Special Forces: I Can See the Experience Bar

Chapter 10 Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Cooking Crew

Cooking team?
Being assigned to the cooking squad wasn't something I couldn't accept.

Chang Ning has a cheat-like advantage; as long as he's disciplined enough, becoming powerful is only a matter of time, and he has no choice in the matter. No one wants Night Tiger, and he has nowhere else to go besides the cookhouse.

"I'll listen to the company commander."

"You two come with me, the rest of you continue training."

Seeing that things were mostly arranged, Miao Lian could finally breathe a sigh of relief. He had done a lot to compete with the Third and Sixth Companies for manpower.

After today, both promising young players will be his.

Thinking of this, he couldn't help but smile smugly: You little punks, when I was in the army, you were probably nowhere to be found. You're not even close to trying to steal my man.

Since everyone was meeting at the company headquarters, Miao Lian first settled Xiao Zhuang in before taking Chang Ning to the mess hall.

The cooking squad wasn't far from the company headquarters. Chang Ning and Miao Lian walked for more than ten minutes and could already see their comrades busy in the kitchen.

"Old Ma, I've brought you a new recruit. Could you help train him?"

Miao Lian walked up to a sergeant major with graying temples who was chopping vegetables. He skillfully took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and stuffed it into the man's pocket.

"I knew you, Old Miao, wouldn't come to the temple without a reason."

The sergeant major didn't give Miao Lian any face at all, and even after accepting the cigarette, he didn't give him a friendly look.

Miao Lian still had that same smiling face, as if Sergeant Ma wasn't talking about him at all.

"Old Ma, you can't say that to me. I only sent this to you because you were short-handed."

and……"

At this point, Miao Lian deliberately paused, enticing Lao Ma.

Old Ma was a shrewd man; he and Miao Lian had shared meals in the same trench back in southern Xinjiang, so they knew each other very well. He could tell what Miao Lian was about to say just by looking at him.

"Just say what's on your mind; beating around the bush is not straightforward at all."

"Get lost after you've said that! I don't have time for your nonsense. Can't you see how busy I am?"

"You'll never change your quick temper."

Miao Lian laughed and scolded, then continued, "The recruit I sent you is no scoundrel, but a genuinely good soldier!"

He has a good talent for shooting, and his physical fitness is excellent. For some reason, he had nowhere to go for the time being, so I brought him here."

At this point, Old Ma realized what was going on. He knew Old Miao had ulterior motives and had sent that scoundrel who beat up the squad leader to him.

Old Ma thought to himself that his old arms and legs couldn't withstand the efforts of young people, and he absolutely couldn't keep this person.

"You sent that sergeant's idiot soldier here to use me as a tool to kill someone, right? I can't handle that!"

"I don't want them here!"

Miao Lian panicked upon hearing this and immediately explained, "That's a misunderstanding. I deliberately set up this trap to get that kid into our reconnaissance unit."

Old Ma was a little confused, his mind couldn't quite process it. He put down the kitchen knife in his hand: "Since you've already dragged them into the reconnaissance unit, why not make this public? Keeping it a secret isn't a good idea."

"The reason we didn't make it public is because we wanted you to help us find out more about him. Chang Ning is a good guy in every way, but I just can't figure out what kind of person he really is. He's frighteningly calm, and I even feel like all my schemes have been seen through." Miao Lian explained the reason, and Lao Ma couldn't refuse. Firstly, there was their relationship, and secondly, Chang Ning was a promising talent who hadn't led troops for many years and was itching to get back to work.

"Alright, I'll take this kid."

"Then I'll leave it to you, brother."

After the two finished discussing, Miao Lian led Chang Ning into the kitchen, introduced them to each other, and then left.

"Relax, kid. I don't have many rules here. You don't have any work to do today. You can wander around here and get to know where you'll be working, or you can stay in the dorm and sleep. Just don't bother anyone."

"I'll take you to your dorm to make your bed first."

Chang Ning silently followed the old squad leader, without saying a word. He had noticed something was wrong when he was in the kitchen. Usually, when a new member joins a group, everyone's attention would be drawn to them, but not in the mess hall. From the moment he entered until he left with the old squad leader, not a single person glanced at him, as if he didn't exist.

Fundamentally, this situation arises either because it's close to mealtime and everyone is extremely busy, or because the cooking team has strict discipline.

Chang Ning prefers the latter, because no matter how busy she is, she will take a look at it when she has time, and it doesn't take much effort.

So he may have come to an extraordinary place, even though every soldier working there is quite old.

The mess hall staff had their own dormitory, which was close to the kitchen.

Chang Ning and Squad Leader Ma arrived in a few minutes. Squad Leader Ma pointed to the empty bed in the corner: "You're lucky, kid. One of our comrades just got discharged and went home a few days ago."

Pack your things, I'm leaving now.

"Okay, thank you for your help, class monitor."

Chang Ning politely saw the person off. He had personally witnessed Miao Lian and Sergeant Ma whispering to each other earlier.

Knowing Miao Lian as he did, he was sure Miao Lian was setting a trap for him again; the cookhouse probably wasn't an easy place to work. Regardless, he should first be polite, a courteous approach that wouldn't leave any room for criticism. Besides, Miao Lian wasn't trying to harm him, so there was nothing to object to. It was a battle of wits.

After making the bed and putting her personal belongings in the closet, Chang Ning began to observe her future living environment.

To be honest, the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company has done a very good job with landscaping, which makes the barracks less monotonous.

"This is?"

The dormitory wasn't large, and some yellowed color photos on the wall caught Chang Ning's attention.

The photo shows a group of burly men in camouflage uniforms holding Type 85 sniper rifles. A banner behind them reads "An All-Army Reconnaissance Sniper Competition." The young man in the center position is probably Sergeant Ma in his younger days; the gold medal on his chest is dazzling, and there's an undisguised arrogance in his eyes as he looks at the camera.

This is just one of many photos on the wall; there are many similar ones, some from the All-Army Reconnaissance Competition, others from a specific competition within the army. The subjects in the photos are different, but they all have one thing in common: everyone in the photos has won a prize, at least a third-place finish.

"My goodness, so the cook squad is the elite of the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company."

The "entire army" here does not refer to the Southeast Military Region, but to the entire army of the whole country. Being able to win a place in the national competition shows how amazing this group of people are.

"I never imagined that the unassuming mess hall was such a place where hidden talents reside."

This discovery excited Chang Ning. Since they were elites, they must have some unique skills. If he could learn them, wouldn't he be able to soar to new heights?

The experience bar can be refreshed again.

P.S.: Thanks to Shuoyue Zhaojun for the monthly pass!
P.S.: Thanks to Sakura Dessert Tree Guitar, Shuoyue Zhaojun, 5263551, A Bear BEAR, Li Jia Gege Zhen Shuai, Shadow Under the Mask, and cong05 for their recommendation votes!
(End of this chapter)