War Photographer's Notebook

In the basement, Wei Ran and Andy continued to rescue Brother Tang.However, as time went by, no matter whether it was Wei Ran, Andy, or even Mei Xiang who was watching with her sleeves clenched tightly, and the three anxious young girls, everyone realized that Brother Tang on the hospital bed, maybe...
3 minutes, 5 minutes, 6 minutes, 8 minutes, 10 minutes, as time passed, all the adrenaline in the syringe in Andy's hand had been pushed in, but Brother Tang on the bed could not resume breathing on his own from beginning to end. With his heart beating, Wei Ran, who was kneeling on the bed and performing chest compressions, although cold sweat had already broken out on his forehead, did not stop from the beginning to the end.

"Stop it," Andy said, sighing in vain.

Hearing this, Wei Ran's body trembled, and then he continued to perform chest compressions that were destined to be fruitless.

"Stop," Andy said again, then like crazy pushed Wei Ran away who still didn't want to give up.

Wei Ran, who almost fell off the bed, was about to say something, but Andy had already thrown himself on Brother Tang's chest and began to cry loudly.

"Cousin, go out." Mei Xiang sighed and said, "You guys also wait in the passage."

Hearing this, the three little girls, whose eyes were already red, covered their mouths and nodded, trying not to cry, and turned around and ran out of the basement.

"You should go out too," Mei Xiang said to Wei Ran again.

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded, and then patted Andy's shoulder lightly as a gesture of comfort. Then he got off the bed and left the basement, which was once again filled with sadness. He sat down against the wall outside the door and gave himself some time. I lit a cigarette and listened to Andy's sad cry in the room and Mei Xiang's futile comfort.

After silently smoking a cigarette, Wei Ran leaned on the wall and just stood up, but Andy, with red eyes, also came out.

"Wei Ran, please teach me how to shoot a telegram." Andy forced a smile and said, "I want to learn how to shoot a telegram."

"You" Wei Ran sighed, "you don't have to be so strong."

"My brother's job has to be done by someone." Andy repeated stubbornly, and at the same time, he allowed big tears to burst out, across his cheeks, and drip down his chin, "So I have to learn to take pictures. telegraph."

"I can take Tang's place"

"What if you have an accident? What if you are also captured by the Japanese?"

It was Meixiang who came out a little later and said this, "Not only Andy wants to learn, but I also want to learn. Qiushi and Canhua will also learn together."

Wei Ran was startled, and asked, "When will it start?"

Glancing at Andy, Meixiang thought for a while and said, "Tomorrow, now you and Jasmine. Forget it, let Canhua come with you. You two go to Sanguanger to report the funeral to Mute Cao."

"He knows the location?"

"I told him last night," Mei Xiang replied.

"Can Uncle Mute be trusted?" Wei Ran asked the second question.

"Yes, you don't need to hide anything from him." Mei Xiang replied simply.

"I understand"

After speaking, Wei Ran glanced at Andy again who was wiping away his tears. After a moment of hesitation, he said, "Let Brother Tang change his clothes. When I come back, I will take a picture of him and I can also say it later." think."

Hearing this, Andy, who was bursting with tears, nodded, then cried again, and was pulled into Mei Xiang's arms, patting her shoulders gently to comfort her.

After finally looking at each other with Mei Xiang, Wei Ran returned to the hospital bed and picked up a medicine box that only consumed one epinephrine. Then he turned around and passed through the cotton curtains that blocked the crying and sadness, and left this hidden room. Up the basement.

"Come with me to find the dumb uncle later," Wei Ran said to Tao Canhua who was still guarding the door before leaving the storage room.

"Okay." Tao Canhua nodded.

"Do you know where he is?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"Of course I know," Tao Canhua replied in the affirmative.

"Go and warm up the car, I'll be there right away." After saying that, Wei Ran walked through the cotton curtain hanging in the storage room, carrying the medicine box and walked into his bedroom on the first floor.

After closing the door and putting away the medicine box, Wei Ran pulled out the small pistol from his waist, disassembled it as quickly as possible and inspected it, then assembled it and loaded it with bullets.

Putting on the woolen coat and top hat, Wei Ran put on a pair of Oxford boots, and left the room with the sheepskin gloves on the table.

After such a short delay, Tao Canhua had already driven the car out of the garage, and parked it in the snow-covered yard that had just been cleaned by Uncle Meng and Mama Yang.

"Go, go."

Wei Ran opened the car door and sat in the back compartment and asked, "Do you have a guy with you?"

"No." Tao Canhua, who originally planned to step on the clutch, turned and asked, "Do I need to bring it?"

"Let's go, no need." After Wei Ran finished speaking, he lowered the top hat on his head.

Seeing this, Tao Canhua shifted gears and refueled, and skillfully steered the car out of the apartment and headed straight for San Guan'er.

I came back after a few years, and the only changes here compared to before were that there were more beggars and opium dens begging along the streets, as well as more men and women wearing kimonos.

Although it was only 06:30 in the morning, the streets were extremely lively.All the shops were also open, and at this time, the guys in cotton robes and cotton caps were cleaning the snow in front of their doors.

"Look for a place to have breakfast first." Wei Ran said abruptly, "Look for a food stall with the best taste."

"Row"

Tao Canhua responded, but just like when Wei Ran and Jasmine came together, he parked the car at the door of the cloth shop.

"Man, the car is parked here." Tao Canhua greeted after getting off the car.

"It's Master Tao, please stop!" the guy said enthusiastically, "I'll show you."

"Then I will trouble you"

Tao Canhua was extra polite. He took Wei Ran, who opened the door a little later, and strolled towards the breakfast stall not far away that was originally run by Uncle Meng.

"A bowl of Gaba vegetables, a bowl of old tofu, and four sesame cakes."

While Tao Canhua ordered the dishes skillfully, he invited Wei Ran to sit down at an extremely clean Eight Immortals table.

"coming!"

The waiter at the food stall responded with a loud voice and quickly brought over what Tao Canhua ordered.

"Which one do you want to eat?" Tao Canhua said, having already picked up a sesame seed cake wrapped in newspaper and took a bite.

"This one"

As Wei Ran spoke, he brought the bowl of gaba vegetables in front of him, also picked up a sesame seed cake and ate it leisurely.

"It's rare to have a day off, why don't we get up early to go shopping in this crappy place?" Wei Ran said deliberately.

"Cousin, don't worry."

Tao Canhua obviously realized something and said in a mysterious manner, "I'll take you to a good place later!"

"If you dare to deceive me, you can go play the piano for the ghost on your knees this afternoon." Wei Ran deliberately threatened.

"That's not possible," Tao Canhua, who was co-acting, responded confidently.

Hearing this, Wei Ran stopped talking and took a bite of sesame seed cakes, a bite of pickles, and a bite of gaba vegetables. He filled his stomach in a leisurely manner, and at the same time secretly observed the surroundings to determine if anyone was following them.

After a hot meal, Tao Canhua paid for the meal and returned to the cloth shop with Wei Ran. He asked the man who was still sweeping the snow at the door, "Is there any new white calico that arrived today?"

"The white calico hasn't come yet, but there is some red calico. Master Tao, would you like to go in and take a look?" the waiter greeted warmly.

"Look, can I borrow your hut as well?"

"Why not?"

As the boy spoke, he threw the broom in his hand into the corner, then greeted "Second Master Wei" politely and enthusiastically, and then enthusiastically led them to the inner room of the cloth shop.

"Borrow two sets of clothes to find a way." After Tao Canhua entered the inner room, he took out two pieces of foreign currency and handed them to the cloth shop clerk.

Taking the silver dollar, the guy looked at Wei Ran and Tao Canhua up and down, then locked the door and took out two gray cloth and cotton robes that were not old and new from a suitcase. He opened the robes and found various items inside. There is a cotton hat and a gray scarf.

"Put it on"

As Tao Canhua said, he had already taken off his woolen coat and put it on the hanger in this room, and after putting on a cotton robe, he put on the cotton hat again.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also took off his coat and put on his robe, then put on the cotton hat and wrapped himself in a scarf to cover most of his face.

After the two of them had changed their clothes, the man immediately led them out of the back door and into an alley that extended in all directions.

At this time, although the sky has not completely brightened, the houses in this alley have already smoked, and even the snow in the alley outside the gate and the courtyard wall has mostly been covered by hard-working neighbors. After cleaning up, snow walls were piled up at the foot of the courtyard walls in various places.

Keeping quiet all the way, Tao Canhua and Wei Ran walked back and forth with a distance of 20 meters, and finally Tao Canhua stopped at the door of an inconspicuous courtyard, and gently knocked on the door of the room. Door.

At the same time, Wei Ran, who was a corner away from him, immediately stopped when he saw this, lit a cigarette against the wall, and observed the direction behind him by lighting the cigarette.

After a moment of waiting, Wei Ran saw that Tao Canhua had knocked on the door, so he took off his cigarette holder, pressed the butt of the cigarette out in the snow on the roadside, then put it into his pocket, turned the corner and walked quickly. Ran over.

Almost as soon as his front foot entered the yard, a young man came out of the yard with a broom. While guarding the guard, he was also cleaning up some inconspicuous footprints left by the two of Wei Ran when they came in.

At the same time, Wei Ran was also taken by Tao Canhua to the west wing directly behind the entrance screen wall, where he met the bearded Cao Mute.

After babbling, he greeted the two of them to sit down. Cao Mute quickly took out an old newspaper and wrote on it with a pen, "What happened?"

"Brother Tang is dead"

Wei Ran whispered, "I left around six o'clock in the morning. The lady asked me to come and pay your respects."

Hearing this, Cao Mute was stunned for a moment, then slapped his thigh heavily. For a moment, the west wing fell into silence.

Seeing that Cao Mute was silent, Wei Ran also looked at the layout of the west wing room. A small earthen kang was connected to the stove. A briquette stove was lit next to the kang against the wall. On the low table at the end of the kang, There was also a radio.

There is also a pick in the corner of the other end of the room. Looking at the objects on both ends of the pick, it seems that it is a job of shaving heads in the streets.

Almost when he finished observing the layout of the room, Cao Muba picked up the pen again and wrote down a question, "Did he say anything before he left?"

Hearing this, Wei Ran shook his head and asked, "How was Brother Tang exposed?"

"He used to work as a translator for a German company to hide his identity. The person who betrayed him has not yet been found."

"I sent a telegram for Andy last night," Wei Ran said after a pause. "That telegram seemed to have been written by Brother Tang when he regained consciousness and asked Andy to send it after reestablishing contact. Also, Andy is preparing to take over her brother’s job.”

"The contents of the telegram are."

Cao Duba just finished writing this, but he crossed out those words again, changed his position on the newspaper and wrote, "I will go to Hongwang Coal Store to order a cart of briquettes. We will pick up Juechen Ze when we go to deliver coal this evening." Burial in the ground.”

So his name is Tang Juechen, what a good name
Wei Ran muttered to himself, then turned to Tao Canhua and asked, "Do you know the location of the coal store?"

"I know," Tao Canhua replied immediately, "In the past two years, our apartment has been burning briquettes from Hongwang Coal Store. How can we not recognize him?"

"Is there anything else we need to do?" Wei Ran asked.

"Protect the lady"

Cao Yaba wrote, "We have been investigating who betrayed Juechen. Once we find out, we may need your help."

"No problem." Wei Ran and Tao Canhua happily agreed.

"Go back early. If there is any progress, I'll ask Pike to give you news."

Cao Dumb waited for Wei Ran and Tao Canhua to finish reading, then immediately rolled up the newspaper with writing on the table and threw it into the briquette stove, burning it into light ashes.

Leaving the west wing, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua waited until the young man clearing the snow at the door nodded, and then they went out one after another. After running a few steps forward, at the signal of a young man at the intersection, they headed towards another Direction ran out.

When Tao Canhua and Wei Ran turned left and right and finally stopped again, they had already returned to the back door of Buzhuang.

After passing through the ajar wooden door, the two returned to the inner room and took off their cotton robes, hats and scarves, and then put on their original woolen coats and hats. The waiter also presented a coarse cloth bundle and said with a smile, " Master Tao, the six-foot red flower cloth you requested has been stretched for you, and I will give you three yuan as a favor."

"You kid cheated me again"

Tao Canhua laughed and cursed, but he did not refuse this deceptive deal. He happily took out three oceans and threw them to the young man.

"Ouch! Thank you, Master Tao, for taking care of me!"

The guy bowed and saluted and accepted the money. He also used a feather duster to help Wei Ran and Tao Canhua each sweep away the non-existent dust on their woolen coats, and added a series of good luck words.

Escorted by this enthusiastic young man and left Buzhuang, Tao Canhua drove Wei Ran along the street and finally stopped at the edge of Sanbuer, almost at the entrance of a coal store at the corner between the British and French concessions.

"I'll go in and order coal myself," Tao Canhua said, already pushing the car door open.

Seeing this, Wei Ran, who was sitting in the back row, didn't get out of the car. He just lit a cigarette and opened the coarse cloth bag. He opened the red flower cloth inside and looked at it, then threw it aside.

Before the cigarette was finished, Tao Canhua also walked out of the coal store, got into the cab and started the car.

"Who is running Uncle Meng's food stall now?" Wei Ran asked curiously after the car started running.

"You have no impression of the two young men who were recruited from the first batch of Chunhua Opera Troupe? Also, you, the eldest young man who goes out to dance with my aunt every day, probably won't come here even once a year."

Chunhua Opera Troupe?Fruitful?Wei Ran glanced at the back of Tao Canhua's head strangely, secretly wondering who named him.

And Tao Canhua, who just teased Wei Ran, continued to explain, "The two of them really don't have any talent, their voices are not good, their backs are hard, and they can't learn musical instruments, but they have learned all about Uncle Meng's cooking skills.

Later, the flood receded, and after the lady asked the two young men what they thought, she simply gave them a sum of money and asked them to set up the food stall again in Sanguang.Although this work is hard, at least I won't be cold or hungry, and I can still do something to help the mute uncle. "

"Speaking of this, what's going on with Uncle Mute now?" Wei Ran asked tentatively.

"I don't know," Tao Canhua shook his head, "but Gouyu and Keqin are all working under Uncle Mute."

"Where are the Guan siblings?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"I didn't interact with either of them, so I don't know"

Tao Canhua shook his head and joked, "Didn't you go to the dance hall with Brother Guan every now and then? And you even gave Miss Guan's belly."

"It's not over, right?" Wei Ran lightly kicked Tao Canhua's seat back and cursed with a smile.

All the way back to the study apartment, Uncle Meng was still cleaning the yard, Yang Ma was preparing ingredients for lunch, and Qiushi was guarding the door of the storage room.

As for the half-grown children, it sounded like they were still in the banquet hall on the second floor, practicing ballroom dancing with Jasmine's piano accompaniment.

"Where's aunt?" Tao Canhua asked Qiushi.

"What's down there?" Qiushi pointed to the storage room behind her and lowered her voice. "I'm helping Miss Andy change clothes for Brother Tang. Brother Wei, the lady just borrowed a Chinese tunic suit from your room. She Let me talk to you when you come back."

"I see"

Wei Ran stepped into his room, closed the door and took out the Rolleiflex camera from the metal book. He also took off his woolen coat, gloves and hat.

When he came to the underground printing room again, Tang Juechen, who was covered in wounds, had put on a black tunic suit to cover the wounds all over his body. Even the stubble and hair on his face were carefully taken care of.

Seeing Wei Ran coming in, Andy, with the help of Meixiang, helped Tang Juechen, who would never wake up again, to lean against the wall. Then, she straightened her hair, moved a small round stool and sat on it. Beside the bed, she put her upper body as close to her brother as possible and said to Wei Ran, "Take a photo of us."

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded, first turned on the lights above his head, then used the camera's viewfinder to cover the brother and sister, found a good angle and pressed the shutter.

After taking this photo, Andy stepped aside and took out her tortoiseshell cigarette holder, lit a Camel cigarette shakily, took a deep puff, and asked, "What did Mute Cao say?"

"He said he would come to pick up Brother Tang in the evening."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he pressed the shutter button for the second time and took a single photo of Tang Juechen. Then he walked to the bedside and reached out to gently help Tang Juechen close his eyes.

"Have you told him that I'm going to take over my brother's job?" Andy asked after taking a second puff of smoke.

"said"

Wei Ran put away the camera and replied, "Uncle Mute didn't give a clear answer. He only said that he would pick it up in the evening."

Before he could finish his sentence, the red light on the wall of the printing room flickered.

Seeing this, Meixiang ran out, and at the same time, she did not forget to say, "Follow me!"

Glancing at the bewildered Andy, Wei Ran gritted his teeth and followed Mei Xiang out of the printing room. After passing by three girls who had run down, the two climbed up as fast as they could.

Before Wei Ran could straighten up, Qiushi, who was waiting outside, helped close the door and restored the frame to its original shape.

At the same time, Tao Canhua on the other end immediately wiped the floor and handrails with a rag, then threw the rag into a drawer not far away and ran over, explaining in a low voice at a very fast speed, "Mr. Gu Chuan's car drove over from a distance, and it is almost at the door now."

"Hide the camera well." Mei Xiang, who was still in her pajamas, glanced at Wei Ran, and then ran upstairs quickly with Qiu Shi and Can Hua.

"It's hidden," Wei Ran muttered to himself, and the Rollei DSLR in his hand also disappeared out of thin air.

Walking quickly up to the first floor, Wei Ran just happened to see Mei Xiang and Qiushi disappear at the corner of the stairs leading to the second floor. He also saw Uncle Meng pouring a little kerosene on the firewood that had been placed in the fireplace. It was ignited, and covered with a bucket of fiery red briquettes that had obviously just been brought from the boiler room.

When he walked to the foyer, he saw Xiao Su's mother who had gotten out of the car and was walking towards the door.

It's just that, behind Xiao Su's mother, not only Gu Chuan followed, but also the devil Ueda in cotton robes, and a little girl who was wearing a foreign dress inside and a mink coat outside, but she was estimated to be sixteen or seventeen years old.

"Where's Meixiang? She's not up yet?!"

Little Su's mother, who was wearing a kimono, hadn't even come in yet, so she bit her nose and asked loudly, and then she didn't forget to blow her nose with a handkerchief.

"What time is it?" Wei Ran pointed to the clock behind him, "Cousin hasn't woken up yet."

"I feel like a dead person every day, just sleep!"

Xiao Su's mother snorted and walked upstairs while carrying the hem of her kimono while shouting instructions, "Akishi?! Akishi?! Wait for your lady to get up!"

"Mr. Furukawa, Mr. Ueda, and this lady, please sit down."

Wei Ran politely moved the three of them to the sofa on the first floor, took the tea tray brought by Yang's mother, and while pouring tea for the three of them, he said apologetically, "I made you laugh, my cousin is sleeping in, and there is no time yet at this time." Wake up."

"It's okay. It's rude that we came to visit so early without saying hello in advance." Guizi Ueda replied politely in Chinese, "Besides, please call me Mr. Tian."

We haven't seen each other for "several years". In addition to looking much older, this Japs' Chinese language also has a Jinmen accent. Not only that, but even his attitude is much more polite than when they met before.As for Mr. Tian he asked for
Wei Ran snorted in his heart, but at the same time he gave himself a symbolic slap on the face, and said more and more apologetically, "Look at my memory! Come on, Mr. Tian, ​​please have some tea."

"Thank you"

Ueda took Wei Ran and handed over the teacup, waiting for him to pour tea for the girl. , but said again, "This is the little girl Yumi, she just recently came to Jinmen from Dongjing to reunite with me."

"Miss Youmei, please have tea." Wei Ran politely poured a cup of tea for the little girl, who immediately thanked her in Japanese.

"Youmei just came to Tianjin"

Ueda said apologetically, "She doesn't speak Chinese yet. I heard from Xiao Su's mother that Miss Meixiang has Japanese classes here every Wednesday, so I wanted to send Yumi over to take classes with her. Maybe it would help her learn Chinese."

Without waiting for Wei Ran's response, Zhitian continued, "And after listening to the guqin music played by Mr. Canhua yesterday, my little girl admired it very much and wanted to learn guqin by the way."

This wasn't over yet. After Ueda sighed pretending to be troubled, a third reason popped up, "In addition, Furukawa-kun and I are going to the Shanghai Stock Exchange soon. I'm afraid it will take half a month to come back. I'm thinking about Meixiang." Miss, there are many peers here, so at least Yumi can have some playmates so that she won’t be lonely. So, please!”

"This"

Wei Ran was about to say something, but Furukawa took out two large yellow croakers from his arms and shook them at Wei Ran, then reached out and stuffed them into the gap of the sofa.

Seeing this, Wei Ran, who didn't even think about whether to refuse and how to refuse if he refused, immediately put on a greedy look.

Almost at the same time he nodded, Meixiang, who had changed into a light-colored jacket and skirt, also walked downstairs and said unhurriedly, "Mr. Tian, ​​you're welcome, we have been friends for many years. My friend, if Miss Tian is willing to come to my study apartment to stay for a few days, of course we welcome her."

With that said, Mei Xiang glanced at Wei Ran and switched back to her native language and said, "As for playing the piano, how about letting my cousin teach her?"

"Little friend Wei Ran is also proficient in music?" Zhida glanced at Wei Ran in surprise.

"I don't have idle people in my apartment," Mei Xiang said with a smile. "Although my cousin is not as good as Canhua, the few pieces of music he knows are much better than Canhua's."

"In this case, why not"

"Why don't you let my cousin play Guangling San, Canhua's best song, for you?"

Meixiang proactively suggested without waiting for Ueda to finish speaking. Then, she put down her tea cup and stood up, "Now that we are here, let's go sit on the second floor. It's too cold on this floor. Uncle Meng, go and light the fireplace." Be more prosperous. Cousin, go to the basement and take a piano to the second floor, don't keep us waiting."

"okay!"

Uncle Meng and Wei Ran, who were busy in the kitchen, responded in unison. When Meixiang took Zhida and others upstairs, Uncle Meng picked up a bundle of firewood from the open space behind the kitchen and limped. He walked towards the fireplace on the first floor and covered the red briquettes with the arm-thick fruit trees.Wei Ran also walked back to the storage room again.