Chapter 7

After Hu Hao finally finished eating the bowl of sweet potatoes and meat, he belched.

"Oh," Hu Hao patted his belly and said, "Mom, the sweet potatoes are making me burp. I need to get some grain. If only we had some rice and white flour."

So Hu Hao stood up and walked to the regimental command post. Seeing that Colonel Zhang was there, Hu Hao went over and asked, "Brother, where's my gun?"

Colonel Zhang looked up, "What gun? Who gave you a gun?"

"The one I used to fight the Japanese the day before yesterday, the Type 38 Arisaka. You forgot?" Hu Hao reminded him.

"Oh, that's not your gun. It belongs to another soldier. The regiment has taken it back," Colonel Zhang said, then lowered his head to look at the documents.

"What?" Hu Hao shouted loudly.

"Shut up! What, what what?" Colonel Zhang said unhappily.

"No, Brother, I used that gun to kill at least 200 Japanese. Shouldn't I get some reward? Can't I have a gun?" Hu Hao argued.

"Hmm, you're right. You should have a gun. But why do you need a gun today? There's no combat mission," Colonel Zhang asked curiously.

"Oh, I want to clean it so it won't jam during the next battle," Hu Hao said.

"Hmm, that's reasonable. Xiao Li, go to the logistics department and get him a Type 38 Arisaka and 5 bullets," Colonel Zhang said to Xiao Li nearby. Xiao Li left after hearing this.

"Brother, why only 5 bullets?" Hu Hao asked, unsatisfied.

"Too few? Every soldier gets 5 bullets. Bullets are only issued during battles. Didn't you know?" Colonel Zhang said.

"No, I didn't," Hu Hao answered honestly.

"Alright, go outside and wait for Xiao Li. Clean the gun well when you get it," Colonel Zhang said, shooing Hu Hao out.

Hu Hao went to the courtyard gate and waited for Xiao Li to bring the gun and bullets. After checking the gun, Hu Hao said, "Alright, no problem."

"Alright, no problem?" Xiao Li asked, confused.

Hu Hao ignored him and left. Once out of Xiao Li's sight, Hu Hao grabbed a civilian and asked, "Old fellow, where can I get some white flour?"

"Oh, Er Lengzi, what? You want white flour? We don't have it here. You'd have to go to the county town. The Japanese have taken all the white flour," the civilian said, smiling at Hu Hao.

"Er Lengzi, if you want white flour, you should ask Colonel Zhang. He'll find a way for you."

"Tell him? Hmph, he'll kill me if I do," Hu Hao thought.

"Oh, where is the county town? Why do they have white flour? How do I get there? I want to go eat some white flour," Hu Hao asked, pretending to be stupid.

"That's not possible. The county town is over 40 miles east. There are many Japanese there. If you go, they'll catch you," the civilian quickly advised Hu Hao.

"Oh, then I won't go. I'll go back," Hu Hao continued to pretend to be stupid.

After saying this, he turned around, but in the direction of the east. The civilian saw this and shook his head, "In these times, fools have good luck." Then he left.

Hu Hao didn't care. He dug out two sets of civilian clothes from the house, wrapped them in cloth, and set off eastward.

When he reached the edge of the village, Hu Hao was about to continue when a soldier suddenly appeared, startling him.

"What are you doing?" Hu Hao asked, pointing his gun at him.

"Er Lengzi, put the gun down. Where are you going? If you get lost, the colonel will look for you," the soldier said nervously, afraid that Er Lengzi might shoot.

Hu Hao put the gun down and said, "I'm just going for a walk. I'll be back soon."

"Where are you going?" the soldier asked.

"Why so many questions? Can't I go for a walk?" Hu Hao shouted, "I'll be back soon."

"Alright, just remember to come back after a while," the soldier said.

"Why come back? Can't I take a different route?" Hu Hao asked.

"Alright, as long as you come back to the village," the soldier said, then turned into the woods. Hu Hao walked for about 20 miles, found a forest, and changed into civilian clothes. He continued toward the county town with his gun. By noon, Hu Hao was hungry again, but not as much as the previous night. It seemed that having some fat in his stomach made a difference.

The county town was in sight. Hu Hao hid his gun and tucked the bayonet into his waistband, then started to act stupid. Actually, he didn't need to act; the old clothes were already tattered and smelly, but it seemed this was the only set of civilian clothes he had.

At the city gate, a few puppet soldiers were guarding. They didn't ask Hu Hao anything when he entered, just kicked him and cursed, "Where did this fool come from? The smell is unbearable." Then they turned their heads away.

Hu Hao ignored them and continued walking. Once inside the city, he wandered around, but within an hour, he had basically figured out the main deployments and the number of Japanese soldiers.

"Damn, I'm so hungry. I need to eat first," Hu Hao thought.

Just then, a Japanese soldier walked by with a paper-wrapped food item. Hu Hao didn't know what it was, but the oil stains on the paper suggested it was meat.

Hu Hao deliberately approached the Japanese soldier, who, upon smelling Hu Hao's odor, became angry.

"Baka," the Japanese soldier tried to kick Hu Hao, but Hu Hao dodged.

Seeing he missed, the Japanese soldier became even angrier. Hu Hao slowly prepared to run. The Japanese soldier, seeing Hu Hao run, quickly chased after him. Hu Hao ran into a dead-end alley. With no way out, Hu Hao turned around. The Japanese soldier caught up and shouted, "Baka..." and then said a lot of Japanese, which Hu Hao could roughly understand, knowing it was an insult.

But Hu Hao kept a foolish smile on his face. As the Japanese soldier approached,

Hu Hao immediately acted. He grabbed the soldier's throat with one hand and twisted with the other, and the Japanese soldier was dead.

Hu Hao picked up the food, opened it, and found a roasted chicken. He also picked up the Japanese soldier's gun and started to search the body. "You're not a good guy, Japanese. Damn, you have 5 silver dollars. Hmm, and a watch. Not bad," Hu Hao said, quickly removing the watch from the dead soldier's hand and putting it on his own. "Finally, I have some assets," Hu Hao thought, shaking his left hand proudly.

After cleaning up, Hu Hao picked up the roasted chicken and started eating. "Delicious. These Japanese really know how to enjoy life. Now it's my turn. Consider it your way of showing respect," Hu Hao muttered as he ate.