“It is.” Officer Xue walked slowly, chatting as they strolled. “Our unit does both research and fieldwork. With so many people to feed every day, the Cooking Squad is very important. All the bosses take it seriously. So as soon as the notice came, we responded right away.”
Qian Duoduo thought for a moment and asked, “Officer Xue, about how many people eat at the Mess Hall every day?”
Xue Wei thought for two seconds, then answered, “Most married officers go home to the Family Housing Compound for dinner after work. The rest— unmarried officers plus all the soldiers—about two hundred people.”
Hearing that, Qian Duoduo frowned slightly, hesitating. “Officer Xue, you know, cooking for a small group and making food in a big pot are two different things. I might be able to cook one or two dishes, but I have no experience at all with large-scale cooking.”
“Don’t worry, Ms. Qian.” Xue Wei smiled gently. “You and Mr. Da Kuan are here as a show of care from local businesses and government. Our soldiers know that people appreciate and remember their hard work and sacrifices. ‘Having the dish’ is more important than ‘how the dish tastes.'”
At those words, Qian Duoduo lowered her eyes, thought for a moment, then nodded. “You’re right. And even though Mr. Da Kuan and I have never made large-scale meals before, we can learn.”
“Exactly,” Da Kuan added cheerfully. “We’ll gain experience through practice. We’ll learn from the Cooking Squad and improve together!”
The three of them chatted as they walked along the path by the Artificial Lake.
After a while, a phone rang.
“Excuse me.” Xue Wei pulled a military phone from his pocket, glanced at the screen, and answered, “Hello, Commander Xiao?”
After a brief conversation, he hung up.
“The bosses have finished their meeting.” Xue Wei smiled. “Please follow me to the Comprehensive Building.”
*
A few minutes later, Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan met several senior officers in the Multimedia Conference Room of the Comprehensive Building.
Unlike the young people, the bosses were all battle-hardened, experienced, and carried themselves with authority.
Their uniforms were crisp as they welcomed them, making Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan, both newcomers, too nervous to even breathe loudly.
“Welcome, welcome.” Xiao Chenghui greeted them with a kind smile, shaking hands with Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan in turn. “You two are truly outstanding young people.”
“You’re too kind.”
“We should have met you yesterday, but we just couldn’t get away. Sorry about that.” Xiao Chenghui sounded a bit apologetic. “Hope you understand and won’t blame us for poor hospitality.”
“You’re too polite, Commander.” Despite her nerves, Qian Duoduo smiled graciously. “You’re all busy people. We’re honored you made time to see us at all. We wouldn’t dare blame you.”
“That’s right, Commander,” Da Kuan agreed. “Officer Xue told us how you all are often too busy to even go home. Please take care of your health.”
“Thank you for your concern.” Xiao Chenghui said. “Let’s sit and chat.”
Once seated, Officer Xue and another staff member served hot tea.
Commander Xiao thanked the local government and businesses for their strong support and care for the military, then praised and expressed his expectations for the Military-Civilian Exchange Activity.
He then took out a Flowchart for Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan to review.
“Both of you should have seen the draft of this Flowchart. This is the revised version, adjusted to fit our camp’s actual conditions. The content is more detailed and specific. Take a look and see if you have any questions.”
Qian Duoduo took the Flowchart and skimmed through it.
She found that to make the activity more interesting and to increase participation, the Stonewater side had changed the original “Soldiers’ Tasting and Review” segment to a “Vote-by-Scoring System.”
In other words, over the next four weeks, Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan would each lead a team in a cooking competition. Every week, all the soldiers would score and vote for the dishes, and a winner would be chosen. Four contests in total, one each week.
After reading, Qian Duoduo blinked and blurted out, “Leader, your changes are great, but Officer Xue just took us through the Cooking Squad, and there are only six or seven people there. If we split into teams, that’s only three or four people per team. I’m worried about manpower…”
“That’s easy to solve.” Xiao Chenghui waved a hand and turned to Xue Wei. “Go back and send out a notice. Find two more people from the Logistics Support Battalion.”
At this, another leader laughed. “Old Xiao, are you conscripting labor?”
“No conscription, just voluntary sign-up.” Commander Xiao said. “By eight o’clock tonight, get the list to me.”
Xue Wei nodded. “Understood.”
Commander Xiao looked at Qian Duoduo again and smiled. “Now you won’t be short-handed.”
“Thank you all for your understanding and support.” Qian Duoduo thought for a moment, then added, “But the other staff members will have to do their own work and help here too. It’s tough for them.”
“No soldier has it easy.” Commander Xiao replied lightly. “Without being tempered, you can’t become steel.”
After the discussion came a simple welcome ceremony, with someone filming and taking photos for the record.
Then, the busy leaders left to attend to their own work.
Xue Wei stayed behind in the Multimedia Conference Room, took out two Confidentiality Agreements, and set them in front of Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan.
“Please sign these, teachers.” Officer Xue said. “Sorry, but our unit’s secrecy level is high, so we have to be careful. Hope you understand.”
Qian Duoduo and Da Kuan, of course, understood. They picked up pens and signed, pressing their red thumbprints.
Seeing this, Officer Xue relaxed and smiled. “All right, that’s settled. Sorry for taking up your whole morning. Go back and rest now. After dinner, we’ll discuss the team assignments. If you want to leave the Compound, just swipe your card.”
“Okay, thank you.”
*
Leaving the Comprehensive Building, Da Kuan muttered about going into the city to buy some things and left first.
Xue Wei, carrying a leather file folder, headed straight for the Office Building.
Qian Duoduo wandered around the Artificial Lake for a while. Seeing the nice weather, she found a bench and sat down.
She basked in the sun, resting and peeling the Egg.
By now, the Egg was stone cold, but Qian Duoduo didn’t mind.
It was already past her usual breakfast time, and the green vegetable porridge at the Mess Hall had long since digested. She was hungry.
Tap, tap, she cracked the shell. The smooth, white egg white was round and plump in the sunlight.
Qian Duoduo took a bite, her cheeks bulging as she chewed, her gaze unconsciously drifting toward the training field in the distance.
The sunlight pierced the morning mist. Pairs of tactical boots crushed the cinder track, making muffled, rhythmic sounds that echoed the soldiers’ shouts.
Beneath the barbed wire, figures crawled forward. The instructors, hawk-eyed, paced and scanned, their commands and whistles cold and merciless.
“Can you do it or not? If not, get out—this isn’t a place for delicate types like you!”
A young, sweat-soaked soldier gritted his teeth, his lashes covered with grit kicked up by the comrade ahead. “I— I can!”
“Then keep crawling! Move forward!”
“…”
From afar, Qian Duoduo couldn’t see the soldiers’ shoulders, arms, or knees clearly, but just imagining it made her ache.
She couldn’t bear to watch, so she looked away, finished her Egg, dusted off her hands, and got ready to head back to her dorm for a nap.
But just as she stood up, before she could take a step, she suddenly caught sight of a cold and familiar face out of the corner of her eye.
Beneath the steel frame structure, more than ten meters high, a rope hung down.
In the sunlight, the rope looked like a steel-gray line, almost like a bar of iron forged in fire.
In the shadow below, a young lieutenant colonel in combat uniform stood fully equipped, his face calm as still water, waiting for something.
Suddenly, veins bulged on his temples, the muscles in his forearms tightened, and he leaped like a coiled leopard, his boots digging deep into the sand.
As his five fingers gripped the rope, the rough hemp gave a strained creak in his palm.
Qian Duoduo stared, watching that lean, powerful body twist in midair, pulling up again and again. Sunlight shone through the taut side of his neck, sweat rolling down his Adam’s apple.
His hands alternated as he climbed, changing position in midair at a speed most people couldn’t even imagine.
Three meters, eight meters, ten meters… In just a few seconds, before she could even react, that wild, steel-forged figure had leapt from the top and landed steadily past the obstacle zone, not a single wasted movement, his form smooth as water.
That kind of natural, flawless skill couldn’t be faked in any military drama.
Qian Duoduo stared, dumbfounded.
Then—
After the demonstration, the new recruits stood silent for a moment, then burst into applause.
The deputy squad leader handed over a towel and gratefully said, “Captain Lu, thank you for making time to come. These kids were stubborn and refused to believe anyone could climb a ten-meter rope in under seven seconds. We needed you to show them the ropes, give them a goal to strive for.”
Lu Qiming took off his gear, wiped his sweat, and swept his gaze over the young, earnest faces. “Just practice more.”
No one spoke. They all thought the squad leader was flattering them— Lu Qiming was the all-around king who always took first place, the famous captain of the Wolf Fang Special Forces.
Catching up to him? Who knew how long they’d have to work for that.
Lu Qiming patted the deputy squad leader’s shoulder, slung his camo jacket over his shoulder, and started back toward the Office Building.
After a few steps, he seemed to sense something, stopped, and glanced sideways in a certain direction.
Sunlight, bench, the gentle morning breeze.
And a girl more radiant than the winter sun.
Lu Qiming squinted slightly in the sunlight, raising his brows in an easy, relaxed way.
On her side, Qian Duoduo was still stunned by what she’d just seen, and before she could recover, her eyes met his.
Their gazes locked, and her heart skipped a beat, suddenly flustered.
In her impression, this new army friend of hers had always been gentle and composed, the picture of a gentleman. She’d never seen this side of him.
Wild and unrestrained, full of the kind of explosive energy that could shatter darkness and tear through the cold night.
As her thoughts spun, Qian Duoduo was startled to see her new friend suddenly change direction and walk straight toward her bench.
With his long legs, he was in front of her in no time.
“Ms. Qian, are you done with your business?” Lu Qiming’s dark eyes looked at her.
“Yes, I am. Already met with your leaders.” Qian Duoduo’s heart was racing. She managed a smile, paused for two seconds, then politely asked, “Captain Lu, were you just doing training?”
“The new recruits’ squad leader is on my basketball team. We’re close. He asked me for a favor.” Lu Qiming said calmly.
“Oh, oh.” Qian Duoduo nodded, and for some reason, she blurted out, “You were really cool just now.”
Lu Qiming was momentarily stunned. For a few seconds, the tips of his ears flushed red.
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