After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

Chapter 436: Chapter 354: Starting Already As Soon as I Arrive?

The people upstairs had loud voices, making a racket in high spirits.

Even Fang Huai could hear them.

Unfortunately, his hearing wasn’t enhanced, so he vaguely only heard something about a "wind port."

Hehe, these guys are interested in doing business too?

Or are they talking about stock trading?

In recent years, the "wind port" has certainly been the Internet! You make money off anything you buy!

Coming from the future and being somewhat set in his ways, he didn’t remember that Lei Jun hadn’t yet uttered the phrase "Even pigs will fly if they stand at the wind port."

In the future, everyone was looking for a "wind port."

But at present, the term "wind port" wasn’t an economic term; it represented something very dangerous.

Disturbed, Fang Huai exited the system, sighed deeply, placed his feet against the wall under the table, and tilted back his chair, swaying as he pondered.

Damn, it’s too expensive.

The proficiency levels for those subjects start at 20 points of military merit value, with almost no practical use in daily life. Yet, firefighting skills are clearly more expensive than other skills. Perhaps the system doesn’t want it to be too easy for me to slack off; I’ll have to practice myself.

Well, most subjects still require substantial physical ability to support them, especially the recent rise of the Ironman Quadrathlon. It’s definitely a compulsory subject in the Grand Martial Arts Competition, notorious for torturing and crippling participants. Practicing physical fitness will do, and I’ll worry about skills later.

...

At four o’clock in the afternoon, a few people finally arrived.

They came quietly.

The brigades from each General Team didn’t necessarily arrive together, as some detachments were far apart, probably taking local transport to Chongqing and setting off on their own.

Apart from Fang Huai, almost all of the arrivals were veterans from various training units. They all knew the rules. When training abroad, it’s better to arrive late than early. Those who arrive early can find a place to rest first and enjoy the brief freedom before reporting in on time.

On the first day, there was almost no arrangement, and people from different units could boast and share their "intelligence" or just chat idly.

The courtyard door was open, and a few people seemed to have come directly from their unit, dressed not in civilian clothes but in camouflage uniforms. Upon entering, they looked around before being led this way by Li Kui who had emerged from the office.

"You’re number 2. Once you’re here, there’s no distinction of service length or rank, just call others by their numbers! Take off your epaulets for exchange, and give me your chest badges!"

"You’re number 3!" freёwebnovel.com

"You’re number 4!"

"Number 5!"

"You’re assigned to Squad One, find a bed for yourself!"

The voices got closer and closer.

It was now five o’clock, and the room was even darker. The first person to come in didn’t hesitate for a moment and reached out to feel the wall.

"Click."

The person paused, then again.

"Click."

Fang Huai said with a laugh, "Stop pressing, there are no lights."

The man sounded puzzled, "What the hell... brother, is the light bulb broken?"

Fang Huai shook his head, "There are no lights at all."

The person behind him pushed him, "Go in, it looks like this training team is up to some tricks again."

"I’m really fed up, finding such a place that’s even smaller than our old squadron."

"Not bad, right? It’s about the same as our old county squadron."

The newcomers looked around and then casually put their camouflage bags on the table and sat on the beds.

Fang Huai was surprised by their conversation. These people had strong adaptability and seemed to have no intense complaints.

But then again, those who have become old soldiers might have been stationed in squadrons with worse facilities and conditions.

It was he who had just been thinking about adapting better than others, but it seemed the others might have already been well adapted.

"Hey, brother, when did you get here?" asked the person leading the group.

"This morning."

"Which General Team are you from?"

"Guizhou."

"Oh... no wonder, you left early, right? Guizhou is pretty close. We just came from Guizhou... passing through Chishui at noon, right? First time coming to Chongqing for training? So early."

Fang Huai turned around, smiled, "I’ve been here for training for 20 years, I’m from Chongqing. I came over to pick up a document for our team yesterday. Got bored this morning, so I came over. Little did I know it would be even more boring... such a large training unit, and yet such a small place, ha."

He didn’t mind initiating conversation, first to see who he could get along with, and second to find out more information.

The man immediately waved, "That’s pretty normal. For large-scale training, most of the training is conducted outside. This is just a bedroom, and you have to be isolated from others, so you have to choose a place no one uses. But some training conditions are good, like last year’s training organized by the Yunnan Team; we stayed in the Guest House, with buffets every meal, six dishes and a soup. Here... I’m afraid it’s not as fancy!"

Fang Huai’s thoughts were confirmed, and he nodded.

Truth be told, this was his first time attending external training, and he was quite unfamiliar with the procedures.

Seeing everyone in a generally harmonious mood, with no hint of one-upmanship, he thought for a bit and added:

"This is my first time attending concentration training. It must be tough, training professional skills, right?"

Upon hearing this, several people looked at him with some puzzled expressions.

"Of course, we have to train! Mainly skills training! You’ve never attended concentration training, and your first time is here?"

"Yes..."

As Fang Huai was about to speak, more people arrived outside, and Li Kui’s voice was heard again.

"You’re number 6! Here... never mind, everyone inside, come out!"

Li Kui seemed to be getting impatient and yelled toward Squad One.

The people inside exchanged looks, got up, and walked out into the courtyard.

Fang Huai was even more eager to leave, feeling a sense of relief as he stepped outside.

Damn it, I could never handle prison.

Too much vitality to even fall asleep, and utterly purposeless waiting is pure torture.

Together with Fang Huai, there were now ten people in the courtyard.

Everyone naturally arranged themselves in a line.

Li Kui loudly instructed, "First line, Sichuan General Team, followed in order by Yunnan, Chongqing, Guizhou! Hunan in the last row! Anyone who comes in after, tell them how to stand! No talking allowed!"

With that said, he turned and went upstairs.

The arrivals all sensed something was amiss as the atmosphere felt different from previous trainings.

It felt as if they were about to enforce rules on them.

All of us are old-timers here, who doesn’t understand how things work?

Sure, training is tough, but this is a temporary unit. Who are you putting on a face for?

Good soldiers are forged through hard times, but they also tend to have strong personalities. From the get-go, having everyone stand here to be punished, there was quite a bit of grumbling.

Fang Huai was actually growing impatient inside, too. They had confined him for an entire day, not allowing him to leave. This was far from the high-end training he’d expected.

But upstairs in the corridor, Captain Hu, a lieutenant colonel, stood watching over them silently, which made everyone hesitant to speak.

As people entered the courtyard and greeted those they knew, they were called into formation. The voices started to grow uncontrollable, mostly complaints about why they had to stand in the courtyard right upon arriving.

Some voices also started to complain about how shabby the environment was.

Nevertheless, other brigades’ quotas were probably quite large; the representatives from the Sichuan and Yunnan Teams likely numbered over twenty. This situation wasn’t as tight as Guizhou’s, so their expectations weren’t as high as their own teams.

Damn, even in a small brigade’s training, there’s a class divide!

"Fang Huai!"

As five o’clock approached, someone finally called for him.

As Fang Huai turned his head, he saw four men enter carrying camouflage bags.

The Guizhou Brigade had come in together. He recognized two of them, Lian Xu from Liupanshui and Wang Maofa from Bijie.

He didn’t know the other two, who were faintly inquiring, "Is that Fang Huai?"

Fang Huai felt somewhat satisfied inside.

I still command respect in my own brigade, huh!

"Come, stand over here! Wait!" Fang Huai pointed beside him and instructed.

Lian Xu walked over to him, slapped his shoulder, and without the opposition they had during the Corps Martial Arts Competition, he said with some envy, "A First Class Meritorious Service soldier, that’s impressive, why are you waiting here?"

Many people in front heard this and turned to look at Fang Huai.

A First Class Merit was a rare item even among these top-notch soldiers!

Fang Huai felt speechless. I was just about to lay low and observe the situation, and here you come, drawing all the attention to me!

Twisting his mouth, he said, "We’ve all been waiting for you! The guy upstairs said that once you arrive, we can all have dinner. You can go up there now and remind them that a company leader from the Guizhou Brigade has arrived. Comrades, let’s not stand anymore. Let’s eat."

Laughter spread through the surrounding crowd.

But soon enough, the one laying down the rules came down again.

Li Kui moved to the front of the formation and checked the time—it was exactly five o’clock. Frowning, he said:

"Yunnan is missing three! Sichuan, Chongqing Team, so close, yet there are absentees?"

No one spoke up and the ranks fell silent.

Li Kui seemed too tired to fuss over it, "The document stated five o’clock, no punctuality equals no discipline! Keep a distance of one meter front to back, thirty centimeters side to side! Yunnan, Sichuan, Chongqing Team, get down for push-ups! Don’t get up until all of your team members have arrived!

Look right!"

With just that statement, he fell silent, watching everyone.

As soon as these words were spoken, mutterings arose from the forefront.

Someone whispered under their breath.

"Hey, I’ve led soldiers for four or five years now, and I have to go through this new recruit training? So outdated."

But everyone complied and got down. The more seasoned the soldier, the less they wanted to be made an example of for defiance.

Several from the Guizhou Brigade were looking at Fang Huai.

Fang Huai knew what they meant. Now that everyone else was prostrated on the ground and only they, along with the three from the Hunan General Team, remained standing, it seemed a bit inappropriate.

Following the new recruit group’s unity protocol, if teammates were being punished, even if they weren’t penalized, they had to share the burden.

Moreover, for all Fang Huai knew, this could have been a deliberate setup to test their solidarity.

But Fang Huai felt that the time for someone to stand out was coming soon.

He remained silent and just stood there.

Every now and then, when Li Kui wasn’t looking, Fang Huai would subtly tap his foot on the ground to signal ease.

He reminded them that the people at the back still stood—they hadn’t prostrated.

Pretty patient.

Impressively patient.

As expected of elite military figures, remaining down for forty to fifty minutes without a single sign of movement.

But Fang Huai could already hear several stomachs growling with a "gurgle."

All of them were in good physical condition and used to regular meal times; hunger set in on cue.

"Emm..."

Fang Huai let out a long breath.

The breath was the focus, not the sound, as if to say without speaking, "Hey, I’m just taking a breath here. Nothing wrong with that, right?"

This slightly dissatisfied sigh echoed through to the people in front.

Damn, we’re lying down waiting, and you’re standing up waiting, yet you’re the first to get impatient?

"Report!"

Someone at the front shouted.

Fang Huai’s eyes lit up.

Here it comes.

Li Kui cleared his throat and said, "Speak!"

The man loudly declared, "Isn’t the training team supposed to have dinner on time? We’ve been chosen by our respective corps to come here and learn, not to be lectured!"

Hero.

This was the judgment in everyone’s mind.

Then, all eyes watched to see how the hero would be treated.

If they were met with insults or physical punishment, it would not be inappropriate to offer some support. For such a large training group, there had to be some standard of discipline, right?

However, Captain Hu upstairs actually clapped his hands against the second-floor railing and said:

"Don’t wait any longer, take them to dinner!"