Battle of the Rhine

Michael officially became a college student when he entered the school in September.Thanks to the Soldier Bill of Rights, he gets fifty dollars a month to live on, plus tuition and textbooks.When choosing a major, the Veterans Administration worker—a no-nonsense, dark-haired girl whom Michael somehow thought “big girls” would like—asked him what he wanted to do in the future, and Michael stammered. In order to make up for the lack of language, he also added hands.The girl looked down at the manual, and sent him to a university on Honshu Island, where she mainly studied things related to the automobile industry.

"Big girl" went to school in New York, "I didn't read white," he said, "I almost died, and it would never be a penny cheaper for Truman."

"Are you going to be an accountant in the future?"

"It's called the fucking finance industry, you idiot, Mike!"

"The financial industry sounds like it can make money."

"I've got money—I've got a house in Manhattan. Well, you're going to fix cars?"

"I don't know, but the Germans are pretty good at building cars, aren't they?"

"You're fascinated by Germany," said a girl next to "Big Girl", "I won't talk nonsense with you, I'm going to do my homework with my dear classmate."

Michael worked hard at school.Fifty dollars!He can save more than half of it every month.The school is far away from home, and he has to live in a dormitory.The guy in the dormitory is called Arabian Kent. He just turned 17. He wears big, thick black-rimmed glasses. He is the youngest student in the class. Everyone calls him Adam.Adam admired Michael very much, because he was thin and small, and he was out of breath after running 100 meters.

"Aren't the Germans particularly scary?" Adam asked every night, "Are they good marksman?"

"Listen, on the battlefield, bullets are less scary," Michael copied the words, "We are more afraid of guns. The tanks are rumbling...that's more scary."

"If only I could drive a tank once." Adam said longingly.

"Really, war isn't fun at all." Michael looked up at his roommate seriously.However, his seriousness could only last for a few seconds, and after five seconds he couldn't maintain his expression, and changed back to a grinning look. "I'm worried all day... I can't eat and I can't sleep. If I'm caught, it will be even more dangerous." He touched the military card on his chest, which has become his habitual action, "We are fighting by the Rhine River , and caught a German college student."

"Wow! Is he ugly?"

"No, in fact... he is very handsome," Michael couldn't write any more words, the nib trembled on the edge of the book, and wrote a crooked "King", "he is the standard German man, tall and tall. Thin, blond hair, very blue eyes, doesn't smile much."

"Is he an SS? A Nazi?"

"No, he's the Wehrmacht."

"I thought the Germans were ugly," Adam said. "I had a neighbor who participated in the D-Day landings. He said that the Germans were very cruel and liked to eat human flesh."

"I haven't seen a cannibal German yet, maybe the ones I run into are normal."

"Maybe you didn't see it when they ate."

Quincy should not eat human flesh, but who knows.Michael wrote hundreds of "Kings" in one night, then tore off the pages and put them in the book.He told Adam about the little fat man among the captives, about the same age as Adam, still childish.He didn't even know how to rob, and almost killed himself by going off.Michael often gave him a few candies, and the little fat man was eager to go home and find his mother. He still remembers the little thing begging in blunt English, "I haven't killed anyone, I've only been here for two weeks... let it go me."

Michael's grades in the first semester were so-so, not outstanding, but they were all passing grades.Passing and being good gave him great self-confidence. You know, he was the most troublesome student in the school before.It took Mary weeks to call him in order to keep her job.When Michael came home during the end of term break, "Big Girl" said to him, "Aren't you going to have kids?"

"It depends on what Mary wants."

"My God, is she still at work?"

"Why not?"

"The streets are full of women with babies in their arms and big bellies. I thought you'd be a father a long time ago!"

"I think Mary looks more beautiful now, why does she have to hold her stomach up? Let's talk about it when she has time. She is very busy with work. By the way, there are people downstairs in your house who beat those with a stick... um... ...a man?"

"Oh, you talk about them. Yes, if they fight, I will call the police. What else can I do?" "Big Girl" doesn't care, "We also have people in our school. There are more and more people like this. It's really strange."

Michael put down the receiver and touched the military badge on his chest.When he went to the bank to deposit money recently, he checked the balance and regretted not giving Quincy a little more dollars.Why is he so stingy with those tens of dollars?It would be nice to buy him a few more pairs of socks.The newspaper said that the German prisoners under the jurisdiction of the Allied forces, except for war criminals who needed to be imprisoned, were almost all released home.Quincy hadn't been in the Army long enough to get his service card, a few lines scrawled on a brand-new pamphlet, and the photographs were fine.Hope he had a nice Christmas.... soon to get back to work and start a new life with Emma.A year has passed, no matter how painful it is, as long as you survive, life must continue.

Whether or not Quincy has started a new life, Mike doesn't know.But his life couldn't get any better.Just when he was reciting German words and was able to write simple articles, one noon, John came drunk, knocked on the door, and yelled.

"Stop reading, idiot!" John snarled. "What a son of a bitch! Your wife is going to run away with someone else!"