Gao Jiaxing suddenly shouted and with a carp’s leap, he sprang up and headed towards the canteen.
Xia Xiao followed suit, curious about the military’s food, but she quickly beca disappointed. Still, considering the era, she assud the food could not match what would be available in later tis.
What Gao Jiaxing and the others were eating consisted of vegetables, tofu, stead buns, and pickled vegetables; not a single piece of at was in sight. They had worked hard in training and had large appetites. Xia Xiao felt sowhat sorry for Gao Jiaxing, watching him eat his plain al, especially since she had a special space where she could enjoy good food and drink.
She couldn’t just take out food from that space to share; even when cooking for her family, Xia Xiao only mixed in a little bit.
She had planted a few vegetables from her grandmother’s ho into her space and wild vegetables from her space into her grandmother’s garden. Mixing them, they wouldn’t be detected by others.
The sa went for the at from her space; Xia Xiao would finely chop it and mix it in, cautiously using only a little.
Watching Gao Jiaxing eat, gobbling his food ferociously, it was obvious he was starving. The sa went for the others. Despite Xia Xiao’s speed in eating, she noticed that Gao Jiaxing did not stuff his mouth too full and his eating manner was not unpleasant to watch.
"Five minutes are up, hurry back," Shitou reminded her, and Xia Xiao quickly went back into her space.
"Seeing them eat made hungry too." Xia Xiao touched her stomach, preparing to fix sothing to eat, though she regretted she couldn’t share the food from her space with Gao Jiaxing.
In her space, Xia Xiao had set up a few buckets, not filled with the spring water there, but with well water she had brought in from her grandmother’s place.
Sotis she cooked in her space, slaughtering chickens and washing vegetables, for which Xia Xiao reluctantly used well water, fearing the waste of spring water. She also kept waste in buckets to be cleared out later, maintaining the cleanliness and hygiene of her space.
Now, Xia Xiao was boiling water over firewood, plucking a chicken she had killed and cooking a chicken soup, periodically stepping out to check on Gao Jiaxing.
After Gao Jiaxing finished eating, Xia Xiao followed him back to the dormitories. They slept in large communal bunks, arranged in rows, many people to a room.
Military service conditions were tough, and the dormitory environnt was barebones, though clean and tidy.
Shortly after, Xia Xiao watched as Gao Jiaxing and the others, carrying their clothes, headed outside, and she followed.
Soon, Xia Xiao followed Gao Jiaxing and the others to the riverbank. Splash! She saw groups of soldiers placing their clean clothes not far from the shore, stripping off their tops and trousers, and jumping into the river in unison.
Squinting her eyes, Xia Xiao imdiately covered them. Although the soldiers were fit, she felt embarrassed by her voyeurism.
"What are they doing?" Shitou asked curiously.
"They’re probably swimming and bathing, I guess," Xia Xiao replied, embarrassed to look.
"Yes, they’re swimming. Look how fast Gao Jiaxing is swimming."
Shitou’s comnt made Xia Xiao look over just as a group of soldiers, baring their upper bodies, seed to be racing each other as they swam.
They all had buzz cuts, and amidst a crowd of shirtless n, Xia Xiao could still spot Gao Jiaxing.
They were racing in the water, then play-fighting and fishing, though it seed the fish might have been depleted by their efforts; they only caught a small fish before releasing it back into the river.
After Gao Jiaxing and the others finished bathing, they crouched by the bank to wash their own clothes.
Despite the harsh conditions and grueling training, these soldiers knew how to make the best of their situation, their laughing and singing infectious. Xia Xiao, after watching them the whole day, couldn’t help a smile creeping onto her face.
Having eaten chicken all day with no one to share it, Xia Xiao felt a bit discontented and said to Shitou, "I wish you could taste my cooking; it may not compare to the big chefs’, but it’s pretty good."
"I’d like to try it too, but I can’t eat it, and there’s nothing I can do," Shitou replied.
Xia Xiao felt quite regretful. Shitou then said, "When Gao Jiaxing and the others are eating, you can serve your food and eat with them, as long as you don’t let them see."
Xia Xiao nodded, deciding she would do so next ti. She was used to sneaking food in her space, but now with Gao Jiaxing outside, eating alone in her space didn’t feel right.
At night, when it was deep and quiet, everyone had trained hard for the whole day and was exhausted, sleeping soundly.
Xia Xiao tiptoed over and added so spring water to Gao Jiaxing’s water bottle before returning to her space to rest. Nowadays, her space had beco her little cabin, complete with a bed, bedding, pillows, and even a straw mat with a mosquito net, where she could sleep comfortably.
Around the crack of dawn, Shitou woke Xia Xiao up. "Ti to get up."
"What for?" Xia Xiao felt as if she had just gone to bed, "What ti is it?"
"Two-thirty," Shitou said.
"It’s only two-thirty? Why are you waking up?" Xia Xiao asked.
"Gao Jiaxing and the others have already gotten up for training."
As soon as she heard Shitou’s words, Xia Xiao imdiately got up, "They’re training this early, my goodness."
By the ti Xia Xiao stepped outside, she saw Gao Jiaxing and the rest already in uniform, with beds made, lined up and assembled outside.
"Attention, at ease."
"Sound off."
"One, two, three, four, five..."
As soon as the roll call was completed, everyone started jogging, and Liu Yuanchao joined in the run.
Xia Xiao had thought they were just running within the barracks, not realizing they were heading out to run up a mountain, each person carrying a large backpack and a water bottle.
Imdiately, Xia Xiao caught up with them. Initially, she was keeping up with the group from behind, but in no ti, she was so tired she could hardly go on.
If it weren’t for her special space, Xia Xiao wouldn’t have been able to keep up at all. It seed like everyone was just jogging at a leisurely pace, yet the gap between them was so wide.
Eventually, Gao Jiaxing and the others ran over two or three mountains and finally stopped at the foot of a high mountain to rest in place.
"They’re going to rock climb," Xia Xiao looked up at the steep mountain with awe, "My, this mountain is so tall and steep."
Xia Xiao then saw everyone munching on buns and drinking water; apart from so rock climbing gear, their backpacks also contained dry food.
Xia Xiao did want to provide Gao Jiaxing with an extra al, a real treat, but with so many people, one or two wild rabbits or goats wouldn’t be enough to satiate their hunger. All the food from her space wouldn’t be enough for everyone, so Xia Xiao dismissed the thought.
At this mont, they were not near Nanhua Mountain; otherwise, Xia Xiao could have had Black Bear and the others catch a wild boar for Gao Jiaxing and the others to eat.
Thinking of this, Xia Xiao considered bringing a wild boar next ti for Gao Jiaxing and his companions to catch for food. anwhile, she watched Gao Jiaxing and the others rock climbing while chatting with Shitou.
"If Black Bear and the others catch a wild boar for and I bring it into the space, could you immobilize it?"
"Why do you want to do that? They’re soldiers; do they even need you to find at for them? That would be rather useless. Being a soldier is about enduring hardships; otherwise, how would they get strong?"
At Shitou’s reply, Xia Xiao had nothing to say.
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