Insufficient balance

  Wu Hongyan's words made Bao Yulin have to reconsider his current situation. In fact, he had no room for consideration anymore. Including himself, all the Chinese soldiers in the POW camp could not change their identities, and at this point, everyone's safety was the most important thing. He could think of every way to clear himself, tell everyone that the recording was synthesized, and if necessary, even use his own blood and life to prove his innocence. However, by doing so, he would indirectly cause the death of Wang Xiaodong and harm his comrades. Wasn't everything Wu Hongyan did just to avenge himself and make him taste the pain? Why couldn't he endure some hardship for the sake of his comrades and fellow soldiers? If suffering a bit could bring safety to his comrades, then he should unconditionally bear it all, as a repayment to those fallen comrades. Perhaps by doing so, he could also live with both pain and sweetness. Just like in the movies, those revolutionaries who infiltrated the enemy's camp, weren't they all filled with grievances? Since now was the time for him to suffer such grievances, then he should calmly endure it!

  That night, at Wu Hongru's place, Bao Yulian didn't say another word. Although he was able to speak now, he didn't want to say anything. Because he didn't know what he could say.

  Looking at Bao Yulin's empty and helpless gaze, Wu Hongying smiled. Wu Hongying knew that her words had struck Bao Yulin's weak spot, and there was still a long time to come, she had plenty of time to slowly torture Bao Yulin, until one day he could no longer bear it, he would either beg her to kill him or take his own life. Wu Hongying now enjoyed this process even more.

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  In the big shed of the POW camp, it was very late when Bao Yulin was finally carried back. The Vietnamese soldiers on guard still put him in the middle bed. There was a lot of noise, and everyone woke up (many people didn't sleep at all), and they all stared at Bao Yulin with wide eyes as he was settled by the guards. No one spoke, next to Bao Yulin's bed, there was an empty bed, that bed belonged to Wang Xiaodong, everyone thought he was young, in order to take care of him, his bed was arranged in the middle position. Now, this bed is empty.

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  Two days later, Bao Yulin was able to get up and move around. During these two days, the Vietnamese guards still sent two bowls of egg noodles to Bao Yulin every day. On the first day, he couldn't move on his own, so whenever it was time to eat, two Vietnamese guards would come over and carry him to the special dining hall for Vietnamese soldiers. No one knew what happened in there, but the aroma of food wafting through the air made many prisoners imagine that the guards' rations must be much better, at least they wouldn't go hungry. As for the bowl of noodles specially made for Bao Yulin, it would be poured into the solitary confinement cell through a small window after Bao Yulin returned, to be eaten by Wang Xiaodong.

  However, after Bao Yu was able to move around independently, his egg noodles were gone, and he also started going to the prisoner-of-war cafeteria with other prisoners of war.

  The guard in charge of distributing meals saw Bao Yulian coming to get his meal and immediately took the spoon from the prisoner who was serving the meal, filling Bao's rice box with several scoops. In fact, for the past two or three days, Bao had only been injected with a few glucose shots containing antibiotics and had drunk some water, but hadn't eaten anything. He was so hungry that he didn't even notice that his meal was several times larger than others'.

  When Bao Yulin sat at the edge of the table, wolfing down the food in his lunch box, he suddenly realized that he had almost taken up a third of the entire table by himself. The other people would rather squat on the ground to eat than get close to him. Every person who walked past him would either give him a look of disdain and contempt or completely ignore his existence, loudly discussing something as they passed by. However, there was one common thread - it seemed that many people had sore throats, and every time they walked past him, they would clear their throat, followed by spitting a mouthful of phlegm onto the ground.

  Bao Yulin knew what was going on, this almost universally understood signal meant that in this prisoner-of-war camp, no one would like him or sympathize with him.

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  Because Bao Yulin's body had not yet recovered, he was not required to work for the past two days. Every day, when others went to work in the sugarcane field, he would wander around alone in the prisoner-of-war camp. As a prisoner of war, no one did not want to escape. Although Wu Hongying threatened Bao Yulin that if he made any unusual move, these accounts would be settled on other prisoners of war, but he still couldn't help but look around the prisoner-of-war camp.

  The entire prisoner-of-war camp was square in shape, located in the middle of a vast sugarcane field, surrounded by double-layered barbed wire with an interval of 5 meters. The warning signs for minefields and the occasional landmines washed out by rainwater indicated that this was an impassable area. Judging from the different degrees of rust on the landmines washed out by the rain, it's possible that these mines were laid at different times. It's likely that even the Vietnamese couldn't understand where there were mines and where there weren't. However, one thing is certain: this was a deadly blockade line.

  There is a watchtower at each of the four corners of the POW camp. In peacetime, there was one Vietnamese soldier with a gun on each watchtower. They could go to the guard tower located in the minefield through the small road outside the barbed wire fence. The guard tower is not very high, but it is enough to observe most areas inside the POW camp, and if observed at the same time, there should be no blind spots.

  The main gate of the POW camp was a direct highway, and this checkpoint, consisting of a barrier, railings and two front-and-back guard towers, controlled the only entrance to the POW camp. The gate was truly sealed off from the highway on both sides by the sentry posts not far away.

  Bao Yu-lin spent two days searching the entire POW camp, but still couldn't think of a way to escape. It seems that this POW camp will become a place for every Vietnamese ruler or occupier to detain prisoners, and it's almost impregnable.

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  That evening at dinner, Ruan Yuanjia formally announced the appointment of Bao Yulin as the Chinese prisoner-of-war administrator of the POW camp, and Zhang Xihang, the former administrator, was demoted to team leader. At the same time, it was stipulated that the food ration for those who served as prisoner-of-war administrators and team leaders would be doubled. When Ruan Yuanjia said this, he deliberately paused for a moment. It wasn't until then that Bao Yulin discovered that everyone was staring at him with hatred in their eyes.

  Actually, Bao Yulin already knew it would be such a result. Through two days of observation, he found that the prisoners' food was rationed, and every time he went to get rice, the Vietnamese guards would deliberately fill his bowl very full. Originally, there were not many prisoners, so this way, the prisoners behind him would get less food because of him, combined with the heavy physical labor every day, a little coarse grain was not enough to consume. So he became the thorn in everyone's eyes. But there was no way around it, one time he deliberately stopped the Vietnamese guard from filling his bowl too full. As a result, the Vietnamese guard didn't care and snatched his rice bowl away, filling it frantically. Bao Yulin had no choice but to use chopsticks to scoop the excess rice back into the bucket. This made the Vietnamese guard angry, who knows what he was shouting about, anyway, he overturned the rice bucket. Now the prisoners behind him could only eat food mixed with sand. Since this didn't work, Bao Yulin thought of another way. He deliberately lined up at the end of the line, thinking that this would avoid suspicion of stealing everyone's food. Who knew that when the Vietnamese guard saw there wasn't much rice left, he would fill all the rice into bowls ahead of time and let Bao Yulin take it away, leaving his fellow prisoners with nothing to eat. Bao Yulin now understood that this was a deliberate trick by the Vietnamese, no need to say, this was Wu Hongying's doing. She wanted him to become an object of everyone's disgust.

  At night, Bao Yulin couldn't sleep, tossing and turning. The burden on his body was too heavy, and he didn't even know how to help others. But one thing he knew was that if he really died for the sake of fame, at least Wang Xiaodong would not survive, and who else would be implicated, it depended on the Vietnamese. Thinking of this, Bao Yulin felt uncomfortable, why did he encounter a madman like Wu Hongying?

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  Just as Bao Yulin was drowsy and about to fall asleep, a quilt suddenly fell from the sky and covered his head. Before Bao Yulin could react, someone punched him in the stomach with great force. Instantly, the air in his lungs seemed to be sucked out, and for a moment, he couldn't even breathe, let alone speak.

  It didn't matter how many people were acting at the same time, anyway Bao Yulin hugged his head and curled up into a ball, trying to expose his back, thighs, and arms as much as possible, protecting his head and abdomen. Everything else could only be left to them. He knew it was his comrades who did this. After a flurry of punches and kicks, someone spoke up.

  "Listen, tomorrow find a way to send some food to Wang Xiaodong, otherwise we'll beat you up every day!" Bao Yulin could tell that the speaker was the machine gunner sleeping near the door. Although he deliberately lowered his voice, his Shandong accent gave him away at once.

  "Listen, be honest! Don't think that just because you have the support of Vietnamese devils, you can show off. To them, you are nothing! Today is a lesson for you, to teach you how to behave in the future!"

  Bao Yulin endured the pain on his body, not making a sound. He knew that if he cried out, the beating would stop, but it would also play into Wu Hongniang's hands. She would make a big deal out of it, and in the end, more than one or two people would be in trouble.

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  This morning when going to work, Bao Yulin stood in the position of the leader with a blue nose and a swollen face. As a result, not only did the Chinese prisoners of war laugh at him, but also the Vietnamese guards, including Nguyen Ngoc Nha and Vu Hong Nhan, burst out laughing. Half of Bao Yulin's face was already swollen, his eye sockets were completely blackened, and the corner of his mouth was split open, revealing a blood-stained appearance.

  "Is it Lord Yuan?" Wu Hongying laughed twice, stopped and asked softly to Ruan Yuangui. Everyone could see that this was a defeat.

  "You handle it, no need to ask me. From now on, I won't get involved in Bao Yulin's affairs!" Ruan Yuanjia had always known why Wu Hongxian was so insistent on being transferred to the prisoner-of-war camp. He also knew that not only was Wu Hongxian beautiful, but she also had some connections in Hanoi. If things went well, he might even be able to get some help from her. At this point, it wasn't necessary to clash with Wu Hongxian over the prisoners of war.

  After hearing Ruan Yuanjia's words, Wu Hongying knew that she could handle the matter of Bao Yulian as she pleased. So she also became impolite and pointed at Bao Yulian asking: "Bao Yulian, what's with the wound on your face?"

  "Report, I accidentally injured myself." Bao Yulin knew that if he said he was beaten, Wu Hongyuan would definitely take the opportunity to deal with a few people, and might even use torture. Of course, Bao Yulin knew that Wu Hongyuan's intention was not to help him, but to completely isolate him, making him feel like he had no family, no friends, and no one to communicate with.

  "Are you injured? Can an injury be so severe?" Wu Hongyan exaggeratedly shook her head: "It seems that you really have a talent for storytelling, it seems that if you don't make a statement, your comrades won't believe you." As she said this, Wu Hongyan's face turned serious and sternly said: "Since you say it was an accident, I order you to immediately issue a statement about the matter, proving that it has nothing to do with anyone else!"

  Wu Hongyan's words pierced into Bao Yulin's heart like a thorn, and he became what he is today because of that anti-war declaration. Now, Wu Hongyan deliberately mentioned such a sensitive word, obviously to remind his comrades at all times what kind of person he was.

  Just as Bao Yulin was hesitating, Wu Hongying walked closer to the column of prisoners of war. She didn't pay attention to Bao Yulin's reaction and just kept walking down.

  Bao Yulin suddenly thought that Wu Hongying would not give up so easily, she must be waiting for him somewhere. At this time, if he didn't do as she asked, the ones who would suffer would still be his comrades.

  "Deputy Commander Wu, I will now make a statement of surrender as you requested." Having said that, Bao Yulin took a step forward and stood up straight.

  "Alright, you speak." Wu Hongyuan stopped in her tracks.

  "My name is Bao Yulin, originally a soldier of the 64th Regiment of the 41st Army of the Chinese People's Liberation Army. I am currently in a Chinese prisoner-of-war camp in Vietnam. Last night, when I went to the toilet, due to insufficient lighting, I accidentally fell and injured myself. This is my statement." Bao Yulin listened intently as he recited his statement. If it weren't for hearing his own declarations every day through the loudspeaker, he really wouldn't know what to say.

  As soon as Bao Yulin's voice fell, some people in the prisoner of war column began to discuss in a low voice: "That's right, it's this voice, exactly the same!" "It's him, you can tell from his usual appearance." "You don't think about it, if he didn't make any 'contributions' to the Vietnamese government, how could the Vietnamese treat him so well? I heard that the Vietnamese even made a few days of egg noodles for him as a patient's meal."

  Wu Honglian waited for a moment, which was exactly the effect she wanted. However, she didn't intend to let Bao Yulin off like this, so she took another step forward: "You're saying it's because of insufficient lighting? Why can others see it but you can't?"

  Bao Yulin immediately knew he was in trouble and hastily replied, "Reporting, it's my fault for using inaccurate language. I should have said that I had just woken up from sleep and accidentally fell over myself."

  Wu Hongyan heard this and smiled: "Right, you are all military personnel, you must speak rigorously!" As she said this, Wu Hongyan pointed at the several people who had passed by her: "Because as administrators, you cannot quickly answer my questions, I will punish you. These few people, today at noon, cannot eat!" The scope of Wu Hongyan's pointing included Zhang Xihang and nearly ten others.

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  That morning, no one in the sugarcane field paid any attention to Bao Yulin. Perhaps in their eyes, it was not necessary to say anything to such a running dog.

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  At noon when eating, Zhang Xihang and several others were singled out. They had to stand on the playground until everyone finished lunch.

  Bao Yulin still remembered Wang Xiaodong's affairs, he was clear that if he proposed to send food to Wang Xiaodong, no one would pay attention to him, and it was possible that not even water would be given to him. Unless he was a bit tough, sending his own meal to Wang Xiaodong, Wu Hongyuan might not make a sound.

  As expected, when Bao Yulin brought a full lunchbox of food to the isolation room where Wang Xiaodong was being held, despite the guard's attempts to stop him, Wu Hongyan did not intervene. She simply watched with great interest as events unfolded. It seemed she too was reluctant to end the game so quickly. She wanted to continue playing.

  When Bao Yulin returned the empty lunch box to the kitchen, he heard many people discussing: "Damn it, cat crying and mouse! What a thing!", "He's performing for everyone to see." and so on. Bao Yulin smiled bitterly in his heart, he had no way to explain, nor could he explain clearly. No one would believe him anyway.

  Wu Hongying did a good job, when she went to work in the afternoon, she took out Bao Yulian and specially gave Bao Yulian a rice ball wrapped in banana leaves before the team finished.

  Now, Bao Yulin didn't know how to tell his comrades. If he wasn't worried that Wu Hongyuan would come up with something else, he really wanted to throw the rice ball on the ground. However, he knew that this would definitely be a loss for himself or implicate his comrades. The workload in the sugarcane field had been very high these past few days, and he was doing a bit better, but the others' physical condition couldn't keep up at all. Nevertheless, Bao Yulin didn't dare give the rice ball to anyone else. After thinking for half a day, he closed his eyes, took a few mouthfuls, and swallowed the rice ball.

  Bao Yulin's expression and movements were all in Wu Hongyan's eyes, she liked the feeling of cat catching mouse very much. This game will continue between them.

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