The unexpected happened one hour later.
Around 6 o'clock, as Fang Huai sat on the edge of the bed flirting with his blanket, he saw Wang Jian, who was making a phone call, walk past the door and glance at him.
[Task Completion.]
[Generating reward…]
One hour earlier, the task completion degree had gradually reached (11/12), as if all the squad leaders knew about him.
As for what the formed memory point was, he also didn't know.
Twelve old soldiers of Squad Seven, nine squad leaders, one clerk, the company leader, the instructor.
If he wasn't mistaken, at this moment, the last old soldier of Squad Seven—who was outside taking care of his wife—instructor Liang Longhui, also had a unique memory point of him.
Completing two tasks at once was like becoming successful through a roundabout way.
[Please choose your reward.]
[1, Military Quilt Level 1 (if not chosen, this skill reward will be cancelled)]
[2, Slight increase in arm strength]
[3, Lung strengthening]
Fang Huai looked at the yellow military blanket in front of him, which already resembled little tofu blocks, and once again dismissed the skill of Military Quilt.
If a skill could be ground out over time, then there was no need to waste the opportunity on it.
Organ enhancement or strength enhancement, which one to choose?
Lungs, huh…
But the new recruit group didn't run often, with just three physical training days a week, and push-ups were commonly used punishments by the old soldiers.
Lying down several times a day, if he didn't choose arms, push-ups were going to kill him.
Choosing organ enhancement was definitely good, but the effects wouldn't be as immediate as an increase in strength.
If this were a dream-fulfilling journey, he'd still opt to experience somersaulting on the bars first.
Abdominal strength had clearly increased, and the advantage already gained always made him, someone who had been poor in a previous life, feel secure.
He chose arm strength.
Just as Fang Huai made his choice, he suddenly widened his eyes.
The soreness in his arms turned into an intense stinging pain, causing him to suck in a breath of cool air.
This time, it was not as easy as the last strengthening; he once again chose "fast-food," and the system seemed to be deliberately torturing him.
After a while, the stinging pain disappeared.
Along with it, the soreness vanished as well.
This enhancement... seemed like it could restore energy.
Normally, after training to that extent, it would take at least two or three days to recover to the previous level of strength, but after recovery, the strength would surpass past peaks, making it the best chance to achieve results. That's why, usually three or four days before a strength-type assessment, experienced old soldiers would train intensely for a period.
Would this enhancement also allow for the training he just did to recover quickly, getting processed?
Fang Huai was excited. Noticing that no one was paying attention to him, he braced his hands against the ground to give it a try.
A few push-ups should let him feel the difference.
Unexpectedly, Yue Tao turned around at that moment, his expression gradually turning to astonishment.
"Damn... Squad leader! He's at it again! Squad leader!" Yue Tao shouted loudly and even slapped Peng Yingqirui by his side.
There were only two people in the barracks because he was the only one privileged enough to fold blankets on the bed; the rest were on the ground, with just two blankets' width between the beds, and everyone else was out in the hallway.
Peng Yingqirui turned his head and saw Fang Huai in a push-up position, his expression also turning to panic as he hurried over to pull him up.
"Oh my goodness, bro, what are you doing?? Squad leader!!"
Hao Chengbin quickly came over, while Fang Huai lay on the ground wordlessly and Peng Yingqirui triumphantly sat on his back, making an "OK" gesture with a smug expression on his face.
"No problem, squad leader, I've subdued him!"
"Get up!" Hao Chengbin pointed at Peng Yingqirui and then looked at Fang Huai, frowning, "What's wrong with you?"
"Squad leader, it's nothing, nothing!" Fang Huai waved his hands repeatedly.
Hao Chengbin looked at Fang Huai with a normal face, then said displeasedly, "Hurry up and sort out the internal affairs! Peng Yingqirui! You have time to play? Look at that blanket you folded! It's like a dinosaur, high in the front and low in the back, with such a big mouth open, who are you planning to stuff in there? Take it and roll it again!"
With that, he flipped open Peng Yingqirui's folded blanket, flicked it twice, and threw it back onto the ground.
"Squad leader, I really wasn't playing!!"
...
For the next half hour, Peng Yingqirui was resentfully staring at Fang Huai while rubbing his blanket, evenly distributing the cotton inside.
It wasn't the rubbing of clothes, but a back-and-forth pressing rub, then folding and rubbing again until the edges were evenly tight, only then was it good to pinch the edges and trim the corners.
Fang Huai didn't finish a barely acceptable blanket for himself until 5:30 and looked over to see Peng Yingqirui with a crying face slowly folding his blanket. Somewhat helplessly, Fang Huai stepped forward to instruct him.
Once Peng Yingqirui finished his blanket and with an angry look in his eyes, Fang Huai's arms forcefully pressed down to flatten the blanket, then like performing magic, took a pen and helped trim out the corners bit by bit.
"This spot, don't leave too much space; if it's too large, it will collapse! Your lines are clearly drawn too wide, leave a centimeter shorter on both sides!"
"The top of the blanket must be pressed evenly! Once the lines are drawn, don't move them around, save the time from folding to work on the edges and corners!"
"The edges of the blanket come from pinching, the corners from pushing, push it inward a bit, then shape it along the corner..."
Peng Yingqirui watched his blanket take on a miraculous transformation, incessantly saying "awesome, awesome."
One by one, the new recruits carried their folded blankets back into the barracks, cautiously laying them on their beds, with blankets of the same size but results of varying heights and lengths.
Everyone was quite satisfied with their "tofu block," feeling that their own was well folded, while others had this or that problem.
The "Internal Affairs Regulations" doesn't say much about folding blankets, but it is one of the most important parts of internal affairs, not only sharpening the mind and patience but also a process of gradually rectifying aesthetics.
Although everyone's aesthetics differed, Fang Huai's blanket was still the most striking presence in the room, increasingly seeming neater and with sharper corners compared to the others.
Fang Huai's skills were not much better, but his speed had increased a lot. Rolling the blanket and folding it took only half an hour, with every step measured by hand and almost no pitfalls, yet it took a full hour to trim the blanket.
Most of the new recruits finished on the ground and brought their blankets to the bed only in the last ten minutes for final adjustments.
At 6:30, the wake-up call sounded. As soon as the old soldier Hao Chengbin entered the barracks, he spotted the difference at a glance. After walking half a circle around the beds and inspecting closely, he said.
"Fang Huai, your blanket can be folded a bit shorter next time. The newly issued blankets aren't suited for folding so thickly, it's still a bit swollen in the middle."
"Squad leader, I think it's alright though!" As soon as Yue Tao saw that Fang Huai's blanket was the only one the squad leader suggested to improve, he immediately stood with his hands behind his back and shared his opinion.
Talk about misplaced confidence.
Anyone with a bit of emotional intelligence was already as silent as cicadas in winter.
The only thing the squad leader deemed worth his attention was that one quilt; the rest weren't even worth a mention.
Sure enough, when Hao Chengbin heard Yue Tao's comment, he turned his head to look at Yue Tao's quilt. With just one glance, he expressed disdain.
"It's as awful as shit, Yue Tao, you can wait to pick up your quilt downstairs later."
"Pfft..." Chen Zhongqiang couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing.
Hao Chengbin turned his head and instantly passed judgment.
"Chen Zhongqiang too!"
Then he looked around and said, "Little one, draw the lines on your quilt again tomorrow, and Zhao Bing, tidy yours up again!"
Jiang Peng became anxious, as the quilts the squad leader mentioned were clearly passable. He hadn't expected his own to not even make the top three.
"Squad leader, could you take a look at mine... where do I need to improve?"
Jiang Peng slept in the upper bunk, and Hao Chengbin shifted his perspective, giving it a serious look.
"Yue Tao's is diarrhea; yours is... just a bit firmer."
"Hahahaha..." A burst of laughter ensued.
Jiang Peng's face turned dark as he watched Fang Huai and Zhao Bing go out to wash up with the basins.
Fang Huai had the skill, Zhao Bing had the stamina.
If you have a Yu, why need a Liang?
Or maybe two Liangs??
...
The training field, morning exercise.
Almost a thousand people were jogging in formation by company on the playground, moving at a slow pace, shouting various chants.
Squad Seven was led by Squad Eight's veteran squad leader, Pan Zhaohui.
"121! 121!"
"Rookie, rookie! I am a rookie!"
"Rookie..."
"Shout it out!!"
"Rookie, rookie, I am a rookie!"
"Pest, pest, I am a pest!"
"Pest, pest, I am a pest!"
"Follow my command! 121! Three kilometers, ah!"
"Three kilometers, ah!"
"I love you, ah!"
"I love you, ah!"
"Without running for one day!"
"Without running for one day!"
"I will miss you so much, ah!"
"I will miss you so much, ah!"
All sorts of creative chants were heard. In the distance, one company even started singing "We Are the Pests."
"We are the pests! We are the pests! The righteous old squad leader, the righteous old squad leader, must eradicate pests, eradicate! Eradicate!"
Due to the large numbers, they couldn't run very fast, so it was harmonious. The new recruits leisurely jogged five laps, which was about two kilometers.
Apart from a few who felt the chants were too embarrassing to shout out loud and got kicked a couple of times on the butt, and those who were notably overweight or particularly weak, most people didn't find it too arduous.
After the run, they assembled and went for breakfast, chatting and laughing.
Fang Huai was probably one of the most distressed.
Ever since he'd received the power reward and his arms recovered, he'd become increasingly hungry.
The quick recovery of his muscle groups seemed to have depleted all his body's glycogen, and his stomach had been growling several times. At that moment, he felt like his body was starting to burn fat, and he was heating up all over.
This rapid recovery seemed to be making up for the intense consumption of energy he'd experienced.
But for an entire company, from assembling on the training field to gathering at the door of the New Training Building cafeteria, then singing songs before starting to eat, it was definitely a lengthy process.
In terms of time, it amounted to approximately 20 minutes.
Fang Huai's eyes were nearly green with hunger.
And there were still some who were courting death, opening their mouths to sing during mealtimes but barely making a sound. Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua ordered in a cold voice.
"If you don't sing well, you'll keep singing here until you can sing well enough to start eating!""
"Unity is Strength" was sung six times, and by the end, Fang Huai could no longer open his mouth to sing. In just over an hour, he'd experienced what it felt like to go without food for at least four or five days.
A system that so blatantly defied biology still pretended to follow the conservation of energy law of physics.
Seemingly scientific yet not superstitious at all.
When the announcement was made to start eating, as First Company filed into the cafeteria one by one, Fang Huai was on the verge of collapse. He stumbled backwards once, and Squad Nine's tallest new recruit, Lu Zexian, caught him, asking softly,
"What's wrong?"
"I might still be a bit dizzy from the recovery just now," Fang Huai quickly made up an excuse.
"Then I'll help you in!"
When it was Squad Seven's turn to enter the cafeteria, Lu Zexian's towering height of 184 centimeters caught Yang Yonghua's attention, and he also noticed that one new recruit who had forced him to wake up two hours early that day.
Fang Huai's weak appearance led him to speculate for a moment.
That new recruit had looked fine just before. If it wasn't an act to avoid training, then it meant his body was extremely feeble.
But regardless of the reason, the award for excellent soldier he had promised that morning might not be handed out.
Oh, what a shame, he had thought this young man had the strength and determination to handle things, but it seems he was just a pretty face.
(Another chapter to follow, late update)