When the group arrived at the training ground, the competition was in full swing, and the soldiers’ calls could be heard from a distance.
Lu Yang stood under the shade of the tree, his hands in his pockets, looking at the stage coldly, with no expression on his face, as if the excitement on and off the stage had nothing to do with him.
Ruan Mian saw Lu Yang’s figure from afar, and his eyes lit up. His body couldn’t help but trot forward two steps, and his eyes were slightly hot. He doesn’t know if it was his illusion, but in just half a month, Lu Yang didn’t seem to be thin because of hunger, but a little taller.
Lu Yang still looked very pale, with his naturally cool, white skin appearing flawless under the sunlight. His high nose bridge and slightly pursed thin lips gave him a refined look. Because of the hot weather, he had gathered his hair up, revealing a smooth, full forehead. He was dressed in military attire—a short-sleeved shirt and long pants—neat and clean, with wrist guards on his arms, exuding youthful energy.
Ruan Mian wanted to call him, but was afraid of disturbing others, so he could only hold back and wave to attract Lu Yang’s attention. His face turned red from the effort.
Captain Song found it amusing and deliberately waited for a while, watching as the little rabbit’s cheeks grew increasingly red. Only then did he show some mercy and finally speak up, addressing Lu Yang: “Lu Yang, step forward!”
Lu Yang immediately took a standard military posture, like a conditioned reflex, and then turned to step out. He turned around and saw Grandpa Lu and Ruan Mian. He opened his eyes wide in surprise. He no longer cared about military regulations. He took two steps and ran over anxiously.
“Tutu!” He rushed over, picked up Ruan Mian, and spun around twice.
They had never been apart for so long since they were young, except for the time when Ruan Mian was taken away by Ren Ge. They missed each other to the extreme.
“Baby Lu!”
“Tutu!”
“Baby Lu!”
…
Grandpa Lu observed them quietly and sighed inwardly. His grandson is just no good!
Baby Lu, didn’t you see your old grandfather yet?
Lu Yang and Ruan Mian didn’t know Grandpa Lu was depressed. They called each other’s names, hugged each other for a while, and then reluctantly let go, held each other’s hands, and ran over to greet Grandpa Lu.
Grandpa Lu was somewhat satisfied at this point. He gave a reserved nod and took a good look at his grandson. His grandson was still vibrant and hadn’t become too thin or stunted in growth. He noticed that while he wasn’t as refined as before and appeared a bit rougher, everything else was fine, so he was relieved.
He nodded with satisfaction, thinking that this look resembles a little more like an Alpha.
He glanced at the competition venue and asked Lu Yang, “Why don’t you compete?”
Captain Song looked at Lu Yang and smiled, “I bet many people are eager to challenge you. They’re all looking forward to the chance to compete with you and test your skills. If you don’t step up, they’ll probably be quite disappointed.”
“Just now, a few people wanted to challenge me.” Lu Yang curled his lips with a very disgusted expression, “But I refused them all. They are all smelly and strong. I won’t compete with them. The weather is so hot, they must be uglier after sweating. I’m afraid they will make me faint.”
Ruan Mian nodded beside him, “Yes, if you don’t compete with them, then you won’t get hurt.”
In his mind, it was the height of foolishness for Alphas to be aggressive and confrontational. He believed that taking good care of one’s body, living in a harmonious world, and fostering friendly cooperation among everyone was far better.
Captain Song smiled and thought it was interesting that Ruan Mian and Lu Yang sang the same tune. He wanted to tease them with a few words.
Grandpa Lu knew that Lu Yang and Ruan Mian had not seen each other for a long time and must have a lot to say, so he interrupted Captain Song’s train of thought and said with a smile: “Don’t pay attention to them. Come with me to watch the young men on the stage compete. I haven’t been to the Blue Wolf Unit for a long time. Now that I am here and see these familiar scenes, I suddenly miss them.”
Captain Song’s attention was immediately drawn away. He hurriedly walked in front and stretched out his hand to lead Grandpa Lu to the competition. He said respectfully and generously: “Marshal, it’s great that you are interested. If you can give them some guidance, it will be a great blessing for them! Come and see how these soldiers are. Do they have the same fighting style you had back then?”
…
Grandpa Lu and Captain Song walked away little by little, and Ruan Mian and Lu Yang followed them far behind.
Ruan Mian looked up and took out a piece of cake from his pocket while Grandpa Lu and Captain Song were not paying attention. He took out the outer wrapping paper and handed it to Lu Yang, like offering a treasure.
“Baby Lu, eat quickly. I brought you a lot of food, but the rest of the food and things we brought are in the car and can’t be brought up the mountain. Grandpa said that someone will send it to your dormitory later. I was worried that you would be hungry, so I secretly put this cake in my pocket and brought it up.”
Lu Yang took a bite of the pastry, savoring its soft, sticky, and sweet flavor, which left a lingering taste. His eyes brightened as he exclaimed excitedly, “Is this the cake from my favorite, Honey House?”
“Yeah.” Ruan Mian nodded and wiped the crumbs from his lips. “Auntie asked someone to buy it. It was still warm when it was just brought back.”
Lu Yang curved his lips, hugged Ruan Mian’s shoulders, placed the cake up to his lips, and fed him a bite.
Ruan Mian, like him, also likes to eat the cake from Honey House.
“I’m not hungry, you eat it.” Ruan Mian was reluctant to eat it, so he only took a small bite and wanted to leave it for Lu Yang.
Lu Yang touched Ruan Mian’s head and felt that the little rabbit was sweeter than the cake. He didn’t want to disappoint the little rabbit, so he finished the cake in two or three bites.
When he finished eating, Ruan Mian took out an apple from another pocket like a magic trick, “You eat this.”
Lu Yang couldn’t help but laugh at him. Taking the apple, he looked at the little rabbit, who resembled a kangaroo, and asked, “What else did you bring over?”
Ruan Mian blinked and turned around, pointing to the hoodie he was wearing. “Candy.”
Lu Yang lifted the hood and took a look inside. The hood was filled to the brim with candies of various flavors, including his favorite fruit candies. The colorful pieces of candy looked incredibly cute, just like their owner.
Lu Yang took out the candies one by one, and couldn’t help but touch Ruan Mian’s little ear with heartache, “Wasn’t it heavy to put so many things on you?”
The training ground of the Blue Wolf Unit is on the mountain, and cars can’t drive up. If you want to go up, you must walk on the mountain road. Ruan Mian must have walked for a long time with these things just now.
Because Ruan Mian’s original form is a rabbit, he has been physically weak since he was a child. Now he must be very tired from climbing the mountain with so many things on his body.
“Not tired.” Ruan Mian shook his head and said with curved eyebrows: “As long as I think of Baby Lu starving, I am not tired at all.”
Lu Yang looked at Ruan Mian’s tired red cheeks and couldn’t help frowning slightly. He suddenly regretted calling Ruan Mian to complain. If he had known that the little rabbit would be so worried, he would have tried to bear it.
Ruan Mian lifted the apple up and said with sparkling eyes: “Baby Lu, try it quickly. I picked the biggest and reddest apple and brought it up. Eat it quickly. Uncle Song just said that you can’t bring food up. It will be bad if he finds out.”
Lu Yang lowered his head and took a bite of the apple. The apple was crisp, sweet, tender, and juicy. He had been basking in the sun here for a whole morning. Now that he had eaten a bite of fruit, he felt relaxed and refreshed.
He chewed a few times and swallowed the apple. He stretched out his hand to touch Ruan Mian’s cheek and whispered with a smile: “Tutu is not obedient! Captain Song said it was not allowed. Why did Tutu bring things up? Aren’t you afraid that Captain Song would get angry if he knew?”
Ruan Mian had always been timid and very obedient to his elders and teachers. Unless Lu Yang led the way, Ruan Mian would never dare speak out or defy his elders or teachers.
Now, in order to come and see him, Ruan Mian repeatedly ignored the instructions of Grandpa Lu and Captain Song. This had never happened to Ruan Mian in the past 16 years. He knew that the little rabbit must have mustered up a whole lot of courage to dare do this.
When Ruan Mian heard his words, his cheeks blushed slightly, he puffed his cheeks, and said softly: “Being disobedient is being disobedient… The most important thing is that Baby Lu is well-fed. If Uncle Song really gets angry, I’ll apologize to him sincerely and keep saying sorry until he calms down.”
Lu Yang smiled gently, leaned against his forehead, and whispered: “You are so obedient, it’s a good thing that I took you back to the nest early, otherwise, you would be deceived sooner or later.”
He imagined the scene of Ruan Mian being abducted by others and couldn’t help but frown.
“No.” Ruan Mian opened his eyes wide and said without thinking: “Wherever Baby Lu is, I will be there, and I will never be deceived.”
Lu Yang looked into his eyes, his expression was serious, and his voice was slightly deep: “Tutu, you must remember what you said today, keep your word, and never regret it.”
Ruan Mian nodded and answered without hesitation, “Of course.”
Baby Lu is so good, of course he will stay with Baby Lu for the rest of his life.
Lu Yang curled the corners of his lips and threatened softly: “If you dare to regret and run away with others, I will spank you, and resistance will be useless even if you shake your rabbit tail at me.”
Ruan Mian was so scared that he covered his mouth, blinked his round eyes, and shook his head like a rattle, “No, I will definitely not run.”
Lu Yang smiled, let go of him with satisfaction, ate the apple bite by bite, threw away the core, and dusted his hands.
He picked a lemon-flavored candy from the stash and threw it into his mouth. He picked up another strawberry-flavored candy and stuffed it into Ruan Mian’s mouth. He put the remaining candy into his pocket, then took Ruan Mian’s hand and walked towards the training ground, “Let’s go and take a look.”
“Okay.” Ruan Mian nodded and shook his hand back.
The two walked to the side of Grandpa Lu and Captain Song and stood under the shade of the tree tacitly.
Grandpa Lu was wearing only a simple military uniform today. The other soldiers, not recognizing his identity, assumed he was just an ordinary officer. After saluting, they continued to watch the competition on stage with enthusiasm.
Once Lu Yang and Ruan Mian stood side by side, holding hands, they both looked up at the stage together.
Seeing their joined hands, Captain Song thought to himself how nice it was to be young. Noting their sweet and affectionate demeanor, he decided to let them off the hook and pretended not to notice the scent of fruit candies in the air.
Lu Yang and Ruan Mian were unaware that Captain Song had already discovered their little snacking secret. They remained focused on watching the competition on the training ground.
The two soldiers on stage were exchanging blows with each other—one landing a punch, the other delivering a kick. The sounds of their combat were a mix of fists and feet striking flesh. One fighter was tall and powerful, while the other was lean and quick. They exchanged several moves, neither able to gain a clear advantage.
“Sun Qiang, get him! Don’t let us be embarrassed! Shoulder throw him!”
“Li Zhan, go for it! Knock that guy down! I want to see how you’re going to show off now! Whoever loses today doesn’t get lunch!”
…
The cheers from the surrounding soldiers grew louder with each moment. On the battlefield, they only respected those with strong abilities. As the competition on stage became more intense and the fighters’ skills more formidable, their excitement grew. Both competitors were elite among elites, making the crowd below feel their blood boil with enthusiasm. Their voices were nearly hoarse from shouting.
Lu Yang and Ruan Mian were also attracted by the surrounding atmosphere.
When Lu Yang was watching here just now, he just felt that the two people on stage fighting each other was very boring. Now that Ruan Mian was here, he was watching with relish. His eyes followed the movements of the two people on stage, and he actually found it interesting.
The competition on the stage has reached the most intense stage. Everyone unconsciously held their breath and watched the stage nervously. Even Grandpa Lu stood up slightly.
Under everyone’s gaze, the thinner soldier suddenly threw the stronger soldier over his shoulder and threw him to the ground. With a cry of pain, the ground was covered with dust. The stronger soldier was thrown to the ground fiercely.
The stronger soldier fell to the ground for a few seconds and tried to get up, but he staggered a few times and ran out of energy. After struggling for a while, he still couldn’t get up from the ground.
The winner has been decided.
Lu Yang and Ruan Mian looked at each other, clenched their hands, and sighed at the same time.
“So manly!”
Ruan Mian looked at the thin soldier and couldn’t help but say excitedly: “When he threw the other guy over his shoulder, the muscle lines of his arms were so beautiful!”
Lu Yang nodded: “The muscles of his legs are also good.”
Captain Song was standing nearby. When he heard their voices, he couldn’t help but look over at them, and his mouth twitched slightly.
Why are these two little guys’ ways of interacting a bit different from what he expected?
