War Military: From 1978

Chapter 4: Does making a living depend on your ability?
The military station was not as noisy as an ordinary train station. Except for the occasional whistle and the voices of some recruiting officers, the other new and old soldiers coming and going were very quiet.

At this moment, Chu An and others walked down from the sealed carriage under the leadership of Tong Lianzhong and three others.

Outside, you can see veterans gathering not far away.

They both wore red flowers on their chests and had no collar badges or cap badges, but it was obvious that the emotions and atmosphere on both sides were completely different.

The recruits looked at them with curiosity and a bit of timidity in their eyes.

Some people even saw the veteran looking at them, but they didn't have the courage to look him in the face.

In contrast, the expressions of the veterans were more complicated.

Some people looked reminiscing.

They seemed to see the past.

Some people also looked at the new recruits with envy.

Being a soldier is really popular these days. At least half of these retired veterans do not want to leave the army, but they have to leave after their term has expired.

"Alright, the three of you follow me. For the rest, Old Ma, you take them to secure a table and get the dishes and chopsticks ready!"

At the entrance of the military station cafeteria, Tong Lianzhong, who was walking in front, paused, turned around and pointed at Chu An and the other two recruits walking in front.

"Yes!"

Platoon Leader Ma responded, and in front of the team, Chu An and two others also walked out of the team silently and followed Tong Lianzhong's footsteps.

Now, nearly twenty people in Chu An's carriage have followed Squad Leader Liu to the toilet.

They didn't need to go, so they were divided into two groups. One group went to take up positions, while Chu An and others followed Tong Lianzhong to coordinate meals with the military station.

About ten minutes later, when Chu An and another recruit were carrying a large basin of steamed buns back to the cafeteria, squad leader Liu and a large group of people who were going to the toilet happened to see them coming from the other side.

However, they were still some distance away, so Chu An and the others naturally didn't need to wait for them and walked into the cafeteria carrying the steamed buns.

Inside, Platoon Leader Ma and his men had already taken their positions.

At his call, Chu An and another recruit carried the steamed buns and placed them on the long table in front of them.

Behind him, Tong Lianzhong and another recruit carried a marching pot and placed it next to the long table.

"Go ahead, you guys line up too!"

After Tong Lianzhong spoke, Chu An hurriedly walked towards the team behind the table.

When he was carrying the steamed buns just now, he actually wanted to eat two first, but he was a soldier after all, and he knew that he had to abide by the rules, so he kept suppressing the urge to steal some.

And now, it's finally time to eat.

The few recruits who stayed in the cafeteria to reserve seats have already lined up.

I have to say that people these days are very active when eating.

At present, Chu An and the other two were standing behind them.

Soon, the large group led by Squad Leader Liu also arrived at the door.

"Two steamed buns per person, but since we came a little late, there aren't many noodles!"

Looking at the long line of recruits in front of him, Tong Lianzhong said with a smile, "There aren't many noodles. To avoid you saying I'm being unfair, those of you who want noodles, let's play a game!"

After saying that, he raised his hand and pointed to the camp pot on the side: "Use a spoon to scoop up the noodles later. Each person has 30 seconds. Whether you want to eat the noodles or drink the soup, it depends on your ability!"

Chu An rolled his eyes when he said this, and the other two recruits who went with Chu An to carry food also had different expressions.

The reason is simple.

Just now in the kitchen, the person in charge of the military station actually said clearly in front of Chu An and the others that although there might not be enough noodles now, they can continue to cook and they can just come back later to bring more.

But Tong Lianzhong said forget it, a little less is a little less, it's just a good lesson for the new recruits, telling them that in the army you have to rely on your own ability to make a living.

At that time, the military officers in other carriages also smiled and nodded in agreement with his idea.

Naturally, the people at the military station were happy that they didn't have to continue cooking.

However, they were happy, but Chu An was still wondering what the connection was between eating noodles and earning a living by one's own ability.

But now that the first recruit in the queue started fighting, Chu An immediately knew where the problem lay.

As Tong Lianzhong raised his hand to reveal his watch, the noodle-eating competition, which required skill, officially began.

The first one to go on stage was the new recruit who stayed behind to take the position with Platoon Leader Ma.

He picked up the spoon next to the camp pot, stirred it, and wanted to scoop it up.

The noodles on the spoon seemed to be a lot when they landed on the soup, but when he really took the spoon out of the soup, the noodles slipped back into the pot below very smoothly.

"This..." The recruit was a little dumbfounded.

He quickly scooped up a second spoonful.

Chu An was also a little dumbfounded now.

What are you doing?
Don’t you know that the noodles are very slippery? If you scoop them straight back and forth like this, you definitely won’t be able to scoop them out?
Obviously, this recruit really didn't know.

After two or three spoonfuls, Tong Lianzhong said, "Ten seconds left!"

This time, he became even more anxious. After trying again and failing to get the noodles out, Platoon Leader Ma next to him reminded him: "If you can't get the noodles out, make some soup first!"

"Oh oh oh~"

After hearing this, the recruit hurriedly scooped a spoonful of soup into the bowl.

en Actually, it’s not like he didn’t get any noodles at all.

Still did a little bit.

After a few spoonfuls, although most of the noodles fell back into the camp pot, some residue was scooped into the bowl by him, but it was gone in two mouthfuls at most.

"Okay, it's time to go get your steamed bread!"

Tong Lianzhong called for a stop, and squad leader Liu picked up two steamed buns and handed them to him.

Next, the second, and the third, Chu An was stunned.

For three people, they might not even have enough to finish half a bowl of noodles, so they can only get some soup at the end.

Naturally, they are not losing out by making soup now.

The noodles will run away, but the minced meat and vegetables floating in the soup will not.

A spoonful of soup, after taking the lead, the minced meat is not a small amount.

Another person finished, and at this point, all the new recruits who had stayed here with Platoon Leader Ma had finished.

The next one is Chu An.

Chu An held the bowl and chopsticks from the long table in one hand and the spoon next to the camp pot in the other.

Tong Lianzhong, who was standing opposite him, looked at his watch as usual and asked, "Are you ready?"

"Okay!" Chu An nodded.

Tong Lianzhong immediately gave the order: "Begin!"

Immediately, Chu An moved.

Unlike the previous four people, Chu An picked up the spoon, put it to the bottom, and then slowly stirred it clockwise.

Although time was tight, only thirty seconds, Chu An knew very well that there was no need to rush to eat noodles.

The noodles are very slippery after being boiled in water, so if you want to scoop them out, you need to be a bit careful about the method.

Although before his rebirth he only occasionally cooked noodles for himself.

But even if I eat it occasionally, I still have the experience of picking noodles out of the pot.

Although we are not allowed to use chopsticks now, we use spoons instead.

But the principle is similar.

Chu An stirred it clockwise, felt the weight of the noodles in the spoon, turned it quickly twice, and pulled it up.

Immediately, a large circle of noodles was wrapped around the spoon.

"Oh, not bad, you have some skills!"

When Tong Lianzhong saw that Chu An could catch so much at once, he immediately exclaimed in surprise.

Chu An's hometown is in the south, where they grow rice and not wheat at all.

Because of this, noodles are basically not available in the local area.

It is no exaggeration to say that among the nearly thirty people now, half of them have never eaten noodles in their lives.

As for fishing from such a big pot by yourself, few people have experience with it.

In this case, it is normal that it cannot be fished out.

But Chu An knew how to fish, and he could fish so much, so how could he not be surprised?

(End of this chapter)