Chapter 141 - 97: Who Told You to Take Over The Post?

For half a day, Zhang Yang finally came back.

"Why isn’t the water hose on water supply vehicle No.3 replenished?"

Fang Huai naturally replied, "Squad leader, Squad Leader Xiong from car No.3 didn’t mention it, and he didn’t allow us to touch it.

However, I checked, and the left rear side roller shutter door is short of 3 reels of 80. I’ve stacked them in the equipment room, and now we can take them out to replenish.

There’s also a two-way radio beside the co-driver’s door on the vehicle, the battery display is green, but I didn’t know if it was deliberately placed there by the cadres as a spare in case they forgot to bring their own, so I didn’t take it.

I also checked the equipment area, the firefighting suits No.6 and No.17 were missing two distress signal devices, which I have replenished. Firefighting suits No.4, No.9, and No.16 are missing protective gloves in their pockets, and I don’t have anything to replenish them with.

Oh, Squad Leader, your name is on top of firefighting suit No.16."

Zhang Yang was astounded.

Damn, is this a new recruit?!

Did Squad Leader Xiong not sleep at noon? How much did he teach them?

Damn it, if he’s taught everything, what am I going to teach?

The new recruits standing nearby began to admire Fang Huai in their hearts.

Fang Huai really did what he said he would! During the time they were resting, he actually got so much done!

And sentence by sentence, he had rendered the first-class soldier speechless!

Zhang Yang felt his head was numb. How come when they were new recruits, the first-class soldiers could catch every single mistake they made?

He deliberately didn’t intervene today at noon, just waiting for these new recruits to make mistakes, preferably with the squad leaders or cadres unable to bear it anymore and speaking up to take charge of them.

Unexpectedly, the entire squadron was quiet all afternoon. He couldn’t even catch a single mistake when he tried to!

No, he had to single out this Fang Huai first!

Thinking this, Zhang Yang went for another round at the guard pavilion.

When he came back, he wore a smile, "Fang Huai, at three o’clock this afternoon, you’re on Captain Zhao’s duty post; he has something to do later, go change your clothes and stand in for him for a bit!

Squad Leader Xiong must be tired from taking you all this noon, eh? Later, Squad Leader Qi and I will take you to do some physical training!"

The new recruits felt a shiver down their spines.

Damn, on a big Saturday, have they no humanity?

Just then, a whistle blew.

"Assemble downstairs!"

Zhang Yang hadn’t expected an assembly today on Saturday either, so he just stood to the side.

Fang Huai became alert as well. This guy had a good brain, sidelining him and focusing on the other three was indeed a strategy.

There were two guard pavilions at the entrance of the squadron.

One was for standing guard, a transparent case, revealing everything inside.

The other was for sitting guard, similar to a security room.

During the daytime, starting from eight in the morning, it was standing guard, and after six in the evening, it switched to sitting guard.

The standard for standing guard: standing at attention with legs apart, and to shift feet was simply to stand at attention.

The standing guard pavilion had cameras, and the inspection came from the Detachment. They didn’t differentiate between old soldiers and new recruits - failing to stand properly meant an official report all the same.

On a big weekend, no old soldier wanted to stand stiffly for an hour in broad daylight.

But in roles like Special Duty, where discipline was strict, it wasn’t easy for old soldiers to speak out.

For Zhang Yang to propose taking over the guard post himself, the labor was his, yet the old soldiers would have to commend him for understanding duty.

Plus, once he took over the post, he couldn’t pass it off. During rest times, it was not easy for new recruits to call old soldiers to stand guard.

The old soldiers, playing games or on the phone, if you called on them, you might even get scolded.

What, if Captain Zhao helps on the post, does that mean I, Squad Leader Wang, am no longer a squad leader?

You might end up standing the whole afternoon.

Killing several birds with one stone.

Fang Huai thought about it and smiled.

However, matters like these also had to be timed right.

First, they mustn’t delay the training of the new recruits.

Second, this shouldn’t be discussed openly, making it too apparent; if the squadron leaders saw, they were bound to scold somebody.

Plus, with over twenty old soldiers in the squadron and only four new recruits still in training, it was impossible to cover all shifts.

Any old soldier standing guard would question: Why should I abide by the rules, and I didn’t call a new recruit to stand guard, what gives you the right to do so?

Unless there was official business, it could only be done quietly.

...

Three minutes later, all the old soldiers of the squadron had come down.

Seeing the new recruits already standing in a row downstairs, both the old soldiers and the cadres expressed moderate satisfaction.

When Squad Leader Xiong arrived, he turned to Fang Huai and asked, "Were the water hoses collected at noon?"

"All collected, Squad Leader! We checked the garage and personal equipment as well!" Fang Huai said loudly.

The surrounding old soldiers all looked over.

Squad Leader Xiong also showed a hint of surprise, "Oh? What items did you check?"

Fang Huai stood at attention, "Reporting, Squad Leader! Distress signal devices, belts, firefighting gloves; two distress signal devices were missing, now replenished, three pairs of gloves missing, not replenished, belts..."

After a report of just under a minute, he finished reporting all the missing personal equipment and vehicle water hoses in the garage.

"Hey, not bad! Squad Leader Xiong, you sure are quick on the uptake!"

"Did you learn everything on the first day?"

Squad Leader Xiong kept waving his hands, "I really didn’t teach them! Maybe Fang Huai learned it in the new recruit group?"

Everyone was somewhat disbelieving, just laughing off the idea and thinking Xiong Jie wanted to set himself apart from last year’s Zhao Jinchen in the work of training new recruits.

Instructor Cao harbored some speculations in his heart.

With how Equipment Technician Hao Chengbin valued Fang Huai, to him, it wouldn’t be surprising if Fang Huai could recite the parameters of a hydraulic engine.

But deep down, he felt a pang of admiration.

"Hmm... Not bad."

The voice wasn’t loud, but everyone heard it.

Ye Jiahong also turned around and said with a smile,

"Today, let’s skip the formation and get straight to the point. This year, ah, our squadron has undergone a major reshuffle.

It’s not just four new recruits who have arrived at our Second Squad, but also seven old soldiers transferred from other squadrons.

Today, the personnel are finally considered replenished for us, and the last one, Squad Leader Hao Chengbin, has also gone to handle his transfer and will arrive soon.

I’ve been thinking, even though it’s the weekend, we still need to establish our Special Duty team spirit.

Don’t always flock to the computer room every weekend! There are no wives inside those computers!

I want to particularly mention this, Liu Jianfeng, Zhang Kai!

The two of you playing "Audition," be cautious with your online romances!

If you find an online scammer, those who specialize in deceiving people online, you don’t even know if they’re male or female behind the internet cable, they’ll at most scam one of you!

But if you post your military uniform photos online and attract the attention of spies, if they chat a bit more with you, no matter what you discuss, once it’s discovered, it’s the entire squadron that will bear the consequences!

Don’t think that spies are only after secret information—just because our firefighting is not a frontline combat unit doesn’t mean we can let down our guard!

Things are not that primitive nowadays! With the prevalence of the internet, cultural infiltration, and the influence of public opinion are very serious!

Once you are led to say something under their guidance, and combined with your military uniform photos posted online, that becomes the source for malicious people to create negative public opinion!

But back to the main point.

I’ve discussed with Instructor Cao about the weekend plans:

This afternoon, we’ll take out the vehicles and give them a wash. An hour before the meal, we do pull-ups and gauge everyone’s physical fitness, just to get moving!

Also, there’s a sheep left from the New Year’s consolation visit to Liu Lao Er’s Villa, with two lamb legs remaining. Tonight, we’ll have a barbecue in the backyard!

Tomorrow we’ll plan some group activities!

First-class soldier, take the new recruits to prepare the labor tools! That’s it! Dismissed!"

At this, some were excited, some were sad.

"Damn, those two lamb legs, finally willing to bring them out!"

"Ah, my Shabake..."

Of course, there were also taunts for those playing "Audition":

"Hey, Liu Jianfeng, that girl who likes you, other than asking you to buy fashion, has she asked for a photo of you in your military uniform yet?"

"Zhang Kai, I told you not to join any ’families!’ And you even bought a headset, what are you doing yelling at people on YY, someday a couple of patrollers will grab your ass and throw you into confinement!"

Liu Jianfeng and Zhang Kai looked chagrined.

The new recruits continued to grow amongst suppressed laughter.

At this moment, Fang Huai seized the opportunity and headed straight into the building.

"Eh? Fang Huai, where are you going?" Xiong Jie immediately called out.

Fang Huai turned his head, with a clueless expression: "Squad leader, I’m going to take over my post."

The words were not loud.

But everybody in the squadron looked over.

Cao Yi had his hands on his back: "Every morning at eight o’clock we draw up the guard schedule, and you guys just arrived after ten, so there’s no way you’re on it, what post are you taking over?"

Zhang Yang’s face darkened.

He had just been laughing uproariously at the mention of "Audition" by Captain Ye. Liu Jianfeng was a year ahead of them, an old first-class soldier when they were new recruits and often played tricks on them.

Seeing Liu Jianfeng being ridiculed, he was over the moon with joy, and he was quietly making fun of Liu Jianfeng with Qi Xiaohui when he forgot about his assignment for Fang Huai to stand guard.

Unexpectedly, Fang Huai brought it up in front of everyone.

"Instructor, Squad Leader Zhang just said the squad leader behind has something to do and asked me to stand in for a bit... am I not standing guard now?" Fang Huai said, feigning confusion.

"Which Squad Leader Zhang? What’s the matter?" Cao Yi asked.

"Squad Leader Zhang Yang."

Zhao Jinchen stepped forward, frowning:

"The next shift is mine, when did I tell you to stand in for me?"

Fang Huai shook his head: "Report, squad leader, I don’t know, it was Squad Leader Zhang who told me to go."

His gaze met Zhang Yang’s, with not a hint of avoidance.

Zhao Jinchen had already caught on but merely sneered and said nothing.

Zhang Yang might have arranged for the new recruit to stand guard without his permission, but he wouldn’t scold him; however, he wouldn’t take the blame for Zhang Yang’s own mess either.

Yet this Fang Huai kid was turning out to be quite the trickster.

Cao Yi arched his eyebrows and turned to look at Zhang Yang:

"Squad Leader Zhang, are you the duty squad leader now? Who gave you the authority to assign guard duty? How come I wasn’t aware of that?"

Ye Jiahong also scoffed: "Giving yourself powers, huh! Squad Leader Zhang, you might as well arrange someone to take over my shift tomorrow and grant me leave so I can go home."

The two squadron leaders’ sarcastically chased each other’s tails with their acidic comments, one after the other.

Zhang Yang clenched his back teeth.

Throughout this half-day since the new recruits arrived, not a single thing had gone his way, and he found himself caught off guard time and again.

Still retaining a bit of temper, he spoke up loudly:

"Fang Huai, you... you’re doing this on purpose, right? When did I tell you to stand guard?"

Zhang Yang intended to clarify that this kid was intentionally mocking him in front of others.

"Just a few minutes ago, squad leader," Fang Huai persistently replied truthfully, countering every point.

It drove Zhang Yang mad, making him blow his top.

Zhang Yang took several deep breaths to compose himself and continued to question Fang Huai:

"What did the captain instruct the new recruits to do just now? Why did you deliberately go to take over the post?"

But Fang Huai casually replied, "I wanted to ask you that before, but you were deeply engaged in discussing ’Audition.’ I didn’t want to bother you."

Another stab.

At that, Liu Jianfeng’s gaze also became hostile.

Zhang Yang, you dare to laugh at me?