"I don't know who gave me this piece of paper, I looked at the other people and none of them noticed me."
I looked at Pei Qing again. He was cleaning his gun. After the sacrifice of the little soldier, Pei Qing carried the gun on his back. I didn't pay attention at first, but now it suddenly feels a bit dazzling.
"This matter quickly became a little stale. During that time, the country was facing great difficulties, with three years of natural disasters starting in the first year. The Nationalist Party was loudly calling for a counterattack on the mainland. I suspect that the reason for such strict secrecy measures this time was largely due to this."
However, the shouting is also a two-way street. In those years, the Kuomintang's secret agents became a sensitive term on the mainland. Now it sounds a bit like a plot from a second-rate spy TV drama, but at that time, capturing American Chiang Kai-shek's spies was not a new thing. The State Security Bureau captured them, as did the People's Militia and communes. There were always people shouting and arresting American Chiang Kai-shek's spies. Wang Sichuan later summed it up well: It sounds good to say that the concept of national security has penetrated into people's hearts, but to put it bluntly, in 1962, the country was engaged in class struggle, cultural entertainment was monotonous, and there were no more dances. The only entertainment was catching a couple of American Chiang Kai-shek's spies.
"So we were sensitive at that time, and this sensitivity was a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it is true that the Kuomintang carried out spy activities in China in a very chaotic manner. On the other hand, it also caused many unjust cases, some of which were completely caused by trivial matters, and the reasons were frighteningly absurd."
After seeing that note, my first thought was that someone had become sensitive here. At that time, there were many people like this, all conspiracy theorists, always overthinking things. Perhaps they believed that Pei Qing was a spy and that the little soldier didn't fall, but was pushed down by Pei Qing?
I wonder who put this note there. Looking at Wang Sichuan and the soldiers, they don't seem like the type to do this. It must be Chen Luohu, who is already frightened and shriveling up. After the incident, he didn't say a word. I think it's because he previously said he wanted to continue forward, which led Pei Qing to explore, and ultimately led to the incident. He's afraid that we will implicate him, so he's just staying quiet at the back.
"I don't care. I know Pei Qing's background. We are both alumni, and I am one year senior to him. We are from the same department at China University of Geosciences. It's impossible for him to be a spy. At that time, I subjectively felt that Chen Luohu was not good enough and I had already begun to despise him. So I threw the note into the fire and began smoking."
"This was a small episode that I soon forgot. We continued on our journey and walked another kilometer that evening. There were no more body bags here. Because we hadn't slept well the day before, we fell asleep without having dinner, and it wasn't even 5pm yet."
"After waking up, it was only ten o'clock at night. I had just fallen asleep and now I couldn't sleep anymore. I saw a warrior still on guard duty, I felt very embarrassed, and asked him to rest, but he refused."
"I don't force it either. I have also been a regular soldier before and I understand their mentality. At that time, I was starving, so I cooked my own food. The smell was so delicious that even Wang Sichuan, who hadn't eaten, woke up coughing one by one."
Several people gathered to eat their army rations. They ran a whole day without eating and slept on an empty stomach. Their stomachs were very hungry. They cooked a pot of food, but it was not enough. Later, they cooked another half pot.
Luckily, the estimate for the exploration time was correct. We have enough food reserves to last for a week, and we don't think we will have to stay down here for that long. Although the compressed dried food contains dehydrated vegetable powder, it's not good for the body if consumed in large amounts. The limited supply of compressed vegetables also has a unique and unpleasant taste.
"After eating, we felt better. Smoking a cigarette after a meal made us feel as happy as immortals. We asked the soldier to rest, but he refused. Wang Sichuan had to offer him a cigarette, which he accepted."
We suffered from backache and waist pain, while pounding and pondering about tomorrow. We have no idea what lies ahead on this path. If it continues like this, we might as well abandon the raft here. Otherwise, based on today's progress, we are better off turning back lest we run out of supplies later.
Pei Qing suggests sending someone ahead to explore the route first. The rest should stay and rest here for a day. The explorers can go quite far in 6-7 hours, and with one trip, they will know what the situation is.
"I still feel uneasy after yesterday's incident. I don't trust any suggestion to split up, but Wang Sichuan agrees with Pei Qing's viewpoint. The main issue is that we're moving too slowly and our fuel and flashlight batteries won't last. Without these things, we're as good as dead in this dark place. However, having someone scout ahead would be beneficial as they can familiarize themselves with the route beforehand. This way, we can reduce the intensity of our lighting and save a lot of energy while moving forward."
"If we are afraid of danger, we can send half of the people to explore ahead, be prepared for emergencies. Yesterday's accident was mainly due to recklessness, but with him there, he will remind others."
Pei Qing looked at Wang Sichuan coldly after hearing what he said, as Wang Sichuan was obviously passing on a message to him and wanted to pick a fight. I quickly intervened and stopped them from saying any more.
"Wang Sichuan is a good person, but he has a strong sense of justice. I think if something has already happened, it must be accepted. Blaming someone for it is actually avoiding reality. I believe that Pei Qing himself is also feeling very uncomfortable, and even if Pei Qing tried to stop the little soldier and chose to go down himself, you cannot say that such a tragedy would not happen. Even if Pei Qing had rock climbing experience, he might still have missed the barbed wire and fallen like the little soldier. However, Wang Sichuan doesn't want to listen to this."
"Just when the atmosphere was tense, there was a sudden "clang" sound that startled us."
Inside the cave, the high-frequency sound of this metal striking sounds particularly loud and unbearable.
Looking back, I saw that the metal basin that Chen Lu Hu was eating out of had fallen onto the rocks, spilling its contents all over the ground. At the same time, he looked past us and his whole body started shaking.
"Wang Sichuan looked puzzled and asked what he was doing. At this moment, the soldier who was standing guard behind Chen Luohu also turned around. As soon as he turned around, his face changed and he quickly pulled the gun's bolt, stuttering and shouting, "Deputy Squad Leader!"
We immediately realized that something was wrong, and all turned our heads in the direction pointed out by Chen Luohu. In an instant, I broke out in a cold sweat.
We saw a person suddenly appear on a rock opposite us, who was staring straight at us with a hooked gaze.