Chapter 357: Chapter 356

Ling Chengyan straightened her collar and followed, saying casually, “Since we’re here, we should quickly familiarize ourselves with the geography and terrain.”

He Jinghua laughed heartily, “We just arrived today, so there’s no need for heavy training. Let’s just go to the training field for a warm-up this afternoon.”

Ling Chengyan responded with a nod, not looking away.

Lunch consisted of four dishes and a soup, two meat and two vegetable dishes, and the soup was radish and pork rib soup. As He Jinghua put it, it was to welcome the comrades from the Eastern Province.

Ling Chengyan nodded in gratitude, “Starting today, we’ll be relying on the comrades from Beijing during this period.”

Anyone can say nice words; Ling Chengyan was once the eldest daughter of the Ling Family. Having attended numerous palace banquets, if she really puts her mind to socializing, how could she fall behind others?

Lunch ended in a harmonious and friendly atmosphere. Ling Chengyan noticed that her boys had strong recovery abilities; the previous flight hardly affected their appetites, so she ate at ease.

Honestly, the culinary skills of the Beijing Special Training Team’s cooking squad were quite good, and the taste was similar to the Eastern Province, much better than the bland boiled seafood from the Fujian Province that makes people sick.

After a satisfying meal, they were dismissed on the spot to return to the dormitory to sort out their luggage, allowing the Eastern Province team some time to rest.

Ling Chengyan took a quick shower, slept for fifteen minutes, changed into training attire, and walked out of the dormitory just in time for the assembly bell to ring.

She walked down the stairs unhurriedly, while the soldiers, also neatly dressed, ran down to line up properly.

The Beijing Special Training Team and the East Province Team lined up on two sides, distinctly separated.

Ling Chengyan glanced at her boys’ neat attire and upright military posture, a flash of appreciation in her eyes. After signaling, Squad Leader Geng Wei led the team to the training field.

The whole process was simple and swift. By the time they arrived at the training field and completed a lap, the Beijing Special Training Team arrived leisurely.

After running a lap to warm up, they regrouped into formation. Ling Chengyan quietly observed He Jinghua, who had followed the team. They were here to assist with the task execution, at least in appearance, it was necessary to distinguish primary and secondary roles.

He Jinghua, with a stern face, smiled upon seeing Ling Chengyan, “Since it’s warm-up training, how about a regular event? How about a four-hundred-meter obstacle course?”

Ling Chengyan had no objections, nodded briskly, “Alright.”

The four-hundred-meter obstacle course can be said to be a comprehensive test of a soldier’s physical strength and skills.

The Beijing Special Training Team had one hundred sixty members, half were deployed on tasks, and despite having only half remaining, there were eighty people. Each person took about a minute and a half, and with the interim consumption, completing the run took more than two hours.

So, He Jinghua suggested they randomly select twenty people to run with the East Province team.

Ling Chengyan, as usual, nodded in agreement, “Alright.”

After both gave their orders, twenty from the Eastern Province and twenty selected from the Beijing Special Training Team gathered at the starting point. The Beijing Team acted swiftly, and soon, the starters and timekeepers were ready, the whistle blew, and the race began.

Although the four-hundred-meter obstacle course was standardized across all locations, each training field could have different conditions. Even if conditions were the same, there might be subtle differences… like the softness of the sand in the pits, or slight height differences, and so on. Training every day on their own field means they’re familiar with these details, making their run more comfortable. Changing to a new field, the unfamiliar details will slightly affect their performance.

This is what can be called the home-field advantage.

And this advantage is especially evident in the four-hundred-meter obstacle course with numerous obstacles.

Didn’t Ling Chengyan know this? Didn’t the Eastern Province team members know this? Didn’t the Beijing Special Training Team members know this?

Of course, they knew.

Therefore, Ling Chengyan readily agreed to ’familiarize and adapt’, and the Eastern Province team members showed no sign of fear or hesitation, each more composed than the last.

On a visiting field, winning is glorious; even if losing, it’s not shameful, is it?

Both teams had already conducted a joint training exercise in Guangdong Province before, compared to being somewhat familiar. However, the previous exercise didn’t involve all members, and neither did this one. Among the twenty selected from the Beijing Team, Ling Chengyan only recognized about four or five, the others were new to her, and she wasn’t aware of their capabilities. There was no application of ’Tian Ji horse racing’ tactics; they simply confronted directly. Winning or not winning, there would be more opportunities in the future.

They were here to assist in executing tasks for at least a month. Even a loss this time didn’t matter, there would be chances to turn it around.

Ling Chengyan’s indifferent attitude gave the Eastern Province team members confidence, each becoming more relaxed, without any apprehension, casually lining up at the starting point.

Geng Wei, as one of the twenty, proactively took the front position, initiating the battle!

The whistle sounded. He started energetically; before the whistle ended, he dashed out like an arrow.

On the track, all he had in his mind and sight were the obstacles on the course. Overcome them and reach the finish line.

It’s worth mentioning, although the four-hundred-meter obstacle course follows standards of distance, height, depth, and even minor detailed differences, well-trained special training team members can overcome them with speed, jumping power, etc. Sure, there might be slight impacts, but just minor, not causing large disparities.

Geng Wei ran smoothly; while running, he even had the leisure to compare slight differences in the course here.

Onlookers from the Beijing Team and waiting team members from both sides began cheering, encouraging their comrades by clapping hands or even stomping feet, expressing their excitement.

Ling Chengyan quietly stood by the track, maintaining a calm face, with her eyes only following the team members on the course, including both her own boys and Beijing Team members.

Geng Wei smoothly reached the finish line. The team member responsible for timing pressed down on the stopwatch and loudly announced the result, “1 minute 20 seconds 05!”

The Beijing Team’s runner slightly lagged behind, approximately two body lengths, and the timing member announced, “1 minute 21 seconds 10!”

Ling Chengyan’s expression remained unchanged, her gaze again followed the second runner as they took off.

Geng Wei’s result was one of the best; the fastest was Deng Chuang from the Eastern Province, who took only 1 minute 11 seconds 35. The slowest from the Eastern Province took 1 minute 32 seconds 01.

After all finished, both the Eastern Province and Beijing Team had wins and losses, with twelve Eastern Province members outrunning their opponents. In terms of total time, they had already won!

Ling Chengyan glanced at He Jinghua and, without waiting for him to speak, walked over to the racers who had completed.

She approached the fastest runner from the Beijing Team, Li Zhen, smiling, extending her hand for a shake before introducing herself, “Ling Chengyan.”

The opponent was slightly startled then reported his own name, after which Ling Chengyan kindly patted his shoulder with encouragement, “Very good, keep it up!”

Her height was not particularly tall, standing at 165cm, appearing more petite among the tall and sturdy special training team members.

She raised her hand, seemingly without any force, just an encouraging tap, causing the other to naturally bend slightly, “Thank you, Captain!”

Just like that, she went about meeting everyone, offering goodwill and encouragement one by one. Her calm and gentle demeanor led these strong and sturdy special training team members to feel unconsciously close and envious.

The feeling of closeness was towards Ling Chengyan, the amiable captain. The envy was towards the Eastern Province team members, wondering why they had such a good captain, while their own, dealt with a fierce demon, He Jinghua!

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep