Chapter 4 Familiarity

  Murong Liuyue basically does things in a straightforward way, taking the most direct route to get things done. However, now he can't even sit down, no matter how much he wants to take it easy. As a soldier, he has to stand at attention, rest, and follow orders... all of which require him to stand up straight. But Murong Liuyue doesn't look lazy or sloppy; on the contrary, when San Duo catches glimpses of him, he notices that his face has a subtle glow, and if he looks for too long, his eyes can't help but narrow slightly. Murong Liuyue's demeanor makes San Duo feel an involuntary sense of reverence, a feeling that can't be put into words.

  Was it really an illusion just now? It seems that willpower has weakened. Lin Jianbing found a reason for himself and continued to firm up the slogan.

  Shift the attention back to the new recruits, Lin Jianbing soon discovered Xu Sanduo's uniqueness. Murong Liuyue can be recognized at a glance in the crowd, but he gives you a feeling of being hidden in plain sight. You recognize him, but you won't compete with this character. But Xu Sanduo is different, he is a thoroughbred donkey. The more Lin Jianbing looked at Xu Sanduo, the more he felt inexplicably suspicious that he might have misjudged the situation. However, Lin Jianbing knew that the mistake was not his, but Xu Sanduo's.

  Lin Jianbing was a bit helpless about Xu Sanduo's performance. Generally, when training someone who makes mistakes, you haven't even finished shouting the first step and they've already taken the second or third step. But with Xu Sanduo, even if you shout out the third step, he may not have started the first step yet. There was no way around it, Lin Jianbing could only spend more time on Xu Sanduo, hoping that this clumsy bird would fly first. Lin Jianbing felt a bit uncomfortable in his heart, as he used to be like this too, always making mistakes and getting into trouble. But especially when looking at Xu Sanduo, he felt a sense of familiarity, as if he saw his former self in him, so he couldn't bear to scold him. In secret, he told himself that he had to let this new recruit live up to his potential.

  Xu Sanduo always did things slower than others, and he knew it. He wasn't just a little slow, but rather, he was slow in every way. For him, being slow didn't matter, as long as he was slow. He also knew that he couldn't keep up with the rhythm of the group, so he felt guilty.

  Just then, Lin Jianbing walked over and said, "Don't worry, take your time." As he spoke, he used force to straighten Xu Sanduo's waist and hooked out his left foot with his own, trying to get Xu Sanduo's feet to form a correct angle. Xu Sanduo accidentally fell down, but then patted his butt and stood up, staring foolishly at Lin Jianbing.

  The class leader was kind and easy-going, making people feel close to him, so Xu Sanduo forgot about his guilt.

  Lin Jianbing saw Xu Sanduo laughing more and more painfully, wasn't that his own silly appearance in the past? He suddenly roared at Xu Sanduo: "What are you laughing at!" After finishing, he felt regretful and lowered his voice to say "Stand up straight." Now Xu Sanduo didn't dare to laugh anymore, and the rest of the people could only become serious. It's said that the troops are majestic lions, indeed even a gentle squad leader like him is a lion that will surprise you when angry.

  Lin Jianbing still focused on Xu Sanduo, not caring that this would drag the whole class down. However, his efforts did not yield obvious results, neither for Xu Sanduo nor for the entire Class 3. At this time, the bugle sounded, signaling a brief unified rest period. Lin Jianbing listlessly shouted "dismissed", took off his hat and threw it to the ground before sitting down.

  When Lin Jianbing sat on the lawn, he calmed down a bit and then felt a little guilty. He suddenly thought that he was not a good squad leader or a qualified soldier. But this speech he did not dare to tell the company commander, it could only be brewed in his heart. Anyway, he felt a little sorry for these new recruits, so he wanted to take advantage of the rest time to let everyone relax and incidentally improve their friendship.

  Soldiers in the army are good at creating a lively atmosphere, and every time they take a break, they can always find some fun. This is a great way to relieve fatigue and pressure, and it contains a certain philosophy.

  Although Lin Jianbing is a veteran, he is still not very good at creating an atmosphere. The only thing he can think of is to let everyone sing songs.

  "Hey, let's liven things up a bit, shall we?" said Lin Jianbing with a smile.

  "Good." Everyone present echoed in unison with varying degrees of loudness.

  "How about we sing a song?"

  Everyone present nodded in varying degrees.

  Lin Jianbing thought the effect was not bad and prepared to let everyone sing a military song. Unfortunately, when he enthusiastically shouted out a series of military song names, only a few people present knew them. He hadn't expected that in today's society, where trends come and go, military songs were no longer trendy. Except for Xu San and a few others, most people really hadn't learned one or two military songs. Lin Jianbing suddenly felt like a withered persimmon, ready to surrender on the spot.

  However, Lin Jianbing didn't have a clever plan, it didn't mean that this group of trendy young people didn't have a way to climb over the wall. So someone suggested that whoever wanted to come out and perform their specialty, others followed in agreement. As soon as the proposal fell, someone volunteered. Xu Sanduo followed the sound and laughed brightly. That person was the fat man who had been scolded by He Wenfeng when he first joined the army. Xu Sanduo felt that he had a good relationship with this fat man and was assigned to the same class. Xu Sanduo was like this, seeing someone for the first time, he usually didn't think about how to evaluate that person, even when it wasn't necessary, he wouldn't intentionally look for words to describe someone.

  The fat boy stood up amidst applause, cleared his throat with a couple of fake coughs and said: "Hello everyone, brothers and classmates. I'm best at reciting poems, so I'll give you two verses." Before anyone could react, the fat boy began to loudly and passionately declaim: "Ah! At this moment, I am so excited! The sky is so high, so blue..." Whatever he was saying, the fat boy's self-directed play had a pretty good effect - even people from neighboring classes were laughing along. Lin Jianbing watched with a rare smile on his face.

  Lin Jianbing glanced at the crowd and felt something was off, but it wasn't until after a while that he realized Mu Rong Liu Nian was nowhere to be seen. He and Xu San Duo stood up simultaneously, turned around, and immediately spotted Mu Rong Liu Nian squatting in the distance, with Lian Chang Ma Lian Cheng right next to him. Even Xu San Duo, who wasn't good at expressing emotions, couldn't help but open his mouth in shock, forgetting to close it again. In their line of sight, Lian Chang Ma Lian Cheng was asking Mu Rong Liu Nian for a smoke.

  Ma Liancheng looked at Murong Liunian with the same satisfaction as a mother-in-law looking at her new daughter-in-law. This kid is really good, even Zhang Dage's pipe can be obtained, and Zhang Dage just now seemed to be eager for him to come more often. Ma Liancheng had dealt with Zhang Dage many times and knew how much he treasured his old pipe, but he was only able to get a taste of it occasionally because of his persistence. But Murong Liunian got it on the first try, proving that he has skills, at least better than Ma Liancheng.

  This time Murong Liu Nian didn't forget to pass a cigarette to Ma Lian Cheng, who was very satisfied and greedily took a drag, asking: "How did you get this?"

  Murong Liu Nian didn't move, his gaze casually placed forward: "Take it."

  "Bullshit, I knew you were just talking nonsense."

  "Besides taking, it can also be snatched or borrowed."

  ……

  Ma Liancheng himself sometimes gets confused, and when he came to his senses, Murong Liunian had already returned. When he handed the pipe back to Zhang Dage, he expected Zhang Dage's kind smile, but unfortunately, only got a grunt from Zhang Dage. You're shining brightly with just a little sunlight, right? I've never seen anyone shine without sunlight. Ma Liancheng could only swallow his frustration and head in the direction of the new recruits' training.

  As soon as Lian Zhang walked over, several class leaders from different classes saluted him and shouted "Good morning, Commander!" Ma Liancheng waved his hand to signal them to go about their business, then approached the third class and said: "Class leader."

  "Report to the company commander!"

  Ma Liancheng is in Cao's camp but his heart is with Han. Lin Jianbing said, "There is a donkey here called Xu Sanduo, right?"

  Lin Jianbing couldn't help but feel a little nervous, as if he was talking about himself rather than Xu Sanduo. "Report to the company commander, yes!" He hastily added, "Company commander, I will teach him well." Lin Jianbing also knew that this company commander had excellent lightness skills and could quietly observe every detail of your life without you even noticing his presence. So he wasn't surprised at all that Ma Liancheng knew about Xu Sanduo's "donkey nature".

  "What's the hurry, I didn't say that?" Ma Liancheng frowned and Lin Jianbing quickly lowered his head. Ma Liancheng continued, "According to you, Xu Sanduo is very difficult to teach? Is there a more difficult soldier than you?"

  When he heard Lian Chang say that, he couldn't help but feel a wave of emotion. Indeed, if it weren't for Ma Liancheng, this "donkey" would have long since slunk away on its own. However, he thought to himself that if he compared himself to Xu Sanduo, he was still a bit better off. If he had met Xu Sanduo earlier, perhaps he wouldn't have been so self-abased. In the past, others took two steps and he took one, but in the end, he did take one step further than Xu Sanduo, which gave him a clear advantage.

  "I heard that Xu Sanduo ran 40 laps on the first night, not bad. I was going to give him a reward, but now it seems unnecessary. It's good that he's proud, easy to fall behind, you donkey, you're too arrogant." As soon as Ma Liancheng said this, Lin Jianbing felt guilty again. He knew that what the company commander had heard was actually what he had seen with his own eyes, so he mistakenly thought that Xu Sanduo's "horse nature" was "donkey nature". He suddenly felt sorry for Xu Sanduo and also sorry for the third squad. To know that everything is good at the beginning, if the company commander can casually give rewards to Xu Sanduo, then everyone will have face. Ma Liancheng didn't look at Lin Jianbing, his actions and words were as casual as before, looking towards the third squad and saying "Mu Rong Liu Nian, come out."