Free Web NovelChapter 499: Chapter 400 The Pace of the Era
Tonight, we gather in celebration, singing and dancing.
This evening, we are filled with passion, our hearts swelling with excitement.
In the past year...
The baton has been passed.
As Fang Huai emerged, the cheers of the city and the sudden burst of fireworks caused a buzzing in his head.
Even the New Year didn’t excite him this much.
Three major topics tonight.
"Kobe’s popularity surpasses two US presidents"
"Beckham’s soccer performance garners no competition, soldiers indifferent"
"The old plotter opens the national teacher’s skin"
When everyone gathered outside in the square, listening to the crowd’s lingering chatter, they suddenly realized that the Americans really knew how to have fun—a president actually having to compete with a basketball superstar for popularity.
Such a scenario is unimaginable in a socialist country.
Of course, when it comes to American presidents, the unimaginable things were yet to come.
The current US president is too serious, too young; neither George W. Bush nor Obama can keep up with Old Man Joy.
"Comrades."
Cao Guangwen stood in front of the lineup holding a wooden box, his face alight with excitement.
"Thank you for your hard work. Our first mission, the opening ceremony, has been perfectly completed!
I hope everyone will continue to make diligent efforts!
However, five comrades are about to leave our security team, and so, tonight, we want to give a gift to these five outstanding individuals!"
As Cao Guangwen spoke, he opened the wooden box, revealing five clear small boxes and took out one, shaking it.
Fang Huai saw the contents of the small box and had a complex expression on his face.
...Is this it?
Cao Guangwen took out a gold commemorative medal from inside and handed it to Fang Huai at the head of the line.
"Here, Little Fang, you’ve been waiting for this for a long time, right? I specially requested it from my superiors, to give to you in the first batch before you leave! You always wanted an honor, and this is a big one!"
Fang Huai moved his throat, but didn’t say a word.
The commemorative medal was indeed beautiful, octagonal, with the Olympic logo and the five rings.
"I hope you all will cherish it dearly! This is jointly issued by the Coordination Group for Operations and the Comprehensive Committee for Security, representing the Olympics’ gratitude!"
Fang Huai: ...
Big brother.
Not even a name inscribed, no certificate, and the replica cost is low!
This stuff will sell for 300 online in the future, with a guaranteed ten-to-one fake refund, and they directly ship eleven units! Do you know?
Yet, seeing Cao Guangwen’s solemn expression, Fang Huai didn’t feel right saying anything—after all, the man was dealing with heart disease and had already persevered at the venue for several tens of days. They had only suffered for 12 days, which was obviously expected.
Having worked here was an honor in itself.
"Thank you, leadership!"
Fang Huai carefully took it.
The others seemed far more intrigued by the gold commemorative medals than Fang Huai was.
Gold commemorative medals, eh! Can you really sink your teeth into this thing?
Such a large chunk...
Fang Huai watched the No. 3 beside him playing with his medal with surprise and really wanted to make a comment.
Olympic gold medals only have 6 grams of pure gold, and the defense gold medals awarded to soldiers after 30 years are gold plated—what the hell are you dreaming of?
If there was even a little bit of real gold in these medals being handed out by the box, I would’ve shown it off with instant noodles today!
Don’t bite it—there are too many patterns, be careful the metal edges catch on your teeth!
After the medals were distributed, everyone stood in front of the Bird’s Nest for a group photo.
"Tian Qi!"
Everyone called out a slogan that would gradually disappear with time, striking what they thought was a cool pose for posterity.
After the camera flashed, Fang Huai turned back not to the Bird’s Nest he had become so familiar with, with its 667 fire hydrants, 238 evacuation pathways, and 50,000 sprinkler heads.
But to a new era.
The last major event of 2008 had passed.
He was grateful to re-enter the year 2008.
...
The next day, in Chongqing. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
On the return trip, the trainees from the training class once again re-evaluated the era.
The training class was truly grand, flying back on an airplane!
They knew the military rules for flying: only non-commissioned officers and junior and senior sergeants were eligible for flights on official business!
After taking China’s first high-speed train, the Beijing-Tianjin Intercity Railway that began operating on August 1, to Tianjin, they flew back to Chongqing.
This hassle was because flights from Beijing were too expensive these days, and those from Tianjin were cheaper.
What surprised them, however, was that the train was very new, with no sleeping berths, no foot odor, and, more astonishingly, it took just over half an hour to get from Beijing to Tianjin.
Beijing and Tianjin appeared close on the map, but they had felt the length of the highway trip on their way there!
Just over thirty minutes to arrive?
That little train was way too fast!
Clatter, clatter, clatter.
Listening to the familiar train noises, the speed comparison felt like Piyanping doing somersaults—one a continuous 999, the other a resounding 666.
Even the joy of flying was somewhat diminished.
After all, you can’t just land a plane wherever you wish, and nowadays, not every province has many airports. How troublesome is it to fly?
Traveling to a suburb, waiting for the plane, then from the suburb to the city center, followed by transferring vehicles—the two hours of flying experience accompanied by five hours on the ground.
But for the high-speed rail, they watched the promotional video on the train, and the future high-speed rail lines would cover most of the cities in the country!
This was the transportation the soldiers needed!
China’s territory will not shrink.
But, home can be closer.
Everyone discussed excitedly the entire way, a feeling that lasted until they arrived at the rundown Squadron.
"Go get your own camouflage bags! Then come to me to collect your cellphones and wallets!"
"Captain Hu, wasn’t it supposed to be 45 days? Has it really ended early?"
Hu Peizhou nodded: "Yes, the next batch is arriving soon. The Ministry has ordered it to end before October. I have other things to tend to and no time to dally with you all any longer. Scram!"
"Yay! We’re freed!"
Captain Hu opened the rusty iron gate and everyone cheered loudly, rushing towards their respective classes.
Then, a chorus of damnation erupted.
"F*ck, why does my camouflage bag look like this?!"
"Damn! Does this squadron have rats??"
"Fuck, my specialty goods that I brought, all eaten up!"
Hu Peizhou chuckled, "I notified everyone long ago not to bring irrelevant things. You brought it upon yourself!"
As soon as Fang Huai entered, he found two big holes had been gnawed into his camouflage bag.
Damn it, even the camouflage bag on the table got chewed! They’re so damn brazen!
It must be that a camouflage bag had food in it, and the rats found it, checking everyone’s bags one by one!
Wrong.
Totally wrong.
On the day he arrived, there were already dead rats in the corner of the wall.
These rats must have long been accustomed to rummaging through camouflage bags!
One batch after another, damn, it’s a legacy.
At that moment, Number 10 cursed and dashed out, yelling in the courtyard:
"Captain Hu! I’m getting money to buy rat poison! To exterminate these pests!"
Quite a scene.
A perfect cycle.
If you clean up the dead rats when you arrive, the next batch will probably find more dead rats in the wall corner.
...should I leave a note, warning the next batch?
Heh heh heh.
Would someone who’s been rained on give someone else an umbrella? ƒrēewebnovel.com
...
Twenty minutes later.
Hu Peizhou, holding a notebook, announced loudly.
"I told you before, the promise of meritorious service wasn’t empty words!
Below, I will announce your names and points! These are your total training scores!
After the fourth period ends, from the end of September to early October, the General Office’s internal network will display the results! According to your names and rankings, the top scorer of each period and the overall top scorer of all four periods will be awarded second-class and third-class merits, along with a formal commendation notice!
Fair, just, and transparent!
Those lagging in points should really think about why!
The content of this training, when you return, those squadrons with the necessary equipment, like Chongqing and the Sichuan General Team, can pass on and support each other!
If you lack the equipment, after the completion of the fourth period in October, we will run a two to three-day educational video conference with the Ministry to provide training in tactics and analysis, and issue notices for all detachments to study thoroughly and select some for specialized training!
For example, in diving training, the Ministry has already organized the first batch of trainees this year, and the training was successful! Soon, we will also notify the whole corps to begin contract training!
You have undergone full-time training; I hope you will set an example in the promotion of these tactics!"
Tsk, tsk all around.
What a thing, full-time... Those unaware would think we actually went to school or something.
Damn full-time wildlings.
Hu Peizhou, still in that no-nonsense attitude as the training ended, began to read out the results directly.
"Number 1, Fang Huai!"
"Present!" Fang Huai stood at attention, shouting out loud.
"Total points, 332! First place! According to our current judgment, you’re also the top scorer of the three periods! You have a great chance at that second-class merit!"
"Yes!" Fang Huai grinned and said:
"Captain Hu, no one will beat me next period, so about that second-class merit... could you issue it to me in advance?"
I’m just waiting for my rice to start cooking!
The Martial Arts Competition is about to begin, give me a second-class merit and let me enhance my core strength first!
"Heh heh."
Hu Peizhou chuckled softly, "Don’t be too cocky. Rules are rules. You also know, for the fourth period, I will be dedicated to selecting and training talent. Whether or not someone surpasses you and gets that second-class merit, it depends on..."
"Depends on my ability, I know! I’m tired of hearing that!" Fang Huai a bit exasperatedly interrupted.
Hu Peizhou smiled again, "No, it depends on your luck."
...
"I’m off!"
"Let’s stay in touch, leave me your phone number!"
"Sure! 1399981..."
A bunch of people hurriedly said goodbye.
To keep them from being delayed on the road, Hu Peizhou bought their return tickets, and the timing was quite tight.
This is one of the impressive aspects of the training course, not letting them buy their own tickets and then go to their respective detachments for reimbursement.
These training reimbursement matters are quite tedious for the soldiers.
Everyone was exchanging phone numbers.
All elite, if there’s anything in the future or they forget some tactical details, they can consult each other.
The contact list of an experienced soldier attending multiple trainings is essentially an elite firefighting directory.
The most people asked Fang Huai for his phone number, knowing that Number 1 is like a tactics recorder. Fang simply posted his own number on the First Floor wall, and nearly everyone left theirs.
But Fang Huai was different.
He stood directly in front of Hu Peizhou, hands spread.
"Give me a copy of the old soldiers’ phone directory and the scores."
After saying that, he added, "I want them for all three periods."
Hu Peizhou’s face twitched, "Send me your email, I’ll send it to you."
Fang Huai scoffed and waved dismissively.
"How backward. Everyone in the country uses QQ, and you’re still on email."
Hu Peizhou glared, "Just make sure you run your squadron well! Don’t forget what you promised the leadership!"
"I know, it’s just a leave of absence from the Military Academy, right? Besides, they want me to score full marks on the joint exam. How am I supposed to run the squadron? By the way, when is the Academy’s notice coming?"
Hu Peizhou then said sternly,
"Very soon, it will come along with the trial squad notice. In the eyes of leadership, your promotion and the trial squadron are one and the same thing. Do you understand?
They promoted you to an officer because they expect you to do good work and achieve tangible results. You can’t let this become all about formalities; the leadership will evaluate both squadrons."
"Evaluation?" Fang Huai smiled and asked, "Since both squadrons are being evaluated, which one is the experimental group and which is the control group?"
"Do your own experiments and compare with each other."
Fang Huai laughed, "I get it, feeling for stones while crossing the river, right? But I suggest, if there’s a chance, you should still send people to our squadron to learn! I’ll be generous with my teaching!"
With that, he turned around, and with a particularly carefree wave, said:
"I’m gone!"
"Heh, kid, the Olympic new era is here. Show me something new!"
"I’m so young, I can’t possibly be more outdated than you!"
