War Photographer's Notebook

Watching Xiao Su's mother walk through the courtyard until she got into the rickshaw waiting for her outside the door, Mei Xiang sighed, and said to Wei Ran, "Respect Xiao Su's mother in the future, don't be serious. hurt her."

"Okay." Wei Ran nodded in response.

"Miss, why are you still talking for Xiao Su's mother?" Qiu Shi, who had been hiding behind Mei Xiang just now, asked with her lips pouted.

"She saved my life"

Mei Xiang sighed, but she didn't continue to explain. She just stood up with a smile and said, "Jasmine, Uncle Dumb, sit down with Wei Ran and Xiao Yao and have a meal. Mama Yang has left some food for you. After eating, rest After a break, at 02:30, Jasmine, take them to the practice room."

"Yes"

Jasmine responded, and by the way, she didn't forget to take out a pack of cigarettes Wei Ran bought for her and handed it to Mei Xiang.

Watching Meixiang take Qiushi upstairs, Wei Ran and Yao Canhua picked up their belongings and returned to their rooms.

Compared with later generations, there are not many servants' rooms on this floor. Cao Dumb took a room next to the garage, Wei Ran took a room next to the gate and facing the courtyard gate, and Yao Canhua was assigned a room. But it was a room with a window facing east next to the storage room.

From his room, he could just see the tall and straight ginkgo tree outside through the window.Even Wei Ran knew better that the later Mr. Tao Canhua passed away in the same room on the second floor.He believed that it was definitely not a coincidence.

Helping Yao Canhua put down all the things he bought, Wei Ran simply returned to his room and locked the door behind him.

Pulling the heavy curtains to block the sunlight outside, Wei Ran loaded the camera with film and the flashlight with batteries as quickly as possible, then took out the food box and put the spare film, batteries and extra bullets in it.

This was put into the food box by him, as well as a large bag of brown sugar, half a catty of tea and a small bag of salt that he bought with money—he was really frightened by hunger.

Without wasting too much time, Wei Ran put on lighter and more breathable mille-soled cloth shoes, then opened the door and returned to the living room, and sat at the dining table greeted by Miss Jasmine.

Among the people at the table, Cao Dumb is needless to say, if he could talk, Miss Meixiang from upstairs would all come down to see him.

This young man Yao Canhua's dull character carries the unavoidable inferiority and cowardice of Chinese people in this era. He doesn't even dare to lift his head, and he only eats the plate in front of him when he eats, so naturally he doesn't open his mouth to chat.

As for Jasmine, who was also sitting at the dining table, this strong girl was holding two white flour steamed buns pinched together in one hand, and the chopsticks in the other hand were as busy as an excavator, so she naturally had no time to talk.

Yang Ma, who was the only one who was willing to chat with Wei Ran who was eager to get information, had already yawned and went up to the second floor after serving the food left for them, obviously ready to take a rest.

After finishing their lunch in silence, Jasmine and Cao Yaba each took out a handkerchief and wiped their mouths after putting down their chopsticks, and then took out their cigarette cases from their pockets in unison.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also took out a dark gray handkerchief he bought not long ago from his pocket and wiped his mouth carefully, then took out the cigarette case and took out a cigarette with the front door number, and put it on the cigarette holder slowly , and took out the lighter and lit it.

When there were three big smoking guns on a table, Yao Canhua, who had just eaten too much, couldn't sit still. He got up and helped clean up the dishes on the table, and then fled into his room.

"Come out at 25:[-], remember to wash your face in advance to refresh yourself."

Jasmine said before Yao Canhua closed the door, "It's easy to talk about other things, Miss hates people who are not punctual and don't like cleanliness."

"I know, auntie," Yao Canhua replied honestly before closing the door.

"I won't be late"

While talking, Wei Ran took out the pocket watch in his pocket, checked the time with the clock in the living room, took a big puff of cigarette and asked, "Does Miss usually go out?"

“Not going out very often”

Jasmine responded in a low voice while puffing, "Aside from participating in dances and poker games, the young lady will only go out when Shang Wuyuan comes to Jinmen to sing operas."

"Five yuan?" Wei Ran was stunned, "You mean Shang Xiaoyun?"

"Who in Jinmen doesn't know that our young lady admires Shang Xiaoyun?" Before Jasmine could finish her sentence, Dumb Cao cleared her throat, obviously telling Jasmine to shut up.

"what's this"

Jasmine brushed off the cigarette ash nonchalantly, got up and sat where Yao Canhua was sitting before, leaned forward and said in a low voice, "Let me tell you, Shang Xiaoyun saved Miss's life before!"

"What else is there?" Wei Ran deliberately put on an appearance of listening attentively.

"No, I can't tell you about this matter." In the end, Jasmine chose to keep a secret from Wei Ran for the time being under Cao's mute eyes.

"When I didn't ask anything"

Wei Ran voluntarily gave up his curiosity, took a last sip of the cigarette butt, pulled it off the cigarette holder and threw it into the ashtray, got up and walked into his room while saying, "I'm going to take a nap."

Without looking at the two people behind him, Wei Ran went straight into the room and closed the door, but immediately put his ears on the door.

Unfortunately, Jasmine and Dumb Cao obviously had nothing to talk about, so he didn't hear anything.

Turning on the ceiling fan above his head, Wei Ran took off his white shirt and lay on the bed, but he just closed his eyes and did not dare to fall asleep.

At [-]:[-] in the afternoon, Wei Ran, who was lighting up, put on again the shirt that was drying on the balcony to be exposed to the sun, stepped on the pair of leather shoes and wiped off the dust on the surface of the shoes, and then took a pair of white Towel opened the door.

With just one glance, he saw the wide open door of Yao Canhua's room, and Yao Canhua who was sitting by the bed in the room, obviously waiting to "assemble".

Nodding to the other party was regarded as a greeting, Wei Ran went into the bathroom to urinate, and washed his face under the faucet by the way.

When he came out, Yao Canhua was already standing respectfully at the door, and footsteps could be heard on the wooden stairs.

Wrapping the towel that had just been thrown with water around his wrist, Wei Ran unhurriedly straightened his collar, and then saw Jasmine walking down alone.

"Go and change the cloth shoes." Jasmine glanced at Wei Ran and said.

Hearing this, Wei Ran turned around and walked back to the room, took off his leather shoes and put on cloth shoes.

"Come with me." Before she finished speaking, Jasmine, who had changed into loose silk clothes, had already walked towards the storage room next to the kitchen.

Following Jasmine into the storage room, Wei Ran raised his eyebrows involuntarily. What kind of storage room is this? It's clearly a dressing room.

In this room, there are a row of long tables on both sides of the wall, and on the wall are piece-by-piece glass mirrors. On the top of the head, there are two fluorescent lamps and a kerosene lamp suspended by thin iron chains. Gas lamp.

And at the end of the room facing the door, there is a window with a metal anti-theft grille, and on the ground less than half a meter away from this window is the basement entrance that is not concealed at all.

Unlike later generations, the steps leading to the basement are not only covered with thick teak wood floors, but also have a partition wall that seems to be made of wooden boards on the other side of the stairs, so that people in the basement cannot be seen from the stairs. Condition.And at the end of the stairs, there was a thick cotton curtain hanging.

On the other side of the wall, there are several slender windows that provide the only lighting.

It's just that these windows are made of glass with beautiful patterns, so although light can come in, they can't see the outside situation at all.

All the way down, until passing through the thick cotton curtain that can be used as a quilt cover, Wei Ran immediately felt the rare coolness in this hot weather.This is the basement after all, so it is much cooler than the ground.

Although it is a basement, thanks to the several screened windows on three sides, the lighting and ventilation inside are very good.

Looking at the wooden partition on the side of the stairs, Wei Ran couldn't help being stunned.So what is the partition?That is exactly a big mirror!

This mirror not only goes straight up and down to the ceiling, but also only leaves a two-meter-wide passage at the end of the stairs for people to enter and exit.

Naturally, such a large mirror cannot be made of a whole piece of glass, but pieces of glass that are one meter wide and two meters long are spliced ​​together. There seems to be a layer of extra bright tin that has been wiped in the gap between the splicing. .

At the junction of every four pieces of glass, there is also a metal nail that may be made of silver and shaped like a lotus flower for fixing.

Not to mention that in the chaotic era of the Republic of China, even in later generations, such a large glass mirror would probably cost a lot of money.

But wouldn't this block the entrance to the hidden basement?

Wei Ran looked at the edge of the oversized mirror at the entrance and exit. The thick solid wood frame was as thick as an arm, and it was also carved with exquisite Christian patterns, but it was also blocked by the bend of the metal handrail of the stairs. On the board, the words "beware of bumping" are even written in conspicuous red letters with white borders.

Withdrawing his gaze, Wei Ran finally looked down at the exceptionally clean wooden floor under his feet, and then turned his attention to other arrangements.

Among other things, in the center of the basement, between the four thick load-bearing columns, there is a small square stage that is less than half a meter above the ground.

And in the surrounding area near the wall, the most conspicuous thing is the costumes hanging on a wooden shelf. Among these costumes, the one that attracted Wei Ran's attention the most was the Zhaojun costume.

In addition, in the deepest part diagonally opposite the entrance of the basement, there is an organ that is not seen in later generations against the wall.

In addition to these things, a little closer, there are a few tables against the wall, some of which are equipped with thermos pots, tea sets, and washed fruits.On another table, two chairs away, there was a record player and a wooden radio.

At this moment, Meixiang was sitting by the table with the radio, eating watermelon mouthful after mouthful, while on that small stage, the little girl Qiushi who also changed into a suit was sweating and keeping her face up He clenched his teeth and persisted in the pedaling position.

Glancing at the wall clock on the load-bearing column, Mei Xiang raised her finger and said, "There is a piano on the piano table over there, Canhua, Wei Ran, each of you pick a piece of music that you are good at and play it to me. "

Hearing this, Yao Canhua subconsciously glanced at Jasmine, and seeing the latter nodding towards him, he looked at Wei Ran again.

"You come first." Wei Rangong said casually, cupping his hands.

Hearing this, Yao Canhua strode over, put up his gown and sat cross-legged behind the piano table, without any preparation at all, he played the Guangling San smoothly.

Although Wei Ran didn't learn musical instruments systematically, he could still tell that the Guangling San played by Yao Canhua, who was only sixteen or seventeen years old, was better than Chen Guangling's later generations, but it was definitely better than Chen Guangling's His son, Chen Luoxiang, is not a little bit stronger.

When the song ended, Jasmine immediately asked in a low voice, "Miss, how is my nephew playing?"

"It's good to be able to play like this at this age," Mei Xiang said while wiping her hands with a wet towel, "but his voice is better, it's really wasteful to play the piano."

Having said that, Mei Xiang looked at Wei Ran with a smile, "It's your turn."

"Is there any reward for playing well?" Wei Ran asked as he walked towards the piano table.

"Ah!"

Meixiang became interested, put down the towel in her hand, raised Erlang's legs and put her chin in her hand and said with great interest, "If you play better than Canhua, I'll dance with you."

"Is this considered a reward?" Wei Ran was already sitting behind the piano table while speaking.

"In the Seventh Heaven, dancing with me costs at least one hundred oceans. Isn't that considered a reward?" Meixiang asked with a smile, but there was no ostentation in her tone, but a touch of sarcasm.

"I'll dance with you, and how about letting me take a picture of you?" Wei Ran asked while holding down the strings.

"You can still take pictures?" Mei Xiang looked at Wei Ran in surprise.

Wei Ran didn't answer this question, but just used the piano to play the Guangling San that Yao Canhua had just played.

When the song ended, Yao Canhua's eyes widened, and Miss Meixiang said abruptly when Wei Ran walked back, "So what Mama Yang said is true, have you really killed someone?"

"What did she tell you?" Wei Ran sat down on a chair and asked with a smile, but he didn't have the slightest sense of being a "servant".

"Mother Yang said that you stayed in the foreign country for two years, and joined gangs in Shanghai Beach, and then escaped after accidentally killing someone."

Although Meixiang's tone seemed to be joking, there was a hint of seriousness hidden inside, "I'm already considering whether to use you, a bodyguard like you is too dangerous."

"Don't worry, I'll protect you well." Wei Ran looked around and said that he gave an answer.

"Take me to a dance," Meixiang said with a smile.

What Wei Ran didn't expect was that just after she finished speaking, Jasmine, who was tall and thick, walked towards the organ and played Mendelssohn's Song of Spring fluently.

Seeing Wei Ran's surprised face, Mei Xiang showed a look of pride on her face, and at the same time raised her left hand slightly.

When he came back to his senses, Wei Ran slightly bowed to invite Wu, dragged the other party's hand and walked a few steps towards the middle of the basement.

Accompanied by Jasmine's solo piano music, Wei Ran finished a dance with Mei Xiang, a famous prostitute in the Republic of China, and finally finished the thank you dance properly.

"not bad"

Meixiang said with satisfaction, "Jasmine, invite Miss Gu and Mr. Feng to dance at home tomorrow night."

"Yes, miss." Jasmine stood up and answered, and walked straight to the outside of the basement.

"You really don't know how to sing?" Meixiang asked Chao Weiran, who was looking forward to it.

"really not"

Wei Ran spread his hands, but he hoped that the broken book could teach him to sing an opera and sing a song or something, so that he wouldn't have to eat melon seeds when he followed Suisui to KTV.

Hearing this, Mei Xiang didn't say anything, let alone whether she agreed to Wei Ran taking pictures of her, or where the camera came from. She just turned her head and looked at Yao Canhua who was standing honestly by the side, "Canhua, will you Is Zhaojun out of this play?"

"The clown I learned from the troupe," Yao Canhua replied honestly, "I have practiced it myself, but I have never been on stage."

Hearing this, Mei Xiang looked at Qiu Shi who was still practicing basic skills on the stage, "Qiu Shi, come and be a horse boy today."

"Sister, is this going to turn me over to death?"

The little girl Qiushi who was already sweating said something that Wei Ran couldn't understand, and then asked, "Or singing a cappella?"

"Should I still go to ask you to blow the drums?"

Mei Xiang pinched Qiu Shi's ears angrily, but ignored Wei Ran who was watching the excitement, greeted Yao Canhua and boarded the small stage in the center of the basement.

After making some preparations, Yao Canhua sang: "Defeat is because there are no generals."

The three of them were acting on the stage, and Wei Ran, who couldn't get along, simply found a seat and sat down, picked up a corner of watermelon and took a bite.

I have to say that the watermelon seeds of this era don't have much to say, and they are really not as sweet as the watermelons of later generations.

Although watermelon is not too sweet, I really can't tell whether the three people on the stage sing well or not.But no matter what, the basement is much cooler than the upstairs, and eating the boss's watermelon and listening to the boss sing to himself, this kind of good thing, I'm afraid those poets who spend 50 oceans just to chat with Meixiang for an hour may not be sure. Enjoy it.

While enjoying himself, Wei Ran was secretly thinking about two other things.

One is when and how to enter the hidden basement.

Second, it is already July 1937, 7, and this is the exact time he got from a newspaper that was on sale when he went out before lunch.In other words, there is less than a week left before the fall of Jinmen.

But thinking about the nonsense return mission, Wei Ran has to focus on another more urgent matter right now. There are at most five hours left before dark, and he still has more than a dozen cigarettes left to smoke today. .