My Name Is Fang Huai

"No cigarettes, no lighter. My name is Fang Huai."

After saying that, Fang Huai walked inside, pulled the webbing straps from his backpack, and began making his bed.

"Hey, Fang Huai, my name's Yue Tao. We got here before you, so you have to call us squad leaders!" The dark, skinny, sharp-faced guy who looked like he had some African ancestry came back to his senses and got off his bed.

Fang Huai turned and sized him up. He looked fairly young, so Fang Huai smiled. "Hello, Squad Leader Yue."

"Mm! His name is Chen Zhongqiang!" Yue Tao was something of a Social Butterfly. He pointed at the chubby guy in the upper-right bunk as he introduced him.

Fang Huai said, "Squad Leader Chen..."

Chen Zhongqiang hurriedly shook his head. "Just call me Chen Zhongqiang. Don't call me squad leader."

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

Fang Huai humored them as he quickly smoothed out his bedsheet. Then he turned, searched around, found a gel pen in the desk drawer, removed the refill, and used the pointed end to tuck the entire sheet into the seam along the edge of the bed.

Before long, the white sheet was stretched taut.

"Holy crap, bro, you're fast! You used a pen to fix the sheet? How'd you think of that?"

Yue Tao was making a huge fuss over it. Clearly, he'd had it pretty easy these past two days.

That made sense. Hao Chengbin had gone to Chongqing to pick up recruits, and he'd even been dozing off on the bus today. He had probably arrived in Chongqing overnight. With their squad leader absent, these two had likely been left unsupervised for an entire day.

Fang Huai walked over to Yue Tao's bed and took a look. The sheet was such a mess that an ant crawling into it would probably get divided into several districts. Smiling, he handed over the pen barrel.

"Do you two want to straighten things up?"

Yue Tao immediately shook his head, flopped onto the bed like a corpse, pulled the blanket over his head, and entered a state of eternal rest.

A muffled voice came from beneath the blanket.

"No, no. I'll do it tomorrow when I get up."

But Chen Zhongqiang, across from him, said, "I do. Let me use it."

Fang Huai passed him the pen, then added, "Squad Leader Yue, if you sleep like that, your sheet will definitely be wrinkled tomorrow. You won't be able to straighten it even if you want to... They'll be judging room standards then."

Yue Tao poked his head out and snapped irritably, "No way. The company hasn't really been managing us these past two days! Firefighters are definitely different from other troops!"

"That's because the people hadn't arrived yet. The officer who picked us up told me everyone would arrive tomorrow. Just wait and see."

As soon as Fang Huai finished speaking, Chen Zhongqiang's eyes lit up again.

"They'll all arrive tomorrow?"

Fang Huai glanced at him. "Stop hoping for it. Quit already. Once everyone arrives, management will get stricter. Even if someone gives you cigarettes, there won't be anywhere to smoke them. If you keep thinking about it, you'll suffer for months. And you won't be allowed to smoke after joining your unit either."

"The restroom!" Chen Zhongqiang said stubbornly.

The restroom... You'll understand when the time comes.

Fang Huai waved a hand, too lazy to warn the two idiots anymore. Besides, mentioning it made him want a cigarette too.

The worst thing about being forced to quit smoking was having someone like this beside you, thinking and talking about cigarettes every day. It doubled the misery.

"Hey, you know so much about the military. Were you in the militia at the People's Armed Forces Department before?" Yue Tao rolled over in bed, his face full of curiosity.

"My cousin was a soldier," Fang Huai replied casually.

It wouldn't be good not to explain. After all, he was familiar with certain things, and none of it was classified information. He had no intention of acting mysterious.

It was just that along the way, whenever the context demanded it, he had practically arranged his entire family into the military.

If a group of people ever sat down and talked about him, they would discover that he came from a genuine "military family."

The mission was complete. He didn't give a damn anymore. At worst, he could make something else up later.

"Oh... then do you know when we'll join our units..."

Yue Tao was still talking when the door opened.

Hao Chengbin entered, glanced at Yue Tao's dog's nest of a bed, and handed the plastic bag in his hand to Fang Huai.

"Put the things in your 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 again at the neatly made bed behind Fang Huai and couldn't help nodding.

"Mm... Do you know how to fold a blanket?"

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

That was the truth. Fang Huai had been away from military life for ten years. On the first day after he left the service and returned home, he had never made his bed again. As for folding blankets, he could only say he still remembered a little.

"Now we fold blankets into four folds. That's different from the old three-fold method." Hao Chengbin guessed that Fang Huai's father had probably taught him. He was afraid Fang Huai would handle everything according to the housekeeping standards of his father's era.

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

"Reporting, Squad Leader, I know," Fang Huai said with a nod.

"Oh? Your father taught you that too?" Hao Chengbin asked in surprise.

Fang Huai shook his head. "I like going online. I learned a lot of it by watching videos online."

The lie had barely left his mouth when Yue Tao, beside him, objected.

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

Damn it.

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

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

"What did you just call him?"

Somewhat embarrassed, Fang Huai said, "Squad Leader Yue... He said he got here two days earlier, so I had to call him squad leader. I thought the military regulations were different now."

"I... Squad Leader, I was joking with him!" Yue Tao immediately howled.

Hao Chengbin gave a smile that didn't reach his eyes.

Two minutes later, the door to Ninth Squad opened. Yue Tao stood beside his bed, wearing the bitter expression of someone who had eaten rotten garlic as he stared at his sheet, which had been ripped off and tossed aside.

"I'm giving you ten minutes. Also, clean up before you go to sleep."

After leaving those words behind, Hao Chengbin led Fang Huai out.

Fang Huai felt fairly relieved along the way.

At least Hao Chengbin hadn't made him fetch water and wash his feet or anything like that. Better not be too friendly today, only to become too cruel tomorrow.

The enthusiasm of a welcome party might arrive late, but it would never be absent.

The next day, 7 p.m.

The training base was brightly lit. On the enormous Training Ground, three coaches led five military trucks in.

"Red camp, red trucks, red youth, red me. How many times have we sweated like rain on the training ground? How many times have we silently stood guard? Ah! We remained calm and resolute!"

One rosy-cheeked recruit after another stepped down from the air-conditioned buses.

Squad Leader: "Come on, brother, give me your bag!"

Recruits who had arrived early: "Clap clap clap..."

It was an all-in-one welcome service of sound, lighting, and action.

The applause of the recruits lining both sides mixed with the Firefighter Military Song playing over the loudspeakers. Light shone on the slightly reflective ground, still wet from a recent rain, making the camp gleam brilliantly.

The squad leaders enthusiastically offered their services.

This was the second batch of recruits they had welcomed today. The batch from half an hour ago was currently milling about in front of the New Recruit Building.

Compared to the scattered groups that had arrived with Fang Huai, this was the real main force of this year's Guizhou firefighting recruits.

He hadn't felt it in his previous life, but now that Fang Huai was gradually blending back into military life, he could finally understand how veteran soldiers felt as they watched these recruits get off the buses.

It was like someone with obsessive-compulsive disorder looking at a pile of messy building blocks with missing corners.

Their caps sagged, their webbing straps sagged, their belts were crooked, and their winter camouflage uniforms were wrinkled.

A dark, skinny major stood on the stairs of the auditorium building nearby, one hand hanging over the railing as he silently watched the scene.

Only after everyone had gotten off did he let out a booming shout.

"Liu Mangong, assemble them and form up! Assign squads!"

His voice was so loud that it rang with an echo.

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

"Everyone, assemble!"

The entire formation began to shift in an irregular tide.

"Ow, you stepped on my shoelace!"

"Move, move, move a little that way!"

"Wait, wait!"

Just one person crouching down to tie his shoelaces could block the progress of a whole crowd.

The squad leaders spread out around the perimeter, helping the rookies adjust their formation.

Before long, a large square formation gradually took shape. The recruits who had arrived first stood on the far right, while the squad leaders stood along both sides, maintaining the spacing between ranks and files.

"Dress right... dress!"

With Liu Mangong's bellow, the entire formation quickly adjusted according to the squad leaders' spacing, spreading out and leaving some room around each person.

"Eyes front!"

"At ease!"

"When your name is called, come to attention, step out, and stand behind your squad leader!"

"First Company, First Squad!"

A corporal stepped out and moved to an open area beside the formation.

"Sun Yu!"

"Here!" a recruit shouted at the top of his lungs.

"Zhang Liang!"

"Here!" This one was even more majestic.

The major upstairs nodded. It was a small gesture, but many people saw it.

"Zhang Xianchao!"

"Here!!"

"Wu Wei!"

"Here!!!"

The recruits in the back seemed to understand the rule. When their names were called, they squeezed their throats and used every ounce of strength they had, trying to make their voices sound as spirited as possible.

Twenty minutes later, all nine companies and eighty squads had been filled.

Ten men per squad, eight hundred men in total.

There was actually a tenth company as well, with more than twenty people. After recruit training, they would be sent to the Kunming Command School on temporary assignment to stand guard.

Once those people joined their units, they would be treated like privileged soldiers, worthy of being enshrined in the Imperial Ancestral Temple.

Of course, Fang Huai himself had been one of those privileged soldiers in his previous life. Just a few months after joining a fire station, he had been transferred to the training base office, where he typed documents and did clerical work every day, hanging around with several Female Soldiers while "focusing on preparing for exams."

With no training and the military's fattening meals, he had once gone from 140 jin to over 180 jin.

"Each company and squad, take your men back for inventory! Assemble at the entrance to the mess hall at 8:15!"

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

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

The first squad leader stepped out.

"First Squad, quick march!"

The entire open area moved upstairs in an orderly flow under the successive commands of regiment, company, and squad.

The moment they entered the stairwell, the formation started to loosen up.

The two recruits from Fang Huai's squad in front of him immediately began talking.

"Hey, I heard on the bus that the People's Liberation Army recruits all report to a regiment's recruit company first."

"Yeah, a lot of their divisions have become brigades now. It's different from us. They take in recruits regiment by regiment."

Hao Chengbin, walking ahead, turned around. He clearly wanted to lose his temper, but he still kept his voice down.

"Keep to the right as you go upstairs. No talking!"

It had limited effect.

"...Yeah, I heard they can touch guns as soon as they join a company..."

Fang Huai looked at the two guys in front of him. They had lowered their voices somewhat, but they still turned around to chat every now and then. He was already calculating how to avoid being implicated by them in the future.

Fang Huai, who had been watching the squad leader's expression all along, saw Hao Chengbin forcibly squeeze out a smile the instant they entered the squad room.

Ten recruits crowded into a rather cramped space, while two more were unable to get in and remained by the doorway.

Hao Chengbin helped organize the Camouflage Bags outside the door one by one and set the backpacks on the beds. Fang Huai and Chen Zhongqiang were standing nearby and quickly helped.

Soon, the room became more spacious.

"Come, come, sit down," Hao Chengbin called out.

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

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

Hao Chengbin looked kind and friendly. "Introduce yourselves... Chen Zhongqiang, you were the first one to arrive in the squad, so you go first."

"Yes!"

Chen Zhongqiang immediately stood up. Yue Tao, as an "old hand" in the unit, realized that he was next and sat up straighter with some pride.

For some reason, being allowed to speak first always gave people a slight sense of superiority.

"Squad... Squad Leader, comrades, my name is Chen Zhongqiang. I'm from Zhangzhou, Fujian! Recruitment started early where I'm from, so I arrived two days early! From now on... from now on, we're all comrades! Comrades should learn from each other, interact more, and communicate more!"

There was something there, but not much. Half of that sentence was nonsense.

Fang Huai silently assessed him.

"Chen Zhongqiang, you're a high school graduate, 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 ball games later. If you've got the skills, you can be assigned to represent the company!"

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

Hao Chengbin sighed faintly, his expression unchanged as he waved his hands up and down.

"Next, Yue Tao."

"Here!"

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

Hao Chengbin raised his chin. "I told you to introduce yourself to your comrades. Why are you talking to me?"

Yue Tao chuckled, turned around, and even put on a show by saluting.

"Comrades, my name is Yue Tao! I'm also from Zhangzhou, Fujian. My specialty is... management! I used to be an Assistant Squad Leader!"

Damn.

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

The three of them had stayed in the squad room all day. Yue Tao had been brainwashing him and Chen Zhongqiang, insisting he was suited to be Assistant Squad Leader. He had physically talked the two of them into it. Fang Huai had been the first to agree that if there was a vote, he would definitely vote for Yue Tao. Only then had Yue Tao stopped.

In truth, Fang Huai knew there was no fucking election. The decision rested entirely with the squad leader.

Even if the squad leader dragged in a dog today and said it was the Assistant Squad Leader, then it was the Assistant Squad Leader. That was called obedience.

The squad Fang Huai had been in during his previous life hadn't even had an Assistant Squad Leader.

"Yue Tao, you only finished middle school and you just turned seventeen, right? What management are you talking about? Sit down!"

Hao Chengbin couldn't stand the way he was acting.

"Squad Leader... I attended vocational school! I just... didn't graduate!" Yue Tao muttered at once.

Everyone else laughed.

Hao Chengbin said nothing. He shot Yue Tao a glare, and Yue Tao immediately sat down sulkily.

"Fang Huai, your turn!" Hao Chengbin called directly.

Fang Huai had already thought it through. He stood up, intending to give a brief introduction and sit back down.

A line of text suddenly appeared before his eyes.

Task: Make everyone in the squad remember your name. (Time limit: three minutes. No penalty for failure.)

Fang Huai: ...

"Ahem!" Fang Huai was already on his feet, but he couldn't think of what to say. He cleared his throat and swept his gaze around the room.

The two in the corner looked somewhat distracted.

"Hello, comrades!"

"My name is Fang Huai! Fang as in upright! Huai as in the Huai River! The left side has the three-dot water radical! On the right is the zhuī from bān zhuī..."

Seeing the confused expression on one recruit's face, Fang Huai almost wanted to change his name.

Huai... this fucking character was really hard to explain!

Was this fucking system deliberately trying to keep me from completing the task?

Hao Chengbin spoke up and cut him off. "It's enough that they know what to call you. Tell us your specialty."

Illiterate personnel detected in the unit. The task cannot be completed. Would you like to replace the task?

Fuck me.

Fang Huai rolled his eyes internally.

There are illiterates, yet you gave me this task? Do I have to teach them to read first?

Change it, change it, change it!

Task: Make all Seventh Company veterans form a distinctive impression of you.

Fang Huai clenched his fists tight.

Remembering a name was one thing, but a distinctive impression? What the hell counted as a distinctive impression?

How about I charge the company headquarters tonight?

Forget the veterans—everyone in the company will hear my screams tonight. That'll definitely leave an impression!