Chapter 17 Human Nature and Worldly Wisdom...and the story of Tian Ji's Horse Racing

This power move was thoroughly effective.

Who could be more awesome than Squad Six Leader?

Fang Huai glanced at Battalion Commander Zhang and noticed an envious look on his face.

At that moment, Squad Leader Pan also showed his protective side, walking up to Zhang Yizhang and patting him on the back.

"Don't worry, you can do it too!"

Battalion Commander Zhang nodded firmly, looking encouraged.

In contrast, Squad Leader Hao was roaming around with the roll call book, doing nothing, not even bothering to care about his own new recruits.

Oh my god, this verbal smackdown really hit the spot!

−9999!

"Squad One to Squad Four, parallel bars, Squad Five to Squad Nine, horizontal bar!"

"Squad Five, Zhang Ke, get ready for the horizontal bar!"

Hearing this name, Fang Huai couldn't help but turn his head to look.

This guy must have come with him, a local from Chongqing, who was introducing himself to everyone on the bus.

"He can't do it, his physical strength is poor," a voice suddenly commented from behind.

"Damn, you're in the seventh company too?" Fang Huai turned around to find Cao Peng.

On the train, the nephew of Captain Cao.

"Yes! I'm in Squad Five! There are only three of us from Chongqing in the seventh company! Didn't you know I was here? I spotted you early!" Cao Peng's face bore an expression of feeling let down.

Fang Huai, always wary, didn't quite adjust to this sudden intimacy. In society, such an attitude meant either a favor or borrowing money, so he waved his hand with a reluctant face, looking quite miserable.

"Hey, these past few days, it's been tough enough just surviving, let alone looking around. They've been really strict."

"Yeah!" As soon as Cao Peng heard him complain, he immediately veered off track.

"I've only just realized how strict the military is. When the Company Leader asked me about my family, I mentioned my uncle, and the squad leader even... Ah! I wish I hadn't come!"

Fang Huai laughed on hearing this.

This guy was the spitting image of his former self.

"Once you're done here, go to your uncle's Detachment, see if he can transfer you to the staff office. It's tough in the grassroots squadron, without patience, you won't last."

"Cut it out," Cao Peng said with a look of disdain.

"Why don't you ask your uncle to transfer you to Guiyang Regiment? If you can handle it, so can I!"

Damn?

Fang Huai's eyes widened, and he quickly patted him, signaling him to keep his voice down.

"Holy shit, how do you know..."

Cao Peng looked smug: "Before I left, my uncle called me to say that Captain Zhang's nephew was coming with me, named Fang. Your uncle was busy at the time. It was my uncle who handled your enlistment! They are old comrades, served in a squadron together, very close! Why else would I talk to you about this?"

Fang Huai felt, for the first time since his rebirth, that he had been played.

This guy was a master at playing dumb. After hours of chatting on the train, he thought Cao Peng was just outgoing. Turns out he knew everything all along.

"Oh my god, just don't mention it! I don't want any special treatment like you!"

Fang Huai smacked his lips and let down his guard.

Turns out the guy had approached him because of his family connections. In that case, it wouldn't be good to act too distant.

But something felt off. He didn't recall such a conversation in his past life.

Perhaps it was just a forgettable memory, gone among the many trivial matters of the new recruit group.

Thinking back, most of what he remembered from his military days were events that evoked strong emotions. Back then, all he thought about was when he could make a call to hear Huang Jiaojiao's voice. He had even kept a photo of her, boasting about his girlfriend to his comrades, going on and on whenever her name came up.

So damn foolish.

His youth spent being harvested like a leek.

"Next up, Cao Peng! Get ready!"

"Here!" Cao Peng shouted loudly, then patted Fang Huai on the back.

"Wait for me! I can't do even one pull-up, I'll get on the bar and come right down!"

Fang Huai: ...

To everyone's surprise, he lasted over three minutes.

This guy actually managed one with pressure, and even got one done.

Squad Five Leader indeed gave Cao Peng special treatment, didn't let him get off the bar, helped him jump up, clasped his hands on the bar, clamped his legs around his waist, and hung there for over two minutes, grimacing in pain.

Squad Five Leader then cheerfully said to Xiang Zhiyuan, who was the squad leader in Fang Huai's former life, "Xiang Zhiyuan! This is your Regimental commander's own nephew, care to help out with the training?"

The new recruits murmured among themselves.

Ah, personnel with special relationships!

Second Squad Leader Xiang Zhiyuan laughed and said, "Captain Cao? Train hard! We'll have to work him harder tonight! Otherwise, our leadership might think we can't take care of our own! These relatives of leaders need extra training!"

Watching Xiang Zhiyuan's manner, Fang Huai felt a chill in his heart.

When he was in Xiang Zhiyuan's squad, he was one of those who received such 'care.'

There was no choice, usually personnel with special relationships would move to the government agency after their new recruit period, doing clerical work. Whenever they came down to the grassroots squadron, they bossed everyone around without any respect for the squad leaders. Sometimes, for the sake of achieving merit and promotions, they would even hang their connection within the grassroots squadron organization, taking places that should belong to squadron members, which made them quite unpopular.

Some Staff Officers, understanding the work schedules of all the leaders, which also involved managing support functions, would look for opportunities to trouble others deliberately, trying to give their leaders a chance to assess you.

For instance, if there's a video roll call at 7:30 AM among the units, and you get notified at 7:10 AM, they might delay the notice for a few minutes, leaving your unit scrambling. You end up entering the video in casual attire, in a rush, while other squadrons are already sitting and ready. To the Leadership, this paints a picture of your Squadron's incompetent management, and you wouldn't even have a chance to rebut.