Chapter 112: Field Training Day Four Plan
In the evening, Xiang Chuan made some simple elm seedlings rice and elm seedlings steamed buns using elm seedlings, sparking the students’ curiosity about ways to cook other wild vegetables. Some discussed what to make for breakfast tomorrow, while others asked Xiang Chuan about the tastes of other wild vegetables.
Xiang Chuan: If you kids with baby tongues could handle bitter flavors, I wouldn’t have agonized until late last night!
If there was any change compared to yesterday, it was that Class Eight had completely ditched solid food. After all, with staple foods like these pastries made from flour and wild vegetables, no one would want to eat the dry, rock-hard compressed solid food anymore. Thus, Class Two and Class Ten found that today’s lunch and dinner were unexpectedly much more abundant, with a lot more compressed solid food added, and they wondered suspiciously: Did those guys from Class Eight run to the central area to rob other classes?
After dinner, Xiang Chuan suggested not lying down immediately after eating, but to walk around or stand more, so the boys and girls in the class found their respective brothers and besties, strolling and chatting around this still spacious camp. If it weren’t for the forest being too dark after nightfall, everyone might have wanted to go for a walk in the forest.
Everyone shared today’s experiences with each other. The Patrol Group described the process of foraging for wild vegetables during the day, while the Stalwart Group recounted little episodes from fishing or fun incidents while processing ingredients, the liveliness dispelling everyone’s fatigue from the day.
At this moment, Xiang Chuan was gathered in the Class President’s tent with the A Bite of China Club members and Chou Manman who had followed along, facing the four Class Cadres from Class Eight—yes, including Nancy, who usually always followed Ouyang Yating.
Classmates outside the tent walked by during their strolls, occasionally peeking inside. The people inside didn’t control their volume when speaking, and when they got excited, they could even be heard in the center of the camp. Curious students gathered at the tent entrance of the Class President and others, listening to the conversation of these nine people, who could now be called the central figures of Class Eight.
“…So, it’s settled then?” The Class President smiled, with a light screen in front of her using voice-to-text to record dense meeting minutes.
“Tomorrow our Patrol Group will have a lot to do. Old Lu, you better keep up then.” Mandy heavily patted the Class President’s shoulder, nearly knocking her to the ground. “As for Ainuo, can you kid keep up? You were in an information club before, and now it’s… uh, a food-related club?”
The implication was that he was very worried about whether the kid’s stamina was up to it.
“No need for everyone to worry about that. Thanks to a certain someone’s ‘influence’ since childhood, my stamina lets me run two more laps around the training base sports field than our Club President.” Ainuo said proudly, ignoring the eye-roll from Xiang Chuan.
“Pick some other wild vegetables when you return tomorrow. I’ll give you the list before setting off tomorrow morning; pick some different ones.” Xiang Chuan said. Honestly, tonight’s meeting, in terms of results, didn’t change much for what her A Bite of China Club had to do compared to usual. Rather than consulting with the A Bite of China Club, it was more like calling them over to inform them out of respect.
That said, modern young people sure have a lot on their minds. Could it be from reading the Thirty-Six Stratagems too much? Xiang Chuan thought somewhat guiltily, hoping she wouldn’t lead these pure-hearted young people astray into becoming scheming strategists.
The field training entered its fourth day.
When Class Eight Students got up early to help chop filling and make buns, they realized: Had the field training already passed halfway?
Everyone couldn’t help but sigh. They originally thought this week would be exceptionally long, but it passed so quickly. Now realizing the time, they actually felt a bit reluctant to leave.
“If we could stay in the woods every day picking wild vegetables and making food, without worrying about homework or exams, that would be great.” A Patrol Group student sighed.
This remark earned nods of agreement from everyone, except Xiang Chuan, who gave an eye-roll.
Xiang Chuan: Give me a break. You can only say that now because we have free-range chickens and no meat-eating animals around. If the camping time wasn’t a week but a month, these guys definitely couldn’t handle it.
“I don’t want to stay here at all.” Xiang Chuan pressed down hard on the dough. “If we don’t go back soon, the stuff in my meal box will run out. Where will I replenish fruit milk and juice then? Where will I find cake to eat?”
One sentence pulled everyone back from their fantasies about camp life. Indeed, without yeast, milk, or fruit, Xiang Chuan definitely couldn’t handle it. Now that she mentioned these, the Class Eight crowd also missed steak buns—not that they didn’t have them here, but no one dared to snatch food from the head chef’s hands. If they got evened up with after returning and blacklisted from the A Bite of China Club, the school meals for the next three years would be tough for them.
Yes, under the influence of these days of freshly made gourmet food, the Class Eight crowd had unknowingly become somewhat unable to tolerate liquid food and solid food. Xiang Chuan hadn’t noticed this yet; her mind was full of what to eat next and how to add something to the chicken and fish she was tired of eating these past two days to change the flavor.
After breakfast, the Patrol Group took the new charts sent by Xiang Chuan and set off with Ainuo, the Class President, and Nancy.
On the way out of the camp, they could still faintly hear Xiang Chuan’s loud shouts. The Class President looked at Ainuo and smiled: “Your Club President sure has a lot of energy.”
“Too much energy isn’t always good. With me and Nancy gone, whether Yating can rein her in is a question.” Recalling how Xiang Chuan and Chou Manman said during cleanup that they wanted to go to a farther woods together later, and thinking Ouyang Yating would likely go too, he couldn’t help but worry for his childhood friend. “When we found ginger before, this person saw something novel and forgot everything else. We followed behind her, exhausted for a whole morning.”
That said, Ainuo’s face still showed irrepressible relief. The Class President noticed but didn’t point it out.
“What, what? Gossiping?” Nancy, who had been walking at the front of the group, bounced over.
“Talking about our Club President, just like you, loves getting into trouble.” Ainuo raised his brow at her. “I’m quite glad now that she’s like you with overly abundant stamina; otherwise, Yating would have had a headache this morning.”
“What? Worried? Want to go back? We just set off.” Nancy chuckled. “You wouldn’t actually like her, would you?”
Why would it connect to that? Ainuo felt speechless: “…Sometimes I really want to take you to the neurology department to check what your brain circuit looks like.”
“That’d be too bad; for the rest of my life, I could only visit you in prison~” Nancy mimicked his brow raise.
The reason for saying this was that in the modern era, dissection and modification of living human brains remained a taboo, explicitly prohibited by law. If discovered, one would be sent to a prison at the edge of the solar system for life imprisonment, confined there until death, with no bail accepted.
Since this law was enacted, no one dared to defy it openly, so over time, everyone treated it as a joke. Ainuo just gave her an eye-roll, too lazy to continue this nonsense topic with her. Seeing her childhood friend ignoring her, Nancy started chatting with the Class President. She knew his temper well; he’d come talk to her again soon.
Finally, as the three chatted about the school’s activity plans for the next few months, they arrived at the destination.
“We’re here.” Mandy pointed ahead. “That’s the boundary between the northern area and the central area.”
Correct, the purpose of the trio’s trip was the border between the two areas—a seemingly ordinary path at first glance, actually filled with alarm traps set by Class Eight and the central area classes.
“Good work. Then, let’s start our plan.” The Class President smiled, picked up a stone, and threw it toward the opposite side.
Woo—
A woo woo sound like strong wind fiercely blowing through gaps rang out—that was the sound of the alarm device opposite. Vaguely, they could hear the rustling of grass getting closer from afar.
The Class President took a deep breath, with Nancy and Ainuo standing at his sides, the three expressionlessly watching ahead.
When figures burst out from the woods, they knew: Their plan was beginning.
