War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1074 The Song Without a Name
Watching the sunset, Wei Ran, who had been busy for another afternoon, took the time to decline the invitation of the two old people to have dinner together before the middle-aged couple he met yesterday came back from work. Leaving the secluded fenced yard with gifts from two old men, Na and Zurab.

In the off-road vehicle on the return journey, the old couple stuffed two large boxes of potatoes and a large box of mixed vegetables of cucumbers and tomatoes in the large trunk. In addition, there was a large carton of apples and five cans of their own. Pickled pickles and five jars of pickled tomatoes that I also make myself.

Even the old man Zurab secretly gave Wei Ran a large bottle of vodka that he brewed from potatoes.

Of course, Wei Ran didn't reveal his real intention all day long. He really helped them with the farm work all day long, and by the way, he used the Rollei Shuangfan to help them under the apple tree to welcome them. The setting sun took a group photo with a happy smile.

After passing the oncoming Huaxia SUV face to face, Wei Ran also dialed the phone number of Shenhu professional householder Ivan while increasing his speed, directly expressing the hope that the other party can come to Osinovic Port as soon as possible Accept your request to go back.

Since my precious daughter is asking for Wei Ran, this old thing is pleasant enough and quick enough.Almost as soon as it was completely dark, he drove the broken fishing boat converted from military to civilian use and parked at the pier in Osinovitz.

"Did you find something?"

As soon as he saw Wei Ran, the old Ivan immediately asked, followed by his two precious daughters, sisters Sui Sui and Katenka, and even Jima, Maya, and Lola all came out of the cabin like dirt. Like a rat, one after another popped up.

"Let's not talk about this first, come here and help move things." Wei Ran said, and had already stuffed a large box of apples into Ivan's arms.

The old guy glared resentfully at Wei Ran, who was deliberately trying to keep his eyes shut, and walked back to the cabin with the box of apples in his arms.

With the help of these friends, all the melons, fruits, vegetables, and food and drink exchanged for labor were moved into the cabin. He gritted his teeth and wanted to sell them until Wei Ran, who was in Shenhu, refused the job of driving the boat back. Like a quarter horse, he picked out a big, red apple like a dog's leg, peeled it with a paratrooper knife, and sent it to Sui Sui's hand.

All the way back to the small island located in the middle of the Neva River, Wei Ran explained what he found in a concealed manner, and finally led the destination to the fence courtyard.

"So you can probably be sure that these things all came from the two old people in that yard?" Old Ivan asked.

"Probably so"

Wei Ran took a sip of the hawthorn leaf tea handed by the little girl Lola, and then said unhurriedly, "I won't mention the specific investigation process, now we just need to go to the two old people to verify All right, Olga, now the decision is yours.

I can be sure that the bayan on the stand was not a stolen instrument from Shostakovich's former residence, and the music score has nothing to do with that former residence.

So you can choose to continue to hold these things openly, or you can choose to go to those two old people and listen to their opinions. "

Hearing this, Olga breathed a sigh of relief, and said without hesitation, "Is there any need to think about this kind of thing? Dad, how about we visit those two old people tomorrow morning? By the way, we have to give them Just prepare some presents."

Hearing this, old Ivan looked around the crowd triumphantly, seemed very satisfied with his precious daughter's decision, patted his chest and said, "Then let's visit tomorrow! Your mother made a lot of mushroom sauce and Smoked fish, and we have a lot of them in our vegetable garden.”

"I think you'd better exchange some presents"

Wei Ran had to remind, "I have worked in their vegetable garden all day, those two old people are living a self-sufficient life, there is no shortage of any agricultural products, even the vodka is made by the old gentleman himself Brewed, if you don’t believe me, just look at the fruits and vegetables I brought back.

Also, given the dried fish in the box, I don't think it would be a good idea to give smoked fish as a gift either. "

"Victor, what advice do you have?"

Mrs. Yana, who had been listening just now, took a sip of the fruit wine in the glass and asked.

"Um"

Wei Ran pondered for a moment, first looked at Olga, then at Olejian, and then at Sui Xin who was sitting in a wheelchair.

"Hurry up if you have something to say," Sui Sui urged while poking Wei Ran's itchy flesh with her finger.

"According to my investigation, those two old gentlemen were former faculty members of the Leningrad Conservatory."

Wei Ran paused, and continued, "So I think there should be nothing more appropriate than helping them with farm work for a day, then holding a music performance, and giving them a sculpture by the way."

"It's a good way!"

Olena immediately agreed, but then said with a bitter face, "But in a day, I can't make a sculpture, even the smallest one is not so easy."

"I took pictures of them with a camera, but you need a darkroom."

After a short pause, Wei Ran continued, "By the way, I also want to give them some gifts. In addition, if the sculpture can't be finished in a day, it can be finished in a week, and if it can't be finished in a week, it can be finished in a month. To be there with them, I think it's a good thing for both parties."

"We don't have a place for you to find a darkroom"

Dalia responded unhurriedly, "However, the scanner in my room can scan negatives, and I bought it for scanning negatives some time ago, and I also bought a lot of photo paper and a fairly professional printer. "

"I need to use it later," Wei Ran said immediately.

"No problem at all"

Dalia looked at Wei Ran with a smile, "So this is the Teacher's Day gift you gave me? Is your Teacher's Day in China today?"

"It was yesterday"

Wei Ran responded with a smile, "If you don't mind, take it as a teacher's day gift from me, so that you and Uncle Ivan don't have to pay the survey commission."

"I don't want to owe"

"You'd better keep your mouth shut"

Dalia reminded without waiting for old Ivan to finish, "His commission is not low. As far as I know, there have been more than one idiot willing to spend 20 euros to hire him to investigate the truth of history."

"Then it's a teacher's day gift."

Old Ivan immediately changed his words and said, "Anyway, I taught you how to steer my precious fishing boat."

"Your tuition is really expensive"

Jima, who had been listening to the excitement just now, couldn't help but mutter something, and Maya blocked her mouth with her eyes.

After confirming the itinerary for the next day, Olga immediately pushed Sui Xin away from the crowd. The two murmured and discussed, obviously they had some plans.

"You really found it in such a short time?"

Sui Sui leaned into Wei Ran's ear and whispered, "If you are one day late, the bet between me, Olga and Olena sisters will be lost.

"What did you bet on?" Wei Ran asked curiously in a low voice.

"Hey, I can't tell you this yet." Sui Sui replied vaguely, and then changed the topic to other aspects.

Before dinner, Wei Ran found an opportunity to borrow the scanner in Teacher Dalia's room, scanned the negatives in the metal book into electronic versions one by one, and then printed them out.

The children frozen in each photo are thinner than Wei Ran's impression, but they are equally full of vitality.

And the changes in the number of people in those group photos also silently tell the pain experienced by those children.

Finally, among these group photos, he found the one at the entrance of the cement house next to the playground. Naturally, there was no Wei Ran in this photo, but the crashing fighter jet in the background was very clear.

Continue to scroll back, these black and white photos record too many tragedies, from the dead bodies in the snow on the side of the road, to the mother and child who committed suicide, the brother and sister who starved to death one after another, to the scenes in the air-raid shelter, Taking a group photo with Osinovitz Pier, the children were obviously relieved.Even on Lake Ladoga, the girl who collapsed and all kinds of wreckage floating on the water, and hats one after another.

"Snapped"

Wei Ran put the unfinished photo paper into an envelope and put it on the table, trying not to let himself fall into the heart-piercing despair again.

After taking a few deep breaths to calm down, he collected the negatives, disconnected the printer from his notebook, and walked out of the office.

In the blink of an eye, the next morning, when everyone woke up early, everything outside the window was shrouded by the continuous autumn rain, and even the temperature dropped several degrees, so everyone went back to their rooms and took out their coats worn on the body.

After a hasty breakfast and some gifts prepared by Mrs. Yana, the people boarded the fishing boat and rushed along the Neva River to Lake Ladoga in the rain, and then rushed to Osinovitz along the shore of the lake.

After everyone got into the Iveco van that was parked here yesterday, Wei Ran also acted as the driver himself and rushed to the secluded courtyard next to the forest.

Before the car stopped, he saw that the two old men were busy threading the sunflowers that they did not know when they harvested on poles and hanging them on the beams in the corridor of the wooden house.

It's just obvious that the overly bountiful harvest has also made this work a bit busy because of the early rainfall - especially the two old people are almost 80 years old.

"Grandma Galina, Grandpa Zurab, do you need my help?"

Wei Ran, who parked the car at the gate of the fenced yard, pushed the door open and leaned out with most of his body, stood up straight and asked.

"It's Victor!"

Zula's wrinkled face immediately revealed a happy look, "Galina and I were just talking about how nice it would be if a good guy came to help us like yesterday, and then you came."

"Today I brought some extra helpers," Wei Ran said, making an OK gesture with the hand still in the cab.

Receiving the signal, Jima immediately opened the car door, and Maya was the first to get out with the pie and mushroom sauce made by Mrs. Yana herself.

Immediately afterwards, Sui Sui also walked down with Lola and Katenka sisters, and carried out Sui Xin, her wheelchair, and the piano case containing Guqin Youquan.

Behind these girls, sisters Olga and Olena came out of the carriage carrying the wooden box together.

Seeing so many young people coming down from the car, the two old people who were busy in the corridor in front of the door were also a little dazed for a while.

Winking at Olga, Wei Ran and Jima took over the work from the two old men with smiles on their faces. A sunflower flower disc, which is only a little smaller than the washbasin, is strung up with bamboo poles, and they are hung on the beams of the corridor one by one.

At the same time, after a brief astonishment, the two old men who were robbed of their jobs were also attracted all their attention by the box that Olga and Olena sisters jointly carried.

"This box." Grandma Galina looked at the box on the table in the corridor in disbelief, and wiped her hands with her apron excitedly, "You are"

"Mr. Galina, hello, I'm Olga, a student who graduated from the Leningrad Conservatory of Music."

While talking, Olga opened the box, and told how she was deceived by her tutor and wasted a summer vacation cleaning up the musical instrument warehouse, and how she stole the box, and even hoped to find the owner of the box, even her All the stupid things that stupid old man did were introduced without reservation.

Finally, the girl let out a long breath, "Anyway, Teacher Galina, we are here to return these precious memories to their owners. Fortunately, we finally found this place."

Hearing this, Galina and Zurab, who was sitting in the narration, looked at each other, and then looked at Wei Ran and others who had finished drying the sunflower trays and were working together to clean the corridor.

"So Victor Yesterday"

"right"

Wei Ran straightened up, and said calmly, "I always have to make sure that the person I'm looking for is really the owner of that box."

"Come in and sit"

Galina reached out and touched the box, "Children, bring it in too, and let me tell you the story of this box."

Hearing this, these young people immediately lined up and walked into the room, sitting in a full circle around the long table in the living room.

"This box is actually my mother's relic"

Galina said, "She used to be a column, let's call it the St. Petersburg Conservatory. She used to be the custodian of the school's musical instrument warehouse. But that was a long time ago.

When I was young, every time it came to Children's Day, she would open this box, play a tune with that bayan, sing a song, and cut off a piece of paper that was about half the size of a little finger. A small piece of bread was fed to me, and when I got older, I was given a bite of dried fish. "

Having said that, Galina picked up the dried fish, pointed to the ring of tooth marks left on it, and said, "This is the last time I ate it when I was 12 years old. The bayanqin taught me to play that piece, taught me to sing a song, but never let me eat the nasty bread and dried fish there.”

“Ate when we got married”

Zurab reminded, "On June 1964, 6, on the pier, each of us ate a thumb-thick piece of black bread. I will never forget the bad taste in my life. It’s the longest-preserving piece of black bread.”

"That piece of bread you ate was actually made by my mother herself"

Galina carefully wrapped the dried fish and the piece of black bread in newspaper and explained, "She is very disgusted with wasting food, but when you are young like these boys, you are not a person who cherishes food. .”

Before Grandpa Zurab could speak, Grandma Galina continued, "However, since my mother retired, I haven't seen this box again, and I always thought it and the contents inside were thrown away. Well, I didn't expect it to be placed in the school's musical instrument warehouse."

"Can you tell me the story of your mother?"

Wei Ran said, and took out an extremely thick envelope from his bag, "I found the film of these photos in the archives of the Conservatory of Music, and I found you here through these things."

After taking the envelope and opening it, Galina took out the thick stack of photos, she only glanced at the group photo on the top and sighed, then put down the photos in her hand, stood up and said,

"Boys, I have these pictures in my house too."

As she said that, the old lady had already walked to the piano and opened the green velvet cloth wrapped around the glass cabinet with the snare drum.

Before she could open the glass cabinet door on the lower floor, which was originally blocked, Wei Ran, who was closest to her, widened her eyes in surprise.

In this not-so-big glass cabinet, there are several rows filled with various medals and certificates of merit. Besides, there is also a cigarette case and lighter that Wei Ran looks very familiar with. There is a silver heartwarmer and a set of two copies of The Resurrection.

In particular, most of those medals have appeared in the records of the metal book, but Wei Ran did not expect that there are as many as 17 Labor Red Banner Medals here!
"These are the medals and awards that my mother and Uncle Kelelo and Aunt Lesia have received"

Grandma Galina said proudly, "There are also two medals of the Red Banner of Labor that I won."

"The other two are mine," Zurab said proudly.

But immediately afterwards, the old couple sighed tacitly, "Unfortunately, the Soviet Union is no longer here."

In the silence of many young people, Grandma Galina took out a photo album with mottled years from the cabinet, gently wiped the dust on it with her sleeve, and then handed it to Wei Ran.

"Let's light the stove." Galina greeted Grandpa Zurab, and at the same time took away the kerosene signal lamp that was placed on the stove.

"It's time to light the stove"

As Zurab said, he declined Jima who was trying to help, and slowly opened the lid of the box next to the stove, picked up a German coconut pot from inside, opened the lid and poured half a cup of kerosene into the stove. On the firewood, he took out another box of matches, lit one of them and threw it into the stove.

With the help of kerosene, the flames were firmly attached to the firewood that had been placed in advance for an unknown period of time. Grandpa Zurab also found a small shovel, shoveled some briquettes from the airdrop box and threw them into the furnace, and then Cover the flame cap.

The faint smell of smoke and dust slowly permeated the room. Grandma Galina also placed the kerosene signal lamp in her hand on the long table where everyone was sitting, sat down again, and talked about her mother, Ke Na and her story.

As she narrated, the yellowed photo album was passed back and forth among many young people.

The story of Grandma Galina is not much different from what Wei Ran experienced, but it is just as cruel and full of cold and hunger, especially with the yellowed photo album, which makes these young people feel as if they have fallen into an ice cellar Generally felt a bone-chilling fear.

After a long time, the rain outside the window became heavier and heavier, and the old man Zurab also received a call. Their daughter was going to the dock to accompany the son-in-law on duty, and they might not be able to go home tonight.And Galina's story is gradually coming to an end.

"This is their story"

Grandma Galina took the hot tea from Lola and held it in her palm, "My brothers and sisters, as well as Uncle Matvey and almost everyone in the story, were buried in the Osinowitz Cemetery. After her mother retired, she also moved here.

As I said at the beginning, every year on June 1st, I have to taste the taste of that piece of bread and that piece of dried fish, and I will accompany my mother to the cemetery to play for my brothers and sisters. The bayan sings.

It's a pity, I have no impression of those brothers and sisters at all, and June 6st at that time was not Children's Day at all. "

"Grandma Galina, can you still sing that song?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

"Do you want to hear it?"

Grandma Galina said, and picked up the bayan on the table, "Let me try how to play that piece of music, I hope this bayan can still be used."

"It can still be used," Olga said quickly with red eyes, "Its tone is very good."

"let me try"

Before Galina finished her sentence, she had already hugged the bayanqin in her arms, and Mr. Zurab also sat down next to the Lilyka piano first.

Soon, a slightly sad melody reverberated in the small wooden house shrouded in autumn rain. The old man sitting on the chair also sang the song written to the children in desperate situation with the accompaniment of the music. their songs:

On the white Neva, red fire

That cold ruin, there are a group of happy little guys

Accompanied by an increasingly powerful and hopeful accompaniment, the lyrics sung from the old man's mouth are also filled with more and more hope and confidence.

After a long time, as the last line was sung, both the bayan in her arms and the piano not far away fell into silence one after another.

"Papa papa" Olga was the first to applaud, followed by the rest of the young people applauding one after another.

"Grandma Galina, what's the name of this song?" Sui Sui asked with red eyes.

"name?"

Galina smiled, and replied sadly, "There is no name, this song has no name. Just like those children who did not survive the war, they have no name, and they don't need a name."

(End of this chapter)