After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

In dreams, one scarcely knows themselves as a guest, caught up in momentary pleasures as the years hurry by.

...

June, the seventeenth.

A Tuesday when an entire squadron’s engines had racked up ten thousand kilometers and urgently needed maintenance.

The June of Second Squadron was filled with wind, rain, sweat, and challenges, but was devoid of any rest days.

As June began, it was time for the Grain in Ear season. Fang Huai stood in the squadron’s front yard and shouted to everyone, "If you don’t plant during Grain in Ear, it’ll be useless to do so later," as the "training slogan," stirring up a sense of enthusiasm for training once more.

From then on, Sunday rest days were not guaranteed.

Fang Huai’s reign was absolutely a tragedy for the entire city squadron.

Special Duty First Squadron, Yunyan Squadron, Nanming Squadron, Little He Squadron, Wudang Squadron, Baiyun Squadron.

Guiyang’s six districts, one city, three counties, plus special duty, eight big teams, 14 squadrons, in and around the city.

Currently, facing a 7-fold challenge.

There were no wins or losses; only complete domination counted as victory.

Fang Huai’s challenge methods were simple, crude, and somewhat brainless.

Our training tower is broken, we’ve come to borrow your training tower for a bit.

If the training tower is broken, why don’t you go borrow from Special Duty First Squadron instead? Why borrow ours?

Hehehe, Special Duty First Squadron’s training tower isn’t good enough. They can’t even beat us on their own turf, so we’re looking for a training tower where someone can beat us.

Damn!

When they saw the people of Special Service Squadron 2 moving like they were flying on the training tower, even the fatso Chen Zhenghai made the ladder shake like a 9.0 earthquake, they changed their tune.

Damn it all!

I’ll take your "damn" away with a 14-second climb on this two-section ladder.

If it weren’t for Huaxi and Qing Town being too far away, afraid of being called for police dispatch, Fang Huai would have sent out his visitation notices throughout the entire city.

The whole City Brigade was howling in pain.

Who would understand, my family, this thing is too aggressive, it bites people!

What the heck? Who is this thing? You don’t know?

That one! Yes, that one! The swaggering recruit who showed up at the beginning of June for the Detachment’s new recruit collective assessment and did 70 pull-ups! The leadership of the Detachment told him not to participate, but he insisted on going! Damn it, being a squad leader in special duty, and still having the nerve to compete in martial arts with same year soldiers!

Hehehe.

Of course, Fang Huai had to go.

The Detachment-level new recruit competition involved pull-ups, parallel bars, five kilometers run, one-man-two-carry, and rope climbing—a total of five events!

First place in each event was worth four military merit points.

One afternoon, an easy twenty points! Isn’t that much easier than going on a police dispatch?

With the small alerts he had gone on recently, Fang Huai’s military merit value had risen to 92.3.

He had struck it rich.

Today, there’s a video conference at the General Office; a forest fire expert is discussing cases, talking for a full three hours.

It felt like the new year, spending the entire afternoon listening. Even those who usually detested lectures found it immensely enjoyable.

After the lecture, as everyone descended the stairs, they heard Fang Huai’s loud voice echoing in the stairwell.

"Don’t just sit around, once youth passes, remorse is all that remains! Tonight, we’re running the small ring road! Just 11 kilometers, really treating you guys leniently!"

Instantly, there was a chorus of complaints.

The complaints weren’t about the 11 kilometers, but about his "training slogans."

"Damn it, I’m sick of it! Wasn’t his chant ’A thousand years is too long; seize every minute’ yesterday?"

"What was it the day before yesterday?"

"Flowers may bloom again, but a person never has the chance to be young again!"

"That’s not right, is it? That was yesterday! The day before it was ’Youth should be seized early; how can one remain young forever’!"

"Motherfucker, he comes up with a new one every day. He’s used up all the sayings of the ancients! Let’s see what he chimes tomorrow!"

"I can’t drink it anymore, this chicken soup—I really can’t stomach it anymore, Director Fang, just kill me! Why don’t you run with a load today? I’ll be your burden!"

Han Yong dashed behind Fang Huai and leapt up with a Mount Tai crushing down.

"What chicken soup? Chicken soup doesn’t care about methodology; it just tells you directly that you will succeed. I tell you, you will succeed only if you cherish time—that’s philosophy!

Philosophy’s value lies in enlightening cognition, while the value of chicken soup is merely psychological comfort. Get it?"

Fang Huai chuckled lightly and didn’t even dodge.

When Han Yong jumped on his back, it didn’t cause much pressure.

To describe this month’s training achievements in one sentence:

Even General Han’s chin had become sharp.

That stubborn fatty of his couldn’t stand up to Fang Huai’s ruthless training plan; he had dropped to 135 pounds and had indeed transformed into a handsome young man.

With his thick brows and big eyes, if he got his eyebrows well-groomed and shaved his head completely, he could pass for the ethereal young monk conjured up by a fantasy big boss.

Even his wealthy Lolita lover, Luo Tong, had recently started coming here twice a week.

A girl from a rich family lived differently: skiing at Xiling Snow Mountain on Monday, swimming in Hainan on Wednesday, and by Saturday, she was already at the gates of Second Squadron.

She even brought with her five coconuts and a big bag of heated flavored shrimp.

This young girl, naive about the ways of the world, only brought coconuts for the fellow soldiers of the same year.

Fang Huai and Han Yong, two soldiers who in a previous life were not part of Special Service Squadron 2, this life, earned the envy of the whole squadron.

As soon as Fang Huai descended the stairs and took a look at the Internal Affairs of each squad, a loud shout came from Hao Chengbin in the corridor:

"Hey, everyone come and see!"

Fang Huai followed the crowd towards the Special Duty Squad area.

The volume of the television inside had been turned up high.

"Squadron Instructor Huang Jie of the Mechanic First Squadron led more than a dozen rescue personnel to help clear the rubble at Wan Xingming’s home..."

Upon hearing the voice, Fang Huai seemed to remember something and quickened his pace.

Entering the squad’s study room, on the television, there was a pig as thin as a sheep, covered in dust,

"Huang Jie found that after the pigsty collapsed, the charcoal stored in the attic had scattered all over the place. This pig might have survived by eating the charcoal for over a month."

"Before the quake, this pig weighed 150 kg; now it’s dropped to 50 kg, losing two-thirds of its body weight. Its desire to live enabled it to achieve an unimaginable self-transcendence..."

The voice-over on the TV was introducing the pig’s "biography."

Everyone was staring intently at the pig on the screen.

"Damn, it’s so resilient... 36 days?!"

"If people could survive like that, it’d be great..."

Fang Huai also smiled: "This pig is quite strong."

Hao Chengbin too sighed deeply: "It’s good to be alive, really good... Yo yo, yo, look at it eating so well!"

"It lost over 200 pounds! Of course, it needs to fatten up again!"

Chen Zhenghai laughed: "Haha, look at its snout. Doesn’t it look like the chunk of pig’s nose Fang Huai brought back for Old Teacher He on Children’s Day? If that big pig face were stewed, I bet this piece of meat would taste the best!"

Fang Huai rolled his eyes: "If you dare eat this pig, the whole country will be sending you razor blades!"

This pig would soon become the darling of numerous netizens and be given the name "Piggy Strong." Its daily life amused everyone and also inspired them.

The desire for life, whether in pigs or people, is the same.

Having spent 36 days under the rubble, enduring more darkness than anyone, it still survived. This was an encouragement to all living beings.

When faced with natural disasters, don’t give up. You have to stay alive and strive to live on.

At that moment, Chen Zhenghai was smacking his lips: "But it does look really delicious..."

Hao Chengbin looked at the pig, feeling incredibly sorry for it, and thinking of the pitiful children rescued during the aftermath of the earthquake. He was annoyed by Chen Zhenghai’s ongoing talk of how to eat the pig and said curtly:

"Delicious my ass! It’s all skin and bones, doesn’t even look as tasty as you! Tomorrow, let’s braise your pig ears to give everyone a fresh treat!"

Everyone shamelessly laughed.

Fang Huai didn’t look any further, clapped his hands, and said:

"There’s something I need to say. This week, let’s put extra work on the training tower subjects because next Monday, people from design and geological survey are coming over, and we won’t be able to use the back playground for two days.

I’ve asked Instructor Cao and the old teaching staff for two squadrons to organize an earthquake pull drill.

The drill might take a while, so this Saturday, we’ll still add a drill, but then you can relax a bit on Sunday and Monday during the drill! Consider it as a break!"

Damn, are you kidding me?

An earthquake drill as a break, unheard of!

"Fang Huai, when are you leaving?" Kong Xiangzhong couldn’t help but ask.

Upon hearing this, everyone was no longer sleepy.

That’s right! Fang Huai was finally leaving!

Fang Huai smiled: "1st July, why? Squad Leader Kong, you planning to see me off at the train station?"

Kong Xiangzhong immediately patted Fang Huai’s shoulder: "Of course! When you leave, I’ll spend 20 yuan to buy you a string of firecrackers and light them at the squadron gate!"

Heh, treating me like some kind of plague spirit.

With a smirk, Fang Huai said: "Don’t celebrate too soon. In just over forty days, I’ll be back, and then it’ll be time for the Autumn Big Martial Arts Competition. Those of you who want to relax, better check if there’s enough time.

And another thing, Squad Leader Kong, I really want to ask you a question. Just what is the exchange rate for that Northeastern RMB? I had just visited my grandparents’ grave before I enlisted, and even in our rural area, a string of large firecrackers costs thirty! I heard in your region everything is just piled up for sale?"

The so-called piling up referred to buying goods by size rather than weight, just estimating the price by eye and pulling it away after the price was agreed upon.

There was also an online saying: Northeastern RMB.

In the Northeast, Renminbi becomes Northeastern RMB with purchasing power supposedly tripling compared to other regions. People online seriously developed an exchange rate chart for various places in the Northeast.

It was said that one yuan in the Northeast could be stretched to three yuan elsewhere.

Kong Xiangzhong’s face fell: "Bullshit! People also say that in the South, vegetables are sold by the stem. Is that possible? That’s an old custom from stocking up for autumn. The Northeast is cold; nature’s giant refrigerator makes it possible to buy in bulk. We youngsters don’t stock up for the winter anymore!

But I must say, consumption down South is indeed high! Even Guizhou, as poor as it is, has higher prices than our place."

Fang Huai waved his hand: "That’s not how it is, the cost of living doesn’t necessarily correlate with how rich or poor a place is. Not counting housing prices, even the prices in the Capital City are not as high as here. Just like when we were dispatched the day before yesterday to that intestine and blood noodle store, a bowl of noodles with pig intestines and blood costs five yuan. In Chongqing, which is a municipality, a bowl of beef noodles costs only four yuan and you get more meat."

As soon as he finished.

"Ringing..."

Everyone was taken aback.

Looking at the time, damn, it’s past five o’clock, almost time to eat. Was the best time for chatting and boasting about to be interrupted by a police dispatch?

"Bang!"

Hao Chengbin slammed down on the table, staring at Fang Huai: "Next time we eat, you’re not allowed to mention dispatch! You hear me?!"

Fang Huai was dumbfounded too.

Damn, have I become a crow’s mouth too?