บท 24: One Entity
"For soldiers, the most important thing is their sense of honor. I can accept that my soldiers won't be able to get a place, but I can't forgive them for thinking that they will fail from the start. Even if they are in last place, they can't give up. Instead, they should persist till the end. These are the soldiers that I want under me."
Zhao Rui did not understand what He Yingbo meant.
"For those who take more than an hour to cross the finish line, I will punish them. For every minute that they exceed, they will be punished by an additional 1,000 meters."
Zhao Rui understood what the instructor was thinking. Even though it was cross-country training in the mountains, as long as they ran seriously, they would definitely be able to complete 3,000 meters in 60 minutes.
If they did not take it seriously, they would definitely take more than an hour to complete the race.
The instructor would severely punish these people so that they would take every training seriously in the future.
As the instructor said this to Zhao Rui, three of his teammates arrived at the finish line.
Second place, fourth place, third place.
Zhao Rui was suddenly a little worried about Chi Heng. Zhao Rui knew his roommate's character very well.
He knew that Chi Heng was definitely like what the instructor just said.
He had never taken the test seriously from the start.
Chi Heng would definitely take more than 60 minutes to reach the finish line and his physical condition was poor. If he ran another few dozen kilometers, he would probably be crippled.
Out of concern for Chi Heng, Zhao Rui tried to give the instructor a suggestion. "Instructor, do you think you can let me go back to lead the race?"
"You? Lead the race? Why?"
"Because our sixth team is one entity. I'm the team leader and I was chosen by you to lead the race. If any of my comrades can't finish the race in 60 minutes, I feel that I am responsible."
He Yingbo's gaze lingered on Zhao Rui for a while. Then, he looked at the new recruit who was running toward the finish line in the distance.
He Yingbo felt that he liked Zhao Rui even more. This new recruit was not only excellent in all aspects of training but also very team-oriented.
Once again, it proved that Zhao Rui was the right person to be the leader of the sixth team.
However, the more He Yingbo liked Zhao Rui, the more he did not want to show it on his face. He Yingbo was such an instructor.
"Okay, I'll give you a chance to lead, but you have to return to the finish line before the end of the hour. I'll punish you by 1,000 meters for every minute you exceed."
"Instructor, may I ask how much time we have left?"
"Less than twenty minutes."
"Thank you, instructor. I'll definitely return before the end of the hour!"
After giving a military salute, Zhao Rui immediately ran forward.
There were a total of forty new recruits in the sixth team, but only six had reached the finish line.
Zhao Rui ran quickly while counting his comrades who had brushed past him.
Seeing Zhao Rui running toward them, many of the new recruits were very surprised.
When Bai Xiaofei saw Zhao Rui, he could not help but ask, "Brother Zhao, why are you back again?"
Zhao Rui didn't answer them, because there was no time to explain.
These comrades could all reach the finish line within an hour.
His task now was to immediately run to the back of the team and seize every moment to tell them that if they exceeded the time limit, they would be punished.
When he saw Zhang Cheng, Zhao Rui was surprised.
Zhang Cheng was also from a military family, so he should have a great desire for honor. Why did Zhang Cheng look so disheartened now and didn't even plan to run.
"Run! Zhang Cheng, run!" Zhao Rui shouted at Zhang Cheng.
Upon hearing that it was Zhao Rui, Zhang Cheng immediately raised his head, but he immediately lowered his head again and said, "There's no need for that anymore. Too many comrades are running ahead of me. No matter how hard I try to catch up, I can't even get into the top ten."
"Right, you might not get a good ranking even if you try to catch up, but at least you can avoid punishment. The instructor wants to punish people who have been running for more than an hour!"
"What?" Zhang Cheng was speechless.
After hearing Zhao Rui's words, he started running again since he had restored his stamina.
It was fine if he didn't get a ranking, but he definitely couldn't be punished. Otherwise, Zhang Cheng would be embarrassed wearing the military uniform, even more so for his deceased father.
Zhao Rui didn't stop and continued to run forward.
He told this to his comrades at the back of the team. Those who didn't take the training seriously were frightened and immediately used all their strength to start sprinting.
Perhaps this was the only way to unleash everyone's potential!
Including himself and his comrades who had reached the finish line before, Zhao Rui had already met 38 others.
What about Chi Heng, Qian Jiang and the other two?
As the class monitor and team leader, Zhao Rui was very angry.
He had guessed that the two of them would not take this cross-country training seriously, but Zhao Rui did not expect them to be so unmotivated.
Just as Zhao Rui was sulking, two people appeared in front of him. They ran over slowly and were talking and laughing.
That's right! It was Chi Heng and Qian Jiang, the two cowards.
The two of them were not running at all. They did not look tired or nervous at all. To them, it was not cross-country training, it was simply an outing.
In the previous training, the sixth team ran in formation. In order not to drag down their comrades, the two of them could still run seriously.
But this cross-country training was a race. No matter how bad their performance was, they could not drag down others. Chi Heng and Qian Jiang planned to just pass this training.
"Class monitor! You, why are you here?" The two saw Zhao Rui standing by the roadside and were very surprised.
Meanwhile, Chi Heng said worriedly, "Good brother, are you crazy? It's one thing for us to fool around, but you're the class monitor and the team leader. You're also fooling around like us, He Yingbo will skin you alive!"
Even at this time, the little fatty was still worried for him. Zhao Rui could not help but feel angry and amused at the same time.
He said to the two of them, "Instructor He won't skin me alive. If he wants to skin anyone, it's the two of you." At this time, Zhao Rui was a little anxious and strict.
"Skin the two of us alive? There will always be winners and losers in a competition. There must be the last and the second last. Why can't it be the two of us? We just don't have the stamina to run."
Chi Heng was like a dead pig who was not afraid of boiling water.
Zhao Rui sighed helplessly. "The instructor said that everyone must reach the finish line within 60 minutes. Every extra minute will be an additional punishment of 1,000 meters."
"What? Brother, are you lying to me again?"
Chi Heng was shocked and asked in disbelief.
"Of course I'm not lying to you. I'm not that bored."
"But why didn't the instructor say so earlier?"
"Because the instructor wants to catch people like you who don't take the training seriously."
In order to avoid punishment, Chi Heng and Qian Jiang had to use all their strength to run to the finish line.
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