My Name Is Fang Huai

"No cigarettes, no fire, I'm Fang Huai."

After Fang Huai finished speaking, he walked inside and began to unbuckle the straps on his backpack, tidying up the bunk.

"Hey, Fang Huai, I'm Yue Tao. We got here before you, so you have to call us squad leaders!" The thin, dark-skinned guy with a slightly African appearance snapped out of his daze and stood up from his bunk.

Fang Huai looked him over and, finding him to be quite young, smiled and said, "Hello, Squad Leader Yue."

"Mhm! This is Chen Zhongqiang!" Yue Tao, who seemed quite sociable, pointed to the chubby guy on the upper bunk to the right and introduced him.

Fang Huai: "Squad Leader Chen..."

Chen Zhongqiang quickly shook his head, "Just call me Chen Zhongqiang, don't call me squad leader."

"We're all squad leaders, all squad leaders."

Fang Huai replied verbally, quickly smoothing out the bedsheet. He then turned and rummaged around, finding a neutral pen in the desk drawer. He took out the ink refill and used the pointed end to tuck all the bedsheets into the seams along the edge of the bed.

Soon, the white bedsheet was stretched taut and neat.

"Damn, brother, you're so quick! Using a pen for the bedsheet, how did you even think of that?"

Yue Tao exclaimed in surprise, clearly having had a pretty easy couple of days.

It made sense. Hao Chengbin was receiving the recruits from Chongqing, and he was dozing off in the vehicle today. They must have arrived in Chongqing late last night, and with no squad leader around, these two had probably been unsupervised for the entire day.

Fang Huai walked over to his bunk and took a look. The bedsheet was so messy that even an ant would get divided into several sections. He chuckled and handed the pen casing over.

"Do you two want to tidy up?"

Yue Tao immediately shook his head, flopped back onto the bed, pulled the covers over his head, and entered a state of rest.

A muffled voice came from under the covers.

"No, no, I'll tidy it up tomorrow morning."

Chen Zhongqiang opposite him, however, said, "I do, let me borrow it."

Fang Huai handed him the pen and reminded him, "Squad Leader Yue, if you sleep like that, your bedsheet will definitely be a mess tomorrow, and you won't be able to tidy it... They'll be evaluating interior affairs then."

Yue Tao poked his head out, annoyed, "No way, they haven't been managing things much here these past few days! The fire safety must be different from other units!"

"That's because the people haven't arrived yet. The officer receiving the recruits told me everyone will be here tomorrow. You'll see."

As Fang Huai finished speaking, Chen Zhongqiang opposite him's eyes lit up again.

"They're arriving tomorrow?"

Fang Huai glanced at him, "Don't get your hopes up. Give it up. Once people arrive, management will get stricter. Even if someone gives you a cigarette, there'll be nowhere to smoke it. If you keep thinking about it, you'll be miserable for months, and you won't be allowed to smoke once you're assigned to a team."

"The restroom!" Chen Zhongqiang insisted stubbornly.

The restroom... you'll find out when the time comes.

Fang Huai waved his hand, too lazy to remind these two simpletons. Besides, mentioning it made him want to smoke too.

The worst part of being forced to quit smoking is having someone next to you constantly thinking and talking about it, doubling the misery.

"Hey, you know so much about the military, were you a militia member at the People's Armed Forces Department before?" Yue Tao turned over on his bunk, full of gossip.

"I have a cousin who was a soldier," Fang Huai replied casually.

It wasn't good to not explain, especially since he was quite familiar with some things, and it wasn't exactly top-secret information. He wasn't planning on being secretive.

It was just that along the way, due to various contextual needs, his entire family had been incorporated into the military by him.

Anyone who sat down and talked about him would realize he was from a true "military family."

The mission was complete, and he didn't care anymore. At worst, he could make up more stories later.

"Oh... so you know about us being assigned to teams..."

As Yue Tao was speaking, the door opened.

Hao Chengbin walked in, glanced at Yue Tao's messy bunk, and handed Fang Huai the plastic bag he was holding.

"Put your things in the basin, I'll take you to the washroom."

Fang Huai took it and looked inside. There was a bar of soap, shampoo, toothpaste, and a toothbrush.

"Thank you, Squad Leader."

Hao Chengbin looked at the neat bunk behind Fang Huai and couldn't help but nod.

"Mhm... do you know how to fold blankets?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader, I know a little."

This was the truth. Fang Huai had been out of the military for ten years. The first day he returned home, his bed had never been tidied again. His blanket-folding skills could only be described as knowing "a little."

"Nowadays it's the four-fold blanket, not like the old three-fold blankets," Hao Chengbin guessed that Fang Huai's father had taught him, and he was worried Fang Huai would adhere to his father's era's interior affairs standards for everything.

Over the years, many standards had changed. If a piece of paper was covered in mistakes, it was better than a blank sheet.

"Reporting, Squad Leader, I know," Fang Huai nodded.

"Oh? Did your dad teach you that too?" Hao Chengbin asked in surprise.

Fang Huai shook his head, "I like to surf the internet. I learned a lot of it online."

As soon as the lie left his lips, Yue Tao, standing nearby, wasn't having it.

"Didn't you just say your cousin taught you?"

Lao Mou, the schemer.

Fang Huai immediately retorted, "Squad Leader Yue, I never said that!"

Hao Chengbin frowned, his old face creasing. He turned to look at Yue Tao, then back and asked.

"What did you just call him?"

Fang Huai said with a hint of embarrassment, "Squad Leader Yue... I said he arrived two days earlier, so I should call him Squad Leader. I thought the regulations were different now."

"I... Squad Leader, I was just kidding with him!" Yue Tao immediately yelled.

Hao Chengbin forced a smile.

Two minutes later, the door to Class Nine opened. Yue Tao stood by the bed, looking utterly dejected as he stared at his pulled-down, discarded bedsheet.

"You have ten minutes, and clean up before sleeping."

Hao Chengbin left him with those words and led Fang Huai out.

Fang Huai felt relatively at ease on the way.

At least they hadn't resorted to the whole 'fetch water for foot washing' routine. If they weren't overly enthusiastic today, they wouldn't be overly cruel tomorrow.

The welcome might be late, but it would never be absent.

The next day, 7 PM.

The training base was brightly lit. On the vast training ground, three buses led five military trucks into the area.

"Red, red police camp, red, red vehicles, red, red youth, red, red me. How many times have we sweated like rain on the training grounds, how many times have we silently persevered~ Ah! We are calmly persistent!"

Faces flushed from the air conditioning stepped off the buses.

Squad Leader: "Here, brother, give me your bag!"

Pre-arrived recruits: "Clap, clap, clap..."

A full sensory experience.

The applause from the recruits lining the path and the firefighting military songs from the broadcast merged together. Lights shone on the ground, slightly reflective from the recent light rain, making the barracks gleam.

The squad leaders enthusiastically provided services.

This was the second batch of recruits they were welcoming today. The first batch, welcomed half an hour ago, was already milling about in front of the new recruit building.

Compared to Fang Huai and his group arriving in twos and threes, this was the true main force of this year's Guizhou Fire Department.

Fang Huai hadn't felt it in his past life, but now, as he gradually reintegrated into the military, he understood the feelings of the veterans watching these new recruits disembark.

It was like a compulsive person looking at a pile of messy, chipped building blocks.

Hats askew, webbing loose, belts crooked, winter camouflage wrinkled.

A dark, skinny Major stood on the stairs of the large auditorium building nearby, his hands resting on the railing, quietly observing the scene.

Only after everyone had disembarked did he let out a loud command.

"Liu Mangong, assemble the formation! Assign classes!"

His voice boomed, echoing.

Liu Mangong ran to the front of the group and shouted.

"Everyone, assemble!"

The entire formation began to move chaotically.

"Ouch, you stepped on my shoelace!"

"Move, move, go over there a bit!"

"Wait a moment, wait a moment!"

One figure squatting to tie his shoelaces could block a large portion of the group's progress.

The squad leaders, however, spread out to the periphery of the formation, helping the new recruits adjust their positions.

Soon, a large formation began to take shape. The recruits who arrived first stood on the far right of the group, while the squad leaders positioned themselves on both sides of the entire formation, controlling the spacing between ranks.

"Look right... Attention!"

Liu Mangong roared, and the entire formation quickly adjusted, widening slightly based on the squad leaders' spacing, leaving some room for those around them.

"Look forward!"

"Stand at ease!"

"Those whose names are called, stand at attention and step out, stand behind your respective squad leaders!"

"First Company, First Squad!"

A corporal stepped out and onto an open space beside the formation.

"Sun Yu!"

"Here!" a new recruit yelled back.

"Zhang Liang!"

"Here!" this shout was even grander.

The Major above nodded, not with a large movement, but many people saw it.

"Zhang Xianchao!"

"Here!!"

"Wu Wei!"

"Here!!!"

The new recruits behind them seemed to understand the rules. When their names were called, they all squeezed their voices with their greatest effort, making their voices sound high-pitched.

Twenty minutes later, nine companies and 80 squads had their personnel accounted for.

Ten per squad, with full enrollment, 800 people.

Actually, there was also a tenth company, with over 20 people. After basic training, these new recruits would go to the Kunming Command School and be temporarily assigned to guard duty.

These people, once assigned to a unit, would be "gentlemen soldiers," enjoying privileges.

Of course, in his previous life, Fang Huai was also among those enjoying privileges. After less than half a year in the squadron, he was transferred to the training base office, where he spent his days filing documents, doing clerical work, and hanging out with a few female soldiers, "focusing on preparing for further studies."

On days without training, the nourishing food of the army caused him to gain weight from 140 jin to over 180 jin.

"Each company and squad, return for inspection. At 8:15, gather at the cafeteria entrance!"

Wang Jian quickly ran to the formation where Fang Huai was.

"Seventh Company, Squads One through Nine, return in order!"

The squad leader of the first squad stepped out.

"Squad One, forward march!"

The entire open space, under the sequential commands of regiment—company—squad, orderly ascended the stairs.

As soon as they entered the stairwell, the formation began to loosen up.

The two new recruits in Fang Huai's squad in front of him quickly started discussing.

"Hey, I heard on the bus that your PLA soldiers all go to the recruit company in the regiment first."

"Yeah, many of their divisions have been changed to brigades now, different from ours. They recruit new soldiers one regiment at a time."

Hao Chengbin, in front, turned back. He clearly wanted to lose his temper, but he still controlled his volume and said, "When going upstairs, keep to the right and don't whisper to each other!"

His authority was limited.

"...Right, I heard they get to handle guns as soon as they join a company..."

Fang Huai watched the two guys in front of him, whose voices had lowered but who still turned their heads to chat occasionally. He was already calculating how to avoid being implicated by them later.

Fang Huai, who had been watching the squad leader's expression closely, saw Hao Chengbin force a smile onto his face the moment they entered the squad's room.

Ten new recruits squeezed into a rather cramped space. Two couldn't fit and stood at the doorway.

Hao Chengbin helped them all neatly arrange their camouflage bags outside the door. After the backpacks were unloaded onto the beds, Fang Huai and Chen Zhongqiang, who were standing close, quickly helped.

Soon, the room became more spacious.

"Come, come, everyone sit down," Hao Chengbin beckoned.

The new recruits sat down one by one by their beds, looking around.

There were no small stools; the small stools hadn't been issued yet.

Hao Chengbin, with a kind smile, said, "Everyone introduce yourselves... Chen Zhongqiang, you were the first to arrive at the squad, you go first."

"Yes!"

Chen Zhongqiang immediately stood up. Yue Tao, being an "old timer" in the unit, realized he was next and sat up straighter with a touch of pride.

For some reason, having the priority to speak always brought a sense of superiority.

"Squad... Squad leader, fellow comrades, my name is Chen Zhongqiang. I'm from Zhangzhou, Fujian! Our place recruits early, so I arrived two days early! From now on... from now on, we are comrades! Comrades should learn from each other, communicate more, and exchange more!"

He's got something, but not much. Half of his sentence was useless filler.

Fang Huai commented internally.

"Chen Zhongqiang, you're a high school student, right? Do you have any special skills?"

Chen Zhongqiang thought for a long time.

"Squad leader... does basketball count?"

Hao Chengbin nodded. "It counts. We'll arrange some games later. If you're good enough, I can arrange for you to represent the company!"

Chen Zhongqiang immediately backed down. "Then... then no, I just know how to play, I'm not very good..."

Hao Chengbin sighed slightly, his expression unchanged, and waved his hand.

"Next, Yue Tao."

"Here!"

Yue Tao stood up. "Squad leader, my name is Yue Tao!"

Hao Chengbin tilted his head. "I asked you to introduce yourself to your comrades, why are you looking at me?"

Yue Tao chuckled, turned around, and even gave a mock salute.

"Comrades, my name is Yue Tao! I'm also from Zhangzhou, Fujian. I'm good at... good at management! I used to be a squad... deputy squad leader!"

Holy crap.

Fang Huai hadn't expected this guy to actually dare to say it.

The three of them had been in the squad all day, and Yue Tao had been brainwashing him and Chen Zhongqiang, saying he was suitable to be the deputy squad leader. He had physically convinced them both. Fang Huai was the first to agree, saying that if there were elections, he would definitely vote for him to be deputy squad leader, and only then did Yue Tao back down.

In reality, Fang Huai knew that there were no elections; the decision-making power was entirely with the squad leader.

If the squad leader brought in a dog today and said it was the deputy squad leader, it would be the deputy squad leader. That's what you call obedience.

In Fang Huai's previous life, his squad didn't have a deputy squad leader.

"Yue Tao, you only finished junior high school, and you're barely 17, right? What management? Sit down!"

Seeing his demeanor, Hao Chengbin was a bit overwhelmed.

"Squad leader... I went to vocational school! It's just... I didn't graduate!" Yue Tao mumbled immediately.

The others burst out laughing.

Hao Chengbin didn't say anything, just gave Yue Tao a stern look, and Yue Tao sheepishly sat down.

"Fang Huai, you're next!" Hao Chengbin called out directly.

Fang Huai had already thought of what to say. He stood up, ready to give a brief introduction and then sit down.

Suddenly, a line of text appeared before his eyes.

[Task: Make the entire class remember your name. (Time limit: three minutes. No penalty for failure.)]

Fang Huai: ...

"Ahem!" Fang Huai had already stood up, but he couldn't think of what to say. He cleared his throat and scanned the room.

The two in the corner looked somewhat distracted.

"Hello, everyone!"

"My name is Fang Huai! Fang, as in 'fang zheng' (upright). Huai, as in the Huai River... with the 'three dots water' radical! On the right is the 'zhuī' from 'bān zhuī'..."

Fang Huai looked at the confused expression on a new recruit's face and considered changing his name.

Huai... this character is really difficult to introduce!

This damn system, it's intentionally making it impossible for me to complete this, right?

Hao Chengbin interrupted him. "It's fine if they know how to call you. Talk about your specialties."

[Detected illiterate individuals in the squad. Task cannot be completed. Do you want to change the task?]

My god.

Fang Huai rolled his eyes internally.

There are illiterate people, and you want me to do this? Do I have to start with a literacy campaign first?

Change it! Change it!

[Task: Create a unique memory point for yourself among all the veteran soldiers in the Seventh Company.]

Fang Huai clenched his fists.

Remembering my name is one thing, but a memory point? What the hell is a memory point?

Maybe I should go charge the company headquarters tonight?

Forget about the veteran soldiers, the entire company will hear my wails tonight. That'll definitely be a memory point!