Chapter 12: You

In the blink of an eye three days rushed by, and now the sky was just dimly bright.

The corridor in front of the Third Squad was packed with new recruits folding blankets.

The dormitory was too cramped to spread out everyone's bedding, so they also used the hallway.

At this moment Zhou Kaidong, hands behind his back, was checking each person, and when he found someone half‑asleep and dazed, he knocked a seed of alertness into their head.

Lu Yang, as the Squad Leader approached, couldn't help but yawn and, unfortunately, took a hit.

Fortunately Zhou Kaidong didn't linger in front of him; instead he moved to stand before the flustered Kong Long.

"We've been teaching this lousy blanket for damn days, and you still can't fold it?"

"Did I teach it like that? Is the blanket rolled like that?"

Kong Long looked up at the Squad Leader, then lowered his head awkwardly.

Because of nerves, the steps he already couldn't recall became even more chaotic in his mind.

Zhou Kaidong couldn't stand it any longer, shoved him aside, and squatted in front of the blanket to demonstrate.

"You have to work so hard, grind so much. If you keep at it like that, the blanket won't be usable even tomorrow!"

"Oh..."

Kong Long hunched over like an elementary student who can't solve a problem.

From time to time he innocently glanced at Lu Yang on the side, forcing out an awkward smile.

Lu Yang saw his honest, simple demeanor, and combined with his blocky head, the odd mismatch inexplicably made him want to laugh.

"After pressing, you measure, gesture with your fingers—one fork, two forks... then set it at this point."

"Remember, pinch with both hands, then give it a pull like this, then flip like this, and it's done, right?"

"Follow the line and pull like this, then scrape the corner—what the damn hell is there to forget? Come over and do it!"

Zhou Kaidong shook the freshly folded blanket apart again, letting Kong Long come over to repeat his previous process.

The kid squatted before the blanket, his mind blank again, and could only helplessly glance at Lu Yang on the side, hoping he could come to the rescue.

Lu Yang instantly understood, quickly shook the blanket apart, refolded it, and followed Zhou Kaidong's teaching step by step to dismantle it.

Including the finger gestures for count and how to locate the reference point.

Kong Long kept his head down, glanced sideways at Lu Yang, and forcibly copied the steps.

One step, a glance; another step, another glance; if Lu Yang's movements even sped up a bit, he would forget.

"Why are you always staring at me?"

"Damn, how are you still sneaking peeks? Can't remember these few steps?"

Zhou Kaidong quickly noticed Kong Long's little moves; after two futile reminders, he simply stood between him and Lu Yang, forcibly blocking his view.

Deprived of a model, Kong Long's mind tangled again; forgetting the next step, he looked up innocently at the Squad Leader once more.

Zhou Kaidong glared at him angrily: "What are you looking at? Do I look like a blanket? Keep folding—this side's done, flip it and do the other side!"

"Huh?"

"I told you to flip it—can't you flip it?"

Lu Yang moved to the other side, letting him copy.

But by now their paces were out of sync, so Lu Yang could only keep gesturing to remind him of the next step.

Lu Yang truly hadn't expected his comprehension could be this poor.

Kong Long grabbed both edges of the blanket and, like flipping a pancake, turned it a full 180 degrees.

Realizing the step was wrong, he hurried to fix it, but ended up a mess, like a donkey's head on the wrong body.

Zhou Kaidong covered his face with one hand, laughing at his antics.

Lu Yang also did his best; these past days he had privately taught him many times, yet he still couldn't learn.

Kong Long's talent for interior organization is only second to Zhang learning embroidery, the type who forgets faster than he learns.

Zhou Kaidong shouted: "Everyone, damn it, roll onto the hallway and assemble!"

Soon, the clueless new recruits gathered on the hallway and stood at attention.

Zhou Kaidong didn't care whether other squads' recruits were still folding blankets in the hallway; he started blasting.

"Two days and the blankets are still damn a mess like a pile of dog poop; I can't understand, is this harder than building a plane or a rocket?"

"Especially you!"

Kong Long tucked his neck, expecting to get scolded.

But the Squad Leader's finger finally landed in front of Ding Tengfei.

"I thought Kong Long's blanket was already a pile of dog poop, but yours is even worse than damn dog poop!"

"At least they know to press the blanket thin before folding; you don't even press it?"

"Two days, taught you seven or eight times, demonstrated over and over, and you still have no brain, or are you born mentally deficient?"

Ding Tengfei was sprayed in the face with a spray of spittle by the Squad Leader, but he had healed his scar and forgotten the pain; instead of feeling wronged, he stubbornly retorted.

"Report, I'm here to be a soldier, not to do housekeeping!"

"We've been here for days without firing guns, no hand‑to‑hand training, just folding blankets every day; I can't see what's so great about folding!"

"You don't need to understand!" Zhou Kaidong raised his voice even higher: "If you can't even fold a bed blanket, how can you think you qualify to handle a gun or learn hand‑to‑hand combat?"

Ding Tengfei's stubbornness flared up: "Report, Squad Leader, I think I'm qualified because I'm also in uniform; I'm a soldier too!"

Zhou Kaidong wasn't angry at his defiance; instead, he kind of respected him.

At least he boldly voiced his dissatisfaction and questioned the unit's system.

Moreover, in his own view, he considered himself a soldier.

Zhou Kaidong didn't waste words and shouted again.

"Lu Yang!"

"Arrive!"

"Crouch down!"

Lu Yang quickly retreated half a step with his rear foot and swiftly squatted.

Although the movement wasn't particularly standard, his instinctive reaction was very fast.

Zhou Kaidong shouted loudly: "Now, in the shortest time possible, fold a military blanket for me!"

"Yes!"

From shaking out the blanket, to positioning, then to pinching the edges and stitching the formed blanket.

Lu Yang's each step was solid and earnest, even carrying a hint of swift and decisive vigor.

Although the finished blanket was still somewhat puffy and far from the squad leader's initial demonstration, among the new recruits of the third squad it absolutely stood out like a crane among chickens.

Zhou Kaidong had someone bring out the steamed bun-shaped blanket that Ding Tengfei had folded from the dormitory and placed it together with Lu Yang's blanket for comparison.

With the contrast and comparison, Ding Tengfei's blanket, which the squad leader had described as "not even fit for dog feces," became especially vivid and graphic at this moment.

As the squad leader had previously said, even Kong Long knows to first press the blanket, but this guy simply wouldn't listen, so his blanket folded ten thousand times still cannot take shape.

Zhou Kaidong poked Ding Tengfei's chest with his finger, saying word by word: "Do you understand? You merely put on military uniform; he, however, is truly a soldier, bearing the bearing of a soldier!"

Ding Tengfei clenched his fists, wanting to continue talking tough, but he simply couldn't find words to refute.

Yet he always felt that expending energy on these meaningless tasks was purely a waste of time!

Just then, Instructor He Zhen Tao came from the stairwell, saw this side resembling collective punishment standing, and thus inquired what was happening.

Zhou Kaidong explained: "I let the person with the best internal affairs in the class demonstrate how to fold for others."

The instructor lowered his head to take a look; originally he didn't think Lu Yang's military blanket had anything particularly outstanding.

But with the green leaves as a backdrop, even if it were merely a flower bud, it appeared quite lovely.

"Who folded this blanket?"

"Report, it was me."

Lu Yang responded.

Upon seeing it was this book-loving kid, the instructor immediately broke into a smile.

"Folded well, proper and neat; one can tell you've put in hard work."

"Then who folded that blanket over there?"

"Report...... me."

Ding Tengfei's voice was no longer as loud as when he was being stubborn earlier; instead, it became somewhat difficult to utter.

The instructor did not criticize him, but merely grunted in acknowledgment.

He turned and patted Zhou Kaidong's shoulder, saying with a sense of heavy responsibility and a long road ahead:

"Training new recruits still requires more patience; don't just shout and yell at the drop of a hat."

"Yes!"

Ding Tengfei's eye twitched, his heart feeling as if it had suffered a critical hit.

Clearly the instructor hadn't criticized him with a single word, yet the harm caused was far greater than direct scolding, much larger.

The instructor then asked: "Does your platoon have anyone who knows how to draw? Help me come up with a theme for a bulletin board. I just went upstairs asking around, and nobody."

Zhou Kaidong: "I'll ask the other classes later."

The instructor grunted in acknowledgment, was about to leave when he heard a report.

He turned his head to look at Lu Yang, showing a surprised gaze: "How come, you've studied drawing?"

Lu Yang nodded: "I used to learn a bit of sketching."

The instructor smiled so wide his mouth couldn't close, finally having found a helper: "Good, good, good, you come with me. Platoon leader, you all do what you should do; internal affairs must be firmly grasped."

Watching the instructor lead the person away, Zhou Kaidong also didn't expect that Lu Yang actually had a special talent for drawing?

The other people in the class then showed envious looks, both being praised by the squad leader and being called by the instructor to help with tasks.

Clearly we enlisted together, this is only the third day, huh, and the gap has already appeared?

Especially as a fellow townsman, Ding Tengfei felt like biting into a raw lemon, his heart sour and sore......