"Xiaoliu, you share a dormitory with Xiaosi, so please take care of her." Laoda said in a worried tone.

"Don't worry. I will." Of course, she wouldn’t leave Xiaosi alone. Yesterday, Xiaosi was in such a bad state that she felt scared and worried.

The five of them picked up their breakfast and then returned to the training ground. They sat in front of a group of students and ate it with relish. Although the food in the mountain barracks wasn’t tasty, they were too hungry from training, and even plain boiled water was delicious to them, let alone steamed buns and porridge.

Mr. Mo said in a cold voice, "Do you want to enjoy breakfast like them?"

“Yes.” The voice was loud and clear.

"Stand at attention. If your posture is good, you can have a meal. If not, stay hungry! Is that clear?"

“Yes, sir.” They said in a weak voice.

Mr. Mo pulled a long face. "You don't even want to eat lunch and dinner?"

“No.” They quickly responded.

“Attention!” Mr. Mo roared.

Though dog-tired, all the freshmen stood straight. After all, no one wanted to go hungry. No matter how they cursed Mr. Mo in their mind, they still had to follow his instructions and could only watch Murong Xue and the other four people with envy.

Then Mr. Mo approached a group of people who were late this morning and stood in an idle manner. "Being late in the army is an intolerable mistake, and will cause the demise of the entire army at any time. You have lost your qualification for military training!"

After a pause, he added, "From now on, you don't need to take part in the military training. In the next few days, you will be responsible for washing dishes, sweeping the floor, cleaning up the military area, and cleaning the toilets."

They still stood in a lazy way, and it seemed that they didn't take his words seriously at all. Some of them were even talking and laughing.

Mr. Mo’s cold voice went on. "The deputy instructor will be responsible for arranging the specific work. If the work is not finished, the person responsible doesn’t need to eat. It will be a waste of food."

He ignored the complaints from behind and walked up to Murong Xue and her friends. "You guys can go back to rest after breakfast and come back in the afternoon! And you, come with me. " He pointed at Murong Xue and motioned for her to follow him.

"Yes, sir!" The four of them gave a military salute and left.

Murong Xue followed Mr. Mo to a quiet tree, away from those who were standing at attention. She looked at him and didn't understand why he looked for her.

Mr. Mo remained silent for a long time before he said, "How is she?"

Murong Xue soon realized that he referred to Xiaosi. "What do you think, Mr. Mo?" It seemed that he was concerned about Xiaosi. If so, why did he make her so sad?

Mr. Mo frowned, "Well, remember to take her breakfast back! You can go now."

Murong Xue saluted and left. She went to the canteen to pick up a fresh breakfast. Even if he hadn’t reminded her, she still wouldn't have forgotten it. But at least, she learned Mr. Mo's attitude, which was a good thing.

When she returned to the dormitory, Xiaosi was still lying on one side in bed, the same as when Murong Xue left in the morning. Xiaosi looked very pale, her eyes blank. Maybe she didn't rest at all after coming back.

Murong Xue put the lunch box on the table and then sat down at the bedside. She checked the temperature on Xiaosi’s forehead. Xiaosi didn’t have a fever. She then said softly, "Xiaosi, get up and eat something."

It fell on deaf ears. Xiaosi was still lying still, eyes staring at the ceiling.

Murong Xue sighed lightly. "I don't know what happened to you, and I won't ask you. But at least, take care of yourself. Otherwise, how to pursue...?"

She remained silent for a while and finally spoke. "Let me tell you a story. There was once a girl who fell in love with a man. She thought they would be together for the rest of their lives. One day, however, the woman saw the man and another woman hugging each other, naked. She felt that the sky was falling."

Murong Xue found that Xiaosi was trembling.

Then she went on. "The woman broke up without hesitation and didn’t want to hear anything about the man. It took a long time for her to recover from the pain. However, the man appeared again and told her that he was wrong, and all that was just because of a mistake. Maybe the woman still loves him, so the two got together again."

"But the girl was unlucky and miserable. Another accident happened. Another woman was pregnant."

"I was the girl who broke up with that man. I didn’t mean anything. I just want to tell you that if you can't let it go, then you should be brave enough to pursue it. If there is any misunderstanding, you should figure it out. If you don't, maybe you will regret it all your life. If you don't think it is necessary, treat yourself well. Why torture yourself because of others?"

"By the way, Mr. Mo came to me and asked about you. It seems that he still cares about you."

"I've brought you breakfast. Now get up and eat it. If you go on like this, I'll have to let the Mr. Mo who made you like this come over." Murong Xue said softly. She was not kidding. Mr. Mo was Xiaosi’s best medicine.

Xiaosi looked at her with wide-open eyes, completely shocked. She then sat up after pausing for a while. "I’ll eat."

She was finally willing to eat something. Murong Xue showed a relieved smile.

Xiaosi took the lunch box Murong Xue handed her, opened it, and ate the food slowly. After a long time, she put down the lunch box and then looked up at Murong Xue. "Thank you, Xiaoliu. And what did he say to you?" There was a glimmer of expectation in her eyes.

Murong Xue gave her a glance. "He asked me how you were doing, and I said nothing. Actually, I think you might as well go up to him and make it clear. By the way, what’s your relationship?"

Xiaosi flinched and then lower her head. "We don’t have any special relationship... It is I who like him."

Murong Xue stepped forward and gently hugged Xiaosi. "If you like him, you can pursue him bravely. To like someone is not something shady."

"But he doesn't like me." Xiaosi said in a somber tone. She would never forget that day three years ago when she went to him happily. Unexpectedly, she saw him kissing another woman, but she didn’t ask him anything because they were not in a relationship. She still worked up the courage to tell him her feelings, but he said some hurtful words in a cold voice. For the first time, she felt that he was so indifferent and cold.

"Yesterday, I gave up my dignity. I thought that even if we can't be a couple, at least, we can be friends. Then I suggested we should be friends, but he said that he didn't want to. Why not? I even gave up my dignity…" Xiaosi couldn't help crying.

Murong Xue patted Xiaosi on the back and frowned. It seemed that the problem lay with Mr. Mo. Why? She was a little confused. Judging from his looks, he was clearly concerned about Xiaosi. If Xiaosi wanted to be friends with him, why did he refuse her?

"Xiaosi, cheer up. You won't want him to see you so pale and dejected, right? We girls should always maintain our dignity and confidence, and let him know that it’s his loss to turn you down."

Xiaosi sobbed and nodded, almost stopping crying. In fact, Xiaosi looked gorgeous, really easy on the eye, a different kind of beauty from Murong Xue’s. Though pale and slightly haggard, she still had a fascinating charm. Why didn’t Mr. Mo like her?

"I'm going to wash up." Xiaoliu was right. Even if she was turned down, she should keep her spirits up. Although Mr. Mo didn’t care, she shouldn’t trample on her self-esteem.

In the afternoon, Xiaosi had got herself together. Though her face was still a little pale, her spirits lifted up. Murong Xue and Xiaosi went to the training ground and said hello to the other four before they started the training. During the training, Murong Xue kept an eye on Xiaosi's expression and found that she didn't look at the instructor, so she was relieved.

"Are you deaf? Turn left, not turn right. you cannot tell right from left, right?"

"And you. Why move your arm and leg on the same side? Are you a zombie?"

Mr. Mo was even moodier in the afternoon than he was in the morning.

Murong Xue felt pain all over her body and grumbled in her mind. Perhaps Xiaosi ignored him, and he was unhappy. Ha-ha! But Mr. Mo was so stoic and indifferent. Murong Xue couldn’t figure out what he was thinking. It seemed Xiaosi was not his match.

"How come it's you again? Yes, you. Get out!" Mr. Mo said, pointing at Huang Xiaofei.

Huang Xiaofei, blushed and slightly scared, stood in front of the instructor. "Mr. Mo, I..."

"Listen to my command. Do one wrong, and all the students do it 20 times. Turn left."

Huang Xiaofei did the movement in an awkward way.

"Turn right."

Maybe Huang Xiaofei was too nervous that she made repeated mistakes. She even made more mistakes when approaching the end, and her body was now soaked with sweat.

"Well, you stand by and watch them do it. You made 20 mistakes, so they will do 400 frog jumps in a row. Now, listen up. Squat down and do 400 frog jumps. Don't stop unless you're done."

After the training of yesterday and this morning, no one dared to say anything. They obediently squatted down to do frog jumps. Some complained in their mind. Why were they punished for mistakes she made?

Huang Xiaofei was close to tears. It embarrassed her even more than just punishing her. Everyone was doing frog jumps while she was standing by the side. She felt extremely uncomfortable, but she didn’t dare to say anything. The instructor was so horrible.

It was time for dinner after a long time. Mr. Mo finally dismissed the team and let everyone have dinner.

Murong Xue trudged to the canteen with Xiaosi and the other four. When passing by Mr. Mo, Xiaosi didn't turn her head, let alone give him a glance.

"You are not qualified to have a meal. We were punished for mistakes made by you!"

Murong Xue and Xiaosi just arrived at the canteen door and saw a girl grab the lunch box from Huang Xiaofei's hand and overturn it on her head.

She walked up quickly to them. "What are you doing? You went overboard!"

"It's none of your business! Go away! You were also punished today. Why help her? She got us into trouble." Several girls also came close and pointed at Huang Xiaofei.

"Yes, she did something wrong. Why should we be punished?"

Huang Xiaofei lowered her head and remained silent. Seeing Huang Xiaofei being like this, Murong Xue took out some tissue from her pocket. "Xiaofei, are you all right? Wipe it first!" Then she turned to the girls. "It was the order of the instructor. Why are you bothering her? If you have any questions, talk to the instructor!"

"I just don't like her. It was her fault, and she played the innocent card. She even had a full afternoon’s rest at the expense of us. Now she wants to have dinner? No way!" The girl said bitterly.

"I’ve said that if you have a problem, go find the instructor. Why bully a little girl?" Murong Xue repeated.

The Gang of Five also came up and stood by her side.

The girl glared at Murong Xue. But there were so many people around her, she didn’t dare to start a fight. "Murong Xue, you can protect her this time, but let’s see how she dies when you’re not by her side." After saying this angrily, the girl turned around and left, and several students tagged along.

The crowd soon dispersed.

Murong Xue carefully helped Huang Xiaofei clean the food on her body. Fortunately, it was not hot. They just needed to clean the mess. "Xiaofei, are you all right?"

Huang Xiaofei sobbed and shook her head. "I'm all right. Thank you."

"No big deal. Aren't we friends? Have your meal first, and wash up later." Murong Xue said.

They picked up the food and went back to their dormitory after dinner. Originally, Murong Xue intended to ask Xiaosi, but Huang Xiaofei was with them, so she didn't ask. After all, Xiaosi and Huang Xiaofei were not friends.