The First Book: Reborn from the Fire Chapter 10: Why Be a Soldier

  "Alas, let's just get through this! Anyway, they don't dare to kill you. At worst, I'll pretend to be ill twice at critical moments, take it easy for a while, and get through the new recruit company. Three years later, when I'm out, I'll be a good man again!"

  With a similar sigh, however, the little devil Peng Jiu seemed to have already made up his mind. His thoughts seemed to have already seen the scene of him returning triumphantly to XX City three years later, and he indulged in self-admiration, thinking to himself:

  "Hehe, beautiful ladies, exciting games, wait for me, I'm Hu Han San and I'm back! Haha!"

  "Why did you say we should be soldiers?"

  I remained silent for a long time, then suddenly took a deep drag on my cigarette and asked in a low tone.

  "Why are we soldiers? Haven't our company commander and Commissar Liu often given us ideological education lessons?"

  Xie Jian sneered and said, "You can't be thinking of sacrificing yourself for the sake of protecting your family and country, or for the happiness and stability of 1.2 billion people, are you?"

  Xie Jian's ideological education class was a must-attend for us every time after our training left us exhausted, from 7 to 8 pm. In addition to the absent-minded company commander, there was another instructor named Liu Changsheng, a Henan native who rarely spoke in daily life, but when it came to ideological education classes, we realized what it meant to have great eloquence! His lengthy and grand speeches on defending the country, being loyal to the army and the people, and unity between the military and civilians left us in awe, like the surging waters of the Yellow River, simply unstoppable!

  But to be honest, we still prefer his lectures. Firstly, he explains many concepts from simple to profound, which makes a lot of sense; secondly, he tells many stories to illustrate the problems and key points he's discussing, making it easy for us to accept; thirdly, and most importantly, because only during ideological education classes can we not take notes, in a way, we really love him teaching us, because who knows, maybe we can even sneak in a nap without being noticed.

  "That's not it, I don't think I have such lofty ideals, I just feel..."

  My gaze was calm and I smiled at Xie Jian's words, but I said clearly:

  "I just feel that maybe in the army we can take a different path, if a man spends his whole life living within the framework drawn by his family and completes his life like this, I always think it's too pathetic! Maybe the army is really giving us an opportunity!"

  To be honest, China's education system has always had big problems. From young to old, we have been following the arrangements of our parents, teachers and national policies, but when it comes to cultivating the autonomy of us young people, it is just empty words on paper.

  For a teenager in a period of character rebellion like me, leaving my parents and the school that confined my thinking space, I actually felt an incredibly relaxing sense of relief.

  Apart from the training being a bit tough and tiring, I no longer have to hear my parents' nagging voices repeatedly, nor do I need to go through the school life of studying for exams. My mind has been liberated, reality is forcing me to think independently, and reality is pushing me towards becoming stronger.

  From a certain perspective, having spent over a month in the army, I have already started to grow up, but now I am beginning to question my parents' arrangement for my future.

  "After becoming a soldier, I felt that the contrast was too great!"

  Peng Zhuo listened to what I said, and a hint of confusion flashed in his eyes. Perhaps because at his age he couldn't think as deeply as me yet, but he also said:

  "Before I became a soldier, I still liked to see that green military uniform, and I also liked their majestic appearance. I also liked to watch the flower rings under the high mountains, and I also liked the five strong men of Langya Mountain, that was the real life of a man."

  He blinked, let out a sigh of frustration and said: "But now is an era of peace, what can we do? Go to fight against floods and disasters? Spare me the trouble of buying cakes!"

  To be honest, looking back now, we were full of passion and enthusiasm at that time, but also very ignorant.

  Yes, in movies, picking up guns and charging forward, taking bayonets to bloody battlefields is so full of masculine spirit, that seems to be everything a hot-blooded man should have.

  But it wasn't until many years later that I deeply realized how reasonable the proverb "It's better to be a peaceful dog than a person in a chaotic world" is. If you really go to war, you will know how cruel war is, and what a huge price we have to pay for defending the peace and stability of 1.2 billion people. Our thoughts at that time were really too pale and powerless.

  "That's not necessarily the case, actually there are many ways for a military team to go, for example, if you take the military academy exam and have good luck, you can even become a regimental officer after retirement, that's very impressive. My father is a regimental officer who retired from the army, so when he went to the tax bureau, he was an official with real power. If you're capable enough to mix with division commanders or above, then for the rest of your life, you'll be a superior person and the country will support you until old age!"

  Unlike my father, who was a researcher and a civilian cadre in the army, Xie Jian's father was a regimental commander at XX naval base before he retired and joined the tax bureau, a practical example of success. This also made him more knowledgeable about the military than us due to his father's influence, so he had more speaking rights.

  He then whispered to us, "I also learned from my father's letter that our new recruit training is actually stricter than others because we belong to the XXX Guard Division, which is a very important elite unit in our country. Moreover, every year some special forces come here to select soldiers, and he said if I have the opportunity to go, I must seize it, as I can receive more training there and enjoy many unusual treatments!"

  "Special Forces?"

  As a frequent viewer of Dragon Ball and a fan of heroic figures, Peng Ze's eyes lit up immediately. He asked Xie Jian with great concern:

  "Are they the legendary special forces who can chop bricks with their bare hands and jump onto roofs and walls?"

  "Of course, I've also heard that there are Zhongnanhai agents here looking for people!"

  Xie Jian smiled mysteriously and said with a chuckle as he looked at Peng Zhen, immediately extinguishing his enthusiasm:

  "Go, but I'm afraid you won't have the chance, with your physical condition, who would want you? I think our team still has some hope with Hai."

  Cough, there's a saying that goes "塞翁失马焉之非富", which actually makes some sense. Since I was young, my father has been quite strict with me, so I've always liked sports. Plus, when I was 16, I often got into fights with people, and I knew that if I didn't have a good physique, I'd be at a disadvantage in a fight. So I paid extra attention to working out. Now that I'm in the army, my physical fitness is still top-notch. And with "Qiao Wang" taking special care of me, my military physique is not only one of the best in our squad, but also among the new recruits.

  "Alas, even if I were as good as the truth, with tens of thousands of talented people in our school, why would they want me?"

  I shook my head, although I was moved in my heart, but I really didn't dare to have too many ideas, because I wasn't arrogant enough to think that I was the only one who could be chosen by the special forces.

  "Haha, can't say for sure, but since you have this chance, you should go, Big Sea Brother!"

  A hint of gloom flashed in his eyes, but as soon as he heard that I could go, Peng Ze immediately jumped up again and excitedly said: "Your conditions are good, you're not old, your physical fitness is good, and you look spirited, so there's definitely a lot of hope. If there's an opportunity, you must strive for it."

  "Get out of here! You think the special forces are like the public security bureau, something you can just order around? Go back home, or 'Old Man Qiao' will blow his top again!"

  I gave him a white eye, threw away the cigarette butt, and pulled him to leave. I didn't know what else he could imagine if I continued listening. I've been depressed for a long time. With Xiao Gui's super strong imagination, why not write a book? Not to mention becoming extremely popular, but it would be absolutely no problem to deceive a group of people.

  "Ninety-nine, one hundred, one hundred and one......one hundred and ninety-nine, two hundred, two hundred and one..."

  As I walked to the edge of the dormitory, I could hear my comrades pitifully counting down from afar. It was already 9 o'clock at night, and there was only one hour left before lights out and bedtime. 'Qiao Yanwang' was still holding a stick walking back and forth inside the dormitory, while in the empty space in the middle of the dormitory lay a row of 'corpses'.

  "Hmm, not bad, there's progress, now you can do 200 sit-ups in one breath. Let's continue, yesterday you did 500, today let's add to 800, don't sleep until you're done!"

  He swept us with a glance, and I felt that all our little movements seemed to be known to him at a glance. As he finished saying the above words in a cold tone, another batch of people in the dormitory fell down, these 'corpses' were straighter than one another, and the three of us also turned pale immediately...