Chapter Forty-Five

  I stood there, very much like a soldier in my usual demeanor. I was dazed. I knew I was done for. My education had me suspended in mid-air like an abacus that couldn't go up or down.

  If I had to find an excuse for my failure in front of Wen Dai, I would attribute it to my inner rebellion against arranged marriages. But what did I fail at?... Did I fail at the glory that I couldn't live up to or the dead person?

  "I'm leaving," I said.

  "Then just leave?"

  "I don't know what I'm doing here... military service... it's so busy."

  Xiao Zui almost painfully let out an "oh".

  I left, but as I stood at the door and lifted the curtain, I could see Xiao Zui's loneliness even more. I turned back and bowed deeply with my utmost respect and guilt, "Sorry, I've really disturbed you."

  She stared at me with a drunken gaze, I didn't know what was wrong or why she suddenly started crying. I felt a bit foolish wanting to touch her but wasn't sure if I had ulterior motives and hesitated. When I finally touched her, she began speaking in a somewhat disjointed manner. Women always cry and complain at the same time, you never know which one comes first.

  "No... my brother hasn't come back for a year... I'm so glad you're here... His comrades from the Sichuan army haven't come either... This courtyard is used to seeing people in military uniforms... It's not used to it anymore... I knew you'd be back... Saying such unpleasant things, who knows what they're thinking... My brother's soldier said he kept a woman outside, my brother said that was impossible... I know he gave me all his salary, he must have found a woman to support him. He's as charming as you are... Now I want to find out who that woman is and talk to her, I was so angry back then... It's really too sad here..."

  I stood there, not knowing if I was listening or not. I scratched my neck and also scratched the itchy wound that was healing. I found a handkerchief and then another one, but discovered that both were dirty. I sighed and turned around, rubbing my hands. There was someone outside banging on the door - banging, not knocking. I stopped turning around and stared at the door.

  Xiao Zui cried and said "The Wang Dama next door... every day she bothers me, talking about this and that for half a day... I just ignore her..."

  So I finally had the courage to touch her, laughing and crying at the same time. "Don't care about him, don't care... Little Drunk, look, I'm back too, I'll come often, what's there to cry about?"

  Xiao Zui said in Sichuan dialect "I think you're thinking so hard it's almost killing you."

  I'm so confused I'm bewilderedly delighted and almost burst out laughing with a confused smile.

  But unfortunately I also understood what she said next "Let's go back to Sichuan, brother."

  While outside the door, Wang Dama, who may exist, has already started shouting and scolding. But now, the one banging on the door is a drunk Russian man. He shouted wildly, "Will you do business or not? Next month's rent is due, you also need to put up a sign!"

  "...it's Wang Dajie next door...he has a problem with his brain...don't mind him."

  The person outside the door was apparently responding to someone who had been slightly drunk, saying "Where's the double pay I gave you last time? You said you'd come back. You can't just take money and not do anything!"

  "...brain's got a problem and still drank too much..."

  After holding back for a while, I lifted up the door curtain and found a hoe handle in the yard.

  I picked up the broken door handle and looked at it. Xiao Zui rushed out, afraid that the person outside would say more, she didn't dare to make a sound, but tried hard to snatch the door handle from me.

  I'm staring at the door.

  Outside is one of my kind. The difference is that he stuffs money and I stuff canned goods.

  So I turned to those several stones in the courtyard that I had shaken before but couldn't shake loose. Now I have a lever and irrepressible anger, I successfully pried it up and made a stone pedestal for the courtyard.

  It's quiet outside now, and it seems that guy has already left.

  I stood up straight, exhausted, with stars spinning before my eyes, and stared at me in a daze.

  "You... you can't always stay in the house, you need to get some sunshine!" I said.

  Then I looked at this dilapidated courtyard. A person with no ability to live has been living here for a year, and there are too many places that need to be taken care of but haven't been.

  I looked at the roof and said, "The direction of the chimney is wrong! Wherever there is a prevailing wind direction, the smoke will blow back and choke itself!"

  Xiao Zui was absolutely astonished and let out a cry of "I thought it would be like this."

  I started rolling up my sleeves, it was a big project "No way, I'm really taking you."

  Then Xiao Zui followed me to fight against the chimney.

  I crouched on the road surface outside the shelter, and Mudan and Manhan were calling me from their sentry posts. I was dead tired, and my new clothes from this morning were already a mess with dirt and oil stains all over them. I gazed at the darkening sky of Zhenzhu Island.

  Muddy egg called me "Come in and scatter."

  He told me "Don't come in."

  Manchu also invited me "Come and tell us about fighting."

  I'm not in the mood for this crap. I've never killed anyone, I'm a vegetarian and I chant sutras.

  "It's really scary."

  "I was just farting." I said.

  The refugee camp was filled with the usual commotion of people cooking, accompanied by massive amounts of smoke. Next to me stood a tall lamp post, and I glanced over at Mud Egg and Man Han, those two rascals grinning at me with greasy smiles.

  So I turned back and leaned against the wall with my head up, looking at the smoke from the kitchen trying to rise into the clouds, but it was blown away in a distant unreachable place.

  I'm exhausted to death, thinking that I still have time to help Xiao Zui finish her work. I couldn't be a drunkard in front of her, even if it's just pretending to be one, because in her eyes, I am not someone else.

  We can't shake off the death of a thousand people, before we could easily forget ten thousand. This time we are cursed, the person who was cursed is called dead, dead, he's dead, he deserved to die.

  Ní dàn hé mǎn hàn hū rán dōu pǎo dào wǒ shēn biān zhàn zhe wǒ chà yì de kàn le kàn tāmen zài kàn le tāmen de shào wèi yuán lái shì gǒu ròu dà yáo dà bǎi de zhàn zài tāmen de shào shàng.

  Then I saw someone coming from afar, even walking, he was as fast as a bullet. The guy was wearing the new military uniform of the Mystic Dragon, which was torn apart, with bloodstains on the corner of his mouth and scratches on his face, and his fist was swollen from punching something.

  "He really has to crawl back for dinner," said Nidane.

  "Hey, Mí Lóng is back? Found someone to fight with?"

  The dragon gave me a slanted glance "You want to fight with me?"

  "You will definitely get yourself killed sooner or later," I said.

  Then the dragonfly started flapping its wings and shouting "Chick! Chick!"

  I provoked him saying "Your wife and kids have all run off with a fat guy, these days fat guys are no good, maybe they'll fatten up your wife and kids."

  The dragon looked up at the sky and shouted "Son of a bitch!"

  He finished calling and then rushed to wipe his nose, probably feeling too embarrassed to hit us, so he lost again and plunged into the shelter.

  Hao shouted at me from the doorway "Come on, let's eat!"

  "I said 'Let's sit for a while longer. I don't want to go in.'"

  The old man reminded me "Today's portion is not enough. Don't know if we can deliver food tomorrow."

  "Here it comes!" I sprang up and rushed into the container station.

  My dog friends were in the corner of the yard, holding a pot of rice that was being snatched up by seven or eight hands. As expected, it wasn't enough, so I grabbed a bowl and scraped the bottom of the pot hard.

  The dish is salted vegetables and the head was snatched away in a flurry.

  The snake's butt asked "Where is the can? The can was stolen by a thief."

  I hung my head and didn't even scramble for a sauerkraut dish, I hastily shoveled rice.

  Not spicy saliva smiled and said "Happy not annoyed?"

  The mourning gate star smiled and answered for me with an expression that was really insulting to martial arts "Die happily."

  "They're having so much fun they don't even want to come in and stay with us," said Snake Butts.

  The stray dog sat outside our circle, a bowl of rice piled high in front of it, but it didn't eat, instead staring at us gloomily. But even Hao the veterinarian was grinning foolishly.

  Don't be shy, "happiness should be spoken out loud, let's all be happy." Stop pretending to be polite, once the food is served, no one will fight with you for it.

  "He likes to eat alone," A Yi said.

  I glanced at A Yi, and seeing that things were not going well, he immediately lowered his head and ate his rice.

  I told him "Bring it up to the table, I won't eat alone and can't finish it by myself."

  The snake's butt cheered "Alright, annoying, normal! I thought he was possessed!"

  Not spicy one after another urging "say say say say say."

  I let out a long, loud cry of "I'm exhausted!"

  Then they waited for me to continue eating in silence even when I was picking up rice with my mouth.

  The Mourning Star was somewhat disappointed "......Huh? Two cans of pork and three words?"

  "I'm so tired, I'm going to die! Can't we just stop already?" I said.

  They fell silent for a while and then started peeling rice.

  The snake's butt edge eats and says "It hurts Hao Lao to have spring dreams at night."

  Old Hao shouted in protest: "My son is about your age! What does this have to do with me?"

  "Stop teasing him, you're making me drool in frustration and still won't say it. This useless old thing."

  Old Hao continued to shout grievances, although he didn't say anything false. "So you're saying that tonight you'll be struck by lightning."

  The snake's butt points its spearhead at me: "Ammunition is precious. If Lei Gong wants to chop, he should chop the annoying ones without conscience first."

  "Then there's old lecher Hǎo the veterinarian, his son is about our age and still womanizing." Niè still won't let Hǎo off.

  The Mourning Star nodded "Yes."

  Hao veterinarian spat out a "Ptoo."

  The non-spicy one said to the snake's butt, "Butt, sleep far away from the ruthless and old perverts at night, and give way to Master Thunder."

  The more I listen, the less it makes sense to decide on a counterattack. "Lai Gong, that old man's eyesight is not good, just like our artillery, and he's shooting wildly again - who do you think he's hitting?"

  The Mourning Star asks "Who?"

  I stared at each of them, and everyone was ready to be hurt by me again. I remembered that behind us, there was another one who was lowering his head to take the first bite of food, but when he saw everyone staring at him, he raised his head and glared at us.

  At this time, someone outside the door asked for directions: "Brother, can you tell me if there is a Sichuan army regiment here?"

  We glanced over there and a soldier was asking about the road to Niudan and Manhan. What's that got to do with me? I turned my head back and looked at Mílóng again.

  He slammed down a whole bowl of rice between us and jumped up "Son of a bitch! Bastard!..."

  We thought he was going to blow up at us, either by putting on a defensive posture or running away. We didn't have time to react because the dragon only cursed nine words and rushed over, colliding with the person asking the way. The guy was bigger than the dragon, but was knocked to the ground by the dragon's solid collision.

  When we arrived, Muddle Dragon was already riding on that fatty's body and gave him several punches.

  "Where's my wife? You fat bastard! My son? Did you soak this lard of yours in the Nujiang River? Can't even beat your five-flower meat to mush? My wife..."

  The Mourning Star suddenly kicked the Dizzy Dragon in the waist. The Dizzy Dragon first glared at him, then followed our line of sight to look towards the door.

  Two people were drawn over by the commotion - Mí Lóng's wife and Lei Bao'er stood at the entrance of the shelter.

  The dragon is howling, its voice shaking the earth. It lowers its waist to such an extent that you want to kick its butt several times, but only in this way can it rub its head against its wife's **. In the midst of its howling, its head keeps moving towards the softest place, so much so that you don't know whether it's a reunion after a long separation or just lust.

  His wife could only pat our heads and comfort us with a gentle tone "It's okay, it's okay."

  Le Bao'er looked at it for a while and also showed an expression of regret, turning to stare at the dog meat. Most people turned to eat, Hao Shouyi pulled Le Bao'er and gave him his own bowl, the others also gave some to the old man.

  I and a few others went to help that dead fat guy who was still lying on the ground and couldn't get up, his body of flesh was cleaned up by the dragon, he was rubbing his waist, leaning against it, unable to speak.

  Si Baozi called Shi Xiao Mao, who was once a 37-type anti-aircraft gunner in a certain scattered unit. The conditions of the artillery were much better than ours, so he had the five-flower meat that we all wanted to pinch.

  Fat boy all his life only fell in love with one thing He had seen the use of 50 mortars to attack the Japanese army From then on, he was fascinated by Krupp and criticized Vickers. Later we called him Krupp.

  The Mourning Star made a move, and with just one look, it was clear that only the Zhāi family's heir could possess such skills. Krupp was knocked onto the sandbags at the entrance with a loud "thud", and this time he really couldn't get up again.

  He almost pushed the wife of the dragon down to the Nujiang River, but when he turned his head and saw her husband on the South Tianmen Gate, he immediately turned back and became a meat wall for her. After crossing the river, he began to look for the unit where the dragon was located, but we didn't exist in the organization, so he searched for more than 20 days, begging for food along the way.

  Krupp was so thoroughly thrashed by the combined efforts of Lóng Mén Xiāng and Hǎo Shòu Yī that his ancestors eighteen generations back were screaming in agony. His shoes even flew off in the process, and I picked them up to examine the holes worn through the soles.

  So I pinched my nose and looked at the broken hole, where the snake's butt was treating Kluber's beast doctor and mourning star, and the dazed dragon that was howling on top of his wife.

  Maybe we still look like human beings in our military uniforms recently, but our living quarters are absolutely not like that. It's just a house with several piles of straw, nothing more.

  Krup sat on one of the haystacks, still not having said a word from the pain, and now he was no longer rubbing his waist but miserably rubbing his belly. Meanwhile, Hao Shouyi's Wen Zheng and Langmen Xing's Wu Zheng were fighting fiercely.

  The Mourning Star said "Let me try again and it will be fine. There's no bad luck!"

  Hao Shouyi held his needle and said, "You quack doctor, this is a human being! Just use the Zanzhu point and it'll be fine."

  "No. The hundred will fall to the ground and not return home."

  Krupp complained of stomach pain.

  Hao Shouyi said "This is Zhangmen point."

  The Mourning Star refutes Hao Shouyi's statement: "Alas, the Zhang Gate was hit and nine out of ten people died."

  "I'm hungry," said Krupp.

  Those two were staring at each other, luckily I brought over a bowl of rice and the dishes weren't just salted vegetables, they were slightly more abundant. I handed it to Krupp, no need to say anything, he dug in with his head down.

  Hao Shouyi asked me "Where is there still food?"

  "Man Han and Ni Dan gave it to me. Man Han said that Zen Da people value loyalty, die for the fat man with loyalty, and Ni Dan said that his mother's is like everyone in the world who doesn't value loyalty." I said.

  The Mourning Star nodded and said, "Yes, Yunnan people value loyalty."

  Hao and I could only look at each other in dismay.

  The old man nodded and said, "It's a bit lacking, but it's considered important. It's like money, it's like food, yeah, that's the reason."

  "What kind of philosophy is this, bumping your head against your butt?" I asked him.

  "My stomach hurts." Krovopuskov repeated those three words again.

  We saw him almost didn't lean back he was originally sitting there with an empty bowl placed beside him even if it's just drinking water I wouldn't be that fast.

  "Is it above or below the navel?" Dr. Hao asked.

  I'm hungry.

  I said "I... I'll trick Lebao into calling me Dad."

  Hao Shouyi was also going to slip away "I saw Lei Baoer calling you 'dog'."

  None of us escaped because the dragon suddenly rushed in and almost crushed us to death. The dragon is now a gentle and auspicious bird, holding me and the veterinarian with one hand each, saying "Sorry, sorry, brothers..." Then he walked straight towards Krupp, who was sitting there staring at him with wide eyes, "Fat man, stand up."