Chapter 74 - 33: The Grand Collection of Men’s Bewildering Behavior

Although Fang Huai "sternly refused," he was indeed stunned by Grandpa Han’s aggressive generosity.

While showing off wealth in the troops new recruit is generally asking to be disciplined, if you can casually give away a watch worth tens of thousands...

I, Fang Someone, would hardly mind becoming friends with you!

And for sure, the Chief of Staff came not because of Jiang Peng today, but because of Han Yong.

Looking at the tangled look on the Chief of Staff’s face, he seems to have quite the background.

"Here, Han Yong, have some water!" Fang Huai walked over to the hot water pot, picked up his small kettle, opened the lid, and poured him a cup of water.

This year, each of them was given a small iron pot with a rather large lid that could be turned over to serve as a cup.

"Thank you, Deputy Squad Leader!" Han Yong was quite polite and had clearly figured out the internal conflict within Squad Nine beforehand.

"My name is Fang Huai! Don’t call me that; just call me by my name from now on!"

"Fang Huai... Did Jiang Peng really go to Squad Eight?" Yue Tao asked as soon as the squad leader left.

Everyone was curious just now, but since today’s incident was quite big, the squad leader only said, "Han Yong is transferred to our squad," and nothing else. No one dared to ask more.

"Isn’t General Han here already?" Fang Huai said with a smile.

Han Yong smiled awkwardly and placed his bag on the bunk above.

Peng Yingqirui came over, slightly excited.

"Han Yong, can you pull yourself up on the horizontal bar?"

Han Yong shook his head.

"What about regulations? Can you recite them?"

Han Yong shook his head.

"Formations..."

Han Yong immediately shook his head, struggling to admit, "I really can’t! I’m hopeless at everything!"

"Hahaha..." Peng Yingqirui laughed heartily.

"Great, now I’m not the last one anymore!"

Fang Huai couldn’t help but smile. He took down Han Yong’s bag and gently placed it on the ground.

"Come on, little guy, pick up Han Yong’s bag like he did just now, and put it on the upper bunk with one hand."

The little guy came over, puzzled, and reached out his hand.

His face instantly turned red; barely lifting it, his other hand joined in.

"Damn, what is this?"

Han Yong laughed, "There’s a dumbbell my mom bought for me inside, 7.5 kilograms."

Fang Huai, with hands behind his back, spoke, "This bag, 30 pounds of dumbbells, plus various protective gears, leg sandbags and such, is at least close to 50 pounds. Damn it, I just tried lifting it with one hand and nearly killed myself. Who else wants to try?"

Everyone was stunned, Zhao Bing somewhat incredulously went up and felt the weight.

"Damn, it’s really heavy. Han Yong, with your strength, why can’t you pull yourself up on bars?"

Han Yong scratched his head, troubled, "I’m just too fat! I’m over 190 pounds, and my family sent me here to lose weight!"

Well!

Everyone was here for a future, but he treated this place like a weight loss camp.

Afterward, Squad Nine initiated a pointless activity to "prove one’s manhood."

They took turns lifting Han Yong’s bag and then placing it back on the upper bunk with one hand.

A man’s joy and pride are just that simple and unsophisticated.

Walking around and playing with a ball, even jumping and shooting a basket, you feel like a basketball superstar. Seeing a high tree branch on the road, the moment you jump and touch the leaves, it’s as if you’ve touched the entire world.

After the showdown, only half the men in Squad Nine remained: Fang Huai, Zhao Bing, Chen Zhongqiang, Yue Tao, Han Yong.

Even Lu Zexian, the tall guy, couldn’t sling the bag up despite mustering all his strength.

Han Yong earned everyone’s respect.

But seeing the stubborn look in the eyes of the other five, Fang Huai knew: Han Yong’s bag would probably be taken down by everyone every now and then for some practice.

...

In the evening, the whole company recited regulations.

To Hao Chengbin’s surprise, Chen Zhongqiang not only got to smoke but also enjoyed a late-night snack.

Fang Huai worked as a laborer at the Brigade Department all night, completing the content planned for overtime today in just an hour and a half, with a familiarity with the software that astonished the observing Company Leader and Squad Leader Huang, who also didn’t understand the Wubi typing Fang Huai was using.

Both of them felt like they were stabbed in the butt with a knife—it was an eye-opener.

By eight o’clock, printing and binding a set of study materials for the new recruits was done, which included the firefighting military song and some essential regulations that everyone needed to know, five pages per set, one set per person.

Fang Huai arranged the materials on the computer and made a suggestion: to save Squad Leader Huang the trouble, they should call over Chen Zhongqiang from their squad. With one of them printing and the other binding, it could be done in an hour.

Squad Leader Huang didn’t hesitate, running over to call someone. Squad Leader Hao also didn’t make things difficult and granted permission.

Chen Zhongqiang escaped the ordeal of reciting regulations.

After the work was done, Fang Huai didn’t smoke a cigarette nor eat much meat; he let Chen Zhongqiang have it all.

Before washing up, Chen Zhongqiang followed Fang Huai back to Squad Nine, content and satisfied.

Hanging with Deputy Squad Leader Fang, treated to meat by the Company Leader, smoked cigarettes given by Squad Leader Huang! What kind of day was this?

They gave up all their meals and cigarettes just for me.

Just two words: reliable!

After Fang Huai returned, he took the opportunity while the new recruits were washing up to apologize to Hao Chengbin in private, frankly admitting that he shouldn’t have allowed Chen Zhongqiang to go for a smoke and a late-night snack, but since he had promised, there was nothing he could do. He assured him that he would definitely push Chen Zhongqiang to train hard.

Hao Chengbin showed the greatest extent of tolerance on this matter, after all, Fang Huai wasn’t doing it for himself. Fang Huai’s relationship with Chen Zhongqiang couldn’t be considered good, tricking him into extra evening exercise was purely for the squad’s training results.

Since there was no self-interest involved, Hao Chengbin couldn’t get angry, he just told him that smoking and having a late-night snack weren’t big deals, as long as he supervised everyone to perform well and make fewer mistakes.

Fang Huai thumped his chest and promised Hao Chengbin: I’ll definitely make you proud!

The prestige of a junior leader is established by daring to seek real benefits for the subordinates in front of senior leadership on minor matters.

The very self-centered Chen Zhongqiang, from this night onwards, became a staunch supporter of Fang Huai.

...

On Saturday, reveille was blown half an hour later than usual, and the new recruits didn’t get up until five o’clock.

Hao Chengbin had gone out last night and came back very late, so he simply didn’t get up. He just called Fang Huai, asking him to keep an eye on the squad members, then rolled over and continued sleeping.

Everyone was very considerate, not turning on the lights, and they all went to the corridor to fold their blankets.

Following the squad leader’s orders, Fang Huai finally found his role as the deputy squad leader. He went out on patrol to check where his squad members were folding blankets and whether anyone was slacking off and sleeping.

Seeing the new recruits squatting on the corridor floor, rubbing blankets with their elbows, he finally remembered something.

Hey, all those years of experience, gone to the dogs.

What’s the biggest difference between humans and animals?

Using tools!

He had taken the blankets outside to the doorstep, then went back to the squad room to grab his stool, calling his squad members to join him.

"Zhao Bing! Chen Zhongqiang, stop rubbing, help me hold the corners of the blanket! I’ll teach you how to rub!"

Zhao Bing and Chen Zhongqiang hesitantly stretched the blanket while Fang Huai took off his shoes, stepped onto the blanket, and slowly pushed the stool forward with both hands.

In two minutes, he had pressed around the blanket.

Press another round.

Once the blanket was firmly compressed, fold it into four stacks as per the lines. With the blanket now narrower, it became much simpler – he used the stool to press around it several times.

Both men’s eyes grew brighter and brighter.

"Rubbing this way is much faster than by hand! Can we rub it a few more times before folding it?" Zhao Bing asked from the side, somewhat astonished.

Fang Huai rolled his eyes, "Isn’t that obvious? It’s best to rub it for at least half an hour before folding! But at this stage, one person can manage. Okay, I’ll leave my blanket here, bring yours over, and we’ll rub together."

Fang Huai had called the two over also to achieve immediate results.

The blankets of Zhao Bing and Chen Zhongqiang were already among the best in the squad. With proper care, they could easily become the standard bearers for the new recruit company.

If a squad has ten people, and just three of them have standard bearer blankets, as long as the others look passable, the whole squad’s level shoots up instantly.

A squad aspiring to be first in the company depends on more than just one person, doesn’t it?

It’s only because the new recruit group is a temporary unit and the supplies brought by the squad leader and the company leader are limited that he wasn’t thinking about borrowing an iron.

These days, the methods of blanket maintenance are too simplistic. In the last few years, they’d become incredibly diverse.

When Fang Huai was a non-commissioned officer, there was even a method of pressing the blanket with a board or having it run over by a fire truck.

That method of rolling the blankets made them submission-ready in one go, saving at least two months of work.

After mobile shopping on Taobao became popular, the ultimate trick was to buy a blanket that came perfectly pressed and delivered.

Model blankets, both hard and thin, are perfect for folding but not so great to sleep under, stiff to the touch. The bet was that leadership would never actually handle them during inspections.

An old soldier always has one blanket they’ll never unfold, supported underneath by a thin wooden board to prevent it from getting messed up when moved. They’ll reverently place it under the bed each day, and after sleeping, they’ll place it back on top.

That blanket is like the deity of the army.

But for now, in the new recruit group and for the first year of service, new recruits are better off not trying any fancy tricks.

Rubbing and folding blankets, to put it plainly, is all about grinding down the stubbornness of new recruits. Taking shortcuts, if caught, the worst an old soldier might expect is to get chewed out, but for a new recruit, that’s a surefire way to receive a beating.

As Fang Huai rubs, feels, and teaches.

"Chen Zhongqiang’s blanket is clearly pressed better than Zhao Bing’s; you see, the edges are tighter, but not as even. Your blanket looks good on the corners when folded, but the middle tends to be too high."

"Zhao Bing did a better trim job than Chen Zhongqiang. The two of you could benefit from what each other does well. Let’s fold here, and after we’ve finished folding the blankets, I’ll share some small tips on fixing the corners and edges."

There in the corridor area, Fang Huai patiently instructed the two softly and carefully.

Soon Yue Tao, another who wanted to learn, joined them. Watching closely, he followed along with their folding.

By the time Fang Huai finished folding his own blanket, he realized that these traditional army skills for testing a person really weren’t for nothing.

"Yue Tao, I’ve realized sometimes a blanket can actually reflect a person’s character to some extent."

Yue Tao carefully straightened his blanket again, spreading his hands with pride and asking,

"Then what does this blanket say about my character?"

Fang Huai observed attentively from several angles, stroking his chin thoughtfully, and said,

"Your blanket, from afar it’s Zhang Fei, up close it’s Li Kui. Look at it from different angles... there’s a different kind of ugliness, so damn ugly that I want to take action."

With that, he calmly and slowly unfolded Yue Tao’s blanket in the face of his astonished gaze.

"Let’s start over, man, from rubbing to drawing the lines. The harder you work on this blanket, the more unfortunate it gets."