152: Chapter 152 A Breakfast

Stone led Chen Xi past the old locust tree at the village entrance and walked deep into the village.

Along the way, everyone they encountered would curiously glance at Chen Xi.

In those gazes, there was no hostility, only a kind of rustic curiosity.

After all, this person's attire was far too different from theirs.

Chen Xi's clothes had long since become tattered during his twenty-plus days of trekking, but the material and style were still incongruous with this era.

"Stone, who is this?" a middle-aged man carrying a hoe asked with a smile.

"A new Comrade! He came from Nanjing!" Stone's voice was loud, carrying a hint of showing off.

"Nanjing?" The middle-aged man's smile froze, and his eyes became complex. "That is a place that suffered a great disaster..."

He didn't ask further, just nodded at Chen Xi and walked away with his hoe.

Stone brought Chen Xi to a courtyard that looked slightly more orderly.

At the courtyard entrance, a simple wooden sign was nailed up, with a few words written on it: Eighth Route Army, XX Division, Replacement Regiment, Third Battalion, Seventh Company.

The words were written in ink, crooked, but every stroke was written with great care.

"Instructor!" Stone shouted at the top of his lungs. "A Comrade has arrived!"

From inside the courtyard came a gentle voice: "Come in."

Chen Xi followed Stone into the courtyard.

The courtyard was very clean. A few washed-white military uniforms hung on a rope. A young female soldier was adding firewood to a stove, and something was boiling in a pot, emitting a faint fragrance of rice.

Directly facing the courtyard gate was an open room, which appeared to be the company headquarters office.

A young man wearing a grey cloth military uniform and glasses was sitting behind a simple table, holding a pencil in his hand and writing something in a notebook.

Hearing footsteps, he looked up.

At the first sight of Chen Xi, he was slightly taken aback, but quickly stood up, a warm smile appearing on his face.

"Hello, Comrade. I am the Seventh Company Instructor, Zhou Wen." He stepped forward quickly, extended both hands, and tightly gripped Chen Xi's hand. "Stone said you came from Nanjing? You must have had a hard journey!"

His hands were thin, but he held on with great strength.

Chen Xi could feel that sincerity coming from the heart.

"Instructor Zhou Wen, sorry to bother you. My name is Chen Xi."

"No bother, no bother at all!" Zhou Wen pulled Chen Xi's hand and ushered him into the room. "Come in and sit, have some water! Stone, go fetch a basin of water for Comrade Chen to wash his face!"

"Yes!" Stone ran off in a flash.

Chen Xi was ushered into the room.

The room was truly simple.

A table made of wooden boards and benches, a few stools, a hand-drawn topographical map hanging on the wall, and in the corner, a single bed covered with dried grass. The quilt on the bed was folded neatly, but it was covered in layer upon layer of patches.

Zhou Wen pressed Chen Xi to sit on a stool and busied himself pouring water for him.

The water was poured from a thermos, steaming hot.

"Comrade Chen, drink some water first to warm up. It's cold in the mountains in the morning; you must have frozen on your way here."

Chen Xi took the enamel mug and held it in his hands.

The warm sensation transmitted through the enamel to his palms.

He hadn't had a sip of hot water for over twenty days.

He lowered his head, looked at the clear water in the mug, was silent for a moment, then tilted his head back and drank it all in one gulp.

"Good!" Zhou Wen laughed and filled it up again. "Drink more! We don't have much here, but there is plenty of mountain spring water!"

He looked outside again and shouted into the courtyard: "Xiao Ling, is breakfast ready? Ladle out an extra bowl, we have a guest!"

The female soldier tending the fire in the courtyard responded.

Only then did Zhou Wen sit down opposite Chen Xi and ask with a smile, "Comrade Chen, how did you make it all the way here? Nanjing... what is the situation like there now?"

His question was asked very carefully, as if afraid of touching some scar.

Chen Xi was silent for a moment, then spoke slowly.

"Nanjing... has fallen."

The smile on Zhou Wen's face froze.

Although they had already known this result through various channels, hearing it spoken by someone who had come from Nanjing felt different.

"The Japanese..." His voice was somewhat dry. "How many people did they kill?"

Chen Xi did not answer.

He just looked at Zhou Wen and said calmly, "Instructor Zhou Wen, I will tell you about this in the future. But right now, I don't want to talk about it."

Zhou Wen was taken aback.

He keenly sensed that beneath the calm exterior of this young man, something extremely heavy was hidden.

He did not press further.

He just nodded. "Alright, let's not talk about it. It is already a great fortune that Comrade Chen was able to make it out alive."

At this moment, the female soldier named Xiao Ling walked in, carrying a large bowl.

In the bowl was a full serving of coarse grain porridge, with a few chunks of pickled vegetables on top.

"Comrade, eat." Xiao Ling shyly placed the bowl in front of Chen Xi and turned to run out.

Chen Xi looked down at the bowl of porridge.

The color was grayish, looking like it was boiled from various ground grains; it contained corn kernels, sorghum, and even some things he couldn't name.

But in the steam, it emitted a rustic fragrance of grain.

He hadn't eaten a hot meal in over twenty days.

Zhou Wen said apologetically from the side, "Comrade Chen, please don't mind. Conditions in our base area are tough; this is all we have. The soldiers have two dry meals and one thin meal a day. You happened to catch breakfast, so please make do and fill your stomach first."

Chen Xi did not speak.

He picked up his chopsticks, picked up a piece of pickled vegetable, and put it in his mouth.

Salty, crunchy, carrying a rich savory aroma.

Then, he picked up the bowl and drank the bowl of coarse grain porridge in large mouthfuls.

The warm porridge slid down his throat into his stomach.

His eyes felt slightly sore.

It wasn't because it tasted bad.

It was because of what was contained within this bowl of porridge.

It was the grain that the people in the base area had saved by tightening their belts and scraping it together.

It was the sincerity of this young instructor before him, who was reluctant to eat it himself, yet shared it with a stranger without hesitation.

He quickly finished the bowl of porridge.

Zhou Wen was about to have Xiao Ling fetch more, but Chen Xi stopped him.

"That's enough, Instructor Zhou Wen, I'm full."

Zhou Wen looked at him and did not insist further.

He cleared away the bowl and chopsticks and sat back down opposite Chen Xi.

"Comrade Chen, your arrival at the base area this time, is it..." His gaze carried a hint of inquiry.

Chen Xi looked at him and said earnestly, "Instructor Zhou Wen, I want to see your leaders."

"Leaders?" Zhou Wen was taken aback. "Are you referring to our Company Commander? He has taken the troops out on a mission and won't be back until the afternoon."

"No." Chen Xi shook his head. "The ones I want to see are higher-ranking leaders. Ones who can make decisions, ones who can set policy."

Zhou Wen was silent for a moment.

He re-examined the young man before him.

Tattered clothes, a travel-worn face, but those eyes were exceptionally clear, exceptionally firm.

That was not the look of an ordinary person.

"Comrade Chen." His voice became formal. "Can you tell me, what business do you have with the high-ranking leaders?"

Chen Xi met his gaze and said word for word, "I can help you fight the devils."

"In a way you have never seen before."