Why Was There a Second Zhuge Liang When There Was Already Zhou Yu?

The unexpected happened an hour later.

Around six o'clock, Fang Huai was sitting by his bed, flirting with his quilt, when he saw Wang Jian walk past the classroom door while talking on the phone. Wang Jian even glanced at him.

Mission complete.

Generating reward...

Over the previous hour, the mission progress had gradually reached (11/12). It seemed every squad leader had gotten to know him.

As for what kind of impression he had left on them, he had no idea.

Seventh Company had twelve veterans: nine squad leaders, one clerk, the company commander, and the Political Instructor.

If he had guessed right, the last Seventh Company veteran—the Political Instructor Liang Longhui, who was outside taking care of his wife—had also formed a unique impression of him.

He had completed two missions at once. A roundabout way to save the country.

Please select your reward.

1. Folded Military Quilt Lv1 (If not selected, this skill reward will be canceled)

2. Slightly increased arm strength

3. Lung Enhancement

Fang Huai looked at the yellow military quilt before him, which had begun to resemble a block of tofu, and once again ruled out the Folded Military Quilt skill.

There was no need to waste this opportunity on a skill that could be honed through time.

Internal organ enhancement or strength enhancement—which should he choose?

Lungs...

But the New Recruit Regiment did not run often. There were only three physical training days a week, while push-ups were a punishment veterans used all the time.

He had to drop down and do them several times a day. If he did not choose his arms now, push-ups would kill him.

Choosing internal organs would definitely be useful, but the results would not come as quickly as a strength boost.

If this was a journey to fulfill his dreams, he would rather first experience Gymnastics on the Bar.

The abdominal strength increase had felt quite obvious just now, and gains already in hand always made someone who had been poor in his previous life feel secure.

He chose arms.

The instant Fang Huai made his choice, his eyes widened.

The soreness in his arms abruptly turned into intense stabbing pain, making him suck in a sharp breath.

This time was clearly nowhere near as easy as the last enhancement. Having once again chosen "fast food," the system seemed intent on tormenting him.

After a while, the stabbing pain faded.

The soreness and swelling from before faded with it.

This enhancement... seemed capable of restoring mana.

Normally, after training to the point he had just reached, it would take at least two or three days for his strength to recover. But after recovering, his strength would surpass its previous peak, making it the best time to achieve results. That was why experienced veterans would train intensely for several days before a strength-based assessment.

Could this upgrade have rapidly restored and absorbed the training from earlier?

Fang Huai was a little excited. Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, he braced both hands on the floor and wanted to test it.

A few push-ups should be enough to feel the difference.

Unexpectedly, Yue Tao happened to turn around, and his expression slowly became one of shock.

"Holy shit... Squad Leader! He's at it again! Squad Leader!" Yue Tao shouted loudly and patted Peng Yingqirui beside him.

There were only two people in the room. Since only Fang Huai had the privilege of folding his quilt on the bed, everyone else was folding theirs on the floor. There was only enough space between the beds for two quilts, while everyone else was out in the hallway.

Peng Yingqirui turned and saw Fang Huai in a push-up position. His eyes turned frightened as well, and he hurried over to pull him back.

"Damn, bro, what the hell are you doing?? Squad Leader!!"

Hao Chengbin rushed over quickly. Fang Huai lay speechless on the floor while Peng Yingqirui sat sideways on his back, looking rather smug as he made an "OK" sign.

"It's fine, Squad Leader. I've subdued him already!"

"Get up!" Hao Chengbin pointed at Peng Yingqirui, then looked at Fang Huai with a frown. "What's wrong with you?"

"Squad Leader, I'm fine, I'm fine!" Fang Huai waved his hands repeatedly.

Seeing that Fang Huai looked perfectly normal, Hao Chengbin snapped, "Hurry up and sort out your barracks! Peng Yingqirui! You still have time to fool around? Look at that quilt you folded! It looks like a dinosaur—high in front, low in back, with its mouth open that wide. Who are you trying to stuff into it? Take it apart and work it over again!"

As he spoke, he grabbed Peng Yingqirui's folded quilt, flipped it open, shook it twice, and tossed it back onto the floor.

"Squad Leader, I really wasn't fooling around!!"

For the next half hour, Peng Yingqirui kept glaring resentfully at Fang Huai while working the quilt with his hands, evening out the cotton inside.

Not the way one scrubbed clothes. He spread it out and pressed it back and forth, then folded it and pressed it again, until the edges were even and firm enough to pinch into shape and sharpen the corners.

Fang Huai had only managed to finish one quilt he could barely stand looking at by five-thirty. When he turned and saw Peng Yingqirui slowly folding his quilt with a tearful face, he helplessly went over to guide him.

Once Peng Yingqirui had folded it, Fang Huai ignored his shocked and furious stare, pressed the quilt flat with both arms, then seemingly performed magic as he used a pen to gradually sharpen its edges and corners.

"Don't leave too much empty space here. If it's too wide, it'll collapse! Yours is obviously because you drew the lines too wide. Leave one centimeter less on each side!"

"The top of the quilt needs to be pressed evenly! Once you've drawn the lines, don't keep moving it around. Save time while folding and spend more of it fixing the edges and corners!"

"You pinch the edges, and you shove the corners. Push them inward, then bring them back out along the corner..."

Peng Yingqirui watched his quilt become a work of uncanny craftsmanship and kept muttering, "Badass, badass."

One by one, the recruits carried their folded quilts into the room and carefully placed them on their beds. Though the quilts were all the same size, the finished products varied in height and length.

Everyone was quite satisfied with their own "tofu blocks," thinking they had folded them well and that everyone else's had this problem or that.

The Interior Regulations did not say much about folding quilts, yet it was one of the most important parts of barracks upkeep. It not only tempered one's mind and patience, but also gradually cultivated an appreciation for neat, square forms.

Although everyone's tastes differed, Fang Huai's quilt was the most eye-catching in the room. The longer they looked, the more orderly it seemed compared to the others, its edges and corners sharper as well.

Fang Huai's technique was not particularly good, but he had picked it up far faster. Working the quilt and folding it had taken only half an hour. He had gauged every point by hand and avoided most pitfalls, but repairing the quilt had taken a full hour.

Most of the other recruits finished theirs on the floor, only carrying them onto their beds for final adjustments in the last ten minutes.

At six-thirty, the wake-up call sounded. The moment veteran Hao Chengbin entered the room, he spotted the differences. After circling the beds halfway around and inspecting them closely, he said,

"Fang Huai, next time you can fold your quilt a little lower. These newly issued quilts aren't suited to being folded so thick. The middle is still a bit swollen."

"Squad Leader, I think it looks pretty good!" Seeing that Fang Huai's quilt alone had received a correction from the squad leader, Yue Tao immediately clasped his hands behind his back and offered his opinion.

Mysterious confidence.

Anyone with even a little social awareness had already fallen silent by then.

The only quilt their squad leader found worth commenting on was clearly that one. The others were not even worth mentioning.

Sure enough, upon hearing Yue Tao, Hao Chengbin turned to look at his quilt. After only one glance, disgust appeared on his face.

"It looks like fucking shit, Yue Tao. Later, get ready to go downstairs and pick yours up."

"Pfft..." Chen Zhongqiang failed to hold it in and laughed.

Hao Chengbin turned his head and immediately passed judgment on him too.

"Chen Zhongqiang, same for you!"

Then he made another round. "Shorty, redraw your lines tomorrow. Zhao Bing, straighten yours out again!"

Jiang Peng grew anxious. The ones the squad leader had mentioned were clearly still passable. He had not expected his own quilt to not even make the top three.

"Squad Leader, look at mine... What needs fixing?"

Jiang Peng slept in the top bunk. Hao Chengbin changed angles and gave it a serious look.

"Yue Tao's looks like diarrhea. Yours... is a little more solid."

"Hahahaha..." A burst of laughter erupted.

Jiang Peng darkened his face as he watched Fang Huai and Zhao Bing head out with their washbasins.

Fang Huai had technique, while Zhao Bing had physical ability.

Why was there a second Zhuge Liang when there was already Zhou Yu?

And two Zhuge Liangs at that??

Morning exercises at the Training Ground.

Nearly a thousand people ran around the Training Ground in company formations. Their pace was slow, and their chants were a chaotic mix.

Seventh Company was led by Pan Zhaohui, the veteran sergeant squad leader of Eighth Squad.

"One-two-one! One-two-one!"

"Rookie, rookie! I'm a rookie!"

"Rookie..."

"Shout it!!"

"Rookie, rookie, I'm a rookie!"

"Pest, pest, I'm a pest!"

"Pest, pest, I'm a pest!"

"Listen to my command! One-two-one! Three Kilometer Run!"

"Three Kilometer Run!"

"Love you!"

"Love you!"

"One day without running!"

"One day without running!"

"I miss you to death!"

"I miss you to death!"

There were all kinds of fancy chants. One company in the distance even started singing "We Are Pests."

"We are pests! We are pests! Righteous veteran squad leaders, righteous veteran squad leaders, must destroy the pests, destroy them!"

With so many people, they could not go fast anyway. It was quite harmonious. The recruits jogged five laps at a leisurely pace, like they were taking a walk, covering only two kilometers.

Other than those who found the chants too embarrassing to shout and got kicked in the ass, along with some who were extremely overweight or physically weak, no one found it particularly difficult.

After they finished running, they formed up, then went for breakfast amid laughter and chatter.

Fang Huai was probably among the most miserable ones.

Ever since receiving the strength reward and recovering his arms, he had become hungrier and hungrier.

The rapid recovery of his muscle groups seemed to have depleted all the glycogen in his body. His stomach had already growled several times, and he now felt as though his body had begun burning fat. His entire body was heating up.

This rapid recovery seemed to be making up the difference through an intense expenditure of energy.

But with an entire regiment gathering at the Training Ground, then each company assembling in turn outside the New Recruit Building cafeteria, singing, and finally being allowed to eat, it was bound to be a long process.

Measured precisely, it took around twenty minutes.

Fang Huai was so hungry his eyes had practically turned green.

And someone just had to court death by only moving their lips without putting any effort into the pre-meal song. Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua coldly ordered,

"If you can't sing it right, keep singing here. Eat only after you sing it right!"

They sang "Unity Is Strength" six times. By the end, Fang Huai could no longer open his mouth. In just over an hour, he had experienced what it felt like to go at least four or five days without food.

A system that so clearly defied biology still had the nerve to pretend it followed the law of conservation of physical energy.

It looked scientific, but in reality, it did not believe in science at all.

When breakfast was finally announced, the companies entered the cafeteria one by one. Fang Huai was already swaying on his feet. He leaned backward slightly, and Lu Zexian, the tallest recruit in Ninth Squad behind him, caught him and asked quietly,

"What's wrong?"

"Maybe I didn't recover properly earlier. I'm a little dizzy." Fang Huai hurriedly made up an excuse.

"Then I'll support you inside!"

When it was Seventh Company's turn to enter the cafeteria, Lu Zexian's six-foot height immediately caught Yang Yonghua's attention. At the same time, he spotted the recruit who had made him get up two hours early that morning.

Fang Huai's weak appearance made him speculate.

This recruit had looked perfectly fine just now. Either he was faking it to avoid training, or he was physically too weak.

But either way, the Outstanding Soldier award Yang Yonghua had promised that morning probably would not be handed out.

Sigh. He had thought this young man could endure hardship and had perseverance. It seemed he was just all show.

(There'll be another chapter later.)