Look At How Popular We Are!

By the time Long Zhao Feng reached the open field, the soldiers already stood with straight backs in rows and columns. Some colonels had taken the initiative to change the riding formation to allow the weaker soldiers to recuperate during the remainder of the trip to the campsite. They could not afford for anyone to fall sick, especially when they were so close to war.

The agenda for the day was clear : reach the base as soon as possible. Long Zhao Feng was not one to talk too much when no information needed to be relayed. He merely wished to depart as soon as possible. At the end of the morning assembly, he prepared to leave but his commandants still had not left their positions. This only meant one thing. They still had something to talk to him about.

"..."

Usually it was only one or two at most, but this time all four commandants had something weighing their minds. Long Zhao Feng folded his arms and eyed them one by one, waiting for one of them to step forward with the talk but it did not happen. He knew his commandants well.

In previous meetings,  they would all rush forward with their topic, because hey one's own problem took priority over the others'. This time they were absurdly polite, actually pushing each other to speak first. Finally, the North-Side Commandant who had most seniority took the privilege to speak up first.

"Ahem. General, I am thinking of recruiting your new squire, Xiao Ya, to join my troops."

After hearing what the North-Side Commandant had to say, the other commandants suddenly could not hold back with their own requests and started speaking all at once, even elbowing each other in the process.

"No kidding! General Long, my West-Side is lacking good horse riders. You know that very well. Please assign him to me instead, I will make good use of him!"

"West-Side is going to exploit the young man until he dies from exhaustion. General Long, East-Side troops will carefully nurture this talent. Give me three months, I will make out of him the best archer of the whole troops!"

The South-Side Commandant was level-headed. He also wanted "Xiao Ya" for himself, but he was gracious enough to say, "We all have noticed the horse-riding talent of this new squire, General Long. While a squire position is comfortable and safe, we are in need of good people. We have all put forward our requests. May General Long please reassign him to a new position!"

Instead of giving an answer, Long Zhao Feng glared at all of them. He could not believe what he was hearing.

"Horse-riding ability is indeed a very practical sill for a lot of purposes, but no one is a born horse-rider. Horse-riding ability is something to be taught, to be learned. It is your responsibility as superiors to make sure the people under you are capable enough to ride horses. Relying on picking the best recruits instead of training the new ones will only create disparity within the army!"

The General said all that while pointing fingers at them one by one. The commandants looked at each other. Instead of a talented youngling, what they got from General Long was a round of scolding.

What the General said was not wrong. It's just that despite the same amount of rigorous training hours, some people were naturally uncomfortable around horses, and thus their horsemanship was mostly bordering to average.

Since there was someone like Xiao Yue who was naturally so in tune with horses, it was natural if each of the commandants sought to recruit such a sparkling talent, right?

Long Zhao Feng sighed in his heart. He was glad that despite her poor swordsmanship, Xiao Yue was actually a capable horse rider. On the other side, he was not very glad that Xiao Yue attracted attention. When one stood out too much, one's secrets easily leaked out to curious people who watched from the side.

The East-Side Commandant still had something else to say. He gingerly raised his hand, risking the General's wrath.

"Yes...?"

"If General Long cannot spare Xiao Ya, we will respect your decision. May I inquire about Xiao Yu?"

The other commandants nodded in unison.

"What about her?"

Yu Fen was a regular maid. Long Zhao Feng did not see her displaying any useful military skill. Long Zhao Feng was quite surprised that she too drew the commandants' attention. What exactly did the commandants think of her?

"Well, last night's dinner was the best I had since I joined the army. Can he cook for us from now on? I will help with the hunting every night if necessary."

The West-Side Commandant laughed and elbowed his comrade in the ribs.

"Brother, do you even need to volunteer? Everyone from the army is willing to work part-time for Xiao Yu just to have decent meals every day."

The commandants laughed heartily while slapping each other's back. Long Zhao Feng already refused to give Xiao Yue to them. He did not have the heart to deny them Yu Fen's amazing culinary skills.

No, he himself was quite impressed at Yu Fen's cooking ability. He did not want to admit it, but yesterday's dinner was also the best meal he ever had since he joined the army. The others might feel the same. Good food united people. They could use more, in light of the new recruits who were still trying to adapt to the war environment.

"He will remain my squire, but daily cooking will be left in his hands," Long Zhao Feng decided.