Chapter 9

"Commander Zhang, this morning Erlezi asked me where he could find white flour. He wanted to eat white flour, so I told him there was some in the city, but there are many devils in the city. I also told him that if he wanted to eat anything, he should talk to you, and you would find a way. Erlezi agreed and said he would go back," the villager said.

"Want to eat white flour?" Commander Zhang and the political commissar asked in surprise.

"Alright, thank you, villager. We will send someone to look for it," the political commissar said, seeing that Commander Zhang was in a daze.

Commander Zhang fumbled in his bag for some tobacco, but he couldn't roll a cigarette properly. The political commissar took it from him, rolled it, and lit it for him.

"That brat must have gone to the city," Commander Zhang said in a low voice.

"Old Zhang, don't worry. Erlezi might not have gone. Maybe he went hunting in the mountains. Didn't he go last night? He knows how to come back," the political commissar said.

"Don't try to comfort me. This kid came to me this morning for a gun, planning to go to the city for white flour. If he went hunting, a knife would have been enough," Commander Zhang said.

"If I had known, I would have had the logistics department send him a bag of white flour," the political commissar said.

"That's not possible. Even if we knew, we couldn't send it. That's for the wounded," Commander Zhang said.

"Commander, Commander, we found him," a soldier shouted from outside.

Commander Zhang stood up immediately. "Found him? Where?"

"Commander," the soldier, who had been running, was still out of breath. "Commander, you should come and see. Erlezi came back driving a Japanese truck."

"What, driving a big truck?" Commander Zhang and the political commissar were stunned.

"Commander, Political Commissar, you should come and see. Erlezi's truck can't enter the village; there's no road. Many soldiers are watching," the soldier said.

"Alright," Commander Zhang immediately headed out of the village, followed by the political commissar and the soldier.

At the village entrance, many soldiers and villagers were gathered around the truck. Hu Hao was sitting on the hood, smoking. Seeing Commander Zhang approaching, he immediately threw away the cigarette and jumped down.

The people around turned and saw Commander Zhang, quickly making way for him.

Commander Zhang, unfastening his belt as he walked, saw Hu Hao get into the truck and lock the door and windows.

Commander Zhang reached the truck and tried to open the door, but it was locked.

"Erlezi, get down here. Did you hear me?" Commander Zhang shouted at Hu Hao in the truck.

Hu Hao rolled down the window a tiny bit, just enough for a little finger to fit through. "Brother, if you don't hit me, I'll come down."

Commander Zhang, seeing this, paced around in anger. "Alright, I won't hit you. Get down."

"Then give your belt to the Political Commissar," Hu Hao said.

"Alright," Commander Zhang handed his belt to the political commissar.

Hu Hao, seeing this, thought it was safe to come down. Without the belt, Commander Zhang could only kick him, and he could dodge.

As soon as he got out of the truck, Commander Zhang quickly grabbed the belt from the political commissar and started whipping him.

"I told you to eat white flour, I told you to go to the city, I told you to ask me for a gun..." Commander Zhang cursed as he whipped him. "I said I wouldn't hit you, but you still did it."

Hu Hao dodged left and right, avoiding most of the whips, but still got hit a few times.

"Brother, you're not keeping your word. Brother, stop, I'm sorry," Hu Hao said as he dodged.

The political commissar, still in a daze from the belt being taken, finally came to his senses and rushed to hug Commander Zhang from behind. "Hurry, grab Commander Zhang!" he shouted. Two soldiers quickly came over to help.

"Alright, Old Zhang, calm down, calm down," the political commissar said. Commander Zhang finally calmed down, and Hu Hao, looking pitiful, leaned against the truck, giving Commander Zhang a very wronged look.

Seeing this, Commander Zhang couldn't stay angry.

"Where did you get the truck?" Commander Zhang asked.

"From the city," Hu Hao said honestly.

"What's in it?"

"Weapons, ammunition, and white flour," Hu Hao said, his eyes shining. "Brother, I got more than ten bags of white flour, enough for me to eat for half a year."

Commander Zhang rolled his eyes and walked to the back of the truck. The political commissar and many soldiers followed. Hu Hao, being honest, didn't go, but climbed back onto the truck and lit another cigarette.

"Whoa," Commander Zhang lifted the tarp and saw that besides the ten bags of white flour, the truck was full of weapons and ammunition, including mortars. Everyone sucked in a breath.

"Good stuff, these are priceless. Did you raid their arsenal?" the political commissar asked.

Commander Zhang looked around but didn't see Hu Hao. "Where's Erlezi?"

"He's in the truck," a soldier pointed to the driver's seat.

"Erlezi, playing dead? Get over here."

Hu Hao, hearing this, came down obediently, still smoking, holding a pack of cigarettes and a Zippo lighter he had taken.

Commander Zhang glared at him smoking. Hu Hao, taken aback, quickly pulled out a cigarette from the pack. "Brother, have one."

Commander Zhang took the cigarette and asked, "Did you raid the devils' arsenal?"

"No, it was a warehouse. There was white flour," Hu Hao said.

"Was there a lot of ammunition?" Commander Zhang asked.

"Yes, a lot. Three trucks of ammunition, one truck of white flour. I took a few bags of white flour and drove one truck out," Hu Hao said honestly.

This made Commander Zhang angry again. He kicked Hu Hao and cursed, "You glutton, didn't you know to take the ammunition? You only took white flour. Even a box of ammunition would be worth more than those ten bags of white flour." He continued kicking.

"Brother, Brother," Hu Hao dodged and said, "I went to the city for white flour, not for ammunition."

"Next time, remember, if there's white flour and ammunition, take the ammunition first, then the white flour," Commander Zhang said, stopping.

"Okay, what about the white flour?" Hu Hao asked.

"Take the ammunition first, then the white flour," Commander Zhang shouted.

"Alright, Old Zhang, let the soldiers move the ammunition and white flour to the warehouse," the political commissar said.

"Alright, everyone, move the white flour and ammunition," Commander Zhang said to the soldiers.

Hu Hao saw the soldiers loading the ammunition and white flour. "Hey, hey, just move the ammunition, the white flour is mine."

"What's yours? What's yours?" Commander Zhang hit Hu Hao's head.

"No, Brother, I specifically took the white flour for us. I calculated it, it's enough for us to eat through the winter," Hu Hao said, covering his head.

"Nonsense, it all belongs to the unit. Put it in the warehouse," Commander Zhang shouted.

"Brother, next time I won't bring anything back. I'll hide it," Hu Hao protested loudly. The few bags of white flour would be eaten by the 2000 soldiers in a day, and Hu Hao was unhappy.

"You dare?"

Page break for AD

Page break for AD end