"Come on, everyone in First Squad! We have to win!"
The four members of First Squad who weren't competing stood to the side, cheering with all their might. Their enthusiasm even spread to the new recruits from the neighboring squad.
"What are you standing around for? Cheer for First Squad!"
Wang Yuan, the Second Squad leader, yelled at his recruits. They immediately came to their senses and joined in, shouting along with everyone else.
The two squads were usually stationed close together, so they got along pretty well.
"Then let's cheer for Eighth Squad!"
"Go, Eighth Squad!"
The new recruits watching from the sidelines cheered with all their might, as if they were taking part in the tug-of-war themselves.
"All right, listen for my whistle."
"When you hear it, you can start pulling."
The duty officer held the rope near the red flag in the middle.
The rules were simple. There was a white line beneath the first recruit on each side. All they had to do was pull the red flag over to their own line. Whichever side got it across first won.
"Qinglong, don't put too much pressure on yourself. No matter what, I'll teach those Eighth Squad bastards a good lesson."
Ji Baichang flexed his arm. It wasn't even a third the size of Lü Qinglong's, but it was still a little thicker than the other recruits' arms.
He hadn't been idle over the past month. He'd made full use of the weight plates Lü Qinglong had brought over to work out.
He was no longer the scrawny Xu Gou he'd been before. Now he was a somewhat muscular Xu Gou.
"Yeah, yeah. Don't worry."
"Listen for my commands. When I call 'one,' everyone pulls back together. When I call 'two,' ease up a little, then wait