Chapter 241 Military Training (Two in One)
After constant adjustment, the freshmen have gradually found the rhythm of study and life that suits them best.
The Mid-Autumn Festival arrived in the second week after school started. The first-year high school students had a three-day holiday including the weekend. Fang Wei, Cailing and Zhiyi also went back home and moved a lot of things from home.
Liu Zhiyi wanted to move all the bookshelves here, while Xu Cailing packed up all the "treasures" that she had kept in the drawers since she was a child.
"...Are you planning on not living at home anymore? Why move all your stuff here?"
"What a bunch of random stuff, they're all very important things, okay?"
"Even if you want to bring it, you can just bring a little every time you go home. You won't be able to use a lot of it for the time being anyway."
"Take as much as you can! After you bring everything here, you don't have to go home every week if you don't have time. It takes two hours to go back, it's too far!"
"?"
Well, at first their family was worried that they wouldn’t be used to living outside and would miss going home every day. But as it turned out, the two girls were so happy and comfortable living there.
After entering the third week of September, the daily rhythm of study and life has basically settled down.
The three of them got up at 6:30 every morning, went downstairs to have breakfast and then went to class. Afang's steamed bun shop became the "breakfast canteen" for Fang Wei and the other two, because her breakfast was really delicious, whether it was steamed buns or fried rice noodles. After going there a few times, they became familiar with the proprietress and her husband.
The old men and women in the community basically all know the three of them. On Tuesday noon, with the introduction of an old man, another house in Fang Weijia's community was successfully rented out for 850 yuan a month. The tenants are a family of three from other places who work here.
The four shops on Guihua Road at home have all been rented out, and the rent alone brings in a stable income of several thousand yuan every month.
The job of collecting rent naturally fell on Fang Wei. From then on, at the beginning of every month, Fang Wei had to make a "tough trip" to collect rent, make an account and statistics, and when he paid the rent to his father, Fang Xianfeng was generous enough to let him collect it first and not to ask him for money on weekdays.
Fang Wei was not polite with him and accepted it happily. If it was any other high school student, parents would not dare to let their children take so much money. But it was different for Fang Wei. Fang Xianfeng and Tian Xilan knew their son's character and ability very well. If he couldn't even manage such a small amount of money, how could they dare to hand over the family's growing mussel business to him in the future.
Since that day when they went home for lunch at noon, Fang Wei and the other two would go home for lunch after school every day unless it was windy or rainy.
The main reason was that Zhiyi and Cailing wanted to go home and sleep with him, so the three of them bought new lunch boxes. They did not eat in the cafeteria at noon, but packed their meals in their own lunch boxes and took them home to eat together.
There was no other way. The original "five-person dining team", Wang Yushan and Du Peipei, had formed a small group. Now after they got their meals, they ignored Fang Wei, Cailing, and Zhiyi. They ate in the cafeteria by themselves...
After the afternoon classes, the three of them still went to the track and field to run five laps every day after school. After running laps, they went to play ball. The two girls went home to take a shower, and then came back to have dinner and evening self-study together. After the evening self-study, they went home together.
During the first evening study period on Tuesdays and Thursdays, Fang Wei, Liu Bo and Zhao Yueting would attend the mathematics competition group's courses.
Compared with daily courses, competition courses are much more difficult.
Mr. Liang, the head teacher, is the instructor of the mathematics competition. He usually teaches mathematics in class in great detail and in great detail, but when teaching the competition courses, he is not so detailed, so much so that even Fang Wei feels a lot of pressure. Occasionally, he accidentally gets distracted, and it takes a lot of effort to keep up with Mr. Liang's train of thought.
But overall, everyone was able to keep up, while many members of other competition groups who were studying together had begun to consider quitting.
Teacher Liang was quite tolerant of this. He did not require every student to listen carefully as he did during his usual lectures. What he said most to the members of the competition team was: "The road of competition is not suitable for everyone. If you feel that you can keep up or are interested, then stay and continue to learn. If you really feel that you are not suitable, tell me and you don't need to come from the next class. Stay in the classroom to strengthen your basic learning."
So starting from the second day, the number of members joining the competition team became fewer and fewer. There were more than 40 people on the first day, but by Thursday night of the third week, the classroom had become empty, with only a little over 20 people left.
Seeing that so many people had suddenly disappeared, Teacher Liang was a little amused.
"I know that the road to competition is also quite difficult for most of you here. Learning basic courses well does not mean that you will learn well in competitions. But it doesn't matter if you can't understand it for the time being. As long as you are interested and can keep learning, it doesn't matter how good the results are in the competition. As long as you can understand the questions, it also shows that you have a certain degree of competition thinking. When you look at the basic subject questions in your daily life, nothing will be difficult for you. It will also be of great benefit to your daily study."
"Students who have persisted in listening to the current class, I believe you also have a certain interest in mathematics. You might as well stick with a few more classes, otherwise you won't be able to come back after you leave. It's not that you can't come back, but after you come back, you will be even more unable to keep up."
Fang Wei also found it funny to see Teacher Liang trying to keep the students in a hurry. He was afraid that Teacher Liang had not expected that so many students would run away in just a few classes. If he didn't try to keep them, they would all run away.
Fang Wei also understood those members who dropped out of the competition group early. After all, they felt too depressed and frustrated. Before joining the group, they were all very confident in their math scores. After coming here, they found that they couldn't even follow the teacher's ideas in class. Naturally, they would start to wonder if they had any talent in this area...
Many people who do not understand academic competitions believe that success is at least determined by getting first prize at the provincial level, or by joining the provincial team and winning a national award, or by joining the national training team and obtaining the qualification for admission to Peking University or Tsinghua University.
This is indeed true. At this moment, if you can get first class in the province, you can basically be admitted to some 985 universities or get the qualification for admission with reduced scores. If you get a gold medal and enter the national training team, you can be exempted from the college entrance examination and be admitted to Tsinghua University and Peking University, and you can choose any major.
It sounds quite tempting, and therefore many contestants are more utilitarian when it comes to subject competitions.
But in fact, this is not the case. The help that competitions provide to students is far more than that, and success cannot be judged by simple awards or admissions. Winning an award does require a lot of effort, but not winning an award does not mean nothing. As Teacher Liang said, what is more important about learning through competitions is the improvement of the level of thinking.
This change in thinking and way of thinking is not as difficult as imagined, and it does not require genius IQ. As long as you are willing to study and think, you will benefit greatly.
In fact, Fang Wei was not determined to pursue a career in competition. To him, this was more of a form of learning based on his own interests and to broaden his thinking.
Learning is not always painful. Learning things that interest you, delving into problems that interest you, and feeling the experience of growing and becoming fulfilled are wonderful and quite addictive.
This relaxed and non-utilitarian state actually made him more comfortable in studying the competition courses.
If nothing unexpected happens, Fang Wei's target university is Fudan University, and his favorite major is finance or mathematics.
Mathematics is one of the important foundations of finance. He likes both directions and will decide which one to choose later.
As for why I didn’t set my goal at Peking University or Tsinghua University, it was mainly because I had a special feeling for Fudan University.
He worked right next to Fudan University, and he often visited Fudan University in his free time. Looking at the campus of this top university and the youthful college students, he often lamented that he wished he could study here one day...
The regrets of the previous life have finally been fulfilled. If one were to say what Fang Wei's most important pursuit in living his new life is, it would probably be to have enlightenment.
What you failed to do before, you must do well this time; what you once slipped through your fingers, you must hold on to this time.
You don't need to do everything the best or climb the highest everywhere. As long as you walk in the direction you want to go at all the forks in the road of destiny, you will have a great pleasure in the ultimate control of your own destiny. This kind of spiritual pleasure is the highest level of happiness.
……
Time flies and it is September 24th.
Today is Wednesday. From today until September 28th, Xuanzhu No. 1 Middle School will have a five-day military training for the freshmen. After the training, they will have the National Day holiday.
There was basically no military training in junior high school, but it became required when I entered high school, but it was not as strict as in college, and the time was also very short, only five days in total.
The military training times for high schools in Xuanzhu City are also different. Each school arranges them according to its own teaching situation. For example, No. 2 Middle School where Asheng is located started military training in the first week of school.
At No. 1 Middle School, military training was not started until the last week before National Day.
I’m afraid the school leaders are thinking that after the freshmen’s military training is finished during the day, they can still attend classes normally during the evening self-study session, and it won’t delay their learning progress too much, right?
If there were no requirements from above, I'm afraid that No. 1 Middle School, which focuses on studying, would not even bother to carry out military training.
During the military training, the daily schedule for first-year high school students was the same as usual, except that the daytime classes were turned into military training in formation, while evening self-study classes continued as usual.
Fang Wei doesn't like military training, feeling that it is more of a form than a meaning, unless he can touch a real gun.
If it is training with real guns and targets, it will be much more interesting. When I was watching short videos before, I saw a lot of military training for college freshmen in western Guangxi Province. It was said that one hundred thousand freshmen meant one hundred thousand soldiers. Drones, armored vehicles, real-life CS, all of which were practical training contents. It looked quite hardcore, just like joining the army.
But unfortunately, here in No. 1 Middle School, there is no such military training. The military training in many universities is also like this. Students are not required to learn too much military content. It is just an obedience training for students.
Neither Xu Cailing nor Liu Zhiyi had ever participated in military training, and this was their first time to participate in military training.
Liu Zhiyi was a little terrified. Hearing that the intensity of military training was quite high, he was worried that he would not be able to adapt to the strict training requirements. He was also afraid that he would make mistakes during training and be criticized by the instructor, or that he would fall behind due to lack of energy and then be dragged out by the instructor to stand as punishment...
Xu Cailing seemed very excited. The girl has always had great respect for soldiers and particularly likes watching military-themed TV dramas. She couldn't help getting excited just thinking about experiencing the life and training of a soldier soon.
"Fang Wei, do you think we can touch a gun? A real gun, bang bang bang bang!"
Xu Cailing made gestures, sometimes clacking his hands to show her what she meant, and sometimes clacking his hands to show her what she meant.
"Stop messing around. There's no gun for you to touch."
"Huh? No gun? I was hoping I could touch a gun!"
"There will be plenty of opportunities for you to touch me in the future. Hurry up and change into your military training uniform. We'll go to school soon."
The day before yesterday, the school distributed military training uniforms to everyone.
They are all light and compact military green uniforms, with jacket-style tops and breeches-style pants, and are also equipped with belts and hats.
The quality is naturally not very good. Fang Wei originally planned to put it in the washing machine yesterday, but he found that the color faded badly, so he had to ask two maids to help him wash it by hand.
Military training uniforms are very necessary. After putting them on, people immediately feel different.
Fang Wei tightened the belt around his waist, put on a hat, and looked at himself in the full-length mirror to see how handsome he looked. He was very satisfied with his temperament and outfit which were completely different from his usual look.
Soon, Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi also changed into military training uniforms and came out of the room.
"Ah, this belt is hard to tie, can you help me?"
Xu Cailing came over with a belt and handed it to Fang Wei. Fang Wei had no choice but to take the belt from her hand and bend down to help her tie it tightly around her waist.
Liu Zhiyi, who was tying his belt, stopped tying it when she saw this. After Cai Ling finished tying her belt, she came over and asked Fang Wei to help her tie it.
"...I'm too lazy! Isn't this easy to tie?"
Fang Wei thought that if he needed to tie a tie in the future, he would have to ask them to help him.
After putting on their military training uniforms and caps, the two girls looked drastically different.
The collars of the training uniforms are neatly turned up, and the belts around their waists show off the girls' slender waists. Their figures are as straight as poplars. The color of the training uniforms is that calm military green. Their delicate faces are faintly visible under the military caps, and a few strands of hair playfully slip out from the brim of the hats, which further highlights their youthfulness and vitality, like two flowers blooming in the green fields.
"How's it going? Does it look good?"
"nice."
Even though they spent every day together, Fang Wei couldn't help but be dazzled by the two girls wearing military training uniforms and having unique styles.
He thought for a moment and said, "After the military training is over, don't throw away the military training uniforms. Wash them and put them away."
"What are you going to use it for? We're all done with military training, and I'm too embarrassed to wear it outside."
"…Keep it as a souvenir!"
Why is it that green makes the skin look brighter? Even Cailing looked a lot whiter after putting on the military training uniform, not to mention Zhiyi, who looked so white that it seemed to be reflecting light. Fangwei prayed that the instructor would not be too strict and that they would be exposed to the sun less...
"Let's go, let's go downstairs to have breakfast."
"Let's go!"
The three of them packed up their things and went downstairs together.
……
Walking outside in military training uniforms, they naturally attract a lot of attention. At first glance, you might think they are real soldiers!
"Uncle, are you hitting the tree again?"
Downstairs in the community, Fang Wei greeted an old man who was taking pictures of the trees.
"Hey! You scared me! I thought the soldiers were here! Xiao Fang, you guys are not really joining the army, are you?"
"No way, we're in military training these days!"
"Good, you look very energetic!"
Fang Wei and the other two continued walking and arrived at Afang's steamed bun shop.
The bun shop is busiest at this time of the morning. The couple is busy and the steam from the steamer is mixed with the fragrance of buns. You can smell it if you get close. The little girl can't help her parents, but she doesn't make things worse either. She is not old enough to go to school yet. She is only three years old this year. She sits on the floor by herself, using a small stool as a table, playing with a dough on it, and learning how to make buns from her father.
Seeing the three people with eye-catching clothes, the stupid girl who was kneading dough raised her head, stared at them for a long time, and then shouted:
"Dad! The police are here to arrest me! Please save me!"
As she spoke, the girl quickly ran into the house holding a small stool and the dough in her hand, hid in the corner beside the shop door, and peeked in with her big eyes blinking.
"…This isn't a policeman, this is a soldier!…This isn't a soldier either, isn't this the brother or sister who comes to buy buns every day? Can't you recognize them when they change their clothes?"
"You, you said it yourself! I didn't sleep well last night, and you said the police would definitely come to arrest me!"
The girl refused to come out and hid in the store, fearing that she would be arrested by the "police".
The proprietress was both angry and amused. She ignored her and put a plastic bag on her hands, then warmly greeted Fang Wei and the other two.
"Little brothers and sisters, what do you want to order today? We have barbecued pork buns, fresh meat buns, lotus seed paste buns, red bean paste buns, custard buns, steamed dumplings... and fried rice noodles, all freshly baked."
The proprietress repeated it as usual like a jingle, and did not show any disrespect at all just because Fang Wei and his two friends were regular customers.
"Then Sister Fang, I'll have two fresh meat buns and soy milk."
"I want a fresh meat bun, a custard bun, and soy milk!"
"I want a steamed dumpling with soy milk..."
"okay."
The lady boss picked up the buns for the three people swiftly, and asked with a smile while working, "Are you going to have military training?"
"Yes, so I wore a military training uniform today."
"I thought so. She looked very energetic. Xiao Ping thought you were the police and wanted to arrest her. It made me laugh... Little brother, could you please tell her to sleep well and not watch TV too late, otherwise you will arrest her?"
"Haha, I was afraid of scaring her to tears."
"It's okay. I'll make sure she listens to the police."
Fang Wei had no choice but to walk towards the stupid girl. Xiaoping was so scared that she screamed and ran out of the house again. She ran to her mother, hugged her legs and hid behind her.
"Mom, save me!"
"Brother Policeman has something to tell you."
"I heard that there is a child who doesn't sleep at night and wants to watch TV. Whose child is it?" Fang Wei squatted down and asked her with a smile.
Xiao Ping shook her head like a rattle: "It's not me! It's not me!"
"Brother knows that Xiaoping is a good child. She will definitely go to bed at a certain time and not make a fuss, right? Mom and Dad have been busy all day and are very tired at night. Xiaoping is the most considerate of Mom and Dad, right?"
"Mmmmmmm!"
Xiao Ping nodded her head like pounding garlic: "Xiao Ping is the best! Don't catch Xiao Ping!"
"Brother doesn't catch good kids. I'm here to reward you. Here, this candy is for you."
Fang Wei took out a candy from his pocket and held it in front of her.
The little girl blinked her big eyes, and it was obvious that she wanted it very much, but she didn't dare to reach out to take it.
"Mom said I can't eat other people's food..."
"You really listen to your mother. I will give you another one as a reward."
"Why don't you thank me, brother?"
"Thank you, police brother!"
After getting his consent, Xiaoping stretched out her little hand and took the two candies from Fang Wei's hand. She was no longer afraid of him and ran away happily.
"Xiao Ping is very cute and really listens to you, Sister Fang."
Fang Wei stood up and smiled. He didn't expect that he could be a policeman for such a simple task.
"Well, sometimes he can be quite noisy. Thank you so much, brother. I didn't realize you have so much experience in coaxing children! Take this cup of soy milk..."
"It's okay, Sister Fang. No need."
“Take it, take it…”
Without saying anything, Afang took another cup of soy milk and put it into his bag.
Xu Cailing and Liu Zhiyi, who were standing by, were also laughing at Fang Wei's tricking of the child. They were obviously of the same age, at an age where children would give them a headache, so how come Fang Wei was so good at coaxing children!
"It means he will be a good father in the future!"
"Cai Ling, when you were little, did he coax you like this?"
"How, how is this possible! I'm not that stupid, I'm not that easy to fool, I'll beat his head off!"
……
After buying breakfast, the three of them ate while walking. When they returned to their respective classrooms, it was almost time for morning reading.
Yes, during military training, in addition to evening self-study, we also have morning reading classes.
The classmates in the class have all changed into military training uniforms, and they really look like a group of new recruits. Especially, seeing such a group of new recruits sitting together in the classroom with textbooks in their hands for morning reading, it is somewhat inconsistent with the picture style.
Like Cai Ling, Zhao Yueting was quite looking forward to the military training. She looked particularly heroic in her military uniform. When Fang Wei came to the classroom, the girl turned around and looked at him with interest.
"What? Have you never seen a handsome guy?"
"Hahaha! I won't deny it. I have to say, you really look pretty good in a military uniform! If you really want to, why don't you join me in applying for the police academy? I think a police uniform would be pretty suitable for you!"
"I have a good temperament and look good in anything I wear."
"You're really thick-skinned!"
Liu Bo was much more casual. His military training uniform was worn crookedly, with the belt around his waist loose and a military training cap on his head. The assembly hadn't started yet and no one in the class wore a hat, but he was still wearing the hat on his head. He probably forgot to take it off and was busy doing his own questions.
Ten minutes before the end of the morning reading class, Teacher Liang outside the window walked into the classroom.
"From today on, everyone will have military training. During the training, you must maintain good discipline and follow the training arrangements of your instructors."
"At the same time, you must also take precautions against heat stroke. If you have any special health conditions, please remember to inform your instructor in advance. The school has regulations that you cannot be absent from military training without special circumstances, and you cannot return to the classroom during training."
"In addition, military training is not a holiday. In addition to the stipulated military training time, morning reading classes and evening self-study classes must proceed as usual. I hope everyone will not slack off in their studies. The more times like this, the more they will widen the gap with others."
Perhaps the most crucial point is the last sentence. There is a lot of flexibility in military training in school, and many students really treat it as a semi-holiday state.
As the bell for the morning reading get out of class rang, the first-year high school teaching building became lively.
More than a thousand "new recruits" wearing the same army green uniforms walked out of the teaching building, lined up on the playground according to their usual exercise formation, and began the military training ceremony.
In order to create a military training atmosphere, red flags were hung in many places on campus.
In the early morning sun, school leaders and instructor representatives took turns standing on the podium to speak, clarifying the purpose of the military training and various requirements.
Half an hour later, the military training ceremony ended, and the instructor in charge of guiding the military training of Class 1 also met with Fang Weiwei.
"Why are you standing in such a mess?"
"Line up! Two rows for boys, two rows for girls, lined up front and back!"
"Count!"
"..."
"I said count! Starting from the far left, one! two! three! four!"
Many students who were undergoing military training for the first time didn’t understand any of this. Looking at the instructor in front of them with a serious expression, an unsmiling expression, and a posture as straight as a pine tree, they were a little frightened for a moment.
"one two three four……"
"Louder, say it again!"
"one two three four!……"
"Take a break!"
"stand at attention!"
"Who is the monitor of your class?"
"Report to the instructor, it's me!"
Fang Wei raised his hand and said loudly.
The instructor glanced at him and walked up to him.
Unlike other students who were "lazy and sloppy", Fang Wei stood tall and spoke loudly, which made the instructor feel good about him.
"Exit!"
That’s when you take a step forward.
"Have you ever had military training?"
"no!"
"What's your name?"
"Fang Wei!"
"From today on, you will be the monitor of your class and will be responsible for assisting me in leading the team in training. Is that a problem?"
"no problem!"
The 'squad leader' mentioned by the instructor is different from the usual squad leader. If the instructor is not satisfied with the 'original squad leader', he can select another student to be the military training squad leader at any time. For example, the 'temporary class leaders' elected from the original class may be replaced after the military training if they perform poorly during the military training.
"Return to the team!"
Fang Wei retreated back to the team.
It was only then that the instructor began to introduce himself.
The sun cast a shadow under the brim of his hat. Fang Wei looked up at the sky. The sun was gradually getting hotter...
(End of this chapter)
