She gently took the handkerchief, hastily wiped away her tears, and said in a voice barely audible, "Thank you, sister."
Su Tang withdrew her gaze and simply said, "You're welcome."
The bus traveled for a long time, so long that the scenery outside the window changed from the yellow sands of the Gobi Desert to an endless expanse of gray salt flats, and the air was filled with a bitter, salty smell.
Finally, at the edge of the horizon, a huge camp appeared, surrounded by high barbed wire and concrete walls.
The camp was built in a depression in the saline-alkali land. The gray buildings and the gray land almost blended into one, making it look unusually desolate and oppressive.
There were no signs on the gate, only a few armed sentries standing there expressionless.
They have arrived at their destination.
The car was parked in a huge exercise area in the center of the camp.
Su Tang got off the bus carrying her old suitcase, and a gust of biting cold wind immediately blew up her neck. She noticed that the playground was already packed with people, and it wasn't just their bus.
She glanced at them briefly and counted about two hundred people. There were more men than women, roughly one hundred and fifty male soldiers and fifty female soldiers, who had been divided into two formations according to gender.
Everyone's face showed the weariness of a long journey and the apprehension about the unknown.
Just then, a man with a burly build, like a bear, walked to the front of the line.
He had dark skin and a scar on his face that stretched from his brow bone to the corner of his mouth. As he spoke, the scar looked like a centipede wriggling on his face, making him look particularly fierce.
He was wearing a faded old military uniform, the collar unbuttoned, revealing his muscular, bronze-colored skin underneath.
His face was as black as Guan Yu in the temple. He didn't need a loudspeaker; he just shouted with his throat, and the sound was like thunder, making people's ears ring.
"My name is Lei Kuan, and I will be your head instructor for the next six months!"
“I know that before you came here, some of you were children of cadres, some were combat heroes, and some were local technical experts! But here, all your previous identities are null and void! From now on, you only have one identity, and that is—rookie!”
"This training camp will last for six months. After six months, no more than three people will be standing here! That's right, you heard me correctly! Out of two hundred people, at most three will remain! The elimination rate is ninety-nine percent!"
"Whoosh—"
A collective gasp rippled through the crowd; everyone was stunned by the terrifying number.
"What will happen to those who stay behind?" a bold boy couldn't help but ask.
Lei Kuan glanced at him through his scarred eyes and said coldly:
"Good question! Those who remain will receive official military status and be directly awarded the rank of colonel! All blemishes in your files will be erased, and you will become the nation's sharpest blade! Your families will receive the most generous treatment and a lifetime of honor!"
Colonel rank!
A stir immediately broke out in the crowd, and many people's eyes lit up. To obtain the rank of colonel was equivalent to an officer at the deputy regimental level or above.
Those from cadre families like Qiao Lin's, whose children were born into such circumstances, immediately brightened up. A colonel! That's a deputy regimental-level officer! Her father had to work his way up to that rank for almost twenty years, and here, it would only take six months? This was practically a shortcut to instant success!
Her initial unease was immediately replaced by immense ambition.
"What about those who were eliminated?" someone else asked.
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