“Sister-in-law! Is the regiment commander here? Black Panther is dying!”
The young soldier standing at the door was drenched in sweat, his face, chapped and cracked by the wind, filled with panic. The German Shepherd in his arms was foaming at the mouth, its limbs rigid and convulsing violently. Strange, rattling sounds escaped its throat.
Jiang Ning stood in the doorway without immediately stepping aside.
She glanced at the dog, then at the young soldier who was still struggling to catch his breath.
“Gu Ci isn’t here.”
Her tone was flat, almost indifferent. “Go to the regimental headquarters and find him, or go to the medical unit and look for a veterinarian.”
“Nobody’s at the medical unit! The veterinarian went out to the companies for a medical inspection!” The young soldier was so frantic that tears were welling in his eyes. “Black Panther is the regiment commander’s favorite military dog. If it dies… Sister-in-law, you’re from the countryside too. Do you know any folk remedies? Please, save it!”
In those days, people generally assumed that anyone from the countryside knew a few traditional remedies for treating livestock.
Jiang Ning said nothing.
She studied the dog. Its pupils were dilated, its breathing rapid, and its abdomen swollen like a drum. Yellow vomit still clung to the corners of its mouth.
This wasn’t an ordinary illness.
It was poisoning. Most likely potent rat poison or some kind of neurotoxin.
“Bring it inside.”
Jiang Ning stepped aside, clearing a path.
The young soldier froze for a moment, then rushed inside with the enormous dog, which weighed at least sixty or seventy pounds, as though he’d just found a lifeline.
“Put it on the table.”
Jiang Ning pointed to the only wooden table, the one missing a leg.
The soldier laid the dog down. It continued convulsing violently, its claws scraping against the tabletop with an ear-piercing screech. A foul stench immediately filled the room.
“Hold its head and all four legs down.”
Jiang Ning turned and rummaged through the corner, pulling out the shabby cloth bundle she hadn’t yet had a chance to throw away.
“Sister-in-law, what are you going to do?”
The young soldier watched as she took out a rusty razor blade and a thin rubber tube from who knew where. His voice cracked with fright.
“Gastric lavage and bloodletting.”
Jiang Ning walked to the table, poured a bowl of cold water from a chipped bowl, then tossed in a handful of salt and stirred it.
“The dog has been poisoned. The toxin is attacking its heart. If we don’t get it out, it’ll be dead within two minutes.”
She gripped the dog’s upper and lower jaws with one hand. Her grip was astonishingly strong. Even the military dog, which was on the verge of going berserk, was forced to open its mouth.
“Put this in.”
Jiang Ning handed the rubber tube to the young soldier.
“Push it down its throat, all the way into its stomach.”
The soldier’s hands trembled.
“S-Sister-in-law, will this really work? This is a military dog! It has an official military designation!”
“If it dies, it’ll just be a dead dog. What good is its designation then?”
Impatiently, Jiang Ning snatched the tube back and roughly pushed it down the dog’s throat. The dog let out a pained whimper and thrashed violently.
“Hold it down!”
Jiang Ning’s sharp command rang through the room. Her eyes were sharper than knives.
The young soldier was so intimidated by her presence that he instinctively pressed down on the dog’s legs with all his strength.
Once the tube was in place, Jiang Ning poured the concentrated saltwater into the dog’s stomach. Within seconds, Black Panther, which had still been convulsing moments earlier, suddenly began vomiting violently.
Yellow liquid mixed with undigested food sprayed across the table, splattering even onto Jiang Ning’s faded white shirt.
She didn’t so much as furrow her brows.
“It’s not over yet.”
Jiang Ning discarded the tube, gripped the rusty razor blade, and swiftly made several small cuts on the tip of the dog’s ear and the pads of its paws.
Dark blood welled up.
“Find a piece of cloth and wipe up the blood. If any of it drips onto the floor, Colonel Gu will come back and start killing people.”
As she spoke, Jiang Ning pressed her fingers against the dog’s abdomen, working at incredible speed, almost as though she were playing a piano. With every press, Black Panther’s breathing became a little steadier.
Ten minutes later.
Black Panther stopped convulsing. Although its body remained limp, its eyes had opened to narrow slits. It even tentatively licked the back of Jiang Ning’s hand.
The young soldier collapsed onto the floor, gasping for breath. He stared at Jiang Ning as though she were a deity.
“It… it’s alive?”
“It won’t die.”
Jiang Ning rubbed the razor blade against the edge of the table to remove the bloodstains, then slipped it back into her pocket.
“This dog ate something contaminated. If it was an accident, that’s one thing. But if someone deliberately poisoned it…”
She paused and glanced at the young soldier.
“Then you’d better investigate who has a grudge against this dog.”
The soldier’s expression changed.
Military dogs were regarded as comrades in the army. Poisoning one was a serious offense.
“Thank you, Sister-in-law! My name is Wang Dayong, and I’m from the communications and guard company!” The young soldier scrambled to his feet, so excited he hardly knew what to do. “If it weren’t for you, the regiment commander would have shot me when he got back. Um… I’ll clean the table right away!”
“Don’t bother.”
Jiang Ning looked at the mess covering the table and thought about the sour, rotten stench clinging to her clothes. Her stomach churned.
Since yesterday, she’d eaten only one black cornmeal bun and a few steamed buns. Whatever appetite she’d managed to build up had now vanished completely.
“Wang Dayong, right?”
Jiang Ning leaned against the doorframe and folded her arms, adopting the posture of someone collecting a debt.
“I saved your dog. How much are you paying for the treatment?”
Wang Dayong froze. He patted his empty pockets, his face turning bright red.
“Sister-in-law, I… I didn’t bring any money. How about I go back and get my pay?”
“I don’t want money.”
Jiang Ning pointed at her stomach.
“I’m hungry. I want food. Get me two meat dishes and three large steamed buns from the mess hall. Now. Immediately.”
Wang Dayong breathed a sigh of relief and thumped his chest in assurance.
“No problem! You’re a military dependent, Sister-in-law. You’re entitled to eat at the mess hall anyway! It’s just…”
He glanced at Jiang Ning’s filthy clothes and hesitated.
“It’s pretty crowded over there right now. Maybe you should change into something else first?”
“I don’t have anything else to wear.”
Jiang Ning was telling the truth.
Her woven sack was full of rags, and the clothes she was wearing were the only decent set she had.
“Lead the way.”
She picked up the tin bucket she’d used to carry water and casually splashed its remaining contents onto the ground to rinse the mud off her shoes.
“Leave the dog here to rest. If Gu Ci comes back, let him deal with it.”
Wang Dayong didn’t dare say another word. He hurried ahead to lead the way.
The two walked one behind the other along the concrete road through the military compound.
When they passed the training ground, thunderous shouts of “Kill! Kill! Kill!” shook the air.
Jiang Ning turned her head for a glance.
Through the clouds of dust in the distance, Gu Ci was charging through a group of soldiers, bare-chested and wielding a wooden stick. His movements were savage and direct, without a single unnecessary flourish. Every strike aimed straight for a vital point.
He was a beast that never seemed to tire.
As though sensing someone watching him, Gu Ci suddenly stopped moving. His hawk-like eyes turned toward them from several hundred meters away.
Wang Dayong shrank his neck in fright.
Jiang Ning, however, expressionlessly turned her gaze away and continued walking.
What are you looking at?
You still owe me a consultation fee.
The mess hall stood at the opposite end of the compound.
They could smell the delicious aroma of food before they even reached the entrance.
Jiang Ning lengthened her stride.
A sentry stood guard at the entrance. When he saw Wang Dayong, he was about to greet him, but his gaze fell on Jiang Ning behind him, and his brows immediately furrowed.
“Stop.”
The sentry blocked their path.
“It’s not yet time for family members to eat, and besides…”
He looked Jiang Ning up and down, eyeing her clothes stained with dog vomit and bodily fluids. Disgustedly, he covered his nose.
“Your appearance and dress are unacceptable, too. Go back, change your clothes, and come back.”
Wang Dayong grew anxious.
“Squad Leader, this is Colonel Gu’s wife! She just saved the colonel’s dog and got her clothes dirty in the process. Can’t you make an exception?”
“Colonel Gu’s wife?”
The sentry froze, then broke into a strange smile.
“You mean that country girl he married through a family-arranged bride exchange? Then that’s even more reason not to let her in. Colonel Gu maintains the strictest military discipline. If he finds out that a family member entered the mess hall looking this unkempt, I’ll be the first one punished.”
This was a perfect example of how difficult it could be to deal with petty officials, even when dealing with a powerful authority was relatively straightforward.
Or perhaps someone had put him up to it.
Jiang Ning narrowed her eyes.
Through the mess hall’s glass windows, she spotted several people watching the spectacle. One of them was a female military doctor in a white coat, standing with her arms folded and an air of superiority.
The look in her eyes was exactly the same as the one Wang Juhua had given Jiang Ning yesterday.
“Dayong.”
Jiang Ning called out.
Wang Dayong was still pleading with the sentry.
“Squad Leader, just let me take Sister-in-law inside to get some food. I’ll pack it up and take it away. Surely that’s allowed?”
“No. Rules are rules.” The sentry remained stern and unmoving.
Jiang Ning reached out and moved Wang Dayong aside.
She stood before the sentry, who was a head taller than her, and raised her chin.
“Are you saying I’m filthy?”
Jiang Ning pointed to the stains on her clothes.
“This is military dog blood and stomach fluid. The dog was poisoned and on the verge of death, and I saved it by flushing out its stomach. So, in your eyes, the stains left behind while saving a comrade are considered filthy?”
The sentry was caught off guard by the accusation.
“Th-that’s…”
“Military dogs are soldiers, too.”
Jiang Ning raised her voice, making sure everyone inside who had been watching could hear her.
“What, do you look down on military dogs? Or do you think Colonel Gu’s dog isn’t worth getting my clothes dirty for?”
The sentry’s expression changed.
“That’s not what I meant! Don’t twist my words!”
“Then move.”
Jiang Ning stepped forward. The intimidating pressure radiating from deep within her seemed so overwhelming that the sentry actually took half a step backward.
“I want to eat. If you continue blocking me, I’ll go ask your political commissar whether someone who saves a military dog must first take a bath and spray on perfume before being allowed to get a meal. Since when have the rules of this army become stricter than those of a feudal landlord’s household?”
Those words were far too serious to ignore.
If they spread, the incident could easily become a question of ideological conduct and abuse of authority.
Sweat broke out on the sentry’s forehead. He was caught between a rock and a hard place.
Just then, the female military doctor in the white coat stepped out of the mess hall.
“What is all this shouting about?”
She was a strikingly beautiful woman, though her upturned, narrow eyes detracted from her appearance. She walked to the entrance and looked at Jiang Ning with undisguised contempt.
“So you’re Colonel Gu’s new bride? You certainly have a sharp tongue.”
She pulled a lunchbox from her pocket and threw it onto the ground.
“You want food? Fine. The kitchen has some leftovers that were going to be fed to the pigs. Since you’re so hungry, take them and eat, if you don’t mind.”
The lunchbox lid flew open when it hit the ground, spilling the leftover vegetable broth everywhere.
Humiliation.
An outright, deliberate insult.
Wang Dayong’s face flushed red with anger. His fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles cracked.
“Doctor Shen, that’s going too far!”
Doctor Shen sneered.
“Too far? A country girl with no ration coupons and no money wants a free meal, and she still expects to keep her dignity? Wang Dayong, mind your own business. You don’t want Colonel Gu to skin you alive, do you?”
Everyone’s eyes turned toward Jiang Ning.
They were waiting for her to lose control or burst into tears and run away.
Jiang Ning lowered her head and looked at the lunchbox on the ground.
Then she slowly crouched down.
The smile on Doctor Shen’s lips deepened.
“That’s more like it. A person should at least have enough self-awareness to know her place…”
SMACK!
Jiang Ning picked up the lunchbox, but instead of using it to collect the food, she flicked her wrist and flung its contents backward.
The remaining vegetable broth landed with astonishing accuracy on Doctor Shen’s immaculate white coat.
“Ahhh!”
Doctor Shen shrieked and jumped backward. She stared at the enormous grease stain spreading across her chest, trembling with rage.
“You… You dare throw that at me?!”
“Oh, my hand slipped.”
Jiang Ning stood up and dusted off her hands, not the slightest trace of apology in her voice.
“Didn’t Doctor Shen say this food was meant for pigs? Your white coat looked a little too clean, so I thought I’d add some color. What is it? You’re unhappy about having pig slop thrown on you, but you think it’s perfectly fine to make someone else eat it?”
“You’re asking for death!”
Doctor Shen was so furious that she raised her hand and lunged forward to slap Jiang Ning.
Jiang Ning didn’t dodge.
She calmly watched the hand coming down while her other hand silently reached into her pocket for the razor blade.
If that slap landed, the hand delivering it would be ruined today.
At the critical moment, a powerful hand shot out of nowhere and clamped around Doctor Shen’s wrist like an iron vice.
“Have you had enough?”
A deep, icy voice filled with overwhelming authority sounded above them.
Gu Ci had arrived at some point without anyone noticing.
He was bare-chested, his military jacket draped over his shoulders. Heat and sweat radiated from his body, and his eyes were utterly devoid of warmth.
The moment Doctor Shen saw him, tears sprang into her eyes. Her expression changed faster than a page could be turned.
“Colonel Gu! Look at what your wife has done! She threw leftover food at me! I was kindly offering her something to eat, and she…”
Gu Ci flung her hand away as though he were shaking off a piece of garbage.
He didn’t even look at Doctor Shen. Instead, he turned toward Jiang Ning.
His gaze lingered on her filthy clothes for two seconds before shifting to Wang Dayong, who was standing beside her with undisguised admiration.
“Did you save Black Panther?” he asked.
Jiang Ning raised her head and met his gaze.
“Payment for the treatment: one meal with meat. Colonel Gu, are you paying or not?”
Gu Ci’s lips curled slightly.
“I’m paying.”
He turned around and kicked the mess hall doors open, the impact so powerful that the entire dining hall seemed to reverberate.
“Kitchen staff! Bring out all the braised pork! If even one piece is missing, I’ll overturn your entire kitchen!”