Chapter 4: All-Purpose Small Yellow Basin, Is This Hygienic?

Under the setting sun, Lu Yang's shadow was stretched, shortened, stretched again, and shortened once more.

His cousin and two old comrades leaned on the railing, watching Lu Yang sweat profusely on the track, refusing to stop, their smiles filled with nostalgia.

"When I first enlisted, I was the slowest runner in the whole squad; the squad leader would whip my butt with the armed belt, smack smack smack."

"I'm not much better than you; after being transferred to the company, the run went from three to five kilometers, nearly killing me."

"That's still the most comfortable for us; our unit is logistics, training isn't strict, roughly okay is enough."

The three old comrades chatted happily, as if seeing themselves when they first joined the army.

But Lu Yang's performance was somewhat different from theirs back then.

Although his foundation was weaker than theirs, his inner tenacity was far stronger.

Even Lu Lin looked at this cousin of his with newfound respect, remembering that this brother of his usually lost interest after three minutes.

Yet who would have thought he could show such great enthusiasm for training, never slacking from start to finish, never once complaining of fatigue.

But he didn't know that Lu Yang was immersed in the joy of double improvement, unable to extricate himself!

"Alright, take a break!"

The round-faced, beardy man shouted at the exhausted Lu Yang, who could barely move his steps.

Only then did Lu Yang slowly walk over, dragging his heavy body toward the three.

"Take a break." His cousin reminded him: "If you don't usually exercise and suddenly train too hard, you'll get cramps at night."

Lu Yang opened his mouth wide, panting: "You, why didn't you say so earlier?"

His cousin gave a hehehe smirk: "You didn't ask either."

He handed over a bottle of soda: "Replenish your fluids."

Lu Yang didn't stand on ceremony; the glass-bottled soda tasted much better than canned.

Without even using a straw, he tipped his head back and gulped it down in one go, letting out a satisfied belch that made everyone laugh.

Nothing feels better after intense exercise and sweating than drinking a bottle of chilled soda.

With a thought, Lu Yang called up his physical attributes panel from the system and saw that speed, arm strength, endurance, and other indicators each had an upward arrow added.

This meant that while he was learning new things, his physical fitness was growing exponentially through training.

As long as he keeps this momentum, he will definitely stand out in the unit.

Taking advantage of this rest, Lu Yang asked the veteran soldiers to share some fresh news from the unit, especially the insider know-how outsiders don't know.

"In the unit, you have to volunteer for everything; the dirtier, harder, and more tiring the job, the more so."

"Only by actively performing can you catch the eye of the squad and platoon leaders, even the company commander, and thus vie for a chance to stay."

"Damn, I just found out too late, so my application to stay was rejected; the instructor's evaluation of me was 'likes to eat and lazy to work'......"

The round-faced, beardy man slapped his thigh, full of resentment, his whole appearance showing great frustration.

It's clear he wanted to stay but couldn't.

I heard the unit has limited slots for retention; only those who perform well and excel have a chance to stay.

Conscripts' allowance is about twelve to thirteen hundred a month, but if they successfully stay on and become non-commissioned officers, the allowance jumps directly to five or six thousand, much higher than outside work.

This is also one of the reasons Lu Yang leans toward enlisting rather than retaking school.

In the future, more and more college students will join the military, and veterans' preferential treatment will keep improving.

If one can serve twelve years, they can even be directly assigned an iron rice bowl.

This is the only path to becoming a civil servant without taking an exam—basically a guaranteed win.

Another veteran told Lu Yang that if his first meal after joining the unit is noodles served in a small yellow basin, he must remember to eat little.

Especially the kind with burrs on the rim and covered in scars; one must be extra careful.

"Why?" Lu Yang didn't understand.

"Do you know what the small yellow basin is used for in the unit?"

"Wash clothes?"

"Wash clothes, wash feet, knead dough, make dumplings, hold soil, scoop feces......"

"Wait, wait!"

Lu Yang hurriedly called a halt, incredulously asking: "What does 'scoop feces' mean? That's a basin, not a feces spoon."

That person gave a hehehe smile: "Otherwise why call it the all-purpose small yellow basin? Look up pictures online later and you'll know; I guarantee you won't be able to eat that day."

Lu Yang's face full of disgust, he couldn't understand why the unit couldn't issue a few more basins.

It's used for washing feet and kneading dough— isn't that unclean and unhygienic?

What if E. coli, athlete's foot, corns, etc., get wrapped into the dumplings?

At this moment, he turned to look at his cousin, curiously asking: "Brother, why were you discharged, and why didn't you stay on back then?"

His cousin pulled out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, tapped and lit one, and said meaningfully: "Back then, I asked the whole squad; everyone said they were discharging, but I was the only one who submitted an application."

"However, we happened to be during military reforms, so even those who didn't want to leave had to go."

"Our company had a model soldier who excelled in everything and won many awards, just his cultural scores were a bit low......"

Lu Yang asked: "Was he eliminated by the unit because his cultural scores were too low?"

His cousin shook his head: "No, it wasn't that; he fell asleep during duty readiness, and when he woke up he found he had an extra wheat-ear general's star uniform on him."

"Then our company was criticized in a military-wide bulletin; the battalion commander, company commander, and instructor were all punished from top to bottom."

Lu Yang laughed and cried: "Then he had to leave; if he didn't, he'd be beaten to death......"

The few of them were chatting and laughing when suddenly they saw in the distance what looked like two groups of young people gathering on the drill field.

Looking at this scene, it resembled a brawl between societal youths, locally called 'setting up the table.'

As for the formation laid out on the drill field, the three retired veterans merely gave a dismissive chuckle, offering a relatively fair evaluation.

"A bunch of idiots......"

These brats, if they ever join the army, they'll get cleaned up eight hundred times a day.

Lu Yang remembered, in the army no matter what position you hold, don't be a troublemaker, because the veteran squad leader loves nothing more than to root out troublemakers.

Lu Yang glanced over there; with his present mature mindset, seeing this so-called high-school-era fight, he found it utterly boring, a complete waste of time.

If you have this idle time, going to steal a couple of batteries would count as pursuing a career and development.

At that moment, the phone in his pocket suddenly rang; on the other end, his father's voice was extremely excited.

Son, hurry back, the comrades from the People's Armed Forces Department have arrived, your enlistment notice has come down.