War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1683: Letter and Reversal of the Case
On Zelenets Island, under the watchful eyes of cameras, bodies were dug out one by one from the forest cemetery and, after being comforted by the accompanying priest, were put back into small body bags.

At the same time, at the edge of the cemetery, also under the witness of the camera, several staff members from the museum carefully took out a glass jar and a German gas mask canister from the ammunition box under the magpie's nest that was almost surrounded by trees.

On the other side of the cemetery, Wei Ran, dressed in a formal suit, was also in front of the camera. As a discoverer, he narrated his experience of accidentally discovering everything here, as well as his understanding of that period of history and some "analysis" and "speculation".

After the initial processing by the staff, Wei Ran also participated in the archaeological work. Together with the other staff, he opened the frosted lid of the glass jar and took out the triangular letters, film tubes sealed with wax and cloth strips, and a slingshot.

This was the first time he saw everything in this "mailbox".

Just by looking at the senders and recipients on the outside of the triangular letters, he realized something.

Among these letters, the most were those written by Vasily to his heroic mother.

As the letters were opened one by one, everyone present, including the camera lens, could clearly see the contents of the letters. At the same time, from the perspective of a ten-year-old militiaman, they also "got to know" every person who had been stationed on the island.

In the letters he wrote to his mother, transporters and artillery crew members fell one by one, and he used nursery rhymes to select new transporters and new gunners. Those who died were buried in their collective cemetery with stones he had collected with his own hands.

In his letters, Sasha and Yulia expressed deep love for each other.

In his letters, Andrei secretly fell in love with the brave sentry Sonya.

In his letters, Yuri admired the gunner Gianniya, and Gianniya actually fell in love with Yuri too.

In his letters, old Ivan was always worried about his little grandson, Vlada missed her firefighter son in her dreams, Lisa missed her boyfriend and mother who were transporters in Leningrad, and Ruslan was looking forward to his brother bringing people to support them as soon as possible.

Every day Olga felt the pain that she had not received a few days of formal and complete training, and the pain that she had not been able to save the wounded.

Father Seryosha was worried about insufficient manpower, food, ammunition, and the lack of the crucial gun shield.

Of course, in his letters, the young soldier Vasily always missed his mother who worked as a courier, and always wanted to become a brave political commissar of the Soviet Red Army like his father.

In a letter from the little guy, he described in an excited tone how a new reporter used an unexploded aerial bomb and a box of canned bombs to blow up dozens of kilograms of fish.

It describes the journalist who was unfortunately killed in the explosion while collecting bombs in order to get more fish, their decision to donate the fish to Leningrad, which was in urgent need of food, and the deliciousness of fish head soup and fish viscera jelly.

It also describes how he successfully detonated the butterfly bomb with the slingshot that Ruslan made for him, how he was invited by Yuri to secretly climb up the watchtower to look for his mother's red signal light, and how everyone took photos with the cameras and films left by the reporters.

Finally, a short but scribbled line appeared in a letter that Vasily wrote to his mother: Dear Mom, I am going to join the battle, and this may be the last letter I write to you.

I may also die here, please don't be sad or miss me, I am fighting to defend our Leningrad.

Mom, I will be proud of you, just like my dad.

"Let's take a look at other letters," Wei Ran said in a hoarse voice.

In the quiet tent, no one spoke out to reject the proposal.

More triangular letters were presented one by one under the camera.

Among these letters, there were letters written by Yuri to his beloved gunner Gionia, and also letters secretly written by Gionia to Yuri.

There are letters from Lisa to her boyfriend and mother, and there are letters from Andrei to Sonya.

There are also letters from Vlada to her firefighter son, as well as letters from Igor and transporter Sergei to their families.

Those crude pieces of letter paper and plain words contain longing, admiration, nostalgia, as well as brief helplessness and ardent determination.

When everyone finished reading the last letter, they realized belatedly that the little guy named Vasily had read everyone's letters.

This little "prank" has made the grief that has been delayed for seventy or eighty years more vivid.

One of the female staff members, with red eyes, wiped her tears and said with an indulgent smile, "What a naughty little guy."

"But he also defended Leningrad"

The cameraman in charge of filming couldn't help but say, "My grandfather also participated in that battle, right on the ice of Lake Ladoga."

"It seems that I don't need to tell you what happened here."

Wei Ran said, "Vasili is the best storyteller, and I believe you are too."

"But Leningrad is no longer there." The same thought came to everyone's mind.

"Mr. Victor, if it's convenient for you, how about letting you handle these sealed film tubes?"

A staff member from the museum asked, “I heard your printing skills are very professional.”

"It would be a great honor for me if the museum trusts me." Wei Ran took the job with a humble attitude.

Next, the staff continued to rebury the bodies of the militiamen, and Wei Ran once again sat next to the broken anti-aircraft gun and in front of the camera. From a Chinese perspective, he shared his views on the war, shared another group of children he had met in the same period of history, and the sufferings and contributions China had endured in the Anti-French Silk Road War at the same time.

Fortunately, he had enough evidence for all of this—all hung high in his library, reminding everyone who looked up.

After a morning of recording and excavation work, the remains of Vasily and others were put back into coffins, and rows of graves were dug up again at the original site and reburied.

This time, they all had coffins, soil to cover the coffins, and stones mixed in between, which were picked up by Vasily himself.

Of course, this time, they also had an extra tombstone.

On the marble tombstone, a line of Russian was engraved to indicate their identity: They were the last line of defense of Leningrad's lifeline, and they defended the great Leningrad with their lives.

When the burial ceremony was over, Wei Ran temporarily bid farewell to the staff of the museum and TV station, drove the fishing boat, and took Teacher Daria and many girls to the Osinovic Pier.

"What did you find?" Sui Sui was the first to ask, unable to suppress her curiosity.

"Found a little guy and his mailbox"

Wei Ran paused, raised his voice slightly, and while on the road, he recounted the battles and girls recorded in the triangular letters.

When the story ended, the fishing boat also stopped at the dock of Osinovic. After waiting for a while, Wei Ran and others met the staff who came back on another boat.

After saying goodbye to Sui Sui and the others again, Wei Ran followed the staff to the museum, borrowed the darkroom there, and developed all the films he brought back into negatives.

These films are richer than those left for him in the metal book, and there are more characters in them. Presumably, these were left by the reporter before him.

While he was busy, black-and-white photos were printed out and hung on the drying line, and the well-preserved negatives were scanned into electronic versions.

Even when he walked out of the darkroom, the museum staff had already found out from the archival records the anti-aircraft artillery company stationed on the island after these militiamen, and discovered that the political commissar of this company had the same surname as Ruslan in the letters.

At this point, Wei Ran, who originally wanted to help the militiamen tell this story, finally breathed a sigh of relief. Such a story was indeed more suitable for them to tell themselves.

Finally, a few more shots were taken at the museum. Wei Ran had no more regrets. He said goodbye to all the staff, reunited with Sui Sui and others, and drove the fishing boat back to the direction of Yudao. "I'm going to Petersburg tomorrow," Sui Sui said on the way back.

"Do you need me to accompany you?" Wei Ran, who was in charge of driving the boat, asked loudly.

"Need not"

Sui Sui waved her hand and said, "I just talked to Aunt Dalia. We plan to ask the production studio and Jima to work overtime to see if we can film the story of the island this winter."

"It will be filmed this winter?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"Yes, it will be filmed this winter. The scene and characters are simple. It won't be difficult."

Sui Sui explained, "I will be the one to discuss this matter, so it's not appropriate for you to go."

"Okay, in that case, I'll give myself a vacation." Wei Ran nodded and said.

“You may not be able to rest.”

Sui Sui returned Wei Ran's phone to him and said, "While you were busy developing those negatives, Brother Xia called you. He seemed to have something urgent to talk to you about."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

"Looking for me? Urgent? What's the urgent matter?" Wei Ran asked after taking the phone.

"Brother Shrimp didn't say that"

Sui Sui spread her hands, "He just said that when you are not busy, remember to call him back no matter what time it is."

"How about you drive the boat?" Wei Ran asked suddenly.

"I will do it?"

Sui Sui pointed at herself and asked, then excitement appeared on her little face, "I've wanted to try this water tractor for a long time!"

"Look here"

Wei Ran pointed at the channel radar and slightly pushed the accelerator to slow down the ship.

After safely handing over the boat driving task to Sui Sui, Wei Ran made a voice call to Xia Shushi.

Unexpectedly, the call was hung up by the other party after it rang for a few seconds. Then the caller replied with a "wait a moment" and there was no further movement.

What about knitting?

Wei Ran muttered something incoherently, put away his phone and returned to the cab, watching Sui Sui's boat driving experience and chatting about the old photos he had developed in the museum.

Amidst Suo Su's almost enlightened chatter, this fishing boat, which was almost as dangerous as Ivan's life in the lake, was finally driven slowly to the dock of Yudao Island by Wei Ran himself.

Before he could jump onto the deck and hang the rope, Xia Shushi also sent a request for a call.

"What's wrong?"

After Wei Ran answered the call, he turned on the speakerphone, handed the phone to Sui Sui, and continued to work on "tying the boat".

"I'm in trouble here," said Xia Shushi on the other end of the phone.

"What's the trouble?"

"Reversing the verdict of a traitor"

"What are you looking for?" Wei Ran asked in surprise, "Overturning the verdict on a traitor? Have you lost your mind?"

"Just listen to me."

Xia Shushi on the other end of the phone said unhappily, "This matter has to start with a friend who recruited nuclear weapons."

"What the hell? Recruiting nuclear friends? Where the hell are we going to recruit nuclear friends? I wish there was no one to recruit nuclear friends."

"Speak nicely, I'm right next to you."

Xia Shushi on the other end of the phone said in an awkward tone, "The other party doesn't understand Chinese, but please stop talking nonsense."

"Well, we are just friends, just keep talking."

Wei Ran stood up, clapped his hands, and took the phone from Sui Sui, who was covering her mouth and laughing.

"This friend's ancestors were from the Osaka Division. You know the Osaka Division, right?"

"The one doing business?" Wei Ran asked.

"Yes, them."

Xia Shushi said, “This friend recently discovered an unfinished memoir while sorting out his great-grandfather’s belongings.

In this memoir, this friend’s great-grandfather spent a long time recalling the business friend he met while fighting in China, who was also his translator.

"Is it the traitor you just mentioned who wanted to overturn the verdict?" Wei Ran asked.

"Yes, that traitor."

Xia Shushi nodded. "According to the memoirs of this friend's great-grandfather, he and his business friends resold a lot of military supplies when they were stationed in Shanghai."

"It sounds reasonable and normal, then what?" Wei Ran asked patiently.

“And then the magic happened.”

Xia Shushi even cleared his throat when he said this, "It was still in that memoir that in 1950, this immortal who was reselling arms and supplies unexpectedly met his friend.

Then, before leaving, the man told him that the military supplies he had bought from him were all used to support the anti-Japanese forces. Not only that, but what happened next was the most interesting.

"Can you finish it in one breath?" Wei Ran asked unhappily.

"The friend also told him that his sister was abducted by him and they already had a child."

Xia Shushi said with a strange look, "Now this friend is here to find the descendants of his great-grandfather's sister, but the premise is to prove that the records in the memoirs are true. To prove this, we must find relevant information about that friend to see if he is a traitor."

"You want me to look for it with you?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"At least I can come and see the fun," Xia Shushi said the truth with great joy.