War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1648: New Ancestral Instructions and Hidden Sabre
On the afternoon of the 29th, Wei Ran followed Li Weizhong and his son Li Ziqiang onto a flight to Ice City.

A little earlier than them, Xia Shushi and his girlfriend Qin Qi also boarded a flight to the capital with those precious letters.

This was the reason why he was drafted into the army by Wei Ran. In order for those old letters to find their recipients as soon as possible, who might still be alive, the fastest way was undoubtedly to seek help from official forces.

On the same day, at the same airport, Mr. Li Wangchuan and several of his children and grandchildren boarded a flight to Zhuhai, carrying the checked, worn-out saber.

None of their family members had obtained a cross-strait pass, so they could only fly to Zhuhai and wait. Fortunately, with the detailed address and contact number provided by Wei Ran, they could always meet.

While the three groups of people were waiting, flights took off one after another. In the cabin, Wei Ran also chatted with the Li father and son about their respective military experiences.

“I was a car soldier back then”

Li Weizhong said with nostalgia, "Those days were really hard for the motor vehicle soldiers who were running for Qinghai.

But how strange is that? It’s been so many years since I was demobilized. I still dream of driving on the broken roads in the plateau.”

"The road over there is much better now than before," Li Ziqiang added almost subconsciously.

"Are you serving in the army there too?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.

"No, I'm in Anxi. I've passed by the place where my old man served several times." Li Ziqiang said with a smile, "I'm guarding the border."

"There can be no army without a river. It has always been like this." Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh.

"We have an ancestral motto in our Li family"

Li Weizhong said proudly, "The granaries are full and the relief is provided to the poor. When the country is in trouble, it is first to resist foreign humiliation. When the country is prosperous, it is business everywhere. Later, when my grandfather took over the family, he changed the last sentence of this ancestral precept."

"What has it been changed to?" Wei Ran asked involuntarily.

"Guarding the Four Directions in Prosperous Times"

Li Ziqiang, who was younger than him, smiled and replied, "It is already a prosperous era now, but the more prosperous it is, the better we need to protect it. No matter what, only by protecting the big family can we have a small family."

"yes."

Wei Ran couldn't help but look out the porthole at the land that was getting farther and farther away, but he couldn't help but think of more familiar yet unfamiliar people.

After a long flight of several hours, when the flight landed smoothly and the three people walked out of the airport with their simple luggage, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

Compared with the pleasant temperature in the Land of Abundance, this city in the north of the motherland has even carved ice sculptures.

Under Wei Ran's arrangement, the Li father and son followed him to stay in a hotel in the city, and then found a place to have a good meal of large and affordable local food.

Leaving the father and son to wander around freely, Wei Ran returned to the hotel early and called Xia Shushi.

“I’ve already arranged it.”

As soon as the call was connected, Xia Shushi said, "The higher-ups attach great importance to this matter and are actively coordinating and preparing to find the recipient. What about you? How is the situation on your side?"

“Just had dinner”

Wei Ran stood in front of the French window of the hotel, looking at the bustling night scene outside and said, "Let's go to that address early tomorrow morning."

"Then I'll wait for your news tomorrow."

Xia Shushi paused and said, "Besides, there are several interviews coming up, I guess..."

"Brother, we are not the protagonists this time." Wei Ran said suddenly.

"you mean"

"Let's give the stage to the Li family"

Wei Ran still looked out the window. "This is their family's journey to find their relatives. It has nothing to do with us. At best, we can help lead the way. What do you think?"

"Okay, I'll report your idea to the higher-ups." Xia Shushi agreed readily.

"It's settled then," Wei Ran said, hung up the phone tiredly, and threw himself onto the soft big bed.

The next day, Wei Ran and the Li family father and son got up early and boarded the high-speed train bound for the small town named after Commander Zhao, carrying several boxes of gifts they brought from Sichuan.

“I don’t know if I can find it.”

On the high-speed train, Li Weizhong said nervously. In his hand, he was holding a small tag made of rhino horn. This tag was given to him by Mr. Li before he left.

But whether the other party can recognize him, whether Hu Yuhu is still alive, or even whether the Hu family can be found, are all agonizing unknowns.

After more than an hour, which was both long and short, the three of them walked out of the high-speed rail station. Wei Ran also got the car that he had rented in advance, and drove them, their son, and the gifts to the final destination of this trip.

“That’s it.”

When Wei Ran stopped the car, he was already very sure that this was the small village that he and Li Sui'an had visited in the past.

Nearly a hundred years have passed, and this small village is still peaceful and quiet. The only change is that the houses in the village have changed from dozens of adobe houses to more than a hundred brick houses with red walls and red tiles.

Coincidentally, when he parked his car at the entrance of the village, there happened to be a few little kids around seven or eight years old walking slowly with their schoolbags on their backs.

One of them was pulling a small sled with his hands. On the sled were not only his schoolbag and water cup, but also a small yellow dog with flat ears squatting on it.

After a moment of reaction, Wei Ran smiled, lowered the window, stepped on the brake, and asked gently, "Little boy, what is the name of your village?"

"Birch Village!" The little guy pulling the sled gave the answer in a baby voice that was exactly the same as what he remembered.

"Is there any family with the surname Hu in your village?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"Have!"

Another kid answered, "There is only one family with the surname Hu in our village. Go straight along the road and you will find the family next to the forest at the end! Their courtyard wall is red."

"Their family runs a school!" said another kid, "A martial arts school in the city!"

"Their sister Erya's father is so awesome!"

The little guy who answered the question first replied, "He can break bricks with one kick!"

"My dad is awesome! He can break two bricks with his kick!"

"My dad can kick ten pieces!"

"My dad can kick it to pieces. He can kick the roller to pieces!"

"My dad can kick Ultraman to death!"

"Your dad farted!"

Wei Ran looked at the little bean sprouts who had forgotten to go to school and were busy arranging work for their fathers with a smile and tears in his eyes, and stepped on the accelerator with a happy mood.

Driving through the village, when Wei Ran followed his memory and stopped at the place where the adobe house was, he saw a row of brick and tile houses with very northern characteristics, and a circle of low courtyard walls painted red.

Through the courtyard wall, which is only shoulder-high, you can see that there is not only a not-so-big plastic greenhouse in the yard, but also a row of wooden stakes as thick as thighs buried on the other side.

At this time, a middle-aged man who looked about the same age as Li Weizhong and a man who looked older than Li Ziqiang were kicking the pole with great concentration.

Wei Ran recognized it immediately; it was the same technique that Metal Book had taught him.

"This should be the one," Wei Ran said as he pulled the handbrake.

"What kind of Kung Fu is this?" Li Ziqiang asked curiously as he opened the car door.

"Poke your foot," Wei Ran answered as he pushed open the car door.

"How did you recognize it?" Li Ziqiang became even more curious.

"My hometown is Cangzhou," Wei Ran naturally gave an answer that sounded extremely reasonable.

"Brother Wei can do it too?" Li Ziqiang became even more curious.

"What can I do?" Wei Ran waved his hand. "Who hasn't watched martial arts movies when they were young? Get out of the car, Uncle Li, how about you knock on the door?"

“It’s really my turn.”

Uncle Li, who had changed into formal clothes before departure, had already gotten out of the car while we were talking.

At the same time, the old man and the young boy in the yard also noticed the situation outside. They stopped practicing, wiped the sweat off their faces with towels, and walked towards the open door curiously.

"Excuse me, is this Uncle Hu Yuhu's home?" Li Weizhong asked politely, holding a gift in one hand.

"Are you looking for my dad?"

The middle-aged man who looked about the same age as Li Wei looked at the three people in front of the door curiously and asked, "Who are you?"

"We are from Sichuan," Li Weizhong said. "The Li family in Zigong, my husband and I came here almost 30 years ago. I wonder if Uncle Hu is home?"

"Zigong Li family? Li family!"

The visitor reacted for a moment, then asked in surprise, "You are... Oh! Wei Zhong! You are Wei Zhong's brother! It's me! Zhenxing! At my grandmother's funeral, you even kept vigil with me!"

"I remember! I remember!"

Li Weizhong shook hands with the other party excitedly, "I, I don't even dare to recognize you!"

"Hurry, hurry, hurry! Come in!" the middle-aged man who called himself Zhenxing said, and he excitedly pulled them in, and at the same time called out, "Son! Hurry! Go call your grandfather! There are guests at home!"

Before he could finish his words, the man who looked to be in his thirties ran into the room.

When Wei Ran followed the Li father and son and was led to the main gate by Hu Zhenxing, an old man who looked to be in his eighties but in very good health had already strode out.

"Uncle Hu, do you still remember me?"

Li Weizhong quickly greeted him and said, "I am Weizhong. In the winter of 97, I came to your house with my old man Li Wangchuan."

"I remember! How could I not remember!"

The old man with a loud voice slapped his thigh and said, "Is your father still healthy? Does his leg still hurt in winter?"

"Still strong!"

Li Weizhong answered quickly, and under the warm welcome of the family, he took Li Ziqiang and Wei Ran, a outsider, into the warm and clean main room.

After the two families sat down, Li Weizhong presented the gifts, explained the purpose of his visit, and gave them the rhino horn plaque he brought with him.

"My father didn't hide this from me."

Old man Hu Yuhu looked at the rhino horn plaque in his hand and sighed, "I probably know more than you and your father do."

As he said this, he placed the rhino horn brand that Li Weizhong had just handed over on the coffee table, then stood up and walked into the inner room.

Not long after, he brought a tin box that looked very familiar to Wei Ran, opened it, and took out half a rhino horn brand from it.

"This piece of land in our house was found by my father when he went to the secret camp where the old Anti-Japanese Allied Forces members Tian Xiaohu and Song Hongxia died."

Hu Yuhu said, placing the plaque he had taken out on the coffee table, and then picked up the one Li Weizhong brought, "This plaque was left behind after the cavalry company commander Ma Jintao died and his body was sent back to the Ma family.

The old man of the Ma family gave this plaque to your grandfather Li Sui'an as a souvenir and also as a dowry.

My father told me all this when he was alive. He and my mother had been trying to find the bodies of their anti-Japanese comrades and bury them for most of their lives. "

At this point, Hu Yuhu, who is now nearly 90 years old, sighed and said, "My parents and your grandfather have always wanted to find the descendants of the Ma and Zhao families. I helped them read and write the letters they exchanged over the years."

"My father can't understand what's written in jargon." Li Weizhong couldn't help but say.

"They all asked about how each other was doing, asked your grandfather if he had any news about the Ma family, and asked my father if he had any news about Zhao Jinyu's widow."

"Speaking of this matter, we have to thank this young man. We have news about the descendants of both the Ma family and the Zhao family. They were all found by him." Li Weizhong said, patting Wei Ran's shoulder gently.

"Why does this young man look familiar?"

Old man Hu Yuhu looked at Wei Ran in confusion, then slapped his thigh, "Oh my God! Isn't this the young man on TV?! I saw him on the news! It was on the National Day program!
My grandson Shangwu also said that he was a whoremaster over there! Hey, boy, are you a bandit from some mountain over there? Are they going to fight again?"

"puff--!"

It didn't matter what the old man said, the man in his thirties who was accompanying them, and even Li Ziqiang who came along, all spat out the hot tea in their mouths through their nostrils.

"Old man, it's indeed me, but I'm not a bandit." Wei Ran replied with a grin.

"What the hell/Why is he always a whore?"

Hu Zhenxing and his peer Li Weizhong asked the same question in their respective hometown dialects, but in return their sons all clasped their hands together in front of Wei Ran, coughing and repeating "sorry".

"Nothing, just a random nickname for me."

Wei Ran suppressed his embarrassment and changed the subject, "Mr. Hu, Mr. Wangchuan has already brought the saber of senior Zhao Jinyu to meet the descendants of the Ma and Zhao families in person. I guess there will be news in the next two days."

"Really?! Great! That's great!"

Hu Yuhu said excitedly, "If we can really find it, it will be considered as fulfilling my father's last wish! Young man, tell me how you found it!"

“It’s a long story.”

Wei Ran glanced at Hu Shangwu and Li Ziqiang, who were huddled together and secretly looking at him, and were obviously holding back. He started by explaining the key points of the investigation process, which he had accidentally obtained a box gun and a saber in the Russian territory a few years ago, and then briefly recounted the slightly modified process.

“That’s roughly what happened.”

Wei Ran finally said, "A few days ago, I finally found the seller of those things, and also found the Eighth Cavalry Division, no, it should have been called the Provisional First Division at that time, and found the suicide letters of the soldiers of that cavalry company, and also found some suicide letters of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces soldiers.

I continued investigating along this line for a long time, and finally found the descendants of the Ma and Zhao families."

“It’s not easy either.”

Hu Yuhu sighed, and then said, "Zhenxing, call your aunt and tell her that our family is here and ask her to come back quickly."

"Is this the child in the photo?" Wei Ran took out his cell phone, called up the copied group photo, and pointed at the cradle baby in it and asked.

"Yes, that's her."

Hu Yuhu smiled and said, "After my sister and brother-in-law retired from the armed police more than ten years ago, they opened a martial arts school in the city that specializes in practicing poking kicks. Now my son Zhenxing, my grandson Shangwu, and my nephew's family are all teachers in the martial arts school."

At this point, Hu Yuhu instructed his eldest grandson, "Shangwu, ask your mother to come back quickly, and go to the neighbors to call for some helpers to kill the fattest pig and goose in the pen, and we will have a pig-killing dish to eat!"

"Hey! I'll go right away!" Hu Shangwu didn't even wait for the Li father and son to stop him, and ran out in a flash.

Following this topic, everyone talked about the Northeast's pig-killing dishes and the inherited Chuozijiao.

Outside the yard, soon after, the fat pig and the goose could be heard screaming with joy to death.

When it was almost lunchtime, an Iveco drove into the yard.

As the car door opened, an old lady with silver hair and a particularly strong figure, an old man who looked quite serious, and a large family came out of the car one after another.

It was at this time that Li Weizhong also received a video call from his father.

Through the small screen, Wei Ran also saw from afar that there were several more elderly people of the same age around the old man.

Knowing that there was nothing left for him to do, Wei Ran contentedly picked up the teacup and drank the hot tea in it. Then he made an excuse to go out for a walk and left the space for the three lively families.

Walking into the yard, Wei Ran stopped in front of a wooden stake, raised his leg and kicked it with the sole of his foot lightly.

With a dull "bang" sound, the carbonized wooden stake, which was as thick as a thigh, also shook, shaking off some dust on it.

Fortunately, in this land of white mountains and black waters, this kicking move, which can easily kill someone, has become a sport to keep fit.

Fortunately, the jargon that almost everyone had to learn before going out has been completely swept into the trash and is no longer useful.

"I'd better go to the Russians' territory and be a bandit of my own."

Wei Ran, feeling rather lost, muttered something in a self-deprecating manner, took out his cell phone and sent a message to Sui Sui, then turned and walked into the lively living room, letting go of the last bit of concern about those friends, and with peace of mind, as a junior, he followed the Li father and son to Hu Yuhu's house to enjoy a pig-killing meal that was only available during the Chinese New Year.

What he didn't expect was that at this sumptuous banquet, old man Hu Yuhu actually presented a long and thin wooden box.

"Wei Zhong, it's time to return this item to you." Old man Hu Yuhu said solemnly.

"Uncle Hu, this is..." Li Weizhong took the wooden box with both hands and asked curiously, "Give it back to us?"

"Young man, aren't you a historian? How about I test you?" Hu Yuhu said, drawing everyone's attention to Wei Ran.

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who was holding a big white steamed bun in his hand and shoveling pork, cabbage and vermicelli stew into his mouth without any image, chewed a few times and swallowed the food in his mouth. Then he took the wet towel handed by Li Ziqiang, wiped his hands and asked vaguely, "Grandpa, I finally have a good meal, why do I have to take the exam?"

After this joke was made, people sitting around several tables in the living room all burst into laughter.

"You young man, come quickly and talk to us old farmers." Hu Yuhu urged, also laughing.

"Then wait a minute."

As Wei Ran spoke, he took out a wet towel and carefully wiped the soup off his hands and mouth. Then he took out a pair of silk gloves from his pocket and put them on. Then he took the long wooden box that Li Weizhong was still holding.

"Then should I open it?" Wei Ran asked finally.

"Open it. Open it."

Hu Yuhu pointed to the middle of the living room and said, "Come, stand in the middle and tell everyone what is in the box."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who had actually already guessed the answer in his heart, took a deep breath, carried the long box to the middle of the living room, and under the gaze of nearly twenty men, women, young and old, he carefully opened the buckle on the long box and took out a long cloth roll that was exactly the same as the one he took back then.

After carefully opening the cloth roll, everyone saw a slender cavalry sword in a scabbard.

"Cha-"

He gently pulled the sword out of its sheath, and with a slightly harsh friction sound, a cavalry sword covered in oil and mud was completely pulled out.

Taking the tissue handed over by Li Ziqiang, Wei Ran gently wiped the oil and mud off the blade. He only took a look at the words engraved on the root of the blade and the mottled notch on the blade, and said with certainty, "This is a cavalry sword, or more precisely, a snow maple sword."

Seeing that some people in the room were surprised, while others looked confused, Wei Ran continued to explain, "The saber was designed by Peng Xuefeng, the commander of the 4th Division of the New Fourth Army, a national hero, and a military strategist.

As far as I know, the saber in my hand is probably the only one left in the world.”

Seeing the exclamations of the people in the room, old man Hu Yuhu also spoke up at the right time, "When my father was alive, he told me that this saber was left by Mr. Li Sui'an when he first came to our house after the founding of the People's Republic of China.

Before he died, my father had a premonition that he did not have much time left, so he specifically asked me to hide this saber. When the descendants of the Zhao family are found one day, I will take out the saber and return it to the Li family.

Wei Zhong, keep it, this is your grandfather's relic, take it home."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran was the first to react. He immediately sheathed the knife and solemnly returned it to the slightly stunned Li Weizhong.