Chapter 31: Seeing Off Qiǎo Zǐ

  "Company commander, platoon commanders, squad leaders, the devils have retreated, haha", at this time Zhao Zhibang finally crawled out under everyone's expectant gaze.

  "You son of a bitch, you took down a high-ranking Japanese officer! You son of a bitch, your ears are stuffed with donkey hair, didn't you hear me calling you back?" Zhang Damao pulled Zhao Zhibang out of the trench and shouted. This was the only time Zhang Damao didn't say "check if there are any brothers around who still have breath" after the battle ended.

  "What's wrong? I, I, I... why can't I hear you speaking?" Looking at Zhang Damao's opening and closing mouth, Zhao Zhibang knew he was definitely talking to himself, but all he could hear in his ears was a buzzing sound. He threw the rifle in his hand to the ground, patted his ears with both hands, but it was still the same.

  "Zhao Zhibang, are you okay?" Seeing Zhao Zhibang's appearance, Li Liansheng beside Zhang Damao hurriedly ran over and grabbed his hand to ask.

  "Turn it down, turn it down... I can't hear you speaking!" Zhao Zhibang anxiously patted his ears a few more times, but all he could still hear was the buzzing sound.

  "It must be the shock of the shell... Let me take a look" Zhang Damao also walked up and pulled down Zhao Zhibang's hand, then carefully examined his ear.

  "Haha... the dog's day... didn't bleed, won't go deaf just got blasted silly... haha... you turtle grandson..."

  "I said you won't go deaf, it'll be fine in a bit" Zhang Daman shouted loudly into Zhao Zhibang's ear with a smile on his face.

  "Huh... huh... I can hear a little bit now... I can hear a little bit now" Looking at Zhao Zhibang's somewhat comical expression, the surrounding soldiers all burst out laughing.

  "Brother Lian, it's not going well..." Suddenly, the crowd's laughter was broken by a heart-wrenching cry, and the crowd fell silent. Zhang Damao heard the cry and his face, which had just lit up with a smile, immediately fell. He dropped the gun in his hand and stumbled over to run there, Li Liansheng closely followed behind him, and all the people in the trenches who could still move quietly surrounded them.

  "Kidnapping,,,,,,,,,,,,,"

  "Brother, brother, brother..." Although Zhang Damao and Li Liansheng called him by different names, the tears in their eyes were shed for the same person. At this moment, Qi Guaizi lay in Zhang Damao's arms, breathing weakly, spitting out large mouthfuls of blood. He heard the two men's shouts, struggled to open his eyes and scanned the people around him before looking at Zhang Damao and Li Liansheng and saying: "Damao, Lizi... brothers, I'll take a step ahead first, don't be too sad, I, Zhang Quanqi, have been a dead man for a long time. Living on for so many years, being able to kill so many little devils with my own hands, I...I'm satisfied..." Qi Guaizi's chest began to heave and his breathing became difficult as he spoke, Zhang Damao held him in his arms, while Li Liansheng wiped away the blood that kept flowing from his mouth.

  "Brother, don't say it anymore... don't say it anymore... Brother, please don't say it again..." Li Lian Sheng's sleeve was already stained with Qi Guai Zi's blood, and he trembled as he continuously wiped away the blood from Qi Guai Zi's mouth, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't wipe it clean.

  "Li Zi, Da Meng, you are all my good brothers. Brothers don't have any requirements, just ask you..."

  "You said... you said..." Zhang Da muttered incoherently, wiping away tears from his face with a trembling hand.

  "Just ask you to tell me, when the little devils are driven out of China, let me know, so I can be happy too. That way, I can smile and go out with a smile." The cripple walked away, closing his eyes forever like that. He left with a smile, perhaps in the moment he closed his eyes, he really saw what he wanted to see.

  Although he had only been with new recruits like Zhao Zhibang for more than half a month, and hadn't even exchanged a word, looking at him, Zhao Zhibang's heart felt like it was being pricked by needles. At this time, his ears had recovered, although Qi Diaozi's voice was very weak, he could hear clearly, looking at the tranquil face of the machine gunner, Zhao Zhibang's tears finally fell down.

  Qī Guǎi Zǐ's real name was Zhāng Quán Qǐ, because the word "qǐ" has the same pronunciation as "seven", so everyone used to call him "Old Seven" instead of "Seven Crooked". He and Zhang Dà Mǎng, Lǐ Lián Shèng were companions who grew up together in the same village, and later they all became soldiers together.

  One year before the September 18th Incident, Zhang Damao and Li Liansheng were still under his command as squad leader. In 1930, Japan had been rampaging in Northeast China for many years. One day, after strolling around the streets on leave, Zhang Quanqi encountered four Japanese ruffians bullying a Chinese girl on his way back to the barracks. Enraged, he shot and killed three of the Japanese ruffians with three bullets, but was also shot in the right knee by another Japanese man, leaving him disabled for life. Later, Japan pressured the Northeast Army to hand over the killer who had slain the three Japanese ruffians. At that time, Guo Jinan, still a regimental commander, could not withstand the pressure from above and found a death row prisoner who had raped a civilian woman to take the fall, thus "hiding" Zhang Quanqi's existence and creating the legend of "Seven Crooked Men". This was what Li Liansheng later told them. Although Li Liansheng spoke calmly, as if telling a story, not one listener remained unmoved, with tears falling from their eyes.

  After Zhang Quan closed his eyes, Zhang Damao and Li Liansheng found a few towels to carefully wipe the blood stains on his body. They then changed him into a white shirt that had been taken from Zhang Damao's body, which was already stained with sweat. Then they buried him along with more than 50 other dead soldiers behind the position on a hillside. There were no tombstones, no ceremonies, no flowers, not even a mound of earth.

  "Green hills everywhere bury loyal bones, why must we wrap the corpse in horse hide to return?" These were the words spoken by Guo Jinan, who had rushed to the scene upon hearing the news, after he finished throwing his last handful of dirt. Without any orders or rehearsals, all able-bodied individuals instinctively walked to the burial site of the brave warriors, removed their hats and paid their respects. Of course, they were not just paying tribute to Zhang Quanqi alone, but also to the dozens of Chinese martyrs who lay sleeping with him on this mountain slope, and even to their own bodies which would soon be buried underground.

  War is cruel, its original cause was only a dispute over interests. However, when the war really broke out, it slowly evolved into hatred. It was this hatred that made the 400 million Chinese people who had been bowing their heads for a long time stand up straight.