Gu Mang ranked last in almost everything for the next consecutive days. She always came in last place during the cross-country run, barely catching up with the rest of the team. She was known as the top scholar, so there were many people paying attention to her and they could not accept the news when they found out how bad she was at sports. There were a lot of discussions about her subpar performance.

  “God sure is fair. The top scholar’s physical performance is beyond bad.”


  “That’s fine! She just needs to look pretty! Men can do all the energy-consuming chores instead!”


  “Still, I can’t believe the results. She might end up not getting any credit for the military training.”


  “Surely that won’t happen. Even though she’s slow, she completed all the tasks.”


  “Honestly speaking, her whole ‘I’m your grandfather’ image kind of crumbled when I realized how weak she actually is.”


  “I wonder what kind of a surprise she will give us later during the afternoon training. Surely she won’t miss the targets altogether, right?”


  Over on the law school’s side, Meng Jinyang sat together with her roommates while they took a break. One of her roommates wore a perplexed expression on her face as she said to her, “Jinyang, I heard that Gu Mang was a complete tyrant back in high school and that she’s very good at fighting. She shouldn’t be this bad at sports……”


  They had the impression that students who were always engaged in fights were surely better at sports than good students like them, so they were astonished to find out about Gu Mang’s rank.

  “She—” Before Meng Jinyang could give a proper reply, she was rudely interrupted.

  “Just because she’s good at fighting, it doesn’t mean that she’s good at sports. Military training is different from fighting.”


  Meng Jinyang turned her gaze to the smiling Sang Xue who appeared harmless. While her other roommates nodded in agreement, in a mocking tone, someone said, “That’s true. To think that many medical students speculated that Red Scorpion would probably choose Gu Mang. From what I see, she’s a lost cause. With such bad results, she won’t even meet the selection criteria.”


  At that, she pursed her lips, squeezed her fingers, and retorted frigidly, “Then can I ask which of you have met the criteria?”


  Red Scorpion had high expectations for the students’ military training. Even if they failed to meet the stipulated time, they needed to complete every task. Only then would they be allowed to rest. Not many could accomplish their tasks in the given time. Among the current group of girls, only Meng Jinyang and Sangxue managed to do so.

  The girl who got rebuked by Meng Jinyang flushed with anger as she shot her a glare. “Why you little—”


  “It’s just some idle chit-chat. We won’t talk about it anymore if it upsets you, Jinyang,” said Sang Xue gently to Meng Jinyang.

  The girl scoffed. “We’re not the only ones talking about Gu Mang’s poor physical performance. Meng Jinyang, do you think you can bully people at will just because you’re Vice President Jiang’s student?”


  Meng Jinyang’s face turned slightly pale as she pressed her lips together tighter. “Don’t bring others into our conversation.”


  Their instructor blew a whistle, which got everyone turning their attention to him even though their break had not ended. The instructor’s authoritative voice rang loud and clear. “We will practice shooting in the afternoon.”


  Hearing that, a girl whispered, “Sang Xue, I remember that you’re especially good at shooting.”


  Sang Xue tucked a stray lock of hair behind her ear as she gave a modest reply. “Of course. I have to learn it well since I have Sister Yu Shu as my mentor. She’s an excellent shooter.”