Chapter 3: Three ordinary cobblers outshine Zhuge Liang

Hahaha, just joking, return my stuff; this thing I took from the platoon leader before I left.

What? You took it back?

It's nothing; someone even took the company commander's PT uniform, socks, and underwear. Hahaha, just thinking about it is pretty funny....

All are talents......

Come on, come on, come on; it's the weekend—brother will take you to the stadium to get a feel for what military life will be like.

Older cousin jumped up from the bed right away, brushed his teeth and washed up, put on the gray PT T-shirt and shorts he brought back from the unit, and drove Lu Yang straight to the stadium.

On Saturday morning, the stadium was crowded, mostly middle-aged and elderly people, with some youngsters playing basketball.

Lu Lin planned to take advantage of the weekend break to bring his frail younger cousin to get a taste of the hardships of military life.

"Pull-ups, how many can you do?"

"Maybe one or two."

Lu Yang was honest; his current level only allowed him to do that many.

In fact, most high school students, due to long‑term lack of exercise, are not much better off physically than he is.

Older cousin shook his finger: "In the unit, pull‑ups are a required subject; you need to be able to do at least twelve to pass. Go up, do two so I can see."

As a novice, Lu Yang didn't understand anything, but naturally he immediately obeyed and did as told.

All I saw was him bending his legs, jumping up, grabbing the horizontal bar, and using all his strength just to barely get his chin over the bar.

But this first one was only gotten by using the upward jump's momentum to muddle through; when he tried the second, he immediately showed weakness and couldn't get up at all.

Older cousin demonstrated for him, went to the side, grabbed the horizontal bar, and did seven or eight standard pull‑ups in a row, landing with only a slight pant.

"I can't anymore; it's been many years since I left the service, and I haven't trained in too long."

"Hey brother, if you keep going like that, you won't be able to do any even by next year."

"Let me teach you a method: to train pull‑ups, first train hanging on the bar. Silently count in your heart; if you can hang on the bar for sixty seconds without falling off, that first step counts as success......"

Older cousin had him first practice hanging on the bar; as he hung, his arm strength naturally developed.

Then, when he tried pull‑ups again, it would be effortless, achieving twice the result with half the effort.

This is what his squad leader taught him when he first joined the unit back then, still using a backpack rope to tie his hands to the horizontal bar.

Like hanging noodles to dry, after hanging overnight, the next day he could inexplicably do pull‑ups on the bar—it was simply amazing.

Hearing this made Lu Yang's hairs stand on end; to avoid receiving the same treatment after enlistment, he immediately began practicing hanging on the bar as his older cousin instructed.

Because he lacked grip strength, at first he couldn't even hold on for ten seconds.

But after practicing a few more times, Lu Yang found his grip strength seemed to have increased.

Gradually, he could actually hold on for fifteen seconds, twenty seconds, and even up to over thirty seconds without letting go.

【Detected that the host has joined the military; the 'Knowledge is Power' system is now binding!】

【This system is dedicated to turning the host into an all‑around Soldier King; when the host learns military‑related knowledge or reads quality books seriously, the system can be triggered to enhance all bodily functions!】

Lu Yang was overjoyed; he never expected that he would one day be able to bind a system.

Sure enough, the golden finger is standard equipment for reincarnators!

【New knowledge point detected: hanging on the bar!】

【Knowledge point analysis: Physically hanging a person on the horizontal bar, during training it can provide a two‑fold speed increase to arm strength, grip strength, and endurance!】

So that's it—knowledge is power?

Understand, learn, and master!

This setting is kind of interesting!

After figuring out what the system does, Lu Yang began a new round of attempts.

This time, he clearly felt his arm and wrist grip strength increase somewhat.

The time he could stay on the bar also went from under twenty seconds originally to easily exceeding thirty seconds.

But the further he went, the harder it became, because the system only gives double returns and cannot lessen the hardship he endures in training.

But Lu Yang liked this feeling of getting double returns for his effort, just like activating a Traffic Acceleration Pack.

With Lu Yang's repeated persistence, he gradually managed, just as his older cousin said, to hang on the bar for a full sixty seconds.

But just a single sixty‑second hang is obviously not enough; many sixty‑second hangs need to be stacked together.

Lu Yang, like hanging noodles to dry, completed who‑knows‑how‑many sixty‑second hangs.

His arms were sore and swollen, yet he inexplicably felt his arm strength had increased somewhat.

He shook his arms to relax a bit, then jumped up again and retried pull‑ups.

This time, it was indeed much easier than at the beginning, and his body no longer shook uncontrollably.

Sure enough, hanging on the bar works; this is genuine, practical knowledge, like taking a shortcut in training.

"One!"

"Two!"

"Three...!"

"Four, four... come on, one more!"

Lu Yang strained to bring his chin above the bar, again and again.

Meanwhile, on the side basketball court, the older cousin who was playing ball with friends stared dumbfounded.

Although he had taught Lu Yang a few little tricks for quickly pulling up on the bar, he needed to hang for at least a day or two before seeing any effect.

How come, after just a few hours, he could suddenly do four or five in a row?

"Big Lin, do you know that kid?"

"He's my younger cousin; he's about to join the army, and I brought him here to practice."

"Oh my, why didn't you say so earlier? Comrades are like brothers; your younger cousin is our younger cousin. Come on, come on, come on, we few retired veteran squad leaders will go over and give some pointers!"

Several retired veterans quit basketball altogether, all staring at Lu Yang like onlookers at a giant panda, leering.

Especially, there was a bespectacled round-faced man with a full beard, making Lu Yang get goosebumps.

"Take a break, let me introduce you. Jie Ge, Da Hong, both are retired veterans."

"Chief, hello."

Lu Yang got down from the bar and politely shouted.

Shouting "Chief" made the two retired veterans overjoyed and full of spirit.

One of them retired at the same age as his cousin; the other was a first-term non-commissioned officer, at most called squad leader by new recruits in the unit.

As for the two words "Chief", only officers of the rank of lieutenant or higher are qualified to be called that.

In that instant, their favorability toward Lu Yang, this prospective new recruit, quickly maxed out.

They even stopped playing basketball, instead eagerly sharing their unit experience and skills.

"As the saying goes, three clumsy cobblers beat Zhuge Liang."

Although they weren't outstanding in the unit, they still knew quite a bit about the details.

From then on, Lu Yang was like Yang Guo apprenticing to the Seven Freaks of Jiangnan in Jin Yong's martial arts world, beginning to receive comprehensive guidance from the three.

Lu Yang's ear also kept hearing a constant "ding ding ding" like in his mind, because everything about the unit was new to him.

Therefore, these were all new knowledge points, key to improving every bodily attribute.

From pull-ups and push-ups to parallel-bar dips, squat training, marching steps, and a three-kilometer run.

Although they were only teaching the basics, Lu Yang's eager cooperation and obedient attitude also let these retired veterans, years after leaving the Green Camp, rediscover the feeling they had back in the unit.

Although their bodies had changed and they could no longer wear the original uniforms and regular clothes; although life and work had bent their backs, the pride of once being soldiers never faded.

After many years, they finally found joy in military life again through Lu Yang, this prospective new recruit.

And that place was also where they countless times dreamed of returning, yet could never go back......