Chapter 67
Chapter 67
Everyone nodded before leaping into the river. A student who knew how to swim led another student who did not know how to swim across the river. Soon, when they reached the opposite shore, Sophia took note of the headcount and made sure that everyone was there.
She had been dragging Juliette—who did not know how to swim—alongside her, and she ended up swallowing several mouthfuls of water by accident, so she choked while said, “See? Everyone has made it. Let’s find some time tonight to get everyone to learn how to swim!”
Almost everyone had swallowed mouthfuls of water by accident, but fortunately, they still managed to reach the shore safely. Then, they grabbed each other’s hands and dashed toward the second hill with persistence.
At this moment, Michael was looking at the surveillance. On the screen, Sophia and thirty other girls were holding onto each other’s hands as they charged up the hill. He put on a rare smile. “Chica is rather smart.”
Like what Sophia had said, there were surveillance cameras everywhere in the training camp, even in the forests. While the situation in the forest was being broadcasted in the surveillance room, countless eyes were observing the group of girls who were holding hands among the dispersed students.
Sitting in the military vehicle, Joel was speeding forward. He was observing the situation here though his binoculars and soon, he caught sight of Sophia and the group of girls. His gaze was fixed on them for quite some time.
This group of thirty girls made it to Cafeteria No. 2 in the end and fortunately, they still managed to grab their dinner. Although they were a step slower and didn’t manage to take any meat, they still had a meal that was filling. At least they didn’t have to resort to eating steamed buns.
A few of the girls who had been nibbling the steamed buns for the whole night were on the verge of tears.
These thirty people did not go their own ways after that. They sat together and had their dinner. Sophia then encouraged everyone by saying loudly, “See, isn’t this easy? If it weren’t because of the few students who did not know how to swim and cost us some time, we may even have the chance to have some meat!”
A few of those girls who did not know how to swim were so embarrassed that they wished they could dig a hole for themselves to hide in, but then, Sophia added, “After we finish our dinner, let’s go and have a swim together. We need to seize this opportunity to teach those who don’t know how to swim. That way, we can have meat sooner!”
The girls answered in unison, “Alright!”
After gobbling down their meal, they returned to their original path and passed by the river again. After everyone had jumped into the river, those who knew how to swim started teaching those who didn’t know how to swim. Although it was impossible to learn how to swim in one day, at least they could move forward now.
That night, Sophia gave everyone iced watermelon as promised. The atmosphere in the barracks was great that night. Everyone was laughing and talking, chatting about their training during the day while eating their watermelon.
Sophia was eating her watermelon while taking out her notebook to explain to everyone where the marks were deducted in housekeeping. Everyone listened to her in a very serious manner. After finishing their watermelons, the initial bedtime chat turned into a housekeeping drill; everyone wanted to score in housekeeping.
Sophia wanted to get high marks, or even full marks, but it wasn’t going to cut it if she relied only on her own efforts. Before the lights were out, she sneaked to the hill to take a look at the condition of the path. Standing at the top, she gazed at the foot of the hill.
The two hills were not especially steep, but they had been overgrown by grass. Thus, it was quite slippery. During the past couple of days, people had slipped when they stepped here and rolled down the hill. They then withdrew from military training due to their injuries. Hence, nobody would descend the hill from the grass field.
As Sophia stood on top of the hill and gazed downward, she paced up and down before rushing back to her barracks before lights out.
The next day, she joined everyone for training like usual. Commander Ford seemed to be unaware of what she had done last night. However, Sophia knew that Commander Ford had surely seen what had happened and already had a preliminary score for her.
That afternoon, Sophia disappeared for a while again, using changing her bandage as an excuse. A few moments later, she asked for Quinton and a few of the seniors.
Sophia then brought Quinton and the seniors to the military camp. After taking a few turns here and there, they arrived at a corner that had been piled with planks.
Quinton was puzzled. “You want us to help you carry all these?”
Sophia nodded. “Yes. Don’t ask why, Sir. I have some use for it. Don’t worry. These are not going to be used. I’ve asked for permission for them.”
There were a lot of similar planks like this in the camp. They must have been thrown away after being used for target practice and so on.
Although he was clueless as to what Sophia wanted to use them for, he still helped to move those planks since they are of use to her.
These planks were not especially heavy since they were thin and relatively narrow. However, Sophia wanted more than thirty pieces of them, so it still required some manpower.
The few of them then brought the planks back and piled them up. After that, Sophia returned to her group for training. The moment there was a gap for rest, she gathered the whole company, as if they were plotting on something which should not be heard by Commander Ford.
Soon, it was 5:30 again. This time, the students from Company 49 were not running. After gathering together, each of them grabbed a piece of plank and used the belt that was used in military training to fasten the plank behind their backs. Then, they started marching forward, hand in hand, like what they had done on the previous day.
Everyone looked at Company 49 like they were looking at a monster.
There were thirty-five people altogether in the company. When they ran toward the foot of the hill this time, nobody was left behind anymore; all of them stuck together. Carrying the planks on their back, they climbed the hill. When they reached the peak of the hill, Sophia placed her plank down first.
Looking at the grass field that extended to the foot of the hill, everyone started swallowing their saliva. Text © by N0ve/lDrama.Org.
For the past two days, so many people had slipped and rolled down when they stepped on the grass field, so they did not even dare to walk on this path.
“Everyone, look at my demonstration. I’ve tried this a few times and it’s extremely easy. It won’t be dangerous!” After sitting on the plank, Sophia spread her legs outward, and with a slight push, she slid down the hill while sitting on the plank, reaching the foot of the hill in no time. She then waved at everyone from the bottom of the hill and urged everyone, “Come, it’s fun!”
Everyone exchanged glances. In the end, a few of the boys sat on their planks first before sliding downward. The rest of the girls then followed suit and sat on their planks, sliding to the foot of the hill. They had indeed saved a lot of time.
When they arrived at the riverside, Sophia ordered again, “Remember to bring along your planks. You mustn’t lose them!”
Everyone placed their planks on the water and like what they did on the previous day, they crossed the river in pairs. The moment they reached the opposite shore, they pulled each other’s hands as they climbed the second hill without uttering a word. They then slid down the hill again before dashing toward the cafeteria to redeem their high-end buffet.
Furthermore, none of the thirty-five people were left behind.
Everyone from Company 49 gathered together as they feasted on the meat while chatting away merrily. The food in training camp could never compare with the food their housekeepers would normally prepare, but when they stuffed these food into their mouths now, the food tasted divine.
Meanwhile, Michael was keeping a close eye on Sophia’s military results from overseas. Naturally, he had the means to obtain the related data.
The performance of any students in military camp could be reflected on the data. For example, the race for dinner was an important section. When the students enrolled into camp, they had been given a card; they had to scan the cards when they claimed their meals. The moment they scanned the card, the related data would be transferred to the database. Everything would present itself, including how long it took them to reach the cafeteria from the training ground and what type of meal they had for dinner.
The race for dinner wasn’t a test of stamina; it was a test of persistence and teamwork. Toward the end, those who ate meat would surely score higher than those who ate steamed buns.
“Wow, my chica is getting more and more amazing!”
Michael let out a sigh when he saw the data. The data showed that besides a few companies from the School of Athletics, everyone from Company 49 managed to have the high-end buffet. Their teamwork on this day was ranked number one.
Everyone from Company 49 was still drenched when they finished their meals. Luckily, the weather on this day wasn’t considered too cold, so everyone could still bear with it. After finishing their meals, they carried their planks and went to practice swimming again. They were putting in effort so that they could have meat again.
Since it was the first time Company 49 managed to get themselves the buffet, they were willing to strive even further so that they could continue eating meat. Michael wasn’t the only one observing them, for Joel had been doing the same thing.