War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1645 Buying Sheep
In the studio, Wei Ran habitually took out the cigarette box, took out a cigarette, put it on the golden cigarette holder and put it in his mouth. After lighting it, he took a long puff and exhaled slowly.

Letting the cigarette burn slowly between his fingers, Wei Ran leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, and emptied his tired mind.

After a moment, the golden cigarette holder between his fingers gradually became hot. He then opened his eyes again with a sigh, crushed the cigarette butt that was about to burn out, and put away the cigarette holder.

Rubbing his face vigorously, Wei Ran reached out and took out the thing in the first red vortex.

It was a food-cutting knife, which was a gift from Hu Bazhi when he first met him.

Wei Ran gently pulled out the dagger and the pair of chopsticks made of deer antlers and looked at them, then put them back into the scabbard and sent them back into the red vortex.

He reached his hand into the second vortex and tried, but found that he could not take the things out. So Wei Ran simply put away the metal notebook and directly took out the things in the second red vortex.

When he saw the sudden extra thing in his hand, his heart trembled.

This is a saddlebag made of white canvas, in the middle of which is fixed a Japanese Yasyu-style grenade launcher housed in a cowhide sleeve.

The pockets on both sides were filled with grenades.

Wei Ran carefully took out the grenades one by one and placed them on the table, but he almost broke into a cold sweat.

In the pocket on this side, there are 24 instantaneous bombs.

But in the other pocket, there were 12 rounds of highly toxic mustard gas and 12 rounds of Lewisite grenades!

Wei Ran looked around almost subconsciously and couldn't help swallowing his saliva. This studio was big enough, but also airtight enough. Whether it was the instantaneous explosive bombs or the poison gas bombs that exploded, the death would be as miserable as it could be!

It would have been great if there was a bag of shells like this on the bank of the Shaying River.
Wei Ran muttered something regretfully, then loaded the 24 shells back into his saddlebag and took back the metal notebook.

After taking a deep breath and taking out something from the third red vortex, Wei Ran was stunned. What he took out this time was actually a cowhide whip!

Before he could react, a huge horse head stretched out from behind and nudged his neck hard. At the moment when he was about to pull out his gun subconsciously, it licked his face with its wet tongue that smelled of grass!
Wei Ran turned his head blankly and his eyes widened. Behind him, there stood the biting black horse!
Wei Ran quickly stood up and turned around after realizing what was happening. The biting horse also took two steps forward and continued to push its big head into his arms.
By the way, I even took a shit in his studio!

Can it be given to living things?
Wei Ran reacted suddenly, this was a reward he had never expected!

Coming to his senses, he quickly walked over to the biting horse and looked at it.

There was a saddle fixed on the horse, and a tattered saddlebag was hung loosely on the saddle.

Not only that, on one side of the saddle, the Japanese Type 44 cavalry rifle was poking out of the leather holster, and on the other side was a slender saber fixed.

He had almost subconsciously guessed that this slender saber was the one that Li Sui'an had given him as a souvenir at Hu Bazhi's home!
Pulling the saber with a guard out of the iron scabbard, Wei Ran immediately noticed the words "Xue Feng" engraved on the root of the blade.

So you went to that cavalry unit.
Wei Ran sighed and murmured to himself, then put the saber back into the scabbard and took off the tattered saddlebag that was hanging on the saddle.

Unlike the saddlebag in the previous red vortex, this slightly worn saddlebag does not contain a grenade launcher or grenades, but instead a bunch of yellowed envelopes tied together with hemp rope!

Wei Ran took out the envelope from one of the pockets with trembling hands, and his breathing paused. These were letters from home, or rather, suicide notes from the cavalrymen of Ma Jintao's cavalry company!

Carefully untying the hemp rope, one by one, on the khaki envelopes, there were names and addresses from all over China written in neat regular script with a brush!

After looking at the seal that was glued shut, Wei Ran carefully stacked the hundreds of letters together again, tied them up with the hemp rope, and put them back into the saddlebag.

He first took back the metal notebook along with the whip that was thrown on the table and the biting black horse that had been nudging it around, threatening to pull a few letters into its mouth.

Wei Ran then took out the things from the other side of the bag, where there was also a stack of envelopes tied with hemp rope.

After untying the hemp rope again, he recognized the familiar names on the envelopes. These were left by the fighters from the First Guerrilla Team of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces.

Among them are family letters from Zhao Jinge, deputy captain Lao Zhang, Cui Da Huzi, Hongxia, the Sun sisters, even Hu Bazhi, Yang Shiyi, the four brothers of the Qiu family, and every anti-Japanese fighter he has ever met!

In addition to the letter, there was also a very old leather-bound photo album in the pocket. Gently opening it, he found every photo Wei Ran had ever taken - but he was not in any of the photos.

After taking a deep breath, he tied up the dozens of letters with the hemp rope again and put them back into the saddle bag together with the photo album. Then he took out the biting horse again and hung the saddle bag on the saddle.

But this time, he had no way to send the horse back.

After a moment's thought, he took off the sack and threw it over his shoulders, then sent the biting horse back again.

Staring blankly at the still warm pile of horse manure on the studio floor, Wei Ran was silent for a moment, put the knapsack on his shoulder on the table, then took out a pair of rubber gloves and a mask and put them on, found tools and shoveled the pile of horse manure into the toilet in the bathroom.

After carefully cleaning the floor and increasing the power of the fresh air system, he took out the metal notebook again and wrote down the two addresses and contact numbers provided on it.

One of these two addresses is located in Ulan-Ude, Russia, and the other is located in Ao Island, China.

Obviously, the former address is most likely the seller who sold the saber and box gun to Mr. Alexander, or rather, the descendant of the cousin's family of Zhao Jinyu's brothers and sisters.

Needless to say, the latter is undoubtedly the address of Zhao Jinyu's children and Ma Jintao and Xiaobai's sons and daughters.

But what concerned him was that there was actually one address missing, the address of Hu Bazhi, or in other words, the addresses of Hu Bazhi's children, Hu Yuhu and Hu Shixia.

Didn't they survive?
Wei Ran shook his head, suppressing this unacceptable speculation, then picked up the sticky note on the table and carefully read the trivial matters he had written down before entering this historical fragment.

"Today is October 10th. Some junk was found in the cellar of the winery next door. Baba Yaga's pink gang is guarding outside the door. Sui Sui and her followers went to Inta. They have to rush to Inta before the 26st to accompany her to the festival activities."

After Wei Ran carefully read what he had written on the note and used the key words to recall what had happened before, he took out a lighter, lit it and threw it into the ashtray.

Until the piece of paper was completely burned and crushed into ashes, and until the smell of horse manure in the studio gradually disappeared, Wei Ran also scanned out the several negatives given by the metal book this time with a negative scanner.

These photos are just a few group photos, including group photos of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters, group photos of the cavalry, group photos of Hu Bazhi's family and Li Sui'an after the war, and even group photos of Zhao Jinlan and Yang Shiyi with their children.

Without exception, he is not in any of these group photos.

Not to mention being disappointed, Wei Ran imported the electronic version of the negatives into a USB drive and threw it into the lunch box. He then put the negatives back into the metal book, got up and left the studio, and opened the locked basement door.

"Boss! You're out!"

Before the thick explosion-proof door was fully opened, Baba Yaga's captain Katyusha greeted them warmly. Behind her, the other girls quickly put away the playing cards and snacks on the table, as well as the various intimidating pink stun guns and pink shotguns.

"Is anyone looking for me?" Wei Ran asked with a smile while stretching.

"no!"

Katyusha immediately replied, "Except Uncle Ivan who came over to take a look out of curiosity, no one else came to see you."

"Go and do your thing," Wei Ran said, and walked to the next room.

Hearing this, the little girl looked curiously at the basement of the library, then heartlessly shouted to the girls behind her to scatter, some to eat and drink at the library's coffee bar, some to go to the winery construction site to see something curio, or some to catch the shiny black lamb in the yard and continue to paint its nails with pink polish.

Compared to these carefree gangsters, Wei Ran bought a ticket to Ulan-Ude that night on his way back and then went into the bathroom.

That evening, Wei Ran refused the escort of the pink little girls, drove to the airport alone, and boarded a red-eye flight to Ulan-Ude.

When he landed in Ulan-Ude, it was completely dark.

After finding the car he had rented online in advance, Wei Ran drove to a hotel in the city that had been booked in advance and checked in. He then made a video call with Sui Sui.

"You want to go back home?"

In the video, Sui Sui, who seemed to have just taken a shower, asked curiously, "What are you going to do back home?"

"Do you want to join me in investigating some things?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"I can't leave now," Sui Sui said helplessly, "I'm busy here recently, when will you come back?"

"No. 1 will definitely be able to get to Inta," Wei Ran took the initiative to make the guarantee.

"It's okay. If you're busy, go ahead. It's okay if No. 1 can't make it back in time."

Sui Sui was very easy to talk to. "I may have to go back after I finish my work here. You can wait for me at home then."

"also"

After reporting the itinerary, Wei Ran took the initiative to change the topic and chatted with Sui Sui about the new money-making ideas that came up with her and the interesting things she encountered in Inta.

The phone call lasted for almost an hour. After hanging up the phone, although Wei Ran was lying in bed, he couldn't help but suffer from insomnia.

Early the next morning, before the sun rose from the horizon, Wei Ran had already driven out of the city early. Following the navigation instructions, he drove south for dozens of kilometers and finally stopped at a small village next to the Selenge River.

The village is not very big, and the households are very scattered, but just from the pasture fences in the distance, you can tell that this village should be mainly based on animal husbandry.

After looking at the route on the navigation again, Wei Ran parked the car in front of a ranch on the edge of the village.

The ranch was not very big. There was an old sign at the door with words like "Fresh Lamb for Sale" written in Russian, as well as a contact number provided in a metal notebook.

Through the wooden fence, he could also see a log house and a yurt, as well as an old-looking Kavazi van and two motorcycles.

Just as he was staring at the building in the fence in a daze, a young man who looked to be in his early 20s, with yellow skin and black hair, a typical Buryat appearance, came from behind on a motorcycle, stopped next to him, and knocked on the window glass.

"Hello, is there anything I can help you with?" Wei Ran asked as he lowered the car window.

"Do you want to buy a sheep?" the young man on the motorcycle asked enthusiastically.

"Is this your ranch?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the ranch outside the car window.

"right"

The young man nodded and said, "The meat yield of my sheep is very high and the price is cheap. Do you want to go and have a look?"

“I probably won’t buy much.”

Wei Ran said in advance, "I was just passing by and saw this sign. I was still hesitating whether to buy a sheep or not."

"It's okay, come in and take a look! Follow me!"

After the young man finished speaking, he rode his motorcycle into the barbed wire gate not far away, and waved to Wei Ran.

Seeing this, Wei Ran simply stepped on the accelerator and followed, driving the car into the ranch.

When the car passed the wooden house and the yurt, he also saw a flock of sheep grazing in the distance, and several sheepdogs running around the flock.

When he pushed the door and got out, the young man had already parked his motorcycle and was walking towards him.

"What's your name?" Wei Ran asked as he offered the other person a cigarette.

"Ivan"

The young man took the cigarette and gave a very popular name, "What's your name?"

"Victor"

Wei Ran took the initiative to help the other person light up his cigarette, "I want to buy a sheep from you, can you help me process it?"

"No problem at all!"

Ivan answered without thinking, "I'll kill it for you. If you're not in a hurry, I can even process it into cooked meat that you can eat directly and vacuum pack it."

"That's great. I was just wondering how to eat a sheep as quickly as possible if I bought one."

Wei Ran continued the conversation and followed the other party inside.

"What kind of sheep do you want to buy?"

Ivan asked, "Big, small, fat or thin? If you want to buy some cheap ones, we also have culled sheep."

“Come and have a lamb”

Wei Ran casually asked, "You guys also sell lambs?" "Of course, we also have ewes with lambs."

After saying this, Ivan picked up the whistle hanging around his neck and blew a few notes of varying lengths.

After receiving the signal, the sheepdogs in the distance immediately became alert. In just a few minutes, they drove the hundreds of sheep into the sheepfold next to the yurt.

"Mr. Victor, you can choose any one you like. I can help you catch it." Ivan said as he stroked the sheepdog that came up to him to take credit.

“I think you are more professional than me in this matter.”

Wei Ran looked at a man in his sixties wearing a Mongolian robe who came out of the yurt and said, "Choose a lamb with the most tender meat. I want a castrated lamb."

"You are really easy to talk to, and you are not an amateur who knows nothing."

Before Ivan finished speaking, he had already put out his cigarette and swiftly climbed over the fence. After some selection, he easily caught a lamb that looked about the same size as the sheepdog, with a pink patch on its butt.

"Mr. Victor, how about this one?"

Ivan said, already lifting the lamb by its hind legs and showing the tiny scar on its crotch. "It's castrated."

"That's it"

Wei Ran pretended to be generous and said, "How about I give you 30,000 rubles and let you cook the dish for me?"

"No problem at all!"

Ivan agreed without thinking twice. No matter how much processing such a lamb was done, it would not be sold at such a high price. "Sir, how do you want to eat it? Roast or stew?"

"Make it something you are good at."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken out his wallet and counted out 30,000 rubles in cash and handed it to the other party. "Can I go to your yurt to take a look? I want to take some pictures."

"No problem at all!"

After Ivan finished speaking, he shouted to the old man at the door of the yurt, "Dad, this friend wants to come to our yurt and sit down. He bought a lamb and wants to taste our cooking skills."

"Please come in and sit down."

The old man said casually, "I just made some milk tea. If you don't mind, you can come in and have a cup."

"Just give the money to my father and I will kill the sheep now."

As Ivan spoke, he had already carried the lamb to the side of the yurt and ended the life of the lamb in front of Wei Ran. He then pried off a lamb's tooth with a hammer, wrapped it in a tissue and handed it to Wei Ran. "After I take care of it, you can use this tooth to verify that I didn't switch it."

"It's ok"

Wei Ran waved his hand and said, "I believe you are an honest boy."

After saying that, Wei Ran walked up to the old man and handed him the stack of bills in his hand.

"It's been a long time since I met a guest as generous as you."

The old man took the money, counted it, then put it in his pocket and warmly invited Wei Ran to come into the yurt with a lit stove.

"Please feel free to sit down."

As the old man spoke, he picked up an enamel kettle, found a silver-wrapped wooden bowl, and poured a cup of milk tea for Wei Ran.

"What's your name?" Wei Ran asked politely after taking the milk tea.

“I don’t have a Russian name”

The uncle said, bringing another plate of food such as milk lumps, "My Mongolian name is Aoriqi."

"So you are from Mongolia?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"yes"

Ao Riqi smiled and nodded, not seeming to shy away from his background. "My wife is from Ulan-Ude. During the Soviet era, she was a Soviet military doctor stationed in Ulaanbaatar."

Before he finished speaking, an old Buryat woman with kind eyes, who was also wearing a Mongolian robe and had yellow skin and black hair, came in carrying a bucket of firewood.

"Ao Riqi, are there any guests?" After the old lady said this, she greeted Wei Ran enthusiastically.

“A generous young man”

Aorichi laughed and said, "I was just about to tell him our romantic love story. Young man, this is my Soviet wife Lyudmila."

"Mrs. Lyudmila, it's an honor to visit your home and to hear your love story." Wei Ran said with a smile.

“What a good kid”

Mrs. Lyudmila kissed Wei Ran warmly on the cheek and said, "I'll go get you some fruit."

"Thank you for your help," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"Please sit down."

Ao Riqi asked Wei Ran to sit down again, "Try our milk tea. I made it ten minutes ago."

“It seems I’m lucky.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked up the tea bowl and formally tapped the bowl with his ring finger once and flicked it into the air. He then dipped his finger again and flicked it onto the ground. He then dipped his finger a third time and lightly tapped his forehead in Ao Riqi's surprised gaze. He then brought the silver-wrapped wooden bowl to his lips and took a sip.

"Are you also Mongolian?" Aoriqi asked in surprise.

“I am Chinese”

Wei Ran put down the wooden bowl with a smile, "In China, we also have Mongolian brothers and sisters."

"You are Chinese?!"

Ao Riqi even raised his voice a little, and then he couldn't help but shake his head, and muttered something in Mongolian that Wei Ran couldn't understand.

"Uncle Ao Riqi, I'm still waiting to hear your romantic love story with Aunt Lyudmila." Wei Ran reminded with a smile, but was not in a hurry to state his purpose.

"Curious young man"

Ao Riqi came back to his senses and laughed, putting down his milk tea. "Lyudmila was once a military doctor sent by the Soviet Union to Mongolia. At that time, my family had a large pasture near Ulaanbaatar."

"So you two know each other?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Our acquaintance is not a good thing worth remembering"

Ao Riqi sighed, "That was in the 1980s. There was a serious anthrax outbreak on our ranch. Many cattle, sheep and horses died. Even my father didn't survive. Fortunately, Lyudmila came, otherwise I'm afraid my mother and I wouldn't have survived."

Taking the cigarette that Wei Ran shared with him, Ao Riqi continued, "She saved my life, and their military base is not far from my ranch, so we gradually became friends.

Just when we were hesitating whether to get married, the Soviet Union collapsed. I think this was arranged by Changshengtian. He permanently solved the only problem that prevented us from loving each other. "

"This is the most outrageous Soviet joke I've ever heard." Before he finished speaking, Mrs. Lyudmila walked in with a plate of slightly wrinkled apples.

"But it's true, isn't it?"

Aorichi laughed and said, "Then we had a child, and later our ranch was bought by a mining company, so we simply moved to Ulan-Ude, this small village is where Lyudmila grew up, and it will also be where we will grow old."

At this point, Ao Riqi handed Wei Ran an apple and said to his wife sitting next to him, "Dear, this young man is from China. Do you remember what I told you about my relatives who could speak Chinese when I was a child?"

"Do you speak Chinese?" Wei Ran asked curiously before Mrs. Lyudmila could speak.

“Almost forgotten”

Ao Riqi said regretfully, "I only learned some Chinese songs when I was very young, but unfortunately, I have almost forgotten them all."

"That's it"

Wei Ran sighed, hesitated for a moment, and finally decided to temporarily suppress everything he knew. He chatted with the loving old couple about everything under the sun, as if they were really just having a casual chat.

By the time the young man named Ivan and a blonde girl who looked about the same age brought over plates of delicious food cooked in various ways and a bottle of vodka, Wei Ran had already learned a lot from the old couple.

There is no doubt that Ao Riqi is the descendant of Zhao's cousin's husband. If we use the Chinese way, he should call Zhao Jinlan his cousin.

In other words, he is a generation younger than Ma Pingchuan, Bai Qingai, Zhao Guangfu and Zhao Youhua.

In the indirect hint just now, according to Ao Riqi, when he was seven or eight years old, the Chinese relatives living in his house disappeared overnight, and later his family moved to a new pasture closer to Ulaanbaatar.

Later, around 2005, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the family sold their property and moved to Ulan-Ude, Russia.

However, although they moved to Ulan-Ude, where the living conditions were better than in Mongolia, their family still lived a tight life.

In addition to Ivan, the youngest son, Aorichi also has four married daughters and a son who has started a family and works on the railway.

If such a large family came back, the wooden house next door wouldn't even be big enough for them.

More importantly, neither Aorichi nor Lyudmila, the old couple, have any pension.

Their daily expenses are almost entirely supported by the more than one hundred sheep they raise and the help from their children, especially this young man named Ivan who has not even graduated from university.

However, although life was difficult, he could see that this family seemed to be living a happy life and were all exceptionally honest and simple.

The meal was a great success. Wei Ran declined the invitation of the Aozhiqi family to stay overnight and their suggestion to pack up the remaining mutton. Instead, he took out an extra 5,000 rubles and asked young Ivan to find a sober person to drive him back to Ulan-Ude.

This request was naturally not a problem. Young Ivan handed the 5000 rubles to his blonde girlfriend, who simply got into the car rented by Wei Ran, took him and Ivan, said goodbye to Aorichi and his wife, and sent Wei Ran back to Ulan-Ude before noon.

"I will go to your house to buy some sheep to eat when I have time."

Wei Ran stood at the entrance of the hotel and said drunkenly, "Ivan, your parents' cooking skills are very - hiccup - great. I will go there again!"

"You are always welcome to visit my home," Ivan said enthusiastically, "Mr. Victor, do you need me to take you back to your room?"

"That's not necessary."

Wei Ran waved his hand, "You guys, hiccup! Go back early too."

After saying that, Wei Ran turned around and staggered into the hotel lobby. However, before he even stepped into the elevator, his pretended drunkenness had completely disappeared.

At the same time, Ivan also pulled his girlfriend out of the hotel door and happily suggested, "Honey, Mr. Victor made us a lot of money today, why don't we go shopping in the city before going back?"

“I’ve been wanting to say that for a long time.”

Ivan's girlfriend agreed to the proposal without thinking, and asked, "Ivan, don't you think Mr. Victor looks familiar?"

"It seems to be the Chinese scholar who was assassinated by the Americans before?"

Ivan said immediately, "I actually recognized him a long time ago, and I was wondering why those beautiful girls around him didn't come."

“You want to look pretty.”

"God is my witness. I just want to sell more sheep." Ivan responded very quickly and made a promise. "I swear on Buddha!"

As expected, the way he made fun of the two gods made the blonde girl next to him laugh. However, the two young lovers didn't know that Wei Ran, who should have been drunk at this time, had already bought a ticket back to China and simply returned the rented car.

Late that night, Wei Ran, still smelling a little bit of alcohol, had already arrived in Irkutsk across Lake Baikal and boarded a cheap red-eye flight directly from there to the capital of China.

(End of this chapter)