Chapter 58

  "Dead tired, dead tired, in the midst of busyness, he glanced over his account book and said 'Really?'"

  I said "Of course it's true!"

  "......not even a cannon......"

  The snake's fart hit him with a "Really!"

  He died and died, but then he only took care of his book and ignored us. We were squeezed under the oilcloth, it was hard not to see the look on other people's faces - that was a decline.

  It's true so it's a bit embarrassing. Because we were pulled up to the flagpole by one person in ten seconds, it was very embarrassing.

  He died suddenly and began to stare at the book in surprise, exclaiming "Oh no, oh no."

  I learned his tone "Ah yeah?"

  He explained his surprise: "There's still over a thousand yuan left on the bill. Not RMB, but HKD."

  "I said 'Yu's family army is too embarrassed to take it. Yu Xiaoqing bribed you.'"

  The snake's butt said, "Those who see it have a share. Let's give our brothers a toothpick festival! When you're in trouble, your brothers don't worry less."

  He died and died just looking at him "Really?"

  I said so.

  Hao veterinarian retorted: "It's a fart."

  Krupp is already drooling "Can eat a lot of it."

  The Mourning Star nodded and said "uh-huh".

  If he's dead, he's dead. Just now, his mind was elsewhere and now it's doubly so. Look at this, look at that, anyway, you'll never know what he's thinking about, but apparently, he got it.

  "He yelled 'Mi Long! Mi Long Mi Long! Ah, Uncle Mi Long and Grandpa Mi Long, come in to avoid the rain.'"

  There are a few gloomy dragons among us because of what we saw this morning, and the ghost on the flagpole knows why - the dragon has been lying in the trash heap getting rained on. The ghosts all know why he's like that now, and with a sullen face, he squeezed himself in "What's going on?"

  "Dead or alive, it's still that nauseatingly flattering tone. "I heard you used to be in that line of work?"

  "What line? I've never even been a pimp, a photographer for a dating service or sold opium."

  He's dead, he's dead! Even a fool who pinches his fingers to make a "popping" sound knows that he is counting money. Then he leaned in and whispered to the confused dragon, amazingly, he didn't even let us hear what he was saying in such a small space. Compared to his expression, the confused dragon with eyes wide open became a real gentleman.

  "...Is it no good?" Long Wu said hesitantly.

  "Come on, come on, I'll give you a good deal. There's nothing wrong with it. Let me give you another discount. Don't your family members have nowhere to live? My conscience won't be at peace if I don't let you take some money from here to find them a place to stay."

  The dragon didn't say a word, but from his expression we knew he was convinced.

  Die die die, open a condition "I'll give you 500 first, and then you have to return 750."

  The dragon turned around and walked into the rainy ground "I agree to go borrow usury."

  Die die die take a step back "Alright alright you can use goods to offset. But the price of the goods I give you is only half of the black market price."

  The dragon refused the proposal. "That's not enough. The more goods you buy, the cheaper they are. Five hundred and fifty is not enough."

  We stared at them in amazement as they leaned in again and started playing a game of sleight of hand, clearly arguing fiercely.

  He didn't say it but we knew what to do because the dragon's current face was all too familiar, coming from a black market boss who made a fortune from national disasters.

  We have never seen such a blatant and shameless act of corruption.

  The dragon king opened his dead hands again, turned around and walked into the rain while saying "I'm telling you, it's not enough. Do you know how big a number 500 is? Do you know how much the bandits sell our machine guns for? The Czech model starts at 5,000!"

  "Dead, dead, eyes lit up "Really?"

  He immediately cast his eyes on our only few machine guns, and even the dragon was a little stunned. "Isn't this bad?"

  Die, die, drooling face said "I just want to know how many reserves there are. Go, go, press as you say. And the puzzled dragon will give you 500 more... Oh, Deputy Commander Lin, take half of the people and follow him."

  The dragon was clearly dissatisfied with this formation "What's going on again?"

  "Alright, alright, I'm saying 'buy food'. Buy all the food. It has to be better than what we had at the training camp. You two, Hao and Veterinary, bring your other halves and get the strong dings from outside back to our campsite. Tell them dinner is ready immediately. And you guys..." He drew a line again, pulling all of us inside "....get me all the reliable ones who can fight, have fought before, and won't run away after eating one mouthful. Just one sentence: what you're eating is pig food, what the Sichuan army eats is real human rice."

  I suddenly started coughing violently amidst everyone's stunned faces.

  "Come on, come on, hurry up and go. This is an order. I've never said these four words before, so you'd better give me some face."

  So those guys left in bewilderment.

  Everyone left, only the two of us were holding up the oilcloth. We put the oilcloth on our shoulders, one with his head exposed and the other with his head wrapped, watching the dragons kick and shout in one direction, and the beast doctors rushing around in another direction.

  "Is it necessary to pry open the walls of Yu's house like this?" I said.

  "I don't dare."

  Yu Xiaoqing won't even use our military might but instead has the heart to take care of us in our old age.

  "Don't you want to stop eating leftovers all the time? Then you should always have some cash on hand." said Dead Dead.

  I don't really believe "Really? Just for this?"

  "Why? You're obsessed with this kind of question!"

  So I had no choice but to sigh and say "Give me a job. Just so that I can have food to eat tomorrow."

  "Die, die! You're staring at me weirdly and then laughed. 'Didn't I give you work to do?... I'm used to it, you're my personal attendant within three meters, always by my side.'"

  I had no choice but to emerge from the oilcloth in a huff, but this place was so empty that I didn't even know where to go.

  "Bad luck!" I sighed.

  Dead and dead, they all came out with nothing but a few books and longevity cloth left in our hands. He said, "It's annoying, put away the team flag."

  I refuse "I don't accept it. The cloth used to wrap a dead person is unlucky."

  "You are always by my side."

  I had no choice but to grit my teeth and warn him "If you keep doing that, the owner will come knocking on our door."

  Don't worry about it at all. "Then let's just go back. We're not enough to fight a war, but we're enough to fight each other."

  "It seems like we're going to become sworn brothers soon...... I just wonder how rotten you were in that opium den back then?"

  Died laughing with self-satisfaction "So bad, so bad."

  "Bad luck again." I lamented once more.

  "This guy actually said 'Come on, don't you think it's more interesting this way?'"

  "That's interesting crap." I stuffed the so-called team flag into my chest but honestly my expression found it quite amusing.

  It's actually more interesting after trying all sorts of desperation...

  The Zentian shelter was a flurry of activity under the clear blue sky. Snake Buttocks wielded a cleaver on the chopping board with all his might. Then, he put down the knife and turned around to lift the lid off a large pot, releasing steam and fragrance that filled the entire room. This room now resembled both a kitchen and a warehouse, but most of all it looked like a temporary shed hastily set up for a wedding banquet. Snake Buttocks said to Man Han, who was standing by the pot, "I'll tell you two secrets to making delicious dishes that will bring joy throughout your life. First, you must have a good cleaver." Man Han had already been dazed by the aroma. "Uh-huh." "You must cook on an empty stomach. I haven't eaten anything." Man Han had already ladled out some soup and was drinking it. "Uh-huh." "How's my bone broth?" Snake Buttocks asked.

  The Manchu had no choice but to nod in approval. The snake's butt asked again, "How's our team doing?" The Manchu, who still had the ability to distinguish between good and evil, replied, "Good." "Are you going back to that place where you eat pig food?" The Manchu shook his head vigorously, "No, no, no, no, no." The snake's butt placed a large table at the door and stationed two armed men there to prevent anyone from rioting before the meal was even ready. Dishes of food and buckets of rice were passed out from one end of the table and carried into the courtyard. The courtyard now looked like some prodigal son was hosting a cheap, no-frills banquet, except without tables or chairs, everyone sat on the ground. All that could be seen were soldiers eating with their heads down, occasionally lifting them up to ask for more food or seconds. From the time they enlisted and received only enough military pay to buy an egg each month, all they lived for was one thing: eating. Eating their fill was a luxury, eating well was a dream. Eating well had become a dream. Some soldiers were so hungry that they would switch units in the afternoon after enlisting in the morning just to get an extra meal.

  Niudan raised his head in the midst of a big mouthful. He is also a die-hard fan of this team now. In our army, where every day's meals are uncertain, whether it's dry rations or mixed rations, it's all just a matter of luck. The hungry army heard the news and came to dismantle their hard-won formation. I don't know how many battalion commanders wanted to stab themselves to death because of this? But the deadbeat still brought all sorts of black market goods like cigarettes, wine, silk stockings, and soap to curry favor with the quartermaster - we could only ask him to keep his gun by his side.

  The dragon emerged from his house. The door opened and closed. You could see the piled-up goods inside, and at the entrance, there were even guards on watch. The dragon walked through the people eating. He didn't hide the superior and disdainful expression on his face "Eat, eat, you have good fruit to eat." He crossed the courtyard and entered another door.

  The two gluttons finished eating, wiped their mouths, tightened the belt that had just been loosened, and nudged each other - they planned to change places for the next meal and headed towards the wall root.

  "Who's going down next?" The voice came from the wall where several soldiers were sitting with their guns.

  "Is it worth rushing to the market? We've already eaten everything. Is the food at your destination that good? Let me tell you, we'll be eating like this again tomorrow." said Nai Lao.

  The two of them sat back down in the crowd, thinking about how they should face themselves - and so they refilled their bowls. The entrance to this place had expanded all the way out to the alleyway again, just like when we first arrived, because a single courtyard was absolutely not enough to hold everyone. Sandbag fortifications were set up, even with barbed wire and machine guns, as well as a Markov heavy machine gun and a light machine gun - the soldiers from the funeral procession team were also on high alert, with large clubs hidden behind the fortifications. The trash that Yu Xiaoqing had sent over was all used up, not a single piece left out. This formation was to counter the external troops who were also on high alert outside our garrison, but they didn't have any real preparations - they only brought their fists and ropes to bind escaping soldiers, as well as a few mouths that could only curse now. "You can't be so cruel as to bully your own brothers! My mom's... my whole company is almost wiped out!" "I sleep with a rope at night, ready to run!" "My gun was even taken away! I don't want people anymore, you bastards! At least give back our guns!" The funeral procession team leader just sat on the sandbags, facing away from the curses, but he still had some confusion. Luo Jinsen was in charge of the heavy machine gun, but he also knew it wasn't very useful this time - he was commanding a few soldiers to stack up bricks "Funeral procession team leader, chop another one." The funeral procession team leader made a bitter face "The master said that learning something isn't for showing off in this life." "Chop another one." The funeral procession team leader showed him his red and swollen palm "I've already chopped several." Luo Jinsen tried to persuade him with grand principles "Clear your ears, clear your ears." The funeral procession team leader complained "I'd rather sell tonics." And so he chopped at the bricks again, while the other side fell silent. The funeral procession team leader sat back down on the sandbags, looking gloomy - he also knew that this silence was only temporary. Several large battles and many small skirmishes ensued, fortunately without any gunfire. It was all just to let those who came in leave, and those who wanted to come in but couldn't. Those who tried to take advantage of the situation didn't have a good ending. I really want to write a couplet on the refugee station - "Coming in has a road, going out has no gate." Horizontal inscription: You've also arrived.

  The old guys were all crowded in a room, the house was very big and used to be the main house of this yard. We knew that we were not much better than those outside, but anyway, we had a kind of contempt similar to that of the dragon. We put some cabbage into the pot of noodles we cooked and ate it. The dragon came in, served himself a steaming bowl, sat down on a brick, and started slurping. I stared at him expectantly, "Boss, why did you come to this small restaurant to eat?" The dragon said disdainfully, "I don't want to eat that kind of cut-off meal." "Krupp, why don't you go out to eat?" Krupp said sadly in his sleep, "They say I waste food." The dragon agreed, "That's right. Keep sleeping."

  "Is dinner ready? I'm not sleeping." Eating is most important for Krupp.

  We started serving ourselves rice without much enthusiasm compared to eating and drinking outside. You can't be enthusiastic about this kind of food.

  "Tomorrow, if we eat like this again, we'll have to start selling machine guns." Mí Lóng said with a bit of resentment. "I'm such a good machine gunner, and I have to sell machine guns? How many people do we have now?" Hǎo Shòu Yī replied, "I don't know. Anyway, it's more than the most crowded time at the refugee camp." ā Yì gave a specific number, "Thirty more came today. One company more." Mí Lóng turned around to look at ā Yì - ā Yì was sitting on a small stool while everyone else sat on bricks - "Why does he get to sit? He's got acne like a stool!" I couldn't help but laugh. Hǎo Shòu Yī complained, "You're making it so nobody wants to eat." ā Yì pointed at me, "I'm annoyed, you made me sit. Sitting on this thing that looks like a signboard. Give it to you to sit." I explained to everyone, "He's the deputy commander and instructor." Just as Mí Lóng was about to sit down, he didn't sit either, "Instructor sir, please sit. You're so scary-looking." ā Yì was stifling his laughter, fortunately, he was also used to standing up, it wasn't like he had nowhere to sit.

  "Boss, besides being annoying, you really didn't bring anything else?" I asked with expectation. Míng Lóng had already finished a bowl of noodles "Ask Hǎo Dà Mā for some. Are you pointing at me? You're my wife?" "Dad, I'm your son. You seem to be in a good mood, there must be several cans of food in your pocket. How can you let your son not even have a single oil cake to eat?" I pretended to be his son. Míng Lóng took off his clothes and threw them at me while taking off his shoes "If I go into the pot, there will be meat." He really didn't have any. I sullenly threw the clothes back. Míng Lóng picked them up and laughed while putting them back on. This boss was acting differently than usual, not writing down debts or hanging them on the board, but keeping them in his heart. The usual effective "brotherhood" and "face-saving" tactics didn't work on this Northeasterner, he was completely immune, and now it's just four words: "Not my problem".

  The stingy dragon is more unbearable than the dragon who was scolded by his wife to tears. Even our signature dish, Snake Hip Bone Soup, was brought back at an extremely low price by the dragon. Because Zen masters have never been good at dealing with bones. Dr. Hao asked, "Dragon, has your wife and kids found a place to live?"