Some say it only takes a few days to form a preconceived notion about someone, but it takes much longer to change it.
However, others say that when a person does something different from usual, either there's a reason, or it's the beginning of that person's change.
The first point refers to Zheng Three Cannons, the instructor of this New Recruit Company, and the second point refers to Lin Mu himself.
Because in Zheng Three Cannons' preconceived notion of Lin Mu, Lin Mu should have been the last to appear in the assembly due to his physical fitness.
But today, seeing Lin Mu appear first, Zheng Three Cannons' first thought was that everyone else hadn't heard the reveille.
However, after seeing everyone else rush out in a swarm, this thought disappeared.
His gaze towards Lin Mu was filled with surprise and relief. Zheng Three Cannons felt that Lin Mu was changing, but he didn't hold much hope. After all, the assessment was in just over ten days, and with Lin Mu's scores, he wouldn't be able to join a company.
Seeing all the new recruits assembled, Zheng Three Cannons didn't say much but led the team to the Shooting Range.
'Today we're conducting shooting training, but unlike before, the scores from this training will be included in the new recruit assessment.'
'In other words, from today onwards, you must take every training session seriously. If you fail, let alone joining a company, you'll be directly sent back to your hometown.' Zheng Three Cannons glanced at Lin Mu, intentionally or unintentionally, while scaring everyone.
Seeing Old Cannon look at him, Lin Mu muttered to himself, 'I won't be sent back to my hometown. Today, I'll blind you all.'
'Bring the guns over,' Old Cannon said, looking at the Soldier standing by.
When Lin Mu received the type 95 rifle, a sense of familiarity surged within him, like an old friend he hadn't seen in years. It felt a little strange at first glance, but became very familiar upon contact.
'Attention, all! Count off!' Zheng Three Cannons shouted loudly.
'126910'
'For shooting training, 80 points is passing, 90 points is good, and 95 or above is excellent. Each gun has only ten bullets. Now, five people per group, prepare to shoot,' Zheng Three Cannons said.
With the command, five people lay down in perfectly standard postures, locking onto the moving target 200 meters away through their scopes.
Seeing the five people on the ground ready, Zheng Three Cannons said,'Shoot!'
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Suddenly, gunshots erupted on the Shooting Range.
The gunshots quickly stopped, and the five people lying on the ground immediately stood up and looked towards the target pit in the distance.
'Report scores!' Zheng Three Cannons said.
'Target number one, 85 rings; target number two, 87 rings; target number three, 90 rings,' came the voice of the Score Reporter from the target pit.
After all scores were reported, the best score among the first five people was only 90 rings from target number three.
This score was neither good nor bad; in short, Zheng Three Cannons' expression wasn't very pleasant.
'Next batch, step up,' Zheng Three Cannons said.
As Lin Mu arrived at the last fixed shooting position and lay down, he heard the system's voice: "Hundred Shots, Hundred Hits skill activated."
'Shoot!'
Hearing the command, Lin Mu aligned his sights with the distant target, slowed his breathing, and at the most stable moment of his breath, pulled the trigger... Ten bullets were fired. Lin Mu smiled confidently. His ten shots were definitely 100 rings.
When Zheng Three Cannons saw Lin Mu stand up first, his face completely darkened. In his opinion, finishing so quickly meant only pulling the trigger without aiming.
Or to put it more clearly, he wasn't serious about the shooting training.
With his scores, he definitely wouldn't be able to join a company and could only be sent back to his hometown, so practicing or not made no difference.
Not only Zheng Three Cannons thought so, but even Company Commander Miao, who was watching the training from not far away, thought the same.
'Oh! I thought Lin Mu would train well and prepare for tomorrow's assessment, but I didn't expect this,' Company Commander Miao said, putting down his binoculars and looking at Platoon Leader Chen beside him.
'He definitely can't join a company; he can only be sent back to his hometown,' Platoon Leader Chen said.
'That's fine too. He can do research with his mentor; it's also serving the country. Let's not talk about him anymore. Let's see how Xiao Zhuang and Happy Baby did,' Company Commander Miao said with a moment of regret.
On the Shooting Range, Zheng Three Cannons no longer looked at Lin Mu. After the other four stopped shooting and stood up, he looked at the Score Reporter and said, 'Report scores!'
'Target number one, Shen Meng, 90 rings; target number two, Hu Feng, 90 rings; target number three, Chen Xiwa, 95 rings; target number four, Zhuang Yan, 96 rings; target number five, Lin Mu, 10 rings,' the Score Reporter said after checking the targets.
'Ten rings? If it's Lin Mu, it's not surprising. All the shooting training in the past two months has either been off-target or scores of ten or twenty rings. Not surprising.'
'You're right, I really don't know how he trained over these two months.'
'Even if his physical fitness is poor, it shouldn't be that he hasn't improved in over two months.'
Upon hearing Lin Mu's score of ten rings, discussions immediately arose, and even Zheng Three Cannons didn't stop them immediately.
Fortunately, Zheng Three Cannons quickly came back to his senses, stopped the discussions, and walked quickly towards Lin Mu, saying, 'What exactly are you doing? Ten rings? You...'
'Reporting, Instructor, perhaps the Score Reporter made a mistake. Why don't you look at the target yourself before speaking?' Lin Mu interrupted Zheng Three Cannons with a smile.
'The Score Reporter made a mistake? That's a joke. Fine, I'll go check myself. If it's ten rings, see how I'll deal with you.' Zheng Three Cannons finished speaking and walked towards the target pit.
Zhuang Yan beside him turned to look at Lin Mu, wanting to say something, but in the end, said nothing, only sighing slightly.
Soon, Zheng Three Cannons returned with the target. He walked up to Lin Mu and said, 'I want to know how you did it?'
He couldn't believe what he saw, especially when he looked in the direction the Score Reporter pointed; the shock in his heart was indescribable.
'How did he do what?' Zheng Three Cannons heard Company Commander Miao's voice.
'Reporting, you should look at this target!' Zheng Three Cannons handed the target in his hand to Company Commander Miao.
Company Commander Miao took the target and with just one glance, saw the mystery on it. His pupils couldn't help but contract. He said nothing but handed the target to Platoon Leader Chen.
He looked at everyone with a smile and said, 'Don't you understand the riddle we're speaking?'
'Go get the High-Speed Camera,' Company Commander Miao said, looking at Zheng Three Cannons.
Although Company Commander Miao and Platoon Leader Chen already had a bold idea in their minds, it was just a guess and needed verification from the High-Speed Camera.
Because there was only one standard-sized bullet hole on the target, there were two possible outcomes for this matter.
The first outcome was that only one bullet hit, and all the others missed the target.
The second outcome was that the remaining nine bullets went through the bullet hole left by the first bullet.