Chapter 249 - 193: Coincidentally, Fang Huai is Going Too

"Squad Leader, are we still going in? The newcomers don’t seem friendly."

"Let’s go, if they’re plotting to take us down in there, suddenly walking in would make things awkward, wouldn’t it?"

"Let’s go, let’s go."

"Wei Lijie, we’re not going in after all, off we go!"

Hao Chengbin and Fang Huai stood at the door, taking turns to speak, and they were very loud about it.

But nobody moved.

It was just a wooden door, what was said inside and outside was no different from whispering in someone’s ear.

As soon as they spoke outside, it instantly went quiet inside.

Judging from the cacophony and the sound of furniture moving about before, the people inside must now be frozen in place, clearly uncomfortable.

After a while, the door finally opened.

A dark head peeked out, locking eyes with the three people outside.

"Wei Lijie...who are they..."

Hao Chengbin smiled, "The f*cking Provincial Brigade."

The dark head froze for three seconds.

"Heh, Squad Leader, your regiment’s dorm isn’t here."

A voice from inside called out, "Zhou Shicheng, let them in, will you!"

Wei Lijie didn’t hesitate, pushing the door open and entering.

"Squad Leader, come in and have a seat, this is our dorm."

Hao Chengbin didn’t say anything else and upon entering, saw seven or eight people sitting right by the door on a bed, which had its boards removed and several ropes hanging from the frame, tied in knots that even Fang Huai couldn’t make sense of.

Knot tying, aside from a dozen or so required knots that must be mastered, was nothing more than a toy for Firefighters to entertain themselves with, although some rescue specialists were quite fond of their studies.

"Ah, I thought who it might be, Squad Leader Hao! One of our own, one of our own!"

A lean second stage officer immediately stood up, offering Hao Chengbin a stool to sit on.

But Hao Chengbin just waved it off and sat down on the bed, motioning to the stool, "Fang Huai, you sit there."

"Oh, Squad Leader, does the Guiyang Regiment have new recruits this year?" The second stage officer glanced at Fang Huai’s shoulder insignia.

However, someone sitting against the wall underneath the bunk laughed, "What’s the big deal? I wear my new recruit insignia every time I come for the competition, been doing it for four years!

It’s about adhering to the training standards of a new recruit at all times, strictly demanding from oneself! Our Regimental commander even praised me for it!

Hey, brother, you learned that from me, right?"

Fang Huai looked closely and saw the man was also wearing a new recruit insignia, but it was the old, bulky kind.

Standing up, Fang Huai smiled and shook his head, pointing at his own new-style soft shoulder insignia and said, "Squad Leader, I’m a real Soldier."

This caught quite a few people off guard.

Seizing the moment, Wei Lijie explained:

"This is a Soldier brought by our Squad Leader Hao to have a look at you elites!

Squad Leader Hao is an old squad leader from Anshun Special Duty and has just been transferred to Guiyang Special Duty as an Equipment Technician this year. When we were new recruits, it was Squad Leader Hao who taught us all about the equipment."

The second stage officer holding the stool added, "Squad Leader Hao was also the squad leader for the new recruits in my company!"

With that, several non-commissioned officers from other regiments who were gathered there stood up, their hostility from before dissipating.

Old squad leaders, especially those who have led soldiers for many years, are generally respected by all.

Hao Chengbin, feeling quite at home, turned and asked, "On credit, didn’t your Special Service Squadron send four people? Why just the two of you?"

At that, everyone laughed and looked at the second stage officer.

"Damn, here we go again! Squad Leader Hao, can you call me by my full name, please? I’m She Wencang!

After you left, I was finally free from people calling me ’On credit’ and now you’ve started it again!" complained the second stage officer, clearly annoyed.

Only then did Hao Chengbin smile and say, "Your name is really odd, no matter how you say it, it doesn’t sound good. ’Credit Mosquito Net’, as if one would even need to buy a mosquito net on credit. If I don’t call you ’On credit’, and instead call you ’Mosquito Net’, it doesn’t sound good either, does it?"

Fang Huai choked back a laugh, almost unable to hold back the snort.

Christ, Squad Leader Hao’s mouth works like those bright fungi in Yunnan.

"Hahaha..."

After Hao Chengbin’s reminder, it took everyone two seconds to grasp the peculiar aspect of that name.

"Mosquito Net Squad Leader!"

"On credit! Haha!"

She Wencang turned as black as coal but helplessly shifted the topic, "Squad Leader, are you still working as an Equipment Technician in Guiyang Special Duty?"

At this, Hao Chengbin couldn’t contain a proud smile as he said, "I’m with the Second Squadron, acting as a deputy company commander."

Being a deputy company commander was a managerial role and not every squadron had one. These positions were scarce, and to have one in the Provincial Brigade’s Special Duty was highly prestigious.

No sooner had he finished speaking than one of the men sitting opposite showed interest.

"Squad Leader, Liu Shoulin, how is he doing this year? Has he improved much?"

The others also sat up straighter.

Those seated here may not represent their entire regiments, but it was no problem to say they spoke for their respective Special Duty Teams.

In literature, there’s no first place, but in martial arts, there’s no second.

If someone managed to outperform the current top standard of the Guiyang Regiment—Liu Shoulin, their chances of winning the championship would increase significantly.

Hao Chengbin laughed:

"Why are you all focussing on him? When it comes to the competition at your level, aside from training level, it’s also about how well you perform. What, you have no confidence facing Liu Shoulin? When He Zhijun returns, how will you compete?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the questioner immediately felt discontent and patted the handsome, clear-eyed second stage officer beside him, saying,

"Squad Leader, I was just asking casually! Our squadron has long been eager to have a match with He Zhijun!

But since He Zhijun isn’t here, isn’t Liu Shoulin strong in hook ladder and load-bearing climbing, claiming to be on par with He Zhijun?

This year, let’s give it a try!"

Hao Chengbin, hearing the name Lian Xu, became interested and patted Fang Huai beside him as well, saying,

"Oh? You’re Lian Xu? You’re quite good-looking, young man! I heard you became quite fierce in your second year!

Our squadron’s Fang Huai isn’t bad either!

Unfortunately, he didn’t get to participate in this competition! How about it, could you teach him a thing or two?"

Everyone else looked at each other at these words.

Damn, even if Lian Xu became awesome in his second year, he only participated in the Detachment’s competition. Now in his third year, he’s moved up to the whole corps’ arena. You send a new recruit to challenge him, for what, exactly?

Lian Xu stood up, smiling, "Squad Leader, I still have to compete tomorrow. I need to rest today."

The others also started to get a hint of Hao Chengbin’s scheme, chuckling, "Squad Leader, you’re too wicked! The competition is tomorrow, and you send a new recruit who isn’t competing to provoke Lian Xu, to wear him out?

A low-grade horse challenging a high-grade horse, you’re surely skilled in this!"

When Hao Chengbin heard this, his mouth twisted in amusement as he patted Fang Huai’s shoulder again:

"Heh, a low-grade horse? Without a trial, how do you know who the low-grade one is?

His name will definitely surpass He Zhijun’s in the future!

By then, when you want to come and learn a thing or two, you’ll have to make an appointment and wait in line!"

After speaking, Hao Chengbin squeezed Fang Huai’s hand and shot him a look.

Kid, say something! Provoke him a bit!

When Fang Huai met Hao Chengbin’s glance, he felt a shiver of realization.

Damn it, this old rascal is too sly! He isn’t just wearing down the guy’s physical strength, he’s messing with his mentality!

Fang Huai had long heard of Lian Xu’s name, who broke several Detachment records at the Liupanshui Regiment’s competition in his second year.

Right now, the majority of competitors were in the playground outside getting familiarized with the arena.

If he, a new recruit from the provincial city Detachment, were to win or nearly match Lian Xu in a few events today, wouldn’t that drive half the place mad?

Old Hao’s scamming, and if I open my mouth now, that’s at least aiding and abetting!

With this in mind, he whispered to Hao Chengbin, "Cough, Squad Leader, didn’t you just take me out to see the world today? Let’s not stir up trouble."

Fang Huai simply returned Hao Chengbin’s words to him from 20 minutes earlier.

Actually, Hao Chengbin had a bad premonition as well, fearing that this time the Guiyang Regiment might lose badly both in overall and individual scores. That’s why he brought Fang Huai to issue a challenge today, hoping to boost everyone’s morale in some way.

As for what he called ’seeing the world’ and bragging with these competition elites, what kind of ’seeing the world’ is that?

It’s only after besting others in the arena that one truly gains experience!

And Fang Huai’s lethargic demeanor made it clear he wasn’t interested in the matter, which caused Hao Chengbin to say somewhat irritably:

"What the hell do you know? Elite soldiers are born of competition! What kind of elite are you if you’re afraid of a challenge?"

Everyone burst into laughter at that.

This old and young duo really put on a funny double act.

Lian Xu couldn’t help but laugh as well, saying,

"Squad Leader, it’s really inconvenient to compete before the match. Let’s have a match after the competition is over. You can choose the events, alright?"

Upon hearing this, Hao Chengbin felt he had achieved his goal, and he turned to Fang Huai with encouragement:

"You’re both rising stars of our corps! Compete more, learn from each other. The era is ultimately yours!

The honor of the corps in the future will also rely on you!

Who knows, on the national Grand Martial Arts Competition stage this year, you may well be teammates!"

Fang Huai nodded seriously at these words.

But the expressions on the faces of the people around were a bit strange.

Damn, these words are getting bigger and bigger, aren’t they? Teammates for the national Grand Martial Arts Competition, with a new recruit?

"Ha, Squad Leader, I’m afraid it’s not his turn for this year’s national Grand Martial Arts Competition, is it?

Among the 32 General Teams, only 300 people compete in total.

One corps can’t even average ten people!

A new recruit would do well to even participate in the Autumn Big Martial Arts Competition’s qualifiers! Look at this spring’s Corps Martial Arts Competition, is there a single new recruit competing?

Plus, there’s also training in the larger Chongqing area this year, and the participants will likely need to be picked mainly from the trained personnel.

Lian Xu just barely secured his spot in the third period training last month. For your regiment, He Zhijun went for the first period, Liu Shoulin for the second, and the third period should be Chen Dakang or Yao Shuwei, right?

There’s no chance for a new recruit."

The one speaking was a second stage officer who had been silent until now. With great confidence, he reeled off the names of the Guiyang Regiment’s elites, clearly a seasoned veteran in these competitions.

But Hao Chengbin immediately caught the ball with a smile, "Large Area Training? Coincidence. Fang Huai, which period are you from?"

The very air seemed to grow quiet.

???

Fang Huai paused before answering,

"Er... Squad Leader Liu Shoulin was originally from the third period, I’m from the second, but I got issues at home these past two months, so we switched."

As the words fell, the faces of those present all turned somewhat odd.