Nineteen-year-old Wu Xiaomo enlisted in the army with a passionate yearning for the military camp, eager to become a pure warrior and protect his home and country alongside his comrades. But inside this burning wish, he hid a secret that no one knew - he wanted to be a soldier, but he never wanted to be a squad leader.
What he is afraid of is not the hardship of training and the fatigue of standing guard, but the heavy responsibility on the shoulders of the squad leader: to manage the training life and mental state of the whole class, to bear the collective honor and failure, to stand at the front when everyone retreats, and to bear the consequences when everyone makes mistakes. He is used to being a reliable soldier in the team, but he never dares to be the person who stands in front and carries the whole class. He is afraid that he will not do well, afraid of betraying trust, and afraid of dragging down the collective. He just wants to be a stable screw.
From the youthful ignorance of the recruit company, to the struggle and escape of being recommended as a backbone by the squad leader and faced with selection; from being labeled as "timid and cowardly", to being pushed to the front of responsibility again and again in the harsh tempering of the reconnaissance company; from just wanting to hide in the group and being an "ordinary person", to slowly understanding the weight and responsibility of the word "squad leader" - Wu Xiaomo's camouflage youth is full of passion and confusion, struggle and growth.
Can he finally overcome the fear in his heart and shoulder that responsibility? What kind of answer will come to the secret thought of "I want to be a soldier, but don't want to be a squad leader" in the fierce fire of the military camp? This is a military growth story about an ordinary soldier who is torn between responsibility and escape, and finally completes his self-transformation.
