A Day with a Taste

Half an hour later.

Ninth Squad stood in a line, their bodies tense.

The entire Training Ground was quiet. Everyone stood motionless according to the military posture standards taught by their squad leaders.

"What did military posture represent?"

Hao Chengbin stood with his hands behind his back and asked with a smile.

"Report! It represents a soldier's posture!" Lu Zexian, at the head of the formation, shouted.

Hao Chengbin rolled his eyes. "I asked you to explain it, not translate it!"

Seeing that the squad leader was not too serious, Yue Tao sensed an opportunity to clown around and grinned.

"Report, Squad Leader! It expresses the author's homesickness!"

"Hahahaha..." The whole squad burst out laughing.

Hao Chengbin laughed too, but it was a cold laugh. When he finished, he walked behind Yue Tao and whipped a kick into his ass.

"Military posture!"

"Represents!"

"The posture!"

"That a soldier!"

"Should have!"

Every sentence Hao Chengbin ground out through clenched teeth came with a kick.

Yue Tao clutched his ass and grimaced, but since it was his well-padded rear taking the punishment, he still had the mood to joke.

"Squad Leader! I was wrong!! Your whip kick is even cooler than Squad Leader Pan's!"

Hao Chengbin walked to the front of the formation and sneered. "Yue Tao, if you keep joking around with me in formation, next time I'll show you whether my front kick is cool or not!"

Fang Huai could not help wanting to remind Yue Tao.

Hao Chengbin's style of leading soldiers was somewhat more relaxed. He probably did not want everyone's nerves wound so tight, but that did not mean veteran soldiers would not mess with people.

If Yue Tao kept playing the fool like this, one day he might step on a land mine and be left with an unforgettable memory for life.

The other recruits, however, had not realized that. They were still enjoying the show. The more someone cracked jokes, the faster training time passed. At this moment, only Fang Huai and Zhao Bing were still maintaining military posture; everyone else took the chance to loosen up their limbs.

And Hao Chengbin made no adjustment at all.

Ten minutes later.

Squad Leader Hao stood by the wall and watched the scenery outside for a while. When he turned back, several people were constantly shifting their legs and making little movements, so he smiled and walked to the front of the formation.

"I see none of you are very enthusiastic about standing in military posture."

It was coming. It was really coming.

A faint premonition flashed through Fang Huai's mind.

"Standing seems like an easy way to slack off. To keep you from slacking, I'll have to delay my time watching pretty girls... How about this? Down on the ground, get ready for push-ups!"

"Damn it, Sun Lianhai, Liu Yue! You two were the ones fidgeting! Feeling good now?" Yue Tao complained bitterly.

Lu Zexian could not stand it anymore and turned his head.

"Yue Tao, you didn't move? I saw you fidgeting out of the corner of my eye!"

Hao Chengbin glared. "Why are you talking so much? Did you forget what I said this morning? Want to be trash? When your comrades make mistakes, you bear the responsibility too!"

"Report!" Lu Zexian shouted.

"Speak!"

"Yue Tao kept moving around. As his comrade, I should remind him!"

"Formation discipline! Understand? Get down!"

Hao Chengbin walked directly behind Lu Zexian. This time, he showed no mercy at all, kicking him in the thigh. Lu Zexian staggered forward from the blow, tears welling in his eyes from the pain.

Standing nearby, Fang Huai clearly saw Lu Zexian clench his fists. He hurried forward as though to help steady him, taking the opportunity to grip his fist tightly.

"You're already here. You chose this yourself. Don't be impulsive," Fang Huai said softly.

"You're already here" was a widely used civilian phrase, referring to every kind of persuasion. Its essence was to use the difficulty of getting here to cover up the price one would have to pay next.

Other equally misleading phrases included "It's the dead of winter," "It's not worth it," "You'll see each other again," "Do me a favor," "They're still kids," "Nobody has it easy," and so on.

And finally, "The person is already dead."

Lu Zexian clenched his back teeth, then loosened his fists.

When people were in adversity, they were more likely to listen to advice.

When Fang Huai returned to the formation and got down on the ground, he was actually a little excited.

He had waited all morning. At last, he had a perfectly legitimate chance to lie down.

Unexpectedly, Hao Chengbin opened his mouth and said something that disappointed him.

"My requirements aren't high. Thirty standard push-ups! Do them properly! Keep your waist straight. Only your shoulder and elbow joints should move. Your upper and lower arms must form a ninety-degree angle. Don't hump the ground! If I see anyone cutting corners, you start over!... Fang Huai, you can do fewer!"

"No need, Squad Leader!" Fang Huai immediately said.

"That's an order! You collapsed from exhaustion just a few hours ago, so do... twenty!" Hao Chengbin's tone allowed no argument.

Fang Huai was about to argue further, but the people beside him were already staring at him with pleading expressions.

If they kept talking, never mind push-ups—even holding themselves up off the ground was exhausting.

"Watch my movement carefully! When I make you start over later, don't say I never demonstrated!"

As he spoke, Hao Chengbin turned sideways to the formation, bent down, planted both hands on the ground, and performed a standard push-up, pausing at the bottom.

"Get down this far! That counts as one!"

As he spoke, he pressed his lower body against the ground. "Don't give me this! If you like humping the ground so much, I'll make you lie there forever!

A standard push-up requires your triceps, pectorals, lats, abs, glutes, and leg muscles to work together!

Push-ups, sit-ups, and weighted squats—these three are the most basic strength exercises in the army. You must do them properly!

If your form is wrong, not only will you fail to get the results you should, you'll also damage your lumbar spine!"

Fang Huai could not help rolling his eyes.

They had not even warmed up or stretched before doing push-ups. Didn't cramps count as injury?

Squad Leader Hao got up and finally gave the command. "Count for yourselves!"

One person immediately collapsed onto the ground.

Peng Yingqirui.

Before this guy had even started, just from holding himself up for a few sentences, his body's strength supply system had already shut down.

"Report!"

"Report what? Get up!" Hao Chengbin grabbed Peng Yingqirui by the belt and yanked him into the air.

The others hurriedly took advantage of the chaos to knock out several quick reps.

"Chen Zhongqiang, Lu Zexian, you think I can't see you? Start over!"

A chorus of groans rose up.

Only then did Fang Huai come up from his second push-up.

"Two!"

He slowly lowered himself again, then came back up, his movements smooth and without pause.

"Three!"

Fang Huai felt amazing.

The sensation of power flowing through his arms made him feel fulfilled.

After ten reps, Hao Chengbin finally noticed that Fang Huai was doing slow-motion push-ups!

And there was barely any pause. His body formed a perfectly straight line, and every movement was extremely standard!

Anyone who had done it knew how difficult that was.

"Report, Squad Leader, finished!"

Zhao Bing had already completed thirty standard push-ups. He stood up, clapped his hands, and observed his comrades.

When he noticed Fang Huai had only counted to ten, his gaze naturally passed over him and turned to Jiang Peng.

Jiang Peng had already done twenty-two.

"Fang Huai, don't force yourself!" Hao Chengbin said with a frown.

Peng Yingqirui's face was pale, and dozens of affectionate greetings involving Squad Leader Hao's entire family flashed through his mind.

You fucking tell him not to force himself? What about me??

Why the hell are you holding me up??

Zhao Bing finally noticed Fang Huai too. He had plenty of stamina, but he had never received systematic training and did not see what was special about it. He only thought Fang Huai was struggling, so he said worriedly.

"Fang Huai, you held on for so long this morning... Take a break! Even the squad leader said... if it's hard, don't do it!"

The moment Jiang Peng heard that, it was like he had taken stimulants. He counted louder and sped up.

"Twenty-seven! Twenty-eight! Twenty... nine... thirty! Report! Finished!"

The instant he finished speaking, he quickly stood up and looked down at Fang Huai, savoring the delight of a victor.

By his fifteenth push-up, Fang Huai finally began to feel the strain, but he felt more excitement than anything else.

His arm strength could still hold out, but his heart was starting to struggle.

With these nonstop slow-motion push-ups, exhaling was easy, but breathing in was hard.

In the past, he could only manage seven or eight of these in a row at most. He had already broken his record now, and he was not even exhausted yet.

He paused for a brief rest.

The weakest, Peng Yingqirui, had not done a single one. He was panting under Squad Leader Hao's grip, while Sun Lianhai, second to last, had done five and was struggling to hold himself up.

"Squad Leader, I really... can't hold on!"

Considering it was the first day of training, Squad Leader Hao finally relented.

"Get up and rest for one minute, then continue!"

An awkward situation appeared again.

Fang Huai did not want to get up.

"Fang Huai, are you forcing yourself again? If you can't do it, get up already! Don't make everyone worry!" Jiang Peng said at just the right moment, dripping with sarcasm.

Fang Huai looked up at Hao Chengbin. Hao Chengbin happened to meet his eyes, his expression complicated.

...Screw it.

In the blink of an eye, Fang Huai suddenly sped up.

"Sixteen! Seventeen... twenty-nine! Thirty!"

"Holy shit?" Two people said it in a rising tone, expressing confusion.

"Holy shit..." Two people said it in a falling tone, drawing out the final syllable in shock.

Amid all the soft mutters of "holy shit," Fang Huai maintained perfect form. On the last rep, he suddenly exerted himself and straightened up.

He had almost failed to show off. He staggered slightly, but still managed to steady himself.

That push had drained him to the point of aching soreness.

The people around him blinked furiously.

Jiang Peng shook his head again and again, as if possessed by a Sichuan accent.

Impossible. Science fiction. Absolutely impossible.

Hao Chengbin walked over to Fang Huai and incredulously squeezed his arm.

"You trained before? For how many years?"

He was certain this was not something achieved in three or five days.

Many veterans who had left the army in the past suffered from lumbar muscle strain and arthritis, so in recent years, the military had begun promoting scientific training. As a squad leader, he had learned quite a bit of related knowledge himself.

Slow push-ups tested the stability of the deep muscles. They did little for pure strength training, but to rise and descend as slowly as Fang Huai, doing more than a dozen continuously, was difficult without specialized training. It took immense strength to maintain.

He simply could not understand where Fang Huai had gotten this strength.

If someone conducted an in-depth physical analysis, even Approaching Science could make three episodes out of it.

"Report, Squad Leader, I trained my arm strength for a while when I was studying... But my endurance isn't very good."

Fang Huai did not dare brag recklessly anymore. After all, during the two-kilometer morning drill, although he had taken it slowly, he had not found it easy at all. In the Three Kilometer Run test, he definitely would not meet the New Recruit Regiment's passing standard.

"I think your core strength is pretty good! How did you pass out after holding on for such a short while this morning?" Hao Chengbin patted Fang Huai's back again.

Fang Huai's thoughts raced.

"...I barely ate dinner last night. I was hungry! I had no strength!"

Yue Tao immediately shouted, "That's right! Squad Leader, Fang Huai only ate half a bowl of noodles last night! I offered to get him more, but he said he didn't need any!"

"No wonder! You ate a big meal this morning!" Hao Chengbin put his hands behind his back and continued, "Last night's noodles were the welcome meal. They were pretty good! Why didn't you eat?"

Fang Huai looked troubled. "Squad Leader... can we not talk about it?"

Huh? What kind of problem was that?

Hao Chengbin did not understand. "Why exactly? Stop dragging it out!"

Damn it, you told me to say it. Better you than me!

Fang Huai looked at everyone's curious expressions and stammered, "I came a day early, right... That big basin they used for the noodles... yesterday morning, I saw the cafeteria aunties use it to wash dishes. In the afternoon, they used it to hold swill!... Who knows what else they've used it for! The noodles we ate yesterday... there was even a layer of oil floating on top. I didn't know where it came from...! I really couldn't eat it!"

Everyone stared in shock.

"Bleurgh... wah..."

Peng Yingqirui really threw up. No one knew whether it was because the belt was squeezing him so badly or because he had been disgusted into vomiting.

The others who had not wanted to vomit started dry-heaving too when they saw the puddle of vomit.

A light breeze passed through.

This was a Training Ground with a taste.

As morning training was nearing its end, Liu Yue, the duty recruit assigned to serve food and wash dishes that day, went to the cafeteria early. Before leaving, he secretly promised everyone that he would find out exactly what that basin was used for.

When everyone reached the cafeteria and saw Liu Yue's strange expression, they understood.

At lunch that day, everyone's appetite decreased more or less.

And Fang Huai, the culprit behind it all, cleaned up every last bit of the remaining food, leaving Hao Chengbin with nothing to say.

Back in the squad, the company first handed out folding camp stools, probably to make it easier for everyone to nap at noon.

Hao Chengbin naturally announced the rules for the afternoon break.

"Perfect. From now on, when you nap, you can sleep sitting on this stool. Sleep wherever you want, but not on the beds! After morning barracks inspection and before the whistle for evening wash-up, the beds are off-limits! If you sit, you sit on a camp stool! Or a bench!"

"Squad leader, can I sleep with my head on the table for a while? I feel awful!" Peng Yingqirui pointed at the table by the door.

Seeing Peng Yingqirui's weak appearance, Hao Chengbin felt that the kid's mental resilience was far too fragile and wanted to give him a little guidance.

But the army was not a school. It could not use that slow, patient educational approach; it needed a stronger dose of medicine.

So he deliberately sneered. "That's all it takes for you to crack? It's just a basin. Do you know how our Political Instructor messed with me when I first joined the unit?"

The moment he said that, everyone became interested. Yue Tao in particular dragged his little camp stool right up beside Hao Chengbin's leg.

"Squad leader, tell us!"

Hao Chengbin crossed one leg over the other and smiled. "Back then, we'd just joined the unit when we ran into a major highway accident!"

"Oh?" Zhao Bing, who had been studying the folding stool's adjustable mechanism nearby, turned around and started playing along.

"A big cargo truck was in front, and a little sedan rear-ended it from behind. The truck was fine, but the sedan... it was miserable! One of the truck's steel rods... went straight through the driver's head! When we got there, they had us pull the dead man out of the car! Which meant we had to pull out the steel rod!

The steel rod was sawed off. When we pulled it out, brain matter burst from the wound and the nostrils! Do you know what color brain matter is? It isn't green! It's grayish white! With a little yellow! And blood..."

Hao Chengbin made the story sound vivid enough that some people had already begun to frown.

"...After we finished handling the incident, the Political Instructor took us through several streets until we found a little food stall! Tofu pudding! Whew, that color looked exactly the same! Add a little chili oil! Mix it together, give it a stir... Every new recruit had to eat two bowls! I'll never forget it for the rest of my life!"

(_..)...

The more the recruits imagined it, the grimmer their expressions became.

"Oh, right! That mapo tofu you all fought over today! If the minced meat inside had been raw, then after stirring it up, it'd probably look about right! Even more like it than tofu pudding!"

Yue Tao was the first to stick out his tongue and let out a "blegh," while Peng Yingqirui covered his mouth with a strange expression and stood up.

"Squad leader, I need to use the bathroom!"

Hao Chengbin sprang up and grabbed him, delivering the final blow to the recruits who still had their sanity.

"If you're going to puke, puke here! There's a trash can! You threw up nothing but noodles this morning, right? And eggs and stuff! You barely ate at noon either! Let's see what else you can throw up. Everyone can have a look! See if anyone's been secretly eating snacks!"

Damn, that brought back memories.

Even Fang Huai couldn't help rolling his eyes, feeling like something had lodged in his throat.

Now everyone started going blegh.