In early June, following a government directive, this year's half-month militia training began. Perhaps because his uncle was the town's deputy mayor, Ji Yunsheng found his name included on the militia training roster by the head of the town's armed forces department. Having heard an older militia member who guarded the checkpoints talk about how exhausting military district training could be, Ji Yunsheng wasn't very enthusiastic about going. But since his name had already been submitted, he had no choice but to head to the military district with resignation. After a two-to-three-hour journey, they arrived at the military district. Although he still felt a bit reluctant, a strange and inexplicable excitement stirred in his heart.
On the first day of training, Ji Yunsheng's squad leader gathered the entire squad to brief them on some aspects of the militia training. Once training got underway, Ji Yunsheng felt as though he had been transported back to the high school military training at the start of the semester. After a full day of exercises, Ji Yunsheng was completely exhausted, but he soon noticed that the training load for his squad was much lighter than that of the other squads. The squad leaders of the other groups were far stricter with the militia members than his own leader, and overall, their daily rest breaks were not nearly as long. His own squad leader gave them plenty of time to rest and had an easygoing personality—perhaps because he wasn't much older than them! During breaks, the squad leader would even chat with the militia members under his command.
Before coming to the military district, Ji Yunsheng hadn't cared much about it, but during chats with the squad leader, he learned that this year's training would include live-fire target practice with real rifles. However, the exact day hadn't been specified. Due to seasonal factors, the weather was bad and it rained almost constantly, making it impossible to pin down when they would get to handle real firearms and live ammunition. Hearing that live-fire practice was on the agenda, Ji Yunsheng, like everyone else, began eagerly hoping for clear skies so they could shoot real guns. After a few days of training, Ji Yunsheng finally understood why the veteran militia members had described the military district training as exhausting. After a few grueling days, Ji Yunsheng could barely climb into bed. Combined with the poor weather and the lack of hot water for showers, his enthusiasm for handling real guns faded significantly.
Every day's training was intensely grueling, but hearing that their workload amounted to only a quarter of that of regular military training brought a sense of great relief. Time slipped away day by day amid the training. Two days before the end of the half-month period, the weather finally cleared up, and the leadership at the military district instructed everyone to prepare for live-fire target practice. Before heading to the shooting range, the squad leaders briefed the militia on the safety precautions for handling real firearms and briefly demonstrated the proper shooting postures. Following this simple instruction, they set off for the range. Along the way, the excitement of every militia member was probably much like Ji Yunsheng's. Upon arriving at the shooting range, the leaders gave a speech, followed by an instructor who demonstrated a hundred-meter prone shooting technique.
The scorching weather could do nothing to dampen everyone's yearning for live-fire target practice. Groups of militia members took turns stepping up to the firing line in an orderly fashion. Ji Yunsheng and the others waiting their turn watched from behind, and seeing various militia members fail to hit the target, they couldn't help finding it a bit amusing. People whispered among themselves while those who had finished shooting shared their experiences. Amid the lengthy wait, it was finally Ji Yunsheng's turn. His heart instantly began to race with boiling blood. Ji Yunsheng stepped forward, dropped into the prone position, steadied his rifle, released the safety catch, chambered a round, and aimed! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! In the end, not a single shot hit the target, instantly plunging him into a wave of awkwardness. Ji Yunsheng had thought he would at least hit the target, never imagining it would be so difficult! Before stepping up, he had assumed that as long as he could see clearly, he would be able to hit it, and he never expected such an outcome.
Amid the sound of gunfire—bang, bang, bang—it was soon the cousin's turn to shoot. They watched as the cousin also missed the target, but managed to break the wooden target frame itself in half, causing many people to burst into laughter. Through another round of waiting, Ji Yunsheng's turn came around again. After running through the same preparation steps as before—bang! bang! bang! bang! bang!—he finished another round. When the scores were announced, he still hadn't hit the target! After round after round of shooting, Ji Yunsheng, like most people, came to terms with it: a miss is a miss, after all, this was everyone's first time firing real guns. Though some people did hit the target on their very first try, it might well have been a matter of luck. After all, neither the squad leaders nor the instructors had taught them how to adjust the sights on their rifles; hitting the target didn't change anything, and missing didn't matter either! At least they got to experience the thrill of real firearms.
The excitement from the shooting practice lingered for a long time. On the very last night before leaving the military district, Ji Yunsheng felt a sudden pang of reluctance to leave this life behind. There was no training on the final night; instead, a farewell party was held. Once the party began, the various squads gathered in circles, leaving an open space in the middle. People were chosen in sequential order from each squad to perform: some sang songs, some performed military boxing since they weren't sure what else to do, and others performed traditional sword dances. Finally, after the individual performances concluded, everyone joined together in a group folk dance. In this joyful atmosphere, they spent their final night in the military district.