The scorching sun blazed overhead at the Armored Brigade training ground.
The recruits of the mechanized infantry First Company stood in formation at the center of the training ground, neatly dressed and holding a perfect military attention stance.
At the front of the formation, Squad Leader Liu Chang paced back and forth with his hands clasped behind his back.
His sharp features and steely expression made him look every inch the ruthless Drill Instructor.
At that moment, his face was as dark as the bottom of a pot. He swept his gaze over the rows of recruits below, growing more irritated with every look, the anger in his chest flaring higher and higher.
“Lift your legs! Tuck in your stomach! Pull your chin in slightly! Why are you all hanging your heads? Still half asleep?”
Liu Chang abruptly stopped and barked at them. His booming voice made every recruit stiffen.
“You can’t even hold a proper military attention stance! Your formation is a sloppy mess, and you wobble at the slightest movement, like you don’t have any bones! The old lady at the gate stands straighter than you do! I’ve led so many troops, and I’ve never seen a bunch with such a lousy foundation!”
The recruits were all too cowed to speak. None dared look up and meet his gaze.
Seeing them like this only made Liu Chang angrier.
“A bunch of useless fools! What’s wrong with you? Lost every last drop of piss in your bodies? Huh?”
Liu Chang cursed them in exasperation, but still no one dared raise their head.
Just then, at the far right of the formation, Wang Chong, standing among the second-year soldiers, couldn’t help muttering under his breath to the soldier beside him, “To put it plainly… Squad Leader just feels empty inside because Lin Yi left the military. Now nobody can do anything right in his eyes.”
“You said it…” one of the second-year soldiers muttered in agreement.
Whoosh!
Liu Chang’s gaze was as sharp as a blade. He abruptly turned to look at Wang Chong.
“Wang Chong!”
He snorted and asked, “What did you just say? Repeat it loudly!”
Wang Chong shuddered, his scalp prickling. With no choice but to steel himself, he stepped out of formation and stood at attention. “Reporting, Squad Leader! I said you just think we can’t measure up to Lin Yi! Lin Yi left the military, and you couldn’t bear to see him go, so no matter how we train, nothing we do looks right to you!”
Liu Chang exploded on the spot, eyes wide. “Bullshit! You think I couldn’t bear to see that little punk go?”
“Damn it, he spent six years in the military and caused me trouble for all six of them! You think I couldn’t bear to see him go? Bullshit! Wang Chong, you’re really asking for—”
“Ahem.”
Before he could finish, a soft cough rang out.
Liu Chang immediately fell silent and turned toward the sound.
Then he shouted, “Everyone! Attention! At ease! Resume your posture training. Anyone who moves out of turn will get an extra hour!”
He immediately spun around, came to a halt, and saluted. “Deputy Company Commander!”
The person who had arrived was Zhao Minghui.
Zhao Minghui gave a slight nod. His gaze remained impassive as it settled on Liu Chang’s collar, and he frowned. “Your collar is crooked.”
Liu Chang instinctively reached up to touch it. Sure enough, it was crooked.
He couldn’t help smiling wryly to himself. As expected of Zhao Minghui, the company’s most famous neat freak.
Liu Chang didn’t dare waste time. He quickly straightened his collar and smoothed out the wrinkles.
“Reporting, Company Commander! Uniform corrected!”
Only then did Zhao Minghui look away, his expression returning to normal. “I just received word from Brigade Headquarters. Yancheng No. 1 High School needs us to send Key Personnel to handle military training for its new students.”
“Your First Platoon is the main Dagger Platoon, and your Key Personnel have a solid foundation. I came to ask whether you have anyone suitable to recommend.”
Liu Chang answered almost without thinking. “Reporting, Company Commander! Lin Yi is my first choice! That kid is the bes—”
Before he could finish, his whole body suddenly stiffened.
Liu Chang slowly lowered his hand, which had been raised in midair, and scratched the back of his head. “I forgot… heh, that kid just left today.”
Zhao Minghui smiled, his tone tinged with understanding. “Judging by this, you really couldn’t bear to see him go.”
Liu Chang let out a long sigh. “To be honest, I really couldn’t.”
“That kid really was a troublemaker—the biggest handful in the entire company. He caused me trouble every day and gave me headaches every few days.”
“But I have to admit, he was a genuinely good soldier.”
Liu Chang gazed across the training ground. “That kid served for six years and had a wealth of experience. Sometimes, when new recruits arrived, he’d take them under his wing himself. I barely had to lift a finger.”
“Sigh, I really do miss him.”
Zhao Minghui rolled his eyes. “You don’t miss him. You miss having him lead your troops for you!”
“Heh…” Liu Chang gave a dry laugh, his gaze drifting toward the military unit’s gate.
As he stared, he seemed to see someone walking toward him, one step at a time: a man wearing a big red flower and carrying a pack, his face full of misery, as if the whole world owed him a fortune.
But when he looked again, there was no one there.
He pressed his lips together and sighed.
“Did you see Lin Yi?” Zhao Minghui asked quietly.
Liu Chang nodded. “Yeah, Deputy Company Commander. That kid always came back the same day after leaving before. Has he really left for good this time?”
“What else? Were you really hoping he’d come back?” Zhao Minghui asked.
Liu Chang looked conflicted. “Well, it’s probably better that he left. At least he won’t have to suffer in the military. Given his family’s circumstances, he’ll do just fine out there, with more than enough to eat and wear.”
“Exactly. Here we are worrying about him, when for all we know, that kid’s out enjoying himself right now.” Zhao Minghui snorted.
Hearing Zhao Minghui’s tone, Liu Chang glanced up at him and tentatively asked, “Deputy Company Commander, you couldn’t bear to see him go either, could you?”
Zhao Minghui’s eyes sharpened. “Bullshit! I couldn’t wait for him to leave!”
Liu Chang seized the chance to tease him. “If you wanted him gone so badly, then with all your daily duties and military affairs to handle, why come all the way to our training ground over a trivial military-training assignment? Couldn’t you have just sent word through the duty officer?”
Zhao Minghui’s expression darkened slightly, then the corners of his mouth lifted. His tone was meaningful. “Lao Liu, I think you’re wasting your talents in First Company.”
Liu Chang: “???”
Zhao Minghui said evenly, “The combat engineer repair company at Brigade Headquarters is short on Key Personnel. That’s where you’d be best suited to put your abilities to use.”
At that, Liu Chang immediately waved both hands frantically. “No, no, no! Company Commander! I’m doing great in First Company. I’m not wasting my talents at all! I love First Company, I’m committed to my post, and I absolutely refuse to transfer!”
You’ve got to be kidding! The combat engineer repair company!
That was the universally recognized hell assignment in the Entire Brigade, ranked number one for hardship and exhaustion. Everyone else tried to avoid it. Who would volunteer to go there?
Zhao Minghui wasn’t promoting him. He was damn well twisting the knife and warning him not to run his mouth!
Lin Yi had told him before that Zhao Minghui looked serious and stern, but was actually devious to the extreme and best at messing with people without letting it show.
You had to hand it to him: that kid Lin Yi was truly good at reading people.
Zhao Minghui said calmly, “Good. If you know enough to value your post, then do your job properly. Don’t spend all day getting lost in your thoughts and gossiping. Give some thought to who to send for military training, and report the names to me by this evening.”
“Yes! I guarantee the mission will be completed!” Liu Chang immediately straightened up and gave a crisp salute.
Zhao Minghui said no more. He turned and walked away.
Only after Zhao Minghui had disappeared into the distance did Liu Chang let out a long breath.
But soon, another question surfaced in his mind.
So, who should he send?
Thinking this, he turned to look at the second-year veteran soldiers training in formation.