The First Volume of China Eastern Point Chapter 69: Reunion with Fan Shaojie

  "The seventh row, face long, from the Special Operations Teaching and Research Department, named Fan Shuai, everyone welcome."

  Fan Shaoxia, it's actually Fan Shaoxia. Qu Mingjun and the others from the 14th squad who had participated in the military grand competition looked at each other with surprise and delight.

  Fan Shaoxiao rushed to the seventh row, winked at Qu Mingjun, and gave a standard military salute with a smile, standing at attention in front of the seventh row.

  Qu Mingjun wanted to say something to Fan Shaoxiao, but in the formation, he couldn't open his mouth, so when Fan Shaoxiao walked over, he subtly nodded at him as a greeting.

  Soon, after the commander of the parade team finished introducing the platoon leaders, he announced the order for each platoon leader to take their own platoon out for training. Of course, before training, each platoon leader would use about half an hour to get familiar with their twenty-five squad members.

  Fan Shaoxiao smiled and greeted the twenty-five people, including Qu Mingjun's group of seven, some of whom he knew, such as Qu Mingjun, Feng Shaoyun, and Cui Ze.

  Then it was routine training, and also a habitual habit. Before the formal training, Captain Fan checked the movements of the 25-man queue one by one, laying the foundation for targeted training in the future.

  During the training interval, Qu Mingjun and his two brothers who had participated in the military games naturally gathered in front of Fan Shaoxiao, sat together and chatted. Wang Min although did not know Fan Shaoxiao, also followed to gather over there.

  "Come on, have a smoke." Cui Ze pulled out a pack of cigarettes and began distributing them to the brothers present.

  "Green stone?" Captain Fan took a look, "Not bad, quite high-end."

  "Haha, one person eats their fill and the whole family won't go hungry." Cui Ze smiled, "Anyway, the troops take care of food and lodging, and when the allowance is issued, it's just that much. I buy some daily necessities, and let me burn away the rest." Cui Ze made a gesture with the cigarette in his hand.

  "Hehe." Fan Shaoxiao smiled and shook his head, "How are you guys doing? It's been a year, right, Xiao Qu? Not bad, huh?"

  "It's all right." Qiu Mingjun felt warm in his heart, this mentor and friend, Fan Shaojie, was a very important guide for him on his military life journey. It could be said that it was Fan Shaojie who made him see what kind of qualities, mission and honor a professional soldier should have. Without Fan Shaojie, there would not be the calm and self-disciplined soldier Qiu Mingjun today.

  "Right, I haven't seen you all year, Instructor Fan. What have you been busy with?" Qu Mingjun asked.

  "Right, right, we even opened a special tactics class and didn't see you come to teach us. At first, I thought I could still see you again. As a result, not even Instructor Li was seen." Cui Ze said with a sullen face.

  "Li Ming is not from the Special Warfare Research Department, he's a physical education instructor. After the military games ended, he was transferred to the external training team as deputy commander, you shouldn't have seen him," explained Captain Fan. "As for me, after the military games ended, I went abroad to be an instructor in one of our third world brother countries. This training mission lasted a whole year, and now I've just returned to the country."

  "Oh? Going abroad?" Curiosity filled the faces of Qiu Mingjun and his two friends.

  "Yes, it's a group of black brothers, their country is going to establish an anti-terrorism special police force and they are being trained." Captain Fan said with a smile.

  "What classes are you all taking?" Cui Ze asked.

  "Just like you guys, in addition to regular physical training, we also have to take courses on grappling and combat tactics."

  "How's it going? What's the effect of teaching them?" Feng Shaojun chimed in.

  "Let it be." Captain Fan smiled, "They are very enthusiastic and have good physical strength, but tactics take some time to learn. Also, our country sent a French translator over there, they also have a translator, so when we say something, our translator translates it into French first, then their translator translates it into their language again. So just translating takes two rounds, communication might be a bit of a problem."

  "Hey, right, you just mentioned that Instructor Li was transferred to the external training team. We have an external training team and the old black brothers all come to our college to study. Why do you still need to go out?" Wang Jin interrupted and asked.

  "It's not the same situation," said Fan Shaoxiao. "Most of the people who come to our college for further study are from African countries that were formerly colonized by France, but there aren't many people from each country either. The place I went to was to train a newly established police force, and their country can't afford to send so many people abroad to study here, let alone those people have tasks to perform on a daily basis."

  "Oh, I see." Several people including Qu Mingjun nodded in understanding.

  "Are you getting used to it over there?" Qu Mingjun asked with a smile.

  "I'm extremely unaccustomed to this." Fan Shaoxiao shook his head and curled up the corners of his mouth, saying: "The things they eat that don't taste good, their food is really... strange! Even instant noodles with pickled vegetables made me want to vomit. I wanted to buy some ingredients to cook for myself, but there's nothing to buy."

  "Haha." The little brothers all burst out laughing.

  "By the way, where's Guo Xiangyang? He can't not have come to the parade, you four brothers are always inseparable." Captain Fan wondered, why were there only three people from the 14th squad.

  As soon as these words came out, the faces of all four people changed. Especially Qu Mingjun, his eyes turned red in an instant.

  Fan Shaoxiao, even if he was a dull person, could see that something was wrong. How much more so since he was actually a clever and astute person? He hesitated before asking: "What's going on? What exactly happened in the year I wasn't here?"

  "Lao Ban Zhang... is gone." Qu Ming Jun shook his head in grief, unwilling to continue speaking.

  "...... gone?" Fang Shaojun's eyebrows furrowed deeply, and he pulled Feng Shaoyun over with one hand, asking in a low voice: "What's going on?"

  "This summer vacation, we followed Team A to participate in the flood relief efforts. Old Guo... sacrificed himself... That time was..." Feng Shaojun recounted the events leading up to and following the incident to Pan Shaoye in a low voice."

  Fan Shaoxiao's face changed greatly as he listened, and in the end, he painfully closed his eyes. "Alas, Guo Xiangyang, what a fine young man, worthy of respect and admiration... alas, it's such a pity..."

  Several people present felt sad in their hearts, and for a while the scene was quiet with no one speaking, so everyone mourned Guo Xiangyang.

  After a while, Feng Shaonian pulled the corner of his mouth and forced a smile. "It's been half a year since then, let's not talk about it anymore. Oh, Instructor Fan, what brings you to the parade team?"

  "Hmm." Captain Fan took a deep breath, as if trying to let out all the pent-up frustration in his heart. "This grand military parade was originally one of our college's most important tasks for next year. When selecting you guys, the college also started selecting coaches among us instructors. Coincidentally, I had just returned to the country and didn't have any teaching tasks arranged, so participating in the grand military parade is a dream for every soldier. Plus, I felt that my team's drill movements were pretty good, so I signed up."

  "That's a good idea." Cui Ze also followed the topic and said, "Now we can follow Officer Fan to make another big move."

  "Hmm? What's wrong, wasn't I tough enough on you during the martial arts training camp?" Captain Fan teased with a smile.

  Several people burst out laughing, including Qu Mingjun, who was still feeling sad in his heart just now.

  At this time, the training ground transmitted the starting whistle. Captain Fan walked to Qu Mingjun's side and said in a low voice: "Let's make up for Guo Xiangyang's share of not being able to participate in the grand parade. If he were still here, he would definitely want to participate in the grand parade."

  "Uh-huh!" Qu Mingjun nodded. Fan Shaojie patted Qu Mingjun's shoulder with some comfort and loudly shouted to start forming up.

  Day after day, the honor guard began their arduous training on the large drill ground of Shi Men Lu Yuan in the biting cold winter. Captain Fan always wore a smile on his face when facing the seventh row of comrades, but Qu Mingjun and others knew that this smiling face was actually a fierce tiger, so they all gave it their all, training with utmost seriousness. Other honor guard members who didn't understand Captain Fan's personality, such as Wang Jin, really suffered at first.

  Now, Instructor Fan and all the squad leaders have moved into the parade team. It can be said that the parade team is training at all times. Even in peacetime, they must strictly follow the team's rules and regulations for every move, including eating in the cafeteria, where they are required to keep their chest out, back straight, and neck tightly pressed against the collar of their uniform.

  According to Cui Ze, even eating has become mechanized in the parade team. Think about it, when eating, the upper body and neck don't move, using peripheral vision to aim, then picking up food with a spoon or chopsticks, and finally lifting it high to bring it to the mouth. At first, everyone was not used to it, wasting a lot of grain, and everyone's eyes were fixed on the front, several brothers stared at each other, it was really funny, wanting to laugh but not daring to laugh, making it even more uncomfortable.

  It's even stricter on the training ground. Turning your hat over and putting it on top of your head is child's play. Because your head isn't straight, large safety pins are attached to both sides of your collar. If your head tilts slightly, you'll get a jab. Your waist is simply tied up with a military belt in the shape of a cross. Sandbags are tied to your legs. Marching in step and kicking in step must strictly follow the footprint lines drawn on the ground. Taking more or fewer steps is not allowed. At night when sleeping, those with bowlegs still have their backpack straps tied around their knees for forced correction.

  At first, everyone was complaining, but the leader of the parade team scolded them severely, "Do you think the military parade is a game? I'm telling you, on the day of the big parade, all comrades in arms and people across the country are watching us. If you don't practice to the death, if you don't put in great effort, what do you want to achieve by walking in front of Tiananmen? Are you going to humiliate yourselves? I'm telling you, this is just an appetizer, it's not time for you to give your all yet. I'm warning you, every one of you must be prepared to shed a few layers of skin during training to be considered qualified. Anyway, we have many people selected this time, if you can't take the hardship, just tell me directly, or tell our team leader, it's okay. We still haven't passed the New Year, there's still time for you to leave the team and go home for the holiday. What kind of soldiers are you if you're always complaining about the hardships?"

  Qu Mingjun also felt a bit too tired from the start, it was a kind of dry and tiring, the team training itself was very monotonous, this kind of training to make people become a part of the square in the big parade was even more dull and suffocating.

  But Captain Fan was a very good instructor at grasping psychological problems, and under his leadership, the seventh row of soldiers quickly stood out in the entire parade team. In several row meetings, the seventh row was always the best, and even the captain of the parade team simply gathered all the row leaders in front of Captain Fan to listen to him explain his experience with row training. Some of Captain Fan's experiences and methods made even the most experienced instructors admire him, which made Qu Mingjun and the others very proud.

  It's winter vacation, all the student teams are on holiday, only Qu Mingjun and his inspection team are left. Every day's training is very empty and quiet with no one around, but it's also very boring. Except for their hundreds of people, basically can't see anyone else. However, the external training team didn't leave, after all, Lao Hei doesn't need to celebrate Chinese New Year, and each session only has a one-year study abroad period, the curriculum is tight, during the winter vacation, they are arranged to attend classes, during the Spring Festival, they are arranged to go to Beijing for a tour, visit the Forbidden City, climb the Great Wall, and experience the charm of Chinese New Year.

  It just so happened that during this period, the old black brothers were training for rock climbing at the military sports training ground in the southernmost part of the big playground. As soon as the big class was over, the old black brothers would run out and play football with the members of the parade team. Both groups loved this popular global sport very much. The leader of the parade team was also happy to see his team members relaxing during training breaks. Therefore, unless it was a special training session, the parade team would intentionally arrange for more rest time during the big class break, so that the team members could have a friendly match with the old black brothers. Of course, the lost time during the day would definitely be made up for at night.

  That day, Qu Mingjun and the others were training. The duty officer looked at his watch and hadn't blown the whistle yet as it wasn't time. Suddenly an old black brother ran onto the training field with a football and put it down beside Qu Mingjun, then started winking and making eyes at him.

  Qu Ming saw the old black brother with the corner of his eye, and this old black brother was the captain of their external training team football team. He had also been a center forward on the field all along, and the two people had fought face-to-face several times before. This time he came to call them again.

  But Qu Mingjun was still in training, unable to nod or speak. The old black brothers raised their eyebrows and exchanged glances for a while, saw that Qu Mingjun didn't react, tilted their heads and thought for a moment, then stretched out two hands around their mouths like a trumpet, and the thick lips inside made a "beep beep" sound like a whistle, then he shouted in a strange tone: "Take a ten-minute break."

  Haha, this suddenly made all the soldiers in the parade squad laugh and the discipline of the formation was disrupted. However, no one blamed them, as all the platoon leaders were also laughing. This old black guy had been watching the parade squad's duty officer blow his whistle every day and say "Rest for ten minutes." He actually learned this sentence by following along, and it sounded like he was imitating the Northeastern accent of the parade squad leader. Haha, looks like Chinese isn't that hard to learn after all!

  The squad leader of the guard of honor on duty today also burst out laughing and bent his waist, looked at his watch, blew a whistle, "Rest!"

  "Take a short rest, stand at attention!" Fan Shaoxiao laughed so hard that his eyes became slits. "Loosen your belt, good! Take off your hat, good!"

  After a few commands, the trainees' hats and belts were neatly arranged on the ground in a row, as if they were still waiting for inspection. Then Captain Fan said: "Dismissed!"

  "Kill——！！！” After a shout, the parade team members yelled and rushed to the football field on the big playground. Cui Ze took the lead, and with one kick, he kicked up the football that Lao Hei Ge had put on the ground, and a group of people surrounded the football and started playing wildly on the football field.

  (ps: It's already the 4th day of the first month, I don't know how everyone is doing? Tomorrow is the 5th day and we have to "crash" our poverty, I don't know if everyone has this custom. Anyway, tomorrow morning we will definitely be woken up by the firecrackers. The angel also bought a string of 2000 firecrackers, tomorrow morning we'll "crash" our poverty too! Wishing everyone a prosperous year in 08, may your career, love, wealth and health all flourish!)