War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 182 New Year's Gift from the Metal Book
As the end of the year approached, Spring Festival couplets were pasted up in the courtyards of the two families after cleaning, and the food and drink on the dining table became more and more abundant day by day.

Even Professor Alexey, like a professional street runner, followed Wei Ran's father's butt every day, and was willing to come back only after drinking in the neighborhood, especially those who run farmhouses.

Many of these neighbors who run farmhouses have a cooperative relationship with the small hotel in Wei Ran's family. Since Wei Ran's grandparents passed away one after another, their family decided to come here for the New Year. Having a meal with wine has become an annual repertoire.

Counting the days like this, on New Year's Eve, the two families went back to their respective homes as in previous years. While eating a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, they watched the Spring Festival Gala on TV and commented on each other by the way.

"Son, will you go to Russia after the next year?" During the dinner, Wei Ran's mother suddenly asked a question that he had never considered.

"Go back"

Wei Ran didn't know why and said, not to mention that he had only studied the course of Hongqi Forest Farm for half a year, and if the metal book that turned into a tattoo wanted to play its value, the Soviet-German battlefield was undoubtedly the first choice.

What's more, I only used that precious photo to create a disguised identity for myself years ago. If he doesn't go back, wouldn't all the previous efforts be in vain?
Wei Ran's mother opened her mouth and exchanged glances with Comrade Wei who was sitting next to her. After all, she didn't say anything, but skipped the topic directly.

As the hosts at the party started counting down to the new year, large expanses of fireworks lit up outside the window, and even Professor Alexei next door set up a battle, sending fireworks bombs one after another in the yard. on top of the head.

Almost at the same time as the New Year's countdown to zero, the man wearing a bright red tassel also ran into the house yelling, as if declaring the name of the dish, "Second grandma, second grandpa, godfather, godmother, and My brother has auspicious new year! Now it's your turn!"

"You're a clever little girl"

Wei Ran's mother stuffed the New Year's money prepared in advance into Sui Sui's open little hand first, and then joked to Wei Ran who was in a daze, "Son, you can't lose money, go to your grandma's house to pay New Year's greetings Go, earn the red envelope back!"

"Oh!"

Wei Ran, who was in a daze, came back to his senses, looked down at the scorching tattoo that had just appeared on the tiger's mouth on his left hand, and quickly took out the red envelope and handed it to Suisui.

"What are you dazed about?"

Sui Sui waved the stack of red envelopes she just got in front of Wei Ran as if showing off, "Let's go, I'll take you to get the red envelopes, and then go to set off fireworks!"

Watching the stupid Wei Ran being dragged away by Sui Sui, Old Comrade Wei said casually, "Isn't this idiot looking for Sui Sui?"

"How can he be worthy of Sui Sui?" Wei Ran's mother said as a matter of course, "I'm as stupid as you, if I really want to fall in love with you, isn't it too early to be together?"

"It's good that these two little guys are together"

Wei Ran's grandmother said with a smile, "If the two of them can stay together, we can tear down the courtyard wall between the two families and build a big house for them to use for their wedding."

While Wei Ran's parents looked at each other in blank dismay, Wei Ran, who was not thinking about this string at all, was accompanied by the yelling Sui Sui and the endlessly happy Alek Professor Sai is lighting firecrackers and setting off fireworks in the yard.

At any rate, after playing enough with the father and daughter, they came back along the small door. Both the grandparents and the parents had already fallen asleep, but their silly dog ​​with a crooked mouth was terribly frightened. Seeing him come back, he immediately rushed Come over and scream continuously around the legs.

Holding the shivering dog and leaving the yard, Wei Ran got into the car parked at the door, and then summoned the metal book.

Under the watchful eye of the dog who was stupefied by the sound of firecrackers, the metal book covered with dots of green rust slowly turned to the ninth page, revealing a swirl of red and blue intertwined.

What surprised him was that there was a line of poetry written in big red and gold characters on both sides of the two-color vortex.

"Lying down at night listening to the wind and rain, the iron horse Glacier came to a dream."

Wei Ran recited this extremely familiar verse in a low voice, and then looked at the top of the white vortex, where the four large characters written horizontally read "Auspicious Stars Shine".

"Is this a New Year's gift?" Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, then reached out and pulled out the things in the whirlpool.

However, the weight of the things in the vortex not only caught up with the medical box, but also the length far exceeded his expectations, so that he lifted half of it out, and his hands had already touched the roof of the car.

In desperation, Wei Ran put it back, and then took back the metal book that he knew was a gift during the Chinese New Year. After switching to the back compartment, he directly summoned the contents inside.

Under the dim reading light, the long box on Wei Ran's lap shone with specks of reflection, and the heavy weight almost twisted his wrist.

Gently opened the metal buckle on the long box, to Wei Ran's surprise, what was inside was another black lacquered guqin!
"Why did you give me this thing for no reason?"

Wei Ran, who didn't know why, lightly plucked the strings of the guqin, and instantly felt his head "boom" and almost lost consciousness.

Before he could scream out, the familiar sense of brain shutdown disappeared instantly. When he came back to his senses, he found that he had inexplicably learned a song just like the two times he learned Finnish and German before. Not to mention the tune, even the guqin in the box has become very familiar as if it has been used for a long time!
Gently picked up the guqin in the box, the weight of this guqin was far more than that of his own bed, it was even much heavier than the guqin used by the other party in Chen Guangling's shop before.

Turning it over with great effort, two Chinese characters resembling oracle bone inscriptions are engraved on the top of the round dragon pool.

Although he didn't know these two characters, the poem written with the vermilion pen under Longchi not only had extraordinarily vigorous characters, but most importantly, at least he could recognize what was written in those traditional characters.

At sunset, the wind picks up, and the boats on the river head can't do it.

The desolate doctor's house, the desolate old king's city.

Drunk and heavy building night, eternal love.

Sorrowful side moves the cold corner, the night is long and the meaning is hard to calm down.

After reading this poem silently, Wei Ran couldn't help calling out the metal book again, turned it to the ninth page, looked at the verses on both sides of the two-color vortex, and suddenly seemed to understand that the metal book was inexplicably given to him for the New Year The purpose of the gift.

Lying in the middle of the night and listening to the wind and rain, the Iron Horse and Glacier fell into a dream.Isn't this a true portrayal of myself being sent back to each battlefield by that book?And the poem just now, how similar is it to my state of mind every time I come back alive?
Those who survived the battlefield, those who died on the battlefield, the sense of powerlessness brought to them by their stories, isn't it "the night is hard to calm down"?
After a long silence, Wei Ran gently put the guqin back into the box and fastened it, then sat in the driver's seat and started the car, drove straight to the outside of the village, and finally stopped near a wooden viewing platform that went deep into the lotus pond.

Holding the heavy piano case, he walked to the stone table at the end of the viewing platform and sat down. Wei Ran let out a long breath, followed the extra things in his mind, and gently plucked the strings of the piano.

In the sound of firecrackers and the cold wind from time to time, a piece of Guanglingsan, which Wei Ran once heard played by different people, swayed on the empty viewing platform.

The spirit of killing with spears and spears contained in that ancient song also made Wei Ran recall Lieutenant Lev and others in Stalingrad very clearly, and recalled the Aleutian company commander and others at the 19th position on the Don River. I also thought of the KGB agent Dr. Hans under the cloud of the Cold War, the sniper Mika and Papa Ino in the winter night in Finland, the clinic in Berlin and everyone I met in the clinic, and even more of him. The Tengxian County that once stood firm and the Li family brothers who died for the country.

Finally, when Wei Ran, who had burst into tears at some point, plucked the strings for the last time in the winter night of the new year, the quaint sound of the zither like a bell gradually dissipated, and the viewing platform, which no one cared about, was as usual. All the same.

After a long time, Wei Ran slowly opened his eyes, looked up at some stars in the night sky, and gradually let go of the regrets accumulated in his heart for a long time. In the end, all that remained were the memories of those friends and the mixed gratitude.

Summoning the rusty metal book again, Wei Ran murmured and asked, "So this guqin is the psychiatrist you hired for me? What do you need me for? What is the purpose of sending it into the battlefield again?"

Naturally, the metal book lying quietly on the stone table would not give any answers to his questions, and Wei Ran obviously did not expect any answers from this book.

As he took a deep breath, cold air rushed into his lungs, and Wei Ran seemed to have lifted an invisible burden, even his bones were lightened.

Putting away the metal book and the extra heavy guqin one by one, Wei Ran greeted the silly dog ​​who had been sitting quietly waiting, got into the car, and quietly returned to the small farmyard where the porch lights were still on.

In the early morning of the next day, when he was woken up by the sound of firecrackers outside the window, his parents had already served hot dumplings on the table.

Respectfully, he paid New Year's greetings to his grandparents, grandparents and parents, and Wei Ran, who was full of energy, was pulled by his grandma to sit on the edge of the warm kang.

"What's the matter with you kid?" Comrade Wei, who was busy pouring wine for the father-in-law and mother-in-law, asked strangely.

"What's going on?" Wei Ran asked in confusion.

Old Comrade Wei also poured Wei Ran's wine glass, "From the day you came back, until last night, you were frowning and worried. Why didn't we see you this night, and you seemed to be okay again?"

The vinegar bottle in Wei Ran's hand shook involuntarily, "Is there any?"

"Go away"

Wei Ran's mother brought the second plate of dumplings to the table, "Even Sui Sui can see it, so excited! I didn't say anything, eat, eat quickly!"

"You're talking."

"Come, come, big nephew, meet grandpa!" Mr. Han, who was sitting in the upper seat, did not give Wei Ran a chance to finish his sentence, so he held out his wine glass and stretched it out.

Wei Ran hurriedly stood up holding the wine glass and had a touch with his grandfather, while Mr. Han praised the bottle of wine that the latter brought back from Sichuan and Shu, so that the topic disappeared all the way.

As for the question that just popped up in Wei Ran's mind, it was naturally thrown out of the blue after some interruptions.

(End of this chapter)