Chapter 10: The Revitalizing Cigar!

"The dormitory in the military is quite nice. It looks like a tunnel from the inside, with standard bunk beds arranged in two rows against the walls. There are a total of thirty-two beds, each accompanied by a bedside table. Notably, there are several entertainment tables in the corner of the dormitory, including a pool table, a chess table, and a foosball table. Only the soldiers in the mobile unit have these entertainment tables because they are involved in the most dangerous tasks and need to maintain good mental state.

When Zhou Yuan, Allen, and Ruike arrived, there were only five or six people inside, and they didn't know anyone. "Let's go, let's tidy up first," Zhou Yuan said, scanning the area and walking towards the right side. In the military, it's not about arriving early to get a better bed; each bed has a name tag attached, and you have to follow the assigned arrangement. Zhou Yuan's bed was located towards the back on the right side, which was quite good as it was far from the entrance and the entertainment tables, so it wouldn't be too noisy during rest.

The bed was filled with various items, including military uniforms, training clothes, and daily necessities. "Hey! Zhou, Allen, come and take a look!" Ruike suddenly shouted while halfway through tidying up his bed. "What's wrong?" Zhou Yuan didn't turn his head, still busy with his own task, but responded. "This name tag says Paul Marshall, I think he might be the Paul we know," Ruike said excitedly.

Paul, just like Allen, was their high school classmate. The thought of going through basic training with three of their classmates felt amazing! "Really?" Allen was also excited and immediately ran over to Ruike. "We'll find out later," Zhou Yuan said. While Ruike and Allen were discussing, Zhou Yuan had already finished tidying up and even changed into his training uniform. He was now lying on his bed, smoking a cigar. "Wow! Zhou, where did you get the cigar?" Ruike asked, seeing Zhou Yuan enjoying his smoke.

Seeing Zhou Yuan surrounded by smoke, Ruike and Allen's attention was diverted. They ran to Zhou Yuan's bedside with eager anticipation. "I hid them in the work hall before," Zhou Yuan said, not stingy at all, taking out two cigars from under his pillow and handing one to each of them. In the cigar box, there were thirty cigars in total. As long as the box wasn't full, one cigar would be replenished every day until it reached thirty.

Since receiving the replenishing cigars, Zhou Yuan had already taken ten, given away two, and still had thirty-four left. "Cool!" "Zhou, you're a genius!" Ruike and Allen praised Zhou Yuan, picking up the cigar cutters and lighters from their bedside tables. Smoking is not prohibited in the military; there are cigarette counters in the cafeteria. The only thing strictly forbidden is alcohol, which new recruits must absolutely avoid, or they will receive special "care" from veteran soldiers or instructors. If caught with cigarettes, it would also be confiscated.

At this moment, Zhou Yuan noticed the six newcomers who had arrived early, watching him, Ruike, and Allen. Two of them even licked their lips, seemingly craving a smoke. Perhaps considering the "preciousness" of cigars in the recruit camp and the fact that they were not familiar with each other, they didn't have the courage to come and ask for one. "Do you guys want some?" Zhou Yuan smiled and waved the cigars at them. "I only have three left, so you can split them." The six individuals immediately came over, one by one thanking Zhou Yuan and shaking his hand. They were impressed with Zhou Yuan.

"Just call me Zhou," Zhou Yuan nodded with a smile, not hesitating to share some cigars. Socializing was extremely important to him as he wanted to climb up step by step. Among these six people, there might be a future general. Even if not, it didn't matter as the cost was almost zero. The replenishing cigars had rejuvenating effects, and with the current level of training for recruits, it wouldn't even make a dent in his energy. Using a renewable resource that he had no immediate use for and sharing a bit of it was a smart move. Having a few followers wouldn't hurt either.

"Zhou, about these cigars..."

"As I took a drag, something felt off. I suddenly felt more energized, like there was something... cannabis in it?" Ruike put down his cigar, his expression peculiar. As a semi-professional rugby player, he had always resisted such substances. They caused muscle relaxation, decreased balance, and even mental decline, leading to a split personality. This stuff was worse than alcohol; even veterans couldn't touch it without facing punishment.

"Do you think I would bring contraband into the camp?" he asked. 

"If I don't smoke, Kevin will. Inside this is a rare ancient herbal medicine that enhances mental and physical recovery. You can't buy it no matter how much money you have," Ruike explained. 

Yang rolled his eyes. "Is it really that good?" Ruike's eyes lit up, and he took another deep drag. Indeed, he felt more energized, relaxed, and surprisingly clear-headed. The effects were far beyond what contraband could achieve.

For a while, the dormitory fell silent, only interrupted by occasional exhalations. But the tranquility didn't last long as newcomers soon arrived. Seeing nine people smoking cigars in the dorm, the new recruits thought they had stumbled into a room full of smoking veterans and were nearly frightened.

Yang, who had ambitions to create a personal social network, warmly greeted the newcomers and offered them his cigar. His recovery cigar was a standard type that could burn for seventy to eighty minutes, enough to satisfy several people.

By lunchtime, all six cigars had been smoked, and the number of people in the dorm had grown to fifteen. At this point, generous Yang had already become the de facto leader of the small group.

And Yang was quite satisfied with this. Eighteen-year-old young men and women didn't have many ulterior motives and were easily won over.

Hmm... I'm not wrong; it's young men and women. Because the new recruits' dormitory was mixed, even a communal shower room had been added to solve the queue problem.

Of course, this wasn't mandatory. Whether male or female soldiers, they could submit a request to transfer to a room with same-sex occupants. But not everyone chose to transfer.

From a different perspective, men are attracted to beautiful women, and women are attracted to handsome men. Some open-minded women don't care about sharing a room with men and may even have some secret admirers among them.

Yang had heard many rumors about these internal affairs in the military camp from Morgan.