After the fifth day of the new year, Zhao Ger took Xiao Feng into the kitchen to experiment with making instant noodles, while Fang Zichen took the three children outside the city walls.
The new recruits had been training for about a month now, and Fang Zichen thought he'd go check on them. He arrived at just the right time—everyone was out running.
The new troops were divided into seven battalions, each with roughly five hundred men. At that moment, one of the units under Shi Linjie's command was doing their run. The training grounds covered about thirty-odd acres, all on poor, infertile land that wasn't good for farming.
The grounds were vast, divided into several designated areas.
The training field assigned to Shi Linjie's battalion happened to be right at the entrance.
Fang Zichen watched quietly for a moment, then frowned.
After running three laps, some of the new soldiers started slacking off, walking instead of running, while others were panting with their tongues out like dogs.
Shi Linjie barked: "Get running, all of you!"
"Chief Shi, can we take a break? We can't go on—really can't run anymore."
"Yeah, Chief Shi, we're done for."
"Chief Shi, let us rest a bit!"
Shi Linjie saw that their lips were dry and they were wheezing as they spoke—they were genuinely exhausted. So he ordered a half-incense-stick break.
The grounds were huge; one full lap was about a li. In the beginning, the new recruits couldn't even manage a single lap without their legs cramping up or feeling short of breath and getting stomach pains. Now, after barely a month, they could do three laps. In his view, that was already pretty good progress.
These soldiers trained diligently enough, and he didn't want to be too harsh.
Fang Zichen crouched down and whispered something to Guaizai. Guaizai's eyes lit up, he nodded, and then rode off.
It was only then that Shi Linjie noticed Fang Zichen had arrived. He immediately called out respectfully:
"Lord Fang."
"Mm." Fang Zichen led Gungun and Dandan by the hand: "I'm just here to have a look. Carry on with what you're doing."
When break time was over, the new soldiers ran their final lap and then moved on to other training exercises.
Gungun and Dandan watched in fascination, having no idea what the soldiers were doing, their eyes darting about.
"Father, Father!" Gungun called out.
"What is it?"
Gungun blinked his big eyes: "That uncle over there... what's he doing?"
"Weird, huh," said Dandan.
Fang Zichen followed where they were pointing. The soldier in question was doing push-ups, but his form was all wrong—he wasn't even bending his arms, just bobbing his hips up and down like a pile driver, moving fast. It looked for all the world like a male dog doing his business. Unbearable to watch.
Fang Zichen couldn't stand it anymore. He walked over and gave the man a kick.
"Is that how you do push-ups?"
The soldier was stunned by the kick and didn't dare say a word. Shi Linjie ran over, and Fang Zichen tore into him too.
Shi Linjie felt wronged—there were only eight men in his battalion assigned to oversee training, and he was in charge of one unit of several dozen men. How could he keep an eye on everyone?
It all came down to not having enough hands.
"Can't you pick a few promising recruits to help you out?" Fang Zichen said. When he saw Shi Linjie's face—an expression that clearly said, You can do that?—he suddenly didn't feel like talking anymore.
This man just didn't like using his head.
Every time Fang Zichen tried to assign him a task that required brainpower, Shi Linjie would come up with the same old excuses: his old leg injury was acting up, it hurt like hell, and there was no way he could manage that factory.
On a bright, sunny day—his old injury would flare up? It only ever acted up when Fang Zichen needed him to do something that required thinking.
Shi Linjie wasn't lazy, though. If he told him to go dig village roads, he'd grab a hoe and get to work without a word. But if he asked him to run a factory and calculate wages for the workers—that was a no-go. That required brainwork. No, no, no.
Fang Zichen should have known better by now—this man's brain was a straight pipe from his gut.
Among the new recruits, there were always those who trained well and performed outstandingly. With not enough hands, now was the time to promote them, divide them into squads, and make them squad leaders to help with supervision. Who would dare slack off then?
Shi Linjie nodded: "That's how our chief trained us back then. That Zhu kid even got to be a squad leader once."
"Then why didn't you learn from that?"
"It just didn't occur to me."
Unbelievable.
Fang Zichen was so alarmed he hurried off to check the other training areas. He found that the other battalions were managing well and being strict too—if a soldier couldn't keep running, a whip would crack down. None of them were as soft-headed or soft-hearted as Shi Linjie. Only then did Fang Zichen finally relax.
Before long, Guaizai returned, having bought a few catties of meat and brought Black Whirlwind along with the other two dogs.
Back when Fang Zichen had gone on the bandit-suppression campaign, he'd bought two additional dogs. After returning, he'd kept them too, mostly confined to the back courtyard, while Black Whirlwind was allowed to roam free. Having been raised from puppyhood, Black Whirlwind was well-behaved and wouldn't bite, so Fang Zichen let the dog play with the three children.
The three dogs had grown picky and wouldn't eat raw meat. Guaizai had brought along some of the canned dog food they'd made last time and smeared some on the meat.
The moment the smell hit the air, all three dogs started barking furiously—that canned food was their favorite. Fang Zichen rarely fed it to them because it was such a hassle to make.
All the dogs got riled up. They bared their sharp, gleaming white fangs and barked wildly like they'd gone mad—snarling, drool flying everywhere, every hair on their bodies standing on end, their eyes bloodshot.
Fang Zichen could barely hold them back. Gungun and Dandan hurried over to grab the leashes alongside him.
"Father, we'll help you!"
The commotion was so loud that the new recruits all turned to look.
And what they saw scared them stiff. The dogs the young master had brought were radiating menace and aggression, their canines as sharp as knives, their fangs clearly defined—intimidating just to look at. Their low growls, like those of wild beasts, sent chills down everyone's spines.
Guaizai finished wiping the dog food off his hands and saw that the dogs had been hanging long enough, and that everyone was now watching. Fang Zichen let go, and the three dogs lunged forward, leaping up with swift, agile moves. With a single bite, they tore off more than half of the three big slabs of fatty meat dangling in the air.
Like wolves.
Terrifying.
If one of those bit down on your backside, you'd probably lose half of it in one go.
Not just the new recruits were scared—even Shi Linjie and a few of the Qin family soldiers felt a chill run down their spines.
Guaizai swallowed hard and tugged at Fang Zichen's sleeve, his voice worried: "Father, if we feed the dogs raw meat, will they get aggressive? Will they bite people later?"
Guaizai's little bottom was still so tiny! If Black Whirlwind ever went berserk, he could bite the whole thing off in one chomp.
Guaizai rubbed his backside, getting more and more worried.
Fang Zichen tapped him on the head. "Do you turn into a monkey when you eat bananas?"
Guaizai blinked. "Oh right, Father. That actually makes a lot of sense."
Fang Zichen clasped his hands behind his back, putting on an air of wisdom. "Of course it does."
Once the dogs had finished eating, Fang Zichen led them back.
Neither the new recruits nor the Qin family soldiers had any idea what Fang Zichen was trying to pull off.
Did he come all the way here just to feed the dogs?
The next morning during training, they were doing their morning run. Just three laps in, the new recruits pulled their old trick again—claiming they couldn't go on.
Rome wasn't built in a day.
Shi Linjie was about to let them rest when Fang Zichen appeared out of nowhere.
"Run for this official! Whoever doesn't run—"
He patted Black Whirlwind, who took the cue and charged forward with his two sidekicks.
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