Chapter 85: Moral Education

Chapter 85: Moral Education

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t think much of it at first, but in the following days, Li Meiru kept bringing various things back to the dorm.

Although the items weren’t valuable—just small stuff like a hot water bottle or a water bottle—they were enough to attract attention.

On the seventh day of military training, rumors started spreading in the girls’ dorm.

It was said that a girl was flirting with a soldier from the army, and they were acting too close and inappropriate.

Ye Xiaoxiao didn’t catch the nastier remarks.

But like everyone else in the dormitory, she immediately thought of Li Meiru.

"Li Meiru’s been acting weird lately. Should we ask her what’s going on?"

As the dorm leader, He Jing wanted to be prepared in case it was someone from their dorm, so they wouldn’t be blindsided.

Ye Xiaoxiao stayed quiet. If they approached Li Meiru now, wouldn’t she think Ye Xiaoxiao was ratting her out?

Since Ye Xiaoxiao had witnessed the incident between Li Meiru and that soldier, several days had passed.

It was certain that others had seen it too.

Otherwise, the rumors wouldn’t have spread.

She hoped Li Meiru would wise up.

Tang Xiuxiu said, "Let’s hold off. She’s gotta have heard the rumors. If it’s really her..."

Before she could finish speaking, Li Meiru walked in from outside.

"Sob, sob..."

She threw herself onto the bed and started crying.

The other girls in the dorm were startled.

Xia Li hesitantly asked, "Hey... what's going on?"

"I didn’t do anything wrong, so why are they spreading these rumors about me?"

When Li Meiru returned to the dorm, she bumped into some classmates from the same class who lived next door.

They’d seen her bringing things back daily, and now, with rumors swirling, the girls were being mean—this time right to her face.

Li Meiru tried to defend herself, but they outnumbered her, and she couldn’t stand up to them.

He Jing kindly advised, "The truth will prevail, but remember, we’re in the military. You and your fellow villager should lay low for a while to keep things from getting worse and turning innocent into guilty."

Li Meiru sat up and wiped her tears, "Do you all think I’m involved in some inappropriate relationship?"

He Jing quickly said, "I never said that."

"Knock, knock!"

Someone knocked on the dormitory door.

"Li Meiru, come with me."

Tao Yannan was talking at the doorway.

Everyone in the dormitory glanced over, concerned.

Li Meiru, feeling scared, slowly stepped out.

After stepping out, Li Meiru made her way to Tao Yannan's dormitory, where two girls were standing, two of the girls she had just quarreled with.

As Li Meiru entered, the two girls shot her smug looks.

"Li Meiru, I asked you here to discuss a matter."

Tao Yannan had been briefed by her superiors to pay close attention to the situation among the female students.

She had just received a report that this student Li Meiru had repeatedly accepted gifts from soldiers in the unit, and there were suspicions of an inappropriate relationship.

Naturally, Tao Yannan didn't believe it herself.

However, this was a behavior the leadership had repeatedly stressed must be strictly forbidden, so she had to take it seriously.

Li Meiru nervously gripped the edge of her clothes...

Meanwhile, back in the dormitory.

Once Li Meiru was summoned, the remaining four were at a loss.

Xia Li remarked, "It should be okay as long as Li Meiru keeps quiet; there's no evidence."

He Jing added, "But there are still witnesses; what if someone saw something?"

Tang Xiuxiu said, "Don't freak out; maybe Instructor Tao just caught wind of some nasty rumors."

Ye Xiaoxiao stayed quiet.

Li Meiru came back just before lights out.

She claimed the two girls next door had defamed her, but she admitted nothing.

Though the matter wasn't fully investigated, both Li Meiru and the two girls were barred from the next day's military training.

While the others headed for military training, Li Meiru was summoned alone to the unit leader's office.

Upon entering, she first spotted her fellow villager, Wang Xue.

Wang Xue served under Commander Liu Zhengwei, who naturally handled this ideological briefing.

As a soldier, his tone was quite stern.

Liu Zhengwei had barely spoken a few words before Li Meiru burst into tears.

"I don't know who started the rumors, but Wang Xue and I are entirely innocent; we're just fellow villagers."

Liu Zhengwei typically knew how to handle his soldiers but was clueless when it came to young girls.

Seeing her in this state, he had no choice but to soften his tone.

"That's best, but being in a compromising situation, your close interactions will definitely lead to gossip. Let's let it go this time, and I'll make sure others stop discussing this matter. You two should avoid meeting recently."

This was the optimal outcome, stopping the issue before it could escalate.

After Li Meiru left, Liu Zhengwei said to Wang Xue, "If you like that young girl, you should hold back even more now. You’re from the same hometown, and you’ve already connected. What’s the hurry? If it’s meant to be, you’ll meet again in the future. Luckily, we caught the rumor early. If it were any later, not only you but I would also face punishment."

Wang Xue lowered his head, "Got it, Commander. I just figured the young girl’s on her own and it’s tough for her. I wanted to help as much as I could."

Liu Zhengwei: "Who has it easy? Besides her, there are nearly a hundred female students. You wanna help all of them? Just don’t make trouble, and none of these female students will have any problems."

Wang Xue remained silent.

Liu Zhengwei waved his hand to dismiss him, "Go write up a 3,000-word self-criticism and hand it in."

That’s the least they could do.

After everyone left, Liu Zhengwei leaned back in his chair and picked up his tea mug to drink. All that talking left him parched.

Lu Hanchuan came in from outside and, seeing Commander Liu’s state, laughed, "Finished lecturing?"

"Done, always stirring up trouble every day."

Liu Zhengwei sat up straight, "Your regiment’s in charge of tomorrow’s mountain-crossing training, right? Thirty kilometers—lots can go wrong on the way."

"You think they’ll make it all the way to the finish line? Take it easy."

Lu Hanchuan was strict with his own soldiers in the army but had no expectations for those college students.

Liu Zhengwei thought the same, just get those students safely through, "Get medics and meds ready; a few pass out every year."

Lu Hanchuan: "This year’s batch are med students, right? Let ’em take care of themselves early on."

Liu Zhengwei: "Don’t kid, they’re med students, not docs. They need to complete their university courses before they can treat illnesses."

Lu Hanchuan: "Relax, it’s all set up to make sure they won’t forget it."

Liu Zhengwei: "Tomorrow, the division commander is waiting in the canteen to award prizes. Don’t go too far, not even one person reaching the finish line within the stipulated time."

Lu Hanchuan chuckled, "I told you, just wing it."

Liu Zhengwei was still somewhat distrustful; young people’s words are the least reliable.

…

After Ye Xiaoxiao and the others were dismissed and returned to the dormitory, they found that Li Meiru had already returned and was packing her things.

Xia Li was shocked, "What’s going on? Are you being expelled?"

Li Meiru shook her head, "No, I’m returning the things Wang Xue gave me."