War Photographer's Notebook

Early in the morning on August 1945, 8, the members of the Chunhua Opera Troupe got up on time at five o'clock. As usual, they brushed their teeth and washed their faces regularly, had breakfast, and then, under the leadership of Tao Canhua and Qiushi, or Busy practicing new plays in the basement.

Wei Ran also got up early, but in comparison, he was undoubtedly much more leisurely. After watering the flowers and plants upstairs and downstairs, he also added some peanuts to the colorful parrot. After eating rations such as melon seeds, I took a pot of tea alone and hid beside the stone table under the ginkgo tree. While enjoying the humid air mixed with the earthy smell, I paid close attention to the situation outside the iron fence gate of the small courtyard. .

At nine o'clock in the morning, as the weather got hotter, Wei Ran also carried a tea tray and walked into the lobby on the first floor with the first dance class student who came on a bicycle.

From nine o'clock to 09:30, in just half an hour, about twenty young and unfamiliar men and women came to the study apartment one after another, and under the guidance of Jasmine, they went up to the second floor.

Soon after, the music of Jasmine playing the piano to accompany the dancers and the Chinese traditional opera singing faintly coming from the basement were invisibly intertwined on the first floor.

After sitting on the first floor for a while, Wei Ran saw that no one came to the study apartment again, so he went up to the second floor alone with a cigarette in his mouth. After stopping at the stairs for a while, he said hello to Mei Xiang, and then went up to the third floor alone. He got into the study and opened the cabinet, carefully avoiding all kinds of debris on the stairs, and got into the dusty attic.

Carefully tearing open a corner of the yellowed newspaper stuck to the dormer window, Wei Ran took out the telescope from the metal book and looked outside through the opened corner.

In the field of view of the telescope, two rickshaws were parked diagonally opposite Xuqingshu Apartment, less than 20 meters away.

However, the rickshaw driver did not take advantage of the comfortable temperature in the morning to busy himself with work. Instead, he sat leisurely in the rickshaw compartment. Through the telescope, Wei Ran could even clearly see the earthy yellow The coachman hiding in the shed was still smoking a cigarette.

Are you really being targeted?
Wei Ran muttered to himself, but he didn't panic at all.It's already August 4th. In two days, the Japs' minds will probably be elsewhere. As for now, just be patient enough.

Putting away the telescope, Wei Ran did not choose to go back to the room to rest after leaving the attic. Instead, he deliberately drove out of the small courtyard and drove slowly towards Jinmen City.

Sure enough, before he left the British Concession, there were several disguised little tails behind the car that were not very natural.

Deliberately driving these little tails along the sparkling Haihe River for most of the morning, Wei Ran waited until the sun reached its highest point and made the ground extremely hot and sultry, then turned the car around and drove into the Japanese Concession, deliberately He found a few trading houses run by Japanese soldiers, and either bought two packs of cigarettes, some fishing tools, or simply bought some drugs to strengthen yang and nourish the kidneys, or even condoms that he had no chance to use.

And the reason why he did this didn't actually have any too clear purpose - he just didn't want the people staring at the book apartment to waste the sunny weather.

Finally, we went around the Italian Concession and found an Italian restaurant to have a good Italian lunch. After eating and drinking, Wei Ran drove in a circle with his little tail behind his buttocks and drove back to the Italian Concession. In the Love Book Apartment in the British Concession, only the two old bastards who had been riding bicycles for most of the day, almost wearing out their bicycle chains, were left behind. Panting, they looked at the rickshaw driver not far from the door of the book apartment. One glance.

That afternoon, Wei Ran didn't go anywhere. He hid in his room on the first floor and had a good sleep. Until six o'clock in the afternoon, the young people who came to learn to dance said goodbye and left one after another. Only then was he willing to get up.

"What were you doing in the morning?" After Mei Xiang watched the last student leave, she asked in a low voice towards Wei Ran, who was standing behind him and yawning.

"I went for a walk and bought some miscellaneous and useless things." Wei Ran stretched himself and replied in a low voice, "I took the dog for a walk by the way."

"Is there a dog at the door?" Mei Xiang turned her back to the door of the courtyard and asked with a smile while leaning on the handrail of the entrance steps.

"It's quite a lot," Wei Ran said as he gave the other party a cigarette.

"When are we going to do it?" Mei Xiang let Wei Ran light a cigarette for her, but at the same time she asked the question that she couldn't get the answer from last night.

"hold on"

Wei Ran smiled and replied, "The time is not yet ripe."

"Okay." Mei Xiang nodded, and could only suppress the doubts in her heart again.

Amidst such suffering and various tossings and turns, Love Letters Apartment has also ushered in the fifth day of August.

This day fell on a Sunday, and it was rare that the bookstore did not have to open its doors for business. Meixiang simply asked Jasmine to help prepare some gifts at Wei Ran's suggestion, and drove to the small shop with Wei Ran, Tao Canhua and Jasmine. The small building where Su's mother lived.

When Mei Xiang knocked on the door in person and Xiao Su's mother saw that whether it was Wei Ran, Tao Canhua or Jasmine, each of them was holding a gift in their hands, a big smile immediately appeared on her fat face.

"You lose money and you know how to spend money randomly."

Although Xiao Su's mother, who was wearing a kimono, had a smile on her face, she still cursed angrily and warmly greeted the group of people into the house while saying, "It's unlucky for you to come. Mr. Furukawa and Mr. Ueda are not at home. , Yumi is at home, but she hasn’t gotten up yet.”

"No problem"

Mei Xiang nodded without any trace, and said with a normal expression, "Let sister Youmei continue to sleep. We came here yesterday. You said that you were going to move in with Mr. Furukawa, so you came here to see if you have any luggage." We need help cleaning it up.”

"You really mean that," Xiao Su's mother said immediately, "My eldest nephew, Canhua and Jasmine, please put down your things and come upstairs with me."

"okay!"

Wei Ran responded happily, put the gift in his hand on the table, followed Xiao Su's mother, and was the first to climb the wooden stairs to the second floor.

"Please be quieter"

Xiao Su's mother lowered her voice, pointed to a room with a closed door on the second floor and said, "That child Yumei hasn't woken up yet, so don't wake her up."

"knowing"

Wei Ran nodded repeatedly after understanding Xiao Su's mother's hint. Jasmine and Tao Canhua behind him also nodded, and then followed Xiao Su's mother to the balcony on the second floor.

"this one"

Little Su's mother pointed to the particularly beautifully trimmed Western crabapple potted plant on the balcony and said with regret, "I've been raising this crabapple for more than 20 years. I'm afraid I won't be able to take it with me when I go to the recruitment center this time. You three, take it with you." Carry it down and move it to your study apartment later to find a place to plant it. This will give it a place to take root and prevent it from hanging on the second floor without being able to catch the earth."

Although the three of them all heard what Xiao Su's mother said, it was really not the right time to say this at this time. They didn't even dare to look in the direction of Yumi on the second floor.

Thinking of this, Wei Ran was the first to say, "Come on, let's try lifting it up."

Hearing this, Tao Canhua and Jasmine immediately joined Wei Ran and grabbed the edge of the half-meter-diameter cyan earthen jar under the crabapple tree. They worked together to carefully lift it up and move it little by little. On the edge of the stairs, he moved it step by step to the first floor.

This kind of movement naturally woke up Youmei who was still "sleeping in". After learning that Meixiang and others were coming to visit, this girl also hurried downstairs and entertained everyone enthusiastically and proactively.

Glancing at the warm bracelet on the other person's wrist without any trace, Wei Ran looked away with a normal expression, picked up the cup and tasted the Japanese-style tea full of foam.

Youmei didn't know whether she noticed Wei Ran or happened to bring the topic to this point. After Wei Ran put down the cup, she asked in Chinese that was a little off-key but sweet, "I have heard Sister Meixiang mention it more than once before. But, are you saying that Brother Wei Ran’s piano skills are actually better than Mr. Canhua’s?”

"Sister Yumei seems to have forgotten."

Wei Ran pretended to be sad and said, "When we first met, I played a few pieces of music specifically for you. But sister Youmei finally chose to let Canhua teach you how to play the piano. From then on, I I haven’t touched the strings yet.”

"Shameless"

Youmei cursed secretly in her heart, and at the same time, several other people in the room except Wei Ran also cursed in their hearts.

"How could I forget this? It's just that I didn't know anything about piano art at that time, so I really couldn't tell the difference between good and bad."

Youmei bowed apologetically, and then continued to ask based on this topic, "I wonder if brother Wei Ran can play me the song he played before again? I have been learning guqin with Teacher Tao for many years. Now I think I can understand it."

"Sister Youmei wants to hear it, of course I can play it." Wei Ran pretended to be open-minded and replied, "Bring the piano, I'll do it right away"

"no no no"

Youmei waved her hand before Wei Ran finished speaking, "Today is too hasty, how about tomorrow? I will ask my father to make time tomorrow."

Having said this, Youmei looked at Tao Canhua again, "Teacher Tao, please come with us tomorrow. I would like to ask you to play a few pieces of music together." Hearing this, Tao Canhua glanced at Mei Xiang, who seemed to be concentrating on tasting tea, and then Nodding, "No problem, it's still two o'clock in the afternoon as before?"

"Yes." Youmi nodded with a smile, "It's still two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Don't worry, sister Youmei, we will arrive on time." Wei Ran, who deliberately put on a lewd look, patted his chest and made a promise.

"My father and I will wait for you two at home tomorrow."

As Youmei spoke, she added a cup of tea to Mei Xiang, Wei Ran, Tao Canhua, and Xiao Su's mother, "You will definitely have a lot to say next, so I won't disturb you all."

After politely bidding farewell to Youmi, who stood up to leave the table, Meixiang, Xiao Su's mother and Wei Ran looked at each other worriedly, and then tacitly changed the topic to Xiao Su's mother and Mr. Furukawa's new life.

After some small talk, when it was approaching noon, Meixiang got up and said goodbye at the right time. She left the small building with Wei Ran and others, got into the car parked under the shade of the tree at the door, and pulled the lush Xifu Begonia tree. The potted plant slowly drove towards the study apartment.

"I'm afraid Yumi doesn't have good intentions when inviting you two over tomorrow," Meixiang said with a frown before the car started running.

"Can she still kill us?" Tao Canhua expressed his attitude nonchalantly.

"Will I kill you and put it aside first?"

Jasmine, who was sitting side by side with Mei Xiang in the back, frowned and said, "Compared with this, I'm more worried about Yu Mei detaining you two and asking the lady to change."

"Substitute? Change. You mean."

Tao Canhua's heart skipped a beat, and he suddenly thought of the little guy Tang Tongchou hiding in the underground printing room!
"It's not impossible"

Meixiang frowned immediately. What if Youmei really broke up tomorrow and used Xiao Su's mother, Tao Canhua and Wei Ran as hostages, threatening herself to hand over Tang Tongchou and Guan Bingwen?
Before she could think of a countermeasure, Wei Ran, who was sitting in the passenger seat, just lit a cigarette and said casually, "I don't think she plans to threaten you."

"Tell me what you think," Mei Xiang asked, leaning closer and grabbing the back of the front seat with both hands.

"First of all, she has to make sure that the child and Xiaoguan are indeed hiding in our study apartment, so that the situation you were just worried about will happen."

Wei Ran smiled after finishing speaking, "But if they are sure that Xiaoguan and Tongqiu are hiding in the study apartment, there is no need to use this embarrassing move and directly send people to surround the study apartment and dig three feet into the ground. Or just burn it on fire."

"So Youmei doesn't know if Xiaoguan and Tongqiu are in our study apartment," Meixiang said firmly, following Wei Ran's thoughts.

"She definitely doesn't know"

Wei Ran turned around slightly when he said this, "But the most important thing is, have you ever thought about why Yumei wanted to arrest Xiaoguan? In other words, why did she want to arrest Linglu?"

"Why?" Tao Canhua, who was in charge of driving, asked mindlessly.

"Whether it's Xiaoguan or the same enemy, including Linglu, they are not their targets."

Wei Ran glanced out the window, "What they want to find is the big network operating behind the Guan family, every person connected to every node of that big network, and the radio station and printing room covered by this big network."

"so."

Mei Xiang couldn't help but shiver in the hot weather, "She is tempting us to contact the outside world for help?!"

"It may also be tempting us to send a report."

Wei Ran gave another possibility, and it was a very likely answer, "If my guess is correct, if nothing else happens, someone will probably make something for Shuyu tomorrow while Canhua and I are away. Panic forces you to get into chaos, and as long as any of you can't help but do something, it will be equivalent to helping Youmei confirm their suspicions about Shuyu."

After saying this, the hot and smoky carriage fell into a cold silence, but Wei Ran didn't panic at all.

Tomorrow, not only will there be an accident tomorrow, but it will also be an unprecedented super accident. If Yumi and others are still in the mood to listen to him and Tao Canhua play the piano, he will have to play for them well even if he works hard to produce milk. Listen to the song Good Day.

It's a pity that he can only reveal this "unpredictable thing" so far. If he dares to tell what will happen tomorrow and will definitely happen, what will happen to Bao Buqi's already faintly hot left hand? punishment.

Discussing what might happen tomorrow all the way back to the study apartment, Wei Ran bought today's portion of Camel cigarettes again on the way.When he returned to the study apartment, he immediately called Tao Canhua and Jasmine for help, and carefully moved out the potted plants in the trunk.

"Xiao Su's mother asked us to plant it in the yard." Wei Ran approached Mei Xiang and whispered in a low voice, "I guess there might be something hidden in this earthen jar."

Hearing this, Mei Xiang couldn't help but be stunned, and subconsciously looked at Wei Ran.

"Choose a place to plant it," Wei Ran reminded softly.

Hearing this, Mei Xiang thought for a while and said, "Let's plant it behind the kitchen, next to the boiler room. Cousin, you and Canhua are responsible for this. Jasmine, go and ask Qiushi to help."

"Hey!"

Jasmine responded immediately and ran into the study apartment quickly.

"If you find anything, send it to me as soon as possible," Mei Xiang whispered, then walked up the steps and walked into the lobby on the first floor unhurriedly.

After looking at each other with Tao Canhua, Wei Ran and the two of them worked together to carry the heavy earthen jar and the begonias inside into the garage, then passed through the small door on the inside of the garage into the hall, and finally passed through the kitchen on the first floor. , and placed the earthen pot on the small piece of open space where Yang Ma and Uncle Meng used to grow various condiments.

After explaining to Ma Yang and Uncle Meng who were busy making lunch, the two of them immediately closed the back door and the kitchen door after Jasmine came with Qiushi.

Guarded by these two veterans, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua each picked up a shovel and dug a pit next to the boiler room big enough to bury the entire earthen jar.

After getting ready together, Wei Ran reached out and picked up an ax for chopping wood and smashed it on the earthen pot.

"clang!"

With a crisp sound, the earthen jar shattered into pieces and peeled off into tiles, revealing the dense roots and slightly moist soil inside, as well as the pieces of gold buried in the soil. Jewelry, as well as a few large yellow croaker and small yellow croaker gold bars mixed in!

"This is." Jasmine was stunned, "This is all the belongings of Xiao Su's mother."

"and this"

Wei Ran pulled out a ball of red cloth from the soil. When he unfolded the red cloth and a layer of wax paper inside that seemed to be used to wrap snacks, everyone also saw a rolled up kraft paper envelope.

Gently unfolding the slightly damp envelope, there were a few vaguely legible words scrawled on it - Xiangxiang Qin Qi.

"It's the lady's nickname"

Jasmine, who had already realized something, whispered, "Only Xiao Su's mother would call her that, but she can't call her that only a few times a year."

Qiushi followed in a low voice, "Miss said that before she stepped into Fengyue Field, Xiao Su's mother often called her that, and then..."

"Qiushi, go and deliver this letter first."

Wei Ran handed the envelope in his hand to Qiushi along with the piece of oil paper and red cloth used to wrap it. After she left through the kitchen, he continued, "Come on, let's pack these things out and put them away." Plant this crabapple."