You've already received a first-class merit award, why are you pretending to be a new recruit a

Before dinner, a whistle blew, and the nine classes were led from the playground to the canteen.

Chen Jing was already walking unsteadily.

"Brother Xiao, now everyone looks like a steamed bun to me."

Liu Hai followed beside him, his throat dry and tight.

"I...I think the class monitor looks like braised pork belly."

Wang Dashan, who was in front, suddenly turned around.

Liu Hai immediately shut up, his face turning red.

Chen Jingxing quickly tried to make amends.

"Squad leader, he praised you for being nutritious."

Wang Dashan pointed at Chen Jingxing.

"If you say one more word, you can stand here and watch us eat tonight."

Chen Jingxing kept his hands close to the seams of his trousers, walking with even more precision than he had in the morning's formation.

Xiao Longteng walked at the back of the line, his stride keeping pace with Class One.

The morning consisted of queueing exercises, the afternoon of equipment training, and then an additional half hour of physical fitness exercises.

The recruits' faces were practically blank.

Starving.

At the entrance of the cafeteria, each class stood in order.

The aroma of hot food wafted out from inside the door, and someone in the queue swallowed hard.

Wang Dashan stood in front of Class One and scanned the room.

"Listen carefully, everyone."

"Going to the cafeteria is not like going to the market."

"You are not allowed to touch your chopsticks before you sit down, and you are not allowed to pick up any food before the meal starts. Take only what you can eat, and don't leave a single grain of rice uneaten. Think about it carefully."

Over at Class Two, Chen Fei was also scolding someone.

"Eating is part of the queue, don't embarrass me."

Chen Jingxing muttered to himself.

"Then I'll apply for the 'Excellent Meal Count' award."

Wang Dashan has sharp ears.

"Chen Jingxing!"

"arrive!"

"If you don't make a sound while singing, don't eat a single bite of food later."

Chen Jingxing immediately straightened his chest.

Even the duty officer stood at the front.

"A song before meals!"

All nine classes sang in unison.

At first, the sound was scattered, some people were rushing to the beat, and some were singing off-key.

On the second take, Wang Dashan started yelling.

"Class One! Are you too hungry to move, or have your mouths been sewn shut?"

This time, Chen Jingxing didn't dare to hold back and sang at the top of his lungs.

Liu Hai joined in the shouting, his voice drifting all the way to Class Two.

Xiao Longteng's voice wasn't loud, but every word was perfectly timed.

The singing stopped, and the duty officer called out:

"Each class should bring in their assigned number in order!"

A burly sergeant stood at the entrance of the canteen.

He was a second-term sergeant, wearing shoulder patches, an apron, and a camouflage jacket over it, holding a rice spoon in his hand.

When he stood at the door, the new recruits slowed down.

Why are you all staring at me?

That sergeant's voice was just as loud as Wang Dashan's.

"Is there food on my face?"

A few suppressed laughs came from the group.

Wang Dashan lowered his voice.

"Qian Dazhuang, the head of the mess hall, don't mess with him."

Chen Jingxing replied in a low voice.

"You don't want to mess with him just by his name."

Qian Dazhuang looked up and glanced towards Class 1.

"Who just complimented my name?"

Chen Jingxing immediately stood up straight.

"Reporting, squad leader, it's me!"

"You have quite good taste."

Qian Dazhuang slammed the rice scoop against the side of the bucket.

"Once inside, the first thing to do is sit down, the second thing is to wait for the command, and the third thing is to eat everything clean."

At this point, the smile on his face disappeared.

"I don't care what your eating habits are at home."

"When you get to the army, you won't be able to carry your own food. Even the crusts of steamed buns are considered food, and the vegetable soup is ladled out of the pot by the cooks."

"Whoever wastes it, don't blame me for being rude."

Chen Jingxing muttered to himself.

"This is even more ruthless than Squad Leader Wang."

Xiao Longteng glanced at him.

Chen Jingxing immediately shut up.

Class One entered the cafeteria.

The long table was divided into sections, and the plates were placed in fixed positions.

Four dishes per table.

Two vegetarian dishes: one with stewed potatoes and meat, and the other with cabbage and vermicelli. There were also baskets of steamed buns and a soup bucket next to them.

After the new recruits sat down, none of them dared to extend their hands.

But I can't control my stomach.

Chen Jingxing stared at the stewed potatoes and meat, sitting very upright, but his throat kept moving.

Liu Hai rested his hands on his knees, his fingers gripping his pants.

Li Lei stared at the plate without saying a word.

Wang Dashan stood by the table.

"Sit down, everyone."

Chen Jingxing whispered:

"Class monitor, I'm already sitting very upright."

"Upright people don't waste words."

"Yes."

Qian Dazhuang didn't rush to leave at the door of the control room.

He was observing what was happening in the cafeteria.

Some people had barely sat down when they already had their chopsticks in their hands.

Some people stared at the meat basin, leaning forward.

Some people even flip the steamed buns over and over, specifically picking out the soft ones.

The duty officer walked to the front.

"Attention all!"

The cafeteria quieted down.

"Dinner's ready!"

The sound of chopsticks clapping rang out simultaneously.

Chen Jingxing's first target was meat.

Just as he reached for his chopsticks, Wang Dashan coughed lightly.

Chen Jingxing immediately changed course and picked up a piece of potato.

"Let me test if the potatoes are cooked through first."

Li Lei couldn't help but glance at him.

Liu Hai was slow at picking up food, afraid of bumping into other people's chopsticks, and it took him a long time to pick up a piece of cabbage.

Xiao Longteng always picked up food in a fixed order.

First, vegetables, then staple food, then soup.

No fighting over the meat, no flipping through the vegetables, just eat whatever you pick up.

The dishes on the plates were separated, and the chopsticks didn't linger in the bowl for long.

Chen Jingxing picked up a piece of meat.

Instead of putting it on his own plate, he went around halfway and delivered it to Xiao Longteng's plate.

"Brother Xiao, here you go."

Xiao Longteng stopped using his chopsticks.

"You eat."

"No, you've been practicing with bangs on for so long today, and you've been moving equipment. You need to get some nourishment."

Wang Dashan stood to the side without saying a word.

Xiao Longteng picked up the piece of meat but didn't put it on his plate.

He twirled his chopsticks and placed them in the dish with bangs.

Liu Hai was stunned.

"Brother Xiao... I don't need it."

"eat."

Xiao Longteng took another piece of meat from his plate and placed it next to Li Lei's plate.

Li Lei looked up.

"I have."

"You went to the equipment twice more this afternoon."

Li Lei paused for two seconds and put the meat back on his plate.

Chen Jingxing was dumbfounded.

"No, Brother Xiao, I gave it to you, why did you resell it?"

Xiao Longteng put the chopsticks back on the edge of the plate.

"Everyone gets a share."

Chen Jingxing glanced at the piece of meat left on his plate, then at Liu Hai and Li Lei, and chuckled.

"Okay, I'll eat this piece myself. If I don't, I'm afraid the class monitor will take it away."

Wang Dashan snorted.

"I'm not that free."

That's what he said, but he still glanced at Xiao Longteng a few more times.

Qian Dazhuang also witnessed this scene at the entrance of the control room.

The cooks nearby came over.

"Squad leader, what are you looking at?"

Qian Dazhuang tilted his chin slightly towards Class 1.

"The one in Class One who enlisted twice."

"What's wrong?"

"Eating etiquette".

The cook didn't understand.

What else can you tell from a meal?

Qian Dazhuang put the lid on the vegetable bucket.

"You can tell whether a person is trying to take advantage of others."

The cook glanced towards the first squad.

"Just two pieces of meat?"

"If you can hold your hand at the dinner table, you won't be much worse on the training field."

The cook smiled.

"Your standards are rather strange."

Qian Dazhuang glared at him.

"If you put too much salt in tomorrow, I'll punish you using the same standard."

The cook immediately took the bucket and left.

The problem started to emerge halfway through the meal.

When the class monitor wasn't looking, someone pulled the vegetable basin toward themselves.

Some people only pick out the meat, leaving the potatoes scattered and messy.

Qian Dazhuang stood at the door of the control room, watching everything.

After finishing his first meal, Xiao Longteng picked up his soup bowl and took two sips.

Chen Jingxing had already started making the second steamed bun.

"Brother Xiao, why are you eating so steadily? Aren't you hungry?"

"Hungry."

"Then why are you still so slow?"

"Eating too fast can cause stomach upset."

Chen Jingxing stopped.

"Is that even a claim?"

Li Lei chimed in.

"My dad said the same thing."

Liu Hai kept his head down and ate his rice, leaving the piece of meat on his plate untouched.

Xiao Longteng saw it.

"Eat now."

Liu Hai whispered:

"I want to save it for last."

"It gets greasy when it's cold."

Liu Hai quickly stuffed the meat into his mouth and chewed it very carefully.

Chen Jingxing looked at him.

"Liu Hai, why are you taking eating a piece of meat so seriously?"

Liu Hai's face turned red again.

"I... my family only eats this during Chinese New Year."

The table fell silent for a moment.

Liu Hai came from a remote mountainous area and his family was poor. Joining the army was the first time he had left the mountains, the first time he had taken a long-distance bus, and the first time he had seen a train.

This time, Chen Jingxing didn't take the joke. He broke off half a steamed bun from his plate and placed it next to Liu Hai's plate.

"I can't finish this."

He quickly pushed his bangs back.

"No, the class monitor said we can't leave any."

"I'm not left with anything; I'm making a strategic shift."

Wang Dashan reached out from behind, picked up the half-eaten steamed bun, and put it back on Chen Jingxing's plate.

"Your strategy failed; you'll have to deal with the consequences yourself."

Chen Jingxing had a bitter face.

"Squad leader, I'm doing a good deed."

"You should finish your own meal before doing good deeds."

Xiao Longteng lowered his head and continued eating.

He didn't interrupt.

The atmosphere in the classroom was a bit more relaxed, but the rules were still firmly in place.

Just then, a loud thud came from the back of the cafeteria.

The lid of the swill bucket was bumped.

Qian Dazhuang walked out from behind the window.

"Who?"

The sound of chopsticks being used in the cafeteria slowed down.

A new recruit from the sixth squad stood next to the slop bucket, his hand still not withdrawn.

He had almost finished eating the rice on his plate and was holding a steamed bun in his hand.

The outer skin of the steamed bun has disappeared, leaving only the white filling inside.

Qian Dazhuang walked over and looked down at the swill bucket.

A few pieces of steamed bun skin were floating in the bucket.

The recruit turned pale.

"Class monitor... I didn't mean to."

Qian Dazhuang didn't scold him.

He put the bucket lid back on, then turned around and called out.

"Sixth Squad Leader!"

The squad leader of the sixth squad immediately ran over.

"arrive!"

Qian Dazhuang pointed to the new recruit.

"In your class?"

"Yes."

"What's your name?"

"Report, Zhou Peng."

Qian Dazhuang turned to Zhou Peng.

"Can't you bite into the steamed bun skin?"

Zhou Peng's throat tightened.

"no."

"It's moldy?"

"no."

"poisonous?"

"no."

"Then what are you throwing?"

Zhou Peng couldn't say it.

No one in the cafeteria touched their chopsticks.

Wang Dashan stood next to Class One, his face somber.

Chen Jingxing secretly stuffed the unfinished steamed bun into his mouth, almost choking.

Xiao Longteng gathered the last few grains of rice together and put them in his mouth.

He didn't look up.

Qian Dazhuang reached out and took the remaining stuffing from Zhou Peng's steamed bun.

"You eat the white part and throw away the skin; that's quite particular."

Zhou Peng's voice changed from anxiety.

"Squad leader, I've always eaten like this at home, I really didn't mean to waste food."

Upon hearing this, Qian Dazhuang stopped pressuring him.

He put the steamed bun back into Zhou Peng's plate.

"Okay, then I'll tell you how this steamed bun came about."

He turned and pointed to the window.

"At 4:30 a.m., the cooks get up."

"Mix the dough, let it rest, knead it again, and then put it in the steamer."

"Your training starts at 6:30, but we've already been standing in the control room for over an hour by then."

He then pointed to the vegetable basin.

"Potatoes were peeled basket by basket, meat was cut piece by piece, cabbage was washed three times, but the sand wasn't washed off properly, so you all got diarrhea after eating it, and in the end, the cooking team got criticized."

Zhou Peng lowered his head, his fingers picking at the edge of his plate.

Qian Dazhuang pulled the swill bucket in front of him.

"You thought it was just a few pieces of skin when you threw it away."

"With over a hundred people in the whole company, if each person throws in a little, it'll be enough for one pot."

No one laughed in the cafeteria anymore.

Qian Dazhuang then said:

"I won't let you take the food out of the bucket to eat; it's unhygienic and pointless."

Zhou Peng looked up.

Qian Dazhuang pointed behind the window.

"After you finish eating, go help out in the kitchen."

"Washing pots and pans, mopping floors, carrying vegetable baskets."

"Get up with us at 4:30 tomorrow morning and see how to cook a meal."

"Wait until you see this before deciding whether you'll throw it away again next time."

Zhou Peng, stand at attention.

"yes!"

The squad leader of the sixth squad breathed a sigh of relief.

Qian Dazhuang added:

"Eat everything off your plate tonight. Don't play the victim. The crust of the steamed bun won't grow back just because you cry a few times."

Someone in the cafeteria almost burst out laughing, but managed to hold it back.

Zhou Peng finished the remaining steamed buns one bite at a time, even picking up and eating the crumbs on the edge of the plate.

Qian Dazhuang turned around and walked back.

He stopped a step as he passed by a table.

Xiao Longteng used the last small piece of steamed bun to wipe the soup off his plate and then ate it.

There were no rice grains on the edge of the plate.

Place the chopsticks horizontally with the bowl handles facing the same side.

Qian Dazhuang looked at him.

"Did you work in the mess hall before?"

Xiao Longteng stood up half an inch.

"Report: No."

"You've made clearing the plates quite easy for you."

"It's time to pack up after you've finished eating."

Qian Dazhuang stared at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed.

"Wang Dashan, this soldier in your platoon is frugal with his food."

Wang Dashan immediately responded.

"Saving on meals is one thing, but not lending money is another."

Chen Fei, who was overheard this from Class Two, looked up and chuckled.

"Old Wang, are you even guarding against the cooks now?"

Wang Dashan turned around.

"Shut up."

Chen Jingxing covered his mouth, his shoulders shaking.

Qian Dazhuang slung the rice scoop over his shoulder.

"Don't worry, I won't steal your soldiers."

After he finished speaking, he gestured with his chin toward Xiao Longteng.

"When you collect the dishes later, lead them to clean up, and make sure they don't mix them up in the bins."

Wang Dashan frowned.

"Squad Leader Qian, you're already starting to order people around?"

Qian Dazhuang spoke with righteous indignation.

"He will."

Xiao Longteng stands at attention.

"Yes."

Wang Dashan glanced at him and didn't stop him anymore.

After the meal, Chen Jingxing carried the dish and followed behind Xiao Longteng to clean up.

"Brother Xiao, are you separating them into different bins?"

"Separate the soup, scraps, and bones."

"Bowls for bones?"

"have."

Chen Jingxing looked at Liu Hai.

"Did you hear that? Even bones in the army have a place to go."

Liu Hai nodded earnestly.

"That's good."

Li Lei, carrying a basket of steamed buns, silently gathered the crumbs at the bottom of the basket and poured them into the designated bucket.

Qian Dazhuang stood by and watched.

The table in Class 1 was cleared out the fastest and was the cleanest.

Chen Jingxing was about to show off when Wang Dashan silenced him with a single look.

"Don't get carried away, you almost spilled the soup into the bone bucket just now."

"Squad leader, that bucket looks too much like it."

"You look quite like a pig, have I mistaken you for someone else?"

The other recruits around couldn't hold back any longer and burst into laughter.

Chen Jingxing looked hurt.

"Squad leader, this is a personal attack."

"Go back and do ten more push-ups, then treat it."

"Yes, squad leader, I was wrong."

Qian Dazhuang smiled and shook his head, then turned and went to the kitchen.

Xiao Longteng followed, carrying the last stack of plates.

At the kitchen entrance, Zhou Peng had already been brought by the sixth squad leader and was standing ramrod straight.

Qian Dazhuang pointed to the pool.

"Roll up your sleeves first."

Zhou Peng did as instructed.

Qian Dazhuang then looked at Xiao Longteng.

"You don't need to come in, just put it down."

Xiao Longteng placed the plate on the designated shelf and turned to leave.

Qian Dazhuang suddenly called out to him.

"Xiao Longteng, right?"

"arrive."

Qian Dazhuang took two pieces of meat from a small bowl next to him, put them on a small plate, and handed them to him.

"Your class has a lot of training today, so fill in for Liu Hai and that quiet guy."

Xiao Longteng did not answer.

"Report: There is enough food for each person when it's time to eat."

Qian Dazhuang raised an eyebrow.

"You think it's too much extra food from my mess sergeant?"

"It's not that I think it's too much."

"Then why didn't you answer?"

Xiao Longteng paused for half a second.

"No password."

Qian Dazhuang paused for two seconds, then turned and shouted outside.

"Wang Dashan!"

Wang Dashan was lecturing Chen Jingxing outside the door when he heard the noise and came in.

"What's wrong now?"

Qian Dazhuang pushed the small plate forward.

"This soldier in your platoon says he won't take the meat without your command. Did you train him?"

Wang Dashan glanced at Xiao Longteng, then looked at the small disc.

The two pieces of meat weren't very big.

But in the eyes of new recruits, this is more meaningful than praise.

Wang Dashan remained silent for half a second.

"Xiao Longteng".

"arrive."

"Take it, bring it back, and distribute it as needed."

"Yes."

Xiao Longteng then took the small plate.

Qian Dazhuang was delighted.

"I see now. It's not that you don't crave food, it's that you crave it in a disciplined way."

Chen Jingxing peeked out from the doorway.

"Reporting to Squad Leader Qian, I am also very well-behaved."

Qian Dazhuang looked at him.

"Wipe the vegetable bits off your mouth first."

Chen Jingxing quickly raised his hand and wiped it away.

Wang Dashan's face darkened.

"Chen Jingxing, get back to the line."

"yes!"

Xiao Longteng carried the small plate and walked out.

Just as I arrived at the cafeteria entrance, the staff member on duty rushed in from outside, holding a temporary notice in his hand.

He went directly to Lei Zhan.

"Company commander, the battalion headquarters has notified us that we will not be resting tonight."