Arsenal Military Academy | 烈火军校

Chapter 1 The Cadet Was Fooled

[Above picture is Li Chengbin (Toby Lee) as Shen Junshan]

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"Next, Shen Junshan!"
　　Xie Xiang's breathing couldn't help but speed up quickly, the person in the front line entered the door, and the next one would be her. Even though she has been mentally prepared for a long time, this meeting is still a bit nervous.
　　"Huh, calm down."
　　Xie Xiang thought to herself in her heart.
　　"Next, Xie Liangchen!"
　　"Here!"
　　Almost subconsciously, Xie Xiang replied very loudly, and the other students waiting in the corridor looked at her in surprise. She hurriedly lowered her head, uncomfortably tugged on the short hair she had just cut, pinched her medical examination report, and walked quickly to the infirmary.
　　With a "bang", Xie Xiang collided with the person who came out from inside, and the report form scattered all over the place.
         "I'm sorry."
　　Xie Xiang quickly apologized.
　　Shen Junshan knelt down, picked up the report sheet, and looked down at her.
　　The person in front of me is a head shorter than myself, his skin is white, his stature is very thin, his neck is thin as if it can be twisted with a slight effort, and there is a pale pink on the nails that can't be seen if you don't look closely. Obviously it has been painted before. The nail polish was scraped off with a knife again. In just a few years, Arsenal Military Academy has been defeated and completed. Can this quality even pass the entrance examination?[1]
　　"Thank you."
　　Xie Xiang took the medical checkup sheet, turned around, and entered the infirmary.
　　"Name."
　　"Xie Liangchen."
　　"Age."
　　"Nineteen."
　 "Okay, take off your clothes and lie down on the bed."
　　The doctor wearing a mask stood up, looking a little serious, he rolled up his cuffs, and pointed to the hospital bed beside him.
　　Xie Xiang didn't move, and smiled: "Doctor, can I not take off my clothes? I'm a little embarrassed."
　　The doctor was obviously taken aback, and looked up and down in surprise. He is not tall and looks a little thin, but his eyebrows are very energetic. Wearing a new set of suit, he looks like he's from a good family.
　　"You are a guy, what are you embarrassed about?"
Xie Xiang kneaded her collar, "I haven't taken off my clothes in front of others."
　　"Don't talk nonsense." The doctor was impatient. "Take them off and lie down."
　　"Doctor, just be accommodating."
　　Xie Xiang stepped forward, grabbed the doctor's wrist without a trace, and shook it pleadingly.
　　"I think you don't want to pass, then go out and don't waste my time."
　　"Doctor......"
　　The doctor wanted to push Xie Xiang's hand away impatiently. He pulled back and forth and suddenly felt that his wrist sank. He looked down and saw a yellow-orange gold bracelet with the thickness of a little finger slip off Xie Xiang's wrist while it was put in his hand.[2]
　　The doctor was taken aback and looked at Xie Xiang.
　　Xie Xiang smiled awkwardly, revealing a mouthful of neat white teeth. She was cautious, flattering, and a little bashful. She shyly asked "Doctor, have I passed?"
　　In front of the municipal hospital, there are lush greenery and few pedestrians, so it is very quiet. It seems that the turbulent times have also affected the business here, slowing down life, old age, sickness and death. Tan Xiaojun stood outside the door, biting her lip, pacing back and forth, waiting nervously.
　 Xie Xiang trot out unconcealedly, and patted Tan Xiaojun on the shoulder.
　　Tan Xiaojun's eyes lit up and she asked in a low voice like a thief "How did it go?"
　Xie Xiang nodded, and Tan Xiaojun yelled out with a "wow". The pedestrians in and out couldn't help but look at them. Tan Xiaojun stuck her tongue out and forced the inconceivable pressure down.
　　"How did you do it?"
　　Xie Xiang leaned in mysteriously, turned her back to the hospital door, and quietly raised her sleeves. Xiao Jun saw that she was wearing more than a dozen "golden bracelets" that shone brightly on her wrist.
　　"Wow, where did you get so much money?"
　　Xie Xiang smiled and whispered "They're fake."
　　"Fake?" Xiao Jun was surprised "Are you not afraid that they will look for you later?"
　　"Come on, as long as they are willing to admit that they have accepted bribes."
　　Tan Xiaojun curled her lips and said with a thumbs up "You are amazing."
　　Xie Xiang took Tan Xiaojun's hand "Let's go eat, I'm starving to death."
　　"No hurry, I'll take you to a place."
"Where?"
　　Tan Xiaojun smiled mysteriously "Where the man goes, do you dare go?"
　　Xie Xiang didn't care "I even dare to enter the male bathhouse now."
　　"Blow on you."[3]
　　Tan Xiaojun chuckled lightly. A military vehicle passed by, and it was full of soldiers, wearing leggings, high boots, armed belts, and rifles. The car drove very fast, and the ground was full of dust. The pedestrians coughed twice, and then they left. No one cared, and no one looked at it. Everyone seemed to be accustomed to such a scene and to be accustomed to such calmness. With a trace of tension, there are some dangerous days hidden in Feng An.
　　No one thinks anything is wrong, and the unfounded worries in the newspaper seem to be far from life. Assassinations and poisonings are the days of big men.
　　But in fact, it is not that far away.
　　Think about it carefully, but in a few years, the country has changed hands several times, the family and the country have changed colors, the emperor has stepped down, the democratic republic, the warlords have fought, and the war has continued. Throughout the five thousand years of the country, there is rarely such a lively situation. Heroes such as the crucian carp who cross the river, all kinds of slogans, all kinds of thoughts, all kinds of voices are dizzying, and they all want to step on the stage and make a shout in this rare opportunity in a century.
          This is an ambitious era, with fire buried in crisis. But it was also an impetuous and erosive era, with alluring singing among the decaying pavilions. For example, the Palimo dance hall in front of them is splendid with golden walls. Whoever looks at it will never believe that there are hungry refugees outside the city of Shunyuan. They are lying in the pitch-black grass shed, waiting for the clear and visible rice soup issued by the government tomorrow morning.
　　Xie Xiang was still wearing the same men's clothing that she had worn during the physical examination. Standing in front of Palimo's door, she couldn't help but remember the words of her elder brother again, and she stepped back slightly.
　　"Why are we here?"
　　"Bring you to meet a friend."
　　Xie Xiang was taken aback for a moment "Do you still have friends here?"
　　"Here, it's her." Tan Xiaojun pointed to the huge poster in front. A beautiful woman dressed in a blue-purple cheongsam, with a long and slender neck, as white as jade, she held a cigarette between her fingers and looked over. Eyes are as silky as silk, seductive.
　　"Qu Manting is your friend?" the passing alcoholic asked incredulously.
　　Tan Xiaojun raised her chin "Yes, how is it?"
　　The drinker sneered without answering, and went straight into the ballroom.
　　"You!" Tan Xiaojun was anxious and couldn't help catching up with the first two steps, and Xie Xiang grabbed her.
　　"Okay, let's go in."
The door slowly opened, and the long red carpet was spread into the hall from the front door. The huge crystal chandelier was shining with silver light on the ceiling. The light shone on the smooth and mirror-like ground, the silver stars dotted, overflowing color, and trance. Xie Xiang actually had the illusion of stepping on the sky full of stars.
　　Xiao Jun took her hand and walked all the way, after the waiters finally stopped outside the ballroom.
　　In the magnificent hall, there is a grand stage in the middle, and a small half-curved dance floor is spread around the stage like stars arching over the moon. The huge red curtain fell down, covering the entire stage tightly. But the surrounding dance floor is full of liveliness. There are graceful women wearing gorgeous cheongsams singing and dancing on the stage, slender waists swaying like flowing water, and the ethereal and melodious singing voices winding in mid-air, seemingly countless tentacles of the bug scratching between the ears and temples.
　　The seats are scattered around the outside of the dance floor, and guests sit in one place in twos and threes, pushing cups and changing cups, so it's very lively.
　　Xie Xiang glanced at the guests present. These people are all dressed up. The clothes are expensive and the tailoring is exquisite. Men are in suits or gowns.[4] Women are mostly in cheongsam. Few of them wear new style dresses. The figures sitting in the front row are all celebrities from all walks of life in Shunyuan. From this point of view, the appeal of this actress is really extraordinary.
The singing and vocals were mixed together, and she quickly felt uncomfortable, "Xiaojun, I'll go to the bathroom." Xie Xiang raised the volume of her voice and whispered to Tan Xiaojun's ear.
　　She asked the waiter, squeezed in the crowd for a long time, and finally got up to the second floor.
　　In the women's toilet on the second floor, the star Qu Manting, who was not seen by the reporters, was sitting in the toilet cubicle, vomiting clouds and fog. The bright red nails lined her pair of jade hands, making them seem whiter. She picked up a cigarette butt and placed it near her mouth, half-breathed in, and slowly exhaled a smoke ring.
　　Since returning to Shunyuan, there has never been a moment as quiet as it is now. Wherever she appeared, reporters and flashlights were always in the shadows, and people couldn't relax for a moment. In particular, a rumor between her and Shen Tingbai, the president of the Shunyuan Chamber of Commerce, has become a story that reporters rush to report. No matter how she explains, no one believes in the innocent relationship between them.
　　Compared with the truth of the matter, people seem to be more willing to pay attention to the heat it brings.
　　The sound of the door being opened was not loud, but Qu Manting was slightly surprised. Such a decadent appearance was not suitable for to be seen. She threw the cigarette butt in her hand into the toilet and flushed it away, and then took out the perfume in her handbag and sprayed it on her body. Soon, the fragrance of fragrant perfume filled the toilet cubicle, and even her hair and her body were stained a little bit. It was an incense.
She stretched out her hand to smooth the wrinkles on the burgundy cheongsam, twisted her waist and walked out of the compartment. A pair of butterflies embroidered with gold thread on the hem swayed with the pace, seeming to flap their wings and fly, and the pointed ends of the cheongsam were the same color as the cheongsam. The toes of her high-heeled shoes knocked on the floor, making a sweet, crisp sound.
　　The exquisite golden handbag was placed on the sink. Qu Manting glanced aside carelessly, her eyes suddenly became sharp, and she turned around and crossed her arms to stare at Xie Xiang.
　　This gaze was too vicious, Xie Xiang couldn't even pay attention to it. She asked a little puzzled "This young lady..."
　　Before she could finish speaking, a golden handbag was smashed over her head. Xie Xiang couldn't escape and was smashed upright. She held her head and looked at Qu Manting angrily "Hey! Why would you hit someone? What?"
　　"Little hooligan! If you don't learn well at a young age, why did you follow me? Do you dare to chase the female celebrities to the women's bathroom?"
　　The woman in front of her was curvy, beautiful and unparalleled, and her harsh and sharp words did not quite match her elegant posture.
　　Xie Xiang looked up and just wanted to reason with her, but suddenly saw herself in the mirror, a standard men's suit and neat men's short hair. The bright light was reflected on her face, and she suddenly realized that she would be regarded as a stalker, and the originally organized fierce words helplessly turned into an apology without shock.
"Sorry, this is a misunderstanding!"
　　"Misunderstanding your ass!" Qu Manting snorted coldly, obviously not believing her explanation, waving her small bag and attacking her again.
　　The first time, Xie Xiang was unprepared but the second time she would definitely not let her succeed. Xie Xiang leaned sideways and held the arm that Qu Manting was waving with the back of her hand, and pressed her on the sink.
　　"I said it was a misunderstanding. Why are you acting like a shrew?"
　　Qu Manting was panting, and was about to shout. At this time, there was a knock on the door, followed by a man's voice, "Miss Qu, are you inside?" Obviously Qu Manting's shouting alarmed him.
　　Xie Xiang was surprised. She didn't want to cause trouble, so she quickly released Qu Manting, opened the bathroom door, and the person who knocked saw her run out.
　　Behind her came Qu Manting's shout, Xie Xiang looked around. The reporters on the stairs looked around after hearing the movement. She pointed in the direction of the toilet "Qu Manting is there!"
　　"Is it Qu Manting?"
　　"It's Qu Manting!"
　　"Miss Manting!"
　　The reporters flocked to her. As she watched Qu Manting being stunned and quickly surrounded by the reporters, Xie Xiang let out a long breath and went downstairs easily.
When Xie Xiang found Tan Xiaojun, she was chatting with the bartender enthusiastically.
　　As the delicate and euphemistic sound of the saxophone sounded, the red curtain on the stage was slowly opened. The lights on the court turned from dark to bright, flickering with Qu Manting's debut, and then thousands of neon lights turned into a chasing light on the stage.
　　The beauty was dressed in a burgundy cheongsam, which made her skin white and snowy, and the waves of her eyes turned into countless amorous feelings. Just by appearing on the stage, she had firmly grasped the eyes of the audience.
　　Xie Xiang didn't want to appreciate the beauty, and her tone was a little urgent, "Xiao Jun, you don't know that I just..."
　　Before the words were finished, the voice disappeared into the warm applause of the audience. Tan Xiaojun didn't know what was going on upstairs, so she put all her thoughts on the stage, pointed at Qu Manting and smiled "Look, my friend is going to perform!"
　　Xie Xiang, who has a headache, was dragged with her yet Tan Xiaojun didn't realize it, and excitedly cheered and clapped hands with everyone, very cheerfully.
　　After finally hearing her sing, the audience clapped and whistled again, Xie Xiang clapped her hands in cooperation, and wanted to tell Tan Xiaojun to go with her first.
　　"What kind of star, you can only sing like that." A lazy male voice came from the second floor. Although the voice was not loud, it was very clear in this lively ballroom.

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Notes:
[1] Shen Junshan's POV
[2] In the drama, they removed this scene because they didn't want the Chinese government to be seen as corrupt (receiving bribes)
[3] May mean "jokes on you" or something like that
[4] This period is after the Qing Dynasty and men wore "gowns" then. This tradition hadn't been eradicated yet (I think)

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If you've watched the drama, you'll know who the owner of the "lazy male voice" is :3 By the way, I'm having trouble with some terms AHAHAHAHAHA so like, kindly bear with it 谢谢你