109: Chapter 109 Was I the only one taking the exam unprepared?

Station Chief Chen Tao swept his gaze over the nine people and pointed behind him.

"Your team leader, Cheng Songyan."

A person walked out from behind the group.

He was twenty-nine years old, a Level 4 commander. He wasn't short, his shoulders were broad, and his entire face was written with "Don't try to get friendly with me."

Cheng Songyan walked up to the nine people, stood still, scanned the circle, and nodded.

"Cheng Songyan, Level 4 commander. For the next two months, I will be responsible for your training and task assignments."

He paused.

"Let's get the unpleasantries out of the way first—I don't care who you are outside. Once you enter this station, you are my people. Follow orders, obey discipline, and don't give me any trouble."

The live chat exploded—

[So fierce!]

[This captain is handsome, but he feels like someone you shouldn't mess with.]

[Look at that face, it's like someone owes him eight million.]

Li Li wasn't looking at the camera; he was looking at Cheng Songyan's hands.

Both hands were pressed against his trouser seams, fingers tightening and loosening irregularly. It wasn't nervousness—nervousness is continuous; this intermittent rhythm was closer to a conditioned reflex.

During the briefing, he stared at the guests' foreheads the entire time, never truly making eye contact with anyone.

There's a story here.

Cheng Songyan stepped aside half a step and waved his hand behind him.

"The three newly hired Firefighters who are joining you during the same period will also be your teammates for the next two months."

The first one to step forward was a tall, thin man with a buzz cut, standing even straighter than Cheng Songyan, his chin held high.

"Han Su, twenty-two years old, probationary Firefighter."

He paused.

"National Firefighter."

He enunciated the words "National" very heavily, afraid that others wouldn't be able to tell the difference between him and the "professional team."

The difference between a National Firefighter and a full-time professional Firefighter is the difference between being on the permanent staff and being outsourced.

He swept his gaze over the nine guests, his face clearly expressing four big words—I don't want to be here.

The live chat immediately read it—

[This guy doesn't want to be here, hahaha.]

[It's written all over his face; he's too lazy to even fake being professional.]

The second one to jump out was a short, dark, and sturdy guy with a round face; as soon as he spoke, he had a Guizhou accent.

"Qin Xiaoshan! Twenty-one! From Guizhou!"

He waved at the camera, grinned, and flashed a mouthful of white teeth.

"Hello everyone, hello everyone!"

After speaking, he turned to look at Ji Shen, then glanced at He Manzhou, looking so excited he was about to jump up.

Live chat: [I like this one, future mood maker.]

The third boy to walk up was twenty-three, with delicate features, a loose posture, and his hands in his pockets—only after being glared at by Cheng Songyan did he slowly pull them out.

"Zhong Ji, probationary Firefighter."

That was it.

Han Su frowned.

Zhong Ji sensed the dissatisfaction and added, "I'm a local from Pengcheng. If you have any questions, you can ask me."

His tone was casual, his attitude wasn't bad, and he exuded a kind of "I can do anything, but I don't want to strive for anything" relaxation.

Live chat: [Local rich kid, right? You can tell by his aura that his family owns apartment buildings.]

Cheng Songyan didn't give them any more time.

"Follow me. First, go to the dormitory to drop off your things."

— The dormitory was on the second floor.

The boys were led into a large dormitory; nine bunk beds were lined up along the walls, and the aisle in the middle was so narrow that it was difficult for two people to walk side by side.

Ji Shen dragged that giant suitcase and squeezed into the door, but the suitcase got stuck between the frames of two beds, unable to move forward or backward.

"...Should I just give up on this suitcase?"

Gu Zeyan looked around, and the smile on his face finally couldn't hold.

"No private bathroom?"

Han Su leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed over his chest, and coldly said, "The public bathhouse is on the first floor."

Gu Zeyan shut his mouth.

Shen Jue had already bounced twice on his bed to test the elasticity, and the iron bed frame let out a teeth-grinding creak. Han Su's face darkened another shade.

Li Li chose the bed next to Shen Jue and threw his backpack onto it.

Just one backpack.

Beside him, Ji Shen's giant suitcase occupied half the aisle, and Su Nianzhi's two large suitcases were still downstairs.

Shen Jue leaned over and lowered his voice, "Brother Li, you only brought this little stuff?"

"Change of clothes, toothbrush, charger."

"...Is that enough?"

"The Fire Department provides training gear, and food and lodging are fully covered. What else should I bring?"

Shen Jue opened his mouth, then closed it again.

It really seemed like there was nothing wrong with that.

— Blue training uniforms were neatly folded on everyone's bed.

Li Li picked it up and shook it out—a navy blue training uniform, thick fabric, with tightened cuffs and pant legs, and the words "Luohu Firefighting" printed on the chest.

He finished changing in thirty seconds and walked to the door.

The progress of the others in the dormitory: Ji Shen was struggling with his suitcase, Gu Zeyan was fixing his bangs using his phone's front camera, Jiang Shiyu was flipping the training uniform over and over to study the fabric, and Tao Qianzhi was carefully tying his shoelaces—he had changed into a pair of sneakers.

Han Su was the second to finish changing, standing next to Li Li.

He glanced at him from the corner of his eye, not saying anything, but the sentiment of "You're quite fast" was very obvious.

Li Li ignored him and leaned against the doorframe, waiting for the others.

Zhong Ji was the last to get dressed, walking out slowly with his zipper only pulled up halfway.

Qin Xiaoshan took a plastic bag out of his pocket containing half a pack of spicy strips, and while chewing, he asked vaguely, "How much longer until we start?"

The whistle downstairs blasted right on time.

Sharp, shrill, without any warning.

Li Li kicked off the doorframe and turned to go downstairs.

Shen Jue followed reflexively, with Tao Qianzhi and Ji Shen close behind.

Han Su was stunned for half a second—he hadn't expected an influencer's reaction to be faster than his own.

He was the fifth one to rush out.

Qin Xiaoshan stuffed the spicy strips back into his pocket and ran.

Zhong Ji leisurely zipped up his jacket and sauntered down.

By the time the nine people had finished gathering downstairs, Gu Zeyan and Jiang Shiyu were the last to come out—Jiang Shiyu's hair was still meticulous, and Gu Zeyan was even still wearing his own techwear jacket, with the training uniform underneath and the zipper open.

Cheng Songyan stood in front of the group.

"One minute and forty-seven seconds."

He announced the number.

"The Fire Department's assembly time limit for responding to a call is forty-five seconds. You exceeded it by sixty-two seconds."

Gu Zeyan was about to speak.

"This time doesn't count. Next time you exceed the time, the whole team will do an extra 1,000-meter run."

No one made a sound.

— On the playground, the on-duty Firefighters who were not on a call were doing their daily training—flipping on the single bar, sprinting while carrying water hoses, and climbing the training tower.

As the camera and guests walked in, the training ground went quiet for two seconds.

Then, all eyes turned in unison.

To be precise—eighty percent landed on He Manzhou and Su Nianzhi.

He Manzhou waved at them generously.

Su Nianzhi lowered her head slightly and tucked her hair behind her ear.

A Level 2 Firefighter who was doing push-ups just forgot to hold himself up and slammed face-first onto the ground.

The person next to him pulled him up and lowered his voice, "Embarrassing."

Cheng Songyan walked to the center of the playground and turned to face everyone.

"Warm up, Qin Xiaoshan will lead."

Qin Xiaoshan ran to the front of the line and grinned.

"Follow me!"

Warm-up finished.

Cheng Songyan spoke.

"Physical fitness test items. For boys—1,000-meter run, pull-ups on the single bar, 4x10-meter shuttle run. For girls—800-meter run, jump rope, sit-ups. Each item is worth ten points, total of thirty points. The scoring brackets will be distributed later."

He paused.

"Eighteen points to pass. If you don't reach it, you will do extra physical training every day until you pass the make-up test."

"Luckily I practiced for two months in advance; I should be able to run it in three minutes and forty seconds."

Shen Jue muttered to himself from the side.

Li Li turned to look at him.

"How did you know you needed to practice?"

Shen Jue looked matter-of-fact: "The Production Team notified us. They sent out the physical fitness test standards and training suggestions a month and a half ago. Brother Li, didn't you receive it?"

Li Li didn't answer.

He looked at Qi Wanyin.

Qi Wanyin nodded: "I knew. I practiced for five weeks."

"Me too." He Manzhou raised her hand.

"Same." Ji Shen.

"Prepared in advance." Tao Qianzhi.

"Of course." Jiang Shiyu.

Gu Zeyan: "Duh, who doesn't know that."

The eyes of the nine people converged on Li Li.

Su Nianzhi tilted her head slightly and spoke very timely: "Teacher Li Li didn't receive the notification? Is the Production Team..."

She didn't finish her sentence, leaving a meaningful trail, and looked at the nearest camera.

In the live broadcast room, over seven million people were staring at the screen.

Director Pei Zhao's voice came over the broadcast, unhurried.

"I think since you're so good at fighting, your physical fitness certainly won't be bad. Maybe... I forgot to notify you."

Li Li stood in place.

Forgot.

Director Pei Zhao, a senior executive in the Variety Department of Byte Group, a woman whose planning proposals could be precise down to which camera used which focal length, told him she forgot.

The live chat went crazy—

[Director Pei Zhao, you did that on purpose, hahahaha.]

[Such crazy revenge on Li Li for the Dating Reality Show!]

[This is "balance adjustment," brothers. Li Li is too strong; how can they not nerf him?]

[Cracks me up. Everyone else practiced for a month or two, and Li Li is taking the test cold.]

[Brother Li's expression is so calm... It's that kind of calm before the storm.]

Li Li withdrew his gaze and nodded.

"Fine."

Just one word.

Shen Jue watched his profile from the side, always feeling that something was wrong—this person had been set up; his reaction shouldn't be like this.

He should be angry, or at least complain a little.

But Li Li just glanced at the red track on the playground and then lowered his head to stretch his ankles.

His movements were very casual.

Casual to the point of being abnormal.

Shen Jue suddenly had a thought: could it be that... Brother Li doesn't care at all?

Others had the confidence only after practicing for two months; he hadn't practiced anything, yet he wasn't panicked at all.

Is this real strength, or does he not know how insane the Firefighter physical test is?

Cheng Songyan picked up the stopwatch and pressed it.

"1,000 meters, first group of boys."

He looked up, scanning all the male guests and the three new Firefighters.

Then he turned to the on-duty Firefighters on the side of the field.

"Is there anyone who wants to come and lead the run to set an example for them?"

As soon as he finished speaking, three Firefighters raised their hands at the same time.

The Level 2 Firefighter standing at the very front—the one who just slammed into the ground while doing push-ups—stepped out and patted his chest.

"I'll do it."

He swept his gaze over the guest group, finally landing on Li Li, and grinned.

"Teacher Li Li, I heard you can do everything?"

The playground went quiet for a moment.

Han Su's ears perked up.

Li Li looked at him.

"When it comes to running, there's no such thing as 'can' or 'can't'; you'll know once you run."

The live chat instantly boiled over—

[It's here, it's here, it's here!]

[Candidate taking the test cold vs. professional Firefighter, does this even need guessing?]

[Don't be too confident, Brother Li, Firefighters' physical fitness is truly fierce!]

Cheng Songyan looked at the Firefighter who had volunteered, then looked at Li Li.

The stopwatch in his hand turned half a circle.

"Fine."

"Male Firefighters—get on the track."