Chapter 81 - 39: A Guitar Worth Over a Thousand Yuan? (Asking for Collection, Monthly Ticket)

"The regiment leader said today that from now on, we must strengthen ideological education..."

"So the evening exercise scheduled for next week has been canceled, and the regiment isn’t approving it. From now on, physical training, apart from running, will be organized by squad, and I’ll tailor it based on your abilities..."

"For the new recruit group, we’re going to enforce a more rigorous daily regimen..."

"From now on, each weekend, we’ll organize cultural activities by company. On the third Friday of December, which is the week after next, we’ll hold the All-Regiment Regulation and Knowledge Competition.

Each squad must send one representative! All the others must participate in the written assessment!"

Hao Chengbin kept briefing everyone on the gist of today’s meeting, and as he spoke, he even pulled out a notebook from his uniform pocket to check his notes, sorting through them with a pen in hand while talking.

This move made many hearts sigh.

Oh my god, it’s one thing for new recruits to memorize regulations, but even a tenth-year soldier has to take notes!

"Squad Leader...are you saying... from now on, we’re going to be in charge of entertainment?" Zhao Bing couldn’t help but ask.

Hao Chengbin silently cursed, then said, "Nonsense! What does firefighting have to do with entertainment troupe? Even if there were, it’d be for cadres, not you!

Right now, we’re just increasing the importance of drills and internal affairs, and the share that regulation knowledge evaluation counts for!

In terms of physical fitness, the three times a week physical exercise sessions will change to twice a week.

But when you join the team, you’re definitely going to have a tougher time!

For new soldiers in the team, it’s mainly physical training, so I suggest you be more proactive!"

As these words were spoken, Fatty Han’s smile could barely be contained on his face.

The new recruit group has three months oh!

My world has no future, just the present!

Fang Huai was somewhat speechless, "Hey, Squad Leader, I just convinced Han Yong to join us for evening exercise today! And now it’s canceled?"

The fact that evening exercise was being made compulsory and then canceled was something Fang Huai hadn’t anticipated.

He had hoped to get ahead with those extra half-hour sessions each day!

Alas, life is unpredictable, filled with many twists and turns.

Squad Leader Hao seemed to accept the new ideas quickly. Upon hearing Fang Huai’s remarks, he said sternly, "Revolution depends on self-motivation! Receiving more ideological transformation is good for you too! The troops of the future will be very different from now!

I was already aware of the content the regiment leader talked about today!

On this point, Fang Huai, I still have confidence in you. You have a foundation in culture, thought, and physical fitness. Going forward, you should share more about the methods of studying you’ve been through with your same year soldiers and encourage everyone to develop comprehensively!

And Han Yong, stop laughing. Even if you only stay for two years, a year from now, you will be an old soldier!

There will be new recruits calling you squad leader!

Think about it, when new recruits join the team and call you squad leader, what can you teach them?

Do you want to blindly get by for two years relying on the second-year soldier rank the troops give you, with recruits calling you a disgrace behind your back, or do you want the recruits to genuinely call you Squad Leader Han?

Even if you return home to run a company or do business, the principle is the same! A capable boss can at least command respect from others; without ability, you can only scold and make excuses!"

Han Yong stood up, and after listening for a while, he nodded silently.

"Squad Leader, I understand."

Fang Huai secretly rolled his eyes.

You call me a disgrace, but I’ve been one for five years. Saying that, how do you think I feel?

Moreover, while Hao Chengbin understands many life lessons, his social experience is still too shallow.

For someone with Han Yong’s family background, this sort of talk doesn’t apply at all.

As long as they don’t indulge in gambling, with their level of wealth, the family fortune left by his parents is virtually inexhaustible.

It’s not that I’m afraid of a second generation heir spending money, I’m afraid when they think they have some ability and feel the need to prove themselves.

"Oh Fang Huai, how’s that song... you were writing coming along?" Hao Chengbin asked upon noticing a note he had written down.

Fang Huai’s eyes lit up.

"Pretty good, almost finished."

Hao Chengbin looked doubtful, "Be honest, did you really write it yourself?"

"Yes," Fang Huai affirmed.

"It’s an adaptation. The original is a Mongolian folk song. I started modifying it before joining the troops, and actually, it’s been ready for a while."

Hao Chengbin nodded, "Before the year ends, we’re going to the Provincial Opera House to see an evening party, organized by the Ministry of Public Security in collaboration with several units.

Our firefighting, with the Training Base, will bring the new recruit group along. The base already has a set choir, that’s for the cadres, but individuals can also present up to three items, no limitations on officers or soldiers.

However, there’s a preliminary performance.

If you’re really capable, I’ll pitch you for the preliminary performance, and if it goes well, you won’t just bring glory to our squad but to the entire firefighting team."

"Squad Leader! There’s an evening party?!" Yue Tao started charging forth again.

But this time, Hao Chengbin wasn’t in the mood to explain to him; he kept his gaze fixed on Fang Huai.

"Give me your word, do you have confidence? If you do, I’ll take time to borrow a quality guitar for you!"

"I do!" Fang Huai stood up and replied loudly.

He had been waiting for this day.

Without this opportunity, where else would he seek out media for promoting his work?

"But Squad Leader... make sure you don’t get me a beginner’s guitar, it has to have a good tone! At least a thousand dollars’ worth!"

Hao Chengbin seemed shocked.

"I remember, a few years ago when I was learning, I bought one for just seventy or eighty dollars, and that was after picking out a good one! A thousand dollars... is there such an expensive one?"

Fang Huai could only express his disdain with a silent judgement.

If you have the money, you can add a million after the thousand.

Seeing that look in his eyes, Hao Chengbin felt challenged again, biting his lip, he said, "Alright! Just wait! I’ll have someone borrow one for you! I want to see if your song is worth a guitar that costs over a thousand dollars!"

...

The following day, the direction of the entire company changed.

No, it should be said, the whole regiment.

Despite it being the weekend, some squads’ new recruits still got up half an hour early. When Fang Huai got up at five o’clock, some quilts were already folded nicely.

As Fang Huai passed by two chatting new recruits, he roughly made out the reason why.

One of them was sitting on the ground, shaking his head and gesticulating sarcastically, imitating their squad leader’s speech.

"I’m telling you! Don’t think that just because there’s less physical training, life is going to be easy! Tomorrow, Internal Affairs Inspection! Anyone whose quilt doesn’t pass muster will sit there folding it all day!

The ones that are well-folded will recite regulations! A surprise check on Monday night, if anyone fails, just wait! ...what was said after that?"

Another new recruit immediately chimed in.

"He said we’ll have extra drills! Hey, we didn’t start eating early yesterday on our own initiative! It was the Base cadres who told us to eat!

He’s just a coward! If he has the guts, why doesn’t he go confront the cadres?"

Fang Huai couldn’t help but laugh.

Clearly, not every squad leader was as patient as Hao Chengbin in explaining the meeting’s contents to the new recruits.

The squad leaders had no way to vent their anger, so they expressed their dissatisfaction through excessive enforcement of the meeting’s resolutions, with this morning’s wake-up time being one such example.

Fang Huai was the first to bring his quilt and stool to the stairway corner. The new recruits from his squad quickly gathered there, gradually monopolizing the space.

They were just waiting to finish folding so Fang Huai could take a look; if he thought it wasn’t good enough, he would tell them how to fix it.

"Hey, Fang Huai, you really hit the nail on the head! Those who ate early seem to have all been handled!"

Yue Tao seemed particularly excited. These past few days, with Fang Huai around, he found their lives to be blissful, as if living in a different world from that described by the new recruits from other squads.

That schadenfreude expression made it seem like Yue Tao was completely oblivious to the fact he was the first who wanted to start eating yesterday.

As Fang Huai rolled his quilt, he laughed.

"Yue Tao, how did you develop such a personality? Oblivious and optimistic... Let me ask you a question, if your girlfriend ran off with someone else, how many days would you be upset?"

Yue Tao immediately frowned, clearly indignant, "Then I’d definitely have to beat up that guy!"

"And after that?" Fang Huai continued.

Yue Tao seemed to freeze. After a long pause, he said,

"...After that, I’ve had my revenge, yeah!"

"Damn..." Fang Huai marveled: "If all characters in Jin Yong’s martial arts novels were like you, TV series would have to be made into short films."

"What’s a short film?"

"It’s... Forget it. I can’t explain it to you."

For the first time, Fang Huai experienced the helplessness of a squad leader in cajoling new recruits.

Fighting them seemed simpler.

They’d respect you more, and talk less.

Fang Huai didn’t continue talking to Yue Tao and turned to look around.

"Han Yong! Roll it before you fold it! Get your stool out here!"

Han Yong looked confused: "Get the stool... to sit and fold? No need, I can sit on the ground!"

Oh my god.

Fang Huai felt like hitting someone.

Given that Han Yong had just arrived, Fang Huai, feeling helpless, could only point to his own quilt and then demonstrated using the stool to roll it.

"Roll it like this! And don’t sit and fold... once the squad leader sees it, he’d hang you from the ceiling with a backpack cord to fold it!"

Han Yong finally got it, stood up, ran back to the squad, came out with a small stool, and started rolling like Fang Huai.

After Fang Huai finished his own quilt, he took it to show several new recruits with folding difficulties how to do it right.

...

Half an hour later.

A person in the distance, holding a quilt, was walking towards Squad Nine.

Jiang Peng.

He didn’t greet anyone but walked straight up to Fang Huai and said,

"Fang Huai, I want to talk to you."

Everyone felt like he was looking for trouble; they immediately stood up and surrounded him. Zhao Bing wasn’t laughing and joking as usual, but looked at him seriously.

"Jiang Peng, don’t start something."

Jiang Peng glanced at Han Yong squatting on the ground folding his quilt, then stared at Fang Huai and said, "What am I starting? I just want to talk to him. I have something important!"

"You’ve got nothing important!" Lu Zexian was also annoyed with him and swore outright.

Squad Nine had become a fully united collective, and all these changes began with Jiang Peng’s departure. Everyone deeply understood the old saying about one bad apple spoiling the whole barrel.

Fang Huai didn’t care either; he clapped his hands and stood up.

If it came to a fight, with his reflexes, he could handle Jiang Peng single-handedly.

"What do you want to say? Just spell it out. Our rapport isn’t at the stage for whispering secrets."

Jiang Peng glanced at Han Yong again.

"I can’t say it here; it’s just one sentence. I’ll leave right after I’ve said it."

Han Yong seemed to realize something as well, the movements of his hands pausing briefly.

Fang Huai sensed something and was somewhat curious, so he pointed towards the toilet.

"Say it over there then. Give me one minute; I’m very busy.

But if you really want to fight, right here is fine. I’ll have them make room for us two, and I promise no one will intervene.

If I end up beating you, don’t go tattling, alright? There are plenty of witnesses here; you’re the one picking the fight first."

Jiang Peng’s face flushed with frustration at Fang Huai’s words, but then, as if thinking of something, his gaze shifted and he softened his tone a bit.

"I do have something important."

"Then let’s go."

Fang Huai didn’t dawdle and headed towards the toilets.