Chapter 128: Second Watch

Chapter 128: Second Watch

The two-week military training was not particularly challenging for most of the freshmen in this year's class, as many of them had previously participated in industrial and agricultural production.

Take the female comrades in Shen Moer's dormitory, for example. Even Feng Manni, who seemed a bit upper-class and somewhat delicate, never complained throughout the entire training.

Lin Yiqing had a tough time but managed to push through.

The others had no issues at all.

"Actually, I thought at first you might not make it," Yuan Lan chatted with Shen Moer during a break. "You seem like someone who was spoiled at home, and you're still in your breastfeeding period, comrade."

Shen Moer took a sip of water and smiled, "My stamina is pretty good, and besides, the instructor let me skip morning runs because of my breastfeeding."

Since she was breastfeeding and not living on campus, she lacked the objective conditions to participate in morning runs. The instructor made an exception, allowing her to feed her child at home before coming to school.

After all, the nation's future is more important than military training.

In previous years, Capital University's military training either put students in militia units or sent them directly to the military for training. This year was the first time they invited military officers to conduct training on campus.

Shen Moer counted herself lucky that the format had changed this year. Otherwise, if she had been sent to the military for two weeks, her daughter Liang Liang would likely have been forced to wean by the time she returned.

Now, she could juggle both.

In fact, strictly speaking, she benefited from her daughter's situation. Otherwise, having to wake up before dawn every day for a three-kilometer run, even with her stamina, would have been unbearable.

Shen Moer sometimes thought of Liu Yingshuang's phrase, "suffering for no good reason," and felt that military training was a perfect example of "suffering for no good reason."

Of course, this was just something she kept to herself. After all, military training for college students does help build strength and toughen up.

While Shen Moer could skip morning runs, Fu Mingze couldn't. These days, Fu Mingze would get up before dawn, and by the time he left, Shen Moer was usually still asleep.

However, Fu Mingze also benefited from their daughter's situation, as he didn't have to live on campus.

After all, the nation's future not only needs a mother's care but also a father's companionship.

After more than ten days of morning runs, Shen Moer couldn't tell if it was just her imagination, but Fu Zhiqing seemed to have developed more defined muscles.

When the break ended, the instructor blew a whistle, and the forty students of Political Economy Class 1 quickly formed a neat queue.

The instructor, surnamed Huang, pointed at Guo Qi, who was at the front of the first row, and called him out: "Your movements are still not up to standard. Stand here and carefully observe how others do it."

Then he pointed at Shen Moer: "Step out and demonstrate."

Perhaps because she had some martial arts training, military drills were a breeze for Shen Moer. Her movements were the most precise, and her posture was the most standard.

Instructor Huang would often shout, "You men can't even match up to a girl? And you female comrades, can't you even match up to a breastfeeding comrade? Look at how she does it, and then look at yourselves!"

This made Shen Moer pretty unpopular.

Especially Guo Qi, the class president, whose coordination was so poor that he was frequently picked on by Instructor Huang as a bad example. Ashamed, Guo Qi's gaze toward Shen Moer, the "positive example," got more and more hostile.

It was clear that Guo Qi was someone who was really concerned about his reputation. Unfortunately, he encountered a no-nonsense instructor who didn't care about his status as class president and often used him to set an example. If looks could kill, Shen Moer suspected Guo Qi's gaze would have already torn the instructor to shreds.

Today was no different. Guo Qi was once again called out by the instructor to demonstrate his movements alone, and the instructor even told him to learn from Shen Moer. Guo Qi's face turned red with embarrassment.

Instructor Huang even grumbled, "How on earth did you become class president?"

The speaker meant no harm, but the listener took it to heart. After the morning training, Guo Qi somehow got hold of a medical certificate and directly took leave for the remaining days of the military training.

When the afternoon training began, Instructor Huang scratched his head, looking completely baffled, and asked others if they knew why Guo Qi suddenly took leave, as he seemed perfectly fine in the morning.

He added that if Guo Qi had felt unwell in the morning, he should have said something.

He then told everyone to let him know immediately if they had any problems.

Everyone in Political Economy Class 1, except for the absent Guo Qi, was at a loss for words.

Instructor Huang was completely clueless!

He probably genuinely wanted to help Guo Qi get better, which is why he kept pulling him out for demonstrations.

But he never thought about whether Guo Qi might feel embarrassed by this.

Shen Moer was also at a loss for words. Watching Instructor Huang, she remembered Liu Yingshuang's remark, "Emotional intelligence is a fatal flaw," and thought this must be it.

Of course, Shen Moer never expected that this incident would also land her in hot water.

That afternoon, after training ended, You Yonghua called Shen Moer over at the edge of the field, saying he needed to talk to her. Shen Moer, dragging her tired body, followed him to a quiet corner.

You Yonghua got straight to the point: "Shen Moer, are you unhappy with the class committee assignments?"

Shen Moer was momentarily puzzled: "What?"

You Yonghua glanced at her, frowning slightly, and said, "Someone reported to me that you are very unhappy with the class committee assignments, believing that Guo Qi is not fit to be the class monitor. They also said that you spread rumors in the dormitory about me favoring Guo Qi. On top of that, during the military training, you were overly competitive, deliberately putting down Guo Qi, and made inappropriate comments in front of Instructor Huang, leading him to doubt Guo Qi's abilities."

Shen Moer was silent for a moment.

She raised an eyebrow and shot back, "Counselor, who reported this? What proof do they have?"

You Yonghua's frown deepened: "I can't tell you who reported it. But as the saying goes, 'Where there's smoke, there's fire.' Since someone said it, there must be some truth to it. The class committee for the first semester has always been chosen by the counselor. As a female comrade, making you the deputy class monitor was already a thoughtful consideration of your background and rank. Capital University is one of the top schools in the country, and it's not the same as a factory in a small town. Don't think that just because you could run a factory, you can run a class."

You Yonghua had seen Shen Moer's file and knew she was a deputy division-level official.

But he didn't think much of it. Young and attractive female comrades always had an edge over male comrades. Like how, after so many years, he was still just a counselor for freshmen, while a female colleague with less experience had already worked her way into a leadership position in the school's logistics department.

In small towns, it was probably the same. Securing the title of a state-owned factory director might not be too difficult for some people.

This was the benefit of power.

You Yonghua lowered his eyes, hiding a trace of disdain.

Shen Moer had been through a full day of training and was both hungry and exhausted. She had initially thought the counselor had something important to discuss, but after listening, it turned out to be a reprimand.

Shen Moer almost laughed in anger. It had been years since she last heard such absurd remarks after becoming a factory director.

"First of all, Instructor Huang is an independent-thinking adult. No one can lead him to doubt Guo Qi. That's between the two of them and has nothing to do with me. If Counselor You wants to support Guo Qi, he can directly approach Instructor Huang."

"Secondly, I haven't done the things I'm accused of. No matter what others say, I haven't done them. That's not 'where there's smoke, there's fire'; that's slander."

"Thirdly, whether I'm a factory director or a class monitor has nothing to do with me being a female comrade. Women hold up half the sky, and that's not just a saying. Since the founding of the country, countless female comrades have achieved extraordinary things in ordinary positions. That's not something you can dismiss with a single comment about me being a female comrade."

"Finally," Shen Moer smiled slightly, "Counselor You didn't carefully review my file, did you? If I can manage a leading export-oriented enterprise, of course, I can manage a class."

She paused and added, "To be honest, I didn't have strong feelings about whether I should be a monitor or not. But now I feel I am qualified and capable of being a good class monitor. Since Counselor You thinks I have objections, then I do. I will take this matter to the department myself."