The Courtyard House: The Little Red Devil Returning from the Peninsula

A few days later, the brigade commander arrived.

The brigade commander arrived on a donkey.

A skinny donkey, its coat a dull gray, its ribs so prominent you could count them all, its hooves slipping on the gravel as it walked, nearly twisting its ankle several times. The brigade commander sat on the donkey's back, his body bobbing up and down with the donkey's rhythm, his old cotton-padded jacket collar open, revealing a faded gray cloth shirt underneath.

Li Yunlong stood at the valley entrance to greet them, and when he saw the donkey, the corner of his mouth twitched.

"Commander, why aren't you riding a horse?"

The brigade commander slid off the donkey's back, staggering as he landed, and his bodyguard quickly steadied him. He waved his hand and tossed the donkey's reins to the bodyguard.

"Horses? The brigade headquarters only has a few good horses. Am I supposed to ride one out so the staff officers have to walk?"

He patted the dirt off his trousers and looked up at the mouth of the valley.

"Is this the place?"

Li Yunlong nodded.

"This is it."

The brigade commander took a few steps into the valley, his boots crunching on the dried blood. He glanced down, said nothing, and continued walking.

The craters at the bottom of the valley hadn't been filled in yet, but they had been cleared. The bodies had been removed, and rubble was piled on both sides, leaving a path in the middle. The air still smelled of burning, mixed with the scent of dirt and lime—the lime had been spread yesterday to prevent plague.

The brigade commander walked slowly, stopping at each crater to squat down and examine it, touching the soil around the crater with his fingers. His fingers were thick, with wide knuckles, and black dirt under his fingernails—clearly the hands of someone who handled guns year-round.

Li Yunlong followed behind, wanting to speak, but was stopped by a wink from Staff Officer Luo.

The brigade commander walked to the deepest part of the valley, stood up, and patted the dirt off his hands.

"The craters are distributed quite evenly." He turned to look at Li Yunlong. "Who laid these mines?"

Li Yunlong opened his mouth.

"Zhao Weiguo."

The brigade commander nodded and didn't ask any further questions.

As he walked back, he passed the crooked tree. Shrapnel was still embedded in the trunk, the wood fibers protruding like white thorns. The brigade commander paused, reached out and touched the shrapnel; its edges were sharp, and he quickly withdrew his hand.

"Good position," he muttered to himself. "The shrapnel flew in this direction and hit me right at the bend."

Li Yunlong listened from behind, feeling a little uneasy. The brigade commander was better at assessing the battlefield than reading a map.

When they returned to the valley entrance, Zhao Weiguo was already standing there.

He didn't know when he was summoned. He was standing next to a pile of captured rifles, clutching a piece of oilcloth in his hand. His palms were black, and he looked like he had just come from the machine tool box.

The brigade commander walked up to him and stopped.

Zhao Weiguo looked up at him.

The brigade commander was not tall, with broad shoulders and a round face. His eyes were not large, but they were bright.

Zhao Weiguo mentally calculated that the brigade commander was probably around thirty-five or thirty-six years old, but looked older than he actually was. There were wrinkles around his eyes, forehead lines, and a few gray hairs at his temples. These days, anyone who leads troops, enduring wind and rain, inevitably looks old.

"You're Zhao Weiguo?"

Zhao Weiguo nodded.

"Twelve years old?"

Zhao Weiguo nodded again.

The brigade commander took a cigarette out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, but didn't light it. He stared at Zhao Weiguo for a long time, his gaze sweeping from the top of Zhao Weiguo's head to the soles of his feet, and then back again.

The brigade commander looked him up and down, his gaze lingering on him for a few moments. Zhao Weiguo's trousers were still covered in mud from yesterday, the soles of his shoes were almost worn through, his fingers were covered in black mud and rust-preventing oil, and one of his fingernails was split and wrapped with a strip of cloth.

The brigade commander smiled.

"You're a real talent, damn it. I know that guy pretty well, and I knew the person he recommended wouldn't be bad."

Zhao Weiguo remained silent.

The brigade commander turned to look at Li Yunlong.

"Staff Officer Ma told me when he got back that this kid took him to the bottom of the valley to see the battlefield, and he explained it all very clearly." He pointed at Zhao Weiguo with his finger, "You're better than all the staff officers in our brigade headquarters."

Li Yunlong grinned.

"Brigade Commander, that kid's so stubborn. He won't rest no matter how much we tell him to. He was even squatting next to the crates guarding them last night."

The brigade commander ignored Li Yunlong and continued to look at Zhao Weiguo.

"You understand machine tools?"

Zhao Weiguo nodded.

"Can it be put back?"

"able."

When can it be used?

Zhao Weiguo thought for a moment.

"Whether there are any missing parts or not will only be known after the inventory is completed. Assembly will take about ten days, and debugging will take another five days. It would be fastest if there were a motor; if not, a belt could be used, but the speed would be slower and the accuracy would be a grade lower."

After listening, the brigade commander didn't say anything, but turned to look at the large wooden crates. The crates were still covered with tarpaulins, and four soldiers stood guard beside them, their guns pointed outwards.

"Can you keep an eye on all of this by yourself?"

Zhao Weiguo shook his head.

"You can keep an eye on the box, but not on the people inside."

The brigade commander paused for a moment, then smiled.

"What do you mean by that?"

Zhao Weiguo pointed to the soldier next to the box.

"They're pointing their guns outwards, guarding against people outside. But if something goes wrong with the box, it doesn't necessarily mean someone outside tampered with it."

The brigade commander stopped smiling, glanced at Zhao Weiguo, and then looked at the soldiers.

Are you worried someone will steal the parts?

Zhao Weiguo did not answer.

The brigade commander nodded and turned to Li Yunlong.

"This box is being guarded by someone. I'll choose the person; don't interfere."

Li Yunlong opened his mouth as if to say something, but then swallowed it back.

The brigade commander patted Zhao Weiguo on the shoulder with considerable force, causing Zhao Weiguo to sway slightly.

"Do a good job."

Zhao Weiguo nodded.

The brigade commander glanced at him again, his eyes holding something indescribable. It wasn't a question, but more like an assessment, like looking at an unpolished piece of iron, wondering what kind of knife it could be forged into.

Zhao Weiguo felt a little uncomfortable under his gaze, but he didn't look away.

The brigade commander turned and walked towards the donkey, but after taking two steps, he stopped and looked back at Zhao Weiguo.

"There's something I need to discuss in a few days."

Zhao Weiguo stood there, watching the brigade commander mount the skinny donkey. The donkey's hooves slipped on the gravel, and the brigade commander lurched to the side, quickly grabbing the saddle, almost falling off. A guard beside him steadied the donkey, and it finally regained its footing.

Li Yunlong watched from behind, grinning from ear to ear.

"Commander, you should ride a horse."

The brigade commander didn't even turn his head.

"Enough with the nonsense."

The donkey's hooves clattered as it walked away, disappearing into the dust at the mouth of the valley.

Li Yunlong and the others only turned around after they could no longer see anyone.

"Kid, do you know what the brigade commander meant by that just now?"

Zhao Weiguo squatted back down next to the box and picked up an oilcloth to continue wiping the dust off the box lid.

"What did you say?"

"'There's something we need to discuss in a few days.'" Li Yunlong squatted down next to him, lowering his voice. "The brigade commander doesn't say things like that easily. When he says 'discuss,' it means he wants to use you."

Zhao Weiguo paused for a moment while wiping the box.

What use am I?

Li Yunlong grinned.

"Who knows? Anyway, it's not a bad thing."

Zhao Weiguo didn't answer, and continued wiping the box. The oilcloth rubbed against the lid, making a rustling sound. His fingers paused on the iron hoop, touching the new scratch. The scratch was still there, untouched.

He put the tarpaulin back on and stood up.

"Commander Li, I need a few people for the machine tool thing."

Li Yunlong stood up and patted the dirt off his trousers.

"explain."

"Two blacksmiths, two literate men, and one carpenter."

"What's it for?"

"The blacksmith helps me repair parts, the literate person helps me keep accounts, and the carpenter helps me build frames. Once the machine tools are assembled, they need a stand to store them; they can't be left on the ground."

Li Yunlong thought for a moment.

"Blacksmiths are easy to find; there are some in the regiment. Literate people are a bit harder to find. The staff officers are so busy, where am I supposed to find someone literate?"

Zhao Weiguo pointed towards the valley entrance.

"Among the people who came from the brigade headquarters yesterday, there was one carrying a leather bag who was taking notes in a notebook the whole way."

Li Yunlong was stunned for a moment.

"You mean that junior staff officer?"

"He can read, and his hands are steady."

Li Yunlong glared.

"You little brat, you even dare to covet people from the brigade headquarters?"

Zhao Weiguo didn't answer, squatted back down, and continued inspecting the box.

He squatted beside the box, his fingers tracing the iron hoops. The scratches on the hoops were still there, like tiny scars. He didn't say anything, but he remembered.

The brigade commander said, "There's something we need to discuss in a few days."

He didn't know what had happened.

But he needs to figure out the scratches on the box first.

Chen An ran down the slope, his footsteps making a clattering sound as he stepped on the gravel.

"Brother Zhao, the medic is asking you where those packets of sulfanilamide powder came from."

Zhao Weiguo stood up and dusted off his hands.

"Found in the Japanese army's medical kit."

Chen An scratched his head.

"But I checked the medicine cabinet yesterday and didn't find any sulfanilamide powder."

Zhao Weiguo glanced at him.

"Did you clean it yesterday?"

Chen An nodded.

"Old Ma and I cleared them out together. We opened every box, and inside we found a few rolls of bandages and half a bottle of iodine. There wasn't a single packet of sulfanilamide powder."

Zhao Weiguo paused for a moment.

"Then I must have misremembered." He walked up the slope. "Come on, I'll tell the medic."

Chen An followed behind, muttering something under his breath, but Zhao Weiguo couldn't hear him.

He walked ahead, his hands in his pockets, his fingertips brushing against the note left by the brigade commander. The edges of the note were already soft, damp with sweat and rust-preventive oil.

He didn't take it out; he just rubbed it with his fingertips.

The issue of sulfanilamide powder needs to be addressed differently.