EXTRA 1.4: If Time Could Stop At The Moment We First Met [Li x Xie / Xie x Li].

Although it was early spring, the sun was already dazzling near noon. Today was the first day of training for the new recruits, and the dusty field of the Military area was full of military green colored targets. Under the scorching sun, the blood of the recruits was boiling, their hair was short, and their bodies were sweaty. Not only was this a bright slogan, but also showed the resoluteness and fearlessness in the eyes of the soldiers.

The Squad Leader was patrolling the field, when suddenly, he saw a person coming from afar. He quickly stood still and saluted: “Captain!”

Li Wuding also stood straight and said: “Squad Leader is working hard. How’s the new recruit’s training going?”

“They just finished 10km of training. After a short break, we’ll start the next training program.”

Li Wuding nodded: “Is there anyone who can’t hold on?”

The Squad Leader replied: “Not yet!”

Li Wuding looked up at the recruits. On the field, all of the young men’s faces were dripping with sweat, their teeth clenched. The Military posture of some of them wasn’t standard, and when Li Wuding saw this, he felt somewhat uncomfortable. The Instructor lectured them loudly, warning them of the rules in the Army over and over again.

Li Wuding retracted his gaze and asked: “Squad Leader, do you know which one is Xie Chungui?”

The Squad Leader said: “Xie Chungui, ah! I know him!”

As the Squad Leader stretched out his hand, Li Wuding followed his finger, and saw a young man running alone on the field. From the expression on his face, Li Wuding could see that he was exhausted. He was gasping for breath with his mouth open and the sweat flowing into his eyes, making him close his right eye. But he quickly wiped it and kept running.

The Squad Leader said: “I don’t know what kind of mistake this Xiongdi just made during the 10km training, but he didn’t even have a rest after coming back from the training. He was punished by the Instructor and he had to run five extra laps on the field. In theory, the first day of training for new recruits shouldn’t be too strict, but I don’t know what the Instructor’s reasons are. I guess that after such a punishment, this Xiongdi will choose to quit after the training ends for today.”

Li Wuding didn’t reply, he just nodded gently.

Xie Chungui had just finished running the five laps and returned to the team. A short while later, the rest time ended and the second round of physical training began: Push-ups.

When the order was said, the recruits quickly lied down and started doing push-ups under the Instructor’s commands. When he saw that their posture wasn’t right, the Instructor wouldn’t show mercy.

Li Wuding stared at Xie Chungui in the crowd. Although he had just ran five laps more than the others, and didn’t have much time to rest, not only did he insist on completing the 100 push-ups, but he also wasn’t lazy. The sweat had already drenched the young man’s back, but there wasn’t the slightest intention to retreat in his eyes.

After 100 push-ups, the recruits hurriedly got up as they tapped off the sand on their palms. Xie Chungui got up after them, and just when he had set up his posture, the Instructor suddenly came to him and said: “You! Do 50 more!”

Xie Chungui froze for a moment, but in the end, he didn’t complain. Instead, he simply lied back down and obeyed the Instructor’s order.

The Squad Leader was also slightly surprised: “What did he do wrong?”

Li Wuding’s eyebrows knitted slightly, as his gaze went back and forth between the Instructor and Xie Chungui.

For the next physical training, Xie Chungui would always get punished by the Instructor. When he was punished for the fourth time, the Squad Leader came over and shouted at the Instructor.

The Instructor couldn’t help but feel his heart thumping. When he raised his head, he saw Li Wuding standing a distance away from him. He secretly shouted inside his heart as he bowed his head and followed the Squad Leader.

When the Instructor arrived where Li Wuding was, he saluted in a panic: “Captain!”

Li Wuding nodded his head and said to the Squad Leader: “Squad Leader, you can go ahead and serve as a temporary Instructor for the new recruits. I’ll ask this comrade a few questions.”

The Squad Leader got the order, made a standard right turn, and trotted towards the new recruits with a military posture.

Li Wuding looked at the Instructor and asked with a light tone of voice: “You punished that new recruit four times, but what mistakes did he make?”

The Instructor hesitated for a while, and only after a long while did he say: “He didn’t listen to the commands during the training.”

Li Wuding said: “This is a violation of discipline, and it should be recorded. Why are you issuing physical training as punishment? Hmm? Isn’t he following your orders? How did he disobey them? Tell me the details.”

The Instructor vaguely explained the process, and Li Wuding nodded all the time: “Then go and call another Instructor, I’ll ask him about it.”

The Instructor immediately panicked: “Capt-Captain, this… I….”

After seeing that Li Wuding’s face was already showing anger, the Instructor hurried to say: “Captain, I told you the truth. These are the orders given by Sergeant Major Xie’s family.”

Li Wuding was stunned: “Sergeant Major Xie? Is Sergeant Major Xie this strict to his own son?”

The Instructor said: “No, Captain, Sergeant Major Xie doesn’t know about this. These orders were given by Sergeant Major Xie’s mother-in-law, she begged us to be stricter to her grandson, so that he would retreat in the face of difficulties. Her husband was also a Revolutionary Martyr of that era, so we would naturally help. We couldn’t refuse, Captain.”

Li Wuding said: “I see.”

The Instructor breathed a sigh of relief. However, just when he was about to return to his unit after saluting, Lu Wuding suddenly said: “You don’t have to go back.”

“Huh? Captain?”

”
”
Li Wuding then said solemnly: “If you can’t distinguish between public and private matters, what kind of Instructor are you?”

The Instructor knew that he wouldn’t be able to escape punishment, so he was immediately dejected.

…

The first day of training was finally over. Because the time for showering was limited, a group of big men hurried to the showers after taking a few bites in the cafeteria. When Xie Chungui returned to his dormitory after taking a quick shower, he heard his roommate, who was lying on his back, complaining: “It’s so fucking hard! I’m so tired. Ah, I feel so desperate when I think that I’ll have to do this all the time in the future. Should I quit training? Huh? Xiao-Xie, you finished washing already?”

Xie Chungui nodded: “Yes, I just finished. You should go quickly, otherwise, there will be no more hot water for you.”

After his words woke up the dreamer, the roommate bounced up from his bed, grabbed the basin and bucket, then rushed to the bathhouse.

Xie Chungui took a dry towel and dried his hair. When he finally sat on the bed, he felt a vague soreness coming from his legs, which would probably hurt tomorrow.

Xie Chungui reached out and rubbed his calf when suddenly, he heard someone knocking on the door.

The door wasn’t closed, and the man standing by the door, stretched out his hand to knock twice, just to get Xie Chungui’s attention.

When Xie Chungui heard the sound, he turned his head to look.

The man’s figure was blocking the cool moonlight coming from the other side of the door. As he held his head high, his posture was straight and proper. His eyebrows were steady, and the warm light inside the room illuminated his face, printing him into the depths of Xie Chungui’s eyes.

They were the same, the loyal one and the brave one. One was buried in a sea of fire, while the other’s bones were buried in the snow-capped mountains. Looking at this through the mysterious land of the Underworld, it could be said that they took different paths to return to the same destination, and they just returned to that destination through different paths. If time could stop at the moment they first met, why do they sigh that fans are abandoned in Autumn?1

After seeing the appearance of the newcomer, Xie Chungui suddenly stood up and hurried to clean up the table. Then he raised his head and shouted in panic: “Captain!”

Li Wuding was surprised: “You know me?”

Xie Chungui nodded his head over and over again: “Yes, I know the Captain.”

Li Wuding, who was standing at the door, smiled and asked: “May I come in?”

Xie Chungui was so nervous that his palms were sweating. Then he quietly looked back to see whether the quilt on his bed had become messy or not, but when he saw that everything was neat and clean, he hurried to say: “Yes! Please come in, come in.”

Li Wuding stepped in and said: “Hmm? Your roommates aren’t here?”

“They all went to the bathhouse.”

Li Wuding gave a short ‘oh’ and asked: “Did you find the training hard today?”

Xie Chungui shook his head violently: “No! It wasn’t hard at all.”

Li Wuding laughed: “If you aren’t feeling good, just say so. Your training today was really intense, you must be exhausted.”

Xie Chungui clenched his fists slightly, as his expression slowly changed from panic to calmness: “Captain, I don’t think it’s hard at all. Really.”

Li Wuding looked at him, at the man’s face that still looked so young. However, the firmness between his eyebrows and eyes made Li Wuding feel an inexplicable familiarity. When he heard Xie Chungui’s words, Li Wuding was slightly moved. But, in the end, someone had entrusted Li Wuding to persuade Xie Chungui, so he said: “Your grandmother asked me to persuade you.”

Xie Chungui looked puzzled: “Persuade me?”

Li Wuding said: “You’re so smart, you can choose to go to the Military Academy. After you become an Official, you’ll have to obey the assignments and take up the duties related to paperwork after graduation. There’s no need for you to join the army. After all, the work of professional soldiers is too hard. You’ll have to serve right after the training, and you’ll have to crawl in the mud. If there’s a mission, you’ll have to take the risk of getting injured or even death. Anyways, both paths are the same….”

“They’re not the same.” Xie Chungui suddenly interrupted him.

Li Wuding was slightly stunned when he saw Xie Chungui looking at him with heated eyes: “If it’s the same, then why did you choose to give up entering the Military Academy and rise up from the lowest rank? Anyone could have persuaded me, but you can’t, Captain. Because if there’s only one person in the world who can understand why I’m choosing this path, that person should be you, Captain.”

Li Wuding was stunned at first, but then he smiled. Although his face was dignified, his smile was a bit silly and naive: “It seems that I’ve tried to persuade the wrong person. You really are as good as he said.”

After being praised all of a sudden, Xie Chungui was overjoyed. As an impulse surged from his heart, he abruptly stepped forward to grab Li Wuding’s arm as he said with urgency: “Cap-Captain! I’ve admired you for a long time! I want to become your Lieutenant!”

Li Wuding was stunned once again. As Li Wuding rubbed his head with embarrassment, he half-jokingly and half-encouragingly said: “Alright, alright. But all my Lieutenants can beat me. You’ll have to work hard.”

It was a simple conversation that was unknowingly buried deep inside Xie Chungui’s heart, making him toss and turn at night, making him persevere through the day just to reach his goal, step by step.

It was the firm conviction carried on the shoulders of a hot-blooded young man. In the end, they became friends the same way as they did before, and they still lived up to their original wishes.

They lived up to their original wish.