War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1413 VN15

Early the next morning, when Wei Ran drove home alone, the hardened road surface of the alley had been cleaned and covered with a thick layer of nutritious soil.

A dwarf apple tree was planted directly opposite the original courtyard gate.

Recalling the suspended death plan he got from Jima at the camping site last night, Weiran opened the car door and walked into the lobby on the first floor with his dog covered in grass clippings, only to find that all these girls were not at home.

I wandered around to the library next door. Mrs. Samantha, the tribal wizard, was helping Apolly run the coffee bar. By the way, she was learning some common Russian phrases with Apolly.

"Today is the weekend"

While talking, Apolly skillfully helped Wei Ran prepare a cup of thick Russian coffee, and kept explaining, "The girls set out early in the morning with the overseas student employees. They seemed to be preparing to take the passenger ship to the lower reaches. I am visiting Ulyanovsk and will not take the train back until the evening.”

Having said this, Apolly pushed the coffee to Wei Ran and asked with interest, "I heard that you and Dima did very stupid things in Ulyanovsk? It seems that you were raised by the studio "The one"

"You continue to be busy"

Wei Ran didn't even give the other party a chance to finish what he said. He turned away with his cup of coffee and said, "I want to go back and plant flowers."

“It seems the rumors are true”

In a happy mood, Apolly gave Wei Ran a stabbing blow as he fled, and reopened the laptop on the bar in a leisurely manner.

Returning to the yard with a lot of embarrassment, Wei Ran, who was rarely quiet, was not idle either. He took out a bag of sunflower seeds from the car and asked Jima's parents for sunflower seeds when he came back. Then he took out the food box and put it in the yard. I took out the remaining jasmine seeds that were planted in the small western-style building and planted them in the newly opened garden in an orderly manner.

However, he hadn't finished his work yet. The dog Beria, who was rolling madly at his feet, and the two big-eared foxes all bowed their waists in the direction of the library and made threatening noises. Grow.

Not to mention the three canine brothers, even the black-faced sheep that was locked outside the garden lowered its head in the same direction and started pawing its hooves.

Who the hell taught whom?

Wei Ran muttered secretly, put down the watering can in his hand, and led his four-legged brothers to the electromagnetic door on the opposite side of the yard.

When he got closer, he realized that besides Zha Xifeng, who was wearing quick-drying clothes and pants, there was also an item of clothing that reminded him of Katenka's Rapunzel back then, and a figure with a figure A tall, caucasian woman who looks to be about the same age as Cha Xifeng.

"Mr. Cha"

Wei Ran said hello from a distance, first tricked the dog Beria into the dog cage on the wall, and then opened the electromagnetic door and let the three of them in.

Needless to say, Zha Xifeng, the long-haired girl wearing fat and colorful clothes, was tall and tall, but it could only be seen that her hair was blond, but her face was completely obscured by a mask, a baseball cap and sunglasses.

On the other hand, the white woman who looked to be about the same age as Cha Xifeng was wearing a decent, formal off-white suit and skirt, and was carrying a brown leather briefcase in her hand.

What is special is that there is a rather special brooch on the chest of her suit.

This brooch is no bigger than the knuckle of your thumb. The two ends are dark green, but there is a particularly conspicuous bright orange stripe in the middle.

On the lower edge of this special brooch, there is also a base composed of a group of red words "VN15".

Although he just glanced at it, Wei Ran tensed his nerves subconsciously.

If that small brooch were enlarged to the size of a 200-liter oil drum, then anyone with a little knowledge of the history of modern warfare would subconsciously think of one dirty thing - Agent Orange. !

As for the group "VN15", it is inevitably reminiscent of the 15-year Vietnam War.

"Wei Ran, we meet again."

Zha Xifeng waited for Wei Ran to open the door and patted him on the shoulders enthusiastically, and then introduced, "Let me introduce, this is my wife Miley."

"Hello, Mrs. Miley." Wei Ran shook hands with the woman in formal attire with a smile.

"Hello, Mr. Wei Ran."

Mrs. Miley, who "wears Agent Orange on her chest," speaks Chinese unexpectedly well, and she has an almost standard broadcasting accent. "I have been listening to my husband talk about you these days. Thank you for helping him find him." Father's home, find his family."

"Mrs. Miley is too polite," Wei Ran responded modestly.

"This is our daughter," Zha Xifeng continued to introduce, "her name is Daofeng."

"Hello, Mr. Wei Ran."

The girl named Daofeng also greeted Wei Ran and shook hands with her in a broadcasting style of Chinese. At the same time, she politely took off her mask and baseball cap with her other hand, revealing a look between her eyebrows and Chaxi's face. Feng and Miley are slightly similar, but they are stunningly beautiful faces.

"Hello"

Wei Ran politely shook hands with the mixed-race girl, who was probably about the same age as Lu Xinda, and warmly greeted the three of them to go home, while politely asking them their reason for coming.

"I actually came here to introduce you to a business deal."

Zha Xifeng followed Wei Ran in and explained, "You helped me find my father's family, but you only accepted two boxes of bees as a token reward. This made me very uneasy, so I want to introduce it to you. It’s a lucrative business, and we’ve brought a decent gift.”

"A business that can make a lot of money?"

Wei Ran thought for a moment but did not rush to ask questions. He just enthusiastically asked the family to sit down on the sofa and brought them fruit and coffee.

"Mr. Cha, you don't have to be like this."

Wei Ran poured coffee for each of the three and said, "I didn't do anything to help you. I was just invited to visit your hometown and helped you find a lunch box. Such a small thing is not worth your time." So boom”

"You can't say that"

Zha Xifeng thanked Wei Ran for the coffee, sighed and said sincerely, "I have been looking for that lunch box for almost 20 years. If it weren't for you, I might have continued to look for it.

What's more, you also helped me find two strong investors and saved my demining company. So no matter from which point, I have to express something. "

Before Zha Xifeng finished speaking, his wife Miley had already opened the briefcase she was carrying and took out a jewelry box the size of a pizza box.

"Mr. Wei Ran, this is a small gift for Miss Suisui. Please accept it on your behalf." Miley said, pushing the oversized jewelry box over with both hands.

"For Suisui?" Wei Ran didn't expect that the other party would find such an excuse.

"Wei Ran, please accept it." Zha Xifeng said sincerely.

"That's fine." Wei Ran was not pretentious, "Can I open it and take a look?"

"Of course you can." Zha Xifeng cupped her hands.

Seeing this, Wei Ran opened the red bow ribbon and magnetic lock on the solid wood jewelry box.

However, when he slowly opened the lid of the jewelry box, he found that there was an emerald necklace that was so complicated and luxurious that it could be described as "exaggerated", as well as a pair of earrings made of the same emerald and an emerald. ring.

"Mr. Cha, this"

“No need to be surprised”

Zha Xifeng hurriedly explained before Wei Ran could speak, "If you have been to Tianbao Port, you must have noticed the 'Chinese Emerald Hometown' promotional sign hanging there."

"I did notice it, but..."

Still not giving Wei Ran a chance to finish his words, Zha Xifeng continued to explain, "My Dongfeng Mine Clearance School is not that far away from there. The emeralds used in this set of jewelry were the ones I organized to clear mines nearby many years ago. I accidentally discovered it when I was working in the mine. It was a small-scale tungsten mine. Although the tungsten output was not high, it produced a lot of very good-quality emerald ore.”

Having said this, Zha Xifeng spread his hands and said, "To be honest, everything I have today is thanks to my father's training in the first half of my life, and the emeralds produced in the tungsten mine in the second half of my life."

"Mr. Wei Ran, most gems are actually hyped gimmicks. They are not as expensive as you think."

Chaxifeng’s wife Miley followed, “So please accept this small gift, and then we can talk about more important things.”

The other party said that for this reason, and it was obvious that Cha Xifeng brought his wife and daughter here specifically to send this thank you in a decent way. It would be rude for him to refuse at this time.

just

Wei Ran inevitably glanced at the eye-catching brooch that Miley was wearing again. He was really worried that once he accepted this gift for Suisui, what if he introduced the big business and the danger that the brooch represented? It's something related, does he still have a chance to refuse?

As his mind was spinning, Wei Ran, who wanted to use Suisui as an excuse to delay her, finally closed the lid of the jewelry box and said, "In this case, I will accept this gift for Suisui."

At this point, he added apologetically, "Because today is the weekend, she took her employees to Ulyanovsk downstream and won't be able to come back until evening."

"no problem, no problem"

Zha Xifeng waved her hand quickly, "It's because we didn't contact you in advance when we came."

"Mr. Wei Ran, we actually brought you a piece of business as a thank you."

Miley then changed the topic and said that although this woman's Chinese was too standard, her way of thinking was obviously "very American" and there was no politeness at all.

"Why don't you tell me in detail what kind of business it is?" Wei Ran asked, following the topic.

Hearing this, Zha Xifeng and his wife looked at each other. The latter smiled and said in Chinese, "You come and talk to Mr. Wei Ran. I will take Cecilia to stroll in the yard."

"Alright"

Zha Xifeng nodded, and Miley nodded apologetically towards Wei Ran, and then called her daughter Daofeng, who was holding two big-eared foxes in her arms, to leave the living room temporarily.

"You just noticed Miley's brooch, right?" Zha Xifeng asked almost certainly.

really

Wei Ran sighed secretly and nodded frankly, "Is that the Agent Orange barrel?"

"right"

Zha Xifeng nodded, "It is also the logo of the VN15 charity organization."

"VN15?"

"An anti-war organization founded in the United States"

Zha Xifeng explained in detail, “It was first organized by Vietnam War veterans and their families. Later, there were many, well, to use your original description, they were called children left in the dust.

Later, many children left in the dust joined this organization and it has developed to this day. Those mixed-race children from more difficult circumstances now account for the vast majority of the members of this organization.

The current VN15 not only adheres to the anti-war concept, but also opposes inhumane behavior in war and the use of chemical weapons. It is also committed to removing Agent Orange left in difficult and rodent-containing countries, and rescuing those affected by Agent Orange. victim. "

Speaking of this, Cha Xifeng looked at the mother and daughter outside the floor-to-ceiling window and said proudly, "Miley is an investigator of VN15. Her father is a Vietnam War veteran. He also formed another team in Yue Di Not a glamorous but legitimate family in a sense, with children of their own.

Of course, neither that child nor Miley's father survived the war.

Since Miley joined this organization, she has helped nearly a hundred Agent Orange children. She and I also met in this organization. "

"So you are also a member of VN15?" Wei Ran asked following the topic.

"of course not"

Zha Xifeng spread his hands and replied extraordinarily calmly, "I remember I said a long time ago that I never thought that I was a difficult person, and I didn't have much feelings about it.

But there's no denying that Miley raised a lot of dollars from me when she was young to help children who have lived nightmares their entire lives because of Agent Orange. "

"So the business you want to introduce to me is related to Agent Orange?" Wei Ran suppressed his inner resistance and asked with a normal expression.

"To be precise, it doesn't matter much."

Zha Xifeng spread his hands, and before Wei Ran could relax after hearing this sentence, he continued to say a statement that made Wei Ran tense up again, "But it does have something to do with the US-Vietnam War."

At this point, Zha Xifeng changed the subject, "I still remember that you once went to the United States and accepted an investigation worth 288 million US dollars to help a Vietnam War soldier who had thrown Agent Orange during the Vietnam War investigate his illegitimate child."

"It does happen"

Wei Ran nodded and shook his head pretending to be regretful, "But before I could get the results of my investigation, the employer canceled the deal. They seemed to have obtained the key evidence through other means."

"The hypocrite who once wrote "Lancers Over the Jungle" has tried more than once to hire murderers to murder members of VN15 or simply discredit the charity organization through public opinion and his ridiculous memoir.

But it is undeniable that there are many veterans in VN15 who are reflecting on war crimes. "

At this point, Zha Xifeng brought the topic back, "The business I want to introduce to you comes from a veteran in the VN15 organization."

"What does he want to investigate?"

Wei Ran asked in a calm tone, but in fact he was already thinking about how to politely refuse the other party's kindness.

"An American Communist"

Zha Xifeng gave an unexpected answer, "Help a veteran of the US Communist Party find the most difficult friends he made during the war."

As if afraid of Wei Ran's rejection, Zha Xifeng then added, "About seven months ago, the veteran passed away due to organ failure. He left a will and a sum of money worth more than one hundred and fifty. A million-dollar inheritance.”

After a pause, Zha Xifeng looked at Wei Ran and said, "According to the will, the real estate part of the inheritance will be donated to VN15 as office space.

There is also about 75 US dollars left for his lost friends who are more difficult to survive, and the remaining 15 US dollars are used as VN activity funds.

But the premise of all this is that the US$75 in the will must first be handed over to his more difficult friend before VN15 has the right to use his real estate as an office space and obtain the US$40 in activity funds. "

Seeing that Wei Ran didn't seem to be in a hurry to continue, Zha Xifeng had no choice but to continue, "In order to obtain this inheritance, VN15 is willing to spend US$40 from the US$15 activity fund as remuneration. In addition, that person also Collections in warehouses left by the Communist Party of America.”

At this point, Zha Xifeng had already opened his wife's briefcase, took out his tablet computer, opened it, pulled out a set of photos and handed them to Wei Ran, "This is the collection left by that comrade."

After a slight hesitation, Wei Ran reached out and took the tablet from the other party, looking at the photos displayed on it.

In the first photo, in addition to a military 715 jeep, there are also some old weapons with a Vietnam War flavor, such as M16s and grenade launchers.

I casually scrolled the screen to the second page, and this time I saw some silver bowls and candlesticks that looked like Buddhist utensils. I couldn't tell whether they were valuable or not, but they were all pretty little knick-knacks.

Wei Ran frowned when he saw the third picture. It was a heavy-duty 28-inch bicycle made in China. What was quite exaggerated was that the frame beams of this bicycle were fixed with belts. Armed with an American M67 recoilless rifle.

If all this just made him frown, when he saw the fourth photo, he almost stood up!

They were about a dozen Buddha statues and Guanyin statues of different sizes made of jade or bronze. But among these Buddha statues, there was a headless statue mixed in, a statue of Mazu made of mutton-fat jade!