Unexpectedly, when Wang Xiaosan was arranging people to go to the regiment to gather information, a dozen dusty soldiers came to the wine station. They were half a platoon of the guard platoon of the independent regiment, and the leader was not the guard platoon leader Xiao Bing, but the imperial signalman Xiao Dou.
After entering the wine station, Xiaodou did not go to the company headquarters or look for Qin You, but instead went to find Wu Yan who was recuperating at the wine station.
"The regiment commander's order: Except for the wounded who are not suitable for movement, the first company will return to the regiment immediately. Captain Wu, the regiment commander has singled out your name. You must be carried away even if you cannot move. I have brought the stretcher."
He Gensheng, who was in charge of taking care of the wounded, frowned at Xiaodou, who had a serious face, and said, "I don't agree! The wounded won't even have a place to stay when they arrive in Dabei Village."
"That's not a problem. The regiment commander asked me to take down a few tents from the Ninth Company. The regiment headquarters is still open to the sky."
Wu Yan said nothing and stood up weakly: "Tiedan, get ready to go."
This order was very inhumane, but it was exactly the style of the regiment commander. Others couldn't understand it, but Wu Yan didn't think much about it and executed it without any hesitation.
After conveying the order, Xiaodou was about to report to the ninth company instructor Qin You, but he was pulled into the stone house by Wang Xiaosan and summoned by Xiao Hongying.
"What's going on?"
Xiaodou took off his hat to fan himself and sighed, "I don't know either. The political commissar had just returned, and we weren't happy for long when suddenly this investigation team came down. The political commissar talked to them for more than half an hour, and then his face darkened and he didn't say anything again. The regiment commander talked to them again, and within a few minutes they almost had a quarrel, and his hat fell. Didn't you see that this investigation team came to your bar on their own? The regiment commander didn't assign them any guards or communicators."
"You just said... the leader asked Wu Yan to return to the group?"
"Yes, I came here to pass on this order. Also, the commander does not allow me to stay here any longer, nor does he allow me to say anything more. I will leave as soon as I arrive. I have to leave now. I will say hello to your instructor Qin and then lead the company to retreat."
He stared at Xiaodou for more than ten seconds, and suddenly said, "Xiaodou, take Lao Qin with you."
"What?"
"Tell Lao Qin that the commander ordered him to report back to the regiment."
"Ah?" Xiaodou almost dropped his jaw: "Are you asking me to fake an imperial decree?"
"Take this as the last thing I ask of you in my life. Take this as the last time we meet as comrades-in-arms. Before you meet the regiment commander, you must confess to Lao Qin and tell him that I was the one who did this. Do you dare to take off your uniform with me?"
Even Wang Xiaosan who was standing by was dumbfounded. These words were so chilling. Xiao Hongying's eyes had never been so still before. The light traces of mud that had dried on her face not only did not kill her seriousness, but instead seemed more like a persistent oath.
…
Wang Xiaosan failed to find Ma Liang, so Xiao Hongying took action herself.
Not long after, she sat down on a patch of grass outside the bar, picked up a dandelion beside her, and wanted to blow it away, but she was reluctant to let it go. Ma Liang was not far away, lying on his back in the grass, biting a piece of grass, and looking at the sky with thicker clouds.
"Hey, what exactly are they investigating?"
"I have no idea."
"I don't believe you weren't behind the house!"
Ma Liang did not answer and continued to stare at the sky in a daze.
"Tsk tsk... You've made progress? You've become a probationary party member? Back then, why didn't you stay in the same dead water with Runny Nose? You're far worse than Runny Nose! You're even worse than Shi Cheng who gave you a push!"
As if he was pricked by a needle, Ma Liang sat up suddenly, his face changed color: "What do you know? There is no way I can get involved in this matter! They said they were investigating the Sheep Head Case, but it's actually not that simple. If I really knew, would I be sitting here doing nothing?"
"The sheep head case?"
"This is the reason given by Captain Guan and Secretary Su."
Little Hongying blinked her eyes, finally raised the dandelion in her hand, took a deep breath, and blew it away without leaving any hair. She looked at the white fluff floating on the grass, clapped her hands and stood up: "Since you are talking about the Sheep Head Case, then I will go and talk to them about the Sheep Head Case!"
"Can you please stop being so stupid! We are not at the end of our rope yet!"
"The Ninth Company is going to fall apart anyway. If you dare to do anything, I will never forgive you in my life!"
The pigtailed girl walked away in the wind, with a depressed sigh behind her.
…
Outside the company office, the guards saw a half-grown girl wandering over. She was wearing a standard military uniform, but it was too small. The leggings only covered half of her calves. She was not wearing a hat, had two crooked braids, and was covered in mud.
With a cold and alert face, he instinctively raised his hand to stop her: "Girl, get out of the way."
"Who are you calling a girl? Have you never attended cultural classes? Don't you know how to write "Eighth Route Army"? Did you get fed up with the word "comrade"?" The sharp eyes looked at the stunned stranger from head to toe without any hesitation, and finally glanced at the few rust marks on the gun handle on the soldier's waist and the few light scratches on the holster buckle cover: "How dare you stand so straight without even firing your gun? Do your family know that you are a gatekeeper? Did you lie to them and say that you fight the Japanese every day?"
The soldier almost vomited blood, had difficulty breathing, and his ears were buzzing for no apparent reason. He gurgled several times but was unable to swallow the saliva stuck in his throat.
Xiao Hongying was somewhat famous, but not everyone knew about this little onion. Team Leader Zheng was one of them. However, he still warmly welcomed this "Eighth Route Army comrade" into the house and wanted to invite her to sit at the table, but she pulled a broken stool over and placed it across from the table inside the door, as if no one was around, and sat down casually. So Team Leader Zheng personally poured a glass of water, left the table and handed it to her, but unfortunately she refused to take it.
"Why are you sitting so far away? Come to the table."
"Aren't you from the investigation team? Doesn't this make you look powerful?"
If it was an ordinary soldier, this behavior would not end well, but the one in front of him, Team Leader Zheng did not get angry, but smiled helplessly, went back to the table and put down the water cup that he had not been able to serve: "Okay. Comrade, my last name is Zheng, what is your name?"
"Chang Hongying, a soldier from the third platoon of the ninth company of the independent regiment. If you don't believe me, go check it out!"
The name was called out crisply, and the idea that this half-grown girl was a militia from the other side was overturned on the spot. She was actually a soldier! After grinning for a long time, she finally stopped her composure and coughed dryly: "Uh... So... what can I do for you?"
"I heard... you are here to look for the sheep's head?"
"Sheep head? What sheep head? Who told you that?"
"Of course I listened to you! I've been keeping my ears to the back of this room all morning, don't you know? Who can that new recruit outside your door defend against? You're still pretending!"
"… "
"If you want to investigate the Sheep Head case, you have to look for me!"
"Looking for you?"
"Of course. Because I'm here to turn myself in!" Having said this, Xiao Hongying did not forget to remind the person at the other end of the table: "Don't just stand there, start taking notes!" Then she turned to Team Leader Zheng again and said, "I am the Sheep's Head! Don't look at me because I'm small. It's because of my small size that you haven't been able to catch me. I killed Li Zhen, sent intelligence to the devils in a bamboo tube, and poisoned the well in Dabei Village. Don't believe me? Hand me the chalk!"
Seeing that Team Leader Zheng had become as stiff as a clay Buddha and could not move, she jumped off the bench, picked up the chalk in the corner, and started drawing on the wall in the room. She painted so skillfully that in a blink of an eye, a sheep's head pattern appeared.
"This is how I contacted the devils! Unfortunately, the devils are ungrateful and now they don't recognize me. How sad do you think I am? I was so upset! Then I thought, he is not a human being, and I am not righteous, so I came to you to surrender myself."
"… "
"Still don't believe it? I can tell you where every sheep's head was painted. There's the southeast corner of the Dabei Village playground, the west gable of the health team, next to the back window of Granny Liu's house, and there's a pit I dug outside the cowshed of Lao Li's house. If you can guess what was buried there, you'll be shocked! Hehehe... It's a pity that no one knows that I drew them, but I can tell you the exact date and exact location where those patterns appeared. Go check it out. No one can remember them better than me, the one who drew them myself!"
"… "
"Take notes! This is a real case! Are you stupid? Also, you seem to... have to arrest me now. Hurry up and ask the new recruit outside to come in and tie me up. Alas - I don't want to do this. I'm still so young, but I fell for the devil's trick... But... I can understand you. If you don't do this, you'll be making a mistake! Hey, Team Leader Zheng, say something?"
Team leader Zheng was petrified. In theory, he really had to take action now. The system was the system, and the rules had to be followed, especially since he was the leader of the investigation team. What a shameless ghost story this was? It was simply a mess! His head was so confused that he couldn't use the right words...