Chapter 4 The Flag Flutters (Part 5)

  "These unreasonable women!" Officer Lao Gou was furious, spitting viciously at the back of the war horse. But he suppressed his anger and cursed in a very low voice, so low that it was like a whisper, only audible to Zhang Songling and himself.

  Zhang Songling found it interesting to watch from the side, using a lot of effort to hold back his laughter and not make a sound. This untimely action immediately brought about an unexpected disaster. Officer Lao Gou's eyes widened in anger as he scolded loudly: "What are you laughing at? What's so funny? I'm warning you, today's events, you'd better forget them for me right away. If I hear even a whisper of gossip from now on, I'll send you straight to the front lines to feed the devils!"

  "I didn't hear anything, I didn't see anything! My head was blown up by the little devils with their small cannons and I'm still dizzy now! I swear!" Zhang Songling wasn't being asked to keep a secret for the first time today, he's already used to it. He raised his right hand high, pretending to be stupid and confused.

  "What the hell are you doing running around everywhere? You should be lying in a hospital bed! " Officer Lao Gou grabbed Zhang Songling's words and continued to scold him fiercely. After finishing, he suddenly felt that he was too harsh on a new recruit who had just joined the army, so he collected his fierce expression and changed his tone to reprimand: "I'm telling you, kid, are you sick or something? When others go to the hospital, who doesn't stay for ten days or half a month before leaving? Not to mention anything else, but there are so many little nurses in the hospital, each one as pretty as a flower. Just looking at them is better than staring at a bunch of old men every day! But you, you rush out of the hospital after just eating lunch in the middle of the night! Is there gold or silver outside? Or is it a fox spirit that's been tempting your soul?"

  "It was Wu Dajie who said that my wound is nothing serious!" Zhang Songling explained with a hint of grievance, very suspicious of Lao Gou's aesthetic view.

  This sentence was like a drop of hot water on tofu, immediately deflating the arrogant air of Officer Lao Gou. "She said your injury is nothing and it's nothing? She's not even a doctor, why are you listening to her? Let me tell you, that woman is no good! Last time I got shot in the shoulder, she just bandaged me up and sent me out of the hospital. The result was that the wound got infected, and I had to lie on the kang for another half month, almost losing my life!"

  "Oh!" Zhang Songling responded casually, neither feeling afraid nor showing sympathy for Lao Gou's plight.

  "When you're burned to the point of talking nonsense, that's when you'll know what it means to be fierce!" Officer Lao Gou scolded again, probably thinking it wasn't worth bothering with this new recruit Zhang Songling. He turned his head and walked back in big strides along the way they came, "Since you're looking for trouble yourself, I won't stop you. Let's go, I'll take you back to the campsite. The road is long, those damn whores, daring to steal our battalion commander's horse!"

  For all the topics related to Nurse Wu, Zhang Songling didn't respond at all. After being together for so long, he could see that Nurse Wu was extremely popular in the army, even if he was stupid. Although many people expressed dissatisfaction with her verbally, who would dare touch Nurse Wu's finger? Those guys who cursed behind her back would definitely jump out to defend her justice.

  Two men, one in front and one behind, walked eastward with big strides. After walking silently for about a mile, Officer Gou thought for a moment before speaking again: "Before you left the hospital, did you see Director Li? What did he say about your injury?"

  "Director Li also said that the injuries on me are nothing serious, within the range of being able to be hospitalized or not!" Zhang Songling quickened his pace and replied truthfully.

  "Ah, that's it! People with the surname Li are not very good, but their medical skills are quite reliable. Since he said you're fine, then you should be fine!" Old Gou nodded and finally stopped worrying about Zhang Songling's injury. "The things I had in my backpack that were snatched away by Nurse Wu earlier, do you know what they are?!"

  Zhang Songling thought for a moment, nodded slightly, "I know! My family used to run a grocery store. Before Chairman Han took office in Shandong, that thing could be openly sold on the shelves! But don't worry, I definitely won't talk nonsense."

  The latter half of the sentence was added in a very timely manner, causing Officer Lao Gou to immediately look at him with new eyes. "You know what's important and what's not, that's good enough." Actually, many people knew about Director Li's fondness for that one thing, but everyone just pretended they hadn't seen it! Sigh... now that Wu Jie has taken that thing away from him, it's actually a good thing. At least with Wu Jie helping to control him, he'll be able to exercise some self-restraint.

  He said that, he quickly frowned again, looking at Zhang Songling's tender face, and once again uneasily warned: "Not only can't you tell anyone about this matter, but also the thing that just happened when I was robbed by those fat women, you are not allowed to tell anyone!"

  "Yes, sir!" To put his superior, Lao Gou, at ease, Zhang Songling stood at attention and responded loudly.

  Being amused by Zhang Songling's pretentious appearance, Officer Lao Gou stretched out his hand to correct his actions. "Alright, stop pretending! Have you ever seen a commander as sloppy as me?! And also, this is not how you show respect. Not wearing a hat while giving someone a salute is equivalent to swearing at them!"

  "I don't know!" Zhang Songling smiled wryly and put down his arm, "Just now in the hospital, they didn't give me a hat!"

  "This set of clothes was sent to you by someone I dispatched, at the time I thought you wouldn't need them so I didn't help you get a hat!" Officer Gou chuckled and looked Zhang Songling up and down, "How is it, does it fit?"

  "It fits perfectly! Thank you, sir!" Zhang Songling nodded and bowed his fist in gratitude.

  "Thanks for nothing, you bookworms are just nagging!" Officer Lao Gou scolded and then changed the subject, "You said earlier that your family runs a grocery store in Shandong?"

  "Hmm!" Zhang Songling felt that there was nothing to hide, smiled and frankly admitted, "Our family opened a small shop in Lu City. Mr. Yuan's intention was good, but over the years, as the world became more chaotic, things slowly went downhill!"

  "So how did you suddenly run to Hebei again? How did you become the accountant for the Iron Blood Society again?" Officer Lao Gou asked in a casual tone.

  "Wei Lao Shucai from Wei's village is my maternal grandfather. My father heard that there would be a war in the north, so he took advantage of my summer vacation to send me here to pick him up and take him to Shandong to hide for a while!" Zhang Songling hesitated for a moment before giving a fabricated answer.

  Although Ji Tuanzhang and Lao Gou had saved his life, he still chose to conceal his past without figuring out whether the other party was related to Qin Debang. Anyway, the Iron Blood Society had already been destroyed, and even if Officer Lao Gou suspected what he said, it would be difficult for him to find someone who could expose his true identity.

  The officer didn't continue to dwell on this detail, he might have just asked casually or was unwilling to easily suspect his own brother before finding other problems. "That old man is a hero!" He said in a low voice with a few words of admiration, "You are too!"

  "Superiors are also!" Zhang Songling smiled humbly and flattered.

  This flattery was obviously not very clever, and Officer Gou looked at him with a mixture of surprise and amusement, laughing as he asked: "How did I also become a hero? Where did you see that I'm a hero?"

  "When I was in the hospital, others heard that I came from the Special Operations Group and treated me with great respect!" Zhang Songling smiled awkwardly and quickly added to his words, "On the way back, we met a rickshaw driver who harassed Sister Wu. Sister Wu mentioned the three words 'Special Operations Group', and he immediately ran away in a flurry. Then I thought, since our Special Operations Group is so famous, you, as a captain of the Special Operations Group, must also..."

  "Driving a small car? What kind of person is that?" Officer Lao Gou's attention was focused on the first half of the sentence, and before Zhang Songling could finish explaining, he furrowed his brow and interrupted.

  "He's a guy wearing white gloves, black leather shoes, and looks like a slick operator. Sister Wu said he's a certain surname, surnamed Zhang, a master who drives a small car, seems to be something, twenty-five troops!"

  "Son of a turtle!" Officer Lao Gou's face twitched violently, sparks flying everywhere. "Next time I see him, I'll skin him alive! How did Wu Jie respond to him? You listen carefully and learn from me!"

  "Wu sister didn't even bother to deal with him, she just told him that riding a rickshaw would shorten his life and then sent him away!"

  The officer finally put his hanging heart back in his stomach, took a deep breath and cursed, "It's just a dog farting colonel, what's the big deal. If I hadn't burned incense at the wrong door, I would have already worn the lieutenant general's epaulets by now, who cares about you, a dog farting colonel!"

  Unclear about the grudges between the 25th and 27th Divisions, Zhang Songling couldn't intervene. After Officer Lao Gou vented his anger, he cautiously asked: "Sir, what's the old feud between the 25th Division and our 27th Division? Aren't they all brothers of the 29th Army? Why do people from the 25th Division...

  "Who told you that we belong to the 29th Army?" Officer Lao Gou immediately turned his head, looking at him with a gaze as if he was looking at an idiot. "You people from the Iron Blood Society are really interesting! First, there was that Xiao Er who came in and immediately knelt down on the ground, shouting loudly that he wanted to give gifts to Song Zheyuan. And then there's you, Mr. Accountant, wearing the uniform of our 26th Route Army's 27th Division, and still pretending to be from the 29th Army!"

  "Twenty-sixth Road Army?" Zhang Songling was completely stunned. He had been thinking carefully and had gone around in a big circle, just to try to find out from Lao Gou where he was at the moment, but he never expected to get such a result.

  It's completely over, and I may have nothing to do with the 29th Army. I couldn't possibly ask my lifesaver to resign and turn around to continue searching for the 29th Army! Although he had mentally prepared himself, Zhang Songling still felt extremely disappointed that he would ultimately miss the 29th Army.

  Just then, he heard the officer, Lao Gou, ask coldly: "How is it that our 26th Route Army doesn't enter your eyes? We are all National Revolutionary Army, you can't be more contemptuous than those sons of bitches in Nanjing!"

  "No, I didn't mean that!" Zhang Songling gathered his confused thoughts and awkwardly waved his hand. "I originally only heard that the 29th Army fought against the devils fiercely. Didn't, didn't really hear much about the 26th Route Army!"

  "Our 26th Route Army has never been inferior to their 29th Army!" Officer Lao Gou emphasized loudly, as if he had suffered a great insult. "From the start of the war until now, the position of their 29th Army has been pierced by the Japanese like a sieve, but our 26th Route Army's position has never allowed a single little devil to set foot on it!"

  Note 1: After the July 7th Incident, the 26th Route Army, which was ordered to support Beiping, advanced to Liangxiang under the leadership of Sun Lianzhong and confronted the Japanese army. Although it had achieved some victories, it later had to retreat to Matou Town and Liuli River due to the withdrawal of friendly forces on both flanks.