"Alright, warm-up is over, attention!" Jiang Ye said.
The officers shivered as they got up and stood straight.
"Four comrades just fell over during their push-ups, which is unacceptable. It seems you didn't warm up enough." Jiang Ye took out a stopwatch from his pocket. "The total length of the track is 500 meters. The four who fell, run two laps within three minutes and fifty seconds. Start!"
The four officers flinched in horror and immediately took off running.
They scrambled, sprinting wildly around the track.
From the distant dormitory building, the soldiers watched, stunned, and began to murmur:
"Holy crap, what mistake did the leaders make to be punished like this by the Grand General?"
"That's like five hundred push-ups! That's a killer!"
"And running laps, they're running so fast. Captain Che Zhen is in the lead."
"Ouch! Che Zhen threw up!"
On the track, Che Zhen suddenly stopped and bent over, vomiting.
He threw up quite a bit, his face pale.
After finishing, he wiped his mouth and staggered back into the run.
Finally, after completing two laps, the four officers returned to the group. Jiang Ye checked his watch; three minutes and forty-five seconds. They had barely made it, missing the time limit by five seconds.
"Che Zhen, do you feel like you can continue?" Jiang Ye asked.
"Report, I can!" Che Zhen straightened his chest.
"If you can't hold on, just say so. The Devil's Week doesn't have to be completed now; you can train on your own for a while and join Devil's Week later. For now, rest. Free activity within ten meters." Jiang Ye smiled.
The four officers who had just finished their laps collapsed to the ground as if shot, rolling their eyes and gasping for breath.
The others also sat down, sighing tiredly.
A red flying car suddenly arrived, and Liu Jizi jumped out.
Jiang Ye nodded and got into the car.
The officers looked at him expectantly. Was the Grand General leaving for something?
"Second item, chase run. Everyone chase my car's taillights. The last three will be punished, and if the distance is too great, everyone will be punished." Jiang Ye said.
With that, he tapped the screen, and the car shot forward!
The officers felt like cursing. They had only rested for less than half a minute!
Everyone scrambled to their feet and chased desperately!
Jiang Ye sat in the car with his legs crossed, watching the officers' distance on the screen.
When they got closer, he accelerated; when they fell behind, he slowed down.
The car flew out of the military base and onto the vast snowy wilderness.
The snow was nearly a meter deep, making progress extremely difficult.
The officers were going mad, crawling and running, desperately chasing the car. They were racing on two legs against an engine.
One kilometer.
Three kilometers.
Five kilometers.
Nearly eight kilometers from the base, the gap between the ten officers had become very large. Each was separated by several meters, struggling through the deep snow. Six of them had already vomited, but they dared not relax, continuing to advance in the snow while retching. Their physical strength was nearing its limit; they felt like they could collapse at any moment.
The temperature had dropped to minus thirty degrees Celsius. The officers' hands and feet were numb, their faces felt stiff, and their lungs ached with every deep breath, like inhaling ice water.
Jiang Ye's flying car finally stopped.
It slowly reversed.
As it approached each officer, he threw something bright red out of the car window.
"This is your dinner! Eat it and return to the base for assembly!"
After throwing one to each of them, Jiang Ye's flying car accelerated and sped away, returning to the base in the blink of an eye.
The officers' faces were sallow, and they were on the verge of fainting. They struggled to crawl a few meters through the deep snow, picked up the bright red object, and ate.
It was frozen raw beef, weighing about a pound.
It was still stained with blood.
When brought close to the nose, a strong smell of blood wafted out.
Several officers exchanged glances, fighting back tears, grabbed the raw beef, and bit into it greedily.
After finishing, they all returned and continued to trudge through the deep snow.
Night fell, and they finally returned to the base.
In the open space in the center of the base, a large red tent had been set up.
A banner hung on the tent: "Welcome Devil's Week Cadets."
The officers cautiously approached and lifted the tent flap to enter.
They were stunned. The tent was filled with bedding, placed close together, exactly ten sets.
The pillows were sections of wood, wrapped in a thin layer of cloth. Names were written on the cloth; the first one by the entrance was "Che Zhen."
"We sleep here?"
"Obviously..."
"There's not even a stove! We'll freeze to death!"
"Hey, let's just sleep, I'm going to faint."
The officers didn't bother to take off their clothes. They found their respective sleeping spots, crawled in, and wrapped themselves tightly. The tent fabric was thin and drafty, and the thin mattresses couldn't block the cold from the ground. The officers had to huddle together for warmth, like penguins in the snow.
The training had been too strenuous. Within a minute, steady snores filled the air.
From the distant dormitory building, many soldiers were still looking out.
"Holy crap, they're sleeping in that little tent?"
"What's going on? What mistake did the leaders make?"
"They're really going to kill them!"
"The banner says 'Welcome Devil's Week Cadets.' What is Devil's Week?"
"I don't know. My premonition is bad."
"It's almost ten o'clock, time for lights out. Everyone go to sleep."
The soldiers returned to their rooms to sleep. A few energetic ones were still playing cards in the dark. There weren't many entertainment options in the barracks, so their card skills were improving rapidly.
Unknowingly, it turned twelve o'clock.
A rapid burst of gunfire shattered the silence of the base!
The soldiers were all startled awake, jumping out of their beds, putting on bulletproof vests, grabbing their guns. Just as they were about to go downstairs to assemble, the loudspeaker crackled, and it was the Grand General's voice:
"Everyone, please continue your sleep. The gunfire has nothing to do with you; it's the Devil's Week reveille."
The soldiers stopped, bewildered, then rushed to the windows.
Outside the tent in the center of the base, Secretary Liu Jizi held a miner's lamp. Within the illuminated area, ten officers were standing at attention.
Jiang Ye, with a smile on his face, slung his rifle over his back. He had just walked up to the tent and fired a clip into the air, startling the sleeping officers awake and into assembly.
"It's 00:01 now, a new day has begun!" Jiang Ye scanned the officers. "Yesterday was just a warm-up; today is the official training. Does everyone have confidence!"
The officers' eyeballs nearly popped out.
They had only gone to sleep at ten o'clock.
And a new day had started at twelve o'clock?!
It seemed correct; it really was a new day...
"Why is no one speaking? I understand, you just woke up and haven't warmed up yet." Jiang Ye smiled. "Come on, three hundred push-ups to wake yourselves up."
The officers were on the verge of tears. They all got down on the ground and grunted through their push-ups.
After completing the three hundred, Jiang Ye didn't let them stand up.
"Of course, the training intensity is very high, and everyone needs to replenish their energy in time. I have prepared a sumptuous breakfast for everyone. Please, Secretary Liu, distribute it." Jiang Ye said considerately. "Everyone is tired, so no need to stand up. Eat while lying down!"
Liu Jizi came over with a plastic bag, took out the breakfast, bent down, and placed it by each officer's hand.
The officers looked down and saw a frozen raw fish, complete with scales, lying stiffly on the concrete floor. The fish's large, dead eyes stared back at them. A distinct腥味 could be smelled, as if it had been pulled from the sea not long ago.
"Don't be shy, eat up. Eating breakfast too quickly is bad for your stomach. I've given you ample time to eat, a full fifteen minutes." Jiang Ye said, taking out his stopwatch from his pocket.
The officers were close to crying. Was this breakfast meant for humans? Who eats raw fish for breakfast!
But time was short, and no one hesitated. Supporting themselves with one hand, they picked up the frozen dead fish with the other and began to bite into it.
They first gnawed off the scales, then tore off the fish meat, eating it in large mouthfuls.
Jiang Ye was not idle either. From the insulated box carried by Liu Jizi, he took out steaming seaweed and egg drop soup, braised pork, four side dishes, egg tarts, and sweet and sour shrimp... and began to eat them publicly.
From the distant dormitory building, soldiers peered through binoculars.
All of them stared with their mouths agape. After a long moment, someone finally spoke softly:
"Holy crap, they're eating... raw fish?"
"Is it really raw fish..."
"Someone threw up... it must be raw fish."
"This is insane. What on earth are they doing? Is General Jiang trying to kill them?"
"You guys think, could this be some kind of perverse training? They train the officers first, and then the officers train us..."
"Don't scare me in the middle of the night!"
The soldiers were filled with dread!