Many years later, when facing the execution squad of the royalists during the Blood Moon Incident, Rear Admiral Cai Yilin would certainly recall that the former Coast Guard artillery king standing opposite him was the one who brought him to the Jeju Coast Guard School on that distant spring.
The Chengshan Port at that time was still very simple. There was not even a battleship in the harbor, and even cruisers could not be seen. There were only some crude old-fashioned warships anchored there, which looked very crude to those who came after.
But the impact this place brought to him at that time was incomparable. When the ship that picked up the new recruits... oh yes, it was called the ship that picked up the police cadets at that time, slowly sailed into Chengshan Port, what appeared before his eyes was an extremely clean and orderly environment.
On the large and small warships moored at the dock in a certain order, there were many coast guard soldiers wearing navy blue linen shorts. They were wiping the decks with mops and polishing the brass gun barrels with rags.
Seeing another big ship carrying a new batch of rookies arriving, the police officers stopped what they were doing, rushed to the side of the ship, whistled at them, and said with a smile something like "Director Tong", "Spirit Infusion Stick", "Be careful **", etc., which they could not understand... After a few days, he realized that they were gloating over their misfortune.
But at that time, Cai Yilin did not notice this because his eyes were attracted by those huge warships painted black and equipped with countless cannons. To a 17 or 18-year-old boy, that was a symbol of strength and a manly romance.
He immediately fell in love with this place and was determined to become a captain as soon as possible and sail across the world on a warship. When he landed, he saw the clean cement ground, the neatly planted green trees on the road, and the rows of beautiful red brick and black tile buildings hidden among the green trees. There were also those police officers wearing uniform blue police uniforms, with upright postures and agile steps walking among them. Yilin liked it even more.
When they were led by the team leader named Chu Liuxiang, they walked along the mountain path made of gray-black volcanic stones, crossed the green hillside, climbed to the top of Sunrise Peak, and saw the huge stone engraved with the inscription of Master Zhao, the campus of the Jeonra Island Coast Guard School came into their sight.
Cai Yilin saw that this place was a hundred times bigger and more impressive than Caijiaxiang Primary School. Three imposing red brick buildings were arranged in a triangular shape. The huge playground was equipped with various exercise equipment. There were even two large ships next to the playground, and no one knew how they were transported to the mountain.
The seniors in white shorts were practicing vigorously. Everyone was so strong and capable, full of energy, and very orderly.
Yes, after arriving on the island, what Yilin felt most was the strong sense of order, which was in sharp contrast to the scattered and chaotic life in the mainland. This is a completely different world, full of attraction for young people who like novelty and enthusiasm.
At that moment, Cai Yilin simply loved this place.
But he didn't expect that almost in the blink of an eye, his love for this place would take a sharp turn for the worse.
Because before entering the school building, they were first taken to the medical team, and then ordered to take off their clothes and undergo full body disinfection. Someone also took a razor to shave their heads.
Since we are given our bodies and hair by our parents, this naturally attracted numerous protests, especially from elementary school students like Cai Yilin who had only studied for a few years. It's fine if you see that I'm naked, but you want me to shave my head and become a monk, no way!
The medical officer of the health team told them that this was because almost all of them had lice, fleas and other parasites on their heads, as well as varying degrees of scalp inflammation. They had to shave their heads, apply ointment, and undergo thorough treatment before they could grow their hair again.
Of course they can refuse, but that would lead to direct deportation.
At that time, many people expressed their desire to go back, but the medical officer said quietly, "However, I want to remind you that your files have been recorded. If you break the contract and go home, you will never be able to work in Jiangnan Group or any of its subsidiaries again, not even as a temporary worker!"
The students were all dumbfounded. Jiangnan Group paid high wages, provided good benefits, provided medical care, provided retirement, provided wives... crossed out the last one. In short, it was the only way for poor people to legally improve their living conditions. They were all still young. If they were blocked from joining Jiangnan Group, they would have to become bandits in order to live a happy life of eating big chunks of meat and drinking big bowls of wine.
So everyone could only comfort themselves that hair is not a big deal and will grow again after cutting it. Then they lowered their heads in humiliation and turned into round little eggs with tears in their eyes.
Don't mention it, it's quite cool...
For a period of time afterwards, Cai Yilin often thought that he should have gritted his teeth and refused at that time, so that he would not have to suffer the subsequent pain.
Because haircut is just the first hurdle. Or, the evil hospital is using this incident to establish its authority and create sunk costs. When students are about to give up when they encounter an unacceptable order in the future, they will think that the haircut was in vain. Then they will think that if they can even endure a haircut, what else can they not endure? Can't they just grit their teeth and get through it?
Of course, only someone like him who has studied for a few years and gained some strange knowledge would look at things from such a strange perspective.
Most of the trainees were in a daze, with a full schedule every day, and they didn't think about these trivial things at all. As long as they were well fed and warmly dressed, they would do whatever they were told to do. Anyway, no matter how tired they were, it was much easier than working for the employer.
But for an educated person like Cai Yilin, life was too painful.
First of all, he felt cheated. He was told before coming here that he was to be trained as a reserve police officer. Although he didn't quite understand what a police officer was, as long as it had the word "official" in it, it must have some official position, and it should be different from ordinary police officers.
But when he arrived at Tamra Island, how could he be treated differently? He was thrown into the police academy with those illiterate black men and received a year of rigorous training.
Cai Yilin was assigned to the second squadron of the second training brigade, the second squadron, referred to as the "222" team. A squad of 20 people lived in one dormitory, and every night he fell asleep listening to the snoring and farting of 19 men. During the day, the same training subjects and the same assessment standards were followed. If you couldn't do it, you would be encouraged to work harder, and there was no preferential treatment at all.
Moreover, because he had been in school since he was fourteen, he had never done a day of heavy work, and was far less hardworking than the reserve police officers who had been doing hard work for several years. He was the last in almost all training subjects at the beginning, and was injected with spirit the most times. He was also beaten by the rough guys in various ways because he dragged down the 222nd team, and was nicknamed "Young Master".
In the first few months, he was bruised and battered almost every day. He tossed and turned at night and couldn't sleep. He hid in his bed and secretly cried, wanting to go home.
Finally one day, he couldn't stand it anymore and went to the team leader to express his wish to drop out. But Chu Liuxiang told him that it was better not to do so. He showed him a standard contract he had signed. It clearly stated that after formal enrollment, one must complete the course of study. Those who voluntarily drop out or are expelled from the school must be transferred to the Xingang City Labor Reform Brigade and work for free for three years to compensate the school for the expenses of his expenses.
Many years later, Cai Yilin still clearly remembers that when he was reading the contract, Captain Chu used a lighter to light a Victory brand cigarette specially supplied by Xingang City to the garrison area... In that era, cigarettes were still a rare hobby that could not be bought with money. It was said that points were required to redeem them.
The students didn't have points, so they couldn't buy cigarettes. But the school would give them as prizes to students with outstanding performance. But in those days, most people didn't know how to smoke, so they used them as hard currency to exchange for good things like sugar, wine, tea, or erotic paintings. There were also those who were smart and secretly gave gifts to the captain in order to get a favorable evaluation.
"He must have accepted bribes again. How can there be any fairness here?" Cai Yilin thought angrily when he saw Chu Liuxiang puffing away with a look of enjoyment.
Chu Liuxiang smoked a cigarette with an intoxicated look on his face, and told him earnestly that the Xingang City Labor Reform Brigade was a place where prisoners served their labor, and basically no one could come out alive. You are such a smart person, you must know how to choose, right?
Cai Yilin's mouth twitched when he heard this. He had heard his brother Yimu talk about the miserable conditions of the hard laborers who cut stones and burned lime on Xishan Island, and he knew that what Captain Chu said was true. On this remote and remote Jeonra Island, things must be even more lawless.
He only hated himself for signing the contract without reading it carefully, so he had to resign himself to his fate and give up his plan to drop out of school.
Chu Liuxiang blew a smoke ring at him again, telling him that it was not just a matter of not dropping out of school. If he continued to lag behind, he would be expelled from school and sent to the labor camp...
One month after entering school, Cai Yilin finally realized that he had fallen into a den of thieves and had no other way out except to run forward with his butt sticking up.
After that day, Yilin was completely desperate. In order to avoid being sent to the labor camp, he fought hard. He was at the bottom of the training subjects, so he used his rest time to practice more, and often went to the playground in the middle of the night to practice running, jumping and throwing. His endurance was not as good as others, so he got up before dawn, ran around the Sunrise Peak, and only when he came back did the camp sound the wake-up call, and then he followed the team to exercise normally...
On the other hand, Chu Liuxiang was not just a threat. During the team meeting, he repeatedly instilled in Mr. Zhao the team spirit of "never abandon, never give up", the comradeship of "I will share my robes with you even if I have no clothes", and the admonition of "the one who wins by bullying the weak will be defeated", which made those simple-minded police officers feel deeply guilty and felt that it was wrong for them to bully their younger brothers like that... Cai Yilin was only 17 years old at the time, the youngest in the team.
As a result, Yilin's situation gradually improved. No one bullied him anymore. Instead, the older brothers took the initiative to help and encourage him, making him finally feel a little warmth.
Later, when the cultural classes began, the illiterate police officers suddenly found it difficult to cope. Cai Yilin finally had his place to use his talents. He was responsible for tutoring the entire team. He became half a teacher for the older brothers and naturally gained their respect and support.
At the end of the first semester, he was named a model soldier in the squadron and was selected by the students as the deputy squad leader of Squadron 222. At the end of the semester, he was admitted to the Police Academy without taking the entrance exam with the first place in the entire brigade.
Although all reserve police officers can be admitted to the Police Academy without taking an exam as long as they rank in the top overall, the first place winner can be awarded the rank of second-class police officer... This means that during the two years of further study at the Police Academy, they can receive two taels of silver more than others every month.
Moreover, at the graduation ceremony held today, you will receive the honorary dagger and the medal of excellence awarded by Master Zhao himself!
What a glory!