War Photographer's Notebook

When Wei Ran was woken up again by Qiushi in the basement without sunlight to drink medicine, it was already the afternoon of July 7.

"Jinmen has fallen"

Just when Wei Ran and Andy put down their bowls of soup and medicine, Mei Xiang also put down the microphone of the telephone on the desk, and said in a helpless tone the bad news that everyone had guessed last night.

Immediately afterwards, she continued, "Jasmine just got the news that the devils have occupied Nankai University, sent several cars of devils there, snatched a lot of things from there, and took several people including Nankai All the schools were set on fire, and just now the devil's plane went there to blow it up again, killing many people who spontaneously went to fight the fire."

Andy, Guan Bingwen, and even Chen Pike, a cigarette peddler, all sighed heavily.Although Wei Ran was not surprised by this, he also squeezed the porcelain bowl in his hand tightly. Compared with the records in the history books of later generations, the retelling that he really heard is undoubtedly more heart-piercing.

"Heal well"

Mei Xiang said calmly, "No matter what you want to do, the first thing you have to do is to heal your injuries. The only good news at present is that the devils seem to have no plans to attack the British, French and Italian concessions."

"Tao Canhua!"

Wei Ran sharply reminded, "Once the war is over, Ueda, the devil, will definitely ask Canhua to play the piano for him to find out about the situation of Xuqingshuyu, and will ask if you have come back."

Hearing this, Mei Xiang immediately frowned.

"And I"

Wei Ran got up while speaking, "Ueda has arranged for someone to buy information from me to verify the authenticity of the information obtained by Canhua. If I don't show up, I'm afraid it will also arouse the vigilance of the other party."

"No way." Mei Xiang immediately frowned, "You're injured too, let Uncle Dumb deliver Canhua every day."

"Cousin, don't embarrass Ueda"

Wei Ran suddenly jokingly said with a playful smile, "Mute Uncle's mouth is too strict, it will take a little effort for them to ask something out of Uncle Dumb's mouth."

"What time is this and you are still making fun of the dumb uncle?" Mei Xiang gave Wei Ran an angry look.

"So let me go"

Wei Ran pretended to be relaxed and said, "Except for the wound on the head, other wounds can be covered with clothes. I just need to wear a hat. Anyway, I go out every day, so it won't have any effect."

Before Meixiang could speak, Wei Ran added seriously, "Cousin, only if everything is normal here can we not attract the attention of the devils. I'm sure that they dare not send troops to occupy the Three Kingdoms until the overall situation of the war changes. Concession, but if that Ueda regards our place as a breakthrough, he will arrange for people to watch here."

Hearing this, Meixiang frowned and walked back and forth for a few steps, and finally said, "Alright. It seems like this is the only way to go."

"When is cousin going to go home?" Wei Ran asked with a smile and changed the subject.

"No. [-]" Mei Xiang replied, "If there are no accidents, Miss Gu's family will send a car over late at night on the [-]th, and I will follow that car back."

"Is Cousin Andy coming back with you?" Wei Ran said and looked at Andy who was in the next bed.

"How do I get back?"

Andy rolled his eyes, and asked angrily, "Your cousin and I went to Peking to watch a play, and then came back with broken legs? What happened to me?"

"Since this is the case, how about Cousin Andy, seeing the situation is not good and choosing to flee south?" Wei Ran suggested.

"That's the only way to go." Meixiang nodded.

"I asked you to borrow some money and escape to my grandma's house in southern Fujian"

Andy lit a cigarette and said, "It's far enough there, even if I go back and forth, it's enough time for me to heal my injuries."

"also"

Mei Xiang nodded, and then looked at Guan Bingwen, "Xiaoguan, from now on, you will recuperate here until the injury is healed."

"Sister Meixiang, can you help me and ask how my family is doing, and what about Mr. Feng?" Guan Bingwen tried to raise his head and asked, "Also, there are my classmates at the school."

"Do not worry"

Mei Xiang comforted her softly, "I will contact your family as soon as possible, and I will also find Mr. Feng as soon as possible."

"Cousin Wei Ran, come here."

When Meixiang was communicating with Guan Bingwen, Andy also called Wei Ran to sit beside her bed, "Take off your clothes, and I'll change your medicine."

"Trouble Cousin Andy"

Wei Ran walked to the other party's bed, sat down obediently, and let her help him take off the shirt that was already on her body, and the latter also called Qiu Shi to help fetch the medicine box.

"Cousin's grandma lives in southern Fujian?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"You have a sweet mouth, this cousin is really proficient at calling"

Andy joked while changing Wei Ran's dressing, and then added, "My grandma lives in Erythrina, have you been there?"

"Never been there." Wei Ran shook his head.

"I haven't been there either"

Andy smiled and said as if he was telling someone else's story, "My mother told me when she was alive that my grandfather sold her to my father for 100 yuan in order to find a wife for my uncle. .

Now that the money and goods have been cleared, naturally there is no need to move around anymore. I don't know if anyone in my grandmother's family is still alive. "

Hearing this, Wei Ran grinned and wisely did not continue to ask.

After Andy helped Wei Ran change the medicines for various wounds, Wei Ran, who had only one hand to use, also ordered Qiushi to help, and changed the medicines for Andy, Guan Bingwen and Chen Pike's wounds successively.

After everything was done, Wei Ran put on a white shirt with Qiushi's help to cover the wounds all over his body. He also put on a newsboy hat that Qiushi found from the closet, and even used it to hang The strips of cloth and rope hanging from his right arm were all removed.

After trying to move the five fingers of his right hand, Wei Ran said, "Cousin, I'm going up right now, if there's anything wrong."

"Let Jasmine teach you how to use the telephone"

Mei Xiang didn't wait for Wei Ran to finish speaking before she spoke, "Also, you should pay attention to the situation outside, and when it's safe, ask Mute Cao to take you to find Mr. Feng, and also go to Xiao Guan's house to see the situation."

While talking, Mei Xiang signaled Wei Ran to go out, and she followed her out of the room.

When the two reached the end of the other side of the aisle, Meixiang motioned Wei Ran to bend down slightly, and she herself stood on tiptoe, put her mouth next to Wei Ran's ear and whispered, "Xiaoguan's mother passed away several years ago. Well, his father is considered a half-traitor, so you must never have any contact with him, let alone let him know that Xiaoguan is with us.

You just focus on seeing how Xiaoguan's sister is doing. Uncle Mute knows how to find her, and if the situation is not good, he will smuggle her here. "

"Understood." Wei Ran nodded in response.

Mei Xiang glanced at Wei Ran for the last time, then reached out and flipped an old-fashioned switch on the wall.

At the same time, in Jasmine's room on the second floor, the radio that had been broadcasting suddenly stopped working.

At this time, Jasmine, who was cleaning in the living room on the second floor, also immediately stopped her work, trotted into the room and flipped the switch on the wall beside the bed. When the radio started working again, she trotted down again. First, he made a gesture with Dumb Cao, who immediately ran to the gate of the small courtyard, inspected the iron grille door that was sewn tightly with wooden boards and the two top door bars that were as thick as calves, and then did not forget to step on the door. Holding the ladder on the flower wall, he climbed to the top of the wall and took a look outside, then he came down and gestured to Jasmine who was standing at the door of the small building.

After receiving the signal, Jasmine immediately ran into the kitchen and turned on the lights in the kitchen.At the same time as the power was turned on, two small dim lights lit up in the basement passageway where Wei Ran and Mei Xiang were located.

"Go up," Mei Xiang said, and reached out to try to support Wei Ran, who only had one hand.

"It's okay, I'll do it myself."

Wei Ran smiled and declined the other party's help, climbed up the ladder with one hand, supported the wall with his back, and climbed up little by little.

Pulling open the not-so-big wooden door, Wei Ran took out the flashlight for observation, then reached out and pulled out the wooden wedge that was stuck on the slide rail, and then moved the linkage lever fixed on the wall until he heard With a click, the huge mirror was pushed to move slowly, giving way to the entrance.

Helping to close the door and return the mirror to its original position, Wei Ran groped to tighten the slide rail with a wooden wedge, then walked quickly to the stairs, turned the corner of the handrail back to the original angle, and blocked the mirror frame perfectly .

He had just finished his work here, and Jasmine had already gone downstairs and wiped the handrail with a greasy rag.

"Why did you come up here?" Jasmine asked in surprise.

"I wasn't injured that badly, so I came up." Wei Ran replied with a smile, "How's the situation outside?"

"not too good"

Jasmine shook her head, and walked up with Wei Ran and said, "In the morning, I followed Uncle Dumb to the border of the concession to take a look from a distance. I heard from the people who fled in that the little devil was killing people all the way. It's especially serious there.

In addition, although our large troops have withdrawn from the city to the south, there are still sporadic exchanges of fire in the city. "

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded, changed the subject and said, "My cousin asked you to teach me how to use the telephone."

"Come with me." Jasmine didn't seem surprised by this, she took Wei Ran out of the storage room and walked to the second floor.

When passing by the kitchen, Wei Ran also saw Yang's mother, who was cooking on a briquette stove, and Tao Canhua, who was busy boiling medicine on a small red mud charcoal stove in the small open space behind the kitchen.

Without saying hello to the two people who were busy, Wei Ran followed Jasmine to the second floor. The latter skillfully removed the phone cord, then removed the carved baffle of the radiator, pulled out a set of telephones and gave Wei Ran a demonstration. Fan, by the way, also got the instructions from Mei Xiang that she had just given to Wei Ran through the phone.

After hanging up the phone and restoring everything to the original state, Wei Ran asked curiously, "You guys did this?"

"You mean this phone line?"

Seeing that Wei Ran nodded, Jasmine clapped her hands and explained, "The previous owner was a British missionary, except for the ginkgo tree that the lady planted when she bought this place, the rest of the layout was left by the British missionary. At that time, the missionary had a third servant who was in charge of guarding the house, and he told us about these institutions."

"Where's that servant?" Wei Ran frowned and asked.

"died"

Jasmine glanced at Wei Ran, and said very bluntly, "Uncle Mute bought him a ticket to Shanghai Stock Exchange, and sank him in the Haihe River after the passenger ship set sail, otherwise there is no way to keep the secret here."

"Haihe is really inclusive of everything." Wei Ran muttered, and then asked, "Does Xiao Su know about the hidden basement?"

Jasmine shook her head, and said helplessly, "When Miss discovered the hidden basement, she originally planned to use it to hide from Xiao Su's mother. At that time, Xiao Su's mother brought guests here almost every day. When the lady is tired, she will hide there to be quiet and quiet by herself."

"So you don't know?" Wei Ran asked rather inquisitively.

"I don't know, I definitely don't know."

Jasmine gave an extremely positive answer, and then took the initiative to change the topic, "Miss just asked me to tell you that if you remember to water the flowers frequently when you have time, you will also take care of the flowers on the third floor terrace."

"I'll take care of the third floor too?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows.

"By the way, let's observe the situation outside. There is a telescope on it." Jasmine pointed to the upstairs and said, "Miss, I am afraid that what I see is not as good as what you see."

"Okay, leave it to me."

Wei Ran nodded indifferently, and went downstairs to say hello to Yang Ma, who was always thinking about him, then went to Tao Canhua, rubbed his back and took a shower, then changed into clean clothes, and sat down The iron canopy bed that belonged to his room.

After lighting a cigarette again, after some hesitation, he locked the door and took out the medical kit.

What made him feel particularly distressed was that not only was the medical kit full of bumps and bumps, there were not many instruments left in it, and there were only a few packs of sulfonamide and two rolls of bandages in the medical kit, especially in Teng County. At that time, the white coat that Nurse Chen gave her was also burned to ashes by Yang Ma, but the letter she left behind and the crowbar that she threw in before were still there.

Picking up the crowbar, Wei Ran took a little effort to pry off a few wooden boards that sealed the floor-to-ceiling windows, then used a knife to cut open the quilt inside, and pulled open the thick curtains, barely making out a window that could be seen at a glance. See the observation hole of the courtyard gate.

Throwing the crowbar under the bed, Wei Ran put away the medical kit, which was of little use. Then he found the small jar of ginseng slices he bought before, pinched out one and threw it into his mouth. , can be regarded as replenishing Qi and blood.

Without waiting for him to taste the ginseng slices, Yang's mother also prepared the meals, and filled two additional food boxes, ready for Tao Canhua to deliver to Mei Xiang and others.

"Help me ask Chen Pike to buy two packs of cigarettes"

Wei Ran said, and handed Tao Canhua a big ocean, "I want a bag of Qianmen and a bag of camels, and I don't need any change from him. In this way, you can just go to Qiushi to buy them when the time comes."

"Okay, I'll remember." Tao Canhua, who was in charge of running errands, accepted the ocean that Wei Ran handed over.

"Bring me two packs too, fairy brand ones." Jasmine said, and also pushed over an ocean, and said extra boldly, "You don't need to look for it."

Without waiting for Tao Canhua to speak, Mute Cao also pushed a piece of ocean over, and made a pair of scissors.

"Bring two packs of camels for Uncle Dumb, right? Uncle Dumb?" Wei Ran said as he looked at Dumb Cao, who nodded immediately.

"I'll be back soon, you guys eat first."

As Tao Canhua said, he had already picked up two food boxes, and Dumb Cao immediately walked to the door, lit a cigarette leaning against the door frame, and looked in the direction of the courtyard door.

When Cao Yaba finished smoking one cigarette, Tao Canhua also ran out of the storage room with two food boxes.However, before he could send the two food boxes into the kitchen, a black four-door sedan stopped at the gate of the small courtyard, and immediately after that, the iron fence door sealed with wooden boards was also photographed. Bang bang.

Almost in no particular order, Wei Ran and Cao Yaba pulled out their respective sidearms, the former pulled out from the back of his waist, which was naturally the small PPK pistol, and what Cao Yaba pulled out was a short and sharp three-armed pistol. Take the box gun.

While Cao Yaba pressed down the machine head, Wei Ran, who could only use his left hand, skillfully put the sleeve against the edge of the chair and pressed down to complete the one-handed loading.

Looking at Wei Ran in surprise, Cao Dumb immediately turned his gaze back to Yang Ma, who nodded upon seeing this, quickly opened the door, stood at the door and asked loudly, "Who is it?"

"It's me! Open the door!" From outside the small courtyard door, Xiao Su's mother's distinctive mean voice also came in.

Looking at each other, Wei Ran immediately turned his head and said in a low voice, "Canhua, hurry up! Hide the food box!"

While reminding Tao Canhua, Jasmine also locked the door of the storage room as quickly as possible.After Tao Canhua realized it, he quickly put the two food boxes in his hand into the kitchen cabinet.

At the same time, Yang Ma also responded under Wei Ran's signal, "Here we come!"

Looking at each other with Cao Dumb, Wei Ran and the other party put away their pistols in no particular order.He also followed Mama Yang out.

When Ma Yang moved the door bar and opened the courtyard door with the help of Mute Cao and the harsh urging of Xiao Su Ma, she was sitting on the rocking chair at the door, deliberately holding a cigarette with her splinted right hand. Noticing that this time not only Xiao Su's mother came, but also behind her was the skinny monkey-like devil who had a good friend with Mr. Gu Chuan.

"Where's your cousin?"

At the same time that Wei Ran stubbed out the cigarette, Xiao Su's mother also ignored Yang's mother and Cao dumb, and asked Wei Ran in a slightly impatient tone.

"She hasn't come back yet"

Wei Ran replied, "The fighting outside is so lively. We heard from the box that even Beiping was fighting. I figured that my cousin might have found a place to hide when she got scared, or she was trapped somewhere.

Just now we were discussing whether we should wait for the outside to calm down and drive to Peiping to find my cousin. "

"Is she really not at home?" Xiao Su's mother immediately became worried after hearing Wei Ran's words.

"Why did I lie to you about this?"

Wei Ran first nodded and bowed to the devil Gu Chuan, and then gave a thumbs up behind him, "Why don't you look upstairs and downstairs?"

"What are you looking for!"

Xiao Su's mother gave Wei Ran a blank look, took out two cards from her bag and patted them on Wei Ran's chest, showing off and greedily, "I'll help my cousin accept Mr. Ueda on August 8th." At the dance held in the Seventh Heaven, Mr. Ueda offered 6 six silver dollars! You bastard, even if you are tied up these two days, you have to tie back the money-losing goods to me!"

"Aunt, there's a war going on outside here."

Wei Ran said reluctantly, "Look at our small building, we haven't dared to go anywhere in the past two days, even the windows are blocked, just in case there is a fight here, let's go Where can I find my cousin?"

"Hey! It wasn't you who said you were still discussing it"

"A discussion is a discussion, and I don't plan to really go."

Wei Ran muttered, "My cousin only gave me [-] oceans a month, and I came back from studying abroad anyway. How can I lose my life for [-] oceans?"

"Give me nonsense, you bastard!"

Little Su's mother put her hips on her hips and yelled, "If you don't get your cousin back, there will be no more three hundred oceans in the future. Then you can go to Luanfengang to drink the northwest wind!"

"Xiao Su's mother, let's look for it, we will definitely find the young lady back." Jasmine came out to smooth things over.

"You ugly bitch, don't talk to me!"

Xiao Su's mother waved her handkerchief with a look of disgust, "I've given you the pass. Before the [-]th, bring Meixiang back to my old lady. If you can't find Meixiang, you can bring that little vixen Qiushi back to me to pick up the guests. If you can’t find them all! Hehe!”

After saying that, Xiao Su's mother winked at the thin monkey-like devil behind her, who immediately handed the wooden suitcase he was carrying to Wei Ran.

"What is this? Why is it so heavy?" Wei Ran resisted the pain, and couldn't help asking while taking the incense with both hands.

"What? Silver dollars!"

Xiao Su's mother became more and more proud, "I don't care about anything else, since you collected the deposit for your cousin, if she doesn't go to the banquet, be careful that Mr. Ueda will pick your skin off!"

Saying that, Xiao Su's mother pushed Wei Ran away, and walked into the small building while saying, "Get out of the way, I want to see if the money-losing girl is hiding at home."

"Didn't you come here last time?" Wei Ran muttered in a moderate voice, but then he focused on the wooden suitcase in his hand, thinking about opening it to have a look.

"Master Biao, it's against the rules for you to do this."

Jasmine ignored Mr. Gu Chuan, who was walking into the small building, and stopped Wei Ran with a serious face. Even Cao Dumb took a step forward and stared at Wei Ran.

"I'll just take a look, what's there? Can I still grab my cousin's things?"

Wei Ran rolled his eyes impatiently, tried to pull the small iron lock on the suitcase, and finally handed it to Jasmine reluctantly under Cao Dumb's vigilant gaze.

When they were acting at the door, Xiao Su's mother also took her ghost friend Mr. Gu Chuan, Tao Canhua and Cao Dumb, who opened the door, and accompanied by Yang's mother step by step, looked at every room on the first floor Once again, and then asked Jasmine to open the door of the storage room, went around the basement, and then went upstairs to check every room on the second and third floors.

After confirming that Mei Xiang was really not there, Xiao Su's mother went downstairs cursing and left, and got into the black car parked at the door with that devil Mr. Gu Chuan who hadn't spoken a word the whole time.

When Mute Cao and Ma Yang closed the iron fence door together and pushed the gate to death with the top bar, Wei Ran asked Jasmine in a low voice with his left hand supporting the fractured right hand, "Did you see it just now?"

"saw"

Under Tao Canhua's confused gaze, Jasmine also replied in a low voice, "Mr. Ueda is sitting in that car."

"As usual, send the suitcase upstairs to the money deposit box"

Wei Ran instructed almost ravingly, "Don't let my cousin come out yet, and don't open the door of the storage room, I guess I might have to kill the carbine later."

Hearing this, Jasmine nodded silently, and went up to the third floor alone with her suitcase.

Sure enough, before Jasmine came down from the third floor, Xiao Su's mother also went back and forth, excused that she forgot her small bag on the third floor, smashed open the iron gate of the small courtyard, and ran upstairs in a hurry. The devil named Gu Chuan also walked around the door of the storage room seemingly unintentionally.

It wasn't until Xiao Su's mother left with her ghost lover again that Wei Ran looked at the pass that the other party had photographed for him before, and then handed it to Dumb Cao.

He clearly knew that the two visits by Xiao Su's mother just now were not only the temptation of the devil named Ueda to Xu Qing Shu Yu, but also the chance for Xiao Su's mother to fight for Meixiang.

Not to mention anything else, at least with the two passports that the other party gave them just now, they can use an excuse to pick up Mei Xiang and do something.

Compared with these, Wei Ran was more curious about who Xiao Su's mother got these two passes from. If it was the devil named Zhi Tian who had just hid in the car and didn't get out, who did he have? What other identities.

Amid the increasing doubts and uneasiness, the people who stayed on the first floor managed to finish the dinner that was about to get cold. They didn't even have time to clear away the dishes when the iron door of the small courtyard was knocked from the outside again.