CHAPTER 810: CHAPTER 731: DISLOCATED LIVES 9

Wen Shuangshuang and the others lined up in separate rows for boys and girls, standing at attention under the guidance of Coach Wang and several other coaches. Not long after Shuangshuang and her group arrived, four more groups were let out to line up neatly under the coaches’ supervision.

This time, it seemed that everyone had arrived, so all the lead coaches began to jog forward, and the students behind them, split into two lines, jogged along behind the head coach with their respective coaches.

Everyone jogged along the way. Since they had already run ten laps in the morning, especially those who had run twenty laps—even though they had run smaller laps in the end—it still amounted to a lot of running, so now their legs were pretty weak.

Considering everyone was quite tired, the coaches didn’t run too fast, keeping a pace almost akin to walking. For the students following, it was like a brisk walk, making it not too exhausting, and the route wasn’t far, as they were heading to the seaside near the summer camp.

Upon reaching the seaside, a large cordon had been set up; it was apparent the area had been cleared, with no tourists in sight, only a few cargo trucks parked by the roadside. Logistics staff from the camp came over to distribute equipment to everyone, which was the waist-worn backboards used for swimming.

Upon seeing this equipment, it was obvious they were meant for learning to swim. The thought of swimming immediately excited the students, making them momentarily forget the exhaustion from morning laps. To them, swimming equated to having fun.

However, once they actually started learning to swim, much of their excitement waned for a simple reason: although they came to the seaside, the swimming location was a swimming pool built right next to the beach, far from the waves.

Initially, the students excitedly thought they would be swimming in the sea, but to their surprise, it was in an artificially built pool. Even though you could see the sea from there, and there were coconut trees providing shade, the beautiful surroundings couldn’t lift the students’ spirits.

Not only couldn’t they swim in the sea, even in the pool their interest was low. It’s well-known that learning to swim is actually quite tedious—before you swim, you have to learn to float and stroke. Even those who already knew how to swim had to join the lessons, making it all quite dull.

At midday, they ate food brought over by cafeteria staff. The coaches, being generous at noon, gave a two-hour rest period. Naturally, everyone was happy to rest, and they were all cheerful when fetching their meals.

With boxed lunches in hand, they gathered in groups of twos and threes, sitting under coconut trees or by the seaside to eat, chat, and enjoy the scenery, giving them a sense of leisure.

Since the entire afternoon’s training was about learning to swim in the water, and since they could rest when tired, no one felt too exhausted. It was only in the evening, when they jogged a lap along the seaside under the coaches’ guidance.

The breeze off the sea was quite cooling while jogging, and listening to the waves was pleasant. Despite being tired, the students were in good spirits.

The coaches also took everyone to watch the sunset. The sight of the sunset over the sea was overwhelming; as the sun descended, the entire sea was illuminated with golden rays, connecting with the clouds on the horizon, creating a stunningly beautiful scene.

After watching the sunset, they reluctantly jogged back to the summer camp and had dinner. This time everyone behaved well, with no one eating at the small window, allowing for a great atmosphere during the meal. Everyone whispered to each other about their experiences that day.

Although the morning had been exhausting, children recover quickly, and a day’s swimming lessons, mostly practicing floating, weren’t tiring. They had pretty much recovered by resting, and despite the evening jog, it wasn’t long, and having seen the sunset, everyone’s mood was still somewhat excited.

Upon returning to the dormitory after dinner, Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao found two people already sitting inside—Meng Jiao and Mo Siqi—who seemed to have been released from the isolation room.

Meng Jiao’s eyes were puffy and red, with her eyelids still looking painfully swollen, though she wasn’t crying anymore. Meanwhile, Mo Siqi was asleep in bed.

Seeing these two odd roommates, Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao’s first reaction was annoyance, and they tacitly chose to ignore them. Although sharing the same dormitory, these two were just dragging them down. Trying to instill some team spirit with them was simply tormenting.

Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao didn’t want to pay attention to them, so they directly sat on the bed and started massaging each other, focusing especially on the legs. Wang Xiao was fine since she was physically stronger and recovered faster, but Wen Shuangshuang was different; she was quite weak, and after a whole day’s exertion, her body was sore and aching all over, feeling dreadful.

Meng Jiao was lost in her thoughts, sitting with her head down and unclear what she was contemplating. Mo Siqi, after lying on the bed for a while, suddenly sat up and kicked the bedside table, creating a loud noise. After muttering something, she turned and walked out of the dormitory.

After Mo Siqi left, Meng Jiao suddenly stared at Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao with her swollen eyes for a long time, her expression unreadable, leaving her thoughts unknown.

Being stared at like this, of course, Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao could feel it. It was uncomfortable for the two of them, and thinking Meng Jiao wanted something, Wang Xiao couldn’t help but frown and ask, "Meng Jiao, do you need something?"

Meng Jiao tugged at her lips, looking distressed, and said, "You two are really enthusiastic. What’s so good about this summer camp that makes you so excited?"

Meng Jiao’s words were rather unpleasant. Wen Shuangshuang frowned, wanting to ignore her, but considering they still had to live together in the same dormitory, they felt it would be bad for their relationship to be too strained, so she explained, "Both Wang Xiao and I like the idea of being soldiers, so having a chance to experience it early makes us happy."

Meng Jiao chuckled a few times, then fell silent, lowering her head again, her thoughts a mystery, keeping her attitude a constant source of irritation. Wang Xiao ran her fingers through her hair, muttering to Wen Shuangshuang, "This is why I hate people whose intentions you can’t see through."

Over there, whether or not Meng Jiao heard, she kept her head down and said nothing. Initially, Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao thought Mo Siqi would soon return, so they planned to lie down since they had to rise early the next day.

But just as the two lay down, they heard Meng Jiao mutter, "Hypocrites." It was unclear whom she was referring to. After saying this, she got up and also left the dormitory.

With lights-out approaching fast, going out at this moment was evidently inappropriate. Wen Shuangshuang and Wang Xiao discussed and thought it better to talk to the coach about it.

Even though they were in a summer camp and nothing should happen, what if these two, ignorant of their limits, ran outside the camp? If something were to happen, explaining it to their parents would also become difficult.