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墨書 Inktalez
During this time, Xiaojing came to see me once, on that afternoon when they had no classes. After she got up and went out, she passed by the playground and saw us resting. I was walking back and forth alone, feeling quite bored, so she curiously came over to chat with me. As a result, we were pointed at and whispered about by many students and instructors. Some voices were loud enough for me to hear their comments, such as "Oh, how does the Devil Instructor know Senior Sister?" Xiaojing was actually quite generous; after this incident, she became shy and never appeared in public during Military Training again. Strange things did not happen anymore, and this period passed peacefully. But who knew this was the calm before the storm?
If I were to express my feelings, I would say that those students back then were quite resilient. At least their physical fitness and sense of discipline were stronger than those of today's kids—just a genuine observation; please don't criticize. Regardless of whether they were boys or girls, everyone persisted in training. Many girls got tanned from the sun, but no one complained about it. Sometimes, watching these students standing at Military Posture, marching, running, performing slow marches, stopping and turning, squatting down and standing up again—repeating these monotonous movements over and over—while using all their strength to shout commands made me feel like I had returned to leading troops. It felt as if these students were my own soldiers.
Moreover, the relationship between the students and instructors grew deeper over time. This could be seen from their enthusiasm during training and their interactions during leisure time: at first, instructors had to constantly correct the students' movements and supervise them. Now, the students could consciously perform each movement correctly; even if some weren't perfect, they tried their best to meet the requirements without needing instructors to remind them. In the beginning of training, both instructors and students felt awkward during breaks—perhaps due to their similar ages—sitting in a circle just staring at each other. Now, as soon as I blew the whistle to announce a break, instructors and students immediately mingled together, showcasing martial arts, boasting, or singing songs. It was truly lively. Similarly, instructors treated students like younger siblings; I noticed a detail: Xuanhua could be considered a rough guy—a big brute—but during training he would carefully notice a small bug on a student's hand or help straighten a student's collar. He even picked up hats blown away by the wind while they stood at Military Posture.
I observed all of this. On Sunday, I made an exception and let all the soldiers go out to interact with the students at a gathering. I knew that many Boys' Classes had paired up with some Girls' Classes for social events—even dormitory gatherings—but I didn't interfere. They invited me, but I didn't go—not because I was unfriendly—but because I feared that if I attended, the soldiers would feel awkward; many people in the Unit were afraid of me after all, which would hinder their enjoyment. Instead, I took advantage of Sunday to relax at an internet café, played some games, watched movies; Xiaojing didn’t come looking for me that Sunday either, which was quite nice.
Time flew by quickly to the third week. The training content increased significantly and became much more intense. On Monday we practiced throwing grenades; Tuesday and Wednesday involved shooting practice while organizing visits to observe troop training and life in batches; Thursday was dedicated entirely to shooting practice; Friday morning was for shooting while in the afternoon we practiced throwing grenades; Saturday morning involved a Parade. The schedule was packed tightly. As for Saturday afternoon, we could have actually taken a break since Sunday was approaching; most students would likely leave school on Sunday. According to the training plan, we would all return to our unit after lunch on Saturday.
That year marked the first time we introduced Live-Fire Shooting and grenade throwing primarily to spark interest among everyone and provide an authentic experience of military life. As for grenade throwing, due to its high risk factor, not everyone participated; only those from well-performing Boys' Classes and Girls' Classes were selected for live-fire practice as a reward for their good training results.
The grenade throwing training over the past two days went well; everyone was quite enthusiastic. I organized it as a face-off between two groups on either side of the playground throwing grenades at each other to avoid unnecessary retrievals using dummy grenades. Many students initially struggled with technique and threw inaccurately but gradually improved.
To be honest, after just these two days of training, many people's arms swelled up. It seemed everyone was taking it seriously.
Shooting training took place at our unit's Shooting Range over two days to ensure each person could practice handling firearms for half a day. My arrangement allowed one group to train while another visited military facilities along designated routes—this included tours of our Unit's Barracks: Internal Affairs setup, cafeteria, Learning Room etc. The third group observed water operations at Dock Training Ground during breaks when they could also step onto Floating Bridges for hands-on experience. This way everyone had something to do without causing disruption; School Leadership was very pleased with this arrangement as it felt rich in content and tightly scheduled—even Xuanhua admitted that I could probably work as a tour guide.
What worried me most were still Live-Fire Shooting and grenade throwing; initially there were concerns about using real ammunition in our unit but due to persistent requests from School Leadership—some leaders wanted hands-on experience themselves—we ultimately agreed since many bullets and hand grenades needed to be used up.
On shooting day at the Shooting Range there were fifteen shooting positions set up—that was already maximum capacity since each position needed sufficient distance apart; otherwise they would affect each other’s shots easily leading to stray bullets. In fact, even at long distances stray shots still occurred frequently with five bullets landing in six or seven rings while some targets remained completely blank.
At each shooting position stood an experienced squad leader responsible for guiding students onto shooting positions, loading ammunition, and firing while new recruits squatted in pits ahead as Scorekeepers. There was no way around it; squad leaders had been through years of live fire drills so even if they shot less than recruits they still had more experience—this point Sheng Xiong and Jinghe had no choice but to acknowledge as they obediently took on Scorekeeper roles.
The first half of the morning was somewhat chaotic, mainly because the students were too excited. When the gunfire started during the demonstration, the students erupted with enthusiasm—some stood up, others debated loudly, and there were those behind the shooting positions eager to collect shells.
Of course, they calmed down a bit after I gave them a stern reprimand. Regardless, things finally began as I had expected. Although some girls covered their ears, afraid to pull the trigger, even those who did would scream a few times without even looking at the target, resulting in bullets flying who knows where. However, most of the students completed the entire process fairly well. Some were quite clever and learned quickly, hardly needing any guidance from the instructors. They swiftly ran to their designated shooting positions, took their stances, lay down, picked up their guns, engaged the safety, loaded magazines, pulled back the bolt, and disengaged the safety. Yet for many, it was their first time handling real firearms, so everything felt awkward. Once ready, they began to aim for three points in line—shooting and aiming in a smooth manner. Although their scores weren't impressive, they executed the movements fluidly. In my view, these students were naturally suited for military service.
However, for most of them, I knew they were just indulging in a thrill. Many had already fired all their rounds but still seemed unsatisfied. I couldn't help but chuckle to myself; I was already tired of shooting, especially with that light machine gun—the stock pressed against my right shoulder made it painfully sore after just a few dozen rounds. We had to use up old ammunition through shooting training every year; there was no way around it.
Nevertheless, both the teachers and students were happy because they had fun and experienced something new. Some even collected quite a few shells to take home. The live-fire shooting session passed smoothly under my anxious watch; thankfully, nothing went wrong. The last afternoon was dedicated to grenade throwing—according to regulations, boys and girls had separate classes for live throws while everyone else watched from a safe distance on higher ground.
Little did we know that a major incident was about to occur at that moment.
To be continued; tomorrow promises more excitement.
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