The setting sun was about to fall to the horizon again, and for some reason, fiery clouds appeared, and most of the sky was red.
The forest fell silent, with only the occasional cry of a returning bird.
A small river flows quietly in the mountains, shimmering in the sunset.
There were many small fish swimming in the river, as if they also cared about the good times.
I just don’t know if they understand that autumn is coming, and then the cold winter will come and the shallow river will freeze. Then, what will be their fate?
At this time, the sound of human footsteps was heard in the distance, followed by a loud shout: "There is water ahead!"
With this loud shout, the rustling sound of tired footsteps turned into the "plop" and "plop" sounds of running, and a group of men and women ran towards the stream.
When these people ran to the river, those who had water in their hands quickly scooped up water and drank it, while those who didn't have water in their hands simply lay down in the water and sucked it up like little animals in the mountains.
They were so thirsty that no one cared even when someone accidentally stepped their dusty shoes into the water.
"Uh..." Finally, someone burped after drinking so much water that he pointed to the woods on the hillside and said, "We'll stay here tonight. It's time to take care of our stomach problems."
The man who was speaking was almost forty years old. His old face, already stained by smoke, was now covered with dense black stubble from not having shaved for several days.
He is Wang Laomao.
Wang Laomao and his companions finally escaped from the pursuit of the Japanese army. This was a situation that an old soldier like him had never experienced before.
Wang Laomao and Ma Erhuzi rescued the students, and Shang Zhen and several other soldiers rescued Wang Laomao and his men.
However, the Japanese army's pursuit of them did not stop just because they killed and injured more than a dozen Japanese soldiers, because nearby Japanese troops came to reinforce!
This group of Japanese soldiers are also evil.
People expected that they would run into the mountains, so they sent a small team of dozens of people forward.
In terms of running speed, Wang Laomao and his men, who had already traveled more than 200 miles back and forth in the past two days, were really no match for the Japanese Kwantung Army, not to mention that they had to protect seven students, four boys and three girls.
There were so many Japanese search teams that Wang Laomao and his men had to hide in the mountains and wilderness before they could finally reach their current safe place. Now they can drink the life-saving water. Oh, it feels like a long drought finally ending with a downpour, just like drinking nectar!
Finally, everyone had drunk enough, and even when they moved their bodies, their stomachs made a rumbling sound!
At Wang Laomao's urging, the soldiers and students all walked into the woods.
But now that the danger had been lifted and everyone had drunk enough water, they all looked exhausted. Their steps were like those of people in their seventies or eighties, and were extremely slow.
"Thank you, sir!" A voice came up, a crisp female voice.
The person walking in front looked back and saw a female student with a round face and two pigtails thanking Hou Kanshan, while Hou Kanshan had a flowered cloth bag in his hand.
It was obvious that Hou Kanshan was kind enough to help the girl, and the girl naturally looked grateful.
Hou Kanshan is just so good at handling things!
However, how the other soldiers viewed Hou Kanshan's behavior was something only they themselves knew.
"Why are you carrying a gourd?" Chen Hanwen asked a male student next to him.
"We use this gourd to hold water. We used to have a celluloid kettle, but it fell and broke on the way," the boy replied.
The boy was not tall but he wore a pair of round glasses on his nose.
With his small physique, he is not much stronger than Shang Zhen, the thinnest among Wang Laomao's group.
But no matter whether it was Hou Kanshan or Chen Hanwen, after they each helped a student, their eyes couldn't help but glance at another female student.
The reason for this is simply because that female student stands out among the three girls.
She had short hair that reached her ears, and she even washed her face after drinking water just now, so her face looked clean and white. Although she had been displaced, her face still gave people beautiful imaginations.
This female student is not an extremely beautiful woman, but as the saying goes, beauty lies in the bones, not the skin. The outline of the girl's face still gives people a fresh and refined feeling.
Wang Laomao did not comment on the performance of Chen Hanwen and Hou Kanshan.
Qian Chuan'er and Erhanzi had no intention of helping the students get their things, as they had not yet finished taking all their own things.
This was naturally because the two of them had gotten several rifles last time. Although they sold one to a commoner, Erhanzi still had two rifles in his hands.
Qian Chuan'er had a box gun and a rifle, but he also brought a lot of bullets and food.
At this time, Ma Erhuzi was already together with Shang Zhen, but the two of them were at the end.
The things Shang Zhen carried with him were neither much nor little, but the problem was that he was too thin. The things he carried included: a submachine gun, more than 200 rounds of bullets, and 15 or 16 kilograms of food.
Shang Zhen really wanted to become a qualified soldier, and he could not give up those two guns and bullets.
When he came back this time, Qian Chuan'er used the rifle to exchange for a lot of food from the people.
Shang Zhen cannot give up these foods. He needs to make himself stronger quickly.
"Let me get some for you." Ma Erhuzi reached out and took the rifle from Shang Zhen, then put the bag of food on his back.
In Wang Laomao's platoon, Ma Erhuzi and Li Fushun have the best relationship, otherwise Li Fushun would not have entrusted his orphan to Ma Erhuzi.
Since Shang Zhen is fine now and Li Fushun died in battle, Ma Erhuzi feels that he needs to replace Li Fushun's role to take care of his younger brother.
"What do you have here?" Ma Erhuzi asked Shang Zhen while carrying the food on his back.
"Food, including meat and dry food." Shang Zhen replied.
"Why do you bring so much food? It must be tiring to run back and forth!" Ma Erhuzi complained to Shang Zhen.
"Can't I eat now?" Shang Zhen answered helplessly.
"Where did you get so much food?" Ma Erhuzi asked again.
"Qian Chuan'er exchanged a gun from the common people. Originally, no one could carry it, but I couldn't bear to throw it away." Shang Zhen said.
Ma Erhuzi glanced at the people stumbling ahead and then grumbled softly, "It's exhausting to be here. Now, all the food you brought has to be given to others."
Shang Zhen whispered back, "Who knew so many people would come all at once?"
During this process, Shang Zhen never paid any attention to the prettier female student in front of him.
What Shang Zhen is considering now is the issue of life and death, and how to improve his abilities.
Female students were not in his consideration. Only people like Hou Kanshan would want to eat a swan.
Note: Celluloid is an early name for plastic. At least in 1931, plastic was not common in Northeast China.