Chapter 10: The Squad Leader and Platoon Leader Helping to Wash Feet?

"What is going on?"

To be honest, Chu An was a bit bewildered. Veteran soldiers waiting on recruits to wash their feet?

Suddenly, Chu An’s expression grew even stranger. He recalled that in his past life, while scrolling through short videos, he had seen people claim that when new recruits entered the barracks, the squad leaders would bring them water to wash their feet. At the time, he had dismissed it as nonsense, thinking it was just retired veterans trying to mislead the public or young men considering enlistment. After all, by a normal person’s logic, the military was a place of strict hierarchy; there was no way veterans would wash recruits' feet. It was usually the other way around. Wasn't there a common saying: "New recruits join the company, veterans celebrate the new year"? Just hearing that told you everything you needed to know.

Yet, here were Platoon Leader Ma and that veteran, not only bringing water for everyone but actually reaching out to help them take off their shoes and prepare to wash their feet.

"Uh... Platoon Leader, no need, I can do it myself!"

"Yeah! Squad Leader, I can handle it!"

Li Guoping and the other recruit beside him were trying to decline. After his initial shock, Chu An didn't wait for them to approach; he silently took off his shoes himself. However, he stopped at that. Looking at the basin in front of him, he didn't put his feet in. He looked back. Immediately, he saw the remaining ten men behind him—some were grimacing, others staring wide-eyed.

Life was hard in this era, but that didn't mean people weren't hygienic. Cleanliness had nothing to do with the era; Chu An didn't like sharing a basin with others, and he especially disliked using a basin someone else had used to wash their feet to wash his own face. The others felt the same.

"Don't move. Now that you're here, we are comrades, we are family. There’s no need to be strangers. I’ll just help you take them off!"

Beside him, Platoon Leader Ma’s voice rang out again. Not just him—the veteran squad leader, whom Chu An hadn't met yet, was firmly grabbing Li Guoping's feet, saying with a grin, "Don't be a stranger!"

After saying that, he turned to Chu An and the other recruit who hadn't been helped yet and said, "You two wait a moment!"

"No need, Squad Leader, I can do it myself, it's just..." Chu An said, looking back again before continuing, "Why don't I just go outside, pour the water, and wash my feet? The other comrades still need to wash their faces."

"Haha, we don't worry about that in the military!" Platoon Leader Ma laughed heartily. "To tell you the truth, once you join the company, the basins in the squad are communal. Everyone uses the same basin to wash their faces and feet!" He paused, then added with a smile, "We're all brothers. If we ever end up on the battlefield, you and I will be entrusting our backs and our lives to each other. What’s the harm in sharing a basin? Once you're done, we'll just rinse the basin with water before the others use it!"

At this moment, some of the ten recruits waiting behind them looked like they wanted to say something but held back. Even those who had been staring wide-eyed, watching them help take off shoes and feeling confused, were no longer staring; they all wore expressions of bitter resignation.

Chu An stopped looking at them. He sighed inwardly, "As I thought!" He knew this basin must have had a glorious past. With that, he let go of his mental burden and placed both feet into the water.

"Ah..." Suddenly, a sound of someone barely holding it together came from nearby.

Chu An turned his head and immediately reached up to cover his nose.

"Squad Leader... I... I'm sorry, my feet are a bit smelly..." Li Guoping’s face turned red.

"Haha, it's fine, it's fine!" The squad leader’s face had turned green, but he didn't let go; he simply pushed Li Guoping's feet into the water with a quick motion.

"They really are quite smelly!" Platoon Leader Ma, on the other side, couldn't help but remark.

The rubber-soled shoes issued by the military weren't very breathable to begin with, and everyone had spent two days on the train without taking them off. A bit of odor after two days was normal, but this was exceptionally pungent. Even sitting nearby, Chu An felt it going to his head. He really felt for the veteran washing his feet.

Fortunately, the veteran only rubbed his feet in the water for a moment before moving over to Chu An.

"Squad Leader, I can do it myself, really!" Chu An said hurriedly. He was afraid that after the veteran’s hands had been in contact with Li Guoping’s smelly feet, they would make his own feet smell, too.

"Haha, it's alright. We're short-handed, but we have to go through the motions so you don't think we're playing favorites!" The veteran squad leader laughed, knelt down, and disregarding Chu An’s protest, reached into the water and began washing his feet.

To be honest, Chu An felt like he was sitting on pins and needles. It wasn't that having someone wash his feet was strange—he had often gone to foot spas before his rebirth—but those were young women. Having a grown man, a veteran at that, wash his feet made Chu An genuinely uneasy. *Is he just doing this for show today, and will I have to wash his feet every day from now on?* Chu An speculated anxiously.

Soon, the veteran pulled his hands away and said with a smile, "Soak them yourself for a bit!"

"Alright, thank you, Squad Leader!" Regardless of what tomorrow held, he had to offer his thanks now. The other three recruits did the same.

The veteran squad leader then went to fetch more hot water with a bucket. When he returned, he brought not only a bucket of hot water but also one of cold water. After the four of them finished washing and poured the water out, the veteran rinsed the basin with cold water. That was it.

As the basin was placed back in the dormitory, four new recruits took the spots where Chu An and the others had been sitting. It took over half an hour for four rounds of washing to finish.

"Alright, that's enough for tonight. You guys get some rest; Squad Leader Wang and I will be back later!"

After the last two recruits finished, Platoon Leader Ma and Squad Leader Wang left the buckets and basins in the dormitory, closed the door, and walked out. The dormitory fell into a brief silence. It wasn't until the sound of their footsteps faded that the room could no longer contain itself.

Someone whispered excitedly, "Hey, is the military really this good? The veterans and the officers help us wash our feet!"

"I don't know! This is too good. I thought we'd be bullied by the veterans when we arrived!"

"Maybe it's just this unit that's so good. Seriously, I never imagined we'd get this kind of treatment in the army!"

"Yeah! But I felt so uncomfortable just now, terrified while they were washing them!"

"Heh, who wasn't?"

The recruits chatted away. Suddenly, Li Guoping said something shocking: "Do you think they'll help us wash them tomorrow, too?"

Chu An couldn't help it; he chuckled softly and whispered, "If the Platoon Leader and the Squad Leader don't help us tomorrow, you can go remind them!"

"Pah, you intellectual, you're evil!" Li Guoping laughed and cursed. People in this day and age were simple, but simple didn't mean stupid.

"Heh, I think that's a good idea. Brother, whether the Platoon Leader helps us wash our feet tomorrow is all up to you!" other recruits nearby chimed in, joining the fun.

"Go on, go on! If you want to say it, you say it!" Li Guoping snapped, annoyed.

Amidst the laughter, no one felt sleepy, especially since the lights in the dormitory hadn't been turned off yet. But they only chatted for a little while. Soon, as Platoon Leader Ma and Squad Leader Wang returned with their bedding, the dormitory fell quiet once again.