By the time they returned to the New Recruit Building and were dismissed, it was already 3:50.
The Chief of Staff had shown mercy.
The 6:30 wake-up call had been postponed to seven today. Morning PT was canceled, and they would go straight to breakfast.
After being dismissed, the squad leaders were also gathered for a lecture. When they returned to their squads, they informed the recruits that they could sleep until six o'clock today.
Then many veterans said resentfully, "You lot have it good! Back when we finished an Emergency Assembly, forget sleeping for the rest of the night! Push-ups, squats, folding blankets! Now the regiment doesn't allow that anymore! You greenhorns are all spoiled little emperors who can't take hardship! The leaders protect you like children now!"
Blah, blah, blah.
Of course the veterans were upset.
When they had been recruits, they had been put through all that. Now that they were veterans, many of the old "tricks" were no longer allowed.
What they didn't know was that these recruits would be even more upset a few years later. The military was being reformed year after year, with more and more protections for recruits. When they had been recruits, they had fetched water and washed the veterans' faces and feet. When they became veterans, they would be fetching water and washing recruits' faces and feet.
Over the following decade or so, many chaotic practices were forcibly stopped.
Of course, military benefits also kept improving. At this time, conscripts received allowances of three to four hundred yuan, while first-class NCOs earned one to two thousand. By 2011, conscript allowances had risen to over five hundred yuan, and third-year first-class NCOs earned 2,500 to 2,800 yuan.
By 2016, first-class NCOs could already earn four to five thousand yuan. With the firefighting high-risk allowance, squad leader allowance, special-post allowance, and so on, the higher-paid first-class NCOs could earn nearly six thousand yuan. Third-class NCOs could make over ten thousand.
Nearly ten thousand yuan was paid into social security every year. Those who served until fourth-class NCO could complete fifteen years of contributions and no longer have to worry about pensions later on.
In ordinary regions that were neither Xinjiang, Tibet, nor high-altitude areas, first-class through fourth-class NCOs received severance pay ranging from over a hundred thousand to more than five hundred thousand yuan.
In special regions, the amount increased substantially.
Soldiers' salaries had already surpassed those of many civil servants their age.
Serving in the military was no longer a poor man's job.
In the past, educated people had been unwilling to enter the military. As benefits improved, public enthusiasm for military service grew ever higher, and the military's educational requirements rose accordingly.
After joining the military, becoming an NCO required a high school education. College students seeking officer selection needed at least a second-tier university degree; even third-tier university graduates had no chance.
You couldn't just enlist whenever you wanted, either. There were limited slots.
More and more educated people joined the military, and the overall quality kept rising.
For a high school graduate like Fang Huai, even if he entered a military academy and earned a university degree, with all his military achievements, if he did not further pursue a graduate degree as a stepping stone, getting promoted to a full regimental officer would be harder than climbing to the heavens.
The military did have a certain mechanism for eliminating the weak, but it was not merely about toughness and burying one's head in training while ignoring science.
Professional skills and academic credentials gradually offered more advantages and opportunities for advancement than physical fitness.
The perspectives and awareness of higher levels gradually filtered down, becoming one directive after another, one document after another, guiding military reform. Those who followed the trend flourished, while those blinded by a single leaf and ignorant of the changing times were gradually eliminated.
Dawn broke.
Winter in the south was too dull. It could not even freeze a person to death.
A cold rain had fallen that morning.
Honestly, if he had the means, Fang Huai wanted to call home and ask his uncle to send him two pairs of fleece-lined cotton trousers.
As for whether a Colonel Regimental Commander sending cotton trousers to a recruit would cause any consequences, he did not want to care.
He was fucking shivering so badly that he had no time for lustful thoughts. Why the fuck should he care about consequences?
He had noticed something was wrong while folding his blanket that morning.
Some immortal idiot had opened the corridor window. A mere hallway was somehow filled with two magical attacks: poison gas and freezing ice.
A recruit had done one full-speed Three Kilometer Run and one leisurely four-kilometer run in a single day. His meniscus was practically at critical health, yet he still had to train.
So when Fang Huai joined everyone in cursing the fucking barracks during the break in morning PT, his tone was especially sincere.
"Man, it's fucking cold. It's Friday, and they're still making us do static leg training. My nose is frozen shut!"
"Fuck, if I could take a hot shower, lie in bed, and smoke a cigarette right now, I'd be willing to die!"
That was what Chen Zhongqiang said.
Fang Huai shot back, "No need to go that far. At least throw in a beautiful woman to keep me company for the night before I'd agree!"
Lu Zexian burst out laughing, patted Fang Huai, and teased him.
"Squad Leader Fang, you're already a leader, and you still say things like that?"
Fang Huai curled his lip, held up his pinky finger and pinched it, saying, "The state says only deputy section-level officials and above count as leading cadres. Even our company commander is only at full company rank. In civilian terms, he'd just be a clerk, maybe a unit-level cadre. I'm an Assistant Squad Leader—what fucking kind of leader am I?
What kind of things am I supposed to say?
If it could raise the temperature by ten degrees, I'd trade ten years of your life for it!"
Lu Zexian's eyes widened.
"Fuck, I'd trade all sixty years of my life just to roast you to death, you little bastard!"
No one expected it. No one really expected it.
After ten o'clock, the sun came out in full force, and the temperature actually began to rise.
Everyone laughed and said it was thanks to Lu Zexian trading away ten years of his life. Even Hao Chengbin could not help asking about it, and then everyone started making fun of Lu Zexian.
Lu Zexian did not care about their teasing.
Whenever he had a spare moment, though, he would look up at the sky and mutter under his breath.
"Transaction failed. Transaction failed. Transaction failed..."
He could not help believing it. Fang Huai's performance over the past two days had truly been like that of a polished divine mouth.
After lunch, when they returned to the dormitory, the squad leader began handing out uniforms.
Winter service uniforms.
The moment Hao Chengbin returned after collecting them, he set a large stack of clothing and a big white cardboard box on the bed, then immediately started talking sourly.
"You bastards are lucky! You caught this year's reforms, so you get issued the new-style gear! Type 07 uniforms! We haven't even gotten them yet!
The new winter service uniforms feel thicker than ours!
The country is getting richer and richer. You really caught a good time!"
Yue Tao looked curious, but he did not dare touch them carelessly, so he could only ask, "Squad Leader, what's a service uniform?"
Hao Chengbin froze for a moment too.
"Service uniforms... are the clothes you wear normally! Meetings, drill inspections, formal occasions—all of them require service uniforms! There are winter uniforms and spring-autumn uniforms! You'll also get new summer shirts later!
What we wore before was a mishmash of Type 85, Type 87, and Type 99! This is the eightieth anniversary of the founding of the military, so everything's being replaced!
They're all Type 07! You're the first batch of soldiers after the uniform reforms. Everything is new!"
Everyone grew somewhat excited upon hearing that.
These days, whether in the barracks or outside, getting new clothes was something to be happy about. Besides, everything in the barracks was monotonous and boring. A single new item could easily spark tremendous enthusiasm.
Just like those folding little stools. Over the past two days, the bored recruits had nearly played them to death. Since receiving them, everyone had begun studying their various functions.
"Squad Leader, can we wear them today?"
Hao Chengbin looked at them with some disdain and lectured, "You'll change into them this afternoon! I'm telling you, service uniforms don't dry easily, so take care of them when you wear them!
If the Chief of Staff hadn't said so, we were planning to issue them after you finished bathing!
And later, change all your socks. Take them to the washroom and scrub them clean!"
As Hao Chengbin spoke, he untied the rope binding the uniforms together.
"Size L! Come collect yours first!"
Several people rushed over at once.
"The service uniform comes with matching National Defense Service Medals, Firefighting insignia, and a pair of collar tabs! The peaked cap has a police emblem! Don't put them on yet! Once everything's issued, I'll teach you how!
There are also hard shoulder boards, but those won't be issued until after you receive your ranks!
Strictly speaking, you aren't qualified to wear this uniform yet! Only after you receive your ranks and become privates can you be called true recruits!"
Hao Chengbin explained as he handed out uniforms and the various accessories from the box.
Hearing that topic come up, the recruits all looked expectantly at Fujian's number one warrior.
Yue Tao did not disappoint.
"Squad Leader... when will we receive our ranks?"
That question nearly made Hao Chengbin burst into flames.
The regiment made the arrangements. Why the fuck were they asking him? Who the fuck was he supposed to ask?
Unable to help himself, he tried to scare them. "In principle, within three months! The exact timing depends on your training results!
Going by the Chief of Staff's standards, you're still far too far from meeting the requirements of qualified soldiers. The New Recruit Regiment might not even want to grant you ranks!
Besides, receiving ranks requires reciting the Enlistment Oath. The oath has been in this desk locker for two days now. Let me ask you—who can recite it?"
Brother Tao was a man of principle. He immediately slapped his chest.
"Fang Huai definitely can!"
All the recruits immediately turned to look at Fang Huai.
Fang Huai cursed inwardly.
I only recited a few lines when I got it that day. How the fuck would I know it by heart? I only remember the first few lines!
Hao Chengbin was curious too. "Fang Huai, you memorized it?"
Fang Huai sighed.
He had just become Assistant Squad Leader. He had to be a little different somehow!
He raised his hand, clenched his fist, and said, "I swear that I will obey the Party's leadership, Serve the People wholeheartedly, obey orders, strictly observe discipline, remain loyal to..."
"Stop!"
That was a perfectly timed stop.
Two more lines, and Fang Huai would have completely gotten stuck.
Seeing that Fang Huai really could recite it, Hao Chengbin immediately felt that he had picked the wrong person to test.
This kid was a jack of all trades! He could talk about news for minutes without repeating himself, all of it reflecting a guiding spirit. Memorizing a little over a hundred characters was nothing to him.
"Fang Huai is the Assistant Squad Leader. It's perfectly normal for him to know it by heart! Does anyone else know the rest?"
The whole squad fell silent.
It could be said that Fang Huai was the only one in the entire squad who had any chance of bluffing his way through. If any of the others dared open their mouths, Hao Chengbin could pull out the Armed Police oath and listen until the very end.
"So that's why I'm saying you still aren't qualified!" Hao Chengbin hurriedly delivered his conclusion.
"Fang Huai! Since it's the weekend, starting tonight, supervise them while they memorize the Regulations and Ordinances! You memorize them too!
Come ask me about receiving ranks when you've thoroughly learned the regulations!"
The recruits were all dumbfounded.
Squad Leader, the Regulations and Ordinances you mean—is that the one in the desk locker?
The red one that's two centimeters thick?
Forget the whole book! A single page could kill us! Do you know that?
The recruits screamed inwardly. Even Jiang Peng, who had always wanted to surpass Fang Huai, did not dare say anything now.
Memorizing an Enlistment Oath would take half a morning at most. But memorizing the Regulations and Ordinances? The Discipline Regulations alone had twenty or thirty thousand characters! Then there were the Interior Regulations and Drill Regulations too. Who would memorize that unless they were tired of living?
Naturally, Fang Huai had no intention of arguing with Hao Chengbin over this. Forget their squad—throughout the entire New Recruit Regiment, from the leaders down to the soldiers, anyone who could thoroughly learn the Regulations and Ordinances, or even just state how many articles each set of regulations contained, would win.
Hao Chengbin simply did not want everyone asking when they would receive their ranks, so he was shutting them up.
How could an old squad leader not know? It was just that they were not qualified to ask yet!
And while he was at it, he smoothly changed the topic and arranged everyone's weekend "entertainment."
Over the past few days, the recruits had developed some unrealistic fantasies about the weekend.
But the reality was that the core mission of the New Recruit Regiment was to ensure that, apart from sleeping, the recruits would not stop moving for even a moment.
Hao Chengbin looked at the stunned expressions on the recruits' faces and felt immensely satisfied.
"Fang Huai, go to the company office and collect the caps!"
After one trip to the company office, Fang Huai had completely escaped the sea of suffering.
"Squad Leader, I'm afraid I won't be able to supervise them tonight."
"What is it?" Hao Chengbin frowned.
"The company office wants me to help them make some statistical forms tonight, along with courseware for next week's evening classes... I might not even finish it all in one night."
"You can't finish it in one night? Where's Clerk Huang? Resting? He's making you do all the work—what the hell is he doing? That's his actual job. Does he have no initiative at all?"
"He said he wanted to learn from me. He even wants me to teach him whenever I have time." Fang Huai looked helpless.
Hao Chengbin had initially been a little indignant, thinking that the company office was exploiting a recruit. But upon hearing such a blunt answer, he could only let it go.
"Forget it. You're good with computers, so teach him more. Then maybe he won't always drag you in for hard labor later."
The recruits were deeply shaken.
They knew Fang Huai was good with technology and could work at the company office, but they had no concrete idea of how capable he was.
Even Clerk Huang had to learn from him?
That was badass!
Assistant Squad Leader Fang's image became even more towering.
Fang Huai understood it clearly too. Whether Clerk Huang could learn it or not, Fang Huai would still be the company office's backup laborer.
That Squad Leader Huang was only a third-year soldier himself. What revolutionary initiative could he possibly have? When he encountered cheap labor like Fang Huai, who could be worked for a late-night snack, of course he would use him to death.
"Fine. Since Fang Huai isn't available, I'll personally watch over you while you memorize the Regulations and Ordinances! Tonight... you'll start with the first three pages of the Discipline Regulations!" Hao Chengbin said it lightly, but the recruits' faces looked worse than if they had eaten fermented auk.
"Fang Huai... he doesn't have to memorize them?" The jealousy in Jiang Peng's heart was no longer even concealed.
Working at the company office had originally been his job!
How could he not know what conditions were like at the company office after smelling the aromas drifting over from across the way every night these past few days?
There were little barbecues every meal. Since it was the weekend, they might even make grilled fish or something!
After these days, nobody had any oil left in their stomachs. The thought of Fang Huai stuffing himself tonight made Jiang Peng miserable.
Fang Huai had taken his squad leader position, his barbecue, and maybe even his cigarettes!
But the moment Jiang Peng spoke, not only Hao Chengbin but the other recruits also found him a little speechless.
"Jiang Peng, why are you always targeting Fang Huai? He's going to work at the company office and stay up late. How could he possibly memorize them?"
The speaker was Fujian's number one fierce general, the pointy-headed Yue Tao.
"That's just how he is. He can't stand seeing other people do well." Lu Zexian also stepped in without hesitation.
"Exactly. Fang Huai worked so hard—don't make him carry it," Zhao Bing, that deceptively sly nice guy, said with a chuckle.
Hao Chengbin sat by the bed, watching Jiang Peng with a smile.
This was the situation. Did he see it clearly now?
If I didn't favor Fang Huai, he wouldn't get anything good either.
Jiang Peng nearly burst into tears. In a daze, he found himself sharing the same feelings Lu Zexian had felt that day.
This world owed him justice!
At last, Fang Huai grinned and patted Jiang Peng on the shoulder, twisting the knife one last time.
"Jiang Peng, I handled things for the company because they were company matters. But in the squad, as the Assistant Squad Leader, I'll definitely set a good example! I'll memorize the regulations! I won't memorize any less than you, so don't worry!"
Why did Fang Huai speak up only at the end?
Because he had been searching just now!
Among the military knowledge, each of the Three Major Regulations cost only two Military Merit Points!
He could exchange for them!
Before you continue