Chapter Seven

  I opened my eyes, and this was undoubtedly a woman's room. No matter how the days passed, women always liked to fiddle with small trinkets in their rooms. This was also undoubtedly a young girl's room, because despite its poverty, it had a quiet and secluded flavor. The most delicate thing in the room was a photo frame, inside which was a young military officer wearing a lieutenant's uniform. You couldn't say what his characteristics were, because when we take photos, we all maintain that kind of rigid and showy pose. He even looked a bit like my past, except for being in his prime; you could hardly find more content in this kind of photo.

  I started to observe the girl who was busy by my thigh, she was the one I had intentionally overlooked when I took off my pants with a flourish. She was young to the point of being "small", you would even think that such a girl wouldn't grow up and get old. She dipped a cloth in alcohol and carefully wiped around my wound, not daring to let the alcohol touch my wound - I noticed that I was lying on her bed, my pants taken off again.

  I finally couldn't bear it and said, "Save your breath. Even if you touch a wound, it won't hurt."

  She let out an "ah" and was so startled that she didn't waste a single drop of the alcohol from the bottle, pouring it all onto my wound. This flustered her, and then she began to panic, afraid of hurting me while also wanting to wipe away the alcohol.

  "It's so cool." I said.

  She was shocked - she was as timid as a small animal, "It hurts you to death, it hurts you to death."

  I comforted him - comforted him almost to the point of boasting, "The wound has no feeling. If it's going to hurt, it will explode from the inside out, like a bomb."

  She was probably too busy to listen when she said, "I'm a stupid crab with eight legs that didn't grow in the right place. My brother told me."

  She spoke with a very heavy Sichuan accent, but it was much more pleasant to listen to than the previous one. I had no choice but to slap myself on my wound again, slapping so hard that even I turned pale, but she let out another shriek, and then I thought nothing of it, boasting: "I'm not afraid of pain. I'll just pretend it's a Japanese devil's body."

  "She began to praise: 'You're really great. I bandaged my brother's wound, and he scolded me as soon as I touched it. If he were as capable as you, the Japanese would have been driven out long ago, and we'd be back in Sichuan by now. When he gets back, I'll tell him all about it.'"

  When she mentioned another man, it reminded me of how disheveled I was, and I grabbed the pants that had been tossed to one side and covered my legs with them as I struggled to get out of bed.

  "What are you doing?"

  "Find your brother. Thank him for helping me into the house."

  "I carried you in."

  I took a look at her, she's absolutely not the strong and powerful type, in fact she's so petite that I feel a bit lanky standing in front of her. I scratched my head, feeling a bit awkward, "No need to bother... actually I can just lie down and get up again."

  "You're not very heavy."

  That's doubly humiliating, humiliating to the point where I decided to give up on this topic. I quickly bandaged my still-bleeding wound, at least putting on pants in front of such a careless guy. She also came over to help, her help was clumsy, clumsy to the point of being a bit rough, and while she was imitating me, she would occasionally exclaim "So that's how you do it" "You're really clever" and so on.

  "I tried to steer the conversation in a different direction, 'What brings you, a Sichuanese, to run a business on the Yunnan border?'"

  "No one wants to come. Running around with my brother. My father and mother left early, our hometown is empty, so I followed the Sichuan Army Corps, my brother arrived at a place, he found a place for me to settle down outside the garrison. He is also a lieutenant, his battalion commander died last year, he is the new battalion commander. He takes care of many people."

  I don't care what she's saying, I'm more concerned with quickly bandaging my wound so I can put on my pants. She's a young woman who makes you want to get close, but also makes you want to hide, and I don't like being too close to someone while feeling embarrassed about not wearing pants.

  "At the beginning of the year, my brother went to fight a war. Some people from their division came back, but I didn't see anyone from the Sichuan Army Corps."

  I quickly dealt with the wound as best I could, even if it was a bit rough, and tried to avoid talking about what happened next.

  "Can you help me out?"

  I halted, my hand hovering over the last knot of the bandage. I knew what she wanted to do. I didn't want to help her.

  But I lifted my head and with a sunny face, "I must thank you. Of course, I'll help you."

  She hastily and sincerely made her request, a childish request. "I've been waiting for more than a year. Waiting for my brother. Can you help me find him? You're also a lieutenant, in charge of many people."

  "Of course."

  "What can I help you with?"

  I was taken aback, "......huh?"

  That guy had a childish expression, as if he was going to make a promise with someone else, and said such worldly declarations: "Now we are all very poor, can't do things for others for free. If I give it to you, then I won't have it. You need to exchange something."

  I could only bitterly smile, "Such reasonable words...... did the adults tell you?"

  She ignored my teasing and said, "So, we'll use the substitute."

  I find it hard to hold back my sarcasm, that thing always pops up like a pimple, "What's the exchange? What do you have? For example... sulfonamide?"

  She immediately started rummaging through the boxes and cabinets, and upon seeing a few medicine bottles, she felt a bit puzzled. "What is sulfanilamide?"

  I flipped through those few medicine bottles and started mocking the absurd idea that had just occurred to me, "This can cure a cold... but what I need is sulfonamide, a strong anti-inflammatory drug."

  "The pharmacy isn't far from here, I'll go take a look if they have it."

  She's really getting on my nerves, I said: "No need to look anymore—"

  But I stopped, because she began to rummage through the jars she had placed in her cabinet. She pulled out a small amount of money from there, apparently preparing to buy me medicine. There should be more content in the jar. So I shut up.

  She thought I was a bit down and comforted me by saying: "It's okay. It's not far away."

  I hung my head in shame, staring at my own bandaged wounds, "Hmph, that's a real pain."

  She was about to leave without any delay, life for her is another rhythm and color. "I'll exchange that with you if I don't have medicine." She pointed to a bundle of red yam powder on the table, with a hint of embarrassment, "That's all I have."

  I took a glance and didn't look at it again, "Even if I have to crawl, I'll help you find it." I lowered my head, not wanting to see the self-satisfied smile that came out of this, I looked at those ankles moving lightly in my field of vision, when the door curtain moved, I couldn't help but raise my head, "What should I call you?"

  I just saw a smile half hidden behind the door curtain - I want to kill myself.

  "Tipsy, Tipsy's surname is Chen."

  "The best of the best?"

  Xiao Zui was somewhat annoyed, "You're drunk, just sleep it off!"

  She was clearly dissatisfied with such a name, but it all sank outside the dropped curtain, I listened to her leaving, staring blankly at my own wound.

  No pharmacy counter would have sulfonamide, they were looted by the wounded soldiers at the first time, those medicines would only appear in the black market with a price she would never pay for me. The Sichuan Army had already exhausted all its resources, I didn't need to crawl around to find it, the only remaining remnants of the Sichuan Army were morphine.

  I stopped being stunned, quickly put on my pants, opened the cabinet, and poured the not-so-abundant coins and banknotes from the jar into my pocket. Then I grabbed that bundle of red cloth and swiftly escaped. As I walked through the courtyard, there were actually a few chickens pecking at food in the yard, which was really a rare sight during the famine-stricken era. I thought about catching one too, but found it impossible to catch up with them.

  I give up. I'm out of here, a thief only takes what he sees as valuable and leaves. I'll remember the name Xiao Zui. But what's the use?

  I fled the scene at the fastest speed a cripple could manage, escaping down the alley as scattered powder fell behind me. I swore to myself that I just wanted to die with both legs intact.