War Photographer's Notebook

When the white light dissipated, Wei Ran just happened to see the glass door separated from him by a sewing machine and the counter being pushed open from the outside. Amidst the pleasant sound of the wind chime colliding with the door, two chain dogs with stinking faces came together. One after another walked in.

Behind these two beasts, Wei Ran could also see a German soldier leaving in a hurry on the roadside outside the glass door.

Obviously, the breathy greetings made by the two men just now were made by the two men in the room and the German soldier passing by the door.

"Hey! It sucks!" At this moment, a woman's voice came from the other side of Wei Ran.

Turning around subconsciously, Wei Ran then saw a slightly thin young woman wearing a dark green shift dress, brown knitted stockings and a white apron, walking out from behind a row of empty shelves, looking energetic. He stretched out his right arm fully and said hello proactively and enthusiastically.

"Hey! That's awesome!" The two chain dogs who had just looked at Wei Ran responded with an almost instinctive reaction.

"Hey! Wrong suck!"

Wei Ran came back to his senses, waited for the two chain dogs to put down their arms, and immediately said hello. The two chain dogs also raised their arms again interestingly.

"Why didn't you say hello just now?" After putting down his arm, one of the chain dogs asked with a cold face in French with some grammatical errors.

It’s strange that I don’t have frozen shoulder after a whole day.
Wei Ran muttered secretly in his heart, but he replied in French with a particularly apologetic tone, "Sorry gentlemen, I am indeed late to say hello. I was a little bit fascinated just now."

"What are you looking at?" the French-speaking chain dog asked rather dissatisfied.

"Your uniform, sir."

Wei Ran praised sincerely, "Please forgive me for being distracted. Gentlemen, your uniforms are so beautifully designed. I really don't know when I will be able to design such beautiful clothes."

"Are you worthy of competing with Colonel Dibic?"

The chained dog snorted, with a hint of pride on its stinking face, and at the same time stretched out the hem of its uniform without leaving a trace.

"He is still just an apprentice, so he inevitably likes to dream."

At this moment, the woman who looked definitely less than 30 years old took two steps forward and joined the conversation with a smile, "Gentlemen, is there anything we can do?"

The French-speaking chain dog looked at Wei Ran again, and then said, "My uniform pants need to be mended. Also, can you repair the boots here? My companion's boots also need to be mended."

"Of course it's no problem!" the woman replied immediately, "It doesn't matter whether it's modifying clothes or repairing boots!"

"It's right here"

The French-speaking chain dog switched to German and said to his companion, "I heard Hans say that the owner of this tailor shop is very good at his craftsmanship and he is also very beautiful."

"She is indeed very beautiful. I wonder if she will accept other business." Another chain dog blatantly muttered in German.

“Maybe there will be a chance in the future.”

The chained dog who spoke French sighed expectantly, and then said in French, "In that case, I'm sorry to bother you, where is the changing room?"

"Please come with me"

The female shopkeeper politely pointed to the empty shelves behind her, "It's behind the shelves, Victor, help this gentleman close the curtain!"

"coming!"

Wei Ran responded, hurriedly came out from behind the foot-operated sewing machine, and followed the French-speaking chain dog to the shelves. After he sat down on a bench, he helped him pull up the sewing machine. A thin canvas curtain.

While he was waiting outside the curtain, the woman had already asked the other chained dog to sit down on a double sofa across the shelf, and gestured to the other dog to take off his military boots.

Taking this opportunity, Weiran also took a look at the shop, which was only about 20 square meters at most.

There is an arch-style window on the left side of the glass door of this street-facing shop. French letters written in various colors of paint piece together the words "Heidi's Tailor Shop", and a slightly smaller string of French - " Also engaged in clothing repair, cleaning and ironing."

"Is Heidi Mr. Henry's grandmother? The one who prevented Henry and Mrs. Kate from getting together?"

Wei Ran muttered secretly, while continuing to turn his eyes to observe the layout of the shop.

In the corner next to the window is a wooden counter that is about two meters long. On it are neatly placed items such as tailor's scissors, wooden rulers, measuring tapes, marking powder, and irons.

Next to the counter, there was a sewing machine, and Wei Ran was sitting next to that sewing machine just now.

Opposite the counter and sewing machine, next to the wall next to the fireplace, there is a long sofa that can comfortably seat four or five people side by side and a tool box for shoe shine and shoe repair.

Continuing inside, a row of horizontally placed wooden shelves formed a simple partition. Only near the sewing machine, a passage less than one meter wide was left to enter the interior of the store.

But on this row of shelves, except for some straw hats woven from wheat straw and some wooden shoe soles cut into various shapes, the rest are either stacked neatly or hung directly, with buttonholes on them. Clothes with notes pinned to them, there were even some German uniforms among them.

At the very end of the store, in addition to the simple changing room hidden on the other side of the shelves, near the deepest wall opposite the door, there is also a wooden staircase leading to the second floor, and an unknown door under the staircase. wooden door.

Finally, I habitually glanced at my outfit. My lower body was wearing black round-toe shoes that had been wiped clean. I wore brown overalls with thickened knees but only one pocket. My upper body had the cuffs rolled up to the elbows. A white shirt, a cream-white canvas apron, and a measuring tape around his neck.

You don't need to look at anything else, just look at the overalls that have only one pocket on the whole body, and you will know that this is a German-occupied area, and a rationing system has been implemented.

As soon as he finished looking around, the chain dog inside the curtain also handed out a pair of pants with a crotch seam, and at the same time stuck his head out and urged, "Faster!"
"Don't worry sir!"

Wei Ran took the pants and walked towards the sewing machine. A little faster, the woman also took the boots that the other chained dog had taken off, and temporarily handed the other a pair of leather slippers.

"I will sew the pants," the young woman said. "Victor, you are responsible for taking care of these boots."

"Leave it to me!" Wei Ran agreed happily and exchanged the pants in his hand for the pair of marching boots.

After some inspection, he found that the horseshoe-shaped retainer at the heel of one of the boots was about to fall off.

Although he doesn't know how to repair shoes, it's nothing more than two knocks. It's really not that difficult.

Putting the boots on the shoe tree, Wei Ran dug around in the wooden box containing the shoe repair tools. He first took out a hard-bristled brush and brushed off the mud on the boots, and then He pulled out a pair of nail pliers and carefully pulled out all the worn nails one by one.

By the time he nailed the "horseshoe" back together and handed it to the chained dog sitting on the sofa next to him, the young woman next to him had already mended the torn crotch with a sewing machine.

"Send it to the gentleman inside," the young woman said, handing the pants to Wei Ran.

After taking the pants, Wei Ran walked to the other side of the shelf again and handed the pants to the chained dog waiting in the changing room.

At the same time, the chained dog outside who didn't seem to speak French also took out a wallet, took out two ration coupons and handed them to the young woman. Then he put on his boots and walked out while saying in German, " I've already paid, please hurry up."

"It will be fine soon!"

The chained dog in the changing room responded, then put on his pants and asked in French, "Young man, what's your name?"

"Victor, sir." Wei Ran answered through the canvas curtain.

"So that lady is Heidi, the store owner?" the chain dog in the changing room continued to ask. "Yes, sir"

The young woman sitting behind the counter said, "Many German soldiers stationed nearby are willing to come to my place to iron their clothes, and I am trying to learn German."

"So you are a couple?" As he spoke, the chained dog in the changing room also pushed open the canvas curtain and walked out.

"Victor is my brother"

The female boss Heidi, who was still sitting behind the counter, was busy ironing a German coat and replied with a smile, "My husband is a sailor. When he went sailing, there were not so many Germans here."

"So he hasn't come back yet?" As the chained dog spoke, he took out two more ration tickets and threw them on the counter.

"He will be back soon"

As Heidi spoke, she pushed the two ration tickets to the other party and said at the same time, "That gentleman has already paid."

"stay"

The chained dog generously pushed the ration ticket to Heidi and asked casually, "Mrs. Heidi, do you know who the neighbors are Jewish?"

"The two Jewish families I knew disappeared a month ago."

Heidi said and raised her smooth and elegant chin towards the direction of the window, "The former salesperson of the Reynolds grocery store opposite was a Jew, but I haven't seen him for several months. If I remember correctly , he seemed to have disappeared before the Englishmen could escape."

Turning his head to look at the closed grocery store across the street, the chained dog smiled and put on the helmet he had placed on the counter when he entered. He called his companions to leave the tailor shop and drove The BMW sidecar motorcycle parked at the door sped away.

"Victor, hang up this dress,"

Heidi greeted Wei Ran, put down the iron, and dusted off the white apron on her body. Then she took out a small newspaper strip with "14f" written on it from the apron pocket, which was only the size of a cigarette box, and folded it in half. Then pinned it to the buttonhole of this coat.

When Wei Ran came over, Heidi lowered her voice and asked, "Next time those beasts come in, they must remember to say hello first, otherwise they will cause us trouble. Do you understand?"

"understood"

Wei Ran nodded in response, and waited for the other party to come out of the counter, then went in, put a rack on the coat, and hung it on the row of shelves.

After he finished his work, Heidi had already passed through the wooden door under the stairs.

Through the crack of the door, he could clearly see that on the other side of the door was a small walled courtyard. In the courtyard, there seemed to be a young girl who was washing clothes.

"Oh!"

A brief draft brought the scent of soap from the courtyard into the tailor shop, and then the door was mercilessly closed.

After looking in the direction of the door, Wei Ran got into the fitting room, closed the canvas curtain, and took out the Rolleiflex camera from the metal book. Fortunately, this Rolleiflex camera has film installed in it, which undoubtedly makes his photography work much easier.

I put away the camera and took out the gas mask bag from the USS Johnston for inspection. Fortunately, the lifebuoy used as a shoulder pad was still there, but the only contents in the bag were the MK43 telescope and the silver coin. Sailor whistle.

Although good things are missing, there are also two more keys in this empty bag - two door keys that are as long as cigarettes and have a retro style.

Weighing the two keys, which he didn't know where they came from, Wei Ran thought for a while, put them into his pocket, and then put away the gas mask bag.

Opening the curtain and walking through the shelves, Wei Ran rummaged around in the shoe repair tool box, then picked up a leather knife that didn't look lethal but was extremely sharp, wrapped it randomly in newspapers and put it all together Put it in your pocket.

Opening the door amidst the clear and melodious sound of wind chimes, Wei Ran stood at the door and looked around. This was a street that was not very spacious. The pedestrians on the road seemed to have relaxed and comfortable expressions as if they had not been affected by the war. I even saw a German soldier with the rank of lieutenant holding a woman wearing a windbreaker and stockings walking past the door while laughing and talking.

But under the seemingly calm situation, the ration tickets in the hands of the German soldiers, which can be called hooligans, as well as the women who succumbed to the ration tickets, and the men who only had one pocket on their bodies and still tried to be graceful, all hinted that this is The occupied areas lost their freedom.

I looked emphatically at the shop across the street with the sign "Reynold's Grocery" but the door was locked. Then I turned around and looked at this "Heidi's Tailor Shop". It only had two floors.

Turning back to the store, Wei Ran did not try to open the wooden door leading to the yard under the stairs. Instead, he quickly climbed up the stairs to the second floor.

Compared with the first floor, the second floor only has a small living room, a single bedroom, and a bathroom.

Before he could decide whether to go to the bathroom to pee, the wind chimes downstairs were also being banged by the store door. Wei Ran also ran down quickly, stretched out his arms towards the German soldiers who entered, and asked enthusiastically A different tone of "Hey! Have you eaten?"

The soldier immediately straightened his chest and responded with a magical look on his face. Then he felt in his pocket and took out a folded newspaper and several ration tickets and handed them to Wei Ran.

After taking the ration ticket and looking at it, Wei Ran opened the newspaper again and saw the word "12t" written on it. He immediately realized something and warmly greeted the other person to sit down on the sofa, and then quickly walked to the shelf. After some searching, he took out a pair of ironed and crisp uniform pants and a uniform top and returned to the counter.

However, before he could fold the clothes, the German soldier took them directly and walked to the changing room behind the shelves in a familiar manner.

After a while, the soldier came back wearing washed clothes, threw a set of uniforms he was carrying on the cabinet, and then pointed to the dirty marching boots on his feet.

"Please wait"

Wei Ran said, walked into the counter, wrote a random note and handed it to the other party, then placed the note with the same content on the pile of dirty uniforms, and then greeted the other party to sit on the sofa again. He sat down, then brought over the shoe polishing box, and helped him clean the pair of marching boots quite skillfully.

Seemingly satisfied with Wei Ran's service, the soldier handed Wei Ran an additional bread ration coupon and said thank you in German before opening the door and walking out of the store.

Watching the other party go away, Wei Ran immediately returned to the counter and fumbled for the uniform while folding clothes. Sure enough, he touched something in the pocket of his coat.

Picking out the contents, Wei Ran found that what was placed here was a palm-sized iron box.

Looking at the direction in which the soldier disappeared outside the door, Wei Ran opened the tin box as quickly as possible, but what made him dumbfounded was that in addition to the condoms one after another, there were only a dozen condoms in the tin box. I don’t know where I got 10 or 50 pound sterling, three two-mark silver coins, five 50 penny nickel coins, and a stack of ration coupons for “unlimited drinking” in the occupied territories.

Without hesitation at all, Wei Ran took out a 10-face-value note from the pounds and put it into his pocket. He closed the lid and rummaged through other pockets, and took a pen he found in his hand. After opening the door, he looked around, then quickly chased after the soldier who had not gone far.

"Sir! Sir!"

Far away, Wei Ranbian shouted loudly. When the soldier turned around, he immediately ran over and shook the things in his hands.

Seeing this, the soldier subconsciously touched his pocket, and then patted his forehead. He walked a few steps forward to meet Wei Ran and took the pen and tin box from his hand.

"Thank you!"

The soldier thanked him again in German, then carefully checked the pen, carefully put it into his jacket pocket, then opened the iron box in front of Wei Ran, and casually pulled it out from inside. Two ration coupons were pushed directly into Wei Ran's hands.

"Thank you for your generosity, sir!"

Wei Ran warmly thanked him in French and bowed, and waited until the other party closed the lid and put it in his pocket, then he immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

After bidding farewell to the soldier again, Wei Ran turned and walked towards the tailor shop. However, he did not feel any happy or relaxed because of his easy success just now.

Because he clearly knew that with the immoral nature of the metal book, the successful theft just now could only be regarded as giving him an experience card. The most difficult part is probably yet to come.