Chapter 45: Small Temple, Many Matters

"Left, right, left… left, right, left…"

On September 10th, Jiang University's military training officially began.

This summer was exceptionally hot, and even in September, Pingchuan was still sweltering.

On the large sports field, the chant of the military drill was constant, but the students' cheers were weak and listless.

Just when Li Dong was about to be overwhelmed by the heat, the instructor finally relented and allowed everyone to rest in a shaded area.

During the break, Li Dong took off his military training uniform and squeezed it; the sweat that had soaked through dripped down.

Meng Qiping, panting and complaining, said, "I can't stand this. I should've gotten a sick leave too; it would've saved me from this torment."

Thinking of those who had taken sick leave early, Meng Qiping felt both envious and jealous.

"Be content. The girls aren't complaining. Why should you, a grown man, complain? Besides, it's good for weight loss. Look at how squeezed your eyes are," Li Dong joked.

Meng Qiping didn't have the energy to argue back. Fat people generally hated the heat more.

Glancing at the girls' formation not far away, Meng Qiping sighed, "I wonder if they'll all turn into tan girls by the end of the military training. Bai Su and Huang Shanshan are both so fair and rosy; I wonder if they'll look good tanned."

Xu Chen, who was lying on the ground pretending to be dead, listlessly said, "Whether they look good or not is none of your business. Have you seen those guys? They're all like wolves, constantly trying to ingratiate themselves."

"Hmph, ingratiation doesn't work. Didn't you see they were ignored? It's useless to try to get close to them without any skill," Meng Qiping sneered, clearly dismissive of the boys who tried to get close to the girls by offering water. These days, trying to win a girl over with a bottle of water was too cheap.

"Oh? It sounds like you have advanced techniques? If they're useful, I might give them a try. After all, I need to end my single life in college!" Meng Qiping said with a grin.

"Why should I teach you? Teaching the apprentice might end up starving the master. I'm not that foolish."

…

Li Dong ignored their bickering. It was unusual for these two not to argue. He was busy texting with his head down, not noticing that the noise around him had suddenly stopped and two heads appeared beside him.

"Hey! Dong Ge, who are you chatting with?"

"Wow, Yuhan, a girl's name? Dong Ge, could she be your girlfriend?"

Li Dong glanced at them and put his phone into his pocket, ignoring their questions.

Meng Qiping, with a persistent grin, asked, "Dong Ge, come on, tell us, is she your girlfriend?"

"Yeah, yeah. We're all six bachelors in the dorm. Dong Ge, you're not going to leave us behind, are you?" Xu Chen chimed in with a laugh.

Seeing that Li Dong still wouldn't respond, Meng Qiping, with a sly look, said, "It's probably because she's so ugly that Dong Ge doesn't want to tell us, afraid of losing face."

"Very likely. With Dong Ge's looks, tsk tsk…" Xu Chen continued, playing along to tease Li Dong.

Li Dong snorted and said with some pride, "Ugly, my foot! I won't boast, but with the girls in our class, my girlfriend would just—one word—be a knockout!"

"Really?"

"You're just bragging. If she's that pretty, how could she be interested in you?"

"Do you have a photo? Show us!"

"Dong Ge must be getting confused under the sun. 'Knockout' is clearly two words!"

…

The two kept up their relentless teasing, making Li Dong extremely irritated. He said, "Why should I show you? My girlfriend is for my eyes only."

"Pfft!"

Both Xu Chen and Meng Qiping simultaneously made an obscene gesture, clearly doubting Li Dong's claim.

Li Dong stopped arguing with them, thinking: "Wait until Qin Yuhan comes. You'll see whether I'm boasting or not!"

In Li Dong's eyes, Qin Yuhan was a perfect ten. Even Bai Su, whom Meng Qiping and others considered a goddess, only rated 85 in Li Dong's book. He could already imagine their reaction when they saw Qin Yuhan.

As they were chatting and laughing, Li Tie walked over and said, "What are you guys discussing? I heard your laughter from afar."

"Nothing much, just joking around."

Li Dong didn't want Qin Yuhan to become a topic of discussion, so he casually brushed it off.

Li Tie didn't press further and instead got to the main point, "Tonight, the student union will be inspecting the dorm's cleanliness. The results will be factored into the usual evaluations. Make sure you get back early and help clean up."

Everyone agreed to come back early, and Li Tie left to inform the rest of the class.

After Li Tie left, Meng Qiping and the others forgot about asking Li Dong about his girlfriend.

As the break ended, they resumed the grueling military training.

…

By the time they returned to the dorm after dinner, it was already past six.

When they entered, only Zhang Hao was sweeping the floor.

Seeing Li Dong and the others come in, Zhang Hao called out, "Dong Ge, Chen Ge, fold your blankets and clean the table."

Meng Qiping responded and asked, "Where are Old Yuan and the class leader?"

Zhang Hao, head down, replied gruffly, "They went out for something."

Meng Qiping was stunned for a moment, then said angrily, "What the hell? These two haven't cleaned since the start of the semester. They always have something to do. Doesn't anyone else have anything to do?"

Li Dong frowned. "Forget it. It's not heavy work. We'll do it ourselves."

"It's not about how heavy the work is! It's the attitude. These two act like they're so high and mighty. Is the dorm just for us?"

Meng Qiping's anger grew as he spoke. Though it wasn't a big deal, it was annoying that it kept happening.

Xu Chen, who had a decent relationship with Li Tie, tried to defend him, saying, "Old Tie must really have something going on. They often have meetings…"

"Cut the crap! I know all about the meetings! Just because they think they're class leaders now, they feel superior. Is that interesting?"

Xu Chen was at a loss for words. He felt a bit of that same superiority from Li Tie. But back then, he was a staunch supporter of Li Tie becoming class leader, so criticizing him now felt like slapping his own face.

Seeing Meng Qiping was still fuming, Li Dong interrupted, "Alright, it's only been a few days since school started. What's the point of arguing? We'll talk about it later."

Meng Qiping pouted and fell silent, and the others also stopped speaking.

…

When Yuan Qingfeng and Li Tie entered later, the student union had already finished inspecting and left.

Meng Qiping and the others were still sulking about the earlier incident and no one spoke to them.

Li Dong was lying in bed, texting Qin Yuhan. Recently, Qin Yuhan had been very clingy, frequently sending texts about interesting things happening around her.

The little girl had just complained about the dry weather in the north and the bad food in the cafeteria. Li Dong was in the middle of composing a comforting reply.

Before he could finish, he heard Yuan Qingfeng suddenly say, "Who moved my stuff? My MP3 is missing!"

Li Dong's hand stopped abruptly. He frowned slightly and said, "Look again. Maybe it's in the drawer."

Yuan Qingfeng rummaged through the drawer and shook his head. "No. I left it on the table when I left at noon. Did anyone move my stuff?"

Zhang Hao, who was washing his feet, stiffened and said gruffly, "I cleaned up. The student union was inspecting the cleanliness tonight. Your place was too messy."

"So, what about my MP3?"

"I didn't see it. It wasn't there when I cleaned the table. You should look again." Zhang Hao's tone was slightly annoyed. Yuan Qingfeng's implication was that he suspected Zhang Hao had taken it.

Yuan Qingfeng searched around again, even going through the cabinet, and finally huffed, "It's not here. I can't find it."

He then sat in a chair, sulking, and the others in the dorm fell silent as well.

Li Dong felt a headache coming on. From the moment Yuan Qingfeng spoke, he had a bad feeling.

Sure enough, trouble was brewing.

He put aside texting Qin Yuhan and got out of bed, walking over to Yuan Qingfeng's desk, saying, "I'll help you look. It might have fallen into some corner."

"Don't bother. We've already searched everywhere." Yuan Qingfeng said darkly, "If it's lost, it's lost. It's just a few hundred bucks. It's not worth making a fuss over."

"Yuan Qingfeng, let's get this clear. What do you mean by insinuations?"

Zhang Hao's face turned red with anger. "Am I wrong to help you clean up? Everyone was here at the time. Ask them if I took it!"

"I didn't say it was you. Why are you so worked up?" Yuan Qingfeng snorted coldly. "It's just an MP3. It's not a big deal. If it's lost, just buy another one."

Meng Qiping and Xu Chen couldn't sit still anymore. Both got up from their beds. Meng Qiping frowned and said, "Old Yuan, we're all dorm mates. There's no need to say such things. If you don't care about an MP3, does that mean we don't care?"

Xu Chen also chimed in, "Is Zhang Hao wrong for helping clean up and tidy the table? If something is lost, just accept it as bad luck. What's with the insinuations? We were all here. Are you accusing us?"

Seeing that everyone was turning against him, Yuan Qingfeng snapped, "What's wrong with me? Did I say anything? My stuff is lost. Can't I say something? Did I say anyone stole it?"