War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1185 Prom
After seeing off the devil Ueda, Mei Xiang, accompanied by Qiu Shi, walked back to the small building from the gate of the small courtyard, and Wei Ran also brought Tao Canhua down from the second floor with Tao Canhua, who had just been playing the erhu and guqin to make background music.

There was no taboo against Wei Ran and Tao Canhua at all. After kicking off her shoes, Mei Xiang lifted up the corner of her skirt without any image, reached out and pulled out the small self-defense pistol, returned the magazine and the bullets in the chamber and handed it to Qiu Shi, then sat cross-legged on the sofa on the first floor and let out a long breath.

After Mute Cao helped to adjust the wind of the fan above her head to the maximum, Meixiang took the cigarette handed by Jasmine and asked, "Jasmine, is little Su's mother coming over for lunch?"

"Come here, she wants to eat stewed noodles." Jasmine replied with a suppressed smile, "She also said that Mama Yang should pour cold water on the noodles several times."

"See the photo?" Meixiang asked with a smile.

"I see." Jasmine nodded, "I even picked out quite a few."

As soon as she finished her sentence, a rickshaw stopped at the gate of the small courtyard like a pinch. Immediately afterwards, Xiao Su's mother, who had changed into a gorgeous dress, came down with a little difficulty holding the corner of her skirt, and stretched out her hand from the bag. He took out a few banknotes and sent the rickshaw away, and then walked towards the gate of the small building with twists and turns.

"I really need to put the noodles in cold water several times"

Mei Xiang murmured a few words with a suppressed smile, and then she got up and walked towards the gate while ordering, "Wei Ran, get your camera ready, before eating, take a few more pictures of Xiao Su's mother, Look better."

"Don't worry, cousin," Wei Ran replied calmly, and walked towards his own room.

At the same time, Qiu Shi ran up the stairs with those two small pistols in his hands. Even Jasmine and Dumb Cao turned around and walked into the kitchen like gods of avoiding the plague, and started to help Mama Yang with her work.

When Wei Ran came out of the room with the camera, Mei Xiang had already helped Xiao Su's mother to go upstairs.

"Cousin, come up and take some pictures for Xiao Su's mother." Mei Xiang greeted without looking back.

"okay!"

Wei Ran responded, deliberately lagging far enough away, and only followed when the figures of the two were blocked by the stairs.

Taking advantage of the time before lunch, Wei Ran took a few photos of the round little Mama Su on the second and third floors.

While taking pictures, Mei Xiang was also communicating with Xiao Su's mother in Japanese.

"Today, Mr. Ueda invited me to the dance party at Seventh Heaven on the [-]th of next month"

Mei Xiang opened the window while speaking, "He also inquired about the situation of many celebrities, especially concerned about whether they are in Jinmen or not, Xiao Su's mother, I think something is wrong."

“There is something wrong”

Sitting on the edge of the piano, Xiao Su's mother responded in Japanese with a slight accent while posing, "My friend has not been home for the past two days, I see, this Jinmen may be in chaos soon gone."

"Shall we run?" Mei Xiang asked in Japanese with some concern.

"I won't run," Xiao Su's mother responded, "You want to run? Where are you going?"

"Yeah, where are you going?" Mei Xiang sighed.

"Try to hide it"

While letting Wei Ran help her pose, Xiao Su's mother said, "At least you and that girl Qiu Shi have to hide. Once this messes up, your face will be a reason for disaster."

Hearing this, Mei Xiang opened her mouth, and finally nodded, "In this case, we will hide tonight."

"Those foreigner friends you make may not be reliable, maybe they can sell you." Xiao Su's mother said mockingly, "And your cousin, can you trust him?"

Seeing that Mei Xiang didn't speak but just lit a cigarette by herself, Xiao Su's mother sighed and said, "I can't understand you, cousin, but since that Mr. Ueda wants to invite you to the ball, as long as he goes, I guess I shouldn't." would be too dangerous."

Speaking of this, Xiao Su's mother pinched her nose and walked to Mei Xiang's side, reached out her hand to pull out the cigarette she had just lit from the cigarette holder she was holding, and threw it into the yard outside the window with a look of disgust, then pinched her nose and went to the distance After hiding for a few steps, he waved his arms to disperse the remaining smoke and said, "I will have a good talk with Mr. Ueda and ask him for a good price. The more money I want for tea, the more you The safer."

"So I have to go to the dance?" Mei Xiang frowned.

"Why don't you go?"

Xiao Su's mother responded naturally, "You will be safe if you go, and you can make a fortune. I am going to ask Ueda for a thousand oceans first."

"Is that what I'm worth?" Mei Xiang asked bitterly.

"silly girl"

Xiao Su's mother switched to Chinese and sighed, then switched back to Japanese and said, "If I want more, you are worth a lot. The women who live in the concession where foreigners are the masters, only if they are worth a lot can those foreigners and the women live." The devils take a high look, and only by being looked at by them can they keep themselves safe."

Seeing that Meixiang also sighed, Xiao Su's mother continued, "We are women after all, women on the court of love and moon, this is our fate. I will help you get down to the dance, but before the dance, you have to hide it well." Let Qiushi, that silly boy, have to hide too."

"I'll hide it well," Mei Xiang nodded in response.

"In the afternoon, ask your dumb driver to run a few more times, and store up more food and drink for the family, especially more medicines. In case of war, these will be worth a lot of money, and they will all be safe and secure. capital."

"What about you?" Mei Xiang looked at Xiao Su's mother, "Aren't you going to hide?"

"I'm going to take a gamble"

Little Su's mother's mean and fat face showed a flash of self-confidence, "I want to see if the little devil next to me can keep me. If he can keep me, I can find a way to keep you too." .

If he can't keep me, I'll come with him and burn down his opium-making workshop, and run away as soon as you get the letter.

Anyway, if you're gone, and that devil can't keep me, then my good life will be over, and it's really meaningless to live. "

"Little Su Mom"

Mei Xiang switched back to Chinese, and there was a hint of crying in that slightly complaining tone.

"I've committed too many sins in my life, so I can't bear children. Fortunately, I don't want to give birth to that little devil."

Xiao Su's mother continued to use Japanese with many mistakes and said with a smile on her face, "You lose money is my child, and I have to find a way for my daughter to survive."

"Cousin, you go downstairs first." Mei Xiang greeted Wei Ran who was eavesdropping and taking pictures in Chinese.

"it is good"

Wei Ran, who pretended not to understand Japanese, responded bluntly, turned around and went downstairs with a secret sigh, and quietly listened to the faint voices from the beautiful big cousin and the mean little Su Ma. crying.

As far as Wei Ran is concerned, for the time being, he still has no way of distinguishing whether this girl who can speak Japanese is a good person or a bad person.It was just that after waiting downstairs for about an hour, he was called upstairs again and took a few group photos of the two girls with tears in their eyes.

After finishing a lunch in harmony, the extraordinarily gorgeous little Su's mother, who dressed herself in gold and silver, returned to her annoying and mean look, but in the end, at Mei Xiang's request, she stayed here. In front of the small building, I took a group photo with everyone.

After bidding farewell to Xiao Su's mother and agreeing to print out the photos tomorrow, Mei Xiang also called Mute Cao and Jasmine to the second floor to give some instructions.

When the two of them went downstairs, Jasmine greeted immediately, "Brother Wei Ran, come with us and go shopping."

"Okay." Wei Ran responded, followed the two of them out of the small building, got into the car and left the small courtyard.

In the afternoon of that day, Wei Ran followed Jasmine and Cao Yaba to almost all over the concessions, bought all kinds of rice, noodles, grains and oils piecemeal, and also bought a lot of expensive western medicines that I don't know if they will be used.

By the way, Wei Ran also bought a pack of Qianmen cigarettes and a pack of Camel cigarettes, and would smoke one from time to time along with these two big smoking guns.

In the busy back and forth, the time came to [-]:[-] in the evening, almost at the moment when the last bag of gauze and potion bought was sent to the basement, and at the same time, it was Wei Ranchang who had taken a bath in a hurry. When putting on a clean tunic suit, cars or rickshaws brought some young men and women one after another.

"that"

In the living room on the first floor, Qiu Shi, who was hiding behind the floor-to-ceiling windows, helped Wei Ran introduce, "The one wearing a black skirt and white silk gloves is Miss Gu. You should avoid her and don't invite us." Disaster."

"That's what I said, people have to look up to me." Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded.

"It's better not to look at you"

Qiushi rolled his eyes, pointed to a man in a silver suit standing at the gate of the small courtyard, and was chatting with Meixiang, and said, "The one with the big back and the glasses on is Mr. Feng Maoyun, and the one next to him is his wife Huang." Mrs.

Mr. Feng is a talented student who has studied abroad in England. He and his wife are both teachers of Nankai University. Mrs. Huang is also the English teacher of the young lady. She comes to teach the young lady two English classes every week. "

"Where's the young one?" Wei Ran pointed to the young man standing beside Mr. Feng and asked, "The son of their husband and wife?"

"Where did they get such a big son!"

Qiushi wrinkled his nose, "That's Mr. Feng's student, Guan Bingwen, and he is also Mr. Feng's driver. Mr. Feng was so motion sick that he didn't dare to drive by himself. Mrs. Huang could get lost walking in the school, and Mr. Feng also Don't let her drive."

"These two are a good match." Wei Ran couldn't help laughing and muttered.

"But it's a good match." Mama Yang, who was preparing meals and tea, was obviously an errand, and joked with a smile, "Xiaoguan likes Qiushi so much!"

After saying this, the girl Qiu Shi blushed, and hurriedly argued, "I don't like rich young masters like him."

Having said that, another car stopped at the door.However, as the car door opened, a pair of devils in kimonos came down from inside.

"The man is Mr. Yukio Someya, a reporter from the Asahi Shimbun in Osaka"

Qiu Shi immediately introduced, "The lady next to her with a face that looks as if she fell into the noodle jar is his wife Junko Someya, and they have known Miss many years ago.

Mrs. Someya is the young lady's Japanese teacher, and the young lady is also her Chinese teacher. In the past, she often came to the house to ask the young lady to arrange flowers and drink tea together.Since the incident at Marco Polo Bridge at the beginning of the month, the couple came less frequently. "

Qiushi introduced here, and the manager of the German foreign company that Wei Ran had met, Volker Schweiger, also came, but he did not bring a female companion.

Next, another girl who was very beautifully dressed arrived here by various means of transportation. Among these girls were Chinese people with yellow skin, but there were also white girls with blond hair and blue eyes.

In addition to the girl, there was also a dog-like man who came with or without a female companion, but all dressed like dogs.

Regardless of men or women, quite a few of them Qiushi can call out their names and origins. They or them are nothing more than so-and-so's concubine, or so-and-so's lady, or the manager of some foreign firm. , or various titles such as "comprador", "shaodongjia" and so on.

Seeing that the people in the yard had already gathered as small as 30 people, they finally walked into the small building with the chandelier turned on under the guidance of Mei Xiang and Jasmine.

"Sister Meixiang, which family's son is this? Why did you run in early?" As soon as he entered the door, a beautiful girl covered in dust and dust noticed Wei Ran.

"He's not a boy"

Mei Xiang, who once again put on the look of a royal sister, said with a smile, "He is my cousin Wei Ran, the son of my fourth aunt."

Having said that, Meixiang pointed to Tao Canhua who was standing in the corner of the room, "And that one, he is my nephew Tao Canhua, who was brought back by accident when I went to the playground a few days ago, if everyone is interested, Just let him sing a little for us."

"Why do you suddenly have so many relatives?"

At the same time that Miss Gu who needed Wei Ran's extra attention asked, she unceremoniously picked up the red wine bottle on the table and poured a glass of wine on her own.

"Does the rich have distant relatives in the mountains?"

The dusty girl said sarcastically, "Sister Meixiang, what is her worth now? If you don't have any relatives, you still have to go after your relatives."

"Don't make fun of my cousin and my silly nephew, they have thin skins. And today's dance is to celebrate my cousin's return from school."

While Mei Xiang was talking, she had already taken the wine that she had poured just before she could get it to her mouth from Miss Gu, and then stepped on a chair, picked up a fork and tapped the wine glass lightly , jokingly said loudly, "I don't think everyone is hungry, so why don't you go upstairs first. My place has not been so lively for a few days. I will see later, which heartless person doesn't want to come to me Playing here."

When these rich kids, who could be called friends, responded with a bang, Mei Xiang, who jumped off the chair, greeted in a joking tone as she walked upstairs, "I let my cousin come up to play, do you have any objections? He has stayed seriously As for the cultural people from abroad, maybe some sister or sister will fall in love with him, and I will save him."

"Although I don't want to help Miss Meixiang raise his cousin, but I can testify"

Volker Schweiger, who had contacted yesterday, echoed in a joking tone, "Wei Ran's German is simply better than mine. I heard that he also listened to the speech of Mr. Zidolf. I remember correctly, right?" ? Victor?"

"yes"

Wei Ran suppressed the doubts in his heart, responded politely in German, and then switched back to Chinese, followed these dog-like men and women walking upstairs and said, "That was two years ago, I I had the pleasure of listening to it while visiting the Krupp factory."

With this topic, he easily integrated into these men and women.At the same time, I was also secretly surprised that the dusty-faced woman and the German Volker Schweiger seemed to be helping Meixiang sing the white face and the red face, especially Volker's line "I heard "It's too strange.

After all, he and the other party only met once yesterday when they bought the gun. If the other party didn't have Mei Xiang's hint in advance, why bother to help him?

And that girl covered in dust and dust, she was the one who led the conversation.So, could it be said that both of them are from Meixiang?

Compared with his inner doubts, it was the crowd holding an erhu at the end. Tao Canhua, who was the only one in a long gown present, seemed quite out of place.Fortunately, these people didn't care about this introverted young man who felt a little inferior.

When he reached the second floor, Wei Ran was surprised to find that not only was there a middle-aged Caucasian man sitting by the piano in that banquet hall, but beside him, there was a Caucasian young man with a violin, and two people wearing cheongsams. The girl who pours the wine.

Under Mei Xiang's management, this small private dance went extremely smoothly.Moreover, Wei Ran could see that as the dance progressed, although Meixiang organized this dance to "celebrate her cousin's return from school" in name, in fact, the main purpose was probably to connect with each other for self-protection.

The reason why he has such a guess is that those men and women chatting together in the music are basically talking about the current situation in Jinmen. Showed their worries and anxiety about the future.

In addition to the various promises made by various men and women to Meixiang, what everyone in this banquet hall is particularly concerned about is the opinion and speculation of the Osaka Asahi Shimbun reporter Yukio Someya.

However, it wasn't just this rather complacent ghost couple that attracted Wei Ran's attention, but the university teacher named Feng Maoyun.

He and his wife seemed to be here simply for a reception and dance. In the room, they seemed to be the only ones who didn't care about the latest situation, but listened carefully to the opinions of the others while wandering around.

"Cousin Wei Ran, do you want to dance with my cousin for the first time?"

Just when Wei Ran was paying attention to these visitors, the dusty girl also walked over with a slender waist, and put her long gloved arm on Wei Ran's shoulder frivolously. Dan Fengyan also looked at Wei Ran seriously with a seductive smile, as if he was looking forward to seeing emotions such as distraction from the latter's face.

"What's your cousin's name?"

Wei Ran asked rather slyly, he had cooperated with Ji Ma a lot in the past to go to the bar to clean up the scumbag men and women, and the sea kings from all walks of life, so how could he be fooled by such a child?
"My surname is Tang"

The girl who was covered in dust and smelled a little drunk leaned into Wei Ran's ear and whispered, "You can call my foreign name Andy."

"Is Cousin Andy a friend of my Cousin Meixiang?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile. At the same time, he took out the cigarette case in the metal book like a magic trick, took out two Camel cigarettes, and handed one of them to the other party.

"That's right, but I'm just a drinker. If the price is right, I can also sleep with those stinky men. How about it? Would you like to try it with me, cousin? For Meixiang's sake, I can give you a [-]% discount." .”

Andy took the cigarette and replied nonchalantly. At the same time, he reached out and pulled out a translucent cigarette holder that seemed to be made of tortoiseshell from the storage ditch on his chest, and put it on the cigarette.

"Forget it, I'm afraid that after you give me a half discount, my cousin Meixiang will give me a half discount."

Wei Ran refused with a bitter face, but at the same time, pretending to be frivolous, he embraced the other party's slender waist, intentionally or unintentionally put his fingertips on the position a little above the slit of the other party's cheongsam.

"That's right, but I don't see any difference between you and those stinky men."

Andy, who was puffing, rolled his big eyes, but he was not angry, and he didn't push Wei Ran's hand away, but leaned into Wei Ran's arms with a natural expression.

Uncertainly, he glanced at the Miss Gu who just looked at him from the corner of his eye, Wei Ran took the time to light his cigarette and took back the one that was just pretending, but in fact he didn't exert any force at all. Hands without any pressure.

"count you acquainted"

Andy whispered into Wei Ran's ear and cursed in a low voice. By the way, he frivolously stuck out his tongue and lightly licked Wei Ran's earlobe. Then, in the puff of smoke, he walked slowly to the German foreign company not far away. Manager Volker Schweiger.

He dismissed Andy, who didn't know whether he was an enemy or a friend, but Yukio Someya, the devil in kimono, brought his wife and asked in Chinese with no accent, "Mr. Wei Ran once Studying in Germany?"

"I just came back not long ago," Wei Ran responded politely in Chinese with a smile on his face.

"I have also been to Germany, Berlin, Germany." Yukio Someya said casually.

"What a coincidence, I was studying in Berlin at the time."

Wei Ran responded with surprise, "Has Mr. Someya ever studied in Germany at the Humboldt University of Berlin?"

"I'm just traveling"

Someya Yukio said with nostalgia, "I lived in Berlin for about a month, but that was already eight years ago."

"Have you ever been to the Moltke Bridge?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile, "There is an alley not far from the Moltke Bridge, and there is a dental clinic in it. I lived next to that clinic at the time, and I even worked in that clinic."

"Oh?"

Someya Yukio raised his eyebrows and asked with great interest, "So you are studying medicine?"

"of course not"

Wei Ran smiled and replied, "Actually, I studied theology, but that dental clinic is one of the few who are willing to give me a part-time job. I am responsible for comforting patients."

"theology?"

Fuyou Yukio and his wife looked at each other, but Wei Ran faintly felt that the other party seemed to have let down his vigilance.

"Whether it's law, medicine or philosophy, it's too difficult for me."

Wei Ran spread his hands pretending to be helpless, "Only theology seems simpler, but unfortunately, even so, I still couldn't persist until graduation."

"Learning is indeed a very difficult thing"

Someya Yukio followed Tan Tanshou, "My wife and I also went through a very painful process in order to learn Chinese. Of course, this is also thanks to the help of Ms. Mika."

"If Mr. Someya is interested in learning German, I can help you."

While laughing at himself, Wei Ran took the initiative to show his favor, "Although I didn't graduate, I learned German pretty well."

“That's a good proposition”

Someya Yukio seemed very interested in this proposal, and even offered a business card in both Japanese and Chinese.

After some hypocritical but extremely sincere greetings and compliments, the Someya couple were dismissed. As the ensemble of piano and violin sounded in the banquet hall, everyone put down their cups and extinguished their cigarettes.

Not surprisingly, or because of Mei Xiang's suggestion, Wei Ran invited "Cousin Andy" to his first dance.

After dancing one by one, with the rotation of dance partners, Wei Ran finally got together with his real cousin Mei Xiang in name.

“Performed well”

Mei Xiang asked in a low voice while following Wei Ran's dance steps, "Did you really go to Germany to study?"

"I'm really your cousin." Wei Ran smiled and gave a nondescript answer that almost made Meixiang laugh.

"Next dance, you invite Mrs. Huang."

Mei Xiang moved closer to Wei Ran and said in a low voice, "Please ask her and Mr. Feng to stay after the dance."

"no problem"

Wei Ran first accepted the errand, and then asked with a light smile, "Miss Gu rejected my invitation just now, is it related to Andy?"

"Miss Gu and Andy are also considered friends, and she doesn't like the swingers who secretly touch women's butts at the ball." Meixiang lowered her voice and teased, but there was no blame in her tone, only satisfaction.

"It's all for self-protection." Wei Ran responded indifferently, "Apologize to Cousin Andy for me."

"The cousin you talk about is really worthless"

Mei Xiang cursed with a smile, and then said in a low voice, "Don't worry, Andy won't blame you, remember to invite Mrs. Huang later."

"Remember." Wei Ran agreed again, and at the same time felt more and more that there seemed to be other ulterior motives behind this dance.

(End of this chapter)