After all the squads orderly withdrew from the field, everyone went their separate ways.
The instructors left, and no one even knew when they left. Probably... it might have been when they heard that synchronized marching sound.
In just half a month, the image of the instructors was deeply etched in their minds—adorable, stern, resolute...
To Mo Jingchun, the instructors were a group of lovable people, just like the students, because the instructors were also a group of lads not yet twenty.
The maturity on the instructors' faces would have been unnoticeable had it not been for one instructor mentioning during break that he was only eighteen, which Mo Jingchun and the others couldn't tell or even imagine.
No one said goodbye, no one was sent off; this lovable group quietly returned to the barracks, and next, what awaited them would be the discharge of the veterans.
In the words of the instructor, "Before getting discharged, being a squad leader and leading a whole squad of new recruits—it's worth it for a lifetime."
It was unlikely that the students would ever meet their respective instructors again, even if they were all in the same city!
As for meeting by chance a few years later, who would recognize whom by then?
Even when seeing a stranger who might have been a university freshman training instructor, in uncertain situations, who would go and ask?
Mo Jingchun took a deep breath and exhaled deeply, then with a smile on his face, walked toward senior substitute Zhang Hui Zhen and senior substitute Yang Wenzhao not far away.
Zhang Hui Zhen shook Candy's little hand facing the approaching Mo Jingchun and chanted:
"Candy, look, who is that?"
Mo Jingchun clapped his hands and opened his arms for his sister Candy to come into his embrace.
Candy, who was drinking grandma's milk, forgot to put the bottle in her mouth after seeing Mo Jingchun taking off his hat.
The little one craned her neck, looking left and right, still appearing a bit unsure.
"Hahaha, that cracks me up, Mo Jingchun."
"Your sister is starting to doubt if you're really her brother."
"I already told you to buy some sunscreen, but you didn't listen. Now, after the training, you've gone from fair-skinned to the dark-skinned monitor."
Silent Yang Wenzhao, hearing the word "monitor," also grinned.
To be honest, if he had a crescent moon on his forehead, he would indeed look like a special version of the dark-skinned monitor.
Mo Jingchun rubbed his nose and said awkwardly, "I didn't expect it to be this serious."
Mo Jingchun frowned as he spoke, "A bit of tanning is no big deal; it's a healthy color. What I don't get is why my arm and neck started peeling. When I pull it, I get a large piece, and the stark white against the adjacent dark skin makes it more noticeable."
"Look, see for yourselves." Mo Jingchun extended his right arm, showing a very apparent white patch on his elbow.
Yang Wenzhao glancing at it, calmly remarked, "It's normal, just dead skin. Some people's bodies react this way; we had a few cases in our class after the training ended too."
Mo Jingchun breathed a sigh of relief, "That's good. I was about to go to the hospital for a checkup. I thought it was..."
"Vitiligo."
Mo Jingchun awkwardly nodded.
Yang Wenzhao acknowledged with an "Hmm," "It does look a bit similar. Back then, a few guys from our class thought the same way. Although the likelihood of getting vitiligo simultaneously was almost zero, they still went as a group to the hospital for a checkup, which proved pointless as it was just dead skin."
Candy, after scrutinizing for a while, affirmed it was him upon hearing Mo Jingchun's voice and recognizing his familiar scent.
Without Mo Jingchun reaching out, the little one bent down on her own, wanting Mo Jingchun to hug her.
Holding his sister Candy, Mo Jingchun handed the bottle to her mouth and then thanked senior substitutes Zhang Hui Zhen and Yang Wenzhao, "Senior, senior, thank you for taking care of my sister during these two weeks."
"The day after tomorrow is Saturday. I wonder if you have time; I'd like to invite you and Na to a meal. Yes, I'm cooking myself."
Zhang Hui Zhen was initially planning to decline, thinking Mo Jingchun wanted to take her and Yang Wenzhao and Na out for a meal, which would cost at least two or three hundred. But upon hearing Mo Jingchun say he would cook himself, her eyes lit up.
To be able to cook and have the courage to invite others shows he is confident in his cooking skills.
A rare breed of a boy!!!
"Sure, sure, a junior inviting us to a meal, I must make time!" Zhang Hui Zhen finished, giving Yang Wenzhao, standing there unmoved, a threatening look, as if saying, "If you dare refuse, you're done for."
"I have time on Saturday as well." Yang Wenzhao nodded, slightly twitching at the corners of his mouth.
"Great, it's settled then. I'll ask Na later whether she's free on Saturday noon or evening, and I'll let you know via QQ whether it's noon or evening."
"Okay, no problem."
After parting with senior substitute Yang Wenzhao and Zhang Hui Zhen, Mo Jingchun happily carried his sister back to the apartment. Along the way, Candy kept staring at his face, occasionally touching the differently colored parts of his skin with her little hands.
The little one's head was filled with big question marks.
Candy: ???????
With the training over, the school granted a day off, and along with the regular weekend, it made a three-day short break.
By evening, while Mo Jingchun took his sister for a walk, there were almost no traces of the training uniforms left on campus. However, it was easy to distinguish the new students who just started this year from seniors at a glance.
Because all the freshmen had something in common with Mo Jingchun, different from the seniors' skin—a healthy tan.
Even though many girls, and even boys, used sunscreen, it didn't stop the harsh sun.
The only thing was, compared to Mo Jingchun, who did nothing, they looked a little less tanned.
Mo Jingchun had checked his phone and found that in cases like theirs, where freshmen get tanned during training, normally depending on how tanned they got, it would take one to two months to return to their original fairness.
Along the way, Mo Jingchun observed that most of the people he saw were freshmen; the figures of seniors were less than that of freshmen.
However, looking at the brightly lit library not far away, the answer was evident.
A scholarly atmosphere is crucial and infectious; when you realize those around you are striving and studying hard, you'll find that you, too, will become like them, focusing your efforts on learning.
On the contrary, if you stay in an environment without any academic atmosphere, unless extremely self-disciplined, you'll become one of them.
To remain unstained like a lotus emerging from mud is not that simple.