War Photographer's Notebook

On March 1942, 3, the bright sunshine entered the warm basement through the long and narrow glass windows early in the morning, and unscrupulously sprinkled on the faces of the sleeping children.

This is another rare fine weather, and what is even more rare is that the Germans woke up the sleeping children in the basement half an hour later than usual.

Amid the sound of rumbling gunfire, when these little guys got up one after another, Wei Ran had already prepared an enamel pot full of sweet and greasy honey water waiting for them.

Not only that, but the cast iron stove that had been out for some time was also filled with coking coal and ignited. On the stove was an amphora cast iron pot that they had never seen before.

In this cast-iron pot obtained from the Savage Mountain battlefield, a large pot of thick white rice porridge was boiled.

Beside it, on the cast-iron stove that had been planted with apple seeds but never germinated, the American oil stove that had been chirping all night also burned the heater placed on it red.

Also lit was the German Gemstone oil stove, which was one size smaller. At this time, it was burning an enamel basin filled with water. glass milk bottle.

"children"

After all the children got up, Ke Na clapped her hands on the steps leading to the first floor, and said in a pleasant voice and a very happy tone, "Tonight, we will move to a safer and warmer air-raid shelter. Before we left, Victor and I decided that we'd have a big meal! Then have a decent concert!"

As soon as this set of rhetoric was uttered, the children who didn't know what to do immediately cheered, but Alexander subconsciously glanced at Alyosha next to him, and then glanced at the man who had been busy since he didn't know when. Wei Ran.

But soon, under Wei Ran's yelling, this little guy directed his younger brothers and sisters to line up, holding an enamel cup, and took half a cup of sweet silk from the enamel kettle that Wei Ran was carrying. The hot honey water sat on the side of the long table in twos and threes while discussing what song to sing next.

"Kona, Victor, after moving to live in the air-raid shelter, will we still see you?"

As Laishia asked this question, the warm basement filled with the aroma of rice porridge fell silent instantly, and all the children also looked at Wei Ran and Ke Na in unison.

"Of course!"

Ke Na immediately pointed to Wei Ran, "Victor will move into the air-raid shelter with you to take care of your life."

"What about you?" The former child king named Andre asked nervously.

“I want to move in too”

Cora spread her hands and said in a relaxed tone, "But my place of work is about an hour and a half away from the air-raid shelter. You can't let me waste three hours on the road every day, right? I don't have that many strength."

"Then will you live here by yourself in the future?" the little girl Oujia asked nervously.

"of course not"

Ke Na crossed her hips proudly, "I forgot to tell you that I was allocated a warm dormitory at the distribution station. No matter how windy or snowy it is, I won't have to get up early to hurry!"

"So we won't see you in the future?" The current child king Alexander asked sadly, "And we haven't seen Sister Lydia for a long time, she."

"She works at the port"

Ke Na spread her hands helplessly, "It's too difficult for her to come back once, but I promise you, I will try to spare time every week to visit you in the air-raid shelter."

"Can we see you?" asked Alyosha.

"That's not going to work"

Wei Ran, who had been silent just now, took over the conversation, "After we go to live in the air-raid shelter, I can rest and stop running around, but if you go to find Ke Na, I have to go with you, even if you hide it from me. Let me secretly find Ke Na, and Ke Na will also send you back and then go back by herself."

"That"

"You can write to me, Victor knows my address, and I will reply to you when I have time."

Cona, who became more and more proficient in lying, turned off the gas stove with a natural expression, took out the water-proof bottle to test the temperature, then bent down to hug Galina, and stuffed the pacifier into her little mouth.

"Okay, hurry up and finish drinking the honey water."

Wei Ran tapped the cast iron pot on the stove with the spoon in his hand, "After you've finished drinking, come back in line to get the rice porridge."

Under the lure of food, these children finally decided to trust Wei Ran and Ke Na unconditionally as usual.

Soon, in the warm basement, the percussion music from the collision of spoons and enamel cups sounded.

On the first floor, where the temperature is much lower, Wei Ran and Ke Na also stood beside a locked iron cabinet with a cup of thick and hot white rice porridge.Behind the two of them stood Alexander who was also holding a cup of white rice porridge.

Glancing at this little guy who was the absolute leader among the children, Cora temporarily put her cup on the shelf, opened the cabinet, and took out the wooden box containing food reserves.Then he took another key from the collar and opened the padlock on the box.

In this wooden box, in addition to a desk scale belonging to the Soviet Bank, there are also their remaining food reserves - two whole pieces of black bread wrapped in newspaper, and two pieces of dried fish. A bottle of canned Salo meat wrapped tightly in kraft paper.

"These are our last food reserves"

While showing these things to Alexander, Cora lowered her voice and said, "We only ate half at noon today, Alexander, Victor, I am going to hide the remaining half here, waiting for you to go Air-raid shelter, if you are hungry, come here secretly, take the food back and distribute it to your younger brothers and sisters."

Before she finished speaking, Cora took out a piece of bread and a piece of dried fish and put them on the plate, then locked the lid, tied the leather rope with the key around Alexander's neck, and stuffed it into it herself. the neckline of the dress.

"Sister Ke Na, are you going to the front line?" Alexander's eyes were red, trying not to let his tears fall.

"The distribution station is my front line"

Ke Na patted the little guy on the shoulder, looked at Wei Ran again, and said very seriously, "Alexander, you are the oldest among your younger siblings, you have to take care of them and yourself, all of you To survive."

"Yeah!" Alexander nodded vigorously, and shed two tears by the way.

Looking at Wei Ran again, Ke Na picked up the snare drum left by her father with one hand, and the bayan with the signature of Shostakovich's music in the other, and then picked her chin again, He signaled Wei Ran to pick up the re-locked wooden box and the plate on the box cover.

"It's time for us to hold a small concert, Victor, do you still have your harmonica?"

"Of course." Wei Ran replied with a smile, "and I have already learned other songs."

Cora said while placing the snare drums she had brought down on the shelf in the basement, "I have always dreamed of being on the stage of the Marie Opera House one day."

"I believe that day will come"

Wei Ran said, and put the locked wooden box on the shelf, "I will buy a ticket to see it, and I will sit in the front row."

"I hope you can accompany me more." Kona asked jokingly, "What musical instrument do you know?"

"I guess opera performances probably don't use bayan and harmonica?"

Wei Ran also responded in a joking tone, "I also know a Chinese musical instrument, but I'm sure, at least in Leningrad, I can't find that kind of musical instrument."

"I'm starting to suspect that you're a musician like my dad"

As Kona spoke, she had already hung the bayan that belonged to Shostakovich on her chest, "Although I don't know what kind of Chinese musical instrument you just mentioned, we will definitely use it in the next concert." upper bayan and harmonica.”

After finishing speaking, Ke Na played a short piece of cheerful music impromptu. After the children in the basement calmed down, she took the rice porridge that Alexander helped herself and Wei Ran bring down, took a big sip and said, " Children, who will sing first?"

"Me! I want to come first!" The girl named Laishia said immediately, "I want to sing "Little Road". I only recently learned it from the radio!"

"I will too! I want to sing with you!" Oujia immediately joined the singing.

"And me, I want to sing too!" Sasha followed up.

"We want to sing Little Apple!" The former child Wang Andre raised his arms and raised his enamel cup, and immediately many little guys with rice porridge hanging from the corners of their mouths expressed their desire to sing along.

"We're going to sing the Night of the Military Port!" Alexander also said.

"Can you sing that song?" Laishia couldn't help but ask.

"Our teacher is at the port." Alyosha subconsciously explained, "Maybe he is singing this song too."

Laishia froze for a moment, then said, "Then I will sing with you later!"

"I can dance ballet."

A little girl who looked about seven or eight years old said, "But I only learned a short part of the Waltz of Flowers."

Waltz of flowers?
Wei Ran, who had just extinguished the American-style oil stove, was stunned, and the little girl in front of him gradually overlapped with the thin shadow of the other Gellert.

When he came back to his senses, he wiped the corners of his eyes indiscriminately, picked up the bayanqin and said, "I'll accompany you later!"

"You know so many tunes"

Ke Na looked at Wei Ran in surprise, and then said, "I will be with you later, and I will also play this song."

"Now I can play this piece too"

Wei Ran muttered to himself, raised his spirits, and asked enthusiastically, "Then how about we start now?"

"As usual, let's start with Katyusha!"

Before Ke Na finished speaking, she had already played the instrument in her arms, and a step later, Wei Ran also pressed the keys.

Soon, the accompaniment of the bayan and the sonorous singing of the children sounded again in this bright and sunny basement.