16 Chapter 8 Forcing Me to Improve!_2

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Does seeing a book give you a headache or what?

"Oh, all right." When Fang Huai said that, Hao Chengbin nodded again, his opinion of him rising a few more notches.

This kid gave off the right impression: thoughtful, planned out, yet unassuming and down-to-earth.

Hao Chengbin glanced at the one in the corner who was nearly falling asleep.

"That one... hey, squirt, you're up."

The pale, skinny young man was nudged by a new recruit beside him, looked around with bewildered eyes like a newborn baby, and jumped in fright when he realized everyone was staring at him.

"Ah... me?"

Hao Chengbin was both exasperated and amused: "Yes, you! Introduce yourself... and wipe that drool off your face first!"

The new recruit quickly wiped his mouth with his sleeve and stood up.

"Clang."

His head made intimate contact with the bed frame.

"Hahaha…" Laughter burst out.

Fang Huai couldn't help but laugh too; the kid's every action seemed like something out of a cartoon.

"My name is Peng Yingqirui, from Bijie, Guizhou, umm… I have no specialties."

Peng Yingqirui rubbed his head while speaking slowly.

"How about hobbies? Don't you have any?" Hao Chengbin asked, somewhat dissatisfied.

"Yes, sleeping…"

"Hahaha…"

Hao Chengbin couldn't hold back his laughter and waved his hands.

"Okay, sit down, sit down. Next one."

The new recruit beside him stood up, short, dark, and skinny, looking rough and mature, the kind that clearly did a lot of farm work at home, with a simple smile on his face.

"Reporting, dear comrades, my name is Zhao Bing, as in the character for 'send'! My ambition from childhood was to be a soldier! At home, I would listen to the radio, and have no other hobbies!"

Hao Chengbin frowned: "From where?"

"Send send! From Hunan send send!"

"Oh… from Huaihua, Hunan, right?"

"Yes, squad leader!"

Yue Tao followed suit excitedly: "Haha! From Hunan send send! Oh, I meant Hunan!"

Hao Chengbin finally couldn't help but gave him a knuckle-rap on the head.

Now there were two nursing their heads in the room.

"Next!"

The tall, skinny new recruit next to Zhao Bing stood up.

"Squad leader, my name is Lu Zexian…"

While he was speaking, there were two knocks, and the door opened.

Company Leader Wang Jian stuck his head in: "Old Hao, it's your squad's turn."

Hao Chengbin nodded, stood up, and went out, both of them carrying the new recruits' bags to the Brigade Department.

He came back after a while, a smile on his face.

"None of you brought a large sum of cash, right?"

Everyone exchanged glances and shook their heads.

"That's good, continue the introductions then…"

...

When gathering downstairs, one piece of big news was overheard: a new recruit from Squad Eight brought over three hundred thousand in cash. It was said that a big gang of relatives from the Armed Forces Department was worried he wouldn't live well in the troops, each stuffing him with tens of thousands of yuan.

The Brigade Department didn't dare to keep it, and would have to take the new recruit to the bank tomorrow to have it deposited in an account.

The whole Regiment Seven was abuzz; everyone discussed it on the way down to the assembly.

"Damn, his name is Han Yong, right? I heard his dad's the Provincial Agent of Furong Wang cigarette brand…"

"Dude, rich people don't even count pocket money in the same units as us…"

"Zhang Wei, he's in your squad, right? Big bro, shouldn't you treat him well from now on?"

"Treat my ass! Squad Leader Pan just chewed him out for half an hour! Told him to stay a rich man and not join the troops!"

"Yeah, exactly! I heard back home that when somebody wealthy joins the troops, nobody really likes it! It's gonna be rough for him!"

Fang Huai trailed behind, smirking.

Whatever Furong Wang agent, Furong Wang doesn't have agents.

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But these guys still have the mood to worry about others feeling sad. In the future, you'll understand what "the joy of daddy, beyond your imagination" means.

Alas, so young and already without worries, how will you get by in the future!

...

For the welcome meal, everyone ate merrily.

Tomato and egg, green pepper with minced pork, two basins of sauce-filled meat—an incredibly delicious flavor that was leaps and bounds better than the soy sauce noodles Fang Huai had yesterday.

Seven or eight canteen aunties kept busy, making sure everyone was well-fed.

Fang Huai had seen enough jokes in his past life about People's Liberation Army welcome meals served in small yellow basins used for washing faces and feet. But looking at the professional large aluminum basin over half a meter wide, it was just for placing dishes in the canteen. New recruits would wash dishes in there with dish detergent!

Sometimes when the water bucket was full, it would be used for temporary storage of waste water and such!

That waste water, thick with oil and residue that even pigs would scramble to eat—how could humans not?

All those utensils that keep cropping up all over the troops, better not to think too much about it. Thinking too much could be distressing.

Fang Huai looked at the weathered multipurpose large aluminum basin with light broth and a sheen of oil floating on top. He put aside his stray thoughts and forced himself to eat a bowl.

In the meantime, Yue Tao even offered to get him another bowl so he could eat more.

Only those new recruits who had arrived early and had already experienced the canteen food could appreciate how precious this meal was.

The base had two canteens.

The canteen for the new recruits was the larger one, seating eleven people per table with six dishes and one soup. It wasn't bad, but there was no choice, and the proportion of rice to dishes was high.

A hundred meters directly opposite the large canteen was the small canteen for internal base staff. It was buffet-style, and one wouldn't be mistaken for thinking it was an air force meal. Since the base had many civilian cadres and more senior officers than junior ones, and the officers outnumbered the soldiers, the average rank was fairly high, so was the food standard—every meal featured over a dozen large basins of buffet options, with at least two kinds of seafood.

The two canteens, one was like Africa Zone, and the other like Europe Zone.

The base's waste water mainly came from Europe Zone; Africa Zone hardly had any leftover oil.

Today, it was like New Year's in the Africa Zone. Hundreds of new recruits ate to their fill, and surprisingly, there was still a lot left in the basins of sauce-filled meat.

Fang Huai made a wild guess that they would probably eat the same thing for breakfast tomorrow, but surely there wouldn't be enough to go around.

...

Hao Chengbin led the team back to the squad, and after giving the new recruits instructions to head to the showers, he immediately called Fang Huai and Jiang Peng to the Joint Office.

They pushed open the door, and inside there was only Company Leader Wang Jian and a dark-skinned, chubby non-commissioned officer. The two were warming themselves by a stove that was surrounded by peanuts.

Hao Chengbin glanced at an empty bed in the corner of the wall.

"Wang Lian, Instructor Liang is not here again?"

Wang Jian turned his head, tossing a peanut shell into the trash can before grabbing a handful and offering it to him. He then looked over at Fang Huai and Jiang Peng, hesitating for a bit before he spoke softly.

"His wife is sick and in the hospital nearby, you know, every family has its issues... What's going on in the company... Just be a little understanding."

Hao Chengbin took a warm peanut, shelled it, and popped it into his mouth before responding.

"If it's a long hospital stay that needs attending to... it might be best to ask the Regiment Department for leave and get someone else to fill in. There's a lot going on with the new recruits, and it's not good to keep leaving you to handle it alone."

Wang Jian waved a hand dismissively, "We're comrades. Instructor Liang is from my District team in the Military Academy. We'll help where we can, and there's also Huang Yi to handle things, so it's not that bad."

As he said this, he pointed at the dark-skinned, chubby non-commissioned officer.

Huang Yi immediately widened his eyes and slid back on his stool, casting a look at the nearby computer.

"Wang Lian, you can't leave it all on me to handle! I've been working overtime for days. I never worked like this back at the squadron!"

Wang Jian laughed and clapped Huang Yi on the shoulder, "We'll take turns! I haven't asked you to do it all alone! Don't worry, one of our excellent squad leaders will certainly be among you."

Upon hearing this, Hao Chengbin turned his head and looked at Fang Huai and Jiang Peng with a somewhat smug expression.

"I knew you couldn't handle everything by yourselves. Here you go! Fresh help, I've brought two computer-savvy guys for you!"

Wang Jian and Huang Yi's eyes gleamed with excitement.

Jiang Peng immediately stepped forward slightly, positioning himself in front of Fang Huai.

Wang Jian spit out a peanut shell and raised his head to look at Jiang Peng, asking with some hesitation,

"Both of you good with computers? Proficient?"

Jiang Peng spoke with restrained pride, "Reporting to the Company Leader, I type very fast! I also know how to use document software!"

"How about making spreadsheets? Can you do that?" Wang Jian followed up.

Jiang Peng hesitated for a moment.

"That... shouldn't be a problem."

Wang Jian was about to ask another question when Huang Yi quickly interjected, not wanting to miss this opportunity to get some help.

"Hey, Wang Lian, don't set the bar too high—being able to type is good enough! Help out with writing reports; as long as there are no typos, it will be a help! Let him try!"

Wang Jian had no choice but to nod, got up, and pulled out a couple of report forms from beside the computer desk, handing them to Jiang Peng.

"Filling out forms, can you do that?"

Jiang Peng took a look at the form and asked cautiously, "There's a template for this, right?"

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