Chapter 18: Comrades-in-Arms

"We're staying here for a whole month?"

Walking up to the leftmost of the row of thatched huts, Heifu furrowed his brows.

It was clearly a long-built dwelling: the walls were rammed earth, but many of the adobe bricks were already cracked and pitted. The wooden door was so old and worn it even had a fist-sized hole. On the roof, the thatch weighed down by beams and clods of earth stirred in the wind, making one worry it might be torn away at any moment — and who knew whether it leaked inside when it rained...

In short, it was about the same as the work-site shacks he had seen in his past life, barely enough to shelter in. The only passable thing was that the ground outside had been scraped clean, without a single weed left.

Ji Ying, however, had long grown used to it — he had already served twice as a replacement conscript — and said self-mockingly, "I'm actually starting to miss my lodgings in the county jail. At least they didn't leak wind or rain, and I didn't have to train or work."

With that, he pushed the door open for Heifu and joked, "After you, Gongshi."

"A fine Shiwu you are, still mindful of rank."

Heifu could only join him in making light of hardship. He stooped down helplessly to enter, for the door was barely seven chi high.

Once inside, he found there was not even a grease-oil lamp, let alone a lit firewood torch; it was already somewhat dim. After his eyes adjusted to the interior gloom, Heifu made out the layout.

The cramped room had a central aisle just wide enough for two people to walk abreast. On either side was an earthen platform about one zhang wide, slightly higher than the aisle, spread with ten straw mats in total. This meant the replacement conscripts were quartered by squads — ten men to a room.

When he entered, there were seven people inside chatting. The moment Heifu came in, they stopped talking, turned around, and seven pairs of eyes fixed squarely on this uninvited guest!

At that moment, Ji Ying squeezed in too. Even before he was through the door, he was shouting, "Any men from Zhuoshui Village here?"

Once inside, he looked over the occupants, his face immediately brightening. Pointing at two men on the bedding to the left, he cried out, "Isn't that the two brothers Zhi and Mu! You've been assigned to First-Month service too!"

Heifu looked over: one was a round-faced shorty with small eyes, barely six and a half chi tall; beside him was a brawny, thick-armed giant of eight chi, even taller than Heifu. Had Ji Ying not called it out, he would never have believed they were brothers...

"We're cousins," the two explained, clearing up the confusion. They recognized Ji Ying too and greeted him with smiles. As it turned out, although they did not live in the same hamlet, they had served together last time and thus knew each other.

Heifu felt a little embarrassed even saying their names. Zhi meant pig, and Mu did not mean peony but rather bull. Had the parents of these cousins arranged it in advance? To give them the names of livestock.

But on second thought, he let it go. In this era, common folk mostly had no surnames or clan names — those were things only nobles possessed. When naming a child, they simply pointed at whatever object was at hand after the birth. Whether it turned out to be chicken, duck, pig, ox, or some plant or tree was purely a matter of fate. Even Emperor Wu of Han's childhood name was Zhier — Little Piggy.

If the parents did not feel like pointing at an object, they would name the child by birth order: Bo, Zhong, Shu, Ji — like Ji Ying. Or take the Fengpei region of Chu: old man Liu's good-for-nothing youngest son Liu Ji, nearly thirty and still not married, idling about all day...

Alternatively, they might give you a name fitting the occasion. Heifu, for instance, was so named because he was born a dark, chubby baby. His younger brother Jing — Startled — was named because their mother, ten months pregnant and near her time, gave birth after being startled.

That was why the two brothers especially envied their eldest brother, Zhong. The name Zhong had been chosen by their parents, who specially invited a "Day-Soother" — a fortune-teller of this age — to the house to consult the era's almanac, the Day Book. It was very formal, proper, and pleasant-sounding...

After that, Zhi and Mu helped introduce the other five in the room.

"This is Xiao Tao, from Yunmeng Village." Xiao Tao was a short youth, the same age as Heifu. He was very shy, sitting in the corner, silent and reticent.

"These are Ping, Ke, and Buke, all from near the county seat."

Ping was in his twenties, indeed plain-looking. Like most commoners of this era, his eyes were blank and his gaze dull; there was nothing memorable about him.

As for Ke and Buke, they were also brothers. Their names together were utterly ridiculous. Ke's face was covered in pockmarks, while Buke had crossed eyes and kept his lips pursed, not fond of talking. Normally, blood brothers would not be conscripted together, but they had both come of age and divided the household, no longer counting as "cohabitants," so they were levied together.

On the whole, these few were all around Heifu's age and had served at most once or twice before.

"This is Uncle Chao, also from Yunmeng Village."

Finally, Zhi introduced the one furthest inside. This man was older, looking a full thirty-seven or thirty-eight, with a long goatee. It was unclear whether the "Bo" in his name meant he was the eldest brother in his family, or whether it was an honorific for his greater age.

Uncle Chao clearly held higher status among this group. Unlike the others, he did not rise and cup his hands in greeting. He merely sat leisurely on his mat, nodded, and pointed at Heifu. "Young fellow, where are you from?"

Heifu had been silently memorizing everyone's names. Only now did he cup his hands toward them and say, "I come from Yunmeng Village..."

"So we're from the same village." Uncle Chao grinned, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth.

"You don't look very old. First time serving, right? No matter, no matter — I'll look after you from now on... What's your name?"

"Heifu," Heifu replied softly with a smile.

"What?!" At these words, the whole room was startled. Uncle Chao, who had been sitting cross-legged relying on his seniority, suddenly sprang to his feet and stared at Heifu in astonishment. "You're Heifu!"

"The Heifu who fought three bandits alone?" Zhi and Mu also looked at him in surprise.

Has my reputation already spread this far? Heifu was a little taken aback and could only nod.

"Half of Anlu County town has been talking about your deeds today. We were just discussing you a moment ago," Ke and Buke, the two brothers, came over to speak, their words full of flattery.

"You... you... can you really, bare-handed, seize a blade?" Xiao Tao, who had been silent all along, finally spoke. It turned out he was a stutterer, but the look he directed at Heifu was already full of admiration.

Ji Ying grew smug at this. Raising his head again, he declared, "Of course! Brother Heifu's martial skill is superb. It was I who assisted Heifu in capturing the bandits, and he was even granted the rank of Gongshi!"

"Truly impressive." Ping, who lived in the county seat, also cast over an envious look. What he cared about was Heifu's rank.

"It's nothing." Heifu remained very modest. Waving his hand, he said, "Everyone, please sit and talk. From now on, we are all comrades-in-arms. This is Heifu's first service; I hope you will all look after me."

Only then did the others exchange glances and sit back down. Yet in just a brief word or two, Heifu had already gauged their attitudes toward him.

Zhi and Mu showed normal curiosity. Ke and Buke were slightly fearful — perhaps worried that Heifu was a brawler who would bully them. Ping envied Heifu's rank. Xiao Tao displayed a youth's admiration for a brave man; perhaps the courage with which Heifu had fought three bandits was something he longed to possess...

As for that Uncle Chao? He seemed like an old hand, and Heifu could not yet figure out what he was thinking.

At that moment, Heifu noticed that of the ten straw mats in the room, eight already had crude bedding spread out on them. Only two remained empty — those were probably the spots left for Heifu and Ji Ying...

Counting this way, the room was still one person short.

"Where's the other one?" Ji Ying had noticed too. Plopping himself casually onto the edge of Zhi's bed, he asked.

"That Gongshi went to the latrine," Zhi said carefully, seeming somewhat afraid of that person.

"So that means there are two Gongshi in this room."

Taking advantage of the last glimmer of daylight before dark, Heifu looked over the attire of the people in the room and found that the rest were all commoner Shiwu. He only wondered what sort of person the other Gongshi was, and whether he would be easy to get along with.

Just then, the wooden door outside was kicked open with a bang!

A cold wind carrying rain blew in, and immediately a loud voice rang out:

"What rotten luck! Your old man just went out to take a dump, and it had to start raining!"

(End of chapter)