Chapter 47: Establishing Faith, a New Lighthouse
“1, 2, 3…”
Everyone in Class 8 looked at Li Zhiang, who was counting with his head raised and bleeding from his nose in the distance, and subconsciously raised their hands to touch their noses.
This child is too honest. There is a kind of pain that hurts just by looking at it.
The squad leader's evaluation was quite pertinent. Anyone who could fall forward and hold on without even stretching out his hands was undoubtedly a ruthless person.
"Alright, alright, assemble!"
Lao Pao put his hands on his hips, took off his hat and stuffed it into his pocket, cursing: "What are you looking at him for? You can make mistakes in such a simple action. You think you are so honorable?"
"Come on, do it again."
"Stand at attention, at ease, and prepare for the reverse movement!"
"fall."
Two seconds later.
The old man stared at the new recruits who were still kneeling on the ground. Chen Mo was the only one lying there, which made him irritated. "How could I have run into a bunch of idiots like you?"
"You're all idiots. Can't you learn from the class vice-chairman? Is it that hard to just lean forward and support yourself with your hands?"
A group of new recruits looked at each other in dismay, their faces flushed with embarrassment, and all turned to look at Chen Mo.
But this subconscious self-protection action is not so easy to overcome, and Chen Mo has no better suggestions.
He just took advantage of the squad leader's inattention and clenched his fists and hit the back of his neck hard.
You have to hammer it.
If you practice like this for a few hours, when you wake up tomorrow your neck will probably feel like it's been welded, so don't expect to be able to move it.
Seeing that this kind of training was not a solution, Lao Pao stared at everyone for a while and said, "If you can't fall, practice the decomposition movements first."
"You know how to start running, right? Lean forward, bend your left leg, and straighten your right leg. Come on, get ready."
"Attention, clap your hands while you pull your left leg back. I'm not sure if anyone is stupid enough to even pull their leg back."
After all the recruits are ready.
Lao Pao shouted: "Shoot."
This time it worked. A group of people slammed their bodies to the ground, raising clouds of dust.
The "thump thump" sound when the body hits the ground is painful to hear.
"Push your waist hard and straighten your body into a straight line. Remember this feeling."
"You've just seen the key to the forward fall. Standing at attention, lean forward naturally while simultaneously bending your arms at the elbows and placing them in front of your chest, palms facing downward, with your legs straight."
"How difficult do you think this is?"
"Come on, start over."
"Prepare for the reversal!!"
"fall!"
"fall!"
Chen Mo couldn't count how long he had practiced this forward fall, but the ground in front of him was very hard and was broken into pieces by his elbows.
For this kind of subject, there is no chance to take shortcuts, it's just a matter of hitting the ground with your hands.
When everyone was practicing, they felt dizzy, their arms were sore, and even their necks were drooping due to the shock and could not be lifted up.
The unified forward-falling movement was changed to work one by one from the first to the last in the row.
Although we were still tired, at least we were practicing in a queue, so everyone had some time to catch their breath.
The sunshine in the morning was just right and the breeze was not dry.
But the new recruits of the second company suffered a lot under the sun. They started to learn the inverted skills from the eighth squad, and then the whole company had concentrated training in the same subjects.
From backward training to forward lunging, the training ground was always filled with heart-wrenching roars and the "puff puff" sound of bodies hitting the ground, raising dust.
No one is not suffering, it’s just that some people don’t cry out in pain.
After practicing the backward movement for nearly three hours in the morning, even a tough guy like Chen Mo, who dared to compete with a motorcycle in speed, was unable to unbutton his pants when going to the toilet.
I can't lift my chopsticks at the dinner table.
The recruits did not have a lunch break. After lunch, Lao Pao showed everyone in the dormitory how to pack their backpacks with three horizontal and two vertical strokes.
He covered his belly with a newspaper and fell asleep on the bed. The poor recruits picked up their quilts and tiptoed to the corridor or the stairs to practice.
Continue to repeat the inverted exercise training in the afternoon.
The beginning of the physical training week is the most difficult, and the intensity can directly break the spirit of the recruits.
But we have to admit that people in the 1990s were indeed able to endure hardships. Some people gritted their teeth and persevered throughout the training process, while others rubbed their arms during breaks to try to relieve the stress.
But no one cried.
Chen Mo gritted his teeth the entire time, replaying the happy events of his past and present lives in his mind over and over again like a movie.
Resist the urge to persevere.
Wait until the afternoon training is over, when the duty officer blows the whistle.
The entire Class 8 recruits seemed to have returned to their roots.
They just lined up and laid out their corpses. Who cares about their image or not?
During rest time, Lao Pao's management is not so strict.
He looked at the soldiers he led, who were lying on the ground, looking as if they had lost all hope in life.
He took a cigarette out of his pocket, sat cross-legged on the ground, put the cigarette box on the ground and said with a smile: "Come on, who wants to smoke, please feel free. Only one cigarette per person."
Hear the noise.
Chen Mo was the first to get up. He stared at the cigarette box, and finally reached out to take one. He struck a match, lit it with a "sizzle", and took a deep puff.
Seeing this skilled appearance, Lao Pao was a little surprised: "I thought you really couldn't smoke."
Without paying any more attention to Chen Mo, Lao Pao put the cigarette box in front of other people.
"Don't be so polite. Cigarettes aren't good, but if you want to stay in the army for a long time, they can sometimes be a help."
Chen Mo was surprised to hear Lao Pao's remarks.
The management of the army was not so strict in those days. No one cared about smoking or even drinking. The last time he went to the vegetable garden behind the cafeteria, he saw a mountain of beer bottles piled there.
It’s just that the kitchen doesn’t supply it to the new recruits.
However, the idea that smoking is harmful to health was not widely accepted at that time. The more common understanding was "a cigarette after a meal is better than being a god."
The reason why Chen Mo picked up the cigarette and smoked it was because he knew that cigarettes were hard currency in the army. If he wanted to survive here, he had to fit in.
Yang Dali, Zhu Gaituan and others nearby saw that Chen Mo was not punished for smoking, so they also picked up a cigarette each, imitating their fathers in their hometown.
Sitting on the ground smoking.
Feeling that everyone's emotions had been released, Lao Pao clapped his hands and said with a deep look in his eyes: "After today's physical training week, how do you feel?"
"Tired?"
When they heard a similar question again, everyone had learned their lesson and shook their heads in unison. No one complained of being tired anymore.
Who could be so blind? After all, whoever cried tired in the morning would be kicked. No one has forgotten that.
But surprisingly, Lao Pao seemed particularly easy to talk to at this time.
"Just keep quiet, because I know you're tired."
"But I still say the same thing. Since I'm in the army, I'll train vigorously and fight to the fullest."
"In the military, no matter how much you sweat or how much you suffer, there's nothing to brag about. If you want to live better or more comfortably than others,
"Then you must be stronger than others. If you are strong, you will speak and act with confidence."
"In our class, you should learn from Chen Mo. He never complains when doing things and always perseveres. I hope you can learn from him too."
Listening to the squad leader's earnest teachings, everyone subconsciously turned their heads to look at Chen Mo.
In fact, Chen Mo's tenacity, just as Captain Cheng commented, is not shown on the outside, but is extremely obvious in himself.
The people in Class 8 know this better than anyone else.
Seeing that he had said almost everything he needed to say, Lao Pao patted his butt and stood up and said, "Okay, let's go to the cafeteria for dinner."
"Remember, recruit company is a watershed moment for each of you."
"I'm a soldier from the Infantry Division. When the recruit company finished its assessment, I finished fully armed and my time was 16 minutes and 44 seconds, the highest in the division."
"It broke the highest record of the entire division at that time and was awarded the third-class merit."
"It might not be possible now, but it should be fine within eighteen minutes, when you can surpass me."
"You can walk around the company as you please."
"The recruit competition is an opportunity, and it's also a chance. You should seize it."
After saying this, Lao Pao turned around and left.
The other recruits in Class 8 seemed to understand what he said, but Chen Mo's eyes lit up.
Looking at Zhou Yongjie's back, Chen Mo could imagine that the squad leader more than ten years ago was definitely the most dazzling soldier in the unit.
Although he didn't know why he hadn't become an officer for so many years, this goal lit a guiding light for him.
What does Chen Mo lack most right now?
It is not motivation, nor is it a goal, but the lighthouse that we need to pursue the most.
Even a lion will feel confused if he hangs out with new recruits every day.
But not anymore.
New challenges have emerged.
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