Chapter 4 The Flag Flutters (Third Part)

  "My wound isn't healed yet!" Liao Laoda couldn't be bothered to continue being friendly with Zhang Songling, and like a scalded bottom, he jumped up, loudly emphasizing his injury.

  Fat nurse Wu didn't refute, she just hugged the hardcover book and looked down on him. Liao's face turned black with anger, sweat beading on his forehead, and soon he was defeated, muttering: "This is your territory, you have the final say. Don't worry, I'll pack up and leave right away! I won't linger!"

  Several other wounded soldiers saw that Liao was about to be driven away, and they all covered their heads with their quilts, unwilling to look again. This depressing atmosphere also affected Zhang Songling, who wrapped his quilt around his waist, stuck out half of his body, lowered his head and helped Liao pick up the miscellaneous items under the bed.

  This kind-hearted action immediately gave Liao hope. He quickly grabbed Zhang Songling's arm and begged in a low voice: "Mr. Zhang, Mr. Zhang, please forgive me for my earlier blindness. Our old Liao family only has me left as the sole male heir. If you really have connections upstairs, please help me out this one time. As long as I can return alive, from now on I'll be at your service..."

  " Cowards!" Before he could finish speaking, Nurse Wu Dajie cut him off sternly. Glaring with her piercing eyes, she quickly scanned the room, "You're all cowards! You've just fought a battle against the little devils and you're already scared out of your wits. Cowards! With people like you, even if you return home, you won't be able to protect your own families. If the Japanese devils set up machine guns at the village entrance and want your mothers and sisters to serve them, you'll probably sneakily send them over yourself!"

  Liao Lao Da was scolded until he didn't dare to speak again, lowering his head and quickly packing up his own luggage. He was a big-headed squad leader, and there wasn't much valuable stuff around him anyway. After carelessly rummaging through it for a bit, everything was stuffed into a coarse cloth sack. The opening of the bag was hastily tied with a rope, then he slung it over his shoulder, straightened up, and loudly said: "You're not worthy to be called a man! You're just a woman who's always hiding in the military department, you don't need to go to the battlefield yourself. Brothers, I'm leaving, we'll never meet again!"

  Having said that, he turned his head and glared at Zhang Songling fiercely, then strode out quickly.

  "Liao big brother-----" Zhang Songling wanted to say that he was not unwilling to help, but indeed had a willing heart but no strength. However, no one would listen anymore, and his arm was left hanging in the air, feeling very uncomfortable! Wu nurse was also scolded by Liao until her face turned red, she stomped her foot and loudly retorted: "If I had a pair of balls, I would have charged up with a gun long ago, why do I need to be here serving you bunch of cowards every day?! Cowards, all of you are just a bunch of cowards who bully women, but when you see the Japanese devils, you only know how to run away with your heads in your hands!"

  She still felt unsatisfied after scolding him. She pulled out a set of military uniforms from the hardcover book and threw them fiercely at Zhang Songling's head: "Here, put it on yourself. You look like a human being, but you're just a useless good-for-nothing!"

  "What have I done to offend you?!" Zhang Songling was scolded until he was extremely depressed, and while lowering his head to tidy up his clothes, he muttered under his breath. Nurse Wu didn't bother to pay attention to him, her eyes red as she quickly walked out the door. The remaining patients in the room were also stifling their anger, lying in bed, staring at each other with wide eyes.

  "Hey, fatty!" After panting for a while, the crowd might think that this is pointless and turned their heads to Zhang Songling, "I'm talking to you, Mr. Zhang! If you really have connections, just make a phone call and get Old Liao transferred back from the front lines. Arrange a position for him at the rear, even if it's just as a cook. It's better than letting him die on the battlefield. His family has no land, his mother and sister rely on his military salary to survive. If he dies, his mother and sister will be left with nothing!"

  "I'll do my best!" Zhang Songling couldn't bear to disappoint everyone further, so he gritted his teeth and agreed. He knew he had no background, but speaking the truth, no one believed him. All he could do was take it one step at a time, first get through this hurdle before thinking about anything else.

  Upon hearing this, the wounded soldiers were overjoyed and jumped out of bed to help Zhang Songling get dressed. "I knew it, Mr. Zhang is a man of his word!"

  "Right? Old Liao finally got it right this time!"

  "Don't bother too much about him, he's a worthless fellow. Getting him a job as a groom in the army department is already doing him a favor."

  "Let him go scoop up big feces, scoop up big feces."

  While teasing, everyone helped Zhang Songling tidy up his entire body. Finally, he put on the military cap and looked at himself repeatedly, "Huh, look, you guys look, Mr. Zhang looks like this in this suit! If we wear it, what would we look like?! No wonder, people are envious to death! Later, you'll wear these clothes and go visit the nurses at ward A, I guarantee those little nurses will all be staring wide-eyed!"

  "Everyone, please spare me, I beg of you, isn't it enough that I've made a bow to all of you?" Zhang Songling's face turned red with pride as he repeatedly bowed to everyone.

  The wounded soldiers burst out laughing and retreated in all directions, leaving Zhang Songling alone, wearing his brand new military uniform looking foolish.

  After all the commotion, everyone became familiar with each other. Soon, the ward was filled with the sound of idle chatter from all directions. Zhang Songling's "mysterious" background and his appearance of wealth made him the core of the group without anyone realizing it. When he refused to answer a question, others didn't dare ask further. And when he asked about anything, everyone rushed to answer like beans pouring out of a bamboo tube, speaking freely without reservation!

  From the conversations of many people, Zhang Songling roughly understood that the place he was in was the B ward of the direct-affiliated field hospital of the Military Department, also known as the Medical Battalion B team. The low-ranking officers of the 27th Division, 30th Division, and 31st Division who were injured would all be sent here. But specifically which general under the 29th Army the 27th Division, 30th Division, and 31st Division belonged to, Zhang Songling was afraid of revealing his old self, so he didn't dare ask in detail. He just vaguely felt that something seemed not quite right, at least it was a bit far from the 29th Army he had imagined before with this team by his side.

  "We, the 30th Division, can't be compared to your 27th Division!" A wounded soldier with the surname Zhu said with a smile, pointing at the chest plate number on Zhang Songling's uniform. "Although we are both from the old camp, you 27th Division is organized into three regiments and six battalions, while our side has only two regiments plus an independent battalion. Moreover, the independent battalion was secretly formed by the division commander and is not recognized in the central sequence. The old Liao's troops suffered a loss because of this, their 31st Division's independent battalion had poor equipment to begin with, and was used as a breakthrough point by the Japanese. In just one day, only about a hundred men from the entire battalion were left alive!"

  "Don't blame Old Liao for being timid, he wasn't originally a coward. But two years ago when the plague broke out in their village, his younger brother who was also a teacher and his sister-in-law both died. If he hadn't thought of ways to survive, their family would have been completely wiped out!" Another patient with the surname Ma carefully explained on behalf of Old Liao, as if afraid that any word not fully explained would make Zhang Songling refuse to help.

  "Ah, I'll try my best to help him speak out, do my best!" Zhang Songling nodded repeatedly, his heart racing with anxiety. If this group of wounded soldiers were to discover that he had no background at all, he didn't know what would happen to him. Although from the very beginning, he hadn't intended to deceive anyone.

  "Lao Liao is not a heartless person, if you help him, he will thank you for the rest of his life!" Zhu surname wounded soldier smiled and emphasized repeatedly. Just as he was about to force Mr. Zhang to say something, he caught a glimpse of the fat nurse's figure out of the corner of his eye, and quickly retreated a few steps, changing the subject, "This set of clothes is really fitting! Was it originally issued to you? Otherwise, even if we prepared it now, it wouldn't be so perfectly tailored!"

  Zhang Songling also keenly sensed the change in atmosphere inside the house, turned around and carefully greeted the fat nurse, "Sister Wu, you're here? Are you looking for me?"

  "No! You're someone sent by the military department, how dare I offend you!" Wu Da Jie seemed to have just cried once, with red eyes, and responded in a bad mood.

  The wounded soldiers took a deep breath, and their gaze at Zhang Songling immediately turned into admiration. The Military Department's Special Operations Group was the elite of the elite, and anyone who had been through it could at least become a battalion commander when they came out.

  Zhang Songling was stared at and felt very uncomfortable, thinking for a moment, then patiently asked: "Then, is my injury still serious? When can I be discharged from the hospital?"

  "Whether it's urgent or not, you say it yourself. When can you be discharged from the hospital, you also decide for yourself! How dare I manage you!" Wu Dasister seemed to have eaten gunpowder, and deliberately didn't give Zhang Songling a good face.

  Zhang Songling felt more and more suffocated as he listened, furrowed his brow, and said in a low voice: "Then I'll be discharged from the hospital now, is that okay? Anyway, I think my injuries are not serious!"

  "What did you say?" This time, Wu Da Jie was stunned, staring at Zhang Songling with a pair of bright red phoenix eyes, repeatedly sizing him up. "You want to leave the hospital now?"

  As a nurse in the military hospital's Class B ward for so many years, she had never seen a low-ranking officer who was injured and refused to stay in the hospital, but instead was eager to return to the battlefield. Who doesn't know that this level of officer is typically cannon fodder, always being consumed the fastest in the troops, and can be replaced entirely within a few years.

  "I want to get out of here, I don't like lying down here!" Zhang Songling nodded and emphasized in a low voice. Even if there was no Liao Lao Da's matter, he didn't want to continue being bullied by Nurse Wu. How humiliating! Being scolded every day like a three-year-old boy, and still having to put on a smiling face!

  "I don't care about your business!" Repeatedly confirming, Wu Dajie found that Zhang Songling was not joking. Wu Dajie suddenly felt a bit of respect for him in her heart, "You have to go and tell Li Yingchang yourself. But I can responsibly tell you that the injuries on your body, except for those places wrapped with bandages which were caused by shrapnel, the rest are from being hit by stones. Even if you don't take medicine, they will heal quickly on their own."

  "Then I'll go find Captain Li myself. Excuse me, sister Wu, where is Captain Li's office?" Knowing that he wasn't seriously injured, Zhang Songling didn't want to stay in the hospital for another minute, and with a bow, he made a serious request.