Chapter 23: The Crash Course That Gets You Yelled At
To prevent these miscellaneous matters from affecting the new recruits’ training over the next three months, the items brought by the new recruits must be inspected.
Dangerous items are confiscated, prohibited items are registered and stored, and game consoles and the like are placed in the storage room.
If a large amount of cash or similar is truly found, this special situation requires special handling; it definitely cannot be stored in the company, as it would cause unnecessary trouble.
Each squad takes the people down, finds a spot, and empties out all the items.
The squad leader checks each one to confirm there are no issues, and when putting the items away again, can also conveniently complete categorization, separating training uniforms from combat readiness items.
After the entire squad completes this step, the new recruits are brought back to the dormitory.
Each new recruit is assigned a bed and wardrobe; first place the training items on their own bed, then carry the travel bag containing idle items to the storage room.
Stack the travel bags neatly on the shelf, planning areas by squad.
On the way back, they go to the quartermaster to receive daily necessities such as washbasin, toothpaste, toothbrush, towel, underpants, socks, and shoes.
Camouflage uniforms are not issued; they are only available after joining the company.
During the entire three months in the new recruit company, new recruits can only wear the frog skin—87-style training uniforms—issued by the arms department.
At this point, the new recruits return to the dorm, where the squad leader personally demonstrates the actions, hand-in-hand teaching the new recruits how to make the bed, fold the quilt, organize the wardrobe, how to place the hat and shoes, and so on.
Everything must follow the housekeeping regulations, placed in square and upright shapes in the specified positions.
Folding the quilt is especially the most difficult!
Not only is the action of folding the quilt the most complex, but to fold it into a tofu block requires many techniques, and it only needs a lot of effort to operate.
Mainly, the cotton in a new quilt is very fluffy; before it’s compressed, even if folded well, it’s still a “big loaf of bread.”
To compress the very loose and fluffy cotton quilt, making it solid and easier to shape into a tofu block, the troops have accumulated many skills over the years.
The squad leaders of each new recruit squad are all veteran non-commissioned officers who know these quick quilt-folding techniques.
So when teaching the new recruits to fold quilts, they pass on all the techniques they know without reservation.
After all, among the three mobile red flags in the new recruit company, the advanced housekeeping squad is also an honor everyone must compete for.
The technique for compressing the quilt is not complicated; for example, after folding the quilt according to the action essentials, place a small stool on the fluffy quilt.
Use the weight of the small stool to flatten and shape the quilt.
If you want the quilt to set even faster, apply greater force on top, borrowing small stools from other squad members.
The weight of three or four small stools pressed on will have a more obvious effect.
If there aren’t that many stools, find a way; stones and bricks and other heavy objects from the barracks area forest, cleaned of dirt, are good choices.
As long as you persist in pressing during the day every day, over time the quilt will gradually thin out.
The thinned quilt is no longer bread, and folding it into a tofu block becomes much easier.
This method is very feasible, but the drawback is that it is very time-consuming.
Some squads’ squad leaders, for the housekeeping mobile red flag, use inappropriate quick methods to greatly speed up the quilt thinning process.
This is it.
On the second day after the new recruits joined the company, the company commander brought the three platoon leaders to inspect the housekeeping learning progress of each squad, and found that the Second Squad’s quilts had issues.
At first glance, the Second Squad had the best housekeeping; just on the second day, the quilts already had the embryonic form of tofu blocks.
The other squads were still big loaves at this point!
Those who don’t know might think they encountered innate saint bodies, with the whole squad being natural quilt-folding experts, taming bread quilts in just one short day.
Gao Cheng is not so easily fooled; he could tell the reason at a glance.
Among the ten new recruits’ five quilts, the color looked darker, they felt obviously damp to the touch, and the quilts had become somewhat taut.
Very obvious.
The Second Squad’s new recruits used the “quick method,” wetting the quilts with water—not soaking them by pouring, but spraying with a spray bottle.
The reason home cotton quilts can’t be washed with water is that cotton tightens and hardens when it encounters water and dries.
The quick method exploits this principle, letting the cotton inside the quilt get damp, then pressing with stools, and it quickly becomes very taut.
Gao Cheng didn’t expect someone to play this deceptive trick right under his nose.
He flew into a rage on the spot, giving a harsh scolding.
In December in the Northern Region, it’s already very cold; new recruits sleeping in such damp quilts at night can’t fall asleep at all and will easily catch colds from the chill.
As a result, the Second Squad leader, unconvinced, tried to argue: “Company Commander, I had them take turns sleeping two at a time; they won’t get cold that way, and it’s even warmer sleeping together.”
The Second Squad leader really has unique ideas.
Two new recruits taking turns sleeping in the damp quilt can indeed solve the sleeping problem.
Gao Cheng was so angry at the Second Squad leader that he almost laughed, pointing at his nose and sternly rebuking: “Is this how you train new recruits? Teaching them to fake things?
Housekeeping regulations stipulate the quilt must be folded squarely; is it just for show? Huh?
You’ve been a second class sergeant in the troops for no short time; do I need to teach you the purpose of soldiers doing housekeeping? Don’t tell me you don’t know?”
Gao Cheng’s barrage of questions left the Second Squad leader speechless.
The troops’ housekeeping requirements are extremely high; it looks neat and square and nice, but the purpose isn’t for looks, but to train soldiers’ patience and meticulousness.
Only by abandoning the impetuosity of society and seeing the truth in the details can one grow into a qualified soldier.
The purpose of training new recruits for three months after joining the company is to let them, through these three months of grinding in various difficulties, understand what a soldier truly is.
If quick tricks are used to pass new recruit training, the new recruits won’t gain any value from it.
Then the housekeeping training is done in vain!
After Gao Cheng’s thunderous roar, the Second Squad leader realized his mistake, sincerely apologized to the company commander, and promised never again to use such erroneous shortcuts for advanced housekeeping squad honors.
Gao Cheng knew the quick method is common in the troops, and many companies even advocate it, so he didn’t continue making trouble.
As long as it’s not done in the company he leads.
However, while Gao Cheng let the matter pass, Chen Jun, who came along, had an idea.
In this 1995 era, folding quilts in the troops still mostly relied on hands, with little use of tools, far less innovative than 21st-century soldiers’ ideas.
When Chen Jun served in the 21st century in his previous life, the new recruit company already had specialized quilt-folding tools.
Called the “housekeeping board”!
This specially made quilt-folding tool, invented by who knows whom, has every part of its length and shape designed specifically for folding quilts.
The 702 regiment’s new recruit camp has no such “divine tool,” so he can bring it out.
It can solve the new recruits’ pain points to gain good impression, allow better performance without changing the value of housekeeping, and indirectly boost Gao Cheng’s performance, highlighting his leadership ability.
A perfect one stone three birds!
