War Photographer's Notebook

"What did you say?"

Wei Ran, who had recovered from the sense of brain failure, asked back in a daze, but at the same time he couldn't help but mutter in his heart, "Sure enough, as long as the witnesses are killed, the theft will not be discovered."

"Did you secretly watch my sister and I changing clothes?"

Vanessa didn't wait for Wei Ran to answer, but asked with a smile, "Who has a better figure, me or my sister?"

"I didn't see it"

Wei Ran eliminated the problem at its source. He could clearly feel that this girl seemed to have other motives, and it was not the "romance" attached to the excessive hormones in the French's bones.

"You are really emotionless" Vanessa said with deep frustration in her tone.

Are you blind? Why can't you see the body in the gang?

Wei Ran muttered secretly, but without any delay, he drove the car to a bridge that was blown apart.

"get off first"

After Wei Ran greeted Vanessa and came down, he first took off the two people's shoes from the sidecar, and then removed the saddlebags containing sundries on the outside of the sidecar, and asked Vanessa to break the broken bricks of the broken bridge. The stone was loaded in and then tightly tied to the nearly naked corpse.

"Plop! Crack!"

Amidst the splashing water, the corpse hid under the water without even saying hello.

"boarding"

Wei Ran said hello after getting on the motorcycle. When Vanessa sat behind him, he immediately turned the accelerator and drove the motorcycle away from the dumping ground.

However, he had driven less than 500 meters when he had to stop because of the groping hands of the girl behind him.

"Did you peek at us changing clothes?" Vanessa asked Wei Ran's ear as if she was unwilling to give up.

Gently taking away the other person's hand that was trying to untie his belt, Wei Ran simply turned off the motorcycle. He got off the car and took off his chain dog uniform while revealing the other person's little thoughts, "Vanessa, you obviously They were all frightened, but they chose to flirt with me at this time because they were worried that I would tell my grandfather about stealing things from the grocery store, right?"

Seeing a look of panic on Vanessa's face, Wei Ran continued to take off his clothes while guessing, "Or is it because you want to steal the IOUs in the safe?"

"You know everything?" After Vanessa said this, she lowered her head like a deflated ball and slowly got out of the car.

"The first time you went to break into the safe, I waited in the kitchen for almost an hour to save you from embarrassment." Wei Ran said deliberately.

"I"

Vanessa suddenly squatted down holding her knees and said with a cry, "I don't want to do this, neither do I! But before he left, that old bastard threatened us that if we still don't pay what I owed my father when he was alive by the end of this year, I have to be his lover to pay off those loan sharks!
But that damn bastard is almost 70 years old! I'd rather sleep with a hundred Germans than let him touch me! "

Seemingly finding an outlet for her emotions and pressure, Vanessa said with a cry of grievance in the slightly cold evening breeze by the A River, "I thought that as long as I studied law hard, I could find evidence of his crime, and then bring him to justice." Send him to jail.

But before I could graduate, the war started. When I rushed home, France had surrendered! The law is just a piece of waste paper now! what can I do? ! The interest my sister and I paid has already exceeded seven times the principal. Do you want me to be that old guy's lover? I feel sick when I see him! "

"My cousin, Mr. Spear, isn't he going to help you?" As Wei Ran spoke, he had already folded the chained dog uniform he had taken off and threw it into the sidecar of his motorcycle.

"He even owes that old guy money."

Vanessa sniffed, "Didn't you agree to come here to help him look after the store and keep an eye on my sister and me because you owed him money?"

Why does everyone owe him money?

Wei Ran muttered to himself, and comforted her while putting on his shoes again, "Don't cry Vanessa, we have the same goal. The reason why I am willing to take this job is actually to find an IOU to eliminate the debt."

"Really?" Vanessa raised her head in surprise and asked.

"Heidi must have gotten the box with the IOUs, right?" Wei Ran asked back, "I originally planned to help him guard the grocery store to find those IOUs."

“Thanks to the kind German gentleman”

Vanessa finally broke her tears and smiled, "If it hadn't been for his help, it would have taken me an entire night to break open those safes."

"just you?"

Wei Ran really didn't look down on this girl. The old-fashioned door lock in the grocery store took several minutes to open. By the time she could pry open the safe, World War II might have ended.

"I try to pry it every day."

Vanessa's eyes suddenly widened when she said this, and she asked through gritted teeth, "So you saw all the times I sneaked over to try on clothes?! You pervert! Peeping Tom!"

"De Gaulle testified that today is really the first time."

Wei Ran said frankly, "I've never met you before. Okay, hurry up and take off these clothes on your body. We need to find a place to hide these clothes and this motorcycle as soon as possible."

"King Louis would never believe your lies even if he were alive."

Vanessa muttered, and at the same time quickly took off the chain dog uniform she was wearing.

After he followed Wei Ran's example and folded the uniform he took off and put it into the sidecar of the motorcycle, the two of them took stock of what they had seized from the two chained dogs.

For Vanessa, a girl who was once heavily in debt, the most attractive thing about these two chained dogs was the ration coupons and German marks in the two wallets, as well as a few blood-stained francs and pounds, and A few pairs of stockings with wrapping paper - this is also hard currency, hard currency for sleeping with French women.

What Wei Ran cares about is the weapons of the two chain dogs - a slightly larger PP pistol, and a slightly smaller PPK pistol, plus two MP35 submachine guns and matching magazines. Of course, There are also two Mauser bayonets that he uses most conveniently.

"Victor, am I so unattractive?" Vanessa asked abruptly after opening a box full of condoms.

"That's because I have good concentration."

Wei Ran muttered secretly, do you really think that the girls living at home are just decorations? A certain historian has developed his concentration long ago. What's more, he couldn't be sure whether this was a test given to him by that blind and broken book, so he naturally became a little more timid.

However, such hurtful words cannot be said directly.

"We just killed someone"

Wei Ran said helplessly, "Rather than doing anything else, I think we should hide this motorcycle as soon as possible and then find a way to get it back quietly. Moreover, we also need to discuss a confession to avoid the Germans coming to our door tomorrow." It’s a leak.”

Speaking of this, Vanessa immediately locked up the tin box full of condoms in her hand, along with the two money clips full of money and ration coupons, and even the pairs of stockings and threw them all into the sidecar of the motorcycle. , and said with a little embarrassment, "Keep going forward, there is an abandoned church there, we can hide the motorcycle there."

"Get in the car"

As Wei Ran spoke, he put the weapons and ammunition into the sidecar and got on the motorcycle again.

When Vanessa also rode up, he immediately turned the accelerator, and under the guidance of the other party, drove to a wasteland next to the river bank only two kilometers away.

There is not only a church here, but also a circle of cemeteries scattered around the church. Under the mist that diffuses along the river, it inevitably looks particularly gloomy.

"Don't go in, just wait for me around here." Wei Ran stepped on the brakes again by the river.

Hearing this, Vanessa immediately nodded and got off the motorcycle, wrapped her clothes tightly and squatted in the shadow of an oak tree.

With a silent smile, Wei Ran rode his motorcycle into the center of the cemetery. After circling the collapsed church, he parked it beside a pile of wheat straw.

After looking around, he took out the gas mask bag again, put the flower-mouthed knives and the World War I dagger that he had put in before on the car seat, and then put the two bayonets and two German weapons that had just been captured. The pistol was put in.

Seeing that he could still successfully put away the metal book, Wei Ran immediately threw the World War I dagger and the flower-mouthed poker into the ruins of the church.

Turning around, Wei Ran picked up the pitchfork lying not far away. After a lot of effort, Wei Ran successfully pushed down the wheat straw pile and covered the motorcycle tightly.

After leaving the cemetery, he met Vanessa who was waiting outside. Wei Ran took her to carefully bypass the patrol, and under the cover of night, he quietly sneaked through the back door of the tailor shop at around three o'clock in the morning. Got in.

At this time, Heidi had already come back. Not only did she come back, she also boiled bath water for Wei Ran and the two of them, and brought back several pieces of autumn and winter clothes.
Some of these clothes were obviously worn by the two sisters, while others were men's clothes. Before Wei Ran and the two came back, she was keeping the candle light and using a sewing machine to sew the extra pockets on these clothes.

"No one saw you when you came back, right?" Wei Ran asked before Heidi could speak.

"No." Heidi shook her head, "I deliberately waited until the moon was blocked by clouds to come back."

"Let's take a shower first," Wei Ran said before Vanessa could speak. "Let's have a drink later and talk about what we did tonight."

Hearing this, sisters Heidi and Vanessa nodded immediately, watching Wei Ran leave the room, cross the yard and get into the tailor shop.

When he returned to the second floor, the bathtub was filled with hot water.

Seeing this, he was not polite, took off his clothes directly, lay down in it, and scrubbed his whole body with soap.

When he threw the dirty clothes he had worn into the tub in the yard and found the two sisters with a drawer full of money and the brandy he just took out of the gas mask bag, Vanessa also happened to take it from hers. Come out of the bedroom.

"This is the IOU found in the safe"

After Heidi waited for Wei Ran to sit down, she opened the wooden box with some anxiety, "Our IOU, Spear's IOU, and of course yours, are all in here."

After hearing this, under the nervous gaze of the sisters, Wei Ran covered the wooden box with a smile, walked to the fireplace, opened the door, and threw it directly into the burning coals.

"Okay, we've paid off all our debts."

Wei Ran clapped his hands and said, "So should we sit down and have a drink?"

Hearing this, Vanessa immediately helped open the bottle of brandy, took out three glasses from the cupboard, and filled them all with great sincerity.

"These were taken from several other safes in the grocery store."

Wei Ran said, lifting the blanket covering the drawer, "The other three safes have the same password as the one that was opened, and I have found the key a long time ago."

"So much?" Heidi and Vanessa looked at a drawer full of gold and silver and couldn't help but let out a suppressed exclamation.

"Let's split it evenly"

Wei Ran said generously that he stole these things back purely to complete the language task, but these things could not be brought to future generations, so they actually did not mean much to him.

"Really. Is it really possible?" Heidi looked at Wei Ran in disbelief.

"Of course," Wei Ran said nonchalantly, "Hurry up and share the points. We have more important things to do next."

Hearing this, Heidi gritted her teeth, but she just divided the cash and silver coins in the drawer into three equal parts. Then she got up and found a few glass jars from the kitchen, and put the rest of the jewelry together with pocket watches, watches and even gold coins. Pour it in, and then screw on the lid, ask Vanessa to help melt a few candles, and dip the lid of the can in it.

After everything was done, she explained, "Let's bury these things for now. After the war is over, if life becomes more difficult, we can dig them out again."

Speaking of which, Heidi added, "This is a secret between the three of us. Even Spear can't know."

"Okay!" Vanessa was the first to respond, and then Wei Ran nodded indifferently. With the permission of the two of them, Heidi found a large stoneware jar from the kitchen. After putting the cans and bottles in one by one, she also stuffed a lot of old clothes and tattered blankets into it to act as a buffer. Then he asked Wei Ran to carry him to the small air raid shelter in the yard.

The three of them worked together to dig out the slightly damp soil and put the stoneware jar in. Wei Ran personally covered it with a stoneware lid the size of a soup basin.

Finally, they worked together to backfill the ground, laid wooden boards, and sprinkled the excess soil on the surrounding flowers. The three of them also took advantage of the busy time just now to make a confession.

Seeing that it was getting dark, the three of them went back to their rooms, washed the dust and mud off their bodies and lay down on the bed.

After a short sleep of less than four hours, when Wei Ran got up and went downstairs at the urging of the alarm clock, Heidi and Vanessa were already in the backyard washing the clothes they had worn and "stolen" yesterday. .

Not only that, Wei Ran also noticed that all the stolen clothes had a small iron piece sewn on them.

Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled but did not step forward to help. He just took two slices of bread from the table not far away for breakfast. While eating, he opened the door of the tailor shop.

It was already around 08:30 in the morning, and the streets outside were not busy, but they were not deserted either.

The better news is that there is nothing unusual about the Reynolds grocery store opposite. The door is still locked, and even the neighbors don't seem to show any curiosity or gossip.

In my history, how did the Heidi sisters deal with the two chain dogs? Or, why do they want to kill the pair of chain dogs? Is it because the chain dog found those IOUs?

Or did you know about Spear's existence from those IOUs? Or maybe they became greedy for Sister Heidi?
If you think about it this way, no matter what the reason is, it is indeed enough for the sisters to resist.

Wei Ran thought to himself while wiping the door of the store with a rag. For two young girls, killing two chain dogs sounded like an extremely difficult task, but it didn't seem that difficult. After all, those two chain dogs are men after all.

While he was distracted while cleaning, several German officers also walked over. In their hands, some were carrying a bottle of wine, some were carrying some bacon or cheese, and some were holding A newspaper.

"Hey! Wrong suck!"

Wei Ran enthusiastically stretched out his right hand to say hello, regardless of whether the other party understood it or not, he greeted enthusiastically in French, "Gentlemen, come in and clean your shoes!"

"What did he say?" After responding to Wei Ran's greeting, one of the lieutenants turned to the one holding the wine bottle and asked.

“Ask us if we want your shoes shined”

The lieutenant said, looking down at the boots on his feet, "Would you like to wipe them? By the way, you can throw your clothes here and wash them. My uniforms are washed here. Although they are not very clean, they are washed here." The owner is very nice.”

"In that case, it's time for my coat to be ironed." Another lieutenant said immediately.

"Is the shopkeeper here a Jew?" asked a captain with an honor scar on his face.

"No"

The man with the wine bottle in his hand had already walked into the tailor shop that Wei Ran pushed open while talking, and kept saying, "Beautiful blond hair, blue eyes, white skin, and very delicate facial features. I am the third person." I noticed her when I was passing by here.

She also has a younger sister who is taller but has much smaller breasts and has short hair. To be honest, I don't like girls with short hair, not to mention she is too thin. "

These Germans commented unscrupulously on Sister Heidi and filled the sofa. The one who had been beeping just now also switched to French. While talking, he put a piece of paper on the sofa. The note was handed to Wei Ran, "Please wipe our boots and iron our coats by the way. Also, have my clothes been washed?"

"Please wait a moment, let me take a look." Wei Ran said, taking the note and walking to the shelf to look for the corresponding clothes.

At the same time, Heidi, who heard the sound of wind chimes, also walked out of the backyard. While saying hello, she enthusiastically gave a French salute in French to the lieutenant who had just been evaluating her.

This was undoubtedly the best sign, so before Wei Ran could find the lieutenant's uniform, the others, including the captain, took off their coats and handed them to Heidi, expressing their need with gestures. Ironing service.

"It's your dick you need to iron, right?"

Wei Ran muttered to himself and handed the uniform and shirt he found to the rather proud lieutenant. After the latter took over the clothes, he went directly into the changing room, obviously preparing to change out of the clothes he was wearing.

While the only lieutenant who could speak French went to change clothes, Heidi also brought a cup of cheap black tea to each of the others. At the same time, she felt particularly guilty that because of the rationing system, this was the only thing she could do here. Drinks provided.

Seeing that the Germans were so fascinated by Heidi that they didn't even bother to pay attention to him, Wei Ran was not in a hurry to shine their shoes. Instead, he placed a few cast iron irons on the fireplace that was only lit in the morning to heat them.

While listening to the useless chatter, Wei Ran slowly ironed the clothes. At the same time, Wei Ran also used Heidi with her back to the counter as a cover to take out a few coats from the wallet that he had forgotten to take out. She put a small denomination of banknotes or pinched out a coin and quietly hid them in the rag used to clean the table.

During his busy work, the coats were ironed and smoothed one by one. During this period, several soldiers who came in to wash clothes inevitably saluted and greeted the lieutenants and captains when they saw them.

Under the tacit understanding of Wei Ran and Heidi, these people were busy with coats and boots from the moment they opened the door in the morning until nearly noon.

And on this most dangerous first morning, there were still no German soldiers or chain dogs to search the grocery store opposite.

Obviously, the two chained dogs last night were probably doing private work behind everyone's back, and it is possible that no one knows yet that they are out cold.

Although these officers could not be used as a shield, Heidi, who was particularly enthusiastic, received ration coupons that far exceeded the value of her labor, as well as a bottle of red wine, a piece of cheese, and two packs of cigarettes as a reward for "chatting".

Rushing to send off these officers who were chatting happily before lunch, Heidi put her hands on her hips and let out a long sigh, "It's really hard to chat with people, Victor, don't say this to Spear. thing."

"I didn't see anything," Wei Ran said with a smile as he packed up the tools on the counter.

"This is your hush money"

Heidi said, throwing two packs of cigarettes to Wei Ran, and she went to the backyard carrying a few pieces of dirty clothes she had collected this morning.

Unrolling the rag, Wei Yan stuffed the soaked banknotes and coins into his pocket.

Before a smile appeared on his face, the indescribable feeling of brain failure came over again. He was also spinning, and once again felt that some warm liquid seemed to flow out of his nostrils.

"puff"

Almost as he sat down on the floor due to dizziness, a chain dog also opened the door and walked in.

"what happened to you?"

The chained dog was startled by Wei Ran's appearance and hurriedly asked in fairly proficient French.

"I"

While resisting the nausea that still lingered, Wei Ran trembled and said, "I have a nosebleed, but I'm dizzy. Please help me."

Hearing this, the chained dog immediately ran to the counter, picked up the wet towel he had just used to iron his coat, and first helped Wei Ran wipe off the blood on his hands, and then wiped off the blood from his nostrils.

"Mrs. Hattie!"

The chained dog shouted loudly while covering Wei Ran's still bleeding nose with a towel.

"what happened?"

Heidi ran over quickly and was startled when she saw the chained dog. She thought that what happened last night had happened - especially when Wei Ran was still half lying on the ground, and there seemed to be wounds on his mouth and nose. Bloodstains!
"He had a nosebleed and then he fainted from the bleeding."

The chained dog, who looked to be only 26 or seven years old, said with disgust, "This is the first time I have seen such a timid man."

Heidi was stunned and ran over very quickly. She took out a handkerchief to block Wei Ran's nostrils and said, "My sister Vanessa is like this too. It seems to be hereditary."

"Isn't Mrs. Heidi scared?" the chain dog asked curiously.

"I have to take care of them both when they are bleeding. Even if they are scared, they are already used to it."

Heidi sighed pretending to be helpless, then changed the subject and asked, "Are you here to do the laundry?"

“I almost forgot about the real thing”

The chain dog put down the blood-stained towel, "Mrs. Heidi, have Lucas and Julian been to your place? They came here yesterday to sew pants and repair boots."

"I seem to have some impression"

With the help of the other party, Heidi helped Wei Ran, who had recovered but was still pretending, to the sofa and said, "They did come to my place yesterday. If I remember correctly, Mr. Lucas can speak French." Bar?"

"Yes, that's them." The chain dog nodded, "Have they been here today? Yesterday they said they would send their dirty clothes over for washing today."

"no"

Heidi shook her head, "No military police came this morning. Only a few officers and gentlemen chatted here all morning while ironing their coats and shining their shoes. The rest are soldiers, and they don't have this."

After saying that, Heidi pointed to the huge metal plate on the other person's neck.

"That's weird," the chained dog couldn't help but muttered in German.

"What's wrong? Do you have any urgent matter with them?" Heidi asked curiously while using another wet towel to wipe Wei Ran's nosebleed.

"It's our captain who is looking for them," the chained dog said. "Now there are only two of them missing. I thought they were lazy here."

"I have never seen any gendarme gentlemen be lazy," Heidi said with a smile, "They are the most diligent Germans I have ever seen, but"

"But what?" the military policeman asked immediately.

"Is it possible that they spent the night in some woman's bed?"

Heidi pointed to the German soldiers passing by on the street outside the window, "Look, almost every German has a female companion, and I guess they might have one too."

"I'll look elsewhere."

The chained dog stood up and said as he walked out, "Mrs. Heidi, if you see either of them, you must ask them to go back as soon as possible."

"If I see them, I will definitely inform you."

Heidi stood up and promised, "When Victor recovers, if we are not busy, I will ask him to help find it outside."

"Then I will trouble you"

After saying that, the chain dog had already opened the store door and ran away to who knows where.

After the shop door closed by itself, Heidi sat next to Wei Ran again. While helping him wipe away the nosebleed that had stopped flowing, he asked in a low voice, "Are you really bleeding?"

"fake"

Wei Ran, who narrowed his eyes slightly, said in a low voice, "I just happened to have a nosebleed, and I happened to see him come in, so I fainted. Who would suspect that the person who fainted with blood was a murderer?"

Hearing this, Heidi smiled, but asked worriedly, "Are they about to find out?"

"What does it have to do with us?"

Wei Ran responded absently, but couldn't help but wonder in his mind. These two language tasks were obviously completed, but what exactly did he learn this time?
In addition to this doubt, he also began to think that it was time to prepare to complete the task of taking pictures.