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

"Tell me about it. That’s a classic roadster bicycle. If I win it, I’m definitely taking it for a spin around my village when I’m on leave."

A friend in the same ward scoffed, "You two talk as if you’d actually win first place if you joined Devil’s Week. You’d be lucky to even finish the first event!"

The words had barely left his mouth when Yu Qing and Wen Ci walked into the ward. The men immediately stopped chatting and looked at Yu Qing with cheerful smiles, asking, "Doctor Yu, how much longer do I have to stay here?"

Yu Qing looked at the soldier’s injured foot. "Only about another week. Reduce your training load after you’re discharged. If you injure it again, you’ll have to take a medical discharge."

"It’s that serious?"

Yu Qing nodded. "This isn’t the first time that foot has been injured; you need to take good care of it." She paused. "Normal training shouldn’t be a problem, though."

The Northwest Military Region had a policy that allowed soldiers to voluntarily leave the service. However, a severe injury would result in a mandatory medical discharge and a career transition. Veterans with longer service records could get jobs in government units after their discharge.

Or become police officers.

After finishing her rounds of all the wards, the head nurse gathered all the doctors and nurses in the hallway. "Devil’s Week is starting at the neighboring military camp," she asked. "We need a doctor and a nurse. Who wants to go?"

Hearing this, most of the doctors and nurses lowered their heads.

Devil’s Week in the Northwest Military Region usually meant being out in the wilderness under terrible conditions. You’d be woken up by training noises in the middle of the night, and during the day, you were stuck waiting in a tent.

At these words, Su Wanqing’s eyes lit up. "I’d like to—"

Before Su Wanqing could finish, Yu Qing quickly grabbed Wen Ci’s hand, raised it high, and said through gritted teeth, "Head Nurse, Nurse Wen and I volunteer!"

"Alright. It’ll be you two, then."

Su Wanqing said pitifully, "Head Nurse, I want to go too."

"Doctor Yu has experience from going once before."

Su Wanqing replied, "Then I’ll act as the nurse."

Everyone looked at Su Wanqing with strange expressions. It was common knowledge in the hospital that Wen Ci’s husband was the Living Yama of the neighboring camp, and also that Doctor Su, who had studied abroad, had returned for that very same Living Yama.

But to do this right in front of the man’s wife was just too shameless.

Yu Qing let out a cold laugh. "I don’t think I’m qualified to be giving Doctor Su orders."

Hearing their argument, the head nurse’s expression turned sour. "That’s enough. Everyone else, get back to work. Doctor Yu and Nurse Wen, go home, pack your things, and get ready to report to the military camp this afternoon."

During Devil’s Week training, soldiers getting injured was unavoidable.

Their duty was to provide basic treatment for wounds; any serious cases would be sent back to the hospital.

As soon as the head nurse left, the others looked at Wen Ci and Yu Qing with pity. "When you get back, the hospital will treat you to a big meal."

Wen Ci blinked.

She didn’t understand why everyone was looking at her like that.

"What’s wrong with Devil’s Week?"

Yu Qing sighed and shook her head. If Su Wanqing hadn’t tried to volunteer, she absolutely would not have put their names forward for Devil’s Week.

’The food is terrible.’

’The sleep is worse.’

But at least the food the army provided for them was edible. The soldiers participating in Devil’s Week, on the other hand, had to forage for themselves in the wild.

Eating snakes and rats was a common occurrence.

"It’s a long story. Wen Ci, go home and pack a few old, thick outfits. And bring flat shoes."

The temperature difference between day and night in the Northwest wilderness was extreme. They would have to live in tents, and the blankets issued by the camp were completely useless. They’d need to huddle together for warmth.

Listening to Yu Qing’s miserable tone, Wen Ci felt a flicker of curiosity. ’Just how harsh could the conditions be to make Yu Qing sound like this?’