Chapter 39
“What are you laughing at?” the platoon leader demanded, noticing the recruits’ reaction. “I asked for volunteers to go on stage, but all you do is dodge my gaze and lower your heads to avoid it. And now that a comrade is on stage, you’re happy and feeling relaxed?”
The platoon leader’s expression turned sour, and the entire classroom fell silent in response to his harsh tone.
“Humph! Look at you guys,” he continued, unimpressed by their behavior.
The platoon leader’s demeanor shifted once more, and he smiled at Wang Ye. “Soldier, step out and come on stage!” he commanded.
“Yes, sir!” Wang Ye replied, stepping forward and doing his best to walk steadily as he made his way to the side of the platoon leader.
As a new recruit, he had only learned the synchronized footwork and had yet to master the three major footwork techniques.
“What’s your name?” the platoon leader inquired.
“Report, my name is Wang Ye, and I’m from Class 5. The class monitor is Class Monitor Ye Sanshi!” Wang Ye shouted, projecting his voice with confidence.
When Wang Ye mentioned his name, Ye Sanshi couldn’t help but sit up straighter in his seat, even rising to sit higher so that others could see the smug expression on his face.
Being in a military camp, martial arts was also a passion for competition, and having one of his soldiers take the initiative to comment on the news for the first time was a matter of pride for Ye Sanshi.
Furthermore, Wang Ye’s sensible shout-out to Ye Sanshi’s name on stage only made him even more satisfied.
Ye Sanshi couldn’t help but feel a surge of admiration for Wang Ye and sighed inwardly. “A good soldier! He’s sensible. I really have to take care of him in the future,” he thought to himself.
However, the other class monitors were not as comfortable with the situation. They secretly cursed Ye Sanshi’s luck in being assigned such a brave and capable soldier and looked at the recruits in their own classes with fierce eyes.
This made some of the recruits who noticed their squad leaders’ expressions tremble with fear, but none of them dared to make a sound.
“Hmm, not bad,” the first platoon leader praised Wang Ye with a smile. He then shouted seriously, “Recruit Wang Ye!”
“Here!” Wang Ye immediately stood at attention and replied.
“Right turn!” the platoon leader commanded.
“Yes, sir!” Wang Ye complied and turned to face the recruits, company commander, instructor, and others sitting in the classroom.
“Recruit Wang Ye, you may begin your commentary,” the platoon leader instructed.
“Yes, sir!” Wang Ye replied confidently. After taking a deep breath, he began his commentary.
“Respected leaders, dear comrades-in-arms… From today’s news broadcast, the first news was about military transport. I couldn’t help but see ourselves in it, far away from home and our parents. But we are here for our country, for the military dream in our hearts, carrying the blessings of our motherland and its people as we become soldiers of the people…”
Commenting on the news was not a difficult task, and the news broadcast was limited in scope. Wang Ye skipped over news that he thought was meaningless and focused on summarizing the most important parts.
After he finished his commentary, he said, “That concludes my commentary. If any of my comments were inappropriate, I ask for your forgiveness.”
“Pa, pa, pa!” Applause rang out from the company commander and instructor first, followed by a group of veterans and the recruits from each squad.
Among them, Class Five was the most enthusiastic in their applause, as Ye Sanshi had quietly instructed them to “Clap hard for me. Whoever’s hands are not red from clapping will give a review in front of me later!”
Class Five couldn’t help but use all their strength in their applause. They knew that they would have to give their own news reviews, and they were inspired by Wang Ye’s example.
Even though Wang Ye had only given one commentary, they could still follow his review template. However, they had not copied down his comments, and they would be too embarrassed to do so. Even if they had memorized his comments, they knew it was not appropriate to simply repeat them.
Therefore, they knew that it would be better to clap their own palms red than give their own reviews after.
The company commander was impressed with Wang Ye’s courage to go on stage and give his commentary. He praised him, saying, “Very good. Although some of your comments were not profound enough, it’s still very commendable that you had the courage to go on stage for your first news review!”
After Wang Ye finished speaking on stage, he turned to the other recruits and encouraged them to learn from him. “As soldiers, what’s the point of being timid? You need to learn to speak up and express your thoughts. If you can’t even do that, how can you be expected to face the challenges of the battlefield?”
After the company commander finished speaking, he turned around and addressed the platoon leader on the stage. “Alright, continue!”
“Yes, sir!” replied the platoon leader. He then turned his attention to Wang Ye and called out, “Recruit Wang Ye!”
“Here!” Wang Ye responded promptly.
“Get in line!” ordered the platoon leader.
“Yes, sir!” Wang Ye obeyed, quickly falling into formation.
There was no need for the platoon leader to praise Wang Ye, as the captain had already done so. Wang Ye knew better than to seek additional recognition.
After Wang Ye took his seat, the platoon leader once again scanned the recruits below the stage. The atmosphere grew tense once more, and the new recruits avoided making eye contact with him. They kept their heads down, too afraid to meet his gaze.
Suddenly, the platoon leader pointed his hand in a specific direction and called out, “This soldier!” The new recruits looked up, their faces filled with anxiety.
Relieved to see that the platoon leader wasn’t pointing at them, many of the new recruits breathed a sigh of relief.
The recruits who were being pointed at by the platoon leader felt their hearts tighten with fear. Their anxiety reached its peak when the platoon leader called out, “What are you looking at? It’s you, the third soldier from the left in the seventh row!”
As soon as the coordinates were given, the recruits in the designated area breathed a sigh of relief. However, one recruit was so nervous that he nearly wet himself. Trembling, he stood up and tried to compose himself.
Wang Ye watched as the trembling recruit stood up, feeling a sense of surprise wash over him.
Wang Ye was surprised to see that the recruit who had been called out was none other than his classmate Yan Zhiming, from the same hometown and the class next door. Due to the rush of events, Wang Ye had not had the chance to speak with Yan Zhiming since their class allocation. They had only made eye contact and acknowledged that they were both in Third Platoon, Class Eight.
Watching Yan Zhiming make his way slowly up to the stage, Wang Ye felt a pang of sympathy for his unlucky classmate. The platoon leader didn’t even bother to ask for his name before giving the order, “Attention… Left turn!”
Yan Zhiming stood at attention, his head held high, and his face displaying a mix of anxiety and determination. He had gone up to the stage from the opposite direction of Wang Ye, so he turned left to face the recruits below. However, it was obvious that Yan Zhiming was flustered, as he swayed to the right before quickly adjusting his steps and turning to the left. This scene caused the class monitor’s expression to become extremely gloomy.
The class monitor believed that without comparison, there would be no improvement. Seeing Yan Zhiming’s performance only made him more determined to do better.
If Wang Ye hadn’t gone on stage before, he might have been angry, but not as much as he was now. He felt a sense of guilt and shame after seeing the expression on the eighth class monitor’s face. Wang Ye didn’t expect that his desire to stand out would indirectly harm his fellow countryman and classmate.
In reality, Wang Ye realized that many recruits were probably scolding him for showing off in their hearts.
However, Wang Ye didn’t care. He believed that if he didn’t evoke envy, he was just average. Despite the influx of new recruits who yearned to stand out, they couldn’t let the fear of others’ envy hold them back from serving as soldiers for two years.
Attempting to make them jealous now might result in their alienation later, but Wang Ye was unfazed. He knew that when a person’s strength reached a certain level, their envy would eventually morph into admiration.
Once everyone admired you, there wouldn’t be any ostracism. However, for those who lacked strength, it was imperative to behave themselves. Wang Ye was acutely aware of this fact, and his unwavering confidence stemmed from his possession of the system.
…
“You may begin now!” announced the platoon leader on stage. He refrained from correcting Yan Zhiming’s rotation as it wasn’t his responsibility to do so.
“Res…Respected leader…Dear…Dear comrades,” Yan Zhiming began, his voice trembling with nerves. However, this was a typical reaction for people his age who had never experienced societal pressure before. As he spoke, some of his comments aligned with Wang Ye’s words, while others were completely off the mark.
In the end, Yan Zhiming’s face flushed red, and his voice grew increasingly faint. However, the platoon leader and company commander showed him leniency and didn’t make things more difficult for him. In fact, when he finished, the instructor led the applause, showcasing his support for the struggling recruit.
The benevolent instructor had once again reinforced his compassionate persona.
Afterward, the platoon leader selected two more new recruits to take the stage. Their performance was almost as good as Yan Zhiming’s, with one recruit performing slightly better than the other. This alleviated some of the Eighth Squad Leader’s anger.
…
At 7:50 pm, they were dismissed and returned to their dormitory.
“Wang Ye did an outstanding job today. You should all learn from him,” the company commander remarked. “Remember, you’re all soldiers of the same age. What will you do in the future? If you end up on the battlefield, will you wet your pants?”
In the dormitory, Wang Ye and the ten other recruits stood at attention in front of their beds. Ye Sanshi, the squad leader, held a meeting with a grave expression, standing behind the closed door.
“Listen up,” he warned. “Starting tomorrow, everyone except Wang Ye must report and immediately raise their hands when the class monitor requests someone to go on stage to comment. If you don’t, I’ll take you down to the stairwell after dismissal and give you a loudspeaker to comment one by one.”
Ye Sanshi’s words elicited a range of emotions from the recruits, but he ignored their reactions and continued to speak with a cold smile. “Let’s make a bet. You all raise your hands together and choose one person. You can decide whether to come back to the dormitory or be taken to the stairwell by me to practice one by one.” At this point, Ye Sanshi’s tone had transformed into something almost demonic.
….