Seeing that they were almost at the station and the rest of the way wasn't far, he simply had the driver stop early, then climbed out from the back seat.
The station was packed with people, stretching as far as the eye could see.
A large area had been cleared, where many new recruits in camouflage uniforms stood. Each had a big red flower pinned to his chest.
They were saying goodbye to their parents. Quite a few parents were already weeping, while the recruits comforted them, still caught up in the excitement of leaving home.
At the front of the open area stood several officers in camouflage uniforms, each with a captain's rank insignia on his shoulder. They were holding lists.
"Th-this... Old Zhang! Look over there! Is that guy a terrorist?"
"A terrorist? What terrorists are there these days? We live in a harmonious society. Besides, there are so many soldiers here... Wait, there really is a terrorist?"
"Oh my God, that guy's even wearing the same camouflage uniform as our kid!"
A commotion rippled through the crowd, and the orderly line quickly descended into chaos.
"It looked pretty organized from a distance. Why does it turn into a noisy, bustling market the moment you get close?"
Lü Qinglong muttered under his breath. With his slight advantage in height over the average person, he spotted the assembly point at a glance.
He strode over and joined the cluster of new recruits in camouflage uniforms.
The recruit at the end of the line thought it had suddenly gotten dark. He turned around, saw a giant grinning at him, and shuddered.
"Uh... Brother, why don't you stand in front of me?"
The recruit asked tentatively.
"We're lining up for the military roll call. Don't you have any discipline? This isn't a market where you're buying vegetables. Why would I stand in front of you?"
Lü Qinglong was baffled.
Since his father and older brother were both soldiers, he already had some idea of what military life was like and knew a little about pretty much everything.
The military valued discipline. The recruits shoving each other around like that would probably only happen before they went through New Recruit Company.
Once they'd finished New Recruit Company, this sort of thing shouldn't happen anymore.
"Uh... all right."
The recruit nodded haltingly and stood at attention, no longer looking so slovenly.
"Are you Lü Qinglong?"
A stranger's voice suddenly came from beside him. Lü Qinglong turned slightly toward it and saw a young man around twenty-seven or twenty-eight, dressed in a digital camouflage uniform.
The insignia on the man's shoulder consisted of a bar and three stars.
Lü Qinglong knew the rank. It was that of a captain, usually a company commander or Political Instructor in the military.
A captain could lead a company of roughly a hundred soldiers into battle.
"That's me. Who are you?"
"My name is Chen Tianjian. I'm the cadre in charge of your training."
"I'll be responsible for you from now on. Go stand with our Group Army's recruits."
Chen Tianjian pointed to the nearby line, which was almost full.
"Okay, thanks."
Lü Qinglong nodded and walked over to the line Chen Tianjian had indicated.
Maybe it was just his imagination, but Chen Tianjian had seemed unusually excited when he spoke to him.
It was as if he'd just seen a long-lost relative.
But the problem was, Lü Qinglong didn't know him. It was strange.
Still, strange or not, Lü Qinglong took his place at the end of the line.
The recruit who'd originally been standing at the end finally breathed a sigh of relief when Lü Qinglong walked away.
That guy was terrifying. He'd barely dared to breathe with him standing behind him.
Chen Tianjian stood at the front of his group and checked the names on his list once more.
After confirming that everything was in order, he called out:
"Parents, you can leave now. I'll take your children to the unit, where they'll go through the crucible of military life."
"Rest assured, everyone. No matter how mischievous your children are at home, I'm sure that in two years, I'll return them to you as fine, upstanding men!"
Hearing Chen Tianjian's voice and seeing the line of recruits slowly start toward the station, the parents finally let go reluctantly and watched their children set off on the path to military service.
"Mom! I'll make something of myself in the military!"
Someone in the line of recruits shouted. One after another, the others joined in.
Their shouts rang out, and the parents standing outside the line could no longer hold back their tears.
The recruits couldn't bear to look back. They quickened their pace and entered the train station.
During the days when new recruits reported for service, the station always set aside a special passageway and a designated waiting area for them.
Chen Tianjian led all the recruits into the station. Their train arrived just then, and most of them carried only a black duffel bag issued by the Armed Forces Department.
These days, most recruits did some research before enlisting.
They knew that the military provided all their food and clothing, and even issued their camouflage uniforms, so most of their bags were nearly empty.
The recruits boarded the green train one after another. Several carriages had been set aside specifically for them.
"Sit in this carriage. You can choose any seat."
Chen Tianjian led the recruits to a carriage near the rear. As soon as he finished speaking, the others hurried to find seats.
Rather than finding seats, they were really scrambling for the window seats.
They were all around the same age, mostly between eighteen and twenty-four, and quite a few were leaving home for the first time. They were excited to see the world outside.
Lü Qinglong, by contrast, was more concerned with finding a rack where he could put his black duffel bag, then sitting beneath it.
There was an empty seat nearby, with an open spot on the rack above it. Lü Qinglong put his black bag up there and dropped into the seat.
The seats on the green train were arranged in facing rows of three, with a small table in the middle.
At the far end of the row Lü Qinglong chose, a recruit sat by the window wearing headphones and happily playing on his phone.
Suddenly, he felt something pressing down beside him.
He was just about to see which guy had such a big butt that he'd squeezed in beside him despite all the empty seats.
Then he turned and saw a face that could only be described as brutal. The man's three-whites eyes, with only the tiniest sliver of dark iris showing, were fixed on him.
Before you continue