After Being Reborn, I became a firefighter again?

Everyone gathered around the coach as they descended the stairs to the backyard.

"Ohh... Tony Fang, I’m dog-tired! I need a short break right now!"

The foreigner cracked a joke as soon as he arrived.

"Tony Fang" was Fang Huai’s off-the-cuff self-introduction when he entered; he hadn’t thought to come up with an English name for himself, so he used his hairstyling stage name instead.

The male interpreter, who was following, was just about to speak, but Fang Huai beat him to it.

"No need to translate that, I understand. He says he’s tired as a dog!"

The interpreter was momentarily stunned, then laughed and said, "It means he’s utterly exhausted... but your translation seems even more precise."

That made everyone laugh.

"Time is money!"

Fang Huai said, and while handing out bottles of water, one for each of the three coaches, he turned to introduce them to everyone:

"Coach Yin! Coach Huang! Coach Randy Huntington!"

Ye Jiahong immediately said, "For this foreigner, just call him Teacher Landy!"

The interpreter corrected him, "It’s Randy."

Everyone was about to obediently follow suit when the foreigner, Randy, shook his head and loudly protested, "No no no! Not teacher! Not coach!"

After saying this, he made a swapping gesture with his hands and said:

"We are partners! partnership! Randy, Just Randy!"

The interpreter explained, "He says, he’s not a teacher or a coach. We are collaborators, partners, just call me Randy."

With that, everyone smiled.

Such an introduction made them all feel very comfortable.

Ye Jiahong smiled wide and extended his thumb, "Randy! You’re not a foreigner! You’re a friend!"

Randy burst into rapid speech, with the interpreter echoing him.

"I think we should first take a look at your training!"

The other two coaches nodded in agreement.

"We haven’t seen the training of you firefighting comrades yet!"

The comrades were ready to go; hearing this, they immediately became spirited, standing tall and proud.

"Alright!"

...

The leaders were quite considerate, not disrupting things continuously.

When Old Teacher He, the detachment leaders, and General Luo, along with his group, visited, the two national coaches, with arms folded, watched from the sidelines of the playground as everyone performed vehicle sprint drills, while Old Randy stood even closer, almost beside the hose, shouting "amazing."

In the midst of the white-haired old man’s exaggerated exclamations, everyone charged forward with full force; Lian Xu stumbled and fell due to the fiercely shifting hose, to which Randy gave a loud "Oh..." Yet, Lian Xu did a donkey roll on the spot, rose with a side flip, and charged forward to grasp the hose, throwing it over his shoulder with great force.

Which made Old Randy shout and holler.

"Hero!"

As soon as Cao Yi saw the leaders arrive, he was about to loudly ask for permission when General Luo gestured for him to stop with his hand.

Cao Yi wasn’t the one footing the bill, and worried that the coaches wouldn’t show respect nor was it good to introduce them to the leaders, he quietly told the leaders to let Fang Huai finish his task before introducing them.

General Luo wasn’t in a rush and just inquired about the price of the coaches.

Cao Yi gestured an eight and whispered:

"Charged by the hour, working ten hours a day, for twelve days... eight hundred thousand."

When saying "charged by the hour," Old Cao emphasized the phrase a bit more.

Very expensive, hoping you won’t come every day to disrupt the training.

The leaders gasped in astonishment.

Wow, this little Fang is going too hard. Hiring a coach will take all of my severance pay and it still won’t be enough.

General Luo wasn’t too surprised; instead, he watched Fang Huai, who was dashing with two hoses on the field, and said to the people around him with a laugh:

"See that? This kid, who couldn’t get money from us, spent several hundred thousand of his own to hire a top coach. If he got his hands on the two million special funds from the department, how long do you think it would last him?"

The leaders laughed heartily.

An officer in training, able to spend two million, General Luo, do you realize we are drooling over here?

The vehicle drills were only time-consuming in preparation; by the time the leaders arrived, they had already started, so there was no wait, and the call was soon made.

The voice of the timer, Huang Zhongjiu, rang out.

"One minute and 20.67 seconds!"

Although this round was somewhat slower due to Lian Xu’s fall, it was still an amazing performance that would dominate the corps arena. Unfortunately, it was overshadowed by the various thoughts of the leaders present.

Brigade Chief of Staff Zhou, watching the silhouette of Huang Zhongjiu below the training tower, leaned in close to Cao Yi, whispering a question:

"How is Little Huang doing in the squadron? Is he still acting out?"

Facing the Chief of Staff, Cao Yi didn’t feel much pressure. Hearing this topic, he smiled and said,

"He’s doing quite well. With Fang Huai around, how could he stir trouble? At first, he didn’t blend in very well, but Fang Huai guided him nicely. Now, Instructor Huang is getting more and more into the groove."

Cao Yi said this, not wanting to take all the credit.

Upon hearing this, the Chief of Staff sternly said, "This is your responsibility as a clerk. Don’t always expect Little Fang to handle everything. Right now, his superiors are watching him, and he has heavy responsibilities with the reforms. Plus, the detachment will soon assign him more work, and he still has the Martial Arts Competition to compete in. Some of the more trivial tasks, you and Little Ye must take the initiative to undertake."

Cao Yi was caught between laughter and tears.

Well, looking after the squadron management, even something turning into a trivial matter for Fang Huai.

But he knew more than the Chief of Staff. That grand plan appeared in his mind, and he sincerely admitted,

"I understand, Chief of Staff. Fang Huai has a heavy burden."

The Chief of Staff finally nodded in satisfaction.

The experimental contract firefighter system in the detachment is a big deal.

The whole corps gave the Second Squadron a pilot Instruction Team, and the government agency also set up a professionalization pilot project for the Second Squadron. At the brigade level, which is the closest comprehensive guidance agency to the Second Squadron, how could they not find a new project to keep pace?

Fang Huai thought this matter was quite good—contract work was big enough, and an experimental contract system within a single detachment kept costs low enough that when he, as the Chief of Staff, brought it up at the meeting, it was immediately passed by unanimous vote. Captain Li and Political Commissar Cheng also approved it.

From now on, if the Second Squadron achieves notable success, the detachment will be mentioned as the leading project in various reports.

The leaders all thought Fang Huai was quite promising and believed he would deliver good results with this task.

At this moment, Fang Huai—who was the main protagonist in the hearts of leaders at all levels—was panting heavily, hands on his waist, coming out of the training tower. He was just about to review the mistakes in the drill, when he saw even General Luo among the ring of leaders behind the playground. He couldn’t care less about the training and jogged over, pulling the three coaches to greet the leaders.

Old Randy looked a bit bewildered, so Fang Huai had to whisper,

"Just smile and..."

He hesitated for a moment before turning to the translator and saying,

"Shake hands."

The translator was quick-witted and didn’t directly prompt Randy with "handshake," instead he smiled quietly and explained to Randy that these were the leaders of the Fire Brigade, and then swiftly briefed him on the firefighting forces system in our country.

Old Randy got it, shaking hands with the leaders, while laughing heartily with a splash of interpersonal etiquette.

"Soldiers, good! Fire brigade, good!"

Adjacent clerical Communication Officers snapped photos non-stop.

All three coaches were welcomed by the leaders one after the other. Apart from Randy, the other two coaches also gave face, having seen plenty of official functions; they were familiar with the official language, thanking for the invitation from the Fire Brigade, mentioning it was a good sign for professional training to enter the Troops, and lightly discussed the inevitable trend of the development of defense sports training coaches.

They managed to make it sound like an unpaid assistance rather than a hired service.

The leaders, besides welcoming, also naturally showered Fang Huai with praises—a two-time champion of the Corps Arena, a pioneer of reform, a second generation heir, and also Captain Zhang’s direct nephew. His numerous official and unofficial titles earned him ample respect and compliments from the leaders.

Staff on the side tasked with drafting reports scribbled vigorously.

This was also one of the purposes of General Luo’s visit today: to create momentum for Fang Huai’s promotion.

Boss Wu received the news today and was very satisfied with Fang Huai hiring top-notch coaches for the Corps’ team, going all out in preparation for the Grand Martial Arts Competition; this fully demonstrated Fang Huai’s sense of collective honor.

Recalling the matter of Fang Huai’s exceptional promotion, he thought it best to save a few reports as justification. Still, considering national-level coaches generally don’t exceed middle-level positions, it was inappropriate for him to welcome them personally. Yet, he wanted to show importance, so he called General Luo to make a visit.

Fang Huai hadn’t thought about these things yet.

But after General Luo finished welcoming the coaches and pulled him aside to explain everything in a haze, Fang Huai was unexpectedly elated.

This matter could actually be capital for promotion?

But General Luo also left a few words of earnest advice, clearing his confusion.

"When inviting coaches, it’s best to give them a heads-up, making things sound nicer. Don’t say we’ve hired them at a high price. Instead, say that you were touched by the pain of the soldiers training, actively contacted the coaches, moved them with your concern, and even spent a year’s salary as living and travel expense support to invite them here to plan a better training method for the soldiers."

Fang Huai was stunned as he listened.

Oh my god, General Luo personally teaching me how to do things.

The strategist is indeed a master storyteller.

No, this isn’t making up stories; this is beautifying them.

"Also, hiring foreign coaches, and since Coach Randy has a social status in the United States, this is a matter involving foreign affairs. It must be handled cautiously, accommodating dining and lodging well, but without exceeding standards. There are currently a group of foreign coaches in Beijing. If your arrangements here are discovered, it could affect public opinion. I’ll have someone send you the standards used for Olympic coaches, but you should aim a bit lower because, compared to the Olympics, our Martial Arts Competition is just a smaller event. Plus, pay attention to safety."

Fang Huai listened and understood, nodding constantly.

He truly hadn’t thought about this. Mainly because this place is way too far from Beijing.

On reflection, it indeed made a lot of sense, truly enlightening. He must be cautious about this.

"One last thing, don’t always push for special treatment for your own squadron. You are a cadre now; you need to understand unity. You’ve invited national-level coaches for your squadron; what will the cadres and soldiers of the other squadrons think?

You may only be in charge of a squadron, but if the detachment hires an external company for training, you still need to extend opportunities to squadrons at the county level. If you act this way, won’t the soldiers who don’t know the full story feel neglected by the detachment?

I will have your brigade leadership arrange for each squadron to send a key member for observation and learning. They’ll also have a chance to learn your techniques—don’t worry, they won’t disrupt your training. But Little Fang, as a cadre, you need to think big and learn to level the playing field as much as possible."

Fang Huai was inwardly amazed, continuously nodding.

With these three remarks, General Luo thoroughly delivered the first lesson of leadership before military academy.

Study, I must keep studying.