Free Web NovelChapter 177: Chapter 177: Fainting
When Su Li got home, she rubbed her face for a long time.
Because it was so sore.
Sore from smiling.
’In the last ten days, or even half a month, she hadn’t smiled as much as she did today.’
’Wu Sheng was really...’
Su Li couldn’t find the words to describe him. Just thinking of Wu Sheng made her want to smile.
Perhaps from smiling a little too much, a mix of amusement and exasperation, Su Li looked in the mirror and thought her face looked both red and dark.
"I’m not quite charcoal yet, but I’m not far off," Su Li couldn’t help but mumble.
Su Li naturally had good, fair skin, but after living in the countryside, the wind and sun had tanned her quite a bit.
It wasn’t until she was a substitute teacher at an elementary school, spending her days indoors, that her skin had recovered its fairness.
But after just one military training session, she was tan all over again.
Still, it was a healthy-looking tan.
Su Li recalled what Wu Sheng had said and zoned out for a moment.
’Liking someone is a beautiful thing, whether you’re the one doing the liking or the one being liked.’
It was true. No matter the ups and downs along the way, it all turned sweet in the end.
Just like youth.
Whether it was mundane or lived with great passion, when you grew up and looked back, everything seemed beautiful.
’Except for me... who never had a youth. But thankfully, heaven gave me a chance to do it all over again!’
Su Li looked at her own youthful, collagen-rich face in the mirror and broke into a smile. Suddenly, she was bursting with inspiration.
She quickly found some paper and a pen and, with a flurry of motion, produced several design sketches.
The designs featured youth-centric apparel—simple, yet exuding a sense of youthfulness.
With a sweet feeling in her heart, the girls’ clothes Su Li drew all had a touch of sweetness to them.
"Just like this... It doesn’t need to be complicated. Youth itself is the best accessory; you’ll look good in anything!"
She flicked the paper lightly with her finger, looking at her work with great satisfaction.
"I’d want to wear these myself. All these colors will brighten the complexion..."
Since Su Li herself was tanned, the colors she chose for the clothes were all flattering, suitable for those with darker complexions.
’I’ll put these away safely. I can use them in the future!’ Su Li carefully tidied up her sketches.
’Compared to later generations, most people in this era weren’t that fair due to sun exposure, aside from the lucky few who were naturally pale and didn’t tan. These clothes would be perfect.’
After putting everything away, Su Li went to bed, content. freewёbn૦νeɭ.com
It had been a long day, but because she was in such a good mood and felt so fulfilled, Su Li fell fast asleep in no time.
「A dreamless night.」
Because she slept so well, she woke up late the next day and was almost late for military training.
She rushed and made it to the training grounds at the last possible second. After getting into formation, Su Li let out a huge sigh of relief.
But before she could even finish her sigh, Su Li noticed the instructor staring right at her.
Su Li immediately tensed up.
"Should we wait for you to catch your breath?" the instructor asked as she looked over.
The other students snickered.
Her face flushed crimson, Su Li held her breath. "Reporting, Sir! No need!"
"At ease! Attention!" Only then did the instructor look away.
’But the instructor had probably marked her for it.’
That day, the instructor put Su Li on grunt duty, making her call out the cadences.
"One-two-one, one-two-one! Quick march! Goose-step!" Su Li yelled for so long that her head began to spin.
But compared to the instructor, whose voice had gone completely hoarse, she was doing much better.
The day ended with more marching and goose-stepping, and after that came the long-distance field march.
On the day of the field march, Su Li and the others woke up bright and early, packed up their quilts and other belongings, and began the loaded march.
The field march was a rather unique training exercise. In her previous life, Su Li had even seen a joke online about this very aspect of military training.
The joke was about some clueless foreigners who discovered a strange phenomenon in Huaguo. Every year in early September, massive troops of young people would suddenly appear, spreading out across the entire country.
It was a terrifying sight.
And then... even more terrifyingly, they would all mysteriously disappear just as quickly as they had appeared.
Later, they learned the truth: it was just Huaguo’s university and high school students undergoing military training.
Now, with the marching units assembled, it was time for Su Li and her classmates to go out and do their part in the "impersonation."
The entire march was a twenty-kilometer round trip. Aside from a thirty-minute break in the middle to recharge, the whole journey was a fast-paced trek.
Without the extra weight, twenty kilometers would have been manageable for everyone. The problem was the heavy packs.
On the way to the destination, some students with average stamina began to falter after the halfway point.
The instructors supervised everyone, carrying two or three extra packs themselves, and worked tirelessly to keep the column moving forward.
Su Li was drenched in sweat, gritting her teeth to keep moving forward, when suddenly her pack was lifted off her back.
"Instructor, I can carry it my—"
Su Li was halfway through her sentence when she saw that the person who had taken her pack was Tang Yuanxiao.
Tang Yuanxiao was also participating in the march, trekking alongside them the whole way. He was already carrying three packs, and with Su Li’s, he now had four.
"Drink some water and rehydrate," Tang Yuanxiao said in a low voice, and turned to leave with Su Li’s pack in hand.
"Tang... I can carry it myself," Su Li said hurriedly.
"Just keep up." Tang Yuanxiao said no more and quickened his pace to move ahead.
There was no room on his back for Su Li’s pack, and he already had others hanging on his front, so he simply carried hers by hand.
’Just looking at him was exhausting.’
Su Li thought it looked exhausting, but Tang Yuanxiao seemed to be managing just fine.
Having noticed Su Li’s pale face, Tang Yuanxiao had been keeping an eye on her for the latter part of the march, staying neither too far nor too close.
Su Li persevered, pushing on until they finally reached the midway rest stop.
The instructors who arrived ahead of them had already made preparations; drinking water was ready and waiting.
It was mountain spring water, ice-cold with a hint of sweetness. It tasted unbelievably good.
Each squad got one bucket of water, and everyone descended on it like a pack of starving wolves. In moments, the bucket was empty.
After drinking, everyone finally felt alive again, collapsing to the ground one by one.
"We finally made it. Eat quickly, and then get some rest."
The school cafeteria had made adjustments for the field march.
The meal consisted of steamed buns, pickled vegetables, and boiled eggs.
As Su Li was eating, she suddenly felt a familiar warmth spread from below.
Su Li closed her eyes, a look of resignation on her face. ’Looks like it’s here after all...’
Forgetting all about her food, Su Li rushed to the restroom. One look confirmed it: her period had arrived. freewebnσvel.cøm
Fortunately, Su Li had anticipated it would arrive in the next day or two, so she had the necessary supplies on her.
But Su Li’s relief didn’t last long.
Perhaps because she had chugged too much cold spring water earlier, not even half an hour into the return march, Su Li’s abdomen began to cramp painfully.
At first, she thought it would pass quickly, but the pain not only persisted, it grew steadily worse.
Su Li’s pace slowed, her face breaking out in a cold sweat.
"Su Li, what’s wrong?" Chang E was the first to notice something was amiss.
"I’m fine, it’ll pass," Su Li said, waving a hand dismissively. An instructor came over, took one look at her pale face, and quickly took her pack.
"Can you keep going?" the instructor asked.
"Yes," Su Li nodded, gritting her teeth.
Tang Yuanxiao came over. Seeing her face grow even more ghastly pale, his expression darkened slightly. "If you can’t take it anymore, say something."
"Mm," Su Li agreed and pressed onward.
Tang Yuanxiao furrowed his brow and fell back, trailing a short distance behind her.
Su Li’s condition didn’t improve. The pain intensified, coming in waves that were starting to cause spasms.
Su Li frowned. ’I have a higher pain tolerance than most, but even I’m about to reach my limit.’
As another wave of pain washed over her, Su Li faltered. She opened her mouth to call out, but before any sound could escape, her vision went black.
