Chapter 203: Why is he afraid of me? I don't eat people

Night fell, the sky as black as an overturned giant pot.

Sixth Company, Lu Yang wore a weighted vest stuffed with lead blocks, continuously running laps on the track.

Sweat beads slid down his cheeks and flew behind him, but his speed only increased, his legs running faster and faster.

Three days had passed since the exercise ended, yet recalling it felt like it happened yesterday.

It was precisely because he clearly recognized his shortcomings in actual combat that Lu Yang voluntarily gave himself extra training.

"Ten point zero one seconds!"

As Lu Yang crossed the finish line, Chen Panpan pressed the stopwatch in her hand.

Lu Yang panted, sweat covering his forehead as he walked over: "How come it's still over ten minutes? The previous times were all nine minutes fifty-something."

Chen Panpan explained: "Yang Ge, you're wearing the weighted vest and have already run three or four rounds, yet you can still maintain this performance—that's already impressive."

"How about taking off the weighted vest and running? You'd surely break through."

"Forget it."

Lu Yang shook his head and refused.

Wearing the weighted vest allows one to better squeeze the body's potential during exercise.

He has reached a bottleneck in training; each breakthrough requires tons of effort.

Just like Olympic athletes, to gain that one or two seconds of improvement requires tremendous effort and countless sweat.

"What time is it?"

"Eight thirty-five."

"You go back first; I'll do a quick stretch."

"Alright, I'll head out then."

After Chen Panpan left, Lu Yang did another hundred pull-ups, hundred parallel-bar dips, and finished with a hundred squats.

Only after it was completely over did he, feeling relieved, take off the weighted vest and begin stretching to relax his muscles.

Without the weight, Lu Yang felt as light as a swallow, as if gravity had weakened—utterly marvelous.

He bent down to pick up the kettle on the ground, twisted it open intending to take a sip, but found it empty.

Lu Yang simply ended his training and headed back, just arriving at the dormitory building.

The on-duty guard Li Jiang smiled, stood up, and greeted him.

"Back already?"

"Yeah."

"I have a can of Red Bull here; take it and drink."

"Isn't that a bit embarrassing?"

"No need to be polite with us; it's perfect after exercise to replenish strength. You say you're the same—just finished the drill and instead of resting you keep training extra every day, making it impossible for us to get by."

"Hahaha, I just can't stay idle."

Lu Yang accepted the Red Bull from Li Jiang, opened it, and walked upstairs while drinking.

Just reaching the second floor, he saw the First Squad Leader scolding the soldiers of his own squad there.

He didn't know what mistake the private had made; after being yelled at, his eye sockets were red, looking like he was about to cry.

"First Squad Leader."

"Look at you, all sweaty—have a cigarette and take a break."

The First Squad Leader reached into his pocket, first pulling out a pack of Red Tower Mountain cigarettes.

Perhaps he thought the brand was too low-end, so he quickly stuffed it back.

Immediately after, he pulled out a pack of Liqian from the other pocket, took out a cigarette, and handed it to Lu Yang.

Lu Yang wasn't polite this time; he was indeed somewhat fatigued and needed a cigarette to briefly adjust and relax.

However, he had no dependence on cigarettes; he could smoke or not.

And in the military, smoking is also a way to fit in and socialize.

The First Squad Leader lit the cigarette for him, then ran back to the dormitory and shoved a packet of food into Lu Yang's hand.

"First Squad Leader, what are you doing?"

"It's a specialty sent from my hometown—authentic Dezhou braised chicken; give it a try later."

"It's something your family sent you; I can't take it."

"Just keep it, consider it a token of my goodwill!"

Lu Yang refused to accept it, but the First Squad Leader insisted on stuffing it into his arms: "During the exercise, you saved me several times. You might not remember, but I clearly recall it—just consider it my token of gratitude!"

Lu Yang laughed and cried: "We're comrades, in the same company—saving you should be my duty. Besides, in the end even I died; there's no point talking about who saved whom."

The First Squad Leader's attitude was firm: "It's not that simple—you saved me and many comrades in our squad, so I must thank you on behalf of the whole class. If you don't accept it, you're not treating me as a comrade, nor us as brothers."

Seeing no way to argue, Lu Yang could only accept the braised chicken.

Later that night, when he got hungry, he shared it with Liu Ziqiang and the others.

While chatting over a cigarette, Lu Yang glanced at the nearby soldier standing punishment and curiously asked: "What mistake did he make?"

The First Squad Leader pursed his lips: "He was caught smoking in the toilet. He's inattentive in training, his physical fitness isn't improving, and he secretly smokes—do you think he deserves to be scolded?"

That soldier kept sniffing, occasionally wiping his eyes with his sleeve.

You could tell he was an honest kid; if he were a bit thicker-skinned he wouldn't be tearing up.

"Forget it, smoking isn't a big deal—if you want to smoke later, just file a report."

"As long as your training scores improve, I believe your squad leader will still be quite reasonable."

That soldier looked at Lu Yang, who was speaking up for him, feeling wronged yet grateful, nodded, and said he wouldn't dare do it again.

The First Squad Leader snorted: "Assistant Squad Leader Lu pleaded for you, so this time I'll let it go. Next time if I catch you again, it won't be just a couple of criticisms. I haven't confiscated the cigarettes—whenever your scores improve, you can get them back."

Yes, Squad Leader.

That soldier wiped his tears and was about to go back, but was stopped by the First Squad Leader.

Say thank you to Assistant Squad Leader Lu!

Thank you, Assistant Squad Leader Lu......

The First Squad Leader led that soldier back to the dormitory.

Lu Yang was sweating all over his head, so he went to the washroom to wash his face.

He pulled up his PT uniform and used it like a towel, roughly wiping his face and neck twice, ending up soaked all over.

Coincidentally, Zhou Kaidong came in with a bucket to fetch water, apparently preparing to mop the floor and clean up.

Seeing Lu Yang standing there looking like a drenched chicken, he was quite shocked.

Holy cow, how many laps did you run to sweat this much?

I just splashed some tap water on myself.

I was saying, it's like you took a shower, aren't you afraid of catching a cold!

Zhou Kaidong put the rod in the sink, turned on the tap to fill it, and laughing, gave Lu Yang's chest a thump.

Looking frail, with muscles all the way to the bone crevices, hard as rock, my punch feels like hitting a concrete wall.

Can't help it, just eating doesn't build muscle.

It's because you train too hard; your intake can't keep up with consumption, so gaining muscle would be strange. Still, this is good—explosive power and endurance need this kind of physique and muscle.

Squad Leader, where did you go this morning? I didn't see you.

I was on official duty, helping the family compound's chief move furniture; I tell you, you're famous in our regiment now—everyone knows our Second Battalion's Sixth Company has a sharpshooter like you!

Really? The whole regiment knows?

The whole battalion knows, he believes.

The regiment has over a thousand people; Lu Yang thinks that's a bit exaggerated.

Zhou Kaidong earnestly assured: "What would I gain by lying to you? When I was moving furniture there, other company personnel happened to be chatting about the previous exercise, mentioning a mysterious, precise sharpshooter—that's not you, is it?"

The exercise ended several days ago, but related topics have never ceased.

It's said that even the division praised the Special Third Regiment for conducting this exercise very well.

With so many regiments in the division and so many exercise sessions, only the Special Third Regiment was singled out for praise.

As for contributing the most battle results, the city's best MVP, that belongs to Lu Yang.

Especially, when he fought to the death until the very last moment, he requested the order for artillery fire to cover the position.

Furthermore, he carried out the noble ideal of soldiers defending their position unto death and obeying orders without question to the utmost.

As Lu Yang's guide, the New Recruit Company's Squad Leader, Zhou Kaidong only wanted to shout loudly: I'm proud!

By the way, let me tell you something." Zhou Kaidong lowered his voice: "These past few days after the exercise, Aunt Kang has become much more subdued, not daring to speak loudly.

She doesn't dare to pick a fight with me, nor cause any trouble. Especially when she sees you, she hides like a cat seeing a mouse.

Really?" Lu Yang wondered: "I hadn't even noticed that—why is he avoiding me? I'm just an ordinary private.

Suddenly, a figure burst through the door—it was Kang Changyi, coming to wash a basin of dirty clothes.

Seeing Lu Yang standing inside, Kang Changyi shuddered, without the slightest hesitation turned and left.

Zhou Kaidong grinned at Lu Yang: "See that?"

Lu Yang laughed and cried: "Why? I don't eat people!"

What else could it be? You beat him until it hurt, and now he's afraid of you.

But the exercise is already over.

That's just leaving a psychological scar, hurting his self-esteem.

Lu Yang felt this guy was really overly fragile.

He usually distinguishes between right and wrong, not persons; on the exercise field, Kang Changyi acted recklessly.

Not only could he not hold the position, he even wanted to drag everyone into a last‑ditch defense, so Lu Yang, unable to contain his anger, lashed out.

Now the exercise has ended three days ago, with no one seeing each other head‑on, there's no reason for any conflict, yet Lu Yang doesn't know what he's afraid of.

Moreover, Zhou Kaidong had beaten him before—why isn't he afraid of Zhou Kaidong, but instead afraid of himself?

Regarding this, Zhou Kaidong was also baffled; he picked up his bucket and left first.

Lu Yang shrugged, headed to the next room to use the toilet before returning to the squad.

But just as he entered, he saw Kang Changyi holding a basin of dirty clothes, standing facing the wall near the door.

With his head down, eyes closed, he muttered: "You can't see me, you can't see me, you can't see me......"