Bring Happiness to Your Companies!

Soon, the whistle blew for the barracks hygiene inspection.

Before long, the sound of a group talking came from the corridor.

"Hello, sir!" the recruits began greeting them as well.

The communal washroom was packed with recruits cramming at the last minute.

The Chief of Staff wore white gloves and went from squad to squad, feeling around everywhere—under beds, beneath desk legs, along the inner bed frames, in door cracks, window-frame gaps, and outside windowsills. Every neglected corner was checked, and wherever the gloves passed, signs of laziness showed themselves one by one.

The staff officers from Regimental Headquarters followed behind, recording deductions squad by squad.

Almost every squad had points deducted along the way. People downstairs called to say that, in one of the first-floor squads inspected first, the Chief of Staff had turned an entire glove black just by touching around. That set off a furious outburst. He cursed them out and even wiped that black glove across the squad leader's face.

That was why Wang Jian, upon receiving the news, had told every squad leader to hurry back and arrange another round of cleaning.

It wasn't as though they had not cleaned before. It was just that the Chief of Staff had come today intending to lay down the rules, so the inspection was naturally much stricter. Ordinary cleaning would definitely not pass.

Hearing the Chief of Staff's voice, Hao Chengbin hurriedly got up and went out, trailing behind the inspection team.

There had been too little time, and no time to make detailed arrangements. Everyone had rushed to clean at once, there were not enough cleaning tools, and every squad had plenty of dust exposed in neglected corners.

First Squad got scolded, Second Squad got scolded, Third Squad got scolded...

Until the Chief of Staff roared next door.

"Pan Zhaohui! Did your squad clean the place by hosing it down? Everything's wet! Go buy me a pair of gloves as compensation!"

"What a Ri Long Bao—there's no describing it!"

(P.S. Ri Long Bao: means stupid, clumsy, or an idiot.)

The voices drew closer and closer.

"Your company is worse than Fifth Company downstairs! At least they knew to wipe the windows! As for you lot..."

The door opened, and a dark face appeared.

The Ninth Squad recruits had already struck poses of diligently folding their quilts. They let the Chief of Staff observe them for two seconds before rising in unison and shouting.

"Hello, sir!"

The Chief of Staff was indeed taken aback when he saw there were no traces of freshly mopped water in the squad room.

"Well now~ Hao Chengbin, your squad didn't even bother putting on a last-minute show? You looking down on me?"

Though the fire service carried military seriousness from top to bottom, there was not much stiffness between leaders and veterans, and they often joked around.

Hao Chengbin's ability to play dumb had reached perfection. He immediately put on a stern face.

"Fang Huai, didn't I arrange this in the morning? Did the squad not clean?"

Fang Huai was equally familiar with playing along. "Report, Squad Leader! We clean every day!"

The meaning was obvious: this was their normal standard. Did they need to cram at the last minute?

They did not!

The Chief of Staff was a little unconvinced by that.

He immediately changed into a new pair of gloves.

His intent was just as obvious: Stop giving me that crap. These gloves are new, so whatever dirt I find belongs entirely to your squad.

But the result was that lion shit beat bear dung.

After feeling around, the room that all ten of them had actively cleaned together gave the Chief of Staff far too many surprises.

He even ran his fingers twice along the inside of the bed frames. Aside from a little screw grease, there was hardly any dust.

There were only the footprints they had just made on the floor. Other than that, there really were no particularly dirty neglected corners.

Then he looked at the quilts.

At the very least, the edges and corners showed that they had been straightened.

The Chief of Staff smiled. "Not bad. You haven't completely disappointed me after all."

Wang Jian also felt slightly relieved.

At least there was one squad that could be shown off.

After the Chief of Staff left with his hands behind his back, Wang Jian punched Hao Chengbin lightly in the chest.

"Squad Leader Hao, not bad! You saw through the Chief of Staff's diversionary tactic today? Why didn't you tell us? I was just anxiously looking for you all to hold a meeting and discuss this morning's training..."

Wang Jian glanced at the recruits inside and stopped talking.

Hao Chengbin immediately spread his hands.

"How would I know? If I'd known, would I not have told you? He had us hold a meeting to discuss recruit education because he wanted to give us a show of force while we were gone!

Our squad... just got lucky today! When I went to the company office, I figured Old Hei might come inspect the squads, so I told them to tidy up! Who knew they'd actually get it this clean!"

As he spoke, he smiled at the recruits.

"Not bad! You performed well today!"

Everyone chuckled. Fang Huai also turned his head, prepared to conceal both his merit and fame.

Who would have thought Jiang Peng would shout, "Squad Leader, Company Commander, the Chief of Staff said this morning that he was coming, so when we got back, we hurriedly gave the place a thorough cleaning!... We all cleaned it together!"

That made it sound as though the idea had been his and everyone else had supplied the labor. Yet it also sounded like the truth, making it hard to argue with.

If this guy ever became a minor leader somewhere, he would absolutely be the type whose subordinates got none of the credit.

But he had overthought it. Lu Zexian had no intention of indulging him at all.

"If Fang Huai hadn't reminded us today, pointed out the neglected corners, and assigned tasks, how could we have cleaned this thoroughly? Jiang Peng, your bed frame was the dirtiest! If we hadn't cleaned it just now, you definitely would've been scolded!"

Jiang Peng could no longer keep his expression together. He carefully searched his memories. When the hell did I offend Lu Zexian?

Hao Chengbin and Wang Jian both looked enlightened.

So it had been Fang Huai.

Then it made sense.

At nine o'clock, the whistle blew for training. Fang Huai's prediction was correct again.

The first drill period that morning was a regiment-wide run.

The slogans rang out in unison.

"Waste is shameful, thrift is glorious!"

This drill period was especially long. The mountain-shaking, sea-roaring chants echoed across the Training Ground for a long time.

The pace this time was clearly faster than morning exercise. After half an hour, they had run more than six laps.

Many recruits were exhausted and kept shouting, "Report!" Yet they had no choice but to be carried forward by the formation.

"What are you reporting for? Where's the energy you had when you were grabbing buns this morning? We're helping you work off your food!"

"Run faster! You've only run one kilometer! You're already done?"

The squad leaders shouted and coaxed from the side.

The recruits groaned miserably, gasping for breath.

"This... one lap is four hundred meters... Squad Leader! We've... run seven laps!"

"Who told you one lap is four hundred meters? One lap is only two hundred!"

Soon, people began falling out of formation. No matter how the squad leaders yelled, they could only trudge forward, panting heavily.

The squad leaders simply grabbed them and dragged them back toward the formation.

"Hurry up and run! Stop playing dead!"

It looked rather like sheepdogs herding sheep.

Fang Huai felt fine. With Heart Enhancement boosting him, his stamina recovery could basically keep up with a run of this intensity. Aside from sore legs, he was not in too bad a state.

Finally, when they reached the forty-minute mark, someone fainted.

The squad leaders hurried over, parted the crowd, and carried the person out to prevent anyone from trampling him.

The company officers arranged for someone to take him to the infirmary.

By the time the entire formation stopped, exactly one hour had passed.

Three people in the entire regiment had fainted.

Seventh Company had one lucky winner too: Han Yong, the fat second-generation rich kid who had brought more than three hundred thousand yuan with him when he enlisted.

The entire company gathered in an open patch of ground.

The sounds of dry heaving and desperate gasping were everywhere.

Peng Yingqirui, the weakest member of Ninth Squad in terms of fitness, was so exhausted his eyes rolled back. He wanted nothing more than to lie down on the freezing ground and rest. If he had not been so light, he probably would have collapsed before Han Yong.

But Zhao Bing, Hu Deli, Zhang Yinzhang from neighboring Eighth Squad, and others could still chat naturally.

Exercise at the same intensity immediately revealed the gap in the recruits' physical fitness.

The squad leaders somehow brought over several thick mats and had the recruits who looked the most uncomfortable lie down. They pressed their legs and demonstrated for everyone else.

The recruits lying down all trustingly raised their legs and handed them over to the smiling squad leaders.

Leg stretches felt so good.

So, so good.

Peng Yingqirui was among those crying out.

The squad leaders first demonstrated gently. "When stretching someone's legs, do it step by step... If you feel their leg muscles tensing, ease off a little."

The recruits lying down wore blissful expressions. "Ah..."

"Relax a little, then apply some more force."

The recruits sensed something was wrong. "Ah! That hurts a little, Squad Leader!"

The squad leaders smiled. "Then ease off a little... and then, push harder!"

The recruits' eyes flew wide open. "Ah!!!"

The squad leaders finally had some fun. "Push a little more, hold the stretch! Straighten your legs! Resist it—use your legs to resist me! Twenty seconds!"

The recruits struggled wildly, slapping the ground. "Ah! Ah! Squad Leader, no more stretching! No more! I can't hold on!!"

"A man can't say he can't do it!"

"Ah!!!... Mmph... Huh?... That feels so good..."

Anyone unaware of the situation would have thought something else was happening.

Twenty minutes later, the entire Training Ground was filled with recruits groaning "mmph, mmph, mmph" after their full-body training cooldown stretches.

Wang Jian stood before the formation with a smile.

"This full-body stretching routine feels good, doesn't it?"

"It feels good, Company Commander..."

"Good. Headquarters has distributed this stretching routine in PDF format. From now on, you'll have to teach it personally and bring this kind of happiness to your companies!"

This morning's drill period ended early at ten-thirty. They returned to their squads for a collective deep clean.

The entire regiment became busy. Amid that busyness, the recruits gradually shed the childish mindset of being praised as sensible at home just for washing a bowl.

Although Ninth Squad had passed the hygiene inspection, Hao Chengbin did not let the recruits idle around. Instead, he had Fang Huai lead everyone in reading the Regulations and Ordinances.

At lunchtime, the Chief of Staff spoke at great length for twenty minutes at the cafeteria entrance. Starting from what the military was, he went on to the requirements of a Four Haves Soldier, talking until everyone's mouths watered.

In summary, it came down to the few sentences he repeated most often.

"You company commanders and squad leaders, stop focusing only on training. Teach them how to be soldiers first!"

"To learn how to be a soldier, first learn how to be a person!"

"Be a soldier for a while, be a person for a lifetime!"

Not only did the recruits find those words abstract, even the squad leaders in their early twenties and the young officers did as well.

But Fang Huai understood.

When coming to the military, the extent of one's gains depended on how much the experience changed one's entire life.

Those who truly underwent a baptism of the soul in the military would see many changes in their perseverance, execution, values, and ideals. Looking at their entire lives, their time as soldiers was very short, but the "post-military era" was very long—long enough to influence a lifetime.

Some treated military service as an extended trip, and once the trip ended, that was all there was to it, aside from having another life experience to boast about. Some treated it as a stopover outside of university, then moved on to jobs in society. Others began a new life, starting from there and bidding farewell to their former aimless selves.

Afternoon.

A formal close-order drill period.

Hao Chengbin put on his cap, fastened his belt, and wore a solemn expression.

The recruits below also wore winter training uniforms, their faces reddened by the sudden cold snap and gusting wind.

"Dress right! Eyes front! Dress right! Eyes front! At ease!"

After Hao Chengbin finished arranging the formation in two rounds, he saluted and continued in a ringing voice.

"Time: one morning.

Location: this Training Ground.

Subject: unarmed individual close-order drill movements.

Content: at ease and attention, stand at ease and attention, turns while halted.

Requirements: comrades, remain serious and focused, listen clearly to the commander's orders, and execute movements in neat unison.

Are the above requirements clear, comrades?"

The recruits snapped to attention and shouted.

"Clear!"

"At ease!"

"Let me explain!"

The recruits snapped to attention again.

"At ease!"

After shouting the order, Hao Chengbin finally relaxed his posture and paced before and behind the formation with his hands behind his back.

"The opening remarks for close-order drill are very tedious, but they are meant to make you understand the solemnity and seriousness of formation discipline!

This morning's content—at ease and attention, stand at ease and attention, and turns while halted—all involve the position of attention!

Attention means resuming the military stance!

The key points of the movement were explained yesterday!

Upon hearing the command "Attention," bring your heels together, toes angled outward at roughly sixty degrees! Keep your legs straight, knees pressed tightly together! Tight!"

Hao Chengbin unfastened his belt and held it in his hand, tapping one person's knees one moment and poking another's stomach the next.

"Pull your lower abdomen in slightly, naturally puff out your chest!

...You little runt, why are you hunching your chest? Got milk now? Planning to feed a child? Or do the ants on the ground have relatives of yours?"

Everyone held back their laughter.

"Laugh! Whoever laughs later will come up and do it alone!

Keep your upper body straight, leaning slightly forward!

Most of your body weight should rest on the balls of your feet. Keep your shoulders level and slightly pulled back. Let your arms hang naturally and straight, fingers together and slightly curved. The tip of your thumb should touch the second joint of your index finger, and your middle finger should rest against the seam of your trousers!

Keep your head straight! Your neck straight! Your mouth closed! Tuck your chin slightly, and look straight ahead!

Why are soldiers so easy to recognize when they go out?

Three forms!

A powerful physique! A sharp haircut! An upright bearing!

The third "form" means posture! Standing at attention is meant to cultivate your posture!

We prefer to call it bearing! That word reflects a soldier's pride!"

As Fang Huai listened to Hao Chengbin's lecture, he kept his body tense and silently sensed the differences in each part and organ, planning the order of his future physical enhancements.

The benefits brought by Heart Enhancement were obvious. Aside from making his morning run easier, he was clearly more energetic than before, and his breathing was smoother as well.

Of course, quitting smoking also played a part. After he stopped smoking so heavily, even the phlegm he coughed up every morning had decreased.

His legs... were a little weak. They even hurt quite a bit after standing for too long.

The New Recruit Regiment's basic physical training subjects included the Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar, the Three Kilometer Run, and the hundred-meter sprint.

Basic training included push-ups, sit-ups, and squats.

After being assigned to a unit, the Horizontal Bar gained Exercise Two, and the Three Kilometer Run became the Five Kilometer Run.

Once he dealt with those, he would really only lack stronger lungs, legs, and grip strength. As for stamina, if there were no system rewards, he would train it himself. With his internal organs enhanced, improving his bodily functions should not be difficult.

Fang Huai was lost in thought when someone suddenly jabbed the joint behind his knee. He hurriedly pushed back, but it was too late—his leg bent slightly.

He immediately received a sharp smack on the back of the head.

Hao Chengbin's stern voice simultaneously bombarded his ears. "Don't lose focus during training! Otherwise, this is what happens!"

Seeing that Fang Huai had been hit too, everyone instantly felt much more balanced.

So Fang Huai could make mistakes too!

Even the Crown Prince was subject to the same law as commoners!

Without realizing it, the recruits had already accepted Fang Huai's status as the "Great Crown Prince."

Only Jiang Peng believed that he was at least a prince qualified to usurp the throne.