War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1467: To catch big fish, you have to use heavy bait

Just when Nineel took two extremely well-protected tin biscuit barrels and rushed to Hanoi, which was not far away, to hide, Wei Ran and Suisui also accompanied the latter's parents to bid farewell to Wang Beizhan and his wife. , gathered the Katenka sisters and others and rushed to the direction of the Chinese capital.

It was a rare trip back, so Suisui naturally had to go home for a visit, and Suisui also had to meet and hold a meeting with her friends back home.

Even Wei Ran also had things to do. On the day he arrived in the capital, after sending Suisui and others on the high-speed train to his grandma's house, he drove the van he bought a few years ago to the suburbs of the capital alone. , came to the big courtyard that was obtained through Qin Er's relationship.

As usual, after careful inspection to confirm that there was nothing wrong, Wei Ran couldn't wait to close the iron door behind him, then took a deep breath, gritted his teeth and took out the DT30 transport truck that was used as a safe amidst the sharp pain of needles all over his body. .

Lying on the slightly damp gravel ground, Wei Ran took a deep breath and stood up in a cold sweat. He staggered to the back of the car and opened the door of the living cabin.

While getting into the living cabin, he also took out the food box from the metal book, and finally stopped in front of the safe.

After opening the safe and carefully putting the headless statue of Mazu in, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh as he looked at the contents of the safe.

In this safe, there are all dangerous treasures that are truly life-saving at the bottom of the box.

Without lingering too long, Wei Ran took one last look at the golden statue of Mazu and the headless mutton-fat jade statue of Mazu that were placed side by side. He carefully closed the safe door, then put away the empty food box, and simply He turned around and left the living cabin of this huge transport vehicle.

Finally, I went to check inside the cab. Fortunately, the dwarf apple tree laden with fruits was still there. Unfortunately, there was no beehive on the roof of the cab.

Without any further delay, the behemoth-like transport truck quietly disappeared amidst Wei Ran's groan of pain that he tried to suppress. After a while, the pale Wei Ran also shivered and stumbled up.

After feeling very relieved, he took out the work gloves he had brought, controlled the lawn mower, and cleared away the overgrown weeds in the dark shed, completely destroying the newly transported Traces from the car.

Before leaving, he went to the peach grove next door without any psychological pressure and picked a large basket full of early-ripening peaches. A certain historian who stole peaches was satisfied and drove away with the harvest from this place that he didn't necessarily come to once a year. Remote mountain col.

In the next few days, Wei Ran accompanied Suisui from nine to five every day between his grandma's house and his friend's company in the capital.

The Katenka sisters and Marta, under the leadership of the little translator Lu Xinda, took the young genius Korava who was fostered in the home of Sui Xin and Chen Luoxiang, and happily wandered around various scenic spots, even seeing ghosts. Less than.

Time came to July 7th in a blink of an eye. Suisui was still busy with her career. Wei Ran, who had been working as a queen's pendant for a few days, rushed to Jinmen's Love Letter Apartment alone and welcomed him. People who are waiting.

"You didn't encounter any trouble when you passed the customs, did you?" Wei Ran closed the door of the small courtyard himself as he spoke.

"What kind of trouble can a broken box get into?"

Qin Er, who got off the off-road vehicle, walked around to the back of the car as he spoke, opened the trunk lid, lifted the aluminum alloy suitcase inside and handed it to Wei Ran. At the same time, he asked curiously, "What's inside this place?" What kind of treasure do you need me to deliver to you personally?"

“This is good stuff”

Wei Ran smiled and said, "But I can't tell you what it is yet. Wait, you will know it soon."

"Don't mention pulling it down, but keep an eye on it. The lead seal on it is still there, and I haven't opened it."

After Qin Er finished speaking, he happily changed the subject. He suddenly received a call from Wei Ran about a week ago and asked for help to bring this box back, and he specifically asked to keep it confidential.

For this reason, Qin II actually went to Wenshan where Wei Ran had just left. Without even informing Xia Shushi, he crossed the border in person and came back with the suitcase that had been left in a designated room in a hotel in Jianghe City. Then he immediately took the trouble to deliver it to Jinmen in person.

No matter which aspect you look at, Qin Er may seem unreliable, but he really can't find any fault in being friends.

"How is the scale of your lunatic asylum now?" Wei Ran asked as he walked inside carrying a lead-sealed box.

"Thanks to my aunt for helping me"

Qin Er grinned and said stupidly, "Many chain hospitals have been opened in various countries in Southeast Asia. The total number of mentally ill patients admitted now exceeds 3,500, and the special code is even profitable. You don't know. This thing is really profitable.”

At this point in the book, Qin Er finally came to his senses and asked with surprise, "Are we going to let these mentally ill people surf the Internet?"

"Soon," Wei Ran replied vaguely, "Are you almost done with training?"

"These psychopaths are so noisy on the local area network every day," Qin Er said with a smile on his face, "I have never seen such a broad-minded speech."

"They will definitely bring a lot of joy"

Wei Ran smiled expectantly, turned to Qin Er, who was standing at the door and lit a cigarette against the door frame, "Come in? What's going on? How about we just find a place to eat?"

“Forget it today”

Qin Er waved his hands without even thinking about it, and said in a sullen voice, "I have other things to do when I come back, so I won't waste my time here."

After saying that, the guy turned around and walked towards his old off-road vehicle and asked, "How long will you stay in the country?"

“Can’t stay long”

Wei Ran knew that the other party didn't want to waste his time, so he didn't try to keep him. He just put down the box in his hand, turned around and walked towards the door that had just closed, explaining, "Zha Xifeng introduced me to a big job recently. I guess I’ll have to leave after the break.”

"Okay, let's meet again next time."

Qin Er didn't wait for Wei Ran to reopen the door and got into the cab of the off-road vehicle.

Watching the other party drive away, Wei Ran closed the courtyard door and immediately ran into the room, carrying the box to the darkroom on the second floor.

After cutting open the lead seal on the suitcase and opening the lid, it was revealed that inside were two barrels of 701 compressed biscuits painted in thick green to aid Vietnam.

Naturally, I asked Toniel to retrieve this thing from the two more difficult coordinate points for me a few days ago.

Wei Ran took out his Mauser bayonet and pried open the lid of the biscuit barrel. At a glance, Wei Ran saw the kraft paper envelope addressed to Zack Kidd.

However, he did not open the envelope, he just carefully took it out and temporarily put it in the food box to put it away, and then began to take things out of the first biscuit barrel.

Most of these items are plastic film seals one after another, each with a detailed seal date and a name such as "Victor", "Zach" or "Troyer". .

After sorting the films into three piles in chronological order, Wei Ran then took out a separate French army lunch box from the innermost side of the biscuit barrel.

This lunch box contains a lot of things. In addition to four sealed film tubes covered with layers of condoms, there is also a very familiar light meter from Weiran, and several boxes of Super 8 video tapes that are also tightly wrapped. and a Yashkara half-grid camera and a Mamiya 16mm miniature camera in a cracked leather case.

Carefully open the four sealed tubes. Except for the second one, which contains 16 mm microfilm, the other three contain the same stuff that was hidden in the grenade shells that kept the captain of Team T, Wild Boar George, awake at night. evidence of!

I don't know if there was the secret help of the metal book, but these tightly rolled negatives were in extremely good condition. Not only did they not have any adhesion, even when he put on gloves and carefully took them out, they were clean and connected. Not a single fingerprint.

After putting away the incriminating evidence that Zach and others had protected with their lives, Wei Ran took out the film negatives from the second biscuit barrel.

The markings on these sealing cylinders are different from the ones just now. Not only was the time set after Weiran and Zak escaped from the prisoner of war camp, but the name on them was also written in Yuehan dialect, "Ruan Chengzhu".

Compared to the Cracker Barrel just now, there are more films in it, and the time span marked on them is from 1970 to 1976.

At the bottom of the cracker barrel, there are still several lenses that were buried after the helicopter crash, as well as a photo album that is half the size of a brick.

Gently opening the photo album, Wei Ran couldn't help but smile. On the first page, there was a photo of Li Youfu, Ruan Qingcha, and Menglong. The background of the photo was the original scene of Wei Ran and Zach. "Hijack" Meng Hao and then jump off the bridge into the river.

In the lower right corner of this page, there is also an English word written: "friend".

Turning to the second page with a smile, the photo this time was still the usual 5-inch size. The content of the photo was a photo of Li Youfu and Ruan Qingcha holding hands. They were all wearing black clothes, black pants and the same black tire slippers. , each has a helmet on his head, and even a camera that once belonged to Zach hangs around his neck.

Under the photo, it was written in English, "We have decided to get married, and Charlie will be our witness."

Turning to the third page, the size of the photo has not changed, and the ones frozen in it are still Li Youfu and Ruan Qingcha, but in this photo, Ruan Qingcha's belly has obviously bulged, and her face is also full of motherly glory. .

"We are going to have our own child soon," Wei Ran murmured and read out the writing underneath the photo.

On the fourth page, there are only Ruan Qingcha and the child in her arms in the photo. But when this photo was taken, Ruan Qingcha's face was full of sadness, and her eyes seemed to be focused on the child in her arms.

That little baby looked like a monster. No, he could probably be called "it". It had no eyes or eyebrows, but the depressions in the eye sockets could be seen through the flesh.

It also has no nose, only two round holes that are not big. It has a mouth, but it is extremely big and scary.

"This is our child. Our comrades and friends said that it may be that my wife and I were cousins ​​and were born with such an unsound child. But we know, we all know, that she and I are not related by blood.

This may be a punishment for my betrayal of my compatriots. Even so, we will still raise him. His name will be Nguyen Hu Phuc. " well.

Wei Ran sighed silently and continued to flip through the album with only one five-inch photo on each page, as well as the writing under each photo.

In the following "story", Li Youfu and Nguyen Thanh Cha were ridiculed and discussed because of their children. Every time they took a family photo, those words were also full of hesitation and uneasiness.

Finally, in the 13th photo, Ruan Qingcha’s belly swelled again, but both her expression when she took the photo and the words written by Li Youfu were full of worries about the health of her second child. .

On page 15, their second child was born, a seemingly healthy baby.

"Our second child was born and looks very healthy. His name is Nguyen Minh Chong. This month, the United States finally begins to withdraw its troops, and then we will complete the reunification of the motherland."

Wei Ran shook his head weakly, and continued to turn back. The couple entrusted their two young children to Meng Lu's wife to take care of them, and the two of them and Meng Lu went to the front line again.

In the next few photos, what Li Youfu recorded in photos and words became more and more related to babies with congenital disabilities.

Between the lines of those brief words, there was an increasingly clear suspicion that the Americans had secretly used chemical weapons during the war that could cause deformities in children, with the intention of completely destroying the country from its roots.

Finally, in another photo of the four of them plus three children on the bridge, Wei Ran finally noticed some details that were not expressed in the text.

No matter Li Youfu or his wife Ruan Qingcha, no matter whether the guerrilla named Charlie in English is Menglong or his wife, they all have a pockmarked face that is extremely obvious even in black and white photos!

It's chloracne

Wei Ran recognized the origin of the pits on their faces at a glance. It was one of the main symptoms of dioxins accumulating in the body. One of the main components of Agent Orange is also dioxin.

As for why he could recognize him, he had to thank Er Mao, the man next door to Da Mao. There was once an unlucky boss who was poisoned with the same poison.

Not only that, when Mr. Culp, who gave him a private lesson in the poison course at Hongqi Forestry Farm, even revealed the true identity and origin of the poisoner to him in a very casual tone when talking about this matter. The child fell.

Finally, the old handsome guy said with a sarcastic face that the poisons were actually prepared for the unlucky American wife, but the person who poisoned them was too stupid to make such a low-level mistake, and this was almost the result of some petty crime. Such is the open secret in the circle.

Wei Ran shook his head to collect the divergent thoughts in his mind, and turned to the next page of the photo album.

In the photo on this page, a table is filled with rolls of film and all the things they had buried.

"Our country is about to be reunified, and I have recovered all the things I buried back then.

Soon, when we finish fighting the last few battles, I will send these things to you together with this photo album. My friend, do you still remember our agreement? Looking forward to hearing coverage of the T-Team's crimes on CBS.

Finally, I specially selected the following pages, photos of our family. If my mother is still alive, please pass it on to her and tell her that we will meet soon. "

Ugh.

Wei Ran shook his head again and continued to flip through the pages. In the photos at the back, there was a group photo of their family of three - there was no child who looked like a monster. Presumably, he was worried about scaring his mother.

Gently closing the photo album, Wei Ran lit a cigarette and smoked it silently one after another until the cigarette was about to burn to the filter. Then he calmed down and found the cigarette marked "Victor" He took out the film sealing tube with his name.

As expected, the frozen moments in these films were all taken by myself, from the initial group of girls with sticks who danced and showed off their natural woolen underpants, to the scenes captured in two military camps, soldiers who were sucked by sticks The massacre of the village, and even everything taken after being captured for the first time.

In general, except for the few negatives saved in the metal book, every time he pressed the shutter at that time, he could find the corresponding negatives in these sealed film tubes.

“To catch big fish, you have to use heavy bait.”

While muttering to himself, Wei Ran selected one of the negatives he had taken.

This negative records a photo taken by a soldier and medic Angus as they rescued the wounded from a burning armored vehicle when they were attacked on the way to the Cowshed Camp.

He vaguely remembered that the soldier's name was Percy, who seemed to be Angus's friend. He remembered more clearly that the soldier was shot in the spine and did not survive. It was Angus who gave him the last injection of morphine himself. .

I remember it so clearly. Platoon Leader George, who is thinking about this every day, can probably recognize Angus and his friends at a glance, right?

Wei Ran, who was grumbling, put the film on the bottom scanner he had prepared in advance with satisfaction, and then dug out the film that Zach had taken with a half-frame camera when he interviewed Team T.

If you can’t recognize the negative you just took

While muttering to himself, Wei Ran looked at the contents of the film frame by frame through the window, and finally found the "fixed makeup photo" that Zach had taken of Brad, and then found out what happened between him and Brad. , Robert and even Clint used the captured female Charlie to open a group photo of a silver party in the camp of the stickmen.

Maybe Robert.

Wei Ran looked at the photo with uncertainty. Taking pictures was not very friendly to Lao Hei. Especially in this photo, he couldn't tell whether the big, conspicuous teeth and a pair of eyeballs were Robert's.

Although it is indeed difficult for Robert to recognize him, he can always recognize his beloved plug, Sergeant Brad, from that old universal socket, right?

Wei Ran snorted coldly and carefully scanned the half of the negative into his notebook.

After finishing all this, he took out all the films in the first cracker barrel from the sealed tube and temporarily put them into the empty food box.

Fortunately, after removing the sealing tube, the various negatives taken by himself, Zach, and Li Youfu, and even the evidence preserved by the two medics, could just barely fit into the food box.

However, even after these negatives were put in, the other biscuit jar could not hold any more films marked with the name "Ruan Chengzhu" and other miscellaneous items.

He randomly opened a film with the name Ruan Chengzhu and took a look at the bright light outside the window. Wei Ran couldn't help but shudder. It seemed that everything in it was taken with a half-frame camera. They looked like babies and toddlers with strange shapes. .

I picked up the second, third, and tenth film and opened it again and again to check. Without exception, the "subjects" inside were all Agent Orange children—the earliest batch of Agent Orange children!

"Let me help you with the next steps."

Wei Ran made a promise in his heart, sent the three "baits" he had just scanned to Anfiya, and then started to scan the negatives on the table one by one and carefully.

This was destined to be a complicated task that could only be completed by himself, so by the time he finished it, it was already noon the next day.

Carrying two heavy biscuit barrels downstairs, Wei Ran got into the car and received three electronic copies of the negatives from Anfiya. These were the baits he picked out yesterday, and Anfiya hid them inside. Bait the fishhook.

"It's about to begin"

Wei Ran first sent a message to Anfeiya, and then sent the three negatives to Cha Xifeng.

Almost as he drove the car out of the courtyard and was busy locking the door, Cha Xifeng also called.

"Did you find it?" Zha Xifeng asked straight to the point.

"Fortunately, I live up to my fate"

Wei Ran said with a smile, "I went through a lot of historical files and finally found these three negatives that are most likely related to Mr. Zak and his companions, and I also found a clue."

"What clue?" Zha Xifeng asked subconsciously.

"Mr. Cha, this is a commission from VN15, isn't it?"

Wei Ran asked back and reminded, "Look at the three negatives I sent you. They may involve some of Mr. Zach's less glorious experiences when he was young. So I think it is necessary to ask the person in charge of VN15 if he wants to Keep checking.

In addition, in order to avoid subsequent trouble, I think it is necessary for VN15 to send one or two representatives to participate in the subsequent investigation. "

Will VN15 continue to check? Of course they will!

Wei Ran was almost extremely sure. Not to mention the huge amount of activity funds left by Zach, VN15 had no reason to refuse. I am afraid that Wild Boar George, who was watching all this behind the scenes, would definitely be eager to let him know after getting the news. Continue to investigate and find the troubles that have given him nightmares for a lifetime!

And he is even more certain that VN15 will definitely send someone to participate in the investigation. It is impossible for Lawyer Judy, whose fracture has not healed, to come. I am afraid that Cha Xifeng will not let his wife and daughter participate in this investigation at all, so those who can come will Who is it?

As long as that George is not stupid, he will definitely send out the chess pieces he planted in VN15. If he is more courageous, he might come over in person!

"What you said makes sense."

Zha Xifeng paused for a moment and then said, "My wife Miley will send the two negatives to lawyer Judy. I will notify you immediately as soon as I have news."

"no problem"

Wei Ran paused and asked, "Where are your family playing now?"

"Shaanxi Province"

Zha Xifeng smiled and replied, "We are preparing to visit the Terracotta Warriors and Horses tomorrow, and then we will also go see the giant pandas here. The Sword Bee simply loves those big guys."

“Wish you and your family a good time”

Wei Ran smiled and extended the invitation, "When you have finished visiting the scenic spots you want to visit, why not come to my house as a guest. Although I may not be at home by then, my girlfriend will definitely be there, and she will entertain you well."

"We're definitely going!"

The voice on the other end of the phone turned into Knife Bee's voice, "We'll go after seeing the Terracotta Warriors and Giant Pandas!"

"Welcome at any time," Wei Ran responded with a smile on his face, and at the same time, he was praying secretly in his heart, praying that this family of three would never get involved.