With the addition of Xiao Pinshan to the team, Cheng Su and the others felt much relieved, as Xiao Pinshan had certain experiences and had managed before, his joining quickly standardized the company’s management model.
Currently, Joy Soon Loy Jam is developing new products and marketing strategies, all of which are on the agenda, and the main products—strawberry jam and pineapple jam—also need quality improvement and market expansion.
Cheng Su was busy yet fulfilled, going back and forth daily between home, the company, and the two restaurants.
Meanwhile, Qi Taiguo, who was leading training exercises, showed no sign of slackening, having formulated training tasks more than twice as rigorous as before, causing the soldiers beneath him to complain incessantly. They whispered among themselves that Commander Qi must be hungry, or missing his wife, which was why this year’s training was so tough.
During the snowmelt, they practiced bare-bodied mud crawling, carried twenty kilograms on a ten-kilometer run, underwent resistance training, did fixed-position holding of AK47s with rocks hanging from the barrels for two hours, conducted shooting drills, and engaged in field training that required a twenty-kilometer run in under three minutes in case of a hit, hung upside down, practiced inversion, engaged in sparring...
And so on, the training was as harsh as that for special forces.
Even Gao Linbing, who went along, was finding it difficult and took the opportunity of a break to slide over and sit down beside Qi Taiguo.
"Old Qi, are you blowing off steam, feeling unwell, or just missing your wife?" asked Gao Linbing.
Qi Taiguo furrowed his brow, "What do you mean?"
"Otherwise, why is this year’s training plan so intense? What’s got you provoked? The lads are saying that Commander Qi is going crazy!" said Gao Linbing, nodding towards the soldiers sprawled not far away on their backpacks.
"Nonsense! As a soldier, this level of physical training is a must. It’s not that harsh. I think they’ve gotten too slack in their regular routines," replied Qi Taiguo with a darkened face.
"Don’t give me that. I know this year is more than twice as tough as last year," Gao Linbing rolled his eyes.
Qi Taiguo said with a stern face, "We can’t keep doing the same drills every year. What’s the point of training then? The tougher the difficulty, the stronger the willpower that is forged, and in the future, they’ll have a stronger body and will to carry out missions assigned by superiors, and to save their own lives in harsh conditions. Besides, I’m training right along with them."
It was precisely this that made Gao Linbing feel Qi Taiguo must have been provoked by something. He was the commander, the one leading the training, and didn’t necessarily have to undergo the same rigorous exercises as the soldiers, yet Qi Taiguo participated in every activity, doing as much as the soldiers or even more.
"That’s true, but is there a need to be so relentless?" asked Gao Linbing.
Qi Taiguo glanced at him, "In future missions, achieving honor and saving lives will make them more grateful for today’s hardships, for today’s muscle soreness." He paused, then added, "Right now, the nation is stable, but no one knows if we’ll be sent on peacekeeping missions, or sent to support wars in other countries. Old Gao, if we don’t excel ourselves, we’ll quickly be eliminated. We can’t afford to slack off."
Old Gao was taken aback.
Qi Taiguo had already stood up, hoisted the heavy backpack, and shouted, "Assemble, continue!"
The young soldiers quickly got up, shouldered their packs, and lined up.
Gao Linbing also jumped up, cursing, "Damn it, if we’re to compete, we’ll compete. Can’t let the youngsters outdo us, can we?"
The heavy and uniform footsteps echoed through the dense forest, startling the birds that had just returned, sending them fluttering wildly, and their calls carried far and wide, making some timid animals hide in their dens, not daring to emerge.