Chapter 9

At 1 PM, the sun was scorching even in the ice city, shining on the plastic sports field and emitting a unique smell, mixed with the sweat of everyone, permeating the air.

The entire sports field was filled with military training teams, all wearing the same camouflage uniforms, neatly aligned.

Liu Meng's class was instructed by the drill instructor Li Zhen to stand at attention for 5 minutes. He patrolled back and forth, occasionally appearing behind the students, and if he found anyone bending their legs, he would immediately kick them.

The hot weather made sweat pour down, and Liu Meng was inwardly cursing, "What the hell, I haven't even woken up from my nap, and now I have to get up for training. The damn ladybugs keep flying by and landing on someone's neck, causing pain and itching."

He couldn't take it anymore. "I came back to life to make big money and date girls, how can I waste time on this damn thing? I need to find a way to avoid this military training."

Another ladybug bit his neck, and Liu Meng couldn't help but reach out to grab it. Drill instructor Li Zhen was right behind him and immediately kicked him, scolding, "You brats, you can't even handle this much hardship. When I was in the new recruit camp, it was ten times worse."

Liu Meng pretended to be happy and fell to the ground. Li Zhen was startled, thinking, "I didn't kick that hard, did I?" He quickly went over to massage Liu Meng, who slowly opened his eyes and clutched his chest, moaning in pain.

Li Zhen didn't dare to be careless and quickly instructed the other students to stay put while he personally escorted Liu Meng back to the dormitory. Liu Meng put on a show, taking out a lot of medicine and swallowing a multivitamin, which he had secretly placed in a heart disease medication box.

All of this was pre-planned.

Liu Meng remembered that a classmate had once faked an illness to avoid military training, lying in the dormitory all day, reading comics, and making the other students envious.

Li Zhen, who had some doubts, personally escorted Liu Meng back to the dormitory. Seeing this, he thought the guy might really be sick and instructed him to rest well. If he felt too weak, he could stay in the dormitory and skip the training.

Liu Meng was overjoyed and quickly agreed, saying he would decide based on his condition. If his body allowed it, he would return to the training. After struggling a bit, he still couldn't get up.

As Li Zhen returned, he saw from a distance that his class's formation was scattered, and a group of students were gossiping and whispering about the nearby girls' class. This made him furious. If the instructor saw this, he would definitely be reprimanded. He quickly ran over.

"Damn it, all of you stand properly, 10 minutes of standing at attention. You've gone wild. I told you to stay put, not to rest, and you're even ogling the girls' class."

Li Zhen was really angry. It was his first year handling the military training for the university, and he couldn't mess it up.

After standing for 5 minutes, now another 10 minutes. These pampered geniuses, with their well-developed brains and weak bodies, couldn't handle this torture.

Soon, a student called out, "Report, instructor, I'm not feeling well and can't hold on. I want to go back to the dormitory to rest. If you don't believe me, come with me. I have a lot of medicine in my dormitory."

Li Zhen almost shouted, "Don't try to fool me. You all just want to cheat and slack off. Don't think that just because you're high-achieving students from prestigious universities, I won't dare to discipline you. Now, you're all my soldiers."

With Liu Meng already faking an illness and resting, Li Zhen couldn't believe anyone else. If they all went back to rest, the class would fall apart.

The tough military training had just begun.

Liu Meng lay in bed, deeply thinking. The most urgent thing now was to get a computer, preferably a laptop. He had 5,500 yuan left. He needed to buy a phone for about 1,000 yuan and at least 2,500 yuan for living expenses, leaving him with only 2,000 yuan. He needed at least 4,000 more for a laptop.

The new campus had a rule that freshmen couldn't bring computers, and desktops couldn't be hidden, so he could only buy a laptop. He couldn't waste a year like this.

It was already September 2004, and he had to complete his initial accumulation by 2007, which was only about 2 years. If he wasted another year, he would have less than a year left.

Moreover, if he remembered correctly, Yueguan started uploading the super-popular work "Return to Ming" after October 1, 2006, but he couldn't remember the exact date. He had to finish typing the entire 4.5 million-word "Return to Ming" in about half a year. Time was running out!

Three days after the start of the military training, the class advisor Li Xin called a class meeting for Class 3, saying that before the official start of the semester, they would elect class officers. The temporary class leader Guo Yu gathered everyone.

The meeting was held in a small classroom, and the atmosphere was lively.

Li Xin first gave a long-winded speech, then asked everyone to volunteer to write their names on the board and give a campaign speech.

Guo Yu, the temporary class leader, went first, exuding confidence. Born into a family of leaders, he had been well-trained from a young age. His speech was well-structured, promising to serve the class if he became the class leader.

After his speech, he walked back to his seat and engaged in a lively conversation with Zheng Wen, one of the four girls in the class. Liu Meng remembered that Guo Yu liked to chat and hang out with girls.

He found it very annoying, of course, this could also be the resentment of a loser towards the rich and handsome.

The next to speak was the senior Deng Jinyao, from Ningcheng, who had a strong Linhai accent when speaking Mandarin. He said, "Hello everyone, I want to run for the position of study committee member. Guo Yu has already served as the temporary class leader and is familiar to everyone. For me, you may not know me yet. Let me introduce myself. My name is Deng Jinyao, 'Jinyao' as in 'sperm' and 'key.'"

Liu Meng, who was drinking water, suddenly spat out a small mouthful, spitting on the student next to him, Dong Dong. He quickly helped Dong Dong wipe it off, who smiled and didn't mind.

Deng Jinyao really had a habit of saying "sperm" instead of "gold," which made Liu Meng want to laugh when he first heard it.

The atmosphere was very lively, and the geniuses were very enthusiastic about competing for class officer positions, especially for class leader and study committee member.

Besides Guo Yu, another candidate for class leader was Ji Hai, a slightly overweight and fair-skinned student from Jiangdu. His father was a graduate of Jiangdu Transportation University, and his family was wealthy. His catchphrase was, "I think my family's conditions are better than yours, so I should do better in every aspect."

Most people could see that Guo Yu had already mixed well with most of the class, and his chances of winning were slim. However, Ji Hai didn't think so and said, "I come from Jiangdu, the only one from Jiangdu in our class. I have received good education and have a broad international perspective. If I become the class leader, I will lead everyone to progress together."

Everyone looked at him with disdain, and the result was predictable.

After he finished speaking, Yuan Chaohui, the only student from the capital, who was also a fat but dark-skinned student, was not pleased. He thought, "When will it be your turn to show off, Jiangdu? We still have people from the capital here."

The election for class officers was in full swing, but the position of life committee member remained unclaimed. This was understandable, as the life committee member was responsible for serving the students, unlike the class leader and study committee member, who would get extra points for scholarships.

Liu Meng stood up, walked to the board, and wrote his name under the life committee member position. He cleared his throat and said two sentences, which made everyone burst into laughter.

The first sentence: "Since I'm the only one running, do I still need to give a campaign speech?"

The second sentence: "If anyone can't take care of themselves, let me know. I'm done."

His words were concise and to the point.

In the past, Liu Meng had also run for the life committee member position and said these two sentences, which made everyone laugh. However, he was very nervous back then, and his speech was shaky. He had racked his brain to come up with these two witty remarks and quickly left the stage.

Now, he was very calm and knew how to control the atmosphere.

After all, these classmates were just children to him, and even the class advisor Li Xin was like a junior.

Now, he had a higher purpose for running for the life committee member position.

The voting quickly began, and the results were tallied.

Guo Yu, as expected, became the class leader, and Deng Jinyao stood out as the study committee member. Indeed, the senior had the senior's demeanor, and in the second semester of the first year, he replaced Guo Yu as the class leader.

Zheng Wen, a friend of Guo Yu and a native of the ice city, was elected as the culture and sports committee member. She was short, about 162 cm, with a sweet appearance, but a mole on her lip slightly marred her beauty.

However, among the four girls in Class 3, she was definitely at the level of a class beauty. Even among the "cripples," she stood out. She was very attractive, with a lively personality, and she could take and give jokes, making her very popular among the male students.

The newly appointed class leader was now chatting enthusiastically with the class beauty, Zheng Wen.

Liu Meng, as expected, became the life committee member, and he was very happy. This position was crucial to his plan. The life committee member was responsible for helping students with mail, organizing snow removal, and booking tickets for holidays, all of which were tough jobs.

However, the most important thing was that the life committee member managed the class funds. Don't underestimate the class fees; with 100 yuan from each student, there would be 3,000 yuan in cash flow.