Director Fang, the Prophecy King

At six-thirty, Hao Chengbin returned from washing up and inspected the barracks.

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

"Tut, tut, tut. I can't even bear to show your quilts to the leaders at Regimental Headquarters! They're like the Eight Great Cuisines—each has its own unique style!"

He picked up the first quilt.

"This is the Peng Family Quilt! Looks like some old granny folded it! Loose and limp!"

Then the second quilt.

"This is the Yue Family Quilt! Just as expected! When you sneak out to sleep and slack off, the stuff you fold is bound to have quality! Yue Tao, your dream is to be a tank soldier, right? I can tell from your quilt! It's half again as tall as everyone else's!

The side seam is eight centimeters, and the middle seam is sixteen centimeters. Didn't I tell you that? I even put rulers in your desk compartments. As a man, you don't have the slightest sensitivity to centimeters as a unit of measurement?!

Then let me put it another way! Sixteen centimeters!

With one finger-width of yours, it's probably twenty centimeters!"

Everyone laughed with ill intent at that. Sun Lianhai and Liu Yue had no idea what they whispered about, but they began grinning as they attacked each other below the belt.

Then the third quilt.

"Oh, my. This is Hu Deli's—Brother Hu's—quilt, right?

His is a tank. Yours is... a submarine?

What made you fold it so long and so short? Didn't you notice that your quilt sticks out way farther than your little brother in the lower bunk—me? Zhao Bing is in the upper bunk across from you, and I'm in the lower bunk. Couldn't you compare them?"

After that round of sarcastic mockery, the second person in the squad got a nickname.

Hu Deli, Brother Hu.

Hao Chengbin forcibly stuffed all three quilts through the gaps in the window bars.

Hao Chengbin checked his watch.

"After breakfast, you'll have a little over half an hour. Pick them up yourselves and fold them again! Zhao Bing, Fang Huai... Chen Zhongqiang, each of you coach one quilt! Help them mark the lines again!

If you start out wrong when folding a quilt, the result won't be right!

I see all of you copying Fang Huai! Carrying your quilts back early in the morning to straighten them out!

He might be an old hand, but you aren't! I advise you to keep your feet on the ground and get the basic step of folding quilts down first! Before you join your companies, every quilt has to be kneaded first, then folded!

Do you hear me?"

"Yes, Squad Leader!" After a morning of "ideological reform," everyone was visibly more spirited.

Jiang Peng's heart went cold.

He felt like the squad leader was excluding him.

Clearly, he had folded the best quilt, yet when the squad leader assigned people to coach those three "poor students," he had not even looked at him.

His talent was being buried just like that.

This cloth had drifted through half a lifetime, never meeting a wise master...

How could he accept that!

Hao Chengbin turned back, still without looking at him.

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

Lu Zexian, I arranged this opportunity especially for you!

If you want to run after washing the dishes later, I suggest climbing over the back wall of the mess hall. Don't crawl through the dog hole at the Training Ground! The Chief of Staff likes taking a couple of laps around the Training Ground after breakfast, and you could easily get caught!"

Before leaving, Hao Chengbin got one more jab in at Lu Zexian.

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

The entire class burst into laughter.

As soon as Hao Chengbin left, Chen Zhongqiang immediately sidled up to Fang Huai.

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

Fang Huai scratched his head, somewhat speechless.

"No, brother, I already told you. Quit while you can. Don't even think about it. It'll just make you miserable, understand?"

"The squad leader already agreed! Once I finish one cigarette, I won't want any more!" Chen Zhongqiang persisted.

Fang Huai rolled his eyes. "If you'd lived eighty years ago, there'd definitely have been a spot for you in an opium den!"

With that, he ignored him.

They had buns for breakfast that morning.

Big meat buns, white and plump.

When they entered the mess hall, the duty officer explained that every Wednesday, aside from noodles, they would get either buns with pickled mustard greens and egg-drop soup, or possibly dumplings. They could serve themselves, but everyone was to take only what they could eat and not waste food.

No amount of talking could withstand the temptation of those fragrant buns. As each person passed the basin of buns, they took at least four or five large ones and scooped themselves a bowl of pickled mustard greens.

The First, Second, and Third Companies had entered first and taken plenty, leaving many of those behind them without any buns.

By the time Fang Huai and the others came in, there were no buns left.

"Fuck! These people are inhuman! There were so many buns, and they took them all!" one recruit complained indignantly.

The people around him began grumbling as well.

"Exactly! They have no public decency at all! Can they even finish that many?"

"I saw someone take six just now! Then he ran over to First Company!"

An older man from the mess hall came out and hurriedly pressed his hands down, telling everyone not to make a fuss.

"More are coming soon. We're steaming them already! There'll be enough for everyone!"

Fortunately, the second batch of buns came out quickly.

The recruits from Fourth Company onward hurried to line up and wait for their buns.

Seventh Company had entered late and had not received any buns, though everyone had gotten a bowl of pickled mustard greens and soup.

Over in Ninth Squad, Lu Zexian took the initiative to stand up. "Squad Leader, the people lining up over there all seem to be on daily duty. I'll go get our squad's buns too!"

Hao Chengbin nodded. "Mm. Take only as much as everyone can eat! Count them first!

Today is a special situation. The mess hall has to steam them batch by batch, so meal time can be extended. No need to rush!"

Everyone gradually calmed down and waited patiently.

Lu Zexian began counting.

Almost everyone wanted three, or four or five.

"Fang Huai, how many do you want?"

Looking at the scene, Fang Huai suddenly remembered something.

He had a deep impression of this morning from his previous life.

"I... two will be enough for me!"

Lu Zexian nodded and prepared to line up, but Yue Tao began reminding Fang Huai.

"You eat noodles all week. Buns only come once a week! They're all meat buns! You can eat so much, why not have more?"

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

All the buns were brought back, and they were quite large.

Each was as big as a palm, solidly made.

But there were not quite enough, so they could only divide them evenly.

At first, everyone ate their buns with a little pickled mustard greens and found them delicious.

Even Peng Yingqirui, who usually had a small appetite, ate like Wang You Sheng from Drawing Sword.

But the buns steamed that day had plenty of filling, while the wrappers were not thin either. Once the filling was gone, they felt too dry. As they kept eating, people began dipping their buns in soup.

The more they ate, the more stuffed they became.

Soon, people could no longer eat and began asking those beside them whether they wanted any buns.

Everyone shook their heads.

The later companies were a little better off, because the people on daily duty had collected the buns and distributed them back in the squads, so hardly anyone got too many. But in the earlier companies, everyone had served themselves. Some had even taken seven or eight.

The recruits were not allowed to move around freely, and they could not exactly run to other squads and ask around. Those with whole buns hid them in their bags. Those who had eaten half but could not continue had mostly eaten the meat, left the wrappers in their soup bowls, and poured them out.

In squads with stricter squad leaders, recruits did not dare hide such huge buns in their bags. Gritting their teeth, they threw the entire bun into the bucket.

The slop bucket quickly filled up.

When the mess hall aunties had no choice but to bring out a large basin for the swill,

Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua finally stood up.

He walked over to inspect the bucket, frowned, then went to the side and picked up a large ladle to stir through it.

He saw an intact bun.

He stirred again and saw another.

The Chief of Staff's brow furrowed deeply before he shouted.

"Company commanders and Political Instructors, assemble!"

"Fourth Company already left!" someone called from afar.

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

Fifteen minutes later, the entire regiment assembled outside the mess hall.

Beside the Chief of Staff sat two enormous Swill Buckets and a basin.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Chief of Staff issued his first order.

"Company commanders and Political Instructors, step out!"

A group of officers strode forward.

The recruits all held their breath, feeling that they might be punished that morning.

The Chief of Staff pointed at the buckets. "Come over and look. Some are starving while others are drowning in food. Some can't get enough to eat, while others can't finish what they take. The mess hall staff in there are working themselves to the bone steaming buns, while over here, you throw away this much! Some of them weren't even touched! Just thrown away!"

The officers all gathered around to look, but not one spoke.

"Say something! What are we going to do?" the Chief of Staff berated them.

First Company's Political Instructor gritted his teeth.

"First Company won't eat today!"

The next person immediately followed. "Third Company won't eat either!"

"Sixth Company won't eat!"

The Chief of Staff waved his hand. "What nonsense are you talking about? How are you supposed to train without eating?"

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

and put it in his mouth.

Several recruits below immediately covered their mouths.

Fuck, what a ruthless man!

Then came something even more ruthless.

"Officers of every company will set the example! Each of you take a piece from inside and eat it! Whatever the officers can't finish, the squad leaders eat! Whatever the squad leaders can't finish, the recruits eat!"

"Yes!" An officer immediately stepped forward, picked up a piece, and stuffed it into his mouth.

A massive line formed.

After all the squad leaders finished eating, the recruits began fishing out pieces of bun according to the order in which they had entered the mess hall earlier.

The company officers had picked mostly dry pieces. Starting with the squad leaders, most of it was half-wet.

Pickled mustard greens, egg drops—everything was mixed in.

The Chief of Staff personally served the food.

Standing beside the bucket with a ladle, he had each person who came up in line take a piece from inside. There was no room to pick and choose, and taking too small a piece was not allowed either.

By the later part of the line, no one came up without frowning.

Everything was wet.

Fortunately, judging from its appearance, the bucket had definitely been washed that day. Otherwise, there probably would have been a whole crowd vomiting outside.

As piece after piece was fished out, it became clear how the recruits had eaten: most had torn open the buns and eaten the meat inside.

When the recruits reached in, some were on the verge of tears. Seeing those greasy "remnants" of buns, they could not even bring themselves to touch them, let alone eat them.

The squad leaders scolded them from the side. "You took a whole pile when you were getting food! Now you can't finish it? You eat what others left, and others eat what you left! Fair enough! I didn't leave leftovers either, but I ate it! Take it! Eat it right here!"

The contents were not actually that mixed up—just bun wrappers, pickled mustard greens, and egg-drop soup. There was no strange smell, and the bucket really had been clean. If this stuff had been handed out to disaster victims during hungry times in the past, it probably would have been fought over.

But the recruits had never seen anything like this. Every one of them ate as if they wanted to vomit.

If there had been even two more oily dishes that day and the taste had been a little stranger, they would have puked up their guts.

Fang Huai and the others were very lucky. By the time the line reached Fifth Company, there was nothing left.

This time, no one said that the earlier companies had been lucky to get more buns.

But every squad leader in Seventh Company had still eaten a piece.

Everyone was shaken by the incident.

Standing before the formation, the Chief of Staff pushed his tongue against his teeth. Seemingly dissatisfied, he reached in with his hand and picked at them.

"You're all full now, right?"

The entire field was silent, aside from the occasional sound of retching from the rear.

The Chief of Staff's face darkened.

"Eight hundred people, each wasting one bowl of food a day—how much food is that? We're firefighters, not pig farmers. There are no pigs here to digest your waste! Some of you even came from rural areas. Don't you know food is precious?

Did the duty officer tell you before you went in?

Let me tell you this! If you waste food again, this is the kind of meal you'll be eating from now on!

You company commanders and squad leaders aren't doing your jobs. They're responsible for throwing it away, and you're responsible for eating it!

Each company, take your own people back! Company officers and squad leaders, hold a proper meeting when you return and discuss how to guide the recruits' daily conduct!

And let me make this clear! When I tell you to educate them, I mean make the recruits remember! No beating soldiers!"

"Keep a record of the meeting. I'll come check it later! You'd better behave yourselves!"

The recruits all breathed a sigh of relief.

The higher-ups really were better! They'd expressly forbidden hitting recruits!

Hao Chengbin brought the recruits back to the squad, but instead of lecturing them right away, he merely left behind the words, "Clean up," before turning and heading to the company office.

Fang Huai knew perfectly well that he had gone to the meeting.

The moment the door closed, the recruits all looked disgruntled.

Peng Yingqirui was the first to speak, his face twisted with disgust. "Good thing we didn't eat that bun. Otherwise, I'd definitely have died there today!"

"Didn't you see? Those were leftovers from the companies ahead of us. How many did we even throw away? They should've been the ones eating them!" Jiang Peng was equally indignant.

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

Jiang Peng immediately argued, "I only threw away... less than half! I've still got one in my pocket!"

As he spoke, Jiang Peng took a bun from his pocket, patted it off, and started eating it just like that.

"But... Squad Leader Hao ate one too. What if they retaliate against us?" Sun Lianhai asked, worry written across his face.

By then, Fang Huai, who had been straightening his bedding, finally turned around.

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

Jiang Peng froze. "Why?"

Fang Huai smiled.

"There'll be too much physical activity later. I'm afraid you'll throw up. And you're so close to me—I'm afraid you'll puke on my shoes."

Jiang Peng choked.

What did that mean?

Fang Huai continued, "Also... hurry up and clean. The Chief of Staff said he'd come inspect."

"The Chief of Staff was talking about not hitting recruits! He didn't say he was coming to inspect the cleaning!"

"All's Fair in War!"

They cleaned up and straightened their bedding.

Though the squad leader was absent, everyone cooperated, pooling their ideas and efforts.

Because Fang Huai's final remark struck right at everyone's hearts.

"Today, the squad leaders ate bun skins from the leftover soup. Everyone's upset about it. If they really inspect our cleanliness later, and we can help the squad leaders save face, then even if the company messes with us, things might be peaceful once we're back in the squad."

Director Fang, the prophet.

"Peng Yingqirui, wipe every crack around the door clean. The door, the squad sign, and over there are all blind spots!"

"Zhao Bing, your bedding is on the top bunk, hidden by the bedframe. Let Sun Lianhai borrow yours and arrange it a little. His bedding has collapsed way too obviously!"

Fang Huai helped everyone arrange their bedding while directing the final touches.

With regimental leaders coming to inspect, they couldn't afford to play fair.

The door was shoved open with a bang.

Squad Leader Hao appeared in the doorway.

The company had received word that a Regimental Headquarters cleanliness inspection had reached the first floor. The meeting was hurriedly dismissed, and the squad leaders rushed back to their squads. Hao Chengbin had returned as quickly as he could.

Damn it, Old Hei called them back for a meeting, then turned around and came to inspect the cleanliness—and deduct points too! All's Fair in War!

"Hello, Squad Leader!" The recruits immediately stood up.

Hao Chengbin had been in a rush, but the sight of a clean, bright dormitory, with the recruits nervously wiping dust everywhere with newspapers, eased some of his tension.

He nodded, unusually pleased with the whole squad's appearance and spirit.

"Mm... not bad! The Chief of Staff will be up any moment. Hurry up, everyone!"

No one answered. They stopped what they were doing and stared at the door with strange expressions.

"Squad Leader... there's someone behind the door!" A timid voice came from behind it, almost on the verge of tears.

Only then did Hao Chengbin lean inside and close the door, revealing Peng Yingqirui behind it, crouching with both hands over his head.

As Peng Yingqirui stood up, he muttered to himself.

"I told you, I told you. Today, I was just destined to get beaten up!"