Military career: Starting with a recruitment letter

Chapter 29 Your squad leader is really nice
"Sergeant, don't worry. Since we are going to hold a competition for new recruits, we will definitely not embarrass Sergeant Zhou. Besides, it's still early. We have just entered the camp!" Chen Mo said with a smile.

Old Peng raised his hand and patted his forehead: "Oh, that's right, I was a little impatient."

"Go to the cafeteria for duty. Remember what I said just now. Do it well. Your squad leader is a good person. You will understand later."

"The assembly has begun in front of the cafeteria. Please go through the back door."

In order to avoid being seen by other cadres in the company, Peng Wei deliberately led Chen Mo around the vegetable garden, through the back door of the cafeteria, through the kitchen where the cooking team worked, and came to the hall.

After Peng Wei and another veteran left.

Chen Mo also heard the noise of the classes gathering outside the cafeteria, but the singing before the meal today had nothing to do with him.

In fact, if you really think about it, the job of a duty officer in the army is not easy.

Whoever is on duty that day can basically be said to be the chief steward of the entire class.

In addition to the floor, beds, trash cans, housekeeping and other details in the classroom, teachers need to be reminded or responsible for tidying up at any time.

They also have to collect forms and materials for the class and obey the arrangements of the company's veteran on duty at all times. Once the whistle blows, all the young duty personnel must gather immediately.

Of course, it’s better when you’re a recruit, as there aren’t so many trivial matters to deal with.

Especially for those like Chen Mo who were assigned here for the first time, all they had to do was occupy a table in the cafeteria, serve dishes, get rice, and rearrange the benches.

It's all done.

With the help of the veterans in front, four dishes and a soup were already placed on the table of Class 8. When Chen Mo came over, he was only carrying two buckets, one for rice and the other for steamed buns.

Once you're done, put it on the table and pull out all the chairs around it, and the job is done.

Afterwards, following the reminder of the veteran on duty, Chen Mo stood on the side of the dining table facing the corridor.

Next, we have to wait for the new recruits to arrive.

But this meal is not so easy to eat. Singing before meals is an old tradition in the army. Although there are no clear housekeeping regulations, singing before meals is required.

However, grassroots companies, especially those with stricter management and more prestigious company-level units, will pay special attention to these old traditions.

Cultivate the recruits' competitive spirit and sense of obedience through singing songs and various details.

Chen Mo stood in the spacious dining hall, surrounded by the aroma of food, and couldn't wait to eat.

Outside a windproof curtain, the second company of recruits had a total of twelve squads of recruits, about seventy recruits, each standing straight.

His cheeks were red from the cold, and he was singing loudly with his head tilted back.

I have to sing.

Because in addition to the more than seventy new recruits, there were more than twenty veterans watching them covetously.

Songs like "One, two, three, four, one, two, three, four. The mountains shake and the earth trembles, the flowers bloom and the water rejoices" could be heard from time to time in the dining hall.

Although Chen Mo did not participate in it, he could feel how hard the recruits outside were working just by imagining it.

This happened to be the end of December, the coldest time of the year.

The singing that drifted into the cafeteria was mixed with the kind corrections from the veteran squad leader, such as "Open your fucking mouth!" and "Fuck, you're the seventh from the right in the second row, are you sucking on your breasts? Open your mouth and sing."

That kind of scene is so exciting just by listening to it.

Chen Mo stood quietly in the cafeteria waiting, listening to the singing outside which became louder and louder, until the collective voices became hoarse in the end.

It took more than twenty minutes before the curtain of the dining hall was opened.

Teams of new recruits, exhausted by the pre-dinner songs, rushed in, some with their necks tilted back and rubbing their throats, some with their mouths open and coughing continuously.

The crowd was wrapped in gusts of bone-chilling cold wind and soon occupied most of the dining hall. It was different from the first meal they had after entering the military camp.

For lunch, you can just sit down and eat noodles as you like.

But this time, the new recruits from each class stood obediently in front of the table, surrounding the dining table, and no one took the initiative to sit down.

The same thing happened to Class 8. Chen Mo hadn't seen Yang Dali, Feng Junling, and the others for more than half an hour when the veterans led the new recruits over. Now, when he saw them again, they looked as shrunken as eggplants hit by frost.

His face was filled with sorrow, and he no longer had the vigor and vitality he had in the dormitory.

When several people saw Chen Mo waiting in the cafeteria so comfortably, the envy in their eyes was almost overflowing.

When all the classes were in place and the cafeteria was full of standing recruits.

The company's duty officer walked to the middle of the dining hall and shouted, "Everyone, listen to the command."

"sit down."

"Hat off!!"

As the order was given, all the recruits pulled their chairs and sat at the dining table, putting their camouflage caps on their legs and sitting up straight.

Some regulations are discussed during lunch, so it doesn’t matter if they are not discussed.

Anyway, the squad leader will demonstrate on the spot, so the new recruits can just follow and learn.

"There are a few things to keep in mind before dinner," the company officer on duty said in a resonant voice. "Don't waste anything. Eat as much as you can. Talking is not allowed during meals."

“Let’s eat!!”

Lao Pao, who is usually lazy, is quite disciplined when it comes to teaching, and demonstrates to everyone in Class 8 in a very strict manner.

As for the new recruits, they had just been tortured by singing songs, and now they were eager to have dinner, and no one would look for trouble.

The entire dining hall was filled with the symphony of clinking and clanging chopsticks and rice bowls.

The food in the armored brigade is pretty good. Even if we ignore the quality of the food when we get off the vehicle, the standard of four dishes and one soup is not low.

In the late 1990s, the influence of "a pound and a half plus four ounces" was still present in the army.

To put it simply, the army's food standard requires every soldier to consume one and a half pounds of vegetables, one ounce of meat, one ounce of oil, one ounce of fish, poultry, eggs, and one ounce of soy products every day.

The food Chen Mo had was of standard quality. On the table were a serving of fried cabbage with oil residue, a serving of stir-fried shredded white radish, a serving of fried cabbage with tofu, and a serving of fried potatoes.

The last soup was egg drop soup. Although the soup was as light as water, at least there were egg drops floating on it.

This was considered a pretty good meal. After all, in the army of that era, potatoes, radishes, and cabbages were the main food once winter came.

It’s a little better in the summer, and you can add some chili peppers to change the taste.

Since they were not allowed to talk during the meal, Chen Mo was eating his rice in his hands, and his eyes would glance at Lao Pao from time to time.

I paid attention for a long time but couldn't see anything wrong. He ate slowly and leisurely, and didn't look like he was worried at all.

Wait until dinner is over.

Lao Pao did not give the task of washing dishes to Chen Mo, the student on duty. Instead, he took the whole class to the dishwashing room behind the cafeteria, filled a basin with hot water, and washed the dishes together.

Cleaning is almost finished.

Lao Pao glanced at Chen Mo and said, "Remember this place."

"There's only one hot water room in the three dormitories of the recruit company. If you can't get hot water for your foot soak at night, come here."

"Go back to the dormitory later and continue to fold your quilts. Don't run around. You just arrived and there is no night training. Folding the quilts properly is the key."

After Zhou Yongjie finished speaking, he did not linger any longer. He shook off the water stains on his hands and turned to leave.

Chen Mo blinked and looked at the squad leader's back as he left. He squatted on the ground for a long time without saying a word.

At this moment, Chen Mo already believed what Peng Wei had just said, including the sentence "Your squad leader is a good person."

Was it a recruit competition or a meeting with his old unit? Chen Mo didn't know how to describe his complicated feelings for a moment.

But the name An Zhentao has been deeply engraved in his mind.

(End of this chapter)