Lin Feng's eyes snapped open the moment his phone alarm went off.
His hand shot out, catching the device and silencing it instantly.
He sat up on his bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.
His bed was the bottom bunk closest to the door, with Li Jun on the mattress above him. Across from them, Chen Ming occupied the lower bunk beneath Zhang Wei.
Chen Ming seemed to shoot upright at almost the same time, but his eyes were glazed over, staring blankly at the wall looking like a zombie.
"What time is it?" Li Jun muttered from above, his voice thick with sleep.
Zhang Wei dragged himself up on the other top bunk, looking even more knocked out than Chen Ming. His eyes were barely open.
Lin Feng sighed and stepped down from his bed. He reached up and shook Li Jun's shoulder firmly.
"Wake up," he said loudly. "Come on, get up."
Li Jun struggled but eventually managed to sit upright, though drowsiness still clung to him. The noise seemed to clear the fog from the others' heads a little as well.
"What time is it?" Chen Ming asked, finally showing signs of awareness.
"4 AM."
"4?" Li Jun frowned. "Why are you waking us up so early?"
"Did you forget what day it is?" Lin Feng looked at them. "Military training officially starts at 5:30, and we have to report for roll call at 6. If we wake up with everyone else, we'll be scrambling for showers while the instructors grill us for being slow."
He turned to Chen Ming specifically. "And if you're fighting for shower time with hundreds of other students, you won't have a chance to grab the supplies. The schedule after roll call is packed tight."
The moment those words left his mouth, something seemed to snap inside Chen Ming. The sleepiness vanished from his face almost instantly, and he swung his legs off the bed with urgency.
Lin Feng looked at the others.
Slowly, they climbed down from their bunks as well.
…
A while later.
Lin Feng sat at the study desk, Zhang Wei beside him with his nose buried in a textbook. By the open window, Li Jun was carefully wiping down his shoes. All three of them were already fully dressed.
Lin Feng glanced at Zhang Wei. This kid really loved to study. He always believed he could change his situation through studying hard. It's a pity…the world wasn't as straightforward as he probably thought. Lin Feng himself had also been obsessed with studies back then. Yet, even then…
Lin Feng turned back to his phone, fingers tapping away at the screen.
To anyone watching, it looked like he was browsing something. In reality, he was just pretending while he worked on his system interface, searching for any hidden features or options he might have missed.
Nothing. Still no success.
At that moment, the door swung open and Chen Ming walked in, carrying two crates stacked on top of each other, both filled with items.
Lin Feng turned to look at him. "Do you need help?"
"No need," Chen Ming said, setting the crates down before leaving again.
Five minutes later, he returned with another crate. He placed it beside the other two, then unstacked the first pair and arranged all three in a line so the contents were visible. He walked over and locked the door, then returned to stand before the crates.
"This is everything," he said.
The others gathered around.
"Water will be the most sought-after item, so I bought the most of it," Chen Ming explained, gesturing to the first crate. "180 yuan for 120 bottles. Then I figured there might be some richer students or people with more unique tastes, so I got 30 sports drinks for 90 yuan." He pointed to the second crate.
"Since we don't know exactly what flavors people prefer, I just picked at random. We can adjust after we gather more data from this first run."
He moved to the third crate. "And finally, 30 random snacks for 30 yuan. The good thing about snacks is that anyone who buys one has a high chance of also buying water or a drink to go with it."
Lin Feng fell into thought. Chen Ming was really thorough. As long as the group leader kept his end of the bargain, they really could turn a profit.
At that moment…
A bell rang out across the dormitory building, followed by the muffled sounds of groaning and shuffling from the rooms around them. People were finally waking up.
Then came the pounding on their door.
"Wake up! Time to get ready!" a voice shouted before footsteps moved on to the next room.
Looks like it's about time, Lin Feng thought.
…
A while later, Lin Feng, Zhang Wei, and Li Jun sat in the cafeteria, chatting casually over breakfast.
The meal wasn't anything fancy - just some steamed buns, boiled eggs, and soy milk.
As they ate, Chen Ming appeared and made his way over to them. Lin Feng gestured at the portion they had secured for him, and he quickly sat down and began devouring it.
"Everything go according to plan?" Lin Feng asked.
Chen Ming nodded, his mouth full.
They had planned for him to plant the supplies at a secure spot in the training field while everyone else was occupied with breakfast. Judging by his expression, the mission was a success.
Just as Chen Ming was finishing the last of his food, the bell rang out again.
"Time's up! Report to the field immediately!" A voice echoed through the cafeteria as someone walked around shouting. "Anyone who's late will face the consequences!"
The group quickly got to their feet, returned their utensils to the designated area, and rushed toward the field.