In the morning, the sky was clear and the sun was shining brightly.
The rain stopped yesterday afternoon, but even though it had been overnight, the ground on the playground was still soft and a little wet. The soldiers were doing routine drills, including the first, second, third and new recruit companies.
A few days ago, the first and third companies came back, and they led two squadrons of Japanese and a number of puppet troops to the northern part of Meixian County, and finally forced the Japanese's plan of suppression to fail. There was news that some Japanese in Meixian County had been withdrawn to the east, and the independent regiment's plan of cutting off the source of the enemy's support was realized.
Wearing a neat and stylish military uniform and a pair of glasses shining in the sun, Yang Dezhi stood at the edge of the playground with high spirits, watching the bustling activities on the playground idly, thinking about something in his mind.
Through this battle, we have to admit that the third company is indeed different from the first and second companies. The second company can fight hard battles, the first company can remain calm in times of crisis, and the third company needs to improve urgently. Looking at Hao Ping's serious face on the playground, we can know that he thinks the same as Yang Dezhi, that he must work hard on training.
Inadvertently, I saw two soldiers escorting a person passing by the playground. The person was wearing tattered clothes and a small felt hat. He was young and had a red face.
This made Yang Dezhi a little curious, so he left the playground and waited on the route they were going to pass. When they came closer, he asked, "What's going on?"
"He was brought here this morning by someone from the outside. He said he came here on his own initiative to join the army. We are taking him to the regiment headquarters now."
Yang Dezhi was relieved, and suddenly noticed a soldier holding a large knife wrapped in rags under his armpit, and couldn't help asking: "Is this knife his?"
"Yes. This gun too." The soldier shook his shoulder to the side and showed the rifle hanging behind his shoulder.
Yang Dezhi looked up, his eyes fixed on it. Zhongzheng? This rifle... It is not common in the Eighth Route Army. I was able to recognize it because I had the honor of seeing it once when I was at the division headquarters. However, this Zhongzheng rifle is newer and more beautiful.
"Come on, I'll go with you."
Yang Dezhi, accompanied by two soldiers, escorted the man towards the regiment headquarters, his eyes always on the Zhongzheng rifle.
Political Work Department Office.
The young man in the felt hat stood a few steps away from the desk. The two escorting soldiers stood at the door. Yang Dezhi moved a stool and sat beside the desk.
Su Qing, who was sitting behind the desk, looked at the red-faced young man opposite him carefully from head to toe three times before asking, "Tell me about your origins and how you found this place?"
“My name is Pan Zhuzi, and I was raised by my master and his mistress… All the villagers died, including my master and his mistress, so I went to seek revenge on the Japanese… That night, I killed three of them, but they later rescued me… The guerrilla leader surnamed Wu advised me to stay in his guerrilla unit, but I wanted to be an Eighth Route Army soldier, so he told me to go north.
"What does Captain Wu look like?"
The young man described the answer.
Su Qing asked again: "Did he say anything else?"
"It seems... nothing was said."
"Are you sure? Think about it carefully."
Pan Zhuzi lowered his head and thought for a while: "Oh, before he left, he said... if we can find the Eighth Route Army, let me say hello to the Black Shopkeeper on his behalf. After that... he didn't say anything else."
Su Qing nodded, her tone warming up: "You can report to the recruit company now, and come back to see me later. My last name is Su, Su Qing."
"Well. Then I..." Pan Zhuzi turned around and was about to leave.
Yang Dezhi suddenly stood up and said with a smile: "Oh, by the way, Pan Zhuzi, you will be a soldier of the Eighth Route Army in the future. This weapon... must be distributed uniformly according to the discipline. After your training in the recruit company is completed, the supply department will distribute it to you at its discretion." Then, he walked to the soldier at the door, took the Zhongzheng rifle from the soldier's shoulder, and held it in his hand to examine it.
Pan Zhuzi was stunned for a moment, then said hesitantly: "Can you... let me keep this knife? This is my master's..."
"Okay, you can take this knife." Yang Dezhi took a fancy to the gun and answered the question about the knife without hesitation.
Su Qing was not interested in weapons, and Yang Dezhi, who had nothing to do with the matter, suddenly jumped out and said this, it seemed that his purpose was to keep the gun. Guns were in short supply, and Wu Yan, Gao Yidao and Hao Ping often used all kinds of tricks to get more guns for their teams. They were all selfish, so Su Qing could understand Yang Dezhi's behavior and it was not surprising.
However, when she looked at the gun in Yang Dezhi's hand, her gaze gradually froze.
That gun... looked familiar, as if he had seen it before. It seemed... the same as the one he had carried before, in Jiangnan, on the road... Although he didn't know what kind of gun it was, he knew that the independent regiment didn't have such a gun.
Not noticing that Pan Zhuzi had already followed the soldiers out, Su Qing suddenly stood up and called out to Yang Dezhi, who was looking at the rifle happily while walking towards the door: "Um... wait a minute."
"Well, what is it?"
"Can you... let me see this gun?"
Yang Dezhi smiled, took two steps forward, and handed it over with both hands. It was impossible for Su Qing to have any intentions towards the gun. If Gao Yidao or Wu Yan had made such a request, Yang Dezhi would not have such an attitude.
"Haha, you haven't seen this gun either, right? You'd better keep a low profile for me. Let me tell you, this is the Zhongzheng rifle. Among the 79-caliber guns, except for the foreign Mauser, it is the best. When I was in the division..." After handing over the gun, Yang Dezhi patiently explained his views to Su Qing.
The moment he took the gun, Su Qing could no longer hear what Yang Dezhi was saying. The burn marks on the rifle strap were caused by the bonfire. At that time, the trigger of the gun was in his hand, and the muzzle was held in his hand, against his chest, so the strap was burned black by the charcoal fire in the middle. He showed the bottom of the butt in disbelief: 1070-1963. Su Qing knew what this meant. 1019 Brigade 6b Regiment, this is his gun, the deserter's gun, just like him.
All the memories suddenly came to my mind, the haze, mud, sadness, the river of numb souls, the smoke and blood, pain and hatred of Jiangnan, which turned the heavy rifle in my hand into a desolate black and white picture. I couldn't bear to unfold it, but it unfolded slowly, causing the pair of slender and beautiful hands holding the gun to tremble slightly.
"You...what's wrong with you?" Yang Dezhi looked at the drastic change in Su Qing's expression in surprise, dumbfounded and at a loss.
A soldier suddenly appeared at the door: "Report, Coach Yang, Captain Hao is looking for you."
"Got it." Yang Dezhi took the rifle from Su Qing and said, "I'll go get busy first, you..."
"Uh, oh... It's okay, I'm fine, I just feel uncomfortable suddenly. This gun..." Su Qing wanted to ask to stay, but he couldn't find a reason to stay.
However, Yang Dezhi understood it in another way, thinking that Su Qing was worried about him, so he smiled and said, "Don't worry, your political department will not be implicated. I will find Pan Zhuzi to do some work afterwards. It's okay, I'm leaving first." After he finished speaking, he disappeared out the door.
In the political work department office, only Su Qing was left standing behind the desk, staring at the door in a daze.
When you are tired, you want to do nothing, but when you really do it, you find that doing nothing is even more tiring. This is the first philosophy of life that Liu Jianqiang, a wooden-headed man, has realized.
His leg injury had basically healed. In the yard, Liu Jianqiang put away his gun, wiped the sweat off his forehead, and listened to the lively activity on the playground in the distance, feeling very angry.
It's unknown how long it will take for the squad leader to come back. Class 9 is already in a state of disarray. Xiao Hongying and Su Yushi are arguing with each other all day long. Luo Fugui is pretending to obey but actually disobeys and plays tricks. Su Yushi's frequent visits recently have only ensured that there will be no major chaos in Class 9, but has been unable to drive the normal training and management of Class 9. Liu Jianqiang is getting more and more angry seeing this.
Turning his head, Wu Shitou was laying stones on the edge of the well mouth, and had already laid out a beautiful well mouth. Recently, Wu Shitou would go to the river every day to pick up stones, carefully select them, and then carry them back sweating to decorate his well wall and well mouth.
"Fool, can you please stop working on your well? It's been so many days, huh?"
"This is the first time I've ever dug a well that has water."
Liu Jianqiang sighed: "Do you know that Dabei Village is next to the river? There is water no matter how many wells we dig."
"This is the first time I've ever dug a well that has water."
Liu Jianqiang was sad. At least the fool had something to do. At least the fool was content. He was much better than some people.
"Ignore what I said before and follow me into the house now."
"Why?"
"Meeting."
Liu Jianqiang opened the door and went into the house.
"Meeting? What kind of meeting? Isn't the yard outside big enough for you and a fool to mess around?" Luo Fugui sat up from the bed and rolled his eyes at Liu Jianqiang who had just sat down at the broken table.
Liu Jianqiang took off his hat and threw it on the table: "How dare you say that? Listen to what people are doing on the playground? Look at what we are doing? Can our class nine do anything serious? Without the monitor, can't we even do some self-disciplined training? Don't you feel ashamed? We must hold a meeting to make it clear."
Ma Liang, who was looking in the mirror, suddenly spoke up: "These days... I've been really bored. Nothing I eat tastes good lately. We really should find something to do. We really need to study it." After saying that, he wandered over to sit opposite Liu Jianqiang and took a broken bowl to pour himself some water.
The door curtain of the inner room was lifted, revealing a pair of small braids. She flipped the bullet in her hand in the air a few times, then stretched out her small hand to grab it and said, "I'm so bored, let's have a meeting." Then she took a few steps, sat down under the broken table, and waited for Luo Fugui with blinking eyes.
Luo Fugui looked at the three of them helplessly, and finally got to the edge of the bed and started to put on his shoes: "Okay, I'm free anyway, so I'll just start."
After putting on his shoes, he looked up and found that Li Xiang, who had been sitting at the table at the top, had not moved. He immediately said unhappily: "Hey, newcomer, do you have good eyesight? Is this where you sit? Get out of my way!"
Li Xiang finally understood and hurriedly got up and sat next to Wu Shitou on the bed.
Ma Liang and Xiao Hongying had no reaction to Luo Fugui's behavior, but Liu Jianqiang was not happy with it: "What's your attitude?"
"What attitude?" Luo Fugui sat up with his big body leaning forward, one arm resting on the table, and continued, "Boss Hu sits here for meetings, Su Yushi sits here for lectures, and now this is my seat. How can it be his turn, a new guy? You have a runny nose, but you are aware of it. Why don't you take this position as deputy?"
Luo Fugui, the lazy guy, didn't want to hold this class meeting in the first place. He just wanted to interrupt and talk about something else, to piss off Liu Jianqiang, and then end the meeting in a mess. Ma Liang could guess what the lazy guy was thinking, so he put down the broken bowl and said, "Alright, alright, stop talking nonsense."
Luo Fugui curled his lips at Liu Jianqiang and deliberately cleared his throat: "Meeting."
Liu Jianqiang was the first to speak: "I think we..."
"Wait a minute," Luo Fugui interrupted him, then turned to Ma Liang and asked, "Ma Liang, tell me first, what do you think?"
Liu Jianqiang was almost suffocated, but Ma Liang took over without hesitation: "I think... we should take advantage of our free time to catch up on cultural studies. Now that we have such a good teacher like Su Yushi, wouldn't it be a waste of opportunity if we don't study?"
Luo Fugui understood what was going on, and then he turned to ask Liu Jianqiang: "What were you going to say just now?"
Liu Jianqiang was so angry that he wanted to twist Luo Fugui's head off and kick it like a ball. However, he could see that this lazy mule was deliberately looking for trouble, just to make him angry and ruin the meeting. He endured it for the time being, and then said after letting out a sigh of relief: "Need I say more? Training is the duty of a soldier. Will we not train when the squad leader is not here? In my opinion, we should have the same schedule as other units from tomorrow on. We should train what they train and when they train, we should train at the same time. Only in this way can we be worthy of this Eighth Route Army uniform."
Luo Fugui understood again: "Well, that's a good thing, it's all good. Now... let's study together, what is better for our class nine? Hmm?..."
After studying it carefully for a while, two people finally stood up from the table. One of them banged the table with a red face and a thick neck, and the other raised his eyebrows and pointed at his nose. One was Liu Jianqiang, and the other was Ma Liang. One emphasized the duty of a soldier, and the other insisted on the importance of science. One said that force can defeat ten skills, and the other said that knowledge can change destiny. The voices became louder and louder, and later, everyone in the room could hear it, and their ears were buzzing.
Xiao Hongying was in high spirits and joined the other two in making fun of him. Luo Fugui sat at the table picking his dirty nails as if nothing had happened. Li Xiang looked out the window with a frown on his face, lamenting his miserable life of having just escaped from hell and fallen into the quagmire again. But a fool is still a fool.
"You're full of tricks, but what's the use? You can't even kill a Japanese soldier at the critical moment. You're not as useful as the grenade in my hand, you're useless!" Liu Jianqiang shouted angrily.
"If I hadn't protected you, you would have been dead eight hundred years ago. How dare you say this to me? You've been a dead wood all your life." Ma Liang glared.
"You fart"
"You're the one who farted"
Bang!
The door opened, and the beautiful, cold curves of the military uniform were projected onto the floor by the sunlight outside.
Liu Jianqiang and Ma Liang were speechless and turned into statues. Luo Fugui blew his nails quickly and stood up with a shy smile: "Su Yushi... um, I... am organizing a meeting for everyone, hehe, a meeting."
Su Qing stood at the door without moving, and scanned the room with a cold face. Finally, his eyes fell on the two pigtails. After a moment of silence, he suddenly asked, "Have you copied the words I punished you to copy?"
The two braids swung for a moment: "No time."
"You want to be a failure for the rest of your life, huh?"
"You have a lot of potential, but I don't think you can call the shots."
"From what you said... Can you?"
"At least better than you"
"Want to make a bet?"
"cut"
"There is a Zhongzheng rifle in the regiment. If you have the ability to hand that rifle to me, I will not care about you from now on. If you can't do it, don't die in front of me."
"That's what you said."
"right."
Then Su Qing looked around at the other stunned people and said coldly, "Let's continue the meeting." Then he turned around and disappeared in the sunlight outside the door.
…