Serenade

The next morning, Shen Pingchuan brought Jinxi an electric mosquito repellent patch.

Downstairs in the dormitory building, he held Jinxi's neck and looked it over: "What African mosquito bit you like this? It's been a few days and it still hasn't healed."

The little strawberry on Jinxi's neck had faded a lot, but there was still a mark.

Jinxi pulled up her collar so he couldn't look at it anymore: "Thanks, brother. I'll head back first."

Just then, Bo Yan, who had just finished morning drills, walked over. He wasn't wearing a jacket anymore, just a thin t-shirt, the front damp with sweat.

He saw Jinxi and Shen Pingchuan, and his jet-black eyes grew even darker.

"Hey, Bo Yan," Shen Pingchuan greeted him with a wave.

Bo Yan responded coldly, then turned and went back to the dorm.

Shen Pingchuan watched his cold back, scratching his head in confusion: "What's up with him? He doesn't seem too happy?"

Jinxi muttered sullenly: "Who knows, whatever."

Shen Pingchuan looked at Jinxi in surprise: "Aren't you Bo Yan's biggest fan? What happened?"

"Who's his fan!" Jinxi shook off Shen Pingchuan's hand and angrily said, "Don't say things that aren't true!"

"Okay, okay, no need to get so worked up."

"Worked up? Am I worked up?"

Shen Pingchuan: "Visibly worked up, yes."

**

The cold war continued for several days.

Bo Yan absolutely refused to return Jinxi's scarf, and of course Jinxi would not return his jacket either.

Their roommates felt a bit helpless watching these two. They were like strangers when they met, not interacting at all. But quarrel or not, it didn't affect things at all.

Bo Yan still got up early to occupy seats in the library for her, and when she arrived, he would turn his back carrying his books, ignoring her. But a cup of warm milk with a straw would be waiting on the table.

And when Jinxi went grocery shopping, she would send a text to Xu Chaoyang or Jing Chi -

"I'm at the supermarket, want me to get anything?"

At the gym, Jing Chi said to Bo Yan, "Your wife's at the supermarket, asking if you need anything."

Bo Yan was doing bicep curls with dumbbells: "Tell her that even if I die, I won't accept a single thing she buys for me! That's a man's dignity."

Jing Chi put his phone down: "Tell her yourself."

Bo Yan: ......

Fine, he'd say it himself.

Bo Yan took out his phone to message Jinxi. Jing Chi leaned over to look, so Bo Yan immediately turned his back: "I'm going to firmly reject her."

Jing Chi scornfully snorted: "I bet you don't have the guts."

The dignified Bo Yan hunched over as he typed out the message, polite and proper: "Jinxi, I'm out of men's shower gel. Please get me some, thanks."

Then he sent Jinxi a red packet of 100 yuan: "Buy yourself some candy with the change."

After Jinxi received it, she disdainfully tutted and replied: "You're welcome, Bo Yan. I don't eat candy, keep the change."

Jinxi carried her little red basket to the men's bath aisle, carefully looking over the wide variety of products. She picked up different shower gels, checking the ingredients and benefits.

A saleswoman came over to Jinxi: "Miss, take a look, this brand is pretty good, and it's on promotion."

"Thanks, but no need. I'm looking for milk-scented shower gel."

She used a milky shower gel herself, so she instinctively wanted to pick the same scent for Bo Yan.

"Buying shower gel for Bo Yan, little sister?"

Jinxi looked up to see Qu Xuanxuan had appeared next to her at some point.

"Senior sister, you're shopping too."

Qu Xuanxuan held up a bottle of men's shower gel and recommended it to Jinxi: "Guys always shower after exercising, it'd be better to get him a refreshing mint shower gel to cool off."

"Oh, thanks senior sister."

"You're welcome."

Qu Xuanxuan had recently permed her hair into chestnut-colored waves that draped over her shoulders. She wore a knee-length pleated skirt, with a fluffy little satin bow tied at her side waist, looking a bit coy and lively with the hairstyle and outfit.

Jinxi looked at Qu Xuanxuan and said, "Senior sister looks a little different today."

She used to look more mature and elegant, not this cute style.

Qu Xuanxuan smiled and said, "Well, if I'm going to date younger male juniors, I should make myself look a bit younger too, right?"

Jinxi looked at her in shock: "You mean..."

"Yesterday, Instructor Xu confessed to me."

Jinxi's hand gripped the basket tighter, but she said evenly: "Then...congratulations, senior sister."

"What's there to congratulate?" Qu Xuanxuan said, "I haven't decided whether to accept yet. Junior sister, what do you think, should I agree?"

"Don't you have your own thoughts, senior sister? Why ask me?"

"We weren't that close originally. You all are closer to him, little Zhao especially, she seems quite familiar with Instructor Xu."

Jinxi pressed her lips together. She felt a chill in her heart, even though Qu Xuanxuan was still smiling brightly.

"Senior sister, if you're asking my opinion, then I'd say don't agree."

"Oh? And why's that?"

"Because you don't actually like Instructor Xu at all."

Qu Xuanxuan raised her eyebrows at Jinxi: "You know that too."

"If you really liked Instructor Xu, when he confessed to you, you would have agreed without hesitation. You wouldn't still be considering it now, and coming to test my reaction instead." Jinxi said evenly: "You asking me means that my response will influence your decision, right?"

Qu Xuanxuan's smile deepened: "Wow, junior sister, you really are so smart!"

Jinxi pressed her lips together. She didn't come to this conclusion alone.

The four girls in her dorm room had discussed and analyzed Qu Xuanxuan's ploy in detail the previous night.

She clearly had no interest in Instructor Xu. Getting close to him recently was most likely to provoke him into confessing to her.

Lin Luo had analyzed that Qu Xuanxuan wouldn't agree outright, but she also wouldn't reject immediately. She would come test Jinxi's attitude.

And as expected, Qu Xuanxuan was now asking her directly.

"I know little Zhao has a crush on Instructor Xu," Qu Xuanxuan said. "I don't want to make her sad either."

Jinxi remained silent. If she took the initiative to ask now, she would lose the upper hand.

Qu Xuanxuan went on, "Jinxi, you really are so lucky. The best boys at the military academy have all become your boyfriends."

She hmmed, pretending not to understand the implication.

Qu Xuanxuan simply laid it all out openly, no longer beating around the bush: "I know how much Chu Zhao likes Instructor Xu. You're roommates and best friends, so you definitely don't want to make her sad, right?"

"You want me to break up with Bo Yan?"

Qu Xuanxuan smiled lightly: "You two are fighting anyway, it's normal for couples to break up and get back together. If you split up for a bit and let me try dating Bo Yan, you can always make up later. That way everyone's happy, right?"

Seeing Jinxi remain silent, Qu Xuanxuan put the mint shower gel in her basket: "Think about it, junior sister."

Just as she was about to leave, Jinxi suddenly said, "No need to think about it."

Qu Xuanxuan looked back: "Hm?"

Jinxi took out the mint shower gel and put it back on the shelf. Then she picked up the milk-scented one she liked—

"I won't consider this kind of thing, and I won't give up Bo Yan for anyone. I like him a lot."

Jinxi had never truly voiced her feelings for Bo Yan to anyone before. Bo Yan was like a little sun nestled in her heart, giving her strength and warmth. Even when his sharp edges scorched her at times, none of that would change one thing—

She liked Bo Yan, and would absolutely not let him go.

Qu Xuanxuan's eyes hardened, though she kept her smile: "Alright then, I guess I'll just have to make your best friend sad."

...

After Qu Xuanxuan left, Jinxi immediately pulled out her phone and tapped into the dorm group chat.

Jinxi: "Lin Luo, you were completely right!"

Lin Luo: "She really came to you about breaking up with Bo Yan?"

Jinxi: "Yeah."

Lin Luo: "First seduce Instructor Xu to make Chu Zhao sad. Then sow discord between you and Senior Bo Yan to make you have a quarrel, so your breakup will be reasonable. When Senior Bo Yan is heartbroken because of the breakup, she can take the opportunity to get close to him, right? Wow, what a schemer."

Chu Zhao: "You didn't agree, did you?"

Jin Xi: "No."

Chu Zhao: "That's good then."

Jin Xi: "But... Chu Zhao, you need to be mentally prepared."

Chu Zhao: "I'm prepared. Being with the one I love is a blessing. As long as I can see him happy every day, I'm satisfied."

Jin Xi sighed and put her phone in her pocket before leaving the supermarket.

The cicadas were humming in the treetops, and the morning sky was clear and bright blue without a shred of cloud.

The sultry summer had quietly arrived.

On the training ground, Bo Yan sat on the barren grassland, gazing at the distant lush forest with his eyebrows furrowed like a mountain.

Jing Chi walked over to the mound next to him, holding a lemon iced drink which he placed near Bo Yan's hand, "Jin Xi asked me to bring this to you and not to tell you it's from her."

Bo Yan took the drink, and looked back at the wire fence.

Jin Xi was hiding behind a tree, peeping out with half her head to secretly watch him. When he looked over, she immediately ran away.

Bo Yan twisted open the ice cap and gulped down mouthful after mouthful. His long neck moved up and down as he swallowed, the lemonade cooling and quenching in the heat. It instantly dispelled the irritability and sultriness in his heart.

"My wife still loves me," he murmured to himself.

"Go home tonight and apologize to her," Jing Chi said with a blade of withered grass in his mouth, "Summer training in the mountains is about to start. We'll be gone for over forty days. You do the math, how much time do you have left to quarrel?"

"I know," Bo Yan replied.

After being estranged for so many days, Bo Yan couldn't take it anymore. Usually he was stiff-backed and never easily admitted defeat.

This was the first time in his life that he had gone soft.

With the summer break coming up soon and they would be going into the mountains where cell phones had to be handed over, no contact for a full forty days, Bo Yan thought nothing of his pride or dignity.

He just wanted to cherish every remaining day with his girl.

When noon training ended, Bo Yan hurried to leave, but was specifically held back by the instructor.

Jing Chi and Xu Chaoyang looked at each other, seeing the instructor's gloomy face, he seemed to have ill intentions.

This instructor in charge of field training was named Yan. The cadets all called him Hell's Messenger Yan. He was the strictest instructor in the entire National Defense Academy, ruthless in disciplining students.

Worried, they didn't leave immediately but stood by the training ground waiting for Bo Yan.

Bo Yan stood straight on the field, eyes fixed ahead.

Instructor Yan asked expressionlessly, "The field training is coming up soon, is your knee fully recovered?"

"Sir, yes sir!" Bo Yan responded loudly and clearly with a sonorous voice.

"I didn't ask when you were injured before. How did you hurt your leg?"

Bo Yan looked up at Instructor Yan with his pitch-black eyes, knowing this was him settling past scores.

"I'm asking you, how did you injure your leg?" His voice sunk lower, with a certain oppressive force.

"Sir, I fell off the obstacle wall."

"Fell off?" Instructor Yan's face turned cold as he said sarcastically, "Top scorer in the military pentathlon last year, breaking the army record at three minutes eight seconds in the obstacle course, with your outstanding ability, how could you have fallen off a wall like that? Tell the truth, what really happened!"

Bo Yan didn't mean to hide it, and said directly, "Sir, I jumped down from the wall deliberately to injure myself."

"Why?!"

Bo Yan pursed his lips and said hoarsely, "Chasing a girl!"

Listening from the side, Jing Chi and Xu Chaoyang almost laughed. Only Bo Yan could have come up with such a brainless tactic.

"Grown some skills, Bo Yan," Instructor Yan said sternly with his hands behind his back, "When your grandfather handed you to me, he said you were unruly and told me not to be polite with you. As a new freshman you took down ten events and made a big splash. Now it seems it's not about capability, your thinking itself is problematic. When you go back today, write a self-criticism to recognize your mistakes."

After he finished speaking, he turned to leave. But unexpectedly, Bo Yan behind him paused and suddenly said, "Sir, there is no problem with my thinking!"

Seeing Instructor Yan's darkening face, Xu Chaoyang broke into a cold sweat. He said to Jing Chi, "This guy, why doesn't he just admit his mistake? What's he trying to prove going against Instructor Yan? Nothing good will come of it."

Leaning casually against the roadside, Jing Chi said lightly, "If he obediently admitted fault, he wouldn't be your Bo Yan Highness."

Instructor Yan walked back, looking at Bo Yan coldly. He enunciated word for word, "A soldier's blood can only be shed for the country. Your reckless, unconstrained actions are unworthy of your uniform!"

Bo Yan's brows were still twisted stubbornly, "Unworthy or not, so what."

"What did you say?"

He looked at Instructor Yan, voice low and hoarse, "I won't be like them. My blood will only be shed for my loved ones. Even if I die, I want to die by my family's side!"

Hearing these words from him, Instructor Yan's heart shuddered. Bo Yan's father was his classmate, and a comrade in arms. At the funeral back then, the child had stood in front of the coffin in mourning clothes, looking at his parents' bodies wrapped in the red national flag. He didn't cry. His despairing lifeless eyes were the same as the youth standing before him more than a decade later.

He walked over and grabbed Bo Yan's collar. He wanted to say his parents sacrificed for the nation, a glorious and heroic death.

But facing Bo Yan's pitch-black eyes now, he couldn't say anything...

How could he cruelly tell a child - your parents abandoned you for the greater cause, you should understand them.

At the funeral ten years ago, he couldn't say those words. And still couldn't today.

"Sophistry," Instructor Yan could only squeeze out these four words, exasperated. "You did wrong but now you're the one making sense. Chasing a girl yet arguing with me about bleeding and sacrifice! Let me tell you Bo Yan, if you don't realize your mistake this time, don't come to the summer training. Stay home and reflect!"

Instructor Yan strode away furiously. Xu Chaoyang and Jing Chi hurried over.

"Able to piss off Instructor Yan into this state, Bo Yan you're really something," Xu Chaoyang gave him a big thumbs up.

Bo Yan rolled his eyes. Just as he was about to leave, he saw Instructor Yan stomping back, fuming.

"You brat, want to run away so easily, no chance!"

**

In the sweltering afternoon, Jin Xi took down the camo jacket she had dried on the balcony. She had washed it clean, and the sun had dried it, leaving the fabric a little stiff with the smell of sunshine.

She spread the clothes flat on her bed, smoothing it out bit by bit.

The boy's clothes were wide and long. Laid out neatly it took up almost half her small bed. She folded the military uniform meticulously, copying Bo Yan's way.

Though not folded into neat tofu cubes, at least tidily done.

There was a knock on the half-closed door.

"Come in."

Jing Chi entered and smiled at Jin Xi on the top bunk, "I've come to get Bo Yan's clothes. He hasn't changed for days, wearing the same set until it's drenched. I don't want him getting sick."

Jin Xi humphed, "Is he planning to return my silk scarf?"

"He bundles your scarf over his face when he sleeps every night, disgusting right? Would you still want it back like that?"

Jin Xi: ......

Don't want to offend him, forget it!

She handed the folded camo jacket to Jing Chi, "Here, give it to him. Tell him I fished it out of the trash can."

"Got it." Jing Chi smiled and turned to leave, then seemed to recall something. He said to Jin Xi, "Bo Yan talked back to the instructor today and got reprimanded."

Jin Xi quickly asked, "Why?"

Seeing her interest, Jing Chi recounted what happened, "It's not a big deal. The summer training is graded, if he doesn't go he'll have no score, just delayed graduation at most. For your Bo Yan it's negligible, no need to worry too much."

"Where is he now?"

Jing Chi scratched his head and said, "After thinking it over, our instructor Yan was still not satisfied. He's punishing him by making him stand in the sun. He hasn't even eaten yet. Just standing there baking in this harsh sunlight. If you ask me, it's his own stubbornness that got him into this. You mustn't go feeling sorry for him, or he'll just get even more arrogant."

"I'm not feeling sorry for him at all!" Jin Xi said stubbornly, "He deserves to be taught a lesson. Love whoever you want, I'm not getting involved."

As soon as Jing Chi left, Jin Xi jumped out of bed in a hurry and rushed out like a gust of wind.

Author's note: Bo Yan is not crying, his wife has come to see him.