War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1063 Kind Children
In the basement where Mrs. Weiya and others were buried, Wei Ran, who pressed the shutter, put away his camera tiredly, walked out of the ruins alone, found a place where he could get some sunshine, and sat slowly on the soft snow against the broken wall. On the ground, I was fascinated by the smoke blasted by the anti-aircraft guns in the sky, the anti-aircraft balloons floating in the wind, the Soviet and German fighter jets fighting for the altitude advantage, and the thick smoke steaming on the ground.

This place is not the same as Stalingrad. In that city, soldiers from both sides of the Soviet Union need to fight room by room, but as long as they can kill the invading Germans, they can always find something from him.

But this is Leningrad, Wei Ran can't remember how long he has been here, but he knows clearly that in such a long time, he has never seen a living German at all, more often, or most of the time. Most of the time, his enemies are hunger and cold.

The chocolate and honey he brought can certainly supplement energy, but a piece of chocolate every day, which is not the size of a mahjong block, and the broth can provide limited energy.Under such a harsh food rationing standard, all he can do is "not to starve to death".

Greedily basking in the sun for half an hour, Wei Ran, who didn't want to be frozen to death, finally climbed up with difficulty, dragging the sledge and continuing to wander aimlessly.

After an unknown amount of time, he stopped near the distribution station. At this time, although there were not many people queuing outside the distribution station, the ruins of the building not far away and the side of the entrance and exit of the air-raid shelter next to the ruins could be exposed to the sun. At the position of the sun, there are some people who are also absorbing warmth sitting in twos and threes.

Some of these people are as skinny as a stick, some have swollen faces like a fat man covered with fat, and some are not only skinny, but also have a dark complexion.

He knew that these three groups represented the most common status of almost all living inhabitants of Leningrad.That
Some skinny people, as long as the food can be supplied, can still survive after all.This includes those strong and brave children.

But those who have begun to swell have actually developed metabolic acidosis, and they are almost equivalent to stepping one foot into the gate of hell.

As for those who are not only thin, but also have dark skin, their bodies are already so hungry that they digest their own internal organs to supply energy.For these people, even if food is provided to them immediately, the failure of their organs makes it difficult for them to survive.

These unpopular medical knowledge naturally came from Hongqi Forest Farm, but he did not expect that he would have the opportunity to verify it himself-even if he did not expect such an opportunity at all.

Looking at Ke Na from a distance who was working in the almost open-air distribution station, Wei Ran dragged the sledge and randomly chose a direction that he had never been to before to explore.

But in this city that has been bombed countless times, among the ruins that have been rummaged countless times, what he can find is really pitiful.

In the evening, when he returned to the basement where Mrs. Via was buried, there were already some pieces of wood of various origins and sizes on his sledge.

Near the ruins where the basement was located, Ke Na, who was carrying a sack and clutched a P38 pistol, had been waiting for a long time.

"Are you in danger?" Wei Ran immediately frowned when he saw the weapon in the opponent's hand, and at the same time subconsciously looked around.

"There's a man trying to grab my rations"

While speaking, Ke Na was already sitting on the sledge behind Wei Ran, "But he ran away after I took out the pistol."

"What did you get today?" Wei Ran asked as he walked back.

"Not much stuff"

Kona paused, seeing that Wei Ran didn't ask any further questions, she took the initiative to explain, "In addition to black bread, I also got half a bottle of milk for Galina."

"It's good news"

"Did you catch the mouse?" Cora pressed.

"no"

Wei Ran shook his head, and recounted how the mousetrap cage was stolen and how he met the grandpa and grandson.

"Just now you said how old is the boy named Kaileluo?" Ke Na asked with some surprise.

"It should be about the same age as you, what's wrong?" Wei Ran asked casually.

“Rationing stations are currently very understaffed”

Ke Na immediately said, "If you can see him tomorrow, if he is still alive by then, ask him if he is interested in working at the distribution station. We need porters and we have 200 grams of black bread every day."

"I'll ask tomorrow"

Wei Ran replied absent-mindedly, wondering whether that young man named Kaileluo was the key to the survival of Ke Na and the children.

When the two of them stopped and went back to the concrete house next to the playground before the sun went down, Wei Ran, who was walking in front, was the first to notice something was wrong.

At this time, the little guys who stayed behind were all waiting for me and Ke Na at the door, but their skinny faces were full of anxiety.

"Alexander, what happened?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"We...we found a calcium carbide lamp!"

Alexander flusteredly showed the brass calcium carbide lamp in his hand, then hurriedly picked up an enamel bucket with a cover at his feet, and said more and more nervously, "We also found a lot of calcium carbide lamps. A bucket full!"

"We also found a stove!"

Alexander's good friend Alyosha pulled off the blanket on the sledge next to him before Wei Ran and Kona could speak, revealing a cast iron stove on it.

This straight up and down cylindrical cast iron stove is only 50 centimeters high and 40 centimeters in diameter at most, not to mention that it is divided into the upper combustion chamber and the lower dust chamber. Cast with "Putilov Arms Factory" in Russian.

This Putilov military factory can be said to have a long history, and at this moment it is producing weapons for the front line around the clock.Of course, this stove is obviously a product before the start of World War II.However, don't look at this stove and the one they are using. It looks about the same size from the outside, but the combustion chamber is more than half smaller.

The combustion chamber of the stove is small, which naturally means more fuel saving. For Wei Ran and Kona who have always had energy concerns, it is undoubtedly good news for saving firewood.

But even so, the suspicion on the faces of the two of them became more and more serious.

Seeing that the two "parents" were about to speak, the little boy named Ivan wearing glasses carefully picked up a bundle of tin chimneys and a dilapidated kettle from the sledge, and stammered, "That. We also found the chimney"

"All right"

Ke Na took a deep breath, "I'm ready, you guys, what stupid thing did you do?"

Alexander, Alyosha, and Ivan looked at each other, and finally stood up on their own initiative, and said cautiously, "Sister Kena, we, us"

"What's the matter?" Cora put her hands in bearskin gloves on Alexander's shoulders.

"We brought some people back," Alexander confessed in a voice the size of a mosquito's wing flapping about the "good thing" they had done.

"What did you say?" Ke Na asked subconsciously, she really didn't hear clearly.

"Let me tell"

Olga, the girl holding the baby Galina, took the initiative to stand up and said in a voice loud enough for Wei Ran and Kona to hear, "Sister Kona, Uncle Victor, Alexander, Alyosha, and Ivan went out to collect things today. During the supplies, they found a few little guys about the size of Andre, and they brought them back."

"7"

Alexander said cautiously, "There are seven of them. The oldest is 7 years old, the same age as Ivan, and the youngest is 11 years old, the same age as Andre. Victor, Kona, they are about to starve to death, me."

"Where are they?" Ke Na asked without waiting for Wei Ran to speak.

All the children in the "basement" who could communicate clearly responded in unison, and at the same time pointed to the concrete house behind them.

Not caring about Wei Ran at all, Ke Na took the bread and milk she received today and walked quickly to the basement.

Seeing the growing uneasiness on the faces of the children standing at the door, Wei Ran couldn't help but secretly sighed. This is not a peaceful era, and it is not a matter of "one more person is just one more pair of chopsticks". They brought it back Yes, let alone 7 kittens and puppies that can be discarded at any time.

That was seven children as old as them, seven children who needed to eat every day, needed supplemental nutrition, and needed enough strength to survive.

But what about here?This is Leningrad under siege, let alone supporting 7 children here, it is not easy for a girl like Kona to support herself, but even so, those kind children still choose to keep them Bring it back and share the scarce food together.

Seeing that the girl named Sasha had already covered her mouth and tried to stop the uncontrollable choking, Wei Ran cleared his throat vigorously, and when all the children subconsciously looked over, he said solemnly and very seriously, " Olga, our little comrade Olga, I need to remind you of one thing."

"What is it?"

Oujia subconsciously hugged the baby in her arms tightly, and her thin and distressed little face couldn't help but show a strong look of panic.

Yes, she is only an eleven or twelve-year-old child.
Wei Ran sighed secretly, pretending to be dissatisfied and said, "I must remind you—"

When almost all the children showed signs of worry, Wei Ran, who was holding a long voice, said with increasing dissatisfaction, "You can call me Victor, or Brother Victor, why do you want to call me Victor?" Uncle Duo? I'm obviously not a few years older than Ke Na, didn't you call her sister Ke Na?
Olga, Comrade Olga, this is so unfair to me, and now my heart is hurting badly, unless some pretty little girl sings me a Katyusha before dinner today, I am I won't forgive you. "

As Wei Ran uttered this nonsensical joke sentence by sentence, Oujia, who was originally full of worry and fear, stared wider and wider, and her mouth became wider and rounder. Following closely, these children finally let out a burst of laughter in unison. laugh.

"Won't you blame us?" Olga sniffled and asked, completely relieved, "I'll sing you a Katyusha before dinner, I swear by my mother."

"Of course I blame you"

Wei Ran pretended to be helpless and said, "I have already been called uncle, don't you allow me to blame you?"

"I said so."

"That thing"

Wei Ran smiled without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, and calmed down, "Don't worry, why would Ke Na and I blame you for this kind of thing? Let's talk about these things first, where did you find them?" ?”

"The place to find those buddies"

Alexander, with a pair of big teeth bared, immediately said, "They lived in a bombed-out apartment building one street away. When we found them, they were all relying on this stove for heating. We almost wasted money to bring it back. All day long."

"That calcium carbide lamp was also discovered together?"

Wei Ran continued to change the topic and asked, and at the same time took over the calcium carbide lamp in Alexander's hand. Although he had heard of this thing a long time ago, it was the first time he had seen it in kind.

"Correct!"

Alyosha immediately leaned forward and said, "I found it. I found it in the boiler room of that building. It was placed in the boiler at that time."

"Victor!"

Before Alyosha could finish his sentence, Ke Na who hurried up from the basement called out, "Come and have a look."

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately returned the calcium carbide lamp in his hand to Alexander, and walked into the cement house surrounded by the children, and then into the basement.

At this time, in the basement, there were two little guys vigorously shaking the pedals from left to right to power the car lights hanging above their heads.

It was also through the light of this headlight that Wei Ran also saw 7 strange little guys lying side by side.

The biggest one among these thin and scary children is a little blonde girl. There are large areas of frostbite on her face, ears, hands and even feet, but there is a matchbox on the back of her hand Large and small burns.

Except for this girl, the other six little guys also have boys and girls. These children are also without exception. , and cough a few times.

"They all have a cold," Cora said worriedly, "and they all have a fever, Victor, what should we do?"

"No problem"

Wei Ran hesitated for a while, and asked the blonde girl who seemed to be the oldest, but who was equally anxious and flustered, "What's your name?"

"Lecia," the blond girl responded feebly.

"Where are your parents?" Wei Ran hardened his heart and asked a question that shouldn't be asked.

"Dead." Laishia paused, "or went to the front line."

"What is the relationship between the rest of the children and you?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"We all lived in the same apartment," Laishia explained. "Later, the apartment was set on fire by a bomb dropped by the Germans. Only a few of us survived because we helped our family line up to get bread."

"Stay here"

Wei Ran thought for a while, then leaned into Ke Na's ear and whispered, "Get some hot water, let them wash their hands, face, and feet, this will warm up their bodies, and remember to give them hot water first Everyone has a cup of hot honey water, and while I'm at it, I'll find something to cure their cold."

"Leave it to me!" Ke Na immediately nodded and accepted the job.

Taking advantage of the eldest sister taking the rest of the children to take care of the new partner, Wei Ran also left the cement house, and accompanied by the setting sun, walked into the ruins of the school cafeteria, found a leeward corner, and took out a bag filled with I picked up kitchen utensils and some ingredients in the basket, took out a piece of old ginger the size of a palm from inside, and took a piece of brown sugar the size of a goose egg and wrapped it in a handkerchief.

When he collected the basket and returned to the basement with brown sugar and ginger, Laishia and the other children not only had a Budyonny hat of random color on their heads, but also each received a hot water bottle. The tin buckets were sitting in line on the benches, each holding a cup of honey water to soak their feet.

"Alexander, you guys come over to help."

Wei Ran first put the things in his hands on the top shelf, and then called a few older children to come over, and together they helped lift the small cast iron stove that was still on the sledge into the basement, replacing the original stove. stove.

It was obvious that when they saw that the stove that could be regarded as dependent on each other was lit, the faces of the few children headed by Laishia also showed a trace of slack.

Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled imperceptibly, found an enamel pot and put it on the stove, then shredded the piece of old ginger, threw it into the pot together with the piece of brown sugar, and added hot water.

"We don't have enough bread tonight." Ke Na leaned over to Wei Ran and whispered, "We can only use our reserves."

"How much jelly do you have left?" Wei Ran asked while busy making brown sugar ginger tea.

"There was enough for tomorrow morning, but now it's only enough for tonight."

Kona paused, "But we still have three horse skins. If you can come back early tomorrow, you can make more."

"Go and cut the bread"

Wei Ran paused, and added, "You come back early tomorrow, and we will take a group photo together. After all, there are too many people, right?"

Hearing this, Ke Na was stunned, then nodded with a smile, "Tomorrow I will come back with everyone's rations."

Chocolate is not enough
Wei Ran muttered to himself after waiting for Ke Na to go upstairs, and silently gave up his share of chocolate to the children.

Now he is only fortunate that there is still a lot of honey in the oil barrel of the metal book, which can be used as an emergency supply.

Before dinner that day, Oujia sang a Katyusha to Wei Ran with the accompaniment of Kona's bayanqin, and the chorus that followed made the children headed by Laishia feel sad. There was a trace of freshness.

When the pre-meal concert was over, each child received a sweet and spicy brown sugar ginger tea before the honey water, in addition to the usual broth and jelly.

This cup of ginger tea made them grin their teeth, and fine beads of sweat appeared on each child's forehead. The cotton clothes were all taken off.

Taking advantage of these children queuing up to shake the generator to listen to the radio as usual, Wei Ran fumbled to light the calcium carbide lamp.

When the bright white fire illuminated the basement, he also asked Kera to find the little girl named Laishia.

"What's with the burn on your hand?"

While Wei Ran was asking, he had dug out the medical bag he had picked up, and found a small tube of burn ointment from it.

"burned by it"

Laishia pointed to the stove next to Wei Ran, "When I was adding coal to the stove, I fainted from hunger, and my hand just pressed on it."

Looking at Ke Na next to him, Wei Ran carefully applied scalding ointment to this exceptionally calm girl, and gave the remaining ointment to her.

Glancing at the steady-burning calcium carbide lamp hanging on the chimney, Wei Ran and Ke Na exchanged glances, and the two walked out of the basement one after the other.

"7 more children," Wei Ran said in a low voice.

"yes."

Ke Na was silent for a moment, "How long can our food last?"

"It's not a problem to drink the broth for a month, and those sausages are not enough for a week at most."

"What about honey and chocolate?" Cora asked tentatively.

"Based on the current consumption, the honey can last for half a month, and the chocolate can be eaten up in a week at most."

"So we're going by current consumption."

"Ten days, our food will last for ten days at most, and then we will have to live on black bread and broth every day."

Wei Ran said, pointing to the firewood against the wall, "Although we just changed to a smaller stove, the firewood can only burn for ten days at most. As for the fuel, they might burn for four Five days."

"We can't venture out of town"

Cora said abruptly, "We can't venture out of town for fuel and food, Victor, we now have 23 children to take care of.

This is as dangerous as standing on the ice of Lake Ladoga in spring, no matter me or you or something wrong with Alexander or Alyosha.Without any strength, none of us would be able to survive.

So from now on, we have to be a little more cautious and a little more frugal. "

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded after being silent for a moment, "I see, besides, Ke Na."

"What?" Ke Na turned to look at Wei Ran.

"Don't forget, you are still a child." Wei Ran couldn't help reminding.

Kona showed a particularly bright smile when she heard the words, "Maybe, but I am still a member of the Communist Youth League and a resident of Leningrad. Galina and Anastasia even regard me as their mother, so I have to take responsibility for them as an adult."

"They're just children." Wei Ran sighed secretly, turned around and walked into the warm basement.

(End of this chapter)