War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1519 Yashar's True Intentions

"Ask him what he needs me to do for him."

Wei Ran suppressed the murderous intent in his heart and asked in a calm tone, but his eyes never left the screen of the tablet.

After Anfisa translated this sentence, the fat man Yashar, who had been waiting for a long time, immediately took out a photo and put it on the table, saying something hurriedly.

After a slight hesitation, Wei Ran took the photo handed to him and glanced at it. The photo showed an old man who looked like he was about to die. He was sitting on a wooden chair and smiling brightly.

Behind him is a barbecue restaurant. Next to the large meat skewers on one side of the door, there is a well-proportioned young man wearing a white hat. He is holding a sharpening stick in one hand and a long knife in the other hand in a cross shape. His face is also filled with a bright smile.

Just at this moment, the fat man Yashar pointed his big fat fingers at the young man in the photo, and then pointed at himself, but from beginning to end, his mouth never stopped, and he kept talking at a very fast speed.

After a moment, he finally stopped talking, and Anfisa immediately translated, "He said that the person in the photo was him and his grandfather, and it was taken in 1999, when he was just 20 years old.

Boss, he wants you to help his grandfather make a movie, just like the Gubiki Pasta Restaurant movie."

"Let's make a movie?"

Wei Ran looked at Yashar in surprise, then looked at Anfisa. He didn't expect the other party to make such a request.

"He said he had seen the North African film more than once, and had also seen other films produced by Time Film Studios, including the pseudo-documentary we shot in Antarctica not long ago."

So he's a fan? A fan of the movie studio?

Wei Ran and Sui Sui, who had become the acting director of the studio, looked at each other, and then looked at Anfisa again in unison.

Seeing the two bosses looking at her, Anfisa immediately continued translating, "He also said that everything his grandfather experienced on the battlefield was as precious as the friendship that the soldiers encountered in the North African story.

As early as when he first saw the North Africa film we made, he wanted to help his grandfather make an equally good film.

He had always thought it was just a dream until he saw the familiar photo in his boss's interview.

“Can you tell me about your grandfather’s experience?”

Wei Ran asked Yashar, and Anfisa, who was sitting next to him, immediately began to translate.

When Anfisa finished speaking, Yashar nodded immediately, then cleared his throat and, with Anfisa's help, began to tell the story of his grandfather.

According to the fat man Yashar, his grandfather participated in the war as an army cook and was only 17 years old when he was captured. There is no doubt that he was sent to a prisoner-of-war camp.

What happened later in the POW camp was just as Wei Ran had expected. Because Yashar's grandfather was accidentally injured by shrapnel when he was captured, he was sent to a POW hospital after being captured.

Later, the prisoner-of-war camp was bombed by the United Nations forces, and Yashar's grandfather was saved by a volunteer army doctor.

The notebook and photos in the photo just displayed on the tablet screen were the ones that slipped out of the military doctor's bag after he saved his grandfather, and were subconsciously stuffed into his grandfather's arms - he thought there was important military intelligence hidden in it, and he wanted to find an opportunity to bring it back in exchange for credit.

Later, Yashar's grandfather was deported and he took the notebook and the photos inside it back home. By that time, the notebook had become a souvenir of that period of prisoner-of-war life.

“But after returning to the rabbit ride, my grandfather began to regret it.”

"He always regretted why he stole the notebook, especially after my father was born," Yashar said in Greek, which only Anfisa could understand.

He said he had become a shameful thief, stealing the letters and the only relic that a great mother might have left for her children. "

Yashar sighed, "For many years after that, my grandfather had been trying to find a chance to send the notebook to China and find the person in the photo, but for various reasons he never succeeded."

At this point, Yashar paused for a moment, giving Anfisa enough time to translate. He continued after she stopped, "Later, my grandfather got cancer, and this notebook became one of the memories and relics he left me."

After saying that, Yashar hesitated for a moment, but before Anfisa finished translating, he gritted his teeth and opened his backpack again, took out a file bag from it, and solemnly handed it to Wei Ran, saying, "In fact, I brought the notebook, and also my grandfather's memoirs about that war.

So whether you want to make the film or not, now they’re yours.”

After Anfisa finished translating at a faster pace, Wei Ran and Sui Sui also stood up subconsciously.

The two looked at each other, and Wei Ran solemnly took the silk gloves that Lu Xinda handed to him very considerately, then opened the unsealed file bag and pulled out two notebooks of almost the same size from it.

The red plastic cover of the first notebook had already cracked a little. When I gently opened it, I saw the picture of "Hulu Riverbank" on the first page.

Wei Ran subconsciously turned it to the back and his breathing paused. These were two photos pasted together. The photo on this side was a photo of Nurse Ji and the little lama, as well as a group photo of Jiang Ji as a child and their adopted Zhu Hongjun's family of four.

After looking at Yashar who was standing up with difficulty, Wei Ran gently turned to the first page.

This page was written entirely in Tibetan language, and a beautiful feather of an unknown bird was firmly attached to the corner.

  "Dear Jiangba Gesang and my dear baby Jiang Ji, Hongjun:

This is the first letter I wrote to you after I went to fight in Korea, and I don’t intend to send it back.

The weather here is very cold but the scenery is very beautiful. This morning, a bird landed on my window and left me a beautiful feather. I posted it on this page and plan to take it back to give to you as a souvenir.

My dear baby Jiang Ji, I wonder if you miss me and if you eat with hearty mouthfuls.

My dear daughter Hongjun, I wonder if you have studied hard and completed your homework."

Without reading further, Wei Ran gently turned to the second page. This was the second letter written by Nurse Ji. This time, there was a golden leaf pasted on the corner.

Without looking at the contents of the letter that Nurse Ji wrote to her family, Wei Ran quickly flipped through the notebook.

Almost every page contained a letter which was not very long but was written in Zang language, as well as small gifts such as leaves, feathers and flowers.

"Do you want to go back immediately?" Sui Sui asked in a low voice.

"Wait a minute"

Wei Ran said this, put the notebook back into the file bag, and picked up the second notebook.

Everything written in this notebook was incomprehensible to Wei Ran, but he could tell it was some sloppy Rabbit Riding language.

There was also a photo on the first page, which seemed to be a group photo of prisoners of war taken in a prisoner-of-war camp. After gently snapping the notebook shut and stuffing it into the file bag, Wei Ran looked at the fat man Yashar, "Mr. Yashar, I want to know why you chose to give these things to me? You could have just sent them back to China."

After listening to Anfisa's translation, Yashar apologized and explained, "If I hadn't seen the news about you and the photo in the news, I would have almost forgotten these things.

To be honest, I even broke into my old safe, whose combination I had forgotten, in order to find these things. "

At this point, Yashar spread his hands and said, "As for why they didn't send it back to China, the reason is very simple. I'm just a chef, not a diplomat. How would I know where to send it?

But your studio location is public, so it's very easy for me to find you. What's more, I don't have a Chinese visa, but I have a Russian visa, so isn't it more convenient to find you?"

"Are these the reasons?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"I love the war movies you directed as the historical consultant."

Yashar spread his hands and said, "Of course, I actually want to take a photo with your celebrity friend. It would be even better if he is willing to give me an autograph. To be honest, my daughter likes that handsome actor named Jima very much."

He looked at Sui Sui with a strange expression again, and Wei Ran shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, "I didn't expect that we benefited from Ji Ma. Sui Sui, you come and call Ji Ma. Besides, we may really need to go back immediately."

"Okay," Sui Sui nodded immediately and took out her cell phone.

“Tell Mr. Yashar that we will arrange for Jima to come over and take a photo with him. We can even take a photo at his home if it is not urgent.”

After a short pause, Wei Ran couldn't help but say, "Also, ask him for me, does he really know the value of this notebook?"

After listening to the question translated by Anfisa, Yashar smiled and gave an answer that was beyond everyone's expectations.

"Mr. Victor, my grandfather was first an invader, then a prisoner of war, and finally a thief."

Yashar spread his hands and said, "This is what my grandfather often said when he was alive. You see, no matter whether you are an invader, a prisoner of war or a thief, you don't seem to be qualified to use this notebook to ask for anything.

As for the filming I mentioned at the beginning, whether you agree or not, these two notebooks are now yours."

After listening to Anfisa's translation, Wei Ran expressed his gratitude in a very formal way and also extended an invitation, "Mr. Yashar, if you have time, why don't you come to China with me? I will take you to find the son of the female military doctor."

Upon hearing this, Yashar nodded happily, "I am very honored to have the opportunity to visit China!"

"Before that, if you have time, why not stay here for a few more days."

Wei Ran shook hands with the other party and continued to invite him, "Youyi, wait a moment, you can do another thing with me."

"What's the matter?" Yashar asked immediately after Anfisa finished translating.

"Come with me"

Wei Ran extended an invitation enthusiastically. At the same time, Sui Sui picked up the file bag and walked into the storage room. She took photos of the two notebooks and sent them to Ram, a female soldier of the Zang tribe, and Xia Shushi, whom she had already added on WeChat. She also briefly described the emergency situation here to Xia Shushi.

While she was hiding in the storage room and busy helping Wei Ran communicate, Wei Ran also invited Yashar to the basement of the library, and used the electronic version of the old photos that Xia Shushi gave him to print two sets of photos, large and small.

With Yashar's participation, Wei Ran hung those old photos in the most conspicuous place in the library, and then put the extra set of smaller photos into the largest photo album sold in the library, and gave it to Yashar with extra solemnity.

"Is this for me?" Yashar asked in surprise.

“Just a small souvenir”

Wei Ran made a promise under Anfisa's translation, "I will think of a way to make the movie. To be honest, I know another descendant of prisoners of war from the Moss War. We may be able to bring him along to try this. Look over there, those photos are from the Moss War."

Listening to Anfisa's translation, Yashar followed the direction of Wei Ran's finger and looked at the photos of Zhao Shengli, Chen Qi and others hanging not far away.

After Anfisa finished translating, Yashar turned around and looked at Wei Ran seriously. After hesitating for a long time, he asked, "Victor, can you help me find my parents? They also disappeared in the war."

"Your. Your parents?"

Before Wei Ran could say anything after listening to Anfisa's translation, Anfisa asked the question he wanted to ask.

"It was my parents who were supposed to inherit the Turkish kebab restaurant left by my grandfather."

Yashar explained to himself, "But because my grandfather told him stories about being saved by military doctors in prisoner-of-war camps more than once, he eventually chose to become a doctor without borders. Not long after, he fell in love with a nurse from the doctor without borders, and gave birth to me. Then they disappeared on the battlefield."

"Which battlefield?" Anfisa asked. She knew that her boss would definitely ask these questions.

“Beirut”

Yashar swallowed and said, "Beirut massacre. My parents entered the refugee camp before the massacre began. And then... I never saw him again."

"Is this the real reason why you were willing to come to see my boss first with your notebook?" Anfisa asked bluntly.

Hearing this, Yashar sighed, and finally nodded, "Yes, I did hope that Mr. Victor could help me.

Rather, I had been considering whether to contact Mr. Victor long before he took on the $288 million investigation job in the United States.

But how could I possibly come up with a commission of $288 million? I can't even come up with $28.

This time when I came here, I did think about using my grandfather's notebook as a bargaining chip to hire Mr. Victor, but after seeing the photos hanging in the library, I changed my mind. What qualifications do I have to make such an excessive request?

  but

I really want to know if my parents are still alive and what happened to them.”

With a silent sigh, Anfisa finally conveyed their Greek communication to Wei Ran truthfully.

“The Beirut massacre?”

Wei Ran couldn't help but look up at the huge photos hanging above his head, and for a moment he didn't know whether to agree or refuse.