Chapter 2 Reporting. 2

It was already late when I got home yesterday; the two elders were sympathetic to their son, saying that he had a hard journey, and they urged him to go to bed after a few homely conversations.But the two old people themselves were very excited, as if they had picked up a night pearl, fearing that before dawn, they went to tell the neighbors all night.The old man also walked for a mile in the dark, found some old friends who were usually in the teahouse, and solemnly poured out the joy in his heart.He inquired again: "How big is the official rank of the captain of the document?" The old man had a calculation in his heart: in order to celebrate his son's return, he should sell a load of grain and set up two tables of wine for a dinner. He wanted to find out how old his son's official rank was. , and then find a suitable companion.

Last night, news of Zhang Wen'an's return spread throughout the village, so shortly after Zhang Wen'an got up today, before the blood-red rising sun on the eastern mountain peak cleared away the morning fog, visiting people crowded the Zhang family's house. main room. They rushed to throw a lot of questions in front of Zhang Wen'an, which made this experienced young man at a loss, not knowing who to answer!He could only answer in a general way: "Okay, okay, everything is good, everything in front is good! You played well! Any food? Of course, it's the front, but it's also good!" Although he said so , but felt sorry in his heart, because he couldn't be more specific.He felt that those dissatisfied eyes shot from all directions and stared at his face, all of which seemed to mean: everything is fine, we are all used to hearing it, but you are from the village, your own family, you can't say more Is it a little?

Zhang Wen'an looked at the crowd in bewilderment, and stretched out his hand to tug on the hem of his gray uniform.The scene of the court-martial hearing that he saw when he was in the division headquarters suddenly came to his mind. He felt that in the situation before him, a mere clerk captain was being judged in front of a large group of people. He had to deal with it. He is responsible for every word he says, and he understands that every word he says has a lot to do with it.When he thought this way, he made up his mind, and said in a very confident tone: "Suffering is a bit bitter, but in order to defeat the Japanese devils, shouldn't it be a little bit bitterer?" He paused, he really wanted to put his usual He took out a few words from the familiar lecture, but finally he just smiled coyly and ended it unnaturally.

Then, Zhang Wen'an's father and several elderly villagers talked about this ever-changing "morality" in a tone full of admiration.The other young people asked Zhang Wen'an for news about a few fellow villagers who were also fighting devils ahead. "I don't know." He thought for a while, then slowly shook his head and said.But I am afraid that the other party misunderstood again, so he quickly continued to explain: "I really don't know. Think about how big the ground ahead is? Thousands of miles! Just talk about the front, do you know which theater they are in? Even if they are in the same theater, the troops There are so many, how do you know which unit he is in? Even if they are in the same unit, tens of thousands of people, if it is not a coincidence, they will not know.”

"Oh, I guessed that you didn't know any of them!" Someone made a sarcasm like that.Zhang Wen'an became anxious. He couldn't be wronged for nothing. He was about to defend himself again, but a more mature person interrupted: "Forget it, forget it: let's ask someone, if you don't know, then you Even if it is a black patent leather lantern. This person has been out for more than four years, and he has traveled a lot. He has been to Changsha Mansion, Hubei Province, and Jiangxi. With four pack horses, and a chap: this man, you must know." "Yes, yes, there is no news for about two years, and his son is asking everywhere."

The other young people echoed. "You told him his name after all!" Zhang Wen'an said nervously, like a middle school student who is about to take an exam and can't guess what kind of questions the teacher will give him to make things difficult for him. But people don't understand his mood.One of them flattened his lips at his companions, taunting Zhang Wen'an half-truthfully and said, "That's right, you have to have a name, so you can look it up." "Name?" The other called impatiently, "Why not? He It's Chen Haiqing who feeds the pack horses in the village on the other side of the mountain!"

"Chen Hai—Qing! Oh!" Zhang Wen'an repeated the words like an echo.He remembered that before he went to the front, the village had used this Chen Haiqing as a conversation material, so that he left his mother and wife, took his four pack horses to serve in the rear, and was assigned to transport Chen Hai-Qing, he didn’t know this person, but the brute force associated with the name chased him like a shadow until he made up his mind run to the front.His eyes lit up, and when he looked at the fellow villagers in front of him, he repeated, "Chen——Haiqing! Why don't you know!" But he shrank abruptly, feeling bewildered again.After arriving at the front, what happened to Chen Haiqing?In fact, he had to ask these fellow villagers upside down.In the tense life ahead, even this name had faded from his memory, but out of a self-esteem that couldn't bear the ridicule, and because he didn't want to let others down forever, he reluctantly said, against his conscience:

"Chen—what—he's doing well!" As soon as the words came out of his mouth, he shivered.He listened to his own voice, how hollow it was.Fortunately, those few ignored it.The first person who asked him sighed and continued: "Oh, it's been a good time. But his pack horses are all gone. In the letter his son received the year before last, two of them were blown to pieces by the devil's plane, and one of them ate shells. , it’s over, and the remaining one fell ill and died. Now, should Chen Haiqing be able to come back? But no! His strength was strengthened by this blow, and he wanted to avenge his draft horse. If you don’t send the devil out of China, he says he won’t go home!—Oh, you said, he’s doing well, that’s good news, his family hasn’t heard from him for two years.”

"It turned out to be—" Zhang Wen'an said in confusion, but he felt everyone's eyes on him, so he opened his eyes as if in shock, and hurriedly changed his words, "It turns out that I haven't believed it for two years. It doesn't matter,... Chen Haiqing is a brave and tough man, a brave man will not die. He is a good man, cannonballs have eyes, and if you don’t hit a good man!” The more he talked, the more excited he became, and he couldn’t quite figure out whether it was his assumption or the truth. It's true, but his excited mood made him do this: "I think he should be a senior soldier, maybe promoted to platoon leader. Chen Hai-Qing, he is the glory of our village!"

"That - God still has eyes!" Everyone said in admiration. "Who said there are no eyes!" Zhang Wen'an was pushed to the point of forgetting himself by his enthusiasm.He was flushed with tears. "Or, the aggressive imperialism has already dominated the world." He solemnly stretched out an arm, "I tell you: there are many good people and few bad people in the world. The good people I saw in front of me are so good, too good." There are so many, it seems that all the good people in China are ahead. Although the bad guy is showing off his power today, he will not escape retribution. He himself escaped, and his son must not escape. His son escaped, and his son's son must receive retribution .”

Zhang Wen'an seemed to have exhausted all his energy in these few words. He slowly wiped the sweat from his brow, smiled bemusedly, and stopped speaking.