War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1511 Wishful thinking

At Sister Juan's home, Wei Ran received what was definitely a grand reception.

The table was full. In addition to Uncle Yao and his wife, his son, daughter-in-law and Sister Juan, they even called over a few neighbors to join them, and warmly invited Wei Ran to have a good drink.

It was also through this dinner that Wei Ran got a general understanding of this family.

Sister Juan, who was once a member of the Zang Ai family, finished high school at the age of 18, but did not continue her studies because her grades were too poor.

Her father was worried that his daughter would go out and cause trouble every day with her hair like a lion, so he simply cleared out two rooms at home and opened a supermarket for her.

As for Sister Juan, the subsequent story is actually not much different from that of most ordinary people.

When she was young and ignorant, she married early for the so-called love, despite her family's persuasion, and had a child. Soon after the child was born, she was worn out by the hardships of life and the man from the same family who was addicted to the Internet cafe every day, so she decisively chose to divorce.

It is hard to say whether her life is happy or unhappy. After her divorce, Sister Juan returned to her parents' home with her children and took over the supermarket again - she just changed her name from Xiaojuan to Sister Juan.

Fortunately, her brother Da Jun and sister-in-law love her enough.

Now, after so many years, Sister Juan, who was once a big name in the audition group, has no intention of remarrying. She just runs her supermarket and raises her daughter who is studying in a boarding school in the city.

Speaking of her daughter, the once rebellious and fashionable sister Juan's face was filled with pride. "My daughter Lingxi is not like me. She has been the top student in the grade every semester since the first grade!"

"My little brat is also number one"

Yao Dajun raised his glass and clinked it with Wei Ran's, then said angrily, "I've always been ranked last in the class, and I've broken eight hundred brooms alone.

If this continues, when he finishes junior high school, I will send him to learn to be a chef. At least he can help us by then."

"He's still young. Maybe he'll learn to work hard when he gets into middle school."

Wei Ran smiled and comforted him, saying that Brother Yao and his wife, and even Uncle Yao and his wife, in addition to farming, usually also undertake large banquets for weddings and funerals in the surrounding area, which can barely be considered an ancestral craft.

Because of this, Wei Ran was particularly impressed by the meal. The table was full of food, and everything he picked up with chopsticks tasted incredibly delicious. He also drank cup after cup of the local specialty golden millet wine.

This was also thanks to Wei Ran who had already trained his drinking capacity by hanging out with various Russians, otherwise he would have probably been forced under the table by now.

When the wine glass in front of him was filled up again by Sister Juan, the gate of the farmyard was slammed loudly by someone.

"Uncle Yao, it looks like my guarantor is here."

Wei Ran raised his glass and clinked it with Uncle Yao's. He drank it all and stood up. "Shall we welcome him together?"

“It’s time to welcome it.”

Uncle Yao also drank the wine in his glass, then stood up and walked out of the living room with the table of people.

Before Wei Ran came out, a girl who looked to be about 24 or 25 years old hurriedly walked in from the open iron gate of the courtyard. "Uncle Yao, get ready. The county leader is here and wants to visit you."

Seeing Wei Ran looking at her, Sister Juan immediately introduced him in a low voice, "This is our college student township cadre Xiao Sun, who works very hard.

"County leaders? What county leaders?" Uncle Yao glanced at Wei Ran and asked the young girl quickly.

"The county magistrate, the secretary, and the head of the armed forces department are all here."

The young girl said anxiously, "When I received the call, they had already left. I heard that our county's TV station was here."

Seeing Uncle Yao and his family looking at her, little Miss Sun also looked over.

Wei Ran smiled when he saw this, "If nothing unexpected happens, this should be the guarantor I'm looking for."

"Teacher Weiwei? Who are you?" Yao Dajun, who had just been drinking and chatting happily and calling Wei Ran "brother", asked Wei Ran stutteringly.

"me."

Wei Ran smiled and said, "I don't have a great background, and what I told you before was all the truth."

"Oh! Are you the one on the Internet? Sorry, sorry, you are the historian Mr. Wei Ran, right?" Miss Sun also recognized Wei Ran.

"Yes, it's me."

Wei Ran took the initiative to shake hands with the other party, "Hello, Comrade Sun."

"Hello!"

The little girl Sun hurriedly greeted Wei Ran. She had already realized that the visit of the county leader this time was definitely related to this peer in front of her who was drunk but well-mannered.

"Uncle Yao, could you lend me a room to change clothes?"

Wei Ran looked at Uncle Yao who was still looking at him, straightened his collar and said jokingly, "You reek of alcohol. It's not appropriate to meet the leader later."

"Convenient! Go to my room!"

Yao Dajun was the first to react, "Come on! I'll take you there. There's a bathroom in my room where you can take a shower!"

"I'll go get my luggage first."

Wei Ran nodded politely to Miss Sun, Uncle Yao and others, then walked out of the yard alone, got into the pickup truck as a cover, and took out the suitcase from the metal notebook.

The box contained three sets of clothes that teacher Daria had taken him to Moscow to order. Later, after investigating the historical mystery of the French tailor sisters, he put the three sets of clothes into a metal notebook.

Carrying this retro leather suitcase, Wei Ran followed Yao Dajun into his bedroom, closed the door, drew the curtains, and changed into comfortable casual clothes.

After throwing the clothes he had brought from Gan Zi into the suitcase, Wei Ran went to the bathroom to wash his face and rinse his mouth. Then he drew open the curtains again and opened the door while carrying the suitcase.

Almost at the moment when he used the pickup truck as a cover to put the suitcase back into the metal book, several black cars and a van with "A Certain County TV Station" printed on it drove over from a distance and finally stopped at the door of Sister Juan's Supermarket.

As the car door opened, the first person to get out was a middle-aged man who was called "Mayor Lin" by Uncle Yao and others.

"Brother Yao San, who is Mr. Wei Ran?" Although the mayor said this, he had already looked at Wei Ran.

Uncle Yao was a little confused for a moment. Although he and his son and daughter-in-law had organized countless weddings and funerals in the countryside, he had never seen such a scene.

  Especially the photographers and reporters carrying cameras coming out of the van at the back. If they are pointed at with that thing, will they be on TV?

For a moment, Uncle Yao couldn't help but feel a little regretful. If he had known earlier, he would have changed his clothes in advance.

"I am Wei Ran"

Wei Ran took the initiative to shake hands with Mayor Lin, "Comrade Mayor, I'm sorry to trouble you."

Wei Ran addressed him in this way, and his words were unexpectedly steady. The mayor immediately changed his address, "No trouble, Teacher Wei, come, let me introduce you."

As he spoke, the three people who got out of the second car also followed over.

"This is our Secretary Bai, this is County Magistrate Ma, and this is Minister Wang of our county's armed forces department."

After glancing at the party badges on the left chests of the three men without leaving any trace, Wei Ran shook hands with them one by one and said politely, "Secretary Bai, County Magistrate Ma, and Minister Wang, I'm sorry to bother you all to come all the way here because you want me to be their guarantor."

“We have to be the guarantor.”

Secretary Bai was the first to express his attitude. "The district leaders have already told us the whole story over the phone. Comrade Wei Ran, you can investigate boldly and we will do our best to cooperate!"

“I’m sorry to trouble you all.”

Wei Ran thanked him again, then looked at Uncle Yao and asked in the same casual and polite manner as when he was drinking, "Uncle Yao, do you think you can trust the guarantor I hired?"

"oops!"

As if he had just realized what was happening, Uncle Yao slapped his thigh and said, "Quick, quick, quick! Come in and sit down!"

After some polite exchanges, Wei Ran, along with the three leaders, the mayor who was following behind him, and even the little girl Sun and the film crew who were following at the end, walked back into the living room which was still filled with the aroma of wine.

"Have the secretary, the county magistrate, and the minister eaten yet?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, "Uncle Yao and Brother Yao are really good cooks."

“We just had a couple of bites on the way here.”

Secretary Bai was the first to speak, "I've heard of Chef Yao's cooking skills a long time ago. It's a specialty in our county."

After another round of polite chat, Wei Ran repeated the entire story in detail. He also jokingly mentioned the part where Uncle Yao needed a guarantor, and highly praised Uncle Yao's awareness and vigilance.

"We will be the guarantor."

County Magistrate Ma made another promise, "Chef Yao, the three of us are all Party members, and we have received instructions from the city to be guarantors for Comrade Wei Ran. You can feel free to tell him what you know."

"Teacher Weiwei, if you ask, our family promises that we will not hide a single stroke." Uncle Yao said it very happily this time.

Hearing this, Wei Ran smiled, looked at the reporter holding the microphone and asked, "Reporter, aren't we broadcasting live?"

"No, Mr. Wei, no, Comrade Wei Ran, this is not a live broadcast."

"That's good"

Wei Ran finally reminded, "You and your colleagues can shoot whatever you want today, but don't broadcast it yet. Secretary Bai, County Magistrate Ma, is that ok?"

"No problem!" The two assured in unison.

After all the preparations were made, Wei Ran looked at Sister Juan who was sitting uncomfortably on the sofa, slowed down his speech, and said in a joking tone, "Sister Juan, don't be nervous, just pretend that they don't exist, and dance like you did back then."

"Brother Wei, please stop making fun of me."

Sister Juan was no longer nervous now, but at the same time she was so embarrassed that she wanted to crawl under the sofa.

Deliberately ignoring the inquiring looks of the three leaders, Wei Ran asked with a smile, "Then let's not joke around. Sister Juan, tell me how you found that film in the first place."

"This matter"

Sister Juan organized her words and finally spoke, "This story started in 08. My grandfather passed away at that time, and we went to clean up his cave."

At this point, Sister Juan raised her hand and pointed in a direction, "It's on the other side of Hulu River. More than ten years ago, our village moved from the other side to here, and there are only empty cave dwellings left over there.

My grandfather used to be a carpenter who specialized in making coffins. Others thought that job was unlucky, so he usually worked in the old cave where our family used to live. He was used to living in the cave and didn’t want to move here.”

"So the film was found in the cave?" Wei Ran asked at the right time.

"right"

Sister Juan nodded and continued, "My family has three cave dwellings over there. One is where my grandfather lives, one is where he raises sheep, and the other is where he keeps sundries."

At this point, Sister Juan pointed to the glass bottle on the coffee table and said, "It was found in the cave where the sundries were stored. My grandfather had just passed away at that time, and we went to pack up his things. I saw a large wooden wardrobe in the cave, so I wanted my brother to help me move it back and put it in my own room."

“The big wardrobe is still there.”

Yao Dajun chimed in, "My grandfather made the wardrobe himself, so it's of great quality."

"Can you let me take a look?" Wei Ran asked.

"Yes! Why not!" Yao Dajun was a straightforward person. "You can even look at our savings!"

This was no joke, and everyone couldn't help but laugh in good faith. They all stood up and followed Yao Dajun out of the living room and into the side room that served as the kitchen. Then they saw a large solid wood wardrobe painted with varnish.

This wardrobe was different from the ones we have today. The only door in the middle was inlaid with a large glass panel, and there was a piece of glass with peonies painted on each side of the door. Under these three pieces of glass were two drawers.

“This cabinet door used to be a large mirror.”

Yao Dajun opened the cabinet door and introduced it with a silly smile, "Later, my wife and I had a fight and smashed the mirror. Later, my father replaced it with a larger glass one and moved it to the kitchen to use as a cupboard."

Wei Ran looked at the obvious partitions added later in the wardrobe and the pots, pans, and bowls on top. When he was about to ask something, Yao Dajun and Sister Juan had already opened the bottom drawers one by one. The two drawers were filled with sundries such as plastic bags.

"I carefully painted this wardrobe when I brought it back," Sister Juan introduced, "There is no other negative."

"Where was the medicine bottle placed at that time?" Wei Ran asked.

"Under the cabinet legs"

Sister Juan pointed to a leg of the cabinet and said, "The floor in the cave is not as flat as the floor tiles here. It's all dirt, not even red bricks. The medicine jar was half buried in the dirt, supporting this leg."

"Didn't you look around in the soil?" Wei Ran asked calmly while motioning everyone to go outside.

“The cave had collapsed a lot at that time.”

Sister Juan, who followed him out of the kitchen, shook her head and said, "If I hadn't liked this big closet, I wouldn't have wanted to go in. At the beginning, in order to beg my brother to follow me in, I even brought my best friend."

"Hey hey hey! That's not happening!"

Yao Dajun quickly interrupted and glanced at his wife who was hugging his shoulders behind him with fear.

"Uncle Yao, Sister Juan, and Brother Yao, if it's convenient for you today, could you take me to the cave to have a look?" Wei Ran asked in time, which barely saved Yao Dajun half of his life.

"no problem!"

Uncle Yao agreed without thinking, "However, those three cave dwellings collapsed several years ago. I'm afraid..."

"What are you afraid of? Just dig it up!"

Yao Dajun had already taken out his cell phone while he was talking. "I'll call someone over right now and ask Cao Si'er to drive his big excavator over as well!"

"Then I'll take you there now."

Before Uncle Yao finished speaking, he had already pushed out his electric tricycle and said, "Just drive behind me. It's close! It's just across the street."

"Secretary Bai, County Magistrate Ma, and Minister Lin, if it's convenient, why don't we take this?" Wei Ran pointed to the Jinbei in the yard, "This one is spacious, and everyone can sit."

"What's the inconvenience about this!" Secretary Bai said as he stretched out his hand, opened the sliding door of the carriage and was the first to get in.

"I'll drive for you," said Sister Juan, opening the driver's door and getting in.

"I'll go organize some people, you guys go first." After saying that, Yao Dajun also rode a small electric scooter and left the yard in a hurry.

He specially asked Yao Dajun's wife to sit in the passenger seat, and Wei Ran asked Mayor Lin and little Miss Sun to get in the car as well. Finally, he got into the car and closed the greasy sliding door.

After everyone was seated, Sister Juan drove the van skillfully out of the yard, first leaving the village, then drove along a field road to the main road, crossed the national highway where there were few people and cars, and finally drove to the other side of the road along a concrete bridge that looked very old.

"Everyone hold on tight"

While greeting everyone, Sister Juan also stepped on the accelerator. With the engine roaring, she drove the big Jinbei up a slope and finally stopped at a small open space at the edge of a field.

“You can’t drive up there anymore.”

Sister Juan stopped the car, turned off the engine, and pulled the handbrake while explaining, "The reason why our village moved to the opposite side is because it's either uphill or downhill here, and cars can't drive up, and it's not convenient to get water."

"Isn't there a river there? Wouldn't it be inconvenient to get water like this?"

Wei Ran, who was the first to get out of the car, pointed behind him curiously. The river they had just driven past was not wide, but there was indeed water in it.

"Comrade Wei Ran, you don't know"

Mayor Lin, who had not had a chance to speak, said, "Ten or twenty years ago, the water in that river would dry up from time to time, and the water was bitter.

It is because of the good management in recent years and the planting of trees on both sides that the area has become what you see now."

  Wasn't it more difficult then?

Wei Ran shook his head secretly, and together with the others, he followed Sister Juan and walked up the bumpy earth slope for a few dozen meters before stopping in front of an open space planted with millet.

Walking around the millet field, Wei Ran also saw the large cave with three entrances that were almost buried, and a large jujube tree with lush branches and leaves, full of red dates.

"Snapped!"

Just as Wei Ran and others looked over, Uncle Yao swung a big bamboo pole and hit the jujube tree hard. Immediately, big, plump red dates fell down with a crackling sound.

"Try it!"

Uncle Yao put down his bamboo pole and greeted enthusiastically, "This is the jujube tree my grandfather planted. It's so sweet!"

Bending down to pick up a few large red dates, Wei Ran threw one into his mouth. It was just as Uncle Yao said, sweet and crisp.

Sister Juan, who also picked up a bag of big red dates, pointed to a cave farthest from the date tree and said, "That's where I found the film."

Hearing this, Wei Ran took a closer look and found that most of the entrance to the cave had been buried, and the remaining half was blocked by weeds. However, the only window was still intact.

Turning on the flashlight function on his mobile phone and pointing it towards the window, the first thing Wei Ran saw was a collapsed earthen bed and a piece of snake skin that had been left on the edge of the bed at some point in time.

Fortunately, although the outside of the cave collapsed quite badly, the inside seemed to be intact. He could even vaguely see the map of China hanging on the innermost wall with the help of a flashlight.

"Where was that big wardrobe at that time?" Wei Ran asked Sister Juan beside him.

"In the innermost part"

Sister Juan pointed to the end of the collapsed cave and said, "It's on the right hand side of the map hanging on the wall, and the cabinet door is on the left hand side of the map."

Hearing this, Wei Ran placed his phone on the broken window sill, then took off his coat and handed it to Sister Juan, "Help me hold it for a minute."

"Comrade Wei Ran, what are you doing?" Secretary Bai and County Magistrate Ma were the first to react and grabbed him from the left and right.

"Don't dare to get in like this!"

Minister Wang from the Armed Forces Department said quickly, "If this suddenly collapses and you are buried inside, it will be terrible!"

"It's okay, don't worry." Wei Ran smiled, "I'm sure this..."

"Even if you are sure!"

Uncle Yao, who was holding a bag of jujubes with the hem of his clothes, said seriously, "Don't mess around. There are so many worms and scorpions in there. What if something happens if you get in there?"

"Don't worry, it's really okay."

As Wei Ran spoke, he gently broke free from the people who were blocking him, picked up a small hoe hanging on the wall and tried it on the ground, and said with great confidence, "Secretary Bai, when we first met, you promised to fully support me."

"Young comrade, if that's what you mean, then I'll go in and look for it." Minister Wang said, having already taken off his coat. "How can I let you take risks in front of me at this time?"

"Don't"

Wei Ran said quickly, "I really have to do this kind of thing. You don't know what you are looking for."

"Then wait for my son to call the people and the excavator before going in." Uncle Yao said, "Then we will lift the lid of this cave and you can search it however you want."

"Look at how thick the soil is above your heads?"

Wei Ran pointed to the top of his head and said, "It has to be at least ten meters. Let's not talk about digging it all out. It may take a long time. If it collapses, the things inside will be smashed to pieces."

"Let's go in and find it."

Secretary Bai said, "We are party members. At times like this..."

"Secretary Bai is joking."

Wei Ran stopped the other person and said in a joking tone, "It's not that time yet. This place hasn't collapsed in such a long time. It won't collapse as soon as I enter."

"That won't work either. I'll go in." Uncle Yao loosened the hem of his clothes that held the jujubes and said, "I'm an old farmer."

"You, an old farmer, need to lose some weight before you can get in there," Wei Ran stopped him.

Before the others who followed could say anything, Yao Dajun had already come up with a dozen people, some carrying shovels and some pushing carts.

Seeing that it was meaningless to go in first, Wei Ran shook his head secretly with regret. The reason why he was so anxious to go in and take a look was naturally because he was worried that the things inside had been broken or damaged. He could then replace them with the ones in the food box.

In any case, based on his understanding of the food box, he would never give himself the glass medicine jar unless it was necessary.

Seeing that Wei Ran no longer insisted on drilling inside, everyone breathed a sigh of relief. After understanding the situation, Yao Dajun immediately organized the people he had found to start digging, and said with certainty that the excavator would come over in half an hour at most.

As everyone dug up the soil one shovel at a time, the entrance to the cave was finally revealed.

However, they then encountered the same situation as Wei Ran. If they continued digging forward, they would inevitably have to get into the cave that had been in disrepair for a long time, so who would get in became a problem.

No matter what they think in their hearts, one thing is certain: the three leaders would rather be buried in the cave themselves than let the villagers and Wei Ran, the "guest", be buried there.

Similarly, Uncle Yao and others absolutely cannot bear the responsibility of burying the county leaders in here.

"Go sit over there and rest for a while."

Wei Ran pointed to the abandoned large millstone at the edge of the shadow of the jujube tree and said, "I don't think an excavator can get up here. Even if it does, the noise might cause it to collapse."

Hearing this, everyone nodded and subconsciously walked towards the big millstone.

  After successfully deceiving everyone, Wei Ran quickly bent down and dived into the abandoned cave!

"Hey you!"

"Shh-"

Wei Ran, who had already gone in, pointed to the top of his head and said softly, "Don't come in, I'll be out soon."

After saying that, he no longer paid attention to Secretary Bai and others who were about to get in at the cave entrance but were held tightly by the surrounding villagers. He took the broken hoe he used for show and walked to the end of the cave, stepping on the dirt and clods on the ground.

Thanks to the protection provided by the edge of the earthen kang, he didn't have to worry about people or cameras outside seeing or photographing anything.

Putting the mobile phone with the flashlight function turned on against the wall, Wei Ran took out the engineer shovel from the metal notebook and tried it. Then he changed it to the Mauser bayonet and tested it carefully as if he was detecting a mine.

Things went much more smoothly than he had expected, and he soon realized that there was something buried under the soil.

However, as a large piece of dry soil was dug up, the first thing he saw was a rat hole and a snake lurking in the rat hole.

"puff!"

With an expressionless face, Wei Ran casually nailed the snake's head into the mud with his bayonet, pressed down the handle to cut off the snake's head, and then used the tip of the knife to poke the snake's head and body back into the rat hole little by little.

After wiping the blood off the knife, Wei Ran continued to dig out the hardened soil, and finally dug out a wooden box.

Although the wooden box had iron sheets nailed to the corners, mice still knocked several holes in it. Even the cover with hinges was rotten and rusted, and could be easily picked up along with the lid.

Gently opening the lid, inside this wooden box, which was about the size of a shoe box, was a canvas shoulder bag that had also been scratched by mice.

Gently opening the shoulder bag, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh. Inside was a black Zeiss leather case folding camera and a glass medicine jar.

However, the cap of the medicine jar had been knocked off by a rat, and there was even a dead rat and various debris left inside the bottle.

Raising his arm and giving a thumbs-up to Secretary Ma outside, and then making a phone call gesture, Wei Ran took out the food box as quickly as possible, first took out the medicine jar provided by the metal notebook, rolled it in the dirt and put it into the torn canvas bag, and then put the medicine jar that had been knocked over by the rat into the food box that had been emptied in advance.

Finally, he put away the food box and the bayonet, picked up the broken hoe, and dug a few times at the location of the snake. Then he picked up his cell phone, hugged the wooden box, and crawled out with a dusty face, hunched over.

"Comrade Wei Ran, what did you find?" Secretary Bai put away his phone and gathered around to ask with everyone else.

"Come here"

Wei Ran asked everyone to walk to the millstone, placed the wooden box in his arms on it, and carefully displayed the camera and medicine jars inside.

Gently pushing away a young man's hand that he subconsciously extended, Wei Ran said, "That medicine jar can't be opened yet. There must be film in that camera. I need a light-proof safe."

"Use this!" the photographer said as he took off his backpack and handed it over.

"Thank you"

Wei Ran took the backpack, carefully put the wooden box in it and zipped it up, "Don't touch it yet, I need to make a phone call."

Before he finished speaking, County Magistrate Ma and Minister Wang instructed everyone to keep their distance, while Secretary Bai took out his phone again and dialed.

"Is there good news?" Xia Shushi on the other end asked as soon as the call was connected.

"Fortunately, we have found it." Wei Ran said simply and directly, "Where should we send it next?"

"I won't send it anywhere. Ask the guarantor that the Second Emperor found for you to find a suitable place for you to open the things inside."

Xia Shushi gave an unexpected answer, "I heard that reporters and photographers have been arranged for you to take as many photos as possible."

"Let me open it?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"I have obtained the consent of Mr. Jiang Ji."

Xia Shushi replied, "I believe in your skills. At least when it comes to developing old photos, I don't think there is anyone better than you."

"also"

Wei Ran readily agreed. He also wanted to see what else was in the medicine jar besides the film.

"The Second Emperor has already rushed over with the film crew."

Xia Shushi continued, "But you don't have to wait for him. Check out what's inside as soon as possible. Old Master Jiang is waiting."

"Okay," Wei Ran said and hung up the phone. Almost at the same time, Secretary Bai also hung up the phone.

"Secretary Bai, I need a darkroom." Wei Ran said bluntly.

"I'll arrange it right away!" Secretary Bai agreed readily.

"Secretary, we have one in our station. Although it has been unused for a few years, it can definitely be used." The photographer said, "But the potion may be hard to find."

"I have the medicine with me. You just need to help me find a good enough scanner." Wei Ran said. Of course he had it with him. Zack, a kind reporter on the front line of the Vietnam War, gave him a complete set.

"There are some in the scanning machine!" the photographer said immediately, "Teacher Wei, can I give you a hand? I have also learned how to develop film."

“Okay,” Wei Ran agreed readily.

"I'll arrange it first."

After Secretary Bai finished speaking, he first communicated in a low voice with County Magistrate Ma, who in turn communicated with Town Mayor Lin who came with him, and they finally decided to let Minister Wang of the Armed Forces stay behind to protect the scene, while the rest of the people would take Wei Ran back to the county seat.

"Uncle Yao, if your family is not busy, please follow us."

Wei Ran took the initiative to invite her again, "Youjie Juan, this can be regarded as the fulfillment of your wish from ten years ago."

"Okay! Let's follow!"

Sister Juan said excitedly that she was no longer the Shamatte girl she used to be. How could she not see that whether Wei Ran invited the county magistrate and others to come in her van or invited their whole family to follow, she was helping them invisibly.

After a while, several police cars drove to the Hulu River. Although the scene seemed a bit big, Wei Ran did not say anything. He followed the leaders obediently and rushed back to the village in the car driven by Sister Juan. Then he asked Sister Juan, who had not drunk, to help drive the pickup truck he had borrowed. They followed the car carrying the secretary and the county magistrate and drove to the county TV station under the escort of police cars.

As for the backpack containing the wooden box, at his insistence, the excited Secretary Bai and County Magistrate Ma were responsible for carrying it throughout the process.

Rushing all the way to the compound of the county TV station, Wei Ran and the Yao family followed Secretary Bai and County Magistrate Ma, and under the personal guidance of the station director, they entered the darkroom that had obviously been hastily cleaned.

He deliberately left the photographer behind to help, and Wei Ran began to make preparations while carrying an American military backpack containing film and simple developing equipment.

Under the camera's attention, Wei Ran, who had put on gloves, carefully unscrewed the bakelite lid of the medicine jar and took out the contents - two 120-size film rolls, several folded sheets of letter paper, a box of matches and something like a handful of hay.

"Teacher Wei, will this letter paper get oxidized if it is taken out like this?" the photographer who was helping asked carefully.

"Don't worry, it won't happen."

Wei Ran said firmly that he still believed that the metal notebook would not deliberately dig such a ridiculous trap to disgust people.

As he spoke, he had already gently unfolded the papers.

After just one glance, he sighed slightly. This was written by the little lama. It was his application to join the party written in Tibetan.

"What does this say?" one of them whispered.

"It is Zangwen"

As Wei Ran was speaking, he had already taken out his cell phone, found the WeChat account he had added with the girl named Ram two days ago, and made a video call directly.

After a short wait, Ram answered the video call, and then everyone heard the Zang girl ask, "Brother Wei Ran, have you opened the things my great-grandfather left behind?"

"Found a letter"

Wei Ran pointed the camera at the papers on the table. "It seems to be written in Cangwen. Can you help translate it?"

"no problem!"

Ram agreed immediately. At the same time, Grandpa Jiang and Uncle Jiang appeared on Wei Ran’s mobile phone screen.

However, after just one glance, everyone discovered that the Zang girl on the screen had covered her mouth and fell silent.

"What's wrong?" Wei Ran asked.

"It's the application for joining the party written by my great-grandfather, the Red Army soldier Jiang Yu." When Ram said this, tears as big as beans could not stop falling.

"Ram, can you translate for everyone?"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already handed the phone to Sister Juan and asked her to hold it, while at the same time he sighed silently in his heart.

If we only talk about the writing style, the young lama's writing style is indeed very good. In the application letter to join the party, he described his experience on the grassland and the experience of his childhood friend's family - his childhood friend was also called Ram.

"My Chinese name is Jiang Yu, and my Tibetan name is Jiangba Gesang. I come from..."

While Ram was translating intermittently, Wei Ran picked up the two rolls of film and carefully pulled out a little bit of the leading film. Seeing that it had been developed into a negative film that could be exposed to light, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.

After handing the two rolls of film to the photographer who was helping him, Wei Ran asked, "The film has been developed into negatives. Just be careful when you pull it out. Do you know how to use a scanner?"

"Yes!" the photographer nodded quickly.

"Scan out the photos inside," Wei Ran said.

"I come?"

"You do not dare?"

"I dare you!"

The photographer, whose name Wei Ran didn't even remember, nodded with gritted teeth, holding the two rolls of film, and walked towards the scanner not far away under the supervision of the director.

Still listening to Ram's translation, Wei Ran walked into the light-proof darkroom with the leather camera, secretly hoping that there would be a third roll of film in the camera, which would record some precious shots.

Inside the thick door, Wei Ran groped in the darkness, carefully opened the back cover of the old camera, and touched the third film as he wished.

Outside the thick door, on the phone held up by Sister Juan, Ram, who was already in tears, translated the last sentence of the Tibetan language, "I want to join the Communist Party, I want to rescue more Rams, I want them to live a good life without oppression and slavery, I want all the people to have rice to eat, and I want everyone to have ice cream in the summer."

The story of the Long March is roughly over. I decided to write about it in mid-April, started writing in mid-May, and finally finished it in mid-June.

The original intention of writing this story was because I took two elderly people over 70 years old to the capital in mid-April. It was the first time for them to go to the capital in their lives, the first time they saw Tiananmen Square, the first time they walked up to the Tiananmen Gate Tower and stood where the great man once stood, the first time they paid homage to Chairman Mao, and also the first time they took a plane.

Perhaps, for them who come from the southern border of the motherland, these are the first time, or perhaps, they will be the last time.

In any case, they fulfilled their long-cherished wish - to see Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao;

At that time, they might still be as young as us.

It was not until that day that I realized that the beliefs of that generation were actually far more sincere and purer than ours. They also understood the history, which they had not actually experienced, far better than we did, and could even be said to know it like the back of their hands. They still missed those people.

So I thought maybe I should do something, and so I came up with this story about the Long March, which I had never thought I had the ability to write before.

Finally, the writing is not very good and there are many mistakes and omissions. Please forgive me.