Chapter 7: Haino's Diary

  "Dear Uncle, hello! I'm doing well at the sanatorium, the conditions here are great and my body is recovering quickly, please don't worry about me! It's been a long time since I heard from you, I've been missing you a bit! How's the repair work on the Sedlitz going? I'm looking forward to getting back on that magnificent battleship again and seeing you too! Sorry, my right hand still can't write, and my left hand's handwriting is a bit hard to read, please forgive me! Your Heinrich von Finkenstein"

  On the hospital bed of the Navy's Lu Gen, Zhang Hainuo held a pen in his right hand and wrote hard. In fact, his fractured right hand had just removed the plaster not long ago, although the function had not fully recovered, at least he could hold the pen and write. The speed of reading and taking notes also increased a lot. In fact, he had wanted to write a letter to his "cousin" Colonel von Laurence for a long time, because he thought that if he wanted to convey his ideas to the German high-level, this naval colonel should be a good starting point. However, he was worried that his handwriting would make the other party suspicious. Until Edwin sent him a diary of "his own", he finally had the opportunity to imitate Zhang Hainuo's handwriting, and with the excuse of "writing with his left hand", the problem of handwriting was basically solved.

  After finishing the letter, Zhang Hainuo once again picked up that diary with a black cover and simple appearance. As he opened it, a two-inch black-and-white photo caught his eye, which was of a young, beautiful German woman full of noble qualities. Next to the photo were written in bold handwriting: This life's beloved, forever unchanging!

  Zhang Hainuo guessed that it was Fiona, the fiancée of Heino mentioned by Edwin! From some affectionate and even somewhat corny sentences in the diary, it can be seen that Heino deeply loves this fiancée, but at the same time, Zhang Hainuo also noticed a point, that is, Heino has a rather helpless skeptical attitude towards whether the two can finally get together. Because Fiona's father seems to dislike him, this declining poor noble, but the diary does not mention Fiona's specific family situation, and the reason can only be left to Zhang Hainuo's imagination.

  "Today, torpedo live-fire exercise, our torpedo room performed extremely well, hitting the target at a distance of 2000 yards. General von Graff praised me by name, but I'd rather sink an enemy ship with my torpedoes in actual combat! I believe that one day I'll become one of the best torpedo commanders in the German Navy and command a real torpedo boat (also known as a large torpedo boat or a World War I-era German destroyer) roaming the North Sea, making every enemy tremble at the mention of my name!"

  From this text, Zhang Hainuo saw a young military officer full of ideals and ambitions, compared to those flashy but unrealistic dreams, Hainuo's thoughts were obviously more simple and down-to-earth, that confident tone also reflected from one side Hainuo.Feng.Fenkensteine's attainments in torpedo technology.

  "Hi! I...I'm really sorry, I didn't notice you just now!"

  Looking at the "white angel" standing in front of his bed, Zhang Haino, who had just been too focused on that diary, scratched his head with some embarrassment. It was clear that this young nurse, wearing a white nurse's cap, did not want to interrupt her own thoughts, so she stood there silently waiting.

  "Oh, it's okay! I just got here a little while ago, can I change your medicine now?"

  The nurse was very polite, but this "excuse" sounded a bit familiar.

  "Ah, okay! Changing the dressing every day is really troublesome for you!" As he said this, Zhang Haino suddenly discovered a small phenomenon - that was when he first came in, the nurse who changed his dressing didn't seem to be fixed, but recently, the frequency of this nurse appearing seemed particularly high.

  "It's all right, it's our duty!" The nurse said while taking out the prepared cotton balls, gauze and pills from the square medicine tray - although Zhang Hainuo's wound had basically healed and didn't need injections anymore, anti-inflammatory drugs still needed to be taken on schedule.

  "What's your name?"

  Zhang Hainuo's words had just come out and he was already regretting them, because when others asked a girl for her name, they were always subtle and elegant, such as "May I ask your esteemed name" or "I don't know the young lady's surname", but his previous sentence seemed a bit too direct.

  "Anna, Anna Tiefenthaler!"

  The nurse said lightly, her two white and tender hands skillfully and deftly unwrapping the bandage on Zhang Hainuo's abdomen - according to the doctor, if that bullet had flown a little further in, it would not have been just a scratch on his belly.

  "Anna, this is a very nice name!" Zhang Hainuo still gave his unadorned praise, at this time Anna's face was just close to him, and he seriously examined that face for the first time at this distance.

  Her skin was very white, only slightly coarser than that of most European women; Hepburn-style eyebrows were not too arched, but the dense black hair framed her face perfectly; a small nose, lips in natural color, and a strand of hair at the temples scattered slightly in the air, while the shiny brown long hair was neatly tied behind her head.

  Not an Eastern person, but with a kind of Oriental lady's quietness, Zhang Hainuo's heart couldn't help but speed up its beating.

  "My father is also a soldier, serving in the army!"

  When Anna spoke, Zhang Hainuo secretly glanced at her fragrant lips that opened and closed one after another, then quickly shifted his gaze to other places.

  "Oh, the army, that's great! Is he on the battlefield in France now?"

  "No, he went to Russia. He wrote back saying the weather there isn't great, extremely cold in winter and lots of rain in summer. The Russians are very barbaric but their equipment is not good, so they didn't suffer many casualties!"

  After fully unwrapping the gauze, Anna dipped a few cotton balls into a small bottle and gently applied it to Zhang Hainuo's abdominal wound in the shape of a "one" character.

  "Does it hurt?"

  "Not at all, it's almost all healed now!" Zhang Hainuo said nonchalantly.

  The nurse named Anna smiled, a sweet smile.

  "It hurts especially when I say it's injured!"

  "Hmm... Hehe, I don't remember, it was just like that at the time! Hehe!" Zhang Hainuo scratched his head again, and he really didn't know what had happened at the time.

  "You're so brave!" Anna's hands continued to move nimbly and quickly.

  Zhang Hainuo watched as the other person re-bandaged the wound on his abdomen. He remembered that at first, every time he did this, it would hurt a lot, but he still gritted his teeth and persisted. Now thinking back, he was indeed very brave.

  "Thank you! I think your father and the vast majority of German soldiers were also extremely brave!"

  Anna smiled again, a faint smile that gave people the fresh feeling of plum blossoms quietly blooming in early spring. At this time, Zhang Hainuo noticed that there was a very good-looking dimple on her left cheek.

  "Let me see your right hand! Try clenching your fist... relax... and clench again..."

  After Anna finished treating Zhang Hainuo's abdominal wound, she began to examine his other wounds. The wounds on his forehead and feet had already healed, which was obvious at a glance. However, the fractured right hand, which had only recently been removed from its cast, was still in the critical care and recovery phase. When Zhang Hainuo made a fist, his five fingers could completely close, but he felt that it still lacked strength. Fortunately, the doctor said that such fractures usually do not leave any aftereffects. As long as Zhang Hainuo's right hand basically recovered and his abdominal wound thoroughly healed, he would be able to be discharged from the hospital.

  Next, Anna gently pressed a few more times on Zhang Hainuo's fractured bone, "Will it hurt?"

  "It doesn't hurt! It's just... I'm still very unaccustomed to writing!"

  Zhang Hainuo looked at the white, slender five-fingered hand moving back and forth on his arm, cool and very comfortable.

  "Oh, it'll be fine in a while, eating, writing and bathing won't be a problem!" After saying this, Anna carefully put away the used gauze and medical cotton into the square medicine tray. Her examination was very thorough, but such an examination wouldn't take much time. Next, she silently helped Zhang Hainuo tidy up the books and notes on the bedside table.

  "Reading for too long will affect your eyes' rest, Lieutenant! Take good care of yourself, you need to get your body back in top condition!"

  "Uh... Miss Anna, will you be the one helping me with the dressing change and check-up tomorrow again?" As he said this, Zhang Hainuo suddenly felt a strange sense of apprehension and anticipation.

  "It's still uncertain, because we have to see how the nurse arranges it!" The clear-eyed and bright nurse miss said with a smile, her eyes seeming to hold a subtle expectation.

  Zhang Hainuo felt that he should say something before Anna left, but in the end, he still saw off this beautiful nurse because there were too many uncertain factors in his heart. Looking at the sunlight pouring in from the window, he smiled and shook his head, put away Zhang Hainuo's diary, and then took out a book from that neat pile of books to continue studying.