Chapter 36
Ye Sanshi had delayed their lunch break by half an hour but then had woken them up at 2:10 in the afternoon, cutting their sleep time short to only an hour. After they had all gotten up, Ye Sanshi had instructed them to fold their blankets but didn’t bring them downstairs to start training. Instead, all the recruits were assigned the task of filling out their recruit files.
The reason for filling out the recruit files was that they had been pressed for time the previous day, and hadn’t had a chance to deal with these trivial matters. They needed to finish it now.
Once they had completed the paperwork, the recruits were led out of the dormitory by their respective squad leaders, following a route that they had all carefully memorized.
The military service center was actually a small shop, where most personal items were distributed for free, but some personal consumables such as shampoo and soap were not distributed.
The recruits had been reminded by Ye Sanshi to only leave 500 yuan of pocket money in their bags during the inspection the previous night. Now, that money came in handy as they went to purchase personal consumables from the military service center.
When they returned to the dormitory, Ye Sanshi still didn’t lead them to start training. Instead, he instructed everyone to take off their hats and check their hair.
“You’re not qualified. Your hair has grown too long!” he scolded one of the recruits.
“You can’t either. I’ll help you tidy it up later,” he said to another, as he prepared to give them haircuts.
Ye Sanshi held a wooden comb in one hand and an electric fader in the other as he gave haircuts to the recruits. After combing through the hair, he used the comb to expose the hair to be trimmed and held it in his mouth. Then a bitter scene unfolded.
The ten recruits, including Wang Ye who had already gotten a crew cut outside, took turns sitting on a small stool in front of Ye Sanshi. He had brought a cloth from a nearby barbershop, which he tied around his neck before beginning to trim their hair.
Using the comb as a guide, Ye Sanshi shaved off any hair that was longer than the comb length, leaving the recruits with neat and tidy haircuts.
As Wang Ye stood in front of the grooming mirror in the dormitory, he couldn’t help but feel disappointed with the results of his haircut. His hair was uneven, with some parts thick and others thin. There were bumps and hollows throughout his hair, making it look like it had been bitten by a dog. He wanted to cry but had no tears. This guy’s barber skills were just too horrible.
Fortunately, no one in class five laughed at him. They were all in the same boat, having received haircuts that were less than perfect before joining the army. Now that Ye Sanshi had given them all fresh haircuts, they were all equal and no one could laugh at another’s appearance.
Ye Sanshi couldn’t help but smile proudly at his handiwork. “Haha, my skills aren’t bad, are they? Don’t worry, I’ll give you all haircuts once a month from now on, free of charge!” he exclaimed.
However, his enthusiasm was not shared by the recruits, who were still feeling disappointed about their haircuts. The prospect of receiving a monthly haircut from Ye Sanshi did not bring them any joy, especially when they were still upset about their current hairstyle.
One recruit spoke up with a bitter face, “Um, class monitor…isn’t there a barbershop in the army?”
But Ye Sanshi took offense to the comment, thinking the recruit was looking down on his craftsmanship. “What’s wrong? Are you doubting my skills? Let me tell you, ordinary people can’t enjoy my expertise. It’s your lucky day to receive a haircut from me!” he retorted.
Wang Ye was certain that all ten recruits, including Zhang Ping’an, were cursing in their hearts at this point. Ye Sanshi’s so-called “craftsmanship” was an insult to true craftsmanship.
Despite their inner frustration, the recruits didn’t dare to speak up against Ye Sanshi. They had quickly learned that it was best not to argue with him, or they would only suffer the consequences.
Ye Sanshi’s smile remained as he explained, “New recruits don’t have access to barbershops, and the army doesn’t have one either. There are barbershops outside the camp, but new recruits aren’t allowed to leave during this period. Plus, why spend money when we can help each other cut our hair? It’s convenient and saves money.”
The recruits were filled with bitterness, but what could they say? They couldn’t utter a word. “Alright, I’ll give you ten minutes,” Ye Sanshi announced. “Those of you with hair on your necks can tidy up or grab a towel to wipe them. Once ten minutes have passed, head back to the dormitory and prepare for the exercise.”
Although Ye Sanshi had postponed their lunch break and attended to other matters in the afternoon, it wasn’t even four o’clock yet. Naturally, he couldn’t squander the remaining time.
Each day was crucial for the new recruits. They aimed to transform ordinary civilians with no military experience into competent soldiers within a mere three months. For the recruits, time was tight, and for the veteran squad leader, time was even more limited, and the task at hand was arduous.
Ten minutes elapsed quickly.
The squad leader led the group of recruits downstairs, and Ye Sanshi directed Class 5 to the basketball court without assembling the entire company. The training was still in formation, but this time, he included step and squat movements, which were even more excruciating than the morning routine.
Walking in unison wasn’t as simple as it seemed; after taking the first step, the recruits were not permitted to move their feet. After ten minutes of holding a raised leg, everyone was on the brink of collapse, their faces contorted in agony. The same applied to squatting and standing up.
After Ye Sanshi corrected everyone’s form, he allowed them to hold still. He demonstrated the squatting position himself and remained motionless for at least ten minutes. Wang Ye also utilized his system during this exercise. He had successfully internalized the Walk Together skill, but his attempts at mastering the squat and stand technique had failed.
Perhaps the system didn’t consider squatting and standing up to be valuable knowledge or skills since they were basic movements.
Wang Ye felt a surge of anger towards Ye Sanshi for only training their legs during the walk-in-unison exercise. They weren’t allowed to take a single step, and he didn’t award them any experience points. But, in the end, he included training in the Halting Rotation Technique, which provided some relief for Wang Ye.
By 5 pm, Wang Ye’s experience points for the Halting Rotation Technique had reached level 2 (4/20), whereas Military Posture Skill, which was not practiced during the afternoon session, was still at level 1 (4/10).
…
“Quick, quick! Haven’t you eaten yet? I saw you all had a big lunch! Run!”
At 5 o’clock, the entire company assembled on the training ground’s track for the physical training session. The first event was a three-kilometer light cross-country run. Wu Jianfeng stood on the edge of the field with a loudspeaker, shouting at the recruits on the track.
As Wu Jianfeng continued to shout, the squad leaders chasing the recruits also joined in, yelling and pushing those who lagged behind. “Quick, quick, run!” they urged. “You all ate so much so quickly, and now you can’t even complete a three-kilometer run without collapsing? Are you even soldiers?”
Ye Sanshi, positioned behind Class Five, also shouted at the top of his lungs, “Run! Don’t slow down! Whomever I catch up to will have to run an extra lap later!”
The tactic of using threats proved to be effective as none of the recruits wanted to run an extra lap. Despite some of them being visibly out of breath, they pushed themselves to run faster, hoping to avoid any additional punishment.
However, this was mainly because Ye Sanshi and the other veteran squad leaders were being lenient. Their goal was to challenge and push the recruits to their limits, not to break them. If they wanted to, with their superior physical fitness, the veteran squad leaders could have easily outmatched the group of new recruits.
It was highly unlikely that the recruits could outrun the veteran squad leaders, but there was a possibility that they could be overtaken if they slowed down. Thankfully, Wang Ye had been training and running for over a month before joining the army, which made running easier for him. He could easily complete a three-kilometer run without falling behind his classmates. In fact, he could even run in the front of the pack and follow behind the sports school student, Wan Baojiang.