Chapter Ninety-Three: The Contest

Chapter Ninety-Three

In the blink of an eye, four days passed. During a break in training, Bai Zeshao found Li Huihui. Looking at the woman before him, drenched in sweat yet still wearing an expression of unyielding resolve, he felt very satisfied.

That was also why he had come to speak with her today.

“You’ve done very well,” he said. “Have you ever thought about what you want to do with yourself?”

Li Huihui seemed not to expect such a question from him. She froze for a moment, then asked instinctively, “What do you mean?”

“You have good qualities,” Bai Zeshao said. “Have you ever considered joining us? Given the situation at home and abroad now, you should have seen something of it in the newspapers and over the radio. Tensions between China and Japan are growing worse by the day. Who knows when war may break out?”

His tone had grown grave. From the information he had gathered, there was still no full-scale war, but local clashes were becoming increasingly frequent. Accidental gunfire, deliberate provocation, even bloodshed and deaths were happening almost every day.

The Communists were deeply troubled by it. Yet some within the Nationalist camp still shouted that the foreign threat must be dealt with only after the internal enemy was first suppressed, and they were arresting Communists on a large scale.

At Bai Zeshao’s words, Li Huihui’s reaction was a little strange, though that fleeting expression vanished almost at once.

Then she smiled and said, “Since when has the Secret Service Bureau allowed women to join?”

“Always,” Bai Zeshao said slowly. “It’s just that the numbers and scale have never been large. Fortunately, the bureau is now preparing to establish a special women’s training class, so as to cope with the war that may come in the future.”

“Oh.” Li Huihui nodded.

“Think it over,” Bai Zeshao said. “There’s no need to decide right away. Of course, if you want to serve your country, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in the Secret Service Bureau or not.”

With that, he turned and left.

After he was gone, Li Huihui watched his retreating figure with a playful smile, one that carried a meaning far deeper than it first appeared.

It was a pity Bai Zeshao did not see it.

On the fifth day of military training, the school had Bai Zeshao and the others teach the girls the basics of shooting.

When they arrived at the specially prepared firing range, Bai Zeshao did not begin right away. He knew that in these troubled times, these girls, who had embraced new ideas, had probably already fired guns back at home. Their stances and technique were likely long since polished to perfection. He even suspected that some of them were better shots than ordinary soldiers in the army.

As an instructor, though his time there had been only a few days, he had no intention of showing his students only the most basic things.

Just then, a burst of cheers and applause rose from the neighboring class.

Following the sound, he saw Liu Xiaobing shooting. Bang, bang, bang—the shots came with almost no pause. Not only was his speed astonishing, his accuracy was terrifyingly precise; every bullet struck the very center of the target.

And even while performing the routine, Liu Xiaobing looked as casual and unhurried as ever. His dazzling display set off waves of squeals from the girls in the class he was responsible for.

Ahem, ahem.

After clearing his throat twice, Bai Zeshao finally drew everyone’s attention back.

“Don’t be envious,” he said. “All of that is paid for with bullets. And when it comes to real combat, the enemy won’t stand there and let you shoot them.”

“Teacher Bai, what’s the point of just talking? Show us what you can do,” one girl called out at once, joining in the teasing from below.

“You there. Yes, you,” Bai Zeshao said with a smile, looking at the girl who had led the heckling. “Come up here.”

The girl had not expected him to call her out directly. Yet her reaction was truly something else.

Under everyone’s gaze, she pretended nothing was wrong, then shoved the girl beside her. “Huizi, hurry up and go. The instructor’s calling you.”

“No, I—” Li Huihui tried to say something else, but the girl gave her another hard push and sent her out in front of everyone.

At a loss for words, Li Huihui glared fiercely at the girl who had pushed her, then still walked over to Bai Zeshao’s side.

“See those bottles over there?” Bai Zeshao asked, pointing at the bottles not far away. “Help me throw them forward, one after another, as moving targets. You understand what I mean, right?”

“Mm.” After saying that, Li Huihui immediately began tossing them.

Bang!

A bottle flying through the air shattered in the sunlight. On this side, Li Huihui kept throwing more bottles.

One after another, the moving bottles were shattered by Bai Zeshao.

Clap, clap, clap!

His performance won enthusiastic applause from the girls.

“Again,” Bai Zeshao said to Li Huihui between shots.

Whoosh, whoosh.

This time, Li Huihui threw two bottles at once, but Bai Zeshao still shattered them in midair.

The commotion here quickly drew the attention of everyone on the range, and all eyes turned to Bai Zeshao.

Even Liu Xiaobing stopped shooting. Seeing Bai Zeshao in the spotlight, he suddenly walked over.

When he reached Li Huihui’s side, he smiled at her, then looked at the three remaining bottles. Picking up two of them, he threw them out at once, but in two different directions.

What mattered was that the two bottles Li Huihui had just thrown were still flying in the air, so there were now four bottles aloft at once. The difficulty had instantly increased many times over.

The spectators did not know what Liu Xiaobing had done. Thinking Bai Zeshao had arranged it all, they applauded and cheered even more loudly.

“Don’t worry,” Liu Xiaobing said to Li Huihui beside him. “Bai is very good at shooting. This is nothing but child’s play for him.”

“Oh.” Li Huihui answered carelessly, though the look she gave Liu Xiaobing and Bai Zeshao had grown more meaningful.

At that moment, Bai Zeshao’s heart tightened as well. He had been completely at ease before, but now, seeing the bottles dancing in the air, his eyes contracted sharply, though his hands moved even faster of their own accord.

Bang!

Bang!

Two shots rang out. The bottles Li Huihui had thrown were smashed to pieces in midair. But the situation had become dangerous.

The two bottles Liu Xiaobing had thrown in different directions were only forty or fifty meters from the ground now. That distance vanished in an instant, and Bai Zeshao simply did not have enough time.

The applause around him stopped almost at once. Everyone held their breath and stared at the figure in the distance.

Under everyone’s gaze, Bai Zeshao moved. He raised his hand and fired. At the same moment, he lowered his body and dropped to one knee. After the shot, he did not even look to see the result. He simply turned around.

Only the last bottle remained, and it was about to strike the ground. It was barely half a meter above the earth.

Bai Zeshao smiled faintly, calm and composed, and gently pulled the trigger.

Just as the bottle touched down, it burst apart. The timing was so perfect it looked like a magician’s trick, and it drew a thunderous roar of approval from the crowd.

Only Liu Xiaobing’s expression was not nearly so pleasant.