Extra Story - Ji Lu Wushuang - The Train Took Away a Corner of the Sky

Those words were like a thorn piercing into her parents' hearts.

Tears welled up in her mother's eyes instantly.

"My silly child," she sobbed.

"Aren't all parents like this?"

"We don't ask you to be rich and powerful. We just want you to be safe and sound."

"What's wrong with staying in the factory? Isn't it good to live a stable life all your life?"

Ji Wushuang didn't say a word.

She just shook her head.

That night, the meal remained unfinished.

Her mother cried all night.

Her father smoked all night.

The next morning, Ji Jianguo, with a pair of bloodshot eyes, stopped Ji Wushuang who was about to go out.

He handed her a household register.

His voice was extremely hoarse.

"If you want to go, then go," he said.

"Don't disgrace your father."

Ji Wushuang took the household register.

It was a very thin booklet.

Suddenly, her eyes felt hot as she looked at her father.

At the conscription physical examination station, there was a sea of people.

Ji Wushuang stood in the queue like a quiet little tree.

She passed all the examinations smoothly.

She got excellent results in every item.

The officer in charge of the physical examination looked at her physical test data with a look of surprise in his eyes.

He double - checked several times.

Then he looked up and gave her a long, deep look.

That look was both a scrutiny and a kind of surprise at discovering a piece of unpolished jade.

...

Chen Lei was admitted to Tangji College with a score above the first - tier admission line.

Chen Lei's parents were overjoyed.

Their son had always been just above average.

This time, he was really promising.

His future became clearer.

It would be college first, and then an office job at Tangji.

It was a smooth and bright path.

When he heard the news that Ji Wushuang was going to join the army, he was looking through a blueprint brought back by his father.

He put down the blueprint in his hand, and there was an indescribable feeling in his heart.

It was a mix of shock, admiration, and a trace of loss that he himself didn't even notice.

He knew that the girl who often appeared in his dreams was really going far away.

On the day Ji Wushuang left, Tangzhou Railway Station was crowded with people seeing her off.

There were parents' exhortations, lovers' tears, and friends' hugs.

The air was filled with the sadness of parting.

Ji Wushuang's parents also came.

Her mother's eyes were still swollen and red.

She held Ji Wushuang's hand and kept saying, "Take good care of yourself" over and over again.

Ji Jianguo stood aside, smoking one cigarette after another.

He just gave his daughter a firm pat on the shoulder before she got on the train.

"Go," he said.

Ji Wushuang was wearing a brand - new, slightly oversized military uniform.

She didn't cry.

She just gave her parents an unpolished military salute.

Chen Lei also came.

He didn't step forward. Or rather, he didn't dare to.

He stood in a corner of the crowd, watching from afar.

He watched that energetic back disappear at the carriage door.

Just as Ji Wushuang got on the train and turned around to wave, she saw the boy next - door.

Ji Wushuang seemed a little surprised, but she also waved to him.

At that moment, Chen Lei was a bit flustered and also felt an inexplicable sense of joy.

Then he also raised his hand and waved.

The whistle sounded long and loud.

The green iron - clad train slowly started moving.

It carried Ji Wushuang's youth and dreams towards an unknown distance.

Chen Lei stood on the platform for a long, long time.

Until he could no longer see the train.

He felt as if a corner of Tangzhou's sky had been taken away by the train.

...

The recruit company is a place known as the "melting pot".

It aims to melt away all edges and all individuality.

Then, forge them into a unified and tough form called "soldier".

Ji Wushuang was assigned to the 5th squad of the 2nd platoon of female recruits.

On the first day, it was about tidying up the dormitory.

They had to fold the quilts into "tofu cubes".

With sharp edges and corners, just like being cut by a knife.

The female soldiers in the squad were in a complete mess.

They folded and then unfolded, and unfolded and then folded again.

The squad leader was a female soldier in her early twenties, with dark skin and a serious expression.

Her scolding resounded throughout the dormitory.

"Is what you're folding a quilt? It's a rag!"

Ji Wushuang didn't say a word.

She just watched the squad leader's demonstration.

Once.

Then, she started to fold.

Her hands were steady and her movements were precise.

Just like her father operating a precision machine tool.

The first time, it didn't look like it.

The second time, it was getting a bit there.

The third time, a perfect "tofu cube" appeared on her bed.

When the squad leader came to inspect and saw her quilt, she was stunned for a moment.

She pinched the corner of the quilt with her hand. It was very hard.

She didn't say a word, just nodded.

This was the first silent affirmation Ji Wushuang received in the recruit company.

High - intensity training followed.

Every morning, they got up at half past five.

There was a five - kilometer armed cross - country run.

In the morning, it was queue training.

Standing at attention, they had to stand still for two hours without moving.

Sweat ran down their foreheads into their eyes, itchy and painful.

They could only endure it.

In the afternoon, it was tactics and physical training.

Crawling forward, sprinting, and obstacle cross - country.

After a whole day, everyone felt like they were falling apart.

Lying in bed at night, their bones ached all over.

Many female soldiers would secretly cry under the quilt.

For them, this was suffering, a living hell.

But for Ji Wushuang, it was like a fish in water.

She seemed to have endless energy.

In the five - kilometer cross - country run, she always crossed the finish line first.

She didn't even breathe heavily.

When standing at attention, she could stand as still as a statue, not moving an inch.

In tactical training, her movements were always the most standard and the fastest.

Mud and sweat made her face dirty.

But her eyes became brighter and brighter.

The power that had been pent up in her body for more than a decade with nowhere to go.

Finally, found an outlet.

She became a "monster" in the recruit company.

A silent, powerful "monster" that made people afraid and at the same time, respect her.

During an emergency assembly, because a recruit didn't get dressed within the specified time, the whole company was punished.

They were required to do a thirty - kilometer load - bearing march.

It was still dark.

Each person carried a heavy backpack and ran on the mountain road.

The mountain road was rough and the line of the team was long.

Gradually, some people began to fall behind.

Panting and groaning sounds came one after another.

Ji Wushuang ran at the front of the team.

She didn't feel tired.

This level of running was just like a warm - up for her.

She finished the whole journey and returned to the assembly point.

The company commander looked at his watch, with a shocked expression on his face.

She broke the recruit company's record.

She didn't stop to rest.

She put down her backpack, took a sip of water.

Then, she turned around and ran back again.

Everyone looked at her, not understanding what she was going to do.

She caught up with the end of the team on the way.

There was a small - statured girl from a southern city named Li Jing.

She couldn't walk anymore.

She slumped on the ground, hugging her legs and crying desperately.

"I can't run anymore... I really can't run anymore..."

The squad leader, standing beside, was both anxious and angry.

"Get up! Stand up quickly! Do you want to hold the whole class back?"

Ji Wushuang walked over.

She didn't say a word.

She walked up to Li Jing and squatted down.

Then, effortlessly, she slung Li Jing's heavy backpack onto her own empty front.

One backpack was on her back.

One backpack was in front of her.

She was like a moving mountain.

"Get up,"

she said to Li Jing.