In the hall, Lu Yan was briefly surprised to see master standing with platoon leader Han, and squad leaders Shan and Heng.
Then she understood.
No wonder Shan was here at this time of day!
"You'll be responsible for two squads," master began, "The ten men under squad leaders Shan and Heng."
Lu Yan bowed to master, "I understand."
Master pointed to Han, "This is their platoon leader, a direct supervisor. If they give you problems, he's the person you can reach out to."
Lu Yan bowed to platoon leader Han, who nodded slightly.
"If there are any injuries you can't handle, junior physician Tan can help."
Giving a few more instructions, master said, "Do your best." Then he left.
Han and Heng and Heng's squad directly followed.
Shan smiled at Lu Yan, bowing, "We'll be under master Yan's care." The rest of his squad bowed with him.
A pleased smile appeared on Lu Yan's face. She slapped him lightly on the forearm, "Go quickly before the platoon leader doubles your drills for the day."
Shan grinned, and said before leaving, "Let's meet at dinner."
Lu Yan watched him leave.
Tan gestured to a box full of scrolls, "These are the scrolls for the ten soldiers you're responsible for. You should familiarize yourself with them."
Lu Yan thanked him, and opened the box.
She started with Shan's scroll.
Except, he had multiple scrolls. From the records, it looked like he was injured at least once every week. The injuries were not severe, but previous physicians had noted that he seemed to resist resting.
Heng was not any better.
The soldiers under them, though not to the same degree, all had multiple scrolls.
Lu Yan studied them all before going to find Tan.
Tan was changing bandages.
"Is it normal for soldiers to be injured every week in practice?"
Tan shook his head, "These two are the most troublesome squads. They're wild, getting injured too often, and insisting on practicing despite their injuries."
"Why?"
Tan shrugged, "They have some sort of rivalry and keep trying to one-up each other."
"To be honest," he said sheepishly, "I was a little relieved when young master Ji said you'd be looking after them. They take up too much of my time and energy."
Lu Yan knew that Tan- and the rest of the physicians- barely had a few moments to rest everyday.
She smiled, "Don't worry, junior physician Tan. I'll carry this burden."
Tan wanted to shake his head at her confidence. He said tentatively, "They're really not easy to deal with."
"It doesn't matter," Lu Yan said, "Master has decided. He must have his reasons."
Tan privately thought that young master Ji seemed to like throwing Lu Yan into deep waters and watching her struggle to swim. But he didn't dare to say it out loud.
He just nodded, watched Lu Yan leave and continued cleaning and bandaging wounds.
---
Shan couldn't eat dinner in the inner circle eating hall.
Only those ranked platoon leader and above could eat here. Lu Yan had the badge provided by master.
Lu Yan didn't have much time free to see Shan, so whenever they met for dinner, Shan usually convinced his elder brother Han to get him a meal using his platoon leader badge.
Han left immediately after Shan got the meal, with a single dispassionate look at Lu Yan who was already seated.
Lu Yan, seeing Shan appear with a bowl, immediately waved him over to the seat she'd saved for him.
They ate and talked.
"I heard from the other physicians that your squads are the most troublesome in the whole camp."
He smiled proudly, "We have a great reputation! We were the top squad in last year's military exercise."
"Oh! Really?"
His smile dimmed a little, "Of course, that was when elder brother Han was the squad leader, and Heng and I were on his squad. We were promoted after that. Now he's a platoon leader, and Heng and I both have our own squads."
"You don't like being squad leader?"
"I like it. But everything was better when the three of us were together all the time."
Seeing his mood getting worse, Lu Yan tried to change the subject, "Who's going to win this year?"
He sat upright, boasting, "Of course, it'll be my Thunder squad."
"Thunder squad? I thought the squads didn't have names, just identifying numbers."
Shan shook his head, "It's boring without cool names. Heng named his squad Lightning squad. Of course, copying our name doesn't mean they'll beat us in the games."
"Really?"
"Of course, of course, this is also the reason our squad has more injuries." He paused, then added, "You'll have to take good care of our health and help us win."
"I saw the records, and Heng's squad also has more injuries than usual," Lu Yan teased, "Does that mean they're also training hard?"
"Pff-" Shan waved a hand, "There's no way Heng can compete with me."
Lu Yan smiled, and ate a mouthful of noodle soup, "If you say so."
Shan suddenly sat upright, "What? You don't believe me?" He frowned, "Don't tell me you're on Heng's side."
"No, no, of course not," Lu Yan reassured him quickly, "In my eyes, you're always the best."
Shan suddenly smiled slyly, "Even better than your master?"
"Master is master. You are you."
Shan rolled his eyes at her noncommittal answer, but let her be.
She finished her bowl, and took a package from her pouch, sliding it over to him, "Here, this is yours. I changed the oil paper, and made sure the cake wasn't damaged. It's a little crushed, but it should still taste great."
Shan looked at the clean oil paper, and cleaning his hands on his trouser legs took the package.
He said wickedly, "I'll eat it with tea. In front of Heng. I won't give him a single bite."
"If you leave it uncovered for a while, it's sweet smell should spread in the room."
Shan looked at her, with a surprised little smile, "Great minds think alike. Ayan and I are truly fated."
Lu Yan laughed, "Next time I'll bring snacks with stronger smells for you brother."
They chatted and laughed together, carefree and happy.
Shan left her at the entrance of master's home before returning to the barracks alone.