"Brother Zhenghao!"
Li Wu was overjoyed to see the visitor.
"You've grown so fast! How's the packing going?"
Hu Zhenghao stepped inside.
"Grandma Yang, I’m here to pick up Li Wu. Don’t worry—I’ll take good care of him at school."
"Brother Zhenghao, you’re here for me?"
Li Wu was stunned.
"Mm. We’ll be at the same school from now on. Don’t worry."
Seeing the shock on Li Wu’s face, Hu Zhenghao suddenly understood how his father must have felt toward his uncle.
"Good, good. I trust you with Li Wu. Everything’s packed, so it’s best to head to school early and get settled."
Yang Yufen had originally wondered if she should accompany him, but now there was no need.
"Brother Zhenghao, will the training at school be tough? Are there a lot of courses?"
Li Wu probed cautiously.
"Relax. I believe you’ll excel at everything. And if you fall behind, don’t worry—I’ll teach you. You’ll keep up, guaranteed."
Instead of feeling reassured, Li Wu had the distinct sense he’d stepped into a trap.
"You haven’t slacked off on training these years, have you?"
Hu Zhenghao asked abruptly.
"Of course not. Training requires stamina too."
Li Wu answered reflexively. He’d always been strong, and his disciplined habits hadn’t lapsed.
"Good. Then you don’t need to worry about the freshman military training. Once it’s over, I’ll take you out. Remember our field training back at the camp? The Navy fights at sea, but daily drills are still a must. That’s all the warning you’ll get—stay sharp and don’t sleep too deeply."
Hu Zhenghao brought Li Wu to the school. The brand-new dormitory, a spacious four-person room, filled them with excitement.
"The accommodations here are amazing! No wonder so many people strive to get into military school."
"Of course. The food’s great too. Come on, let’s hit the cafeteria. Eat as much as you want—just don’t waste a bite."
Li Wu changed into his uniform—essentially training gear—and eagerly followed to the dining hall.
"I want to try everything."
His eyes sparkled. Though tall for his age, Li Wu was shorter than most here. His youthful face drew plenty of attention, and even the cafeteria lady couldn’t resist giving him extra portions.
His four roommates were friendly, and Li Wu, a natural extrovert, quickly bonded with them.
After washing up and resting, Li Wu drifted into sweet dreams, fantasizing about his future studies.
In the dead of night, a bugle call jolted him awake. At first, he thought it was a dream and rolled over to sleep again—until he bolted upright.
Pitch blackness. The sound came again, unmistakable. Li Wu scrambled out of bed.
"Quick, quick! It’s the assembly call!"
His booming voice woke everyone.
They dressed, folded their blankets, and sprinted downstairs, where an instructor stood with a stopwatch.
"Whew, how’d you know?"
"I’ve done this before."
Li Wu, the shortest, stood at the front of the line.
From their arrival to the filled-up field, less than five minutes passed. Latecomers were singled out and punished separately.
"Thirty minutes to pack essentials—bedding, personal items—and reassemble here. Dismissed after the whistle."
They rushed back upstairs just as frantically.
"How do we pack all this? Mom gave me so much food—will they even allow it?"
"Probably not. They’ll inspect everything. Pack what you can and eat the rest. Just don’t litter. Feels like we’re relocating for training."
Li Wu’s words made sense. Though flustered, they sprang into action.
His own belongings were swiftly bundled with his bedding—all packed in under five minutes.
"Help me finish some of this. No wasting!"
The group worked efficiently, even tidying the dorm before hurrying back down just in time.
"Impressive. You were among the fastest earlier too. Stand at the front. We depart in ten minutes."
Unnoticed in the darkness, rows of trucks now lined the field.
Onboard, the novelty hadn’t worn off.
"Rest while you can. No telling how long the trip is, and we might not get to sleep after."
Li Wu murmured, already curling up in a corner with his luggage.
"It’s too noisy to sleep."
"Close your eyes and count sheep. Everything Li Wu said since the bugle call has been right. Trust him."
The others nodded, mimicking his posture to force themselves to sleep.
The chatter died down soon after the engine roared to life.
The ride was smooth at first, lulling them back to sleep—after all, they’d been roused at midnight.
But as time passed, a sudden jolt startled them. They ignored it, only for more bumps and sharp turns to follow, churning stomachs. Some couldn’t hold back, scrambling toward the rear to vomit.
The supervising instructor gripped collars, ensuring they didn’t fall while retching.
Li Wu blinked awake, then huddled tighter and kept sleeping. His adaptability was uncanny. After nearly three more hours of turbulence, the trucks halted.
The place was unfamiliar, but the routine wasn’t.
"Adaptability—good."
The instructor, the same stopwatch-wielder from earlier, had kept an eye on Li Wu, their youngest recruit this year.
"Of course. My father’s a soldier too. Can’t shame him."
"Well said. Looking forward to your performance."
"From the moment you enrolled, every action has been recorded in your files. So—give it your all."
The announcement stunned them. Did "enrollment" mean receiving the acceptance letter or stepping through the gates? They racked their brains, replaying their every move.
The instructor dropped the bombshell and moved on.
The Navy had no room for the fragile.
Back at the orchard, the pest infestation was worse than Yang Yufen and Aunt Wang feared. Even with precautions, the damage spread.
"We must spray again. Otherwise, we’ll lose both the fruit and the trees. But it means delaying the harvest further."
"Save the trees first."
Yang Yufen and Aunt Wang made the hard call. This year’s pests ravaged not just the orchard but the crops too. Pesticides and manual labor became dual necessities.
The bugs were tenacious—survivors of the spray had to be picked off by hand. But with chemicals lingering, the captured pests couldn’t be fed to poultry. Instead, they were burned in straw to destroy any eggs.
The trunks were whitewashed with lime. Infested sections were heartbreakingly sawed off to save the rest.
The losses pained them, but the trees had to survive. Three years of labor couldn’t be wasted.
