Siheyuan (traditional courtyard house): Starting with the Korean War, returning home to take charge

The special operations team's new base was built on the flat land east of the laboratory, a 20-minute walk from the main building.

It was called a camp, but it was really just tents, except for a few rows of wooden plank houses with tarpaulins on the roofs to keep out the wind and rain. The drill ground was newly leveled, and the soil hadn't been compacted yet; every step you took left a hole. Several wooden stakes stood along the side, with sandbags tied to them. When the wind blew, the sandbags swayed back and forth, making a creaking sound.

He Yuzhu stood at the edge of the drill ground, watching the new recruits emerge from the wooden huts and walk sparsely toward him.

Old Lu stood next to him, his face as black as the bottom of a pot.

"This guy's a new recruit? He's way worse than us back then."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

The group had gathered, thirty-seven people in total, standing in three rows. They were of all shapes and sizes, tall and short, fat and thin, and their postures were varied. A few were whispering amongst themselves, seemingly discussing something.

Old Lu took a step forward.

"stand at attention--"

The line quieted down, but some people still couldn't stand up straight and were tilting their heads to look this way.

Old Lu glanced around and pointed to the tall guy standing in the middle of the second row.

"You, step forward."

The man paused for a moment, then took two steps forward.

Old Lu looked at him.

"What's your name?"

"Zhao Tiezhu".

"What were you muttering about just now?"

Zhao Tiezhu stiffened his neck.

"I didn't mutter anything."

Old Lu stared at him for two seconds.

"You disagree?"

Zhao Tiezhu didn't say anything, but anyone could see the meaning in his eyes.

Old Lu turned and glanced at He Yuzhu.

He Yuzhu nodded.

Old Lu took a step back.

Zhao Tiezhu was stunned for a moment, and before he could react, He Yuzhu had already walked up to him.

"I heard you're good at boxing?"

Zhao Tiezhu looked at him. He Yuzhu was dressed in civilian clothes, a gray cloth jacket and old military pants, looking no different from those who sat in offices.

"good."

He Yuzhu nodded.

"Give it a try."

Zhao Tiezhu hesitated for a moment and looked around. The new recruits were all staring at him, their eyes shining.

He rolled up his sleeves.

"Dean, I won't go easy on you."

He Yuzhu didn't say anything.

Zhao Tiezhu took a step forward and threw a punch.

He Yuzhu dodged to the side, grabbed Zhao Tiezhu's wrist, and pulled him towards himself. Zhao Tiezhu lost his balance and stumbled forward. He Yuzhu's knee struck Zhao Tiezhu's lower abdomen, and before he could straighten up, He Yuzhu's arm was already around his neck.

three seconds.

Zhao Tiezhu lay on the ground, his face pressed against the dirt, panting heavily. He didn't get up immediately. He lay there for two seconds, then rolled over, lying on his back, watching He Yuzhu's back. He Yuzhu was backing away, his face expressionless, as if he had just dusted off his sleeves.

He Yuzhu released him and stood up.

"Next."

There was a few seconds of silence in the group. Then a short man rushed out, his fist flying, aiming straight for He Yuzhu's face.

He Yuzhu dodged to the side and swept his foot away. The short man fell face-first into the mud, lying on the ground, unable to get up for a long time.

The third one to emerge was a hothead, his face flushed and eyes red. He rushed over to hug He Yuzhu's waist, but He Yuzhu elbowed him in the shoulder, sending him tumbling to the side and crashing into the wooden stake with the sandbag attached—the one that creaked in the wind. The sandbag shook violently, the rope digging into the stake, making an even more piercing creak, as if it were screaming in pain for the man. He lay on the ground, unable to get up for a long time, the sandbag above his head still swaying, gradually slowing down until it finally stopped, returning to its gentle swaying in the wind.

He Yuzhu stood still and patted the dirt off his sleeves.

"Is there anything else?"

No one said a word.

Zhao Tiezhu got up from the ground, dusted himself off, and retreated back into the group. His expression changed; it wasn't one of submission, but something else—as if he had finally understood something.

Old Lu walked over and stood next to He Yuzhu.

"Listen up, everyone. This is Commander He. You can call him Dean or Commander He from now on. His words are orders. If you disagree, you can leave. Those who stay must train according to his rules."

He paused.

"My second rule is that I'll personally deal with anyone who breaks the rules."

No one spoke.

He Yuzhu glanced at the new recruits. His expression changed, shifting from disdain to something else entirely.

He turned around and walked towards the tent.

After taking a few steps, he turned back.

"Meet at the playground at 3 PM. Bring paper and pens."

Inside the tent, He Yuzhu brought up the system interface.

Special Forces Training Equipment Kit

[Includes: 1 obstacle course, 4 climbing nets, 6 tactical target drones, 20 camouflage nets, 50 military daggers, 200 individual rations (for training), and 10 emergency medical kits]

[Redeemable Points: 800,000]

He looked at the line of text and tapped it.

[Redeem successful. Points consumed: 500,000]

Current points: 51,130,000

He took the pile of things out of his system space and stacked them in the corner of the tent. Ropes, nets, target drones, and daggers were all wrapped in oiled paper, making it impossible to tell what they were.

He Yuzhu squatted down, his hand resting on one of the oil paper packages. Eight million points—enough to buy equipment for a whole company. He just used that to exchange for training equipment for thirty-seven people.

He stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and looked outside.

On the parade ground, the new recruits were still standing, and Old Lu was giving them a speech. The thirty-seven men stood ramrod straight, no longer whispering to each other.

The tent flap was lifted, and Old Lu came in. He was stunned when he saw the pile of things.

"Where did this come from?"

He Yuzhu did not answer.

Old Lu squatted down and reached out to touch the oil paper packets. He wanted to open them to take a look, but his fingers, already digging into the seams of the oil paper, stopped. He looked up at He Yuzhu, who was looking down at a piece of paper. Old Lu withdrew his hand, patted his knees, and stood up.

"Commander, these things... are quite advanced."

He Yuzhu looked at him.

"As long as it works, that's fine."

Old Lu nodded, walked to the tent entrance, and glanced back at the pile of oil paper packages.

"By the way, Yang Xiaobing just came back from the foot of the mountain and said he saw some suspicious people loitering around there."

He Yuzhu raised his head.

"Who is it?"

"He was dressed in civilian clothes, but his walking posture was off. Xiao Bing said it looked like he had been a soldier."

He Yuzhu stood up, walked to the tent entrance, and looked outside.

At the foot of the mountain, the forest was dense. The wind blew from that direction, causing the leaves to rustle and reveal their greyish-green undersides. He couldn't see anything clearly, but He Yuzhu stared at that spot for a long time.

Old Lu followed his gaze.

"No more movement."

He Yuzhu didn't speak. He saw a flock of birds fly up from the edge of the woods, circle twice, and then land again.

It didn't startle and fly away; it fell down.

He Yuzhu turned and went back to the tent.

"Have Yang Xiaobing keep a close eye on things."

Outside the tent, Lao Lu's footsteps faded into the distance. The wind was still blowing, and the sandbags were still creaking. The thirty-seven men had dispersed, and the playground was empty except for the sandbags swaying on the wooden stake.

He Yuzhu stood inside the tent, looking at the pile of oil paper packages.

Whether it's worth it or not, you'll only know after you've trained for it.