Chapter 65
Chapter 65
Commander Ford opened up a rug before placing the blanket on it, showing the crowd how to stack the blankets. Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
“After placing the blanket evenly, pick a spot one third away from the edge of the blanket and fold it three times. The corners of the blanket must be folded properly. After that, fold it this way, this way, and lastly, this way…”
Everyone watched in awe as Commander Ford folded the blanket into a neat square in the blink of an eye. They were all impressed when they saw that there was not even a single crease on the folded blanket.
Commander Ford asked, “Are you guys clear with it now? You may start folding it if you have remembered the steps.”
The students looked stunned, for most of them couldn’t follow at all. However, they couldn’t stand there and do nothing, so they could only try folding the blankets themselves.
Commander Ford then walked around to inspect how the students were doing while scolding them at the same time. “What is this? A pile of crap?”
“Did you not eat anything earlier? Why are you trembling while folding a blanket?”
“You, come over here! I asked you to fold a blanket, but what are you doing? Such a crybaby. Stop crying!”
Finally, he came across a student whom he was rather pleased with. He then praised her in front of everyone. “Everyone, come over and have a look. This blanket that Sophia had folded has passed the test.”
Everyone turned to Sophia. The blanket in front of her was a standard square with its edges well-defined; even the blanket which Nathan had folded looked decent.
Sophia then replied bashfully, “Since I couldn’t catch up with the earlier training because my leg is injured, I can only work harder on the housekeeping training.”
After Michael got back home, the house was handled in a military style. She was not allowed to laze in bed and she had to finish her breakfast within ten minutes; even her blanket had to fold into a square, military-style. Thus, this was the result of Michael’s training.
She was a step closer to getting full marks in military training.
Feeling very pleased with her, Commander Ford showered her with praises. He had been the officer for a few terms now, but this was his first time seeing such a diligent and motivated student. Everyone then learned from Sophia, who did not hold anything back and taught everyone the techniques of folding the blanket.
Sophia’s status in the class had steadily risen.
After the housekeeping training, everyone returned to their barracks. They had ended a tough day of training, and it was finally time for them to rest.
The moment they returned to their dorms, the girls embraced each other and started bawling their eyes out. They wanted to withdraw from the military training, but they did not have the courage to do so. The thought of having to wake up at 7:30 the next morning to start training on time and to get their housekeeping checked devastated the girls.
This was only their first day, and they still had twenty-nine more days to go.
After washing her face, Sophia sympathized with the group of girls who were crying when she entered the barracks, even though one of them had probably placed a nail in her shoe before.
She advised everyone, “Stop crying, everyone. You have to think positively. The General is the eldest son of the Fletcher Family. He’s a rich bachelor. If one of you can get his attention, that’ll be amazing!”
Any woman from prominent families in Bayside City would want to marry into one of the Four Great Families, but even though they were famous in the city, the chances of them meeting a member of the Four Great Families were disproportionately small. Now that this opportunity of seeing Joel Fletcher daily had presented itself, it was something that many could only wish for.
Catching the attention of Joel was the only motivation that made the girls continue with their military training. If they could perform well and attract Joel’s attention, that would be great.
Sophia then added, “All our facial masks and makeup have been confiscated. If you guys continue crying, your eyes will be swollen tomorrow. Then, the General wont even lay his eyes on you guys.”
Her words seemed to be quite persuasive, for the barracks instantly turned quiet. Sophia then carried an iced watermelon over. “Go to sleep when you’ve finished eating.”
Everyone cheered before snatching their portions of the watermelon. Their moods had improved greatly. The barracks were packed with beds and even the fan was barely working, let alone the refrigerator and air conditioner. Hence, it was a huge deal that they could get some watermelon to eat.
Sophia’s watermelon had become a hard currency in training camp. With the absence of a refrigerator and air conditioner, her iced watermelon was like an oasis. Everyone started cottoning up to her just so that they could get themselves a piece of iced watermelon.
Military life was simple yet robotic in nature. The lights would be switched on at seven in the morning daily and they were given half an hour to freshen up and have their breakfast. After starting their run for
one kilometer at 7:30 sharp, their training for the day would then commence at eight. Their lunch was okay, while those who wanted to have a heartier dinner would have to run faster.
Every electronic device had been confiscated in the military camp. The only leisure activity after a day’s training was sleep. The most interesting thing that would happen was if they had a bedtime chat before bed. They would talk about their dream men, gossip about who was good-looking in a certain company, and who was the most muscular.
The difference in everyone’s status seemed to be getting less obvious, for they were now all equals in hardship. Unknowingly, they had forged a military friendship among themselves.
Sophia had become the co-leader of Company 49, second to Commander Ford; even Nathan was basking in her limelight.
If this persisted, she felt like getting full marks in her military training would not be a dream anymore.
During the second afternoon of the military training, Sophia used the excuse that she needed to get her bandage changed so that she could sneak into the computer room to use the computers with Nathan again.
She took a look at the stocks, checked the futures and housing market, but in the end, she logged on to her Messenger account and looked for Michael on her own accord.
Michael, who was in front of the computer screen, had just come back from a late filming session. The moment he returned to the hotel, he immediately noticed that Sophia had taken the initiative to come and look for him, which was a first.
Chica asked, ‘Are you there, Honey?’
Micheael’s reply came. ‘My dear chica, you finally talked to your hubby first!’
Eww. Sophia was so annoyed that she wanted to turn off the screen. She then cut to the chase. ‘Honey, I’m secretly surfing the Internet, so my time is limited. I want to ask you something. What should I do to get full marks in military training?’
Sophia had asked this question before. Ever since Bayside University had started the military training system, only a handful of people managed to obtain full marks. Furthermore, most of them were the Fletchers.
If she could obtain full marks in military training, she would get significantly more credit hours as well. Then, it would be easy for her to get a scholarship. She thought to herself that since she was already here and had put in so much effort, she needed to obtain full marks so that she wouldn’t let herself down.
Michael, who was sitting in front of the computer, rubbed his chin while looking at Sophia’s question, his eyebrows raised.
He did not expect Sophia to have such ambition, for it was almost impossible to get full marks in military training.
He replied, ‘The full marks for military training is 100, but you already pass the test if you get 60. Chica, don’t be greedy. It isn’t easy to get marks in military training. It’s already good enough if you can pass it.’
Sophia quickly answered, ‘I’m just curious. Honey, quick, tell me. Tell me!’
Michael must be thinking that Sophia was acting coquettishly as she typed out those words. It was a pity that he could not hear her voice. He then replied, ‘There are too many rules and I’m too lazy to type them out. Look for the personnel in charge of the computer room and ask for an earphone. I will say them out for you.’
Sophia swiftly looked for the personnel and asked for an earphone. After plugging it in, her audio was connected and they began chatting.
Michael went straight to the point when the call was connected. He immediately started explaining the rules of training camp. “Bayside University’s training camp is very strict. It may seem like they let you have your freedom, but the instructors whom they have assigned to you guys are from the special forces.
Every one of them has been specially chosen. There are less than forty people in one company, so the instructor can clearly see everyone’s actions. The training grounds and every corner of the place have been installed with surveillance cameras. Besides, there are more than 100 people watching your every move in the surveillance room.”
Sophia was drenched in cold sweat after listening to him. It turned out that there were so many secrets in training camp. Would that mean that she had been exposed for pretending to be injured?