That afternoon, at the training ground.
"Arm-swinging drill. I told you, one movement per command! Shorty, did I tell you to move?"
"Awoo!"
A beating was affection, scolding was love, and when love ran deep, it came with a kick.
Everyone involuntarily smiled.
Peng Yingqirui's training evaluation could absolutely say: "This comrade howls the moment training begins."
He could howl several times a day.
"What are you laughing at?" Hao Chengbin glared, pointing at several people in the middle of the training ground.
"The Flying Tigers Squad has been recruiting these past two days! See over there on the training ground? Whoever laughs again gets sent over to become F4!"
In the direction Hao Chengbin pointed, several people stood there stiffly as poles, completely motionless.
Everyone immediately fell silent.
That afternoon, they had all learned what the Flying Tigers Squad was.
The Flying Tigers Squad, also known as the Useless Squad.
Anyone who pretended to be sick or refused to train would be made to stand in the middle of the training ground and do nothing. If their legs were supposedly injured, they could even get a stool to sit on, making a spectacle of themselves under the entire regiment's gaze.
The squad leaders called those people "Immortal Bros"—immortal as in deity, bro as in big brother.
Apparently, the honorary title of "Immortal Bro" could stick with them all the way until they joined their units or left the service. Their Fellow Recruits would mock them for it.
There had been two of them when drill started at two-thirty, and everyone called them the Power Station duo. Now there were three, making them S.H.E. If one more joined, they would become F4.
The squad leader said that a staff officer from Regimental Headquarters had just announced that if there was one more today, they would not attend evening study. A squad leader would be assigned specifically to take them to watch a meteor shower.
Which meant singing military songs beneath the New Recruit Building, from the time everyone went to watch the news until they returned at nine. After getting back to the dorm, they would have to wash every Fellow Recruit's feet one by one and say, "Squad Leader, training has been hard on you."
They would also be responsible for the squad's regular cleaning duties.
It was euphemistically called "logistical support."
What a miserable fate.
Of course, no one dared let them handle meal duty. Everyone was afraid someone might spit in the food.
Hao Chengbin was very satisfied with everyone's reaction.
At least, it seemed that no one in his squad wanted to avoid training and disgrace him by joining the Flying Tigers Squad.
Thinking that, Hao Chengbin walked over to Jiang Peng, straightened his cap, and said with a cheerful smile.
"Brother Jiang, you Yunnan college students are brutal. You flattened all your roommates. You won't get upset one day and come around at night smashing all our heads like watermelons, will you?
"If I've offended you somehow, you have to tell me. Your little brother here will definitely change!"
Jiang Peng grimaced. "Squad Leader, I wouldn't dare..."
Hao Chengbin immediately frowned and covered his nose, fanning the air with a look of disgust.
"Damn, Jiang Peng, did you brush your teeth? Why does your breath stink so bad?"
"Pfft." Yue Tao laughed, his forehead wrinkles piling up as his smile looked even worse than crying.
"What are you laughing at?" Hao Chengbin took off his peaked cap, walked over to Yue Tao, and smacked him over the head several times with it.
"Laugh, laugh, laugh at what? Huh? You Fujian guys might not have any tough ones, but I don't spoil people!... Brother Tao, you look fucking ugly when you smile. Do you really have a girlfriend? Does she close her eyes when she kisses you?"
No one could hold it in anymore.
They had spent the entire afternoon practicing the goose-step, holding their arms and legs in position, while Hao Chengbin peeked beyond the wall now and then and kept cracking jokes to make them laugh.
And then forbade them from laughing.
"You all want to laugh, huh? Is arm-swinging too easy for you?"
"Stop!"
Everyone stopped at the command, lowered their arms, and began stretching them out.
Hao Chengbin returned to his command position, adjusted his peaked cap, and revealed a devilish smile.
"Since you don't want to swing your arms anymore, then we'll hold our legs!"
Everyone's faces changed.
"Squad Leader... We just held our legs last class..."
Holding a leg during goose-step practice was agony! They had to kick it up twenty-five centimeters, point their toes straight down, and not wobble!
"Cut the crap! Goose-step leg-kicking drill, one movement per command!"
"One!"
The instant the command was given, everyone complained inwardly but no one dared be slow. They all kicked out their legs and began adjusting their height.
Hao Chengbin straightened his belt and the hem of his uniform with both hands, his expression turning serious as he paced before the formation.
"Formation discipline, I'll emphasize it one more time. In the entire formation, there can only be one voice: the commander's! No laughing, no... Zhao Bing, raise your foot five centimeters!
"No unnecessary movement!
"You can only speak when I tell you to! If you go out on duty in the future and chatter like old men and women, what will the local people think of us?
"How will the people trust us?
"Should I hand you a bag of sunflower seeds and a little stool...
"Yue Tao! Straighten your leg! Did I tell you to move your hand? Tell me! What is the People's Liberation Army's purpose?"
"Report! Serve the People!" Yue Tao shouted.
Hao Chengbin stepped forward, pressed Yue Tao's hands tightly against the seams of his trousers, and shouted.
"Wrong! The People's Liberation Army's middle fingers must touch the trouser seams!"
After saying that, he began watching everyone's reactions.
This time, everyone held it in and did not dare laugh.
If they laughed again, they might end up having to hold their arms and legs at the same time.
"Assistant Squad Leader Fang, why are you so quiet this afternoon? Did this morning's run leave you limp?"
Fang Huai forced himself to remain serious.
"Report! Squad Leader! I'm not the Assistant Squad Leader!"
Hao Chengbin smiled. "Isn't that what they all call you? Oh, and Assistant Squad Leader Jiang isn't convinced either, right?"
Seeing an opportunity, Jiang Peng actually answered on his own initiative.
"Yes, Squad Leader! I'm not convinced! I want to run for Assistant Squad Leader too!"
"Oh, oh, oh." Hao Chengbin shook his head, a sharp, mocking smile on his face. "You haven't even been a recruit for two days, and you already want to be Assistant Squad Leader? Are you interested in being squad leader too, Squad Leader Jiang? Want to do it for two days?"
Jiang Peng immediately looked embarrassed.
Hao Chengbin turned serious again.
"To be a soldier, first learn to be a person!
"If you can't even understand the intent behind someone's words, how are you going to manage a squad?
"Jiang Peng, ambition is a good thing, but I'll say it again: competition exists to create a better collective! Not for playing little tricks behind people's backs!
"What were you spreading around at noon today? Saying Fang Huai was sick? That he couldn't run? Want me to let Fang Huai out to fight you one-on-one and see who's sick?
"You even went and told people from other squads. Did you think their squad leaders wouldn't tell me?
"If you think I don't know something, if you take me for blind and deaf, then I'll make you mute!"
As soon as he said that, everyone shot Jiang Peng strange looks, and Jiang Peng's expression changed instantly.
Fang Huai merely smiled faintly.
He had heard about it too. Lu Zexian and Sun Lianhai had both quietly told him.
These past two days, after lunch, the recruits would fold their blankets in the hallway and chat quietly. Jiang Peng had not been idle today either. Whoever he caught, he told them Fang Huai might have heart disease and could not run. He even said Fang Huai had gotten in through connections and bribed the doctor, and might be sent home once he underwent another physical examination.
He made it sound convincing.
Fang Huai had stopped using those little tricks years ago. Jiang Peng had merely treated the squad leader like an idiot, and Fang Huai could not be bothered to deal with him.
"Squad Leader... I didn't. I... was only guessing!" Jiang Peng hurriedly explained.
Hao Chengbin clenched his teeth.
"I'm guessing your breath stinks too! Let me tell you, in the army, don't pull that womanly nonsense with me! Back in feudal times, behavior like yours was called sycophancy! Your tongue would be cut out!
"Now, it's called spreading rumors!
"What is a comrade-in-arms? You still don't understand!
"This is the last time. I've already warned you. If there's a next time, I'll deal with it seriously and publicly!"
No one made a sound.
During the break, Jiang Peng leaned alone against the wire fence, lost in thought.
The Ninth Squad recruits seemed to have forgotten about him. No one took the initiative to speak with him. Instead, they gathered around Fang Huai, all condemning Jiang Peng.
"That guy's too nasty. Fang Huai, are you okay?"
"Yeah, don't let him get to you!"
Even Peng Yingqirui curled his lip and said something childishly.
"I'm not playing with him anymore!"
Fang Huai found it amusing. "All right, aren't you talking badly about him behind his back too? Don't worry, I won't hold it against him. We're comrades-in-arms, there's no need. He just wants that Assistant Squad Leader position. It's not that I won't let him have it. He's genuinely lacking something. Even without me, he still wouldn't make it."
"You're pretty confident, kid!"
Hao Chengbin had been standing several meters away with his hands behind his back, gazing at the Flying Tigers Squad in the distance as if he had not been paying attention. Yet he had heard every word. Now he walked over and ruffled the back of Fang Huai's head.
"Go on, then. What is he lacking?"
"Squad Leader!" The recruits quickly greeted him.
Fang Huai smiled without any timidity and pointed toward Jiang Peng.
"Squad Leader, to be an Assistant Squad Leader, you at least need to keep the squad in line and not cause trouble for the squad leader, right? Look at Jiang Peng. He might be thinking of causing some trouble for himself right now. His mindset is too unstable, and he's already caused me trouble. I have to keep an eye on him now and then.
"If something really happens, it started because of me. I wouldn't feel right about it."
Everyone looked over and discovered Jiang Peng staring blankly at a dog-sized hole beneath the wire fence.
"Heh, kid, you might have what it takes to be a squad leader someday." Hao Chengbin patted the back of Fang Huai's head again, then walked toward Jiang Peng with his hands behind his back.
"Is he really going to run away?" Peng Yingqirui had just said he would not play with him anymore, but now he looked worried again.
"Probably not. He likely just doesn't want to stay here. He wants a different environment, that's all," Fang Huai said with a smile.
"Now that he's here, what other environment can he switch to?" Yue Tao asked blankly.
Fang Huai shook his head.
"I don't know what he's thinking."
Many people dissatisfied with reality held all kinds of expectations for a new environment. New standards of competition, new superiors, new impressions—any of them might bring fresh opportunities, a chance to stand out.
Then, when they suddenly discovered that they were just as ordinary in the new environment, just as unable to make a name for themselves, they wanted to switch again, seeking somewhere more favorable for competition.
They switched and switched, until one day, at an age when life had beaten them into submission, they admitted their own ordinariness.
Do not ask Fang Huai why he understood it so well. He was one of them.
For the past dozen years, Fang Huai had lived exactly that way.
People with the same mindset could smell it on each other from three streets away.
So he understood Jiang Peng, but he did not sympathize with him, because Jiang Peng's methods crossed a line Fang Huai would not.
Of course, having no bottom line also meant he could succeed more easily.
And fall more easily too.
That night, the wash-up bugle sounded.
The moment Hao Chengbin entered the squad room, closed the door, and sat down, he swept his gaze over the recruits and pulled out a pack of red Hard Zunyi cigarettes.
The six recruits eagerly rubbed their hands together.
Only three people in the squad did not smoke: Yue Tao, Shorty, and Zhao Bing.
"Look at you pathetic bastards." Hao Chengbin laughed. "Like it's New Year's and you're waiting for red envelopes. No backbone at all."
Chen Zhongqiang chuckled. "Squad Leader, it is New Year's!"
The others did not rush to speak. With an old smoker like Chen Zhongqiang around, they just had to wait for the cigarettes.
The squad's two Fujian men, Yue Tao and Chen Zhongqiang, both had charging personalities. Whenever something happened, those two were the boldest about stepping forward.
Hao Chengbin was a man of his word. He had intentionally delayed the cigarettes he had promised by two days, but now he stopped dragging it out. He took one out and tossed it to Chen Zhongqiang.
"Who else wants one?"
"Me, me, me! Squad Leader!" Sun Lianhai eagerly raised his hand too.
The remaining recruits all raised their hands.
Even Yue Tao, who did not smoke, raised his hand with bright eyes and said he wanted to try one for fun.
After all, in the New Recruit Regiment, cigarettes were an incredibly precious resource for recruits. Yue Tao did not want to pass one up for nothing; it felt like taking a loss.
Fang Huai was in the middle of an intense inner struggle.
Fuck, a cigarette! A whole cigarette!
In his previous life, at the New Recruit Regiment, Squad Leader Xiang Zhiyuan had fucking handed out one cigarette! For eight people to share!
After holding out for over a month, the feeling of each person taking one drag was something he would never forget. Back then, everyone had thought it was even more unforgettable than sharing a visit to a prostitute.
That night, they had agreed on one drag each, enough for two rounds from a single cigarette. Yet one bastard took three huge drags at once, making everyone else lose a puff.
That cigarette was not thrown away until the last person nearly burned the filter.
The guy who had taken three drags was ostracized for a week.
Everyone had held a grudge.
Squad Leader Hao really was generous! One whole cigarette per person!
"Fang Huai, do you smoke?" The few words Hao Chengbin spoke seemed to possess some kind of magic.
Smoke it! One cigarette, and your throat will feel completely clear!
Don't smoke! If you can't even quit cigarettes, what can you accomplish in this life? Do you want to be like before, waking up every day to hunt for trash cans to spit in, breaking into violent coughing whenever you talked too much?
Why be scared? You have the system this time. Just upgrade your lungs and respiratory tract!
Who knows whether the system even has that function? It's such a useless system. What if it doesn't?
Two voices battled in Fang Huai's head.
But the final thought was: he'd offended someone.
No, he'd offended the system.
Just as Fang Huai was about to take the cigarette and decide whether to smoke it.
Task: Quit Smoking. This task independently grants one "Nervous System Enhancement" reward. If the host actively smokes, the reward will be revoked. (Description: A good nervous system provides not only better reaction speed, but also a stronger endocrine system.)
What the fuck.
This system was the kind that forced people to improve.
Of course he knew smoking was harmful. His dad used to send him endless motivational articles and health facts.
Besides damaging the lungs and respiratory tract, heavy smoking could also harm neurons and brain tissue.
So... quitting smoking could "enhance the nervous system" too, right?
Was this something I'd earned myself, or a system reward?
This reward...
Hesitate, and you're a coward.
Fang Huai's outstretched hand immediately changed direction, reaching beneath the bed frame to pull out his little green washbasin.
"Squad leader, I'd better quit. It'll affect trai... Jiang Peng was right. Aside from my heart, my lungs might not be so great either. If I keep smoking, I'm afraid the physical examination really will weed me out."
Fang Huai had originally planned to show off by saying smoking would interfere with training, but seeing the seven people around him with cigarettes in their mouths, he smoothly dumped the blame on Jiang Peng instead.
After saying that, Fang Huai cautiously looked around.
"Squad leader... the smell makes me uncomfortable. Can I go wash my face now?"
Hao Chengbin smiled. "Don't overthink it. Jiang Peng was just talking nonsense. If your body could get rejected during the physical examination, there wouldn't be ten people left in the entire regiment... Still, wanting to quit smoking is a good thing. Go wash up. Just open the door quietly."
"Yes, Squad Leader!" Fang Huai left the squad room with the same worried expression.
The moment Fang Huai left, all the new recruits remembered what had happened that afternoon and looked at Jiang Peng with some resentment.
Look at the psychological damage you caused him.
He even quit smoking!
Jiang Peng looked completely dumbfounded.
His plan to have everyone smoke a cigarette together, brag a little, and ease the tension went up in smoke.
The cigarette in his hand no longer smelled so good.
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