BDSMST -Chapter 69 Military Camp Training Methods — Reforming the Playboys

After that night’s conversation, Gu Yan changed.

He no longer worked with the reluctant resistance of the first two days. Instead, he began taking the initiative to learn and adapt to the rhythm of life on the estate.

Although his learning process remained full of clumsiness and hardship.

He tried to distinguish different kinds of vegetables—only to mistake chives for wheat seedlings.

He tried feeding the pigs—only to be chased halfway across the courtyard by a hefty old sow.

He tried repairing farming tools—and nearly smashed his own hand in the process.

For a time, he became the greatest source of “comic relief” among the boys. At every meal, exchanging stories about “what foolish thing the Marquis did today” became everyone’s favorite entertainment.

Gu Yan went from blushing bright red at first, to growing numb, and eventually even joining in with a bit of self-deprecating humor.

That pride and authority belonging to a general were gradually worn down by one foolish mishap after another.

Jiang Suisui observed all these changes without comment. When assigning daily tasks, however, she became more deliberate.

For example, she noticed that while Gu Yan struggled with delicate work, he had great strength and endurance. So she assigned him heavier tasks—hauling water, transporting fertilizer, reinforcing the greenhouse frames, and similar labor.

Gu Yan was happy to do these jobs. At least they required brute strength rather than finesse. It allowed him to recover a small measure of masculine confidence.

That afternoon, the boys were transporting base fertilizer to a newly turned plot of land.

The task required carrying baskets of fermented manure from the compost pit to the greenhouse dozens of meters away.

Though the boys had some strength, they were still only half-grown. Each basket weighed at least forty to fifty jin. After a few trips back and forth, they were panting heavily, their formation scattered and disorderly.

Wei Ziqian and Qian Duoduo even began arguing on the field ridge over who had carried more and who had taken fewer steps.

The entire scene was chaotic.

Gu Yan had just finished filling the water reservoir with two large buckets of water. Watching the noisy, disorganized group of boys, his brows unconsciously furrowed.

In his eyes, they were nothing but a rabble. With efficiency like this, forget about fighting a war—even transporting grain would earn them ridicule from the enemy.

He set down the buckets and strode over.

“Stop!”

His voice was low but carried the penetrating authority unique to a soldier.

The boys, still arguing moments before, were startled by his shout. Instinctively, they froze and turned toward him in unison.

“Look at yourselves! You can’t even stand properly! Carrying fertilizer like a pack of headless flies crashing into each other! At this rate, out of a hundred jin, you’ll spill thirty! Is this working? This is wasting!”

His gaze swept across each face like a blade.

The boys felt their scalps prickle under his stare. One by one, they lowered their heads, not daring to speak.

Even Wei Ziqian—usually the most boisterous—now resembled a rooster with its neck wrung, deflated and silent.

It was the first time they had seen this “clumsy” Marquis reveal such a terrifying side. The killing aura honed through mountains of corpses and seas of blood was not something these sheltered young playboys could withstand.

“From now on, everyone follows my command!” Gu Yan’s tone allowed no argument.

“All of you split into three groups! Group One handles loading! Group Two transports! Group Three unloads and spreads the fertilizer evenly! Five people per group—select your group leaders immediately!”

The boys exchanged uneasy glances but dared not protest. They hurriedly began dividing themselves.

“Qian Duoduo, you’re strong. Lead Group One at the compost pit and fill the baskets to the brim. No slacking!”

“Wei Ziqian, you’re quick. Lead Group Two for transport! Two people per row, maintain spacing, match your pace! Anyone who falls behind or spills manure won’t be eating tonight!”

“Li Rui, you’re meticulous. Lead Group Three inside the greenhouse and spread the fertilizer evenly over every inch of soil! If I see a single missed patch, your entire group will stand night watch!”

In just a few sentences, Gu Yan assigned tasks clearly, responsibilities fixed to individuals.

He had directly transplanted the training methods he used for drilling new recruits in the military camp.

“Now—begin!”

At his command, the boys sprang into motion like wind-up puppets.

At first, they were still awkward.

Their formation wobbled crookedly, their steps out of sync.

“Your strides are too small! Keep up with the person in front!”

“Straighten your backs! Steady the baskets!”

“Run! I didn’t tell you to take a stroll!”

Gu Yan’s voice echoed across the field ridges. Like the strictest of drill instructors, he watched every movement. At the slightest mistake, he delivered sharp, merciless reprimands.

The boys groaned in misery.

They felt as if they weren’t transporting fertilizer, but undergoing a brutal cross-country march under heavy load.

Yet something miraculous happened.

Once they adjusted their posture and rhythm according to Gu Yan’s instructions, they realized the heavy manure baskets didn’t feel quite as unbearable as before.

The once chaotic line became orderly.

The road that had seemed so long now felt shorter.

The loaders, the transporters, and the unloaders operated like three finely meshed gears, perfectly interlocking. The efficiency of their work more than doubled.

An hour later, when the last basket of fertilizer was delivered to its designated spot, the boys collapsed onto the ground one by one, too exhausted to move even a finger.

And yet their faces shone with a kind of exhilarated excitement they had never felt before.

“My heavens… I’m dead tired…” Wei Ziqian gasped as he lay sprawled on the ground, but his eyes sparkled. “But… that was actually pretty awesome!”

“Yeah! I feel like I could haul another hundred baskets!” Qian Duoduo laughed foolishly, pounding his sore shoulders.

For the first time, when they looked at Gu Yan, there was genuine admiration in their eyes.

This respect had nothing to do with his title as Marquis.

It was submission to his powerful leadership—the ability to mold a disorderly rabble into an efficient, unified team.

Jiang Suisui stood at the entrance of the greenhouse, taking it all in.

Watching the man standing with hands on his hips, surveying the boys’ “battle results” with a critical gaze, a small smile curved unconsciously at the corner of her lips.

She knew that the fierce tiger she had trapped between field ridges had finally found his proper battlefield.

That evening, Jiang Suisui instructed the kitchen to add two extra hearty dishes.

At the dinner table, Gu Yan spoke far more than usual. He was no longer the silent outsider. He commented on each person’s performance that afternoon—who had slacked off, who had excelled. He remembered everything clearly.

Those who were praised beamed with pride. Those who were criticized accepted it willingly.

The boys clustered around him, chattering excitedly, asking all sorts of questions about life in the military camp.

Gu Xuan no longer looked at him with disdain. Holding his rice bowl, he sat beside Gu Yan, listening to his father tell stories of military life he had never heard before, admiration shining brightly in his eyes.

Looking at his son’s upturned, adoring face—and then at the other lively, trusting faces around the table—Gu Yan felt an unprecedented surge of fulfillment.

It felt even stronger than winning a battle.

He lifted the cup in front of him, filled with the warm rice wine Jiang Suisui had prepared.

Across the table, he raised it slightly toward her.

Jiang Suisui, holding her bowl of soup, paused when she noticed. Then she lifted her own bowl, using the soup in place of wine, and gently clinked it toward him across the air.

Their eyes met for a brief moment.

No words were spoken.

But each understood the meaning in the other’s gaze.

It was a silent acknowledgment.