Chapter 970 969 [Grass Sparrow]

Guangdong.

On a section of the road from Nanxiong to Shaoguan, cars were struggling to drive on the potholed road.

Martha half-jokingly complained: "This is the slowest car I've ever been in. It's not even as fast as I can ride a bicycle."

Zhou Hexuan explained: "This is already a high standard. We are now riding alcohol-powered cars, followed by tung oil cars and charcoal cars, which are really slow."

"Has China reached the point where it has no gasoline?" Hemingway asked in surprise.

Zhou Hexuan said: "Of course there is gasoline, but it must be used for military purposes."

Everyone arrived in Hong Kong two days ago and was personally received by Hong Kong Police Chief Cohen. Cohen is a Jewish-British man who served as Sun Yat-sen's bodyguard when he was young and had friendships with senior Kuomintang generals in Guangdong and Guangxi.

Under Cohen's arrangement, Zhou Hexuan and others took two small planes, secretly crossed the Japanese-occupied area, landed in Nanxiong County, and then transferred to an alcohol car to Shaoguan, the location of the Seventh Theater Command.

During the Anti-Japanese War, China's automobile fuels were all kinds of, the most common ones were alcohol, tung oil and charcoal.

That speed is no different from an old ox pulling a broken cart.

Martha looked at the charred tree stubble on the mountain in the distance and asked, "Why do Chinese farmers set fire to the mountains?"

Ma Qingming, the accompanying translator arranged by the Kuomintang, was stunned and replied: "In order to... to drive away the tiger."

This answer made Zhou Hexuan look confused, and he immediately rolled his eyes.

"Can burning mountains drive away tigers?" Martha asked.

Ma Qingming began to make up a story: "The tigers here want to eat a kind of... well, eat a kind of tender sweet grass, and set fire to burn up what they eat. They will be so hungry that they will run away in panic, and they will not stay." It hurts people here.”

Ma Qingming is the accompanying translator arranged by the Nanxiong County Kuomintang Party Committee. This guy is almost 40 years old. He claims to have studied abroad at the University of Michigan, but his English is really bad. Sometimes he didn't know how to say a certain word, so he would substitute Chinese for this or that. His answers to questions were also nonsense, completely fooling Zhou Hexuan and a few foreigners into thinking they were fools.

By setting fire to the mountains, it is obvious that farmers are burning wasteland in preparation for the following spring plowing. Ma Qingming doesn't even know this. It is conceivable that he is separated from the lower class people (these plots are not made up by Lao Wang, but come from Martha's travel diary of China).

The 100-kilometer journey from Nanxiong County to Shaoguan took the car a full day. Amid Ma Qingming's lies, they finally arrived in Shaoguan without any danger and were arranged to stay in a hotel called "Shaoguan Light".

There are two wooden beds in the standard room of the hotel, and the table is made of bamboo and swings back and forth. The brass basin was filled with murky water, and there was still some "old wine" in the spittoon. There was filth and mosquitoes everywhere. There was a latrine dug in the floor at the end of the corridor. There was a can of water for flushing the toilet next to it, but the can was so dirty that it was difficult to touch it with hands.

Martha, a female war correspondent, was a bit pretentious. She was disgusted and complained: "This is the best hotel in Shaoguan that Mr. Ma said? What about the elegant environment? My God, hotels in China are so dirty." .”

"Who insists on coming to China?" Hemingway joked with a smile.

Martha shook her head repeatedly: "China is more backward and primitive than I thought."

As a war reporter, Martha was obviously incompetent at this time. She had only been to the Spanish and Finnish battlefields, and had never been to a particularly harsh place. Hemingway was different. He participated in the First World War and often traveled on the battlefield over the years. He encountered all kinds of bad situations.

Martha really couldn't stand the hotel toilet, so she had to ask Translator Ma to take her outside to solve the problem. After she came back, she said to her husband: "I just took a car to a rural area on the outskirts. There is a public toilet built with grass and wood there. Do you know what farmers use to hold excrement?"

"For what?" Hemingway asked curiously.

Martha gestured: "A five-foot-tall Alibaba-style jar placed on the ground to collect precious excrement."

"What are you collecting poop for?" Hemingway was confused.

Martha said with emotion: "China is so poor and backward, and the people's lives are so difficult and frugal. They are reluctant to waste poop and must collect it properly to make fertilizer. I sympathize with them."

Hemingway comforted him by saying: "The world is always like this. Where there is wealth there is poverty."

Martha then smiled and said: "Did you know? When I was going to the toilet, a Japanese plane suddenly came from the sky. Everyone in the village ran away, even the pigs were driven away, and I was left squatting. I couldn’t get in or out of the toilet, so I was in a dilemma, but luckily the Japanese plane just passed by.”

Hemingway laughed: "Oh, poor Martha, how glorious it would be if you had just been bombed. Brave war reporter Martha died in the line of duty, and you will definitely become a hero. However, international news The world will definitely ask me, where and how did she die? I can only say that Martha was in the toilet at that time..."

"Get out!" Martha slammed the table angrily.

While the couple was having fun, Zhou Hexuan and Ma Jue were already lying on the bed sleeping. As Chinese, even if they are rich, they are accustomed to such poor conditions in hotels, and there is no point in being picky.

The day after arriving in Shaoguan, Yu Hanmou personally hosted a banquet and entertained him hospitably. The dishes on the table were very rich, and there was even a famous Cantonese dish "Fried Bird".

Yu Hanmou smiled and introduced: "Mr. Currie, Mr. Zhou, Mr. Hemingway, and Ms. Gellhorn, you are here at the right time. If you are delayed for another half month, the grass sparrows will fly to the north. Such delicious food You can’t taste it all year round.”

"I didn't expect that Commander Yu is also a gourmet and has such a study of food." Zhou Hexuan said with a smile, with a hint of irony in his words.

Yu Hanmou just pretended not to hear it and said with emotion: "The country is in a difficult situation now, and there is nothing to entertain. I can only hunt some free game. Please don't feel shabby, friends."

Currie said: "General Yu, please arrange the train as soon as possible. We will go to Guilin tomorrow."

Yu Hanmou was eager to send these people away as soon as possible, but he still warmly welcomed the guests and said: "Shaoguan is a small place, but it has many beautiful scenery. You can stay for a while. I will send someone to take you around."

"No, I have a responsibility." Corey said.

Hemingway said: "General Yu, are you far from the front line?"

Yu Hanmou pointed to the north and said: "Five miles away is the Japanese army's position."

Hemingway said happily: "Then I want to stay in Shaoguan for a few more days and cover the Chinese war at close range on the front line."

Yu Hanmou suddenly had a headache. He was afraid that the Americans would have an accident in his war zone, so he said perfunctorily: "There is nothing to interview. There has been no war in Guangdong for more than half a year."

Martha immediately grasped the key point and confirmed: "The positions of China and Japan are only 2.5 kilometers away, but there has been no fighting for more than half a year?"

Yu Hanmou knew he had made a mistake and quickly made amends: "There are no big battles, but there are constant small battles. There is nothing to interview."

Hemingway said: "Since there is a war, we should go and cover it. This is what a war reporter must do."

"Haha, let's not talk about the interview. Let's drink. Haha, drink." Yu Hanmou started to do Tai Chi.

After finishing the meal, Yu Hanmou quietly found Zhou Hexuan and asked: "Mr. Zhou, what do these two American reporters want to do? Aren't they going to Chongqing?"

Zhou Hexuan woke up and said: "The people sent by Roosevelt this time are divided into two groups. Curry is responsible for contacting officials, and the journalist couple is responsible for inspecting the battlefield and civilian situations. The United States is probably planning to formulate a larger aid plan to China, so it wants to First find out the actual situation in China.”

"So that's it." Yu Hanmou was quite irritated. If something went wrong with those two American journalists in Guangdong, he would definitely not be able to take responsibility, and at least he would be suspended from pay and demoted in rank by Chiang Kai-shek—after all, they were imperial envoys sent by Roosevelt.

Zhou Hexuan did not mess around with Hemingway and his wife. He took a train to Guangxi with Curry the next day, and then flew straight to Chongqing.

As for Shaoguan, Yu Han made various perfunctory measures to buy time and sent someone to take Hemingway and his wife to visit the scenic spots and historic sites. After a full three days of delay, Hemingway's violent temper finally broke out and he forced Yu Hanmou to send them to the frontline headquarters and began their journey to death on the battlefield through several provinces.