NOVPUB56: Chapter 44 Celebration
56 -44 Celebration
“Go wash your hands and come eat,”
Gu Yanlin obediently went to the bathroom, washed his hands, and sat down at the dining table shaking off the water from his hands.
On the table was a 6-inch cake with the words “Congratulations on your brother’s successful enlistment” written on it.
This cake was made by Gu Yanlin during his assessment, with Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao working together; of course, Song Zhao made the main body of the cake and Gu Yanzhi’s only contribution were the few words on top.
Besides the cake, there were several of Gu Yanlin’s favorite dishes on the table—braised pork, fresh bamboo shoots and salty ham, roasted eggplant, cumin lamb, oyster sauce lettuce, and a dish of salty miniature cucumbers that looked very appetizing.
Gu Yanlin first served himself a bowl of the fresh bamboo shoots, took a sip of the soup, and nearly lost his eyebrows in delight.
The bamboo shoots were crisp and tender, making a crisp sound with each bite.
The rich and savory taste of the salted meat contrasted vividly with the refreshing shoots, offering a rich flavor.
“Delicious.”
Gu Yanlin praised after a mouthful and then buried his head back in his bowl, eagerly eating.
After finishing the meal, the three of them cut the cake and joyfully celebrated Gu Yanlin’s enlistment.
Gu Yanlin was preparing to enlist, and the team of ten just happened to be missing one person, so building number 10’s ice chipping team was dissolved.
However, this did not affect the other residents of building number 10.
One day earlier, residents of building number 10 had listened to Chu Guodong’s advice while claiming their rewards, taking not just a year’s worth of supplies.
Aside from Gu Yanlin and Zhuang Nanyang, the others had successfully secured government jobs with Chu Guodong’s help.
The government and military officials had agreed to provide eight job positions for their excess supplies, and Gu Yanlin was preparing to join Squad 532 and did not need it, Zhuang Nanyang also wanted to join Squad 532.
However, due to his unqualified physical condition, he joined another rescue squad as a temporary soldier under the referral of Chu Guodong.
The temporary soldier was a scheme the military thought up for emergency recruitment.
The current situation did not allow for large-scale recruitment, so individuals highly regarded by various squads could join as temporary soldiers and work with the squads until the army conducted mass recruitment.
After completing joint training or if they received a passing mark in assessments after a year, they would be formally enlisted.
Unlike Gu Yanlin, who was directly enlisted through special forces selection, Zhuang Nanyang would have to wait for the army’s recruitment or a year-long assessment before he could become a regular soldier.
Temporary soldiers had the benefits of a regular soldier, and if they wanted to leave the squad, they only needed to apply and obtain the agreement from the Captain a month in advance.
However, in such cases, they were not allowed to join any military services again.
And regular soldiers like Gu Yanlin needed to fulfill a certain work tenure before they could retire.
They had exactly eight job positions available, enough for the remaining eight members of the ice chipping team.
Each pitched in some supplies to buy up others’ shares.
This way, no one lost out, and they could better maintain neighborly relations.
The next three days were the most comfortable days they had had in a while, without the need to go to work early or the urgent feeling of needing to focus intensely on training and learning, because there would be plenty of training in the days ahead.
During these three days, besides going out once to claim supplies, Gu Yanlin thoroughly enjoyed three days of fun at home.
His schedule was as follows: sleep until the afternoon, eat, check on the ginger planted on the 17th floor, whose leaves had grown quite a bit under the careful attention of Gu Yanzhi and Song Zhao.
Seeing the row of vibrant green leaves in the planting pot, although not a fan of the taste of ginger, in the vast expanse of white winter where no other colors were visible, Gu Yanlin felt an unexpected joy.
He simply watered the ginger, and then, for the rest of his time, Gu Yanlin either went to the gaming room to play games or lay on the sofa watching movies, finally understanding the joy Gu Yanzhi had felt lounging at home in the earlier days.
On the morning he was to join the squad, Gu Yanlin reluctantly stroked his warm blanket when the alarm rang, then got up quietly and left the house without a sound.
On his first day with the squad, Gu Yanlin didn’t have breakfast at home.
The military’s benefits included meals, and Gu Yanlin decided to first experience the food in the military.
“Thump thump thump”
“Yan Lin’s here, come on in!”
The reporting location was on the 14th floor, and Zhao Rui, who opened the door, warmly welcomed Gu Yanlin inside.
Gu Yanlin was a bit confused by his enthusiasm but didn’t think too much of it; he just assumed it was the excitement of being on the same team with a good friend.
Unbeknownst to him, as soon as Zhao Rui closed the door, he had a sinister smile on his face.
“Reporting to the Captain, Deputy Captain, newcomer Gu Yanlin reporting for duty.”
When he walked in, Chu Guodong and Lin Cheng were talking in the living room.
Gu Yanlin stood straight, saluted—a bit inaccurately—and said loudly.
Gu Yanlin hadn’t undergone rigorous training, so the inaccuracy in his salute was expected, and Chu Guodong didn’t comment.
He just patted Gu Yanlin on the shoulder.
Now that everyone was here, it was time to set off.
In the morning, they would run to the army post from their last assessment to have breakfast.
After breakfast, they would receive their specific assignments for the day.
The army post was about 10 kilometers from Building 10; if they didn’t get there within half an hour, no breakfast would be left.
This being Gu Yanlin’s first military experience, he was somewhat stunned.
At Chu Guodong’s command of “Begin!”, everyone else quickly started running outside.
“Aren’t you going yet?” Chu Guodong’s toes were almost kicking Gu Yanlin’s behind before he snapped to his senses and hurried out.
Those familiar with this routine in the squad were already down nearly two floors; the last person out had thoughtfully shut the door and tied a rope from the door to the window.
No need to guess, it was Zhao Rui’s handiwork.
Zhao Rui was in a great mood, humming a tune as he ran.
These past few days Gu Yanlin had been too comfortable, while their training had doubled, leaving them exhausted like dogs every day—a small retaliation.
“Why are you in such a good mood?” a teammate asked puzzledly, seeing Zhao Rui’s cheerful demeanor and hearing him hum a tune.
This guy must have taken the wrong medicine this morning to be acting so weird.
“You’ll find out soon,” Zhao Rui said mysteriously.
It took Gu Yanlin just a little time to rip the door open.
Zhao Rui just wanted to create a minor inconvenience for Gu Yanlin—a small revenge—nobody intended to really harm him; the rope was deliberately obtained from Aunt Zhuang, thin enough to break with a strong tug.
Once the door opened, Gu Yanlin didn’t bother with anything else and quickly ran downstairs.
By this time, the first five people were almost a kilometer ahead of him.
“I knew it was you, you rascal.”
Gu Yanlin quickly caught up with the main group, and hearing Zhao Rui’s blissful singing next to him, what more was there to understand?
“Holy crap, how did you get so fast?” Zhao Rui’s eyes widened in disbelief as Gu Yanlin suddenly appeared beside him; he hadn’t intended to create such a big hassle but also didn’t expect Gu Yanlin to be so fast.
According to his plan, he should have delayed Gu Yanlin by about five minutes; their team’s average time for 10 kilometers was about 25 minutes, which would have made Gu Yanlin just catch the tail end of breakfast.
Unexpectedly, they hadn’t even run half the distance yet, and this guy had already passed him.
“This is strength, off I go!” Gu Yanlin boasted with a smirk to the person beside him and ran past.
