I started to sing loudly. "Forward, forward, forward — Charge —"
I went the rest of the way without incident, naturally. It was nearly dawn by the time I approached the village. The sky was clear and black, with only a hint of red glowing in the east. It was very peaceful scene, overall, with the roosters crowing in the village. Looking back the way I'd come, the crops were just crops and the road was just a road. I thought of how frightened I'd been on the road and felt like a complete fool.
As I was about to enter the village, I saw an old man coming out from between the shadows under a tree. I looked closely – it was my neighbor Old Man Zhao, dressed very neatly. He stopped and stood four or five steps from me.
"You're up early today, Mr. Zhao," I said right away.
"Got up early to go to town," he said. "Knew you were coming home, been waiting for you."
I talked with him for a bit, small talk, and gave him a cigarette with a filter.
After lighting the cigarette, he said, "Young man, I still owe your father five Yuan, but I can't use my money. You take this pipe and give it to him, and that'll square it."
"Why do you have to do that, Mr. Zhao?" I asked.
"You get on home, now," he said. "Your Ma and Pa are looking forward to seeing you!"
The pipe was made of agate and it was very cold when I took it from him. I quickly said goodbye to him and hurried off into the village.