushed through high school despite his worsening condition.
Soon, the reports came back.
After reviewing the results, the doctor turned to Mother Xu and Xu Sheng.
Xu Sheng tensed up immediately.
"There’s good news and bad news. Let me start with the bad news first."
Mother Xu took a deep breath and straightened in her chair, even more nervous than her son.
The doctor glanced at Xu Sheng, signaling for him to relax—after all, he was the patient.
"Ma’am, your son does have a cerebrovascular blockage, but the condition isn’t severe yet. In fact, it’s just starting to show. If left untreated, it could eventually lead to cerebellar atrophy."
Mother Xu nearly fainted, but the doctor quickly steadied her.
"However, you don’t need to worry. Our hospital can treat this condition."
Mother Xu’s despair instantly turned to relief—a stroke of luck in an otherwise unfortunate situation.
She immediately turned to Xu Sheng.
"Son, you must thank your classmate properly! If it weren’t for him, you might not have made it."
The doctor: "Wait, hold on—I’m the one treating your son. Shouldn’t you be thanking me?"
......
After the afternoon military training session ended, as usual, first-year students were exempt from evening self-study.
The instructors were preparing to leave, but Instructor Qian sought out the homeroom teacher, Chen Xiaoya.
"Ms. Chen, I wanted to ask—is there a student in your class with a... brain condition?"
Chen Xiaoya looked up at him.
"Yes, Instructor Qian. I was actually going to tell you tomorrow. There’s a student named Xu Sheng—his parents sent me a medical report about a cerebrovascular issue. He’ll be taking leave for treatment, so he won’t be able to continue the military training."
Instructor Qian froze for a moment before nodding and walking away.
Late at night.
Instructor Qian suddenly sat up in bed and slapped himself hard across the face.
"Damn it, I’m such a piece of trash."
......
The next morning, right after assembly, Instructor Qian walked up to Lin Mo.
Under the watchful eyes of the entire class, he removed his cap and bowed deeply.
"Student, I misunderstood you yesterday. I’m sorry. Please accept my apology."
No one had expected such a dramatic scene right at the start of the day.
When had anyone ever heard of an instructor apologizing to a student?
In the previous timeline, after Xu Sheng repeatedly fell behind during drills, Instructor Qian had sidelined him to practice standing at attention alone, never letting him march with the group.
But in this timeline, Xu Sheng had gone to the hospital, and Instructor Qian now knew the truth.
That was why he was apologizing to Lin Mo.
Though the others didn’t know the exact reason for the apology, they could guess it had something to do with Xu Sheng’s absence.
Lin Mo, however, just shrugged. "I accept your apology, Instructor. And I’d like to request a break from this morning’s training."
Instructor Qian was taken aback.
The other students gasped—was this even allowed?
But then again, it made sense.
After all, Lin Mo had run twenty laps the day before.
Instructor Qian hesitated. If he let Lin Mo sit out, it might draw unwanted attention.
"Student, how about this—every time we take a break today, you get ten extra minutes. How does that sound?"
Lin Mo bargained further. "Instructor, don’t be stingy. How about every break for the rest of training, I get ten extra minutes?"
His haggling tone made Instructor Qian’s temper flare.
But since he was the one in the wrong, he thought for a moment and said,
"Alright, since training hasn’t started yet, how about this: you and I race. I’ll run five laps, you run four. If I don’t beat you, you get ten extra minutes for every break from now on. Deal?"
Lin Mo just smiled. "How about this instead, Instructor—we arm wrestle. If I win, not only do I get ten extra minutes per break, but I also sit out this entire morning."
The students of Class 1-8 immediately remembered how Lin Mo had lifted Su Mingzhao with one hand on the first day of school.
He was clearly setting a trap for the instructor.
Excited glances were exchanged among the students.
Frankly, they were more interested in seeing the instructor lose.
Someone shouted, "Instructor, take him on! It’s just arm wrestling!"
"Yeah, Instructor! Don’t back down now!"
The commotion from Class 1-8 quickly drew the attention of nearby classes.
Even the head instructor came over.
"What’s going on here?!"
Hearing the question, Instructor Qian snapped to attention.
"Reporting, sir! Nothing’s wrong. Training is about to begin."
The head instructor glanced at him before randomly pointing at a student.
"You. Tell me what happened."
The one he picked was Su Mingzhao.
Su Mingzhao’s eyes gleamed as he spun the story.
"Reporting, Head Instructor! Lin Mo from our class challenged Instructor Qian to an arm-wrestling match. He said if he wins, he gets ten extra minutes of break time for the rest of training, plus exemption from today’s drills."
His clever wording completely omitted the apology, making Lin Mo sound like an arrogant troublemaker.
Sure enough, the head instructor frowned. "Who’s Lin Mo?"
Lin Mo raised his hand.
"Reporting, Head Instructor. I’m Lin Mo."
The head instructor sized him up and barked, "Step forward!"
Lin Mo walked out of formation and stood before him.
After a quick assessment, the head instructor noted that Lin Mo was indeed well-built—far more so than the average student.