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墨書 Inktalez
Time flew by quickly, and before we knew it, the Exam Warriors had gone off to take their tests. I found myself back in the position of Squad Leader once again. Due to the restructuring of our Unit, we were now living together with the Second Company; we occupied the first floor while they took the second and third floors. The most troublesome part was the division of the sanitation areas between the two Units. At that time, both our Unit and the Second Company had rotating Squad Leaders, with only one Squad Leader remaining for each side. The one I was paired with was from the Second Company.
This story is related to him and his girlfriend. We were assigned at the same time; he came in June while I came in January. I had just finished leading a training team when he returned to our Unit after completing his training with the teaching team, so it was their first encounter.
The way we got to know each other was quite amusing. When I had just reported back to the Unit, I was still busy cleaning up our indoor area in the afternoon when suddenly a Lieutenant walked in. He stood at the door and arrogantly asked, "I'm from the Second Company; who is the duty Squad Leader?" I thought to myself, with such an attitude, he must be at least a Deputy Company Commander! I hurriedly approached him with caution and even saluted him, almost calling him Leader. But then he said, "I'm the Squad Leader from the Second Company; I'm on duty this week. Hurry up and bring your people out; I'll designate your sanitation area! I'll be waiting for you at the green space outside!" With that, he turned and left.
Wow, listen to that tone! I thought someone like him must be at least an experienced Squad Leader, so I didn’t dare to act out of line and turned around to gather my soldiers. Just as I turned around, one soldier came up to me, peeking over my shoulder and said, "Squad Leader, you’ve been played." I looked at this comical soldier with a strong Chongqing accent and asked, "How have I been played?"
"Squad Leader, he's just a Red Card! He only arrived at the Second Company last night!"
"Really? Then why is he wearing a Lieutenant's insignia?"
"He put it on himself!"
I couldn't believe it! I never thought someone could wear insignia before being officially commissioned! I was furious; we're all Red Cards here—what's he trying to show off for? If I'd known, I would have worn a Lieutenant's insignia too when I came down! During graduation from the university training base, everyone bought some old insignia from the military supply warehouse just to show off!
"Squad Leader, do you have an extra Lieutenant's insignia? Put it on and let’s go show them who’s boss; those class leaders have been bullied by that Red Card terribly!"
Hearing that my squad was being bullied made me unhappy. I immediately opened my box and took out my Lieutenant's insignia, putting it on with confidence. Then I shouted to the soldiers in the Barracks, "Let’s go out and confront them!"
The feeling of being surrounded by my soldiers was great as we marched out of the Barracks with pride. As soon as we stepped outside, I spotted Old Bao standing by the green area with his hands on his hips. Seeing my new insignia gave me a boost in confidence; Old Bao clearly didn’t know how to respond until I reached him.
"Bao, that's not fair! You arrived earlier than me; is it necessary to flaunt your rank over my brothers? We’re just temporarily staying here because of orders from above; do you think we enjoy being cramped together?"
Before he could respond, I continued, "Look, since we're living together now, we should all share responsibility for cleaning up. We’ll take care of our floor’s sanitation—the front and back areas—and you guys need to handle your own."
I glanced over at Company Headquarters before turning back to him. "By the way, when I reported in earlier, the Company Commander mentioned something similar; he’ll communicate this with your Company Commander."
Old Bao immediately softened his stance. "Alright then, let’s take care of each other." He even pulled out a cigarette to offer me. Accepting it with a smile, I passed it along to one of my soldiers behind me and said to him, "Old Bao, thanks but I don’t smoke; just look after our brothers more in the future." With that, I led my soldiers back into the Barracks.
From then on, Old Bao seemed much more agreeable. Our interactions were friendly enough; while we couldn’t exactly call each other brothers, there was mutual respect until one day when his girlfriend came to visit him.
Old Bao might have been a bit rough around the edges, but his girlfriend was stunning—always showing off in front of me. Her name was Li Qi (let me just promote her name here), a girl from Hunan who stood about 1.7 meters tall with long hair and bangs that gave her a fresh and pure vibe. She had visited our Unit once or twice before. I often thought how lucky he was to have found such an amazing girlfriend.
It was around five in the afternoon when I was on the rooftop of the third floor with Chongqing and the others, hanging out laundry. Suddenly, I heard Chongqing shout, "Come and take a look! There's a girl coming over, and she's stunning!" The soldiers on the platform all leaned over the railing. There were very few girls in the unit, and whenever a female family member passed by, the soldiers would stare and comment. I squeezed in next to Chongqing and casually asked, "He Baisha, do you have girls as beautiful as that in Chongqing?" (This guy likes to tease Hunan's He Baisha; his surname is He, so we all call him He Baisha.) "Squad Leader, let me tell you, if you come to our Chongqing, the girls are incredibly gorgeous!" I chuckled, "Alright then, if there's a chance, help me find one." As I looked towards their girl, oh, it turned out to be Li Qi. I wondered who she was at first. She must be here to see Old Bao. Watching her tall figure and her waist swaying like a willow in the wind as she walked closer, I couldn't help but mutter, "Such good cabbage is wasted on pigs." I turned to leave.
Suddenly, I heard He Baisha whisper something. "He Baisha, what is it?" "Oh, it's nothing, Squad Leader. Are you leaving? Why not stay and watch?" "Nah, the more I look, the angrier I get. You all enjoy watching." With that, I headed downstairs to blow the whistle for Duty to serve dinner.
When I blew the whistle, I casually noticed Old Bao on the third floor laundry area talking to his girlfriend about something. I didn't pay much attention; it was probably just typical couple talk. For some reason, I felt a bit sour inside. Ah, I used to have my moments back in college too; I reassured myself.
After that day, every time I saw Old Bao, he looked troubled. When I asked him about it, he said his girlfriend never answered his calls anymore. He seemed off; after just a few words with him, he would snap. He used to be so gentle; it felt like he had changed completely and looked much more haggard. It had been days since she answered his calls; he didn't know what was wrong. Feeling sorry for him, I tried to comfort him by saying maybe she wasn't feeling well lately and that her mood would improve after some time. Old Bao nodded with a sorrowful face; I didn't know what else to say and returned to my barracks.
Back in the barracks, I saw He Baisha unusually quiet with his head down smoking. I approached him and patted him on the shoulder. "He Baisha, why so serious? What are you thinking? This isn't like you." He suddenly looked up at me and said, "Squad Leader, did you go see Second Company’s Squad Leader?" "Yeah," I replied casually. "Squad Leader, is that girl doing okay?" "What do you mean okay? She hasn't even acknowledged him these past few days." Huh?! It dawned on me that something was off. "He Baisha, what does that have to do with you? Why are you asking about it?" Having spent so much time together made us close; I'd often pick up their way of speaking.
"Squad Leader, don't say that! I'm serious; there's something wrong with that girl!" He Baisha spoke with an extremely serious tone and clear Mandarin.
"He Baisha, I'm serious too—your Mandarin isn't very standard," I replied while suppressing a laugh.
"Squad Leader, no matter what happens next time, you have to take us to see his girlfriend! It could become serious if we wait too long. That girl—when she came here last time—I saw a layer of dark energy around her face; she seemed lifeless under the sunlight." He Baisha insisted earnestly.
"Are you alright? Just because she's pretty doesn't mean you should think weird thoughts about her! Stop scheming against your own people!"
“Squad Leader, I really can read faces. My grandfather used to practice feng shui in our town, so I know a thing or two.”
“Get lost! This is getting ridiculous.” I was a bit annoyed. How could He Baisha be so presumptuous? I was not going to take someone to their girlfriend's house based on baseless claims. I didn’t think my mind had reached that level of absurdity.
“Squad Leader, it’s true! If you don’t believe me, ask Squad Leader about his girlfriend. Hasn’t she been acting strangely lately?” He Baisha said anxiously.
I stared at He Baisha for a moment. He didn’t seem to be joking. Old Bao had mentioned that his girlfriend had been acting up recently too, and considering the strange things happening to me, I was starting to believe him. “He Baisha, if you can read faces, why don’t you give it a try on me?” I decided to test him.
“Squad Leader, I can’t read yours!” He Baisha replied immediately.
“Isn’t that just a lie? Didn’t you just say you could read faces?”
“Yes, Squad Leader, but yours is beyond me,” He Baisha said earnestly.
“What do you mean you can’t read it?”
“How would I know? It’s just that I can’t,” He Baisha shrugged. “Maybe your situation is too advanced; I haven’t reached that level yet.”
“Come on, stop flattering me. Just don’t curse me!” I lightly kicked him and laughed while scolding him. After thinking for a moment, I decided that when the time came, I would call on him as needed.
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