CHAPTER 103: CHAPTER 103 SCHOOL DOCTOR

When the reform policy for physical education in college entrance examinations first emerged, the vast majority of people were skeptical. Testing cultural subjects was one thing, but why should high school students also master firearms shooting, firearms maintenance, comprehensive fighting, and combat? Wasn’t this absurd? What if casualties occurred?

However, the authorities were resolute in implementing the sports program reforms, determined to see them through. They specially selected a group of elite soldiers from the military, all possessing top-notch political acumen, knowledge, moral integrity, psychological and physiological fitness, and operational skills. After training, these soldiers were dispatched to various high schools to serve as instructors.

Yin City, an international hub for finance, trade, shipping, and technological innovation, was naturally chosen to pilot this significant policy. Consequently, Experimental Middle School of Yin City, a key institution, became one ofin the first pilot schools.

One afternoon, after math class, the students of Experimental Middle School assembled on the playground to listen to the leaders’ mobilization speech for the new military-style physical education curriculum.

"Respected leaders, instructors, dear teachers, students, and parents, hello! In accordance with the Ministry of Education’s requirements, our school will launch a military-style physical education program..."

"...To achieve the grand goals of national prosperity, public affluence, and ethnic rejuvenation, we must vigorously strengthen our national defense while continuing to prioritize economic development..."

"Next, I would like to present three requirements for our students. Firstly..."

The tedious speech failed to capture the interest of most students. Except for a few troublemakers thrilled at the prospect of handling real firearms, the majority felt quite apprehensive.

According to the documents previously distributed by the school, this "physical education class" was, in reality, two hours of military-style training every evening. The training began with strength exercises like weighted squats, push-ups, and barbells, followed by speed drills such as sprinting and jump roping. Next came anaerobic endurance training, including interval and repeated runs, along with stretching for flexibility and coordination. After consuming functional drinks provided by the education department, students would move on to military exercises like formation training and firearms shooting. The session concluded with vehicle driving practice, comprehensive fighting, and combat training.

A two-hour physical education class, packed to the brim with activities and held every evening—it sounded utterly exhausting.

While the other students’ eyes mirrored their numerous complaints, Li Ang, standing in the ranks, was lost in thought.

There’s a lot of insider information about these sports program reforms on the player forums, he mused. For instance, instructors will record every student’s overall performance in each ’physical education class’ and enter it into their personal files. To boost student enthusiasm, these performance evaluations will affect their college entrance examination scores. Simultaneously, these evaluation files will be transmitted to the Special Affairs Bureau’s backend system, helping the Bureau identify and recruit exceptional talent among students in advance.

In addition, the relevant departments planned to drastically reduce miscellaneous school fees. They stipulated that school cafeterias could not be outsourced; breakfast, lunch, and dinner would be provided free of charge by the education department. These meals would ensure balanced nutrition, excellent taste, and appealing aroma. Furthermore, they would even contain a hint of a special drug capable of subtly enhancing human physique—this same drug was also present in the functional beverages distributed by the education department.

These drugs were, of course, a benefit reaped by the Special Affairs Bureau from a mission in a near-modern setting about six months prior. Only after rigorous research and testing by the National Academy of Sciences confirmed their harmlessness were they widely introduced. Apart from a few domestic factories, no other country could produce them, let alone replicate them.

After the speech concluded, each class returned to their classrooms, though a few were held back to participate in the first "military-style physical education class."

The first day of this new physical education class naturally attracted numerous leaders, school officials, and parent representatives, all watching intently. Unfortunately, the students weren’t very impressive. Many exhausted themselves during the interval and repeated sprints, collapsing en masse on the lawn. They lay there, pale-faced with sweat on their foreheads, unable to get up.

The parent representatives were sick with worry. The instructors, however, didn’t scold the students. Instead, they had the standby school medical team (also trained by the education department) examine those who had collapsed. After finding nothing seriously wrong, the school doctors brought over several large bottles of functional beverages and poured them down the throats of the students, who lay like ’corpses’ on the ground. Almost immediately, the students’ complexions improved, and many sprang up from the ground, looking full of life.

Li Ang blended in with the student body. He noticed that the instructor team assigned to Experimental Middle School of Yin City exuded a sharp, military aura similar to Xing Hechou’s. To avoid drawing attention to himself, he had been deliberately slacking off, keeping his performance in the physical tests mediocre—neither good nor bad.

Now, seeing how effective the functional beverage appeared to be, Li Ang, who had been squatting on the track to rest, promptly feigned exhaustion and collapsed, groaning laboriously.

A school doctor on standby immediately rushed over, preparing to check Li Ang’s pupils, heartbeat, and pulse.

Just a few steps away, the doctor, a man in his thirties named Cangxiu, recognized Li Ang as the fallen student. He instantly regretted it. Why did I rush over so quickly?

Cangxiu was an old acquaintance of Li Ang’s. During Li Ang’s first year of high school, out of sheer boredom, he would frequent the school infirmary every other day to consult Cangxiu about questions he encountered while self-studying medicine.

"Cang ’Old Moist,’ why does it still hurt so much when I get into a fight, even after taking ten painkillers?"

"Student Li, I am a school doctor. Could you please call me Doctor Cang? And no matter how many painkillers you take, fighting is still going to hurt."

"Okay, Cang ’Old Moist.’ The family of mice living in my walls at home has been constipated lately. Should I prepare some rat poison for them?"

"There’s no need. By the way, Student Li, don’t you have classes? Why are you always so idle? Also, could you please stop calling me ’Old Moist’?"

"Cang ’Old Moist,’ by calculating the protein and fat content of different human body parts, I’ve estimated their caloric values. Summing them up, I found that an adult male can provide approximately 120,000 calories."

"...And so?"

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"If we exclude the inedible parts, an adult male offers only 30 kilograms of usable muscle, which includes 4.5 kilograms of protein, totaling 180,000 calories. This could supply the daily protein intake for 60 people, which is less than a quarter of a horse. If you’re interested, Teacher, we could co-author a paper on the nutritional status of a Cannibal Tribe."

"No, thank you. Student Li, I suggest you see a psychologist."

"Teacher, I feel my dissection skills have improved considerably, almost on par with the ’fast-scalpel’ Doctor Robert Liston. If I wish to pursue advanced studies, could the school sponsor me one or two ’cadaver teachers’?"