Who Gets to Wear a Watch?

Ten minutes later, at the Training Ground.

"Ten!"

"Eleven!"

"No more than five seconds of rest!"

As Hao Chengbin urged him on, Fang Huai gave a fierce pull, reached the point where he was nearly over the bar, then swung down.

"Huh? Why'd you come down?"

Fang Huai panted. "The next one definitely won't work, Squad Leader. I can't get over the bar."

"Then it's eleven." Hao Chengbin stepped forward and patted his back encouragingly. "I think you've got a lot of hope. Don't pull too fast at the start. You get a few seconds of rest after every pull, so make good use of them. Practice more normally, and you'll have a chance."

Fang Huai said nothing. He knew exactly how difficult this was.

If this thing could be trained up in the New Recruit Regiment environment, there wouldn't be so many recruits who couldn't even do one pull-up after being assigned to their units.

Every day was packed from morning to night, and they couldn't fall behind. Morning drills, afternoon drills, Xinwen Lianbo at night, political study—and the company commander had said they would have to start copying notes next week.

They even had to fold quilts and practice formation movements at noon now. Every day, a bunch of recruits wandered up and down the corridors, occasionally shouting slogans to themselves as they kicked out a couple of goose steps.

The sight was like a mental hospital's exercise yard.

Sleeping hours only ran from ten at night until after four in the morning. If they wanted extra training, they could only carve time out of those six-odd hours.

If Kobe came here and said, "Have you ever seen Los Angeles at four in the morning?" every recruit in the New Recruit Regiment could confidently tell him, "I haven't seen Los Angeles at four in the morning, but I see Guiyang at four every day. Sometimes I have to see it at three. If I don't want to see it, but Squad Leader makes me, I still have to see it, damn it."

The only reason Kobe could say something like that was because he lacked a squad leader.

Fang Huai was still handling things with ease, but he still had to march around with the formation every day.

At that thought, Fang Huai gritted his teeth.

"Squad Leader, if it doesn't work, should our squad start doing evening training too?"

Han Yong wasn't here, or he would have cried his eyes out.

He had just escaped Squad Leader Pan's tiger's jaws, only to enter Assistant Squad Leader Fang's wolf den.

Hao Chengbin immediately shook his head. "No. We can't make the whole squad train extra just for you. Training is a good thing, but it can't be excessive. It has to be gradual... If you want to train, I'll bring you out to the Training Ground for individual practice. Half an hour every day—either running or push-ups."

Fang Huai pointed at the sky in exasperation.

"Squad Leader, it's cold outside!"

Hao Chengbin frowned. "You can't endure even this much hardship?"

Fang Huai chuckled. "No, I won't get cold while training. But Squad Leader, what if you catch a chill? What then?"

Hao Chengbin's eyes widened.

"Damn it! Kid, are you looking down on me? Starting today, I'll give you extra training alone every night!"

Fang Huai said helplessly, "...Next week. I have to work overtime at company headquarters these next two days."

If any other recruit spoke to his squad leader like that, lilacs would already be blooming beside his grave.

Yet Hao Chengbin happened to feel that Fang Huai thought along the same lines as him, and his abilities were good enough in every respect. Having someone in the squad who could communicate and discuss things with him as an equal wasn't a bad thing.

"Fine, then we start next week! You can't miss a single day! Don't start whining when the time comes!"

Fang Huai snapped to attention in satisfaction.

"Yes, Squad Leader!"

He knew his own tendency to slack off well enough. If he relied on himself to train, who knew when he would finally get into shape? It was more reliable to provoke his squad leader into forcing him to train.

By the final afternoon drill, Han Yong and Jiang Peng's squad swap had already been settled. Both sides seemed somewhat eager, and Wang Jian directly brought the two of them to the Training Ground.

When Han Yong came running over, even Fang Huai could feel how thick-skinned the guy was.

Just moments ago, he had been limping around the middle of the Training Ground with a crutch. Now he could run and jump just fine. Everyone along the way was staring at him, but he seemed to feel no pressure at all.

"Reporting!" Han Yong shouted as he ran up beside the formation.

Hao Chengbin looked him over and judged his height. He had seemed a little round from afar, but up close he was not short. Hao Chengbin did not waste words and pointed beside Yue Tao.

"Fall in! After dressing right, you'll go fifth."

"Yes!" Han Yong obediently ran to the last position.

Zhao Bing, who had originally been fifth, actually raised his heels slightly and said stubbornly, "Squad Leader, I think I'm taller than him."

Everyone held back their laughter.

Over the past few days, they had discovered that Zhao Bing was also a master of deadpan jokes. His Huaihua accent came with its own humor. He normally did not speak much, but whenever he occasionally blurted something out, everyone had to laugh along.

Hao Chengbin ignored him and called another "Dress right" to straighten the formation. Han Yong quickly shifted in front of Zhao Bing.

That was how formations worked. Without an order, no one could move on their own. A newcomer could only stand at the end of the line and could return to his proper position only after the commander gave the order to dress right.

Although Han Yong had missed two days of training, he had clearly been watching everyone else train. He did not make any mistakes after joining them, so everyone liked him a little more.

"I've got something to say." When Hao Chengbin opened his mouth, it was like a thunderclap.

"Starting next Monday, the whole squad will do half an hour of evening training after lights-out."

"Oh my God!" Lu Zexian blurted out a pained bit of foreign language.

Han Yong's face instantly turned bitter, but he did not dare say anything.

Hao Chengbin studied Han Yong again. Once he was sure the guy had no intention of objecting, he smiled.

"I won't be there. You'll train yourselves. Every night at ten, I'll take Fang Huai to the Training Ground for extra training. Anyone who wants to come can sign up, but I have to clear it with company headquarters first, so once you sign up, you can't cancel! You must go every day!"

Once those words came out, those who should have relaxed did so, while those in better physical condition began considering it cautiously.

"Squad Leader, I'll go!" Zhao Bing raised his hand.

"Me too!"

Yue Tao actually raised his hand as well.

Fang Huai suddenly spoke up.

"Chen Zhongqiang, you're small but muscular. You could practice more on the Parallel Bars and Horizontal Bar."

Chen Zhongqiang immediately felt as though he had been sold out. He craned his neck toward Fang Huai in alarm.

Fang Huai laughed and said nothing more.

But he quietly held out two fingers and gave them a little shake.

A gleam flashed in Chen Zhongqiang's eyes, and he nearly clasped his hands to salute Fang Huai.

Right! After working out at the Training Ground, they would be tired, it would be dark, and no one else would be around. It would be perfectly normal for the squad leader to hand out a cigarette, right?

What a benefactor!

He hurriedly shouted, "Squad Leader! I'll go too! I'll go too!"

Fang Huai was completely bluffing this time.

He had assessed the situation. Among the squad, only Yue Tao and Chen Zhongqiang, those two fellow Fujian natives, had the physical conditions most suited for training up.

Jiang Peng, who had been third-best in physical fitness, was gone, and Han Yong, who did not want to train, had arrived. They could not let the squad's results decline, could they?

Hao Chengbin saw the little gesture and sneered.

Kid, keep talking. Let's see how you make good on it.

After dinner, Han Yong did something outrageous the moment he returned to the squad room.

While Fang Huai helped him sort out his Camouflage Bag, he discovered that the guy had brought quite a lot of stuff—and some of it was enough to make people's eyes widen.

He could not help picking up the bag and weighing it in his hand before setting it down.

Han Yong seemed to remember something. He rummaged through his bag, took out a boxed package, and opened it to reveal a black Rolex Submariner.

Fang Huai saw it clearly, then turned to look at Hao Chengbin's wrist.

Damn, Li Kui had run into Li Gui today.

Han Yong stood up with the watch in hand and asked, "Squad Leader, can our squad wear watches?"

Even Hao Chengbin laughed at the question. "Did Eighth Squad allow watches?"

"No."

Hao Chengbin raised his voice. "Then can one company have two different sets of rules?"

As he spoke, he pointed at the watch on his own wrist.

"Remember this: in our company, squad leaders wear watches, the company commander wears a watch, and the Political Instructor wears a watch!"

Everyone could not hold back their laughter.

Yue Tao laughed. "Squad Leader, does the regimental commander wear a watch too?"

Hao Chengbin twisted his mouth, picked up the Peaked cap from the bed, and smacked it over Yue Tao's head. He spoke one word at a time.

"Regimental commander!"

"Whether he wears a watch!"

"I!"

"Can't control!"

Yue Tao was a real man. Even after getting beaten again and again, he still charged forward bravely.

Han Yong watched happily too. This squad was clearly much more relaxed than Eighth Squad.

Then his eyes shifted. With a regretful look on his face, he carried the watch and its box over to Hao Chengbin and held them out.

"Squad Leader... Since I can't wear it either, how about I give it to you?"

The entire squad froze.

Damn, that was bold—openly giving a gift!

Hao Chengbin's first reaction was to freeze as well. Then he examined it.

Rolex.

Then he looked at his own watch.

Rlelx.

They looked a little alike...

Han Yong leaned in and took a closer look.

"Squad Leader... Yours seems to be fake..."

Han Yong was already being extremely polite by using the word "seems."

Counterfeits came in several grades, from high to low: original factory stock, replicas, one-to-one copies, A-grade, and B-grade.

Hao Chengbin's could at least have opened up a whole new C-grade category below those.

The recruits all quietly watched the spectacle.

Hao Chengbin immediately became a little embarrassed. "What do you mean fake? My girlfriend bought this for me in Shanghai! Shanghai!"

Fang Huai coughed. "Ahem, Han Yong, Squad Leader's isn't a Rolex. It's another brand. And besides, giving Squad Leader a watch worth forty or fifty thousand yuan—isn't that bribery? Put it away, now!

"And can you say something like that in front of all of us? If you wanted to give it to him, you should at least do it quietly!"

The recruits laughed at Fang Huai's attempt to smooth things over, and the awkwardness immediately dissolved.

Fang Huai was also reminding Old Hao not to argue. Han Yong's watch was the real thing and worth tens of thousands.

At the same time, Hao Chengbin coughed, drew his hand back, and said sternly, "Han Yong! Don't pull this kind of thing with me again! You're in the New Recruit Regiment now, so learn some rules! Put it away!"

Awkward.

This truly fell into a gap in his knowledge.

When his girlfriend gave him that watch, she had said it was a Rolex, some big international brand. He had even shown it off to quite a few comrades.

Most of them came from rural areas, and even those from towns did not have great family conditions. Who would know about this stuff?

Back then, his girlfriend had said she bought it for over eight hundred yuan. He had even thought Rolex watches could be bargained down!

Hao Chengbin gritted his teeth. Damn it, fake was fake. So what?

He opened his mouth and brazenly called a deer a horse. "Mine is a domestic brand! You wouldn't understand!... Forget it, I'll take yours to company headquarters and have it stored there!"

A watch worth tens of thousands of yuan would be a real problem if it were just left in a Camouflage Bag and got stolen.

As Hao Chengbin spoke, he took the watch and walked straight out.

The gift had not been accepted. Han Yong sighed, then suddenly turned toward Fang Huai.

"Squad Leader Fang, you're the Assistant Squad Leader. Can you wear a watch? How about I go get it back and give it to you?"

Fang Huai's eyes widened, and he quickly shook his head.

Holy shit.

Fang Huai took two deep breaths and said with forced severity, "I'm warning you, Han Yong. Even if your family has money and you can treat it like it's nothing, you are not allowed to say something like that again!"

Say it again... and I won't be able to hold out!