Rebirth of a Mercenary: The Ace Mercenary Forced to Be the Beloved of the Group

When the last recruit crossed the finish line, he collapsed to the ground like a fish that had been slapped onto the shore.

Lu Xiao blew a short whistle: "Class One, assemble. Eight-minute break."

Eight minutes.

A collective gasp of relief filled the playground.

Bai Ye didn't sit down. He stood at the edge of the first class's line, hands on his hips, his breathing having mostly calmed down.

Xuan Xiao sat on the grass next to him, one leg bent, his arm resting on his knee. He tilted his head back and drank half a pot of water, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, then wiped the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand and looked up at Bai Ye.

Aren't you going to sit down?

"Not tired."

Xuan Xiao chuckled. He ran two kilometers in seven minutes and twelve seconds, without even breaking a sweat, and said he wasn't tired. Okay. Then his gaze fell on Bai Ye's face and stopped.

Bai Ye's face was turning red.

"You're blushing," Xuanxiao said.

Bai Ye ignored him.

"Really, your nose is all red. Like a rabbit."

Bai Ye lowered her head and glanced at him. The meaning in her eyes was clear: You're noisy.

Xuan Xiao's smile widened. He stood up from the grass and took half a step to Bai Ye's right. His height cast a small shadow between Bai Ye and the sun, which fell precisely on Bai Ye's face.

Bai Ye glanced at him.

"What are you doing?"

"To block the sun."

"……unnecessary."

"I'm hot, it's cool standing here."

Bai Ye's lips twitched, but in the end she said nothing and looked away.

Eight minutes were up. A long, sharp whistle shattered the brief silence on the playground.

The recruits sprang up from the grass as if they'd been electrocuted; some frantically searched for their hats, while others ran outside before even screwing on their water bottle caps.

Li Mo stood in the center of the playground, next to the class monitors of several other classes.

"Attention, everyone—military posture training, now beginning."

A suppressed wail rose from the ranks.

Zhao Lei walked among the ranks with a pointer in his hand. If he saw anyone whose hand wasn't close to their trouser seam, he would lash them with the whip. The force wasn't heavy, but the sound was crisp and clear, making people's backs tense just by hearing it.

"Hands! Press them close together! Lift your head! Chest out! Stomach in!"

Zhao Lei walked past Bai Ye, glanced at him, and paused for a moment.

The military posture was impeccable. Chest out, stomach in, chin slightly tucked, shoulders back, fingers together and pressed against the trouser seams, weight on the balls of the feet. The entire posture resembled a taut bowstring, a smooth straight line from head to toe.

Zhao Lei didn't say anything and walked over.

Bai Ye stared straight ahead, his breathing steady.

But his skin was protesting.

Sweat trickled down my forehead, down my brow bone, across my temples, across my cheekbones, and finally gathered at my jawline. The sun-exposed skin felt a burning, stinging sensation, especially on prominent areas like the bridge of my nose and cheekbones, as if being gently sanded.

All his physical indicators were within the normal range—his heart rate was stable, his breathing was even, and his core strength was sufficient to maintain a standard military posture. But his skin was too delicate. The sixteen-year-old boy was almost transparently white, like a sheet of white paper placed under a magnifying glass under the blazing sun, as if it could be ignited at any moment.

Twenty minutes have passed.

Bai Ye's breathing remained steady. But the pink tinge on his face had spread to his neck, and the tips of his ears were as red as if they had been burned. The sunlight made him squint slightly, beads of sweat clinging to his eyelashes, and the playground in his vision became somewhat blurry.

Xuanxiao stood beside him.

A few strands of his gray hair were damp with sweat, but he was in better condition than everyone around him.

His posture even carried a hint of relaxation—not the kind of relaxation that comes from laziness, but the kind that comes from having ample physical reserves and being fully capable of handling the current intensity. His hands were pressed tightly against his trouser seams, his back was straight, but his shoulders were not stiff, and his breathing was even.

He noticed that Bai Ye's face was getting redder and redder.

It's not the normal sunburn. It's the precursor to ultraviolet burns on extremely pale skin, like the thin red layer that appears on the surface of the first snow after being exposed to direct sunlight. It looks beautiful, but it hurts to look at.

Xuan Xiao frowned slightly.

-

the other side.

Lu Xiao stood in the shade at the edge of the playground, holding a bottle of water in his hand, but didn't drink it. His gaze swept across the entire playground and landed on the black-haired boy in the first class's line.

Lu Xiao placed the water bottle on the steps beside him.

"Old Li."

Li Mo was standing in front of the line supervising the military posture training when he heard the sound and turned around.

"That's about it."

Li Mo followed his gaze to Bai Ye, then checked his watch. Standing for thirty-five minutes was indeed quite a workout for a recruit who had just run two kilometers.

He nodded.

Lu Xiao blew his whistle.

"Everyone, take a 15-minute break!"

The moment the whistle fell, it was as if someone had flipped a switch on the playground.

The recruits collapsed.

Most people's knees buckled and they knelt on the ground. Some lay down on the spot, while others staggered to the shade of a tree, sat down, and didn't want to move anymore.

Zhao Xiaohu knelt on both knees, his hands supporting him on the ground, his round face showing an expression as if he had just survived a life-or-death ordeal.

"My...my leg...is no longer mine..."

Qian Duoduo sat down on the ground, his two short legs stretched out in front of him, looking like a melted rice cake. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but in the end only a breathy sound came out.

Bai Ye's legs were also aching. From the back of her thighs to her calves, the entire muscle chain was conveying a feeling of soreness and swelling from overuse.

He slowly walked to the steps by the playground and sat down, supporting himself on his knees. His movements were steady, but if you looked closely, you could see that his knees trembled slightly as he sat down.

The sun was still shining overhead. The redness on his face and neck hadn't faded yet, and the tips of his ears had changed from crimson to deep pink, as if they had been gently twisted.

A bottle of water appeared before him.

The bottle was covered in water droplets, like it had just been taken out of the freezer.

Bai Ye followed the hand holding the water bottle upwards. Xuan Xiao stood in front of him, his gray hair slightly whitened by the sun, and a smug smile on his face.

Bai Ye took the water bottle, unscrewed the cap, and took a sip. The cool water slid down his throat, taking away some of the heat. He took two more sips and screwed the cap back on.

"Fifty dollars."

Bai Ye stopped moving.

He raised his head.

"...Are you sick?"

Xuan Xiao finally couldn't hold back and burst out laughing. He sat down on the steps next to Bai Ye, one leg straight and the other bent, his arm resting on his knee, and turned his head to look at him.

"Just kidding, just kidding. Look how hot you are."

Bai Ye withdrew his gaze and took another sip of water. The cool sensation spread from his throat to his chest, and the burning sensation on his face subsided a little. He held the water bottle in his hand, water droplets trickling down his fingers.

Thanks.

Bai Ye's voice was very soft, and it was mostly drowned out by the noise on the playground.

Xuan Xiao heard this. He smiled, didn't reply, and tilted his head back to drink the water from his pot.

Sunlight filtered through the leaves, falling brightly on the steps between the two people.