Netizens did not know about the competition between major film companies and private studios. Amidst all sorts of exciting gossip and movies, a new batch of military service applications was coming.
Military service applications were issued twice a year, once in April and once in October.
Generally speaking, there were more applicants in April than in October, probably because Memorial Day was closer. Many people felt that it was already the end of the year and would choose to spend Memorial Day with their families, discuss with them, prepare well, and then apply for the April batch.
But this year, it was the opposite.
The number of applicants for the October batch had exploded, increasing by 291 percent. This was official data. Actually, even without looking at these statistics, people could feel that the number of applicants this October was much higher than last October, especially on university campuses. Many people who had not yet served had decided to apply.
Project Starlight was a success. It had spurred the enthusiasm of young people to serve and attracted even more attention.
To maximize the enthusiasm of young people, the military had allowed the five planets of Project Starlight to accept conscripts on their own. In other words, those who wanted to serve on these five planets could apply first. Those who applied could go directly, while those who did not would be randomly assigned by the system.
Young idols naturally preferred to serve on the planet their idols were on. In the first phase of Project Starlight, the situation on channels S1, S2, and S3 was similar. There was an increase from previous years, but it was not an exaggeration. What was exaggerated were the planets that channels S4 and S5 were on, which were planet Wai and planet Baiji.
Planet Baiji's position on the development sequence had changed, leading to more people wanting to go to planet Baiji. Who knows, it might even be helpful to their future careers.
Planet Wai had received about the same number of applications as planet Baiji because of the film entertainment cultural base. Most conscripts were young people in their early twenties, mostly university students. There were many idol-chasers, and the Wai film entertainment cultural base attracted them greatly, especially when they saw the entertainment news online. Going to the film entertainment cultural base to have a meal at a random restaurant and they would be able to meet a few big stars. Young people were envious.
However, the number of applicants was limited. Even though planet Baiji and Wai had increased the quota, the number of applicants still far exceeded their expectations. Therefore, they could only rely on the system's automatic screening to determine the final quota.
In other words, this time, planet Wai and Baiji's standards for accepting military personnel had been raised. Those with serious blemishes on their records, reputation issues, or serious mental illnesses would all be screened out. Especially for planet Baiji, they would also look at the applicants' physical fitness training results and school sports results. Those with high physical fitness would be given priority.
After screening, the system would send the results to the applicants.
Those who received the acceptance notice from Baiji military district were the same as Fang Zhao. They went to the designated hospitals of their respective continents for a medical examination and then entered their respective military districts to undergo pre-service military training. A month later, they were all sent to planet Baiji.
On the transport ship bound for planet Baiji, the young enlistees had mixed feelings of apprehension and excitement. When they could not fall asleep, they gathered together to chat.
"Hello, we'll be comrades-in-arms from now on. Brother, what's your specialization?"
"Clinical medicine."
"I majored in veterinary medicine. Hahaha, we are in the same field!"
"… It's still different."
"Hey, bro, what about you? What's your major?"
"Me? I'm in communications engineering. "
…
In the military, if there were no special circumstances, it usually took time for one to rise up. However, planet Baiji was currently in the initial stages of development. Under these special circumstances, it was the best time to earn military merits. Those who wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to advance had their sights set on planet Baiji. Planet Baiji gave talents from various specialties a chance to strive for a bright future.
However, when these young enlistees finally arrived on planet Baiji, what greeted them was a bug feast.
Planet Baiji's commanding officer had said that the bug feast was a tradition on planet Baiji. No matter how planet Baiji developed in the future, this tradition had to be maintained. Every person who came to planet Baiji had to remember the tough lives that people had led when they first came here. We have to remember the bitterness and taste the sweetness!
However, although it was still a bug feast, the bug feast that the new recruits ate was better than what they had eaten in the past. At least it was not like in the past when the bugs were half-cooked.
Even so, the new recruits were tormented by this bug feast. Close to 60% of them were still pale when they woke up the next day. Clearly, they had not shaken off the bug feast. Some people even started to regret. If they had known earlier, they would have chosen planet Wai. Eating grains on planet Wai was much better than eating bugs here!
But very quickly, a pep rally roused the spirits of these people who had thought of withdrawing.
The pep rally was organized by the Baiji military district to commend outstanding enlistees and set an example for this bunch of brats who had just arrived.
Fang Zhao was naturally one of them. Those who had come in the same batch as Fang Zhao had already served here for half a year. Previously, when some of them had seen Fang Zhao get promoted, they had started to show their enthusiasm. Various military districts had sprung up with some exemplary examples. There were also talents from various specialties who had performed outstandingly and had achieved many merits. Although they might not necessarily have received third-class military merits, they had contributed a lot. This time, the military district had made an exception and promoted these people to be commended at this pep rally.
Fang Zhao had previously been a second lieutenant. This time, he had been promoted to first lieutenant. For the past half a year, he had followed the outpost team on missions every day and had achieved many merits. Everyone had seen his performance. Many times he had entered dangerous situations to rescue people. Viewers watching the live broadcast could not raise any objections.
There were also some old officers at the base who sighed in private. This person, whether it was his mental fortitude or his personal ability, he was special. If Fang Zhao had continued to develop in the military, he would have risen even higher.
Many people in the military family district had chatted with Great-Grandfather Fang about how it was a pity that Fang Zhao did not join the military.
Great-Grandfather Fang naturally defended his grandson in front of others, but in private, he also felt that it was a pity. However, this was Fang Zhao's own choice. As long as Fang Zhao was happy, it was fine. Furthermore, Great-Grandfather Fang and Great-Grandmother Fang were not at ease with Fang Zhao's dedication when he carried out his missions. Watching videos of Fang Zhao carrying out his missions, many of them had seen outpost team members fall into dangerous situations. These people were all on tenterhooks.
Every time they watched the video, Great-Grandfather Fang would get angry. You are just a temporary enlistee. Why do you have to put your life on the line? Other people's military service was just for show. Why do you have to be so serious? Can't you be more astute and avoid it?
Today, after the mobilization meeting, Fang Zhao was having dinner in the military family district. Great-Grandfather Fang could not help but start lecturing him.
"Veteran soldiers will naturally go to dangerous places. You new recruits are still too inexperienced. The next time you encounter that kind of danger, just stay away, got it?"
If this had happened in the past, Great-Grandfather Fang would have scoffed when he heard someone say this. He despised people who spoiled their children the most!
However, when it came to himself, Great-Grandfather Fang's heart softened.
Although he had been nagging, after Fang Zhao left after dinner, Great-Grandfather Fang could not help but be amused. He watched the video of the commendation of the pacesetter at the mobilization meeting over and over again.
Elsewhere, Fang Zhao had left the base and headed to the outpost.
Because of the mobilization meeting, Fang Zhao had the day off. He did not go on missions with the outpost team during the day. After arriving at the outpost, he went back to his dormitory and immersed himself in composing.
Kevin Lin was in awe of Fang Zhao. In the day, Fang Zhao was a tireless, iron-blooded warrior. At night, he became a harmless artistic youth and continued composing. If it had been Kevin Lin, he would never have been able to do it.
Right now, Fang Zhao was composing a piece of background music for a scene in "Warring States."
Prior to this, Fang Zhao had already composed background music for many scenes in "Beauties" and "Warring States." In the future, these would also be included in the original soundtracks for the movies and series and posted online.
As he was writing, someone came to visit.
The visitor seemed to be about the same age as Fang Zhao, but he had the courtesy and arrogance of an elite. He seemed polite, but deep down, he was still arrogant.
"My name is Joseph, the contact person for the Inter-planetary Fund's film project team. This is my name card. You can verify my identity."
The other party wore a fitting smile and handed over a metallic name card with the Inter-planetary Fund's insignia.
Fang Zhao did not need to verify it himself. Someone from the outpost team had already sent him Joseph's detailed information. The outpost team captain, Bie Liao, had sent it to him.
Before Joseph entered the outpost, he would definitely have to verify his identity, and the verification would be even more stringent. Thus, Fang Zhao did not need to verify it himself. The message he received contained Joseph's detailed information.
There was no mistaking his identity. He was indeed someone from the Inter-planetary Fund and was indeed an elite.
He had a PhD in economics and management from a famous Huangzhou university. He had obtained professional certifications in finance, medicine, architecture, and the arts. It could be said that he knew everything in the world. When he was with the outpost team, he could chat about the entertainment industry and the direction of political change.
Bie Liao even lamented to Fang Zhao at the end of the message. "This Inter-planetary Fund contact person is actually a top student!"
"Excuse me, are you busy, Mr. Fang? I'm not in a hurry. It won't be too late to talk after you are done, "Joseph said.
Fang Zhao did not decline. He pointed to the sofa. "You can sit over there. Pour whatever you want. No need to stand on ceremony."
The facilities here were simple and crude, and there were not many rules. Furthermore, Fang Zhao had just had some inspiration, so he did not want to stop midway.
Joseph pointed to the floor-to-ceiling bookshelf at the side. "Excuse me, can I take a look at these books?"
These were all electronic books that Fang Zhao had bought online after moving to his new dormitory. Then, he had gotten someone in charge of printing at the base to help him print them out. He still preferred to use paper books, and he would bring one with him during the day so that he could read them in between missions. When electronic equipment was unavailable, reading paper books was very convenient.
Most of them were related to music, film, history, and architecture.
"Feel free," Fang Zhao replied.
"Thank you."
Joseph thanked Fang Zhao and walked over to the bookshelf. The words and icons on the spines of the books indicated that they had been printed on planet Baiji. Even the dates of printing were marked.
Joseph pulled out a rather thick book on history and flipped open a page.
"..."
He could not understand it.
He did not really want to read the contents of the book. He actually wanted to read the notes and annotations Fang Zhao had made in the book. He wanted to understand Fang Zhao from these notes.
There were indeed many annotations on the book. There were even a few pages filled with words, but he could not understand the words.
He flipped another page.
Still could not understand.
The polite smile on Joseph's face had completely frozen. He actually could not understand a single word of the annotations in this book!
Minor language?
Unlikely.
Shorthand?
That was possible.
Looking at the writing style, it was probably shorthand.
But why would shorthand be used to make annotations in the book?
Lunatic!
Joseph did not believe it. These books had all been printed within three months. There were close to a hundred books on the bookshelf, and some of them were rather thick. It was impossible to read all of them, and it was also impossible for all of them to be labeled in the same way, right?
Ten minutes later.
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