Chapter 414: Hanging a Living Person’s Picture
Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation
The young dragon slayer had become a true dragon.
This is a reflection of Wang Ye’s current reality.
Just last year, he was the one being trained and pushed around, but now he’s the one doing the pushing.
Of course, on the first day, Wang Ye, apart from maintaining a serious demeanor, giving them the impression that he was a tough and stern person, didn’t intentionally make things difficult for them.
After finishing their meal, he even took them for a walk around the camp and bought some essential items from the service center for the new recruits.
Then, back in the dormitory, he had them start filling out their new recruit profiles while also beginning to receive some of the items to be distributed to the new recruits.
Until 8 o’clock, after teaching them how to fold their beddings, he left them with a casual remark, “Fold them properly, I’ll come to inspect later. The worst folder will get a reward.”
Naturally, Wang Ye mentioned a reward, but the new recruits weren’t fools.
What nonsense is this? The worst folder gets a reward? A set of military exercises as a reward?
“Wang Ye, you know, you could be a bit gentler with the new recruits when they first arrive, especially on the first day!”
Lieutenant Jiang Huai, sitting on the side, looked at Wang Ye and spoke with a smile.
Wang Ye glanced over and a hint of a smile appeared on his face, “Actually, I feel it’s unnecessary. This kind of prankish contrast at the beginning is more likely to trigger inner turmoil in the new recruits, leading to some undesirable thoughts. It’s better to be serious from the start!”
Wang Ye’s words left Jiang Huai momentarily speechless.
Indeed, what Wang Ye said made sense, but the current practice had been a tradition in the military for a long time.
It’s unclear when it started, but every year, new recruits went through this process when they joined.
And once these recruits, who had experienced this themselves, became veterans and started leading their own units, they were more than willing to continue the tradition.
After all, they had once endured the rain, and now they wanted to take someone else’s umbrella away.
“Alright, that’s a minor matter. Let’s not dwell on it. Next, let’s discuss the work arrangements for tomorrow. After that, everyone should go back and prepare their lesson plans. Hand them over to the platoon leader before bedtime!”
The meeting was attended by all the platoon leaders, while the instructor used this time to visit and comfort the new recruits in each platoon.
“This kid, 1 asked him to lead the new recruits, and he managed to come up with something creative!”
At the regimental headquarters, the regimental commander, while receiving a work report from the chief of staff, chuckled.
He had learned about Wang Ye’s actions today.
The chief of staff laughed and said, “Typical behavior of a new officer, on their first time in a leadership role, they’re full of energy and looking for ways to make a mark!”
Regarding Wang Ye, who had never become one of his soldiers, the chief of staff had now turned from affection to resentment and couldn’t help but offer some personal opinions.
The regimental commander maintained his smile, saying, “It’s not a bad thing either. Young people, having energy is a good thing. With that energy, we can train even better soldiers!”
He paused for a moment and then looked at the chief of staff before speaking again, “Now that Wang Ye has returned, after the new recruits’ training cycle ends, do you want him at your end? It might be a good opportunity for him to see the difference between our regiment’s scouts and the division’s scouts!”
“I don’t want him!” The chief of staff’s smile disappeared, and he looked at the regimental commander somewhat resentfully. “After the new recruits’ training cycle ends, he’ll be gone in less than two months. What’s the use of having him unless you arrange to transfer him to my department then!”
“Haha!” The regimental commander burst into laughter.
“Alright, it’s not that big of a deal!”
Wang Ye had already been promoted unusually, and some of the previous promotion requirements no longer applied to him.
In other words, the one-year tenure as a platoon leader was no longer a constraint for Wang Ye.
In this situation, Wang Ye’s relocation wasn’t a significant issue.
It was mainly because Wang Ye was already a Second Lieutenant.
Now that he had returned, he could still be accommodated as a platoon leader in the new recruits’ cycle.
However, after the new recruits’ cycle ended, it would be somewhat inappropriate for him to return to a regular platoon as an assistant platoon leader.
Moreover, there were no vacant positions available for him to be appointed as a platoon leader.
Furthermore, as the chief of staff pointed out, Wang Ye would have to go to military school shortly after completing the new recruits’ cycle.
In this situation, arranging a specific position didn’t seem appropriate.
Perhaps it would be better to assign Wang Ye to the Criminal Investigation Company to train with their regiment’s scouts, allowing him to make a final contribution before he left.
“Alright, it’s settled then. If that’s the case, you draft the memo, and I’ll provide you with paper and pen!” The chief of staff immediately became enthusiastic upon hearing this.
With the transfer, he could also claim that Wang Ye was his direct subordinate.
Even if Wang Ye was about to go to military school shortly, what did it matter?
How about this?
Even if Wang Ye wouldn’t be part of the Iron Bones Hero Regiment in the future, he could still say that Wang Ye was once his direct subordinate.
Although it was regrettable that Wang Ye had shown his prowess when he wasn’t under his command, now he could put some of that milk carton regret to rest.
“Haha, do you think I’m you, asking for a written memo!”
The regimental commander laughed heartily.
A written memo was out of the question; as a regimental commander, how could he possibly provide a written memo for such a matter?
Is this how you guys fold your blankets? Is this what 1 taught you?”
In the new recruits’ dormitory, Wang Ye had no idea that the regimental commander and the chief of staff had already decided on his placement after the new recruits’ training cycle.
After the meeting, when he returned to the dormitory, Wang Ye started to lose his temper.
Well… he was making a fuss about the way they folded their blankets.
In reality, Wang Ye was doing it on purpose.
Everyone knew how difficult it was to fold the blankets when they were new recruits.
One by one, the new recruits dared not speak up.
In fact, the members of Class Five were feeling quite frustrated at the moment.
Listening to the neighboring class, they hadn’t heard any scolding, and there were even occasional sounds of laughter and joy from the new recruits there.
They seemed much more relaxed, but just a wall away, their own class was like this.
There was a deep sense of resentment within them.
However, since the moment Wang Ye picked them up from the train station and gave them a stern impression, combined with all the military medals on his uniform, they were fully aware that their platoon leader was a strict person. So, they didn’t dare to throw tantrums, even though some of the soldiers were naturally unruly types outside.
“All right, considering today is the first day, 1 won’t demand too much from you guys.
Duan Wei, Li Jun, grab the buckets and come with me, the rest of you continue folding the blankets!”
It was about time for the foot-washing routine today.
Of course, Wang Ye wouldn’t help them wash their feet, or even carry water for them.
Wang Ye pointed to two new recruits and took them to the place where they could get hot water, instructing them to do it themselves.
Naturally, this action by Wang Ye made these two new recruits feel even more unsettled inside.
During the process of getting hot water, they noticed that in the other classes, the platoon leaders personally came to fetch the hot water without bringing any new recruits with them. In their class, however, it was different—Wang Ye didn’t even touch the water.
Despite their thoughts, they didn’t dare to voice their concerns at the moment.
After all, their platoon leader seemed to be unique from the start.
Other platoon leaders were non-commissioned officers, while their platoon leader was a commissioned officer.
“Platoon Leader Wang, here’s your basin!”
During the foot-washing routine, the Iron Bones Hero Regiment played another prank, a coordinated one this time.
The kitchen staff brought the basin.
“Pla… Platoon Leader… Is… Is this… your… the basin we use to eat noodles?”
Duan Wei, with his feet submerged in the water, had a sudden change in expression, reacting swiftly.
However, the next moment, when Wang Ye took the basin without answering, he looked at Duan Wei with a stern face and said, “Get up and do fifty push-ups on your own!”
“Uh…” Duan Wei was bewildered, but he quickly understood.
His face, though unpleasant, didn’t hesitate as he immediately got up to do the push-ups.
After putting on their shoes, they began doing push-ups in the dormitory.
Wang Ye looked at everyone and spoke seriously, “I’ve said it before, you need to report before speaking here. This is a military camp, not your school. Discipline is something a soldier should engrave in their bones!”
After saying this, Wang Ye placed his small yellow basin beside his bed, poured hot water from the bucket that still had some left, and began soaking his feet as well.
“Ugh-”
One of the new recruits began to gag.
But Wang Ye just laughed.
This scene was so damn familiar.
Hurry up… all of you, run faster! What are you doing? I’ve caught up to you from behind!”
The next day, before dawn, the entire platoon of new recruits was already on the track.
Well… as usual, just like Wang Ye and his group last year, everyone was awakened from their sleep by the whistle.
At this moment, in the other platoons, the new recruits who had thought their platoon leaders were good people were beginning to realize that after a night’s sleep, their platoon leaders seemed to have turned into different people.
The tough morning exercise completely overturned the good impression their platoon leaders had left them with the previous day.
Of course, there were no such worries in Class Five.
Wang Ye had never been gentle with them.
Now, it was the first three kilometers of the new recruits’ military life.
Wang Ye didn’t run with the new recruits.
Once they were on the track, he didn’t take long to start running at his own pace.
Then, it evolved into the current situation.
Chasing ducks.
He’s… He’s insane!” Among the figures running together in the rear of Class Five, someone turned to look back and couldn’t help but exclaim through gritted teeth.
“He’s… He’s really… really not human…” Someone else chimed in.
At this moment, they clearly realized just how ruthless Wang Ye could be.
In Class Five, there were students with a background in sports.
When they were running just now, Wang Ye accelerated, and these two sports-oriented students quietly tried to catch up with him.
They wanted to surpass Wang Ye and then ask him for a cigarette.
However, reality was teaching them a lesson now.
Before the fourth lap had even begun, Wang Ye had started chasing ducks, and the two of them were now hundreds of meters behind Wang Ye.
They couldn’t keep up with Wang Ye’s speed at all, even though they were sports enthusiasts.
But now, Wang Ye was slowing down and giving them a chance to close the gap.
However, Wang Ye remembered his promise, and besides, when these two saw him accelerate and followed suit earlier, Wang Ye couldn’t ignore their intentions.
So when they were about to catch up, Wang Ye abandoned the duck chasing and accelerated once again.
They were trying to get cigarettes from him through this method, but Wang Ye could only say they were overthinking it.
In fact, on that very night, something even more despairing happened.
“I can’t believe it…”
It was during news time. The previous night, they hadn’t started training yet, so there was no organization for them to watch. However, today, when it was time, the entire platoon gathered in the audiovisual classroom.
Then, as soon as they entered the audiovisual classroom, some sharp-eyed new recruits immediately discovered the new world.
On one side of the wall in the audiovisual classroom, there were photos of Wang Ye.
The new recruits’ platoon didn’t have a history museum, but they did have an exemplary new recruit honor wall.
On both sides of the audiovisual classroom, photos were hanging, and there were also brief descriptions of the outstanding deeds of new recruits during their time in the platoon and the achievements they had obtained.
Not everyone got their photo on the wall every year. The last time Wang Ye had his photo hung here was in 2006.
Of course, that wasn’t important.
For the other people’s photos, they would take a glance and move on. After all, there was nothing particularly special about this; during their school days, the classroom walls also had quotations and photos of famous figures like Marx on them.
But now, with the photos on the wall and the living person right beside them, everyone was experiencing this for the first time.
Especially the members of Class Five, their eyes were wide open in disbelief.
“Damn, the new recruit platoon has earned two third-class merits and one commendation. This is insane!”
“This is incredible; we’ve encountered a deity!”
“Oh no, we were thinking of getting cigarettes from him, but I feel like he’s already smoking us!”
At this moment, a few smokers within Class Five felt incredibly bitter inside.
During their time in the new recruit platoon, he had consecutively earned the title of Internal Affairs Model, achieved outstanding results in the graduation assessment, broke multiple company records, and even shattered a regimental record, and he was honored with the Training Standard and Outstanding Trainee awards…
These descriptions made it abundantly clear to them just how difficult it was to get cigarettes from Wang Ye by trying to surpass him in any way..