War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 368 Doubts about Biao Opera skills (two-in-one update)

"Take this"

Before Wei Ran was about to leave from the back door of the kitchen, Artur took out a Radom pistol, a pocket watch, and a black pen from his pocket and stuffed them into his hand. "If the cemetery guard doesn't believe your identity, show him this pen and remember to remove the cap. Also, you must be back before five o'clock."

"clear"

Wei Ran nodded, put away his pistol, pocket watch and pen, and was about to open the wooden door leading to the outside.However, before he touched the doorknob, there was a banging sound from the direction of the tavern door behind him.

Arthur's body trembled, he turned around immediately, and hurriedly pulled out another pistol from his waist.

"Victor, open the door, Victor!" Outside the door, a young girl shouted while banging on the door while crying.

"What's going on?" Wei Ran and Artur asked each other in unison.

"I called your name." Artur heaved a sigh of relief, but also inserted the weapon back into his waist. "It sounds like Frank's sister."

"That girl named Karen?" Wei Ran immediately matched the voice outside the door with the freckled little girl.

"Open the door first," Arthur urged, while hiding his body in the shadow of the kitchen wall.

Wei Ran nodded, put away the weapon in his hand, and opened the door carefully.Before he could react, the girl outside the door burst into his arms crying loudly, and then he heard the girl whispering in his ear, "My brother asked me to inform you, the tavern It's surrounded by dogs on chains."

Before Wei Ran could speak, the girl hugged Wei Ran's neck tightly again and began to cry loudly.

Holding the skinny little girl out of the tavern, Wei Ran gently closed the door, then patted the back of the girl in his arms, and led her up the steps of the door.

By helping the other party wipe away the non-existent tears, Wei Ran looked around secretly, but unfortunately, except for the pouring rain, he didn't see any clues about the chain dog at all.

"What's going on?" Wei Ran gently hugged the other party in his arms again, and asked next to the other party's ear.

"My brother was going to come to the tavern to borrow some kerosene at night, but he accidentally found a dog on a leash hiding around."

The little girl named Ka Lun wrapped her hands around Wei Ran's neck, and said in a low voice, "He was worried about what the chain dog would do to you, so he asked me to come and inform you to prepare in advance. In addition, from now on you It's my boyfriend, but my brother Frank is going to marry me to a stallion, which is why I came to you."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded incredulously, and said in a slightly louder voice, "How dare that bastard Frank do that! Come in first and change your clothes, and I'll take you to find him!"

"No! I don't want to go back! Take me away! Leave the port of Kiel, let's go to Hamburg, to Berlin, and leave here forever!" Shouting, but there was a trace of excited smile on that face full of freckles.

"We're not going anywhere. After you change your clothes, I'll take you to teach him a lesson!" Wei Ran had no choice but to cooperate with the other party in acting, and at the same time gave her a look.

The freckled girl named Karen blinked her eyes unsatisfied, and continued to cry, "Then you can't hurt him!"

"Come in and change clothes with me first!" Wei Ran said, and had already pulled the other party to push open the door of the tavern.

"What's wrong?" Artur frowned and asked, "Karen, that bastard Frank bullied you again?"

"He wants to marry me to an officer in exchange for him to sit in the post office!" Karen Lihua said with rain, and threw herself into Artur's arms again, "Uncle Artur, I want to talk to Vic Stay together more!"

"Okay, okay, don't cry yet."

After a brief daze, Artur immediately comforted the little girl in his arms patiently, and then lightly slammed the door of Mia's room, signaling her to take the drenched Karen to change into dry clothes .

"Victor, what are you going to do?" Artur lowered his voice slightly and asked meaningfully.

"What else can I do?" Wei Ran glanced at the second floor from the corner of his eye, and responded with righteous indignation, "I'll go to Frank and talk to him face to face later!"

"Don't be impulsive. If you really hurt Frank, Karen will be sad." Artur patted Wei Ran on the shoulder, then walked into the bar and poured him a half glass of the lowest-alcohol red wine.

Before Wei Ran finished drinking the wine in the glass, Karen also came out of Mia's room.But when he saw the thick white dress on the other party, Wei Ran fell into an unbelievable sluggishness.

The white dress, so the woman said, Karen is the female skeleton lying in the basement in later generations?
Suppressing the panic in his heart, Wei Ran looked at the cup in his hand, and at the little girl sitting on the dining table covering her face and pretending to be sad.He has already wavered about the method he just thought of.

"Victor, don't be impulsive." Artur reminded meaningfully.

can i change anything

Wei Ran held the cup and asked himself, this is undoubtedly the second cruelest thing for him, the thick white dress worn on this little girl who hadn't talked much before, in his eyes It's no different from an invitation from the Grim Reaper.However, that girl with freckles who seemed to be very talented in acting and seemed courageous didn't know what it meant to wear that dress.

Inexplicably, Wei Ran once again thought of the pieces of cloth that were shattered when the blue blanket exploded when he first entered the Battle of Stalingrad. He thought of the little girl who could not speak or hear a sound, and thought of her The way he grabbed his trouser leg and asked for the grenade reminded him of the explosion that even Guqin Yaoguang couldn't help him forget.

"Victor?" Arthur asked in a low voice.

"Snapped!"

The goblet in Wei Ran's hand hit the floor straight and shattered, and he himself, at the same time as the cup hit the ground, took steps, walked to the side of the gate, took out a raincoat from the hanger, and personally helped the victim Karen, who was startled by the sound of the glass falling to the ground, put it on.

"I'm going to have a good talk with your bastard brother Frank." While speaking, Wei Ran reached out to take off another large raincoat, put it on his body and pulled up the hood.

"Victor, don't be impulsive!" Arthur reminded again.

"I won't be impulsive"

While Wei Ran was speaking, he reached out and took an umbrella and a kerosene lamp on the table and handed them to Karen, then bent down beside her, "I'll carry you back."

Karen froze for a moment, quickly took the umbrella and kerosene lamp, and obediently lay on Wei Ran's back, and immediately held up the umbrella after going out, using the umbrella to help the former block the rain blowing directly in front of him , and by the way also covered most of Wei Ran's face.

"The youth of today."

In Siren Tavern, Artur took out two clean goblets, poured some scarlet wine into each, then lit the kerosene lamp and said to Mia, "I'll wait here Victor is back in case he really did something stupid. How about you? Stay and have a drink with me, or go back to bed?"

“Just one drink”

Mia yawned, walked slowly to the bar and sat down, picked up the goblet leisurely and touched Artur lightly.

At the same time, while Wei Ran was acting with Karen behind his back to accuse Frank, he was also carefully observing the surrounding environment along the way.

"Don't look back." Wei Ran felt the little girl lying on her shoulder move, and immediately reminded in a low voice in advance.

Hearing this, Karen immediately put her chin on Wei Ran's shoulder again, and continued to complain about how her brother Frank was greedy for money.

With the cover of the little girl, Wei Ran walked to the door of the wooden house where Frank lived without any danger while speaking harsh words.

It didn't care whether it was followed by a tail or not, and it didn't care whether it would disturb the neighbors around it.Wei Ran carefully put Karen down to stand firmly, and then slammed the old wooden door.

And the moment Frank opened the door, Wei Ran raised his fist and hit Frank's face lightly.

"Frank, you scum! How did you agree to me?" Wei Ran yelled, while gesticulating frantically at Frank.

"What did I promise you?! What did I promise you?"

Frank stood up clutching his cheeks that had been punched, and started fighting with Wei Ran at the door of the heavy rain, while Karen also started to persuade the fight in a decent manner.

It took five or six minutes before and after, the two wrestling together moved the scene of the fight to the room under Karen's pushing and shoving. Karen, who had been following behind them, also anxiously followed in to continue the fight, even The girl waited on purpose before turning around and slamming the door violently, blocking the view from the outside.

Looking at the tightly drawn curtains on the surrounding windows and the kerosene lamp on the dining table, Wei Ran slightly adjusted the angle so that his shadow could be perfectly projected on the curtains, then he raised his fist and gently swung it on Frank's on the shoulders.

On the other hand, Frank also groaned, staggered back a few steps, then picked up a puppet from the sofa and put it on his chest, and continued screaming while letting Wei Ran sit on his lap, Again and again, he gently swung his fist on the puppet toy on his chest.From time to time, this "big uncle" still has time to stretch out a hand and push down the chair beside him, or while watching the shadow on the curtain screaming, he adjusts his angle and gently returns his hand a few times.

And his younger sister, Karen, also sat down on the floor and continued to cry while pressing her back against the wooden door.

The three young men played this farce for more than ten minutes, and then, under Wei Ran's signal, Frank gasped and begged for mercy.

"So now you are willing to sit down and talk about what you promised me before?" Wei Ran stood up and asked while pinching his nose.

"I should ask you this!" Frank said angrily, then turned his head and shouted to his sister, "Karen, go back to your room! Don't come down until I tell you!"

"I'm not going up! I'm right here!" Karen responded with a hoarse voice, and locked the door again, "Don't even try to run out!"

Frank kicked down a chair again angrily, and then lifted the chair up again under the threat of Wei Ran and placed it by the burning fireplace.By the way, he also picked up a newspaper from the floor, and then took out two pencils that were no longer than the length of his fingers from his pocket.

The menacing two sat down around the coffee table by the fireplace, and while discussing the issue of Karen's ownership and the price Victor had to pay, they used pencils on the newspaper, exchanging information between the two sides and Wei Ran's connection. down plan.

"Will it be too risky?" Frank wrote down his doubts in the newspaper, while denying the price offered by Wei Ran.

"You can try it, but there are certain risks."

After Wei Ran struggled to write down the words that concealed countless dangers, he continued to pinch his nose, announced the new price in a strong nasal voice, and complained about his crooked nose by the way.

"Then try!"

After Frank wrote this sentence, seeing Wei Ran nodded, he immediately threw the newspaper into the burning fireplace not far away.And Karen, who had already crept to the fireplace, gently picked up a firewood at the same time, stirred up the ashes of the newspaper, and put it on the blazing fire.

At the same time, while Wei Ran and Frank continued to discuss the "human trafficking" transaction, they each took off their clothes, pants and even shoes and handed them to each other, and then put the clothes handed by the other party on themselves.

"Victor, how about giving me a night to think about it?"

Seeing that Wei Ran was fully dressed, Frank immediately felt embarrassed, "Tomorrow morning! If I accept your offer tomorrow morning, I will go to the tavern to find you. However, if I really go, I hope you can also prepare to buy it in advance. For Karen’s money, you can’t lose a penny!”

"It seems that you still want to taste the taste of fists!"

As Wei Ran said, he waved his fist again and gave the opponent a light punch, "This punch is for Karen!"

"This punch was also for Karen!"

Frank also used the same excuse to fight back, and the two scuffled again and fell hard to the floor.However, just by falling to the ground, Wei Ran and Frank had already exchanged positions.

"I'll take Karen to the tavern first, lest you sneak him away today."

Wei Ran lay on the floor wheezing and yelling. Immediately afterwards, Frank got up and dragged Karen to the door.

The siblings quickly put on their large raincoats, and even Frank put a towel over his nose before carrying his sister on his back, using umbrellas, clothes, towels, and his sister's crying comfort as cover , taking Wei Ran's identity and walked to the Kraken Tavern with fear.

On the other hand, the younger sister Karen on his back was too mentally sound. Before leaving, she not only remembered to say a cruel word, but also closed the door heavily to avoid the possibility of Wei Ran revealing her secrets.

About the time the other party walked away, Wei Ran, who had been pinching his nose and talking just now, immediately let go, trying to imitate Frank's voice and let out a series of gasping screams and curses at Victor.

While he waited patiently, the Frank brothers and sisters also returned to the Siren Tavern without any risk.

"Uncle Arthur, Victor is injured, do you have any medicine?" Karen asked anxiously before getting off the fake Victor.

Artur only glanced at it, and understood the situation in an instant. He immediately picked up the oil lamp on the bar to lead the way, and said as he walked upstairs, "Yes, they are all on the third floor. Let him come up with me. Mi Ya, you take Karen to change again."

"Come with me"

Mia secretly put away the pistol hidden in the cuff of her pajamas, and dragged the worried Karen into her room.

And on the stairs leading to the third floor, Artur, who was carrying a kerosene lamp, deliberately blocked the light of the kerosene lamp with his body, so that Frank behind him was covered by a towel with a small half of his face in the darkness. , and at the same time, a series of preaching related to impulsiveness continued to pop out of his mouth.

When the two arrived at the third floor, which was not open to guests, and got into Artur's bedroom without any risk, Frank continued to follow what Wei Ran had taught him before, taking a breath from time to time and saying something lightly, while In a low voice, Arthur told Wei Ran about the expected return time and the arrangements for that time.

At the same time, in Frank's room, Wei Ran carefully eavesdropped under every window, and then waited patiently until after the appointed time, when there was no gunfire from the tavern from beginning to end, he did so. Slightly relieved, he quietly climbed up to the second floor with the only kerosene lamp in his hand, and carefully observed every window.

It wasn't until he was sure of the surrounding situation that he came to the first floor in the dark, put on the Soviet cloak in the metal book, and put on the flashlight he found in Frank's room, and prostrated himself in the cold muddy water, against the budding weeds. Grass, like a very patient lizard, left Frank's house little by little.

He didn't go far at all, Wei Ran hid in the shadow of a building and observed the house he had just left, until he was sure that no one was passing by, then bent his waist and went around in a circle to the back of the Kraken Tavern.

Glancing at his bedroom on the third floor of the tavern, the weak candles had been lit as agreed, and he immediately took out the pocket watch Arthur had given him, and then slowly turned around, facing the wet turf. Climbing past the oak forest to the north of the tavern little by little.

Thanks to the cover of the torrential rain, he was not noticed by anyone until he entered the oak forest. Even before entering the oak forest, he discovered a German soldier secretly smoking a cigarette hidden under a tent built by a raincoat.

Without daring to waste too much time, Wei Ran walked quickly through the oak forest with his waist bent, and finally found a not-so-big hunter's cabin in the deepest part.

Carefully approaching the door of the hunter's hut, Wei Ran looked in through the window that was only the size of a bowl. The hut was dark, and there was an unpleasant smell of excrement. He could see clearly that a big wet nose had protruded from the small, pitiful hole, and then he heard a "cracking" sound of teeth colliding.

Wei Ran touched the tip of his nose with lingering fear, thanks to the fact that he retreated in time just now, otherwise his nose would have been bitten off just by that swipe.

"Can this shit be ridden?"

Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, and finally opened the chain that had been wrapped several times around the fence gate. With the help of the flashlight covered by a layer of cloth, he could barely see the strong black horse that kept snorting.

"Don't bite me, if you dare to bite me, I will stew you."

Wei Ran swallowed, and carefully stretched out his hand to the rein tied to the post.At most, he had experienced horse riding in domestic grassland scenic spots before, and he was still led by the groom.So to put it simply, he can only be regarded as a theoretical school at best.

But if he only relied on his own two legs, the 14 kilometers back and forth was not enough for him to rush back to the Kraken Tavern before dawn.

Just when he stretched out his hand tremblingly and holding the rein tremblingly, Wei Ran suddenly felt a familiar feeling like deja vu.It wasn't until this time that he knew that the skill task he had completed, and what he had learned was horse riding!
"This is a huge profit!"

The moment Wei Ran held the rein, he lost his timidity, and that inexplicable sense of familiarity was as easy to grasp as if he had learned to massage and set bones.

And the reason why he said he made a lot of money is naturally because after so many visits, the battlefield he most often returned to was the battlefield of World War II. The mechanized German army also relied heavily on mules and horses for transportation and transportation.

In other words, this horse-riding technique may be a rich man's alphabet movement in the 21st century, but in World War II, it was a real BUFF for increasing movement speed.

With a smile on his face, he led the black horse out and tied it to the railing. Wei Ran lit the flashlight again, and with the faint light, he found a set of saddles, a leather whip and a bag full of soybeans and Wheat canvas pocket.Not to mention, on the other wall, there is actually a rusty cavalry knife!

Finding a tin bucket from the wooden house, Wei Ran poured out half a bucket of beans and wheat from the canvas pocket and placed it in front of the snorting black horse, while stroking and patting it naturally Slender and powerful neck.He didn't heave a sigh of relief until the horse lowered its head and stuck its mouth into the tin bucket.

Taking advantage of the horse's pre-departure meal, Wei Ran, who couldn't hold back his curiosity, fixed the saddle, reached out and took down the cavalry knife hanging on the wall, and pulled it out of the nearly decayed scabbard out.

With just one glance, he recognized that this rusty cavalry sword was the standard heavy cavalry sword used by Germany during World War I.

"It's a very good thing. The place where it is hung is rotten by water vapor and horse manure."

Wei Ran shook his head regretfully. This thing was not cheap in his time. When he was visiting various underground trading markets with Professor Alexai, he once saw a near-perfect condition and uncut knife. The heavy cavalry knife, when that knife was sent to the underground auction house, the starting price alone had already reached a frightening five-figure dollar.

But where did this thing come from?

Wei Ran thought to himself with the heavy cavalry knife that was no longer sharp. When he was acting at Frank's house just now, he exchanged a lot of information through that newspaper.

Among other things, he at least knew that the original Romeo in the basement was hiding in a small village near the port of Kiel as a primary school teacher.The information obtained by the Kraken Tavern has always been delivered to Romeo by Frank as a postman, and then Romeo will contact the next family.

But not long ago, Romeo caught the attention of the chain dog Adam without warning and revealed his identity.But how it was exposed, Frank didn't know what to ask.

Now, Romeo's injury is still not healed, but he has given a new joint location and joint person. If there is nothing wrong with it, the horse around him may not believe it.

In addition to this suspicious point that made Wei Ran secretly wary of Romeo, this stable, which is only a few hundred meters away from Siren Tavern, is even more abnormal.

After all, Artur and others fled from Poland a few years ago. It is normal for them to hide some pistols and submachine guns here, a cavalry knife from World War I, and a horse that needs regular care. How to think how awkward.

Before he could figure out why, the bad-tempered and biting black horse had already kicked over the emptied tin bucket. The clattering sound not only startled Wei Ran, but also made Wei Ran jump. He wished he could slash the bastard's horse's leg.

Glancing at the heavy cavalry saber in his hand, Wei Ran somehow didn't put it back to its original position, but turned onto the horse with it in his hand, holding the rein with one hand, and leaned his upper body on the horse's back, using the heavy saber back A light pat on the horse's buttocks.The horse immediately lifted its hooves and ran out of the oak forest.

(End of this chapter)