War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 177 The Son of Suian
In the quiet room, Wei Ran picked up a bullet and looked at it, then stuffed it back to its original position.

Opening the second layer of the food box, there is still the 20 big belly box alone, and there is nothing else.

Sighing, Wei Ran re-fastened the bright red octagonal food box and sent it back to the red whirlpool.Then lay down on the bed and fell into a deep sleep.

After resting in Chengdu all day to recharge his energy, Wei Ran took the high-speed train to Zigong, followed the address on the metal book, and found a small grain and oil store in the depths of an old street.

From a long distance, he saw a black lacquered plaque hanging directly above the entrance of the grain and oil store. On this plaque, the three flamboyant gold characters of "Cangbaozhai" were a little dimmed due to the perennial wind and rain. , from time to time, there are a few sparrows flying in and out behind the plaque.

Through the clean window, I saw a few middle-aged people around a mahjong table busily arranging the Great Wall. At their feet, there were two fat raccoon dogs. The flower cat is lying on the side of the electric heating fan and squinting its eyes.

Except for the people playing mahjong at this table, the rest of the room is full of shelves, and all kinds of rice, noodles, grains, oils and the like are neatly tidied up.

Lifting up the cotton curtain with some stains, following the soft "squeak" sound when the wooden door was pushed open, one of the middle-aged men playing mahjong raised his head and greeted Wei Ran in dialect. At a loss, he changed into Mandarin with a slight accent and asked enthusiastically, "What do you want to buy?"

"Boss, I want to find someone." Wei Ran said politely, putting the cigarettes and alcohol in his hand on the wooden table at the entrance.

Looking at the gift that Wei Ran put on the table, the middle-aged man stood up and asked politely, "Who are you looking for?"

"I want to find Li Wangchuan"

"Li Wangchuan?"

The middle-aged uncle was stunned for a moment, and asked subconsciously, "Are you looking for my old man?"

Seeing Wei Ran nodding his head, the middle-aged uncle glanced at Wei Ran's gift on the table again, and after hesitating for a moment, he said something in dialect to the other three people around the mahjong table. He greeted Wei Ran to sit down beside the mahjong table, poured a cup of hot water and asked, "What do you want from my old man?"

Wei Ran took a sip of the hot water, took out a thick photo album and the brass abacus the size of a pencil case from his backpack, and then gave an overview of what happened in Teng County that year.

"Where did you find these?" the owner of the grain and oil store asked in surprise after hearing the story.

"It starts with a pistol"

Wei Ran found the photo of the 20-ring pot belly box from his mobile phone and showed it to the other party, and then said, "The negatives of the photos you just saw, as well as the brass abacus, are all related to this 20-ring box." It was discovered together with the pot belly box. As for these things that happened, the owner of this abacus, an apprentice at the Cangbaozhai pawnshop told me, and I searched for a long time before I found it here. Uncle, can you"

"The apprentice you mentioned, he"

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "He passed away not long ago."

Returning the phone to Wei Ran, the boss flipped through the photo album again in disbelief, stood up and said, "I'll take you to find my old man!"

"Thank you!" Wei Ran hurriedly got up and said.

"It's me who should thank you! By the way, my name is Li Weizhong! What do you call my little brother?"

"Wei Ran, you can just call me Wei Ran." Wei Ran shook the opponent's hand.

Li Weizhong became more and more enthusiastic. He helped Wei Ran take the gifts on the table. He didn't even lock the store door. He just hung a wooden sign on it. He took Wei Ran to the depths of the old street and finally stopped at I found the door of an old house that looked quite old.On the lintel of this old house, there is still a very clean honor plate nailed to it.

Warmly greeted Wei Ran and walked into the door, the uncle named Li Weizhong led him into a room with the best lighting.Then I saw a hale and hearty old gentleman sitting upright on a grand teacher's chair, holding a brush and writing a poem "Man Jiang Hong" on a piece of rice paper.

Looking around, there are many scrolls of landscape paintings hanging on the four walls of this room, and there is also a fish tank with a big belly on the long table by the window. In the tank, there are not only a bowl of lotus, but also a few small goldfish swimming leisurely. Come and swim.

On the wall facing the window, there is a neatly arranged single bed, and there are several glass frames hanging on the wall beside the bed. In one of the color photos, there is a A young man wearing an old-fashioned military uniform and carrying a 56 punch in his hand. The background of this photo is the smoky mountains and dense jungle.

Looking at the soldier in the photo who was [-]-[-]% similar to Li Suian back then, Wei Ran knew that he had found the right place, and the surrounding decorations hinted that the old man who was concentrating on practicing calligraphy seemed to be living a happy life in his later years. Very comfortable.

"I can't stop when I'm practicing calligraphy, little brother, just wait." Li Weizhong signaled Wei Ran to sit casually, and he skillfully took a tube of tea leaves from the bookshelf and brewed a pot of hot tea.

It wasn't until the last stroke was finished that the old gentleman asked with a smile, "Where did you come from?"

Before Wei Ran could answer, Li Weizhong, who came over with a teapot, poured tea for the two of them and explained a few words in dialect.The old man waved his hand, Li Weizhong and Wei Ran greeted each other, and finally left the room.

When the door was closed from the outside, Wei Ran took out the photo album and the brass abacus from his backpack again, and gently pushed it in front of the old man.

But this time before he could explain, the old gentleman picked up the abacus in surprise and asked, "Where did you get this abacus?"

Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, the mandarin of this old man is much better than his son Li Weizhong.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran, who came back to his senses, asked with a smile, "Mr., is this abacus special?"

The old gentleman carefully checked the lettering on the frame of the abacus, and explained, "It's a long way to say it. Before the founding of the People's Republic of China, all apprentices in our family would be assigned such an abacus. Until This abacus will only be taken back after leaving the teacher."

"Mister, is your name Li Wangchuan?" Wei Ran confirmed for the last time.

"You still know my name?" The old gentleman became more and more curious.

Wei Ran nodded, retelling the story he just told at the grain and oil store on the pretext of being entrusted by an old man who lived abroad and was an apprentice of Cangjianzhai.

Following his narration, the expression on Mr. Li Wangchuan's face changed from doubt to surprise, and then from surprise to enlightenment, until after listening to Wei Ran, he took a handful of soil from the monument in Tengzhou and buried it under the sweet-scented osmanthus tree near the monument of Sichuan Army , Already tearful and weeping.

After a long time, until the old man calmed down, Wei Ran took out his mobile phone, called up the photo of the 20-ring belly box again and pushed it to the other party, "Mr. Send me these photos. In addition, I also want to hear the ideas of the descendants of the Li family on how to deal with the pot-bellied box in the photos."

The warm room under the sun was silent for a while. After a long time, Mr. Li Wangchuan said with full of memories, "I was born on the National Day in 1949. At that time! The child of my age was either called Jianguo or National Day. , I remember hearing from my mother when I was a child that my mother had quarreled with him in order to get a name."

Holding a warm teacup, Wei Ran couldn't help asking, "What happened next?"

Old Mr. Li Wangchuan shook his head, "He never told us about his service as a soldier, but he told us the story of my third uncle. Later, when I grew up, I was sent to be a soldier by my old man after finishing high school. A soldier. My old lady and my old man had another quarrel over this matter.

Later, I went to the front line to help the Vietnamese monkeys fight Laomei. A few years after the aid to Vietnam, we fought with those white-eyed wolves again. At that time, I lost a leg on the battlefield.For this matter, my old lady and my old man had another fight.

Speaking of which, the old man gently pulled up his trousers, showing a small piece of metal prosthesis for Wei Ran to look at and continued, "I have also been a soldier. I have been a soldier for almost ten years, and I know what is going on on the battlefield. But I haven't regretted it, and I think my father and my third uncle probably haven't regretted it either."

"There is no army without rivers." Wei Ran put down his teacup and sighed. He only knew the experience of Li Hexian and Li Suian brothers, but he did not expect that Li Suian's descendants would continue this bloody spirit.

Mr. Li Wangchuan took a sip from his teacup and continued to recall, "When my mother left in 87, she said that in my life, my old man had quarreled with her three times, all of which were related to me. In 88, my old man He also left, and when he left, he recited the poem engraved on the box gun several times. We thought it was him at that time. Alas!"

Seeing Wei Ran's expression of emotion, Mr. Li Wangchuan pushed the phone back in front of Wei Ran, "If that gun is convenient, I can donate it to a museum. As for my third uncle, when you go back, take me with you." Let’s get to the place in the past.”

Speaking of this, old Mr. Li Wangchuan pointed out the window, "The old Zhou family is across the road. Our two families have been neighbors for a hundred years. The Miss Zhou family that my third uncle likes never married. It was also buried in our Li family cemetery, together with my third uncle's tomb."

Wei Ran turned his head subconsciously, looked at the old house on the opposite side of the stone road, and heard Mr. Li Wangchuan continue to say, "My daughter-in-law belongs to their old Zhou family. Let me discuss it with their family and see if it is true." Let my third uncle come back, or let him accompany those comrades who came out of Sichuan together."

Wei Ran, who was full of emotions, nodded, and then heard the old Mr. Li Wangchuan ask, "It's really not easy for you to find this place all the way. If it's convenient, why don't you stay and have a meal with our two families?"

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, then nodded cheerfully, "Then I will cause you trouble."

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(End of this chapter)