Why Is No One Coming to Cheer Me Up? (Please Bookmark and Vote)

(These two chapters should be read a little more slowly, or the dialogue might feel confusing.)

Hao Chengbin thought for a long while before speaking.

"Then you shouldn't have asked. I know what happened. It's not your fault, and I'll handle it... Don't tell Han Yong. He shouldn't know either."

Fang Huai shook his head. "Squad Leader, I came to you because I have a way. Can you tell me what happened? Did his uncle-in-law put in a word?"

Hao Chengbin gathered his thoughts. If this turned into a bigger problem, the regiment would probably question Fang Huai too. He pointed toward the stairwell on the other side, signaling for him to speak somewhere farther away.

After hearing the whole story, Fang Huai deeply admired Jiang Peng's audacity.

Damn, he had dared touch the squad leader's phone right beside his pillow. There was a group of recruits folding blankets in the hallway outside, and any one of them could have entered the dorm at any time. Just thinking about it was terrifying.

If this guy had been in a unit with guns, he'd probably have dared to take a shot at his squad leader from behind.

"This actually isn't hard." Fang Huai thought it over and came to a conclusion. "Whenever there's a leader from Regimental Headquarters around, just mention that Han Yong has been doing pretty well in Ninth Squad."

"What?" Hao Chengbin frowned, clearly not understanding.

Fang Huai spelled it out. "Han Yong has connections too, and they're with the Corps. The regiment leaders definitely know that, so they probably won't keep moving him around."

Hao Chengbin suddenly understood and couldn't help ruffling Fang Huai's hair.

"You little schemer, you sure pay attention to a lot of things every day! You're pretty clever, huh? Do you have connections too?"

Fang Huai froze for a moment, then quickly laughed and changed the subject. "Of course I do! Squad Leader, you're my connection! If anyone bullies me in the future, I'll drop your name!"

"HAHAHAHA..." Hao Chengbin burst out laughing.

When the two returned to the dorm, they ran straight into Wang Jian, who had just come out to blow the weekend rest call.

Hao Chengbin had an arm around Fang Huai's shoulders, and the smile on his face simply wouldn't fade.

"Hello, Company Commander!" Fang Huai stopped and called out before following Hao Chengbin into the dorm.

Wang Jian looked utterly baffled.

What trick had Fang Huai used to make Hao Chengbin so happy?

Why was no one coming to cheer me up?

At around ten in the morning, a black Passat with a WJ license plate drove into the base.

The man who stepped out wore casual wear and headed straight into the base office building.

Deputy Director Liu, a broad-faced middle-aged man in a jacket, saw the words "Director's Office" and knocked on the door.

Knock, knock.

"Old Yang! You're on duty again today?"

Hearing the voice, Yang Yonghua turned around. A smile appeared on his charcoal-dark face as he replied in a booming voice.

"That's right! How could we compare with you detachment people? Winter training, summer training—my work in the Combat Training Department never stops."

Director of the Combat Training Department was Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua's position at the base, where he was responsible for detailed arrangements for all kinds of training.

"The detachment is busy too." Deputy Director Liu smiled somewhat awkwardly.

You're already this busy, and I still came to add to your troubles.

Yang Yonghua got up and poured him a cup of tea. "It's rare enough for me to see you. It's good that your detachment is busy—you've been promoted faster than us too. Unlike us poor bastards, who can only wait until the end of the year to get rated outstanding!"

Deputy Director Liu pointed at the service insignia on his chest and said with amusement, "Aren't you already a Deputy Regimental Commander too? It's just one more star. You should be getting promoted this year too, right?"

"More or less. First half of the year." Yang Yonghua took a sip of tea and said no more, waiting for him to bring up the matter.

Wang Jian had already reported what happened that morning to him. Though Yang Yonghua was somewhat angry, he had seen this sort of thing often enough.

That was how social connections worked.

When someone came seeking favors, trouble was bound to follow.

Deputy Director Liu understood the hint. He leaned closer, resting an elbow on the desk, and took the initiative.

"This morning... did the New Recruit Regiment submit a report to you?"

Yang Yonghua pretended to suddenly realize what he meant. "Oh, you mean that nephew of yours? It wasn't anything serious. I met him a couple of days ago."

"Oh?" Deputy Director Liu was a little surprised. "What do you mean?"

Yang Yonghua waved a hand. "He wasn't very obedient, so I gave him a good talking-to. He said he wanted to switch squads, so I transferred him."

Deputy Director Liu immediately looked reproachful. "How could he switch just because he wanted to? Director Huang, this year's New Recruit Regiment commander, is my old leader. If he finds out, won't he chew me out?"

The squad transfer hadn't followed regulations in the first place. He should have been transferred back!

Yang Yonghua shook his head. "It's fine. It's just that if he wants to transfer squads again now, it'll be hard to arrange. Director Huang held a meeting yesterday and said that squad leaders would be held accountable for recruits' ideological issues. If something happened, they'd go after the squad leaders. Last night, I had the regiment staff officer submit the accountability forms.

"Look, I just switched Jiang Peng's squad, and I specifically had someone replace the form too, so there wouldn't be any mistakes."

As Yang Yonghua spoke, he took a form from his desk drawer and placed it in front of Deputy Director Liu with great solemnity.

Deputy Director Liu took it and pretended to examine it seriously, though he was laughing inside.

You really worked hard, Old Yang. In the middle of all this work, you even made a special recruit squad list just to brush me off.

Still, he knew Yang Yonghua's personality. There were some things Old Yang simply couldn't stand.

After thinking it over, he changed tactics.

"Could I meet those two squad leaders and learn about Little Jiang's situation? Don't worry, I won't cause you any trouble."

This time, Yang Yonghua did not refuse. He directly picked up the phone.

"I'll call them over."

That little Pan had pulled this kind of stunt at a crucial moment. He deserved a scolding too.

Deputy Director Liu gave an apologetic smile.

"Then I'll trouble you! Oh, right, you said... what exactly happened that day?"

Twenty minutes later, Wang Jian, Pan Zhaohui, Hao Chengbin, and Jiang Peng appeared at the door.

"Reporting!" Wang Jian took the lead and knocked.

When Jiang Peng saw the person sitting inside, he nearly burst into tears.

It had felt like years! The person who could back him up had finally come!

Seeing Jiang Peng on the verge of crying, Deputy Director Liu frowned. Without even specifying a subject, he sternly asked,

"Your squad leader disciplined you?"

That was his first sentence. He brought up the matter of hitting recruits directly.

Jiang Peng's tears immediately fell. "Yes... Uncle-in-law."

"Serves you right! Who told you to secretly use someone else's phone? Do you know how serious that is?"

That was his second sentence: Pan Zhaohui had used a phone in the New Recruit Regiment.

With just two sentences, Deputy Director Liu had dragged Pan Zhaohui into it.

Pan Zhaohui cursed wildly in his heart.

Why make it so damn obvious? Was he trying to get the Chief of Staff to punish him?

But Yang Yonghua heard another meaning in those words.

He first said Jiang Peng had been disciplined, then said, "Who told you to secretly use a phone?" It made stealing the phone seem like the cause, and being disciplined the result. He had reversed the causality between the two incidents.

Jiang Peng had clearly stolen the phone because he had been disciplined.

The order could be reversed at any time, meaning the matter could be handled in different ways.

Taken seriously, Pan Zhaohui had hit a recruit first, causing the recruit to become unable to endure it and steal a phone to tell his family.

Taken lightly, a recruit had secretly made a phone call and received a beating from his squad leader.

Old Liu was warning Pan Zhaohui.

Yang Yonghua had no choice but to add a reminder. Tapping the desk, he said, "Little Jiang, was switching you to this squad still not appropriate? Wasn't it what you asked for yourself? We satisfied your request, so why did you stir up trouble again? You even called your uncle-in-law here. Are you dissatisfied with my arrangement?"

Jiang Peng had strongly demanded the squad transfer himself. He had chosen his own squad leader, yet he was still dissatisfied?

Seeing the Chief of Staff angry, Jiang Peng panicked. "No... I'm not dissatisfied, but Squad Leader Pan hit—"

Cough! Deputy Director Liu coughed heavily.

You little fool, it had all been laid out so clearly. What the hell was there left to say?

He then reprimanded Jiang Peng. "Jiang Peng, you still think you shouldn't have been disciplined? How much bigger of a mess do you need to make before it's enough? Do the Interior Regulations allow recruits to use phones?"

The moment those words came out, even Hao Chengbin shoved a hand into his pocket and pressed the power button hard for a while.

Damn, recruits weren't allowed to use them? Veterans weren't allowed either!

Fire service phone use was relatively special within the military because its readiness levels differed from the usual Level One, Two, Three, and Four readiness states.

The fire service had only three readiness states: Level One Readiness, Level Two Readiness, and a routine readiness status unique to the fire service.

"Routine readiness in normal times, routine Level Two readiness"—that was the normal state of the fire service.

Only in the fire service could one see a unit commander occasionally shout, "Level Two Readiness has been canceled!" in the yard, followed by a crowd rushing crazily into the company computer room to play games.

If this were another military unit, a declaration of "Level Two Readiness" meant something major had happened. Personnel on home leave would have to halt their leave, and troop deployments might need to change.

Under this kind of readiness situation, as long as someone was in the company, there was nothing wrong with a registered "official-duty phone" remaining switched on.

Hao Chengbin and Pan Zhaohui's phones had both been registered, but strictly speaking, they were supposed to be used for official business during duty and readiness periods.

But once they entered the New Recruit Regiment, with no alarms to respond to and no duty or combat readiness tasks, they should not have been carrying them.

By bringing this up, he was clearly trying to make it a matter of principle.

I haven't repeatedly brought up the issue of hitting recruits because I'm giving the New Recruit Regiment face. But the text message sent from that phone is still on my own phone.

If squad leaders were not supposed to carry phones according to regulations, how could Jiang Peng have sent that message? Who was actually at fault?

If they really investigated phone use strictly, could these old veterans with families handle it?

What an old fox.

The Chief of Staff usually turned a blind eye to phone controls, but he couldn't stop someone from forcibly prying his eyes open.

Jiang Peng finally sensed how strange the atmosphere was. He kept quiet and, for once, did not drag his uncle-in-law down with him.

Pan Zhaohui finally understood the gap between himself and a mature cadre. Gritting his teeth, he pulled out his phone. "Chief of Staff, I..."

But Deputy Director Liu interrupted him with a smile. "You must be Squad Leader Hao and Squad Leader Pan?"

"Yes." Hao Chengbin answered first.

Pan Zhaohui cared about appearances and found it awkward to answer a man in casual wear. Hao Chengbin helped him out of the situation.

Deputy Director Liu clapped and laughed. "Squad Leader Hao, you're famous throughout the whole Corps! I was there during last year's training competition. Your Hook Ladder climb to the fourth floor with Chen Bin from the Qiannan Detachment was outstanding!

"You're an old NCO, yet your bearing is no less impressive than Chen Bin's in his fifth year! That Chen Bin also wanted to go to Provincial Capital Special Services, but he still fell short of you!"

Hao Chengbin chuckled. "Detachment Commander Zhang thinks too highly of me."

"Right, right. I specifically called Headquarters to ask. Your paperwork is being signed now, and you'll probably be at the detachment very soon! Congratulations!"

Deputy Director Liu had no authority to make a decision on the matter. After giving several mild warnings, he turned the conversation toward Pan Zhaohui.

"Squad Leader Pan, Company Commander Wang, I'm truly sorry about this. I sent him into the unit before educating him properly, and he came here to cause trouble. As his family, I ask that you discipline him well!

"Your Chief of Staff Huang is also an old classmate of Old Yang and mine. Next time I come to Anshun to visit him, I'll definitely treat you all to a meal!"

Yang Yonghua had been watching from the side. Though Old Liu had not crossed the line with his words, he was somewhat taking over the host's role. Yang Yonghua gave a light cough as a reminder.

"Just handle it according to the New Recruit Regiment's system. You're an old cadre too, yet you came all this way just to say a few words. Do you think I, the Chief of Staff, haven't done my duty? Don't worry! They won't be wronged!"