Was it a fortune or misfortune that we ended up in the same green-leathered train?

The train was filled with mostly new soldiers and there was a leader in one of the cabins .

He instructed us on when to alight, and at every station, a carriage of new soldiers would get off .

I did not know if Burly noticed me, but he was in the carriage right in front of mine .

I wanted to be in the same district, but not the same unit, as him .

The train stopped at Meizhou and the leader told those in our carriage to get down .

He then walked in front and I just knew that Burly and I were really heading toward the same destination .

The new recruits alighted in an orderly manner .  

I wanted to see Burly but I was afraid of being seen .

Names were being called before the soldiers got taken away .

"Group 13, Zhen Dazhuang . "

I saw Burly walk forward to join Group 13 .

I figured that those in 13 would be sent to the same unit .

Three names were called after .

"Group 13, Li Goudan . "

I stood rooted to the ground .

I saw Burly's expression change . He seemed a little bewildered .

Brief pause .

"Group 13, Li Goudan . "

I took a step forward fearfully .

We made eye contact and I lowered my head automatically, not daring to look him in the eye .

There were two boys between us and Dazhuang requested to switch places with them .

"What a coincidence," he said with a smile .

I remained silent . Nothing good was going to come out of it, I was sure .

I wanted to seek revenge for Dahai . If I could just break Dazhuang's leg . . .

However, thinking and doing  were two different things . I don't know how I would manage that since I already had trouble protecting myself .

On the bus to the city, Dazhuang chose to sit beside me .

We said nothing along the way, but his arm was constantly pressing against, or rather, on my shoulders .

Training camp, night time .

15 of us stood in a role and were allocated to different lineups .

I heaved a sigh of relief since all of us were separated .

Dazhuang was sent to the fourth group while I was sent to the fifth .

Having a safe distance between us was a weight off my shoulder .

Military camp life was completely foreign to me .

We woke up at 4:30 in the morning, something that I hated the most since I needed sufficient sleep .

We were to get ready in five minutes and clean up the bunk and bathroom within 15 .

And we weren't allowed to do a sloppy job . It had to seem as if no one had been in the bunk .

Having lived in the village my whole life, this was something I couldn't understand .

Folding the blanket was hard for me as well and it took a really long time to perfect my skills .

Nevertheless, my end product was nowhere close to the leader's work .

At five, we would line up at the field to start our run .

From 5:30 to 6:00, we were allowed to have our breakfast and rest a little . I enjoyed their slightly sweetened soy milk .

Sweet things cheered me up .

At 6:30, when the sun started to rise, we would get into our formation .

One cla.s.s in one region . I was in cla.s.s five so cla.s.s four stood in front of me .

I always had a clear view of Burly's back .

He looked over at me a lot during our five-minute breaks .

Of course, that was merely the beginning of my nightmare .

At around eight at night, we get half an hour to shower . We had to be in bed by nine so we had free time from 8:30 to 9:00 .

After showering, I would hang my uniform up with the designated hanger .  

Each of us had our own and we even wrote our names on them in fear of a mixup .

I lost my winter uniform the first day I hung them out .  

It had to be Burly .

I stopped hanging my uniform out from that day onward, and I could only wring it before keeping it in my cupboard .

As such, during training the next day, I had to wear my semi-wet uniform in spite of the bone-piercing winter .

Nevertheless, the winter sun was ferocious and my uniform dried within half an hour .

I did not find training arduous, but living life in such fear was torturous .

I had thought that this was it, but no, Burly would hide all of my gears .

The second month in, I discovered that Burly did something else behind my back .

New soldiers got 500 a month and the snack kiosk within the camp allowed delayed payment as long as we wrote our group number and names down .  

Again, I had been heartlessly exploited .

It was only after a few inquiries that I realized Burly would always treat his group mates to some snacks and drinks after every training . Under my name, of course .

Fortunately, there was a limit every month, or else I would've been in deeper sh*t .

That night, at 8:30, I went over to cla.s.s four and called him out for a chat .

Standing on the roof with the clothes hangers, we exchanged looks .

"You hid my uniform?" I started .

He smiled and pointed at his own uniform . "I didn't hide it . I wear it . Wear one while the other two are in the wash . You know it's hard to dry clothes during winter so two sets aren't enough for me . Three is just about right so what's wrong with me taking a set of yours?"

"Then what about me? Is one set enough for me?"

"But that's your problem," he responded .

"What about the debt that you left under my name?"

"We came from the same region . What's wrong with me taking a little of your money?" he asked with that irritatingly malicious smile .

I clenched my teeth and said, "I'm going to avenge my friends . "

Even though I had taken some military fitness cla.s.ses for the past days, I was still not his match in terms of height and size .

Burly threw a punch at my chest and I almost couldn't breathe . He then took me down to the ground and held me there . I was unable to resist at all .

"Knew you'd think that way . " Burly laughed coldly .

As I covered my face during the beating, a light shone down on us .

"What are you two doing? It's almost nine! Scoot back to your bunk!" the patrolling officer ordered .

Burly got off me and headed downstairs while I got stopped by the officer .

"Is he from your cla.s.s?"

I cried out and told him all that had happened .

The next morning, Burly received a grave warning .

That night, when I was showering, Burly took a broom and broke one of my legs .

I've forgotten what he shouted that night, but no other soldiers dared to intervene .

He smashed the broom at my leg incessantly .

Unable to fight back, I received many bruises and wounds on my left leg and face .

Hearing my loud cries, the leaders dashed in to pull Burly away .

Again, he received another warning while I was sent to the nearest military hospital .

My leader visited me and gave me two choices .

Since I haven't learned to use guns yet, he said that I could either wait for my injuries to heal before transferring to another unit or leave immediately .

Because I had nowhere to go, I could only choose the first option .

However, my leg took half a year to recover and my batchmates were all reallocated by then .

Left without a choice, I was sent to a special department .