Chapter 100 - 58: Damn, where’s the squad leader?

No one got recorded, disciplined.

It was as if the whole thing had never happened.

The main reason was still due to a person everyone had overlooked — Advisor Zhang.

This guy had just brought back the first batch of new recruits when he felt a cold outside, casually spent a couple of hours at a staircase corner, whispering sweet nothings on the phone with his girlfriend as he waited for the new recruits to return.

He was too jubilant stewing his pot of phone porridge. With just his mouth, he brewed up fantasies of houses, cars, and cash for his girlfriend, while the new recruits ended up watching a great show and then getting thrashed.

He too had lost track of time.

Not until he hung up the phone and realized it was already past eleven, and the people hadn’t returned, did he start to feel that something was off.

Arriving at the playground, a bunch of new recruits were already sweating profusely.

Finding out about the recent fight, this young cadre, the rotating highest leader of the new recruit extra drill class, first thought was a headache, second was to dodge responsibility.

So he suggested having a heart-to-heart with the three fighters, reaching a resolution.

To put it colloquially, settling it privately.

That term seems laughable in the military, but it appeared to be a solution that would be good for everyone.

Hence, after all the other new recruits had gone back to rest, Fang Huai, Zhang Yizhang, and Yue Tao were left behind on the playground. Advisor Zhang handed each one a cigarette and continued to prattle on until almost midnight.

He talked about the troops, harmony, and eventually even touched on morals.

Linking past and present, blending reality with fiction, he was indeed an eloquent speaker, no wonder he had a girlfriend.

It wasn’t until the three sweat-soaked men began to feel the chill of the wind and their drowsiness that Advisor Zhang tentatively asked a question.

Would you be willing to apologize to each other and shake hands, making peace?

Willing willing willing.

Sorry sorry sorry.

Couldn’t you have said that earlier and be done with it?

The three fighters no longer cared about any grudges; they just wanted to wrap things up quickly and go back to sleep. If by doing so, they could avoid a report and criticism the next day, then it was an excellent outcome.

Even Fang Huai was starting to feel a little worn out.

He always thought highly of himself, after all, he had endured so much before joining the military, but when the usual evening exercises became a norm once again, he felt it was just as unbearable as the first time he faced them.

Just two words described it, damn hard.

Discomfort was something you never genuinely get used to — think you can, and a little complacency, long or short, will slacken that tightly wound nerve back to its original laxity.

...

The wee hours, 4 AM.

"Fang Huai, there’s an emergency at home... I need to take a leave! Take care of the squad while I’m gone, do you hear me?"

"Hmm..."

Fang Huai was drowsy, feeling like he was in a dream.

...

5:30 AM.

The new recruits slept especially well today.

Not until a long crow from a nearby farmhouse did Fang Huai suddenly open his eyes and glance out the window.

Oh my god, the sky was light blue.

Fang Huai sat up at once.

"Damn... why didn’t the alarm go off? Wake up, wake up!"

Usually, Fang Huai would rise at 4:30 AM and was also responsible for waking everyone else. If he didn’t wake up, there was one last line of defense — Squad Leader Hao’s mobile phone alarm.

Its volume was exceptional—"Perfume Is Poisonous". If that song played, it meant 5 AM, and Squad Leader Hao would then get up, check on everyone’s waking status, then go back to sleep until six.

Too tired today, they overslept, and Squad Leader Hao’s phone didn’t ring either.

The moment Fang Huai got up, he felt a rush of anxiety so intense it almost gave him a nosebleed.

The new recruits jumped up one after another.

Lu Zexian got up in his cotton pants barefoot, glanced at the little clock on the desk, and cried out in shock, "Damn... how’s it already 5:30?"

Peng Yingqirui sat up and rubbed his eyes, "I just woke up... the squad leader is not here... I thought we had a day off... then fell back asleep."

Yue Tao immediately sat up, took a look and exclaimed, "Damn, where’s the squad leader?"

Fang Huai held his head to clear his mind and collect his thoughts before he said languidly.

"Ah... The squad leader seems to have an emergency, he took a leave. He told me before he left. Get up and tidy up the Internal Affairs! I’ll go ask the Company Leader in a bit!

Don’t slack off, damn it, the squad leader might be back any minute!

Internal Affairs as usual! The Regiment Department might decide not this weekend for the inspection — soldiers should never be complacent!"

Fang Huai had already remembered that the squad leader had taken a leave to go home, his place was in Jiangxi, and just flying there and back would take at least two days. But he needed to keep these rookie new recruits calm, so for now, he had to cajole them.

Realizing this, Fang Huai quickly got up urging everyone.

"Fold the blankets and have them on the bed in 40 minutes. Then start cleaning, quick quick quick!"

He busied himself.

In the meantime, Fang Huai contemplated whether there had ever been something like this in his past life.

After thinking for a long while, he realized he didn’t recall it at all.

Back then, whether his own squad leader ever took leave, he had no memory of it, and Hao Chengbin was from another squad, so how would he know?

Anyway... the big squad leader drill demonstration for the whole regiment was led by Squad Leader Hao.

Memory enhancement... still quite useful, huh. If he could recall more details from his past life, not only could he gain merit and money, but he could also foresee many things and prevent them before they happen.

Thinking deeply, the description of memory enhancement was "Yesterday’s every event is like today’s occurrence", which definitely had to have a recollection function.

He found he had always underestimated the effect of this memory enhancement. If he could "re-live" the memories from his past life, it would be akin to foreseeing the future!

What was this? It was tantamount to being reborn with a database!

No need to rush for leg enhancement, better keep training on his own for now.

From now on, I must definitely not choose strength enhancement first just because I fear hardship; memory enhancement should always be my priority whenever it’s available.

Ever since I was reborn, I’ve always chosen immediate gains; those rewards that would take a long time to see effects, I’d put off until later. It’s like a starving person who doesn’t care whether it’s seeds or grains in front of them—they will eat their fill first and deal with the immediate problem.

What if there’s a limit to the number of rewards and the tasks become increasingly scarce? Will I regret it later?

As I was thinking, a voice came through.

"Hey, Fang Huai, do you think Battalion Commander Zhang will come over and beat us up now that our squad leader is gone?" Yue Tao asked, excitedly remembering yesterday’s incident.

Before Fang Huai could respond, Zhao Bing stopped what he was doing and turned around, pointing at Yue Tao with a look of frustration.

"Hey, Yue Tao! I was helping you out yesterday! And you just betrayed me like that! Because of you, I got scolded by the squad leader too! You dumbass!"

The other new recruits also stopped what they were doing and listened to their conversation with gossip-hungry faces.

Yue Tao chuckled sheepishly, "I was afraid the squad leader would say we weren’t united! Doesn’t the squad leader always talk about unity? What if I said you didn’t help and the squad leader accused you of not understanding unity?"

Zhao Bing’s face twitched, but hearing Yue Tao say this, his anger subsided somewhat, and he responded, a bit speechlessly.

"And you’re worried about Fang Huai? Did you not see how badly Advisor Zhang got hit by Fang Huai yesterday? If anyone’s going to get hit, it’s you!"

"Damn, you guys fought yesterday? Battalion Commander Zhang got hit by you too?" Lu Zexian said, ecstatically pulling out a small stool from under the bed.

Fang Huai coughed lightly and said, "A minor conflict, nothing so exaggerated. Yue Tao, Zhao Bing, don’t talk nonsense. The rest of you, focus on your Internal Affairs!"

These two don’t think before they speak. It took great effort to downplay the situation, but if they keep on spreading it, and it gets blown out of proportion, what then?

Without the squad leader here to keep things under control, what will we do if things get out of hand?

"Damn... Fang Huai, tell us..." Everyone was curious.

Fang Huai turned his head and said, annoyed, "We’ll talk when the squad leader is back!"

"Ah... If only I had applied..." The little guy said, regretfully.

Aside from sleeping, he loved gossip the most.

Fang Huai looked back and, imitating the squad leader’s characteristic smirk, said, "No worries, there’s still time. But remember, yesterday we did push-ups for at least 40 minutes, and training will probably be even more intense from now on. Any of you interested in signing up? I can help you late-register."

No sooner had he finished speaking.

"Damn, I don’t want to hear it."

"Hurry up, get on with the Internal Affairs."

The most exaggerated one, that little guy, didn’t say anything and just turned around to vigorously rub his blanket on the bed.

Fang Huai bellowed, "Rub the blankets properly, take them off the bed to rub!"

"Rub on the floor, rub on the floor."

Obediently, the little guy took his blanket and started rubbing it on the floor.

...

Fang Huai had not gone to the Brigade Department yet when Liang Longhui arrived.

After looking around, he pointed directly at Zhao Bing and said, "Your squad leader has taken leave, as there’s been a death in the family. He will be away for a few days. Well... Zhao Bing! You’ll temporarily take the squad leader’s place, looking after your squad’s Internal Affairs!

As for training, Squad Leader Pan will take over!"

We all looked at each other, an odd look in our eyes.

Damn, is he really on leave?

Zhao Bing is in charge? What does that mean?

Zhao Bing was a bit dazed and said.

"Instructor... we have a Deputy Squad Leader! I don’t know how to handle this! You... you should ask Fang Huai!"

Liang Longhui immediately stood with hands behind his back, a stern expression on his face.

"Work is work. If you don’t know how to do it, you have to learn! Isn’t Fang Huai busy? Writing songs and training, when would he have time to manage the squad? You don’t have to worry too much! Most of it will be arranged by Squad Leader Pan! Anything you don’t know, Fang Huai will teach you!"

Having said that, he closed the door and left.

We all exchanged glances and then looked at Fang Huai.

The Instructor’s words seemed to have a targeted implication.

If Fang Huai was too busy to be the Deputy Squad Leader, how could he have time to teach Zhao Bing?

"Haha," Fang Huai stretched out his arms, lay back on the bed, and laughed looking at the bed slat above.

"Now I’m really free!"

This Instructor is really taking any opportunity he gets!

Fang Huai thought.

He’s such a sly one, probably not much bigger than the eye of a needle, not really cut out to be an Instructor, maybe better suited to be a storekeeper.

And having me teach Zhao Bing, that’s thinking outside the box alright, molding a Deputy Squad Leader in the new recruit group within three months?

And if something goes wrong, it would be my fault for not teaching him well, right?

Fang Huai thought about it; the squad leader probably wouldn’t be away for too long, so he reluctantly smiled and said, "Alright, Zhao Bing, since the squad leader is not here, listen to the Instructor. Make sure you keep the squad in line, and don’t worry, I’ll support you."

With just one sentence from the Instructor, Big Squad Leader Fang was relieved from his duties.

"No way, Fang Huai, you have to take charge! How can I manage them?" Zhao Bing, looking worried, walked over to Fang Huai’s bedside.

"I just said it, didn’t I? Time off! The squad leader’s not here, we start getting up at 5:30 am!" Peng Yingqirui said excitedly.

"Yeah! We can get up later!" Everyone agreed.

Fang Huai, without lifting his head, pointed in Peng Yingqirui’s direction.

"What did you say? Say it again? You think the squad leader isn’t coming back, is that it?

I tell you guys, you heartless bunch, the squad leader’s family member has passed away, and not a single one of you is concerned? All you ever think about is sleep, sleep, sleep!"

With those words, silence finally fell over the squad room.

Yue Tao also looked a bit saddened, "You guys think... it must be an older family member who’s passed, right? The squad leader isn’t even thirty, it can’t be his parents."

"Impossible, it must be a grandpa or grandma, or maybe his father-in-law or mother-in-law." Chen Zhongqiang said confidently.

"Damn, if it had been his parents who died, the squad leader would be so upset," the little guy also rarely fell into sorrow.

"Shut your damn crow’s mouth!"