Free Web NovelChapter 143: Chapter 99: Beasts!
A great wind roars, with clouds soaring, Special Duty heroes flex on the single bars.
"Down, eh, one!"
"Down, eh, one!"
"Line, set!"
"Turn... right, ready!"
Squad Leader Zhao, leading the team to the single and double bars, had a very distinct trailing command voice that largely represented some of the old soldiers.
This type of "command accent" wasn’t perfectly articulate, but when shouted, it carried a unique assertiveness characteristic of seasoned soldiers.
Fang Huai used to think that this was the real sound of military commands, completely different from the weak "one two one" chanted by students during military training on the playground.
However, this life Fang Huai was fortunate enough to have heard Hao Chengbin’s command voice, with clear and firm "ones" and "twos," quite spirited, pronounced in standard Mandarin, and spoken very quickly with a strong concluding tone, which had a more impressive presence than this accent.
"New recruits, come over and hold the bar! Old soldiers, you go first!"
Zhao Jinchen gave the order after forming up the team.
"Yes!" Fang Huai slapped Han Yong on the side, and the two stepped out of line and ran to the bars.
Upon grabbing the bars, they realized they were a bit wobbly.
Man, they’ve been worn down by the old soldiers!
The light green bars were actually polished smooth and shiny at the grip, slick with use.
The old soldiers in this squadron were very keen on bar exercises, even Squad Leader Fang joined in.
"We’re only doing one practice today, Zhou Yong, up!" Zhao Jinchen called out.
"Sir!" A soldier, darker than even the Chief of Staff Yang Yonghua and just as formidable, stepped out of the lineup.
Fang Huai had a clear memory of this man, who must be from Guangxi, had a heavy accent, and was nicknamed "Little Black" by a squad leader. freewebnøvel.com
The moment this man spoke up, a dog surprisingly emerged from the nearby training tower.
A three-legged dog, with only half of its left hind leg hanging in the air, but seemingly unfazed in its walking, moving rather swiftly.
All through the afternoon, Fang Huai and his friends had been in the backyard playground, and had not spotted it; there were a few dogs seen on the side of the squadron, but those were all big dogs, and they were kept in a shed.
This one, however, moved around freely.
Captain Ye Jiahong, known for his odd sayings, shouted at that moment, "Damn, Little Black! Your brother’s here to watch you on the bars!"
Laughter erupted from the ranks, even Cao Yi, who was usually serious, cracked a smile.
Someone called out, "Little White, come here!"
Fang Huai and Han Yong were somewhat astonished to see the Pekingese-faced little dog.
Damn, they have a brotherly bond? This squadron can’t really have a dog squad leader, can it?
A three-legged one at that; it certainly couldn’t be a police dog.
And yet, when Little Black the squad leader heard the Captain calling Little White his brother, he didn’t get mad but rather smiled and said to the dog:
"Little White, you’ve come. Today I have to get you a couple!"
"Woof!" The Pekingese-faced little dog seemed to understand and responded.
Zhou Yong chuckled, raised his hand to cheer, and jumped onto the bar.
The bar shook again.
Fang Huai and Han Yong, taken aback, hurriedly steadied it.
Damn, this little bar, less than two meters high, was bearing a weight it shouldn’t have to.
At this rate, one wrong move could turn it into the ninth hidden bar exercise — "Bar Breaks, Man Perishes."
"One!"
"Two!"
...
"Twenty-three!"
Zhou Yong was quite thin and seemed to do it effortlessly, in one go surpassing Fang Huai’s best score.
All four new recruits were in awe.
But after one breath, the pace began to wear down.
When he got to thirty-three, Zhou Yong seemed to have run out of steam and struggled for a while.
At that moment, a "woof" sounded.
Little White sat on the ground with one leg, raising a front paw and scratching at the air.
The lineup immediately burst into laughter, "Haha, Little Black, your brother wants you to do a few more!"
"Fine... I’ll give you two more, and then... two more!
Clenching his teeth, Zhou Yong actually managed to do four more.
Without stubbornly persisting, he let go of the bar and went to play with Little White.
Cao Yi glanced at him and said, "Thirty-seven, and moreover, the interval between the last four was too long! Little Black, your record is forty, your physical fitness has seriously declined this year!"
Zhou Yong then turned around, smiling sheepishly, "Instructor, I got a bit fatter over the New Year, but with some practice for the assessment, I’ll get back to form!"
Upon hearing this, Ye Jiahong pointed at Zhou Yong, imitating his accent as he said with feigned disappointment in Guangxi Mandarin:
"You’re relying on those forty meals, huh? Look at your same-year soldier He Zhijun!
He’s done sixty, the squadron record! Impressive!"
Another round of laughter followed.
However, this time the laughter wasn’t as unreserved as before, because after all, many in the lineup couldn’t reach the record of forty pull-ups.
Fang Huai listened, feeling a mix of amusement and embarrassment.
He had bragged about surpassing He Zhijun, but his record was only twenty, and the last one was done with a kick for assistance.
The difficulty exponentially increases as you get farther in.
Nevertheless, after the recent Core Strength Enhancement, he hadn’t had a chance to try again.
Being dropped from the group, he was even less inclined to try, preferring to wait for his best condition to face the first test.
He didn’t expect the opportunity to come so quickly.
Following that, Sun Jingwu, Hu Hongzhi, Liu Jianfeng, Zhao Jinchen, Xiong Jie...
One after another, the non-commissioned officers took their turn on the bar, showing their strength.
They did between thirty and thirty-eight, with Zhao Jinchen reaching the highest.
The pass mark for the Special Duty Team seemed to be around that number; whatever the case, you had to push past thirty on the bar.
It wasn’t until a non-commissioned officer named Huang Yong from the first period went up that the previous record was broken.
Forty-two.
Short, measuring around 1.6 meters, he demonstrated extraordinary strength on the bar, giving the bar a sharp flick after dismounting and putting pressure on Fang Huai and Han Yong who were spotting.
He even left a remark, "Instructor, this bar needs changing, it’s too shaky, can’t handle much."
A rather boastful tone.
Fang Huai was speechless inside.
It’s no wonder the bar shook with the way he was bouncing on and off it!
This guy seemed determined to become a legend who could do a "ninety" and break the bar!
Cao Yi, however, nodded and called out, "Fang Huai, Han Yong, secure the bar for the squad leaders!"
"Yes!"
No one broke the record of forty-two afterward; the highest anyone got was forty.
The Logistics Officer wasn’t there, and the lowest among the third-term non-commissioned officers, Squad Leader Fang, did twenty-six.
After Squad Leader Fang dismounted, Liu Jianfeng immediately offered some relief with a clap, saying loudly, "When Squad Leader Fang led us the year before last, he could do thirty-five! He’s really put on weight these past two years, ha!"
Everyone laughed kindly.
But Squad Leader Fang didn’t seem satisfied, waved his hand, rested for a while after dismounting, and then did another ten reps of the second-level curled lift exercise.
Cao Yi also led a round of applause, "Squad Leader Fang is in his eleventh year and still holds himself to such strict standards. His spirit is commendable!"
Everyone clapped sincerely.
Fang Huai felt a deep respect in his heart.
An eleven-year soldier, even a year ahead of Squad Leader Hao.
Although he wasn’t considered very strong among the old soldiers, the fact that he felt embarrassed after dismounting and did another set of second-level exercises showed an exemplary spirit of training.
Squad Leader Fang, on his second drop from the bar, patted Fang Huai on the shoulder, slightly out of breath, and said, "You share the same surname, Little Fang, push harder!"
Fang Huai nodded with a smile, "Thank you for the encouragement, Squad Leader!"
Squad Leader Fang gave him a thumbs-up and stepped back into the formation.
Fang Huai felt a warm sense of encouragement.
It even made him feel less resistant to Liu Jianfeng’s indiscreet defense of Squad Leader Fang just then.
He truly was a good squad leader.
However, Liu Jianfeng hadn’t thought it through, when Squad Leader Hao became the non-commissioned officer platoon leader, and the Logistics Officer got discharged, Squad Leader Fang might take over the position which wouldn’t necessarily be a bad thing.
After the non-commissioned officers had finished, it was the conscripts’ turn.
First-class soldiers were up first.
Now, Fang Huai understood why Cao Yi was so bothered.
He also realized that Zhang Yang’s words in the canteen did have some basis.
Meng Qiang, 17.
Qi Xiaohui, 16.
Chang Ming wasn’t there, but judging by his physique, he was probably at the bottom.
These results would have been adequate in a regular squadron, probably even good.
But this was the Provincial Special Duty Team.
And for Qi Xiaohui, who was in the fighting squad, to fall short against Meng Qiang from the Communication Squad really was not up to par.
Apparently aware of his own embarrassment, Qi Xiaohui looked dejected when he came down.
Wu Di, the trainee below, however, encouraged him, "Little Hui couldn’t do a single one when he got out of the formation, now he can do 16, not bad!"
The non-commissioned officers, however, remained silent.
Han Yong also felt a wave of gloom, as if seeing his own fate in the second year.
"Ha, Little Hui isn’t the worst one here, Chang Ming didn’t even show up."
Zhang Yang laughed, stepped up to the bar, and gave Fang Huai a resentful glance.
"Hold on tight to the bar!"
Before Fang Huai could reply, Cao Yi spoke again, "Zhang Yang, stop all the nonsense! If you do 35 today, I’ll admit your arrogance at noon made sense!"
Zhang Yang gritted his teeth and eyed the bar.
"Fine!"
His affirmation was just a shout to prepare.
Cao Yi crossed his arms with a smile and loudly commanded, "Up!"
Fang Huai, upon seeing that smile, suddenly realized that Cao Yi might not have completely given up on the first-class soldiers; perhaps he just wanted to stir them up.
The most targeted Zhang Yang was likely the one who had the most potential to improve.
Sure enough, he did 18 in one go, and made it to 32 before he couldn’t hold on any longer.
Not much difference from the non-commissioned officers transferred from various squadrons.
Yet Fang Huai couldn’t understand the scorn in Zhang Yang’s eyes as he came down from the bar.
That’s it?
And you’re this proud?
Do you even understand our strength?
Cao Yi seemed quite satisfied with this provocation and added fuel to the fire, "New recruits, come on! Get on the bar and show us, Fang Huai, didn’t Squad Leader Hao say you could do 18? Zhang Yang did 18 last year when he left the formation."
Yeah, right.
Instructor Cao, you like the boasting?
From 18 to 32 in a year, is the progress really that hard afterward?
The new recruits were laughing too.
You wouldn’t expect this, would you? He can do twenty!
Song Lin can do twenty as well!
Fang Huai rubbed his hands and shook his shoulders with a smile, "Instructor, that was the new recruit group’s score, I should have improved a bit during this time."
Zhang Yang sneered.
This new recruit doesn’t know what limit strength is, do you think it’s so easy to increase pull-up scores?!
"Oh? Try it out," Cao Yi lifted his chin.
"Yes!"
Fang Huai walked up to the bar, and Xiao Haishan from below came over, helping him hold the bar steady, whispering:
"Don’t worry, I’ll keep it stable for you."
Han Yong started exerting force too.
With both robust same year soldiers by his side, eager to support him fully, they pushed down hard.
The bar didn’t even shake as Fang Huai got on it.
Unity is strength.
Everyone took an interested look at Han Yong and Xiao Haishan, who were fiercely gripping the bar and didn’t care about the forthcoming result, nodding in approval.
No matter how many Fang Huai could pull, the new recruits of that year definitely won in terms of unity.
But after the suspended three seconds, Fang Huai’s performance surprised them all.
One two three four five...
Every five, he paused to breathe.
Soon, he reached 15.
On his next breath, he pushed through and hit 20!
And he didn’t stop!
Fang Huai was also enjoying the improvement in his back muscles from the core strength, performing with delight!
At twenty, Cao Yi started to count along.
"Twenty-one!"
"Twenty-two!"
...
"Twenty-five!"
Fang Huai paused, seeming a bit fatigued.
Beneath him, Han Yong and Xiao Haishan kept murmuring "Damn" while tightly holding the bar.
The atmosphere grew tense.
It was then that Squad Leader Fang spoke up from the line. ƒreewebɳovel.com
"Little Fang, give me two!"
Fang Huai, who listened to the old soldiers’ calls, responded:
"Sure! Squad Leader!"
"Twenty-six!"
"Twenty...seven!"
Cao Yi got excited too, "Fang Huai, I want two as well... No, one, just one will do!"
Seeing Fang Huai about to give out, he quickly lowered the demand.
Fang Huai’s forehead was bulging with veins, he used up his last bit of strength on one hand, desperately reaching upward with his chin, while silently counting in his mind.
Twenty-eight!
The moment he pushed himself up, he finally stopped fighting against himself.
"I also want o..." Ye Jiahong was about to cheer him on.
Too late.
Twenty-eight.
Song Lin down below, ready to be a dark horse and show off a bit, looked a bit stunned.
"Damn... We agreed on twenty, you beast..."
