A puddle of people sit on the road in the center of the alley, completely blocking traffic. Using the word "puddle" to describe is because most of them don't sit properly. Their anger usually starts and ends with drool. With a strong Hunan accent, Bula is the largest puddle of saliva. When he is slippery, he also appears angry, and when he is angry, he always has pure cunning. He is confused but always carries a pure anger. He also has a kind of primitive vitality from the countryside. With this, although he is just a Private first class, he often takes advantages in a group of resigned old soldiers.
"If you're hungry, you're going to shout to us. Who are we going to shout to when we're hungry? My Lord?" The guy makes a solemn gesture of disdain slowly towards the sky above the alley. "Bullshit. He can't hear. If he can hear it, I'll be killed by lightning just now." He reveals his mystery, "Shout to someone who can hear."
I am blocked, so I feel it is necessary to intervene, "Bula?"
Bula turns around and watches as I run my fingers under my neck. This gesture reminds him more than a warning, causing the group of people to become silent. However, in the silence, a low moan from my belly betrays all the reminders and warnings.
Bula finds his cunning, he starts to snicker, "Even your excellency don't have! It's no use shouting to officers! Shout to someone who has things! Shout to the county magistrate!"
"Whatever." I snort as I lower my head and squeeze through the crowd. Kang Ya is asking for a needle and thread from Bula behind me.
"Do you have any needles or thread?"
Bula pulled out a hair for him.
Kang Ya and I enter our territory, a relatively open courtyard, a large and even the largest open space in this shabby alley, where the number of people clustered and exhibited wounds was far less than the number of people outside, because idleness and anger need a minimum audience. Most of the wandering ghosts here have nothing to do with me directly, but only the vet Hao, Bean, Yaoma, and Shepigu gathered next to a pile of waste and garbage. Kang Ya and I should have walked straight to them, but Dragon in the courtyard entrance is an existence that junior officers like Kang Ya and I have to face.
Dragon comes from the side of Changbai Mountain and Amur River, Private first class. He has a bamboo lounge chair, he guards the warehouse behind him and a sign that says "No debt to anyone, No credit given" by the way. He is gambling with his trusted follower, Yangdanzi, on a small stool by the recliner. The bet is very funny, whoever loses will be kicked in the butt by the other one. Dragon almost takes advantage of all, with seven out of ten he wins, and even if Yangdanzi wins, he only dare to give Dragon a gentle blow, while Dragon doesn't really like to save his own strength. It can't be seen from his appearance that Dragon is just a Private first class, because he wears a field officer's uniform that doesn't fit well, and he tore off the sleeves for the sake of coolness. His lower body is a pair of light silk pants, with the naked and solid muscles. He looks like a bandit upstart who has just done a big score. When he wins comfortably, he fans himself and eats a slice of watermelon that was already cut for him by Yangdanzi. Second Lieutenant Li Wula next to him timidly wants to speak, but Dragon always stabs him back with a flawless elbow.
For me, who is also an officer, this scene is infuriating, but obviously there are more things worth paying attention to, so I drag my legs and limp straight towards my group of people.
Heaven has famine, we have education. I have received education. It's not just bragging, Bula can only get a bullet with his shouting. People like us who have education and military discipline have set up a foraging team. A group of people foraging is better than one person foraging, and in the other hand, a group of people starving is always better than one person starving. The Japanese army scattered us, but food brought us back together. I am the deputy leader of this team, and they are my team members.
Vet Hao is examining a piece of ulceration on Shepigu's arm. He is observing, asking, touching Shepigu's heart and tongue, subjectively and objectively treating him recklessly. It can be said that he has exhausted all diagnostic and treatment methods that can be used without medical instruments, but there is no treatment methods at all. The old man is fifty-six years old, or rather, only fifty-six years old, and he is unkindly referred to as "the old man" and "undead bastard". He is the only doctor among us. No one knows if he's a medical officer or a medical soldier. When he was a civilian, he rushed to the battlefield to help the wounded soldiers, and then was trapped by the wounded soldiers into the tide of the routed army, wore a military uniform, and became a military doctor. His medical skills are very strange, with one-third of them being traditional Chinese medicine, one-third being Western medicine, and one-third being cure through prolonged illness. He has never cured anyone, so we call him a vet.
Shepigu and the two waiting patients next to him are just passing the time better than nothing. Their wish for treatment is truly devout, but they truly do not believe the doctor in front of them.
Shepigu holds a kitchen knife on his waist. He has a rope hanging around his neck, with snake teeth strung around it. The owner of the teeth had already entered his stomach, and this thing was kept by him as an exorcism. So he got his nickname "snakebutt". There are only three things that Cantonese Shepigu is known to people: first, he fought the Battle of Shanghai, a veteran; second, He has eaten up all the snakes that can be found nearby; third, He puts the kitchen knife on his waist because he loves to cook, because it would be stolen if left elsewhere, because when there is no food to cook, the kitchen knife can be used for self-defense.
Bean stares and is surrounded by several people. He is working as an experimental mouse. He picks some from the handful of grass in Yaoma's hand and chews them one by one. Never think he is bored. He really hopes it will satisfy his hunger, but from his expression, he also suspects that people could treat it as food. This is a nineteen year old man from Henan. Five years ago, he went to the field to harvest wheat and then was conscripted as a guard by a certain company commander. He started his first hike in his life and has not been able to end it yet. Wherever he goes is a place he has never been before.
Yaoma is observing, and his expression changes as the expression of the Bean changes. Although he still insists on giving encouragement to Bean, if it aren't for the two bystanders holding an "it's not for me to eat anyway" mentality and still adding new herbaceous plants to his hands, Bean may have interrupted this research long ago. Sichuan soldier Yaoma and Hunan soldier Bula. They are kowtowing cronies, but Yaoma is far more cautious than his brother Bula. Therefore, Bula is shouting outside, but he tastes grass here. So it is not he who eats it, but Bean. So he is a Corporal but Bula is a Private first class.
Kang Ya starts another round of asking behind my ass, "Got a light?"
He is asking vet Hao, who takes out a cloth bag with dry matches and other items neatly placed inside. Kang Ya gets his light, holds the cigarette butt in the mouth, and begins to grope for the button he had pulled from my clothes. Kang Ya is the real name of this Shanxi guy, and we love it because it's even uglier than a nickname. The fortune teller said that if he were named after a man instead of a woman, he would not live to be thirty years old, but after changing his name, Kang Ya firmly believed that he would not live to be twenty-five years old. He is twenty-five years old this year. He gets the right person this time. Vet Hao can't cure people, but he is always collecting things that others may need.
Kang Ya persists in his endless life at the age of 25, "any needles or thread?"
Vet Hao collects one bag and opens another. This bag is full of needles and threads, and the old man even carefully divided it into several models and colors. Kang Ya belongs to the kind of people who doesn't get angry without getting things, and doesn't express gratitude if he gets it. I pull him apart and plan to sit between vet Hao and Shepigu.
Dragon is shouting over there: "Fuck you!"
A small incident occurs on his side: Dragon finally becomes impatient with Li Wula's dallying and turns around with a fierce scolding. He wraps his elbow around Li Wula's neck and punches him twice on the back of the head, not forgetting to assign the next task to Yangdanzi:
"What the hell is that? A fly? — stop playing, you go and move the goods"
Yangdanzi leaves without saying anything, the control of the Dragon over him is both fist and material. Dragon lets go of his hand, and Li Wula lays straight down. Dragon returns to his recliner, and Li Wula hobbles out, holding the wall.
This is not a big deal. I continue to sit upright while vet Hao helps Kang Ya find the needle and thread he needs.
We try our best not to look at Dragon, but we can't help but look at him. There is a long-standing feud between northeastern man Dragon and northeastern man Li Wula. It is said that Li Wula abused Private first class Dragon when he was platoon leader, and then later buried the entire northeastern platoon in the hands of the Japanese. Now, compared to the past, Dragon is a powerful minister, the leader of the black market, a gambler, and a bully here. He has fists and cans, as well as clothes and food that are not on credit. Junior officers and field officers are eager to restore dignity, but if he says that the officer's uniform can be changed into cans, we will become naked in no minutes, and then we have to avoid discussing about dignity. Fine, anyway, when Dragon no longer exists and we're sure he won't get up and beat anyone again, we no longer care about him. Anyway, we don't have anything to exchange with him.
Kang Ya has already taken off his clothes and is naked, but he doesn't even have the ability to thread a needle. He begins to plead with me, "Could you help me sew?"
"Only sew your mouth."
But someone will help him sew it. Vet Hao takes the clothes over and skillfully put on the needle to start sewing the button.
"What are we gonna eat today?" I ask the most reliable person among us. Vet Hao raises his eyes from needlework. Bean is still there, trying hard to eat hundreds of herbs. He is almost a machine that could take orders from anyone.
"You are the deputy team leader. How could I know if you don't know?" Then the old man couldn't bear it anymore and begins to show his nonexistent authority: "Stop playing with Bean! How could humans eat what cattle eat?"
Yaoma laughs: "just have a try. He is just fine, isn't he?"
Bean keeps nodding, "I am fine, I am fine."
But finally, Yaoma slaps Bean on the back and lets him spit out the already chewed herbal fibers.
I don't care about these things. Although I'm looking around, I actually don't care about anything. I only care about how we can have food while I don't need to take on too much responsibility as the deputy team leader. "Where is the team leader? Ask the team leader what to eat" I say.
Shepigu points to a corner that is difficult to see from my perspective, "Well, that useless person wants to cook wood soup for us to eat."
I turn my head and see our team leader Yi, watering a flower he had raised in that corner. In such a situation, watering a flower so subtly is almost sick, but Yi is doing it. Yi, the cleanest one among us in military uniform, if I am a lackluster, he is simply autistic. He waters the flower and even looks at a butterfly which is out of place with its gray wings like him, as if that is his entire world. Sorrow does not make people sympathize with him, because his sadness makes people feel depressed — he seems out of place in this world, which does not mean he is a simple sissy, but a more deadly devotion which can never be devoted, but always flies like a moth to the fire. Major Yi, from the beautiful land of south bank of Yangtze River, is a member of the Youth League of Three Principles of the People and a member of a certain officer special training corps. Don't be overwhelmed by these titles. He's the only field officer here, that's true, but he's also the only green hand here who hasn't even been on the battlefield. Hearing the distant gunfire, he retreated all the way from his hometown to this place. Now that what he believes in and adheres to has been shattered, he is trying to use his non-existent abilities and personal charm to rebuild our faith.
This is all that's left for me after the great collapse.
Kang Ya's question ends my eye searching, "Anything to eat?"
A broken military vehicle drags past the shelter with mud and water, and the electric horn broadcasts a morale boosting reading. Chanda is becoming a chaotic militarized town due to being filled with too many routed troops.
"…The 33rd Division of the Japanese army used a strategy of circuitous and interweaving, using two companies of troops to capture the northern part of the Pinqiang River. However, our expeditionary army engaged in a bloody battle with fewer soldiers and bravely fought, rescuing more than 7000 English troops of the allied forces and more than 500 journalists and priests…"
What it is talking about is the Battle of Yenangyaung in April 1942, a rare victory in the First Battle of the Yunnan–Burma Road. But what is the relationship with the abandoned soldiers in the shelters like us?
Yi finally begins to fulfill his duties as a team leader. He quickly writes on a wooden board, but blocks the writing with his body. Even after he finishes writing, we can't see it because he has placed the board upside down.
We seem to have a small meeting but watch. We are very impatient, and most of our faces have an expression of "I really give you face", which makes Yi nervous. His throat wriggles, his eyes are a bit lax, and he looks at me for help, while I look at my nose.
Never trust and completely give up enthusiasm are foxholes dug by people like me for the purpose of extending their lives. However, Yi never fights a war, and he can only put himself into the shooting circle. He is always nervous. Life did not give him good stuffs. He closes his eyes and says that there is a bright future. Therefore, his fate is very clear, that is, he will always face our denial.
In the face of denial, Yi almost lacks the ability to control the pitch of his voice, often making a uncontrollable sharp sound in his falsetto. He uses the piece of white ash he writes on that board while speaking to make meaningless scratches on the ground, even he himself is destroying his own confidence.
"Our army is about to achieve a great victory! This is for certain! — my friend up there told me…"
Kang Ya scratches and snorts, "Who has friend up there?"
Shepigu happily resumes the conversation, "Up there, up. In the heaven. Dead."
Yawning comes from Yaoma, his throat is almost visible, and such an exaggerated yawn is never meant to indicate drowsiness.
It is undeniable that Yi is very strong sometimes, "... the Chinese iron army, the allies of the United States, the allies of the English…"
Shepigu begins performing a pantomime, catching a non-existent fly hovering over the head of Bean, and causing Bean to let out a scream when Shepigu strikes. Vet Hao pulls Shepigu to sit down, not for Yi, but because Shepigu hits too hard.
Yaoma warns Shepigu: "Don't bully him."
Shepigu fights back, but he is a bit worried because when he comes to getting into trouble with Yaoma, he usually gets into trouble with Yaoma and Bula who is not present now. Shepigu says: "So you're the only one allowed to bully him?"
Yi still persists "... the iron flow... merged into this iron flow... this iron flow... I'm sure this iron flow..." He is completely disorganized, and the biggest blow comes from the roar of Dragon from the courtyard, "Piece of shit! Did you fight in it?"
Dragon is still closing his eyes to take a chill, and you can't believe it was him who shouted just by looking at him; Kang Ya casually tries on clothes which finally has a button, even though the button nails to his chest keeps his hem open and his military uniform is worn as a short cloak. Yi is angry and ashamed, but he can't offend Dragon due to the obvious situation. I play with my fingers fiercely, feeling that it has nothing to do with me, until vet Hao gently pushes me. He complains, "You are the deputy team leader."
That's true. I play with my fingers and seem to speak to myself, "Can't you just tell me what to eat?"
Yi is suddenly conscious, using an overly violent motion to lift the wooden card behind him and lay it upright, then facing a group of stunned people. He looks like a hero now.
On the wooden board, it is written with exquisite calligraphy: Stewed Pork with Cabbage and Rice Noodles.
Literate people, such as me and vet Hao, are already suffocating.
Half literate people, such as Kang Ya, are struggling to understand words one by one.
People who cannot read, such as Yaoma,Bean and Shepigu, have not responded yet. They do not have the physiological reaction of being hit at the stomach cavity directly from the brain and then rolling it back into the mouth, causing their mouth to produce saliva and their throat to twitch.
Kang Ya only picks the words he recognizes and recites, "Cabbage — Pork — Rice"
Yi begins to expand his attack, and uses his white ash to draw a line under each element, "Stewed Pork with Cabbage and Rice Noodles! We eat this today! Stewed Pork with Cabbage and Rice Noodles!"
We are stunned, we are truly stunned, we are hit by the guy who has always been the least persuasive.