Chapter 33 of Volume One: Fried Egg as a Reward

  At this time, Li Li walked over and happened to see Qu Ming's handsome flying kick. He nodded secretly in approval. Before he could say anything, a group of old soldiers next to him started cheering collectively: "Company Commander, come on, Company Commander."

  Then everyone burst out laughing and lined up in a row under the leadership of Chang, shouting: "One two three four five, we've waited so hard. One two three four five six seven, we're so anxious."

  "Damn it, you've turned everything upside down!"

  At this time, Quan Lian suddenly started shouting slogans again, "You're called to do it, you just do it, twisting and turning doesn't look good, what does it look like? A big girl! What does it look like? A big girl!"

  Then everyone burst into laughter, and applause erupted. Qu Mingjun watched from the side with great interest, this commander didn't look like one at all, and these soldiers didn't look like soldiers either.

  Li Li crossed his arms, chuckled and shook his head, saying: "Damn it, I should intensify your training. You're all full of energy but can't even handle a provocation from the company commander."

  At this time, Ding Qiang ran over with a smile and handed over two protective devices made of wide backpack straps in his hands, "Lian Zhang, come on."

  "Huh, you're provoking me too?" Li Li smiled and looked down at the protective belt in Ding Qiang's hand, then looked up and glanced around at the still laughing soldiers, and casually asked, "How about we have one?"

  "Alright! Alright! The company commander is going to give a speech, let's all applaud!" Then the sound of applause echoed throughout the training ground.

  "Heh heh, haven't exercised today, don't know how it'll go." Li Li smiled as he took off the camouflage uniform on his body, revealing a camouflage vest underneath, and put on the protective gear.

  Li Li walked towards the horizontal bar of Class 8, shaking his neck from side to side as he walked and stretching out his arms.

  "I'm done, you guys know what to do next, right?" Li Li said with a smile as he stood under the horizontal bar, looking at the surrounding warriors.

  "Got it."

  "Alas, it's this set again."

  "Hurry up and go."

  "Don't worry!"

  A chaotic mixture of voices echoed Li Li's words.

  "What does this mean?" Qu Mingjun was somewhat puzzled and asked Ding Qiang who had returned to his side.

  "Oh, we've set a rule within our company, if"

  "Let him demonstrate to everyone, then he did some training subjects for everyone. So the whole class has to take an assessment on this subject. The top ten with high scores can have extra food at lunchtime, and the worst ten, haha, need to do some physical punishment, like push-ups or something." said Ding Qiang.

  "So you all think it's pretty funny, but isn't anyone afraid of being in the last ten?" Qu Mingjun looked around, very puzzled. "New recruits definitely can't compare to old soldiers, so won't the last ten all be new recruits then?"

  "It's not a competition among all soldiers at once, every year the new recruits compete with each other, and the old soldiers who have been in for more than two years compete together, and find out the top five and bottom five, haha." Ding Qiang explained with a smile.

  "Oh." Qu Mingjun suddenly realized, this was actually quite fair.

  Li Li jumped up and grasped the horizontal bar, then put on the protective strap around the bar and his own wrist. He took a deep breath, swung himself back and forth, and soon his body was in sync with the bar.

  Eight exercises, heaven, unexpectedly eight exercises big cycle, Qu Mingjun was extremely surprised. To say that the old soldiers did eight exercises big cycle, it's not too surprising, in the military school Feng Shaojun Guo Xiangyang and others could all do it, but Company Commander Li Li is almost thirty years old now, still a cadre, physical strength can actually maintain so well?

  Li Li quickly gave him an answer, and his body started a single-handed giant circle from back to front.

  All the soldiers inside the company began to loudly count down for their company commander: "One", "Two", "Three"......

  With ease, Li Li completed fifty big circles and his body began to slow down. Several old soldiers guarding beside him rushed up to hold the company commander, allowing him to smoothly take off the protective gear on his hands and drop it to the ground.

  The warriors began a warm applause, Qu Mingjun couldn't help but admire and also started a warm applause.

  Li Li slightly gasped for breath and said: "Alright, now you're all satisfied, aren't you? Then go ahead."

  The warriors spontaneously divided into two teams, new recruits stood under one horizontal bar with other new recruits, while veterans of more than two years stood together, doing the most difficult single-bar exercises they could do. Under the arrangement of a long row, the new recruits started with pull-ups, and the old soldiers did whatever they could do.

  Qū Míng Jùn was a bit unsure which team to go to, supposedly he was also in his first year, considered a new recruit? But that's too embarrassing. He hesitated for a moment, standing still and looking around left and right.

  Li Li walked over and said: "Hey, these rabbit kids have started, how's it going? Are you still getting used to being in the unit?"

  "It's okay." Qu Mingjun saw that several old soldiers had also started playing the eight exercises, and asked casually: "Company Commander, which team should I go to?"

  "Huh? You're participating too?" Li Li, wearing a vest, was slightly surprised.

  "I've already enlisted in the army, so I'll definitely participate in the activities within the company." Qu Mingjun said matter-of-factly.

  "Hmm, okay. You're a '96 student, right?" Li Li smiled and pointed at Ding Qiang, saying: "Let's go to the veteran team over there, it's the one with Ding Qiang."

  Qū Míng Jùn stood at attention and bowed respectfully, "Yes!", then ran over.

  Li Li scratched his head and muttered under his breath: "Damn it, another little goody-goody."

  Qu Mingjun ran to the side of the second-year soldier's team, stood at attention, "Reporting!"

  Ding Qiang was guarding the single-plank bridge and hastily called a soldier over to replace him. The soldier ran over and asked, "Squad leader, what's going on?"

  "I'll participate in your competition." Qu Mingjun explained.

  "Oh!" Ding Qiang suddenly realized, he saw Li Li talking to Qu Mingjun, but didn't expect it was for this.

  "Get in line!" Ding Qiang shouted loudly.

  "Yes!" Qu Mingjun ran into formation.

  Ding Qiang smiled and said: "Everyone welcome Qu Pingchang to participate in our competition."

  Several old soldiers applauded while deliberately sighing, "It's over, no extra meal at noon again." It seems that they have seen Qu Mingjun just now, from one exercise to five exercises, and feel that they have no hope of entering the top ten.

  Old soldiers are mostly comparing single barbell exercises, and those who can do eight exercises go to show off their eight-exercise big circle. Unfortunately, there are still not many people who can do it. To complete this eight-exercise big circle, in addition to strength, more requirements are technique and courage.

  Qu Mingjun had never done the big eight-loop exercise before, this time he wanted to try it out, he thought his strength was enough, plus with the protection of the safety belt, there shouldn't be any problem.

  Ding Qiang and the others didn't know what level Qu Ming Jun's single bar technique had reached, so they followed his arrangement to put on the protective belt on the single bar and sent Qu Ming Jun up onto the single bar.

  Qu Mingjun took a deep breath, started to tuck his abdomen and pull his legs in with force, lifting himself up. This movement was similar to the fifth exercise, both of which aimed to swing the body as much as possible to gain enough strength to go up to the single bar. Qu Mingjun did it with ease and soon lifted himself up to the level of the single bar.

  Doing well, add a bit more effort! Qu Mingjun secretly encouraged himself in his heart.

  Come on!

  Too bad, just a little short! Come again!

  Still can't...

  Ding Qiang suddenly saw the trick, it turned out that this squad leader had never practiced single bar exercises before, and quickly reminded him from below: "Squad leader, if...

  "It's no use, let it go."

  Qu Mingjun ignored him, feeling somewhat annoyed in his heart, gritted his teeth and continued to use force.

  "Stretch your waist and abdomen, and straighten your abdomen when your body swings to the highest point!" Ding Qiang took a look at Bai Shuo, and had to hurry up and quietly give Qu Mingjun a hint about the key to the action.

  Tighten your stomach! Good, then tighten it. Qu Mingjun didn't have time to think about anything else, and hurriedly started tightening his stomach. He felt something, so he did it again! Use force, tighten!

  It's over, it's over, the body started to swing past the highest point, and surprisingly, it stood upside down for a moment, then according to inertia, the whole person swung back down again, and went up once more, with a straight abdomen! And then it was over again.

  Qu Ming was secretly delighted, and his hands didn't dare to relax. As long as the body swung up, it wasn't necessary to use too much force. He just needed to ensure that he could smoothly lift his abdomen and legs, and tightly grasp the single bar.

  The world is spinning, and the applauding warriors are also spinning.

  After twelve big loops, Qu Ming felt a stinging sensation in his palm and couldn't help but slow down.

  Ding Qiang hastily shouted: "Row leader be careful, don't stick out your belly, control the speed with both legs consciously."

  Qu Mingjun followed the instructions, and in the back-and-forth swaying motion, he slowly lowered his body height. At this time, Ding Qiang and an old soldier ran up to hold Qu Mingjun's legs, holding him still, and then slowly put him down.

  A bit dizzy, Qu Mingjun's first feeling after stopping was dizziness. Fortunately, Ding Qiang had experience and held onto him without letting go.

  At this time, everyone including the battalion commander Li Li next to him saw that there were bloodstains on the horizontal bar. Qu Mingjun took a closer look at his hands and found that several calluses had been worn away during this big circle, and the tender skin had bled due to friction.

  Lian Chang Li walked over, furrowed his brow and took a look, saying: "It's nothing serious, just go to the infirmary to get some medicine applied and put on a band-aid."

  Li Li looked up and said, "Ding Qiang, you go with Xiao Qu to the medical station."

  Qu Mingjun's palms were now fully recovered, with waves of piercing pain. Ding Qiang supported him as they walked away, while Li Li shouted from behind: "Right, next time when doing a big circle, don't grip the single bar too tightly with your palms, relax your grip once your body is up." After a pause, Li Li shouted again: "Not bad, extra food at noon!"

  The warriors in Lian's team smiled and applauded as they saw Qu Mingjun off.

  Qu Mingjun suddenly felt very proud, he finally conquered all the warriors of this proud battalion with his own quality within a day, and won their recognition.

  After taking the medicine back, the warriors in Class 8 had a different attitude towards Qu Mingjun. They all chatted and spoke warmly to him. Ding Qiang also started to ask him for advice on some military school matters and took out his own study materials to ask Qu Mingjun for guidance. Looking at Ding Qiang's eyes, Qu Mingjun knew that this class leader still had great ambitions for entering the military academy.

  "Sit down! Let's eat!" Qu Mingjun remained seated at Lian Bu's table.

  At this time, the chubby cook sergeant came out with a plate of dishes, looking left and right, then saw that the soldiers were pointing to the top ten most outstanding people in the morning trial, including new recruits and old soldiers.

  Li Li saw it, picked up his chopsticks and tapped on the table, saying: "Come over, come over, let's add some dishes to our meal first."

  Qu Mingjun was taken aback, "Lian Chang, am I included too?"

  "Cut the crap, you're one of us now, you won the bet so why can't we have an extra dish? Right, Squad Leader?"

  "Yes!" Ding Qiang stood up with a smile.

  The cook brought over a plate and Qu Mingjun took a look. Oh, it was just a plate of scrambled eggs.

  The ten people who won the competition will share this plate of eggs and eat them, and even the other warriors looked at them with envy.

  Qu Mingjun looked at the four dishes on the table, including braised pork, and thought that stir-fried eggs were nothing special, not as good as the meat dishes on the table. He didn't know why the soldiers were looking at them with such envy.

  "What you guys call a supplementary meal is just a stir-fried egg." Qu Mingjun asked while chatting with Ding Qiang after dinner.

  "Not necessarily, sometimes it's something else, like a bag of milk or whatever," said Ding Qiang.

  "I thought it was a great dish, haha, but it's actually quite ordinary."

  "Even if the dishes are served in a long row, they won't be that great. The food budget is fixed and so is the daily menu. Even if the additional dishes are good, they can't compare to the main courses. This thing is just symbolic."

  "Symbol?"

  "Right, this is a symbol. If you eat this extra meal, you are the strongest person in the company, and everyone inside will look up to you, including our company commander. Usually, you don't know how much they want this extra meal, yeah, those few over there." Ding Qiang pointed at the old soldiers on the side and continued: "Don't look at them being so carefree, but you don't know that they sneak out at night to secretly practice. We soldiers have no other skills, we can't lose in terms of spirit, right?"

  Qu Mingjun shook his head, then nodded. That's right, this is an honor, it's an honor worth fighting for all the soldiers of the artillery company. In a competition, soldiers can't lose their spirit, they can't lose their dignity.

  Following a few days of life in the company with the soldiers, Qu Mingjun felt more and more that this place was like a warm big family. His initial dislike for Li Li also changed gradually. Just now, after coming back from lunch, he passed by the company department entrance and was called in by Li Li to arrange an important task for him!