After Being Cheating

After Janet introduced herself, no one applauded.

She took a deep breath and knew this was all happening because of Daniel Si.

Everyone was hostile to her because all of those rumors.

Brian applauded first, followed by the instructors. Seeing Brian and the instructors applauding, the rest of the people started clapping their hands one by one.

Then Brian began to distribute 21 trainees to 7 instructors.

A male colleague, a female colleague and Janet were distributed to an instructor called Zed Lin.

All trainees stood in front of their own instructors and started familiarizing themselves with them for a while. Then, Bian demanded, "Everyone, tidy yourselves up. Gather here in five minutes and then start marching."

Janet returned to her tent, took her hat and then ran to the water source to wash her face.

She had no time to wash her face with a cleanser. After wiping, she applied the toner, cream and sunscreen.

When Janet was fitting her hat, she heard the whistle blow again.

She ran to the gathering place rapidly and saw that all seven instructors were wearing the same military uniforms. She was confused, because she had now forgotten which one was her own instructor... "Janet Shao, what are you doing? Go back to your team quickly!" Her confused face looked lovely. Brian's powerful voice surprised everyone.

Everyone was surprised by Brian's good memory because he remembered a trainee's name after the first introduction.

After all the people went to their corresponding teams, Janet saw that Zed was staring at her. There were only two trainees behind him, and for a moment Janet was suddenly inspired and started running towards him.

When she passed him by, Janet carefully watched Zed. Zed was embarrassed to be stared at by a girl, and his swarthy face even blushed a bit. Janet then stood behind him after she memorized his face. Brian saw that Janet kept pretty much to herself and wondered why.

She was bright and lively, but uncommunicative. Why didn't she join the others in conversation?

"The first activity starts now. Five kilometers of marching!"

After Brian's order, everyone cried woefully.

Although everyone already knew that they would be in for some rough time, they didn't expect to march five kilometers on the first day of their training. Janet stared at Brian, who looked serious, and thought, 'Did I hear him right? Five kilometers?' Oh my god, she would certainly die from exhaustion!

Janet couldn't help but to step back and was just about to escape.

When she was just about to run away, Brian stopped her. "Janet Shao!" he yelled.

Everyone now stared at Janet with a doubtful look in their eyes.

Janet smiled in embarrassment and drew back her neck, "I..."

She didn't finish her words, but Brian knew immediately what she was going to do next.

Brian kept his hands behind his back and then got close to Zed, "Janet Shao, you fell out of line!"

Janet touched her right ear and now stood in front of everyone.

"We haven't even started marching yet and you already plan to escape. 20 push-ups as punishment!"

...

20 push-ups? Janet, now flabbergasted, looked at Brian, who had a dead-serious face, and wondered why this handsome soldier had now become as annoying as Daniel was.

"I refuse to do it. I have the right to choose!" Janet stubbornly looked at Brian.

Brian was on the verge of laughing when he saw Janet's face, but quickly held it back.

"Military orders are imperative. You have no right to refuse it!" answered Brian.

"I have personal liberty. This is not military training. This is devil training. We are employed by a financial company, not a military unit! I'm not a soldier!"

Many trainees agreed with her words and began to talk more about the matter in a low voice.

Seeing the situation at hand, the director of the HR Department began to scold her: "Janet Shao, if you continue to disobey the colonel any longer, I will report you straight to the boss!" Report to Daniel Si? Janet rolled her eyes in disgust.

Brian made a gesture to the director. He had rich experience in dealing with these disobedient recruits: "Janet Shao, if you refuse to do push-ups alone, then the rest of the people here must do the push-ups together with you!"

"Janet Shao, you can't do this to us!"

"Janet Shao, as an assistant CEO, you should act on behalf of the boss!"

...

The trainees now began to criticize Janet with grievance against her.

Janet sighed, took a deep breath, bit her lower lip, took off her hat and then threw it onto the ground, and said, "Shut up! I'm doing it!"

Then she went down to the ground and began to do the push-ups.

"1, 2, 3..." She already felt a little uncomfortable.

"4, 5, 6..." Even more cramped and uncomfortable.

"7, 8, 9..." She couldn't hold on any longer.

"10, 11..." Janet fell on the ground. Brian was at first startled and was just about to check on her if she was alright, but immediately held back.

After two minutes, Janet was still groveling on the ground and gasping for breath.

She was wondering why she was so weak, even after all these years of diligently practicing Taekwondo.

"Janet Shao, come on!" Zed encouraged her.

He blamed Brian a little bit for this. Indeed, it was OK to be strict with the soldiers. But it wasn't OK to be so strict with a feeble girl. 20 push-ups were far beyond her capability, and he knew it. "Janet Shao, come on!" The other two instructors began to encourage her.

Janet smiled at them, pushed up on the ground and continued counting.

"... 18, 19, 20!" And then Janet fell on the ground again. But now applause started sounding all around her.

"Take a five-minute rest, then start marching!" ordered Brian. He squat down and lifted Janet up on her feet.

But Janet obviously didn't seem to accept his help. She shook off his hand and returned staggering on her own legs to her team.

Brian smiled with indifference. However it was, inevitably, people started to accuse Janet of not discerning the good from the bad. Because of this, they lost some time, and began to gather again.

And then they began running towards a mountain. At first everyone ran fast, but as the time passed, several people were left behind.

Janet was one of them. Since she had stopped practicing Taekwondo, she hadn't exercised for several years. Little by little, she gradually became the last.

Brian followed her and ran with her at a constant speed, "How are you feeling?" He looked at Brian, who now looked a little bit more paler.

But Janet flashed an angry look at him and then ran away from him even faster.

Her speed was three times faster than before, and soon she rejoined the team.

However, after two kilometers, she fell behind again.

Brian stayed closely by her side while the rest of the people quickly advanced past them.

'Janet Shao, why are you so weak? Come on!'

"You can take a rest if you feel tired," he said. Brian felt... a sort of heartache.

He began to wonder if he was indeed being too harsh with her. After all, she was a just little girl working in a financial firm, not a soldier in the trenches. ☐☐