Chapter 343: Big Surprise, You’re An Officer Just Like That?

Translator: Dragon Boat Translation Editor: Dragon Boat Translation

“Report!”

At the entrance of an office in the General Staff Department, Jiang Nan, accompanied by Wang Ye, stood and saluted.

The person behind the office desk looked up, then calmly spoke, “Wang Ye, come in. Jiang Nan, wait outside.”

“Yes, sir!”

After Jiang Nan’s acknowledgment, he took a step to the side, making way for the entrance.

Go on in!” The officer turned his head to Wang Ye, who was following behind, and whispered.

“Yes.”

Wang Ye nodded and walked in directly.

Naturally, upon entering, he also saluted and said, “Report.”

The Chief of Staff paused, looking at Wang Ye.

Then, he turned his head, his eyes fixed on a notebook on the desk.

The items are here, help yourself!”

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Ye also noticed it—a red notebook placed a few meters away, with the words “Graduation Certificate” clearly written on it.

But now, it was obvious that something was tucked inside the notebook.

Wang Ye reached out and took it, but didn’t open it.

“Open it and take a look!” The Chief of Staff watched Wang Ye, who was just holding it in his hands but not opening it, and suddenly smiled.

“Yes, sir!”

Wang Ye responded and then lowered his head, casually opening the graduation certificate.

The next moment, Wang Ye was completely dumbfounded.

His eyes widened in disbelief.

Because when he opened the certificate, among the items tucked inside, besides a recent group photo taken at the training camp, there were also a pair of military ranks.

First Lieutenant.

It wasn’t the First Crutch that Wang Ye had submitted to the training camp, nor was it the Second “Crutch” mentioned later.

He had directly become a First Lieutenant!

Staring at the military ranks tucked inside the certificate in his hand, Wang Ye was truly dumbfounded.

After a few seconds of daze, he quickly looked up at the Chief of Staff, who was smiling.

“Haha!”

The Chief of Staff let out a triumphant laugh.

How do you like it? Quite a surprise, isn’t it?”

“I… mine?” Wang Ye’s voice stuttered a bit as he spoke.

He was truly overwhelmed with excitement.

This promotion to First Lieutenant had come so unexpectedly.

“Very surprising, right?” The Chief of Staff chuckled again.

Sir, is this really for me?” Wang Ye hesitated for a moment, then lowered his head to look at the pair of shoulder boards. After taking a deep breath, he addressed the Chief of Staff.

The Chief of Staff smiled and replied, “Of course, why else would 1 give it to you?”

“But how is this possible? I haven’t even been to the military academy yet.”

This was actually the biggest shock for Wang Ye.

Based on the information he had gathered so far, becoming an officer was definitely in the cards for him. With three Second-Class Merit Medals and two Third-Class Merit Medals, as long as he didn’t commit a major mistake, the battalion commander couldn’t hold him back from attending the military academy, especially since higher-ranking officers like the division commander and the corps commander would be paying attention to him.

But normally, becoming an officer would require completing the military academy program first.

Even looking at Meng Wenbin, he hadn’t received the First Lieutenant rank despite having graduated from the military academy.

Yet here he was, about to go to the military academy, and he had already received the rank.

“Do you know what it means to be promoted out of sequence?” The Chief of Staff said with a smile, leaving Wang Ye stunned.

Then, the Chief of Staff continued with a smile, “Don’t underestimate yourself. In this day and age, you’ve been in the military for less than a year, but you already have three Second-Class Merit Medals and two Third-Class Merit Medals. Although your educational background doesn’t meet the usual requirements for promotion, your achievements speak for themselves.”

Speaking of this, the Chief of Staff, with a slightly playful tone, said, “Your family’s Second-Class Merit Medal is hanging on the front door, but you’re only earning three to four hundred bucks a month now. That won’t do. If people find out, they might say our unit is mistreating its heroes!”

“Hehe!” Wang Ye laughed as well.

In reality, he hadn’t thought about this issue. Mainly because he had money of his own and used it when he was out. He had never used the allowance card given to him as a soldier.

In this situation, Wang Ye really hadn’t considered this issue from that perspective.

The Chief of Staff chuckled and stood up, approaching Wang Ye.

He reached out and took the pair of shoulder boards from Wang Ye’s hands. Then, he personally removed the training camp cadet shoulder boards that were still on Wang Ye’s shoulders.

As he helped Wang Ye change the rank insignia, the Chief of Staff continued to smile and said, “Your out-of-sequence promotion was personally approved by the Commander.”

After the change was complete, he patted Wang Ye on the shoulder and said, “Actually, this matter was decided a long time ago; we just didn’t inform you.”

Wang Ye felt a bit awkward and nervous, but also excited at the same time. He turned his head slightly to look at the First Lieutenant rank on his shoulder, unsure of what to say.

Of course, it wasn’t just Wang Ye who was taken aback at this moment. Some people in their hearts had already exclaimed several times.

Jiang Nan had been standing by the door the whole time. When he heard the Chief of Staff’s laughter earlier, he couldn’t help but sneak a peek inside. Now he was still in shock.

What did he see just now?

And what did he hear now?

Wang Ye had actually become a First Lieutenant. There had only been talks about Second “Crutch” when he entered the room, and previously, it was mentioned that he would become a cadet. How did he suddenly become an officer?

“Alright, what are you staring at? Come in!”

At this point, the Chief of Staff looked over and directly called Jiang Nan inside as well.

Looking at Jiang Nan, whose gaze kept shifting to Wang Ye’s shoulder boards, the Chief of Staff chuckled and said, “What’s so interesting? You’re still a Second Lieutenant, aren’t you?”

“Hehe!” Jiang Nan also laughed but couldn’t help exclaiming internally.

Could this be compared at all?

He had several years of military service, but how about Wang Ye?

He was already 28 years old this year, but what about Wang Ye?

He was only 18 last year, and at most, he might be 19 now, but it was unlikely he had turned 20 yet.

And he had become a First Lieutenant at 20.

The gap was astonishing.

“Alright, even though Wang Ye has been promoted, there’s no need to assign him any duties. The promotion is just because of his outstanding achievements to improve his treatment. But he will remain a regular soldier in your reconnaissance platoon, understood?”

“Yes, sir!”

Jiang Nan saluted crisply.

In that moment, his emotions were quite complex.

“You’ve really opened my eyes!” Coming out of the Chief of Staff’s office, Jiang Nan couldn’t help but speak to Wang Ye.

“Hehe!” Wang Ye smiled but didn’t say much.

At this moment, he was still savoring the joy of his promotion.

Looking at Wang Ye, Jiang Nan shook his head and said again, “One year in the army, from private to Second Lieutenant. Wang Ye, honestly, I’ve never seen anything like it before!”

Wang Ye looked at him with a smiling face and replied, “Captain, it’s just that my educational background is lacking. In our entire army, there are plenty of talented individuals with high education who have also achieved promotion on the spot due to their merits, right?”

Jiang Nan nodded and said, “Yes, there are, but I’ve never seen someone like you. You’re the first one I’ve witnessed in person!”

Jiang Nan said this with a serious expression. Afterward, he walked to the car door and opened it.

“Alright, get in. Let’s go back. We’ll let the others open their eyes too!”

Jiang Nan could already imagine how much of a sensation there would be in the Second Squad when they returned.

There was a guy that everyone considered impressive but still just a rookie, who had come out with them for a trip, and when he went back, he had become a First Lieutenant.

To put it bluntly, even though Wang Ye was impressive, when he met other non-commissioned officers and even senior privates in the Second Squad, he would have to greet them and call them “Sergeant” first.

But now…

When Wang Ye met them, they had to salute and say, “Good day, sir.”

Although the Chief of Staff had said there was no need to assign duties to Wang Ye, his First Lieutenant rank was real.

The car quickly left the General Staff Department and arrived at the Second Squad’s building in just about three minutes.

Today was the weekend, so everyone was quite casual. Similar to when Wang Ye had just arrived yesterday, some soldiers were hanging around outside the building.

However, most of them were now sitting by the trees on the side of the building, seeking shade from the sun, smoking, and chatting.

Their sitting positions didn’t allow them to see the First Lieutenant rank on Wang Ye’s shoulder.

However, they couldn’t see it, but the sound of the off-road vehicle returning had alerted some of the soldiers inside the building.

Someone peered out of the window.

The next moment, someone rubbed their eyes.

“Wait, am 1 seeing things? Is that Wang Ye?”

“What?” Inside First Squad, a soldier named Qiu Shuang looked toward the window, and others in his squad voiced their confusion.

In fact, someone next to him had already gotten up and approached to look out of the window.

It’s Wang Ye… Damn!”

In that moment, an Upper Private named Luo Yong also widened his eyes.

That First Lieutenant rank was truly conspicuous in the sunlight.

At this point, Wang Ye, who had just gotten out of the car downstairs, heard the commotion on the second floor.

He looked up and flashed a smile.

Commotion.

At this moment, not only the soldiers in First Squad but also those in other squads had spotted the First Lieutenant rank on Wang Ye’s shoulder.

Everyone was dumbfounded, and the first words out of their mouths were mostly “What the hell?”

Then, when Wang Ye was heading upstairs, soldiers from all the squads rushed to the door to watch him pass by and return to First Squad.

“What’s going on? How did Wang Ye become an officer?”

“Isn’t he just nineteen? He shouldn’t be eligible, right?”

“An out-of-sequence promotion? This is really bizarre!”

“But it’s actually quite reasonable; this freak broke the records of the military region!”

“All, he’s really a freak!”

In the other squads, everyone was discussing.

In First Squad, everyone was still staring at Wang Ye in disbelief.

“What’s happening? Class Leader, everyone, did you all forget me in the half-hour 1 was gone?” Wang Ye stood at the door, looking at everyone with a smile.

“What the hell, Wang Ye, how did you become a First Lieutenant?”

Qiu Shuang couldn’t help but take a few steps forward to closely inspect Wang Ye’s shoulder boards.

At this point, he even wanted to reach out and touch them.

But the next moment, his hand was swatted away.

“Why are you reaching out randomly? Can you just touch it casually?” It was the Class Deputy, Ge Hui, who said this.

“Wang Ye, what’s going on?” Class Leader An Ping also spoke up, looking bewildered.

Wang Ye looked at him and smiled, “The Chief of Staff called me to the General Staff Department for a visit, and that’s how it turned out. I got my graduation certificate from the training camp and this!”

“An out-of-sequence promotion?”

Someone remarked.

Wang Ye nodded, “Yes, that’s right. My educational background isn’t enough, but the Chief of Staff said that with several Second-Class Merit Medals and Third-Class Merit Medals, and still earning only three to four hundred yuan as a militia allowance each month, it wasn’t justified. So, they decided to promote me out of sequence!”

With a relaxed tone, Wang Ye continued, “Actually, don’t think of me as an officer. 1 only receive a salary as a First Lieutenant when it’s payday. Otherwise, I’m still a new recruit in our First Squad without any duties, and there won’t be any duties assigned in the future either.”

After a pause, Wang Ye looked around at everyone and smiled again before speaking, “Of course, all in all, today is a good day. I got a raise, so let’s celebrate together! Let’s go to the convenience store; 1’11 treat you all!”

“That sounds great!”

“Hehe, I like that idea!”

With Wang Ye’s words, he directly dispelled the shock and reservations in everyone’s hearts, and it instantly eased the tension about how they would interact with him now that he had become an officer in their squad..