Chapter 37: Folding Quilts and Binding Legs

  Gao Yuan's words were like thunderbolts, exploding one after another above Sun Xiao's head, blasting him until he was charred on the outside and tender on the inside. From childhood to adulthood, everything he had seen, heard, and deeply understood in his heart was shattered by Gao Yuan's words. Under the intense impact, his body even swayed slightly.

  "Adjutant!" he muttered.

  Gaoyuan did not expect that his casual remark would shock Sun Xiao so much. He patted Sun's shoulder and laughed: "Sun Xiao, I was just casually saying it, the meaning is that people should have a desire to improve themselves, learning to read is a good thing, it's not a bad thing, right?"

  "Bing Cao is right!" Sun Xiao finally sobered up a bit.

  "Alright, stop thinking about those useless things. Now, I'll just do my job as a soldier, and you should do your job as the leader of the troops. Even if we really want to be generals, we have to start by doing our jobs well as soldiers and leaders, right?" said Gao Yuan.

  Sun Xiao finally came to his senses from the shock. "Dough, what you said earlier about the training method, I understand now. It means that our soldiers only need to practice those simplest moves in the future, but they must be practiced to the extreme."

  "Right!" Gao Yuan said solemnly, "Don't use so many fancy moves! The ultimate martial arts under the sky, only brute force can't be defeated, only speed can't be defeated!"

  Seeing Sun Xiao fall into deep thought again, Gao Yuan was afraid that this kid would get himself confused, and tapped his head, "Alright, Sun Xiao, you should also go practice folding blankets. Don't think that just because you're the leader, I'll let you off easy. If you don't fold well, I'll still lose face for you and deduct your pay."

  "Paymaster, rest assured, you won't be able to deduct a single penny from my salary." Sun Xiaoxiao said with a smile.

  "Alright, let's see how things go!"

  It wasn't until after lunch that Cao Tiancheng finally dragged back a sack of cloth strips and put them in Gao Yuan's room, but he really couldn't figure out what Gao Yuan wanted to use these things for.

  "Go and call Sun Xiao and a few other partners!" Gao Yuan smiled, pulled out a cloth strip from the middle, pulled it in his hand, and found it to be quite sturdy, not bad, better than he had imagined, and the length was about right.

  A bewildered Cao Tiangong called Sun Xiao and ten other gang leaders into Gao Yuan's room.

  "Everyone doesn't know what I want these strips of cloth for, right?" Gaoyuan asked with a smile.

  "Yes!" everyone replied honestly.

  "Use it to tie your legs!" Gaoyuan said with a smile.

  "What's with the leg bindings?" As expected, everyone's eyes widened in surprise. "What's going on? Why are you wearing leg bindings?"

  Gao Yuan walked a few steps in the house, pointing to his pant legs and said: "Everyone take a look at our pants and shoes. The shoes are indeed good cloth shoes, but our pant legs are too big. In this way, on the march or in complex terrain, such as climbing mountains or having many thorns, these pants will not only suffer but also become a burden to us. Therefore, we must tie them up."

  Gao Yuan finished speaking and lifted his foot onto the stool. "Look closely, I'll show you how to tie a leg wrap!" He quickly grabbed a strip of cloth and began wrapping it around his leg in swift motions. In an instant, the original loose pant legs were gone, replaced by another leg. After finishing both legs, he stood up, and indeed looked more energetic and spirited in the eyes of the onlookers.

  "How?"

  "It does look good." Sun Xiao nodded and said.

  "The effect of binding legs is not just that!" Gaoyuan knocked on the bound leg. "After you've finished binding your legs, if you encounter a long march, you'll know its benefits. Come on, everyone try it out, and ask quickly if you can't do it well. You learn first, then go teach your soldiers. Everyone must learn how to bind their legs today, and from tomorrow on, everyone must bind their legs well every day. Of course, at the beginning, it will definitely feel a bit uncomfortable, but as time goes on, everyone will experience its benefits. The degree of tightness is up to each individual to feel for themselves. In short, just make yourself comfortable!"

  With a loud command from afar, the ten squad leaders and Sun Xiao and Cao Tiancheng each picked up two strips of cloth and began to learn how to tie leg wraps.

  Today's training was cancelled for the whole day, which should have been a happy thing, but all the soldiers were eager to go out and do some physical exercises, such as push-ups and sit-ups, to get a good sweat going. Instead, everyone spent the entire morning cooped up in their dorms learning how to fold blankets. It was a struggle, but eventually they managed to make some progress, even if it wasn't as neat as the squad leader's folding. Everyone folded and unfolded, unfolded and refolded, and if it hadn't been for the squad leader's personal orders, someone would have started cursing by now. And to make matters worse, this task was also tied to their pay, so they didn't dare not put in effort.

  Unexpectedly, the task is still not done well, and new tricks have come again, thinking about using this long cloth strip to tie up one's legs step by step, many people are getting goosebumps.

  "Bing Cao said it, today we must learn, from tomorrow on, everyone must wear leg wraps, if not, deduct money!" Sun Xiao shouted loudly in the dormitory, instantly suppressing all the discontented voices.

  "Hurry up and learn it today!" The loud shouts of the ten squad leaders almost simultaneously echoed in several dormitories. They had just learned how to tie their leg wrappings, and the swollen calves were indeed very uncomfortable, but since they were high-ranking soldiers, they had to listen. If High Soldier Cao said this was useful, then it must be useful.

  After a whole day of busy work, although the quilt was still stacked with a gap compared to Cao's, it finally had some semblance of order. Each person placed the neatly folded squares at the head of the bed and pulled the sheets tight, only then did everyone realize that this way, it really did change its appearance, the neat and uniform appearance gave everyone a sense of pride.

  After Gaoyuan came to inspect and expressed his satisfaction, he generously announced that he would slaughter another sheep for everyone in the evening, and suddenly everyone was overjoyed. Who knew that there were such benefits after folding the quilt? Only Sun Xiao and Cao Tiancheng, who knew the inside story, smiled wryly in their hearts. The extra meal tonight had a purpose, and by tomorrow, let's see if you can still laugh.

  The two of them exchanged a glance, their eyes filled with amusement.

  "Tonight after dinner, continue to learn how to tie leg bindings. Tonight everyone can rest assured and sleep soundly, because I have decided that tonight there will be no midnight wake-up call for an emergency assembly! Taking advantage of the soldiers' enthusiasm, Gaoyuan added another announcement, and seeing the soldiers cheering and jumping for joy, Gaoyuan smiled and walked out of the room."

  Enjoy yourselves, laugh and jump around, starting from tomorrow, you will know that my lofty sheep won't let you eat for free.

  Gao Bing Cao has always been a man of his word, and the hundred or so soldiers under him have never had such a comfortable sleep since he took office. During this period, everyone has eaten well, dressed warmly, and lived comfortably, but they haven't slept well because Gao Bing Cao, as he himself said, often gets up in the middle of the night at the sound of the rooster's crowing, lets out a loud shout, and starts counting. If anyone hasn't gotten dressed and stood at attention in front of him by the time he finishes counting to the designated number, they can expect to be punished until they are exhausted.

  Sleeping comfortably until the usual wake-up time, almost everyone wakes up at this time, and for a period of time, they are woken up on time at this point, and everyone has developed the habit of waking up on time.

  When the soldiers got up, they saw that their captain was already dressed and sitting on his bed tying his puttees. Sun Xiao had also practiced for half a night yesterday, and now he was very skilled at it.

  "Everyone, quickly tie up your leg wraps!" Sun Xiao stood up and jumped a few times on the ground, nodding his head in satisfaction. The uncomfortable feeling from last night's half-night of work had weakened a lot today. "Tie up your leg wraps, then assemble."

  Roaring with a loud voice, Sun Xiao stood up and walked out of the house. As expected, outside the barracks, Gao Yuan was standing upright like a spear, his body neatly dressed, with leg wraps on his calves.

  "Adjutant!" Sun Xiao walked over.

  "Are all the brothers up?"

  "Yes, I'm tying up my leg!"

  "Let's wait for them, first time, can be a bit lenient, but afterwards must be stricter and stricter."

  "Yes. But once they find out about the training content, I'm afraid you won't seem so lenient to them." Sun Xiaoxiao said.

  Gao Yuan burst out laughing, and amidst his laughter, a second person ran out of the barracks, who was Yan Haibo.

  "Yan Haibo is quite good!" Gao Yuan said.

  "Yes, young, can bear hardships, love learning! Is a good seedling!" Sun Xiaodao said.

  Yan Haibo walked up to Sun Xiao's side and stood upright.

  Then the soldiers ran out of the camp in twos and threes, stood behind Sun Xiao, after about half an hour, all the soldiers arrived, Gao Yuan walked with his hands behind his back, checking the leg bindings of each soldier one by one, today's subject was a five-kilometer cross-country run, if the leg bindings were not tied properly, they would suffer later.

  He walked slowly, and whenever he saw a soldier with a problem with his puttees, he would squat down and re-tie them for him. After making the rounds, Gao Yuan returned to the front of the formation.

  "Today, our training subject is long-distance running plus mountain climbing!" He pointed to the distant Nanshan Mountain, which was already showing a vague outline, and said: "In an hour, I want to see you all at the top of the mountain."

  With a loud noise, all the soldiers were suddenly shocked and lost their color. From here to the foot of Nan Mountain, it's a full five miles away, plus having to climb to the top of the mountain, which means everyone has to run all the way there, and they have to run desperately.