"Enter!"
The radiator in the Regimental Headquarters office was without question the best in the entire regiment.
Fang Huai usually slept beside the radiator against the wall in Ninth Squad's quarters, yet it was nowhere near as warm as this. The moment he entered the office, he felt that it was at least four or five degrees warmer than Ninth Squad's room.
The Chief of Staff sat at his desk in a shirt, while Jiang Peng stood opposite him with an aggrieved, indignant look on his face.
"Hao Chengbin, what happened? You even hit him in the face?"
Though the Chief of Staff was questioning him, his tone was very calm.
"Reporting to the Chief of Staff! I only patted him once! He's exaggerating! Our squad's recruits were sleeping in the hallway at the time, and the squad leader was educating us! You can call in the other recruits and ask them!" Fang Huai cut in.
He had no choice but to answer first.
This had started because of his conflict with Jiang Peng, and Hao Chengbin had indeed favored him. If they got hung up on whether anyone had been hit, and Hao Chengbin bluntly admitted it while Jiang Peng insisted on pursuing the matter, Hao Chengbin would have to face disciplinary consequences.
There were four kinds of hitting soldiers.
The criticism-and-education kind: missing a whistle call, failing to bring required gear, or making minor mistakes. A kick or two and a few curses.
The serious-warning kind: hiding prohibited items, fighting, and other more serious offenses. They might take a harsher beating, but it was handled only in relation to that specific incident and was never brought up again afterward.
The bullying kind: getting used to hitting soldiers, hitting them whenever they looked displeasing. If a recruit dared resist, he might get a real beating.
The group-beating kind: usually when a recruit provoked a squad leader. The veteran soldiers would drag him into an enclosed room, where every squad leader in the company would take turns fighting that one recruit.
Something like this could be made big or kept small. How serious it became depended on whether anyone wanted to make an issue of it.
What Fang Huai feared was Jiang Peng using it as leverage.
As for corporal punishment, that was complete nonsense. At this level of intensity, it was called training.
To be fair, Hao Chengbin was already extremely gentle with his soldiers. With someone more hot-tempered, after that argument—and Jiang Peng had argued with the longest-serving squad leader in the company—if Hao Chengbin had just shouted, "All company squad leaders, assemble!" Jiang Peng would have had at least two black eyes before he even came to complain, along with a few boot prints for good measure.
Violence was not encouraged, but it was very common.
"Fang Huai, you're lying!" Jiang Peng said angrily. "Chief of Staff, it's him! Just because he wants to become Assistant Squad Leader, he keeps badmouthing me in the squad and making everyone isolate me!"
The Chief of Staff did not want to dwell on the matter. He had already asked about it, which meant he had made his position clear. Even if this recruit had not interrupted today, he had not planned to pursue it further. He waved a hand and cut Jiang Peng off.
"I don't have time to deal with this. One thing only: leaving the army, no. Our New Recruit Regiment has never had a tradition of letting recruits leave. Unless you're severely injured or disabled. Otherwise, I can ask your uncle by marriage whether he can get the regiment commander to issue me an order. If he can, I'll arrange for you to pack up and go home without another word!"
Jiang Peng was instantly left speechless.
Ever since deciding to join the military, he had constantly pondered how much convenience his uncle by marriage's rank could bring him.
Before entering the army, he had already figured out the military rank structure.
The regiment commander also served as the base director. The training base was a detachment-level unit, and the regiment commander was a genuine full-regiment colonel. Even if leadership positions in the Provincial City Detachment were ranked higher than usual, his uncle by marriage was only the deputy director of the Political Department, a lieutenant colonel who had only recently been promoted. Two years ago, he had still been a battalion-level major. What standing did he have to speak to the regiment commander?
He had seen the figures online: one-third of deputy regimental commanders advanced to full regimental commander, while only one-quarter of full regimental commanders advanced to deputy division commander.
Besides, firefighting was only a full-army-level unit, with few leadership posts. The highest rank possible was major general, making promotion harder than in ordinary military units.
His uncle by marriage would probably never reach full regimental commander in his lifetime.
"Speak. Can you go back and train properly?" Seeing that Jiang Peng was actually spacing out, the Chief of Staff raised his voice.
Jiang Peng gritted his teeth and forced himself to stand straighter. "Chief of Staff, I don't want to be useless either! But I really can't stay in Ninth Squad anymore! Can I be transferred to another squad?"
Hao Chengbin immediately let out a laugh.
The kid did not want to stay in Ninth Squad? Well, Hao Chengbin did not want him either! But as a squad leader, some things were not appropriate for him to say. He did not want to create more trouble for his superiors.
The Chief of Staff slapped the desk with a bang.
"You think the army is a marketplace where you can bargain?! If you don't want to train, go stay properly with the Flying Tigers Squad! And don't come here complaining anymore! Let me tell you the truth, Jiang Peng. I called them here not to talk you into anything, but to talk them into it!
I'm afraid that after you make such a fuss, no one will pay attention to you anymore!
This is the greatest consideration I'm giving you out of regard for your uncle by marriage. The New Recruit Regiment isn't run by my family, and it certainly isn't run by your uncle by marriage's family!
Which squad am I supposed to transfer you into? And who gets transferred into Ninth Squad?
Ninth Squad will be one person short. When we conduct company-level formation training later, should Ninth Squad just be missing a corner?"
A stretch of silence followed. Jiang Peng clearly had no solution, but he also seemed unwilling to leave. He simply stood there without speaking.
"Chief of Staff, I have an idea." Wang Jian suddenly spoke up. "Han Yong from Eighth Squad in our company—Old Pan has mentioned several times that he wants to dismiss him. He can't handle him. Why not swap them and let Squad Leader Hao try? That solves both problems at once!"
The Chief of Staff frowned.
"You're talking about... the one in the middle of the Training Ground? Didn't he refuse to train?"
Over the past two days, he had learned quite a bit. Whenever he encountered that recruit named Han Yong in the hallway, the kid was an expert at pretending to be sick. After one fall, he claimed he had fractured a bone and could not walk, refusing to train no matter what.
The other two recruits pretending to be sick had eventually given in and returned to training. Only him—he remained planted on the Training Ground, stubborn as ever.
"That kid won't listen to reason. Little Jin, who's been looking after him, says his attitude is excellent. He'll do anything except train. You think changing squads will make him manageable?"
Wang Jian actually had a clear understanding of the situation.
Pan Zhaohui had too much of a temper and liked enforcing the rules of his previous unit. He had started evening drills right from the beginning of the New Recruit Regiment, making the recruits in his squad howl every day. Han Yong had only begun faking illness because he could not take it anymore.
With someone like that, they needed to proceed gradually. If they came down too hard from the start, he would definitely break.
Old Pan understood that as well. He simply did not want to lower his standards for one Han Yong.
Wang Jian said with certainty, "Chief of Staff, if he changes squads, his illness will definitely get better. Staff Officer Jin is a staff officer at Regimental Headquarters, yet he spends every day looking after one recruit. What a waste of talent! Please spare a thought for him too!"
"That kid..."
The Chief of Staff smacked his lips, looking helpless. Then he suddenly slapped the desk again.
"Fine! Hao Chengbin, do you have any objections?"
The Chief of Staff had said "fine" first, meaning he had already agreed. Asking Hao Chengbin afterward meant that disagreeing would be refusing to give him face.
Just moments ago, the Chief of Staff had told Jiang Peng that changing squads was impossible and full of difficulties. Yet now it seemed effortless, and he made the decision with a single word without even asking the regiment commander.
Hao Chengbin laughed.
"Chief of Staff, what objections could I have? The ones who can be taught are called troublemakers. The ones who can't are called disasters. I don't think Han Yong is necessarily beyond hope. I'd rather take a troublemaker."
Critical hit!
Jiang Peng felt deeply insulted.
Hao Chengbin called someone like Han Yong, who was mocked by the entire regiment, a troublemaker. But Jiang Peng was a disaster!
Even Fang Huai could not help laughing.
Squad Leader Hao was far too much to his liking!
He just wondered whether Jiang Peng, whose face had already turned an ugly mixture of red and blue, could endure Squad Leader Pan, whose tongue was even sharper than Squad Leader Hao's.
Eighth Squad also had a Company Commander Zhang, who seemed to be greatly favored by Old Pan. Was Jiang Peng going to Eighth Squad to fight for succession again?
"Enough, enough. Stop saying weird things!
Kid, what are you laughing at? Is mocking your comrades that entertaining?"
For that final sentence, the Chief of Staff looked at Fang Huai.
Fang Huai immediately wiped the smile off his face.
"Reporting to the Chief of Staff! I wasn't trying to laugh. I just couldn't hold it in! Sorry!"
That made Hao Chengbin and Wang Jian laugh, while Jiang Peng's face alone turned even darker.
"Too? Hao Chengbin, you've got some skill! The soldier you trained is exactly like you! Every word dripping with sarcasm, and you're both experts at tearing people down!"
Hao Chengbin immediately defended him. "Fang Huai has been performing quite well!"
The Chief of Staff seemed to remember something. He glanced at Jiang Peng and waved a hand.
"Wang Jian, take Jiang Peng back first. Have him pack up his bedding and switch squads with Han Yong."
"Yes!"
The two quickly left.
As Jiang Peng left, he shot Fang Huai a look that said, A gentleman's revenge is never too late, even after ten years.
Only after the door closed did the Chief of Staff sneer.
"Right! He's been performing very well! So you hid his test results instead of reporting them because you wanted to extort an Outstanding Soldier award from me?"
Hao Chengbin froze at the question.
Damn it, Jiang Peng really had the makings of a traitor!
The Chief of Staff gave a chuckle and clapped once. "Well, well... over thirty pull-ups, fifty parallel-bar dips. Kid, you're quite good at pretending! Every time you saw me, you looked like some sickly patient! Was it because I said I'd give you an Outstanding Soldier award if you reached twenty pull-ups?"
Hao Chengbin sensed that the Chief of Staff no longer sounded genuinely angry, so he immediately grinned and said, "Chief of Staff, with results like that, he'd count as a standout even after joining a regular unit. Giving him an Outstanding Soldier award isn't excessive, is it?"
The Chief of Staff glared.
"Stop trying to be clever with me! Did I ask for twenty pull-ups? What I wanted was improvement! Improvement!
Back then, I saw that this kid trained hard and was willing to give it everything he had! His spirit of persistence in training was valuable! It wasn't that twenty pull-ups alone deserved an Outstanding Soldier award!
...Especially not twenty pull-ups done by swinging!"
Hao Chengbin fell silent too. Of course he understood that logic. Otherwise, he would not have hidden the results.
After a long while, he finally squeezed out, "Sir, you already agreed. You can't go back on your word now, can you?"
Seeing him at a loss for words, the Chief of Staff smiled and stopped keeping him in suspense.
"Is this kid your relative? You're taking such good care of him?
You made him Assistant Squad Leader only a few days after training began. That's not very veteran-soldier of you!
The Outstanding Soldier award is still his. I keep my word! The number is still twenty too! But the rules need a price increase! No more swinging. Twenty strict pull-ups. No problem, right?"
At those words, Hao Chengbin and Fang Huai both froze.
Fang Huai was truly flustered.
Fang Huai felt like cursing.
If you don't want to give it to me, then don't! What's with dangling a banana over my head?
For veteran soldier assessments, the Outstanding standard for exercise one on the horizontal bar was fifteen pull-ups!
And you had to make things difficult for me?
"The moment I joined a regular unit, I became the company's king of soldiers?"
Swinging pull-ups followed the momentum. When dropping down, the body drifted forward without needing to be controlled. When swinging back, that momentum could be borrowed to pull up for the next rep. They were completely different from strict pull-ups.
For strict pull-ups, it was straight up and straight down. Forget borrowing momentum—if the descent was not controlled, the impact would make the hands ache. If one was careless, one might even lose their grip and fall from the bar.
If one's strength was not great, each rep took longer. The longer someone stayed on the bar, the greater the expenditure became, and the difficulty increased exponentially.
Different standards meant different limits.
With rests of no more than three seconds, someone who could do eighty or ninety strict pull-ups could join the People's Liberation Army in the National Competition.
With rests of no more than 1.5 seconds, no abdominal swinging for momentum at all, seventy reps would be enough to sweep the world's gymnastics teams.
"That's too many, Chief of Staff. Fifteen!" Even Hao Chengbin felt it was unlikely and tried to bargain.
"Fine, then fifteen!" The Chief of Staff settled it at once.
Fang Huai:?
I haven't even said anything yet?
Why was it suddenly, "Fine, then"?
Old Hao had been too careless! How did bargaining lead to the other side agreeing instantly?
What did that mean?
The offer had been too high!
Hao Chengbin finally sensed that something was off. He turned and cautiously asked Fang Huai, "What do you think? Can you do it?"
Fang Huai looked utterly speechless.
Great squad leader, you finally remembered to ask me?
"It's a little difficult... I'm more accustomed to swinging, and it really saves a lot of strength. If it's strict pull-ups, there may be quite a few recruits stronger than me."
"Don't underestimate yourself! Those who dare to fight will win!"
The Chief of Staff immediately threw out an overwhelming burst of encouragement, leaving Fang Huai with no opening to argue.
"Reporting to the Chief of Staff! I guarantee I'll complete the task!" Fang Huai snapped to attention and thrust out his chest.
There was no room left to negotiate anyway. He might as well act like a martyr.
Only then did the Chief of Staff smile. "That's more like it! What kind of conduct is bargaining with your superior?"
As he spoke, he also glanced at Hao Chengbin.
Fang Huai curled his lip inwardly.
Right, this was what a superior should be like—pull one person up and step on another in the same sentence. He really knew how to play the game.
A real master at it.
Once they left, the two of them fell silent.
When they reached the stairwell, Hao Chengbin stopped.
"How about I take you to the horizontal bar now and let you try? Let's see how many you can do?"
Fang Huai grew nervous too. He stood there, hesitating for a while.
Outstanding Soldier! Twenty Military Merit Points!
Each of the Three Major Regulations only cost two Military Merit Points to exchange for! Twenty points could not buy a major skill, but it could probably buy plenty of small pieces of knowledge!
And the Outstanding Soldier award was the only commendation he could use to exchange for Military Merit Points!
As for First Class Merit through Third Class Merit, there was no way he would exchange those for Military Merit Points.
The exchange ratio did not seem intended to encourage him to trade them for Military Merit Points.
The ratio was far too low.
How much harder was Second Class Merit to earn than Third Class Merit? Yet it was only worth twice as much!
And First Class Merit?
Anyone who earned one was one in ten thousand.
Anyone who earned two was famous nationwide.
In peacetime, there were people who had earned two First Class Merits. They had done so in international military competitions by breaking world records and taking countless first places.
The Andrew International Military Competition... probably did not have a firefighting event, right?
But if Military Merit Points were exchanged according to the true value of First Class Merit, it would have to be worth several thousand points. If he truly earned one, he might become Superman.
An academic Superman.
Besides, the immunity and core strength enhancements in the Military Merit store could only be exchanged with Third Class Merit or higher.
Different levels of military merit corresponded to different levels of enhancement.
C-rank (Third Class Merit), B-rank (Second Class Merit), A-rank (First Class Merit), S-rank (honorary title).
They could be upgraded repeatedly.
He had to admit, the system really dared to put out those last two.
He did not even dare imagine it!
Still, stacking up a bunch of Third Class Merit enhancements was possible. Second Class Merit was not entirely out of reach either.
Core strength was an overall improvement to torso strength, involving more than a dozen areas. Its importance went without saying.
Immunity Enhancement was for withstanding magical damage. He could train until he was as strong as Tyson, but he would still die if he encountered a terminal illness. Besides, who knew what special functions the Immunity Enhancement provided by the system might have?
Of course, excessive immunity could also cause many autoimmune diseases, such as lupus. But he trusted that the system would not screw him over that badly.
After joining the unit, he would need more than two months of training before he could start going out on calls. The company could not possibly take a deadweight who knew nothing along on operations.
That Outstanding Soldier award was his only chance to use the military merit shop.
Thinking that, Fang Huai hesitated.
"Squad leader... how about... we stop training my legs for now... and work on my arms first?"
Before Hao Chengbin could speak, the Chief of Staff had already put on his coat and come out carrying a transparent teacup. He happened to run into them, pointed at Fang Huai, and said with a stern expression.
"Oh, right. I looked over your training results. Why didn't you pass the Three Kilometer Run? Hao Chengbin, are you hiding your abilities from me again? You have to pass the next recruit assessment!
"No, you have to be outstanding! Thirteen minutes twenty!"
Hao Chengbin and Fang Huai were stunned again.
Holy shit...
If resentment had a sound, Fang Huai's furious curses would have filled the entire building.
(Starting tomorrow, it'll be changed to two 3,000-word chapters.)
Before you continue