War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1223: Screaming in fear
On the bitterly cold street, Wei Ran drove Somegu's car slowly towards the study apartment, but his hand holding a cigarette on the steering wheel could not stop trembling.

Glancing at Tao Canhua, who was covering his whole face with a hat in the passenger seat, Wei Ran tremblingly put the cigarette to his mouth and took a deep breath, hoarsely saying, "It's better to die in our hands than to die in our hands. It's better than dying by a Japanese gun."

"I killed Keqin," Tao Canhua said with a cry through his hat.

"I know"

Wei Ran sighed, "We're almost home, wipe away your tears. Come and smoke a cigarette, it will make you feel better."

Hearing this, Tao Canhua wiped his face vigorously with the newsboy cap in his hand and blew his nose. Then he reached out with a trembling hand, took out a cigarette from the silver cigarette case handed over by Wei Ran and put it in his mouth. , letting Wei Ran change the cigarette case into a lighter to help him light it.

"Take a small sip and inhale into your lungs." Wei Ran guided this young man who never smoked to protect his throat to smoke the first cigarette in his miserable life.

"Cough—! Cough, cough, cough!"

As expected, Tao Canhua was choked by the smoke inhaled into his lungs and coughed repeatedly.But even so, he still sucked one mouthful after another, choked and coughed again and again, and even coughed up tears that he had been holding back for a long time.

Finally, when he had smoked about half of the cigarette with difficulty, Wei Ran drove the car into the yard of Xu Qing's apartment again.

Before he could stop, Tao Canhua opened the car door in a panic, supported the ginkgo tree in the yard that had already lost all its leaves, and started vomiting again.

"What happened? What happened?" Yang's mother, who was cleaning the yard, ran over and took out a handkerchief from her pocket to wipe Tao Canhua.

"Yang Ma, Yang Ma." Wei Ran called to the other party.

"Are you bullying Canhua again?" Yang's mother immediately complained when she saw that Meixiang and Shunzi had walked out of the hall.

"Mother Yang, stop asking."

Wei Ran glanced at Mei Xiang who was hesitant to speak, and then said, "Mother Yang, go boil some bath water for Can Hua, find him some clean clothes, and clean up the vomit in the car."

"Hey!"

When Yang Ma knew it was not a good question, she responded simply, greeted Uncle Meng who limped over from the boiler room, and started working.

"What happened?" Mei Xiang asked standing at the door.

"Mrs. Shunzi, can I have a few words with my cousin alone?" Wei Ran asked Shunzi apologetically.

"Of course, you guys can chat." Junko Sometani bowed slightly, and under Jasmine's guidance, turned and walked into the hall, closing the door from the inside.

It wasn't until he saw her and Jasmine going up to the second floor through the floor-to-ceiling windows not far away that Wei Ran sighed, and with Mei Xiang's ear in mind, he recounted everything that happened after going out in detail. Again.

"What are you talking about?"

When Mei Xiang heard that Wei Ran and Tao Canhua were forced to kill Chen Pike and Xu Keqin, she was in a daze. If Wei Ran hadn't quickly grabbed her arm with quick eyesight, she would have sat on the ground.

"Don't mention this to anyone," Wei Ran continued to whisper into the other person's ear, "Especially."

"I know"

Mei Xiang nodded, slightly panicked, holding on to the stone handrail on the doorstep to support her body, and took several deep breaths in an effort to calm herself down.

"Smoke a cigarette." Wei Ran took out the cigarette case again and used the only comfort method at present.

Taking the cigarette from Wei Ran, Mei Xiang held it in her mouth without even using her cigarette holder. After letting Wei Ran light it for her, she took several puffs in succession.

"Are you going out later?" Mei Xiang asked.

"go out"

Wei Ran, who also lit a cigarette, nodded, "I still need to help Mr. Someya."

"go"

Mei Xiang whispered into Wei Ran's ear, "Look around carefully. If any cigarette vendor has red or black cloth tied to the handle of his cigarette case, ask him to buy all the cigarettes except the cigarettes you want to buy." Fairy brand cigarettes, remember to ask for an extra pack of matches, just one more pack."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded and replied in a low voice, "I remember."

"When are you going?" Mei Xiang asked, slightly opening the distance of less than half a meter.

Wei Ran sighed, "Let me change my clothes too, and then I'll go."

“There’s no need to worry about Chanhua.”

Meixiang sighed, flicked the cigarette from her fingertips, took a few deep breaths again, then opened the door and walked up to the second floor alone with a smile.

It wasn't until the other person's thin but strong back was completely blocked by the stairs that Wei Ran walked in and walked into his own room.

After carefully cleaning the Type 26 pistol that still contained vomit in his pocket and removing all the bullets except for the single empty shell, he walked out of the room and gently knocked on the gun that was being used. bathroom door.

"Who?" In the bathroom, Tao Canhua, who was scrubbing his hands vigorously, asked hoarsely.

"I"

Wei Ran responded, then opened the unlocked door and walked into the bathroom.

Looking at Tao Canhua's red hands and red and swollen eyes, Wei Ran sighed secretly and forced the pistol in his hand into the other person's hand.

However, for Tao Canhua, this pistol was as hot as a red-hot coal. As soon as Wei Ran's hand left, he trembled subconsciously, and the pistol also fell to the ground with a "clang". on the floor tiles.

Bending down again to pick up the blood-stained pistol, Wei Ran handed it to the other party again and said against his ear, "Take it and use it later to avenge them."

Hearing this, Tao Canhua trembled involuntarily, and finally held the pistol firmly.

"There are outsiders in the study apartment, as well as younger brothers, sisters and family members who need your protection."

Wei Ran continued to whisper into the other person's ear, "No matter how sad you are, don't let them see it."

"I know. I know." Tao Canhua gritted his teeth and replied in a low voice.

"Take a good bath, and then go back to your room and take a nap." Wei Ran paused and finally said, "Keqin. He won't blame you."

After speaking, he patted Tao Canhua's shoulder gently, turned around and walked out of the bathroom, and gently closed the door for him.

In the bathroom, Tao Canhua slowly leaned against the bathtub and looked at the pistol in his hand with tears in his eyes. He slowly put the barrel of the gun against his chin, and with a little more force, he finally pulled the trigger. .

"despair!"

With a faint sound, the firing pin of the pistol hit the primer of the remaining cartridge case. Tao Canhua also trembled violently, and then like crazy, he continuously pulled the trigger. In the bathroom, too There was a continuous clicking sound.

Finally, Tao Canhua stopped, struggled to get up, turned on the faucet as high as possible, put his head under the faucet, and let the cold water pour on his head.

"Revenge, revenge, revenge."

Tao Canhua murmured vaguely as the water washed over him, and his hands firmly grasped the edge of the sink.

Outside the bathroom, Wei Ran lit the second cigarette after entering. He tried his best to raise his neck and looked up at the gorgeous chandelier above the hall, looking at the crystal pendants that looked like teardrops, trying not to let them smash. Come down.

After taking a few deep breaths, Wei Ran finished the cigarette in his hand, walked into his room, put on a new tunic suit and a clean woolen coat, and then dressed them carefully. I put on my shoes, gloves, and hat, and walked out of the hall alone with an expressionless face.

After glancing at Yang's mother who was cleaning the car, Wei Ran drove the car belonging to Li and left the courtyard. While slowing down, he looked for cigarette vendors on the street.

It's a pity that in this war-torn British Concession, there are no vendors on the streets at this time. Instead, there are more corpses lying dead on the roadside, white women who have been stripped naked, and even being humiliated in the street.

When he drove the car to the edge of the Haihe River again, the nuclear recruiters had already withdrawn, and the bodies of Chen Xiuyu and others were casually discarded on the frozen Haihe River ice.

At this time, the only person left on the shore was Yukio Sometani, who was holding a camera to take pictures of the corpses.

"Sent back?" Yukio Sometani asked when he saw Wei Ran coming over.

"Send it back." Wei Ran nodded, "It seems that I can only help you drive and be your assistant."

"sorry"

Someya Yukio looked at the Haihe River filled with cold fog and said with a guilty look, "I really can't help you with anything, I."

"We should thank you"

Wei Ran said with a smile, "Otherwise, how would we have the chance to avenge Walker? As for Canhua, don't worry, it's just his first time killing someone, he will be fine in two days."

Hearing this, Yukio Sometani was stunned for a moment, then sighed lonelyly, then cheered up again, and said with a smile, "Now that I'm relieved, let's go and take me back to Japan." The concession, Shunzi and I rushed there in a hurry this morning, but there are still a lot of things we haven’t picked up.”

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded, helped the other person open the car door, and helped him close it after he sat in. Then he got into the cab and drove straight to the direction of the Japanese Concession.

Along the way, the two of them didn't communicate at all. They just lit a cigarette and smoked it silently.

Soon after, Wei Ran drove the car into the Japanese Concession.

Compared to the panic-stricken British Concession, this place was as lively as ever. Not to mention the dead bodies and humiliated women along the street, not even one or two Japanese soldiers could be seen.

"Can I buy a pack of cigarettes first?" Wei Ran finally asked as he passed by Zhongyuan Company.

"Of course," Yukio Sometani nodded.

Hearing this, Wei Ran looked around and seemingly casually stepped on the brakes in front of a cigarette vendor.

"The cigarette seller, come here!"

Wei Ran rolled down the car window and shouted at the vendor who had already taken the initiative to approach him.

Hearing this, the young man in ragged clothes immediately ran over and tried his best to put the cigarette case against the car window, "Sir, what kind of cigarette do you want? We have everything here."

He casually glanced at the red and black rag strips tied to the handle of the other party's cigarette case, and Wei Ran said, "Bring me a pack of Qianmen and a pack of Camels first." "Okay!"

The young man immediately picked out the cigarettes Wei Ran wanted with his hands and feet, and at the same time stretched out a little black hand covered with frostbite, "Two packs in total, Chenghui."

"It's not over yet, don't worry."

Wei Ran turned to look at Yukio Sometani behind him, "Do you need a pack?"

"I'll forget it." Yukio Sometani waved his hand, "I still have it here."

"How many packages of Fairy Brand do you have here?" Wei Ran turned back and looked at the vendor outside the car window.

"Ouch! Let me count!"

As soon as the hawker saw the big business, he immediately took out all the Fairy brand cigarettes from the cigarette case and the bag, "Master, there are 14 packs left. Are you?"

“Want it all”

Wei Ran said, took out a few pieces of ocean from his pocket and threw them into the other party's cigarette case, "Is that enough?"

"Enough! That's enough!" The young man hurriedly picked up the big pieces and put them into his pocket. "Sir, can I pack your cigarette bag for you?"

"Give me the front door and the camel, and wrap up the rest!"

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out the silver cigarette case, opened it, put the last cigarette deliberately left in it on the cigarette holder and lit it, and then took the two packs of cigarettes handed in by the vendor.Open the front door of the first pack, take out the cigarettes inside and put them into the cigarette box.

At the same time, the cigarette vendor also took out half a newspaper from his satchel, neatly stacked the dozen packs of cigarettes skillfully and flexibly, and said at the same time, "Master, I will give you four packs of matches. You wrapped it up."

"Wrap it up"

Wei Ran waved his hand casually, "Give me an extra pack of matches, my lighter is almost out of gas."

"Sure! I can give you two more packs!" said the hawker, and immediately took out two packs of matches from the cigarette case and handed them through the car window.

"One pack is enough. This piece of shit is not for eating or drinking." Wei Ran said as he threw the extra pack into the other's cigarette case.

"Hey! What I'm talking about is, who treats matches as food?"

As he spoke, the young man wrapped up those Fairy brand cigarettes and the extra matches. Then he took out a bamboo tube the size of a toothpick tube from his pocket and picked out a small amount of paste the size of a soybean from it with his fingers. Dip the newspaper wrapped in cigarettes tightly, hold it in both hands and pass it through the car window.

He casually took the cigarette and put it on the passenger seat. Wei Ran rolled up the window amid the vendor's unusual auspicious words, stepped on the accelerator again and drove towards the direction where Someya and his wife lived.

At the same time, the young cigarette seller who had just made a big deal was again at the gate of Zhongyuan Company, holding his precious cigarette case and started shouting.

However, his frostbitten hands and even his thin body were trembling more and more seriously in this freezing weather.

Compared with the patient young cigarette dealer, Wei Ran raised the question that had been pressing in his mind while driving the car - how were Chen Xiuyu and Xu Keqin caught, and were they really the Guan family siblings? Traitor father?

The reason why he had doubts about this was because when he was at the Haihe River, Uncle Guan's behavior made him feel a little unnatural.

Although he only glanced at the big fat man briefly, he could still see the undisguised helplessness on his face.It seemed like he didn't want to be there, and it seemed like he didn't want to take the blame.

Thinking about it on the other hand, this uncle of the Guan family is certainly a traitor, but what does the traitor want?Make great achievements?Don't be ridiculous, who the hell is a traitor if you really want to make a great contribution?
What they want is nothing more than to gain glory and wealth by cheating and cheating.

Do you really expect traitors to work hard?It would be better to expect the Americans to drop ten to eight more nuclear bombs on the Japanese island.

What's more, the uncle of the Guan family is not a fool. What good will it do him if he catches Chen Xiuyu, Xu Keqin and others?Just to expose the rumor that Wei Ran ruined his daughter?Don't forget, although this rumor is unpleasant, it is saving his daughter's life.

Once the rumors about Wei Ran and Miss Ling Lu are exposed, the only difference between directly killing his own daughter and then committing suicide is that doing so will bring more disaster to himself—— Even if he only has one life.

In other words, from the perspective of the Guan family uncle, even if he is a traitor, he will never touch Chen Gouyu and others who helped spread rumors.

Even if conditions permit, he might even help Chen Dogfish to cover up, so as not to cause death for his daughter or even himself.

Since there is no reason for Mr. Guan to arrest Chen Pike and others, who else besides Ueda is leading this matter?

Wei Ran couldn't help but frowned. Obviously, Zhida, who was hiding in this matter, must have been involved, but he probably didn't have the thought or energy to control the Guan family uncle himself.

From this point of view, someone may have been planted next to the uncle of the Guan family, and that person may be the real culprit who killed Chen Xiuyu and Xu Keqin.

It's a pity that although from an emotional point of view, finding and killing the opponent and avenging Chen Gouyu and others is a necessary option without hesitation.

But from a rational point of view, not only is there no benefit to helping Mr. Guan to get rid of this person now, but it is also very likely that the other party has already laid a trap using Mr. Guan as bait, and is just waiting for the Avengers to come.

But can Dumb Cao and the others stay rational?Before he could continue to think about it, the car drove to the door of the Someya couple's house in the Japanese Concession.

"Come up and sit down?" Someya Yukio opened the car door and issued an invitation at the same time.

"Then I'm welcome," Wei Ran said, and opened the car door.

The house Somegu and his wife live in is much smaller than the Love Letter Apartment, but the location is really good. Not only is it not far from the Haihe River, it is only two blocks away from the French Concession next door.

Following Somegu into the locked door, the first thing Wei Ran saw was a Japanese-style shrine.

Without stopping, Sometani Yukio led Wei Ran into the living room and signaled him to wait a moment, and then went upstairs alone to pick up a locked suitcase.

Immediately afterwards, he went upstairs again and made Wei Ran wait for half an hour before walking down again carrying two suitcases that were also locked.

"Help me carry the one just now"

Sometani Yukio pointed to the box that was delivered first with his chin, and then walked out of the door without stopping.

Seeing this, Wei Ran bent down and picked up the suitcase next to the sofa, but then he frowned.This suitcase must have weighed at least sixty or seventy pounds. Obviously, it could never contain supplies such as a change of clothes.

Could it be a bomb?Wei Ran subconsciously thought of the worst possibility, and even continued to subconsciously ponder, if such a heavy "bomb" exploded, how many intact bricks would be left in Xu Qing Letter Apartment in the end.

After coming back to his senses, Wei Ran carried the heavy suitcase and followed Yukio Sometani out of the room, stuffing it into the car in the back.

After the former locked the door and got into the passenger compartment, Wei Ran started the car and asked as he drove back, "Where are we going?"

"Go to the French Concession first," Yukio Sometani replied while fiddling with the camera hanging around his neck.

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't ask any questions and drove his car into the French concession, which was also occupied by nuclear-armed devils.

In the afternoon that followed, Wei Ran drove Yukio Sometani around the streets of the British and French Concession. From time to time, he would visit some well-known British businessmen or wealthy Chinese businessmen, conduct some interviews with them, and collect some information. Their views on the current situation, etc.

Taking advantage of this interview opportunity, Wei Ran also used his own camera to take pictures of the various evil deeds committed by the nuclear-recruiting Japanese soldiers, as well as the various corpses that appeared on the roadside.

At four o'clock in the afternoon, the two of them returned to the Love Letter Apartment in a car. After Someya Yukio left all the luggage carrying work to Wei Ran, he also gave his camera to Wei Ran and asked him to help. Use the darkroom on the second floor to develop all the photos taken today.

As for Sometani Yukio himself, he took his notepad and anxiously walked into the storage room that had been lent to him as an office. After Yukio moved all the suitcases in, he locked the door and started working hard. The press was written with a quick pen.

Instead of rushing to help Someya Yukio develop the photos, Wei Ran first went to Tao Canhua's room next door and took a look. Unexpectedly, he discovered that at this time, Tao Canhua was lying on the bed covered with a quilt. Beside his bed, there was actually Ben sitting there. Qiushi should take the girls and hide in the basement.

Seeing Wei Ran come in, Qiushi immediately made a silent gesture.

"What's wrong with him?" Wei Ran looked at Tao Canhua, who had a towel on his forehead, and then looked at the washbasin on the table next to Qiushi.

"fever"

Qiushi sighed and said worriedly, "Mother Yang said she was scared. The Japanese doctor who just treated Miss Youmei gave him an injection. Mother Yang also asked Uncle Meng to help her say 'scared'. I don’t know if it will work or not.”

He reached out and touched Tao Canhua's neck. The hot temperature and slightly trembling body made Wei Ran sigh secretly.

He knew that Tao Canhua, who was lying in bed, had a heart disease. Simply relying on injections and medicine would be of no use.

And what Qiushi said just now, "I asked Uncle Meng to help me shout 'scare'" was a feudal superstitious behavior called "scare" that was still popular in Wei Ran's childhood memories.

This "screaming and frightening" not only has different winds in different places, but also every household wants to have different methods.

According to his grandma and grandpa's method, the most effective way is to ask the butcher to borrow a sharpened butcher's knife and put it under the pillow to sleep, and wait until the next day.

But according to Suisui's method, the person who was frightened needs to stand at the gate, and then the elder will solemnly call out his name and ask him to go home for dinner. The person who is called should answer loudly. The throat is considered "ritual".

But no matter what method it is, although it seems to be feudal superstition, it is actually more like a simple but occasionally useful psychological treatment method passed down from generation to generation.

Just looking at the person lying on the bed, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh again.

Although Tao Canhua had killed people, he had killed people more than once.But he killed his friends with his own hands, and he killed his friends despite being called traitors and traitors.How could he bear such a blow and psychological burden at his age?And how can it be cured by "screaming and frightening" which is not even as good as dancing?
"Brother Wei Ran, he...what happened to him?"

Qiushi looked at Wei Ran with tears in her eyes and asked, "Sister Moli said that he followed you and Mr. Somegu out for a trip in the afternoon, and that's all. He didn't tell the lady, and we weren't allowed to ask."

"It's okay, it's nothing." Wei Ranqiang responded with energy, "It's just... I'm just scared."

"Can"

"Qiushi, go ask Mama Yang to borrow a whetstone." Wei Ran said slightly tiredly.

Hearing this, Qiushi was stunned. Although she didn't know what Wei Ran was going to do, she immediately stood up and ran out of the room. Soon after, she brought back a whetstone that was as big as a leather shoe and had an irregular shape. .

"Let's go out first"

Wei Ran waved his hand gently, Qiushi looked at Wei Ran hesitantly, and then at Tao Canhua who was lying on the bed, and finally gritted his teeth and left the room, and helped close the door.

Taking a deep breath, Wei Ran dipped the whetstone in the wash basin, then took out the Mauser bayonet that had killed an unknown number of people from the metal book, and carefully polished the remaining parts on the whetstone. The blade smells like blood.

After a while, he polished the blade lines on both sides until they were sharp, then wiped them on his sleeves, imitating how his grandfather gave him a frightened look after he was scared when he was a child, and inserted the bayonet that replaced the butcher knife. Under Tao Canhua's pillow.

Hope it's useful.
Wei Ran muttered something comforting, picked up the Leica camera that belonged to Yukio Sometani and left Tao Canhua's room.Dragging his tired body to the second floor, he greeted Mei Xiang and others who were still drinking tea, chatting and playing mahjong warmly, then got into the darkroom, locked the door, and closed the light-blocking wooden panel. The door was blocked and the heavy curtains were drawn.

It wasn't until the room became completely invisible that he slowly sat on the floor holding on to the wall, pressed hard against the wall behind him, and wiped away the tears he had endured for too long - he was actually also frightened. He was alive, even though it was not the first time he had shot one of his own.
(End of this chapter)