Chapter Five: The Military Song Rings Out
The girl next to Xiao He was also quite delicate, but compared to Xiao He, she was somewhat dull. Behind Xiao He was a group of students wearing famous brand-name clothing, among them was a boy wearing Valentino attire, with an arrogant expression and a condescending attitude, but in front of Xiao He, he was extremely polite. "Wow, isn't that Ouyang Li from the Ouyang family? I heard he's been chasing Xiao He for a year now, but still hasn't succeeded..." "I wish I could be Ouyang Li's girlfriend, his family is really rich!" "Xiao He's family is also very wealthy, her dad is the richest man in XL City, and Yunhua International Group is a well-known listed company internationally." The boys and girls in the cafeteria started discussing, and Wang Long roughly understood the background of these students through their discussions. It turned out that the group of people behind Ouyang Li were all from relatively wealthy families, with business connections to the Ouyang family. They usually followed Ouyang Li around, taking him as their leader. Ouyang Li had been pursuing Xiao He, which is why today's scene unfolded in the cafeteria.
It was unexpected that Xiao He didn't go to the second floor to eat, but instead found a seat on the first floor of the cafeteria and sat down. The students surrounding Ouyang Li were busy going to get food. Wang Long felt very strange, since their families were so wealthy, why didn't they go to the second floor to eat, but instead followed everyone else to the ordinary cafeteria on the first floor? He shook his head, not understanding, and after a while, the cafeteria slowly quieted down, and everyone started eating again. However, many male students kept glancing in Xiao He's direction, greatly increasing their appetite. The female students, on the other hand, frequently sent their autumn cabbage to Ouyang Li, hoping to catch his eye and rise to prominence.
A new semester is about to begin, and various high schools are organizing military training for their students. Unlike previous years, this year's military training will last for a week, after which they will participate in military training competitions organized by various departments. EN High School, as a provincial key high school, also attaches great importance to military training.
The purpose of military training is to enhance students' political awareness, inspire patriotism, carry forward the revolutionary heroic spirit, cultivate the strong willpower of hard struggle and plain living, strengthen national defense concept and organizational discipline, foster good study style and way of life, master basic military knowledge and skills.
Military training is the first lesson of the new semester. Military training teaches us how to be a person, how to endure hardship and hard work, how to face challenges, and how to grasp the scale of freedom and discipline. Military training is an opportunity for us to grow our talents, but also a challenge to us. This requires us to wholeheartedly immerse ourselves in it to learn, to temper, and to sharpen, with the goal of: strengthening national defense awareness and collectivist ideology, deeply understanding the true meaning of "establishing virtue, developing abilities, putting into practice, and creating new things"; cultivating a style of unity and mutual assistance, enhancing collective cohesion and combat effectiveness; military training can also improve self-care ability in daily life, cultivate ideological independence, and help us develop good habits of strict self-discipline... After Principal Zhang Daming's passionate speech, the enthusiastic first lesson of high school - a seven-day military training - kicked off.
There were fifty-nine students in Wang Long's first year (second semester) class, originally the standard enrollment should be fifty, but those who paid money and came in through the back door also need to be assigned to a class. So each class has a few more people. Military training is separate for boys and girls, with over thirty boys forming one team and the girls forming another team. Since they are all concentrated on the school's playground, the boys and girls are not far apart, so basically everything that happens in each team can be seen.
This is the first day of military training, with a bright blue sky and a sun like a fireball hanging in it. There isn't a single cloud or a hint of wind in the air, just the scorching sun beating down on us. All the trees stand there listlessly, as if they're about to wither away. The birds are nowhere to be seen; the grass and trees droop their heads, looking like they're on the verge of collapse. Only the cicadas keep making shrill, fragmented cries from the treetops, like a broken drum cheering on the scorching sun!
Everyone stood on the playground, first standing at attention for an hour. The team leader, Hu Long, had a stern and majestic expression on his ancient bronze-colored face, like a sharp knife. No one dared to challenge this majesty, because Gong Guang, who had just tried to challenge Hu Long's majesty, was now standing in front of the formation. The time was extended from one hour to two hours.
Suddenly, there was a loud "bang" sound, and a female student from the neighboring team fell to the ground. It turned out that a relatively weak female student had fainted due to the intense heat of the sun. The instructor quickly asked two female students from the team to send the fainted girl to the school's infirmary. As for Wang Long, such intense sunlight had no effect on him at all. However, in order not to draw attention to himself, he also used his inner strength to force out some sweat and hang it on his face. Standing under the scorching sun was nothing to him, whether it was an hour or a whole day.
The life of military training is very interesting, but also very hard. No matter who you are, the rules require participation in school military training, otherwise you will not be qualified. Those rich young masters and ladies have really encountered the most bitter things in their lives. Under the strict instructors' impartial treatment, these students who usually don't suffer much often faint or get a little sick on the playground. There's no way out, so they can only go to the infirmary. In this way, when the military training is over and it's time for the organization check, they will still be able to pass.
There was another girl in the same class as Wang Long, named Dongfang Lan, who stood out particularly. After standing under the scorching sun for an hour, not a single drop of sweat could be seen on her face, which caught Wang Long's attention. Dongfang Lan was 15 or 16 years old, with a round face like a goose egg, black eyes, rosy cheeks, short hair, and an aura of youthfulness and vitality. Her skin was crystal clear, as white as snow, and there was a small dimple on her cheek that made her look shy and lovely. She wore a green military uniform that accentuated her slender waist and full chest. Her posture was perfectly standard, just like someone from the special forces. She didn't seem to be an ordinary student at all.
The last day of military training, everyone got on a military open-top bus and went to a valley near the school. This is usually where troops stationed nearby practice shooting targets. Today's weather was particularly good, with a gentle breeze blowing against our faces, warm sunshine covering the ground, and the grass swaying in the sunlight. The students were all very excited, especially the boys, who rushed off the bus to find their instructors and grab guns to shoot targets. After all, every man has a heroic dream in his heart, hoping that one day he can wield a weapon to bring glory to his country. Although we are now in peaceful times, there is still a special feeling about guns. Everyone looked like children fondling their favorite toys, with happiness and excitement radiating from their faces.
Everyone followed the instructor's instructions, lined up in a row, and then the instructor explained the methods and techniques of shooting targets. Of course, it sounds simple, just aim and shoot, but students who haven't received professional training still made many mistakes. Some bullets hit the mountain behind the target, kicking up a cloud of yellow dust and startling birds into flight, scattering feathers everywhere. Others even hit their classmates' targets. Each student was allowed to fire three shots, with a limited number of bullets allocated. Wang Long scored five rings on his first shot, six rings on his second, and ten rings on his third. He was afraid that if he did too well, it would cause trouble, but in reality, scoring ten rings for all three shots wouldn't have been a problem. However, his current score still sparked enthusiastic applause from the crowd, and Instructor Hu Long gave him a thumbs-up: "Wang Long, great job! When I first joined the army and learned to shoot, I fired two blanks. You're really impressive to do so well on your first try!" Wang Long smiled brightly, showing off his good looks: "Thanks, instructor, it's all thanks to your teaching." Hu Long was also very pleased, patted Wang Long on the shoulder, and went off to guide other students without saying anything else.
Suddenly, a cheer came from the team of girls next to him: "Dongfang Lan, great job, three shots and ten rings!" Wang Long turned his head to look over and saw a group of girls surrounding Dongfang Lan, cheering. Dongfang Lan smiled shyly, looking very excited, which made Wang Long think that this girl was not simple, such results were definitely not something a girl who had just started shooting could achieve, what kind of person was she?
After the shooting, in the afternoon, it was the time for school leaders and military leaders to collectively inspect. When a team of students walked across the playground in neat rows, they triggered bursts of thunderous applause. Looking at this group of future hopes for the motherland, the leaders all had happy and relieved smiles on their faces.
Military training is ruthless, it can ignore the intense pain in our heels, ignore us gritting our teeth and secretly blaming the squad leader for making us stand at attention without moving a muscle in the scorching heat of 35 or 36 degrees. It can turn delicate and gentle girls into robust and powerful female soldiers who kick their legs in unison and shout "One, two, one" in loud voices; Military training is also emotional, the squad leaders' rhythmic tone has become an object of our imitation. The simple yet powerful military songs, the enthusiastic singing competitions, make us feel the silly taste of soldiers, the iron temperament, the hardness of steel, and the grandeur of mountains. There is no scheming, no moral corruption, no worldly pollution here, only the simplest and most unadorned green, our respect for soldiers, and a kind of transcendent hope from the heart.
