"All of you, stop singing right now!"
Walking up to Squad Seven's formation, the officer with rank insignia on his shoulders frowned and shouted.
SWOOSH!
The forty-odd students looked up, and upon seeing the rank on the man's shoulders, their singing died abruptly.
"Where's your instructor?" the officer asked.
"He's been voted out!" a student replied.
"What the hell? Voted out? Who voted him out?" The officer was dumbfounded, his expression freezing in place. He was in charge of the instructor team. How could he not know if one of his n was voted out? Even if an instructor were to be dismissed, it would have to go through him! What kind of damn nonsense was this?
"He was voted out by our entire class! That guy's rotten to the core! We're not putting up with him anymore! Captain, we request a new instructor. Please approve!" The sa student who had spoken before stepped forward, his head held high.
"Rotten to the core?" the captain furrowed his brow.
"He's full of dirty tricks! Earlier, while he was leading our run, he ca to a sudden stop and yelled 'Halt!' It scared us all senseless, and nearly the entire class took a nasty fall! Afterward, he tried to pick on Qin Fan. When Qin Fan spoke a few words of justice, he kicked him out of the squad. Then he even kicked out the squad leader. We couldn't take it anymore, so we all quit! Captain, that guy is bad news! Your instructor team is subpar; the quality is seriously lacking!" Seemingly unafraid of the captain, the freshman rattled off his explanation in a rapid-fire Northeastern accent.
"What the hell? Are you telling the truth?" the captain asked.
"I'm the squad leader, and he is telling the truth," Yao Jianjia stepped forward. "We refuse to deal with an instructor of such low quality."
"Alright. All of you, co back with for a confrontation. If what you've said is true, I will give you a proper explanation!" the captain said, his face stern and his voice firm.
With that, he took off his cap, slapped it against his hand, and put it back on before marching briskly toward the military training grounds.
"God of Study, Squad Leader, should we follow this captain?" the sa student asked.
"We follow," Qin Fan and Yao Jianjia answered in unison.
Not follow? That would be deserting our training. If that happened, we'd be in real trouble. Qin Fan and Yao Jianjia might not care about the consequences for themselves, but they couldn't encourage these freshn to be so reckless.
After receiving the response from their two leaders, the group of freshn turned and followed the captain back. Seeing the commotion, several other instructors also tagged along.
Upon reaching the edge of the training grounds, the captain spotted the instructor who had been in charge of Squad Seven from a distance. His face red with rage, he bellowed, "Wang Qiang, you motherfucker, get your ass over here!"
Dozens of ters away, Wang Qiang's limbs trembled violently when he heard the roar. Facing the captain, he didn't dare hesitate, no matter how terrified he was, and imdiately ran over.
"Captain, your orders!" Wang Qiang saluted weakly, his face pale as he spoke in a faint voice.
"Let ask you," the captain barked, already having a good idea of the situation from Wang Qiang's expression, "did you or did you not just scare all these freshn into falling over with a sudden, surprise command to halt?"
"Yes!" Wang Qiang admitted, drenched in a cold sweat. He quickly added, "Company Commander, I didn't expect them to be so weak. I—I just wanted to test their reflexes! I didn't think they'd actually fall!"
"Damn you! You just had to ss around, didn't you! Go on, keep ssing around!" The captain was so angry he beca short of breath. He lashed out with a kick to Wang Qiang's abdon.
THUD. Wang Qiang collapsed to the ground.
"Don't you fucking think I don't know what you were up to! I know what happened during your own recruit training. Are you trying to get payback now? Taking it out on these students? Can you fucking compare the army to a university, or new recruits to freshn? Besides, this isn't the first ti you've pulled a stunt like this. I've already heard several complaints about your conduct as an instructor, but I gave you chance after chance! Have you learned nothing? Don't you realize being an instructor is the only thing keeping you from being discharged? Or do you want to be discharged right now? Fine! If that's what you want, I'll grant your wish. Get out! Get out right now! As of this mont, you are officially removed from the list of instructors for this session! As for what's next, you can wait for the higher-ups to decide your punishnt when you get back to the unit!" the captain roared, fuming with disappointnt.
Punishnt from the higher-ups?
Hearing this, Wang Qiang panicked. His pale face instantly turned ashen. He was already on the verge of being discharged. Did this an he would finally have to take off his military uniform for good?
No, that can't happen! He couldn't take off his uniform, he just couldn't! He was insecure—ashad of his lack of achievent, ashad of being sent here to instruct college freshn. He had wanted to find so sense of superiority in the process, to make these students both admire and fear him. But he never expected to screw it up so badly this ti. If he were discharged, the little bit of pride he clung to back in his mountainous hotown would vanish completely.
Tortured by his insecurities to the point of obsession, Wang Qiang couldn't accept this reality.
"No, Company Commander, I was wrong! I was wrong! Give another chance! I can't be discharged, I can't! I still want to beco a sergeant! Company Commander, please, give one more chance!" Scrambling up from the ground, Wang Qiang grabbed the captain's arms, swallowing nervously as he pleaded.
"Just go back to the unit for now," the captain sighed, too disappointed to say more.
"No, don't, Company Commander, don't send away! I know if I go back like this, a discharge notice will be waiting for ! I can't take off my uniform, Company Commander! I know I was wrong!" Wang Qiang, on the verge of tears, suddenly turned to Qin Fan and the others. "I'm sorry! I was wrong. Can you please forgive ? I wasn't thinking about the big picture. My brain just wasn't working right. I'm sorry. Please, let continue to be your instructor!"
Hearing this, the captain remained silent. If these freshn could let it go, there might still be a chance. But if they insisted, Wang Qiang would have no choice but to return to the unit and await his fate. At the end of the day, Wang Qiang was one of his own soldiers. The last thing the captain wanted was to see things end this way, but what could he do? He couldn't cover for him.
"This isn't the first ti you've treated freshn like this. In all the years you've held the title of instructor, did you never consider that it might end this way? Your behavior is a clear reflection of your character. What happens in the army is none of our business, but you are definitely not qualified to be an instructor anymore. There's a detestable side to every pitiful person. I do not accept your apology, but that is only my personal stance. It doesn't represent the entire class. You can go ask them," Qin Fan said with a shrug, his face expressionless.
Apology? Forgiveness? It was all pointless. Insecure people all have one thing in common: they forget the pain as soon as the wound heals. But no matter what he personally believed, it was, as he said, just his own opinion. It didn't represent the whole class. In the end, it would co down to the sa old story of the minority submitting to the majority, and he had no intention of interfering or trying to change that.
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