Due to the settlement area being cleared, Gu Chengyuan decided to give the soldiers a day off.
Although these soldiers were products of the system, apart from their absolute loyalty to him, they were no different from ordinary people and could also experience psychological issues.
Without professional psychological counselors, Gu Chengyuan could only let the soldiers relax by giving them a holiday.
So the next day, Gu Chengyuan allowed the soldiers to sleep in until ten in the morning before blowing the wake-up whistle, letting them sleep well and replenish their energy after several days of high-intensity combat.
Then, except for the necessary personnel on duty, the other soldiers could freely engage in activities at the gymnasium next to the dormitory.
The gymnasium at Yezhou University had three floors, with an indoor area the size of three football fields, including a table tennis hall, basketball hall, badminton hall, volleyball hall, gym, climbing hall, and martial arts hall...
With so many venues, each soldier could find an activity they were interested in.
And after Cai Anxin learned about Gu Chengyuan's rest plan yesterday afternoon, he worked overnight with his team to collect entertainment props, turning the taekwondo hall covered with mats into a game room.
Inside were many board games collected from the girls' dormitory, including chess, Go, military chess, Monopoly, Werewolf, and Three Kingdoms Kill.
They even collected ten laptops with built-in single-player games, creating a small game room.
Gu Chengyuan, dressed in a jungle-colored combat uniform and wearing more comfortable sneakers, strolled through the gymnasium, his pant legs casually untucked.
He was accompanied by Cai Anxin, Secretary Jin, and Lu Shengfu, the head of the Supervision Department.
"Commander Gu, look, this is what we set up overnight for the soldiers to rest."
"You see this bathroom, originally equipped with shower facilities for the soldiers to wash up after exercise, but due to the water outage, it was unusable."
"Last night during the setup meeting, Secretary Jin suggested transporting water to the rooftop tank and modifying the water pipe routes with electricians, allowing these showers to be used again."
Hearing this, Gu Chengyuan turned on a shower faucet and found that water indeed came out.
"Not bad, not bad, Secretary Jin is quite resourceful."
Secretary Jin, upon hearing this, was excited, bowing repeatedly, "Commander Gu, you can just call me Little Jin. I must thank Commander Gu for providing this platform, and it's thanks to President Cai's usual guidance that I have the opportunity to use these little tricks."
"Haha, you're too modest!"
With that, Gu Chengyuan left the shower room, and Cai Anxin and the others quickly followed. Cai Anxin, half a step behind, continued to speak beside Gu Chengyuan:
"Today, inviting Commander Gu to inspect is mainly to see if there are any areas needing improvement. Firstly, the setup was rushed, and there might be omissions affecting the soldiers' rest; secondly, our local thinking is always limited and may not align with the military's intentions, so we rely on Commander Gu for guidance."
If it were before the apocalypse, seeing the head of Hongtu Group, Cai Anxin, acting so humbly towards a company commander would have been jaw-dropping.
But times have changed. It's been nearly a week since the apocalypse broke out, with no official actions or even news, forcing smart people like Cai Anxin to sense something unusual.
That is, it might truly be the apocalypse!
Previously, he respected but wasn't so humble, thinking he just needed to rely on Gu Chengyuan's protection temporarily, hence the respect.
But now, it seems that whatever happens in the future might depend on this young man in front of him.
So he quickly adjusted his mindset, and as for pride and dignity, for a big shot who climbed up from the bottom, those are for show when in power, not for climbing up.
Who doesn't bend when climbing a mountain?
So even when facing Gu Chengyuan, who was nearly three decades younger, with humility like a servant, he felt no psychological burden.
And although Lu Shengfu, watching from the side, felt disdain, looking down on a big boss with no integrity, he admitted he would also want to curry favor if given the chance.
But unfortunately, the Supervision Department, although involved in everything, has no say before anything happens, making it hard for him to join the conversation and make an impression.
He could only laugh when everyone else laughed, look when everyone else looked, playing the role of a background character.
"Attention!"
"Hello, Commander!"
When they arrived at the game room, as soon as Gu Chengyuan appeared, a soldier saw him and shouted for attention, and the other soldiers quickly stood up and greeted him in unison.
"No need to mind me, everyone continue playing, I'm just here to see how everyone is resting," Gu Chengyuan said casually, waving his hand.
Although he said so, the other soldiers still looked at him with respect. Gu Chengyuan didn't mind and walked around the game room, checking what games were being played on the computers.
"Oh, Guangqiang is still playing Red Alert, and Kun'er too, are you two teaming up?"
"No, no, Commander, Li Kun and I are just playing casually."
"Which of you is better, huh? Kun'er?"
Li Kun, seeing Gu Chengyuan looking at him, pulled a nervous smile on his acne-marked chubby face, "Well... I'm... I'm a bit better."
Hearing this, Pu Guangqiang immediately protested.
"Commander, Li Kun is bragging, I just beat him!"
Being refuted like this, Li Kun's expression became more awkward, stammering, "Just... just now I let you win! You tricked me into thinking you didn't know how to play."
Afraid the soldiers wouldn't relax, Gu Chengyuan didn't stay long and left. Passing by the basketball hall, he saw a few soldiers playing but didn't go in, suddenly remembering something.
"President Cai!"
"Yes, Commander, any instructions?"
"Don't call me President Cai anymore, that was before the apocalypse. You saved my life, and as the ancients said, a life-saving grace should be repaid with one's life! You probably don't want this old body of mine, but just call me Old Cai! Calling me President Cai is too much for me!"
Cai Anxin finally retained some integrity, not asking Gu Chengyuan, who was over thirty years younger, to call him Little Cai.
"Haha, then I'll call you Old Cai, it's more intimate that way."
"Yes, yes, Commander, your instructions!"
"It's not really an instruction, just a thought I had seeing the soldiers exercising."
"You see, with the apocalypse, the threats to human survival have suddenly increased, and I feel it's very necessary to improve the personal physical fitness of survivors! After all, zombies don't compete with us in brains; you can't eliminate them by sitting in an office, making a few plans, or doing a few PPTs."
"So we still need to improve the physical fitness of survivors, not to make them fight like soldiers, but at least to increase their survival rate! We can't lose our sense of crisis! Who knows what the situation will be like in the future!"
Seeing the worried look on Gu Chengyuan's face, Cai Anxin also agreed deeply. With the apocalypse, the mode of human survival has profoundly changed; it's no longer a peaceful era where you can survive with just your brains!
"Rest assured, Commander Gu, I'll gather the team for a meeting to come up with a specific and feasible plan to enhance the survivors' physique!"
"Mm, I trust you to handle it!"
As the two spoke in front, Lu Shengfu suddenly noticed a student running over, standing not far away, looking hesitant as if wanting to say something, but Gu Chengyuan and the others clearly didn't notice.
Lu Shengfu immediately waved him over, and after some inquiry, learned that the cafeteria meals were ready, and they were afraid the taste would be affected if left too long, so they came to call the leaders for a meal.
"Alright, I understand, I'll handle it," Lu Shengfu gave the student a reassuring look.
The student, hearing this, looked grateful. He had been anxious, somewhat afraid to speak to the leaders, and now that this tricky task was off his hands, he was visibly relieved.
"Thank you, senior!"
"No problem, this is something a senior should handle, we're all from the same school," Lu Shengfu smiled warmly, and the student's goodwill towards him instantly soared.
Watching the grateful student run off, Lu Shengfu felt a bit of pity; some people see opportunities as problems.
After a slight adjustment, he put on a special smile reserved for school leaders and slowly approached.
Standing half a step behind Gu Chengyuan, he stopped, bowed slightly, and with a respectful demeanor, like an elegant butler, he spoke:
"Commander Gu, I'm Little Lu, the cafeteria is ready, shall we..."