Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Social Gathering

At this moment, Xiang Ting was excitedly telling Ma Yuan about a notice he had spotted on the military academy’s bulletin board. It stated that in two days, Huali Military Academy would be hosting a mixer with a medical school located in the same city of Yuanzhou, and it would be exclusively for the current year’s freshmen.

The purpose was twofold: first, to address the social needs of the young men and women, and second, to help the new students build rapport and integrate more quickly. Furthermore, in the event of future conflict, the doctors and nurses from the medical school would serve as a vital rearguard for every military unit.

Ma Yuan was not particularly thrilled. Having had little contact with girls in the past, he did not know much about them as a demographic, so he lacked the fanatical enthusiasm that Xiang Ting displayed.

Xiang Ting’s intentions were practically written all over his face. He hoped to find a girlfriend at this mixer, fulfilling his parents' long-standing wish. His family was not well-off, and since he was getting on in years, his parents constantly worried about his prospects; if he didn't find a partner soon, they feared he would end up a bachelor for life.

"Ma Yuan, you know my wish is quite simple. If I happen to meet someone suitable, you have to help me—help me make this wish come true, all right?" Xiang Ting looked at Ma Yuan with such desperate hope that it felt as if he might devour him.

Feeling somewhat unnerved by the gaze, Ma Yuan could only nod and sigh helplessly, "Fine, fine. I suppose that’s the price I pay for having a friend like you."

Huali Military Academy existed to provide the future strength of the armed forces, but it couldn't simply be a factory for sending soldiers to the front lines; if they were all wiped out, there would be no reserves left. Thus, the academy frequently organized mixers with institutions like the Yuanzhou Medical School or the Teachers' University, which had higher female populations.

In this way, some students would find suitable partners and eventually become a couple, which also helped boost the birth rate among military academy students.

Ma Yuan had only been dragged along by Xiang Ting. He was clueless about matters of the heart. His father, Ma Jianguo, was a very traditional man who had married Ma Yuan’s mother through a matchmaker; in fact, before the wedding, his father had never even seen what his future wife looked like. Everything had been arranged for him.

Over the past year or two, Ma Yuan had grown increasingly repulsed by such arranged unions. Especially now, having witnessed the vibrancy of Gao City and Yuanzhou, he was filled with hope for the future and harbored a desire to pursue ideals he had yet to fully define.

Soon, the date of the mixer arrived.

On the Limin Plaza at Huali Military Academy, a light drizzle was falling, but it could not dampen the enthusiasm of the students from both schools. The area was a sea of moving heads.

Of course, although the original announcement stated that only freshmen were permitted to attend, it was clear that many upperclassmen had mixed in as well. They were eager to seize this rare opportunity to strike up a conversation with a freshman girl, a prospect they were more than happy to pursue.

Xiang Ting’s eyes darted around like a thief, searching for a girl who might catch his eye.

Ma Yuan also looked around, wondering if he would see anyone who moved him, but all he saw were girls dressed to the nines, clearly having put a great deal of effort into their appearance for the mixer. Ma Yuan, however, was unimpressed. It wasn't that he disliked them, but he felt a subconscious aversion to such overly elaborate grooming.

A commotion drew Ma Yuan’s attention. Not far away, a crowd had gathered around a few girls. Everyone seemed to be fawning over them, offering gifts and trying desperately to curry favor with the girl at the center.

Curious, Ma Yuan nudged Xiang Ting, "Hey, who is that?"

Xiang Ting, who had been scanning the crowd, glanced over and said, "Oh, that? That’s the medical school’s campus beauty, Wang Xueying. I’d advise you to drop any notions you have about her. Her father is Minister Wang Chengbo of the Ministry of Energy. That’s a level of status we could never hope to reach in this lifetime, so just look from afar and feast your eyes on her, and leave it at that."

Ma Yuan was surprised. He hadn't expected the girl to have such a background, and he found it puzzling that someone with such an illustrious status would choose to study medicine at Yuanzhou Medical School.

Given the vast disparity in their social standing, Ma Yuan turned away and stopped paying attention. As Xiang Ting had said, she was someone completely out of his reach.

The moment Ma Yuan turned, a figure rushing by collided head-on with him. Ma Yuan was nearly knocked to the ground, but he kicked his back foot out and managed to steady himself.

His hands instinctively reached out to support the figure he hadn't yet seen, preventing them from falling and sparing both of them the embarrassment of a tumble.

"Are you all right?"

They both spoke the words simultaneously. As Ma Yuan regained his composure, he realized the person was a girl. She was not tall—a head shorter than him—with long hair draped over her shoulders and clear, bright eyes that made his heart skip a beat.

"Uh, I'm fine. Are you okay?" Ma Yuan asked. Although she had been the one to run into him, he felt strangely embarrassed himself.

"Oh, I'm fine, I'm fine. I am so sorry. I heard your school had a reading room, and since this was a rare opportunity, I was hoping to go take a look," the girl said softly.

Ma Yuan scratched his head. So that was it. Huali Military Academy had a fairly large reading room; Ma Yuan had visited it once. It was mostly stocked with contemporary thought-provoking literature, intended for students to read during their leisure time to broaden their knowledge and refine their ideological views.

"How about I take you there?" Ma Yuan didn't know what had prompted him to say that, but the words had slipped out, leaving him feeling quite surprised at himself.

The girl looked at him with her clear eyes, filled with anticipation. "Really? That would be wonderful."

"Hi, my name is Liu Shishi. I'm a freshman at Yuanzhou Medical School this year. I had originally wanted to apply to the military academy, but they only accept male students, so I settled for the next best thing and joined the medical school instead. That way, I can still find a way to serve on the battlefield." Once she felt a bit more comfortable with Ma Yuan, the girl named Liu Shishi seemed to have opened a floodgate; she was clearly very talkative.

Ma Yuan smiled. He didn't know why, but he felt a special connection to Liu Shishi. He even had the illusion that he would agree to anything she asked of him.

Seeing that Liu Shishi was so easy to talk to, Ma Yuan stopped being reserved and began to open up as well.

"I'm a freshman this year too. My name is Ma Yuan, and I'm from Gao City—it’s quite far away," he said, introducing himself.

The distance from Limin Plaza to the reading room was only a few hundred meters, but Ma Yuan felt the path was far too short. He wished it would stretch for several more kilometers so that he could stay with Liu Shishi just a little while longer.