Promotion?!

"It's over, we're going to be eating out of a communal pot."

Upon hearing the command to squat, Ji Baichang's face paled, and he obediently crouched down.

From the information and news he'd seen online, he'd gathered a few methods Squad Leaders used to mess with New Recruits.

Summarized, they were known as the Five Great Tortures.

They were: saluting but not finishing, swinging arms but not dropping them, kicking legs but not lowering them, squatting but not standing up, and push-ups but not rising after lowering.

What they were about to experience was the squatting but not standing up.

"Wait a moment."

Squad Leader Chen Ting suddenly called a halt. Just as Ji Baichang thought he was having a change of heart, Chen Ting calmly said:

"Considering Song Si just raised the objection, how about this: Song Si, you turn your stool upside down and squat on it."

Song Si's face stiffened. He stood up, grabbed his small stool, and obediently leaned on the bed frame beside him before squatting down.

However, from the defiant expression on his face, it was clear he wasn't convinced.

So what if he squatted? He'd squatted in traditional toilets since he was a child, holding it for an hour without issue. Was he going to be afraid of this now in the military?

Ji Baichang looked at the defiant Song Si, truly frustrated that he wasn't living up to expectations.

If it weren't for this guy, they wouldn't be going through this training!

But soon, as time passed, all the New Recruits noticed something was wrong.

This wrongness originated from their own bodies.

It was their right leg. Because their entire body weight was resting on it while squatting, it began to feel sore and swollen.

If it were just soreness and swelling, it would have been manageable. The worst part was that as time went on, the soreness and swelling became increasingly unbearable.

It was a pain that penetrated to the bone, as if their thighs were being torn apart and then repeatedly pierced and pulled by countless needles.

The sensation made them feel like they were about to collapse onto the ground.

Song Si had it even worse. Because he was squatting entirely on the stool, any significant sway of his body would cause him to fall off.

In the past ten minutes, he had already almost fallen twice.

To maintain his balance, he could only hold the position rigidly.

Furthermore, his fellow New Recruits kept glaring at him resentfully, as if questioning why he had spoken up.

Now, look at them, all suffering together.

The disgusted looks from his fellow New Recruits, the soreness spreading from his right leg to his entire lower body, the dual pressure of mind and body – it all forced Song Si to stare straight ahead, trying to avoid their gazes.

Perhaps it was psychological, but he felt like his right leg wasn't hurting as much anymore. Instead, there was a sense of numbness.

Perhaps it was due to a lack of blood flow to his right leg.

He thought to himself.

"Alright, I won't torment you any further. I don't want to be accused of beating and physically punishing you as a Veteran. We need to lead soldiers with civilization now."

"The training manual stipulates that the maximum squat time for one leg is fifteen minutes. I see you're all nearing fifteen minutes, so switch legs."

After Squad Leader Chen Ting finished speaking, the New Recruits, as if relieved of a great burden, switched legs.

The soreness and swelling in their right legs vanished instantly. This feeling of relief caused some New Recruits to sigh involuntarily.

Of course, Chen Ting, having served in the military for nearly sixteen years, surely had his reasons for doing this.

While their right legs felt better, their entire body weight now pressed down on their left legs.

Before long, their left legs began to experience the same soreness and swelling as their right.

After another fifteen minutes of torment, Squad Leader Chen Ting finally allowed them to stand up.

"Go make your beds. You can consider a lunch break when you can fold them to Lü Qinglong's standard."

After Chen Ting finished speaking, the New Recruits struggled to stand up, their legs trembling so dramatically they could barely feel them.

In contrast, Lü Qinglong stood up steadily as if nothing had happened, still fiddling with his grip strengthener.

"No way, Qinglong, are your legs made of iron? How come you don't have any reaction?"

Ji Baichang, leaning on the bed frame, asked with a look of utter despair.

"Huh? Isn't this just like going to the toilet? I wanted to ask why you all have such pained expressions on your faces."

Lü Qinglong seemed confused.

He hadn't felt muscle soreness in a long time.

From a purely physical standpoint, the squatting exercise they just did was practically insignificant.

If you could call it punishment, in his opinion, it was like sprinkling water compared to his 600-kilogram squats.

"You're really a monster."

Leaning against the bed frame, Ji Baichang weakly muttered.

"Hey, how about we light one up? Lü Qinglong, you accompany me and keep watch for me?"

Ji Baichang suddenly lowered his voice and asked Lü Qinglong.

Once the idea of smoking struck, it couldn't be controlled and occupied his entire mind.

"Huh? You're going again?"

"Shh! Keep your voice down!"

Lü Qinglong frowned. This was the second time Ji Baichang had wanted to go to the toilet to smoke today.

As the old saying goes, "He who walks by the river will eventually get his shoes wet."

If he kept smoking at this rate, it was only a matter of time before he got caught.

He felt that since Ji Baichang was his friend, he had to try and persuade him.

"It's fine, it's fine. I'll finish this pack I have, and then I won't smoke anymore."

"Alright then."

Lü Qinglong nodded and finally agreed to go out with Ji Baichang, acting as a lookout for him.

The two informed their Squad Leader, Chen Ting, and after getting permission, they walked out of the classroom together and headed towards the toilets.

As Ji Baichang passed by other classrooms, he wanted to see what the New Recruits in other classes were doing, wondering if only they were being trained so hard.

He glanced through the window into the next classroom and immediately saw a scene that made his pupils dilate.

He saw that the New Recruits in the next class, just like them, were all squatting on the ground with pained expressions.

And one New Recruit, who looked defiant, said a few dissatisfied words.

As a result, their Squad Leader kicked that New Recruit to the ground.

Just as the New Recruit was about to stand up, the Squad Leader didn't give him the chance and kicked him again, then delivered two slaps. The sound was clearly heard by the two outside the classroom.

Immediately after, the Squad Leader grabbed the New Recruit by the collar with one hand and pinned him tightly against the wall.

(Figure 1)

"My god, compared to this, our Squad Leader is so much better than their Squad Leader."

"It's obvious from this that their class probably went to bed during nap time, which is why their Squad Leader is dragging them around!!!"