War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1512 Regret

In the darkroom of the county TV station, Wei Ran carefully took out a roll of film that was less than half used from the Zeiss camera, which was almost filled with yellow sand.

Carefully rolling it into the developing tank bit by bit, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief and began the washing process in an orderly manner.

Under his careful operation, the roll of film was soon developed and fixed, and Wei Ran also saw the moments recorded in it.

If you count carefully, this roll of film only took 3 photos in total, one of which was full of fine scratches, perhaps because of the yellow sand sprinkled by time.

The other two photos were relatively better preserved, but only relatively. The long wait had caused irreparable damage to the two photos, so that the images were a little mottled.

While waiting for the film to dry, he cleaned the Zeiss camera whose leather case was damaged, and then opened the thick door.

Before he even came out, everyone, including the camera lenses, were pointed at him.

"Fortunately, I have accomplished my mission," Wei Ran said, "There are three pictures in the film in the camera, and they have all been developed."

Hearing this, everyone, led by Secretary Bai and County Magistrate Ma, breathed a sigh of relief.

"Teacher Wei, your cell phone." Sister Juan, with red eyes, handed over Wei Ran's cell phone.

"Have those photos been scanned out?" Wei Ran looked at the photographer who offered to help.

"Sweep it out"

The photographer said this and quickly pointed to a large screen not far away that was obviously moved in temporarily, showing the photos recorded in the two films one by one.

"While you were busy just now, I used your phone to send all those to Sister Ram." Sister Juan said on the side.

"Sorry for bothering you, Sister Juan."

Wei Ran thanked the other party politely, then handed the film in his hand to the photographer again, "You should come and scan these three photos as well."

"Okay!" This time, the photographer was much more confident.

While he was busy, Wei Ran placed the camera in his hand on the table and let another photographer take pictures with it.

Without waiting too long, one after another slightly mottled black and white photos were projected onto the big screen under the control of the photographer, and the people present gathered around to look at them one by one.

Compared with the people around him, Wei Ran saw familiar shadows in these three photos.

The first photo shows Nurse Ji giving an injection to a baby while a woman wearing a headscarf is holding the baby.

The little baby was lying on his mother's shoulder with half of his buttocks exposed. Perhaps because of the pain, his little face facing the camera was crying so hard that almost all his facial features seemed to be twisted together.

In contrast, Nurse Ji was all smiles. Beside her, the copper lunch box was placed on the kang mat. On the wall not far away, the oil lamp that had accompanied her out of the grass was also hanging.

Further into the camera, outside the open windows and doors, there are several men and women with towels wrapped around their heads and some half-grown children standing on millstones watching the excitement.

The second film showed Li Zhuang in military uniform. He was standing by a well with a shoulder pole in his hand. There were two wooden barrels filled with water at his feet. He also had five or six water bottles around his neck.

Around him, there were other fellow villagers who also had towels wrapped around their heads. Some of them were leaning on carrying poles, while others were standing on one foot on a wheelbarrow and smoking a pipe. They all had smiles on their faces, as if they were listening to what Li Zhuang was saying.

There was another fellow villager who was also wrapped in a towel and seemed to be shouting at the donkey cart to turn. On the cart pulled by the donkey, there were not only two large wooden barrels, but also a child sitting there who seemed to be eating something.

However, when he saw the third photo, Wei Ran couldn't help but tremble.

Although this photo was worn out by sand and had fine scratches like meteors, he could still easily distinguish that in the picture, the tearful little lama was sitting on the edge of the kang, and it seemed that Li Zhuang, who had been shot in the abdomen, was lying in his arms. His once extremely clear eyes had lost their luster, but there was still a smile on his face.

Next to the two of them, Nurse Ji covered her mouth with one hand and held her military cap with the other. Her eyes were filled with tears and sadness.

"And that's all"

The photographer sighed after he finished speaking, and in the silence of everyone, he gently placed the film on the table, next to the camera.

"The little kid who got the injection should be Anda"

Uncle Yao suddenly said, "When my grandfather was alive, he often told me that when Anda was a child, he had a severe fever. It was the Red Army soldiers who were staying at my house at the time who invited a military doctor to give Anda an injection, which brought down his fever and saved his life.

My grandfather also said that Anda was the first person in the village to receive an injection. In order to thank the Red Army for saving his life, he even went to fetch water for the Red Army.

"In those days, medicine that could reduce fever was very expensive," sighed County Chief Ma.

“Because they are ordinary people”

Secretary Bai's words, spoken almost subconsciously and as if it were a matter of course, made Wei Ran tremble again.

He had no intention of exploring whether Secretary Bai and County Magistrate Ma had done their best in their duties and whether they had done practical things for the people.

But at least in that moment, he clearly saw the shadow of Li Zhuang in Secretary Bai.

"I"

Wei Ran took a deep breath and said, "I'm a little tired. Sorry, I want to find a place to rest."

Hearing this, Secretary Bai nodded and winked at County Magistrate Ma, who immediately told the photographer to turn off the camera.

"Teacher Wei, I'll arrange a place for you." While Secretary Bai was speaking, he had already opened the door for Wei Ran.

"Thank you"

Wei Ran did not reject the other party's kindness. He waved to the others as a greeting, picked up his backpack, followed Secretary Bai out of the room, and got into the car parked downstairs.

"I heard from Comrade Ram in the video that you drove to our place from Ganzi yesterday?"

As the car started, Secretary Bai lowered the window a little, and then gave a cigarette to Wei Ran, who looked a little lonely.

"right"

Wei Ran took the cigarette, took out a lighter under the cover of his pocket, lit it for the other person first, then lit his own cigarette and took a big puff.

"Where did you stay last night?" Secretary Bai asked casually in the smoke, as if he was chatting about family matters.

"Shanchengbao Memorial Hall," Wei Ran answered absentmindedly. He just thought that he could find Li Zhuang's grave from those three photos.

"Mountain Castle?" Secretary Bai raised his eyebrows.

"Um"

Wei Ran nodded, "At the entrance of the mountain castle. I took a nap in the car, and then came here."

“This is the first time I’ve encountered this.”

"What?" Wei Ran asked absentmindedly.

“This is the first time I’ve met a young man like you.”

Secretary Bai looked at the scenery outside the window and said, "My child is about the same age as you. I dare not say how outstanding he is, but if it were him, he would not drive from Ganzi to Shanchengbao overnight and then from Shanchengbao to our small county town just because of this matter."

Before Wei Ran could say anything, Secretary Bai shook his head and said, "That kid can't stand the hardship, and he wouldn't dare to risk going into the abandoned cave like you did. I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but if he knew there were worms and rats in there, he wouldn't go in even if you beat him to death."

"White Book."

“I’m not a secretary now.”

  Secretary Bai said as he put the cigarette in his mouth and took off the jacket with the party emblem on it, "Wei Ran, I'm curious why you do this?

To be honest, I have seen news about you in the past two days, but after actually meeting you, I found that you are very different from what was rumored."

"What is this?" Wei Ran asked absentmindedly as he blew out a cloud of smoke out of the car window.

"Curious, right?" Secretary Bai answered calmly, "The curiosity of a party member."

“I came here by car.”

Wei Ran was still looking at the scenery outside, his tone still slightly rude and absent-minded. He stared blankly at the scenery receding outside the window and said, "When the road is good, the pickup truck can reach a speed of over 100 kilometers per hour. In this way, I drove from yesterday morning to evening before I arrived at Shanchengbao."

"Those Red Army soldiers walked step by step back then"

Secretary Bai, who seemed to have found the answer, sighed and said, "It took several months."

"Yeah, it took a few months."

Wei Ran slowly exhaled a cloud of smoke that drifted away in the wind, "They don't have leather shoes to wear. They are not as old as me, and probably not as old as your young master."

"yes"

Secretary Bai nodded. "According to the archives of our county, there were many young soldiers who were only sixteen or seventeen years old, and many of them died here."

"The soldier who died in the last photo was named Li Zhuang"

Wei Ran said to himself, "His father was also a Red Army soldier. He died in 1932 when the Allergic Party encircled and suppressed the Central Red Army. He was 13 years old at that time."

Taking another puff of his cigarette, Wei Ran continued, "After his father died, his mother let him join the Red Army.

He was young and had to lie about his age to successfully join the army and was assigned to the kitchen squad. Not long after that, his mother died of illness.

In 1936, he followed the kitchen team across the grassland and was seconded by the medical team to take care of the wounded who were left behind. The female nurse in the photo is from the medical team. Her name is Ji Chunlan.

Wei Ran flicked away the cigarette butt that was about to burn out, took out his cigarette box, took out two cigarettes from it and gave them to Secretary Bai who had also finished smoking. The latter also took out a disposable lighter to help him and himself light the cigarettes in their mouths. "When Li Zhuang walked out of the grass, he was already the squad leader of the kitchen squad.

Before him, two squad leaders of the kitchen squad had already sacrificed their lives in order to get out of the grassland, and he was the only one left in the kitchen squad.

At this point, Wei Ran turned on the screen of his mobile phone, flipped through the three old photos that Sister Juan had just sent him, pointed at Nurse Ji and the little lama in the photos and said, "After Li Zhuang became the acting squad leader of the kitchen squad, he received an order to bring Nurse Ji and Jiang Jiang Yu out of the grassland alive. At that time, Jiang Yu was still an ordinary citizen."

"all these are."

"These are all mentioned in the notes left by this revolutionary elder named Jiang Yu. He and Nurse Ji later got married and had a child, but Li Zhuang did not survive and he stayed here forever.

Until now, I have not found his grave. I went to Shanchengbao to look for his grave, but the people there told me that there is no Shanchengbao Red Army Martyrs Cemetery, and those Red Army soldiers were buried in the surrounding ravines.

After turning off the phone screen, Wei Ran took another puff of cigarette, "Look, they have done so much and paid so much, I just drove a long distance, it's nothing at all." "Are you a party member too?" Secretary Bai asked abruptly.

Wei Ran shook his head, "No, I'm still studying in Russia."

Secretary Bai smiled gently, "Everything you just said sounded like something from an old party member. You are obviously a young man, but you give me the feeling of an old party member."

"I'm a historian," Wei Ran said with a self-deprecating smile, "I just smell old all over, maybe."

"Don't be too sentimental, young man."

Secretary Bai patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and said in a comforting tone, "Communists don't care where they are buried in the future, nor do they care how much they have to suffer for the betterment of the people. Okay, let's get off the car. I'll arrange a room for you to have a good rest."

"Thank you"

Wei Ran smiled, waited for the car to stop, opened the door, picked up his bag, followed Secretary Bai into a roadside hotel, and let the latter arrange a room for him.

After politely declining the other party's offer to take him upstairs, Wei Ran walked into the elevator alone, went into his own room, and fell asleep with the remaining drunkenness.

During this sleep, Wei Ran slept soundly and peacefully.

When he was awakened by the knock on the door, the sunlight outside the window was particularly bright, and a few pigeons were standing on the windowsill outside the floor-to-ceiling window, cooing.

I took out my cell phone and pressed the power button, but the phone, which was already low on battery before I went to bed, had turned itself off.

Without taking out his spare cell phone, Wei Ran picked up the backpack that was still thrown aside, stood up and opened the door that was still being knocked rhythmically.

"I was just about to ask someone to open the door," said Qin II, who was dressed in formal attire, as he walked into the room in a familiar manner.

"When did you arrive?" Wei Ran asked with a yawn.

"yesterday"

Qin Ershi had already sat on the sofa while he was talking. He took out a cigarette from his cigarette case and lit it up. "I heard you were sleeping, so I didn't call you."

"Yesterday?" Wei Ran was stunned. "What time is it now?"

"Four thirty in the afternoon"

As Qin Ershi spoke, he pushed a few folded A4 papers over to him, "You've slept all day. I've brought the crew to finish all the filming and interviews. Now all that's left is the interview with you. Here are the questions I want to ask. Get ready. There's an interview with you tonight, and tomorrow morning we'll probably have to go to those cave dwellings and Uncle Yao's house to shoot some footage."

"An interview with me?"

Wei Ran, who was still not fully awake, took a moment to react. Then he picked up the papers, opened them and took a look.

"You and Xia Shushi are the protagonists this time"

Qin II said with a puff of smoke, "Even Xia Shushi's teacher didn't show up, leaving all the opportunities to be in the limelight to you two. I say, brother, you must not let me down when the time comes."

"What's this?"

Wei Ran shook the paper in his hand, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.

"Put on a layer of armor for you, so that the Yankees won't miss you every day."

Qin II said with a grin, "Also, there is one more thing, it's all up to you."

"What's the matter?" Wei Ran asked as he threw the papers aside.

"When we're done here, let's go back together."

Qin II paused and said, "After we go back, my foolish father wants to invite you to have a meal at my house."

"Going to your house for dinner?"

Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, but soon reacted and nodded happily, "No problem, I'm always available."

"Bring your queen and those beautiful girls with you when the time comes."

Qin II said casually, "My stepmother is so curious about what happened between you, a whoremonger, and those girls."

Stepmother? Wei Ran suppressed the strangeness in his heart and agreed to it happily, but he didn't even mention the topic about "the boss of a whore".

“That’s all the business.”

Qin Ershi took out his cell phone and checked the time. "I have an appointment later. Do you want to go?"

"Social?"

"The county has arranged a banquet for the film crew, and Uncle Yao and his family have also been invited." Qin Ershi stood up while speaking, "Do you want to go?"

"I won't go." Wei Ran waved his hand and chose to refuse.

"Then you continue to rest."

Qin Ershi had already walked out of the room while he was talking. "By the way, remember to call your queen back. I have arranged a meeting tonight and will come back to pick you up."

After saying this, Qin II helped close the door from outside, leaving him with only a room full of secondhand smoke.

Waving his hand to disperse the smoke around him, Wei Ran stretched hard, checked the room slowly, then charged his mobile phone and went into the bathroom to take a good shower.

After wiping himself clean, he took out his suitcase and put on a suit that was neat, formal but not comfortable. Then Wei Ran made a video call to Sui Sui and while the call was connected, he looked through the unread messages that the other party had sent him.

That night, Wei Ran officially accepted an interview with the domestic official media for the first time. As a historian, he told the story of the little lama and others, and described the process and experience of his finding Sister Juan's family.

For him now, giving interviews is already a piece of cake, but facing interviews from his own official media still makes him a little nervous and excited.

Of course, the one who was even more excited than him was Sister Juan who had already returned home.

She was excited that she had the opportunity to be interviewed, but she was also terrified of the embarrassing situation she might face after her identity as a member of the Zang Ai family was revealed.

Unfortunately, she had completely forgotten the password and security questions of the blog account from more than ten years ago, so there was naturally no way for her to delete the dark history that she did not want to look back on before the interview was broadcast.

In the next few days, Wei Ran accompanied the crew to film the entire process at the door of Uncle Yao's old cave house, and then took their family to bid farewell to Secretary Bai and others. He drove the pickup truck again and took the crew to Ganzi across a thousand miles. Together with Xia Shushi who still stayed here, he accepted a second round of interviews at Uncle Jiang's house.

By the way, he also witnessed Sister Juan personally handing over the wooden box and other items that Wei Ran dug out of the cave, as well as the separate negative and small medicine bottle that she found more than ten years ago, to Grandpa Jiang Ji.

Not only that, he also met Team Leader Liu's grandchildren as he wished, listened to them talk about the changes in their hometowns, and witnessed the special gifts that Uncle Yao's family brought to Uncle Jiang's family, as well as the various return gifts that Uncle Jiang and the Liu family gave to Uncle Yao's family.

Time passed quickly and it was Teacher's Day. Wei Ran and Xia Shushi, who had completely recovered from their cold, said goodbye to Uncle Jiang and his family who had come to see them off, and followed Qin II onto the flight back to the capital.

In the future, how Uncle Jiang's family, the descendants of squad leader Liu, and even Uncle Yao's family will continue that red friendship has nothing to do with him, but Wei Ran knows that their three families will definitely cherish this special friendship.

"Brothers, I just got some inside information."

On the flight that was about to take off, there were few people willing to sit in the last row of the economy class. Qin II, who was sitting in the middle, turned on the airplane mode on his phone and spoke in a low voice to the people on both sides.

"What inside information?"

Xia Shushi, who was still fiddling with his phone, asked absentmindedly. He was chatting with his girlfriend-to-be before the phone went offline. As for Wei Ran, who was sitting by the window, he just turned his head away.

"Those 27 photos and everything you found will be exhibited at a special Long March exhibition this November. It is said that the three families will be invited to the capital as guests. They are also digging into the military exploits of the Jiang family's children, and it seems that they are preparing to promote them together."

Qin II put away his phone and said, "Especially those 24 photos of the Long March, which are almost the only real archives of the Long March."

"That's not it"

Xia Shushi, who finally decided to turn on the flight mode, was not surprised at all. "Let's put it this way. The historical value of the twenty-odd photos that Wei Ran found in our country is almost equal to or even exceeds the historical value of the photo of the red flag on the roof of the Reichstag in Berlin that he found before, to the Soviet Union and Russia."

"You don't seem happy at all?" Qin II looked at Wei Ran who still said nothing.

"Happy, very happy." Wei Ran forced a smile, "I just feel a little regretful."

"Comrade Li Zhuang's grave has not been found yet, right?" As a fellow traveler, Xia Shushi was the first to guess Wei Ran's concern.

Nodding absentmindedly, Wei Ran sighed, "It would be great if we could find his grave."

"The most common thing in history is always regrets," Xia Shushi said, "It's a pity that Qin II died."

"Hey? Who are you referring to?" Qin II was unhappy.

Glancing at his scumbag brother, Xia Shushi continued, "It's a pity that the Heshi Bi cannot be found, and it's a pity that the Lanting Preface became a burial object.

To be more specific, it is a pity that we failed to catch up with the Industrial Revolution and suffered the humiliation of the Eight-Nation Alliance, it is a pity that we had to cede territory and pay indemnities time and time again, and it is also a pity that our country was weak and powerless and was bullied by the damn Japanese devils.

It’s a pity that there aren’t many records of generous people like Senior Li Zhuang in history books. It’s a pity that we know they existed but can no longer find any trace of them. ”

At this point, Xia Shushi smiled and said, "But fortunately, there is only one thing we don't have to regret. We can even say that we are as lucky as if we had won the first prize."

"Which one?" Qin II asked curiously.

"Blessed by the revolutionary ancestors," Wei Ran muttered to himself, "I was born in this prosperous China."

"yes"

Xia Shushi, who was also looking out the window, nodded and said with great confidence, "They will definitely not regret anything after seeing what is happening now."

I would like to thank the leader Li Guang Sheniao for the reward, and also thank the big guys such as Dark Dragon Soul, Golden Life Snake, Yoyo Pig for the reward. I really don’t deserve it.

I don’t know how to put it, I guess it’s like taking advantage of someone and still acting ungrateful. After all, I have so many bad debts that I can’t pay off.

But deep down I really don’t want you to give me rewards. After all, my updates are so slow that I can’t code more even if I drink enema like water.

So I am satisfied with just a subscription, and I cannot repay you with a reward. My ability is really limited, and I really don't have any manuscripts saved.

Anyway, I will update as much as I can. It will definitely be after 12 o'clock, so don't wait.