Chapter Eleven

  The regular training period was not long, but the elimination system continued and became more and more cruel.

  At first, there were about a thousand people living in the training camp and the houses were a bit cramped. However, by the week before regular training ended, the houses became relatively spacious.

  At first, I didn't feel anything, just watching one by one of the eliminated brothers carrying their backpacks onto a large truck to be sent to another military camp for further training.

  After getting along with each other day and night, they developed feelings for one another. When some brothers were about to leave, it was really hard to bear the thought of parting ways.

  Let's talk about my Shandong buddy first.

  At that time, everyone had a nickname, not intentionally taken, anyway, when the new recruits were extremely bored and poor, they would privately call each other for convenience, so everyone was forced to have an external name.

  That Shandong guy, nicknamed Old Farmer.

  The old farmer's face is no smaller than mine, with a healthy and dark complexion, a silly look on his face, smiling at everyone before speaking.

  Why was he called Lao Nong at that time?

  Later on, take a closer look at the old farmer's expression when he has nothing to do, and you'll find that he is exactly like an old farmer who is calculating how much harvest he can get from his land this year.

  Especially when helping in the kitchen, Lao Nong would even sigh with emotion when picking a scallion, using that tone of appreciation for the miracle born from hard work and land.

  "What a beautiful scallion......"

  What else can you call him if not an old farmer?

  The old farmer's brother is really diligent, no matter what he does, he works hard with all his might and is absolutely serious and diligent, absolutely hardworking and dedicated.

  Let's just talk about one thing.

  In the army, meals have always been plentiful. In which year did they not recruit a few new soldiers who could eat well from all over the country? How can you train if you don't eat enough?

  I then saw how much the old farmer could eat.

  The first time I ate a steamed bun, it was a big one with cabbage, vermicelli and pork filling, weighing three liang (about 150 grams).

  The old brothers in the cooking class are really not bragging, even if the southern soldiers can't get used to eating noodles, they can eat three or five of those white and round buns with porridge without stopping.

  Not to mention Shandong's big Han, let alone my old farmer brothers who are used to eating staple foods in the Yimeng Mountain area.

  A steamer basket of buns was brought back to the dormitory, and everyone had one in their hands. They were devouring them like wolves and tigers, sweeping away the remaining clouds, a thousand horses galloping over the flat ridge.

  But in a little while, the steamed buns were all gone.

  I went back to the cooking class and felt something was wrong at that time.

  Why is everyone staring blankly at the old farmer's brother, who is holding a bowl of porridge in one hand and a bun in the other, performing an eating frenzy on the world food championship stage?

  I poked Yang Ke beside me and said, "What's going on? Why has everyone stopped eating and are staring at Old Farmer?"

  Yang Ke said, "You were just eating and didn't notice that I only ate one baozi. Lao Nong has already eaten three. Earlier, everyone shared a big plate of baozi, and Lao Nong alone finished half of it, which is eight baozi. Now he's on his ninth!"

  I was scared at that time and I didn't eat anymore, just staring at the old farmer.

  Nine steamed buns with two bowls of porridge to take away...

  This guy swallowed more than two catties of food in one go, almost three!

  This looks like an ordinary young man's daily food intake?

  No wonder the troops are used to seeing brothers who can eat like this?

  The head of the cooking class heard about it and didn't say a word, anyway from now on when we go to the cooking class for meals, there will naturally be more dishes in that basin, and especially when we encounter eating buns, they will be piled high in a basin for us to take away.

  Everyone knows old farmers can eat well.

  There's another saying, I'll say it here too.

  The cook team leader was also a child from a poor family, who knew what it's like to be hungry. When he first came to the troops, his first bowl of noodles was a six-bowl strong man who went down in one go.

  Yimeng Old District, that is where the old folks who gave every last drop of blood in their veins to the Republic and to the army live.

  That place is miserable!

  I don't know what's going on, but when Old Farmer and his buddies practiced their Zheng steps, I don't know if it was because they lacked motor nerves or something, but anyway, their arm swings and leg movements were out of sync, looking awkward no matter how you looked at it.

  Especially that first step, the guy doesn't even know what's going on, always habitually tilting his neck back and then his left leg comes out, it looks like he's been slapped in the face with a brick.

  After training for a few days, Lao Nong's habit of walking with an uneven gait was corrected.

  His neck didn't lean back, but strangely, that guy's head always leaned forward a little, although the amplitude was not large, it could still be perceived.

  At that time, it was also the first time that Kuang Ming's brother noticed something was wrong. He turned around and looked behind Lao Nong's body, and at that moment, Kuang Ming had already let out a cold breath.

  The old farmer was really stubborn, afraid that he couldn't change this habit, so he tied five or six big needles around his neck. As soon as he raised his head, the needles would prick him back down. By the time Kangming saw him, the back of the old farmer's neck was already bloody and aching to look at.

  Quickly, the big needle was pulled out and sent to the health team for a shot of medicine, then rest. But when everyone returned to the room, they saw that Lao Nong's brother had already poured a cup of tea for each of the brothers and was smiling foolishly, saying "Brothers, you've worked hard, drink some tea."

  It's really a pity that such a down-to-earth brother is going to be eliminated, and nobody can bear to see it happen.

  That day, watching the old farmer pack his bags, several brothers' eyes were all moist. Unable to hold back, several brothers went up and said to the old farmer: "Once you've gone to the new unit, hurry up and send us a letter, we brothers are thinking of you."

  The old farmer kept nodding and smiling foolishly, then got on the car and left.

  The car hadn't left the gate when Old Farmer's brother suddenly lay down behind the car, facing his brothers and shouting: "Brothers, let's go! The cooking class in the back, don't forget to dig up the ditch every now and then, or it will be blocked!"

  The old soldier brother who was standing at the door of the kitchen class smoking suddenly stunned and blurted out, "Old farmer, you new recruit egg! I said how come there is always someone quietly cleaning up the ditch behind the kitchen class, it's been noisy for half a day, is it you!"

  Then he just watched as Old Farmer's brother waved his hand and walked away without saying a word.

  It turns out that Lao Nong is indeed a simple and honest farmer.

  He remembers who is good to him and who treats him well, no matter how small it may seem.

  Then, quietly find opportunities to repay.

  The old farmer knew that the cook team leader would take care of him, and every day's rice bowl had extra large pieces of meat and white buns that were specially added by the cook team leader.

  The old farmer can't speak, and even more won't flatter or try to curry favor by presenting fake gifts.

  The old farmer quietly cleaned up the ditch behind the cooking class every few nights.

  The old farmer and the cook almost never spoke, a new recruit and an old soldier are both rural children who have suffered hardships and know how to sympathize with others.

  China has a population of 1.3 billion people and 800 million farmers.

  Their children are so honest.

  Old farmer, when are you coming to see me? I'll make dumplings for you to eat.

  Baozi with cabbage and pork filling.

  In fact, the strong man who likes to eat buns is not just Lao Nong alone. There is also a brother from a martial arts school who can eat equally well and is absolutely more capable than Lao Nong, having gone beyond him in every way.

  That brother's surname is Wu. He was a young master of a martial arts family from Xinhua, Hunan Province. When he was a child, his grandfather would hang him upside down from a tree to practice his skills. Just the few days when he had just joined the army, that kid performed their family's traditional routine called "Welcoming the Door with One Whip and One Kick", and with one kick, he shattered a wooden stake as thick as a large leg. It really gave us a taste of the power of traditional Chinese martial arts.

  There's another point, this brother's advantage is that no matter how hard Lao Niu tries, he can't compare to this guy who has absolutely developed sports neurons.

  No matter how difficult the action is, this brother can grasp the key points after watching it once and then slightly polishing it for a while, and that's an absolutely standard action. If there's even a slight deviation, he'll pick it out.

  After all, it's a sports nerve that has been trained since childhood. This brother is really liked by the instructors and several training officers to the bone.

  There are people in this world who were born to be soldiers, and a person skilled at training soldiers would see such material and feel an itch in their heart, wishing they could turn the iron rod into a needle overnight, transform small trees into pillars, and carve jade into He's bi.

  Especially for this brother, add a small stove, especially some one-hit kill routines, which were taught early on, and every day's practice was even more overtime.

  Wu brothers also worked hard, no matter how tired and bitter the regular training was. For something like adding a small stove, they always actively cooperated with us. At that time, we didn't understand why the brother's physical strength seemed to be never used up?

  Later on, I also practiced to a certain extent and only then did I realize that for those who are used to exercising, stopping abruptly is really unbearable, it's like having hundreds of ants crawling under your skin.

  Just as Wu brothers were absolutely able to pass the initial elimination, and hearing those instructors say that Wu brothers are natural-born capturers, after participating in a few actual battles, it's hard not to become heroes.

  It started with a lack of energy when running in the morning, and from time to time, my legs would go soft and I would easily fall.

  Then there was a severe loss of appetite during meals, and vomiting after eating. Additionally, it was especially easy to have insomnia in the middle of the night.

  Then Wu brothers really did not feel right, even a person who does not understand medicine at all can see the color of Wu brothers' face and urge them to go to the hospital for treatment.

  At this point, Wu brothers can only go home and there is no possibility of changing troops, they can only pack their bags and go home.

  Wu brothers' physical condition is relatively special, in the highland environment, it's easy to induce hepatitis, but as long as they return to their hometown, everything will be fine and they'll be vigorous.

  It's a cruel joke of fate that a young man who seemed destined for a military career had to bid a reluctant farewell to his uniform.

  Nobody wants to give it up!

  Still have to call Wu brothers to leave!

  The night before I left, when Wu brothers and our old fellow villagers met, he suddenly burst into tears and said that I didn't even take the second-level martial arts coach exam, I gave up everything to join the army, but I still want to go back, my family is just me, the most useless one...

  The Wu brothers said that all seven brothers in the family had practiced martial arts and either joined the army or the police department, anyway they all wore uniforms because this was the ancestral tradition of the old Wu family!

  In the past, in the martial arts world, there was a period when anyone who thought their kung fu skills were good enough and wanted to travel the world would carry a yellow cloth bundle and challenge any martial arts school they came across. If they killed someone, the other party wasn't allowed to seek revenge, but if they themselves got killed, the other party had to take responsibility for sending their coffin back to their hometown.

  The ancestors of the Wu brothers were fierce men who traveled the world with a yellow cloth bundle on their backs, making friends through martial arts. In the border area of Yunnan, Guizhou and Sichuan, they encountered bandits and were unable to withstand the guns despite their excellent kung fu skills, almost losing their lives. They were rescued by some passing Red Army soldiers.

  Since then, the ancestral teachings of the Wu family have been that all descendants who practice martial arts must serve the country and joining the army is the first choice and compulsory course. Only if they are really not suitable can they choose other professions!

  The Wu brothers have been practicing their skills since they were young, just so that they could wear a suit of armor, but now it still can't be done.

  When Wu brothers left, none of us went to see them off, nor was it possible for us to do so. But the elder brother of Kuang Ming and others did go. It seemed that the instructor also wrote a letter to Wu brothers' old father and gave Wu brothers a set of military uniforms with collar badges.

  Wu brothers are now doing police work and still have some meaning, a few years ago when I saw him at his home drinking together, as soon as I entered the door, I saw that military uniform.

  An old-fashioned summer uniform with epaulets and collar badges, carefully wrapped in plastic film.

  Brother Wu said that when he was about to leave, the instructor not only sent a military uniform but also a sentence: "Little Wu, you are a good soldier. You can wear your uniform home and qualify as a private!"

  Wu brothers looked at the military uniform and said, "So many years have passed, every year when it comes to August 1st, I wear this military uniform, I remember that I am a soldier, I will not retire, my whole life is a private!"

  I just laughed and didn't say anything.

  Actually, I also thought about never retiring in my life.

  Even as an eternal private soldier.