Insufficient balance

  Where there are people, there will be consumer places. Even at an altitude of nearly 4,000 meters on the plateau, over the decades, some civilians have moved to the surrounding areas of X Corps military camp, relying on the Xinjiang-Tibet Highway as a lifeline, and established a small town with a mix of Manchu, Han, and Hui ethnic groups. Longsun Ting and I used to often sneak out by climbing over the wall and run to the small restaurants opened by local residents to eat a big bowl of mutton soup. Some little girls who had become familiar with the gate guards could even carry baskets full of salted eggs, sausages, and peanuts into the military camp to sell snacks specifically to those guys with unusual tastes.

  Those little girls are frequent visitors to the cooking class, collecting leftover food from the cooking class, taking it back to dry and feed their poultry. This is also a must-do task for them every time they come to the military camp. The Han girl Tian Niang, who was praised by the military camp as "the flower of Xin Cang", ran into the military camp with a basket again.

  I've seen this little girl a few times, although she's only seventeen, but she's already grown into a slender and elegant figure. Wearing that blue blouse which has been washed until it's faded white and is now obviously too small and tight for her, every time I meet her, I couldn't help but swallow my saliva, staring intensely at those robust twin peaks that seem to be bursting out of her clothes.

  Tian Ni ran to the dormitory of the cooking class, knocked on the door a few times without anyone responding. Tian Ni familiarly pushed open the door and saw Xiao Yang's watch on the bed. With no one around, this 17-year-old girl couldn't resist the temptation for a moment, quietly putting the watch into her own pocket, but was caught red-handed by Xiao Yang who had just entered the room.

  Looking at the girl who was trembling all over with fear, her face covered in tears like a pear blossom after rain, which made her look even more delicate, a crazy thought suddenly surged up from Xiao Yang's heart: "I'm about to go into battle soon, but this lifetime I don't even know what it's like to be with a woman. If I die like this, it would really be a waste of being born as a man!"

  Xiao Yang took out all the money from his body and stuffed it into Tian Nuo's hands. Tian Nuo looked at Xiao Yang in surprise, and with a girl's intuition, she instinctively felt something was wrong. She wanted to escape from this place that made her uneasy, but Xiao Yang quickly blocked the door and said in a low voice: "If you dare to run out, I will immediately tell the other soldiers that Tian Nuo is a thief, and you will never be allowed to sell things in the military camp again."

  The poor man's child had to take care of the family early on. Tianya's father went out to work in a coal mine a few years ago and encountered a cave-in, and his body was never found. The coal mine owner ran away to avoid responsibility, and the family didn't even get a penny. Her mother became ill with anger and worry, often spitting up blood, and had to take traditional medicine on time, so she couldn't do any physical labor. Her younger brother is already 10 years old but because they can't afford the 20 yuan tuition fee, he can only stare at the primary school built by the townspeople's donations every day. Tianya herself has only attended school for half a year and can barely write her own name. The whole family's livelihood depends on her selling food in the army camp, money is really too heavy a burden for her!

  "Just once, I only need to do it with you once!" Xiao Yang stared at the girl with red eyes, slowly approaching her, "I won't say anything, you won't say anything, no one will know. As long as you agree, everything I have that you like can be yours, and every month's allowance I get will also be yours... Just please agree to me..."

  Watches, radios, and the woolen sweater he brought from home when he enlisted, Xiao Yang stuffed all his valuables into Tian Wan's basket. Tian Wan was also pushed by him to the corner of the dormitory, her knees hitting the steel frame of the bed, and she involuntarily fell back onto the bed.

  Xiao Yang let out a beast-like roar, pounced on Tian Niu's body, and pressed down hard. He clumsily covered her mouth with his, kissing her wildly, desperately sucking the fragrance from her lips that only belonged to a young girl. At the same time, he stretched out his trembling hands to unbutton the girl's clothes. Tian Niu's eyes widened, tears streaming down her face, but she didn't even have the courage to shout, and could only let the man on top of her slowly strip off her clothes, revealing her most proud and moving twin peaks.

  Xiao Yang's eyes suddenly turned green, he buried his head into the girl's twin peaks and desperately sucked, when he finally thrust clumsily into the girl's body, a faint cry of pain came from the dormitory, but was soon blocked by something.

  Xiao Yang was exerting himself on the girl, experiencing an unprecedented pleasure, while incoherently saying: "Why are you crying? I gave you money, I gave you all my things, I'm going to the battlefield, just pity me, I know you're a virgin, and I'm also with a woman for the first time..."

  Five minutes later, Da Tou returned to the dormitory and saw Xiao Yang getting up from the naked girl's body, panting. He was shocked.

  "Hey, do you have any money on you? Give it all to her!" Little Yang pointed at Tian Niu and said: "I've already done it with her, what are you afraid of? I never knew the taste of being with a woman was so good. You don't want to die a virgin, do you? If you're willing, hurry up, or else we'll be in trouble when our squad leader comes back!"

  He stared at Tian Niang's captivating young body with a mesmerizing gaze, the girl's weak eyes and soft sobbing arousing the man's desire to conquer. He grabbed all the cash from his pocket and threw it into the basket, and Da Tou also rushed up, the girl's crying suddenly rising from the dormitory.

  Half an hour later, Tian Ni ran out of the barracks with a basket in her hand, crying and holding tightly to the over one hundred yuan that Xiao Yang and Da Tou had given her, as well as the watch that had cost her the most precious chastity.

  Back home, Tianya's mother immediately saw the problem from her disheveled daughter. Tianya bit her lip and handed over the money and watch to her mother, forcing a smile: "Now my brother finally has enough money for school, this much is enough for him to finish elementary school!"

  Looking at the hickey on Tianya's neck, her mother naturally understood what had happened. She stretched out a trembling hand to gently stroke her daughter's face, which still had a hint of warm tears on it. Tianya's mother suddenly spat out a mouthful of blood and fell straight onto the bed. No matter how hard Tianya shouted for help, she did not open those eyes that had already experienced poverty and desperation again. Before the doctor arrived, she stopped breathing.

  She was finally free.

  Poverty is humanity's greatest sorrow.

  Watching the slowly cooling corpse, Tian Niao frantically smashed the watch and ticket to the ground, crying out in pain for a few moments before fainting.

  Following the Han people's customs, after cremating her loved one, Tian Niu slowly walked to the entrance of the military camp with the urn in her arms. She knelt down on both knees at the gate and refused to get up. Behind her stood over a hundred residents of the small town.

  As I, Zhang Ting and Yang Qing walked out of the training ground, Deputy Commander Dai personally met with Tian Niu and representatives from Xiaozhen Town. Together with three battalion commanders, they quickly formed a temporary military tribunal. After less than an hour of questioning, they delivered their verdict on Xiao Yang and Da Tou: "The army is about to go into battle, Yang Shaowen and Li Jie have seriously violated military regulations, attempted rape of a minor girl, causing her direct relative to die from anger-induced heart attack on the spot. There are witnesses and material evidence, and they have confessed without hesitation. According to the military's wartime regulations, three days later, before the army departs, they will be executed by firing squad to maintain military discipline!"

  Mercy cannot be used in business, benevolence cannot be used in war!

  The deputy commander ordered on the spot, informing all members of X Division to gather at the shooting range three days later to watch the execution. Those who are late will be severely punished for violating military orders during wartime!

  Dai Bing rummaged through his own pockets, carefully arranging the money he had into a neat stack and handed it to Tian Ni's hands. He turned around and said resolutely to Shi Zhengwei: "This child has lost her family because of us. Immediately, in my name, I will raise donations from all cadres in the entire division. Any son of a bitch who dares to donate less than 100 yuan, I'll send him directly to the front line of the battlefield. Pass on my words to them, and go now!"

  Dai Bing took off his military cap and bowed three times in front of the urn in Tian Niao's arms, then looked at the pale girl with no blood color on her face, lowered his head and said: "Sorry!"

  Tianya gazed at the soldier in front of her with a wooden expression, his majestic aura filling the air. A flash of silver pierced her eyes - eight shining five-pointed stars. Tianya suddenly dropped the urn in her hand and began to frantically slap Dai Bing, crying as she hit him. Dai Bing stood still, allowing Tianya's palms to repeatedly strike his proud face, allowing her saliva to splatter onto his crisp military uniform again and again.

  The soldiers behind him and the residents behind Tianya were silently watching this scene, until Tianya was exhausted and cried hoarsely. Then Dai Bing suddenly stretched out his hand and tightly hugged her into his arms, pressing her head onto his shoulder, and said pitifully: "If you're tired, just close your eyes and rest well. From now on, you are my daughter, Dai Bing's daughter. Whoever dares to bully my precious daughter again, I will peel off their skin layer by layer with my own hands!"

  He reached out and gently wiped away a tear from Tianya's eye corner, then turned to Dai Bing and shouted: "Tell me what this is!"

  The soldiers behind him fell silent, and the substitute soldier roared: "This is the people's heart! Because of these two losers, our X Division has lost the people's heart that we have accumulated over decades! Although we are about to rush to the battlefield to defend our country, here we have become sinners in the eyes of the people. This humiliation can only be washed away with our blood on the battlefield!!!"

  A silent aura slowly rose from each soldier present, and Dai Bing reached out to pick up the girl who had unknowingly fallen into a deep sleep, as if holding the most precious treasure in the world, carefully walking towards his barracks.

  The sky is a deep, foreboding grey, and the air is heavy with the promise of an impending storm. I let out a long, pent-up sigh, for in three days' time we will be heading into battle. At this moment, my thoughts turn to my dear wife, whom I have not seen in half a year now - is she well?

  If I die in battle, won't I still be a pitiful virgin? If I had another chance to choose whether or not to have a relationship with my own sister, I still don't know, really don't know. What I want to do most now is hold her tightly in my arms and pour out my longing and the ties that cannot be cut.

  If I die in battle, she will truly be a weak and helpless little girl. Where will she go then? Therefore, I absolutely cannot die! I let out a loud roar towards the dark clouds and suddenly punched out my right fist. A bolt of lightning flashed from the horizon, bringing with it a rumble of thunder. From afar, I stood in the military camp, like an all-powerful god of war, unleashing my most ferocious thunderous might amidst the rising battle spirit.