20demayo Chapter 0006: Your efforts may not be seen by others.
Chapter 0006: Your efforts may not be seen by others.
When they returned to the dormitory, the other recruits were all sitting. As soon as Cheng Cai entered, he greeted everyone warmly. The other recruits also greeted Cheng Cai warmly. When it was Zheng Yingqi and Xu Sanduo's turn, although they greeted them, their indifference was obvious. The Fifth Platoon was subtly divided into two groups, and Zheng Yingqi and Xu Sanduo were intentionally or unintentionally isolated from this group.
Because they couldn't find each other during the noon and evening hours for the past few days, someone secretly followed them and, after seeing them practicing in a secluded corner, deliberately isolated them.
This is probably similar to the natural antagonism between poor students and diligent students, not to mention the annoying Xu Sanduo who is dragging everyone down.
Zheng Yingqi had sensed this atmosphere long ago.
However, he didn't care. After all, although they were in the same platoon, it was only for three months.
Xu Sanduo was slow to realize or perhaps emotionally oblivious; he didn't feel anything about this phenomenon. He now regarded Zheng Yingqi and Cheng Cai as "family." He was already content with having two "family members" in this group.
After greeting the others in the dormitory, Xu Sanduo took the initiative to say to Zheng Yingqi, "Zheng Yingqi, let's go."
Although he considers himself a country bumpkin, even country bumpkins have dreams. Under Zheng Yingqi's influence, Xu Sanduo is now a country bumpkin with dreams. In his heart, he also wants Wu Liuyi to take him seriously and wants the platoon leader, who is also the squad leader, to continue to protect him.
Zheng Yingqi nodded, then said to everyone, "Sanduo and I are going to do extra training. Are you guys coming?"
"I'm not going. I've had an exhausting day, and I don't want to suffer any more."
"I've only learned so much so far, there's no point in practicing more, I'm not going."
"You guys go ahead, I'm not going."
The recruits answered one after another. Although they were polite, the meaning was clear: why bother with extra training when there's so little to learn?
We're not Xu Sanduo!
Cheng Cai felt he had mastered everything he needed to know. Although he was far behind the veterans, he was still first in the class—Zheng Yingqi was worse than him, so why bother with extra training? He said, "I'm not going either. I need to practice my housekeeping skills more."
"Alright, then Sanduo and I will be leaving." Zheng Yingqi didn't take it to heart. Cheng Cai had the right to say that. He was a little worse than Cheng Cai, but precisely because he couldn't compare to him, he had to work even harder.
After several days of training, Zheng Yingqi has gained a better understanding of himself. Although he is now considered a mule in Gao Cheng's eyes, if he doesn't work hard, he could easily fall into the category of a mule and become a dirt mule that Gao Cheng looks down on—unable to enter the Steel Seventh Company, who knows if that "system" will still make a sound.
After he and Xu Sanduo left the dormitory, the new recruits showed all sorts of strange expressions, and finally someone used the word "hehe" to describe their feelings.
……
Wu Liuyi and Shi Jin stayed together, watching the two people practicing in the distance.
"That kid Zheng Yingqi, I think he..." Wu Liuyi thought for a moment before finding a suitable word to describe him: "arrogant. He seems to think he doesn't care much about others, and he's quite proud of himself."
Shi Jin smiled and said, "You don't think much of that kid?"
"I don't think he's suitable to be the deputy squad leader," Wu Liuyi said to Shi Jin without hiding his opinion. "He's okay at keeping things tidy, but he's never helped anyone else. Look how close he is to Xu Sanduo, but he's never helped Xu Sanduo with his chores. Cheng Cai, on the other hand, although he's a bit fake, he's always willing to help his comrades when they need it, and he often helps others with their chores."
Clearly, Wu Liuyi was more inclined to support Cheng Cai.
Shi Jin did not express his thoughts, but simply said, "There are still some days left, no rush."
"You're always so lukewarm, I feel like I'm in a real bind," Wu Liuyi complained. "Look at our class's overall score, we're way behind everyone else. I, Wu Liuyi, always strive for first place, but this time we're almost at the bottom."
Xu Sanduo was undoubtedly the one dragging down Class 5's grades; even without Wu Liuyi saying it, Shi Jin knew this.
"It's just the beginning, take it slow. Besides, look at Xu Sanduo, isn't he improving?"
"This is your most crucial year! My dear Squad Leader Shi!" Wu Liuyi couldn't help but say. He understood his comrade-in-arms and was worried that if things continued like this, Shi Jin would eventually beg the company commander to put Xu Sanduo in. Other squads would definitely not want Xu Sanduo, so Shi Jin would have to take him himself. He was worried that Shi Jin would be ruined.
Shi Jin said, "Don't worry, I know what I'm doing."
Wu Liuyi then fell silent, looked at the two who were doing extra training, and said bluntly, "I really don't think much of Xu Sanduo, but Zheng Yingqi, if he keeps working so hard, he will definitely be a backbone member of the company in the future."
Although Wu Liuyi didn't think Zheng Yingqi was a suitable candidate for deputy squad leader among the new recruits, he genuinely liked Zheng Yingqi based on his attitude. That's just the kind of person Wu Liuyi is; he says what he thinks and doesn't compromise his judgment or opinions because of personal relationships.
"It's still early." Shi Jin didn't make any hasty judgments, which made Wu Liu roll his eyes. He said Xu Sanduo was no good, but then he said to take it slow. He said Zheng Yingqi was good, but then he said it was still early!
On the other side, Gao Cheng stood by the window, holding a teacup, watching the two people practicing in the corner.
He only discovered this last night. He couldn't see it from the window directly; he could only see it from the window side. This ruled out the possibility that someone was deliberately trying to get his attention.
He Hongtao, the instructor who had just finished tidying up the documents, noticed Gao Cheng standing by the window and asked curiously, "Old Gao, what are you looking at?"
"I'm just spacing out since I have nothing to do," Gao Cheng quickly said.
"Oh, don't push yourself too hard. I'm leaving now. Go back and rest early," He Hongtao said politely before leaving. Only after He Hongtao left did Gao Cheng reveal a hint of smugness.
He Hongtao is the political instructor of the Third Company. He was the political instructor of the recruit company and was Gao Cheng's rival when he was selecting soldiers. Gao Cheng had a slight grudge against He Hongtao, so he wouldn't let He Hongtao see this scene.
After taking a sip of the slightly chilled tea, Gao Cheng muttered, "I wonder which two kids these are. They're really going all out. I'll go over and find out what's going on."
Why did he fight so hard to get the position of company commander in the recruit training camp?
It's all for the sake of selecting more promising talents!
Now that he had made this discovery, he was naturally unwilling to waste a moment and wanted to go down and investigate the situation, and make a note of the people involved.
Even if a soldier who is determined to fight hard doesn't perform well in basic training, once he adapts to his new unit, he will definitely become a promising soldier!
He was rather impatient, so he didn't waste any time. After hearing He Hongtao's footsteps fade away, he quickly reached down. He didn't want to disturb the two who were doing extra practice, but he had to identify the person, right?
In order not to alert the two who were doing extra training, the company commander of the Seventh Steel Company chose a good spot to scout ahead, which was naturally his forte. When he quietly approached and saw the figure, he was stunned.
Why are there these two?
Gao Cheng rubbed his eyes, and after confirming again, he looked like he had seen a ghost.
He probably won't forget Xu Sanduo for years, and he'll never forget that scoundrel who twisted the truth and called surrender bravery—if he hadn't witnessed Xu Sanduo's cowardice, Gao Cheng might have actually started to call cowardly surrender brave. If people had exposed Xu Sanduo's cowardice, wouldn't that have become dirt on Gao Laoqi?
Therefore, it can be said that these two soldiers are definitely the two recruits that Gao Cheng remembers the most among this batch of new recruits!
However, I never expected that one coward and the other talker would actually have the idea of practicing more!
"So even salted fish have dreams?"
Gao Cheng muttered to himself, but having made a mistake once before, he decided to observe for a while longer this time. If it was only hot for two or three days, he would keep it to himself and never say anything. If he could keep it up, it would be an injustice not to hire such a soldier!
……
Zheng Yingqi and Xu Sanduo had no idea that their company commander had sneaked over once.
"Zheng Yingqi, the lights are about to go out. Shall we go back?" Xu Sanduo was really tired, and this was the first time in the past few days that he had suggested going back.
Zheng Yingqi shook his head: "Sanduo, we're not as good as others, but to be better than others, we have to put in more effort. If we practice a little more, don't you feel that your habit of walking with your feet on the same side has stopped?"
He was a little proud. Look, Wu Liuyi couldn't beat him with his clumsy steps, but he cured himself!
"Really!" Xu Sanduo thought about it and realized it was true. He immediately became excited, and in an instant, he regained his strength: "Let's practice some more!"
The two continued practicing simple movements.
In fact, Zheng Yingqi had other ideas in mind, such as whether his persistent extra training could attract the attention of "others". Of course, "others" referred to the squad leader, platoon leader or company commander. However, for several days, no "big shot" came to pat them on the shoulder and praise them in this godforsaken place.
This made Zheng Yingqi feel a little depressed: I'm clearly the protagonist, so why don't I have that attractive aura of a protagonist?
But why didn't he realize that this was Soldiers Sortie, and in terms of protagonist aura, Xu Sanduo beside him was even more powerful—he was just a stowaway in Soldiers Sortie.