War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1567 Someone is dreaming

When the white light faded, what came into Wei Ran's eyes was the blanket that was still covering his body.

After a moment of reaction, he pulled off the blanket and looked towards the window. The thick curtains had a good light-blocking effect, but at the edges, one could still see hazy bands of light from the sunlight coming in from outside.

Lying on the bed with his head tilted back, Wei Ran stared at the tattoo on the base of his left hand in a daze, his mind recalling the "rules" he had received when his fingertips touched the white vortex before entering that dream.

Thinking of this, he couldn't wait to cover himself with the blanket again and turn on the flashlight, then took out the metal notebook and turned to the latest page.

At this moment, the white vortex has turned into the hazy outline of an edelweiss, but there is also an obvious countdown seal starting from 720 hours.

  Thank you

Wei Ran put away the metal book and murmured his gratitude softly. According to the rules given to him by his living ancestor, he had a chance to "dream" once a month, and each dream lasted for 12 hours.

He could even use the suitcase he had obtained before to bring some gifts to Clara in the "dream", such as clothes, jewelry, desserts, drinks, and other things that would not bear too obvious marks of the times.

But he couldn't take anything out of the "dream", not even an edelweiss or a blade of grass. He couldn't take out anything from the metal book except the suitcase.

Even so, even though he didn't know whether the dream-weaving world was real or fake, Wei Ran was already extremely satisfied and grateful.

On the other hand, the fact that the bed was not very warm under his butt also confirmed another situation in the "rules" that required his attention.

After entering the dream, he will also disappear from this world. In other words, during the 12 hours in the dream, he will truly leave this world.

This doesn't matter to him. At most, it just helps him find a safe place to "fall asleep" in the future.

Compared with these minor inconveniences, no, perhaps they are not inconveniences at all, but rather a killer feature in a sense.

No matter what it was, compared to all this, what he got was a safe haven where he could confide all his unspeakable secrets.

  just

Was that really a dream?

Wei Ran couldn't help but start thinking about this problem again.

  If it was a dream, whose dream was it?

My dream is still.

Edelweiss Dream?

This was destined to be a question with no answer, but he stretched out his body on the bed and let out a long sigh of satisfaction. He felt much more relaxed as if he had put down the heavy burden he had been carrying for a long time.

  Dreaming shouldn't be considered cheating, after all, I didn't do anything.

Wei Ran mumbled something incoherently and soon fell asleep again.

When he was awakened by the unhurried knock on the door, it was almost noon.

"Wait a moment." Wei Ran said as he sat up as quickly as possible, put on his clothes and opened the door.

"How did you sleep last night?" Outside the room, Aladdin, codenamed "Fly", asked with a smile as Wei Ran opened the door.

"Sorry, I overslept because of the jet lag and the red wine I drank last night." Wei Ran said apologetically.

"It's okay, if you want to sleep a little longer"

"No, no need."

Wei Ran waved his hands quickly, "If you go back to sleep, I'll have insomnia tonight."

"In that case, would you like to have lunch together?"

Aladdin smiled and said, "Now, besides the staff, there are only you and me in this farm."

"Just the two of us?"

Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, "Where are the others?"

"Kurt is back at the modification factory. Although he's retired, he's still a workaholic. His wife made an appointment a week ago to take the kids to the dentist today to have their braces adjusted."

Aladdin asked Wei Ran to follow him to the restaurant and said, "Hanwad was just a guest. He should have gone home last night. After all, it is not convenient for his wife to live alone."

"Actually, I'm ready to leave too," Wei Ran said with a smile, and picked up the suitcase and briefcase leaning against the door.

"Are you going to leave too?"

Aladdin glanced at Wei Ran in surprise, and after a moment of silence, he asked, "Are you going to visit Yashar's parents?"

Nodding as a matter of course, Wei Ran began to explain, "I will help you keep the secret from Yashar. Of course, I will also help you find the negatives of those photos."

"Actually, I wanted to ask a question yesterday," Aladdin said, bringing Wei Ran a cup of coffee.

"what is the problem?"

"Why are you willing to help us?" Aladdin asked seriously.

"Does justice count?"

"Of course, but there must be another reason, right?"

"You must have also read the news about Mr. Yashar in China, right?" Wei Ran asked, picking up the coffee cup.

"Because of the diary?" Aladdin reacted immediately.

"He came to me about a week ago with the two diaries."

Wei Ran smiled and explained, “One of them is a relic of a Chinese volunteer soldier, and the other is a prisoner of war diary left by Yashar’s grandfather.

Even with just these two things, it's enough for me to help him find his parents, and by the way, find some things for you as well."

"I saw the news a while ago about those precious photos you found."

Aladdin said, “I was deeply shocked by the scenes recorded in the photos, especially the bodies of the soldiers lying by the swamp river.

You, I mean China, you must have paid a very high price to drive away the invaders, right? "

"14 years, at least 3500 million."

Wei Ran sighed, "It took us 14 years and at least 3500 million casualties to drive out the invaders."

“We can’t gather 3500 million people”

Aladdin stared at the snow-capped mountains outside the window absentmindedly, and said with a hint of despair, "But we have begun the sixth 6-year struggle, Victor, do you think we can..."

"Yes, of course, and I will definitely do it."

Wei Ran put down his coffee cup and walked to the window, looking at the tall and lush cedar tree on the top of the hill in the distance and said, "That edelweiss, she and her companions have already lit a ray of fire for that land in the darkest time.

You, whether you are Hanward, Ed Holler, or the young man who left his diploma and all his honors in that glass display case, you are all the sparks that burst out of that fire."

At this point, Wei Ran turned his head and looked at Aladdin, "I believe that the fire was not only caused by Edelweiss and Yashar's parents, the hot air balloons and bats, and the freelance journalist Mr. Alan Varta.

Those sparks of fire must not only be from you.

I believe even more that one day these sparks will eventually converge into a raging flame that will set the whole prairie on fire.

You will certainly take back the land that belongs to you and drive out the invaders who trample on the land and life."

Looking at Aladdin who had fallen into silence, Wei Ran walked back to the table, picked up the coffee cup and took another sip, "Mr. Aladdin, thank you and the Holler family for your hospitality. I'm ready to leave now."

"Don't you want to have lunch together?" Aladdin asked subconsciously after coming back to his senses.

Wei Ran smiled and said, "Wait until I find those negatives. Now I just want to go to the grave of Yashar's parents as soon as possible."

"Okay, I'll take you to the city."

Aladdin stood up and said hesitantly, "Victor, this may not be as safe as you think. You have to be careful of those people. They are all crazy.

If you notice anything is wrong, it is best to stop immediately, and."

Aladdin took a deep breath and said, "Cut off ties with us."

"I'll be careful." Wei Ran smiled, picked up his briefcase and suitcase and opened the door.

Finally, he looked up at the tall and lush cedar on the top of the slope again. Wei Ran let the warm sunshine and the cool breeze from the snow-capped mountains fall on his body, stretched his body to his heart's content, and then pointed to the SUV parked not far away, "Mr. Aladdin, on the way back, can I drive that car?"

"sure"

Aladdin, who had just opened the driver's door, nodded casually and simply gave the driving job to Wei Ran. He then went around to the passenger seat, opened the door and got in.

After putting the not-so-big suitcases and briefcases into the back compartment, Wei Ran got into the driver's seat and closed the door.

Compared with the ambulance of the year, this unmodified off-road vehicle did not seem to have changed much. Even its gear lever had been hung with a blue-eyed rabbit pendant.

“This is a manual transmission SUV.”

Aladdin, who was sitting in the passenger seat, pointed to the three iconic gear levers between the two of them and said, "If you want to go faster, you can turn off the differential lock."

“I’ve driven this car before”

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already started the engine skillfully and drove the off-road vehicle away from the farm.

"Why are you still using this outdated car? I remember this car was discontinued many years ago."

Wei Ran started a random topic. This car could indeed be considered outdated - both the manual transmission and the not-so-spacious rear space compared to an ambulance.

"Indeed, these were ordered by Kurt before they were discontinued, but they are not outdated."

Aladdin is extremely satisfied with the car. "Compared with the original model, the 3.2-liter turbocharged diesel engine has greatly increased its power. It is much faster on paved roads and can even meet Euro VI emissions standards, not to mention the improved suspension system."

"You actually have better choices," Wei Ran said subconsciously, "such as Iveco, such as Unimo."

“It’s the best choice”

Aladdin smiled and said, "In the Gaza Strip, what we need is an off-road vehicle that can quickly shuttle through the ruins. It does not need a complex computer system, nor does it need an overly eye-catching fancy appearance. This can reduce a lot of unnecessary maintenance costs for us and help us avoid many unnecessary dangers."

At this point, Aladdin patted the car door gently and said, "And in our childhood memories, an ambulance should look like this."

"yes."

Wei Ran switched gears and increased the speed while speaking, almost making small talk, "At least we should change to an automatic transmission, so that it will be more convenient to drive." "You must not have driven an ambulance much."

Aladdin smiled and lit a cigarette, "Manual transmission is the first choice for emergency vehicles."

“I’ve definitely never driven an ambulance before.”

Wei Ran smiled absentmindedly, "Aladdin, you look more like an experienced off-road vehicle driver."

“I’m still a general practitioner”

Aladdin smiled and said, "These two identities are not contradictory, especially in dangerous Gaza, where there is a lack of everything, not only doctors and medicines, but also drivers, fuel and ambulances."

“Same as decades ago”

"Yeah, just like decades ago."

Aladdin nodded subconsciously and then fell silent.

Obviously, this man who was no longer young was reminded of his childhood memories. He just didn't know that he was not the only one whose memories were reminded.

While chatting about the car, Wei Ran drove the car back to the car modification factory with the help of navigation.

"Are you ready to leave now?"

Kurt, who had received the news in advance, was already waiting at the door. "I'm planning to have a good gathering tonight, and Hanward will bring his wife and children with him."

"Next time"

Wei Ran apologized and once again brought up the excuse he had used when leaving the farm, "I plan to go to the graves of Mr. Yashar's parents first. When I find the negatives of those photos, I will..."

Before he could finish his sentence, the phone in his pocket rang with a text message.

"I will come to visit you all again after I find those negatives." Wei Ran said calmly.

"That's okay"

Kurt and Aladdin, who was holding his hands up, looked at each other, and when he looked at Wei Ran again, his expression had become much more serious. "Victor, searching for the negatives of those photos is not as safe as you think. Be careful."

"I will be careful"

Wei Ran shook hands with the other party again, "Mr. Aladdin has already reminded me just now."

“I already regret it”

“I have already received half of the commission.”

Wei Ran said in a joking tone, "Besides, I will be collecting the other half of the commission soon, so there is no way I can regret this job anymore."

"Anyway, thank you for helping us." Kurt held Wei Ran's hand tightly and shook it solemnly, "You and your girlfriends are always welcome to visit our farm."

"I said, I only have one girlfriend." Wei Ran explained again in vain.

"There's no need to explain this to us old guys," Kurt said with a laugh, obviously not intending to believe Wei Ran's nonsense.

Without much greeting, Wei Ran got into the car he rented, left the modification factory as the two old men waved goodbye, and drove out in a random direction.

He waited until the modification factory behind him was completely blocked by the buildings along the way before he slowly pulled over, pulled up the handbrake and took out his cell phone.

The message notification just now came from a spam message, but Wei Ran knew that this spam message meant that the Kajianka sisters had sent him an email.

Without rushing to take out the authenticator to see what email the other party had sent, he drove away from here again. With the help of the navigation, he stopped in front of a local cake shop with a long history, bought a Sacher cake, and then bought a large portion of Mozart chocolate balls.

Carrying these small gifts, Wei Ran drove the car to the door of a hotel. He checked in calmly, pulled the curtains and checked the room carefully. Then he took out the suitcase and carefully put the two gifts in it.

He took out the lunch box and the authenticator. When he connected it to his mobile phone and logged into his mailbox and saw the email from Anfia, his good mood disappeared and he frowned.

In this email, in addition to an audio clip, there are also two photos and a text document.

He didn't even have time to listen to the audio, let alone read the text. Just those two photos were enough to make him realize the seriousness of the problem.

The first photo was taken from a high angle yesterday at noon when Wei Ran, Kurt and others walked out of the modification factory and were about to get into the SUV.

The angle of the second photo was no different from the previous one, but it was captured not long ago when he drove the SUV back to the modification factory and chatted with Kurt at the door.

He was even certain that Anfia sent the email two or three minutes at most after the photo was taken.

Almost subconsciously, he dodged to the blind spot in the corner and squatted on the floor. Then he continued to browse the other contents of the email.

However, what he didn't expect was that the content of this email was actually related to one of his old clients - Mr. Edward, a wicked and wealthy man from the UK.

By the way, ever since she unexpectedly met Mr. Edward in France last time and got hold of all the evidence of his disgusting deeds, Anfia has been using technical means to monitor the old man's communication tools for a long time (Chapters 1347, 1348, and 1373).

Now, the long surveillance has finally yielded unexpected results for everyone.

According to the description in this email, Mr. Edward received a phone call last night, and shortly after hanging up the phone, he sent an email.

What caught the attention of the monitoring program were several pre-set keywords mentioned in English during the phone call: "Victor", "Chinese" and "historian".

When Anfia, who was taking a hot spring bath in the castle, came online urgently, Mr. Edward had already sent the email.

What made Anfia alert was that the content of the emails sent by Edward was basically some information and photos about Wei Ran.

He even described in detail in this email the process of hiring Wei Ran to help him find a plane in the desert, as well as his objective evaluation of Wei Ran.

Almost subconsciously, Anfia, out of curiosity, easily hacked into the recipient's computer, and then traced back to another account that sent the email to him, and found a photo of her boss in it.

Wei Ran took out a pair of outdated but safe enough wired headphones and connected them to the authenticator. Then he turned down the volume and clicked on the call recording.

"Mr. Edward, you seem to have come into contact with Victor, the Chinese historian who appeared in the recent news?"

At the beginning of this recording, a man with a very attractive American accent asked directly.

“It is true”

In the recording, Edward answered in a British accent, "Mr. Mehill, do you also want to hire that Chinese guy to help you investigate something? I have a pretty good relationship with him, so I can introduce you to each other."

“Not for now”

The man called Mesir continued to speak directly, "Send me a copy of his detailed information, and give me an objective evaluation of his investigative ability."

"No problem," Edward asked, switching to Hebrew, "Can I know what happened?"

"This Chinese person is contacting our target"

Mesir also switched to Hebrew. "If his investigative skills are strong, he might be able to dig up something that would be very troublesome for us."

"What do you need me to do?" Edward asked without thinking.

"Send me his information first."

Mesir said, "If we plan to take action against him, we may need your help then."

"It's my pleasure, Mr. Mehill." Edward said, "I will send you the information of the young Chinese man later."

The recording ended here. Obviously, the first person to hang up the phone was Mr. Mehill. This small detail actually implies that his status seems to be higher than that of Edward.

Putting away his headphones, Wei Ran, who was leaning against the corner, just snorted. Then he stood up by supporting himself against the wall and lay back on the bed.

It was obvious that the Messer who was targeting him was most likely from the Yisheli or some elimination organization that had been secretly keeping an eye on Kurt Holler.

He could even guess the approximate location of the voyeur based on the angles of the two candid photos.

But is it necessary?

Wei Ran stared at the ceiling above his head and couldn't help but ask a key question. From 1982 to 2020, the span in between is almost half a century. If it were him, he could choose to kill all suspects and solve all potential troubles once and for all.

He had no doubt that he was fully capable of doing this by staring into Kurt's eyes. If nothing else, as long as he could sneak into the second floor of the workshop, he could just follow the map by comparing the certificates in the glass display case.

Even if the time is right, a fire might be able to kill all of Kurt and his men.

But since those who were watching them all the time did not do so, it was obviously not out of kindness. In this case, their only purpose was the missing photo negatives.

  Could it be that those films contain some extremely important information, or in other words, some crucial information that is extremely fatal to those people with warts?

It seems that this is the only way to make sense

Just as Wei Ran was sorting out his thoughts, his mobile phone placed on the table received another email from Anfia.

He picked up his phone again and opened a new email, but a hint of murderous intent flashed across Wei Ran's face.

The unidentified Mr. Messer seemed to be planning to kidnap Sui Sui to threaten him. At the same time, he also sent several people to monitor him and be ready to snatch any photo negatives he found.

After a moment's thought, Wei Ran typed on the screen and replied to an email, "Find an excuse to bring Sui Sui back to Kazan immediately and find out Mesir's identity."

In less than half a minute, Anfia replied with an emoticon of a little fox making an OK gesture and the words "Okay, boss."

"I didn't go looking for you, but you guys came to my door instead"

Wei Ran snorted coldly as he put away his phone. Originally, he had planned to find an opportunity to secretly publish the negatives of those photos through the Hela organization, but now that someone has already focused their attention on him, he has to terminate his original plan.

Otherwise, it is inevitable that someone will notice that this harmless historian like me seems to have the power to call the shots on the Internet.

If this exposes Hela, who is hiding in the shadows, or if more secrets are accidentally revealed, then the loss will outweigh the gain.

What's more, it seems necessary for me to act a little arrogant to match my current complacent state.

"It seems that I will have to tear off a pair of lace panties stained with shit and urine by myself again this time."

Wei Ran muttered subconsciously, then shook his head in annoyance, "Which bastard came up with this description?"

"Ah! A-choo! A-choo!"

On the outskirts of Murmansk, Jima, who was busy at a film shoot, sneezed twice in a row, extremely loudly, in the cold wind.