Chapter 26: Cheng Cai’s Ambition
Chen Jun’s task was to accelerate the progress, using ten times or a hundred times the speed to grind off the outer shell on Xu Sanduo, allowing him to awaken sooner into “Xu Bing Wang”.
He knew very well how thick the shell covering Xu Sanduo was, how difficult it was to grind it off, and how much time it would take.
Not to mention one person.
Even two or three people couldn’t handle it!
So what to do?
The method was very simple.
Since two or three people couldn’t handle it, then get twenty or thirty people to do it together. Even if it was an iron shell, it had to be forcibly pried open.
The pressure distributed among twenty or thirty people would turn even the greatest pressure into a drizzle.
Once the plan was finalized, Chen Jun immediately began implementing it.
He needed the company commander to arrange the First Platoon and Third Platoon, but Chen Jun had great autonomy over the Second Platoon. Arranging people from the Second Platoon to give extra training to a certain new recruit was completely within his authority.
To avoid affecting normal drill training and not letting one person impact an entire platoon.
Chen Jun kept the normal drill time unchanged.
Each squad leader still followed the routine training schedule: drill training for the squad when it was time, physical training when it was time.
Only during the 12:30 to 2:00 p.m. company-mandated lunch rest time, the rest time after evening song learning, and getting up one hour early in the morning.
During these three periods that didn’t affect normal drills, Xu Sanduo was pulled out alone for “extra training”.
As for the other new recruits resting while Xu Sanduo had no rest time at all, spinning like a wheel from morning till night—would his body hold up?
Chen Jun believed Xu Sanduo could absolutely hold up; he had to hold up and persist.
If someone is slow-witted, they must make up for it with diligence.
There are no shortcuts!
To relieve pressure on Shi Jin and prevent him from being dragged down, he only handled normal drill training, while the extra training in the three periods was all handled by others.
For the first day’s extra training arrangement, Sixth Squad Leader Wu Liu Yi was in charge of drilling Xu Sanduo.
Wu Liu Yi was someone tough on the outside but soft inside. He kept saying he wouldn’t care about fellow villager connections, but seeing Xu Sanduo’s drill so poor and someone from his hometown so lousy, he actually wasn’t at ease in his heart.
Plus, Wu Liu Yi had a very good relationship with Shi Jin, and seeing Shi Jin anxious and exhausted made him anxious too.
So when he heard Chen Jun assign him to handle the extra training, Wu Liu Yi had no objections and even made a determination in his heart.
He had to drill Xu Sanduo to death and not let him lose face for their hometown.
The idea was great, and the motivation was strong.
But the result was disheartening.
After a full day of extra training on Xu Sanduo, Wu Liu Yi was tormented badly and finally understood why Comrade Shi Jin always looked exhausted.
The stupidity and physical uncoordination on Xu Sanduo really gave him new knowledge.
Fortunately, Chen Jun only had him responsible for one day; the next day it switched to Fourth Squad Leader Jin Dashan, stopping him at the edge of collapse.
Jin Dashan’s temper was more volatile; his patience wasn’t just less than Shi Jin’s—it was less than half of Wu Liu Yi’s.
In less than half an hour of morning practice, Jin Dashan’s patience was exhausted.
When he saw Xu Sanduo unable to even stand steady for about turn, his temper finally snapped. He lifted his big foot and kicked Xu Sanduo right in the butt.
After kicking, he cursed and roared loudly, telling Xu Sanduo to hurry back and stand properly to continue practicing.
And threatened that for every fall, it would be one big kick from him.
Perhaps it was three kind words no match for one stick, or Jin Dashan casually beating people reminded Xu Sanduo of Xu Baishun who loved hitting him, or maybe the extra training finally had an effect.
Xu Sanduo, under the shadow and pressure of his father, suddenly awakened and could steady his body.
Though his body still swayed during about turn, it was ultimately a big step forward—no more big swings like before, then falling flat on his butt.
With progress, Jin Dashan got even more enthusiastic.
In just one morning of training for Xu Sanduo, his butt was kicked at least a dozen times; by the end of the day’s training, his butt was swollen from kicks.
Though beating new recruits was a taboo term, it was very common in this era.
The high pressure generated in the body after beatings, and the strong mental pressure produced, would stimulate the body’s potential and indeed allow new recruits to complete learning faster.
The result of Xu Sanduo’s training that day was very unexpected.
He finally learned the halt turn method.
This was the most complex movement in drill; learning it meant half of the drill basics were completed.
This speed was much faster than Chen Jun expected, making Chen Jun realize his method was effective and could indeed achieve the result he wanted.
So in the following time, Chen Jun continued executing his rescue plan.
Now the three squad leaders of the Second Platoon had taken a full round; then Chen Jun himself stepped up and personally led for another day, further consolidating Xu Sanduo’s drill.
Next, it switched to new recruits in the Second Platoon, taking turns to help train Xu Sanduo.
This not only helped Xu Sanduo improve but also consolidated the new recruits’ own proficiency in drill, achieving multiple benefits at once.
Cheng Cai was the first new recruit!
Compared to Xu Sanduo being the worst in the whole company, now after Chen Jun’s continuous extra practice, he had finally caught up to average level.
Cheng Cai, also from Xià Róngshù Village, became the most outstanding performer among the new recruits.
Driven by his competitive wild nature…
Not only was his training very hardworking, but he also truly had talent.
When Cheng Cai received Second Platoon Leader Chen Jun’s instruction to lead Xu Sanduo during the three periods, he agreed even faster than Wu Liu Yi.
Cheng Cai gave out cigarettes everywhere to cadre backbones every day, just to build connections with leading cadres.
He had built good relations with other platoons, but his own squad leader didn’t smoke, and Platoon Leader Chen Jun didn’t smoke either; he was worrying about no opportunity to curry favor.
Chen Jun assigning him to help train Xu Sanduo was, in Cheng Cai’s view, a great chance to perform, so his positivity was naturally higher than Wu Liu Yi’s.
Moreover, though Cheng Cai was selfish before awakening, he was genuinely sincere only toward Xu Sanduo.
In the original drama, when Cheng Cai learned Seventh Company might reorganize, the non-commissioned officer quota would definitely shrink, and with so much talent in Seventh Company, his chance of turning non-commissioned officer and staying wasn’t great.
So he secretly pulled strings with Red Third Company, preparing to transfer there as a curve to save the country.
For such an important matter, he told no one else but only told Xu Sanduo, and sincerely advised Xu Sanduo to quickly find a way out like him ahead of time.
It showed Cheng Cai’s feelings toward Xu Sanduo were absolutely beyond doubt.
Now being able to help Xu Sanduo, Cheng Cai was willing himself.
Under the combined influence of these two thoughts, after seriously leading Xu Sanduo for a day and teaching the three major steps and marching turns now being taught, Cheng Cai made a decision that even surprised Chen Jun.
He actually took the initiative to apply to Chen Jun, hoping to continue helping Xu Sanduo during rest times.
