Chapter 3 Joining the Army

  Zhang Hang was born and grew up in picturesque Hangzhou.

  His grandfather was an ordinary businessman in Nanjing, and when the Japanese devils attacked Nanjing, he happened to be out of town buying goods and escaped disaster.

  When he returned home, everything had changed: his home was gone, his relatives and friends were gone, everything was gone!

  Out of indignation towards the atrocities committed by the Japanese devils, he resolutely joined the Eighth Route Army and went on to fight battles.

  After the country was liberated, I came to work and settle in Hangzhou because I didn't want to return to Nanjing, a place that brought back sad memories.

  Zhang Hang's father retired from the army and started a business, relying on his extensive connections, sharp mind, and efficient work style to quickly establish himself. In just a few short years, the trade company he founded became a leading enterprise in the industry.

  Since childhood, Zhang Hang has been widely noticed for his innate double pupils, astonishing memory and super learning ability.

  At the age of one, Zhang Hang learned to move his stool, open the door by himself, pour water from the water dispenser and drink it, dress himself, go to the toilet, and watch TV. Many relatives, friends, neighbors, elders, and peers called him once and remembered, never making a mistake.

  As he grew a bit older, his family would entrust him with remembering important dates and hard-to-recall events, which he could retrieve at any time.

  "Grandpa, what are you looking for?" Zhang Hang asked, seeing his grandfather wearing reading glasses and searching around the house with difficulty.

  "Your uncle Wu's phone number, he told me that day, I wrote it down in a notebook, but now I can't find it."

  "I know, it's Uncle Wu Tianming, the phone number is: 7865581. However, you need to add an area code in front: 0575." Zhang Hang said.

  "Zhang Hang, what's your grandma's birthday? Tell mom." A smiling mom who was working nearby asked.

  "It's the eleventh of this month, there are still three days left." Zhang Hang thought for a moment: "Also, you promised your grandmother to buy her a keyboard last time, don't forget when the time comes."

  "Is that so? I don't recall this matter." Mom frowned and asked, "What did Grandma want to use the piano for, do you know?"

  "It's really forgetful, that was grandma wanting to pass it on to grandpa. Grandpa is getting older, doing some suitable exercise is very necessary!" Zhang Hang glanced at his mom and replied.

  "Zhang Hang, what's the number of that batch of goods our company shipped to Japan last month? And how much is the payment? The other party still hasn't paid up till now, I need to urge them."

  "Last month on the 28th, the contact person was called Misu, and the goods were worth $950,000." Zhang Hang shook his head and muttered to himself: "Ah! It seems that having a remarkable memory isn't necessarily a good thing. Fortunately, I'm used to it."

  "Zhang Hang, what's he muttering about?"

  "No, nothing." Zhang Hang's eyes rolled: "Dad, I'm saying can't you not do business with them? The Japanese still don't admit to the crimes they committed back then, their credibility is naturally not good. Are you not afraid that in the end it'll be like trying to scoop water with a bamboo basket? If the client runs off, our 950,000 dollars will all be lost, and we'll end up having nothing!"

  "The Japanese who refuse to acknowledge the crimes they committed back then are just a small portion of people and cannot represent all Japanese. Generally speaking, the credibility of the Japanese doing business with my dad is still good, they always pay on time. Besides, my dad earns money from them, it's like getting compensation in installments from them." My dad smiled, actually the payment had been received long ago.

  This child is so young and already has such a strong sense of patriotism. It seems that his patriotic education has been successful.

  After discovering that Little Zhang had an amazing memory, his family would intentionally or unintentionally test him, but after several years, until now, they still haven't been able to stump him.

  Starting at the age of six, Grandfather took Zhang Hang for a five-kilometer run along the Wuma Road every morning.

  In grandfather's words, it means: the body is the capital of revolution, from a young age, one must train their grandson's body to be strong and solid, so that they can win in future competitions.

  Grandfather also trained Zhang Hang's wrist strength at the same time. Although Zhang Hang did not understand why Grandfather had to train his wrists in such a special way, he still followed Grandfather's training method with precision.

  Day after day, year after year, under Grandpa's strict training, Little Zhang Hang fell and bled from his nose during a winter morning run due to the icy road surface. He didn't even hum a sound, carelessly wiping away the blood and quickly catching up with Grandpa.

  To know that it was in the freezing cold weather that was almost about to freeze into ice, this perseverance and tenacity were already astonishing!

  Seeing Little Zhang Huan get up from the ground with a firm gaze, wipe away his nosebleed and catch up with himself. Grandpa knew that the ancient saying "a man must be strong and resolute, bleeding and sweating but not crying" had been firmly remembered and correctly implemented by him, and at such a young age he had already shown such a strong and unyielding character, it seemed that his own efforts had not been in vain!

  He glanced back at the blood-red nasal mucus that Zhang Hang had casually thrown to the ground, which had frozen into a red ice strip in no time, and Grandpa's heart was secretly delighted.

  "Good boy, today I'll give you an extra dish, a steamed egg!" Grandpa knew that Zhang Hang liked to eat eggs.

  "Long live Grandpa!" Zhang Hang shouted loudly and charged forward with even more energy.

  "Slow down, slow down, wait for grandpa. Be careful with your feet, the icy road is slippery." After all, he's grandpa, how can there be a grandson who doesn't care about him?

  Grade 3 primary school, Chinese language class.

  The language teacher had just finished teaching the lesson of Cao Chong weighing an elephant, and was praising Cao Chong's intelligence and wisdom, calling on his classmates to learn from him and think more when encountering things.

  Cao Chong was still not clever enough. Suddenly, a different voice came from under the rostrum.

  "Which of you said Cao Cao was not smart enough?" The teacher asked.

  It's me, teacher.

  "Zhang Hang, then tell me why Cao Chong is still not smart enough?"

  Cao Chong thought it was too much trouble to use stones to weigh the elephant. Why not replace the stones with people and have them weigh it directly? Wouldn't that be faster and more convenient?

  "Zhang Hang's words are right, really clever!" The teacher's eyes lit up involuntarily.

  Zhang Hang had already made a name for himself before graduating from elementary school.

  Because in fifth grade, Zhang Hang recited the language textbook word for word without missing a single character.

  That time, with one against five, not only did he not fall behind, but also persisted to the end, and finally let the police follow the clues to break up a group of middle school students' black forces, and timely eliminated the gang in its infancy, fighting for justice, made Zhang Hang's name resound once again!

  Such a treasure, various middle schools are competing with each other for you.

  Finally, Boss; Hangzhou No. 1 Middle School; relying on its own deep background and resource advantages, successfully accepted Zhang Hang as a disciple.

  The school, of course, would not "waste" this talented Zhang Hang. With the principle of "use it or lose it", under the school's careful cultivation, Zhang Hang rushed to various competitions and finally did not disappoint everyone, bringing back many honors for the school: first place in the World Junior High School Mathematics Olympiad, first place in the National Junior High School Essay Competition, first place in the National Junior High School Knowledge Competition, champion of the 100m, 800m, 1000m, long jump and high jump events at the National Junior High School Sports Meet, etc.

  In short, the championship of any competition Zhang Hang participated in has never fallen. To the extent that later on, for any competition Zhang Hang participated in, his opponents were all studying how to contend for second place.

  Zhang Hang was also called "the most productive student in history" by the principal due to his outstanding performance.

  When people were planning Zhang Hang's future life path, Zhang Hang's ideal of joining the army shattered everyone's glasses.

  Participate in the Olympic Games, win the championship and make the country proud!

  When scientists win the Nobel Prize!

  Venturing into business, inheriting his father's career, and squeezing into the world's top 500 is no problem!

  Which one is more promising than being a soldier in terms of making money?

  Actually, people who are familiar with Zhang Hang all understand that the achievements he has made today rely on his clever mind, strong body and firm character, all of which are inseparable from the careful cultivation of his family.

  Mencius said: "Man's nature is originally good." This is the view of most people.

  Mencius said: "Man's nature is evil at birth." This is the view of a small number of people.

  Human beings initially have no nature. This is the view of a small minority of people.

  However, regardless of the point of view, there is one thing that everyone agrees on: a person's growth environment determines their future interests, hobbies, career and achievements!

  That is to say, the growth environment around a person has the greatest influence on him and plays a decisive role.

  So, Zhang Hang from a military family naturally chose to join the army as his first choice.

  Since he was a child, he has been begging his grandfather to tell him stories about battles. His toys were all airplanes, cannons, warships and guns, and the books he read were all related to military affairs. While children of the same age watched cartoons, he watched war movies. Especially fond of watching films about fighting against Japanese devils, from an early age he had a strong sense of patriotism and justice.

  In his young heart, defending the family and country is the most sacred and noble profession!

  There was still a month before graduating from junior high school, when he heard that the National University of Defense Technology was recruiting junior high school students nationwide, Zhang Hang was so excited that he could realize his dream ahead of time.

  National University of Defense Technology is a comprehensive university directly under the Ministry of National Defense, cultivating national defense science and technology talents at the deputy military level. It is also a top-tier university in China that has been included in the country's "985 Project" and "211 Project", and has received special funding from the central government.

  At the same time, National University of Defense Technology was also one of Zhang Hang's ideal schools. After getting unanimous agreement and support from his family, Zhang Hang rushed to sign up and take a physical examination.

  May 28, 1993, was a day destined to go down in history, because the "God of War" who would later shake the world's special forces and international mercenaries reported for duty on this very day.

  Although this time the National University of Defense Technology is recruiting in the name of the newly established Shenyang campus, it has not affected its huge appeal at all. The people who signed up are still endless.

  At one time, the registration place was overcrowded and the registration forms were in short supply.

  The staff member who was distributing the registration forms kept shouting: "Please don't squeeze, line up in order, one by one. As long as you meet the requirements, you can sign up for the physical examination, and I guarantee that everyone will have a chance. However, the premise is that you must read the registration instructions carefully, only those who meet the requirements can register!"

  Zhang Hang just glanced at the registration notice and squeezed inside: "Sir, I meet the requirements, can you give me a registration form?"

  After filling out the form quickly, Zhang Hang began the most complicated and tedious physical examination he had ever experienced in his life...

  An hour later, Zhang Hang's physical examination was finally completed.

  Left hand holding Zhang Hang's student file, right hand holding Zhang Hang's physical examination summary form: height 175cm, born with heterochromia iridum, IQ 185, explosive power super strong, liver, heart, blood pressure and other values belong to athletes.

  The staff stared at him with his small eyes wide open like a cow's, his mouth agape enough to fit in a double-yolked egg, scanning back and forth for three minutes, making sure there was no fake, then sighed: A genius!