Chapter 30: My Fate Is My Own, Not Heaven

"Lu Yang, come down, stop hanging; you've been hanging for more than an hour!"

"I won't, I won't come down!"

"You come down, your mental state has the Squad Leader all worried, the Squad Leader is scared! Bring two people up to untie you…"

"Go, go, go, I won't go down!"

Lu Yang, like noodles drying in the sun, had his hands bound with tape and paper, hanging from the horizontal bar.

But because he was reluctant to give up the threefold speed increase in arm strength, grip, and endurance, he refused to come down.

What a joke, after finally seizing the chance to activate threefold speed, how could he be willing to end it so quickly?

So Lu Yang switched to stubborn mode; no matter how the Squad Leader pleaded, he stubbornly refused to come down from the bar.

Even when Kong Long and the others tried to come over and untie the tape, Lu Yang kicked wildly to drive them away.

"It's over, he's become addicted to hanging…"

"Squad Leader, why not let the Assistant Squad Leader keep hanging? He looks pretty comfortable hanging…"

"Squad Leader, could Lu Yang have a masochistic tendency, liking this feeling of being bound? We don't have a whip or anything, could we use the Armed Belt instead?"

Zhou Kaidong covered his face, feeling both exasperated and amused.

The longer one can hang from the bar, the better, but everything must follow a gradual progression.

The others wailed like ghosts, begging him to come down in under ten minutes; even Kong Long could only endure fifteen minutes before feeling miserable.

When tearing off the tape, they also pulled off the hairs on Kong Long's hand, making him cry from the pain.

But only Lu Yang was different; while others suffered, he seemed to be in enjoyment mode?

At first, Zhou Kaidong thought the kid was just showing off and wanted to see how long he could stay stubborn, so he had people practice parallel bars nearby.

Even after several sets of parallel bar dips were finished, Lu Yang still hung there as if nothing, muttering and even reciting regulations silently.

This made him suspect that Lu Yang might be possessed by something dirty, otherwise why so crazy?

"Lu Yang, listen to the Squad Leader: pull‑ups can't be rushed, or your arms will dislocate."

"Squad Leader, during the meal you said you'd give me intensive training to boost my fitness. I feel great now and want to apply to hang an extra half hour, then make up all the parallel‑bar practice you missed after I'm done!"

Zhou Kaidong almost spat out a mouthful of old blood; he had seen countless trainees slack off and many fake seriousness.

But someone like Lu Yang, who feels the training and wants to add more crazily, is rare.

Also worried about problems from hanging too long, Zhou Kaidong went up himself to untie him.

After landing, the system's threefold speed increase effect quickly vanished.

What followed was intense soreness in his arms, shoulders, back, and abdomen, so painful that Lu Yang's body became somewhat rigid.

Seeing this, Zhou Kaidong's anxious heart finally settled; the side effect of hanging appeared, enough to give the kid a whole pot.

But at that moment, Lu Yang voluntarily applied to hang an hour each at noon and night every day.

Zhou Kaidong was left speechless, unable to say yes or no.

He could only announce a break, then excuse himself to the restroom and make a quick escape.

Watching Zhou Kaidong stride away, the Third Squad recruits burst into laughter; it was the first time they'd seen the Squad Leader completely broken by the recruits.

"Assistant Squad Leader, you're really ruthless, thinking of using self‑masochism to manipulate the Squad Leader!"

"Self‑masochism? No such thing?"

"Not yet? We can't even handle ten minutes; you've been hanging for over an hour, we're all afraid you'll snap your arm, don't you feel pain?"

"Actually it hurt and was uncomfortable at first, but after hanging for a while I got used to it and imagined myself as a salted fish…"

Talent!

Everyone agreed that Lu Yang must have some odd little hobby!

Otherwise, who would rush to endure hardship?

But who knows, Lu Yang is just too greedy for the threefold speed attribute gains.

He even had the crazy idea of hanging himself again while tying a weight under his feet, maybe this time getting a 3.5‑fold benefit.

During a water break, the Third Squad recruits sat in a circle and started idle chatter.

The topic was the content the Instructor had covered in the earlier political theory class.

Kong Long asked curiously, "Is the tank entrance really that small? Can someone my size squeeze in?"

Everyone looked at his build and shook their heads; even Lu Yang found it quite absurd.

"Just think, the tank cockpit only has that much room; even if you squeeze your head in, you can't move."

"Moreover, you still have to load ammunition, steer, etc., which limits flexibility."

"Our regiment seems to be an armored unit, right? On enlistment day we saw many tanks, but I don't know how many people can sit inside those big ones, or if we'll have a spot in the future."

"Seems like three."

"No, it's four."

"Modern tanks have three crew; the old Type‑69 and Type‑59 have four each."

If those words came from Lu Yang's mouth, they wouldn't be surprised at all.

But it was Ding Tengfei who spoke up, which was quite baffling.

"You actually know this?"

"I've liked remote‑control cars since I was a kid; besides the RC car, my house also has all kinds of tank models."

"So, you like tanks, that's why you joined the army?"

Facing everyone's curiosity, Ding Tengfei felt it was hard to speak for the first time.

He really wants, after the next training, to learn to drive tanks, to operate armored vehicles.

A tens‑of‑tons heavy beast with the throttle floored, racing across the vast land—doesn't that beat riding a modified electric bike or a heavyweight motorcycle a thousand times over?

Moreover, the barrel is damn huge; one shell can flatten a hill, how freaking awesome is that?

But he wasn't joining the army for those reasons; after a bout of inner conflict he frankly admitted he was forced by his family to enlist.

What Ding Tengfei didn't expect was that he wasn't the only one, because someone else was in a similar situation, also forced to join the army.

"I originally wanted to go work in Deep City; the unit was already arranged, I'd be a quality inspector at Futu Kang, earning several thousand a month."

"My family absolutely refused, confiscated my ID, and in the end I had no choice but to enlist."

Lu Yang looked at the acne‑covered new recruit named Zhang Dan and from his heart thought his parents had indeed chosen the right path for him.

An introverted person, when placed there, would become even more suppressed and introverted, and might end up on the roof someday.

Lu Yang turned to Kong Long: "What about you? Your family runs a restaurant, why did you come to enlist?"

Kong Long tugged at the weeds on the ground, absent‑mindedly said: "If I didn't enlist, I'd end up like my dad, welded to the kitchen for life. Summer kills with heat, winter chokes with smoke, oil‑filled air from dawn to dusk."

"They were going to send me to New Oriental to learn cooking, but I refused; then my elder uncle, who served, said I'm strong and suggested I train in the army, so here I am."

"Your family runs a restaurant, what dishes do you make?"

"Northeastern cuisine: Guobaoyou, pork stewed with vermicelli, plus some small barbecues."

"Sounds good. If I ever get a chance to go to the Northeast, I'll have to visit your place and try it."

Everyone took turns speaking; some were forced by family, some simply didn't know what to do, and some were clearly after discharge pay.

Finally, all eyes fell on Lu Yang: "Assistant Squad Leader, why did you enlist?"

Kong Long was also curious: "You love reading so much, why didn't you get into university?"

Ding Tengfei also fixed his gaze on his fellow villager.

At first, he superficially thought Lu Yang was just faking effort, putting on a show.

But after spending time together, he found Lu Yang wasn't pretending; he was truly diligent.

Especially his notes from the thought‑and‑politics class, densely packed with knowledge points, were even borrowed by other Squad Leaders after class for new recruits to copy.

If it were an act, he'd be too invested, showing no sign of any slackness.

Lu Yang, with a blade of grass in his mouth, wore a melancholy expression: "It's because I love reading so much that my studies suffer."

Each part alone they could understand, but put together it became incomprehensible.

Kong Long couldn't figure it out: "If you love reading, shouldn't your grades be great? Why can't you learn?"

Lu Yang awkwardly said: "I love novels, read them day and night like possessed, but I dislike language, math and foreign subjects, so the Gaokao was a mess. I was going to repeat a year, but the village was recruiting, so I just enlisted."

"So you really flunked, realized the importance of studying, and then started to work hard?"

"Hmm."

"But we also flunked, some didn't even take the exam; none of us have your enlightenment."

"Different."

"Different how?"

"Our experiences are different."

Ding Tengfei rolled his eyes outright.

"No matter how much experience you have, can you have as much as I?"

At least he had already been half a member of society, knowing people from all walks.

Lu Yang snapped his fingers and whispered a secret: "Actually, I'm a reincarnated soul, having lived through more, seeing farther than you kids, so I understand the truth that youth without effort leads to old age's sorrow."

"I returned to enlist to defy fate within the army, climb step by step to the top, and make my destiny my own, not heaven's."

Everyone rolled their eyes to the heavens and collectively made a cutting sound.

"If you're reincarnated, we're saints reincarnated, left hand holding the Emperor's banner, right hand the Chaos Bell, with the supreme bone on our backs!"

"Then I'm a powerful body cultivator from the shattered void, traveling the mortal realm, preparing to break through to divine transformation and found a sect, hehe!"

"Then I'm the ruler of the Underground World, mastering both black and white, with hands and eyes reaching the heavens, a supreme young master!"

"Hey hey hey, you're no good, you can't get in!"

Facing everyone's rebuttal, Ding Tengfei was indignant: "Why, why can't I? I'm at least a normal person, not as outrageous as you!"

Lu Yang gave him a look: "You can't pass the Political Screening."

Ding Tengfei's face was full of question marks: "......."