After the assembly whistle sounded, Ke Bu struggled out from under his blanket. He had barely slept the night before. After folding his blanket and washing up, he headed to the gathering point. The other groups had all arrived, yet Ke Bu stood there alone. Am I the only idiot who came? What the hell is wrong with those people?!! He saw the instructor writing something in a notebook. Great. There goes any hope of becoming the best group in this military training. The instructor strode over sternly. “What exactly is wrong with your group? What do you think this military training is?!”
Ke Bu opened his mouth but ultimately said nothing. The instructor angrily continued, “You think it’s impressive that you came by yourself? We didn’t put you into groups for no reason. You’re supposed to have a sense of teamwork. If you woke up, couldn’t you wake everyone else?” My luck this year must be absolutely terrible.
“Go wake every last one of them up. Now.”
“Yes.” Ke Bu answered and followed the equally imposing assistant instructor. The assistant instructor was a young man and looked as though this was his first time doing the job. He walked to the tents, put the whistle hanging from his neck into his mouth, and blew hard. “Everybody up!” His voice rang with confidence, and the beasts inside the tents crawled out one after another.
“What kind of appearance is that? Put your hats on properly! And you, what’s wrong with your belt? So sloppy! Out of the entire first year, your group is the worst. You’re disgracing this squad!” The assistant instructor barked with a stern face, then counted the people who had come out. “Why are there only six? Where’s the seventh?”
“Reporting, instructor. He isn’t feeling well.”
“Not feeling well? What’s wrong with him? You think that’s an excuse to sleep in?”
The assistant instructor walked toward the only tent still tightly closed. He slowly pulled open the zipper, paused for several seconds, then slowly zipped it shut again. “If he isn’t feeling well, we can’t force him. Let’s go.” Nobody knew what exactly the assistant instructor had seen inside. Because of that incident, the whole group had to do an extra half hour of squats compared with everyone else. At noon, they staggered back like zombies, only to find Zhi Li, refreshed and energetic, just getting out of bed. Resentful, jealous looks filled the air.
After lunch, the sun-baked world pressed down on everyone in waves of heat until it was hard to breathe. Ke Bu tugged at his collar and fanned himself with a sheet of paper. In summer, the saying “being beside a ruler is like being beside a tiger” could not have suited Zhi Li better. Everyone was silent. Zhi Li frowned, irritable beyond measure. “So hot.” With Zhi Li being the obvious exception, everyone else had their own thoughts. Ke Bu quickly scanned the other five. Zhou Xin He was an immediate pass. Even with ten times her courage, she would never dare do something like this. Chu Hao Yu was itching to try. Ying Xiu Jie and Gong Zhu seemed to be planning strategies, while Su You Yan wore the relaxed expression of someone watching a show.
Elio’s Notes: “Being beside a ruler is like being beside a tiger” (伴君如伴虎) is a Chinese idiom about the danger of staying close to someone powerful and unpredictable. Ke Bu jokingly applies it to Zhi Li’s heat-induced temper.
Chu Hao Yu walked over with a grin. “Here, Zhi Li, let me fan you.” He moved behind Zhi Li, thinking he would sneak in a kiss somewhere the moment Zhi Li let his guard down. If he had to die once in exchange for a man’s honor, so be it! Chu Hao Yu gently waved the paper. Two minutes passed. Suddenly, he lunged at Zhi Li like a starving wolf. Zhi Li drove an elbow straight into his abdomen. “So hot, you bastard. Don’t stick to me.” Then he rammed his elbow into him twice more, leaving Chu Hao Yu with nothing but pained whimpers.
“If you still have enough life left to lie there, hurry up and keep fanning me.” Zhi Li’s cold voice sounded like a death warrant. Chu Hao Yu struggled to his feet and picked up the paper again. Who could he blame? Only the idiot who had chosen a scorching day like this for the gambling game. He had brought it on himself.
Ying Xiu Jie, his fighting spirit ignited, stretched and planted both hands on the ground. “Tiger Fist, awoo~!” He even made a tiger noise. Ke Bu watched coldly. Ying Xiu Jie, are you trying to be funny? Ying Xiu Jie charged at Zhi Li and tried to bite him. Zhi Li dodged. He tried again. Zhi Li dodged again. Well, biting did technically count as a kind of kiss. He had certainly found an original way to fulfill the bet.
Zhi Li pointed behind Ying Xiu Jie. “Look, what’s that?” Ying Xiu Jie turned around in confusion. Zhi Li planted a foot on his back and flattened the tiger. “I tell you to look and you actually look? Idiot.” Everyone watching felt their hearts jump. Was anything more devious than Zhi Li after his dark transformation? Zhi Li snatched the paper from Chu Hao Yu, stuffed it into Ying Xiu Jie’s mouth, and forced his jaw to chew. “Didn’t I say it’s hot? Don’t come near me. How many times do I have to tell you bastards?”
The whistle sounded, announcing the start of the afternoon drills. After watching the two of them lie there like corpses, Ke Bu felt half his soul leave his body. Force was definitely not going to work. Ever since the first time he had witnessed and personally experienced Zhi Li’s dark transformation back in middle school, Ke Bu had carried a huge trauma he preferred not to remember. Sure, hot weather made people irritable, but Zhi Li’s irritability was practically Satan possessing him.
The afternoon drills did not last long. Because of the extreme heat, everyone was dismissed to rest at three o’clock. Zhi Li’s condition, however, had not improved in the slightest. Everyone had reached the point where they had to stay at least two meters away from him so they would not generate even more heat by clustering together. Naturally, this remote place had neither iced water nor air conditioning. That was supposedly part of the point of military training: getting everyone away from their electronic lives.
Gong Zhu rolled up his sleeves because of the heat, exposing snow-white skin. Fine beads of sweat dotted his face, and even some boys from other groups seemed to be paying attention to him.
“Lord Zhi Li.” Gong Zhu walked toward Zhi Li, who was sitting nearby. He lost his balance and fell straight into Zhi Li’s arms. Zhi Li caught him, then pushed him away the very next second. “So hot. Don’t touch me.” Gong Zhu sat on the ground looking pitiful, his watery eyes shimmering. Ke Bu turned his head away. Damn, too dazzling. Is this the ultimate shou technique for making a gong fall for him? Ke Bu really did know far too many strange terms.
Elio’s Notes: Gong is the BL counterpart to shou, referring to the insertive or more dominant partner role/archetype in a male-male pairing.
“Lord Zhi Li, I feel a little dizzy. Could you help me back to the tent?” Faced with those dazzling eyes, Zhi Li remained completely unmoved. He glanced at Chu Hao Yu. Chu Hao Yu immediately understood, hauled Gong Zhu up, and said, “I’ll take you back.” Apparently Zhi Li was so hot he could not even be bothered to speak. Now what? What am I supposed to do?!
The five of them gathered together. Su You Yan sat off to one side reading, while Zhi Li lay on a rock nearby with one hand behind his head and his eyes closed. Above him, the parasols belonging to Su You Yan and Zhou Xin He had been arranged into a patch of shade. The breeze from the stream gently stirred his hair and fluttered the hem of his clothes. If he neither spoke nor moved, who would ever imagine someone this beautiful could be Zhi Li?
“Looks like nobody’s getting the money or the power,” Chu Hao Yu said, finally realizing how insignificant he was in the face of this gambling game. Ke Bu stood up and tilted his neck from side to side. “Kissing his hand counts too, right?” That was Ke Bu’s absolute limit. Chu Hao Yu nodded, though his eyes were full of disbelief and mockery. Under everyone’s gaze, Ke Bu walked toward Zhi Li.
“Z-Zhi Li.” Courage. Heavens, please grant me absolute courage!!
Zhi Li lazily lifted his eyelids. Ke Bu shuddered. Terrifying. Way too terrifying!
“What the hell are you bastards doing? Enough already.” Yes. Once Zhi Li went through his dark transformation, his catchphrases were basically you bastard, you bastards, and so hot. Su You Yan chose the worst possible moment to speak. “They’re betting on who can kiss you.”
“You joined too! Don’t dump all the responsibility on us!!”
“Haha, that’s basically what happened.” Ke Bu pretended he was not terrified and forced himself to act calm as he tried to smooth things over. At this point he did not want to kiss anything. He only wanted to get away from Zhi Li.
“Then let’s end this farce.” Zhi Li propped up his upper body with one hand, reached out with the other, grabbed Ke Bu by the collar, and dragged him close. Ke Bu’s lips met Zhi Li’s. Ke Bu could no longer think. All he could feel was the excessive heat inside Zhi Li’s mouth. The parasol above them fell, hiding the two of them beneath it. Zhi Li’s kiss was just like his temper, possessive and domineering, pulling insistently at Ke Bu’s lips. Tongue… his tongue. Ke Bu’s eyes flew open. He actually put his tongue in my mouth. Their tongues tangled, separated, then tangled again. Someone save me. What is this feeling of having every thought stolen away?
Zhi Li released Ke Bu, kicked the parasol aside, and looked at the four people standing there with their mouths hanging open. “Satisfied?” It sounded less like a question than a threat. The four of them nodded blankly. “Y-yes… satisfied.”
Ke Bu sank weakly to the ground, covered his mouth with his sleeve, and stared blankly at the earth.
“Xiu Jie, hurry, carry him back to the tent. Ke Bu is down.” Chu Hao Yu and Ying Xiu Jie hauled Ke Bu up and threw him into the tent. Chu Hao Yu spoke with heartfelt gravity. “Even if this was a little too stimulating for you, this is the price of money and power, Leader.”
How was Ke Bu supposed to understand this? Had he won effortlessly, or lost miserably?