Chapter 118
Squad Leader Xiong took a small stool, sat down in front of the boiler, and gestured for Jiang Wenxing to sit down.
After Jiang Wenxing nodded and sat down, the two remained silent for a while.
Jiang Wenxing noticed Xiong's eyes. His eyes were like an eagle's, but the color was much lighter than normal people's pupils, a light brown.
Jiang Wenxing learned in college that when a sentinel's mental power collapses, its accompanying spiritual body disappears and it will transform into a part of its master's body.
After he arrived at the cooking squad, he never saw the spirit of Squad Leader Xiong.
But Xiong Zheng is clearly a seasoned veteran sentinel.
When Squad Leader Xiong saw Jiang Wenxing staring straight at him, he felt uneasy, but he knew he had to say something. So, the burly man softened his voice as much as possible and comforted the guide, who was much smaller than him: "Jiang, I can tell that you are a person with perseverance."
"You really want to achieve something great."
"But you, your talent, your skills, are not here, they are in the Little White Building, in the medical team."
Do you understand what I'm saying?
Jiang Wenxing stood up: "Squad leader, the old guide didn't send me to the medical team to be a mascot or to enjoy myself. The organization also clearly assigned me a task, which is to grow vegetables!"
Xiong Zheng quickly pressed the stubborn young scholar into a chair. Looking at the other's tightly wrapped paws and his face red from the cold, he found it quite amusing and funny, but he couldn't show it on his face.
He crossed his arms, raised his chin, and his tone turned unpleasant: "Fine, hey, do you even listen to my nice words? I'm just going to stay here for a few days and then go back, but you insist on causing trouble for me. Oh, so you just pack your bags and leave, leaving me to clean up this mess?"
It's not just a mess; it's wasting Kush's manpower and guides' energy on unnecessary things. To put it bluntly, it's reducing Kush's overall combat capability.
In Kush, every piece of wood has its own purpose.
If Jiang Wenxing was trying to please the old guide, this would be pointless and unnecessary.
Jiang Wenxing was anxious, but he was extremely tongue-tied; otherwise, he wouldn't have been so easily angered by Yano in his past life.
He knows what vegetables, vitamins, dietary fiber, and carbohydrates are all about, but he can't explain what hasn't happened.
That happened in the year he died. Scientists from the White Tower of Xia Kingdom published an article entitled "On the Body and Spiritual Power" in SGA, which elaborated on the role of the body in the homeostasis of spiritual power.
This paper altered the sentinels' diet.
Prior to this.
The Xia Kingdom's sentinels' diet mainly consists of meat and starchy foods, primarily because their physical exertion is astonishing and they need to replenish a large amount of energy in a short period of time before they can engage in combat.
Sentinels themselves tend to prefer meat products that provide a feeling of fullness and better taste. Furthermore, influenced by the social customs that have been formed since ancient times, sentinels who prefer vegetarian food are ridiculed as weak and incompetent.
Kush picks wild vegetables because the area is remote and supplies are difficult to obtain, hence the need.
What Jiang Wenxing needs to overcome right now is this lack of understanding; he needs to produce tangible results.
Jiang Wenxing's throat was dry. He looked around and saw that there was no water glass. He could only swallow and said seriously, "You don't trust me, but I... I'm confident that I can do a good job. This is for the sake of all the sentries in Kush. As long as you give me a room, I can do the rest myself."
Squad Leader Xiong didn't speak, but looked intently at Jiang Wenxing's hands, which were wrapped up like a rice dumpling. The meaning was self-evident: let alone planting vegetables, he had made himself look like this even just peeling potatoes.
Squad Leader Xiong didn't want to waste any more words, so he stood up straight, the silver ring on his left ear swaying as he said, "Fine, all the time I've spent talking to you is a complete waste of my time."
"Squad leader..."
“I’m not your class monitor. You’re a college student, an intellectual. I can’t be your class monitor.”
"Squad Leader Xiong!"
"Go away, don't hold me up."
Jiang Wenxing left the cooking squad with a sullen face, but he didn't want to go back to the dormitory. Feeling depressed, he sat by the well outside the cooking squad, staring blankly into the distance.
Kush is far away in northern Xinjiang.
This is a very quiet place, with high mountains, dense forests, and few inhabitants, but it is also magnificent and timeless.
Behind that majestic snow-capped mountain lies the frozen plain, where the ant tribe lives in Tanijama. Conditions there are harsh, but strangely, the ant tribe refuses to migrate to the warmer south and stubbornly stays on the frozen plain. In recent decades, for some unknown reason, they have attempted to cross the snow-capped mountains and dense forests to set up camp in the northern border of Xia Kingdom.
There are many news reports about the "ant tribe" in the newspapers.
They come in different colors. In his previous life, Jiang Wenxing saw their vanguard the most, which was a slender, solitary creature that resembled a long-legged spider.
It is the vanguard of the ant tribe and is known as the spider ant.
The forelimbs carry a deadly virus that is highly contagious. After infection and death, the corpse decomposes rapidly and produces a type of mold that causes irreversible damage to the sentinel's mental body. Therefore, swarms of spider ants have always been a troublesome problem.
Jiang Wenxing was lost in thought when he suddenly felt an itch on his fingers. He looked down and saw that the little mouse was affected by him and seemed even more depressed than he was.
Sitting by the well, gazing at the sky with melancholy, beady eyes, her pink tail occasionally brushed against Jiang Wenxing's hand.
Jiang Wenxing still couldn't sense any connection between himself and the spiritual entity, but why did the spiritual entity appear in the first place?
Thinking about it carefully, the little mouse always appeared when Jiang Wenxing's emotions were fluctuating greatly.
Since Jiang Wenxing cannot communicate with it in two directions, does that mean that its spiritual body judges his mental state and decides whether to appear by observing his facial expressions?
Jiang Wenxing seemed to be deep in thought, but before he could figure it out, the little mouse disappeared with great vigilance.
The shadow of Jiang Wenxing's attempt to physically destroy him was still too heavy.
However, these things should be done slowly and cannot be rushed.
Jiang Wenxing cheered himself up, regained his spirits, and energetically went into the kitchen to help. Although his hands were injured, he could run around relaying messages, saving the cooks the trouble of running back and forth.
Moreover, Jiang Wenxing was highly educated and cultured, and he was always open and honest with his colleagues in the cooking squad.
Jiang Wenxing did not think that the soldiers in Kush were uncultured, peasants, or unreasonable. On the contrary, he felt that the comrades here had a strong thirst for knowledge and a proper attitude towards learning.
Jiang Wenxing lent the books he brought to everyone for free, so his empty little room became lively during break time.
At first, there were only one or two people, and they were quite embarrassed. As soon as Jiang Wenxing showed the slightest displeasure, they would slip away.
But in the end, the thirst for knowledge overcame shyness. Once the first person was willing to stay and read and learn, the second, the third, and naturally, more and more people joined in.
In his past life, Jiang Wenxing had her in his heart.
He felt that he was different. He had grown up and studied so hard, but if he couldn't live a life of luxury and enjoy life, then what was the meaning of his existence?
He doesn't want to help others; he doesn't want to be a bad person, nor does he want to be a good one.
Therefore, he disdains and would never do such things.
He himself came from a poor background, yet he looked down on farmers who toiled in the fields. He despised migrant workers who were covered in sweat and didn't pay attention to personal hygiene. Couldn't those people smell it or see it themselves? Why couldn't they go to a hotel, get a proper shower?
He feels ashamed and embarrassed when he thinks about those thoughts and ideas now.
It's ridiculous that he doesn't treat others as human beings, and doesn't treat people as human beings.
But it was those people he looked down upon who stood up for him, making him feel heartbroken and awakening him to the truth.
Jiang Wenxing felt that he was still not that noble, and he dared not demand that of himself, fearing that he could not do it.
He now only does what he wants to do and what he can do.
The first person to borrow a book from him was an older ordinary soldier. Faced with those brand-new books, he was at a loss, not knowing how to turn the pages, and he hesitated, scratching his head and not daring to move.
Jiang Wenxing asked him what book he wanted to borrow. He hesitated for a long time before looking at the new red-covered book and saying shyly, "That book, 'The Quiet Lake.'"
Jiang Wenxing handed it to him, and he smiled, but didn't take it out. He sat down in the chair and carefully turned to the first page.
The next day, after finishing his work in the mess hall, Jiang Wenxing returned to his dormitory and looked in surprise at the two javelin-like soldiers waiting at the door.
Jiang Wenxing inserted the key and turned around: "Here to borrow a book?"
The soldier's eyes were wide open like copper bells, and his cheeks trembled as if he had a dart stuffed in his mouth that would pop out at any moment.
Jiang Wenxing coughed twice, opened the door, and pulled back the curtains with a whoosh, revealing two neatly stacked rows of new books that gleamed in the sunlight.
However, since some soldiers didn't recognize the words in the book, and Jiang Wenxing didn't bring a dictionary, he occasionally had to act as the dictionary. Some soldiers would also discuss the articles with him. As they talked, it turned into him lecturing on the blackboard and the soldiers listening below.
Jiang Wenxing brought a lot of books with him. After digesting his memories from his previous life, he exchanged all the unnecessary supplies for various kinds of books on his way here.
This means that if his knowledge is not broad enough or his expertise is not deep enough, he will easily become exhausted and helpless in the face of all kinds of problems.
Fortunately, he is currently able to cope with the situation and will not find himself in a predicament where he is completely clueless or at a loss.
However, what he cared about most was the vegetable garden, and he stayed up late every night worrying about it.
But in the eyes of others, Jiang Wenxing's image has undergone a subtle change.
Jiang Wenxing is clearly a self-respecting, overly self-respecting egoist. He is indifferent to others, aloof, and has very high expectations of himself.
But he seems to have changed his ways now.
Arno wouldn't believe it if you said he had no other desires.
Over the years, the guides' attitude towards Kush has been subtle, clearly distinguishing between their own things and Kush's things. Jiang Wenxing must have done this to win the favor of the leaders of the Kush outpost.
Arno felt that Jiang Wenxing's scheming might be deeper than he thought.
Author's Note:
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