Outstanding Soldier, The Price Has Gone Up!

"Come in!"

The radiator in the Regimental Headquarters office was definitely the best one in the entire regiment.

Fang Huai usually slept next to the radiator in Class Nine, and even that wasn't as warm as this. As soon as he entered the office, he felt the temperature was at least four or five degrees higher than in Class Nine.

The Chief of Staff, wearing a shirt, sat by the desk, facing Jiang Peng, who stood there with a look of grief and indignation.

"Hao Chengbin, what's going on? You even hit his face?"

Although the Chief of Staff was questioning, his tone was very calm.

"Reporting, Chief of Staff! I only patted him! He's exaggerating. Our class's new recruits were sleeping in the hallway at the time, and the squad leader was educating us! You can call any other new recruit to ask!" Fang Huai cut in.

He had to answer quickly.

This matter arose from the conflict between him and Jiang Peng, and Hao Chengbin was indeed biased towards him. If they got stuck on the issue of whether he hit him or not, and Hao Chengbin honestly admitted it, and Jiang Peng insisted on pursuing it, Hao Chengbin would surely get into trouble.

There were four types of hitting soldiers.

Criticism and education: For example, not responding to a whistle, not bringing necessary items, or committing minor mistakes, they might get a kick or a scolding.

Serious warning: For example, hiding contraband, fighting, etc., for more significant mistakes, they might receive a harsher punishment, but it would be related to the incident. Once the incident passed, it wouldn't be brought up again.

Bullying and harassment: Hitting soldiers out of habit, or when displeased, and if the new recruits dared to resist, they might receive a severe beating.

Ganging up and mobbing: This usually happened when new recruits provoked a squad leader. They would be taken to a confined room by the older soldiers, and the squad leaders of the entire company would take on one new recruit.

This kind of thing could be big or small, and its nature depended on how seriously it was taken and whether it was escalated.

He was afraid Jiang Peng would use this as an excuse to make a fuss.

As for corporal punishment, it was pure nonsense; this level of intensity was just called training.

To be fair, Hao Chengbin was already very lenient in leading his soldiers. If it were someone with a worse temper, the defiance today, especially directed at the squad leader with the longest service in the company, would have resulted in Jiang Peng having two black eyes and several shoe prints before he even came to complain, if Hao Chengbin had just called out, "All squad leaders assemble."

Violence was not encouraged, but it was very common.

"Fang Huai, you're lying!" Jiang Peng said angrily. "Chief of Staff, it's him! To become a deputy squad leader, he's always bad-mouthing me in the squad and making everyone isolate me!"

The Chief of Staff didn't want to dwell on this matter. He had already asked, and a decision had been made. Even if this new recruit hadn't interrupted today, he hadn't planned to investigate further. He waved his hand, interrupting.

"I don't have time to deal with these things. In short, no quitting. Our new recruit regiment has never had a tradition of soldiers quitting. Unless you are seriously injured and disabled, or I'll ask your uncle for you. He can get the Regimental Commander to give me an order, and I'll arrange for you to pack up and go home without question!"

Jiang Peng was immediately choked speechless.

Ever since he decided to join the army, he had been constantly thinking about how much convenience his uncle's rank could bring him.

Before joining the army, he had already figured out the ranks in the military.

The Regimental Commander also served as the Director of the training base, which was a detachment-level unit. The Regimental Commander was a genuine Colonel. Even if the provincial city detachment leadership was high-level, his uncle was only the Deputy Director of the Political Department, recently promoted to Lieutenant Colonel. Two years ago, he was still a Major at the battalion level. How could he have the face to ask the Regimental Commander for a favor?

He saw the data online: the proportion of deputy regimental commanders promoted to regimental commanders was one-third, and regimental commanders promoted to deputy division commanders was one-quarter.

Moreover, the fire department was a full army-level unit with fewer leadership positions. The highest they could reach was Major General, which was more difficult than promotion in ordinary troops.

His uncle probably wouldn't reach the rank of Colonel in his lifetime.

"Speak, can you go back and train properly?" The Chief of Staff raised his voice slightly when he saw him staring blankly.

Jiang Peng gritted his teeth and straightened up again. "Chief of Staff, I don't want to be useless either! But I really can't stay in Class Nine anymore! Can you transfer me to another class?"

Hao Chengbin let out a laugh.

He didn't want to stay in Class Nine, and he didn't want him either! It was just that as a squad leader, there were some things he couldn't say, and it caused a lot of trouble for the leadership.

The Chief of Staff slammed the table. "Pa!"

"Do you think the military is a marketplace where you can bargain?! If you don't want to train, go stay with the Flying Tigers! And don't come here to complain! To tell you the truth, Jiang Peng, I called them here not to do you any favors, but to do favors for them!

I'm afraid that after you make such a scene, no one will pay attention to you anymore!

This is the greatest consideration for you, out of consideration for your uncle's relationship. The new recruit regiment is not run by my family, nor by your uncle's family!

Which class do I transfer you to? Who will be transferred to Class Nine?

If Class Nine is short one person, when we have company-level formation training in the future, will Class Nine have a missing corner??"

A moment of silence followed. Jiang Peng clearly had no solution, but he also seemed unwilling to leave, just standing there without speaking.

"Chief of Staff, I might have a solution," Wang Jian suddenly said. "Our company's Class Eight, Han Yong, Squad Leader Pan has mentioned to me several times that he wants to get rid of him, saying he can't lead him. Why not switch? Let Squad Leader Hao try him out! It would solve both problems!"

The Chief of Staff frowned.

"You mean... the one in the middle of the training ground? He's not willing to train?"

He had also learned quite a bit in the past couple of days. He had encountered that new recruit named Han Yong in the hallway. He was good at faking illnesses. After falling, he claimed he had a fractured bone and a cracked bone and couldn't walk, refusing to train.

The other two who faked illnesses couldn't hold out and went back to training, but he remained steadfastly on the training ground.

"This kid is unmanageable. Xiao Jin, who leads him, says he has a great attitude. He'll do anything except train. Can he be led well in a different class?"

Wang Jian actually had a good grasp of this matter.

Pan Zhaohui's temper was too bad, and he liked to enforce the rules of the squad. The new recruit regiment started evening training, and every day their class's new recruits cried incessantly. This Han Yong couldn't take it anymore, so he started faking illnesses.

When dealing with people like this, one had to proceed step by step. If you came on too strong, they would definitely collapse.

Old Pan wasn't unaware of this; he just didn't want to lower his standards for the sake of one Han Yong.

Wang Jian said with some certainty, "Chief of Staff, let's switch shifts. He'll definitely get better if we do. It's such a waste of talent for a regimental staff officer like Staff Officer Jin to spend his days with a recruit! You should be more considerate of him!"

"That kid..."

The Chief of Staff smacked his lips, looking helpless, then suddenly slammed the table.

"Fine! Hao Chengbin, what are your thoughts?"

When the Chief of Staff said "Fine" first, it meant he agreed. Asking Hao Chengbin afterward was just a formality; disagreeing would be showing disrespect.

Just now, the Chief of Staff had told Jiang Peng that switching shifts was difficult, almost impossible. Now, it seemed so easy, and he made the decision himself without needing to ask the Regimental Commander.

Hao Chengbin let out a laugh.

"Chief of Staff, what opinions could I possibly have? Those who can be taught are called troublemakers, and those who can't are called nuisances. I think Han Yong might still have hope, so I'd rather have a troublemaker."

What a blow!

Jiang Peng felt insulted.

Hao Chengbin was calling Han Yong, whom the entire regiment mocked, a troublemaker, while calling him a nuisance!

Fang Huai couldn't help but chuckle.

Squad Leader Hao was so much to his liking!

He just wondered if Jiang Peng, whose face was now a mix of red and pale, could handle Squad Leader Pan, whose tongue was even sharper than Squad Leader Hao's.

There was also Battalion Commander Zhang in Squad Eight, who seemed to be favored by Old Pan. Was he going to challenge for leadership in Squad Eight again?

"Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense!

Kid, why are you laughing? Is mocking your comrades fun?"

The Chief of Staff's last sentence was directed at Fang Huai.

Fang Huai immediately stopped smiling.

"Reporting, Chief of Staff! I didn't mean to laugh, I just couldn't hold it in! I apologize!"

This time, Hao Chengbin and Wang Jian were amused, but Jiang Peng's face turned even darker.

"Well, Hao Chengbin, you're something else! The soldiers you train are just like you! They speak sarcastically and are masters at insulting people!"

Hao Chengbin immediately defended him, "Fang Huai's performance has been quite good!"

The Chief of Staff, as if remembering something, glanced at Jiang Peng and waved his hand.

"Wang Jian, take Jiang Peng back first, tidy up his bunk, and switch him with that Han Yong."

"Yes!"

The two left quickly.

As Jiang Peng walked away, he gave Fang Huai a look that said, "A gentleman's revenge is never too late."

After the door closed, the Chief of Staff let out a cold laugh.

"Yes! His performance is good! That's why you hid his test results and tried to extort an Outstanding Soldier from me?"

Hao Chengbin was stunned by the question.

Damn it, this Jiang Peng really is the type to be a traitor!

The Chief of Staff chuckled and clapped his hands. "Okay... over thirty on the horizontal bar, fifty on the parallel bars. Kid, you're good at pretending! Every time you see me, you act like a sickly person! Is it because I said you'd get an Outstanding Soldier if you could do twenty pull-ups?"

Hao Chengbin felt that the Chief of Staff's tone wasn't genuinely angry, so he quickly chimed in with a chuckle.

"Chief of Staff, with these scores, he'd be considered a top soldier even in a regular unit. Giving him an Outstanding Soldier award wouldn't be too much, would it?"

The Chief of Staff's eyes widened.

"Don't try to play dumb with me! What I wanted was twenty pull-ups! What I wanted was progress! Progress!

At that time, I saw how hard this kid trained, how much effort he put in! His persistence in training was commendable! It wasn't just twenty pull-ups that deserved an Outstanding Soldier award!

...It was twenty pull-ups done by swinging!"

Hao Chengbin fell silent. He naturally understood this logic; otherwise, he wouldn't have kept it a secret.

After a while, he managed to blurt out, "Sir, you already promised. You can't go back on your word, can you?"

Seeing him flustered, the Chief of Staff also smiled and stopped playing games.

"Is this kid your relative that you're taking such good care of him?

You gave the deputy squad leader position to him after only a few days of training; that's not the style of an old soldier.

The Outstanding Soldier award is still his, and my word stands! The quantity will still be twenty pull-ups! However, the rules need to be updated! No more swinging; you have to do twenty strict pull-ups, no problem, right?"

At these words, both Hao and Fang were stunned.

They were truly in a difficult situation.

Fang Huai felt like cursing.

If you didn't want to give it, fine, but why hang a banana in front of me?

For the old soldier assessment, the standard for an Outstanding Soldier on the horizontal bar was 15 repetitions!

Are you messing with me?

"Just Joined the Unit, and I'm Already the Squad's Soldier King?"

On the horizontal bar, swinging is about following the momentum to pull up. On the descent, you drift forward, no need to control your body. When you swing back, you can even use that momentum to pull up for the next rep. It's completely different from a dead hang pull-up.

A dead hang pull-up is straight up and down. Forget using momentum; if you don't control your descent, the impact will sting your hands, and you might even lose your grip and fall off the bar.

If your strength isn't very high, it takes longer. The longer you stay on the bar, the more energy you expend, and the difficulty increases exponentially.

Different standards, different limits.

If you can do eighty to ninety dead hang pull-ups within a three-second rest, you could join the People's Liberation Army and compete in the national championships.

If you can do seventy dead hang pull-ups without shaking your abs to gain momentum, within a 1.5-second rest, you could take on the world's gymnastics teams.

"That's too many, Chief of Staff. How about fifteen?" Hao Chengbin felt it was unlikely and tried to negotiate.

"Alright! Fifteen it is!" The Chief of Staff immediately agreed.

Fang Huai: ?

I haven't even said anything yet?

How could he just say "Alright!"?

Old Hao was too hasty! He tried to negotiate, and they agreed just like that!

What does that mean?

The offer was too high!

Hao Chengbin finally felt something was off and turned to test Fang Huai.

"How do you feel? Can you do it?"

Fang Huai looked speechless.

Big Squad Leader, you finally remembered to ask me?

"It's a bit difficult... I'm quite proficient at swinging, which does save a lot of effort. If I were to do dead hang pull-ups, there might be quite a few recruits in the recruit company stronger than me."

"Don't underestimate yourself! Only the striving win!"

The Chief of Staff immediately showered him with encouragement, leaving Fang Huai no room to retort.

"Reporting, Chief of Staff! I guarantee the mission will be completed!" Fang Huai stood at attention, chest puffed out.

Since there was no room to negotiate anymore, he might as well act like a martyr.

The Chief of Staff then smiled: "That's right! That's more like a soldier! Negotiating with your superiors, what kind of decorum is that?"

As he spoke, he glanced at Hao Chengbin.

Fang Huai inwardly scoffed.

Right, that's more like a leader, pulling one up while stepping on another in a single sentence. He's playing the game really well.

Such a pro.

After they came out, the two were silent.

When they reached the stairwell, Hao Chengbin stopped.

"How about we take advantage of this time and I'll take you to the horizontal bar to try? See how many you can do?"

Fang Huai was also a little nervous. He stood in place, hesitating for a moment.

Outstanding Soldier! 20 Military Merit Points!

The three major regulations, each exchanged for only two Military Merit Points! 20 points, not enough to exchange for a major skill, but potentially enough for a lot of minor knowledge!

Moreover, Outstanding Soldier was the only commendation he could use to exchange for Military Merit Points!

As for First, Second, and Third Class Merits, he wouldn't use them to exchange for Military Merit Points.

The exchange rate didn't seem to allow for exchanging them for Military Merit Points anyway.

The ratio was too low.

How much harder was a Second Class Merit than a Third Class Merit? Only twice as much!

And a First Class Merit?

Those who earned one were one in ten thousand.

Those who earned two were nationally renowned.

In peacetime, there were people who earned two First Class Merits, but they were from international military competitions, breaking world records, winning numerous first places.

Andrew International Military Competition... there probably wasn't a firefighting event, right?

But if the exchange rate for Military Merit Points was truly based on the preciousness of a First Class Merit, it would probably be thousands of points. If he really got one, he'd probably become a superhero.

An academic superhero.

Furthermore, the Immunity Enhancement and Core Strength upgrades in the Military Merit Store could only be exchanged for with Third Class Merit or higher.

Different military merit levels correspond to different degrees of reinforcement.

C-Class (Third Class Merit), B-Class (Second Class Merit), A-Class (First Class Merit), S-Class (Honorary Title).

Repeatable upgrades.

I have to say, the System really dared to release the last two.

He didn't even dare to think about it!

However, stacking up some Third Class Merits for reinforcement was still feasible, and Second Class Merits weren't impossible either.

Core Strength was an overall enhancement of torso strength, involving over a dozen areas, and its importance was self-evident.

Immunity, that was for resisting magical damage. Even if he trained to become Tyson, he'd still die from a terminal illness. And as for the special functions of the immunity enhancement provided by the System, it was hard to say!

Of course, excessively high immunity could also cause many autoimmune diseases, like lupus, but he believed the System wouldn't be that much of a scam.

After being assigned to a unit, it would take over two months of training before he could start responding to incidents. The squadron wouldn't possibly bring a complete novice, a liability, to respond to incidents.

This Outstanding Soldier award was his only chance to access the Military Merit Shop.

Thinking of this, Fang Huai hesitated and said, "Squad Leader... how about... we don't train my legs anymore for now... and focus on my arms instead?"

Before Hao Chengbin could speak, the Chief of Staff, having put on his jacket and holding a transparent teacup, walked out. He encountered them and pointed at Fang Huai with a stern expression.

"Oh, right. I checked your training results. Why didn't you pass the three-kilometer run? Are you hiding something from me again, Hao Chengbin? You must pass the next recruit assessment!

No, you must excel! 13 minutes and 20 seconds!"

Fang Huai was stunned again.

Holy crap...

If resentment had a voice, the entire building would be filled with Fang Huai's curses.