Chapter 16: The Duel Concludes

The next morning, all the new recruits from the division headquarters gathered in the grand auditorium.

Under the watchful eyes of the division leaders, Su Yang received the certificate for first place in the comprehensive new recruit competition.

Although Xiwa didn’t win any awards, he performed well, ranking within the top ten—making him one of the top ten new recruits in the entire division.

In the New Recruit Company of the Meritorious Regiment, apart from Su Yang and two others, he was the strongest.

As for Su Yang’s third-class merit award for winning the competition, it was not presented that day.

Su Yang was a bit puzzled by this, but Company Commander Song quickly explained that all awards for merit in the recruit company would be given at the New Recruit Training Summary Conference a few days later.

That event was also the honorable occasion for all new recruits to be officially ranked, making it the most appropriate time for awarding merits and honors.

After leaving the auditorium and preparing to board the trucks back to the regiment, the new recruits suddenly erupted into a great commotion.

“Su Yang, look! Female soldiers!” Xiwa, usually honest and simple-minded, excitedly pointed towards a corner and said to Su Yang.

Su Yang looked up and saw a platoon of female soldiers marching in formation toward the division dining hall.

The new recruits, who hadn’t seen women for three months, all fixed their gazes on the female soldiers and were reluctant to look away. Even Su Yang couldn’t help but glance twice.

But Su Yang was no ordinary fresh recruit; he had already tasted the joys of life. With his young and vigorous body, he was diligent even in washing his own clothes.

After a couple of looks, Su Yang stopped staring. The women were simply average in appearance; it was only the uniform that made them seem more charming.

“What are you all staring at? Get on the trucks quickly!”

Company Commander Song, noticing the unusual excitement among the recruits, glared fiercely, causing them to quickly climb onto the trucks without further delay.

Song then went to the driver’s cabin, and the truck drove toward the division headquarters gate.

The recruits began whispering among themselves again.

“Hey, do you guys know which unit those female soldiers are from?” one recruit asked excitedly.

Everyone shook their heads. Seeing Su Yang leaning against the back of the truck without speaking, Xiwa asked him, “Su Yang, since you’re a high school graduate and know so much about the military, do you know where those female soldiers are from?”

Xiwa’s question drew everyone’s attention to Su Yang. After three months of training, they all knew what kind of person stood out the most in the recruit company.

Su Yang, feeling a bit annoyed, answered, “What other units could they be from? Either the division hospital, the division headquarters, or the regiment headquarters also has female soldiers.”

“What? Su Yang, you’re saying our regiment has female soldiers too? We’ve been training here together, why haven’t we seen any?”

The recruits were astonished; they had never expected the regiment to have female soldiers.

“Nonsense. We train every day and don’t have the privilege to roam around. Besides, all the female soldiers stay inside the regiment compound. Of course, you wouldn’t have seen them,” Su Yang whispered while glancing toward the driver’s cabin.

“Really? So when we get assigned to our units, will we get to see female soldiers?”

Xiwa asked excitedly.

Su Yang looked at Xiwa and teased, “What, Xiwa? Looking for a wife already?”

Embarrassed, Xiwa replied in dialect, “I’m just curious. My family said they would introduce me to a wife, and I think the girls in my village are quite pretty.”

Seeing his silly expression, Su Yang burst out laughing. “Didn’t expect it. Looks like you might be the first among us recruits to find a wife! Ha ha ha!”

Blushing, Xiwa whispered, “Actually, Xiaozhuang is the one. He joined the army just for his girlfriend.”

“Yeah, Xiaozhuang,” Su Yang said. “That guy is an art student. Even without Xiaoying as his girlfriend, I doubt he’d have trouble finding one in the army.”

“Su Yang, you haven’t answered if we’ll actually see female soldiers once we get to our units?”

Startled from his thoughts, a recruit interrupted Su Yang.

Clearing his mind, Su Yang replied, “That depends on where you’re assigned. If you go to the regiment’s communications platoon or the motor maintenance squad, you’ll probably see them often. But if you’re assigned to a company stationed outside, you might not encounter any female soldiers for years.”

“Ah! I want to go to the motor maintenance squad!”

The recruits groaned and voiced their desires.

Su Yang shook his head silently. He knew that those in the truck were the best among the recruits, and the combat companies were likely to snatch them up, so the chances of going to the regiment headquarters were slim.

Xiwa, however, still had a good chance. If he were assigned to the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company, he might very well meet female soldiers.

After all, the Night Tiger Reconnaissance Company was directly under the regiment headquarters, always stationed wherever the regiment was.

…

Back at the New Recruit Company, Su Yang was once again lavishly praised by Company Commander Song and the political instructor in front of all the recruits. During mealtime in the mess hall, they even pulled him to sit at their table, a treatment that made the other recruits envious.

After two days of normal training, Zhuang Yan finished his confinement and returned to the class to participate in the new recruit’s unit assignment assessment.

Following the completion of the training assessment, Su Yang saw Company Commander Song call several squad leaders over. Minutes later, Zheng Sanpao returned to the first company dormitory carrying a large bag.

“First company, everyone gather here!” Zheng Sanpao’s expression was solemn as he called all the first company members out of their rooms and down to the mirror near the dormitory building.

“Squad leader, are these our service uniforms?” Xiwa was the first to ask, curiosity evident in his voice.

“Yes, these are the service uniforms and rank insignia that you will wear from now on. I’m handing them out to everyone,” Zheng Sanpao said as he opened the bag and began distributing the clothes.

The rank awards ceremony was scheduled for the next day, so the uniforms and insignia had to be issued in advance.

“Su Yang, this is yours.”

Su Yang took the uniform and insignia from Zheng Sanpao with solemnity. Unlike before, he was now excitedly examining every part of the uniform and insignia.

He had thought about and prepared for the moment he could wear this service uniform for a long time. Tomorrow, he would finally be able to wear it every day.

After handing out all the uniforms, Zheng Sanpao looked sternly at everyone.

“Take good care of these. From now on, you are real soldiers. No matter where you go, as long as you wear this uniform, you must embody the spirit and discipline of a soldier. Understand?”

“Understood!” the first company recruits responded loudly.

“Good. Watch carefully as I demonstrate how to properly wear the uniform and insignia.”

Zheng Sanpao nodded satisfactorily, then stood before the mirror and explained the correct way to wear the uniform and how to display the rank insignia, then instructed everyone to try it on in their rooms.

After everyone had tried on their uniforms, Zheng Sanpao asked them to take off their insignia and hand them back to him.

“Squad leader, aren’t we supposed to wear these? Why are you collecting them?” Xiwa asked, puzzled.

“You’re not authorized to wear them yet. You’ll only be allowed to wear them after you take the oath at tomorrow’s rank awarding ceremony. For now, I’m collecting them to prevent anyone from carelessly losing them overnight,” Zheng Sanpao explained, clearly understanding their thoughts.

“Oh, that makes sense!” Xiwa exclaimed, enlightened.

As for Su Yang, he picked up the newly issued leather shoes and began polishing them.