The Past

Standing at attention is undoubtedly a painful thing. Even if your body can hold it, your mind will feel bored and tedious.

For the first five minutes, you won't feel any difference. After another five minutes, you'll feel like time is passing so slowly. Until the last five minutes, you'll feel like time is dragging on forever. It's the same principle as having to hold in the urge to urinate after drinking too much water in class.

Exam time always seems to fly by. If you drink a lot of water and hold it in to urinate during the exam, will the conflict between the two make the exam go faster or slower?

Twenty minutes have passed since the start, and several people have already been carried away due to exhaustion. It seems like there are one or two like that in each class.

For some reason, Phrolova, who lived next door, also went to rest.

I think she stayed up quite late yesterday; I could even see some dark circles under her eyes when I looked at her before Wuling.

As for the Wuling shift, so far no one has run out of energy, except for one person who had a leg problem and couldn't stand for long.

Wuling originally thought that Cartethyia's small frame wouldn't last long, because he saw that her body seemed to be swaying a little, but he didn't expect that she would actually stand for half an hour.

I must say, that's commendable willpower, even stronger than some people with chuunibyou (middle school syndrome).

"Alright, time's up. Everyone, sit down and rest for five minutes."

Instructor Jiyan glanced at the time, then waved his hand, signaling them to rest.

Many people sat down on the ground with a sigh of relief, not caring whether it was dirty or not; any place to sit was a good place.

I didn't feel anything at Wuling, but it felt a bit hot today.

I don't know what's wrong with this summer; it's much hotter than previous summers. I don't even know what the temperature is right now.

As for the temperature display on the phone, Wuling said it's just for fun. Ever since the change that required issuing high-temperature subsidies for temperatures exceeding a certain level was introduced, Wuling has never seen it exceed 40 degrees Celsius, and has only seen it reach 39 degrees Celsius a few times.

In the classroom, a rather thin boy raised his hand to indicate that he had something to say.

Jiyan nodded and let him speak.

"Instructor Jiyan, could you tell us about your time at the academy?"

Upon hearing this, many students' eyes lit up, and many students from the next class also turned their gazes over, clearly showing great interest.

After all, who wouldn't want to hear a general's stories from his school days?

Jiyan lowered his eyes and swept over the bright, sparkling gazes of the audience below. After thinking for a moment, he ultimately did not refuse.

"My school experience wasn't anything special or exciting; it wasn't particularly interesting."

Upon hearing this, everyone looked disappointed, their newly ignited expectations almost dashed.

Just when everyone thought he would gloss over it, Jiyan changed the subject and spoke calmly:

"But since you're interested and we have some time now, I'll just say a few words."

"Back in my day, the school hadn't moved yet. It didn't move here until my junior year. I did military training on the old campus's playground, and just like you, I kept pestering the instructors to tell me about their past."

A single sentence instantly bridged the gap between them.

Wuling leaned against the lawn behind him, listening with great interest. It turns out that even the most capable people experience the same kind of military training torture during their youth.

"I was born into a family of military doctors, and my original dream was indeed just to become a military doctor, not a general like I am now."

"But being a military doctor is by no means an easy task. In fact, nothing in this world is absolutely easy. I have put in a lot of effort for this."

"Do you think that the most important thing for a military medic is medical skills? You're wrong. I can tell you very clearly that the most important thing for a military medic is actually physical fitness. They need much more physical fitness than ordinary soldiers because military medics encounter far more emergencies than ordinary soldiers."

"Therefore, during the military training at that time, I put in much more effort than others. As for the training itself, there was no difference; I still had to stand for as long as I was supposed to, and I still had to practice what I was supposed to practice."

"But these are all superficial. To become a good military doctor, one must undergo far more training than others in private. Back then, my father would personally train me after school."

"My father was also a military doctor, so he knew what he should train me in. During that period, I was tortured to the point of wishing I were dead, and because of that, I was able to get ahead of others by a large margin."

"But I later found out that he had actually doubled his training regimen from back then and put it on me. In his words, he himself didn't expect that I could actually pull through."

At this point, a helpless smile appeared on Jiyan's lips.

God knows what his reaction was when he found out about this; he practically wanted to curse.

"I resented it back then too."

Jiyan stood with his hands behind his back, looking up at the scorching sun overhead. His gaze was distant, as if he could see through the clear summer sky and see himself as a boy from years ago, gritting his teeth and persevering.

"Every day after the school's military training ends, while others go home to rest and relax, my training is just beginning. Others' physical training is about meeting the basic standards, while mine is about pushing my limits: weightlifting, long-distance running, emergency crawling, and battlefield first aid drills, day after day, year-round without a break."

"Oh, I wouldn't say I work all year round. There were a few times I was so exhausted I fainted and slept for a whole day, so that counts as rest."

"To be honest, at the time I always felt that my father was too strict and unreasonable, and I even secretly sulked, thinking that this training was completely unnecessary."

The entire room fell silent, and everyone felt a slight tremor in their hearts.

They complained incessantly after standing at attention for only half an hour; it's hard to imagine the torment of such extreme training being imposed on them day after day.

"Until later, when I actually stepped onto the border and went to the battlefield."

Jiyan's tone gradually deepened, and a sense of seasoned experience filled his eyes.

"Only after witnessing firsthand the ruthlessness of war, the urgent need for aid for the wounded, and the inability of ordinary soldiers to hold out until rescue arrived due to lack of physical strength, did I truly understand my father's intention."

"Military doctors are not physicians who sit comfortably in their tents treating patients; they are the backbone of the army, charging into battle, braving artillery fire, and racing against time to save lives."

"The stronger your physical fitness, your willpower, and your resilience, the more lives you can protect. His doubled training wasn't torture; it gave me the best confidence to save more people."

These few simple words, without any passionate embellishment, struck a deep chord in everyone's hearts.

Students who had been secretly complaining about how tiring, boring, and torturous military training was now all quietly quieting down.

"Alright, that's about enough time, everyone stand up!"

Everyone snapped back to their senses, quickly pushed themselves up from the ground, brushed the dust off their clothes, and swiftly returned to their respective lines, standing upright.