Dazzling

A bus was already parked at the entrance of Anzhong High School. Teacher Dong was leading the team, accompanied by two math teachers from the senior year group—Old Zhu and another female teacher surnamed Hu.

Teacher Dong was currently checking off names on a list. As soon as the four of them approached, he found their names, marked them off, and said, "If you need to use the restroom, go now. If not, get on the bus and find a seat."

None of the four needed to use the restroom, so they boarded the bus one after another. Once on board, they realized most people had arrived early. Students from various classes were present, creating a noisy atmosphere. The majority were seniors, with a few high-achieving sophomores mixed in.

Initially, when everyone saw Qing Ye and Shi Min boarding, they waved and urged them to hurry. But then they noticed Xing Wu and Pang Hu following behind, and the bus instantly fell silent.

Both stood over six feet tall, and as soon as they stepped on, their heads nearly brushed the ceiling. An unspoken tension immediately filled the entire bus.

Pang Hu was understandable—after all, he was the class monitor of Class Two. But no one had expected Xing Wu to join this year's Winter Camp. It was utterly shocking. His presence alone shifted the bus's atmosphere; those who had been rowdy now stiffened and exchanged uneasy glances, while the female students from other classes grew visibly restless.

Qing Ye quickly sensed the change in mood and turned to Xing Wu, saying, "Why don't you smile?"

He lowered his head and replied expressionlessly, "Why should I?"

"Don’t you know you look intimidating when you don’t smile?"

He remained stoic. Qing Ye reached back and tickled his waist. Xing Wu lazily curled the corner of his mouth into a slight grin. The others politely smiled back at him, offering a tentative greeting.

Pang Hu found two rows of connected seats and said to Xing Wu, "Wu Ge, sit here. Shi Min, you two take the seats behind."

The three of them sat down, while Xing Wu stood in the aisle, placing Qing Ye’s bag in the overhead compartment before stowing his own black backpack. Just then, Old Zhu carried a case of bottled water to the front of the bus and announced loudly, "If you want water, come up here to get it. We depart at 8:10 sharp."

Shi Min glanced at Qing Ye and said, "I’ll go grab some water."

She stood up and walked past Xing Wu toward the front. As Xing Wu finished storing the bags, he casually took the seat next to Qing Ye. Surprised, Qing Ye turned to him and said, "That’s Shi Min’s seat. You sit in the front."

The bus seats were narrow, and he adjusted his long legs, leaning back slightly as he said calmly, "Why?"

"..." His demeanor made it clear he had no intention of moving.

Shi Min returned just then, holding four bottles of water, and froze when she saw Xing Wu in her seat. Xing Wu reached out, took two bottles from her, and said, "Thanks."

It was unclear whether he was thanking her for switching seats or for fetching the water. Shi Min had no choice but to turn and sit beside Pang Hu.

Although Qing Ye had never been to Jin Zhong, she had always assumed it wasn’t far. To her surprise, it was located in the development zone on the other side of the county—quite a distance away. No wonder the school had chartered a bus to get there.

The bus soon left Zhazha Pavilion. Outside the window, short saplings lined the roadside, and warm sunlight streamed in, creating a cozy atmosphere. Qing Ye gazed out the window, and when she turned back, she found Xing Wu looking at her. They exchanged a smile, a subtle, secret sweetness passing between them.Old Zhu truly couldn't stay idle for even a moment. Standing at the front of the bus, he organized everyone to sing "Defend the Yellow River." As he put it, they were representing Anzhong in this competition, so everyone needed to perk up and showcase the spirit of Anzhong people. Thus, they started with a familiar and majestic chorus to boost morale.

Initially, no one was particularly willing to sing, but perhaps Old Zhu's off-key lead singing was too unbearable, so everyone joined in just to drown out his voice.

Among them, Pang Hu, sitting in front of Qing Ye, sang the most enthusiastically—with such vigor and grandeur that he acted as if he were the lead singer himself.

Neither Qing Ye nor Xing Wu joined in, instead smiling as they watched the flesh on Pang Hu's face jiggle. After a while, Qing Ye felt her hand being clasped in someone's palm. She turned her head to look at Xing Wu and suddenly felt nervous, gently trying to pull her hand back. But Xing Wu held on tightly, giving her no chance to escape, his eyes filled with a provocative gleam.

Suppressing a smile at the corner of her lips, Qing Ye glanced out the window and stopped struggling. She just felt an inexplicable thrill from secretly holding hands in such a crowded environment.

Forty minutes later, the bus stopped at Jin Zhong. A banner for the Eighth Winter Camp was already hung at the entrance, and everyone eagerly stood up to get off. Xing Wu grabbed both his and Qing Ye's backpacks, while Qing Ye, free of any burden, swung her arms casually as she followed Shi Min off the bus.

Unexpectedly, they faced a daunting challenge right after stepping off the bus. Without even setting down their belongings, everyone followed the teachers from Jin Zhong to the playground, where they saw the Jin Zhong students standing in strict formation. Each of them wore identical deep red windbreakers, lined up neatly and orderly.

In contrast, their own group was disorganized. Since it was a holiday, the school hadn't mandated uniforms, and with the cold winter weather, many were bundled up in bulky thick coats. Just in terms of presence, they were already at a disadvantage, despite having sung "Defend the Yellow River" the entire journey.

In terms of numbers, they had only managed to gather fifty students sporadically from each grade and class, whereas Jin Zhong's senior international class required full participation, doubling their headcount. Qing Ye suddenly felt like turning back. Glancing around at her comrades, she couldn't help but feel they were just here for laughs.

As her mind wandered, a sharp whistle suddenly drew everyone's attention to the center of the playground. A instructor in camouflage uniform, holding a loudspeaker, announced: "Hello everyone, I'm Wang Bin, the training instructor for today. Welcome, students from Jin Zhong and An Zhong, to the Eighth Winter Camp of Anzi County.

Instructor Zheng and I will be in charge of the three activities on the first day of the Winter Camp. These activities will be conducted as competitions between the two schools, and the winning side will receive the medal for the Eighth Winter Camp of Anzi County.

This Winter Camp will still adopt a camping format. Please note the two demarcation lines on the ground in the distance: the red area is Jin Zhong's campsite, and the blue one is An Zhong's. The tents you'll need for tonight are already prepared in your respective areas.

Each tent can accommodate eight people, so you'll be divided into groups of eight. Next, Instructor Zheng and I will demonstrate how to set up these military tents. Please pay close attention, everyone.""At the same time, please have teachers from each school arrange the eight-person team lists. After the demonstration, the competition officially begins. This is a timed race - the first three teams to complete construction will receive first, second, and third prizes in the first event. Schools with two teams making it to third place or above will win the team victory for the first activity. Now please watch carefully how this military tent is assembled..."

Qing Ye suddenly felt intense regret. Who told her the Winter Camp was for math competitions? She had always thought they'd just take some tests and be done. How come they were making them set up tents right after getting off the bus without even putting down their bags?

The only tents she'd ever encountered were those automatic pop-up household tents she used when barbecuing in Beijing parks with classmates. She had never dealt with such complicated tents before. Damn it, if she'd known there would be tent pitching, she might as well have pretended to be dead and slept in this morning.

So she began inching, bit by bit, stealthily moving closer to Xing Wu, tugging at his sleeve. Xing Wu lowered his head with a questioning "Hmm?"

Qing Ye whispered to him: "You know how to do this thing, right?"

Xing Wu gave her a lazy glance, as if conveying a "What do you think?" look.

Qing Ye said miserably: "I don't care, I want to be in your group."

The corners of Xing Wu's mouth lifted in a smile: "I don't want to be in a group with you."

Qing Ye glared at him fiercely: "You'd better be in my group. Didn't they say there are two more activities later? There might be areas where I can shine."

Xing Wu's eyes curved at the corners: "You don't look the least bit guilty about openly slacking off."

Qing Ye made a face at him before sneaking to the back to discuss team assignments with Old Zhu. She had thought it through - even if she kept watching and learned how, she wouldn't be able to perform well anyway. It would be better to use this time to find a strong teammate to increase their chances of winning, while helping Old Zhu study the team assignment list.

According to the competition rules announced earlier by Instructor Wang, they needed two teams to make top three to win the team award. Unfortunately, most of the participants from Anzhong were girls, with less than twenty boys total. The distribution was indeed headache-inducing.

Each team needed to guarantee two boys, but the remaining boys couldn't even form two complete teams. Analyzing the probability of two out of three teams making it, Qing Ye suggested that since they were short on people anyway, they should concentrate their firepower. So rather shamelessly, they put six boys in one team to increase their chances of winning.

Originally, Teacher Dong thought Xing Wu looked physically capable and wanted to put him in the six-boy team too. But Qing Ye immediately objected: "We can't arrange it like this - it's too wasteful. If we arrange it this way, we'll definitely lose. Pull Xing Wu out to form a separate team - only then do we have a chance to secure two teams."

Her confident tone made several teachers stare at her in surprise. Qing Ye chuckled: "I'm just... making a suggestion, a suggestion."

After some discussion, the teachers ultimately decided to pull Xing Wu out separately. Of course, Qing Ye also took the opportunity to sneak into Xing Wu's team.

So when Teacher Dong announced the team assignments, she was already standing beside Xing Wu with a smiling face, saying to him with great earnestness: "It's all up to you now, boss."

At her call, everyone assigned to Xing Wu's team gathered around and chorused: "Boss, can we just lie back and relax?"Xing Wu stared speechlessly at the five girls and two boys before him, truly wanting to tell them that his life motto was "If I can lie down, I absolutely won't carry." But clearly, today he had encountered seven people wanting to lie down, putting him in the position of having to carry the entire team.

After the whistle blew, everyone started scurrying around like headless flies grabbing materials. Though the instructor had made it look effortless earlier, now faced with the pile of messy equipment, everyone was completely lost.

Only Xing Wu remained standing in place, hands in his pockets without moving. Qing Ye turned back and called out anxiously, "Are you planning to surrender?"

Xing Wu raised an eyebrow: "Surrender? That word doesn't exist in my vocabulary."

No sooner had he spoken than he directly assigned two girls to sort all the support poles, named another girl to handle the ropes, told the two other boys to spread out the tent, and assigned someone else to mark positions according to his instructions.

Qing Ye pointed at her own nose and asked, "What about me?"

Xing Wu glanced sideways at her, a smirk curling at the corner of his mouth: "Follow me."

So while everyone else was still running around like headless flies, their team had quickly divided tasks and begun working methodically.

Perhaps because Xing Wu naturally projected an intimidating aura, while other teams kept arguing or debating - endlessly discussing what each item was for - their group had no such problems. Nobody dared contradict Xing Wu at all. When he gave an order, everyone executed it with extreme efficiency, afraid that if they did poorly, Xing Wu might kick them.

Qing Ye genuinely slacked off following behind Xing Wu, though she wasn't completely useless. Probably to give her some sense of involvement, Xing Wu would have her pass items or assist with minor tasks.

Qing Ye discovered that Xing Wu was truly a hands-on prodigy. Everything that seemed extremely complicated to her, he could tell at a glance where it went and how to use it.

While other teams were building, dismantling, and rebuilding as they figured things out, their team hadn't taken any wrong turns at all. A military tent directly took shape, making the opposing team led by Jin Zhong jump with anxiety. Even Instructor Wang came running over with a megaphone. Seeing Xing Wu's technique for tying the vertical poles while squatting on the ground, he asked, "This student, have you set up this kind of tent before?"

Xing Wu completely ignored him. As the boss's assistant, Qing Ye appropriately looked up and answered for him: "Whether he's done it before or not doesn't matter. He doesn't have many flaws - his biggest flaw is being self-taught."

"..." Instructor Wang stared blankly at these two students.

A smile curling at his lips, Xing Wu glanced up at her: "Come help."

"Right away!"