First Friend

The New Recruits who returned to the squad room were clearly unsure of what to do, like headless flies. Some even stared blankly out the window.

"Huh? Aren't you guys going to wash up?"

Ji Baichang was quick-witted. Seeing Squad Leader Chen Ting walk out with a yellow basin to wash up, he immediately grabbed his own yellow basin. Before leaving the squad room, he remembered to ask those inside.

"Oh, right! Let's go wash up!"

As if suddenly realizing, the New Recruits grabbed their yellow basins and headed out to wash up.

There were only five faucets in the Washroom, but it had to accommodate over sixty people from six squads on the first floor. Therefore, they had to wash up in shifts.

Ji Baichang, who understood this, arrived at the Washroom early and found that there were still faucets available.

He immediately went to fill a large basin with water and brought it to a side to brush his teeth.

He used an electric toothbrush. Before washing his face, he first wet his face with water, then squeezed a dollop of expensive facial cleanser into his hand, rubbed it, and finally applied it to his face.

He let the facial cleanser foam thoroughly absorb the dirt on his face before rinsing it clean with water.

By the time he finished this routine, the Washroom, which had been almost empty, was now crowded with New Recruits from various squads.

"Phew~ That feels good."

Ji Baichang happily prepared to squeeze his way out, only to find that a path had suddenly opened up in the crowd.

At the end of the path, Lü Qinglong was walking towards the Washroom, holding a yellow basin.

On both sides of him, the New Recruits' faces showed clear signs of fear.

This fear seemed to stem from biological instinct. Ji Baichang could even hear the hushed discussions from the New Recruits beside him:

"What's going on, did they... raise the Hulk in the army?"

"I don't know, isn't this guy terrifyingly built? Honestly, looking at that face, it's pure Thanos."

"Okay, okay, you can even find a yellow card from Sun Ba here."

"Shh! Don't talk, he's coming!"

Under the gazes of everyone around him, Lü Qinglong awkwardly waved at the New Recruits on both sides.

His comrades in the army were so kind. Knowing he was big, they had specifically cleared a path for him.

He was really starting to like the army more and more.

"Brother Long, you can use the faucet first. I saved it for you."

A New Recruit from First Squad cheerfully gave up his spot at the faucet.

"Thank you."

Lü Qinglong nodded, smiling at him.

The New Recruit, however, seemed energized, hopping and skipping back to his squad room, his mouth practically splitting into a grin.

A two-meter radius seemed to form around Lü Qinglong. Wherever he walked, the New Recruits would make way.

This made Lü Qinglong, who had felt somewhat constrained, even more comfortable.

"Whoosh!"

A whistle sounded from the front of the building, followed by the duty officer's voice shouting:

"One person per squad to get plates."

"Squad Leader, I'll go get the plates."

Ji Baichang had just finished tidying his bunk. Although he hadn't done a great job and his quilt wasn't neatly folded, he volunteered anyway.

Chen Ting nodded, and Ji Baichang immediately went to the front of the building to get the mess trays.

"Squad Leader, please give us ten plates for our squad."

Ji Baichang grinned and held out his hand to the duty officer.

"Huh? Don't you only have nine New Recruits in your squad? Why do you need ten plates?"

The duty officer stared at Ji Baichang suspiciously.

"Our Squad Leader wants an extra one."

Ji Baichang replied without batting an eye.

"Oh, oh, Squad Leader Chen Ting wants an extra mess tray? He must have a broken one and wants to get a replacement."

"Alright, you can take ten."

The duty officer nodded, counted out ten mess trays from his hand, and placed them in Ji Baichang's.

"Thank you, Squad Leader."

Ji Baichang thanked him and then returned to the squad room with the plates.

However, he didn't mention this to Squad Leader Chen Ting. Each New Recruit received a plate, and when it was Lü Qinglong's turn, he was given an extra plate.

"Big brother, you look so strong, you must eat a lot, right?"

"One plate definitely won't be enough. I got you an extra one, almost got caught by the duty officer."

Ji Baichang handed the plate to Lü Qinglong while pretending to be nonchalant.

The more nonchalant he sounded, the more Lü Qinglong felt he owed Ji Baichang something.

Especially these small favors, they were the easiest to make people feel indebted.

As expected, when Lü Qinglong heard that Ji Baichang had gotten him a plate and almost got caught, he immediately patted his shoulder.

"Thank you, Ji Baichang, you're a really good guy."

Ji Baichang froze for a moment, wanting to say something else, but Lü Qinglong pointed to his blanket and said:

"I have some tips on folding blankets, I'll teach you this morning!"

"Huh?"

Ji Baichang was stunned and instinctively wanted to refuse, but seeing Lü Qinglong's eyes, he could only give an awkward laugh and nod in agreement.

"Yeah! See, isn't my blanket pretty?"

Lü Qinglong smiled and moved aside, gesturing for Ji Baichang to look at his bunk.

Ji Baichang raised his eyes, and when he saw the dark green military blanket on Lü Qinglong's bed folded into a perfect square, his face was full of shock.

"No way, bro, did you steal our Squad Leader's blanket and put it on your bed?"

Ji Baichang looked back at Squad Leader Chen Ting's bunk and saw that a similarly folded military blanket sat on it.

"Wh-what... how did you do that with the blanket?"

Ji Baichang no longer cared about owing favors and eagerly wanted to learn from Lü Qinglong.

After all, the military blankets they were issued were all the same.

The cotton inside the blankets was thick and extremely unevenly distributed.

He had tried folding the military blankets before, but quickly found he couldn't do it well.

Following the method taught by the military instructor during high school, the blankets he folded looked like tubes, completely unsightly.

Compared to Lü Qinglong's neat folds, it was like they were still at the starting line preparing to run, while Lü Qinglong was already at the finish line waving at them.

"Pack it down! Use the knuckles of your fingers to press the cotton inside the blanket, bit by bit!"

"Specifically, after the Squad Leader teaches you how to fold blankets this morning, come find me, and I'll help you pack it down."

Lü Qinglong whispered in a low voice.

"No problem! Bro, you're so nice, I'll call you Qinglong from now on, it rolls off the tongue better."

Ji Baichang smiled, surprised that Lü Qinglong was much easier to get along with than he had imagined.

Lü Qinglong also smiled; this was his first friend in the military.