Chapter 26
Wen Jin ate very slowly. After chewing one bite and swallowing it, she would unhurriedly go for another spoonful.
Lu Yuanyuan had a hard time just waiting there, so she called over a few girls she knew from the Ancient Martial Arts Department, and several of them sat at one table to chat.
“Xiao Qu, I heard your Ancient Martial Arts Department has been doing military training recently.”
“Don’t even mention it,” Xiao Qu said. “The new instructor’s in a bad mood and is training us like pigs and dogs. Sigh, we still have field training this afternoon. I’m tired of being alive.”
Lu Yuanyuan burst out laughing. “It’s not that bad, not that bad. Instructors are people, not rocks. If you really can’t take it, pretend to be sick. You female As like to push yourselves too hard. Learn from Omegas a little. Act spoiled, pretend to faint, and be done with it.”
“Impossible. Our new instructor has something wrong with his head. Anyway, it’s hard to explain in a few words. And the list of participants for the legion preliminaries will be completely finalized in late November. This time, the Ancient Martial Arts Department’s military training and field drills are meant to prepare us by cultivating teamwork. Even if the president came, the sections that need training would still have to be trained properly.”
“Besides, the Omegas in our year work themselves to death. Just refer to Boss Ruan.”
Xiao Qu was full of resentment, her cheeks puffed as she muttered, “I even suspect she isn’t an Omega. Ruthless, and not much for words.”
The corner of Wen Jin’s mouth twitched. She truly could not connect that ruthless, not-much-for-words grind king with the woman who had swung her ponytail and run away.
Lu Yuanyuan chatted with them for a while, then brought the topic back.
“Oh-ho. This year’s preliminary legion competition is definitely going to be exciting. The heirs of all four great families are participating. Supposedly, StarNet’s simulation pods adjusted the practical combat scenarios, and this time the restoration rate is ninety percent.”
“And also.” Lu Yuanyuan’s eyes lit up as she said to Wen Jin, “The simulated star system for the preliminaries is Senade Planet, Sleeping God. Say something. Aren’t you excited? That’s the primitive planet with the richest resources discovered in the entire interstellar world so far. What if we get lucky…”
There was only one final bite of rice left on Wen Jin’s tray. Sensing a gaze fall on her, she looked past Lu Yuanyuan’s shoulder and met the eyes of the female Alpha sitting at the table behind Lu Yuanyuan, who was observing her from afar.
A moment later, Wen Jin smiled without warmth and said, “There’s no what-if. You should find someone else. I’m afraid that if we really got lucky, I’d sleep myself to death in the simulation pod.”
Lu Yuanyuan: “…”
Xiao Qu held back the twitching of her mouth and thumped the table. “Sister here, I’m Xiao Qu. Let’s get to know each other.”
Wen Jin: “Little Wen.”
Xiao Qu asked, “I heard your Class F has a soft-rice woman named Wen Jin with especially rotten morals. Little Wen, do you know her?”
Wen Jin glanced at her and smiled. “Little Wen is right here.”
Xiao Qu: “…”
This time, it was Lu Yuanyuan’s turn to fail to hold back. She laughed so hard tears nearly came out.
“So noisy.” Shao Yu Jia sat with her back to Lu Yuanyuan’s table. She usually strutted around school without restraint.
But military training had been too exhausting recently. She was too lazy to tear into people. Her fingers were stiff, and she did not even have the strength to slap the table and turn around.
She bit her chopsticks with her mouth and poked at the rice on her tray. The food in front of her had not been touched at all. “Why are we eating at the cafeteria? Sister Xi, where’s the meal your housekeeper sent you?”
Ever since arriving at the cafeteria, Luo Xi had not said a single word. She was so quiet she did not seem like the usual Luo Xi at all.
Hearing this, her gaze casually slid across the two of their faces. It gave the damp, sticky feeling of a snake coiling around one’s calf. Shao Yu Jia and Lan Xixi exchanged a glance, both seeing a trace of fear in each other’s eyes. Although they were usually afraid of Luo Xi too, right now what they felt was terror.
Lan Xixi lightly elbowed Shao Yu Jia. “Even if food was delivered, it wasn’t delivered for you. Jia Jia, stop wasting time. Hurry up and eat. Who knows what time training starts today?”
Shao Yu Jia looked terrified. Her lips moved faintly, and she obediently shut her mouth.
After Wen Jin swallowed the final nameless green leafy vegetable, she picked up her empty tray.
She said to Lu Yuanyuan and her little sisters, “Do you need me to take your trays over too?”
There was a tray-returning robot at the entrance, but most of the time, Federal University students did not need to take a single extra step. A cleaning auntie would come later to clean the cafeteria.
Lu Yuanyuan froze, a little surprised and a little overwhelmed by the favor.
Wen Jin was usually someone who loved sleeping so much, came and went alone, and was not easy to approach. But after interacting today, Lu Yuanyuan discovered that Sleeping God could respond to just about anything with a couple of sentences and was also quite nice to classmates. If only she were a little more ambitious and would strive together with her to join the Red Flame Legion Ruan Tingzhi was forming.
While Lu Yuanyuan was feeling regretful, Wen Jin had already stood. Lu Yuanyuan simply waved her hand. “No need, no need. We’ll go with you.”
Xiao Qu beside her also echoed, “From now on, we’re all sisters. Go, go, go. Let’s go together.”
Wen Jin avoided Xiao Qu’s arm that was about to hook around her shoulders. Just as she turned sideways—
A gust of cutting wind came from behind her. Wen Jin had high mental strength, so her reaction speed was faster than an ordinary person’s.
Almost subconsciously, she put down her tray, braced herself against the table, and lowered her body, barely avoiding this attack.
At the same time, the instant she dodged, a huge dent appeared in the floor where she had just been standing, and the table frame supported by titanium alloy collapsed with a crash.
The loud sound of metal being torn apart instantly silenced the previously noisy cafeteria.
Lu Yuanyuan was scared dumb. Half a beat later, she looked toward the person not far away.
The man was one meter ninety tall, an Alpha, with deep features and a short buzz cut. He wore a military uniform, and his shiny black leather boots pressed against the floor as if, with a little force, they could stomp out a large pit. He was still five meters away; that burst of qi energy just now had been cleaved over from a distance.
He lifted off his military cap and held it in his left hand.
Only when he came closer did Lu Yuanyuan notice the medal on his shoulder. Two bars and one star. He was an officer at the rank of major.
The legion preliminaries began in November, and Federal University had invited a group of instructors to conduct intensive training for the Ancient Martial Arts Department students.
The person before them was one of the instructors.
At this moment, some Ancient Martial Arts Department students recognized him too and lowered their heads with a hiss, afraid to be seen.
“That’s Instructor Zhen… Ahhh! The devil is here. Can’t we even eat? Why did he come to the cafeteria?”
“Don’t tell me training time got moved forward and he came looking for trouble?”
…
The curses that had reached Lu Yuanyuan’s mouth abruptly stopped. She grabbed Wen Jin’s sleeve and frantically sent looks at the two Ancient Martial Arts Department girls beside her.
Federal University did not allow the use of ancient martial arts methods to fight. Once discovered, everyone involved in the fight would be severely punished by the school.
But school rules only applied to Federal University students.
The interstellar world itself was a place where the weak were prey to the strong, and strength proved everything. Take the man before them, a major-level officer. Even if he attacked right now, as long as he did not cripple Wen Jin and gave a reasonable reason, the school could not do anything to him.
Unless he violated interstellar law, or someone with stronger martial strength than the man before them suppressed him.
Lu Yuanyuan’s first reaction was to grab Wen Jin and run, because they were not Ancient Martial Arts Department students.
This instructor had come over, and even if he intended to punish students, it seemed to have little to do with them.
However, the man seemed to see through Lu Yuanyuan’s thoughts.
His sharp gaze covered Wen Jin’s face.
Perhaps because the difference in strength was too large, the other party was in no hurry to attack. The gaze he cast over carried a condescending appraisal. “If you dare dodge again, every Ancient Martial Arts Department student around you will be punished.”
Xiao Qu and her friend’s faces both turned gray-white at the same time.
Instructor Zhen was the Zhen family’s second young master. He usually bullied his own people and was fiercely protective.
After graduation, he had joined the legion formed by his own family for two or three years. Being impulsive and easily angered was his shortcoming, but he was also brave and good at battle.
He rarely used his brain when doing things and spoke with his fists, which was why he had reached his current military rank at such a young age.
Wen Jin had long since seen that the other party had come for her, but that palm strike just now had not used full strength.
Otherwise, Wen Jin would not have been able to dodge it.
Not far away, Ke Manrou propped her chin up, her eyes fixed unblinkingly on this side.
Wen Jin had no intention of going head-to-head with the instructor before her. Her wicked disciple was naturally suspicious. If she made a move today, she would overturn.
Wen Jin thought for a moment, narrowed her eyes, and said, “I won’t dodge, but who are you?”
The man in military uniform revealed hesitation on his face and carefully sized Wen Jin up again.
He propped one hand on the table and pressed toward Wen Jin. Qi gathered in his right palm, but he did not strike down.
Expressionlessly, he said, “You know Zhen Xintong, right? She’s my third sister.”
Wen Jin gave an “oh” and lifted her head to glance at him.
Because of this matter, she had been in constant trouble lately. Her fingers slid over her chain bag. She took out her phone and edited and sent a message.
“I don’t hit women.” Zhen Junshao had little patience and directly stated his purpose. “As long as you kneel before my third sister in front of all Federal University students, kowtow, admit your mistake, and withdraw from school, I can let you off.”
Wen Jin unhurriedly lifted her eyelids and glanced at him. “And if I don’t?”
Zhen Junshao did not waste words. The qi in his hand chopped over with a loud crack, and the chair by Wen Jin’s foot was sliced horizontally into two halves. Fragments flew, and a piece of wood stabbed into the side of Wen Jin’s calf. Blood emerged, flowing from her cold-white skin in a shocking streak.
Lu Yuanyuan screamed, “This is Federal University! Do instructors not need to follow discipline? What mistake did Wen Jin make?”
Zhen Junshao had only learned this morning that his younger sister, Zhen Xintong, had been cheated out of money and affection by a Beta who lived off others, and had even gone to bed with her.
His elder brother was investigating the whole matter, but Zhen Junshao could not stay calm. After hanging up the phone, he could not swallow his anger, so he planned to personally teach this bastard a lesson.
But he had not expected the other party to be a gorgeous woman like a rose, the kind whose neck seemed as if it would break with one pinch.
It was somewhat different from the bastard he had imagined.
Zhen Junshao’s brows pressed together sharply. His fierce eyes swept around, not even looking at Lu Yuanyuan.
He pointed at Wen Jin and said, “She spoke disrespectfully to a superior military officer.”
“All Ancient Martial Arts Department reserve legion subordinates present today watched coldly from the side. Legions emphasize unity.”
“Since she won’t admit her mistake, then every Ancient Martial Arts Department student today will run one hundred laps and do one thousand push-ups…”
The sun outside was blazing. This kind of training mode would not kill anyone, but it would peel off a layer of everyone’s skin.
They knew perfectly well that Zhen Junshao was taking his anger out on them, yet no one dared speak.
Because in this recent period, everyone had experienced Zhen Junshao’s terrifying training methods.
The Ancient Martial Arts Department students who had inexplicably been dragged into the mess while eating in the cafeteria all turned ashen. Lu Yuanyuan opened her mouth and, for a moment, wished she could take a needle and sew her own mouth shut.
The military emphasized discipline, unity, and obedience.
One could not find a single flaw in Zhen Junshao’s punishment. If Wen Jin now looked on coldly, ignored everything, and walked away, then from here on, she would become someone rejected by all Ancient Martial Arts Department students—and drag Lu Yuanyuan along with her.
If it were only Wen Jin encountering campus cold violence, that would be one thing. But Lu Yuanyuan had spoken up for Wen Jin just now and would be dragged into it too.
Wen Jin turned her wrist and pulled Lu Yuanyuan behind her.
She stood face-to-face before Zhen Junshao.
“I already said I won’t dodge—” Wen Jin’s tone was lazy. “If you think what I did to Zhen Xintong deserves punishment, then do it.”
Wen Jin’s gaze seemed to sweep casually across the entrance. Seeing the white-dressed female Omega panting as she ran to the doorway, Wen Jin quietly tugged her lips.
She stepped aside. On the table that had just been chopped apart, a bottle of functional water was swaying and about to fall. Wen Jin caught the bottle, the mineral water bottle sliding into her palm. She waved it twice at the man before her and smiled in a very salted-fish way.
A salted-fish person of few words, she yawned and encouraged him. “If your conscience is clear, then do your best.”
Wen Jin estimated that this fist would not land on her.
…
Zhen Junshao’s face sank. He had originally only wanted to vent his anger. In truth, he had not planned to actually strike, because the Beta opposite him was not an Ancient Martial Arts Department student and could not withstand one punch from him.
Even with the palm strike from earlier, Zhen Junshao had held back force. If Wen Jin could not dodge, he would have withdrawn it.
Now that he actually had to hit someone, Zhen Junshao instead found himself unable to back down.
He had not expected this soft-rice woman’s bones to be so hard.
Refusing to admit fault even in the face of death. Although that was true, it did make him look at her differently. At least she took responsibility for what she had done.
Zhen Junshao’s brows were sharply furrowed. After a moment of silence, he finally said, “Since you don’t want all your classmates to be punished with you, then you yourself will run one thousand laps and do ten thousand push-ups.”
Wen Jin: “…”
There were many students in the first-floor cafeteria. Standing among the crowd, Wen Jin was the most charming and alluring one. Even though her eyelids were usually drooping, detached from everything, lazy as if she might faint at any moment, there was a decadent, cold beauty about her.
For the convenience of eating, her seaweed-like long curly hair had been half-tied behind her. That rich, gorgeous face should have been carefully dressed up, or made even more refined with piles of cosmetics.
Yet she wore no makeup, casually exposing her softly structured face to the air. Her skin was fair like fine snow, without even sunscreen applied. If ultraviolet rays shone on it, it would feel like profanity.
At this moment, she stood in the crowd. She did not seem especially righteous or like she was taking the blame for classmates, yet people could not ignore her.
No one knew who suddenly said it.
“Instructor, I’ll take one thousand meters for her.”
“I can do three hundred push-ups.”
“I, I can too.”
…
The voices in the cafeteria rose one after another, more and more of them.
Never having expected this situation, Wen Jin’s lips stiffened slightly. Among the crowd, she looked for Zhen Xintong’s figure.
Then she heard a shameless voice come down from the third floor.
“I’ll do them for her.” The girl’s voice was both pure and sensual, and the lowered tone was somewhat hoarse.
Wen Jin subconsciously lifted her head and saw Ruan Tingzhi leaning against the third-floor railing, where pothos vines hung down. She said softly, “I’ll run one thousand laps and do ten thousand push-ups for her.”
There was really no need to go that far.
Wen Jin half-closed her eyes, withdrew her gaze, and could not help curling the corner of her mouth.
Zhen Junshao had not expected this situation. At this moment, anger filled his heart, and he said coldly and mercilessly, “All of you, be serious. Her punishment is hers to do. Anyone else who wants extra training, step forward.”
…
“Brother, stop talking.”
Zhen Xintong’s cheeks were bright red. She squeezed out from the crowd and looked at Wen Jin with a face full of guilt.
Her voice was so small she was unwilling to make it any louder. “I’m… I’m sorry.”
Wen Jin neither confirmed nor denied it, nor did she look at her. She lazily leaned against the back of a chair.
One could sense the distance and indifference on the woman.
Zhen Xintong’s eyes instantly turned red. The selfish desire in her heart felt as if it had been seen through by this person at a glance.
These days, it was not that Zhen Xintong did not know about the rumors surrounding Wen Jin at school, but she had not dared stand up and clarify, because clarifying meant overwhelming mockery and pity.
Zhen Xintong was the Zhen family’s third young lady. She had been spoiled from childhood. She was not a child who knew nothing.
She knew that if she told the truth, she would have to live under other people’s gossip for the rest of her life. So she had wronged Wen Jin, thinking the latter would always tolerate her.
“Third Sister, who told you to come here?” Zhen Junshao kicked aside the chair by his foot. “You want to plead for this bastard who lied to you?”
“Brother, I’m begging you, stop talking!”
Zhen Xintong’s face was utterly defeated. “All the mistakes were caused by me alone. What does it have to do with her?”
Zhen Junshao hated iron for not becoming steel.
The person who had harmed her had not explained a single thing, while the victim was rushing forward to explain. What was this supposed to be?
“You go back first,” Zhen Junshao said.
“I told you to stop talking!” Zhen Xintong’s emotions had long since been stretched to the breaking point. Facing Wen Jin, she felt ashamed, guilty, and utterly unable to show her face.
She cried out at the top of her voice, “Wen Jin didn’t bully me, and she isn’t some mistress I’m keeping. Go check the bank card transactions. She didn’t take a single cent of my money. The person who bullied me wasn’t her either.”
Zhen Xintong cried so hard she could barely breathe. “For the sake of my pleading and my reputation, Wen Jin was mocked and wronged by the entire school, yet she never said a word from beginning to end… But Brother, even my own family is making trouble for her. I’m so scared, but I’m even more afraid of being ungrateful and making her heart turn cold. Don’t all of you want to know the whole story? Fine, I’ll tell you!”
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