Yes, this is about grasping the 'degree' in doing things. Insufficient means will lead to loss, and excessive means will lead to failure. This is the Doctrine of the Mean!
After that, I had to maintain Xiao Zhuang's style of doing things in the original story, and the first target was... Lao Pao!
...
The train continued its journey forward, and five hours later, it finally pulled into the station.
At this moment, all the new recruits in the carriage quieted down, because after the train stopped, two officers, a lieutenant and a sergeant, boarded the train and were discussing something with the officers in charge of receiving the recruits at the junction of the carriages.
Li Ling wiggled her buttocks; after several hours in the car, her entire buttocks were numb.
The officer in charge of receiving the recruits handed a stack of documents to the lieutenant who was boarding the vehicle, and then he began to select the recruits.
After selecting the right number of recruits, the lieutenant walked into the carriage, stood next to the first row of seats, and glanced at the group of new recruits. "The recruits whose names I call, put on your backpacks and get off the train."
"Zhang Yang."
"arrive!"
"Ling Yan."
"arrive!"
"..."
"Zhuang Yan".
"arrive!"
Upon hearing his name called, Li Ling stood up, took his backpack from the luggage rack, and got off the bus.
The backpack contained a set of bedding, a pair of rubber shoes, a set of basic training uniform, and the rest were items that the individual carried.
After arriving at the military base, all supplies and equipment will be provided. The local armed forces department will only provide a quilt, a mattress, and some basic daily necessities.
Li Ling, besides some money and his personal documents, had nothing else to his name. He gathered on the platform with the new recruits whose names were called.
Not long after, the lieutenant and sergeant who came to pick up the recruits got off the train. After exchanging salutes with the officers on the train, the sergeant stood in front of the recruits' crooked line and gave the commands: "Right... turn, left... turn, march..."
After exiting the platform and entering the waiting room, which was designated as a temporary waiting area for new recruits, the sergeant ordered them to wait there and find seats.
Li Ling looked at the banner on the wall that read, "Enlisting in the army is a form of further education; serving in the military leads to success," and a knowing smile appeared on his lips.
At this time, the vehicle compartment was still relatively empty, with only a scattered group of about twenty soldiers, presumably because the new recruits had not yet all arrived.
Li Ling casually found a seat and sat down, ignoring the chattering recruits around him. He closed his eyes slightly; the female soldier had already gotten off at the previous station, and he wondered how Xiao Ying was doing.
After an unknown amount of time, another train pulled into the station, and soon another group of new recruits entered the waiting room.
Li Ling felt people sitting down on both sides of him, so he opened his eyes.
When Li Ling saw the simple and honest face of the new recruit sitting to his left, Chen Xiwa, a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.
The real show is about to begin.
Li Ling ignored Chen Xiwa and went straight to pull out a copy of "Selected Plays of Shakespeare" from the backpack on the ground and started reading.
As Li Ling flipped through the book, Xiao Ying's photo came out. He used the photo as a book card. In the photo, Xiao Ying hadn't cut her long hair yet, and she wore two long ponytails, making her look exceptionally gentle and pure.
Li Ling looked at Xiao Ying's pretty face in the photo and smiled.
"Is this your girlfriend? She's quite pretty!" Chen Xiwa's honest voice rang out from the left.
Li Ling glanced at Xiwa, whose skin was slightly dark, and chuckled, "Is it that obvious? What if she's my sister?"
Chen Xiwa scratched his head and chuckled, saying, "I couldn't possibly be wrong."
"Just by looking at the girl's expression, you can tell it's not a brother looking at his sister, but rather the expression of someone looking at their girlfriend."
"But with such a beautiful and seemingly gentle girlfriend, why did you join the army?"
Upon hearing Chen Xiwa's words, Li Ling's eyes lit up. She hadn't expected that Xiwa, who appeared simple and honest, was actually quite sensitive.
Li Ling said with interest, "I didn't expect you to have such a sharp eye, brother. But I joined the army for her. Hey, it's hard to explain in a few words. I'll tell you another time!"
Then Li Ling introduced himself: "My name is Zhuang Yan, I'm from the Directing Department of the Drama Academy, you can just call me Xiao Zhuang, what about you?"
Chen Xiwa exclaimed in surprise, "You're a college student?"
A gasp drew the attention of the other recruits.
Seeing this, Li Ling gestured for him to be quiet, and was just about to speak.
"Shhh!!"
A sharp whistle interrupted Li Ling's words, and the surrounding recruits picked up their backpacks, stood up, and headed out.
Chen Xiwa, who was standing nearby, quickly stood up and tried to pull Li Ling up with one hand, but she couldn't.
Chen Xiwa said anxiously, "Xiao Zhuang, get up quickly."
Li Ling slowly and methodically put Xiao Ying's photo back into the book and secured it, without rushing to get up, because the story had already officially begun.
From now on, he needs to start planning for the future.
“Hey soldier, I’m talking to you! Who are you looking at? Hey soldier, I’m talking to you…”
A loud, boisterous voice reached Li Ling's ears, but Li Ling pretended to look around erratically, as if he hadn't realized what was happening.