"The rules and regulations for military training that the school's teachers and leaders explained to us never said we weren't allowed to bring food and drinks."
Wang Yan took two steps forward and emerged from the very back.
"This is militarized management. You came here to endure hardship, not to—"
Instructor Zhang Chi did not get to finish before Wang Yan cut him off.
"Instructor, what exactly counts as hardship? Even in the army, you're made to endure the hardship of training, not the hardship of eating poorly. I heard there's very little meat in the meals here—sometimes none at all—and you only get some food and drinks when school leaders and teachers come to visit on the tenth day.
"But at the same time, there's a shady shop on this base selling things at outrageous prices. A bottle of Lao Gan Ma costs twenty yuan, and a pack of Yuxi costs fifty. Now you want to talk to me about militarized management and enduring hardship, and confiscate the things we brought. All after I paid two thousand yuan for military training uniforms, bedding, meals, and transportation."
"Old Wang, stop talking!" Yu Hao said.
Wang Yan ignored him. Looking at the instructors, whose expressions had turned sour, he continued, "I heard you're active-duty soldiers assigned here to assist with teaching work, and only good soldiers get sent on this kind of assignment. I'm not trying to make trouble for you. I just think this base—and perhaps certain school leaders too—are being far too shamelessly greedy.
"So let me make this clear: if you confiscate my things today, I'll call the education department, the police, the fire department, the disciplinary inspection commission... every relevant department I can think of. You don't need to hide anything. You can report this to the