Chapter 4 adjutant

He was alone in the room at the time. In a large office, against the inner wall, there is a rectangular desk covered with a white linoleum with square patterns and flowers. Besides the "Four Treasures of the Study", there is also a big clock on the desk.There are some charts and notebooks hanging on the two walls.Next to a red picture, there is also a coat hook, on which is a military cap with a gold trim and a silver trim. It was his turn to be on duty today, and he was leaning against the table, facing the lower part of the big clock, taking advantage of the reflection of the glass on the clock, using two double copper coins to skillfully pull off the beard on his mouth.This is something to do when you are bored. In fact, the adjutant is only in his twenties, and his beard is very thin even if he has one.

He raised his head slightly, saw the white magnetic face of the clock, saw the twelve Roman characters, and saw two sharp and thin needles, one long and one short.At this time, the tips of the two needles are closing together and pointing upwards.Knowing that the time has come, he threw the money on the table and walked out of the office. "Trumpet, bugle, blow the trumpet!" The buglers were probably having fun, and the officer on duty standing on the threshold was so angry that he was about to scold his mother, only to hear the second hall—"Da da la, da da la, daddy da la!...for a while The sound of the trumpet was brisk and rapid. At the end of the first part of the second beat, the sound of "tong" in front of the Yamen was heard again, and the noon cannon was fired.

He hurried back to the desk, snatched the roster in his hands, and took advantage of the reflection of the glass of the big clock to take a look at his appearance. He saw that the hat was straight, the epaulettes were not crooked, everything was in order, and he was ready. Stumbled out of the office. At this time, the guards heard the sound of the trumpets and gathered in the Dapingba under the second hall. After going through the goggles, they weaved them tall in front and short in the back to form a belt, and stood in pairs in the courtyard.The guards wore new military uniforms of gray thread cloth, with a belt around their waists.On the red silk collar badges between the chins of each person, there are two gold characters nailed, "General" on the left and "Guard" on the right.The gold on the collar, the gold on the hat flower, the gold on the shoulders, and the brass buttons on the chest all glisten dazzlingly in the sun.

When the goggle saw the adjutant come out, he uttered a slogan, and one by one immediately straightened up. After yelling "rest", it seems that there are a few new ones, and the waist and shoulders are involuntarily bent, but most of them are as straight as a pen.The guard walked into the team, slapped a guard who was wiping his eyes with his hands and was still awake, and lightly pecked the little guard whose collar was not buttoned up, and walked past the adjutant boldly. "Reporting to the adjutant, there are forty-six in total. Two are on sick leave, seven are out shopping, and the actual number is thirty-seven—it's over."

After the goggle reported, before stepping back, Huo De raised his hand again and gave a military salute.But the adjutant frowned and only nodded slightly.This seems to be an excellent opportunity for the adjutant to take revenge; because usually when the adjutant returns to work and comes to the chief seat, the chief seat does not even look straight at him! Then the adjutant opened the register, and with a short pencil, licked the names on the corner of his mouth. The adjutant yelled softly, and when he reached someone, he stood upright again, took a deep breath and yelled "Here!"

"Zhou Tianyuan," the adjutant called out "Zhou Tianyuan" again with a little more force when there was no answer. Long time no see answer. "What! Didn't you just say that seven people bought two sick leave?" The goggles blushed when they saw the pair of eyebrows that were almost furrowed together. "Report to the adjutant, and the secretary-general called him to see off the official business." At this time, the goggles drooped with both hands, looking straight at the eyes, like a soldier who was punished to stand at attention during exercises.

"What are the goggles used for?" The adjutant looked up at the sky.A flock of white screeching pigeons flew past whistling, and he remembered the incident of blowing the horn at the right time. "Call the trumpeter to see which two buglers are on duty today, and call him!" "Yes, yes." The goggles went. After finishing the roll call, the adjutant returned to his desk, stuck his buttocks behind the glowing chair, looked at the clock on the desk, the long hand had moved past the letter V, and was about to reach the position of VI. "Report," the voice came from outside.

"Come in!" Following the adjutant's word "come in", three people entered the office, and one of the three was an eye protector.The faces of the three people were all flushed. The adjutant clearly saw the three people standing at the table, but deliberately wrote his duty diary as if nothing had happened. He raised his head, "Oh! Are you two on duty today?" "Yes," the two agreed at the same time, their voices were very low, "why doesn't the noon horn sound at twelve o'clock?" "The clock in the shed is slow," said the timid voice, almost crying.

"It's slow, it's too late to get it right every day? Tell your mother a lie! I don't know where I went to take a nap again. I even neglected my duties!" The adjutant looked at the clock again, and saw that the long needle was standing upside down , "Go outside for me when the sun goes down, stand for thirty minutes, and leave only when the sound is louder!" The two young buglers went out, leaving only one goggle. "It's not unreasonable for you to discipline those guards of yours who don't know a little bit of etiquette when you go out, and are more airy than the master! How many shoes are rolled up, the epaulets are only on one side, and the buttons are not buttoned, like What a look! Others will say, 'Hey, this is the deputy of the headquarters!' Do you think it is ugly?... You should also be a little bit worse, beating or scolding, if one day comes It's late, but seeing them laughing and joking, I'm afraid—"I'm afraid of what?Because the adjutant couldn't think of an appropriate word for a while, he stopped talking.

After learning the lesson, the goggles stood upright and walked out step by step.There was nothing left to record in the diary, and the adjutant on duty, who had nothing to mess with, had no choice but to pick up the two copper coins on the table, turned his head away, and continued to tug at his beard against the reflection on the clock. Written in Xishan, Beijing, September 28, 1925