Chapter 11

After the battalion commanders left, the room was left with Hu Hao, Colonel Zhang, and the political commissar. Colonel Zhang sat on a stool and looked at Hu Hao, saying, "Next time, don't go out without telling anyone. It's full of devils out there. You might get caught by them, and I don't want to be the one to clean up your mess."

"Um," Hu Hao obediently lowered his head in acknowledgment.

Colonel Zhang took out two packs of cigarettes and handed one to the political commissar. After opening his own pack and tossing one to the commissar, he took one for himself, found a match, and lit it. Hu Hao quickly took out a lighter, lit it, and offered it to Colonel Zhang. Colonel Zhang was taken aback for a moment, but after lighting his cigarette, Hu Hao continued to light one for the commissar.

"Tell me, how many things are you hiding? Hand them all over now, or you'll be in for a rough time if I find out later," Colonel Zhang said, puffing on his cigarette. "This cigarette is really good, better than the ones we roll."

"Bro, I'm not hiding anything. I've already given you everything," Hu Hao said.

"Bullshit, I don't believe you. You didn't hand over any silver dollars when you were looting," Colonel Zhang shouted.

"Bro, how did you know that!" Hu Hao asked.

Then, Hu Hao took out the devil's uniform, pulled out a large number of silver dollars and several gold rings from the pockets, and placed them on the table. There were about 40 silver dollars and over 10 gold rings.

"Good job, you really have some stuff," Colonel Zhang said, looking at the silver dollars and gold rings.

"That's all I have. You've taken everything. Leave me a couple, I need to buy cigarettes," Hu Hao said.

"Leave a couple? This time, I'll buy the cigarettes for you, but if you buy such good cigarettes again, I'll beat you with my belt," Colonel Zhang said, turning to the commissar. "With these silver dollars and gold, we can collect more grain from the peasants. We can get a lot more grain this autumn."

"Um, we can get a lot. I saw that these gold rings are worth about 200 silver dollars. With these silver dollars, we can get 50,000 pounds of grain, enough for the soldiers for a month," the commissar said, putting the silver dollars and gold rings away. After chatting for a while, he left.

Colonel Zhang looked at Hu Hao and said, "Don't go looting again. We'll have enough grain soon. Take care of yourself. It's chaotic now, and it's easy to die. If you want anything, just tell me, and I'll figure it out for you."

"Okay," Hu Hao responded. "By the way, bro, I have something good for you." Hu Hao seemed to remember something and lifted his shirt, revealing four gun holsters on his belt.

"What good stuff?" Colonel Zhang asked.

"They're guns, Browning pistols, for self-defense. I looted four, but I only have about 80 rounds of ammunition. I'll give you one. You can carry it for self-defense; it's easy to hide," Hu Hao said.

"Browning!" Colonel Zhang took the gun holster from Hu Hao, opened it, and saw that it was indeed a Browning.

"Bro, this is a good gun. I've seen the commander at headquarters with one. Alright, I'll take it." Colonel Zhang opened the magazine, saw it was full of bullets, loaded it, and put the gun in his belt.

Hu Hao gave him 10 rounds of ammunition. "Bro, here, keep it close. You never know when you might need it."

"Um," Colonel Zhang took it, unsure where to put it, so he emptied the cigarette pack Hu Hao had given him, put the bullets in the empty pack, and put it in his pocket.

"Anything else good?"

"I have a lighter, an American one, worth about 10 silver dollars. I'll give you one and keep one for myself. If it runs out of fuel, just pour some kerosene in. You don't need matches, and it works in the rain," Hu Hao took out a lighter and gave it to Colonel Zhang.

"Is this worth 10 silver dollars?" Colonel Zhang took the lighter and examined it.

"Um, try it out. It's very convenient. Next time, I'll check if there are flints in the city," Hu Hao said.

Colonel Zhang opened the lighter, pressed the wheel, and it worked well.

"Alright, this is good. It works in the rain, right?" Colonel Zhang asked.

"Um, it works in the rain, but don't drop it in water," Hu Hao explained.

"Bro, don't give the watch you got to anyone. It's really worth thousands of silver dollars and will be even more valuable in the future. These watches are the most expensive, and the older they get, the more valuable they become," Hu Hao reminded him.

"Really?" Colonel Zhang asked.

"Really!" Hu Hao nodded firmly.

"Alright, I won't give it away. I'll pass it down as a family heirloom," Colonel Zhang said, looking at his watch.

"Bro, it's getting late. Should we start cooking?" Hu Hao said.

Colonel Zhang looked at his watch and said, "Um, it's 5 o'clock. We should start. Aren't you going to the kitchen to eat? Why do you want to cook at home?"

"Um, I want to cook at home. Bro, can you help me make noodles? Can you do it?" Hu Hao asked.

"I can, but we don't have any vegetables!" Colonel Zhang said, hesitantly.

"How can we not have vegetables? What about the two pheasants I shot?" Hu Hao asked, puzzled.

"I had them sent to the hospital this morning. We have about 500 wounded soldiers, and they need nutrition," Colonel Zhang said.

Hu Hao immediately stood up and jumped, saying, "Bro, why do you give everything away? You can give away your own things, but why give away mine without leaving anything for me?"

"Jump, keep jumping," Colonel Zhang said, watching Hu Hao jump.

"Bro, couldn't you have left half a pheasant? These two pheasants are very fat. Half a pheasant would be enough for us to have a good meal for two days," Hu Hao said, unwillingly.

"The wounded soldiers in the hospital need nutrition. It's hard to catch pheasants. Can we eat them ourselves? Can you eat them?" Colonel Zhang asked.

Hu Hao sat down and said softly, "But you can't just take care of them and ignore me."

"Bro, I saved the egg from yesterday for you. You can eat it tonight. I'll make the noodles, and you can eat them with the egg. You've always wanted to eat white flour noodles, right? Now you can have them without needing the pheasants," Colonel Zhang said, trying to persuade him.

"No," Hu Hao stood up.

"What do you want to do?" Colonel Zhang asked, confused by Hu Hao's sudden action.

"Bro, it's fine. You start making the noodles. I'll go to the mountains and get some more game. Without meat, the noodles won't taste good," Hu Hao said.

"Are you going to die without meat?" Colonel Zhang stood up and scolded him. "You can't just go and get game whenever you want. There are tigers in the mountains. What if you run into one and get eaten?"

"Pfft, I'd be happy to run into a tiger. I've never eaten tiger meat," Hu Hao said.

"You, you, you're getting too confident, aren't you?" Colonel Zhang pointed at Hu Hao.

"Bro, it's fine. Just start making the noodles. I'll be back within an hour. If I don't, you can beat me," Hu Hao said firmly.

"Really? You have to be back within an hour, whether you get anything or not," Colonel Zhang said.

"Um, I promise. If not, I'll sleep in the stable tonight," Hu Hao nodded.

"Alright, go, but don't go too deep. There are tigers in there. And take your gun and knife," Colonel Zhang said.