I have surpassed the old master

  Our train stopped at a small station, which was already in the mountains. After sitting for a day and night, everyone's butt would hurt, and the new recruits who were chattering excitedly earlier had all fallen silent. Because they didn't know what fate awaited them.

  We got off at this station, and the leading cadres were still smiling and gentle, but a tense atmosphere had emerged. It seemed like an inexplicable force that made us, these sloppy old people, naturally line up in different teams according to the cadres' orders. We thought it was very neat at the time. Then we started to form teams, call out numbers, and those whose names were called would fall in and form new teams.

  I didn't see Xiaoying, the female soldier had already gotten off at the previous station. I carried my own things to a place with a red flag that read "Dagong Certain Regiment" written on it. The people in charge of us were several cadres and officers, their attitude was not so gentle. I am a sloppy person, can't help but drag my feet, as a result, I was scolded by someone pointing at my nose. At that time, my language recognition ability was not as strong as it is now, later I found out it was Shanxi dialect. The one who scolded me was an officer, later I found out his name, let's call him Old Cannon for now, because he was the leader of the recoilless cannon squad.

  I was assigned to his team. At that moment, I involuntarily stared at him, which was absolutely subconscious. At home, my father would push me and I would stare back. He saw it but didn't say anything. I didn't know then that my story with him had begun. We got on the truck, nobody said a word. The truck moved forward on the mountain road, from the rear compartment, you could see the horizon getting farther and farther away. Gradually, you could see clouds under your feet.

  At this moment, I start to feel desolate. Where is Xiao Ying? I joined the army for her, where is she now? I don't know, and I begin to doubt whether it was right for me to join the army. Why did I leave my good university and come here? But can regret change anything?

  Our new recruit battalion is in a mountain valley military camp. How to describe it? Except for mountains, there are only mountains, and then there is a barracks, old buildings, damp and dark soldier's quarters, our new recruits live in a corner of the barracks. It's just a few rows of bungalows, with only one row of faucets in the middle of the open space, a large toilet, inside which is a pit, not a toilet. The first thing we did after getting off the bus was to run, carrying our own things. Old cannon leads the team, this son of a gun is simply a beast, deliberately tormenting you, he runs with empty hands, while the new recruits behind him carry a large pile of things, what scene do you think it is?

  Whoever falls behind, the squad leader will come over and scold you. Gradually, the phalanx became more and more sparse, stretching into a discontinuous straight line. Indeed, some people couldn't keep up, and when the squad leader came over, they would be scolded with extremely harsh language that cannot be described. Those who couldn't keep up were dragged along by the squad leader as they ran, the scene was too miserable to describe. The cadre who brought us seemed not to have noticed, standing aside smoking.

  The old gun is running very hard, it's already 3000 meters and still doesn't show any sign of stopping. Most of our new recruits are really exhausted, they can't run anymore even if dragged. Gradually, only I am following the old gun, with a quilt on my back, carrying a stack of tied-up books, a washbasin and all sorts of things. There's no need to describe what's behind us.

  The old gun glanced at me sideways, and I was just getting started. At around 5000 meters, the old gun's speed slowed down. I, on the other hand, had just gotten into my stride. I'm not good at anything else, but I've been running with my father's team since I was a kid, so I'm relatively good at this.

  I have surpassed the old master.

  The class leaders all looked at me, even the cadres walked to the edge of the playground to look at me. The old cannon was thrown away by me farther and farther. I didn't mean to be modest, I was born with a stubborn temper.

  Around the time I ran about 7,000 meters, our new platoon leader shouted "Attention!" I had already surpassed Old Cannon by one lap. Old Cannon was basically exhausted from running and couldn't keep up with me. Later, I found out that it wasn't too difficult for him to run 10,000 meters either. The assessment of the armed cross-country 10,000-meter run is controlled within 50 minutes or so, which is considered a high level. He wanted to catch up with my speed, but ended up exhausting himself instead.

  I stood still and looked at Lao Pao who was struggling to stand up. Lao Pao looked at me and I also looked at him.

  At that time I didn't know what it meant to be over the hill, 17 years old, growing up in the city, no setbacks, just a lost love, what do you think I knew?