"All the training that needed to be done has been done. After the military boxing assessment tomorrow, you can leave," Song Huan said to Qin Wei, then gathered everyone again. Zheng Instructor led them to practice military boxing two more times. Seeing that everyone was doing well, he let them go back earlier to rest:
"There will be an assessment on military boxing tomorrow morning. After the assessment, you'll have the whole day off. Next week, we'll have new arrangements."
Hearing there would be an exam, everyone felt a little worried. But hearing there would be time off, they felt expectant again.
Because they were told that during the break, they would get their phones back and be allowed to go to the small eateries and shops near the military base to buy things to eat.
They had been working hard here for a week. Their time had been fully scheduled every day. They could finally, finally get some time off!
Going back to rest in the evening, many people were still practicing their punches in the dorm, but some people didn't seem worried at all, either chatting or just lying down to rest.
Some were even complaining:
"You see, those who aren't worried all have dance experience. They can remember the moves quickly. They have nothing to fear about the exam tomorrow..."
"Oh this is useless, just fancy footwork and flailing fists..."
The others echoed the sentiment.
"Are you going out tomorrow? You probably won't have any issues going out for a bit right?" Ye Jiahe walked over to ask Qin Wei. Qin Wei glanced at her and shook her head.
After interacting for a week, they were familiar with each other now and had a decent relationship, so it was natural to chat.
"My flight is in the morning tomorrow. I have to go record a TV gala and take care of other events, so I probably won't be back for two to three days."
Qin Wei told her matter-of-factly.
After finishing the day's training and coming back, she had been called to the admin building by the battalion commander, who informed her of her schedule for the next few days.
"In principle it's not allowed, but the military training period was extended later on. As for the TV gala you're participating in, that was also a prearranged official event, so you can go. Go and perform well when you're there."
Battalion Commander Zhao said.
Only then did Qin Wei recall that Li Yao had mentioned this event before. It's just that back then there were many things going on, and she didn't need to deliberately remember these events and schedules. She would just follow wherever she was brought. So when she came to the military base, she had assumed all those events and schedules had been postponed or cancelled by Li Yao.
As it turned out, when she went out she encountered Song Huan again, and after explaining the situation to her, Song Huan said she must make up the leave with extra training.
Upon hearing this, Ye Jiahe felt very envious:
"I wanted to watch that TV gala too. I heard over 100 celebrities would attend!"
Qin Wei didn't know about this. She only knew it was the official Firefly Night awards ceremony held in Southwest China. It was only after she went to the rehearsal that she found out who all had confirmed attendance.
"Just watch the recorded broadcast when you get home. I won't have time to watch it either."
Ye Jiahe sighed:
"I mainly wanted to see your performance... and you dressed beautifully in formal wear..."
Qin Wei lay back down on the bed, closed her eyes, and pulled up her quilt:
"Others can see all that. I'll give you a livestream of me sleeping now. Watch for as long as you want."
Ye Jiahe: "..."
The next morning, Qin Wei got up and went for her regular morning run. Other than falling behind on the mountain hike day, she didn't slack off no matter how tired she was on other days.
She appeared on time to encounter Song Huan as usual. No matter how Song Huan greeted her, Qin Wei ignored her completely.
This woman was a textbook villain, petty, targeting innocent trainees, abusing her authority to threaten trainees, and even sabotaging them, preventing them from completing tasks on time.
It was only after she came back that she heard Zhou Fang had sprained her ankle walking alone at night. To ensure safety, aerial vehicles followed and monitored the entire journey on foot. As soon as she was injured, people went to rescue her. At that time, Song Huan was also present. On her way out, she deliberately took some small items from Zhou Fang and threw them at a fork in the road.
Her intention was clearly to waste their time!
She was so malicious, yet now she could still come over and talk to Qin Wei as if nothing had happened.
...
The military boxing assessment was scheduled for half past seven in the morning. The assessment would be conducted in groups of five at a time. The requirements were not high. One only needed to do it all correctly to pass.
Collective assessment and phalanx drills would come later. This time it was only to examine their progress after one week of learning.
The rows of women sat on the training ground watching the people called up go up one by one to box.
"Qin Wei, Ye Jiahe..."
The five walked up, then began throwing punches at the instructor's command.
There were 16 punches in total. The movements of this group of five were smooth and highly coordinated.
They all felt it was pleasing to watch after they finished.
But some below muttered discontentedly, unwilling to admit it:
"Qin Wei can dance. We've watched her programs. This is just dancing! After half a day of military training, in the end we just compare dancing skills. Oh..."
Some objected and some echoed the sentiment.
"Dancing? I feel she punched very powerfully."
Surprisingly, Song Huan stood up to speak for her.
But Qin Wei did not appreciate it. She went back to sit down in her spot after finishing.
"Doesn't matter who's dancing, the main thing is these punches are useless."
Someone below said, and most voiced their agreement.
Song Huan stretched her wrists and ankles, then crooked a finger at Qin Wei:
"Qin Wei come up here and demonstrate with me for everyone."
"I refuse."
Unexpectedly, Qin Wei rejected outright on the spot.
There were over a hundred people present. First there was silence, then laughter broke out.
The instructor Song Huan was refused by Qin Wei!!!
The celebrity finally acted like a celebrity!
Lu E finally dared to confront the instructor head-on!
Ha! Ha! Ha! Ha!
"I told you to come up, so come up."
But Song Huan did not give up.
"Whoever makes a claim should provide the proof. I'm making no claims here, leave me out of it," Qin Wei rejected her again.
"Fine then. Anyone who wants to give it a try, feel free to come fight me. I'll only defend, not attack. Just to let everyone see whether it's practical or not."
Hm? Fight Song Huan?
Hearing Song Huan say this, Qin Wei felt tempted again.
"And this would count as routine training, so even if you beat or cripple me, you won't have to take any responsibility. I know you've been wanting to kill me anyway, so I'm giving you a chance to commit murder without legal consequences."
As soon as Song Huan finished speaking, Qin Wei was already on her feet, stretching her wrists and ankles. "Since this is your hobby, I won't stand on ceremony!"
...
With the Southwest region holding such a major TV gala, the two tourism ambassadors naturally could not be absent. From the day they received notice, He Hong had Song Huan's schedule arranged by her assistant to avoid any conflicts with the Southwest schedule.
Before the gala there were still other shoots to take care of, so she came a day early to coordinate work with the local side.
Also because there had been frequent rain in the Southwest recently, worried there may be hiccups, she booked Qiao Sixiao on an earlier flight over.
After getting off the plane and arriving at the hotel, Qiao Sixiao sat on the sofa looking at her phone. She had asked Li Yao and knew Qin Wei would definitely come, but she sent Qin Wei messages before boarding her own flight and still hadn't gotten any replies yet, and now even Li Yao wasn't answering his phone.
Looking at the increasingly gloomy weather outside, Qiao Sixiao felt somewhat worried.
Could her flight have been delayed?
"Ms. Qiao, the car is ready. Please head downstairs now."
A staff member interrupted her thoughts. Qiao Sixiao snapped back and said "Alright", then followed him downstairs, while also trying Li Yao's number again.
With Qin Wei's phone, not getting through was commonplace, but Li Yao was her manager. Having his phone on and instantly answering calls was normal, and it was usually like that. So why wasn't he picking up at all today?
Qiao Sixiao called over her assistant:
"I'll be working later. Keep my phone with you. If there's any contact from Qin Wei's side, come over right away to tell me no matter where I am or what I'm doing at the time."
