War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1434 The photographer whose price dropped

When Miss America finished her performance on the stage, Wei Ran also put down her camera in disappointment amid cheers and whistles.

Perhaps it was because "you don't sell your body when you're performing", or maybe she learned a lesson from the South Vietnamese girls who were almost stripped naked just now. When this sexy and beautiful girl ended her performance, she "happened" to stand farthest from the edge of the stage. Wisely kept a distance of more than two meters from the beasts in the audience who were ready to move.

When the American lady thanked her and left the stage, it also meant that today's performance was over. The surrounding soldiers also stood up one after another and left the stage in a hurry. They didn't know where to go.

Just by turning his face, even the white soldier without front teeth who had just been standing next to Wei Ran no longer knew where he was.

Although there were no acquaintances around, Wei Ran didn't panic. He waited until all the soldiers around him had left, then he stood up with his camera and randomly chose a direction with many barracks and walked aimlessly. , thinking about taking some pictures.

However, less than a hundred meters away, he heard the "noise" and banging sounds unique to the primary stage of human reproduction.

Following the sound for a few steps, Wei Ran walked around to the open window on the side of a barracks and immediately saw a Saigon girl who had just been stripped almost naked on the stage. She was kneeling on a chair, busy with two people. American soldiers coming in and out of the famous body.

They were not the only ones in this house. On another bed not far away, there was a girl named Wei Ran when he was just "born" into this world.

In addition to the two girls looking familiar, there was also an acquaintance among the two American soldiers who were working on the Saigon girl. This guy was the "Toothless" who just disappeared from Wei Ran in the blink of an eye.

"Hey! Victor! Do you want to come together?"

Just when Wei Ran looked inside the window, the "Toothless Boy" also noticed him, and slapped his snow-white butt hard, and generously extended an invitation, "Also, how about you take some photos for us?" Sample?"

“Additional money is required”

The girl on the chair used one hand to push away the American soldier in front of her who was offering her some noodles, and said very quickly, "There is also an extra fee for taking photos."

"Victor, take some pictures for me. We'll treat you to a treat later and let you play alone with her." Before the American soldier finished speaking, he generously took out a few vouchers and handed them to the woman.

"Mr. Victor! We can play together. Of course, you have to take some pictures for us too!"

The shutter button is too cheap to press.

Wei Ran muttered secretly in his heart, but he quickly raised the half-frame camera hanging around his neck. After some adjustments, he lay down by the window and used the last few pictures of the roll of film. , and took some photos of the soldiers and ladies inside.

Unfortunately, before he could climb over the window to collect the "photography fee," someone ran over from beside him and urged in English from a distance, "Victor, why are you still here? Zach asked you to come over quickly. , all that’s missing now is your film.”

After saying this, an Asian face came to his side.

Is it Lai Youfu, the friend Mr. Zak has been looking for?

Wei Ran recognized the man instantly. He was a short Asian man, and his clothes had not changed much from what he had seen in the photo. He was wearing a British field shirt and shorts, but on his feet was a pair of American jungle boots.

There is no Jones hat in the photo on his head, replaced by a highly recognizable American-style steel helmet.

Of course, he didn't have any weapons like a submachine gun on his body. He only had water bottles, ammunition bags and other items hung on his belt like Wei Ran.

Even what was hanging around his neck was not any of the four cameras before entering this historical segment, but a Konica Autorex.

This is also a half-frame camera, which is not as rare as the Nikon in Weiran's hands, but it is also very unique. It can switch between half-frame and full-frame.

"Hey! Troye! Do you want to come in and play?"

In the barracks, the American soldier who was cooperating with Toothless pressed the Saigon girl's head and shook her waist while enthusiastically extending an invitation to Li Youfu.

"We don't have time"

Li Youfu happily declined the other party's invitation in English, and then said to Wei Ran, "Hurry up, Zach has been waiting."

"Go, go."

Wei Ran suppressed the curiosity and regret in his heart and followed the other person in the opposite direction.

It wasn't until he reached the other side of the camp that he realized what kind of camp this was. At the entrance not far away, there was a signboard for "Playboy Magazine Club"!

"Victor, how many did you take?"

Li Youfu, who was walking in front, asked, "Zach spent so much money to get the chance to be at the forefront. Don't you just watch and forget to click the shutter?"

"How can it be"

Wei Ran picked up the camera hanging around his neck and shook it, "Including the few pictures just now, I have taken two full rolls of film."

"Only two rolls of film?"

Li Youfu also picked up the camera hanging around his neck and shook it, "I took four rolls of film."

"We are not comparing quantity"

Wei Ran responded ambiguously, and at the same time he couldn't help but wonder in his heart what he would do with the photos he just took.

Considering that Mr. Zak in later generations was a member of VN15, and considering that Le Hau Phuc, who was in front, later joined the Viet Cong, could it be said that the two of them were "international friends" who were collecting intelligence through taking photos?

Before he could figure it out, Li Youfu invited him into a single-family wooden house on the edge of the club.

As soon as he entered the door, he saw that the American lady who had just performed the last show on the stage was sitting on the lap of a shirtless white man sitting on the sofa, facing the two of them, holding him with both hands. His neck was bumpy and undulating.

When Wei Ran and Wei Ran came in, the beautiful girl did not forget to say hello with difficulty, and then gently patted the man under her to signal him to stop first.

Before Wei Ran could think about whether to respond to the enthusiastic girl, the shirtless young man also took one hand out of the side of the backless skirt and waved to Wei Ran. .

"Hi! Victor, you are finally back. I hope I didn't disturb your good things."

While he was talking, the shirtless white man did not forget to kindly help the girl on his legs to stretch out the hem of her short skirt that could not cover anything at all.

Is this Zach Kidd?

Wei Ran muttered to himself, found a chair and sat down as usual, picked up the cigarette on the table, took out one and lit it, and said in a joking tone, "I hope I don't disturb your good things."

"Although I won't disturb you, we may still be busy for a while."

Zach put his hands into the girl's clothes again and said, "Victor, you and Troyer develop those films first, and leave the rest to me."

As soon as he finished speaking, Li Youfu began to take off the camera around his neck and the belt hanging various items.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately took off his belt hanging various things and took off his camera. By the way, he also took this opportunity to look at the wooden house, but next to him, the girl on Zach's lap also started singing wildly again during the bumps.

Overall, this wooden house is not too big but not too small. There are three wooden single beds placed against the wall in the innermost part.

The remaining space is more like a "living room", with a table with various miscellaneous items, three locked iron cabinets, three chairs, a double sofa, and a radio, which is all the living room has to offer. furniture.

On the other wall across the reception area, there are two wooden doors with Playboy's rabbit head logo painted on them, and a wooden sign with "No one in use" written on them.

When he took out the two films he had taken before, Li Youfu also turned over the sign on the wooden door on the left, revealing the English prompt "In Use". Following Li Youfu through the door, there was a darkroom with two bathtubs filled with water.

"There are 6 films in total. Please help me develop one."

As Li Youfu spoke, he handed a set of developing and shading bags to Wei Ran, and gave him a film by the way, "I heard that the girls who came today were very enthusiastic?"

“Too enthusiastic”

Wei Ran took the film, unscrewed the outer sealing tube and started working. At the same time, he kept saying, "They are not even wearing underwear."

"Did you film it?"

While Li Youfu asked, he also prepared various medicines that the two of them needed to use. At the same time, he also checked the thermometers soaked in the two bathtubs.

"Not only was it filmed, but if you had called me back later, I might have slept with one of them."

Wei Ran replied with pretense of regret, and then used this topic that all men were interested in to start the routine mode while busy.

When all the films in their hands were developed into visible negatives and hung up one by one to dry, Wei Ran also learned a lot of key information during the chat.

First of all, the Zach Kidd out there is from CBS just like him.

Secondly, I am Zach’s colleague and good friend, and both of them came to Yueyue in January last year.

Third, Lai Youfu was the Korean translator and filming assistant that Zach Kidd hired in the United States before he came to the United States.

Before being hired by Zach, Li Youfu was just a chef in a restaurant in Chinatown.

Earlier, he fled to the United States from Saigon with his mother after the Battle of Dien Bien Phu. At that time, he was only thirteen or fourteen years old.

The reason why he was willing to follow Yue Di this time was not because there was any domineering aura in Zach.

It was entirely because the other party offered him a reward that he couldn't refuse: in addition to the basic salary, he and his mother were helped to obtain American citizenship, and they also taught him photography skills and provided food and accommodation for him. Wan's mother arranged a leisurely job.

Of course, correspondingly, Li Youfu has no basic salary at all and relies entirely on tips and side jobs to earn some savings.

Fourth, Zach's family is in the camera distribution business, and his father seems to hold a portion of Playboy's shares. In short, he is a generous rich man.

Not to mention anything else, even the half-frame cameras used by Wei Ran and Li Youfu were lent to them by Zach, and the films they usually used were all from Zach.

Finally, although this Zach is also a member of the Saigon press corps, in addition to news reporting, he is also doing another job that is very popular among American soldiers-selling photos.

After these negatives are developed, Zach will personally select and develop them, and then sell them to those poor people who are on the front line or who have no chance to watch the show for various reasons.

In Li Youfu's words, many frontline soldiers are waiting for Zach to "update" the photo album.

As for whether Zach is short of money, who would think he has too much money?

What's more, in addition to making money, this side job can easily help Zach get closer to the soldiers, which brings great convenience to his main job.

"Okay, it will take about an hour to dry. Leave the rest of the work to Zach." Li Youfu said as he greeted Wei Ran and walked out of the darkroom.

However, when they came out, the American sweetheart had already left, and even Zach didn't know where he went.

"You want to go have some fun?"

While Li Youfu was speaking, he had already picked up the cigarette case on the table, lit a cigarette, and then handed the cigarette case and lighter to Wei Ran.

"What fun?" Wei Ran asked with a smile as he took the cigarette and lighter.

"What else could it be like?"

Li Youfu pointed outside with his thumb, "At least it's much cleaner than those delivered to your door, and it doesn't cost US dollars at all, just some vouchers are enough."

"I have no reason to refuse"

Wei Ran also lit a cigarette while he was talking, and at the same time he was happily thinking about whether his book would stop him if he really did something.

"I'm going to take a shower before I leave."

As Li Youfu spoke, he had already taken out a picnic basket containing toiletries from under the middle bed and walked into another room next to the darkroom.

Taking this opportunity, Wei Ran also found his own bed from the remaining two beds after some observation.

There is nothing special about the items on this bed, it can even be considered neat and clean.

On the other hand, there is no need to distinguish the three locked iron cabinets. One of them has his name written on the door.

After rummaging around for a while, he finally found a key in the compass bag containing the first aid kit, and he was finally able to open his own tin cabinet in a civilized manner.

The height of this cabinet is nearly two meters, and the width and depth are only about half a meter, but there is really a lot of stuff inside.

In addition to hanging a few changes of clothes and a suit that was probably rarely used, there was also an extra pair of leather shoes to match the suit in the upper part.

Squat down and look at the lower part, the things inside are much more interesting. A 1961 butt bag that has been installed with a lifting strap in advance and can be used as a backpack is hung in the most conspicuous position on the lower level. A Kabbah 1217 saber that has expired is also fixed on its side.

On the partition on the next floor, there is a Minolta SRT101 camera that was almost useless in the hands of American soldiers in the Vietnam War, as well as an equally bad 1911 pistol and two plastic water bottles without water.

On the next floor, there is an American-style steel helmet, but this helmet is more like a cigarette basket at this time, with top-notch Lucky Strike cigarettes piled inside.

Seeing that there was nothing else, he took off the heavy butt bag, opened it and checked it.

In addition to two compressed biscuits, a bottle of water purification tablets, and a bottle of malaria medicine, this bag also contained two large boxes of 12-gauge plastic shells and a large box of .45-caliber pistol bullets, plus two full Bullets for pistol magazine.

Continuing to look through it, there was also a large roll of U.S. dollars, a small stack of vouchers, and a large box of condoms stuffed inside.

You must have a chance to use this special code.

Wei Ran smacked his lips and couldn't help but glance at the tattoo on his left hand, and then began to ponder an almost paradoxical ethical issue - in this time and space, is prostitution considered cheating or a wet dream?