War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1380 Memories of Spring

"Hello, Comrade Cha."

Wei Ran greeted the other party in unfamiliar Chinese, "I have received the gift you asked Chaning to give me."

"How about using those gifts for a chance to talk alone?" Zha Xifeng looked straight at Wei Ran and asked in a very straightforward manner.

"certainly"

Wei Ran responded happily, "I'm also curious about the story behind this gift. Please come with me."

With that said, he finally let go of the other person's hand and led him into the basement of the library.

“It’s quiet enough here”

Wei Ran asked the other party into the studio while saying, "Want something to drink?"

"Tea," Zha Xifeng said, sitting down on the sofa, "or coffee, too."

"Sorry to remind you of sad things." Wei Ran said as he handed the other party a cigarette.

Zha Xifeng spread her hands, "My mother is a guerrilla who once received help from China and was a guerrilla who pushed a permanent bicycle to transport supplies on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

Zha Xifeng took advantage of Wei Ran to pour tea and directly told the story about those two things.

"It was a long time ago"

So I was also sent to the battlefield and became a militiaman responsible for reconnaissance, sentry and patrol. "

"This is different from the more difficult child soldiers I know," Wei Ran said in a calm tone.

Having said this, Zha Xifeng looked up at Wei Ran, "Can you believe it? If you find these people, you can receive two American cans, an American compressed biscuit and two candies."

Later, the war between Yueji and China started again. When I was 10 years old, I also became a scout militia.

"So we took you away too?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"Then what?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.

Can you believe it? I didn't get any training, and the only weapons I was given were two grenades and a buffalo for cover. "

"Those two things came from my adoptive father."

There was undisguised sarcasm in Zha Xifeng's tone, "Shortly after the Americans left Yueyun, my mother died and was beaten to death by the villagers.

Later she was caught by the Americans and became pregnant with an American child. Later, my mother found a way to escape, returned to the village where she grew up, and gave birth to me not long after. "

But not long after, when Yue Yu and Hua Xia were about to fight, my mother died. She was beaten to death by the villagers on the charge of... treason. "

During the slightly long silence and Wei Ran's patient waiting, Zha Xifeng continued, "At that time, the Chinese artillery shells always landed near our village, because there was an artillery unit stationed nearby, and we militiamen also fought for them. work.

Zha Xifeng stopped when he finished speaking, and the words he just said were full of uncertainty.

"Those Chinese soldiers didn't kill me, they just took the grenade from my pocket and put two compressed biscuits and a few pineapple-flavored candies in it."

Zha Xifeng took the cigarette and said mockingly, "I don't even remember what my mother looked like. After my mother passed away, I had a relatively stable life, but when the war started, it didn't take long for me to Someone exposed my background, and I wanted to prove that I was a Vietnamese and a valuable Vietnamese.

"He seems to be a Chinese."

“I never considered myself Vietnamese”

Artillery guidance and capture missions? Can these two overlap? Or did you grab a tongue?

When Wei Ran subconsciously began to analyze the mission carried out by the Chinese team, he heard him continue, "One of them asked me if I wanted to survive. Of course I do."

"A child left in the dust?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows and said a unique title with special meaning.

Hearing this, Wei Ran asked thoughtfully, "Can you tell me how you, um, got to know each other?"

“Let’s start with my experience.”

Zha Xifeng shook his head, "Those who were killed by landmines were killed many years ago."

"It seems?" Wei Ran asked while handing the tea to the other party, "He is now"

I was scared, so I agreed to let them tie me up and take me away. But the soldier who spoke Vietnamese also promised to release me at dawn the next day. "

But I am very timid. Every time I conduct reconnaissance, I always find a place to hide and hope that both myself and the buffalo will survive. "

When those Chinese people appeared in front of me again and untied the rope that tied me, they also captured an officer. "

"died"

Taking a deep breath, Zha Xifeng took a puff of cigarette and continued, "In the spring of 1984, I remember clearly that when I was patrolling, I still encountered Chinese soldiers who I was afraid of, but they did not kill me. Just tied me to a tree and gagged me.

Zha Xifeng did not hide anything, "My mother is a guerrilla, and my biological father is an American soldier. He raped my mother's American soldier."

After the second brief silence, Zha Xifeng continued, “Just that evening, the artillery position and the cave where ammunition was stored near our village were shelled.

Zha Xifeng said with a bitter look, "This is probably the only good news. At least after I was born, I was not ostracized or discriminated against because of my appearance.

"You don't look like a mixed race," Wei Ran said carefully.

"Wait a moment." Wei Ran smiled and slowly brewed a cup of black tea for guests.

"What a poetic title."

I will never forget those people. They had green camouflage masks and oil paint on their faces. They were wearing green camouflage uniforms and carrying radios on their backs. Those were the main targets for us patrol militiamen to look for. "

Zha Xifeng nodded, "I'm worried that the people in the village and the troops will know that it was because of me that they were bombarded.

"My mom said my dad was Asian American, maybe, maybe Asian, after all."

"They released you the next day?" Wei Ran continued to follow the topic and asked.

Zha Xifeng nodded again and continued in the swirling smoke, "But I didn't dare to go back to the village, so I decided to hide in a town dozens of kilometers away.

But not long after they released me, explosions and firefights broke out in the direction the Chinese soldiers left.

I don’t know what I was thinking, but I ran after the firefight ended. "

After saying this, Zha Xifeng couldn't help pinching her arm, "When I rushed there, I found nothing except the bodies of several Vietnamese refugee soldiers and a few pools of blood.

I found some money and food on the bodies, and then led my buffalo into the jungle.

I ran for a long time, and then I couldn’t run anymore, so I continued running on the buffalo, and then”

Zha Xifeng shuddered, "Then the buffalo stepped on a landmine, and the cow was killed. Although I survived, my legs were also broken, and my body was completely suppressed by the cow's corpse. I couldn't move. I thought I was definitely going to die, but not long after, a Chinese soldier appeared, he rescued me and took me out of the minefield."

"Your adoptive father?"

"My adoptive father, that was the first time we met."

Zha Xifeng crushed the cigarette butt and said, "His condition is not good either. One leg is tied with a blood-stained bandage and he is limping. But he still carried me out of the minefield."

"later."

"Surviving is not as easy as you think"

Zha Xifeng sighed, "The mine explosion alerted the surrounding militiamen, and many people were chasing us. At first, he took me to hide, bandaged my wounds, and then placed me by the stream and asked me to shout for help.

Later, the militiamen came, but they wanted to kill me directly. Just as the militiaman raised his gun at me, my adoptive father shot again and saved me.

After that, I lost consciousness, and I only vaguely remembered that he was carrying me on his back to avoid being rounded up by the militiamen. "

"In the end you survived," Wei Ran said firmly.

"Yeah, we survived."

Zha Xifeng said with a sad smile, "He took me to a small village and put me on the edge of a well. Before leaving, he stuffed a fruit candy in my mouth. Later, I was picked up by the villagers. He was found and rescued.”

"Where is your adoptive father?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.

"It will be 90 years since we meet again."

Zha Xifeng let out a long breath, "In the autumn of 90, he appeared again in the village that had been shelled. By that time, I had already returned there, and I was already 17 years old. The only thing that remained the same was that I was still herding cattle. , life is still not good."

"Is he looking for you?" Wei Ran asked with a frown.

"He came to find his comrades"

Zha Xifeng paused and added, "Looking for the bodies of his comrades, he spent the rest of his life looking for the bodies of his comrades.

During that time, I became friends with him, helping him conceal the identity of the Chinese, helping him find the bodies of his comrades, learning Chinese with him, how to clear mines, and cultural knowledge. Even my Chinese name was He named it for me.

Later, I became his adopted son until he had an accident while clearing mines. "

When the story came to this point, Zha Xifeng's face was full of pain, "It was the same as the situation I was in when I was ten years old. His accident was also to save a child who accidentally broke into a minefield. That child Survived, but he didn't. Now, that child is my adopted son."

Wei Ran sighed silently and asked after a long silence, "What is his name? Your adoptive father, what is his name?"

"I do not know"

Zha Xifeng gave an unexpected reply, "I asked, and he only said his name was Dongfeng, but I know that it must be a fake name."

"You" Wei Ran took a deep breath, "What do you need me to do?"

"I want to send him home and also send his comrades home."

Zha Xifeng said subconsciously, "But I haven't found the bodies of his comrades yet. I go back there every autumn and look for them all winter, but I can't find them. I don't even know how many comrades he has left behind." There, I don’t know the real name of my adoptive father, the names of his comrades, or where their hometowns are. He never said these, and he never allowed me to ask these questions."

"So those two gifts are your adoptive father's relics?"

Wei Ran asked after a long silence, "Did he leave anything else?"

"Yes, there is more."

As Zha Xifeng spoke, he hurriedly took off the backpack he had been carrying and took out the contents one by one.

Looking at them one by one, the first thing that caught Wei Ran's attention were two color photos.

In that group photo, 10 Chinese soldiers wore large five-leaf camouflage with masks and the highly recognizable Type 56 chest strap.

The weapons and equipment in the hands of these people are also very characteristic of the times. The only things he can recognize are the Type 64 silent submachine gun, the Type 56 submachine gun, the Bayi bar, the Type 67 silent pistol, and the small Bayi radio with an antenna.

A few people even deliberately exposed their glory bombs tied with red ropes.

In the second color photo, there is a soldier who is still wearing the large five-leaf camouflage with a mask and holding an August 1st Banner in his hand.

There is also a very conspicuous glory bomb on his neck, and a silver watch can be seen on his exposed wrist.

The difference from the previous photo is that the ammunition carrying equipment worn by this soldier at this time is not the Type 56 chest rack or the successor Type 81 chest rack. Instead, it is a slightly outrageous military green "vest" with many ammunition pouches. .

Putting down these two photos, Wei Ran picked up a long box and opened it. Contrary to his expectation, there was a rather beautiful Type 65 paratrooper knife inside.

Airborne troops?

Wei Ran suppressed the doubts in his heart and looked at the last relic. This time it was a Type 78 kettle with extensive signs of use. On this kettle, a five-star red flag the size of a matchbox was embroidered with red and yellow silk thread.

"There is also an 81-bar rifle"

Zha Xifeng said apologetically, "Sorry, I didn't really intend to ask you to help me at first, so I didn't bring the gun here."

"Where is it?"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he added, "Also, your adoptive father, Comrade Dongfeng, where is he?"

"That gun is in America, in my home."

Zha Xifeng replied, "I buried my adoptive father outside the village just mentioned, and I have bought all the land nearby."

"Can you tell me about yourself?" Wei Ran asked, "When did you go to the United States?"

"The year after my adoptive father died"

Zha Xifeng answered quite frankly, "In 2000, I got an opportunity to go to the United States, but I did not give up on helping my adoptive father find his comrades."

"Didn't you try to contact the Chinese authorities?" Wei Ran asked a new question after careful consideration.

"I asked this question more than once when my adoptive father was alive."

Zha Xifeng sighed, "He said every time that it was because of him that he didn't take them back, and he was the only one who could find his comrades. He blamed himself very much, and he was not qualified to ask for help."

"I know" Wei Ran sighed.

"Comrade Weiran"

Zha Xifeng misunderstood Wei Ran's sigh and asked nervously, "Can you help me? At least I can find my adoptive father's family. Even if he is the only one who can go home, I will be satisfied."

(End of this chapter)