Chapter 112: Chapter 111: Strange Punishments and Buying a TV

Here, they encountered a problem with the venue. The fastest occupied the closest spots, while those slower had to drag their tarps to a farther place to shake them out and dry them. There was even an old soldier who directly reached out to lift a new recruit’s tarp… the recruit immediately raised his hand to report a violation…

Bullying new recruits by old soldiers is an age-old issue, but doing it so blatantly during a competition… even fellow old soldiers couldn’t stand it.

The person was naturally judged guilty and lost the qualification to compete.

Ling Chengyan waved his hand, and a few old soldiers rushed up to pull the person down. The new recruits didn’t even have to take action.

With the lesson from the first group, the participants in the second group learned from the experience. Some simply didn’t compete for the same spot but directly dragged their tarps to a spacious area, shook them out, folded them, and sped through, earning themselves the second place in the group.

With the experience of the first two groups, the participants in the third and fourth groups were even more confident, each competing earnestly, and no one dared to do anything sneaky.

After the four groups had completed their contests, Ling Chengyan announced the results and then declared, “…Two comrades violated the competition rules, engaged in unfair competition, and lost their qualification with no results. However, we adhere to the principle of not giving up on any comrade, and give the two comrades another chance to correct their mistakes. But, I haven’t decided on a method for their punishment. Do comrades have any good suggestions?”

When the question was raised, everyone in the lineup, whether old soldier or new recruit, became excited. Except for those two punished old soldiers.

“Punish them by making them fetch hot water.” That was relatively lenient.

“Punish them by making them fold the blankets for everyone.”

“Punish them by making them clean the dormitory!”

“Punish them by making them wash clothes for everyone!”

“…Punish them by making them wash socks for everyone!”

The suggestions gradually took a bizarre turn.

“Punish them by making them clean the toilets…”

“Punish them by making them shovel manure!”

“Punish them by making them shovel pig manure…”

Ling Chengyan listened with a smile, decisively shook his head upon hearing this suggestion, “This I really cannot do.”

“Then punish them by making them shovel manure!” Liu Xianghu laughed and shouted.

The punished two were so angry they could bite, “Liu Xianghu, don’t fall into my hands in the future!”

“Hehe, I’ll beg the platoon leader not to assign me to any mission with you in the future.” Liu Xianghu laughed, fearless.

Ling Chengyan shook his head with a smile, “That depends on whether I’m in a good mood.”

“Platoon leader!” Liu Xianghu shouted.

The rest laughed uproariously, with no sense of camaraderie at all.

Finally, Ling Chengyan synthesized everyone’s suggestions and punished the two by having them wash socks for the entire platoon for a week.

“Platoon leader!” shouted one person, grieved and indignant.

The other was calm, tugging on his comrade and whispered, “Just be content, it’s better than washing clothes.”

If it were changing to washing clothes for a platoon of dozens of people, how huge would that pile be? Just washing socks, the volume is indeed much smaller.

The cause that triggered the competition, the movie tickets were distributed, and everyone found that everyone had one, including the two punished who could also go to the movies.

Yet after the commotion, surprisingly few realized this after getting their movie tickets.

Since there were enough movie tickets, what was the competition for?

Was it just to liven up the atmosphere, or, create competitive pressure? Unwittingly breaking the old soldiers’ slick arrogance, so they stand truly on par with the new recruits?!

In the afternoon, according to the new roster, the old soldiers moved from their old dormitories to new ones, and naturally, there were inevitable collisions and adjustments. But because of Ling Chengyan’s competition that morning, the old soldiers curbed a lot, avoiding any major incidents.

After dinner, Ling Chengyan came over and led the soldiers to the entrance of the auditorium, lining up to enter the venue and seating at designated spots.

Little Apricot led Little Shi Tou shakily over, with Little Shi Tou hanging a little pouch around his neck, inside were small round cookies Ling Chengyan bought from Hai City.

Little Apricot carried a small cloth bag diagonally, inside were candies and roasted peanuts.

The two children, big and small, ran over, Little Shi Tou pounced onto Ling Chengyan’s lap, extending his little hands for a hug.

Once seated, the soldiers could relax a bit, not running around, not shouting loudly as there was no one to impose constraints.

Zhang Wanxiang, seated with two people in between, waved at Little Apricot and Little Shi Tou, “Come over, come over, Uncle has delicious things here.”

“I brought some.” Little Apricot laughed and tilted her head with a smile.

She had gone hungry before, vividly recalling the hard life in the village back home where kids rarely got snacks. Though Zhang Wanxiang and Wu Qingyun were good to her and her brother, their mother had said these two needed to save money to marry, and their allowances shouldn’t be squandered.

Little Shi Tou didn’t remember things from back home but imitated his sister, nodding his big head, “I have.”

Then, he wobbled over, digging out two small round cookies from the pouch around his neck, holding them up with his little hands in front of Zhang Wanxiang, “Uncle, eat! Delicious!”

Zhang Wanxiang’s face turned red with excitement, taking a bite of a small round cookie and then holding up a few hawthorn berries he had in his hand to Little Shi Tou.

These hawthorn berries were ones he picked while strolling through an orchard yesterday during his rest, fallen from the treetop.

The hawthorn berries had gone through frost but still remained red and full, presenting a very appealing look.

Little Shi Tou happily took the berries back to Ling Chengyan, “Mama, fruits.”

Ling Chengyan smiled and patted his big head, “Did you thank Uncle?”

Little Shi Tou turned his head and shouted to Zhang Wanxiang, “Thank you, Uncle.”

Zhang Wanxiang dared not speak loudly, just gestured his hand with a smile.

The movie began to play, and the lights in the auditorium dimmed, conversations softened, and everyone’s eyes fixated on the screen.

Although it wasn’t the first time watching a movie, Ling Chengyan was still very curious about this novelty.

Little Shi Tou, still young, couldn’t understand the movie, sat on Ling Chengyan’s lap but soon curled up in her arms and fell asleep.

Ling Chengyan wrapped him in his little monkey coat, ready to take the child home.

Wang Liansheng reached over to take over the little one, “I’ll send him home, you continue watching.”

Ling Chengyan handed over Little Shi Tou without hesitation, “Give him half a bottle of milk when you get home.”

Wang Liansheng agreed, bowing and bending, and carried the child out of the auditorium.

Seated on the other side, Liu Caixia moved one seat closer, leaned beside Ling Chengyan, and whispered, “Little Wang is quite thoughtful.”

Ling Chengyan raised her eyebrows slightly and then nodded with a smile, “I’m often on business trips, really lucky to have him.”

By the time the film ended, it was already half past nine. Ling Chengyan watched as the squad leaders took their people back, she too carried a stool in one hand and held Little Apricot with the other, heading home. Little Rain followed on the other side, carrying the stools for both herself and Little Apricot.

“Mama, Hu Nana’s family in our class bought a TV, said they can watch it every night like watching movies at home.” Little Apricot said, tones tinged with unmistakable envy.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep