《Military Life in Kinmen》
The time had come for enlistment. Ashan reported to a camp in Kaohsiung, where all the newly commissioned officers heading to Kinmen gathered to wait for the ship. However, a typhoon delayed their departure. Knowing Ashan's family background and his ability to play sports, the camp commander appointed him as the duty officer, tasking him with organizing sports games to keep the troops busy. Since they weren’t allowed to leave the camp, make phone calls, or send letters before deployment, the commander figured the best way to avoid restlessness was to exhaust them so they'd only want to sleep.
After nearly ten days of waiting, everyone grew increasingly anxious and frustrated, eager to finally get to Kinmen. So, when the order to depart was given, there was unexpected excitement, and the initial nervousness was completely forgotten.
In the dead of night, the landing craft slowly approached Kinmen, and the troops disembarked on the sandy beach of Liaoluo Bay. When the commander called out Ashan’s name, he said, "A civil engineering graduate? You’ll be assigned to the combat engineer company."
Ashan's first night in Kinmen was spent in a makeshift tin barracks at the construction site of the sergeant school outside Kinmen City. Lying on a wooden bed and covered by a military blanket, he looked up and saw the stars through the cracks in the tin roof. He thought to himself, “What kind of place is this? There’s not even a bunker! If the enemy launches artillery shells, we’re done for.” But for the sake of pride, he didn’t ask too many questions. After all, his comrades seemed to sleep just fine, so why worry?
《在金門的軍旅生活》
入伍報到的時間到了。阿三來到了高雄某營區報到，所有赴金門報到的當屆預官都在此集結等船。沒想到碰到颱風沒法出發，營區指揮官知道阿三的家庭背景及會打球，就任命阿三為值星官，安排球賽等活動來消耗大家的體力。因為部隊出發前是不準外出，也不準通信及打電話。為了避免這批預官關在營區內閒來鬧情緒，最好讓他們累得只想睡覺。
等了近十天，大家心裏變得十分煩燥，恨不得早一點到金門去。所以當出發的命令下來時，大家反而雀躍三尺，完全忘了當初緊張不安的心理。
登陸艇慢慢地在夜色裏駛進了金門，部隊立即在料羅灣沙灘上分發。當師長點名到阿三的時候，口中唸到：「土木系畢業的，到戰鬥工兵連。」
阿三在金門的第一個晚上，是在金門城外士官學校工地鐵皮蓋的工寮裏過的。當他躺在木板床上，蓋上軍毯的時候，居然從鐵皮頂的裂縫空隙中看到天上的星星。心想：「怎麼住在這個鬼地方，連個碉堡都沒有，萬一老共打炮彈過來還得了。」但是為了面子，也不敢多問，反正弟兄們都睡得著，管他呢！
