Chapter 41: A Tooth-Cracking "Sandwich!"

A cool breeze blew through the post-rain night, and the moonlight overhead was exceptionally bright.

When Chu An and the others returned to their dormitory from the grand auditorium, the lights in the barracks had already been turned off.

"Alright, have a sandwich, and then you lot can go to sleep!"

Inside the dormitory, old Wang sat straight down on his bed the moment he returned.

Meanwhile, Chu An and the others obediently stood at attention in front of their respective beds.

However, upon hearing these words, everyone was momentarily stunned.

A sandwich?

In this era, those hailing from the countryside had never even heard of such a thing.

As for Chu An, although he knew what it was, he was utterly bewildered.

Even though he did feel a bit hungry, where on earth was one supposed to eat this kind of food in the middle of the night?

Besides, this was nineteen seventy-eight, not two thousand and eight—where on earth had old Wang managed to get something like this?

"Squad leader, what is a sandwich?" Li Guoping couldn't help himself. Taking advantage of the moonlight filtering through the window, he looked at old Wang and blurted out the question.

Then...

The very next second, old Wang merely glanced at him: "Fifty push-ups! Remember to ask for permission before speaking next time!"

"......" Li Guoping wanted to slap his own mouth.

Why did he have to run his mouth? Now look at him—he had to do push-ups.

"Understood!" Though deeply resigned, Li Guoping obediently dropped to the floor.

In truth, just prior to this, the squad leader and the reception officers had mentioned that everyone needed to request formal permission before speaking, but they hadn't been quite this strict about it.

Yet now, seeing Li Guoping forced to do push-ups over this very issue, everyone immediately understood.

Training had officially begun, and the situation was no longer the same as before.

Instantly, silence fell over the dormitory.

Though everyone remained intensely curious about what a sandwich actually was, old Wang kept his mouth shut, and no one else dared to ask.

It wasn't until Li Guoping finished all fifty push-ups that old Wang spoke again.

"A sandwich is a term invented by the Chief of Staff of our Regiment C. Before new recruits go to sleep, one hundred push-ups, one hundred squats, and one hundred sit-ups—these three combined are used to pledge one's resolve!"

"....."

As for what the others were thinking, Chu An had no idea, but as far as he was concerned, he was completely speechless.

What a wonderful "pledge of resolve"—it was certainly a mouthful to swallow!

"What are you dawdling for? Don't want to sleep anymore?" old Wang's voice rang out once more.

Immediately, the recruits began dropping to the floor one by one.

At that moment, the one feeling the most bitter was undoubtedly Li Guoping.

He had just gotten up after finishing fifty push-ups!

Although his physical fitness wasn't bad, his arms were still rather sore from those fifty push-ups.

Now, as it turned out, he had to keep going, and the workload had even been increased.

At that moment, he almost felt a twinge of envy for those three recruits who had just been sent running back to write their self-criticisms the moment they reached the dormitory building.

At least they had been spared this session of "pledging resolve"!

"One... Two..." Inside the dormitory, heavy breathing mingled with the sound of individual counting.

Chu An silently finished one hundred push-ups and immediately transitioned into squats.

Although he remembered that he hadn't quite finished his previous quota of one hundred push-ups earlier that day, he certainly wasn't going to remind old Wang that he still had a debt to pay.

A few minutes later, those who had finished their push-ups and squats climbed onto their beds to do sit-ups.

One hundred sit-ups, for someone who had just completed one hundred push-ups and squats, was quite a formidable challenge. By the time Chu An finished, he collapsed flat onto his bed like a shattered marionette.

"Li Guoping, do you take me for deaf, or do you think I only have an elementary school education? Does eighty come right after sixty-nine?"

Suddenly, old Wang's stern rebuke echoed through the dormitory.

Chu An turned his head while lying on his bed...

"I... Reporting... squad leader, I... I counted wrong!" Li Guoping's voice was heavy with gasps for breath, but he hurriedly offered an explanation before dropping back down into a squat position to resume from seventy.

Yes, he was still doing squats.

Not just him, there were still three or four others in the squad who were squatting long after Chu An had finished his "resolve pledge."

"Chu An!"

Suddenly, old Wang's gaze shifted to Chu An, who was sprawled across his bed.

"Present!" Reflexively, Chu An sat up in a hurry.

"Take this!" Something was tossed through the air.

Chu An hurriedly reached out and caught it.

"Huh?"

The next second, Chu An froze, because what he held in his hand was a wristwatch, and he recognized it instantly.

During the equipment inspection that afternoon, it had been removed from Qiu Wei's wrist.

Old Wang had stated at the time that wristwatches were not allowed during the recruit training period, and that he would keep it safe until the end of recruit training before returning it.

Who would have thought he would toss it to him now?

"Squad leader?"

Chu An looked up at old Wang.

"As the deputy squad leader, waking everyone up at five o'clock every morning to fold the quilts is going to be your responsibility from now on!"

"......."

At that exact second, Chu An seriously considered throwing the watch back at him.

Damn it, waking everyone up at five in the morning—what kind of cursed task was this?

Whether he himself could even manage to wake up that early was a major question!

"Reporting! Squad leader... I... I'm afraid I'll sleep through the alarm!" Chu An finally spoke up with a rather awkward expression.

If he didn't speak up, he was genuinely worried that tomorrow morning he would sleep straight through until the bugle for reveille sounded!

"If you oversleep once, two points will be deducted. You have ten points in total, and once they're all gone, I'll strip you of your appointment as deputy squad leader!"

"......" Chu An was once again speechless. Yet, after falling silent, he had no choice but to brace himself and reply, "Understood!"

"Put the watch under your pillow. Put it in the locker after waking up; you're not allowed to wear it during the day!"

"Understood!"

Chu An acknowledged the order once more, then glanced down at the wristwatch in his hand one last time.

It looked brand new, likely a recent purchase.

He had to admit, Qiu Wei's family must have been fairly well-to-do.

The handgun he carried earlier hadn't been cheap, and the same went for this watch.

In his memories, young people of this era seemed quite obsessed with such items.

City dwellers even ranked this sort of thing among the essential "three rounds and one sound" required for marriage.

Moreover, whenever a few villagers managed to acquire such a luxury, they would routinely roll up their sleeves while riding their bicycles just to show off their wristwatches...

Time slowly trickled away. By the time all nine recruits in the fourth squad had finished their "resolve pledge," Chu An checked his watch and saw that it was already ten-twenty-four.

He was dead tired. So, as the dormitory quieted down after everyone finished their exercise, he quickly drifted off to sleep, completely unaware of when old Wang had gone out to call Xu Ji'an and the other two back.

......

"Has the dorm check been done?"

In the tranquil military camp, a soft voice suddenly broke the silence beside the two dormitory buildings.

Looking over, one could see that someone was still sitting on the stone bench under the tree—where old Wang and squad leader Liu had previously rested—valiantly feeding the mosquitoes.

"Not yet. I was just about to head over when you arrived," Commander Tong said with a smile as he looked at the newcomer.

"Alright, then you go ahead and check. Once you're done, go get some sleep, and I'll keep watch for a while."

"Will do!" Commander Tong stood up immediately.

During the recruit training period, the new soldiers might struggle to adapt to their sudden transition from civilians to soldiers.

Yet for veteran soldiers, especially the officers, things were equally exhausting.

Case in point: right now, several platoon and company-level officers had to take turns standing night watch.

They worried that someone might crack under the pressure of the suddenly altered lifestyle and attempt to desert in the middle of the night.

There was no helping it; although enthusiasm for military service was extremely high in this era, and people in rural areas practically fought for the chance to enlist, every generation had its share of individuals who weren't genuinely passionate about serving in the military, yet were forcibly sent into the barracks by their families.

Especially those who had never known hardship before—upon arriving in the military and suddenly confronting such high-pressure and rigorous living conditions, the possibility of someone acting on impulse and bolting was entirely real.

Therefore, as a preventive measure, having company officers and duty platoon leaders take turns standing watch and inspecting the dormitories during the first few days of recruit training had long since become standard protocol.