War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1238 Meeting Ueda by chance
In the early morning of August 8, under the leadership of Guan Bingwen and Cao Yaba, Wei Ran, Mei Xiang and others took the members of the theater troupe and the only remaining prisoner Furukawa onto two tank boats on the grain transport river.

After everyone was settled, the two grain ships set off again and continued southward along the river, sailing in the direction of Dagu.

At the same time, in the cabins of the two boats, everyone, including Wei Ran, Mei Xiang and the others, as well as members of the theater troupe, all changed into coarse cloth clothes prepared by the boat handles in advance. Especially the girls, who used the clothes on the deck to He pulled out the iron pot he used for cooking and smeared the ashes from the bottom of the pot on his face and neck.

In the cabin of the boat behind, Xiao Su's mother waited for Wei Ran to lower the straw curtain on the window, then lit a kerosene lamp with her own hands and placed it on the only table.

On the tabletop of this broken table, there is a set of "The Tale of Genji" printed in Japanese and a copy of "Rashomon" also printed in Japanese. But in addition, there is a set of two volumes with illustrations of "The Tale of Genji". "Jin Ping Mei", as well as two blue bricks wrapped in cloth strips, plus dozens of oceans, a roll of paper tickets, and a watch.

Not far from the table, Furukawa, who had been stripped of his clothes and whose limbs and joints had been taken apart by a veterinarian, was lying on a tattered reed mat like a dead fish, looking at the sitting man with a look of despair and pain. Xiao Su’s mother at the table.

Picking up the porcelain bowl filled with tea and drinking it all in one breath, Xiao Su's mother casually put the porcelain bowl beside the pile of books on the table, "Furukawa, ever since you planned my daughter Meixiang. Since the beginning of the troupe, our friendship has almost ended."

"But I never intended to hurt Meixiang," Furukawa said, looking at Xiao Su's mother, "I not only"

"Okay, stop."

However, Xiao Su's mother didn't give the other party a chance to finish her words at all. She knocked on the two blue bricks and said, "I'm just going to ask you two things. What is the communication password of which radio station? And what's the matter with that bastard Ueda?" What is your identity?"

Seeing that Furukawa didn't speak, Xiao Su's mother picked up a book of Jin Ping Mei and flipped through it casually, reminding her, "If you don't want to tell me, I'll let my eldest nephew ask. He will definitely let you tell me, but you definitely don't want to tell me." I thought it would be fun."

"Ueda belongs to crane"

Furukawa was silent for a moment and then said, "Crane is an intelligence organization jointly established by the military and the Black Dragon Society."

"What is Crane's responsibility?" Wei Ran, standing next to the straw curtain, lit a cigarette and asked.

"Collect intelligence, make friends with celebrities, and provide Beifei He with a safe false identity."

Furukawa paused, "The Northeast integrated into China. If the war goes well, it will erode the economy, culture and land of the Northeast. If the war fails."

"talk"

Seeing Furukawa stop, Xiao Su's mother subconsciously slapped the table. Furukawa, who was lying naked on the ground, also shivered subconsciously, and then continued, "If the war fails, we will wait for an opportunity to lie dormant and bribe wealthy businessmen and landlords. Support bandit warlords and incite rebellion. The goal. The goal is to achieve de facto virulence in the Northeast."

"How many people are there in He?" Wei Ran asked.

"I don't know." Furukawa shook his head, "How could I know such a thing."

"Does Ueda know?" Xiaoguan, who was also in the cabin, asked.

"I don't know if he knows." Furukawa shook his head, "But I am sure that he has a very high status in Crane."

"Radio communication password" Weiran reminded.

"In that Jin Ping Mei, the seventh illustration is the first page. The last digit of the four-digit code corresponds to the page number, the first digit corresponds to the number of lines starting from bottom to top, and the second and third digits correspond to the number starting from the right. Which word to the left?"

"Next Question"

Mei Xiang, who was listening on the sidelines, asked a seemingly innocuous question, "What is your plan this time?"

“I actually don’t know very well.”

Furukawa looked at Xiao Su's mother and replied, "Ueda said that he would use the status of Miss Meixiang and Chunhua Opera Troupe to arrange a group of people to go to Fengtian.

If I don't help him, he will directly send troops to occupy Xu Qing Letter Apartment and arrest everyone, and he will kill you.

If I cooperate with him in this matter, he promises to kill only the members of the Chunhua Opera Troupe, Wei Ran and Miss Jasmine.

In this way, he will not only ensure your safety, but also ensure that we can live a good life after returning to recruitment. "

"Hmph!" Xiao Su's mother snorted, obviously not believing such nonsense.

"Be more specific about your plan," Wei Ran suddenly asked.

Furukawa turned his head and glanced at Wei Ran, who had helped him open the joints of his limbs, and couldn't help but shuddered, "Ueda once said, let me take you and Canhua to Yanfang, and he will send someone to watch the book house for the last time. Test.

If there is nothing abnormal in the study room that night, let me invite you to leave Tianjin in the name of Xiao Su’s mother returning to her hometown to worship her ancestors. His people will deal with you on the train before arriving at Sugar Mountain and carry out the operation at Xugezhuang Station. Dump the body and replace it with his own.

As long as they successfully replace all the people around Miss Meixiang and the members of the Chunhua Opera Troupe, they will take Meixiang hostage and take the railway to Fengtian, where they will open a theater in the name of the Chunhua Opera Troupe and hibernate. "

Furukawa said here and looked at Xiao Su's mother again, "He promised me that as long as we arrive at Sugar Mountain, we can immediately take the train back to Tianjin. He even helped us buy the ferry tickets from Jinmen to Osaka."

"Where did Zhida go?" Guan Bingwen asked.

"I don't know" Furukawa shook his head.

"For the sake of past friendship, you must always give me a reason to let you go." Xiao Su's mother said abruptly.

Hearing this, Furukawa was stunned, and after a moment of silence he said, "I only know that he went to Peking, but I don't know where exactly he went."

"Do you have anything else to ask?" Xiao Su's mother looked at Wei Ran and Xiao Guan, and finally at Mei Xiang.

"Since there is no such thing," Xiao Su's mother stood up, "nephew, do me a favor."

"Hey! You said it?" Wei Ran responded quickly.

"Find a big enough sack for your good uncle and sink it." Before Xiao Su's mother could finish her words, someone had already raised the straw curtain.

"Little Su Mom"

Furukawa called out to Xiao Su's mother who was about to take one foot out, "I want to know, are there really no feelings between us?"

"A bitch is ruthless and an actor is ruthless. What stupid thing are you thinking of?"

Xiao Su's mother snorted and asked as she walked out, "My nephew, remember to put two more stones for ballast in his sack. Don't let it float for a while."

This time, Wei Ran did not respond in a hurry, but looked at Mei Xiang.

"Just do what Xiao Su's mother tells you."

After speaking, Meixiang, who was wearing shabby clothes, sighed, lifted the curtain and chased out.

Looking at Guan Bingwen in the room, Wei Ran winked, and when the latter went to find the sack piece, he also squatted next to Furukawa.

"Does she really have no feelings for me?" Furukawa murmured to himself.

"You?" Wei Ran smiled, "Give up, you are not worthy of Xiao Su's mother."

Hearing this, Furukawa let out a long sigh, and then closed his eyes as if accepting his fate.Let Wei Ran and Guan Bingwen put him and a big stone into a sack, then tied it tightly and carried him out of the cabin.

"Pfft!"

In the splashing water, this bulging sack successfully made a splash, and then sank straight to the bottom of the water.

"We still have to find Ueda," Guan Bingwen said as he took the cigarette from Weiran.

"Just tell me what you need me to do," Wei Ran and Tao Canhua, who had been guarding the cabin door just now, said in unison.

Glancing at Xiao Su's mother and Mei Xiang who were standing side by side in the direction of the boat, Guan Bingwen then moved his gaze to Tao Canhua, "Canhua, we do need your help, but in addition to needing your help to capture Zhitian, we also need you to do Something more important."

"What do you need me to do?" Tao Canhua asked immediately.

"Are you still familiar with your hometown?" Guan Bingwen asked.

"Lu'an Mansion?"

"right"

"How can we be considered familiar?" Tao Canhua asked, "I followed my father when I was very young and traveled around the world. It has been many years since I went back."

"You can speak the dialect there. If you have relatives or acquaintances, you are familiar with it."

"That must be considered familiar," Tao Canhua replied immediately.

"Canhua, if you really plan to help, why not go back to Lu'an Mansion as Sister Meixiang's nephew? You haven't been back for so many years, I guess no one will recognize you."

"Go back to Lu'an Mansion?" Tao Canhua was a little puzzled for a moment, "What are you going back to do?"

"We need some spies there." Guan Bingwen paused, "Among the people I can think of, there is no one more suitable than you."

"I" Tao Canhua paused, "I can go, but I want to have a status."

"Position?" Guan Bingwen smiled, "What status do you want?"

"For example, your anti-Japanese killing gang will do," Tao Canhua said almost subconsciously.

"Okay, then I'll approve you to join the Anti-Japanese Killing and Rape Group." Guan Bingwen agreed to the other party's request without thinking.

"You are not allowed to trick me." Tao Canhua looked at Guan Bingwen suspiciously.

"I told you what to do"

Guan Bingwen shook his head dumbfounded, "In this case, when we get back to Jinmen, I will first take you to join the Anti-Japanese Killing Team, and then we will talk about anything else."

"Okay!" Tao Canhua responded immediately, but soon he looked in the direction of the other boat.

"I won't let you take Qiushi there."

Guan Bingwen said seriously, "That will not only put her in danger, but she will also become your weakness."

Before Tao Canhua could speak, Guan Bingwen said, "However, you can take me to Lu'an Mansion."

"Take you with me?" Tao Canhua glanced at Guan Bingwen in surprise, then came back to his senses and said, "Are I your cover?"

"We are partners, you are teasing and I am flattering." Guan Bingwen said with a smile.

"Do you have this skill?" Tao Canhua was now more suspicious than before.

"Even if you sing the drum, I can accompany you," Guan Bingwen said with extra confidence, "At least the three-stringed erhu is fine. I don't know much about anything else."

"Try it first when you have time. I can't ruin my job." Tao Canhua said half seriously and half jokingly.

"Okay" Guan Bingwen nodded extremely seriously, "When we return to Jinmen and capture Zhida, we will find a place to try."

"Speaking of this"

Wei Ran, who had been listening just now, joined the conversation, "Are we just going back like this? The Japanese haven't surrendered yet."

"We definitely can't all go back. With so many of us, the goal is too big."

Guan Bingwen pointed to another boat and explained, "Uncle Mute will take Qiushi and the members of the troupe to hide in Wadianzi in Qilihai for a while. The three of us will take Jasmine, Sister Meixiang and Little Su's mother back first. When I go to Jinmen, Mr. Hong Feng wants to see Sister Meixiang and Xiaosu’s mother, and he also wants to see Canhua.”

"Mr. Feng doesn't want to see me?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"Mr. Feng knew you would ask this. He asked him to tell you that meeting you is the same as meeting Miss Meixiang." Guan Bingwen explained with a smile.

"Indeed." Wei Ran nodded and stopped asking any more questions.

Soon after, the previous boat docked on the other side of the canal, and Wei Ran and others accompanied Mei Xiang and Xiao Su's mother, whose eyes were red, to change to a smaller but faster boat.

During the following day, the group of them took this boat and walked south along the Liangliang River for most of the day, then changed to donkey carts and then to row boats. Finally, after the sun went down, Different people were brought into the three-country concession zone next to the British, French and Japanese concessions by different people in different ways.

After walking in circles in the dark alley for more than ten minutes, Wei Ran was led into a low and dilapidated courtyard by the people who led him. After the people who led him closed the courtyard door, they took him inside. He entered the wing room, and then moved the water tank, revealing a deep and narrow tunnel.

"Get in, and you'll see other people when you come out." The young man leading the way said and handed him a lit candle.

"Wait a minute, bring me a pack of cigarettes."

Wei Ran pointed to the cigarette case placed on the stove.

The young man obviously didn't expect that there was still business at this time, but after a brief pause, he opened the cigarette case and urged in a low voice, "What cigarettes do you want?"

"One package for front door, one package for camel." Wei Ran replied with a smile, and at the same time threw one of the only two silver coins left in his pocket into the other party's cigarette case.

Taking the cigarette from the other party, Wei Ran held the candle and got into the dark tunnel. Before he could stand still, the hole on his head was blocked again by the water tank.

After looking at the candle in his hand, Wei Ran simply took out the flashlight and turned it on for a look.

Contrary to what he expected, this tunnel reinforced with wooden planks was extremely low, and there was a corner not far ahead. When he turned half-crouched, only six or seven meters away, there was another corner. After turning this corner, there is an upward ladder.

Putting away the flashlight as quickly as possible, Wei Ran held the candle and climbed up the ladder. When he pushed open the wooden cover above his head, he immediately saw the sky full of stars and the bright Milky Way.

"Why are you dazed? Come up quickly."

Outside the cave entrance, Andy, who was wearing coarse clothes and a floral turban on his head, urged.

"Where is this?" Wei Ran said as he looked around. This is also a small courtyard. The area is not much larger. However, regardless of the main room, the wing room or the back room, the windows of all rooms are nailed with wooden boards. The strict and solid.

"There's a house just across the middle from the yard where you came down," Andy said as he casually covered the hole with a wooden board.

"Where are the others?" Wei Ran sat on the steps of the wing not far away and asked in a low voice while lighting a cigarette.

"Xiao Su's mother and Mei Xiang smoked a cigarette earlier than you, and are now chatting with Mr. Hong inside."

Andy pointed to the closed door of the main room, then sat down next to Wei Ran, took a pack of Camels from his hand, tore it open, popped one out and put it on the cigarette holder, and let Wei Ran help her light the cigarette. superior.

It wasn't until she blew out a puff of cigarette that she pointed to the east wing behind her and said, "The same enemy is here too, she has already fallen asleep.

The three girls lived in the west wing opposite, and Uncle Meng and Ma Yang sent them to another place to hide.what about you?How is it going?They both just came over and didn't have time to ask before they were invited into the room by Mr. Hong. "

“A lot of things happened”

Wei Ran sighed and described what happened since they got on the train.

When he heard that there were casualties, Andy shed tears of distress. When he heard that Yumi was tortured and killed and Furukawa was drowned in the river, the girl who had been hiding underground for several years couldn't help but clenched her fists and showed a bright smile.

Almost as soon as he finished speaking, the wooden board covering the hole was pushed open from below, and soon after, Tao Canhua's head emerged from inside holding a candle.

At the same time, the door of the main room was pushed open from the inside. Feng Maoyun, who was wearing a long gown, walked out first, followed closely by Mei Xiang and Xiao Su's mother.

After nodding to Wei Ran as a greeting, Feng Maoyun said to Tao Canhua, who had just climbed up, and Guan Bingwen, who followed closely behind, "You two are here just in time, come with me quickly."

"it is good"

Tao Canhua waited until Mei Xiang nodded towards him before responding. He followed Guan Bingwen into the main room and closed the windowless door.

"Grand nephew, later you and Canhua will help me go to the small building where I lived before." Xiao Su's mother, who was wearing coarse clothes, grabbed Wei Ran and said while Mei Xiang and Andy were talking. .

"What are you going back for?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"I still have some belongings that I haven't taken away."

Xiao Su's mother said proudly, "What I hid in the flower pot for you to move back was the money earned by that kid from Furukawa from selling real estate and doing tobacco business. He asked me to take care of it for him before, and I exchanged it with bricks. It came out, and there were also some jewelry I had saved that I couldn’t exchange into gold bars.

But I didn’t even have time to take away all my private money, and maybe that old boy Ueda also left something in that house. What if you can find something that you can use? "

Seeing Mei Xiang nodding towards him, Wei Ran immediately responded, "Okay, I'll go back and take a look for you later. By the way, where's Jasmine?"

"She went to visit Uncle Meng"

Andy explained helpfully, and at the same time opened her satchel and handed a PPK pistol and three spare magazines to Wei Ran, "You almost forgot if you didn't ask, she asked me to return this to you. "

Just as Wei Ran took the pistol, Tao Canhua and Guan Bingwen also walked out of the room.

Seeing this, Xiao Su's mother immediately signaled Wei Ran to come closer and whispered, "After you go, go to the garden behind the small building. There is a stone slab under the faucet. When you open it, you can see my private money. Bring them all back.

In addition, there are safes in Yumi's room on the second floor and Ueda's room on the first floor. If you can pry open it, you can go and take a look. You might be able to find something useful. "

"I remember, I will go and have a look when the time comes." Wei Ran promised, patting his chest, and asked Andy and Mei Xiang to borrow the hairpins on their heads.

"We will go with you," Tao Canhua and Guan Bingwen said in unison.

Wei Ran naturally had no problem with someone helping him, and just reminded Tao Canhua to carefully check the Japs pistol that he gave him and put new bullets in it. Then the three of them left the small courtyard. Under the cover of night, Take a stroll away from the former concession.

It took more than half an hour to reach the edge of the Japanese Concession. The three of them tacitly walked around to the back of the small building, climbed over the less than one meter high courtyard wall and entered the backyard.

After looking up at the small building, they saw that no room had lights on, so the three of them approached the back door of the small building.

"Go in and take a look first, or should we look for the private money hidden by Xiao Su's mother?" Guan Bingwen asked in a low voice.

"Let's look for her private money first," Wei Ran pointed to the faucet not far away and whispered, "You change the money, and I'll pry open the door."

"Row"

Guan Bingwen and Tao Canhua naturally had no objection. They easily opened the bluestone slab just below the faucet, which was less than half a meter square, and dug out gold bars one after another from the rubble.

Almost as soon as Wei Ran pried open the locked back door, Guan Bingwen and Tao Canhua also dug out all the private money - only three large yellow croakers in total.

"Each of us can help carry it, so that Xiao Su's mother won't complain about the three of us for not doing enough." Guan Bingwen joked with a smile.

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua smiled, each picked up one and stuffed it into their pants pockets or into their arms.

Then, just as they were about to go through the back door, the sound of a key being unlocked came from the direction of the main entrance of the small building!

The three of them looked at each other, and Wei Ran immediately closed the back door and squatted down against the wall.

Soon, he heard the sound of leather shoes hitting the ground.But the person who came in did not turn on the light, and walked into a certain room on the first floor in the dark anyway - Tao Canhua remembered clearly that it was Ueda's room!

"It's Zhitian's room!" Tao Canhua said in a very low voice.

"Not one person, but the voices of two people."

Wei Ran reminded in a low voice that he heard two other sounds, and he was even sure that one of them was the unique sound of Japanese clogs hitting the wooden board.

"Catch them alive," Guan Bingwen said as he reached out and picked up a brick.

In contrast, Tao Canhua lifted up his trouser legs and pulled out a shovel from his calf.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also took out the Mauser bayonet under the cover of his coat and carefully opened the back door again.

Walking into the room quietly, he could clearly see through the light of the street lights outside that there was a woman wearing a kimono standing outside Ueda's door. One of this woman's hands was also holding a man who seemed taller. But the little boy, who was six or seven years old, seemed to be holding a kendama in his hand.

Gently stretching Tao Canhua's collar, Wei Ran pointed to the child on his left, then he pointed to the woman on his right, and finally pointed to himself.

After discussing their respective goals, Wei Ran and Tao Canhua rushed out one after another. Before the target, who seemed to be the mother and son, could react, they covered their mouths from behind in almost unison, and used the weapons in their hands to resist. Caught their necks.

However, compared to the woman who was frozen, the little boy controlled by Tao Canhua dropped the kendama in his hand in panic and hit the floor with a clang.

It's going to happen!Wei Ran didn't care much and roughly knocked out the woman in his arms with the handle of his knife. Then he rushed to Zhitian's door as quickly as possible and kicked the door open.

"Oh!"

As the door was kicked open, a scream came from the room. Immediately afterwards, he saw Ueda, who seemed to have been hit by the door, covering the hit forehead with a hand holding a flashlight, and In his other hand, he still held a pistol!
"boom!"

Zhida hurriedly fired a shot without waiting to see the person clearly. However, this shot only made Wei Ran's shoulder heat up, and then the hand holding the gun was cut open by the bayonet in Wei Ran's hand. A hole was made!
"Dang!"

As the pistol fell to the floor, Ueda, who seemed to have his nose broken, swung the flashlight he was holding in his other hand.

Holding the metal flashlight with his arm, Wei Ran followed closely and hit the opponent's bloody nose with a headbutt.

Under this critical blow, Ueda finally let out a scream, and immediately after, he was thrown over the shoulder by Wei Ran and hit the floor.

This time he threw him to pieces, but Wei Ran didn't stop. Instead, he grabbed the opponent's chin and pulled it hard, then stepped on his hand that was reaching for the pistol on the floor, and pulled the opponent's chin. He put his fingers into the other person's mouth and groped around, and successfully pulled out a wax ball that was found in Yumi's mouth from his cheek.

Putting the wax pill into his pocket, Wei Ran then removed the elbow joints of Ueda's hands, then stood up and quickly checked the room.

However, the only valuable things in this room were the suitcase on the bed, a stack of documents and a few stacks of dollars in the safe that had just been opened.

Pulling these things into the bag in front of the safe door as quickly as possible, Wei Ran picked up the bag and the suitcase on the bed, then grabbed Ueda and walked out of the bedroom.

However, before he could walk out of the bedroom, he was stunned. Not only him, but also Ueda was stunned.

(End of this chapter)