Most of the recruits had only just fallen asleep when a much stronger jolt rocked the truck, naturally waking them all up.
The flatbed truck had been driving for nearly two hours, and it gradually began to slow down.
"Whoa, look outside the truck bed."
One of the recruits pointed into the distance in amazement.
Following his finger, they saw towering walls in the night, their surfaces a deep gray under the moonlight.
Inside the walls, rows of neat barracks stood in orderly formation. Most were dark, with only a few showing faint lights.
Farther away, on the large parade ground, figures in the same camouflage uniforms as theirs stood in formation. They could occasionally hear shouts of command, and the strict, orderly atmosphere of a military camp washed over them.
One recruit took a couple of deep breaths. The air carried a mixture of windblown sand, vegetation, and rust, distinctive to Hebei.
Most of them were from Yangcheng, so they might have to get used to the climate. The air in Hebei was much drier than back home in the south.
Lü Qinglong, however, felt fine. He was the last to climb down, and after gathering his belongings, he even lifted the tailgate back into place.
Then he fell in at the very end of the recruits and headed toward the camp entrance.
"Company Commander Chen, back with the recruits?"
The guard at the camp entrance was a Corporal whose shoulder insignia had "two rifles and a thin bar."
He was also a veteran in Chen Tianjian's company. He grinned and waved at Chen Tianjian.
"Mm."
Chen Tianjian nodded in acknowledgment, his expression otherwise unchanged.
For now, the sentries guarding the camp entrance were squad leaders from the various recruit companies—in other words, veterans like him.
In the days ahead, they would gradually hand the post over to the recruits.
"Tsk, tsk, the recruits are finally here. Every one of them's got a big red flower on their chest. What a festive sight!"
"Finally, we veterans don't have to do all the work. Free labor's here!"
The veteran on guard grinned from ear to ear as he said this. It was obvious how happy he was.
"Not bad, not bad. They're all college graduates, though they do look like they haven't woken up yet."
The guard took a good look at every recruit who passed, seemingly checking out the quality of this year's new intake.
"Huh...? Who put a refrigerator in a camouflage uniform?"
A huge figure suddenly appeared, leaving the guard completely bewildered.
"Wait!"
"You've gotta be kidding me! That's a person??? A bear in human clothes!!!"
The guard jerked his head up. The moment he got a good look at that face, he blurted out in his local dialect, terrified, and instinctively reached for the rifle slung across his back.
"Squad leader, don't shoot! I'm a recruit!"
Seeing this, Lü Qinglong called out in a hurry.
The guard heard Lü Qinglong's voice and noticed the big red flower on his chest, marking him as a new recruit. He blinked, frozen for a long moment, before finally understanding what was going on.
"S-sorry about that. How'd you get so huge? You look like one of those movie villains. You scared the hell out of me."
The guard quickly realized he'd mistaken Lü Qinglong for something he wasn't and gave an awkward chuckle.
He watched Lü Qinglong's back as he continued on, muttering to himself:
"Good lord, that's no recruit. That's a full-grown brown bear!"
"Now I'm going to assign you to your companies. When I call your name, you'll join the company standing in front of me."
Chen Tianjian held a roster as he faced the recruits in the line.
"Wang Jinhao, Tian Heqian, Huang Kainan."
"Zhou Dejin, Zhang Caichen, Cai Xuji."
As Chen Tianjian passed each barracks, the line of recruits grew shorter.
The camp was enormous. Their group, which had started out with around thirty people, had gradually dwindled to just over ten.
By the time they reached the barracks at the very end, only three people were still following Chen Tianjian.
Lü Qinglong was one of them, of course.
He didn't know the other two, and he hadn't really talked with them on the train.
"All right, from now on, you three are with First Company."
Chen Tianjian turned and addressed them.
Though he was speaking to all three recruits, his eyes were fixed on Lü Qinglong.
"Oh? Company Commander, you're back with the recruits!"
There was another sentry post at the entrance to the company's barracks, known as the "duty soldier" post.
Today's duty soldier was also a veteran Corporal. As soon as he saw Chen Tianjian approaching, he hurried out of the barracks, not daring to slack off.
"Mm. Show these two recruits where to go. Assign them to Seventh Squad and Eighth Squad, respectively."
"And send him to First Squad. Take him there yourself."
Chen Tianjian gave the veteran on duty his instructions.
He also turned to Lü Qinglong and added:
"If you need anything, you can come to me. I'm your company commander in the recruit company."
"Okay, thank you, Company Commander."
Lü Qinglong nodded.
Since his father and older brother were both soldiers, he'd grown up hearing about military life and understood a lot about it.
"Holy crap! Are you the Hulk or something? You're so tall and huge!"
Looking at Lü Qinglong, the duty soldier couldn't help swearing.
He'd been wondering where the third recruit was. It wasn't until the big pillar beside him started speaking that he got the fright of his life.
Were new recruits all this absurd nowadays? Anyone over two meters tall couldn't enlist, right? This guy had to be over two meters, didn't he?
"What are you standing around for? Take the recruit to First Squad."
Seeing that the duty soldier wasn't moving, Chen Tianjian asked, displeased.
"Oh, oh, oh! Right away, Company Commander! I'll take him there!"
The duty soldier hurriedly nodded, then cheerfully went to take Lü Qinglong's bag. Reaching out as he walked over, he asked:
"L-little... I mean, big guy! Let me carry your bag!"
"No need..."
"Come on, we're comrades in arms now. What's the big deal about helping you out?"
The duty soldier's enthusiasm touched Lü Qinglong.
Were all the veterans in this company so nice? It seemed the army really wasn't as bad as people said. Everyone was so kind!
With that thought, Lü Qinglong happily let go of the black duffel he'd been holding.
"Good grief!"
The moment the duty soldier took the black bag, a terrifying weight yanked it straight toward the ground.
Luckily, he reacted fast and grabbed it firmly with both hands, barely managing to lift it.
"Big guy, what on earth have you got in this bag? Is it full of bricks? It's so heavy!"
The duty soldier couldn't help complaining.
Was this guy a monster? He'd looked like he was carrying it without any trouble, but in the duty soldier's hands it felt like it weighed a thousand pounds.
"Squad leader, if it's too heavy, I can carry it myself."
Lü Qinglong scratched his head. There were only a few dumbbells in his bag. It shouldn't have been that heavy, should it?
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