War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 390 Diane's Chips (Today's update)
After resting in Volgograd for two days, Wei Ran, who had seen enough of the first half of the drama of my aunt, husband and son, also packed all the personal belongings into the off-road vehicle, planning to drive to Kazan and move there in advance.

The reason is that my aunt Zhou Shujin looked at her son-in-law with strange eyes every day, which was too creepy, and she came to the studio from time to time, which made him not in the mood to work on his graduation thesis at all.

"Good boy, come back often." Zhou Shujin put a pressure cooker full of braised pork ribs and a big red plastic bag full of meat buns into the passenger seat of the off-road vehicle with a look of reluctance.

Wei Ran nodded dumbfoundingly, "I will definitely come back often in the future, don't worry, auntie, and the house over there is big enough, and you can go to Kazan for a few days at any time when you are not busy."

"That's what you said." Professor Alexey took over immediately, "I'll help you decorate the new house in a few days."

"Before Sui Sui graduates, if you dare to leave Volgograd, I will break your legs!"

While speaking, Zhou Shujin poked the alcohol detector hanging on the former's waist with her finger, "From now on, start a video for an alcohol test every six hours! As long as there is one milliliter of alcohol in your body, you will be with me." Wine bottle, let's get married!"

"Look at the good things you bastard has done!" Professor Alexey, who was still beaming a second ago, glared at Wei Ran fiercely.

"for your own good"

Wei Ran gloated and patted the boxes of gin in the trunk, "Professor, since you don't drink anymore, I will take these away, and don't worry, I have carefully checked the studio yesterday I even took away the empty wine bottles."

"You are really my good nephew!" Professor Alexei praised Wei Ran through gritted teeth, then turned to look at Zhou Shujin with a begging expression, "Wine with table wine"

"Swap for milk"

Zhou Shujin made arrangements without waiting for the former to finish speaking, and then stuffed a suitcase full of various snacks into the trunk of the off-road vehicle, "Call us when you arrive."

Wei Ran nodded when he heard the words, and turned to look at the old guy straddling the Harley motorcycle, "Mr. Nikolai, are you really going to live in Kazan with me for a while?"

"I will never leave Volgograd again, and I will never leave here in my life."

Mr. Nicholas was very kind at the moment, pointing to the studio where the brand had been removed, "Also, I plan to rent this place, and when the weather is warmer, I will run a bookstore here, how about calling it Tree Hole Bookstore? ?”

Wei Ran was stunned when he heard the words, then smiled and nodded, "It's a good name."

“Really good”

Professor Alexey said pitifully, "The historical files I collected were also leased to Mr. Nicholas by your aunt."

"I believe that Mr. Nicholas will definitely not allow you to hide any alcoholic drinks here like Wei Ran."

Zhou Shujin glared at Professor Alexei again, turned her head and smiled and said in Chinese, "And it will be convenient for us to take care of Mr. Nikolai, so you can rest assured here. Wei Ran, I wish you all the best in your career in Kazan .”

you?Wei Ran grinned, the implication was obvious enough, now Sui Sui thought the concealment was perfect.

"Okay, if you continue talking, you will stay for lunch."

Professor Alexey picked up the breathalyzer hanging on his belt and blew vigorously before continuing, "Victor, let's go."

After bidding farewell to the three people who saw them off, Wei Ran started the car, slowly left the studio full of memories, and headed north along the sparkling Volga River to the direction of Kazan.

"It's time for me to go to work too." Professor Alexey deliberately blew on the breathalyzer again in front of Zhou Shujin. Before the other party could say anything, he also bent down and got into his car.

"Mr. Nicholas, remember to come to the travel agency for lunch at noon." Zhou Shujin said politely to the old Mr. Nicholas who was still riding on the motorcycle, too lazy to talk to Alixai who was acting like a monster.

"Do you have the scrambled eggs with tomatoes today?" Nicholas asked with great interest in Russian mixed with Chinese dish names.

"No, you've been eating for four days in a row, you can't eat that dish anymore."

Zhou Shujin resolutely refused, "If you can catch fish today, we will eat braised fish. If you can't catch fish, we will eat beef dumplings."

"Then eat braised fish! I don't like dumplings." Nicholas started the Harley motorcycle under his buttocks with a smile, "I'm going to catch the fish right now."

"Then I'll leave it to you." After arranging a leisurely job for the old man, Zhou Shujin turned and walked into the travel agency next door.

Almost immediately, a taxi slowly stopped near Nicholas, and then, Diane, a German woman who had visited Wei Ran two days ago, opened the car door and walked in with a briefcase.

Nicholas, who had already started the motorcycle, was not in a hurry to leave when he saw this. He twisted the handle and slammed the accelerator, and asked, "Who are you looking for?"

Diane glanced in astonishment at the studio with the brand removed and the locked shutter door, and then at Nicola, who was wearing a leather jacket, with thin white hair tied in a pigtail, like a senior hooligan, He tentatively asked, "Hello, this studio."

Nicholas glanced at the edelweiss-shaped brooch pinned to Diane's chest indiscriminately, and said with a trace of disgust, "It's closed, it closed yesterday."

"Closed?" Diane's eyes were as round as her figure, "How is that possible?"

"Why is it impossible?" Nicholas said with a smile, "The young man owed money and ran away, and I just rented this place."

"Really?" Diane asked in disbelief.

"You definitely didn't come to me to buy books. Believe it or not, it doesn't matter to me?"

Before Nicholas finished his sentence, he was already driving his polished Harley motorcycle, and drove to the Volga River not far away amidst the melodious sound of horseshoes, preparing to contribute to the braised fish at noon.

Diane looked at the studio with the locked door again, then took out her mobile phone and dialed Wei Ran. Unexpectedly, the caller was still reminded to shut down the phone.

Looking bitterly at the briefcase in her hand, Diane sighed, bent over and got into the taxi, "Please take me back to the hotel just now."

Wei Ran, who missed Diane, didn't know that Nicholas had rejected a potential business for him. At this moment, he was driving a fully loaded off-road vehicle in the direction of Kazan, while thinking about the future in Kazan. life.

Although the newly renovated house still needs to be put out for a while, but I spend half of the time in a month at the Hongqi Forest Farm, and the remaining half will have to go on business trips every now and then, so it doesn't affect it.

Thinking about starting a new life in Kazan, the speed of Wei Ran's off-road vehicle was getting faster and faster, and he didn't stop at all except for a short break and meal in the middle. It was already the afternoon of the second day when the car drove through Ulyanovsk without any good memories.

In the evening of that day, Mr. Hans, who was far away in Germany, dialed his satellite phone again.

Glancing at the caller number on the screen, Wei Ran slowly stepped on the brakes and stopped at the edge of a vast farmland, and then pressed the answer button and the hands-free button.

"Victor, your cell phone is out of order again." Mr. Hans joked with a smile, "If Mr. Gorman hadn't given me your satellite phone number, I would have believed Diane's nonsense."

"What nonsense?"

Wei Ran didn't bother to explain why the mobile phone used to contact the business was not turned on. While talking, he also leaned over and hugged the pressure cooker placed on the co-pilot's seat, and picked a piece of pork ribs that looked meaty from the few braised pork ribs left in it. Throw a lot into your mouth.

Mr. Hans said with a suppressed smile, "Diane said your studio closed down, and even you ran away."

"Closed? Run away?" Wei Ran was stunned, and asked dumbfounded, "Where did she hear that?"

"It is said that an old man who doesn't look very serious told her." Mr. Hans couldn't help laughing after all.

"Professor, old bastard, I still secretly left a bottle of wine in his car"

Wei Ran, who had no idea that he had wronged his father-in-law, cursed secretly, threw the bone in his hand along the car window, and then said, "My studio didn't close down, it just moved to another city. As for the mobile phone Didn't turn on."

"You don't need to explain why you didn't turn it on, I'm used to it"

Mr. Hans didn't wait for Wei Ran to finish speaking, and rushed to say, "Victor, it's not convenient for you to talk to Diane now, she really needs your help this time."

"Investigator matter?" Wei Ran said with hesitation in his tone, "Mr. Hans, I have considered that matter, but I really don't have time."

"No, no, this time it's not the investigator's business."

Mr. Hans said with a smile, "I already know about your refusal to be an investigator of Edelweiss, but this time Diane came to you for another matter."

Hearing this, Wei Ran hesitated again for a moment before saying, "If Ms. Diane is by your side, please give her the phone."

"Wait a moment," Mr. Hans on the other end of the phone finished, and Diane's voice came from the receiver.

"Mr. Victor, this time I would like to ask you to help us investigate a corpse burial pit we recently discovered."

"Talk about the specific situation"

Wei Ran picked up the second rib and stuffed it into his mouth. Although he rejected the fat woman named Diane's previous solicitation, he liked her straightforward communication habits.

"Ok"

Diane paused for a while before continuing, "The burial pit is in Belarus, near an abandoned village less than 100 kilometers away from Minsk."

"Belarus?" Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then threw away the second bone and urged, "Continue talking."

"A soil-digging party team that worked with us accidentally found more than 20 corpses in a filled well in this abandoned village, but these corpses had neither soldier tags nor any signs of history personal belongings, not even shoes.”

"Since there is nothing, how do you think they are Germans?" Wei Ran asked while gnawing on the ribs.

"This is where we need your help." Diane said with a hint of embarrassment in her distressed tone, "Also, there is a sentence engraved on the stone edge of this well."

Wei Ran saw that the other party stopped at this point, and simply asked in a joking tone, "Ms. Diane wants me to guess what is engraved?"

"In the future, this village may become full of vitality again, but what you have done is like this well that has been polluted by you, and it will never be washed clean."

After Diane finished speaking, she sped up her speech a little and made a request, "Mr. Victor, we want to know whether the corpses in the well are German soldiers in World War II as implied by that sentence. If so, we I want to know more about their identities, what they did, and what happened to them."

"Based on that statement alone, it does sound like a place where German soldiers are buried."

Wei Ran paused, and reminded slightly, "But it's not easy to investigate the issues you just mentioned just by relying on a word from Jing Yanshang."

"I'm sorry Mr. Victor, we may not be able to spend 20 euros to investigate the truth like Mr. Hans." Diane said straightforwardly, "But we may be able to pay you a commission in another way."

"What method?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

Diane suggested, "How about investing in your movie studio or studio, for example?"

"Please allow me to correct two points"

Wei Ran, who had been gnawing on ribs, swallowed the meat in his mouth, "First of all, I'm just a shareholder of Time Film Studio, whether you and the organization you represent plan to invest in this studio has nothing to do with me relationship. Secondly, my studio does not accept any form of investment.”

"If the issue of commission is ruled out, are you interested in investigating the body under the well?" Ms. Diane simply put aside the dispute about commission.

"It's different from your Edelweiss." Wei Ran reminded in a flat tone, "My Time Studio is a profit-making organization, so whether I am interested or not depends on the chips you offer."

"So the only dispute between us right now is the commission?"

"Of course, it's just a commission." Wei Ran responded cheerfully, and at the same time secretly cursed "Stingray" in his heart.

"I don't know if I can contact you at this phone number after I have settled the commission issue?"

"Of course, as long as you are sure that the chips you offer are enough to make my heart beat."

"I'll contact you later," Diane said, and returned the phone to Mr. Hans who was watching.

After exchanging pleasantries with Mr. Hans, Wei Ran hung up the phone, then got out of the car and looked around, seeing that there was no one in front and behind, he immediately took out the gasoline stove from the metal book and lit it.

Picking up the last piece of pork ribs in the pressure cooker and throwing it into his mouth, Wei Ran unhurriedly took out the meat buns made by his aunt Zhou Shujin, threw them into the pressure cooker and put them on the support of the gasoline stove to roast slowly Waiting, patiently waiting for the meat buns to absorb the remaining soup in the pot little by little.

As for whether Diane on the phone could come up with a bargaining chip that satisfied him, he didn't take it to heart.Those organizations that trade in old corpses are just stingy, but they have nothing to do with being poor. Let alone 20 euros, as long as it is profitable, they can take it out even if there is an extra zero behind it.

Sure enough, less than ten minutes before and after, the satellite phone on the driver's seat rang again.

After he unhurriedly turned off the gasoline stove and brought down the steaming and fragrant pressure cooker, he clapped his hands and pressed the answer and hands-free buttons again.

"Mr. Victor, I think I should be able to pay a commission that satisfies you now." Diane said confidently as soon as the call was connected.

"Tell me and listen." After Wei Ran finished speaking, he picked up a meat bun dipped in soup and took a hard bite.

"In cash we can only pay up to 5 euros"

Diane paused, and continued, "Besides, no matter what the final investigation result is, we can authorize you in advance to make a movie with the historical truth of the investigation."

"Authorization?"

Wei Ran smiled, and also reminded directly, "Ms. Diane, you don't need to authorize whether the historical truth that was finally investigated will be made into a movie. This is a story that happened in Belarus. The Belarusian official came to authorize, and to put it bluntly, not only I, a Chinese, say nothing about this matter, but you and the Germans behind you don’t count.”

"What if we could help the film company in which you have a stake in the release of a film in Germany?"

Diane added with certainty, "Any movie with positive values, no matter before or after."

"Although I still don't have much interest, your request for film values ​​has moved me."

The beating Wei Ran said in a flat tone, "How about this, Ms. Diane, why don't we go and see the well and the corpse we found first, and then talk about the commission?"

"I appreciate you saying that." Diane, who was obviously relieved, followed up and asked, "Which city are you in? I'll help you buy a ticket right now."

"Kazan"

Wei Ran, who was still holding a meat bun in his hand, hurriedly said before the other party spoke, "Buy a ticket for three days later, I have some things to do in the last two days."

"Mr. Victor, is your studio really closed down?"

Diane asked abruptly, "If you are interested, you can actually come to Germany, and we can fund you to reopen a studio."

"Again, my studio is not closed." Wei Ran retorted angrily, "I just moved, and I don't want to go to Germany."

"How about you move to Moscow?"

"Okay, Ms. Diane, I will send you my ID number later, and I will leave the ticket to you."

After finishing speaking, Wei Ran hung up the phone, and then directly dialed his aunt Zhou Shujin.

"Have you arrived in Kazan?" Zhou Shujin asked as soon as the phone was connected.

"Reaching soon"

Wei Ran glanced at the endless farmland outside the window, and reminded obediently, "Auntie, I suddenly remembered, teach uncle, there seems to be a bottle of gin hidden in the glove box of my uncle's car."

　The wine bureau, just change, forgive me.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)