The First Volume: Reborn from the Fire Chapter 12 I Want a One-on-One with You

  "Corporal punishment? Haha, you say I'm corporal punishing you? Good, you've made progress, you even know to tell me about the corporal punishment! Go ahead and report that I'm corporal punishing you, I'll just go ahead and do it!"

  How dare a new recruit like you challenge an old soldier like me? And I'm your deputy platoon leader, to boot!

  I think 'Qiao Yan Wang' must have gone mad at that time, laughter came out of his mouth, but there was no smile on his face, and a menacing cold light shot out from his eyes. At that moment, I felt as if I had been stared down by a ferocious wolf, my body involuntarily took a step back, and my fists clenched up involuntarily.

  "This kid can't even fold a quilt, you're protecting him, can you protect him for his whole life? Do you think you're helping him? Are there people like you who harm others? Should he be a good-for-nothing all his life? If I don't punish you, who should I punish?"

  Looking at me clenching my fists, the corner of 'Qiao Yan Wang's' mouth swept a hint of cold sneer and said: "What? Want to fight with me? You're just a waste! Wait until you're qualified before coming to find me!"

  Qiao Yanwang didn't care about the angry gaze in my eyes, which was about to spew fire. He suddenly picked up a brick from the cultural room's table and slapped it down with one palm, as if he had a deep hatred for it. With a "crack" sound, it broke into two pieces, leaving me stunned at the time.

  "This is a green brick, not the loose red bricks I saw used to build commodity houses in my hometown. Our barracks have been around for over 20 years, and they are extremely sturdy, all made of that dark grey green brick, any one of which is as hard as iron. And now we're entering the depths of Dongbei, these bricks should be even harder, but they were split open by a single slap from 'Qiao Feng Wang'?"

  "You..."

  The back of my head felt a chill, as if he had slapped me on the head, and I was so scared that I retreated two steps. Peng Ze was even more unbearable, his two hands tightly grasping mine, and I saw that he was frightened silly.

  "Hit you? You're not even worthy! The soldiers I bring with me are no trash, and I've never accepted any trash. And the troops don't need any trash either!"

  I think 'Qiao Yan Wang' was thinking about this brick when he was laying it, and he seemed to have vented his anger, now his face seems more calm, but in his eyes there is a hint of disdain, his arrogant tone almost choked me to death.

  "In the local area, with your current body, you might be considered a ruffian leader, but I'm telling you this is in the army, this is a world of men, and also a world of the strong. With your current trash-like state, how can you fight me? Even if I were to use only one hand and one foot, it would still be a waste! Because with just one punch, I can knock you down! No one will pity the weak, no one will sympathize with a self-abandoned piece of trash!"

  "Do you want him to be a waste? Alright, then help him with his chores. Alright, then let him slack off and play around. See if he'll thank you or hate you in ten years' time! ***Use your brain and think about it!"

  "Qiao Yan Wang" grasped my lapel with one hand, his eyes staring fiercely at me as he said:

  "And you, do you think you're a big shot just because you're from the city? Do you think you're superior just because you have a high school education? But when you arrive at the barracks, first and foremost you need to know that you're a soldier! You're a warrior! Don't think that your physical fitness is impressive, it's only because you haven't seen the real thing yet. Right now, you're just a piece of trash, a useless waste!"

  I was scared by him at that time, really scared. Such a big brick, split open with one palm, if it were to hit me, he would not be joking, and with this strength, I can indeed be knocked down with one punch.

  But he cursed me with a mouthful of rubbish on the left and a mouthful of waste on the right, making my veins bulge with rage. I don't know where I got the strength from, but I managed to wrestle free his hand that was clutching my collar, and shouted angrily:

  "Hey, 'Qiao Yan Wang', listen up! I'm not a waste of time. You've been trained, and so can I. Three months from now, I'll challenge you to a one-on-one duel!"

  You want to play tough? I've never been afraid of anyone. Before joining the army, when I was at the public security bureau, six young men surrounded me alone, but I refused to back down. Six people beat me up, and I grabbed one of them and fought back. My head and back were hit countless times, but the guy I caught was beaten even more badly than me. The ferocity of my counterattack made the other five guys not dare to move, while the guy I beat up was almost knocked out by me.

  "Alright! You've got spirit, but don't you dare say I'm physically punishing you. With your current physique, you can't even handle 300 push-ups. I could do 300 push-ups in one breath five years ago, what are you bragging about?"

  Seeing me get angry, 'Qiao Yan Wang' actually relaxed instead, but the contempt in his eyes was obvious, he said coldly:

  "But I'll give you a one-on-one chance, let you have the opportunity to defeat me fair and square! However, before you have the ability to do so, just obediently stay put, or else I'll punish you, whether you like it or not!"

  "Fine! I won't tell you!"

  I glared at him fiercely and shouted: "I'll practice, I don't believe I can't beat you!"

  "Do one thousand push-ups! Don't sleep until you're done!"

  It seems that my challenge didn't even enter his mind, how can 'Qiao Yan Wang' be so arrogant? After saying the above words, he didn't even glance at me and turned around to leave, while walking away he said:

  "If you're a man, I'll be waiting for you; if not, three months later, I'll definitely make you go dig feces."

  "Big Brother Hai, I've dragged you down!"

  Peng Zhuo was stunned, looking at me with a face that was trembling with anger. He walked up to me in fear and said: "However, we can't defeat him..."

  "Go away!"

  I pushed him away abruptly, cutting off his words. I stared blankly at the green bricks on the ground, not having a good temper towards Peng Zhuo. At that moment, there was only one thought in my mind: I also want to be able to cut it off, ***. One day, I will also be able to cut him off.

  I didn't say anything, and immediately dropped to the ground to do push-ups crazily. I think at that time my eyes and face must have been very scary. Peng Ze looked at me and didn't dare to say anything, looking at me fiercely as if I was going to die, he also wiped away tears, bent down there and started doing chores. From then on, his chore scores made significant progress.

  At 16 years old, I was really arrogant and thought that as long as I worked hard, I would be the strongest!

  I hate it when people look down on me, 'Qiao Yanwang's' words are like a needle buried in my heart, every time I see the green bricks in the barracks, it's as if there's a needle stabbing me in the heart, I become crazy, training myself to death, forcing myself that one day I must surpass him, this craziness eventually formed a habit of mine.

  Later, Peng Zhuang told me that on that night, there was actually someone quietly watching everything outside the cultural room. It was our new company commander, Kuang Lianzhang. Maybe my voice was too loud and woke him up, or maybe he was afraid that 'Qiao Yanwang' would slap me to death with one palm. He even watched me do push-ups for a long time before quietly leaving...