War Photographer's Notebook

At midnight during a thunderstorm, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua sent the Ding family cousins ​​to an alley next to San Guan'er and handed them over to Cao Yuba who was hiding in a small boat.

After briefly describing the cause and effect, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua did not dare to delay, so they picked up Chen Pike and Xu Keqin who were waiting here. The four of them rowed a small boat together and returned to the love letter as quickly as possible. apartment.

"It's done?"

Wei Ran had just gotten off the boat, and Mei Xiang, who was waiting at the door holding an umbrella, asked.

“It’s all done”

Wei Ran responded and followed the other person into the hall on the first floor. Immediately afterwards, he saw Yang Ma, Uncle Meng, Jasmine and Qiushi, surrounded by three steaming people in the hall on the first floor. With a large copper basin and two oil lamps, they were busy plucking the feathers and cleaning the internal organs of the slaughtered pigeons and hens.

"Today we celebrate the New Year ahead of schedule," Mei Xiang said with a smile, "These pigeons and hens are enough for everyone to have a good meal."

"may not"

Yang's mother responded with a smile, "These children should have eaten some good supplements long ago. Look at how skinny each one of them looks like."

"Let's stew all these in a big pot later, and then cut some big white radishes. The taste, hey! It's amazing!"

Before Uncle Meng finished speaking, Chen Xiuyu and Xu Keqin, who were following Wei Ran and Tao Canhua, swallowed in unison.

"Remember to clean up all the chicken feathers and pigeon feathers later," Mei Xiang reminded with a smile.

"Don't worry, miss," replied Jasmine, who was busy with her. "When it's all done, we'll pour oil on it and burn it. The chicken intestines and pigeon intestines will also be minced and buried in the flower pot."

"Go take a shower and change your clothes. There is hot water in the bathrooms on the first and second floors."

Mei Xiang looked back at Wei Ran and the others who were all soaked through. As she walked upstairs, she ordered, "Jasmine, take all their clothes and burn them together later. Qiushi, go upstairs and make a pot of tea." ."

"Hey!" Jasmine and Qiushi each responded.

"Cousin, Canhua, wait and find me on the third floor." After Meixiang finished speaking, she followed Qiushi upstairs.

"Go and wash up," Wei Ran said to the three young men behind him.

Chen Gouyu looked down at his soaked clothes and shoes and said proactively, "I'll wash them on the first floor."

"I'll wash it on the first floor too," Xu Keqin followed.

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua looked at each other, took off their soaked cloth shoes and threw them into the iron bucket for garbage, and went up to the second floor barefoot.

Going into a bathroom on the second floor, Wei Ran washed his whole body thoroughly, and then sat in the bathtub that had been filled with hot water in advance to soak.

He didn't leave the bathroom until a young man knocked on the door and brought over a set of clean clothes. After Tao Canhua also came out, the two went up to the third floor together.

"Tell me what you encountered?"

Mei Xiang invited the two of them to sit down in the living room facing the terrace, crossing her legs and asking with interest. At the same time, Andy also poured Wei Ran and Tao Canhua each a cup of hot tea.

"Let's talk"

Wei Ran gave this opportunity to Tao Canhua, who seemed to be in a bad mood since he came back, hoping that the other party could vent his negative emotions after the murder through narration - even though this was not the first time he had committed a murder.

“Then let’s talk about Chanhua.”

Andy seemed to have guessed Wei Ran's intention, and joked in a joking tone, "My cousin can't tell the truth with his mouth. I don't believe that even three-point things can be said to be ten thousand. If we really want to say it, it has to be us." Canhua, this kid is honest and reliable."

"Little aunt, I, I am not a child anymore."

Tao Canhua said embarrassingly, obviously, this young man with a slightly dull personality must have been often joked by Andy, the goblin.

"Then tell me," Mei Xiang, who seemed to realize something, also urged with a smile.

"When we get there."

Tao Canhua organized some language to retell the "committing process" of the two people in an almost anecdotal manner.

When she heard that Tao Canhua also killed someone, Meixiang looked at Andy calmly, and then the two smart women also gave a series of compliments in a timely manner.

"What are you going to do with the little girls you brought back?"

After they finished talking about the crime process, Wei Ran, who had been listening just now, also took the initiative to change the topic.

"Let them stay"

Mei Xiang sighed, "In this year of war and chaos, there is such a big flood. Even if we let them go, no matter how much money we give them, they may not be able to survive. What's more, if they can't be saved, someone has seen them at Ding Rongfu's place. If you let them out, they could easily get into trouble."

"Our food may not be enough to eat," Andy reminded in a low voice, "Just now you gave away such a big bag of rice."

“Just buy it when it’s gone”

Meixiang didn't seem to be worried about food. Instead, she looked at Wei Ran and asked half seriously and half jokingly, "There are a lot of gold bars and silver coins you asked Keqin to bring back. Even that bucket of tobacco paste is worth it." It’s a lot of money, I’ll give it to you later.”

"Cousin, please stop joking"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "Find a way to destroy the cigarette paste, and use the rest for food first. I really don't have any expenses other than two packs of cigarettes a day, so I have to find a place to hide them."

"Okay, then just pretend that my cousin asked you to borrow it." Mei Xiang was particularly happy, "When this current hurdle is over, I will return it to you with interest."

"If a family doesn't talk to each other, then forget about the interest and there's no point in not paying it back." Wei Ran said and stood up, "Cousin, wait for me."

"Okay" Although Mei Xiang didn't know what Wei Ran was going to do, she didn't take the initiative to ask.

He went downstairs in the dark and went into the darkroom on the second floor. After closing the door, Wei Ran took out the food box and took out all the gold bars and silver coins inside, leaving only a few pieces of gold on him. Carrying the towel, he returned to the second floor.

Putting all these yellow and white things in front of Mei Xiang, Wei Ran sat down again, lit a cigarette and said with a smile, "Let me lend these to my cousin. I'll just keep a few dollars to buy cigarettes."

"I, I have quite a few there, I'll get them right away!" Before Tao Canhua finished speaking, he got up and ran downstairs.

Mei Xiang glanced at Wei Ran in surprise, then looked at Tao Canhua with a smile, who had already run to the stairs. Finally, she looked at Andy and nodded happily and said, "Okay, then these are also mine. I asked you to borrow it."

"Look, we're back too, did my cousin talk about your two small pistols?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Mei Xiang smiled and said, "Wait a minute, I'll tell you later."

"No hurry" Wei Ran responded indifferently, but he was actually very curious about this seemingly insignificant matter.

They just said these two words, Tao Canhua also ran up holding a wooden box.

"Auntie, all the money I saved is here."

As Tao Canhua spoke, he had already opened the wooden box, which was as big as a shoe box, and showed it without any reservation of half-full silver coins.

"Canhua has saved a lot of money?" Andy said, reaching out and taking out a silver dollar from the box. It bounced into the air with a "ding" sound, and then he took it in his hand.

"I usually don't have much money to spend." Tao Canhua grinned stupidly, "My aunt has paid me all the salary here in the past two years."

"Be careful I won't pay you back again," Mei Xiang said jokingly.

"If you don't pay it back, you won't pay it back," Tao Canhua replied foolishly, "I've learned a lot in the past two years, so it's not a loss."

"Don't worry, your aunt won't lose you."

Andy made a promise for Mei Xiang, and then threw the silver dollar in his hand into the wooden box, "Okay, Canhua, go downstairs and rest early. Get up early tomorrow. There is pigeon soup to drink."

"Okay" Tao Canhua responded simply, stood up and walked to the second floor.

"This young man is much more honest than his cousin"

Andy smiled and teased, and without waiting for Wei Ran to say anything, he yawned and stood up, walking towards the bedroom while saying, "Okay, let's talk slowly, siblings."

Watching Andy walk into the bedroom, Mei Xiang also stood up with the kerosene lamp, motioned Wei Ran to help hold the money on the table, and led him into the study on the third floor.

"Close the door"

While Mei Xiang was speaking, she had already taken out a key, walked to the solid wood cabinet that occupied an entire wall on one side of the study, and opened a locked cabinet door.When Wei Ran locked the door, Mei Xiang had already got into the closet.

Seeing this, Wei Ran followed curiously and got in, only to find that inside the cabinet was an extremely steep wooden staircase less than one meter wide!
How many secret passages are there in this small shabby building?
Wei Ran muttered to himself, followed Mei Xiang, turned sideways, stepped on the narrow stairs, passed through a narrow wooden door and climbed up to the attic.

Compared with later generations, the attic area of ​​this small building at this time was much smaller due to the existence of the terrace on the third floor, and there was nothing else in the attic. They were all camphor wood boxes with copper corners.

Putting the kerosene lamp on a box casually, Meixiang opened a camphor wood box. Inside, there were helmets of different drama characters and a small locked box.

"Put it in here." Meixiang opened the small box and said.

After looking at the gold bars, silver coins and jewelry in a cloth pocket, Wei Ran put the "loan" in his hand indifferently.

After closing the lids of the two boxes, Mei Xiang sat directly on the lids of the boxes, then took out the small pistol and said, "This pistol was given to me by Mr. Shang Xiaoyun."

"That famous actress in the capital?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows.

"When I was seven years old, I was in trouble. Xiao Su's mother took me and fled from Fengtian to Jinmen."

Meixiang said calmly, "When I was eight years old, when Xiao Su's mother and I were begging for food at the gate of the Liyuan, we met Mr. Shang Xiaoyun. He saw that I was pitiful and rewarded me with five oceans and two silver cents. Then It was all the money he had with him at the time.”

Having said that, Meixiang pointed to the two silver coins inlaid on the grip of the pistol and said, "The five yuan and twenty cents saved the lives of both me and Xiao Su's mother. When I found a job that allowed me to make a living, we had a total of one dollar and two cents left. I embedded the two cents in the rhino horn handle, and the other dollar was embedded in another small hand. On the ivory grip of the pistol." "Is this a rhinoceros horn?" Wei Ran looked at the small pistol held by the opponent in surprise. He thought it was made of buffalo horn.

"This gun was also given to me by Mr. Shang Xiaoyun."

Mei Xiang sighed, "At that time, Mr. Shang's first wife, Mrs. Li, was still alive, but her health had been poor. In the 15th year of the Republic of China, Mrs. Li fell ill. I felt that I was of low status and did not dare to visit her, so I asked Miss Gu sent a rhinoceros horn as a token of appreciation.

Later, after Mrs. Li recovered from her illness, Mr. Shang asked Miss Gu to send this small pistol in the name of his wife. At that time, the pistol's grip was inlaid with two pieces of rhinoceros horns.

He asked Miss Gu to tell me that no matter whether you are an actor or a singer, as long as you keep yourself clean, you are not inferior to anyone else.But after all, if you are wandering around the romantic scene in Liyuan, you must have something to protect yourself and your innocence. "

"I heard rumors."

"How can I, a singing prostitute in the fireworks alley, dare to climb up to Mr. Shang?"

Meixiang, who used to be full of aura, said with a sense of inferiority, "I have always had nothing but admiration and gratitude towards Mr. Shang and Mrs. Li. The rumors from the outside world after Mrs. Li's death were actually nothing more than the gossip of those romantic tabloids. In fact, Since Mrs. Li passed away, in order to avoid suspicion, I have not contacted Mr. Shang again."

Having said this, Mei Xiang put away the small pistol, let out a sigh of relief and asked with a smile, "Qiushi also has a small pistol on her body, have you seen it?"

"I've seen it before." Wei Ran nodded, "That one is much more beautiful."

"That one was a gift from Xiao Su's mother"

Meixiang shook her head helplessly, "Before Mr. Shang renewed our relationship, she had been thinking about getting me and Mr. Shang together. Most of the rumors were spread by her."

After saying that, Mei Xiang looked at Wei Ran curiously, "Why are you so interested in these two pistols?"

"Maybe one day I'm down and out, and I can get some money by selling these inside information to Fengyue Tabloid." Wei Ran replied with a playful smile.

"Find a fight"

Mei Xiang gave Wei Ran a dumbfounded look, stood up with the oil lamp and walked downstairs while saying, "Okay, I've told you everything you want to know, go down and have a rest early."

"How about one last question?" Wei Ran stood up.

"Say" Meixiang didn't stop, and responded as she walked downstairs.

"What's going on in the attic?" Wei Ran, who had nothing to say, asked casually, just to help this beautiful cousin divert his emotions.

"It was also left behind by the British missionary"

Meixiang explained casually, "This used to be a place where opium was hidden. The British Concession was very strict. Not to mention opium dens, even brothels were not allowed to get out of the way. It's ridiculous to say that the opium was sold to us in China. Aren’t they just the British?”

"Yeah, it's just them."

Wei Ran sighed as if talking to himself, followed her out of the attic, watched her enter the bedroom, then returned to the darkroom on the second floor, lay down, and lit the last Qianmen cigarette of the day.

The cousin is ruthless, the actor is meaningless?
Wei Ran snorted coldly. Whether it was Mr. Shang Xiaoyun, whom he had never met before, or Mei Xiang upstairs, these actors and singers, who were almost at the bottom of the society's contempt chain, were much better than the likes of Ding Rongfu. too much.

After smoking the last cigarette very carefully, Wei Ran fell asleep in the rainstorm that never stopped outside the window. At the same time, he was also looking forward to the pigeon and carrot soup tomorrow morning. By the way, he was also worried about the next few days. Will everyone in this building starve - like in besieged Leningrad.

Perhaps he was reminded of the terrifying memory of hunger before, or perhaps it was the experiences he heard Mei Xiang talk about before going to bed. In his sleep, Wei Ran felt that the surroundings were getting colder and colder, and he even vaguely heard the beating of gongs and drums. The noise of opera.

Gradually, the voice of the opera singer became clearer and clearer, and the coldness around him became heavier and heavier.

Shivering violently, Wei Ran finally woke up, and then he noticed that he was standing in the foyer of Xu Qing's apartment.

In the yard outside the foyer, the sky was no longer filled with floods. Instead, a thick layer of snow had fallen. On top of the snow, there were still a few faint footprints that had not yet been covered.

Wei Ran couldn't help but shiver again. He only listened to the direction of the storage room behind him, and someone was singing amidst the sound of drums, "I hold the pipa in my arms and bid farewell to the king of Han. The west wind rustled away Hu Chen. There are thousands of soldiers in the imperial court, and I believe in my merits." "In women"

It was Zhaojun who came out of the fortress.
Wei Ran muttered to himself, then lowered his head and looked at his outfit.He still wore Oxford boots with a black tunic suit and a silver watch chain exposed from the breast pocket. In addition, he was also wearing a double-breasted woolen coat and a black hat on his head. top hat.Even his hands were wearing a pair of soft sheepskin gloves, and between his fingers was a nearly burned-out cigarette with an antler holder.

"I can beat you to death"

Wei Ran cursed and took a puff, then pulled out the cigarette butt and flicked it into the snow under the stairs.

He took off his gloves and put away the cigarette holder. He also took out the pocket stove from the metal book, lit it and stuffed it into his pocket.After all, although the outfit on his body looked decent, it really wasn't very warm. He didn't even know if the metal book had any special meaning in arranging him to be a doorman - or if he just wanted to. Keep yourself awake.

Putting on his gloves again, Wei Ran stepped down the steps and wandered around the yard, only to find that the car parked in the garage was not the milky white car, but the devil car he had seen and driven before.There was even a small Japanese hemorrhoid flag on the front side of the car.

In addition, he also noticed that a ginkgo tree seemed to have been planted in the yard. Obviously, the previous one probably failed to survive the 1939 flood.

Continuing to circle around the small building, he also saw Uncle Meng who was busy burning the boiler, and Ma Yang who was busy killing chickens in the small open space at the back door of the kitchen.

"Xiaowei, what are you running around and touching?"

Uncle Meng patted the soot on his body and asked jokingly, "Didn't the lady just ask you to bring back Xiao Su's mother and Canhua? Are you planning to go?"

"Not urgent"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "I'm not going to find a broom to sweep the snow off the front of the car. You don't know that Xiao Su's mother is definitely waiting to find fault with me."

Uncle Meng suggested while taking off his apron, "The snow hasn't stopped yet, and your sweeping is in vain. If you start early, you can drive more slowly on the road."

"That's right." Wei Ran nodded, "Then I'll set off now."

"Go early and come back early, and drive slowly on the road." Uncle Meng gave final instructions.

Knowing what to do next, Wei Ran stopped delaying. After getting into the car and starting the engine, he lit a cigarette again and waited until the cigarette was finished before driving the car out of the courtyard. .

“I don’t know what year this is anymore.”

On the way, Wei Ran muttered to himself, and after seeing a newspaper boy selling newspapers, he immediately slowed down the car. After rummaging around for a while, he took out a piece of silver and handed it to him, buying a copy of the newspaper. A tabloid that no one in future generations has heard of.

What the newspaper said was not important, but the position of the masthead clearly showed that it was December 30st, the 12th year of the Republic of China.

In the 30th year of the Republic of China,
Wei Ran made some calculations, but his heart sank to the bottom. The 30th year of the Republic of China, if replaced by a more familiar calendar for later generations, was 1941!
It doesn't matter what happened on December 1941, 12, but Wei Ran knew clearly that a week after this day, that is, December 1 (Pacific Time 12), both for the Japanese and the Pearl, For Hong Kong, it was a big day!In other words, the Pacific War will break out in a week.

This was undoubtedly not good news. Even if he did not rely on his own historical knowledge, he would know simply by thinking about it. When the Pacific War breaks out and Britain and the United States declare war on the Japanese, the Japanese who start betting on the fate of the country will definitely take action on the British concession in Tianjin. .

It’s broken, it’s broken, it’s broken!
Thinking of this, Wei Ran immediately increased the speed of the car, suppressed the uneasiness in his heart and drove to the edge of the Japanese Concession. He found the small building next to the opium den with familiarity.

Before he could stop the car, Tao Canhua, carrying a piano bag in one hand and an erhu in the other, wearing a gray cotton robe and a top hat on his head, walked out.

It's just "one night" or two years. Tao Canhua, who used to look young, is now a gentle young man.

Just as Wei Ran looked at the other party in a daze, Tao Canhua also opened the car door and sat in. Putting down the instrument in his hand, he said, "Cousin, Xiao Su's mother asked me to tell aunt that she recently contracted a cold and didn't want to go out. , so I won’t join in the fun.”

"Okay, then let's go back."

Wei Ran came back to his senses, lightly stepped on the accelerator, and drove the devil's car to the direction of Shuyu, and at the same time asked in a casual tone, "Did I ask you anything today?"

"I asked. That old devil Ueda kept asking the same questions over and over again."

Tao Canhua sneered, "Who usually goes to the dance class run by my aunt now, and whether there are any new people in the troupe. He also said that after Xiao Su's mother recovers from her illness in two days, she will follow Xiao Su's mother and Furukawa. Sir, we went together to listen to the show."

"You have quite a big face," Wei Ran snorted, but he felt increasingly bad inside.

Chatting all the way back to the study apartment, when Wei Ran parked the car, the singing voice still did not stop. Seeing this, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua simply entered the storage room with cotton curtains.

Passing through the thick cotton curtains hanging on the steps leading to the basement, the singing voice became clearer and clearer, and the body temperature became warmer and warmer.

When the two of them walked down the last step, they immediately saw that the basement seemed to have been renovated. Not only was the wooden stage moved right in front of the big mirror, but also the front of the stage and next to the entrance and exit On this side, velvet curtains were added.

At this time, there were two actors in costumes fighting around a table on the stage, but what Wei Ran found unbelievable was that all the people here were blindfolded with red cloth!

"Jiao Zan hair distribution"

Tao Canhua, who came down, said in a low voice, "Except for their singing skills, these boys have almost mastered their skills. If they are in the grass group, they can basically go on stage directly."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who didn't understand what Tao Canhua was talking about, nodded pretendingly and continued to observe the situation in the warm basement while walking forward.

At this time, on the other side of the stage, there were several familiar boys and girls playing various musical instruments together.And on the sofas right in front of the stage, all the people sitting were acquaintances.

Among them were the Sometani couple who were wearing mink coats and holding the scent of cigarettes in their hands, and the Sometani couple who were still wearing kimonos, as well as the manager of a German company, Volker, and several wealthy ladies whom Wei Ran had never seen before.

Compared with the last time we met, Meixiang's graceful temperament was more obvious. Akumi, who was sitting next to her and was responsible for peeling oranges, had also become a grown-up girl. On the other hand, Mr. Walker and Someya Yukio were both older.

Compared to them, Jasmine, who was serving tea and water, had not changed much.

"You came back just in time, Xiao Su's mother didn't come?"

"Little Su's mother has caught a cold and is unwilling to move these days." Tao Canhua took the initiative to explain.

"If you don't come, don't come"

Meixiang waved casually, "Find a place to sit by yourself. Now that everyone has gathered here, after watching this show, we will start playing mahjong. Canhua, when the time comes, you can pick up your new skills and give them to everyone." part."

"Okay!" Tao Canhua responded confidently, and then waited for Wei Ran to find a seat in the corner before he followed suit.

He glanced secretly at the wealthy ladies who were secretly sizing him up, and then at Mei Xiang, who was sitting in front and listening intently to the play.Wei Ran couldn't help but secretly wonder whether this cousin, who was still beautiful, was really treating her like a duck to entertain friends.