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墨書 Inktalez
Chapter One Hundred and Twenty-Five: Dividing the Troops (Part One)
I looked down in confusion and realized I was already standing at the edge of the stage. I had unknowingly retreated from the center to the side. The music had stopped, and I quietly said to them, "Alright, you win." I turned around and bowed to them as we stepped off the stage, concluding our performance.
As I made my way back to the formation, two guys flanked me on either side. One of them asked, "Company Commander, are you the Ace Squad Leader of the First Platoon?"
I smiled slightly but didn’t respond.
The other one chimed in, "Didn’t you promise us a reward for winning? We just want to join your squad!"
As I walked, I replied, "First, I can't guarantee where you’ll end up; second, I might not always be the Squad Leader in the First Platoon. Being a soldier is about where you serve, not just who you serve with. You need to think this through!"
To my surprise, both of them were quite insistent about joining my squad. Honestly, I admired their Kung Fu skills and teamwork. In the end, I decided to wait until we divided into teams and hoped to shake off their persistence then.
When I returned to the formation, Old Tang and a group of new recruits were buzzing with excitement. Old Tang approached me and said, "I knew your stick skills were impressive, but I didn’t expect you to be this good! Your spontaneous performance was amazing!" Indeed, while others might have thought we had rehearsed, only Old Tang knew we had improvised on the spot.
I smiled and said, "Everything has its principles; as long as you practice enough, you'll eventually find your way."
Old Tang pouted slightly. "So mysterious!"
At that moment, it was time for the Three Teams’ performance—face-changing!
I quickly nudged Old Tang. "Look! The face-changing act is starting."
On stage stood a large cabinet. Two soldiers opened its doors in rhythm with the music, and out stepped someone dressed in traditional Peking Opera attire with painted facial makeup. He moved gracefully to the beat of the drums, performing various actions. Suddenly, with a flick of his sleeve, his red face paint transformed into yellow! With another turn, it changed again to green!
In a flash, he had changed his face four or five times so quickly that no one could see how he did it. The audience erupted in applause. Old Tang asked, "So this is face-changing? This is Peking Opera face-changing? Isn’t it different from what you did last time?"
"Just watch," I replied.
The pace of the face-changing act quickened. Suddenly, after revealing a black face paint design, the performer lifted his sleeve again and lowered it to reveal his normal appearance—it was Liu Zhi! He took off his costume and walked to the front of the stage, turning around as if inviting everyone to take a closer look at him.
The audience was puzzled by his intentions; it didn’t seem like a curtain call at all, leaving them in silence. Liu Zhi then turned and walked back to the large cabinet while two soldiers hurriedly closed its doors behind him. Moments later, they opened the doors again to reveal another person stepping out—this individual looked completely different from Liu Zhi in both appearance and height! The crowd gasped in astonishment. Even Old Tang whispered in disbelief, "Old Wang, this is incredible!"
The soldiers behind me began speculating among themselves: "Is there a hidden compartment in that cabinet?" "Is someone hiding inside?"
The person who emerged from the stage bowed deeply before stepping down. The combination of Peking Opera face-changing and magic left a lasting impression despite its brief duration and sparked many imaginations among the audience. It was so astonishing that even the Instructor who came up next couldn’t resist peeking into the cabinet himself.
The next program was the pantomime performance by Xuanhua and the new recruits. Although it didn't stand out as much compared to the previous acts, the genuine yet slightly exaggerated performances by Xuanhua and Sheng Xiong resonated with all the new recruits, earning them plenty of applause.
I turned to Old Tang and noticed he was still sitting in his spot. Curiously, I asked him, "Aren't you also performing face-changing for the last act? Why aren't you organizing it?"
Old Tang sat up straight and replied, "I've already arranged everything. Just wait and see."
I couldn't help but feel a sense of anticipation as another round of performances came to an end, leading us to our face-changing act.
With the Instructor announcing the next segment, everyone was surprised—two face-changing acts? Was there a mistake? But the Instructor quickly added that everyone should look to his right. Following his gesture, we turned to see a large white cloth had been set up at the entrance of the circular crowd surrounding the playground.
As a military song began to play, projections appeared on the white cloth—images of young faces. Soon, I heard a soldier behind me exclaim, "Hey, isn't that me?" "Yeah, that's our squad!" "That's when we just arrived!"
As the music gradually faded, a magnetic baritone voice announced, "Musical Poetry Recitation - Face-Changing!"
"The youthful faces gather at the call of the military flag."
More and more soldiers' faces appeared on the screen—some were from Sheng Xiong's group, some were surprised, others defiant...
"For a common goal, we are changing."
The screen began showing snippets of our daily training—formations, running, physical training, even scenes of us singing before meals.
"Under the wind and sun, our faces are gradually changing."
More soldiers' faces appeared on the screen; they no longer looked so youthful but instead bore traces of determination. I could tell these were photos taken after a month of training.
The poetry recitation continued with deep emotion as soldiers around me watched their transformations on the screen. Perhaps when they looked back, they realized how much they had changed along this journey.
I whispered to Old Tang, "Hey, how did you come up with the idea to collect these photos? I never noticed."
Old Tang smiled proudly. "Hehe, I initially just wanted to keep a memento or have material for future promotional education. But after hearing you mention face-changing last time, I thought it would be great to showcase the soldiers' transformations through projections. I wanted everyone to see this process of change; this face-changing act is something everyone—especially the leaders—would appreciate."
"What the hell! You're amazing!" I couldn't help but admire Old Tang's ingenuity. This was a high-level presentation with a fresh format and meaningful content that both upper management and recruits would enjoy. Hehe, this time it seemed like our Recruit Training Camp would get extra points thanks to us!
The origin of this poem is unknown, but paired with the images, it became increasingly emotional. By the final line, "For the Motherland, for our families, we are willing to become one person, one face," the music abruptly stopped. The faces of all the new recruits began to blur on the screen, ultimately merging into the visage of a valiant warrior.
It was so damn sentimental, I thought to myself.
Looking back, many soldiers were visibly moved. It seemed that Political Education and Mobilization were not ineffective; rather, it depended on the methods used and whether one could find the right points to touch upon. I corrected some of my previous views on Political Officers and political work in my mind.
The subsequent program lacked any highlights. The entire event lasted until 10 PM. The Regimental Leadership was clearly pleased, mentioning multiple times in their concluding remarks that this was a high-quality event, perhaps better than many local gatherings. The Regimental Commander appeared very satisfied with the atmosphere, appearance, and training results reflected by the Recruit Training Camp. It seemed that the purpose of holding the event had not only been met but exceeded expectations.
As expected, on the way back from various Units, the Company Commander and Instructor instructed someone to notify me and Old Tang to head to Battalion for a meeting immediately after returning.
After arranging for the Unit to wash up normally and delaying the lights-out time accordingly, Old Tang and I walked to Battalion together. Feeling that it likely wasn’t bad news, we entered casually without knocking.
Sure enough, upon seeing us, the Company Commander and Instructor greeted us with smiles, urging us to "Sit down quickly!" Before we could say anything, they showered us with praise about how our College Student Leader mindset was broad and our vision expansive. We exchanged glances and smiled; we didn’t bother being modest and accepted it all.
After chatting for a while, the Company Commander brought up a topic we were both concerned about: "You two have truly contributed to the Recruit Training Camp. After the New Year’s division of troops, you will represent Old Company in selecting personnel first! If there are any issues, we’ll take care of them!"
(To be continued; more exciting content tomorrow!)
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