Military training is the first lesson for incoming freshmen.
Whether in middle school, high school, or university, almost all new students are required to undergo military training.
The purpose of military training goes far beyond merely building up students' physical fitness; more importantly, it aims to forge their mental resilience—though the actual results are a different matter altogether.
In later generations, with the convenience of information dissemination, when military training everywhere else began to cut corners, the military training of middle and high school students in Guangxi became famous nationwide.
It was even rumored that their military training once alarmed the Pentagon, though whether that is true remains unknown.
For university students, military training is completely unavoidable.
This practice is a national policy, tied to various legal provisions such as the National Defense Law, the Education Law, the Military Service Law, and the National Defense Education Law. It is by no means something a school can decide on its own.
Furthermore, military training is not just about making students endure hardship for a period of time; it is meant to instill in them a spirit of arduous struggle and an indomitable fighting will. Its underlying purpose is to foster better organization and discipline while serving as a form of patriotic education.
Of course, if someone wants to skip military training, it is possible—provided they have a sufficient reason, such as a highly convincing medical diagnosis certificate.
Students nowadays are physically much stronger than they will be twenty years later, and there aren't as many tricks and strategies for dodging military training, so almost everyone with a sound body participates.
The Central Academy of Drama is located at No. 39 Mianhua Hutong, Dongcheng District, Beijing, right next to Siluzi's Nanchiguzi Alley in the old urban area of Beijing.
The very name of this address tells us that the campus isn't particularly large—it's only about the size of a palm, making the campus of the Central Academy of Drama arguably the smallest among all institutions of higher education.
Even though there are only a few hundred freshmen at the Central Academy of Drama, training even this small number is too much for the space to accommodate.
Therefore, the military training for the Central Academy of Drama is held at the NBC Defense Academy. Founded in the 1950s, this university is located in the northwestern outskirts of Beijing and is a national key institution of higher learning, as well as a nationally renowned undergraduate military academy.
It isn't until 2012, after the Changping campus is built and put into use, that they will no longer need to borrow other schools' sports grounds. Following that, almost all freshmen will study at the new campus, returning to the old campus only during their senior year or for graduate studies.
On this particular day, it is time for the freshmen of the Class of 1996 at the Central Academy of Drama to begin their military training.
At eight o'clock in the morning, everyone gathers punctually at the small sports ground before heading collectively to the NBC Defense Academy.
The NBC Defense Academy is not far from the Central Academy of Drama, and before ten o'clock, everyone has already assembled on the large sports ground of the academy.
Because the Department of Dramatic Literature has a smaller number of students, Liu Zhou and his peers are grouped together with the Directing Department and the Stage Design Department to form a single platoon.
The instructor is from the Training Department of the Beijing Military Region—a genuine, professional soldier, unlike the university military training instructors of later generations who are usually senior students enrolled in national defense programs.
After handing over duties with Head Teacher Huang Weiruo, the instructor stands tall and upright before the crowd and speaks in a loud voice:
"Let me introduce myself first. My name is Wang Jianguo. You may call me Instructor Wang. As for what you call me in private, it doesn't matter; I imagine it won't be anything flattering, as long as I don't catch you saying it.
During training, if you need to speak to me, you must first shout 'Report!' and only speak after receiving my permission. When answering my questions, you must end your response with the word 'Instructor'. Is that understood?"
"Understood, Instructor!"
"Starting from now, I will hold you to the standards of a soldier. Therefore, no one is permitted to violate my orders, because a soldier's bounden duty is to obey orders. Is that understood?"
"Understood, Instructor!"
"I didn't hear you clearly! Say it again!"
"Understood, Instructor!" everyone shouted at the top of their lungs.
Seeing the instructor's stern tone and the very serious look in his eyes, everyone realizes he is not joking.
"Very well. Now, listen to my command. Taking these two students on the left as the lead, form two columns and follow me for a slow jog of five laps."
With that, the instructor starts running forward, and the rest immediately fall in behind him.
At first, when the instructor called it a slow jog, nobody thought much of it, but a soldier's slow jog is obviously not the same thing as what ordinary people imagine.
Instructor Wang's slow jog is nearly as fast as a sprint. Everyone manages to keep up at the start, but one by one, people begin to drop behind.
By the time the five laps are completed, Liu Zhou feels a sweet taste in his throat, supports his legs, and pants heavily.
When the very last female student crosses the finish line, she is practically on the verge of collapsing onto the track, saved only by a classmate who catches her before she falls.
The instructor, however, turns a blind eye to all of this and announces:
"Not bad. No one dropped out. Five minutes rest."
Hearing the instructor's words, everyone lets out a collective sigh of relief and sits down on the ground to rest.
Yet five minutes feels fleeting to them at this moment. Before they can even catch their breath properly, the instructor's whistle for assembly blows.
Once everyone is lined up, Instructor Wang says sternly:
"The speed of assembly was far too slow. This is the first and last time. The next time I call for an assembly, everyone must be in formation within ten seconds!"
Without another word, he leaves everyone standing motionless under the blazing sun.
Standing until his feet begin to ache—with no way of knowing how much time has passed—the instructor seems to read his mind and suddenly barks:
"At ease!"
After that comes a continuous repetition of the routine: standing at attention, standing at ease, executing left and right faces, and marching at the double.
When they finally make it through to the end of that day's training and look around, none of the freshmen are walking naturally; it is clear that everyone's feet are hurting.
Back at the school, instead of returning to the dormitory to rest, Liu Zhou bites back the pain in his feet and heads to the shop at the school entrance.
Peeking carefully inside to make sure there are no other customers, he goes in, grabs a pack of sanitary pads regardless of the brand, and heads straight to the cashier to check out.
"Boss, give me a black plastic bag."
The boss glances at Liu Zhou without a word, but hands him a black bag to pack it in.
Liu Zhou intends to return to the dorm immediately, but the moment he steps out of the shop, he runs straight into Liu Ye, Zeng Li, and Yuan Quan coming from the opposite direction.
Liu Zhou has no idea why they are together, nor why the coincidence is so uncanny, but he knows trouble is likely brewing.
Sure enough, upon seeing Liu Zhou holding a black bag, Liu Ye says:
"Old Liu, did you come here to buy water too? Hurry up and let me have a sip first, I'm dying of thirst."
With that, he reaches out toward the bag. Liu Zhou quickly pulls back and says:
"This isn't water, it's something else."
"Fine, then I'll go buy some water first. Wait for me."
Liu Ye says this and starts walking toward the shop, but as he passes Liu Zhou, he suddenly lashes out, snatches the bag from Liu Zhou's hand, and says triumphantly:
"So mysterious! Let me see what secret thing you bought—what the hell, you actually bought... Wuwu..."
Before this troublemaker Liu Ye can finish his sentence, Liu Zhou immediately slaps a hand over his mouth.
Acting out of natural physical reflex, Liu Ye tries to pry Liu Zhou's hand away, causing the black bag to slip from his grip and drop to the ground.
And as luck would have it, a sanitary pad rolls right out of the bag and comes to a stop right beside Zeng Li's feet.
Faced with the astonished gazes of the two women, Liu Zhou instantly feels his face burning hot.
Even though Liu Zhou has memories spanning over twenty years, for most men—old or young alike—going to buy sanitary pads carries an inherent sense of embarrassment.
For a moment, Liu Zhou even forgets to let go of Liu Ye. While keeping one hand clamped over Liu Ye's mouth, he forces himself to swallow his pride and says to the two women:
"Would you believe me if I said I bought this for my own use?"
Liu Zhou has no idea why he feels the need to explain, but when he sees the even more bewildered looks on Zeng Li and Yuan Quan's faces—accompanied by a thorough head-to-toe inspection—he wishes he could just cover Liu Ye's mouth until he suffocated.