The First Part of China's Eastern Point Chapter 5: Individuality? Universality?

  After lunch, Li Dongkuan called Guo Xiangyang to the east side door of the dormitory building, which was usually locked and rarely visited. The two sat on the steps smoking.

  "Lao Guo, it seems like things aren't going too well in class." Li Dong squinted his eyes and lifted his head to bask in the warm sunlight.

  Kuo Hsiang-yang took a deep drag on his cigarette and let out a soft "hmm" through his nose.

  "I think everyone else is easy to get along with, it's just this Qu Mingjun, who seems like a thorn in the side. But I always feel that this kid can't be seen through, what do you think?" Li Dongkuan shook his head.

  "Who says it's not? This kid is really strange, his physical quality can be said to be very good, let alone others, you and I are probably no match for him, and I don't know how he trained. This point is not bad, in the future, earning some honor for the class will be easy. But this kid's personality is too weird, doesn't listen to what anyone says, just does his own thing. If things go wrong, this could be a disaster." Guo Xiangyang also shook his head, with a somewhat melancholic expression.

  "Have you seen his registered personal data?" Li Dongkuan asked, turning his head.

  Guo Xiangyang was somewhat puzzled, "Looking at him, he's just a city kid from an ordinary working-class family, nothing special."

  "I've always felt that something is off. Think about it, this temperament, this character, probably can't be cultivated in an ordinary family." Li Dongkuan seems to have a rather delicate mind.

  Guo Xiangyang thought for a moment and nodded, "What you said makes sense, but his public information is like this, and the political review has also passed. What can we do to investigate? Is it that he's not a high-ranking official's son? Even if he were, no high-ranking official's son would be like him. Have you ever heard of any high-level military leader with the surname Qu?"

  Li Dongkuan shook his head, "I don't know, otherwise let's take a look at the letter he wrote to that place, there must be an address on the envelope, and then we can ask around?"

  "What's the point of just finding out? Now saying this isn't very useful, the key is how to make him change, not to mention actively participating in class work, at least don't drag us down. Look at this kid, usually doing his own thing, naturally can't dissolve into our collective, what do you say we'll do when we work together in the future? I think, looking back, if we two become the most useless class monitor and deputy, that's a joke."

  "Or what?" Li Dongkuang took a deep drag on his last puff, stubbed out the cigarette butt on the sole of his shoe, and asked tentatively, "Give him a little trick? Press down on this temper of his?"

  Kuo Hsiang-yang was taken aback by the words, turned his head and stared at Li Tung-kuan for a long time without speaking, making Li Tung-kuan feel somewhat embarrassed, so he explained himself: "Isn't this an unavoidable measure? Besides, this thing is originally a borderline case, even if it's used, it doesn't matter."

  Guo Xiangyang hesitated for half a day and finally shook his head, "Looking at this kid's behavior, I'm afraid he's someone who doesn't take soft or hard approaches, is reckless and daring. If we push him too hard, who knows what kind of trouble he'll stir up? We're all new students, if we make another scene in front of the whole squad, it won't be good! Alas, since there's no other way, let's just wait and see for now. Since he joined the army, I don't believe he'll always put individualism first, things will get better eventually." The last sentence was said without much conviction even by Guo Xiangyang himself.

  Li Dongkuan listened carefully, rubbing his hands and unable to speak. Just as the two were silent, they heard a series of footsteps approaching.

  "I'm telling you, brother, what are you doing relaxing here at this hour? Old Li, where's your cigarette? Don't you even hurry to offer one when you see the boss?" A handsome guy with dark skin but a bright white smile walked over from the small path beside them.

  Li Dongkuan smiled, "Is there a district chief like you? We two are just your underlings, and you don't even give us cigarettes, but instead come to bum one from me. And on top of that, you want me to hurry up and offer it to you. The style of being a leader is really something else." As he spoke, Li Dongkuan rummaged through his pockets for cigarettes.

  Here is the translation:

  It was Feng Shaojun, the squadron leader of the second squadron, who came over as an unexpected guest. He was also the mysterious onlooker outside the door when the sixth class did push-ups to resolve the dispute between old and new soldiers. Currently, the reconnaissance department's 14th squadron is divided into four squadrons, each with three classes, which coincidentally conforms to the traditional military formation of three classes per platoon. The four squadron leaders were all selected from among the top performers among the veteran soldiers. For example, Feng Shaojun was a second-class soldier when he won first place in the military district's martial arts competition. As for his meritorious service and awards, there are too many to count. It is said that when Feng Shaojun came to school, their instructor personally issued an order to send his own car to pick him up. Old Feng is a very humorous and interesting person who is also very enthusiastic. He likes to lead by example in his work and often demonstrates what needs to be done. Especially during single-bar training, Old Feng once did 50 consecutive turns on the bar, stunning the entire squadron. So don't think that just because he hasn't been in school for long, but from the squadron leaders to the new students, everyone likes and respects Feng Shaojun.

  "What's up? Is there some trouble with Class 6?" Feng Shaojun sat down, comfortably exhaling a mouthful of smoke, and asked Guo Xiangyang with a smile. It was obvious that it was almost time for lunch break, but the class monitor and vice-monitor of Class 6 were not resting in the classroom, instead sneaking out to this secluded spot to smoke - they must be discussing something difficult.

  Guo Xiangyang also didn't want to hide it, and nodded quickly, "It's just that Qu Mingjun, he's got good character, but he just won't fit in with the group. We were just discussing ways to deal with him. Old Feng, you're here at the right time, help us come up with a plan."

  Feng Shaojun listened to Guo Xiangyang recount the events of the past few days, and the cigarette in his hand was smoked halfway through. He pondered for a moment before asking: "How is his ability? Oh, I'm not referring to physical quality, but rather how he handles things."

  "It seems that he is also very good, at least I haven't seen him do anything sloppy, everything is done neatly. Except for not being sociable, he can be said to be an extremely excellent soldier." Guo Xiangyang said.

  Li Dongkuan chimed in at this time, "That's right, everything is fine, it's just that the personality is too strong."

  "Individuality?" Feng Shaojun pondered this word, "In the army, we don't need individuality, only commonality! Especially when they've just enrolled and haven't even become qualified soldiers yet, there's no need for individuality at all."

  "It's easy to say, but how can you make those new recruits understand? Especially that Qu Mingjun, relying on his own strength, doesn't take me and Old Li seriously at all. Whatever obstructs him, it's better not to mention it to him, lest you humiliate yourself, we still have other things to deal with where he can't find fault. Try reasoning with him, he can talk circles around you, one sentence after another, until you're exhausted!" Guo Xiangyang said, getting more and more agitated as he spoke.

  "Haha, calm down, Old Guo." Feng Shaojun smiled and patted Guo Xiangyang's shoulder. "This is where we need to do some work. Otherwise, what would be the point of having us as squad leaders? For people like this, I think we should use a small fire to simmer them slowly, bit by bit, to grind their temper. Do you still remember the brick-grinding on our first day of school? Later, I asked around and found out that it seems to have become a tradition at Stone Gate Lu Institute. No matter if they're new students or old soldiers, the first day of school is always brick-grinding day. Don't think it's just us; those older student squads started school earlier than us, and they've already done their brick-grinding."

  Feng Shaonian stood up and said: "What is being ground by the brick? I think it's not the brick, but people's hearts. What's being ground are all sorts of people's hearts, grinding away those that are frivolous, depressed, dark, and showy, making them all flat and gone. The ones left behind are all the same, starting from scratch, we're all the same. Only then can we be like this brick, no matter how many honors or scars we have on our bodies, whether we're often trampled or standing upright, at our core, we're just a red brick of the same color, without anything special, and here everyone has the same role. Only when all the red bricks are arranged in a certain way, tightly lined up together, can we see this flat and solid road surface."

  Feng Shaojun's high-sounding and grandiose words made Guo Xiangyang and Li Dongkuan somewhat admire him. In fact, they had also thought about the significance of this brick-grinding exercise, but their thoughts were relatively shallow, only thinking about the discipline of making everyone obey orders and follow commands. As for the deeper meaning, it was far less than what Feng Shaojun had thought.

  Feng Shaojun extinguished the cigarette that was about to burn his fingers and continued, "As for Qu Mingjun, I have also observed him, especially his physical fitness, which is surprisingly good. However, these cannot be used as capital for him to be arrogant and not integrate into collective life. I think you should first understand his motivation for joining the army, know what he came for, in order to guide him smoothly. At the same time, you can also try to give him more responsibilities, let him lead certain tasks, what do you think?"

  Guo Xiangyang was lost in thought, while Li Dongkuan muttered to himself, "Motivation for joining the army? Ah, why did he come to join the army anyway? If I don't know this, it's really hard to figure out what this kid wants to do. Let him be a leader? That's right too, how can one person possibly control everything? Not to mention that people with different personalities need targeted leadership, if so, can he still put himself outside?"