War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 264 Veteran Leva
That night, Wei Ran and Jima, dressed in disguise, drove to Kirov City, and following the guidance of the map, they successfully found the camera shop run by the target person and the hospital not far from here.

It took most of the night to sort out all the surrounding situations. After confirming that they had memorized all the routes in their minds, the two of them squinted in the car until dawn the next day. Checked into a hotel not far from the hospital.

Sleeping until noon, Wei Ran took out the antique Rollei SLR from the metal notebook and hung it around his neck, then took a taxi and visited several digital camera stores in the city, and waited until almost four o'clock in the afternoon. Then I took a taxi to the camera shop run by Leva, a Soviet veteran.

Just like the architectural drawings provided by Mrs. Dalia, this camera shop, which does not occupy a large area, is just a two-story concrete building with a square shape and no aesthetic feeling. There are only a dozen shops on the first floor. There are many old-fashioned mechanical cameras in the glass cabinets against the walls on both sides of the entrance door, and some outdated digital cameras are placed behind the counter facing the door.

When Wei Ran came in, the one-armed veteran named Leva was sitting behind the counter watching TV. Various camera accessories were scattered on the messy counter.

"What do you want to buy?" Leva glanced at Wei Ran who passed by Yi Rong, and then turned his eyes to the old big-ass TV in the back without paying attention.

"Hi, do you have any film here?" Wei Ran gestured to the camera on his neck, "I need 120 size film."

Hearing this, Leva finally turned his head again, put on reading glasses and looked at the old camera on Wei Ran's neck, and said loudly, "120 size film is not easy to find, but I do have it here, black and white and color They are all available, but they are more expensive, which one do you need?"

"Black and white film is fine." Wei Ran's face showed joy, "How much is a roll?"

Leva supported the counter and turned around, rummaging in the cabinet behind him and said, "Kodak professional roll, 820 rubles, I only have this kind here."

"Is there a cheaper one?"

While Wei Ran was talking, he was also looking at the store without any trace. Unfortunately, the narrow storefront can basically be seen at a glance, except that there is a closed anti-theft door behind the counter. Besides, go to the bar There is also a surveillance camera installed at the angle between the walls and the ceiling on both sides.

As for what was behind the anti-theft door, and the Caucasian dog that Darya mentioned, they couldn't see it at all.

"I just said, there is only this one." Leva threw a box of film on the counter, "I can only count you 800 rubles at most."

"Then one volume, no, two volumes!" Wei Ran said, took out two banknotes from his pocket and handed them to the other party.

"Your camera is good, where did you get it?" Leva turned around and took out a box of film and handed it to Wei Ran, asking while looking for money.

"Germany" Wei Ran took advantage of the time to load the film and replied, he deliberately brought this eye-catching old pair to turn around, just to attract the other party's attention and find a chance to chat with him.

"How about selling it to me for 15 rubles?" Leva asked while handing the change to Wei Ran.

"Old guy, the medal on the camera case alone is more than 15 rubles." Wei Ran pretended to show off and said, "Gold Melee Assault Medal, this is not something you can see anywhere .”

"How about 25?" Leva happily added another 10 rubles, "I only buy your camera, not the metal plate."

"Not for sale" Wei Ran flatly refused, this is a guy who eats by himself, not to mention 25 rubles, he may not even sell it in US dollars.

"Forget it, no matter how high the price is, I can't afford it."

Leva was very straightforward, pointing to the windows on both sides and said, "Young man, just take a look. If you like it, I can give you a cheaper price."

Taking advantage of this topic, Wei Ran didn't rush to leave after changing the film. Instead, he looked at the old camera in the window and chatted with Leva, getting to know each other in a circumstantial way.

During the chat between the two sides, Wei Ran was surprised to learn that this old guy with a broken hand not only participated in the invasion of Afghanistan in the Soviet era.Even after the disintegration of the Soviet Union, he participated in the first Chechen war, and his arm was lost in the famous Grozny street battle.

After chatting with this old guy for more than an hour about the cruelty of the street fighting in Grozny, Wei Ran took advantage of the opportunity and bought a Zeiss Ikon Countess camera.

Although this camera is very good in appearance, it is actually more interesting than practical.In other words, this camera is only good-looking, but it is actually not very easy to use.And this evaluation was made by the veteran named Leva himself.

Although the two made a small business, Wei Ran only got the chance to go around the security door in the name of borrowing the bathroom.

However, behind the anti-theft door, except for a table with a lot of medicines and a staircase with a Caucasian dog tied behind the door, he didn't get any valuable gains at all, even the so-called Didn't see the basement entrance.

Conveniently stuffing a monitoring device the size of a cigarette case into the gap behind the wooden table, Wei Ran bought a lot of extra film, and then bid farewell to Leva, took a taxi and returned to the center of the city.

"how is the situation?"

After Wei Ran got out of the taxi, he first looked for an opportunity to put the Rollei DSLR back into the metal book, then held the camera he just bought in one hand and dialed the phone to Ji Ma in the other.

"I'm already in the hospital"

Jima held up his mobile phone and showed Wei Ran another patient lying on the hospital bed in the room, and said loudly in Russian on purpose, "I must have eaten something unclean at that girl's house. The doctor said I might have acute enteritis , You need to lie in the hospital for at least two days."

"Then you should have a good rest." While speaking, Wei Ran pinched his nose intentionally or unintentionally.

After getting the signal, Ji Ma also pinched his nose, and said apologetically, "It seems that I won't be able to go fishing with you in the next few days. You can drive my car first, and remember to send me the tablet at night. "

"Wait a little later," Wei Ran said, "I bought an antique camera today, so I need to study it carefully."

After finishing speaking, Wei Ran simply hung up the phone, and Jima on the other side also cursed, and used this excuse to complain about his friend with the patient who lived in because he drank too much.

At the same time, Wei Ran also crossed the road and walked into the hotel, while distractedly listening to the sound signal from the monitoring equipment.

From the afternoon until sunset, the only sound on the other end of the monitor was the noise of the TV and the occasional opening and closing of the door by the veteran Leva.Finally, until seven o'clock in the afternoon, he finally heard the sound of the Caucasus panting with its tongue, and Leva urging it to slow down.

Looking at the time, Wei Ran wrote down the start time of the other party's dog walk on the screen of the phone, and then quietly waited for the sound to come from the monitor again.

After waiting for more than an hour, when the sound of the door opening and the sound of the dog panting came from the monitor, Wei Ran, who was about to fall asleep, quickly opened his eyes and recorded the time again.

(End of this chapter)