Chapter 94: Butterfly
When the drill instructor returned, he distributed ammunition to the students in the class and saw Mao Yue, who had been added to the line. His gaze fell on his epaulet, and he also saw Bai Luochuan’s bare shoulder. “What’s going on?”
Mao Yue said, “Report, it was me…”
Bai Luochuan interrupted him. “Report! Classmate Mao Yue’s epaulet has been found. I have already let him return to the line.”
The drill instructor’s gaze fell on Bai Luochuan, and he soon saw the bulge in his pocket. He asked him, “What’s this?”
Bai Luochuan said, “Report, nothing!”
The drill instructor said with a stern face, “I order you now, take it out!”
Bai Luochuan’s fingers moved a little, only revealing a golden corner, and he refused to take it out any further. The drill instructor was close to him and naturally saw it clearly. He looked up and waited for his explanation.
Bai Luochuan said vaguely, “Someone in the class lost their student epaulet. The family… the family brought a pair. It wasn’t on purpose. This is the smallest one…”
The drill instructor’s face also twitched, and he pursed his lips, not knowing what to say. With this on, let alone a small drill instructor like him, even their leader would have to stand at attention and salute.
Bai Luochuan had no intention of showing off. The drill instructor also knew that this one was not deliberately causing trouble. If Bai Luochuan or Mao Yue, who was standing behind him, had been deliberately causing trouble or had other intentions, they could have used their privilege from the very beginning. But these two were precisely the two most serious students in the class. They could endure hardship and fatigue, and they never said much when they were punished. They would just get down and do push-ups without a word.
But with things turning out like this, it was a little awkward for a moment.
Although the students in the back hadn’t seen it, a few of them also moved the corners of their mouths and said a few words in a very low voice, discussing it.
The drill instructor said with a dark face, “Quiet!”
At this moment, the male student named Mao Yue, who was standing behind Bai Luochuan, shouted again, “Report!”
The drill instructor said, “Speak!”
Mao Yue probably also knew that he had done something wrong and said, panting, “It was my mistake just now. I, I’m willing to go and run!” He was about to return the epaulet to Bai Luochuan but was stopped by Bai Luochuan.
Bai Luochuan said in a deep voice, “I also have a responsibility. I’m in charge of the class’s order, and a classmate lost his epaulet in just one noon. It’s my dereliction of duty. Report, drill instructor, please allow me and Mao Yue to run five laps together after the shooting competition!”
The drill instructor thought for a moment. “Ten laps. Return to the line now. Get ready for the competition!”
The two of them answered, “Yes—!”
The first class had dealt with the sudden situation and had been delayed a little, but they soon lined up and started to participate in the shooting competition.
In groups of ten, after the sound of gunshots, someone would wave a flag and loudly announce the number of rings. Overall, getting around 35 rings within five shots was already above average. Some students in some classes had gotten 40 rings, and each time it would cause a heated discussion. It was already very amazing for there to be one or two out of ten!
After four rounds, the shooting data of the first and second classes was the best, and they were already far ahead of the other classes. The final competition also mainly depended on the competition between these two classes.
In the crucial fifth round, the first class went first.
Bai Luochuan lay on the ground, his chest against the ground, his legs tightened and straight, aiming at the center of the target with a three-point line, and crisply pulled the trigger!
“Target 1, 10 rings!”
The announcement of the score rang out without any suspense. 5 bullets had hit 50 rings. This new student of the first class of the first year of high school had once again made the students waiting behind him gasp in amazement, followed by excited applause! Especially the students of the first class, their faces were red with excitement. In any case, even if the team didn’t get first place, their class’s individual first place was in the bag!
Bai Luochuan relaxed his shoulders and was about to get up when he heard the announcement of the score again, “Target 3, 10 rings!”
Mao Yue, on the other side of target 3, stood up. He shook his arm, his face filled with excitement.
Mao Yue’s last shot was a bullseye, and he had gotten a good score of 48 rings in 5 shots. Besides Bai Luochuan, it was the best score in the class!
The students of the first class all looked at him with new eyes. The few troublemakers were also clapping and cheering now. One of the more excited ones even rushed over and hugged Mao Yue, but then he also became a little embarrassed. In the face of collective honor, Mao Yue had done much better than them.
Mao Yue didn’t have as many thoughts as they did. After winning, he was full of joy and grinned. “See, I told you I’m not a fool!”
The few of them were even more embarrassed.
Mao Yue didn’t notice anything. He thought he had performed well and was about to leave. Bai Luochuan got up and left his position, followed them, and called out to the few of them, “Don’t you have anything else to say to Mao Yue?”
The few of them were taken aback for a moment, then immediately stood there and said, “Mao Yue, we’re sorry. We shouldn’t have said that about you before.”
“That’s right. We’re also sorry about what happened in the dormitory. Brother, I really didn’t know you were so amazing before. I just heard people say that you could get in even if your score was a hundred points lower, so I…” The leader scratched his face and took out Mao Yue’s epaulet from his pocket and returned it to him. “My fault. I’ll treat you to a meal later. You’re a bigger person. Forgive us this once!”
Mao Yue saw his epaulet, quickly took it, and returned the one on his shoulder to Bai Luochuan. As he was putting on his own epaulet, he said, “You weren’t wrong. I did get a hundred extra points when I got in. It’s a policy for the children of military personnel in remote areas, similar to the bonus points for ethnic minorities. But at most, it’s just for the middle school entrance exam. There’s nothing else.” Mao Yue was quite open-minded and said with a chuckle, “My grades are not very good, but my physical training is not bad. Everyone has their own strengths!”
He said it so frankly that the few of them scratched their heads and also chuckled. A few of them were still carefully looking at Bai Luochuan on the side. Mao Yue was easy to talk to, but Bai Luochuan was obviously not so easy to talk to.
Sure enough, Bai Luochuan said coldly, “Is an apology enough?”
The few of them were a little dumbfounded. They looked at each other, then carefully asked, “Then what else?”
Bai Luochuan thought for a moment. “Let’s see the results in a bit. See what Mao Yue says.”
Mao Yue had obviously not held a grudge, but he intuitively knew that Bai Luochuan was doing it for his own good. When Bai Luochuan left, he immediately followed, not continuing to talk to these few people.
The people of the second class had started. Mi Yang was at target 1. Because of the arrangement, although his number was next to Bai Luochuan’s, the person next to him was actually a student from the third class. The boy looked very nervous, and his hand was trembling.
Mi Yang aimed and fired his last shot. Before the sound of the bullet had faded, he heard the boy next to him also fire a shot with a “bang”!
The boy covered his mouth and grunted, his eyes almost tearing up. “Drill instructor, I think I hit my tooth…”
Their drill instructor came over to have a look. As he was checking the injury, he heard the score being announced from the other side.
“Second class, target 1, 11 rings!”
Mi Yang was taken aback for a moment, and the classmates beside him were also taken aback. They had heard of 10 rings, but they had never heard of an extra ring.
The student whose tooth had been hit by the gun butt also looked up. Before he could laugh secretly, he heard his own score being called out, “Third class, target 1, 0 rings! Missed the target!!”
The student of the third class, target 1, was dumbfounded.
The three number 1s among the first-year high school military training new students were all memorable. The students of the first and second classes, target 1, had both gotten a perfect score of 10 rings. This number 1 of the third class was particularly unlucky. He was not the only one who had missed the target, but he was the only one who had missed the target and hit someone else’s—this person’s one shot had hit Mi Yang’s bullseye, giving him a 1 ring, which, added up, made Mi Yang get a 51 rings in five shots!
Zhou Tong and the others had been listening attentively from the side. When they suddenly understood, they didn’t have time to laugh and first went over to ask the drill instructor with an expectant expression, “Does this count as our class’s? Drill instructor, you said this has nothing to do with our Mi Yang. He was the one who added the 1 ring. I think it should at least count as our class’s score, right?”
Drill instructor: “…”
Zhou Tong immediately mobilized the students around him to launch a public opinion offensive, “Come on, let’s first thank the students of the third class for their enthusiastic help!”
The students of the second class immediately started to shout, “Thank you, students of the third class. You will always be the good friends of the second class!”
“Friends of the third class, the older brothers have gotten first place. We will always remember your help!”
“Half of the military medal is ours, and half is yours. Friends of the third class, let’s celebrate together!!”
…
The people on the side had already started to cheer. It wasn’t just the second class; the other onlookers also started to clap and cheer. It was also the first time they had seen such a funny thing.
But joking was joking. In the end, it still didn’t count. They only took the two best 10-ring shots for Mi Yang’s score.
Bai Luochuan got first place in the individual score with 50 rings. Mi Yang had performed exceptionally well this time and, like him, had also gotten a total score of 50 rings. Their two names were read out side by side.
Mao Yue got second place and was also very happy. Because of Mao Yue’s last crucial shot, in the team score, the first class had gotten a slightly higher score in the end, so their class became the team first.
The first class had gotten one more team award certificate than the second class, and the atmosphere in the class was even more enthusiastic.
The students of the two classes all ran to get their award certificates. Bai Luochuan was not in a hurry. Seeing Mi Yang standing in front, he walked over and said to him, “I lost.”
Mi Yang said, “No, didn’t we say it was an individual competition? Then if you look at the individual scores, you also…”
“It’s the individual score that I lost.” Bai Luochuan chuckled and got a little closer to him. “After all, your best single shot was 11 rings. I’m so envious. I’ll have to tell Auntie Cheng and the others when I get back.”
Mi Yang bumped his shoulder and also smiled.
Bai Luochuan whispered to him, “What do you want?”
Mi Yang thought for a moment and said as he walked, “What do I want? You can just find me a pretty little thing here.” Mi Yang said this casually, his gaze on the grass not far away. There were a lot of wild flowers there, and they were all very pretty.
Bai Luochuan nodded in agreement from the side.
Mao Yue ran over, excitedly calling Bai Luochuan’s name. He said to him, “Brother Bai, I’ve thought of it!”
Bai Luochuan didn’t know why this person had suddenly started to call him that like the others in his dormitory, but he didn’t refuse and said to him, “What have you thought of?”
Mao Yue said, “I’ve thought of what I want!”
Mi Yang looked up at Bai Luochuan. Bai Luochuan cleared his throat. “It’s not what you think. There’s a special reason…” He whispered in Mi Yang’s ear and told him about the epaulet, muttering, “I just didn’t like those people. They were bullying people endlessly.”
Mao Yue was still standing there, waiting. Seeing Bai Luochuan look at him, he immediately took a step forward.
Bai Luochuan took the epaulet out of his pocket, handed it back to him, and was not very polite to Mao Yue, “You remember, I’m not helping you today. It’s for the sake of this epaulet. You take this epaulet back and also tell your family that epaulets are not used like this.”
Mao Yue said “oh,” took it, and put it in his pocket, standing there a little at a loss.
Bai Luochuan tilted his chin and asked him, “What do you want to do?”
Seeing that he was still talking to him, Mao Yue showed a smile again and said excitedly, “I want to kick their butts! One kick each, the light kind, just to teach them a lesson… My dad used to kick me a lot. I want to try it too!”
Bai Luochuan nodded, said a few words to Mi Yang, and took him back to his class.
As the second class was cheering with their award certificate, a few of the boys in the first class were called out by Mao Yue with the command “about-face,” and then they were each kicked in the butt. This was a small punishment for them for almost making the class lose the team first place. Mao Yue’s kick didn’t hurt. It was just a bit of revenge, and it felt like they were even. Everyone was relieved. Another student who hadn’t been kicked let out a strange cry, and the atmosphere immediately relaxed. A group of people burst out laughing, and they all became like good brothers.
Some of the other classes looked over with curiosity. Bai Luochuan’s explanation to the outside was consistently the two words “celebration.”
Each class had different habits, so the others just smiled and let it go.
When they were taking the car back to the camp, Mi Yang also received his gift.
Bai Luochuan had switched seats with Zhou Tong and was sitting with Mi Yang. He handed him a matchbox. “Open it and have a look.”
Mi Yang slowly opened it. He had just pulled it out halfway when he saw a small, flame-like red butterfly inside. It also had gold and black veins on it, looking exquisite and beautiful.
Bai Luochuan asked him, “Is it pretty enough?”
Mi Yang looked for a while and nodded.
They had rested for a while at the shooting range. It was probably at that time that Bai Luochuan had gone to catch it. The small butterfly in the matchbox was like a fragile and beautiful beauty that had come through the smoke of gunpowder. Mi Yang rubbed the matchbox, looked at it, and then let it go.
Bai Luochuan said, “You don’t like it?”
Mi Yang smiled. “I like it very much.”
Bai Luochuan was puzzled. “Then why did you let it go?”
“Mm, it’s enough to remember it.” Mi Yang pointed to his head and said with his eyes closed, “I’ve remembered it here.”
Bai Luochuan also chuckled. As he looked at the scenery outside the window, he reached out a hand and held Mi Yang’s.
When they went back in the afternoon, it was already time for dinner. But Bai Luochuan still had the task of running laps. He had been punished by the drill instructor to run ten laps with Mao Yue. After he came back, he went straight to the playground.
Just as he had finished his warm-up on the playground and had not run more than two steps, he saw a classmate from his class run over, sweating profusely. “Brother Bai, I’ve asked the drill instructor! He said if we each run one lap, the 20 laps will be shared, and it’ll be over in one lap~ Let’s run with you!”
The ones who followed were all the boys from the first class. They were on good terms with Bai Luochuan, and this time, the class’s honor was also won back by Bai Luochuan and the others. After hearing the story of the epaulet, they immediately couldn’t sit still and all came over to run laps together.
The final result was that all the boys in Bai Luochuan’s class went to the playground and ran a lap.
After this one lap, a boy was holding his knees, panting. He gave Bai Luochuan a thumbs-up. “Brother Bai, you’re amazing. How, how did you do it… You’d be exhausted after those ten laps…”
Bai Luochuan’s breathing was still relatively steady, with only sweat on his forehead. He replied to him, “Just practice more.”
After they had finished running, they still had to walk for a few more minutes to let their bodies cool down a little. As the few boys were walking, they saw someone come from the opposite direction.
Mi Yang came over with a water bottle and handed it to Bai Luochuan. “You’re done running? I’ve already gotten your food. Go and eat it while it’s still hot.”
Bai Luochuan took the water and drank it. “Okay.”
The remaining few, you look at me, and I look at you, and they also started to charge forward.
Bai Luochuan heard the sound and, holding Mi Yang’s arm, he ran. “Where did you put the food? The canteen?”
Mi Yang was taken aback for a moment. After running two steps, he said, “Yes, it’s on the table where you usually eat…”
Bai Luochuan said, “Run faster!”
The people behind were shouting, “Did you all hear that! There’s hot food on Brother Bai’s table. Charge—”
“First come, first served. Charge—!!”
