Still Be a Human

Fang Huai took a deep breath and once again firmly chose the human path.

Let's just say it—staying alive came first.

Even if he got another heart attack, he could at least live another ten years or so. Better to stay human.

It would also be easier to carry on the family line. No need to end up with some bizarre livestock family. That wouldn't be good, and his parents probably couldn't accept it either.

Human enhancement path binding...

Generating rewards...

Please select your reward.

1. Folded Military Quilt Lv1 (Skill description: You know.)

2. Slight Waist Strength Enhancement (Increases strength while raising the maximum strength limit of each unit of muscle.)

3. Heart Enhancement

This time, it was at least somewhat reliable.

Fang Huai was fairly weak at folding military quilts. After being away from military life for so many years, he had probably gotten rusty. Still, using such a precious reward opportunity to learn it felt pretty damn ridiculous.

Besides, no matter how skilled you were, you couldn't fold an outside quilt into the same shape as one in the army. Military quilts were so neat and stiff because you had to mark guide lines, press the edges with a small stool, then slowly rub and smooth them with your hands. Keep stroking it long enough, and it would submit to you.

Some veterans called that process flirting.

If conditions allowed, you even had to take it apart, use the quilt cover to press the inner padding firmly against the edges, then sew it back up. That way, the padding inside wouldn't shift around when you folded it.

That was called training it.

People said three parts folding, seven parts fixing, but before all that, you still had to properly work the quilt over. Your own quilt was always the easiest to fold. You knew exactly where every crease belonged.

Heart Enhancement... he definitely had to get that, but there was no rush.

Later. He would pick the strength enhancement first and see whether he could become Superman.

Fang Huai stayed true to his original intention. No need to think too far ahead yet.

New recruits had to swing on the horizontal bar. With a good waist, you had already won half the battle.

He could also hold push-ups longer. Life as a new recruit would be much easier, and having a good waist... hehe.

He was only nineteen right now. There was absolutely nothing wrong with his heart. The heart attack in his previous life hadn't been hereditary either. It had been caused purely by insomnia and long-term late nights. Fang Huai still remembered that the angina symptoms had appeared after one particular stretch of three straight days of overtime and sleeplessness.

Only after both his parents had died, his life had gone downhill, and he had gotten older did all sorts of ailments start cropping up.

He had completed three tasks in one day. He had quite a few reward opportunities, didn't he?

With a thought, Fang Huai chose Waist Strength Enhancement.

Fang Huai twisted his waist.

The change didn't feel very obvious. It was even less noticeable than the physical examination earlier.

He lifted his shirt and looked. The little bit of fat on his stomach was still there.

Even when he stretched straight, there were no abs in sight.

Was that what "slight" meant?

System bro?

The lack of response seemed to tell him there was no after-sales service for this.

Fang Huai was having some doubts now. Was this system a little weak?

But the other evolutionary paths it had offered him earlier didn't look weak at all!

They definitely surpassed human limits!

Yet at the moment, it didn't seem to have any amazing functions. Something like folding quilts, which didn't even have a cooldown to trigger—what kind of skill was that?

The money problem... he would probably still have to figure that out himself.

At least... he still had some knowledge from being reborn.

With a head full of worries, Fang Huai stood up, glanced at the second lieutenant, and smoothly poured the half-bowl of truly hard-to-swallow noodles into the swill bucket beside him.

Cao Peng, sitting across the big round table, stared wide-eyed. After Fang Huai returned and sat down, Cao Peng looked at the second lieutenant waiting at the next table for them to finish their noodles, then whispered in disbelief, "The chief cooked those noodles himself, and you just poured them out?"

The other new recruits, who were all a little dazed from eating noodles, also looked up and stared at him.

Fang Huai wiped his mouth and nodded generously. "Yeah. They taste bad. He didn't force you guys to eat them. If you don't want them, don't eat them."

Then he turned to the second lieutenant. "Chief, if we can't finish them, we can dump them, right?"

The second lieutenant smiled awkwardly and nodded. "The cafeteria staff aren't here tonight, and I'm not very good at cooking either. If you don't want to eat them, go ahead and dump them."

Everyone rose one after another and lined up to pour out their noodles.

They tasted fucking terrible. The lack of seasoning would have been one thing, but some of the noodles weren't even cooked through. Even pigs would get picky if you fed them this.

Cao Peng pulled Fang Huai aside uneasily and whispered, "Won't he... report us or something? I heard you get punished in the army if you don't eat properly."

Fang Huai smiled and lowered his voice. "That second lieutenant has checked his phone and watch several times already. He's probably one of the base officers. This is an administrative unit. They work regular hours here, and if we hadn't arrived, he would've been off work long ago.

You guys have been dragging things out here, unable to eat but too scared to throw it away. He can't really say anything, so you're just wasting his rest time. For all we know, his girlfriend could be waiting for him outside!"

Cao Peng turned around and sure enough, the second lieutenant had stood up with an obvious smile on his face and was already replying to messages on his phone.

"Holy shit, you're incredible!"

Actually, Fang Huai had left one thing unsaid.

The officer had hurriedly brought a group of new recruits carrying huge bags over to make noodles for them without even waiting for them to go upstairs, put down their bags, and undergo inspection. That alone showed he was in a hurry.

"Your squad leaders will teach you. Besides training, handling people and situations is important in the army too."

After speaking with the air of an old hand, Fang Huai stepped into the first position beside the table and shouted over his shoulder.

"Form up, form up."

The ten rookie recruits quickly lined up behind him.

The second lieutenant patted Fang Huai approvingly.

"Destination: New Recruit Building. Quick march, move!"

Downstairs from the New Recruit Building.

"Fifth Company, Xu Xinliang!"

"Here!"

"Zhang Ke!"

"Here!"

"Step out. Follow Squad Leader Chen."

After the second lieutenant called the last two names from the roster, six noncommissioned officers each led one or two recruits away.

"Take them back to your squads."

Seventh Company only had Fang Huai.

A strange corporal came for him. The man didn't introduce himself and simply took Fang Huai's bag for him.

The moment the corporal took the bag, he weighed it in surprise, then looked at Fang Huai's hands. There was nothing else.

"You didn't bring anything?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader, I did. The coat, socks, shoes, towel, water cup, and shirt issued by the People's Armed Forces Department."

"Nothing else?"

Fang Huai pulled open his camouflage uniform jacket in an honest-looking manner, revealing a gray collar. "One set of thermal underwear too."

The corporal chuckled. "No wonder Squad Leader Hao took a liking to you."

As he spoke, he studied Fang Huai's expression, curious about their relationship.

Fang Huai smiled shyly. "Thank you, Squad Leader."

Squad leaders hated recruits who talked too much, but they were also wary of recruits who never said anything. The former were too hyper, the latter too weird. Fang Huai had struck just the right balance.

The corporal nodded again and led him upstairs.

The overlapping sounds of "Squad Leader" and "Reporting" throughout the building gradually stirred old memories.

Two years in administration, nearly three years in a grassroots squadron.

More than seven hundred dispatches, not a single merit earned.

When it was confirmed that he would leave the service in his fifth year, they gave him a Third Class Merit, the kind meant purely as encouragement.

In his previous life, his uncle had transferred him from the squadron to the training base's administrative office to prepare for the military academy exam. His academic scores weren't good enough, so he failed to get in through the ordinary admissions route. Then his uncle died. He stayed on as an NCO, applied to become a squad leader backbone, failed because of his physical fitness, and returned to the squadron. He focused on recording the number of dispatches he went on, hoping his five years in the military wouldn't have been wasted.

Housekeeping, skills, physical fitness—he had been below average in all of them. In a squadron of just over a dozen people and three squads, he had never even become an Assistant Squad Leader once by his fifth year. He had been the poster child for uselessness.

Being pathetic had inertia. Over the next decade or so, things spiraled completely out of control. He learned plenty about social maneuvering and firmly believed that his life had failed because "other people have connections, while all I have is a silhouette behind them." He never learned any real skills, but he could spend an entire afternoon tirelessly brainwashing young colleagues who were also company newcomers with bullshit about blaming society.

His entire skill tree had pretty much been invested in his mouth.

He knew the truth behind his failures. He had once struggled desperately to jump out of that circle of failure, but the pit of being trash had a demonic pull. Once you sank in, you couldn't pull yourself out.

When those recruits had been discussing things on the train earlier, he had also thought about it. He didn't like watching Soldiers Sortie. He liked My Chief and My Regiment, because he could find a reflection of every stage of his life in that drama.

At the beginning, he had been like Meng Fanle, limping on one broken leg and cursing his way to twenty-five. Later, he had been like Milong, content as long as he had a wife, child, and a warm bed. In the end, he had been like Kang Ya, searching for hope in the mirror formed by bayonets before death.

He wanted to be Commander Long, but the truth was that he wasn't even as good as Commander Long's dog, Dog Meat.

At least that dog had followed the right big brother.

That was another complaint.

The inertia of an old loser.

Starting here, he would begin again.

Knock, knock.

"Reporting!"

After knocking on the door, the corporal leading the way turned to look at him.

Fang Huai understood. The man was setting an example for him. He had taken a bit of a liking to Fang Huai's potential.

"Come in."

Fang Huai followed him into the office and found that Hao Chengbin was not there. There were only one captain, one first lieutenant, and three corporals inside.

Xiang Zhiyuan, Fang Huai's squad leader from his previous life, was also there. He glanced at Fang Huai when he entered but said nothing, and his expression seemed somewhat displeased.

"Greetings, chiefs! Greetings, Squad Leaders!" Fang Huai found a spot against the wall where he wouldn't block the door, stood at attention, and called out loudly.

Seeing that no one was behind Fang Huai, Wang Jian casually gestured with his chopsticks. "Sit down. Have something to eat."

"Reporting, Chief, I've eaten!"

Wang Jian nodded. Seeing that this was an easy one to deal with, he smiled and pointed to an empty stool. "All right, sit here and wait a while. Your Squad Leader Hao went to the Regimental Headquarters."

Fang Huai shifted slightly to show that he had heard, but he did not sit.

The Regimental Headquarters was on the third floor. Hao Chengbin had probably gone to find Old Hei.

No one here understood the situation at the base better than Fang Huai. He had been transferred here and spent two years at the place.

It was a full regimental-level unit. Every winter, it pulled some grassroots NCOs and officers from cities and counties across the province up for ten-odd days of intensive training, then began training new recruits.

In spring, after the recruits left training, it handled all kinds of fire safety training for local companies and hosted various major firefighting competitions within the province.

The leaders at the New Recruit Regiment headquarters were all base leaders serving concurrent posts. His uncle had once been the commanding officer at the base too, before later transferring to the Provincial City Detachment as Deputy Detachment Leader.

The Provincial City Detachment was staffed at the level of a deputy division, and its Deputy Detachment Leader was at full regimental level.

"You and Squad Leader Hao know each other well?" Xiang Zhiyuan suddenly asked, two fish bones still sticking out from between his lips.

His eyebrows were thick, and they bounced when he talked, making him look like Crayon Shin-chan.

"Reporting, Squad Leader, Squad Leader Hao came to pick us up! We didn't know each other before!"

"A sports school student?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader, ordinary high school science student!"

"Any special talents?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader... no!"

"What about artistic talents? Got any?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader... I can play a little guitar, but I'm not very good."

Xiang Zhiyuan put down his chopsticks and looked at him calmly.

"Then why did Squad Leader Hao ask to take you from our squad? Did you request it yourself?"

Fang Huai's heart tightened.

Fuck, he had offended someone.

The story about his great-grandfather was no longer useful. If he said he wanted to follow an old squad leader to learn things, with three corporals in this office, wouldn't they make his life hell later?

"...Reporting, Squad Leader, my grandfather was from Jiangxi... Squad Leader Hao's accent sounded familiar, so... I took the initiative to chat with Squad Leader Hao for a while."

Gritting his teeth, Fang Huai moved his grandfather's birthplace from Jiangjin to Jiangxi.

Everyone understood.

When fellow townsmen met, tears filled their eyes. Squad Leader Hao wanted to look after someone from his hometown, and they couldn't really say anything about it.

Wang Jian stood up. "All right, put your backpack and things down. Wait outside the door for a bit."

"Yes!"

Fang Huai put his backpack on the stool, placed his phone—the only prohibited item he had—on the table, set his Camouflage Bag on the floor, and went outside to wait for the inspection.

It took quite a while. They were probably wary of Fang Huai's flexible mind and habit of building connections, so they carefully checked whether he had smuggled anything in.

"Why are you standing here?" Hao Chengbin walked over from the other end of the corridor, holding two sheets of paper.

"Squad Leader, they're... inspecting my things inside," Fang Huai said quietly.

"Oh." Hao Chengbin pushed open the door and went inside.

Less than two minutes later, he came back out carrying Fang Huai's Camouflage Bag and backpack.

Naturally, the phone was gone. Hao Chengbin did not explain, probably assuming that someone from Fang Huai's family background would understand.

"You didn't bring enough things. Go rest in the squad room. I'll buy some things for you."

As Hao Chengbin spoke, he led him into the squad room.

Ninth Squad was actually diagonally across from the company office, only two strides away.

As soon as Hao Chengbin pushed open the door and turned on the light, the two men immediately sat up.

The one on the upper bunk to the left was slightly chubby, his face covered in acne, his eyes still bleary with sleep.

The one on the lower bunk to the right by the door had a flat, round head and dark skin. His expression was rather unnatural. After freezing for two seconds, he tugged the blanket higher.

Fang Huai glanced at the half-pulled-out pack of tissues on the upper bunk above him, let out half a laugh, then quickly held it back.

Hao Chengbin was unfazed as he walked inside, but as he passed the man's bed, he raised his foot and viciously kicked the bedframe.

"Bang!"

The whole bed shook. Fang Huai secretly laughed while wondering whether this panicked fellow would end up impotent someday.

The squad room was not very large. Just inside the door, against the wall, stood a table. Three beds were lined up along the left side, two along the right, and one bunk bed lay crosswise at the very back.

This so-called "squad room" was their dormitory. Unless they had something to do, their living space was confined to these dozen or so square meters.

Hao Chengbin placed his Camouflage Bag on the upper bunk of the bed at the very back, then turned to ask him.

"Fang Huai, you got here early. Pick a bed."

"This one, Squad Leader." Fang Huai pointed to the bed in front of Hao Chengbin.

Hao Chengbin casually set his backpack on the lower bunk and said, "Those two are from Fujian. They got here two days before you. Chat among yourselves and introduce yourselves. I'll go buy you some toiletries."

Fang Huai looked troubled. "Squad Leader, I don't have any money..."

"I know. Pay me back after you get your allowance." Hao Chengbin waved a hand and left.

The room fell still for a moment.

The pointy-headed man on the lower right bunk stared toward the door, the fright still lingering in his eyes. He fumbled around under the blanket, then began looking himself over, as though checking whether his life was still intact.

The chubby guy on the upper left bunk gradually became more alert, hope gathering in his eyes.

"Brother... got any cigarettes on you?"