Chapter 46: Are you out of your mind?

"Quick, quick." Huaming tapped on the counter, signaling the staff at the campus supermarket to hurry up and get him the drinks. Since the freezer was behind the cash register, they couldn't get the drinks themselves.

"No frozen drinks." Tang Chong stopped him, saying, "Just get four bottles of room temperature mineral water." As he spoke, he took out four yuan and placed it on the counter. Then he explained to Huaming, "After being exposed to the scorching sun, when your body temperature is extremely high, it's best not to drink cold drinks. It can be very harmful to your body."

"Hey, I used to do this all the time. After every game, I'd drink a bottle of frozen green tea or Wong Lo Kat; that's what really quenches my thirst." Although he said this, Huaming still took the mineral water from the server, unscrewed the cap, and gulped it down.

Tang Chong didn't say anything more, took the mineral water, unscrewed the cap, and sipped it slowly.

Today's sun was particularly intense, even Tang Chong felt dizzy and disoriented.

He knew his own physical condition. If he felt this way, the other students would find it even harder to bear. For example, Li Yu still couldn't speak normally, only able to drink mineral water with his mouth open, and when he drank too quickly, he would choke and tears would stream down his face.

It was precisely because of this that Tang Chong risked being punished by the instructor and called out "dismissed." He didn't expect that some people wouldn't appreciate it. Since they didn't want to, Tang Chong didn't need to force them.

He had already said that shit stinks, and if others still chose to eat shit instead of meat, that was their own business.

After drinking some water, the four of them sat under the shade of a tree at the school gate for a while, feeling much better. Li Yu also recovered and could speak normally.

Huaming, being hungry, ran to buy four boxes of bird's nest ice cream. This time, Tang Chong didn't refuse and also took a box to eat with them.

"Should we go check?" Liang Tao said worriedly. "We've been gone for so long, has the instructor gone there?"

Huaming also became anxious, saying, "Will he make us run twenty laps around the track again? I'd rather he stabs me to death; I can't run anymore. If he makes me run, I'll lie on the ground and pretend to have heatstroke. You guys can help carry me to the hospital."

"Let's go check." Tang Chong stood up and said.

In the group of four from Room 307, although Tang Chong was the second oldest, he was the absolute core of the group. Generally, when he made a decision, the others wouldn't object.

The four of them held their ice cream boxes, eating as they walked. When they reached the military training field, they found that Instructor Li Tieshu hadn't appeared yet. Many boys, like Tang Chong, had already given up. Some had gone to buy drinks and ice cream to enjoy, while others were sitting in the shade of distant trees to cool off.

However, Lu Yifei and a dozen other students were still standing in the scorching sun on the field, like a few poplar trees that brighten the Gobi Desert.

Tang Chong glanced at them and walked straight to the shade of the trees at the edge of the field. He wasn't foolish enough to stand there again.

The other boys, seeing Tang Chong come over, gathered around him to talk.

"Tang Chong, where did the instructor go? Why hasn't he come yet?"

"Right. Is he hiding somewhere, watching us, and will jump out to make us stand for another two hours?"

"The class leader is a class leader, much better at showing off than us."

Since Tang Chong was the first to call out "dismissed," he became the "benchmark" in the hearts of these students. Perhaps they hadn't realized this psychological change, but subconsciously, they were already aligning themselves with Tang Chong.

Because they all belonged to the "escapers," they were all in the same boat. If the instructor came, they would all be punished. So, they naturally united with Tang Chong.

They thought Lu Yifei's behavior was too fake and pretentious, not blending in with the masses. If the instructor came and saw them all hiding to rest while Lu Yifei followed the instructor's orders and stood until the end, wouldn't that make their behavior look even worse?

Tang Chong laughed and chatted with them but didn't join in the criticism of Lu Yifei.

How Lu Yifei chose to act was his own decision. He had no right to interfere with others' lives.

Seeing Tang Chong eating ice cream and chatting with a group of boys under the shade of the tree, with some even eagerly offering him the fruits and seeds they had bought, they almost wanted to celebrate with beer. This made Lu Yifei's mood very bad, and his jealousy burned fiercely.

Lu Yifei's stamina was almost exhausted, his legs weak, and he almost fell to the ground several times.

But he had to persist.

He had to persist until Instructor Li Tieshu arrived.

He wanted everyone to know that his choice was the right one.

He wanted to see Li Tieshu punish Tang Chong and the others who had "skipped out" with him. Then they would realize how wrong it was to follow Tang Chong. They should stand with him.

Time passed, and Lu Yifei's body became weaker.

He felt dizzy and saw spots, as if countless flies were buzzing around his ears.

"Thud"

He heard something fall.

Then he heard Tang Chong's shout.

"Someone fainted. Quick, help!"

Someone fainted?

Lu Yifei thought. Who is it?

He wanted to see who had fainted. But as soon as he turned, his body tilted to one side.

His vision went black, and he lost consciousness.

When Lu Yifei opened his eyes, he saw the light above him.

"It's already dark," Lu Yifei thought. It seems I've been asleep for a long time.

He wanted to speak, but his throat was dry. He couldn't make a sound.

"Do you want some water?" It was the voice of the counselor, Li Qiang.

He nodded.

Li Qiang quickly brought a large cup of water. With the help of two boys, he sat up from the bed and took several big gulps from the cup.

His parched body was replenished with water, and the fire in his heart subsided. At least his throat no longer felt like it was on fire.

"What happened to me?" Lu Yifei asked.

"You had heatstroke," Li Qiang said expressionlessly. "You received a few IV drips to replenish water and salt. The doctor said there's no problem, but you need to rest well."

"What exactly happened?" Lu Yifei asked, thinking, why isn't Teacher Li Qiang praising me? I stood in the scorching sun, didn't run away, and followed the instructor's orders until I fainted. What kind of spirit is this? What kind of awareness? They should set me up as a role model for the new students.

Lu Yifei decided to steer the conversation in that direction. "Where is Instructor Li Tieshu? He gave the order to stand at attention and then never appeared."

"Instructor Li Tieshu is sick. He has acute gastritis," Li Qiang said. "He's fine now."

Li Tieshu suddenly felt stomach pain and thought he needed to use the bathroom. After giving the students the order to stand at attention, he quickly ran to the toilet in the library next to the field.

Unexpectedly, his symptoms didn't improve; instead, his stomach began to cramp severely.

The cramps quickly turned into unbearable pain. A teacher working in the library heard the instructor's groans and called for help to take him to the hospital.

This is why he couldn't tell the students that the standing at attention was over.

Lu Yifei wanted to use this incident to "trip up" Tang Chong, so he led a group of students to stand in the sun.

"Acute gastritis?" Lu Yifei was stunned. They had guessed that Li Tieshu might be hiding in the shadows, but they never expected this to be the reason he didn't appear.

"Yes," Li Qiang said. "Besides you, two other students also had heatstroke. But they have already woken up and are resting in their dorms."

"Good to know," Lu Yifei said "relievedly." It seems this reward won't be realized anytime soon.

"Are you Lu Yifei, the class leader of Class 1?" A rough voice suddenly sounded.

"It's me," Lu Yifei said, looking at a large, uniformed man standing behind Li Qiang.

"Tell me, are you out of your mind?" The large man scolded him bluntly. "The instructor wasn't there, and you, as the class leader, didn't give the order to dismiss? Instead, when a student gave the order to dismiss, you led a group of students to stand in the sun. Have you been reading too much and lost your mind? How does it feel to be a hero?"

Li Tieshu's sudden stomach pain was an unexpected event. Originally, no one could blame him. Even the military leaders could only comfort him.

However, because of Lu Yifei's "foolish" behavior, three students in Class 1, led by Instructor Li Tieshu, fainted from heatstroke. The reason these students fainted was that Li Tieshu didn't give the order to dismiss.

This way, Instructor Li Tieshu not only had to endure the pain of the illness but also take responsibility for the heatstroke incident.

The large man was Li Tieshu's comrade, representing the military to comfort the heatstroke students.

But after learning the whole story, he couldn't maintain a good attitude toward Lu Yifei.

Thinking about the possible consequences for Li Tieshu, he couldn't help but curse the boy.

"I..." Lu Yifei felt infinitely wronged, wanting to explain. His eyes welled up, and tears streamed down his face.

Li Qiang patted Lu Yifei's shoulder and said, "Don't be sad. You didn't want this to happen."

He added, "When Tang Chong said to dismiss, why didn't you listen to him? If you had dismissed earlier, this wouldn't have happened."

"..."

Lu Yifei knew that although Li Qiang didn't say it outright, he was also blaming him.

Thinking about this, he cried even harder.