War Photographer's Notebook

In Heidi's tailor shop, Wei Ran got into the changing room again, took out the gas mask bag, put the 10 pounds he had just stolen into a compartment in the bag, and then tried to take the metal back of the satchel. book.

He took out his satchel again. When he saw that the 10 pounds was still lying in the satchel, his face immediately showed joy.

Putting away his satchel again, Wei Ran held the clothes that the German soldier had just given him, opened the wooden door under the stairs, and walked into the courtyard at the back, which was not half as big as the shop in front.

Half of the yard is planted with various flowers. Among the flowers, there is a simple household version of an air raid shelter that is indispensable in this era and place.

In the part where the sun can shine, most of the clothes hanging on the clotheslines in the middle of the two courtyard walls are various German uniforms.

At the other end of the yard, which was blocked by the clothes waiting to dry in the sun, was another two-story building that was more than half the size.

At this time, the shop owner Heidi and the girl who looked to be in her early 20s were using a large hand-crank washing machine to wash the clothes piled in the wooden barrel next to them.

Next to the hand-cranked washing machine, there was an electric washing machine that had obviously not been used for a while.

"Vanessa"

Heidi, who was shaking the dry cleaning roller of the washing machine, urged, "Quickly sew buttons on those clothes so they can be washed with the next bucket."

"give it to me!"

The girl named Vanessa straightened up as she spoke. She took the two dirty clothes that Wei Ran carried with her foamy hands and wiped the foam off her hands with these two clothes.

"Victor, help me hang all these clothes!"

By the way, Heidi arranged the next job for Weiran seamlessly, "Keep the door open so we can hear someone coming in."

"Hold on"

Wei Ran turned around and reopened the door that had been closed by the wind, and propped it up with a wooden stick. He then took the large bucket of washed clothes that Heidi had picked up and walked to the empty clothesline not far away. , hung up the clothes one by one, and observed the girl named Vanessa.

This girl is tall and thin, and her face is very similar to Heidi's. She also has blond hair, but she has a tomboy-like hairstyle. Even her clothes are masculine. She wears a dark yellow turtleneck sweater and a pair of Denim overalls, a pair of black leather boots, and a dark green apron on top of this outfit.

At this time, she was sitting at a table by the wall. She quickly sewed a metal piece about the size of a beer bottle cap on each of the two dirty clothes, and recorded something in the notebook on the table. .

Looking back at the clothes he was drying, Wei Ran discovered that each of these clothes had metal pieces sewn on them, and there were numbers engraved on these metal pieces.

That’s how it works
Wei Ran muttered secretly. From these details alone, it can be seen that this tailor shop probably also had the business of washing clothes in the past, but now that the rationing system is in place, this shop may only have the business of washing clothes.

At this moment, the wind chime rang again, and Wei Ran immediately stopped what he was doing and ran out.

From then until the sun went down, Wei Ran became the busiest person, shining shoes, ironing clothes, picking up clothes that had been washed or prepared for washing, and even carrying a cane after closing time. Basket, along with the girl named Vanessa, took the ration rolls Heidi had given them both and queued up for bread, milk, sausages and the like.

In general, perhaps because this war has just begun, although this is an occupied area, the food variety is quite rich.

It was through insinuations along the way that Wei Ran also learned a lot of clues from Vanessa's mouth.

First of all, this small town is Saint-Omer in France, which can be regarded as a transportation hub. And this girl named Vanessa is indeed Heidi's sister. The two sisters are natives of Saint-Omer.

On the other hand, he was not Heidi's brother, but her fiancé's cousin.

Not only that, but his cousin "Mr. Spear" was not a sailor, but served as the night watchman of the lighthouse at Castle Philip, and also worked as a rescue diver.

Of course, according to this girl who seems to have some admiration for her brother-in-law, her cousin Mr. Spear seems to also be a copywriter in the library.

Secondly, Mr. Spear and Heidi originally planned to get married this Christmas, but they did not expect that just as they were preparing for their wedding, the Germans eagerly occupied France in order to attend their wedding.

Finally, and the most frightening piece of information for Wei Ran, is that the owner of the Reynolds grocery store across the road is actually Wei Ran's grandfather! He is also a shareholder of Heidi's tailor shop.

However, his Jewish grandfather, whom he had never met, traveled to England before the Germans began to invade France. Especially after the British launched the Dunkirk battle, the old man simply did not come back. Instead, he sent his "nephew" to help guard the grocery store.

So I'm a Jew this time?
When Wei Ran realized this, he subconsciously looked around, and then touched his nose. He even had the urge to find a place to unbutton his pants to see if his dick had been touched with a knife - this was related to The question is whether you can survive!

"What's wrong with you?" Vanessa, who was careless, asked Wei Ran strangely as she pushed open the door of the tailor shop.

"No, it's nothing." Wei Ran waved his hand quickly.

“Remember to lock the door”

Vanessa walked into the room and said, "You can go to the back to eat in half an hour. Remember to clean up the store before that."

"Don't worry!" Wei Ran said, already picking up the brush placed in the corner.

Watching Vanessa pass through the door carrying the food exchanged for ration coupons, Wei Ran took out a newspaper from his pocket.

He had just passed this newspaper from a man who had just bought the newspaper and was waiting in line. The news about the war situation on this page did not have much value to him at all, but the information printed on this newspaper The date was September 1940, 9!
It was also the two days before the turning point in the Battle of Britain!

Throwing the newspaper casually into the basket under the counter, Wei Ran finished the sanitation work on the first floor as quickly as possible, and then quickly ran up to the second floor.

He had just pulled it out of Vanessa's mouth, and the second floor of this shop was for him to live in. Before that, this second floor was originally a fabric warehouse, but after the Germans came in, the fabrics had long been used. The Germans bought it all up with stolen francs.

Wei Ran quickly walked into the bathroom, unbuttoned his pants and inspected his little brother. Fortunately, this person did not seem to "enjoy" circumcision.

However, he became even more worried when he thought about the Vichy regime's definition of Jews after France was occupied.

I tied my belt and glanced at the mirror next to me. Unfortunately, I saw myself in the mirror as I originally looked. But he knew clearly that when Vanessa and others looked at him, they might see a different look - a look that might qualify him to be sent to a concentration camp in a certain year in the future.

While he still had time, he rummaged around the room for a while. Unfortunately, apart from a few pieces of clothing, the only potentially useful item he found was just a large battery pack that could hold four batteries. No. [-] copper flashlight, a hand oil lamp the size of a pulse bottle, a large bucket of kerosene and a drawer full of batteries.

He took out the two old-fashioned door keys from his pocket again, which originally appeared in the gas mask bag. Wei Ran opened the curtain of the only window in the living room to a slit, hid behind the curtain and glanced at the opposite side, "Grandpa." "The grocery store at home has already been arranged for entertainment in the evening.

Guessing that it was almost time, he went downstairs, crossed the small courtyard, and walked into the big house across the courtyard.

This house is twice as big as the shop in front of it, and the extra part even has a small door that leads directly to another road. Although I don't know the situation on the second floor of the room, the layout on this floor is particularly warm. Looking at it, the only thing related to the war may be the windows blocked by wooden boards due to the blackout.

When Wei Ran came in, Vanessa immediately locked the door, and Heidi, who was busy by the fireplace, also brought the prepared dinner.

This dinner was not that rich. The bread and milk that we received were heated, and the sausages were simply sliced ​​into thin slices. The only thing that could be considered "cooking" was just an omelette for each person and a small bowl of buttered mashed potatoes. That’s all.

Putting the lit candlestick in the middle of the table, Heidi opened the closet, took out an oversized red wine bottle and three wine glasses, and poured a small half glass of red wine for each person.

"Let's eat"

Heidi picked up the cup and touched it with Wei Ran and Vanessa. After taking a small sip, Heidi asked, "Vanessa, are you really not going to go back to Paris to study? I think those Germans are quite friendly." of."

“I don’t want to go”

Vanessa spread the mashed potatoes on the bread and replied in a mocking tone, "I don't want to be like my classmates and become a lonely girl who is busy sleeping with different Germans every day, and now the war has begun. , what’s the point of continuing to study law?”

After saying that, Vanessa took a big bite of bread and asked vaguely while chewing, "Sister, how about I learn to be a tailor with you? Anyway, even if there is a war, everyone always has to wear clothes."

"you?"

Heidi shook her head angrily, "You can learn if you want, but we don't even have fabric now."

"There are still newspapers!" Vanessa was particularly optimistic, and she had already finished the piece of bread in her hand in three or two mouthfuls as she spoke.

"Speaking of this, Victor." Heidi turned around and said, "Do you know when Spear will come back?"

"I don't know." Wei Ran picked up the cup, clinked it with the other person, and asked proactively, "If there's something urgent, do you need me to go find him?"

"It's nothing urgent. It's just that there hasn't been any news about him in the past week, so I'm a little worried." After Heidi finished speaking, she picked up the cup and took a sip of red wine.

For a moment, the room fell into silence, and even Vanessa wisely closed her mouth.

After finishing dinner in silence, Wei Ran left the room in time and walked across the yard back to the second floor of the tailor shop.

After closing the wooden baffle behind the window in the dark, Wei Ran lay on the bed and waited patiently, while also listening to the roar of aircraft flying frequently overhead.

As time passed by, when the wall clock in the tailor shop on the first floor rang 12 times in a row, Wei Ran also sat up in the darkness and put away the flashlight that could be used as a mace. On the lower back, he went downstairs in the dark and carefully opened a gap in the door of the tailor shop.

Using the moonlight above his head, he looked around and after making sure there was no one around, Wei Ran opened the locked sliding net security door. After stepping out, he immediately locked the door as quickly as possible. I jogged to the opposite side of the street, which was only three meters wide.

Hiding in the shadow of the building and looking around, Wei Ran took out the two old-fashioned keys from his pocket and inserted them into the only two keyholes on the wooden door of the grocery store.

Gently turning the thick wooden door open, Wei Ran ducked in and immediately closed the door and locked it from the inside.

Glancing at the window blocked by wooden boards, Wei Ran confidently took out the oversized flashlight on his back and turned it on, using the beam to examine the layout of the grocery store.

Compared with the tailor shop, the area here is much larger, at least sixty or seventy square meters.

Seeing a candlestick with a glass lampshade placed on the counter, Wei Ran immediately lit it to replace the too-bright flashlight, holding the candlestick and looking at the layout of the grocery store.

In this large space, in addition to the shelves on each of the three walls that are attached to the wall and go straight to the ceiling, there are also two rows of shelves in the middle that are also attached to the ceiling.

On these shelves, there are all kinds of things that can be said to be divided into categories, or they can be said to be chaotic.

There are daily necessities such as needles, thread, and brains, as well as used clothing, shoes, and miscellaneous items such as shotguns and revolvers, as well as some bicycles and bicycle parts. Continuing inside, he also saw candles, papers, pens and other things.

When he walked along the shelves on the far left wall to the middle position, Wei Ran reached out and picked up a 1916 trench knife from the shelf that France had equipped during World War I.

What is quite interesting is that when he pulled out the double-edged dagger from the iron scabbard, the remaining thick putty on the blade was still engraved with the words "Revenge 1870" in French. Obviously, this was because they were still dissatisfied with the Franco-Prussian War.

Weighing the double-edged dagger, Wei Ran stuffed it back into the scabbard, then took out the gas mask bag and threw it in temporarily. He clearly remembered that the return mission required him to kill two chain dogs with cold weapons, and one of the language missions not only required him to steal ten kilograms of stolen goods from this grocery store, but also required him to have a weapon.

Wait, stolen goods?
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment and looked around again. Are these all stolen goods?

Thinking of this, he immediately quickened his pace and turned around the remaining shelves, and finally determined that these things seemed to be stolen goods - he had never seen any grocery store selling so many second-hand money clips. .

In addition to these insignificant discoveries, he also discovered the stairs leading to the second floor behind the deepest shelves.

After blowing out the candle light, Wei Ran climbed up the creaky stairs to the second floor. Not surprisingly, there was no one in the room on the second floor.

However, when he pried open the locked door of one of the bedrooms, he found a row of four old-fashioned safes on the side of the bed.

Patting his forehead, Wei Ran went downstairs, followed his memory and found a roll of wire and a pair of pliers. After making a set of lock picking tools, he quickly went upstairs and re-entered the bedroom with the safe.

Without turning on the lights at all, and without turning on the lights at all, he easily pried open the four safes one by one.

Pulling the quilt on the bed behind him over his head, Wei Ran covered the head of the flashlight with his cuffs to lower the brightness, and carefully opened the first safe.

In this first safe, there was a tray of gold and silver jewelry.

Seeing this, Wei Ran took out the gas mask bag again and poured all the gold and silver jewelry into it.

He continued to cover himself with a quilt and opened the second safe. What was inside was a few stacks of colorful francs and some pounds, as well as a tray of about a hundred silver coins and a dozen gold coins.

After pouring these things into the gas mask bag, Wei Ran opened the third safe. Inside, there was a tray of gold and silver pocket watches of various styles, as well as men's and women's watches.

After pouring it into the bag, Wei Ran weighed the gas mask bag and reached out to open the fourth safe.

However, before he could see what treasure was in the safe, he heard someone outside the window picking the lock!

He glanced at the fourth safe as quickly as possible and saw that there was only a wooden box the size of a lunch box. Wei Ran didn't have time to take a closer look and stuffed it directly into his bag. Then he turned off the flashlight and tried to put it in while praying secretly. The gas mask bag is recovered in a metal book.