Since it was still early, everyone was gathered in the living room.
When Mu Fu and Bian Jincheng came out from doing the dishes, they saw the rest of the group deep in conversation, chatting about the details of today’s dates.
While the two of them were cleaning up, the others had already exchanged stories of where they’d gone. The only ones left to report back were Mu Fu and Bian Jincheng—no one knew where they’d been.
Even while Bian Jincheng was making dinner earlier, no one had asked about his date, so the whole group was still in the dark—except for Wen Shu, but he wasn’t the type to gossip.
Mu Fu looked around and picked an open seat at random, settling down next to Fan Xinjie. Bian Jincheng followed close behind and sat on her other side.
Wen Shu was seated two spots away on Mu Fu’s right, with Fan Xinjie and Ma Yangxia between them. They would have to lean and crane their necks if they wanted to see each other.
At that moment, Pang Chuan spoke up. “Bian Jincheng, where did you two go today?”
Pang Chuan had given Mu Fu roses that morning, though she hadn’t chosen him in the end.
Since he hadn’t been matched with any of the female guests, he’d stayed behind in the courtyard. The same went for Gui Xingye—both of them had spent the afternoon checking in on their unit’s training drills. That’s why the place had been empty when Mu Fu and the others returned.
If a male guest didn’t get matched, he was allowed to tend to his duties during the date period, with a crew member tagging along to film select moments for potential broadcast. Unmatched female guests, on the other hand, had full freedom to choose how to spend the afternoon—with the camera crew still following closely.
Bian Jincheng smiled. “We went to test out the ‘Backstab.’ Thought it’d be fun to give it a try.”
The male guests all knew what ‘Backstab’ referred to, but the girls were in the dark. Fan Xinjie, curious, turned to ask, “What’s ‘Backstab’?”
“It’s a training system we developed,” Bian Jincheng explained. “Simulates combat scenarios so we can monitor soldier performance in real time. If you’re interested, you should try it sometime.”
Just then, Xie Shirui’s voice piped up, surprised and eager. “Really? Can I try it too?”
Most of the women who came on the show admired soldiers and dreamed of becoming military wives. Xie Shirui was no exception.
When she was little, a soldier had saved her life. Ever since then, she’d dreamed of joining the military and being of service—just like her childhood hero. Unfortunately, due to personal circumstances, she never made it.
As soon as she learned about this show, she signed up without hesitation. Partly because she wanted to find a soldier as a partner—and partly because she was curious to see life on a military base. In normal times, when would she ever get the chance to step into a place like this?
Everything here fascinated her. Even though today’s date with Wen Shu hadn’t exactly sparked any fireworks, she was more than satisfied with the location. She loved the solemn and disciplined atmosphere of the base.
Seeing how excited Xie Shirui was, Bian Jincheng didn’t quite understand why—but he nodded slowly anyway.
After some chatting, the crew arrived with the next activity. A staff member read out the instructions: “To all the participants of Military Encounter, please complete the following challenge. Male and female guests will each draw a mission slip and carry out the assigned task.”
The men would draw first.
The crew placed two mystery boxes on the table—one blue and one red. The blue box had seven slips for the men; the red, five slips for the women.
Everyone quickly caught on—this was a group game. The energy in the room lifted instantly as everyone turned eager, sneaking glances at the boxes, clearly itching to see what kind of missions were inside. The male guests looked at one another, unsure who should go first.
Then Zhu Hongjun raised his hand enthusiastically. “I’ll go first, how about that?”
No one objected.
He stepped forward and casually pulled a slip from the blue box.
No one could see what it said, so they all tried to read his expression. But this time, Hongjun was smart—he kept a poker face.
Pang Chuan, unable to hold back, leaned forward, “Come on, what’d you get? Don’t leave us hanging!”
Encouraged, Zhu Hongjun grinned and finally read it out loud: “My mission is to sing a song for one of the female guests.”
He paused dramatically.
Fang Yuhang, seeing he wasn’t continuing, grabbed the slip and read the rest aloud, “—and you have to keep looking at her the whole time!”
The mood in the room lit up instantly. Everyone started cheering and coaxing Zhu Hongjun to hurry up and pick a girl for the mission.
Under all the playful shouting, Zhu Hongjun walked slowly, a little shy, and made his way over to Bai Tingting.
Bai Tingting had known he’d pick her—but honestly, she wasn’t thrilled about it. He’d stepped on so many of her nerves today, and on top of that, his emotional intelligence was seriously lacking. She was already fed up.
She gave him a stiff smile, staring at his shy, hopeful expression.
Zhu Hongjun said, “Tingting, I want to sing ‘A Little Happiness’ to you. Meeting you here… feels like a stroke of luck.”
When the crew brought out the mic and sound system, everyone else sensibly turned off the lights. Each person picked up a glow stick—prepped earlier by the crew—and started waving them around.
The room went dark except for the soft flickering of colorful glow sticks, casting gentle lights through the air.
In the darkness, everyone’s senses felt heightened. You could feel the presence of the people around you more vividly.
Once Zhu Hongjun was ready, the crew lit a soft spotlight on just him and Bai Tingting, focusing all attention on their faces alone.
Bai Tingting hadn’t expected the crew to go all-out like this. Surrounded by such a romantic, dreamy setting, the awkwardness inside her began to fade. In its place rose a feeling of excitement she hadn’t expected.
After all—who wouldn’t want to feel like the heroine, even just for a moment?
And right now, in this moment, Bai Tingting was the star.
The production team had truly outdone themselves. The whole thing felt like a mini concert, and the crowd’s emotions were fully swept up in the moment.
“I hear raindrops falling on the grass…
I hear the distant sound of a school bell…”
Sure, Zhu Hongjun could be clueless sometimes, but credit where it’s due—he had a beautiful voice. It was soft, slightly dreamy, with a slow, emotional rhythm that drew everyone in. Every word carried the feeling of the song with it, and he delivered it with surprising depth.
Bai Tingting seemed caught up in the emotion of the moment—her eyes welled up with tears, glistening under the only light in the room, making her look incredibly tender and striking.
As the last note faded, the room burst into applause.
The lights in the living room came back on.
Pang Chuan exclaimed in surprise, “Wow, Hongjun, I had no idea you could sing so well! Never noticed that before.”
He and Zhu Hongjun were from neighboring camps, so they were on friendly terms.
Zhu Hongjun beamed. “There’s a lot about me you haven’t noticed yet. Tingting, how was it? Did you like it?”
It would’ve been fine—if he hadn’t asked that last question. Bai Tingting was especially sensitive to the word “like,” and just hearing it made her think back to everything that had happened earlier that day and night. Whatever feelings had been stirred up by the song were now cut in half.
“It was nice. Thank you,” she said, with a polite smile.
Thank you for the song… but that’s it.
It wasn’t clear if Zhu Hongjun picked up on the subtext, but judging by how excited he still looked, he probably hadn’t caught it at all.
“I’m next, I’m next!” Pang Chuan was clearly hyped—seeing how much fun everyone was having, he couldn’t wait to jump in.
The task he drew was: Stare into the eyes of the female guest next to you for 30 seconds.
The people sitting next to him were Wen Shu and Xie Shirui, so by rule, he had to complete the challenge with Xie Shirui.
Pang Chuan looked at the delicate, fair-skinned girl beside him and instantly panicked a little. He was great at teasing others, but when it was his turn, he was totally flustered.
Meanwhile, under his intense gaze, Xie Shirui’s cheeks turned bright red. The thought of holding eye contact with him for 30 full seconds made her flustered.
Fan Xinjie couldn’t take it anymore. If they kept dithering like this, the game would drag on forever. So, before Xie Shirui could react, Fan Xinjie gave her a gentle push—and she stumbled right into Pang Chuan’s arms.
Startled, Pang Chuan quickly caught her. The petite Xie Shirui, standing at only 165 cm, looked incredibly dainty and delicate compared to Pang Chuan’s towering 190 cm frame.
Pang Chuan’s heart was pounding—thump, thump, thump—so hard it felt like it might leap out of his chest.
It was his first time holding a girl like this since joining the camp. Her skin was soft and pale, and she felt so delicate in his arms that he didn’t even dare hold her too tightly, afraid he might accidentally hurt her. It wasn’t until Xie Shirui blushed and began struggling to get free that he realized he was still holding her. He quickly let go. “S-Sorry…”
He felt horrible. Worried she’d misunderstood, he blurted out, “I didn’t think you’d suddenly fall into my arms!”
Xie Shirui’s face turned bright red with a mix of shyness and frustration. What kind of explanation was that? He made it sound like she had thrown herself at him!
Others had heard it too—including the one responsible for it all: Fan Xinjie. She quickly stepped up and apologized.
“That was my fault—I gave Shirui a little push. I didn’t mean for her to fall so hard. I’m so sorry, Shirui.”
Fan Xinjie had felt awful the moment Xie Shirui fell forward. She had just meant to nudge her a little, but misjudged the force.
Xie Shirui shook her head. “It’s okay, Xinjie. I know you didn’t mean it.”
Hearing that, Pang Chuan finally realized how bad his earlier comment had sounded. He panicked even more, waving his hands. “No, no, no—that’s not what I meant! Please don’t misunderstand!”
Seeing him so flustered, Xie Shirui couldn’t help but laugh, the tension dissolving into a soft giggle.
The moment she smiled, Pang Chuan let out a sigh of relief. He made a mental note: think before you speak next time.
Then, blushing furiously, Xie Shirui managed to meet his eyes for the 30-second eye contact challenge.
As soon as time was up, both of them looked away at the exact same moment, cheeks flushed with embarrassment.
There was definitely a spark between the two. Even when they returned to their seats, they avoided making eye contact again.
For Shirui, it was from shyness.
For Pang Chuan, it was because his heart had been stirred.
Only now did he truly notice how graceful and charming Xie Shirui was—he couldn’t help but steal glances at her.
Axolotl Translations 
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