War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 259 The Second Floor of Gubijing Pasta Restaurant
In the quiet room, Charlotte put down the letter paper.In turn, he took out the envelope from the can with Carlo's name on it and opened it.

Soon, after reading all the five letters on the table, Charlotte also pieced together from the letters his father Harry wrote to all his friends, what happened in the depths of the North African desert in December 1941. Everything, and all the truth about the treasure.

"It turns out that the treasure is..." Charlotte got stuck in the middle of speaking, he really didn't know how to describe the treasure.

"At least for Mr. Harry and his friends, this is indeed a unique treasure, isn't it?"

Charlotte couldn't help sighing when she heard the words, "Indeed, for my father, this is indeed a treasure, a treasure that he never found until his death."

The living room fell silent for a moment, and Herbert, who couldn't understand Italian, lightly touched Wei Ran's heel with the heel of his leather shoes. Unfortunately, the ungrateful latter didn't bother to translate what he was talking about.

After a long time, Charlotte carefully put all the things on the table into the opened tin cans, and then put the cans into wooden boxes, and then said to Wei Ran, "Victor, I would like to ask you to help find it. Those recipients, see if any of them are still alive. Of course, I will pay a commission to your satisfaction."

"At least that reporter Pell is no longer here." Wei Ran paused for a moment, and briefly recounted the follow-up about Pioneer reporter Pell on the metal notebook.

"Where are the others?" Charlotte asked after her.

Wei Ran spread his hands, "I need to check whether other people are still there. I didn't expect soldiers from three countries to participate in this treasure."

"Then I'll leave this to you." After Charlotte finished speaking, she changed the topic, "I heard from Sophie, how many friends are you planning to bring over?"

"I do have this plan, probably in July or August."

Wei Ran secretly said that it was indeed so, when he talked to the red-haired girl named Feng Shufen in China, firstly, he really wanted to help Sui Sui find a suitable summer attraction, secondly, it was also the main reason, Just to see if that girl was sent by Charlotte to spy on her.

But now that the so-called treasure has come to light, and Charlotte has told the matter so frankly, then this matter is naturally considered to be exposed.

"Tell me in advance when the time comes, and I will help you arrange everything."

Charlotte said sincerely, "I was able to find these things this time thanks to you. Although they are a bit different from what I expected, I have to admit that this is indeed a treasure."

"Then I'm welcome"

Wei Ran readily agreed, and then said, "Mr. Charlotte, I have been staying here for a week. If there is nothing else, I am going to go back."

"In that case, I'll ask Herbert to send you off." Charlotte said without hesitation.

From this point of view, Feng Shufen, the red-haired girl who had been serving as Wei Ran's tour guide for the past few days, was indeed right. This strange old man is more Finnish than Finns, and he doesn't want to socialize at all.

However, before Charlotte could speak to Herbert, the old man in camouflage who had been sitting in the corner spoke, and he said in standard Italian, "Charlotte, let me see him off." Let's go to the airport, I just happened to be heading back to Edinburgh."

"Alright, I'll trouble you then"

Charlotte seemed to have a lot of trust in the old man. She stood up while speaking, hugged the wooden box, and said as she walked towards the study, "Victor, wait a moment, I have some gifts for you."

"Isn't this old man quite generous?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, easily overturning his evaluation of him just now in his heart.

Within three to five minutes, Charlotte came out of the study and handed a set of silver moka pots in a wooden box to Wei Ran, "Take it, this is my home after my father came back from the battlefield. The main product of the silverware workshop."

"Thank you for the gift, I like it very much."

Wei Ran took a look at the contents of the wooden box and then gently closed the lid. In addition to a set of silver moka pots specially used for making espresso coffee and a can of coffee powder of the same material, there were six other items in the box. bone china mug with tray.

"I'm very happy that you can say that." Charlotte said and handed Wei Ran a check, "The fifty thousand pounds is your investigation fee. Young man, I'm waiting for your good news, and I'm also waiting for your next time Come visit Fort Augustus."

"I am also looking forward to this day, so Mr. Charlotte, goodbye."

Wei Ran happily put away the check, followed the taciturn old man in camouflage uniform, Matt, and left the room on the second floor.As for Herbert, Charlotte stayed behind. Unfortunately, Wei Ran couldn't understand a few English words at all, so he didn't know what they were talking about.

Taking a ride to Edinburgh, Wei Ran boarded the flight to Germany after waiting for a while.

He originally planned to go to Finland to ask Alexander about the ammunition, but he only found out when he was talking to Jima a few days ago that all the actors there have been booked and the script has been revised, except for every half a month I am going to Finland to receive a week-long performance training. Now everyone has gone back to their respective homes. Only old Mr. Noah is left in Finland. Even Ralph has returned to Germany to manage their gallery .

Although he missed the opportunity to get some high-precision ammunition by acting in a movie, Wei Ran didn't care. Anyway, Alexander couldn't run away, and the big deal was to follow them to see the excitement when they gathered in Finland next time.

And he chose to fly to Germany, of course it was for Charlotte to see. After all, all the clues came from the German reporter Pell. Now the other party wants him to continue investigating the whereabouts of the rest, so what he wants to see is of course Wei Ran. Immediately leave.

But in fact, there is no need to rush this matter, after all, it is clearly written in the metal book, and it also gave the specific location of the "Gubijing Pasta Restaurant".All he needs to do is to go over and take a look, and after a while, he will tell Charlotte the location of the restaurant after he thinks of an excuse.

When the plane landed in Berlin, Wei Ran didn't stay there, but waited at the airport for a few hours before boarding the flight to Turin, Italy.When the plane landed again, it was already noon on the second day after he left the UK.

He randomly found a hotel to rest for the night, and early the next morning, Wei Ran, dressed in disguise, rushed to the address recorded in the metal book.

In this city close to the Alps, almost full of red-roofed houses, Wei Ran spent a whole day leisurely visiting several famous scenic spots, and then just in time for the sunset, He stopped at a street corner next to the University of Milan.

Looking at the shop on the corner of the street, Wei Ran's face was full of surprise. The signboard on this shop was indeed "Gubijing Pasta Restaurant".The appearance of the building was exactly the same as what he saw before he was sent back from the North African battlefield by the metal book.

But the locked shutter door, as well as the rental phone number and various small advertisements for whoring posted on the shutter door, imply that this place has not been open for business for a long time.

Looking around, not only is it next to the university, but not far away is the church, and there is even a large public parking lot next to the church.No matter what to do in this area, it stands to reason that the business will not be too bad.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran took out his mobile phone and took a photo of the rental phone on the shutter door, then strolled into the busy burger restaurant next door, and ordered some casual food to fill his stomach.

After waiting until it was dark, he took another look at the Gubijing Pasta Restaurant with the locked door, and finally took a taxi back to the hotel.

In the early morning of the next day, Wei Ran, who had been staying in the hotel all this time, used the landline in the room to call the rental number on the rolling shutter door.To his surprise, the person who answered the phone turned out to be a very polite little boy with a childish voice.

Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Wei Ran simply said directly, "Little friend, I am going to rent the Gubijing pasta restaurant, did I call the wrong number?"

The little boy on the other end of the phone replied solemnly, "Sir, if you are talking about the Guppie Pasta Restaurant next to the University of Milan, then I think you are right."

"Then can you make a decision whether to rent that restaurant to me?"

"Of course not," the little boy said in a childish voice, "but you can go to the restaurant and wait. The person who can make the decision and I can go there in half an hour."

"Then I'll wait at Gubijing Restaurant later, little guy, what's your name?" Wei Ran finally asked.

"Matthew, sir, what should I call you?" the little boy asked instead.

After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran replied, "Nicolas, my name is Nicholas."

"I'll see you in half an hour then"

"See you in half an hour," Wei Ran finished, and hung up the phone until a busy tone came from the receiver.

Pulling the curtains and turning on the lights in the room, Wei Ran took out the temporary hair dye he bought yesterday from the suitcase, changed his hair to brown, and then used medical tape to change the shape of his face, and finally even his skin color became harmonious The locals were similar, so he put on contact lenses that changed the color of his pupils, changed into a suit and left the hotel.

When he took a taxi to the Gubijing Pasta Restaurant again, he found that outside the locked shutter door, there was a girl who looked like she had graduated from college at most, cleaning up the pasta sticking to the door with a small shovel. Various advertisements, not far from her, there is a cute little boy with natural curly hair, who is carefully wiping the dusty floor-to-ceiling windows with a big towel.

In the middle of what seemed to be the siblings, there was a washed somewhat whitish rucksack and an old skateboard on the bench that had been wiped clean.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Matthew?" Wei Ran walked up to the little boy with natural curly hair, squatted down and asked.

"I'm not yet old enough to be called Mr." The little boy showed a sunny smile, "So you are the Mr. Nicholas who called me?"

"Yes, I am the one who called you Nicholas." Wei Ran smiled and stretched out his hand towards the other party.

"Aunt Monica, this is Mr. Nicola who is going to rent our restaurant."

After the little boy named Matthew shook hands with Wei Ran solemnly, he raised his head and said to the somewhat awkward girl standing beside him.

aunt?

Wei Ran looked at the girl with a small shovel in surprise, and quickly said seriously, "Hello, Monica, the location of this store is very good, I want to go in and have a look, if possible If so, maybe I'll rent it out."

"Then come in and have a look"

The introverted Italian girl sighed after she finished speaking, then put the small shovel in her hand on the bench beside the door, and then lifted the half-cleared rolling door with great effort.

After seeing the scene inside, the expression on Wei Ran's face turned into astonishment. The restaurant seemed to be on fire. No, it was indeed on fire, because several tables in the restaurant were burned. under the traces.

"Is this a fire?" Wei Ran asked in astonishment.

The girl named Monica nodded, but she didn't mean to explain.Instead, Matthew, the little boy next to her, took the initiative to say, "It happened two years ago. A fire broke out in the kitchen due to some accident. The fire burned a lot of things, even the chef we hired."

"Matthew" the girl named Monica whispered to stop the little boy who had no stage fright at all and didn't know what to say or not to say.

But not long after Matthew shut up, the girl named Monica said truthfully after a brief hesitation, "That fire killed a chef, if you mind."

"If you don't mind, can I go in and take a look?" Wei Ran asked without waiting for the other party to finish speaking.

Monica looked at Wei Ran in astonishment, then turned her head to look at Matthew whose face was full of surprise, and then nodded vigorously.

Stepping into the almost smoky restaurant, Wei Ran walked into the kitchen along the scorched door frame.

The area of ​​the kitchen is not large, and the inside has been cleaned up very clean, but traces of the fire can still be seen on the roof.

After visiting the kitchen, Wei Ran went back to the dining room, walked into the bar counter that also had scorched marks, and looked at it. It had also been cleaned here, and correspondingly, there was nothing left at all.

"Mr. Nicholas, we still have the second floor, do you want to go up and have a look?" Seeing Wei Ran's disappointed expression, the little guy Matthew hurriedly said, "The upstairs is as big as the downstairs, and the fire didn't burn to the ground. Second floor."

"Should I go up by myself or do you guys accompany me?" Wei Ran looked at Matthew and asked.

"I'll accompany you" Matthew said without thinking,

"You can go by yourself." Monica gave the opposite answer at the same time.

"Then I'll go up by myself." Wei Ran touched Matthew's fluffy hair, and then walked up the stairs against the wall to the second floor.

Compared with the tragic situation on the first floor, the second floor has a strong military atmosphere. Among other things, there are many photos of soldiers hanging on the wall next to the stairs.

Standing at the stairs, I looked at the room on the second floor. As Matthew said, it is indeed the same size as the downstairs, and even the layout is somewhat similar.It's just that it was arranged as a small bar full of photos of various soldiers and military flags.

And on the bar counter facing the stairs, a conspicuous anti-war symbol was nailed with the soldier badges issued by Germany and Italy in World War II.There are even two very familiar group photos of Wei Ran hanging on the background wall behind the bar.

Seeing the soldiers of the three countries frozen in the enlarged black and white photo, and the sincere smiles on their respective faces, Wei Ran sat silently on the high stool next to the bar.

Taking out the silver jug ​​containing whiskey from the metal book, Wei Ran gently unscrewed the lid inlaid with Lydian gold coins, compared to those people in the photo, whispered that only he can use it The voice was heard saying, "Cheers to our friendship."

　There is still only one update, sorry, I have been a little busy these two days.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)