War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1251 Good Stories and Bad Weather

The biting, wet freezing rain fell on the roof of the military green tent set up next to the truck. The sound of dense and delicate raindrops seemed to act as a relaxing white noise background music for Henry's story.

Next to the warm firewood stove, as Henry sat on the chair and talked about it, and as the little girl Lu Xinda translated it word for word, Wei Ran and Suisui gradually learned about Henry's childhood.

According to his memories, in the spring of the year he was 12 years old, he followed his father, a fishing boat sailor, and his mother, a cashier, from distant Middlesbrough to Brighton, which has the most perfect summer in the UK.

It was in that spring that he had been looking forward to the perfect summer that young Henry met a childhood playmate named Sean, and became good friends with whom he talked about everything - he even had a crush on Sean. sister.

When the long-awaited summer vacation came, Sean, who lived on a country farm, took his father's milk truck to Brighton on the second day of the summer vacation and came to invite Henry to his home—— The milk truck back then was the rare six-wheeled Matador truck behind Henry at this moment.

It was during that summer vacation in the countryside that Henry, Sean, and Sean's sister spent a completely perfect summer in the castle that served as a secret base.

In Henry's own words, on the day he returned to Brighton from the summer vacation, Sean's sister Kate permanently deprived him of his first kiss. That year was 1968.

Unfortunately, just after that summer vacation, Henry moved to Dunkirk, France with his parents to work, and soon after, his family immigrated to the United States.

Time flies, and when Henry, who was once a teenager, finally returned to Brighton, his childhood friend Sean passed away early due to illness more than 40 years ago. Kate, who had her first kiss, also passed away a few years ago.Her only daughter and her single son were left alone to run the farm, which was smaller than in her childhood memories.

At this point in the story, Henry, who was full of emotion, once again took out his handkerchief to wipe his tears and snot, and then continued sadly, "I bought the farm and the house where I lived when I was a child. Unfortunately, my current It’s hard to squeeze into that buoy because of his size.”

Waiting for Cinda Lu, whose eyes were red, to translate the last sentence of this poignant story into Chinese, Henry also changed into French and said, "Victor, please help me, I guess Sean and Kate's father must be related to There are many stories happening between that buoy, I”

"Do you know anything about Mr. Sean and Ms. Kate's father?"

Wei Ran thought for a while and added, "Or does Ms. Kate's daughter know anything about her grandfather?"

"I just remember it was a man who was always wearing an apron and he was always busy milking and delivering milk and occasionally doing some transport work."

Henry patted the truck tire behind him, "This car was left by him. It was also placed under a pile of debris in the barn at that time. I spent a lot of effort to restore it to what it is now. appearance."

Having said this, Henry stood up with difficulty, climbed the folding ladder into the cargo compartment again, and soon walked down with a wooden box.

Opening the wooden box, Henry pushed it to Wei Yan, "I found this in the compartment when I was restoring this truck. It was packed in this box at the time."

Taking the box, Wei Ran recognized what was inside with just one glance, "These are the MK4 goggles issued by the British Air Force in World War II. They are standard equipment for fighter pilots."

"You're right." Henry looked at Wei Ran expectantly.

"Do you know when Sean's father was born?" Wei Ran asked, closing the box and placing it on the table.

"Thirty-one years, 31," Henry replied immediately, "I have been to the cemetery of Sean's family and saw his father's tombstone."

"So at least there's no way Sean's father would have fought in World War II, right?"

Wei Ran paused, "Even in 1945, when World War II ended, he was only fourteen or fifteen years old."

"I know what you're going to say"

Henry spread his hands, "But I can't find any clues about Sean's grandfather. Too much time has passed. Kate's daughter also lost a lot of things when she renovated the farm house more than ten years ago."

"I wonder when it will be convenient for me to take a look at the things stored in those two locked iron cabinets?" Wei Ran asked while also expressing his attitude, "That may affect whether I accept this investigation job. .”

"anytime!"

Henry responded immediately and said apologetically, "But I can only accompany you back for a look, and then I will rush back immediately."

"Mr. Henry, are you busy with other things?" Wei Ran, who was about to stand up, sat down again.

"There will be an auction tonight"

Henry explained apologetically, "At the auction of military collections, it is said that someone is preparing to auction a three-rotor Enigma cipher machine. If it were not for trying to buy that cipher machine, I would not be so rude. I was waiting for your arrival at the farm and came here."

Having said this, Henry casually picked up the Delir silenced carbine leaning on the edge of the table and handed it to Wei Ran and said, "Just like this gun, I bought it at the auction last night."

Taking over this rare carbine, Wei Ran removed the magazine and pulled the trigger. After making sure there were no bullets in it, he reinstalled the empty magazine and picked it up to try.

"It's a nice range toy, isn't it?"

After Henry finished speaking, he suddenly made a decision, "Victor, I will give you this carbine."

"Give it to me?"

Wei Ran looked at Henry in surprise. This carbine was not cheap, at least it was much more expensive than the previous commission offered by the other party.

"Of course" Henry spread his hands, "I hope this little gift is the beginning of our friendship."

"Although I really want to get this rare antique, I'd better forget it." Wei Ran smiled and then returned the carbine to the other party, "Whether I grew up in China or Russia, where I work now, It's illegal to possess a weapon with a silencer, and I don't want to get myself in trouble. But..."

Seeing Henry looking at him after taking the weapon, Wei Ran smiled and asked, "I wonder if I can participate in the auction tonight?"

"Yes, of course!"

Henry hurriedly agreed, and at the same time picked up the copper cricket hanging around his neck and pressed it, "As long as you buy a ticket, you can participate in the auction, but the auction here only accepts cash."

Translating the news about the upcoming auction in the evening into Chinese, Wei Ran asked casually, "How much cash do you two have on you?"

"I have two thousand pounds," Suisui replied immediately.

"I have one thousand euros here," Lu Xinda replied, "Sister Anfiya gave it to me before."

"That should be enough"

Wei Ran said with a smile, he himself had exchanged two thousand pounds in advance.Even if such money cannot buy the big items at the auction, some interesting small items are enough to buy them.

"If you also want to participate in the auction, you might as well go out and hang out now."

While Henry was speaking, he had already taken out a walkie-talkie from a wooden box and handed it to Wei Ran, "You will find a lot of interesting little things in this market, especially the closer to the beech tree stalls, the better things will appear. The probability is higher, so why not go shopping before the auction starts, I will call you through the intercom before it starts."

"In that case, let's go shopping." Wei Ran said, reaching out to take the civilian walkie-talkie handed over by the other party and putting it into his pocket.

Calling Suisui and Lu Xinda, who was almost full of desserts, Wei Ran took the two girls out of the warm tent and walked into the continuous freezing rain eager to find a treasure. And in the mud all over the ground.

Have you ever visited a military products bazaar like this?Of course he had gone shopping, otherwise how could that wicked metal book have come about?Not only him, but even Suisui was dragged by Alex to visit this kind of market more than once.

Because of this, both of them knew very well that it was possible to find treasures in this kind of place, but it was also very easy to be deceived.

However, the enthusiasm and vigilance that day could not withstand the cold and humid weather, so before even half an hour, the three of them stopped in front of a stall selling clothing.

This tent, also built on a military truck, has almost the same configuration as the stall selling clothes in my grandma's country market, except for the addition of a warm wood stove and an LCD screen playing the movie "Casablanca" Just the screen.

Of course, the clothes sold in this small stall are also interesting. The only promotional sign simply says "trench coat" in English.

In the stall, apart from an old man and an old lady who were drinking tea around the stove, there was also a particularly beautiful painted dog lying on the canvas blanket between them.

There is no doubt that this dog alone is the best signboard - especially for girls like Suisui and Lu Xinda. Even if they don't buy it, they will stop and look at the dog who is supposed to be selling paint.

"Buy a windbreaker?"

The old lady was the first to put down the tea cup in her hand, took off the tape measure hanging around her neck and asked, "Do you want me to help you measure the size? We make these windbreakers ourselves."

Another old man who also had a measuring tape hanging around his neck and also wore reading glasses stood up and said confidently, "I can guarantee that even the windbreaker fabric used by Burberry cannot be better than the fabric I use. And in this kind of horrible weather where the Germans may drop bombs at any time, nothing is more practical than a windbreaker.”

While Wei Ran was pretending to wait for Lu Xinda to translate, Suisui had already allowed the old woman to measure her figure with a measuring tape. At the same time, she trembled and asked Wei Ran in her native language, "Buy one for each person." Come on, it’s too cold here,”

"You've already started taking measurements and you're still asking me if I want to buy it?" Wei Ran shook his head in confusion.

But soon, he had to admit that after the old lady chose an off-white windbreaker for Suisui according to her figure, it fit her so well and was so beautiful that Suisui, a shrewd girl in the past, even Even though the price was low, he decided to buy this piece of clothing that he was not going to take off, and generously offered to buy one for each of Lu Xinda and Wei Ran.

Perhaps it was rare to sell three pieces at once, so the old man even took off the measuring tape, greeted Wei Ran warmly, helped him carefully measure his figure, and then took out a khaki windbreaker.

When Lu Xinda let the old lady help her choose a military green windbreaker, Suisui happily handed over 360 pounds in cash, and the old lady in charge of collecting the money also gave back three pairs of soft sheepskin gloves and Three deerstalker hats as small gifts.

When Suisui, who had paid for the treat, distributed the gloves and hats to Wei Ran and Lu Xinda according to their sizes, the old man also came over with a smile and whispered in English, "Seeing as you are the first batch of customers at our stall. For your sake, I can send you a piece of gossip for free."

"What kind of gossip?" Suisui, who had just put on her gloves and hat, asked excitedly in English without waiting for Lu Xinda to translate.

"Good girl, look there"

The old man pointed in the diagonally opposite direction with a wooden ruler, "Did you see the stall with two kerosene lamps hanging on it?"

"Yeah! I see it!" Suisui nodded hurriedly.

"When the two kerosene lamps light up, you can go over and take a look. Occasionally, there will be some shady things for sale there. Those things will definitely make you feel that you came here in vain."

"Something with dirty origins?"

When Suisui heard this sentence, she almost subconsciously thought of Wei Ran's Guqin Youquan bed. She clearly remembered that Wei Ran seemed to have said that the origin of the Guqin Youquan bed was not very clean.

After bidding farewell to the old couple, the three people who put on windbreakers were like three British detectives who had lost their pipes, walking around in this muddy military market looking for small items of interest to them. At the same time, he was also distractedly paying attention to the walkie-talkie in his pocket and the small stall with two kerosene lamps hanging on it.

(End of this chapter)