Chapter 19: Comrades-in-Arms Are All Talented!

“Squad leader, greetings comrades, my name is...”

Inside the dormitory, new recruits began introducing themselves one by one, while Chu An sat quietly at the back, diligently taking notes.

Fortunately, Chu An’s memory was extraordinarily sharp—he could instantly recall past experiences from two lifetimes as if watching a movie.

The knowledge he had studied was no exception.

Otherwise, given Chu An’s state before his rebirth, today would have surely ended in embarrassment.

It was simple: although he had attended university in his previous life, after that he rarely used pen and paper.

Typing on computers and phones was no problem, but writing by hand in that condition would have revealed that while he recognized many characters, he couldn’t immediately recall how to write them.

He remembered vividly that during the interview for his last job before rebirth, he had to secretly use his phone to type out two characters on his resume because he couldn’t write them.

If such an awkward moment occurred now, his image as an intellectual, just four points shy of university entry, would be completely shattered.

After about twenty minutes, the information of the other eleven recruits in the fourth squad, including his own, was recorded on the paper before him.

Eleven people from five different places—this was common across other squads as well.

The army recruits annually from several designated regions with fixed quotas.

Since there were limited places, new recruits in the company naturally couldn’t be completely separated from their “hometown comrades.”

But this was nothing unusual.

The new recruit company was small; once assigned to a full company, this situation would change entirely.

“Here, everyone check to make sure Chu An wrote your names correctly!”

After all introductions, Old Wang passed around the notebook Chu An had written in, letting everyone verify.

At the same time, he spoke up: “I’ll introduce myself too!”

He scanned the room: “My name is Wang Qinghe, your squad leader for the next three months!”

He stopped there.

Seeing everyone’s eyes on him, he muttered, “You don’t need to know much else—just remember I’m your squad leader for the next three months!”

Then he urged everyone to quickly check their names, mentioning there were many tasks ahead.

One by one, the recruits quietly murmured inwardly but quickly confirmed their names were correct.

The notebook was then returned to him.

He began assigning beds.

“Chu An, you sleep on this lower bunk!”

“Yes, sir!”

Chu An was the first to be called, assigned to the first lower bunk on the right side.

“Dong Fang, you take the upper bunk here!”

“Yes, sir!”

A recruit under 1.7 meters tall responded loudly.

At that moment, Li Guoping hesitated, wanting to sleep on the upper bunk near Chu An so they could chat in their hometown dialect, but he didn’t dare to voice it.

Soon, all beds were assigned.

“Open your bags for inspection; later we’ll send them to the package room!”

Previously, before squads and companies were divided, these tasks had not been carried out.

Now that squads were officially assigned, all procedures had to be followed.

One by one, Chu An and the others opened their bags.

Chu An hadn’t brought much—one set of patched-up clothes, which looked fine on the surface but had faded colors from washing.

He also had some books, pens, and a notebook.

These were recommended by Tong Lianzhong during a home visit when he learned of Chu An’s situation.

His advice was: since you’re good academically, don’t fall behind in your studies after joining the army.

The army also offered opportunities for further education.

Naturally, Chu An accepted this advice.

Besides these, there was an old pair of shoes and the large red flower he had worn on his chest during the journey.

Old Wang inspected each bag carefully. The first three were fine.

When he checked Chu An’s bag, suddenly his eyes widened.

He dug to the bottom of the bag and pulled out—

A bullet.

Was this really happening?

Bringing bullets to the army?

“Squad leader, I... I brought it as a spare!”

Dong Fang scratched his head awkwardly when he saw Old Wang holding the bullet.

Old Wang’s expression shifted several times in an instant.

Finally, he stuffed the bullet into his pocket and patted Dong Fang on the shoulder: “It’s good to have foresight, but the army doesn’t lack ammunition, and you don’t need to bring your own!”

He didn’t ask where the bullet had come from.

In these times, firearms were not banned in the country; in fact, there had been a nationwide military training movement.

From eighty-year-old elders to half-grown children, everyone was involved in defense.

In such an environment, it wasn’t unusual for one or two families out of ten to own firearms.

Some places were even more extreme—if you lifted a pigsty, you might find a cannon underneath.

Under these circumstances, asking where the bullet came from was unnecessary.

“Anything else?”

Old Wang thoroughly searched Dong Fang’s bag but remained uncertain, so he asked directly.

“No... no more, squad leader... I only brought one magazine!”

“...”

Old Wang was speechless.

He turned to the others: “Is there anyone else who brought bullets? The army doesn’t need those, so don’t bring them from home!”

He asked casually, but to his surprise, someone actually raised their hand.

“R-Report!”

It was a recruit named Qiu Wei—a rare surname, yet his actions were notable.

Not only had he brought bullets, but also a gun—a black handgun with a slight patina.

Chu An didn’t recognize the model.

“My grandfather said soldiers aren’t issued handguns, so... so I thought I’d bring one myself. I took it from home just before I left!”

His voice grew quieter as he spoke.

At that moment, Chu An was truly stunned.

What kind of recruits were these comrades?

Though he knew some had handled guns at home, he never imagined they were this bold.

Bringing bullets was one thing, but bringing a handgun?

“You... you really are something!”

Clearly, Old Wang was speechless too.

“What does your family do? Do they know you brought this gun?”

Qiu Wei looked embarrassed.

Old Wang understood immediately.

His expression darkened: “What are you doing? Taking it without permission is theft. Even if it’s your family’s, is it really yours?

And what’s the story with this gun?”

“This... my father bought it a couple of years ago!”

He hurriedly added, “He definitely knows now—I left a note!”

Old Wang’s expression softened slightly but remained serious: “You’re just causing trouble!”

He looked down at the gun and said, “Write a letter tonight explaining everything to your family. Have them come to retrieve the gun, understand?”

“Ah...”

“Otherwise, take the gun home yourself—and take off this uniform while you’re at it!”

“No... squad leader, I... I’ll write the letter!”

Upon hearing Old Wang’s order to remove his uniform, Qiu Wei’s face went pale.

...