Director Fang, the Prophet

At 6:30, Hao Chengbin returned from washing up and inspected the dormitory.

Three quilts were tossed out, and each one had been given a name by Hao Chengbin.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk, your quilts, I can't bear to show them to the Regimental Headquarters' leaders! They're like the Eight Famous Dishes, each with its own unique characteristic!"

He picked up the first quilt.

"This, Peng's quilt! It's like it was folded by some old grandma! Soft and limp!"

The second quilt.

"This is Yue's quilt! As expected! Those who sneak out to sleep and slack off, the things they fold have quality! Yue Tao, is your dream to be a tank crewman? I can tell from your quilt! It's half as tall as everyone else's!

The side seam is 8 centimeters, the middle seam is 16 centimeters, didn't I say? I even put a ruler in your desk drawer. As a man, don't you have any sensitivity to the unit of measurement 'centimeter'?!

Then let me tell you again! 16 centimeters!

If you pinch it with your fingers, it's about 20 centimeters!"

Hearing this, everyone chuckled mischievously. Sun Lianhai and Liu Yue, whispering about something, started giggling and playfully attacking each other's lower bodies.

The third quilt.

"Oh my, this must be Hu Deli, Brother Hu's quilt, right?

His is a tank, yours is... a submarine?

Why did you fold it so long and short? Didn't you notice that your quilt sticks out a lot further than your lower bunk mate, me? The person opposite you on the upper bunk is Zhao Bing, and the lower bunk is me. Didn't you compare?"

After this sarcastic tirade, the second person in the squad to get a nickname appeared.

Hu Deli, Brother Hu.

The three quilts were forcefully shoved through the gaps in the window bars by Hao Chengbin.

Hao Chengbin checked his watch.

"After breakfast, there's still half an hour. Pick them up yourselves and refold them! Zhao Bing, Fang Huai... Chen Zhongqiang, each of you tutor one! Help them redraw the lines!

When folding a quilt, if you get it wrong from the start, the result won't be right!

I see you're all following Fang Huai's lead! Coming back with quilts early in the morning to tidy them up!

He might be an old hand, but you're not! I advise you to be down-to-earth and get the folding step right first! Before you join your platoons, you have to rub and then fold your quilts!

Did you hear me!"

"Yes, Squad Leader!" After a morning of "ideological re-education," everyone clearly had more spirit this time.

Jiang Peng's heart sank.

He felt ostracized by the squad leader.

His quilt was folded the best, yet when the squad leader assigned people to tutor the three "poor students," he completely ignored him.

His talent was being buried.

Fabric, drifting through life, never meeting a wise lord...

He was unwilling!

Hao Chengbin turned back, still not looking at him.

"Oh, right! Today is the duty roster, according to the schedule! Starting with Lu Zexian!

Lu Zexian, this is an opportunity I've specially arranged for you!

If you want to run after washing the dishes, I suggest you climb over the back wall of the mess hall and don't go through the dog hole on the training ground! The Chief of Staff likes to take a walk around the training ground after breakfast, so you'll easily get caught!"

Before leaving, Hao Chengbin taunted Lu Zexian again.

Lu Zexian looked speechless. "Reporting, Squad Leader! I won't run!"

The whole class burst into laughter.

As soon as Hao Chengbin left, Chen Zhongqiang immediately approached Fang Huai.

"About the cigarettes... can you talk to the squad leader for me?"

Fang Huai scratched his head, feeling a bit speechless.

"No, brother, I've already told you, quit early, don't think about it, it'll make you uncomfortable, you know?"

"The squad leader already agreed! He said if I smoke one, I won't want any more!" Chen Zhongqiang insisted.

Fang Huai rolled his eyes. "If you were alive eighty years ago, you'd definitely be in a opium den!"

With that, he stopped paying attention to him.

Today, breakfast was steamed buns.

Big, white, plump meat buns.

When entering the mess hall, the duty officer announced that every Wednesday, besides noodles, they would have buns and pickled mustard, egg drop soup, or possibly dumplings. They could take as much as they wanted, without wasting.

No matter how much was said, it couldn't compare to the temptation of the fragrant buns. As everyone passed the basin of buns, each person took at least four or five large buns and a bowl of pickled mustard.

The first, second, and third companies came in and got many, but many behind them didn't get any buns.

By the time Fang Huai and his group arrived, there were no buns left.

"Holy crap! These guys are inhuman! They took all the buns, every single one!" one of the new recruits grumbled indignantly.

The people around them also started complaining.

"Yeah! They have no consideration for others! Taking so many, can they even finish them?"

"I just saw someone take six! And he ran over to the First Company!"

An uncle from the mess hall came out and quickly raised his hands, telling everyone to stop arguing.

"There's more coming soon, we're already steaming them! There'll be enough for everyone!"

Fortunately, the second batch of buns came out quickly.

The new recruits from the Fourth Company onwards rushed to line up, waiting to get their buns.

The Seventh Company, having arrived later, didn't get any buns, but everyone got a bowl of pickled vegetables and soup.

Over at Squad Nine, Lu Zexian voluntarily stood up and said, "Squad leader, the people lining up over there seem to be the duty details. I'll go get our squad's buns too!"

Hao Chengbin nodded, "Mm, take only what you can eat! Tally it up!

Today is a special situation, the mess hall has to steam them one furnace at a time, so meal times can be extended. Don't rush!"

Everyone calmed down and waited patiently.

Lu Zexian started counting.

Almost everyone wanted three, or four or five.

"Fang Huai, how many do you want?"

Fang Huai looked at the scene and suddenly remembered something.

This morning, his impression from his past life was very clear.

"I... I'll just take two!"

Lu Zexian nodded and was about to go queue, when Yue Tao started reminding Fang Huai.

"It's all noodles for the whole week, and buns are only once! These are meat buns! You eat so much, why not eat more?"

Fang Huai shook his head firmly, "Forget it, I'm not feeling well today, I can't eat much."

The buns were all brought back, and they were quite large.

About the size of a palm, and very evenly filled.

But the quantity wasn't enough, so they could only be distributed more evenly to share.

At first, everyone ate the buns with a bit of pickled vegetables, enjoying them greatly.

Even Peng Yingqirui, who usually had a small appetite, ate like Wang Yousheng from "Drawing the Sword."

But the buns steamed today had a good amount of filling, but the skin wasn't thin either. Once the filling was gone, it felt too dry. As they ate, some people started dipping their buns in the soup.

They felt increasingly full.

Soon, some people couldn't eat anymore and started asking the people next to them if they wanted their buns.

Everyone shook their heads.

The later companies were a bit better off because only the duty details went to get them and distributed them back at the squad. Basically, no one had the chance to get too many buns. But the earlier companies got them themselves, with some people taking as many as seven or eight.

New recruits couldn't move around freely, and they couldn't go to other squads to ask. Those who got whole buns hid them in their bags. Those who couldn't finish half of them basically ate the meat and put the skins in their soup bowls, then threw them away.

Some squad leaders were quite strict, and the new recruits didn't dare to hide a large bun in their bags. With a heavy heart, they threw the entire bun into the slop bucket.

The slop bucket quickly filled up.

When the mess hall auntie had to bring out a large basin to collect the slop, Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua finally stood up.

He walked to the bucket, looked at it, frowned, then walked to the side, picked up a large ladle, and stirred it.

He saw a whole bun.

He stirred again and saw another one.

The Chief of Staff's frown deepened into a furrowed brow, and then he loudly declared, "All company commanders and political instructors, come and assemble!"

"The Fourth Company has already left!" someone called from a distance.

The Chief of Staff roared, "Call them back immediately!"

Fifteen minutes later, the entire regiment assembled at the entrance of the mess hall.

Next to the Chief of Staff, there were two large slop buckets and a basin.

The Chief of Staff, seeing that everyone was present, issued his first order.

"Company commanders, political instructors, step forward!"

A group of cadres strode forward.

The new recruits held their breath, feeling they might be punished this morning.

The Chief of Staff pointed at the bucket. "Come over here and look. Some are dying of thirst, others are drowning. Some can't eat it all, others can't get enough. The kitchen staff inside are desperately steaming, and here, so much is being thrown away! There's even food that hasn't been touched! It's just being discarded!"

A group of cadres gathered around to look, and not a single person spoke.

"Say something! What are you going to do?" the Chief of Staff reprimanded.

The political instructor of the First Company gritted his teeth.

"The First Company isn't eating today!"

The next one immediately followed, "The Third Company isn't eating either!"

"The Sixth Company isn't eating!"

The Chief of Staff waved his hand. "What kind of nonsense is that? If you don't eat, how can you train?"

With that, he walked forward and picked up a dry leftover steamed bun from the top of the bucket.

He put it in his mouth.

Some of the new recruits below immediately covered their mouths.

Damn, what a tough guy!

Then came something even tougher.

"Cadres from each company, take the lead! Each of you take one piece from inside! If you can't finish it, the squad leaders will eat it! If you still can't finish it, the new recruits will eat it!"

"Yes!" A cadre immediately stepped forward, took a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth.

They lined up.

After all the squad leaders had eaten, the new recruits began to scoop up the pieces of steamed buns in the same order they had entered the mess hall.

The cadres picked mostly dry pieces, and starting from the squad leaders, most were semi-wet.

There were preserved vegetables, egg drops, everything.

The Chief of Staff personally served the food.

The Chief of Staff stood by the bucket, scooping with a ladle. Those in line took a piece from inside, with no room for picking and choosing, and if they took too little, it wasn't allowed.

Towards the end of the line, everyone who came up frowned.

They were all wet.

Fortunately, this bucket, judging by its exterior, had definitely been washed today, otherwise, a large puddle would have likely spilled out.

As they scooped out piece by piece, one could basically see how the new recruits were eating: most of them broke open the steamed buns, and the meat inside was gone.

When the new recruits took them, some were on the verge of tears. Seeing those oily "fragments" of steamed buns, they couldn't even bring themselves to touch them, let alone eat them.

The squad leaders berated them from the side: "You took a pile when you grabbed them! Now you can't finish? You eat what others leave! Others eat what you leave! It's very fair! I didn't leave any food, and I ate too! Take it! Eat it right here!"

In reality, the contents weren't mixed up; it was just steamed bun skins, preserved vegetables, and egg drop soup. There was no strange odor, and the bucket had indeed been cleaned. If this had been brought out during a famine in the past to help disaster victims, it probably would have been snatched up immediately.

But the new recruits had never seen anything like this, and they all felt like throwing up as they ate.

If there had been even two more oily dishes today, or if the taste had been a bit stranger, it would have made them vomit their gall.

Fang Huai and his group were lucky. By the time they reached the Fifth Company, there was nothing left.

This time, no one said that the previous few companies were lucky to get more steamed buns.

However, the squad leaders of the Seventh Company all managed to get a piece.

Everyone was somewhat frightened by this incident.

The Chief of Staff stood in front of the formation, pushing his teeth with his tongue, somewhat displeased. He reached in again and felt around.

"Have you all eaten enough?"

Silence fell over the entire place, with only occasional retching sounds coming from the back.

The Chief of Staff's face fell.

"800 people, if each person wastes one bowl of rice a day, how much is wasted? We in the fire department don't raise pigs, and we don't have pigs to help you digest it! Some of you, who came from rural areas, don't know the value of grain?

When you went in, did the duty officer say anything?

Let me tell you! If you waste any more food, this is the kind of meal you'll have in the future!

You company commanders and squad leaders are not fulfilling your responsibilities. They are responsible for throwing it away, and you are responsible for eating it!

Each company, return to your positions! Company cadres and squad leaders, go back and have a good meeting to discuss how to properly guide the new recruits' lifestyle and habits!

Also, I'll make one thing clear! I'm telling you to educate them, and the new recruits to remember! No hitting the soldiers!"

"Make sure to take good notes during the meeting; I'll check them later! You're all on your own now!"

The new recruits breathed a sigh of relief.

The higher-ups are so much better! They've explicitly forbidden hitting the soldiers!

Hao Chengbin led the new recruits back to their squad area, but instead of lecturing them, he simply told them to "clean up" and then headed to the company headquarters.

Fang Huai knew very well that he was going to a meeting.

As soon as the door closed, the new recruits looked dejected.

Peng Yingqirui was the first to speak, a disgusted look on his face, "Good thing we didn't eat that steamed bun. Otherwise, I would have died there today!"

"Didn't you see? It was leftovers from the first few companies. How much did we throw away? They should be the ones eating it!" Jiang Peng said indignantly.

Lu Zexian's sense of justice flared up again, and he sneered, "You didn't throw any away? I saw you throw some!"

Jiang Peng immediately retorted, "I only threw away... a little less than half! I have another one in my pocket!"

As he spoke, Jiang Peng pulled a bun from his pocket, patted it, and started eating it.

"But... the squad leaders ate it. Will they retaliate against us?" Sun Lianhai asked worriedly.

At this moment, Fang Huai, who had just tidied his blanket, finally turned around.

"Jiang Peng, I advise you not to eat that."

Jiang Peng blinked in confusion. "Why?"

Fang Huai smiled.

"We'll have a lot of physical activity later, and I'm afraid you'll throw up. Plus, you're so close to me, I'm afraid you'll puke on my feet."

Jiang Peng choked.

What does he mean?

Fang Huai continued, "Also... hurry up and clean. The Chief of Staff said he'd be coming to check."

"The Chief of Staff said he's not going to hit us, not that he's coming to check our cleanliness!"

"All's fair in war!"

Cleaning the barracks and tidying up personal belongings.

The squad leader was absent, but everyone cooperated and pooled their efforts.

Fang Huai's final words had struck a chord with everyone.

"Our squad leaders ate a steamed bun crust from leftover soup today, and everyone's unhappy about it. If we can make our squad look good during the inspection, even if the company targets us, we might have an easier time back in the squad."

Fang Huai, the prophet.

"Peng Yingqirui, clean the entire door crack, the door itself, the nameplate, and those corners over there!"

"Zhao Bing, your blanket is on the top bunk, blocked by the bed frame. Lend your blanket to Sun Lianhai to arrange his; his is sagging too obviously!"

Fang Huai was helping everyone arrange their blankets while giving instructions on the finishing touches.

When the regimental leaders come to inspect, we can't afford to be lax.

The door was pushed open with a "bang."

Squad Leader Hao appeared at the doorway.

The company had received word that the Regimental Headquarters was coming to inspect their hygiene. They had quickly dispersed the meeting, and the squad leaders rushed back to their respective squads. Hao Chengbin also returned to his squad as quickly as possible.

Damn it, Old Hei made us come back for a meeting, and then they're coming to inspect our hygiene and deduct points. All's fair in war!

"Good morning, Squad Leader!" The new recruits immediately stood up.

Hao Chengbin had been in a hurry, but his gaze fell upon the clean and bright dormitory. The new recruits were diligently wiping away dust with newspapers, and their tension eased somewhat.

He nodded, unusually satisfied with the overall demeanor of the squad.

"Hmm... Good! The Chief of Staff will be here soon, so speed up!"

No one answered. They all stopped and stared at the door, their eyes filled with a strange expression.

"Squad Leader... someone's behind the door!" Xiao Budian's voice came from behind the door, almost in tears.

Hao Chengbin then bent down, entered, and closed the door, revealing Peng Yingqirui behind it, hands clasped over his head.

As Peng Yingqirui stood up, he muttered, "I knew it, I just knew it. Today was destined to be a day where I'd get beaten!"