War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1525: Oil Thieves and Hot Air Balloons

At the crossroads in the ruins, in the shadow of a building less than twenty meters away from the M113 armored vehicle, Wei Ran crouched down and observed carefully, then carefully moved towards the armored vehicle.

As the distance got closer, when he touched the cold body of the armored vehicle again, he found that there was no movement inside the armored vehicle at all.

After a moment's hesitation, he carefully climbed up onto the roof of the vehicle, only to find that all the armored hatches, whether the driver's seat or the machine gun turret at the rear, were locked.

Could it be that it was left here because it was down? Wei Ran couldn't help but smile. This was definitely unexpected good news.

Without wasting time, he climbed to the roof as quickly as possible and used wire cutters to easily cut the additional padlock on the armored fuel tank cover. When he unscrewed the cover, he immediately smelled the rich and mellow smell of gasoline.

After a final inspection and listening for a while by leaning against the hatch on the top of the armored vehicle, Wei Ran quickly put away the wire cutters, jumped out of the car, and ran back along the shadow of the building to meet up with Sewing Machine and others.

"Come with me"

Wei Ran took the oil extraction hose from the sewing machine and hung it around his neck. He then picked up two empty oil drums and whispered, "Edelweiss, you take your helper to stand guard here and wait for support."

Although there was no response, Sewing Machine and his wife Cradle each took four oil drums, nervously followed Wei Ran, and quickly ran to the intersection along the shadows of the buildings, hiding in the shadows of the cars and the ruins of the buildings on the street.

Climbing back onto the roof, Wei Ran stuffed the three oil extraction pipes into the fuel tank one by one. At the same time, Sewing Machine and Cradle had already skillfully taken an oil extraction pipe and put it to their mouths and sucked hard, and before the gasoline entered their mouths, they stuffed it into the oil barrel they brought in the dark.

When Wei Ran jumped down from the roof of the car, the third oil extraction pipe was also stuffed into the oil barrel by the sewing machine.

On a dark and quiet street corner, three oil thieves hiding in the shadows almost held their breath and listened attentively to the sound of fuel flowing into the barrel, using this sound to determine whether the barrel was full.

Almost at the same time, the three of them pulled out the oil pipe and replaced it with an oil barrel.

"It looks like we can get a lot today."

"Shhh--" The cradle stopped and lowered the volume to the lowest level, but it couldn't suppress the exclamations from the sewing machine's mouth of surprise and excitement.

As the night quieted down again, the three of them quickly filled up their second oil barrels and then put the liquid into the third barrel.

Without any hesitation or discussion, the three of them each picked up two full oil drums and trotted back to meet Edelweiss. After handing the heavy oil drums to them, they hurried back.

  Isn't that enough?

Wei Ran muttered to himself that he had collected at least seventy or eighty liters of fuel, but the dizziness he had been guarding against did not appear.

Without having time to think about the weirdness here, Wei Ran quickly put down the empty oil barrel in his hand, waited for a moment, and then replaced the oil pumping pipe with a new oil barrel.

Unfortunately, the last three oil barrels were not filled, and fuel stopped flowing out of the oil pipe.

"You go back first"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pulled out three oil extraction pipes, rolled them up haphazardly and hung them around his neck. He bent down and scooped up a handful of yellow sand mixed with construction waste from the ground, stood on tiptoe and lifted it above his head and put it into the fuel tank. He then kindly helped to close the tank cap and fastened it with the padlock he had cut. Then he picked up the two oil drums left for him and ran back.

After reuniting with Edelweiss and the others who were waiting in the distance, Wei Ran whispered, "Go back quickly. Now is not the time to be happy."

Upon hearing this, the people who had just relaxed immediately tensed up again.

Each of them carried two large barrels of fuel, and under the cover of night, the group returned to the hospital along the same route, stopping and starting.

After getting back into the garage and locking the car door, everyone's face showed an irrepressible look of surprise.

"How much did we get back?" Cradle asked, still somewhat incredulous.

"At least two hundred liters!" The sewing machine gave the answer it had estimated on the way back.

"Those Falangists won't come after us, will they?" Edelweiss seemed to have just remembered to be afraid at this moment, and asked a question that had long lost its meaning.

"Will not"

Wei Ran shook his head and sighed secretly in his heart. He was certainly confident that he would not leave any traces and be found.

But he knew more clearly that tomorrow, September 9, the international force responsible for ensuring the safety of the refugees would resign and leave Beirut.

On the 14th, the newly appointed chief of the puppet army will be killed by a 200-kilogram bomb.

Even before entering this historical episode, he had specifically asked Kalp, who happened to be at the forest farm, about the 200-kilogram bomb.

According to the handsome old man, "Those Jews wouldn't mind killing a good dog as an excuse to launch an invasion."

Although he couldn't figure out whether the handsome old man's meaningful words were a guess or some inside information, although this guess could be considered a "guess" and was very different from the historical records he had learned.

  But no matter what the truth of the explosion that happened four days later was, for Wei Ran, no, for every Chinese who knows history, wasn’t it the Beirut version of “The Lost Soldier of Marco Polo Bridge”?

Seeing chaos about to break out, Wei Ran had no way of warning those who were busy lighting kerosene lamps. He could only watch the lamps emit a blinding light, and watch them pour barrels of stolen gasoline into the ambulance's 125-liter dry fuel tank and the fuel tank of the two-stroke generator on the front of the vehicle.

"Four and a half barrels left"

As Sewing Machine screwed the gas cap shut, he said happily, "This gasoline and the two barrels that the veterinarian brought back in the evening will be enough for all the operating rooms to use for a week."

"A week. I'm afraid." Wei Ran sighed silently. The next week might not be easy.

While he was secretly nervous, Edelweiss had already stepped on the front bumper of the car skillfully and pulled the starting rope of the generator with both hands.

Suddenly, the roar of the engine came from the front of the car.

Amid the cheers of the children, Edelweiss opened the driver's door and got in. A moment later, the lights in the car lit up one after another, and the car radio started working, playing a French news program.

With the help of the light inside the car, the cradle turned off the kerosene lamp, and then the light in the car was turned off. Even the thick curtains and the front and back doors of the garage were opened one after another by the children.

For a moment, the draft carried away the exhaust gas from the generator, and Edelweiss pushed open the doors of the driver and co-pilot seats, allowing the sound from the radio to come out.

Without any conversation, everyone walked to the garage door and sat on the bench under the cedar tree, listening to the French news on the radio and the 11-year-old Rama translating the French news into Arabic, which they could not understand.

"Veterinarian, do you have any cigarettes left?" the sewing machine whispered.

"Have"

Wei Ran nodded, took out a box of "picked up" cigarettes and handed it to the other party, "Take it and smoke it."

"Thank you"

The sewing machine thanked him, and impatiently tore open the cigarette, took out one and gave it to his wife, then put one in his own mouth and let the cradle light it for him.

"Would you like one?"

Wei Ran took out another pack of unfinished cigarettes and asked Edelweiss who was not far away from him.

"I don't smoke," Edelweiss waved her hand absentmindedly, as if all her attention was focused on the radio program.

Unfortunately, until nearly half an hour later, when everyone stood up and walked into the garage, the late-night news program on the radio did not mention a single word related to "Beirut" or even "the fence is tender".

"The battery should be fully charged."

As Edelweiss said this, she had already turned off the generator in the front of the car, and then turned off the radio in the car.

At the same time, the children worked together to lock the iron door of the garage and relight the candles.

With the dim light, Sewing Machine took Ed and Hanward into the tent where men's leather shoes were hung, and Edelweiss took Rama and Dalal into the tent where high-heeled shoes were hung.

"Veterinarian, aren't you asleep yet?" Cradle asked while yawning.

"I'll smoke one more cigarette and then go to sleep"

Wei Ran shook the cigarette box in his hand, watched the other party walk into the tent where men's leather shoes were hung, then he relit a cigarette and put it in his mouth, holding the still burning lighter and walked towards the small door leading to the yard.

He walked through the wooden door and lit the candle lamp again. He took a shower again and washed the remaining oil on his hands. Then he took out an oil barrel from the metal book, went to the faucet and filled it with cold water.

He also took out a British army kettle from the metal book and filled it with water. Then Wei Ran tiptoed back to the garage.

However, while going back and forth, he noticed that there was a faint light on in the cab of the ambulance.

After a moment's hesitation, he walked over with the flickering lighter in hand, gently patted the car body, then opened the passenger door and got in.

Before he even sat down on the chair, he smelled the rich aroma of wine.

"Would you like a drink?" Just as he closed the car door, Edelweiss next to him asked.

With the help of the candle lamp hanging on the rearview mirror, Wei Ran could clearly see that Edelweiss was wearing a cute pink nightgown and a white headband on her head to hold up her short golden hair.

Compared with this slightly childish bedtime outfit, on the hood between the two people there was not only a bottle of wine and a goblet, but also an open glass can filled with brown-red dried dates.

"Where did it come from?"

While Wei Ran was asking, Edelweiss had already pinned the ballpoint pen in her hand onto the hardcover notebook that was originally placed on the steering wheel and placed it on her lap. Then she reached into the storage net bag above her head and took out another high-heeled glass wrapped in newspaper.

"What are you asking?"

As she spoke, Edelweiss had already stuffed the newspaper wrapped around the goblet back into the storage net bag above her head, then moved closer to the bed and blew away any dust that might be in the goblet.

“Of course these things”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already picked up the wine bottle that didn't even have a trademark, only a piece of medical tape with a date written on it, and refilled the other person's goblet with some scarlet wine.

"Thank you"

Edelweiss said, placing the goblet on the hood as well. While Wei Ran was pouring wine for himself, he explained, "I found these in the abandoned ambulance driver's dormitory in the yard. There are dozens of bottles of these, and some in wooden barrels. I guess the ambulance driver brewed them himself when he was alive."

"Ding"

Wei Ran picked up the goblet and clinked it with the other person's, then took a sip. Although he didn't drink much red wine, he had to admit that the taste of this red wine was definitely one of the better ones he had ever tasted, at least much better than the ones he had tasted at the home of the French rich woman Koko.

It's normal to think about it. After all, this is France, a country that sounds like it prohibits alcohol, but actually has thousands of years of winemaking history, and was ruled for a period of time by France, a country that also loves wine.

Or maybe it was due to environmental factors, the fatigue during the day, the tension of stealing oil and the subsequent relaxation, and of course, the beautiful girl sitting next to him and the flickering candlelight, who knows?

"I didn't expect you to be an alcoholic," he said jokingly.

"Before I came to the Hedgerow, I never drank," Edelweiss said self-deprecatingly, "like a Puritan."

"Actually, you are under a lot of pressure," Wei Ran asked, muttering to himself.

“I’m scared all the time.”

Young Edelweiss said tiredly, "I was afraid that the militants would rush into the operating room, that bombs would fall on the hospital, that the children would die, that you would die, that I would die, that I would not be able to return to Austria alive."

"Do you regret it?" Wei Ran asked cautiously, "It's not too late to leave here now."

"I'm just scared, but I don't regret coming here, and I don't plan to leave now."

Edelweiss said, picking up the cup and clinking it with Wei Ran's again, then took a big gulp and swallowed it down with a gulp, muttering to herself, "Later, I discovered these wines by accident, and found that I could sleep well after drinking two glasses, and it would also make me braver."

At this point, she picked up a plump date and handed it to Wei Ran, "If I wasn't worried about getting into trouble in the operating room after drinking, I would even want to drink two large glasses every morning."

“That’s what Soviet doctors and nurses did”

Wei Ran used a small joke to offset the other party's self-mockery, took the dates from the other party's hand and threw them into his mouth, chewing while changing the subject, "Did you find these dates from the ruins, too?"

"These are my birthday presents from Rama"

Edelweiss also dropped the dates into her mouth, picked up the glass canning jar and said, "This is the best thing she could find. The poor little thing sneaked into the bombed-out store and found these dates."

"It seems that she really treats you as her mother," Wei Ran said in a low voice, looking at the candle light through the remaining wine in the glass.

"Maybe"

Edelweiss smiled brightly unconsciously, picked up her cup and clinked it with Wei Ran's again, "I will try to be a qualified mother."

"cheers"

Wei Ran spoke softly amid the clinking of glasses, and then drank the red wine in the glass.

"Have another drink with me"

As Edelweiss spoke, she had already picked up the bottle and poured the last bit of wine evenly into the two people's glasses.

After clinking the glasses again and taking a sip, Edelweiss picked up the hardcover notebook on her lap and opened it. She placed it on the steering wheel and wrote quickly while chatting with Wei Ran about her study experience at medical school in Austria. From time to time, she would ask some questions about first aid.

After accompanying the girl to finish her notes and drink the last glass of wine, Wei Ran took the initiative to take on the task of cleaning the wine glasses, while Edelweiss put away her notebook and the can of dates, yawned and walked into the tent where the women's high heels were hanging.

Wei Ran waited until the candles in the tent went out before he left the garage carrying two wine glasses and walked into the yard again. He first cleaned them carefully and put them aside, then took out a flashlight and looked at the small house filled with auto repair equipment and parts.

After walking around several piles of tires and other debris, he indeed found a wooden box containing more than a dozen bottles of wine and a small oak barrel that barely fit under a single bed.

  Maybe

Wei Ran thought for a moment, pulled out the oak barrel and carried it to the bed. After some study, he used wire cutters to grab a wooden stopper on the barrel and carefully pulled it out.

He put his nose close to it and smelled the rich aroma of wine. He decisively took out an empty barrel from the metal book and filled it with red wine, which he was not sure whether it could be used or not.

He smashed the cork back into the hole of the barrel and stuffed it back under the bed, and took an extra bottle of wine. Then Wei Ran turned around and left the abandoned room filled with the smell of wine, picked up the washed wine glass, and tiptoed back to the garage.

Before he could put the wine glass and the bottle of wine he brought back into the ambulance, he vaguely heard the sound of a sewing machine and a cradle talking in the tent.

However, although they were not speaking French at this time, Wei Ran could understand what they were saying.

  So one of the language tasks has been accomplished?

Wei Ran remembered this incident belatedly, so what language are they using now?

  Rabbit or Greek?

Or maybe they actually know Arabic?

Without having time to think about why he didn't feel that horrible discomfort this time or what language they were using, Wei Ran, who had already extinguished his lighter, was attracted by the content of their conversation.

"Have you really decided?" The sewing machine asked seriously through the tent cloth.

"Decided"

Cradle whispered seriously, "I plan to discuss this with Miss Edelweiss in the next two days. I want to borrow the ambulance to go to the refugee camp.

I heard that the medical conditions there are even worse, especially for many pregnant women, many injured pregnant women, who simply cannot afford to rush to the hospital to give birth, so I want to go there and do something.”

"I'll go with you," the sewing machine said, "I can't bear to see you take risks, so either we go together, or we don't go."

When the topic came to this point, the cradle suddenly changed to a language that Wei Ran could not understand and said something. Soon after, the sewing machine also changed to a language that Wei Ran could not understand.

  What's the point of switching channels?

Wei Ran secretly curled his lips, groped his hands and carefully moved to the front of the ambulance. He then lit the lighter he had picked up again and opened the car door. He carefully wrapped the washed cup in newspaper and stuffed it into the net bag just above the driver's seat, and then stuffed the bottle of wine he brought back into the storage net bag on the car door.

After closing the car door and slowly lighting a cigarette, Wei Ran couldn't help but pondering what language he had learned and why he didn't feel any discomfort this time. He waited until the cigarette was about to burn the filter before he put it out and walked into the tent with the lighter in hand.

At this time, the sewing machine couple were no longer talking, and the two young men had already fallen asleep.

After covering the two young men with the blanket that had slipped off, Wei Ran turned off his lighter and lay down on his bed. Soon he fell asleep due to fatigue and drunkenness.

When he was awakened by a rustling sound, he found that Ed next door had lit the oil lamp, and he and Hanward were putting on their clothes by the light.

"Shh-"

Ed made a silencing gesture to Wei Ran, then pointed to the cubicle.

Not knowing what these two guys were doing by getting up so early, Wei Ran could only nod and lie down again.

A moment later, the two young men left the tent carrying the candle lamp. Wei Ran also got up and quickly changed into the jeans and a pair of lightweight Dexter shoes he found in the suitcase. He then walked out carrying the sweater he had not had time to put on.

Following the two young men all the way to the small yard behind the garage, he found that Dalal had already woken up, and the little girl was busy washing the dirty clothes that Edelweiss had put down last night at the faucet.

Not only her, but Ed and Hanward also picked up a basin of clothes each after blowing out the candles and began to wash them skillfully.

I glanced at the sky through the crack in the door. There was still morning glow, so I estimated it was no more than six or seven in the morning.

Just at this moment, the door of the garage behind him was slammed loudly by someone from outside!

Almost subconsciously, a titanium alloy pistol with a silencer appeared in Wei Ran's hand. In the yard outside the door, the three children seemed to be electrocuted. They dropped their work and ran towards the small door where Wei Ran was hiding.

After putting away the pistol, Wei Ran turned and walked towards the garage door, while the sewing machine also came out of the tent while tying its belt.

After exchanging a glance with Wei Ran, the two of them quickly ran to the front of the ambulance along the gap beside the ambulance.

“There are no borders here.”

"Sewing machine, it's me, hot air balloon, open the door quickly!" An anxious voice whispered in French through the curtain and iron door.

"Open the door quickly!"

The sewing machine reacted quickly, lifted the curtain, removed the padlock, and opened the small door on the garage door, allowing a man who was estimated to be over 1.9 meters tall but slightly thin to walk in.

This white man, wearing a black sports suit and carrying a large canvas bag, looked to be no more than 30 years old. He had thick sideburns and even more luxuriant golden-red afro.

This style matched his figure so well that Wei Ran subconsciously thought of the large brush shaped like a brush that Anfisa often used when she helped Sui Sui put on makeup.

On the black headband that restrains her afro, there are very obvious embroidery of "MSF" and anti-war symbols, and of course, a hot air balloon logo.

“I got the latest news”

As the balloonist spoke, he handed the two cartons in his hands to Wei Ran, and enthusiastically greeted the hurriedly approaching cradle and the sleepy Edelweiss. Then he continued worriedly, "The international force that guarantees the safety of Palestinian refugees will leave Beirut today. This news is absolutely accurate.

The situation here may get better as promised, or it may get worse. My personal guess is the latter.

So ladies and gentlemen, you should seriously consider whether to stay here any longer."

Without waiting for anyone to speak, the balloonist took off the canvas bag on his shoulder and said, "The only good news is that the medical officers of the troops preparing to withdraw have become much more generous. I got a lot of medicines that are usually hard to get. In addition, I also brought you some gifts."

Before he finished speaking, he had already opened the canvas bag and took out several mail packages from it. "Here are your packages."

"When do we need to make a decision?" asked the sewing machine.

"I'll come back tomorrow morning if I'm still alive."

The hot air balloon said as it distributed packages, "If I come tomorrow and find a way to evacuate by then, you can tell me your decision. If I don't come tomorrow, you'd better leave here immediately."

"Is the situation already so serious?" Cradle asked with a frown.

“Just planning for the worst”

The hot air balloon said as he turned and walked out, "I should go inform the other group. I hope all of you live to see the 21st century."

Before he finished his words, the tall and thin man had already ridden on a khaki Nissan off-road motorcycle and disappeared in a flash amid the roar of the engine.

Everyone looked at each other, and the sewing machine walked back with the couple's package and said, "Let's prepare for today's work first, and we'll make a decision in the evening."