Inspecting the Phones

Sometimes, after the recruits finished training, they would instinctively reach into their pockets.

But their hands came up empty.

The feeling of having no phone to play with seemed to weigh on their hearts.

Was their squad leader really that nice? He'd brought their phones back for them. Was he letting them use them?

Just as all the recruits gazed eagerly at Squad Leader Chen Ting, waiting for him to hand out their phones so they could play with them,

Squad Leader Chen Ting simply walked over to the table, took the phones out of the bag, and lined them up one by one.

"Take turns turning on your phones. Delete any pictures of you in uniform, as well as anything about the military that you've posted on social media."

"Then delete any VPNs you downloaded before enlisting, any tools for connecting to the foreign internet, and any foreign apps, like Facebook and Twitter. Delete every last one."

"None of that stuff is allowed."

"You have five minutes. Once you're done, hand your phones over to me, and I'll inspect them all."

After explaining why he was handing out their phones, Squad Leader Chen Ting pointed to the latest-model Apple iPhone on the table and asked,

"Whose phone is this?"

"Reporting, Squad Leader. It's mine."

Ji Baichang raised his hand and answered.

"Get a different phone, or order a new one online. Apple iPhones aren't allowed in the military."

Apple iPhones had built-in location tracking, so the military had never allowed phones from foreign brands like Apple and Samsung.

"Understood, Squad Leader. I'll order a new domestic phone online now and have this one mailed home."

"Fine. Everyone, pick up your phones and delete anything you need to. When I check them in a bit, don't let me find anything else on there that I shouldn't see."

"Otherwise, you can forget about sleeping tonight. You'll squat by my bed instead."

Chen Ting said it in a calm, matter-of-fact tone, but it still sent a chill through them.

He had to be kidding. After squatting for half an hour at noon, their legs had nearly given out. If they had to squat all night, their legs might as well be broken.

At the thought, the recruits nodded repeatedly to show they understood.

Seeing that, Squad Leader Chen Ting told them they could go to the table and get their phones.

"Baichang, what happened next in that story you were telling us?"

Lü Qinglong was the last to go over and pick up his phone. He was more curious about how the online-dating story had turned out than about getting his own phone.

There wasn't anything on his phone related to pictures of him in uniform or foreign apps.

He could hand it straight to Chen Ting to inspect right then and there, and it would be fine.

"The rest? I'll tell you in a bit. So you don't think I made the story up, I'll show you a picture of that cross-dressing guy."

"But first, I need to buy a new phone."

Lü Qinglong leaned in beside Ji Baichang.

Ji Baichang casually opened a shopping app, asked Squad Leader Chen Ting for the local address, then searched for phones.

He sorted the results from most expensive to least expensive.

He picked a domestic-brand phone that cost over ten thousand yuan and paid without even blinking.

A bank notification came through. His remaining balance was a full eight digits.

"Damn!"

"Seriously, man, your family really is rich! You've got eight digits in your bank account? Why'd you come here to serve? To kick your internet addiction?"

Song Si, who was from Guangxi, glanced at Ji Baichang's phone too, and his eyes went wide.

They'd thought Ji Baichang was just bragging when he talked about his family's villa and its housekeeper, or about his Ferrari supercars.

They'd honestly thought he was making it all up. They hadn't expected him to really be that rich!

"Oh, it's just pocket money."

"So what? Qinglong, show them the picture of that cross-dressing guy you met online."

(Image 1)

"Huh? Is this supposed to be a cross-dressing guy? She just looks like an ordinary girl."

Lü Qinglong was confused. Hadn't he seen it right?

He even rubbed his eyes several times.

He couldn't really tell what the difference was between a cross-dressing guy and a girl.

"Wait! Xu Gou, why does that picture you pulled up look so familiar to me?"

Xue Daochao narrowed his eyes and scrutinized it.

He even raised his left hand and started calculating something with the Six Ren method.

"What the hell, a cross-dressing guy? That's Fukada-sensei! You think I'm an idiot you can fool that easily?"

Suddenly, as if he'd figured it out, Xue Daochao turned and called Ji Baichang out.

Thank goodness he was well-informed. Otherwise, Ji Baichang would've fooled him.

Though he hadn't seen this outfit before. Could it be a new one from Fukada-sensei—

"Ha! You down-to-earth Daoist, I can't get anything past you!"

"Ahem. There's no way I'd show you a real person's picture without permission. I just grabbed some random photo to mess with you."

Ji Baichang chuckled and exited the album.

He seemed completely unfazed. He immediately factory-reset his phone, then handed it to Squad Leader Chen Ting to inspect.

"You—how am I supposed to inspect it if you've factory-reset it?"

"Forget it. I'll hold on to your phone for now. When your new one arrives, take out the SIM card and put it in the new phone. Then you can mail this one home."

As he spoke, Chen Ting put Ji Baichang's phone back in the bag.

Lü Qinglong was the second to hand his phone to Squad Leader Chen Ting for inspection.

There wasn't much to check, so Chen Ting merely skimmed through the photo album. After confirming there were no pictures of him in uniform, he was about to switch off the phone and put it in the bag—

Then his gaze stopped on a photo in Lü Qinglong's album.

Lü Qinglong stood in the center of the picture, looking about seven or eight years old, with a trace of childishness on his face. To his left stood a middle-aged man in military uniform.

The man had two bars and four stars on his shoulders. He was clearly a senior colonel.

Even now, he could have served as the Brigade Commander of the entire New Training Brigade.

And to Lü Qinglong's left, besides a woman who looked young, barely over thirty, was a face Chen Ting recognized all too well.

"Lü Qingtian."

"He still had acne back then."

The young man had a crew cut and looked full of energy. He bore a five- or six-out-of-ten resemblance to the senior colonel beside him.

He was also wearing camouflage, but it was the Army's Type 07 Camouflage, the dark green kind. His shoulders were bare of insignia, which gave away when the photo had been taken.

It must have been taken when the young man was preparing to enlist.

Lü Qinglong seemed to notice that Squad Leader Chen Ting was staring at the photo on his phone. What's more, he had just said his older brother's name!