Chapter 23: A Rookie Dares to Hit a Veteran? Outrageous!

"Stop!"

Bang! The door was kicked open.

Xu Da froze completely, the stool he'd half-raised hanging motionless in the air.

Zhang Jiantao strode in, eyes blazing with fury. He swept a glance across the room, then fixed his glare on Xu Da. "Put it down!"

Thud!

The stool hit the floor.

Every last shred of Xu Da's rage evaporated in that instant.

He stood ramrod straight, suddenly at a loss, looking for all the world like a child who'd been caught doing something wrong.

Wang Yong pointed at himself and shouted, "Company Commander, Political Instructor — the Squad Leader hit me! Look what he did to me — I'm bleeding from the nose!"

"Shut up!"

Zhang Jiantao glanced at Wang Yong's injuries, then turned to Lin Hui. "Get him to the infirmary first. As for the rest of you — I'll deal with you later."

"Yes, sir!"

Lin Hui hurried to Wang Yong's side. Together with Erhu, he helped Wang Yong to his feet and guided him toward the door.

As they passed Xu Da, Lin Hui hesitated, then finally spoke up. "Company Commander, it was me who split the Squad Leader's head open. About this matter—"

Zhang Jiantao glared at him. "Shut your mouth! I'll investigate and find out what happened. Think you're showing off by speaking up? Get out of here!"

Lin Hui swallowed the rest of his words.

He looked at Xu Da's blank, dazed expression, and without quite knowing why, felt a pang of guilt.

Originally, he'd just wanted to coast along for two years and go home.

But he hadn't expected that his own selfishness would stir up so much trouble.

Perhaps he never should have given Xu Da hope — only to destroy it with his own hands.

Lin Hui sighed and helped Wang Yong out of the room.

Zhang Jiantao fixed Xu Da with a cold stare. Political Instructor Wang Hai waved a hand at the remaining soldiers. "Everyone out."

The others fled as if granted a pardon, scrambling out as fast as their legs could carry them. None of them wanted to get caught in the crossfire.

Wang Hai turned and closed the door, then walked up to Xu Da, his expression heavy with disappointment. "Xu Da, look at yourself. I've told you before — don't bring the habits from your regular unit into the Recruit Company."

"Leading soldiers today is different from the old days. You have to use the right methods. You have to connect with them on a personal level."

"That old way of doing things — hitting people at the drop of a hat — is outdated."

Xu Da said, aggrieved, "Political Instructor, weren't we beaten when we were recruits too? Back then they always said that when a veteran hit you, it meant they cared about you — that if they stopped bothering to hit you, that's when you should worry—"

"Shut up!"

Zhang Jiantao bellowed again, and Xu Da finally fell silent.

Zhang Jiantao stared at him, seething with frustration. "Do you have any idea what a critical moment this is?"

"Your assessment scores were already terrible. Your chances of staying on were already shaky — but I was still trying to find a way to keep you here."

"Now you've gone and hit someone. The whole Recruit Training Regiment is going to hear about this in no time. How am I supposed to keep you after this? And you beat the man black and blue — you never even did that to anyone back in your regular unit, did you?"

"Tell me — how am I supposed to go and beg anyone to keep you now?"

A flicker of regret crossed Xu Da's eyes. "Company Commander, Political Instructor — I know I was wrong. I lost my head just now, lost control for a moment. I'll — I'll go apologize to them, try to get their forgiveness. Please, think of something, find a way—"

Zhang Jiantao waved him off, his expression grave. "I've warned you more times than I can count — keep that temper of yours in check, stop dragging your regular-unit habits in here."

"But you? You let every word I said go in one ear and out the other. And now, right when the army is cutting numbers — you've walked straight into the line of fire."

Xu Da's eyes reddened. "Company Commander — please, give me one more chance."

Zhang Jiantao looked at his pitiful expression and let out a long sigh. "I gave you chances. You didn't take them. What's left now is up to fate."

He gave Xu Da a firm pat on the shoulder, then turned and walked out.

Xu Da stood rooted to the spot, eyes full of confusion, as still as a statue.

Wang Hai looked at him with a mixture of pity and regret. "Xu Da, oh Xu Da — you're a good soldier. Your military skills are solid across the board, and you've trained up plenty of outstanding men. But your mind is just too rigid — you can't bend."

"We've known all along about what's been going on between you and those two soldiers."

"Both the Company Commander and I warned you, more than once — don't treat them like tools, don't push them too hard, and above all, don't raise your hand against them."

"But you—"

He shook his head and sighed. "Haih… Alright. I'll see what else the Company Commander and I can do. Reflect on yourself, and wait for the organization to hand down its decision."

After Wang Hai left, Xu Da was alone in the room.

He stood there in a daze for a long time, then dropped heavily to the floor, both hands clutching his head.

In that moment, a flood of images surged through his mind.

Once, he too had had a good Squad Leader — one who never looked down on him for being slow, never gave up on him, but instead guided him patiently and led by example.

So how had he ended up like this?

Doing whatever it took to stay on, to earn his honors, by any means necessary.

He pounded his own head with his fists, tears of remorse falling without him even noticing. "You're such a Bastard!"

* * *

In the infirmary, a medic was bandaging Wang Yong's wounds.

Chen Erhu looked on with watery eyes. "The Squad Leader really went hard on you — look at the state you're in. Yong Bro, you're not going to end up brain-damaged, are you?"

Wang Yong spat. "You might go brain-dead, but I won't. I'm sharp as a tack."

Lin Hui stood to the side and hadn't said a word, his expression unusually grave.

Wang Yong looked at him. "Hui Bro, why aren't you saying anything? And another thing — that old bastard hit me, so why were you just now speaking up for him?"

Before Lin Hui could answer, Wang Yong let out a sharp yelp of pain.

He glared furiously at the medic. "You — hey, easy! Can't you be a little gentler with the wounded?"

The medic snorted coldly. "Rookie, can't even handle a little pain, and you dare get into a fight with your Squad Leader? Thought you were tough, did you? Scared of a little pain now?"

Wang Yong's eyes practically shot flames. "Comrade Medic, let me be clear — he hit me. I didn't hit him. I didn't even touch the hem of his uniform!"

The medic scoffed. "If a veteran could get beaten by you, would he even deserve to be called a veteran?"

He glared at Wang Yong. "The way I see it, you had it coming. Soldiers like you — once you're assigned to a regular unit, the veterans will line up to knock some sense into you."

"For troublemaker soldiers like you who won't follow orders and just break discipline — hitting you is caring about you. It's educating you!"

Wang Yong's jaw dropped. "What the hell kind of logic is that? You're saying hitting people is justified? And — and they're going to gang up on us?"

He looked desperately at Lin Hui. "Hui Bro, isn't this completely unreasonable? I came here to serve, not to—"

"Alright, enough. Keep it down."

Lin Hui turned to the medic. "Is he going to be okay?"

The medic snapped his medical kit shut and said coldly, "Injuries like these are barely worse than a scraped knee. If your Squad Leader hadn't held back, you'd have a few broken bones."

Wang Yong fumed. "What, so I'm supposed to thank him now?"

The medic snorted. "You're fine. It's your Squad Leader who's in real trouble."

Lin Hui's heart sank — this was exactly what he'd been most worried about. "What's going to happen to him?"

"How would I know what happens to him? I'm not the brass up top." The medic said irritably, "But I've never once heard of a veteran and a recruit coming to blows in the Recruit Company — let alone someone ending up with a split head. This is definitely going to go all the way up to the Regiment Commander."

"Writing a self-criticism is the least of it. He could end up in the stockade, or face a formal disciplinary action."

He shook his head and sighed. "Recruits these days are getting harder and harder to handle. What a waste — a good veteran, gone just like that."

The medic turned and left. Wang Yong stood up, fuming. "Listen to what he's saying! I'm the one who got beaten, and somehow it sounds like I'm the one in the wrong!"

Lin Hui glanced at Wang Yong's injuries and sighed. "We did make some mistakes."

Wang Yong blinked. "What? What do you mean?"

Lin Hui looked at him. "We both knew the Squad Leader had pinned his hopes on the two of us — that he wanted to use our scores to secure his place and stay on."

"Yeah, I know. But wasn't he just using us?"

"He was wrong. But so were we. If we'd talked it out properly from the start instead of competing against each other in secret, maybe none of this would have happened. We gave him hope, then crushed that hope right in front of everyone."

Wang Yong suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

Chen Erhu stood to the side with a blank look on his face, not understanding a word of it.

Lin Hui said, his chest heavy, "A lot of this is on me. I just did whatever I felt like from the start, without thinking about the consequences or considering how things might play out."

He looked at Wang Yong. "How about this — let's go talk to him, apologize, own up to our part in it. Let's not let this blow up any further."

Wang Yong let out a cold laugh. "Apologize? Are you joking? He just beat me up. If you want to go, you go yourself!"

Lin Hui stood up and took a long, deep breath. "You're right. I'm the one who started all this. I should be the one to deal with it."

Wang Yong called after him several times as he walked out, but Lin Hui didn't look back.

Wang Yong turned to Chen Erhu. "Is he out of his mind? We didn't do anything wrong. If anyone should be apologizing, it's Xu Da coming to us. Erhu, am I right?"

Chen Erhu shook his head and looked at him. "I think his mind is fine. Yours is the one that's broken."

Wang Yong: "…"

* * *

Lin Hui walked back to the dormitory and froze the moment he pushed the door open.

A few soldiers were sitting inside, but Xu Da was nowhere to be seen.

His bunk had been stripped clean — even his toothbrush and toothpaste were gone.

"Where's the Squad Leader?"

Ma Xiaoshan stood up. "The Political Instructor took him away just now."

Lin Hui's mind went blank with a sudden buzz. It was over — this had really blown up.

He immediately ran toward the company headquarters and knocked on the Company Commander's office door. "Reporting!"

A cold grunt came from inside. "Enter."

Lin Hui stepped in and saluted. "Company Commander, about our Squad Leader—"

Zhang Jiantao cut him off immediately. "Save it. He's already been sent back to his original unit."

Lin Hui said apologetically, "Company Commander, this isn't entirely the Squad Leader's fault. I bear a great deal of responsibility — it was because I—"

Zhang Jiantao glared at him. "Enough! I know all about the business between you lot. And I can see it plain as day — you, kid, never wanted to be a soldier in the first place."

Lin Hui fell silent.

Zhang Jiantao stepped up to him and stared him down. "You've got real talent — ability that far surpasses the average person, and a level of military aptitude that's off the charts. You should be a fine soldier."

He jabbed a finger hard into Lin Hui's chest. "But whether you look at the surface or dig deeper, there's not a single thing about you that looks like a soldier."

Lin Hui didn't argue. He just wanted to get out of this godforsaken place as soon as possible and go live the good life.

He looked the Company Commander in the eye and said earnestly, "Company Commander, the main responsibility for this lies with me. Is there any way to go easier on the Squad Leader?"

Zhang Jiantao said coldly, "Don't say another word. What's done is done. You're all in the wrong — the recruit doesn't act like a recruit, and the veteran doesn't act like a veteran."

"When you do something wrong, you face the consequences. No one can take that from you."

He looked at Lin Hui. "Go back. Your disciplinary action isn't going anywhere either — wait for the result. Now get out!"

Zhang Jiantao turned and sat back down in his chair. Seeing that Lin Hui still hadn't moved, he slapped the desk and barked, "Did you not hear me say get out?"

"Yes, sir." Lin Hui gave a helpless salute and left the office.

On the way back, he passed the track, where recruits and veterans were mixed together playing football.

Every face was lit up with a smile, warm and easy.

There was no trace of the rigid hierarchy that had defined their days before.

In this moment, they looked for all the world like brothers.

Lin Hui felt a suffocating weight pressing down on him. The Company Commander's words kept echoing in his head: "You've got talent — but whether on the surface or inside, you don't look like a soldier."

He let out a long, heavy sigh. "I'm already wearing the uniform. If I'm not a soldier, what am I? What does it even mean to be a soldier?"

Watching the easy camaraderie on the track, he felt an unexpected flicker of envy.

Bathed in the glow of the setting sun, his mind churning with thoughts he couldn't quite sort out, he walked back toward the dormitory building in a daze.

* * *

Division Commander's office.

Lü Qingsong shot to his feet. "What did you say? A recruit and a veteran came to blows — and someone ended up with a split head?"

On the other end of the phone, Zhou Zhongyi said with a pained laugh, "I'm sorry, Division Commander. I haven't paid close enough attention to what's been happening below me, and that's what led to this serious incident. I request disciplinary action!"

Lü Qingsong drew a deep breath. "You just said — the recruits involved in the fight — what were their names again?"

"Lin Hui, Wang Yong, and one who just got caught up in it — Chen Erhu."

"How badly are they hurt?"

"Only the one called Wang Yong took a beating. The others are fine. They've been seen by the medic — nothing serious, no broken bones."

Hearing that, Lü Qingsong quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

Good — Lin Hui was unharmed. Otherwise he'd have no way to explain things to his old superior.

Zhou Zhongyi hesitated a moment. "That said, the recruit named Lin Hui did split the veteran's head open. There was blood."

Lü Qingsong frowned. "That kid's got some nerve — actually cracking his Squad Leader's skull open. Absolutely outrageous!"

Zhou Zhongyi explained, "I've already looked into it. This recruit didn't do it on purpose — it happened unintentionally during the altercation—"

Lü Qingsong cut him off. "No matter the reason, raising your hand is wrong. Everyone who was involved in the fight gets disciplined — not a single one gets off."

"This is the army, not a marketplace, and certainly not a place for brawling!"

"Veteran or recruit, everyone is treated the same. Break the rules, and you will be punished — no exceptions."

"The veteran is yours to handle. As for the three recruits — I'll think about how to deal with them."

Zhou Zhongyi nodded. "Yes, sir! Division Commander — and my own disciplinary action?"

Lü Qingsong waved a hand. "Forget it. This isn't on you. Go do your job."

Click. He hung up the phone and sat back down, shaking his head with a wry smile. "A recruit in the Recruit Company daring to hit a veteran — this kid's got an even worse temper than his old man."

"Lin Hui, don't blame me for not helping you. You've stirred up this big a mess — if your father finds out I let you off without a punishment, I'll be the one in trouble."

He thought it over, then sighed. "Looks like there's only one way to handle this…"