Chapter 4 The Flag Flutters (Six Middle)

  Zhang Songling had never seen such bright eyes on a man's face. If it weren't for the ancient bronze skin and that scarlet knife scar ruining the overall aesthetic, he even suspected that this little stone in front of him was a substitute for his father, Hua Mulan, who had cut off her hair to confuse people's senses.

  Luckily, he only moved his gaze down a few inches and found the other person's Adam's apple. He chuckled and explained in a low voice: "Do I need to deceive you about such things? Our family's small grocery store mainly serves ordinary people. If we can sell something that can quench thirst, it's already good enough. Who cares whether it's tea leaves or not? As for tea bricks, they're made from coarse tea stalks and are specifically sold to traveling merchants who are about to leave the pass. Local people don't drink them at all! The weather is cold outside the pass, and no tea trees grow there. Mongolians eat a lot of meat, and if they don't have tea to wash away the grease in their stomachs, they'll easily go blind!"

  This business jargon is definitely confusing to outsiders. Shi Liangcai was soon confused, rubbed his own shiny bald head and laughed: "I used to hear people talk about brick tea, brick tea, and thought it was some high-end goods! It turns out that it can't be sold in the mainland, and it's specially produced to cheat Mongolians! That's really not as good as drinking my jujube leaf tea, at least it doesn't cheat you with a stick!"

  "It's not just about the tea buds, there's also the knowledge of old and new tea. Old tea requires a strong flavor, using parts close to the buds, which can withstand boiling better. New tea needs a fresh flavor, using tender shoots from before and after Qingming Festival, the taste, color, and shape of the leaves are all top-notch. Hehe, actually I don't fully understand it either, just heard it from others!" Zhang Songling tried his best to explain in detail, hoping to make friends with the other person.

  After chatting for a while, the initial unfamiliarity quickly dissipated. Officer Lao Gou chimed in on the lively conversation for a bit, then yawned and said listlessly: "I'm going to take a nap first. You guys keep chatting. Dammit, we had another half-night meeting yesterday evening, I'm dead tired!"

  "You go ahead and sleep, Zhang brother's matter is on me!" Shi Liangcai quickly stood up and sent the top head back to the room to rest.

  Zhang Songling also stood up and saw Lao Gou disappear behind the grass curtain in the east room. Before he could sit down, the grass curtain was lifted again, and Officer Lao Gou stuck out half of his head: "Shitou, you guys shouldn't just chat all day. If you have time, take Zhang brother out for a walk around the camp to get familiar with the situation. Also, help him pick up some eating utensils. Those bastards from the Second Division have our flank guarded like a sieve, and who knows how many Japanese devils have infiltrated us already. Maybe tomorrow we'll have to wipe their asses for them!

  "Alright! You can rest assured and go to sleep. I'll wake you up at dinner time!" Shi Liangcai replied loudly, pulling Zhang Songling's hand and leading him towards the west-side room. "These few rooms are borrowed from fellow villagers, only with earthen beds. They're quite hard, but the good thing is they're spacious enough. I've put your luggage on the east end of the bed, it's a bit shadier there, so it'll be cooler at night!"

  "Thanks, Uncle Shi!" Zhang Songling had a good impression of Shi Liangcai, nodded and smiled in gratitude.

  "We're all family brothers, what's with the politeness!" Shi Liangcai waved his hand and smiled in protest.

  Two people, one in front of the other, hand in hand, entered through the door. The first thing that caught their eyes was a spacious and spotless kang (a traditional Chinese bed). It was three meters long and two meters wide, covered with a sheet made of high-quality sorghum stalks, which shone brightly with a yellowish hue, looking extremely tidy. On either side of the clean kang were neatly stacked two sets of pale green bedding, both brand new, with the white thread still visible at the edges.

  On the west wall, about half a foot higher than the bedding, hung a wooden lattice bracket. It was very compact and could be adjusted in height and width at will. Inside the lattice were books, and on the outermost side, a wooden handle protruded, from which two shotguns were suspended.

  This was the most familiar thing to Zhang Songling, and he instinctively wanted to reach out and take it. Before he even got close to the fire kang, he heard Shi Liangcai whispering behind him: "Don't move, that's my gun, yours is on the east side!"

  "After shouting, I realized my attitude was too urgent, so I quickly smiled and changed my tone to explain: 'My gun is usually not insured, afraid you'll accidentally fire it. Yours is on the opposite side, and I've also made a small wooden frame for you, hung it on the wall!'"

  Zhang Songling turned around and saw his two shotguns on the wall to the east. They had just been wiped clean, with no dust on their surface. Shi Liangcai took off his own gun, cocked it, and handed it to Zhang Songling, "For convenience of drawing the gun, I cut off the buttstock with a saw. You'll definitely find it uncomfortable to use."

  Zhang Songling took the rifle from the opponent and looked at it, indeed there was no sight. He smiled and handed it back, saying in a low voice: "Even with a sight I couldn't hit the target, let alone without one. How did you practice your shooting, how can you still aim at the target without using a sight?"

  "Hey, practice makes perfect! Every day I shoot, slowly but surely I'll get the feel for it!" Shi Liangcai reholstered his gun with a smile and explained, "In our special forces unit, I'm not the only one who's sawed off the front sight. Our superiors and Ji Team Leader's custom pistols don't have front sights either. As for marksmanship, those two are way more accurate than me. Within 100 meters, it's basically point and shoot, raise your hand and you'll hit!"

  "Really!" This time, Zhang Songling's eyes sparkled with little stars, staring at Shi Liangcai, his face filled with incredulity.

  "We'll still be stirring the same pot with a spoon every day, why would I cheat you?!" Shi Liangcai smiled and asked back without modesty. "By the way, those two box guns of yours, I've checked them for you. One of them is an imitation from Shanghai, it's better not to use it again in the future. In case it jams at a critical moment, it's equivalent to selling your head to others!"

  "Uh-huh!" Zhang Songling nodded, gazing at his two boxy guns, a hint of reluctance in his eyes. Shi Liangcai guessed what he was thinking and chuckled, adding in a low voice: "Once we get to our special forces unit, you'll have no problem finding guns to use! Didn't our superior just tell me to take you to pick up your gear? Let's go now and get all three things back. You can familiarize yourself with them early on, so you won't be fumbling around on the battlefield!"

  "What are the three big things?" Zhang Songling was stunned again, looking at Shi Liangcai with a puzzled expression.

  "Didn't the officer tell you?" Shi Liangcai looked at him in surprise, then smiled and added, "I thought he had already told you. Our special operations team's eating utensils are three big items: one long and two short. The long one is a Han Yang rifle, which was just replaced with a German-made Type 24 rifle. As for the short ones, they're pistol holsters and dagger sheaths!"

  "What's with the big knife?" The more Zhang Songling listened, the more confused he became. In his memory, the big knife seemed to be a trademark of the 29th Army, and during the Great Wall War, the brothers of the 29th Army used this thing to chop down the Japanese devils, sending them tumbling over.

  "Of course, that's our Northwestern Army's life-saving ultimate technique!" Shi Liangcai puffed out his chest, full of pride. "Back then, our old commander followed General Feng..."

  Next, it's about the glorious history of the 26th Route Army. Zhang Songling had actually just heard it from Officer Lao Gou's mouth, but he was distracted at the time and only caught a few words. This time, Shi Liangcai gave him a refresher course, and he finally remembered that both the 26th Route Army and the 29th Army belonged to the same lineage as the Northwestern Army, and the Big Knife was a treasured possession of the army, with almost everyone able to wield it with ease.

  With nothing to do, Shi Liangcai pulled Zhang Songling's hand out the door, introducing him to the basic rules of the camp as they walked towards the military supply depot. After walking about a mile deeper into the camp, Zhang Songling realized that the Special Operations Brigade was not just a name. To say nothing of other things, just look at the brothers practicing shirtless on the training grounds on both sides of the road - each and every one of them had a strong build. If they were placed among civilians, it's likely that one could take down ten. If ten people formed a line and charged forward with big knives, it's likely that anyone in their way would be cut to pieces.

  "That's the brothers of the 2nd Battalion, 1st and 3rd Companies!" Seeing Zhang Songling's face full of reverence, Shi Liangcai smiled and explained beside him, "These two companies are famous for their expertise in night battles. And night battles mainly focus on close combat, so big knives are the most handy!"

  "What about our camp.....?" Zhang Songling nodded and asked in a casual tone.

  "Our company is the vanguard, the fist of our entire special operations group." Shi Liangcai smiled proudly and added, "The Big Blade Company isn't inferior to their Second Company. What we're best at is this..." He separated his thumb and index finger on his right hand, forming a gun shape, "We specialize in daytime water bowl shooting and nighttime smoke head shooting. You'll see it with your own eyes soon!"

  "Wow!" Zhang Songling was deeply impressed. He had touched the gun and knew how difficult it was to control. Let alone hitting a water bowl or cigarette, even if he were to tie a pig's head at 100 meters away and hit it with three shots, he would be thrilled to do flips.

  Thinking that his marksmanship might bring shame to the special agent team, he felt a little nervous. Just after passing by the playground, it was the shooting range. Thirty or so brothers wearing olive green summer uniforms were holding rifles and firing at targets 100 meters away in turns. Every time they fired six rounds of ammunition, they stopped shooting. Immediately afterwards, someone jumped out from the trench under the target, waving a red flag to count the score.

  "Target one, six tens!" "Target two, six tens!" "Target three, five tens and a nine!" "Target four, six..."

  Before the brother holding the red flag finished reporting the score, the brother who fired at target three had already lowered his head, handed over the rifle to his companion beside him, and ran a few steps away. He grabbed a stone dumbbell and lifted it up with a "one, two, three, four..."

  He had lifted the dumbbells twenty times, and was now panting heavily as he put them down and jogged back to his team. The brothers on the other side showed no sympathy for him, their faces still stern as they continued to fire at the newly replaced target paper, "Rat-a-tat-tat-tat..."

  "Target number one, six tens!" "Target number two, six tens!" "Target number three, six tens!" "Target number four, six..."

  The sound of gunfire rang out again, and Zhang Songling's heart felt a wave of dizziness. Shi Liangcai deliberately picked up the rifle and walked towards an empty target, shouting at the military officer supervising the training beside him: "Old Qian, lend me your gun for a try. This is our camp's new recruit, let him fire a few shots to get a feel for it!"

  "No borrowing, no borrowing! Absolutely cannot borrow!" The officer nicknamed Old Money shook his head like a wave drum, but at the same time took off the revolver from his waist and handed it over with one hand, "You little kid can stop showing off, okay? My brothers under me have just trained for less than two months, they can't take your blow!"

  "Fire!" Shi Liangcai grabbed the rifle and handed it to Zhang Songling, "Take it and shoot, don't save bullets for Old Qian. He's in charge of new recruits' training, he has plenty of bullets on hand!"

  Zhang Songling originally didn't want to lose face, but he couldn't resist the temptation of the azure steel luster on the rifle's muzzle. He tentatively took it over, aiming at a target 100 meters away, carefully taking aim. His hands shook violently, and the bullseye in his line of sight also shook violently.

  After all, he had worked hard before, and soon his hands were no longer shaking. Holding his breath, he pulled the trigger for the first time. "Bang!" The bullet flew out of the barrel, leaving a black dot in the upper center of the target. He smiled awkwardly and took aim again, pulling the trigger once more. "Bang!" The bullet flew out again, hitting below the bullseye and punching out a round hole. Zhang Songling took a deep breath and fired his third, fourth, and fifth shots. In the blink of an eye, he had finished the required six shots, but also hit a seven ring, a five ring, and two bullets that didn't even touch the target, disappearing who-knows-where.

  Shi Liangcai watched intently beside him, nodding and shaking his head as he looked. When Zhang Songling's gunfire finally stopped, he quickly stepped forward, reached out to wrap his hand around Zhang Songling's wrist, "You're a natural-born shooter! The gun barrel jumping up is a congenital defect, even gods can't fix it. You have to do this, keep your eyes fixed on the target, don't think about how to pull the trigger, feel it and immediately hook your finger..."

  As he spoke, he turned Zhang Songling's right hand over, palm down and back up, moving slowly from left to right, "Fire, fire, fire, fire..."

  "Bang, bang, bang, bang..." With the shooting command, bullet after bullet flew out and hit the target 100 meters away, cutting a straight line across its waist.

  "Switch hands!" Shi Liangcai ordered, his voice devoid of any human warmth. Zhang Songling mechanically obeyed the command, switching the pistol to his left hand, and with mechanical movements following the other's guidance, "Flip your wrist, palm down, back up. Use your arm movement to offset the gun's recoil, fire, fire, fire..."

  "Bang, bang, bang, bang..." Another burst of continuous gunfire, bullets flying out, left and right, hitting the target with holes all over.

  Note 1: For a long time, brick tea has been an important means for the grassland people to supplement vitamins. If they lose the supply of brick tea, they will suffer from various diseases due to vitamin deficiency. Therefore, there is a folk saying that "tea can scrape off grease".