The Days Were Hard to Get Through!

When Fang Huai came out, two squad leaders were standing at the door. He still instinctively snapped to attention.

Third Squad Leader looked at his watch, somewhat incredulous.

He asked, "You're from the third batch?"

"Fourth batch, Squad Leader."

"Oh..." Third Squad Leader nodded. "Then get dressed and wait here."

Fang Huai quickly pulled on his clothes and pants, sat on a bench to put on his socks and shoes, then pounded his legs to rest while he could.

A minute later, Third Squad Leader slapped the door.

"Fourth batch! Hurry up, finish washing, and get out here!"

Someone soon came out. He was actually wearing nothing but underwear, and the waistband was soaking wet.

When he saw the squad leaders outside, he moved awkwardly, clearly trying to hide something.

"Fuck, why are you wearing underwear?" First Squad Leader was stunned too.

"Squad... Squad Leader, I... I happened to wash my underwear too!"

"Take them off! Put your pants on directly! Don't get your pants wet too!"

With a roar from First Squad Leader, the guy slowly shifted position twice while holding his pants, then turned his back to them and started putting them on.

But more recruits were coming out from inside, and one of them happened to see him.

The recruit who came out glanced over unconsciously, then let out a snort of laughter.

The guy getting dressed was so humiliated that he hurried up. Fang Huai could see his back trembling.

"Ahem." Fang Huai gave a reminder.

You still have time to laugh? Once they notice you, the squad leaders will make you cry for fun.

The recruit saw the two squad leaders beside Fang Huai and immediately wiped the smile off his face. He obediently began looking for his clothes and hurriedly got dressed.

Two minutes later, seven or eight recruits were lined up at the door in two columns.

Third Squad Leader gave the order. "You can go out now! Stand separately downstairs!"

The moment they went downstairs—

Fourth Squad Leader was standing at the entrance, and all the recruits were gathered outside. Steam was still rising from some of their heads.

The recruits formed two lines.

When Fourth Squad Leader saw them come down, he pointed to one side.

"Those who came down first, stand in the line on the left!"

Everyone realized it: those who came down late were probably in for it.

The ones on the right were already sighing, while the ones on the left no longer dared to mock them. They stood quietly.

Fang Huai glanced toward the right and realized that Yue Tao seemed to be the only one from his squad over there. Even Lu Zexian was absent.

It looked like that guy had trusted what Fang Huai said that morning.

Then he looked again and happened to spot Jiang Peng.

Well, there you go. Let's see you laugh now.

When Jiang Peng turned around, Fang Huai gave him a smile too.

The guy was so furious he nearly blacked out. He immediately pointed at Fang Huai and shouted.

"Squad Leader, he's laughing at me!"

Fourth Squad Leader followed Jiang Peng's finger and spotted Fang Huai. Fang Huai was already staring straight ahead with a solemn expression, not a trace of guilt on his face.

Fourth Squad Leader turned his head. "Shut up. Did I tell you to speak?"

Fang Huai secretly laughed.

Young man, getting angry damages your health.

Five minutes later, the last group entered the formation. When they came out, every one of them looked thoroughly satisfied.

Fourth Squad Leader chuckled. "Go to the right and find your own spots! Those on the left, move aside!"

The left side quickly made a huge gap, moving with such urgency that it was as if they were afraid blood would splatter on them.

"Those on the right, spread out! Get ready for push-ups!"

The few recruits who had just come down looked utterly confused.

"Report, Squad Leader! We came out within ten minutes!"

"Came out?" Third Squad Leader, who had come downstairs behind them, roared.

"When did I call for you? If the alarm bell rang, would you wait until you were done enjoying your shower before coming out?"

Fourth Squad Leader turned around and shot Third Squad Leader a dissatisfied look.

You fucking stole my lines. What am I supposed to say as the duty squad leader now?

Turning back, he shouted as well, "There are regulations for fire dispatches! Forty-five seconds during the day, one minute at night—the fire engine must leave the company gate within that time! In other words, you have less than forty seconds to get dressed and get on the truck!

Once you subtract the time needed to put on your Combat Uniform, you have no time to think at all!

The alarm bell is an order!

The orders of squad leaders and superiors are orders too!

Whether you're bathing, eating, or using the toilet, you must stop immediately and rush to the garage at top speed, put on your equipment, and get on the truck!

I don't want to tell you that time is life!

You aren't qualified to save lives yet!

But right now, time is the standard by which you will be evaluated!

Listen to my command! Right group, five seconds! Get into push-up position!"

Everyone suddenly moved much faster.

But several were clearly still too slow.

"Third person in the third row, second person in the fourth row, seventh person..."

Fourth Squad Leader pointed out several people who had been slow. "One hundred and ten push-ups! Everyone else, one hundred! Count them yourselves! Report when you're done!"

The recruits began.

Some of them were pretty fast. Since no squad leader was correcting their posture and they were not required to do proper push-ups, the difficulty was lower.

Many of them were practically grinding their lower bodies into the ground.

"Eleven, twelve!..."

Third Squad Leader clasped his hands behind his back and paced among the recruits doing push-ups, occasionally shouting.

"Count every one you do! Count louder! If I can't hear you, start over!"

Ninth Squad did not seem to be a low point in terms of fitness. Fang Huai saw several people who had only counted into the twenties and were already frozen there, unable to move.

But many of them had only come down after holding themselves up for a long time earlier. Their arms had long since run out of strength.

Some saw others stop and wanted to slack off too, just holding themselves up without moving.

One after another, people finished and reported.

But the squad leaders ignored them and showed no intention of letting them get up. Instead, they watched those who had not finished.

Everyone soon understood what the squad leaders meant: no one could get up until the last person finished.

Now they were really suffering.

Some had only reached thirty.

Those who had finished began urging the ones who had not. "Hurry up and do them!"

Some noticed things were not looking right and hurriedly resumed doing push-ups.

Others, seeing that they were dragging down their comrades and having no strength left in their arms, began crying out, "I really... can't do any more! Sob..."

The left line did not dare make a sound. They wished they could blend into heaven and earth, vanish into the air, and keep the squad leaders from remembering them.

Fortunately, the squad leaders did not seem intent on punishing the right line too severely. After waiting only a minute or two, they let them off.

The main issue was still the gap in physical fitness. If they really wanted to train them, they could not have four people watching dozens of recruits like this.

The physically fit ones had not even warmed up, while the weaker ones were already crying for their parents.

"Everyone, stand! Those on the left, merge in! Five seconds!"

"Move!"

This time, they moved with blazing speed.

Even the ones who had been crying just moments ago scrambled up without time to wipe their tears. Within seconds, everyone was standing together.

Fourth Squad Leader smiled in great satisfaction.

"Good, you didn't disappoint me this time! About-face!"

Everyone turned around. When they saw the direction of the New Recruit Building, they all breathed a sigh of relief.

Fuck, taking this shower had been far too hard.

Who would have thought—

"Your arms have had enough training, right? Next, let's work those legs!"

"Get ready for frog jumps!"

The recruits' faces changed.

Fang Huai had already been silently shaking his legs for quite a while. He sighed and squatted down again.

Whis today! Whis today!

There was a lot of profanity in the army.

When they first came in, there were certainly recruits who spoke politely. But after a year as a recruit, they would find that if they did not learn to curse a little, they would feel suffocated.

Damn squad leaders, damn Fellow Recruits.

Back in the squad room, with no squad leader present, the recruits were all learning to curse. The filthier curses were entirely replaced with asterisks.

Squad Leader Hao was clearly not around. Ever since he had brought the recruits downstairs and into formation, he had not shown his face.

The moment Ninth Squad opened the door, everyone filed in, pulled out their little stools and tables, then sprawled over them to rest.

Lu Zexian said indignantly, "That fucking Old Godmother kicked me in the ass during frog jumps and sent me tumbling! I'm covered in dirt! That shower was fucking pointless!"

Chen Zhongqiang, beside him, turned back in surprise. "Who's Old Godmother?"

"Fourth Squad Leader, Tao Huabi! Same exact name as Old Godmother! Everyone in Fourth Squad calls him Old Godmother behind his back!"

"Hahaha!"

A burst of laughter loosened the atmosphere a little.

But Fang Huai could not be bothered to talk. He grabbed his basin and hurried off to wash his hair again.

Looking at himself in the washroom mirror, he seemed to have lost a little weight. He could not help sighing.

That afternoon had been fucking miserable.

The regiment commander had come to inspect them that morning and said all that, yet the squad leaders seemed not to understand a word. Whoever needed beating got beaten, and whoever needed punishment got punished.

The old ways were still too deeply ingrained. No one took it seriously.

The hardships of military life could not be breezed through just because he had a system. Fortunately, with his foreknowledge, he had not suffered any major losses, and the squad leaders thought fairly highly of him.

As Fang Huai was lost in thought, hurried, disorderly footsteps suddenly came from the corridor outside.

"Fuck, Staff Officer Jin is really downstairs secretly filming Eighth Company?"

"It's true! Eighth Company just called and said Staff Officer Jin is on the Training Ground, using a camera to secretly film recruits on their way to shower!"

"Fuck, how long has he been filming? Did he get us?"

"No idea!"

"We're screwed! Brother Tao led the group today. Brother Tao is probably dead this time!"

"Bullshit. You think any of you can get away with it?"

"Fuck, I'm supposed to learn driving when I go back this year! The company already submitted my name!"

Several squad leaders talked as they hurried toward the stairs, so anxious that they never noticed Fang Huai in the washroom.

Fang Huai could not help smiling smugly.

Still pretending to be Old A? Keep pretending. The regiment commander came this morning, and you dared to break the rules right under his nose. Enjoy yourselves now.

Actually, Fang Huai could understand them too.

This display of authority had been necessary. The recruits, who had been peaceful for several days, had shown just how high-spirited they were that afternoon: several recruits had completely ignored orders while showering, staying inside for more than thirty minutes. They went in with the first batch and only came out with the fourth.

But this method had really been too extreme. Especially on the way back, many recruits had been kicked and shoved along. Even when they desperately hopped forward as fast as they could, they were still called too slow.

Too slow, get kicked. Shout "Report," get kicked. Recruits deserved to be kicked for everything.

They had just entered the army. It was not their fault that they could not handle such intense training.

When Fang Huai returned to the squad room, Ninth Squad's recruits looked like the Eighteen Arhats, each posing differently.

Yue Tao had scraped his foot. He had taken off his shoes and socks and was holding his foot, rubbing the blisters that had recently formed.

Han Yong leaned against Fang Huai's bed, staring blankly into space.

Chen Zhongqiang and several others were lying facedown asleep.

Zhao Bing stood with his hands behind his back, looking out the window as if he were still waiting for the loudspeaker to play military songs.

Peng Yingqirui was holding a pen and writing something on the materials they had just received. After writing a few words, he looked up and held out a hand, muttering to himself. When he saw Fang Huai come in, he immediately asked.

"Fang Huai, what month and day do we get discharged in 2009?"

Fang Huai walked over and saw that he had written "__ days until discharge" in a blank space on the paper. He could not help laughing.

"You came in December and leave in December! There are still seven hundred thirty-something days, and you're already counting them?"

Peng Yingqirui let out a long sigh. "Sigh, the days are hard to get through!"