Chapter 4: Does Eating Well Depend on Skill?

The military supply station lacked the usual clamor of a typical train station; apart from the occasional whistle and the voices of officers receiving the troops, the new and old soldiers moving about were remarkably quiet.

At that moment, Chu An and the others, under the leadership and command of Tong Lianzhong and two others, disembarked from the sealed train car.

Outside, they could see veteran soldiers assembling not far away.

They all wore red flowers on their chests, devoid of collar insignias or hat badges, but the mood on both sides was distinctly different.

The new recruits gazed at the veterans with a mixture of curiosity and slight apprehension.

Some even noticed the veterans watching them in return and lacked the courage to meet their gaze directly.

In contrast, the expressions of the veterans were far more complex.

Some showed signs of nostalgia, as if recalling a time long past.

Others looked at the new soldiers with envy.

In this era, serving in the military was truly prestigious; among these discharged veterans, at least half didn’t want to leave the army but had no choice after their terms expired.

“All right, you three come with me. The rest, Lao Ma, you take them and secure the tables, get the bowls and chopsticks ready!”

At the entrance of the canteen, Tong Lianzhong, stepping forward, stomped his foot and then turned to point at Chu An and the other two leading new recruits.

“Yes, sir!”

Platoon Leader Ma responded promptly, while Chu An and the two others quietly stepped out of the line to follow Tong Lianzhong’s pace.

Nearly twenty soldiers from their car had gone with Squad Leader Liu to the latrines.

Those who didn’t have to go now split into two groups: one to reserve seats, and Chu An’s group to coordinate the meals with the supply station.

After about ten minutes, when Chu An and another new recruit returned to the canteen carrying a large basin of steamed corn buns, Squad Leader Liu’s group was seen approaching from the other side, still a bit distant.

Chu An’s group didn’t wait for them and entered the canteen carrying the buns.

Inside, Platoon Leader Ma and his men had already secured their spots.

At his signal, Chu An and the other recruit placed the corn buns on the long table before them.

Behind them, Tong Lianzhong and another new recruit set down a field cooking pot beside the table.

“Go on, you all get in line too!”

Tong Lianzhong ordered, and Chu An eagerly moved toward the queue behind the tables.

When he was carrying the corn buns, he had already been tempted to eat a couple but restrained himself, knowing a soldier must observe discipline.

Now, it was finally time for the meal.

The few new recruits holding places in the canteen had already formed a line.

It must be said, people nowadays were very eager when it came to meals.

Standing behind them, Chu An and his two companions soon saw Squad Leader Liu’s larger group arrive at the entrance.

...

"Two corn buns per person, but since we’re a bit late, there isn’t much noodle soup left!"

Looking at the long line of new recruits before him, Tong Lianzhong smiled and said, "There isn’t much noodle soup, so to avoid complaints of unfairness, let’s play a game!"

With that, he gestured toward the field cooking pot: "When it’s your turn, use the ladle to scoop noodles yourself. Each person has thirty seconds. Whether you eat noodles or just drink the broth depends on your skill!"

Chu An rolled his eyes at this, and the other two recruits who had helped carry the food exchanged uncertain glances.

The reason was simple.

Earlier, in the kitchen, the officer in charge had openly told Chu An and the others that although the noodles might be scarce now, they could keep cooking more, and they could come back for seconds later.

But Tong Lianzhong dismissed this, saying it was fine to have less and that this would be a lesson for the new soldiers—a way to teach them that in the army, you earn your meal by your own ability.

Other officers from different cars had laughed and agreed with this idea.

Naturally, the supply station staff were happy not to have to cook more.

Though amused, Chu An was puzzled at the time—how was eating noodles related to earning your meal?

But as the first recruit in line began to scoop noodles, Chu An immediately understood the challenge.

With a glance at his watch, Tong Lianzhong officially started the noodle-scooping contest.

The first contestant was one of the new recruits who had stayed with Platoon Leader Ma to hold their place.

He took the ladle beside the cooking pot, stirred briefly, and tried to scoop up noodles.

Though the ladle seemed full when dipped into the soup, as he lifted it, the slippery noodles all slid back into the pot.

"Uh..."

The recruit was stunned.

He hurriedly tried a second scoop.

Chu An was also baffled.

What was going on?

Didn’t he know the noodles were slippery and that simply scooping straight up wouldn’t work?

Apparently, he didn’t.

After two or three attempts, with Tong Lianzhong announcing, "Ten seconds left!"

The recruit grew frantic.

After failing again, Platoon Leader Ma whispered a tip: "If you can’t get noodles, start with the soup!"

"Oh, oh, oh~"

Hearing this, the recruit hastily ladled broth into his bowl.

Well... he did get a bit of noodles.

Though most had slipped back into the pot, a small amount remained in his bowl, barely enough for a couple of bites.

"Time’s up. Now get your corn buns!"

Tong Lianzhong called an end, while Squad Leader Liu handed him two corn buns.

The second and third recruits took their turns, and Chu An watched in astonishment.

Between the three, they barely managed half a bowl of noodles, relying mostly on broth.

Naturally, drinking the broth wasn’t a loss.

The noodles might slip away, but the floating minced meat and vegetables did not.

Once a ladle of soup was secured, the meat bits were plentiful.

One recruit finished, then another, and with the group that had stayed with Platoon Leader Ma done, it was Chu An’s turn.

Chu An held the bowls and chopsticks from the long table in one hand and the ladle beside the cooking pot in the other.

Opposite him, Tong Lianzhong watched his watch and asked, "Ready?"

"Ready!" Chu An nodded.

"Start!"

Immediately, Chu An moved.

Unlike the previous four, he first pushed the ladle to the bottom and gently stirred clockwise.

Though time was tight at thirty seconds, Chu An knew he couldn’t rush.

The noodles, boiled, were slippery, and scooping them required technique.

Even before his rebirth, he had occasionally cooked noodles for himself.

While not frequent, he was familiar with how to fish noodles from a pot.

Though this time, he couldn’t use chopsticks and had to use a ladle, the principle was similar.

After stirring clockwise once and sensing the weight of noodles on the ladle, he quickly turned two more times before lifting it upward.

At once, a large coil of noodles wrapped around the ladle.

"Ah, not bad, some skill there!"

Tong Lianzhong exclaimed in surprise at how much Chu An managed to scoop at once.

Chu An’s hometown was in the south, where rice paddies dominated and wheat was scarcely grown.

As a result, noodles were hardly eaten locally.

Among the nearly thirty recruits here, perhaps half had never eaten noodles growing up.

As for scooping noodles from a large pot themselves, very few would have experience.

Given this, it was normal not to succeed.

Yet Chu An understood how to scoop and managed to lift so many noodles, which was naturally surprising.

...