War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1684
"Okay, how do you plan to watch this excitement?" Wei Ran asked, "I will go back to my country to join you?"

“It’s not that urgent.”

Xia Shushi said quickly, "I will first help this friend who is recruiting nuclear weapons to find his great-grandfather's friend. If I can find him, I will see what's going on.

If things don't go smoothly, I'll probably have to go to the devils at the end of the solar year or the beginning of the new year to see if there are any clues in the relics left by his great-grandfather. How about you come with me then?"

"Why do you want me to go with you?" Wei Ran asked involuntarily.

"Is it useful for me to let the beast follow me? What else can he do besides poking the girl's thigh?"

Xia Shushi asked as a matter of course, "Besides, I've already boasted about my achievements. If I still can't find out, at least you can help me out."

"I won't do anything that has no benefit, especially if it's something that affects our Japanese friends." Wei Ran said bluntly.

"I'll email you later," Xia Shushi said abruptly, "Anyway, there's no rush. If you decide to go, just make time for it before or after the New Year."

"Let me finish reading the email first," Wei Ran said without comment.

"I'll give you my hair back"

After Xia Shushi finished speaking, he simply hung up the phone.

"Brother Xia, where did you find the friends to recruit nuclear weapons?" Sui Sui, who had just heard almost everything, asked curiously.

"I guess there's an 80% chance that the beast met the Japanese student while he was giving him an injection," Wei Ran jokingly said with a grin.

"No proper form"

Sui Sui gave Wei Ran a look and asked, "What are your plans?"

"Go ahead, just watch the fun."

Wei Ran answered without comment, but in fact he had already started to wonder whether he should take this opportunity to throw out Ms. Nale who was hiding in the transport truck.

As for helping to recruit nuclear friends and finding his Chinese friends, there's no point in finding one. I don't have time, so just leave it alone.

"Let's go together then?" Sui Sui said immediately.

"Let's talk about it when the time comes. There's no rush." ​​Wei Ran gave an ambiguous response.

Sui Sui didn't take it seriously. She happily put her arm around his and walked towards the exhibition hall in the heart of Diaoyu Island. She also brought up the topic of whether the photos discovered this time could be hung in the Time Library.

This was naturally not a problem, and in fact the museum staff took the initiative to bring this up after the interview.

While chatting, they returned to the wooden house near the exhibition hall. Sui Sui had already started preparing for tomorrow's negotiations with the girls. Wei Ran, who was free, was assigned the job of chef. He was alone in the kitchen chopping pig's trotters that he had bought from somewhere.

The next day came in a blink of an eye. Sui Sui took the Kajianka sisters and others to the city early, followed by Daria and Olena.

For a moment, apart from Olga, Sui Xin and Chen Luoxiang who were playing music, the only people left in the exhibition hall were the little genius Korava who needed Wei Ran's care, and the dog Belia who was always by his side.

As for Ninel, he is still visiting his father-in-law's house and he probably won't be back for a while.

Since he had nothing to do, he simply found two sets of fishing rods, wrapped Korava tightly, and the two of them and the dog walked to the pier on the edge of the island to kill time by fishing.

Obviously, the little genius Korava would not take the initiative to chat with Wei Ran. On the contrary, she particularly likes Belia.

Wei Ran also had a rare moment of peace and quiet, so he simply hung up the fishing hook and put it aside. Then he took out his pocket warmer, lit it and put it in his arms. Then he took out his cigarette case, took out a cigarette, put it on the holder, lit it and took a sip.

"You are so leisurely." A slow voice came from behind.

"When did you come back?" Wei Ran asked without turning his head.

"just"

Niniel placed the chair he brought next to Wei Ran and sat down, wrapping himself tightly in the blanket and said, "Olga asked me to come back to help her, so I came back."

"So you are really together?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, and at the same time put out the cigarette he had just lit.

"Thank you"

Ninel thanked him, and after waving away the remaining smell of cigarettes, he replied, "Of course we are really together. Maybe we will have children earlier than Jima and the others."

"You guys are developing really fast," Wei Ran said noncommittally, "I thought you would be with your partner Aniya."

"I told you, she's just my partner."

Ninel continued in that slow tone, "Victor, when are you going to investigate the matter I asked you to do?"

"Can't you just let me have a good rest?" Wei Ran asked helplessly.

“You’ve had a full week off.”

Ninel said dissatisfiedly, "Uncle Karp actually said that you are a hardworking person. Your Belia is more hardworking than you."

"When I was working hard, you didn't even know what you were doing."

Wei Ran muttered something that the other party couldn't understand at all, and then he made a nonchalant assurance, "Anyway, don't worry, I will give you an investigation result before Christmas."

"In order to make sure your help is not in vain, I'll bring you a profitable business." said Ninel.

"What business? How much money can you make?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"How should I know? I'm just introducing you. If you are interested, you can talk to the other party yourself." Ninel asked casually.

"You don't even know what business it is?"

"of course I know"

Niniel picked up the fishing rod that he had prepared for Korava, skillfully put on the bait and threw it into the river that was about to freeze, and said to himself, "The person I want to introduce to you is an old man who is over 70 years old. He is my friend."

"Go on." Wei Ran picked up his fishing rod and started catching fish.

"His father served in the USAAF. You know what I mean, right?"

"I know, the United States Army Air Force." Wei Ran was stunned when he said this, and he subconsciously thought of some friends.

“It’s good to know”

Ninel continued slowly, "His father died in the 1970s and left him a pawn shop and some relics. It seems your fish got away."

"I did it on purpose, please continue." Wei Ran made an excuse for himself angrily.

"Among his father's belongings there was a photo album," Ninel said, "of the Tokyo bombing."

"What did you say? The photo album about the Tokyo bombing?" Wei Ran suddenly became interested and even threw aside the unusable fishing rod.

"There's also the signature of Curtis Emerson LeMay on the album. I'm sure you know this person, too."

"I know, barbecue master, of course I know." Wei Ran nodded repeatedly, "And then? What does your friend of different ages want to investigate?"

"I want to investigate whether his father was really involved in those arson bombings."

Ninel said, "The key is to find the negatives of the photos in the album. In addition, he also wants to confirm whether a cigar preserved in the album is a gift from LeMay to his father. It also has LeMay's signature on it."

"Then what?" Wei Ran asked in confusion.

"that's it"

"He wanted to auction the album, but he didn't want to make it public without first verifying its authenticity, especially since he didn't have the negatives," Ninel said.

"How much money can he come up with?" Wei Ran asked, but in fact, he didn't care about money at all at this moment.

The suppressed emotions in the Anti-Japanese League copy, the pain accumulated on the small island in Lake Ladoga, etc., all made him eager to find an outlet.

Li Mei is grilling. At this moment, he really can't think of a better trick to adjust his mood than this!

"You can discuss the details yourself," Ninel said slowly, "If you are interested, I can arrange a meeting for you."

"America?" Wei Ran asked.

"No, no, no, America is too dangerous for you."

Ninel said bluntly, "I can have him meet you in Kazan, or in China. This way you will be safer."

"What time?" Wei Ran asked just as bluntly.

Glancing at Wei Ran with interest, Ninel said slowly, "After you have investigated the matter I asked you to do."

"My friend, you don't trust me." Wei Ran said dissatisfiedly.

"Don't doubt the trust issue between us," Ninel said nonchalantly, "I'm just giving you a little motivation."

"Okay, I'll investigate and get a result as soon as possible." Wei Ran immediately lost his enthusiasm. He really didn't have any good feelings towards the Afghan battlefield. "Then it's settled."

Before Ninel could finish his words, he swung his fishing rod and easily pulled up a salmon.

"It's settled then," Wei Ran muttered, imitating the other person's tone, and returned to his lazy look.

"Your uncle Chabu said that you are very dangerous." Ninel said as if trying to make conversation.

“He made a mistake.”

Wei Ran waved his hands, "I'm just a historian, how dangerous can I be?"

This time, Ninel just pursed his lips, took off the fish hanging on the hook, put the bait on again and threw it into the cold lake. Obviously, he was too lazy to listen to Wei Ran's lies that even dogs would not believe.

In the still bright sunshine, the brothers Wei Ran and Ninel sat leisurely by the dock of the island.

Near noon, Olga was even virtuous enough to bring them both some hot fish and mushroom pies and a kerosene heater. She also took away Korava, who had been having fun with the dog, and praised Ninel for the dozen or so fish he had caught in the morning.

As for Wei Ran, the air force guy, he consumed a lot of bait but didn't catch even a single fish scale.

"This is just to stop frying fish, otherwise you would have to make an appointment in advance to pick up my shoes."

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Wei Ran muttered to himself while tearing into a steaming pie, completely ignoring the fact that Ninel, who was also holding a pie, had pulled up another fish.

At the same time, he couldn't help but think that if Ninel was sent to the island in that time and space, he might be able to feed everyone with just a fishing rod.

After finishing his lunch by the kerosene heating stove at the dock, Wei Ran simply took out his gravity knife, scraped off the scales and gutted all the fish that Ninel had caught, and subconsciously sorted the scales and internal organs into two plastic buckets.

"Are you planning to make fish scale jelly?" Ninel asked abruptly, "or some Chinese delicacy?"

"Have you ever eaten fish scale jelly?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of surprise.

“Of course I have.”

Niniel replied, "Before my mother committed suicide, she would make a big pot of jelly with fish scales every winter. She would also collect fish entrails like you do. Fish entrails are very clean in winter, and the fish oil boiled from them is very useful for treating frostbite."

"Do you want to eat fish scale jelly?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

Hearing this, Ninel swallowed subconsciously and said, "I haven't eaten it for a long time."

"Didn't Mrs. Yana or Olga do it for you?" Wei Ran picked up the plastic bucket containing fish scales while speaking.

"They just peeled off the skin, so I never thought about it," Ninel said.

"Pack up and let's go back"

Wei Ran, who had been lazy the whole morning, suddenly became much more "lively". "I'm in a good mood today, so I'll make you some fish scale jelly."

"Can you do it?" Ninel asked suspiciously.

"certainly"

Wei Ran confidently gave an affirmative answer and poured the small half bucket of fish intestines into the river. He didn't need to eat these things now.

By the time he put the processed fish into the plastic bucket he had just vacated, Ninel had already put away his fishing rod.

The two brothers, who were bored to death, returned to the wooden house with their dog Belia, whose drool was all over the floor.

While Wei Ran was cooking delicious food for his good brother, in the city of St. Petersburg, Aurora, dressed in a smart formal suit, brought the Kajianka sisters, Marta and others, and with the introduction of Daria, completed negotiations with relevant parties about the filming of the movie.

"It's been a pleasure working with you, Ms. Valeria."

Sui Sui stood up and shook hands solemnly with the woman across the negotiation table. "The film will start shooting after the Christmas holiday. According to my estimation, if everything goes well, it will be released next spring when the birch trees on the shore of Lake Ladoga begin to sprout."

"Aurora, are you sure this movie will be shown for free?" The woman, who was also dressed in formal attire, asked for the last time across the negotiation table.

"Sure, very sure."

Sui Sui pointed to the cruiser Aurora not far from the window and said, "My parents fell in love on that warship, and that's how I got my name. My father can barely be considered a Leningrad native.

So even though I am not a St. Petersburger in the strict sense, I am very willing to do something for this heroic city.

And it was a huge honor for me and the studio that I was in charge of to make this film.”

"In that case, then I'll follow your decision." The woman in formal attire sitting across the negotiation table shook hands with Sui Sui again and took the initiative.

"Aurora, it's a rare opportunity for you to come here. Let Olena take you around the city."

Dahlia, who had been listening, spoke up at the right time, "Now that you have finished your business, please leave some time for me to chat with my old friend."

"Then I won't bother you anymore," Sui Sui said politely, "I wish you a peaceful afternoon."

After watching Olena, Sui Sui and the others leave the cafe, which didn't seem to have any other guests today, the woman in formal attire picked up the coffee cup again and took a sip, asking without even looking up, "She is your daughter?"

"Which one do you mean?"

"Who else could it be? Olena, of course."

The woman in the formal suit put down her coffee cup and said, "She looks exactly like you when you were young. She looks exactly like you. Does she know?"

“I think you already know.”

Dahlia looked at the figure walking away outside the window and said, "But we all pretended not to know."

“This is already very good”

The woman in formal attire also looked out the window. "What's going on with that beautiful mixed-race girl?"

“The professional managers I hired”

Dahlia smiled and said, "We have to earn some hard-earned money as retirement funds."

"She's a clever girl," said the woman in the formal suit, "and when her free film comes out, all Petersburgers will remember her."

"You don't seem to mind?"

"Why should I mind? I wish there were more people like this."

The woman in formalwear snapped her fingers. "Compared to this clever girl, let's talk about the historian who hangs out with women. What's his story?"

"He is one of the original shareholders of my studio and provided most of the scripts for the films shot by the studio."

Dahlia said nonchalantly, "He's just a historian, nothing special."

"Where are those beautiful twins from earlier? There's nothing special about them?"

"of course not"

Dahlia also picked up the coffee cup and took a sip, then said with a smile, "They are the same as Aurora, they are all girlfriends of the Chinese historian who is surrounded by women, but he is Chinese after all, isn't he?

As long as he doesn't mess with my Olena, what does it matter to me, a Soviet, even if he has a hundred girlfriends? "

“It seems that it has nothing to do with me, a Russian.”

A bright smile appeared on the face of the woman in formal wear. She picked up her coffee cup and clinked it with Dahlia's cup. "Just like that beautiful girl said, I wish us a peaceful afternoon."

"It has been many years since we last sat together and drank coffee so leisurely," Daria said with some nostalgia.

"I often sit and drink coffee with your brother," the woman in formal clothes said with a smile, "He thinks very highly of the playboy historian you trained."

"What did he say?" Dahlia asked with a smile.

"He said that the Chinese man gave him the feeling of Beria who had just crawled out of a coffin and was resurrected, a calm yet paranoid madman." The woman in formal attire said nonchalantly.

“I asked him to pretend.”

Dalia also said nonchalantly, "He is just a historian after all. If he doesn't act more fierce, it will cause a lot of trouble."

"We are friends"

The woman in formal attire suddenly changed the subject, "We've been friends since the orphanage, and even if I was adopted, it didn't change that, so."

“I’m just used to lying.”

Dahlia laughed at herself and put down the cup. "Valeria, stop wasting time testing me. Even if I tell you everything, you will still keep it a secret for me. So how about keeping it simple?"

"Then let's go for a stroll on the Aurora cruiser."

The woman in formal wear also put down her cup and stood up. "I will help you keep all the secrets, just like we agreed at the beginning."

"Thank you, my friend." Daria muttered absentmindedly, as if she was remembering many past events.