No one received a demerit or disciplinary action.
It was as if nothing had happened.
The main reason was someone everyone had overlooked—Staff Officer Zhang.
After taking the first batch of recruits back, he felt it was a little cold outside. He actually stood at a stairwell corner, sweet-talking his girlfriend on the phone for over an hour while waiting for the recruits to return.
That phone call had been so enjoyable. With nothing but his mouth, he had sent his girlfriend's imagination soaring with houses, cars, and money, while the recruits got to watch a whole show before taking a brutal beating.
He lost track of time too.
Only after hanging up did he see that it was already past eleven and the recruits still had not returned. That was when he realized something was wrong.
By the time he rushed to the Training Ground, the recruits were already sweating freely.
Upon learning that a fight had broken out, the young officer—the highest-ranking person on duty for the recruits' extra-training squad—first got a headache, then immediately thought about dodging responsibility.
So he suggested giving the three fighters a little ideological counseling and getting them to reconcile.
Put bluntly, settling it privately.
The term sounded ridiculous in the military, but it seemed like a solution that benefited everyone.
So after the other recruits returned to rest, Fang Huai, Zhang Yinzhang, and Yue Tao were kept on the Training Ground. Staff Officer Zhang handed each of them a cigarette, then stood there talking nonstop until nearly midnight.
He talked about the army, about harmony, and somehow even about morality.
He cited ancient and modern examples, mixed reality with theory, and spoke with remarkable eloquence. No wonder he had a girlfriend.
Only when the three sweat-soaked men had been chilled sleepy by