War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1649: The Escaped Historians
On the last day of October, Xia Shushi and his girlfriend Qin Qi rushed to Ice City early with the film crew.

Witnessed by the camera, while Hu Yuhu's family and Li's father and son were waiting, old man Li Wangchuan and his recognized Ma Pingchuan, Bai Qing'ai, and siblings Zhao Guangfu and Zhao Youhua, as well as their respective families, also took flights to Ice City.

Fortunately, all members of their generation are still alive and in good health.

Especially Ma Pingchuan, who is the oldest, knows the most about his father's generation, and he also inherited a rhinoceros horn plaque from his mother Zhao Jinlan.

In fact, even without that sign, whether it was him, Bai Qing'ai who married him, or the Zhao brothers and sisters, they all remembered the box gun that had been handed in, and even the saber that Wei Ran sent to the Li family not long ago and was taken to Zhuhai by old man Li Wangchuan.

Bai Qing'ai remembered it particularly clearly. The words "Eighth Cavalry Division" and "Zhao Jinyu" engraved on the saber were carved bit by bit by her grandfather, Lao Bai, a horse herder at the time, with a chisel. He just wanted to keep a memory.

According to Mr. Ma Pingchuan, due to the changing situation, they, the Zhao brothers and sisters, and some of the Yang family's children almost exhausted their family wealth. Only then were they able to hurriedly leave Outer Mongolia, which was increasingly hostile to the Chinese, and after many twists and turns, they took refuge in Portugal and Macao.

In order to survive, Ma Pingchuan and his wife Bai Qing'ai opened a noodle shop, working from dawn to dusk just to feed their family.

The Zhao brothers and sisters and the Yang family's children either worked at the docks or in the firecracker industry, and they also lived a hard life for an entire generation.

Fortunately, nowadays, whether it is the Ma family, the Zhao family or the Yang family, they have all spread out and are living a relatively good life in Australia Island.

Putting aside the last bit of worry in his mind, Wei Ran found an opportunity to give the seller's address and contact number in Ulan-Ude to Ma Pingchuan, with whom he had reunited in a sense, and followed everyone else on the two buses coordinated by Xia Shushi and rushed to Hu Yuhu's home.

"Wei Ran, tell me, how can our whole family thank you?"

When they arrived home, the four oldest grandfathers, Hu Yuhu, Ma Pingchuan, Zhao Guangfu and Li Wangchuan, stopped Wei Ran, who wanted to leave quietly at the airport, and Hu Yuhu asked a question that was extremely important to them.

"Are you really going to thank me?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"Then there's still a lie!"

Hu Yuhu slapped his thigh and said, "Don't worry, just say it! Except for not being able to find you a wife, everything else is fine!"

As soon as these words were spoken, everyone in the room burst into laughter. As expected, many people recognized Wei Ran at the airport, and in a very short time, everyone knew his nickname, which was not very nice but extremely awesome, and the beautiful girls who always followed him.

"Four old men"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "If you really want to thank me, how about letting me take a group photo of you?"

"Take a group photo?" Li Wangchuan looked at Wei Ran in surprise. He didn't expect that this was the thank you Wei Ran wanted.

“Just like the photo in that old album”

Wei Ran pointed to the old photo album on the table in the main hall and said, "Let me take a group photo of all of you."

"I think we should take a picture."

Zhao Guangfu was the first to say, "Not only should we take a photo, but our generation and the generations after us should also move around more often in the future."

"Then please trouble Brother Wei to take a picture for us!"

Ma Pingchuan also said that although he had spent most of his life in Australia, he still spoke with a standard Shanxi accent.

"Young man, you have to take a photo with us when the time comes."

Bai Qingai, who was sitting in a wheelchair, said gently.

"That's right," Zhao Guangfu agreed.

"My pleasure"

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken out the Rollei twin-lens reflex camera from the metal book under the cover of his backpack, "How about we go to the yard and take some photos now?"

Naturally, no one refused this proposal, and soon, sixty or seventy people, men, women, old and young, came to the yard that had been cleaned in advance. They let Wei Ran direct them to stand in several rows and took a group photo with the old camera.

Shaking his hands to ignore the fleeting burning sensation at the base of his palms, Wei Ran stuffed the camera into his backpack and gave it to Qin Qi to hold. Then, together with Xia Shushi, who was also invited, they stood in the position reserved for them by the group photo takers, allowing Qin Qi to use a SLR camera to take a group photo that would not appear in the news.

The filming here had just finished. In the backyard greenhouse, several brand new large round tables that had been set up in advance were already placed with black, white and yellow drinks. The very distinctive and extremely sumptuous rural banquet was about to be served.

While everyone was seated at the invitation of Hu Yuhu and his son, Wei Ran had already asked Xia Shushi and Qin Qi to sneak over to the children's table, opened the bottles of soda and juice early, and poured a full cup for all the children at the table.

"When do you plan to withdraw?"

Xia Shushi grabbed a handful of freshly fried peanuts, peeled and rubbed the skin, then handed the crispy and hot peanuts to Qin Qi beside him.

"How do you know I'm going to retreat?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"Don't I know you anymore? Besides, you were going to run away at the airport, and those old men had already spotted you, so how could I not see it?"

Xia Shushi grabbed another handful of fried peanuts and said in a low voice, "Besides, I have to go back quickly. My grandfather has been asking me to watch cartoons with him these past two days."

"How is the old man's health?" Wei Ran asked.

"It's not bad, we're having a great time every day." Xia Shushi urged, "Let's talk business, when are you going to leave?" "What about you two?" Wei Ran said apologetically, "Forget about you, the unemployed vagrant, because this little thing has delayed Qin Qi for several days."

"It's okay. I quit my job a long time ago and I'm unemployed now."

Qin Qi said as she threw peanuts into her mouth, "I'm not interested in a long-distance relationship, so I just quit. Let me make it clear, I'm really not in a hurry to leave. Even if I leave, I have to finish this meal. I haven't eaten the big rural banquets in Northeast China yet."

"I have to talk to you about this"

Xia Shushi grabbed the chopsticks and said, "This rural feast is delicious, but the best thing is actually the zebasi vegetable tomorrow morning."

"What is Zheluocai?" Qin Qi, who grabbed a piece of sweet and sour pork with chopsticks, asked curiously.

“It’s just all kinds of leftovers dumped together”

A chubby girl who was sitting next to Qin Qi said this as she reached out to grab a chicken leg. She was the second girl from the Hu family, and her father could really break a brick with one kick.

"Forget it, let's just eat and then leave?" Qin Qi asked in a low voice.

"I think it's okay. What do you think?" Xia Shushi turned his head and asked.

"Eat quickly!" Wei Ran said as he picked up a big hot white steamed bun.

At this big reunion dinner, several families and the staff responsible for filming and interviewing all ate too much, especially Li Weizhong's generation, who got drunk.

Taking this opportunity, Wei Ran and Xia Shushi, who also drank a lot at the banquet, followed Qin Qi and quietly left the bustling backyard. Qin Qi, who deliberately did not drink, drove the rented car and quietly left the quiet little village in the flying snow.

"Where are we going next?" Wei Ran asked while handing Xia Shushi a cigarette.

"Qiong Island"

Xia Shushi, who was still holding a can of yellow peaches in his hand, took the cigarette and replied as a matter of course, "Didn't I tell you before the meal that we both have to go back to take care of my grandfather? What about you?"

“I’m back to Kazan”

Wei Ran replied, "Tomorrow Sui Sui will need my help with something, so you two can come over to my place anytime you are free."

"I'll go when I have time," Xia Shushi said, picking up the can and taking a big sip of the sweet and cold syrup.

Soon, the three of them took a car to the urban high-speed rail station, and after returning the rented car, they took the high-speed rail back to Ice City.

"The next time we meet will be during the New Year, right?" Xia Shushi asked Wei Ran while hugging Qin Qi, and handed her a cigarette.

Wei Ran took the cigarette, lit it, and took a deep puff, "I guess it's time for the New Year."

"Remember to get me a copy of that group photo you took. Okay, let's go first."

As Xia Shushi spoke, he raised his hand to stop a taxi, asked Qin Qi to get in the car, and drove away.

"What are we going to do first? That's not even the direction of the airport."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, not knowing whether to laugh or cry. He could not see that the couple wanted to go shopping and did not want to bring him along as a light bulb. Fortunately, Wei Ran was not in a hurry to go to the airport either.

Not long after, he also got into the online-hailing car and drove to the hotel he had booked in advance.

After checking in and doing a routine check, Wei Ran covered himself with the quilt and took out everything he could from the metal notebook. After searching for a while, he finally found a new gift from the burning feeling he felt when taking a group photo.

There was an extra tin box on the second layer of the food box.

In addition to some Chinese emergency medicines and an old ginseng wrapped in red cloth, there was also a pair of not-so-large rhino horn rulers and a few group photos.

Some of these group photos were taken with the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces fighters, and some were taken with the Northwest Ma Family Cavalry.

There is another photo, which was taken in Hu Bazhi's yard with Li Sui'an and others, and there is also a photo taken in front of the yurt with Zhao Jinlan, Lao Bai, Yang Shiyi and their children.

Fortunately, he is in all these black and white photos.

Wei Ran gently closed the tin box and put away the food box, then he let out a long sigh, turned off his phone, closed his eyes, and soon began to snore loudly - he could finally get a good night's sleep.

In the evening of the next day, before boarding the short flight to Vladivostok, Wei Ran called Mr. Li Wangchuan back with an apologetic look, saying that he was really busy with something and declined the invitation to go back to Sichuan with him.

After hanging up the phone, he boarded the plane with his small amount of luggage, and soon took off smoothly, flying to Vladivostok, which was not far away.

Next, he only needs to wait patiently for a short 10 hours in Vladivostok, and then he will be able to take the tropical fruit transport plane that will land here early tomorrow morning to refuel and fly to Inta to attend the festival celebrations organized by Sui Sui and others.

If everything goes well, he will probably have to stay in Inta for at least a week. By then, the Ma and Zhao families may have obtained their visas and will go to Ulan-Ude to recognize their relatives.

Maybe everything will go well.