The strongest production soldier, awarded first-class merit for feeding pigs.

Lan Haitao sent Chen Jun to the mess hall on official business, thinking it was just a formality. Little did he know that this decision would cause him to miss out on the elite soldier he had his eye on.

The communal meal is a unique collective activity of the military, and its style is different from any gathering in society.

Chen Jun happened to be very familiar with military meals and knew that there was a lot of room for maneuver in them, which was perfect for breaking his current predicament, hence his active participation.

The next morning.

"Beep beep beep, all class errand runners assemble!"

As soon as the duty officer stood outside the dormitory building and whistled, the comrades selected by each class walked out of the dormitory one after another, jogged to the duty officer and stood in a row.

"Amitobuk, I hope my plan will work." Chen Jun stood in the line and prayed anxiously.

"Right dress, front eyes, count off..."

The duty officer skillfully organized the six-person team and led the constables in a line across the large parade ground in the middle, arriving at the kitchen of the mess hall located at the rear.

"Squad Leader Wu, I've brought the errand. You can decide what to do yourself. I have to go now."

Even the duty officer, standing outside the kitchen door, shouted inside, but didn't go in; he simply turned and left.

"Come with me, all of you."

The soldier who came out to greet us was a veteran who was about 1.7 meters tall, with unusually prominent cheekbones and a large face, and wore the rank of sergeant.

He led Chen Jun and the others into the kitchen, and to a large stainless steel cutting board, he said, "The banquet will be held tonight. This morning is mainly for preparation. The three of you will chop vegetables here, and the other three will go outside to wash the vegetables..."

Squad Leader Wu pointed to the ingredients on the cutting board and assigned tasks to each person in detail.

Some people were responsible for chopping ribs and pig's feet, some for cutting carrots and the like, some for peeling potatoes, and some for washing scallions, ginger, and garlic.

Chen Jun was originally assigned to chop carrots, but he volunteered to switch with another new recruit to wash vegetables outside.

The water used for washing vegetables was icy cold in the dead of winter, and the other recruit naturally wouldn't refuse.

The reason Chen Jun chose to do the more difficult work was that he found that the dishes prepared in the kitchen were mostly for cooking at noon, and very few ingredients were used for banquets.

Therefore, he concluded that the ingredients for the banquet had not yet been purchased, which perfectly matched his prediction.

According to Chen Jun's understanding of the cooking squad, the cooking squad had a designated person in charge of purchasing the ingredients and supplies needed for the banquet; this person was the supply officer.

One of the company's "Eight Great Members"!

If Chen Jun wanted to spend his first 100,000, he had to get in touch with the supply officer and follow this "spending soldier" to spend his money.

By observing the three veterans in the kitchen, Chen Jun discovered that in addition to the sergeant who assigned them the work, the other two veterans were a corporal and a private first class.

Furthermore, based on the unique nature of the supply officers, they were under the leadership of the cook squad leader and directly responsible to the quartermaster.

The veteran who served as the supply officer could not possibly be the head cook, nor could he be just any random person; the deputy head cook was the most likely candidate.

With only three people in the mess hall, the corporal would definitely be the deputy squad leader.

Chen Jun had great faith in his logical reasoning. Coincidentally, the corporal was tending a fire next to the vegetable washing sink outside, so Chen Jun voluntarily switched to washing vegetables.

"Squad leader, you've worked hard. Have a smoke."

Before washing the vegetables, Chen Jun went to the stove and offered one of his cigarettes to the stove in a conciliatory manner.

"You're just a green recruit, and you're smoking?"

The corporal didn't take the cigarette Chen Jun offered. He frowned at Chen Jun, his already long face stretching even longer.

"Squad leader, how could I dare to smoke? I didn't know I was on a errand for the mess hall, so I went to the store to buy you this. You guys work so hard cooking for us, so I bought you a pack of cigarettes to show my gratitude."

Chen Jun smiled and flattered him, then casually shoved the whole pack of cigarettes into his hand.

"Hey, you're pretty sensible, aren't you?"

The corporal enjoyed the flattery. He also remembered that the cigarettes were quite strong, costing several tens of dollars a pack, which he usually couldn't bear to buy. His expression changed from gloomy to sunny, and he contentedly stuffed the cigarettes into his pocket.

He then took the cigarette Chen Jun offered, lit it, took a puff, and asked, "Which class are you in? What's your name?"

"Squad leader, I'm Chen Jun from Class 3," Chen Jun replied.

"Alright, you're pretty savvy. I'll remember you. I'm Pan Wenjun, the deputy head of the mess hall. If you need anything in the mess hall, you can come to me. Now hurry up and wash the vegetables," Pan Wenjun said with a smile.

"Alright, Deputy Squad Leader Pan."

Having achieved his goal, Chen Jun quickly ran over to start washing the vegetables.

The other two recruits, who had been washing vegetables, gave each other strange looks when they saw Chen Jun easily win over the deputy squad leader of the cooking squad.

They had heard in basic training that the cooks were the ones who took the blame and watched others fire cannons.

For the two new recruits who had just joined the army and were full of enthusiasm and only wanted to become the next Xu Sanduo, it was really hard to understand why Chen Jun was trying to please the deputy squad leader of the cooking squad.

Chen Jun noticed the strange expressions on their faces and could guess what they were thinking, but he didn't explain.

How can a sparrow know the ambition of a swan!

He bribed someone with a pack of good cigarettes in the morning and quickly got the reward he wanted.

Just after lunch around 12:00 PM, Pan Wenjun specifically sought out Chen Jun and said, "I'm going to town to buy some things. I need a lot, so I'll need someone to help me. Would you like to come with me?"

"That's great, Squad Leader Pan. I haven't been out for months." Chen Jun had this in mind, so he agreed without hesitation.

"Alright, then come with me now."

Pan Wenjun liked Chen Jun's "sensible" manner very much and beckoned Chen Jun to follow him.

The two men came out of the back door of the mess hall, where a tarpaulin truck was already parked on the side of the road. Pan Wenjun got into the passenger seat, and Chen Jun was put in the back of the truck.

Even in the remote border region deep in the mountains, a cement road has been built connecting the 11 kilometers from the company to the nearest town, Shuigan.

As a result of this highway, some of the villagers who originally lived in the mountains have moved to the roadside for their own convenience.

Even just a few people appearing on the roadside add a touch of liveliness to this highway.

The truck arrived in town in less than ten minutes. The driver stayed behind to watch the truck, while Pan Wenjun and Chen Jun got off and began shopping.

Shuigan Town is just a straight street, attached to this cement road.

The total length is less than two hundred meters.

The road wound its way into the mountains at the other end. As they walked, Pan Wenjun introduced the road to Chen Jun, and they continued onward to other border defense companies.

But Chen Jun had no interest in listening at all.

As he surveyed the "mini town" before him, his brows furrowed tightly, and a sense of despair welled up within him.

"Damn it, this place is only the size of a fingernail. Ten thousand dollars could probably buy the whole town. Why would I spend a damn amount of money?"

Two days have passed since the system-specified time was set, and in such a small town, spending 100,000 in a single day is clearly unrealistic.

It's a dead end!