It was mid-September, and the summer heat hadn’t yet let up. The military training that Lin Shen had come to hate with a passion had finally arrived, just as scheduled, and it was set to last two weeks.
Lin Wangye had gone through military training back in high school in his previous life.
But back then, he’d been luckier—the weather had mostly been overcast, with barely any scorching sun, and occasionally a few drizzles. Sure, it was tiring, but nothing unbearable.
This time, luck was not on his side.
The temperature was no different from the peak of summer, and the sun was ruthless. Out on the open training field, there was no place to escape while standing in military posture.
And the instructors weren’t messing around—they were real active-duty soldiers, strict to the bone. A single misstep or complaint could land him back in the standing position, a method meant to toughen both mind and body.
Several times, Lin Wangye had come close to fainting. It was the first time he truly realized how frail he was, constantly gritting his teeth and forcing himself to keep going.
Finally, on the last day, after desperately hoping for a brief break from the instructors, Lin Wangye collapsed onto the ground, utterly worn out, feeling as if he might just be reborn in the next second.
Lin Shen kept muttering complaints under his breath, but once the training started, he went along with it without fuss.
Honestly, not cooperating wasn’t even an option.
The aura and authority of the people’s army were no joke.
Strangely enough, despite being baked in the sun for so many days, Lin Wangye hadn’t darkened a bit. Against the blue camouflage uniforms, his skin shone so white it practically reflected the sunlight.
The only shaded spot on the field was a tiny area under the stands, and the boys were all considerate enough to give it to the girls.
Lin Wangye, feeling utterly defeated, hugged his knees and sat on the field, burying his face in them like a salted fish roasting under the sun. A moment later, he felt something cool touch the back of his neck. Turning around, he saw Lin Shen holding a bottle of water.
Under the blazing sun, even a plain bottle of room-temperature water felt like a rare treasure.
Lin Shen sat down beside him and gently pushed his head.
“Don’t cry, okay? So many people are watching.”
Lin Wangye wanted to cry but had no tears. He pressed the water bottle against his face to cool himself down and leaned weakly against him, head drooping. “They don’t have military training abroad, right…”
Lin Shen shrugged. “No idea. I never went to school abroad.”
Xu Ziqian walked over, sitting across from the two of them. Slowly, he said, “Some countries do have it. Some are even stricter than us. In some places, it depends on the school and isn’t mandatory.”
“Sigwell doesn’t make it mandatory…” Lin Wangye muttered.
“Here we go again…” Lin Shen rolled his eyes to the sky, twisted the cap off the water bottle, and took a long gulp.
Military training didn’t start until a week after the freshmen had checked in. Lin Wangye wasn’t the type to hide things, and he hadn’t even tried. Every day, he openly spent hours on the phone in the dorm with Shi Yuan. Of course, Xu Ziqian had long known that Lin Wangye had a boyfriend studying abroad.
How a person reacts to relationships that are above worldly judgment often shows their character.
From the moment he found out, Xu Ziqian had shown no unusual reaction—no prying curiosity, nothing out of the ordinary. He treated them like any normal couple.
Even when Lin Wangye deliberately showed off his affection to tease Lin Shen, Xu Ziqian would make light-hearted little jokes that carried hints of envy and blessing.
When Lin Wangye mentioned Sigwell, Xu Ziqian naturally picked up the topic and started chatting easily: “Speaking of it, Sigwell really is a beautiful place. I’ve read a lot about it, and I definitely want to go there at least once in my life.”
Lin Wangye thought of Shi Shu-shu from his previous life, who had promised to take him to Sigwell after the college entrance exam, and he felt a pang of sadness.
He pulled his hat down to shield himself from the sun and let out a quiet sigh.
“I’ve always wanted to go, too.”
“Then go,” Lin Shen said casually, offering a simple comfort: “Getting a visa for Sigwell isn’t hard. Just write the application, and it’s done in a few days.”
Lin Wangye pouted. “I know, but right now the urgent thing is saving for Suihe’s surgery. A round-trip ticket to Sigwell alone would cost over ten thousand yuan. Maybe later.”
Lin Shen wasn’t one to dwell on things. He just nodded after a moment and said nothing more. He looked up at Xu Ziqian and casually asked, “After standing out in the sun this long, aren’t you going to get a bottle of water?”
“I’m not that thirsty,” Xu Ziqian replied with a smile. “Besides, if we go during training, we’d have to do squats as punishment for leaving. Better not.”
“Holy crap…”
Lin Shen, who had already downed more than half a bottle of water, muttered under his breath. When he looked at the bottle, only a quarter of it was left. His vision went black for a moment.
“Damn it, I just accidentally drank enough for fifty squats. Well, punishment is punishment, I guess.”
“Hahaha…”
Lin Wangye laughed carefreely, when out of the corner of his eye he noticed someone not too far away. He nudged Lin Shen with his elbow and pointed ahead: “Hey, look who that is.”
Lin Shen glanced over and saw a girl standing there—the same one who had acted very close to Lin Qianqian’s scumbag fiance on the day of school registration.
Lin Qianqian’s fiance was named Chen Zhiyuan. His parents were in the textile business, and he came from a well-off family. Before graduating, he had also studied in the management department at Ningchang University, so technically he was their senior.
When they first caught him, Lin Shen and Lin Wangye had both assumed he was just some guy from school who was flirting with a junior girl.
It wasn’t until military training that they realized this girl was actually a freshman.
So that meant Chen Zhiyuan either went back to his alma mater just to pick up new underclass girls, or he’d already been seeing this girl before she even started college.
The second guess felt more likely.
Either way, he was a confirmed jerk.
At first, Lin Shen wanted to tell Lin Qianqian and Lin Pengcheng right away and get the engagement called off. But Lin Wangye remembered how that guy had lied to his aunt for years in the last life.
They didn’t have solid proof now. If they just canceled the engagement, people would think the two families had a falling-out, and it wouldn’t look good on either side — it wouldn’t really ruin the jerk’s reputation either.
In the last life, it was Lin Shen who investigated, exposed Chen Zhiyuan’s fake face, found his affair and child, and made him a disgrace. That’s how Lin Qianqian finally escaped and kept most of the property while he left empty-handed.
Still, Lin Qianqian’s brighter life had already been ruined by him.
Lin Wangye couldn’t swallow that. He wanted to destroy that jerk and make him infamous before the wedding.
That idea fit perfectly with Lin Shen — he was all for it.
But Lin Shen wasn’t one for sly tricks; he didn’t do sneaky schemes well. So they had to rely on Lin Wangye to come up with a plan. After a moment, Lin Shen leaned in and whispered, “Hey, do you think she knows Chen Zhiyuan has a fiance?”
Seeing them whisper, Xu Ziqian, who had good intuition, pulled out his earphones and put them in to listen to music.
“She definitely knows,” Lin Wangye said. “Chen Zhiyuan’s social circle is public. On Qixi he bought roses for Qianqian and even posted photos. That girl’s openly the other woman.”
Lin Shen stared at the girl nearby — she looked like a real beauty — and ground his teeth. “Unbelievable. You’d never guess.”
Lin Wangye leaned close and muttered in his ear, “I wanted to go after the jerk himself, but that’s risky. With how close we are, he could figure me out. And he’s probably just playing the other woman — he won’t care much. I’m going to work from the inside: start with her, get close, and stab him in the back.”
“How do you break her?” Lin Shen asked.
“If she knows he has a fiance and still goes after him, she’s after something — money or status. Even if it’s love, if she’s got an angle, eventually it’ll blow up. I’ll play her up, make her look perfect, then set her off.” Lin Wangye rubbed his hands together. “When the other woman goes crazy and makes a scene, who looks worse do you think?”
“Good idea.” Lin Shen’s eyes lit up, but he couldn’t help asking, “How will you flatter-and-destroy her exactly?”
“I checked — she just joined the photography club,” Lin Wangye said. “I’ll join too and get close. With my social skills, it won’t be hard.”
“Cool. Waiting on good news.” As he spoke, Lin Shen suddenly remembered something: “My dad once bought a DSLR on a whim and it’s been collecting dust at home. I’ll sneak it out for you.”
They both clicked immediately. Lin Wangye nodded hard.
“Perfect. Solid plan!”
Lin Shen teased him, “You’re full of little schemes — are you really that pure?”
“What are you talking about! I—”
Before he could finish, Lin Wangye’s phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and, surprised to see Shi Yuan calling, he answered without thinking, his tone light and playful.
“Hey, what’s up, my love?”
Lin Shen rolled his eyes to the sky and let out a long sigh.
It was late where Shi Yuan was; he’d timed the call to match the break during military training. His voice was soft: “I just finished work and saw your message. Baby, why’d you send me money again? Didn’t I tell you I’ve got a part-time job here?”
Lin Wangye cleared his throat and put on his over-the-top CEO act.
“Take it and keep it. Spend it within a month, or don’t come see me.”
Shi Yuan chuckled low. “Boss Lin, you really don’t need to give me so much.”
“Oh come on, I’m just worried you’ll be working too hard.” Lin Wangye instantly switched to a clingy, sweet voice and said in a syrupy way, “I’ve got enough here. Eat something good over there, okay? Don’t let me see you thinner when you video-call me.”
Shi Yuan answered warmly, “I’m not working that hard.”
“Then go rest.” Lin Wangye glanced at the time and told the phone, “I know it’s expensive over there, don’t be stingy with money and just get by. And every time you eat, you better send me a photo — I’m checking.”
Shi Yuan sighed on the other end, sounding like he’d given in.
“Okay, fine. I’ll do what you say.”
“Do what I say and go to sleep — it’s late where you are.” Lin Wangye kissed the phone twice: “muamua, little puppy loves you. Good night.”
“Good night, little puppy.”
When the call ended, Lin Wangye put his phone back in his pocket and turned to find his dad staring at him, rubbing his forearm with one hand: “You two chattering in this heat gave me goosebumps — I’ve had a chill down my back this whole time.”
Lin Wangye patted his dad’s shoulder and said earnestly, “I don’t blame you for not getting it — nobody calls you ‘baby,’ so of course you wouldn’t understand.”
Lin Shen shivered, looked down at his phone, and said nothing. Seeing that, Xu Ziqian took his earphones out.
After a while, Lin Shen felt weight pressing more and more against his back. He turned and saw Lin Wangye leaning on him, dozing.
Sigwell was twelve hours behind home.
These two lovers really had it rough — their sleep schedules barely overlapped, but they still couldn’t stop talking for a few extra minutes.
Military training made them run early in the morning, so staying up late meant they’d be exhausted.
Under the scorching sun they’d sweat a lot; hot bodies pressed together weren’t exactly comfy. Still, Lin Shen showed no sign of complaint. He squinted at the sky and muttered, “This weather is deadly hot. Good thing the training’s almost over.”
No sooner had he spoken than the harsh sunlight was blocked. Lin Shen was about to see what was going on when someone grabbed his chin and forced his head to turn.
“Don’t keep staring into the sun — what a bad habit.”
Lu Chengxuan’s voice, cool and crisp like frost, cut into the hot day, and Lin Shen actually felt a little refreshing chill.
He lowered his eyes and only then realized that the spot where he and Lin Wangye were sitting was covered by a not-too-big, not-too-small shadow.
Lu Chengxuan was standing in just the right spot to the south.
The shadow blocking the scorching sun came from him.
Recalling his momentary blindness earlier, Lin Shen held his hands up as if using them as binoculars and looked up. After locking eyes with Lu Chengxuan, he asked, “What were you busy with just now?”
“Went to the bathroom,” Lu Chengxuan replied.
Lin Shen was left speechless, thinking about how he never felt the need to go during breaks before military training, but now couldn’t help needing to, and would have to do squats as punishment.
He stayed silent for a moment, unsure whether to compliment or complain.
“You even plan out your pee breaks… timing it this well.”
Lu Chengxuan lowered his eyelids and glanced at the nearly empty water bottle in Lin Shen’s hand, his tone calm: “Just don’t drink too much during breaks.”
Lin Shen stared, baffled at how composed and unfazed Lu Chengxuan looked under the blazing sun. “Do you think I’m peeing for fun? I’m really thirsty! I’ve been roasting out here forever. Don’t you sweat? Don’t you get dehydrated?”
“Calm mind, cool body,” Lu Chengxuan said.
Lin Shen had nothing to say. After a moment, he silently gave a thumbs-up and, holding the half-empty water bottle, lifted it toward him: “I can’t finish this.”
“I’ll throw it out for you.”
Xu Ziqian, seeing that Lin Shen was about to toss it and knowing he was too lazy to move, prepared to stand.
But before he could act, Lu Chengxuan had already taken the water bottle from Lin Shen, twisted the cap off, drank the rest, and turned toward the trash can.
Hello, everyone ヾ(＾∇＾). I hope you enjoyed the story! If you’re feeling generous, please buy me a coffee, share/comment on my translated works! Check out the link below for early chapters. (๑>ᴗ<๑)
