First Night with the Army: The Stoic Big Shot Is Done Pretending

"Bikey?"

Wen Ci’s gaze immediately fell on the 28-inch roadster. She didn’t know when Devil’s Week started, but it wouldn’t be a problem to let Xiao Shitou sit on it for a bit.

"Then Xiao Shitou has to be good and eat. We’ll sit on it after dinner."

"Uh-huh."

Zhu Jing asked curiously, "Is this the betrothal gift Mr. Huo bought for you?"

Wen Ci nodded, then shook her head. The roadster was indeed a betrothal gift from Huo Jingyuan. But she thought it was too showy and didn’t want it, so she had agreed to make it the prize for the first-place winner of Devil’s Week.

"What do you mean?"

Wen Ci spoke plainly, "A roadster like this isn’t very useful in the Northwest Military Region. It only takes a few minutes to walk to and from work."

"So?"

Wen Ci’s eyelids drooped slightly as she said calmly, "So, Huo Jingyuan is going to award this roadster to the first-place winner of Devil’s Week."

At her words, the eyes of the other women at the table went wide, and all their gazes fell on the bike. That was a 28-inch roadster! Even a unit official would have to save for a whole year to afford one.

And Wen Ci and the Living Yama were just giving it away!

"What’s Devil’s Week?!" Hou Li asked.

Not every soldier in the Northwest Military Region could participate in Devil’s Week. There were restrictions on age, rank, and even job specialization.

Wen Ci answered, "Training."

Xiang Qin turned and shouted to the men drinking at another table, teasing with a laugh, "Wang Wei, you better fight to win first place in Devil’s Week for me."

Wang Wei had just raised a glass to his lips. His hand froze mid-air, and his lips trembled as he asked in disbelief, "What did you just say?"

It wasn’t just his lips; his voice trembled too.

"First place in Devil’s Week."

Once they heard her clearly, it wasn’t just Wang Wei who started to shake; the other men exchanged glances and began to tremble too. Huo Jingyuan had earned his "Living Yama" nickname precisely for his merciless methods of squeezing out every last drop of potential from the soldiers during Devil’s Week.

"Honey, what kind of crazy talk is that?"

Xiang Qin blinked and asked, "Is Devil’s Week that hard?"

After all, she’d never heard her husband mention it.

Zhu Jing’s husband, Li Liqiang, put down his glass. His expression turned serious as he shot his wife a look. "Can we please not bring up Devil’s Week on someone’s birthday?"

Zhu Jing had never seen her husband get so worked up. She held her tongue in front of everyone to let him save face, then leaned closer to Wen Ci and whispered:

"Is Devil’s Week really that terrifying?"

Wen Ci shook her head.

She wasn’t sure how the training was conducted in the Northwest Military Region, but normally, Devil’s Week was designed to crush a person’s self-confidence from the very first day, growing more and more brutal as it went on.

Only a handful ever made it to the last day.

-

After dinner, Zhu Jing seemed to recall something. She emerged from the kitchen carrying two insulated lunch boxes, walked into the courtyard, and said, "Wen Ci, do you want to take some food over to Mr. Huo?"

They had eaten relatively early, and the mess hall had only just opened for service.

There was more than enough time to get the food to him.

"Sister Jing, you saved food for Huo Jingyuan?" Wen Ci blinked.

’So that’s why some of the dishes on the table seemed a little sparse.’

"Mhm."

Wen Ci hesitated.

"Feeling shy?" Zhu Jing saw Wen Ci’s hesitation at a glance and said with a laugh, "What’s there to be shy about, bringing food to your own man? The other men will be jealous!"

And just like that, persuaded by Zhu Jing, Wen Ci headed toward the military barracks with the lunch boxes. It wasn’t until she was halfway there that she remembered: Huo Jingyuan was away on a mission.

’He’s probably not in the barracks.’

Just as she was about to turn back, she heard someone call out to her.

"Wen Ci? What brings you to the barracks?"