War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 416 Goodbye Sergey

Surrounded by two sheep and a border herd, Wei Ran walked to the door without haste.

Without him doing anything, the clever border collie opened the door by biting the cloth strip tied to the doorknob.Shaking his big furry tail frantically, he beckoned Wei Ran to go in with his eyes.The two sheep, on the other hand, knelt obediently on the blankets on both sides of the door.

Touching the head of the Border Collie dog, Wei Ran took a deep breath, first knocked on the door lightly, waited for a while, and then walked into the room.

This house is not too big, there are many pet toys scattered on the wooden floor, a set of exquisite coffee pots is placed on the dining table not far away, and there are many hanging on the wall on the side of the entrance. Oil paintings depicting rural landscapes, even propping up an easel beside the old man sitting in a rocking chair looking at himself.

"Young man, welcome to be a guest." The old man on the rocking chair raised his finger to the sofa not far away, "Find a place to sit by yourself."

"Thank you"

Wei Ran bowed slightly, walked to the beige single sofa and sat down, but immediately after, a series of farting sounds came out from under his buttocks.

And the old man sitting in the rocking chair also let out a hearty laugh at the same time as the voice came out.

Standing up in a little embarrassment, Wei Ran lifted the cushion on the sofa, and then found that there was something shaped like an old-fashioned warm water bottle under the cushion.

"Just kidding, that was a little gift my student gave me on April Fool's Day a few days ago."

The old man motioned Wei Ran to sit down again, and then continued with a smile, "Young man, what is the purpose of you coming to my place?"

"Hi, my name is Victor."

Wei Ran shook hands with the other party respectfully, sat down again and said, "Are you Mr. Sergey, a teacher in the Department of Mathematics of the National University?"

"I did teach at the Department of Mathematics at the National University, and my name was Sergey."

The old man in the wheelchair said gently, "But I don't remember teaching such a young Asian student like you. When I retired and stopped teaching, the Soviet Union hadn't retired yet."

"By the time I was born, the Soviet Union had retired."

Wei Ran indirectly affirmed the other party's guess, and said with a smile, "Mr. Sergey, I took the liberty of visiting this time to ask you some questions."

"Ask me a question?"

Sergey thought for a moment, shook his head and asked, "I guess it must not be a math problem, right?"

"Smart as when I was a child." Wei Ran muttered secretly, nodded in response, "It's a historical issue."

"I'd be happy to help you answer something," Sergey said gently, "but why don't you do me a favor?"

"No problem." Wei Ran readily agreed, "What do I need to do?"

"Help me give the dog and the two sheep a bath," Sergey said slowly, "They haven't been bathed for almost a month."

"I'm very happy" Wei Ran said and stood up.

"No hurry." Sergey quickly waved his hand, "I will bathe them after I, the math teacher, is sure that I can answer your history questions."

"Even if I'm not here to ask questions, it's okay to help you with these things."

Wei Ran took off his suit jacket as he spoke, and took off his tie by the way and put it on the sofa, "Mr. Sergey, where is the bathroom?"

"The room on the left after entering the door"

Sergey patted the butt of the big fat cat on his lap, and after it reluctantly jumped to the floor, he stood up slowly, and said while walking towards the bathroom, "Victor, If I'm not mistaken, you are from Huaxia?"

"Where did you see that?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"When I was a teacher at a national university, there were students from Huaxia."

Sergey said with emotion, "At that time, they were like you. They were always enthusiastic and willing to help others, and they were always able to turn transactions into friendship. The time spent with those young people is really memorable."

"Are you still in touch?"

While Wei Ran was talking, he had already pushed open the door of the bathroom. There was a light green enamel bathtub inside. On the shelf next to it, there were also a lot of pet toiletries, and they were even marked with plastic signs that they were for dogs. For cats, for sheep.

"There are very few contacts"

Sergey moved a chair and sat at the door of the bathroom, and said slowly, "I am already over 90 years old, and some of my earliest students even went to see Comrade Stalin earlier than me, the living ones Many of those have lost contact, and only a few children still remember me as a teacher."

"At least someone will send you a gift on April Fool's Day." Wei Ran reminded with a smile, while speaking, he carried a little sheep from the door and sent it to the bathroom.

"I've never had an April Fool's Day"

Sergey smiled and shook his head, "Wash them in the bathtub, that bathtub is specially for them to take a bath. Rinse them with warm water first, then use the red brush dipped in shower gel to wash them twice, and finally rinse them again Twice, then dry them, and then use a hair dryer to help them dry their hair. Don’t worry, they are used to it and won’t be afraid of the hair dryer.”

"Okay" Wei Ran carried the sheep into the bathtub under the guidance of the other party, and began to bathe the little lamb according to the steps.

"Victor, tell me about the historical question you want to ask." Sergey, who was sitting at the door of the bathroom, asked, "If I can't answer it, you can still think about what to do while you help me bathe them." Thank u."

"Those things are not urgent"

Wei Ran used a brush to foam the little sheep and asked, "Mr. Sergey, do you usually live by yourself?"

"And these little guys"

Sergey said gently as if he regarded Wei Ran, who had met for the first time, as an old friend who had made friends for years, "My two grandsons and one granddaughter are older than you, and they bring their children to visit me every week. These small animals are also raised here by their children to accompany me, and there are usually nanny who come to help me cook every day."

"It seems that your old age is very happy," Wei Ran said sincerely with foamy hands.

During the chat with Sergey, Wei Ran seriously bathed the two sheep, one dog, and the big fat cat that got into the bathroom because of excessive curiosity.

After he finished his work, it was already noon, and the nanny who came early also prepared a table of delicious meals.

After having lunch with Sergey, Wei Ran, who sat on the sofa again, took out the big group photo from his briefcase and handed it to the other party, "Mr. Sergey, I found this by accident in Liuban A group photo. I spent a long time looking for someone who knows the story behind this group photo, and finally found you with the help of a friend. As far as I know, your hometown seems to be near Liuban. So, you know Where is this group photo from?"

Sergey took the group photo and looked at it, then tremblingly took out a pair of reading glasses from his coat pocket and put them on his face.

After a long time, Sergey took out a pen that looked very old and Wei Ran was very familiar with from his jacket pocket, pointed at the child in the front row of the group photo with the cap and said, "You are not looking for the wrong person The child in the group photo is me."

"This is you?" Wei Ran asked in pretended surprise.

Sergey smiled and nodded, "If I'm not mistaken, you found this group photo from the guerrilla village, right? Many families in that village should have this group photo, but I still remember the story behind this group photo There aren't many people left."

"It was indeed found from the Guerrilla Village." Wei Ran excitedly gave an affirmative answer, without mentioning the fact that he had never been to the Guerrilla Village.

"This group photo was taken in 1942"

Sergey took off his reading glasses and recalled with a trace of nostalgia in his tone, "The guerrilla village at that time was still a virgin forest, just like its name, this village was established by the guerrillas. , I’m still a kid, not even a full-fledged guerrilla.”

In Sergey's slow narration, Wei Ran couldn't help recalling everything he had personally experienced.

However, what is slightly different from his experience is that in Sergey’s recollection, there were no reporters there, and even the photo was taken with Teacher Jaina’s camera. After Teacher Jaina died, the camera followed Dr. Sasha to the battlefield, and finally disappeared.

"In 1943, I was sent to the rear by Alisa, and then I took the train to Tula, where I finished all the courses before the university and was sent to Moscow to continue my studies."

Speaking of this, Sergey took out the pen with the traces of time from his pocket and said, "This is a gift from Teacher Jaina. From 1943 to today, I have always carried it with me. Whenever When I slack off, I always think of Teacher Jaina and those guerrillas."

"Are there any other survivors of those people?"

Wei Ran tentatively asked, "We found the ruins of the guerrilla hospital that you just mentioned that were destroyed by the Germans, and found the Germans who were thrown into the well. I also followed this clue to find it. This group photo, but I didn't expect that there is a connection between them."

"There are indeed many people who survived after the end of World War II, but there are also many people who died."

Sergey got up slowly, took Wei Ran into the study on the first floor, and then opened a safe that looked very old, and took out a lot of things from it.

Among the items was a chunky photo album, a well-preserved boat cap, and even a TT33 pistol, a shepherd's whip and a plastic-covered roster.

Sergey took out a pair of white silk gloves from the drawer, put them on, slowly opened the roster, and after some searching, pointed to Ivan's name and said, "He is my good friend. He took me to the hospital to fight the Germans together. We were only fifteen or sixteen years old, but we killed several Germans with grenades and submachine guns!"

Sergey pointed to the boat cap and TT33 pistol on the table, "This military cap was left to Ivan by our teacher Jaina, and this pistol is the one I mentioned just now, the one named Shu The guerrillas left for Ivan. That lunatic who liked to fight followed the Soviet Red Army all the way into Berlin, and even became a platoon leader!

When he came back, he hung several medals on his chest, which made us envious.But that idiot, until the end of the war, believed that our Master Jaina and Shura were still alive, alas”

"These things"

Sergey sighed, "I remember it very clearly. It was the summer of 1967. When he was arresting a murderer, he was shot in the neck by a criminal. These things were all taken by his son. I brought it with me when I came here, but unfortunately, that little guy died in Afghanistan in 82."

Wiping the corners of his eyes, Sergey turned a page of the roster, pointed to the name on it and said, "That sheep-herding whip belongs to this guy named Vasily. When I first saw him, he He was carried back from the dead by Teacher Jaina and Dr. Sasha, and one of his hands was broken at that time."

"He also survived?" Wei Ran asked.

Sergey shook his head bitterly, "No, he didn't. In the winter of 1942, he was bombed by a German plane while herding sheep. When we found him, we only found his sheep-herding whip."

Wei Ran was stunned, and before he could say anything, Sergey had already turned over a few pages of the roster, pointed to the names on it and said happily, "Jonia, she survived, and she just She became a painter, as the roster says."

The little blonde girl who shared the snake meat?

Wei Ran immediately matched the dream recorded by Teacher Jaina on the roster with the little girl in the class he was in charge of. He clearly remembered that the little girl wanted to draw Uncle Slava and others, Also hung on the church in the village.

"Just like her dream at the time"

Sergey, who didn't notice Wei Ran's distraction, continued, "In 1943, she and I were sent to Tula to study together. After the war, she really became a painter, and she really hung her oil paintings. It was on the church in the guerrilla village, but unfortunately after that idiot Khrushchev came to power, all those oil paintings were burned."

"she is now"

Sergey froze, pointed to the oil paintings on the wall of the room and said, "Dead, she died more than ten years ago. She gave birth to a son and a daughter for me. These oil paintings, as well as the oil paintings outside, are all from her." Leave it to me."

"Are you married?" Wei Ran's eyes widened.

Sergey's old face showed a look of happiness, "We got married in 53 years, and my good friend Ivan actually liked Jania too. Ha! Who didn't like Jania at that time? But Ivan and I must have liked Jania best."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked.

"Then that bastard Ivan fell in love with a female messenger"

Sergey sighed when he said this, "Later, when Jania and I got married, he told me the truth secretly when he came to our wedding because he drank too much.

He said that he was just a soldier who only knew about fighting, he didn't understand oil painting, and he wasn't even interested in oil painting at all.He had no idea what to talk to Jania about.Because what he said, Jania couldn't understand at all, and what Jania said, he couldn't understand, he said Jania would never be happy with him. "

"At least he made his dream come true and so did you. You're all heroes."

"Heroes? We're all just lucky survivors."

Sergey turned the roster to the last page, pointed to the last string of words left by Teacher Jaina on it and said, "This booklet was taken by Dr. Sasha before I went to Tula.

Take a look, how many of them have realized their dreams.How many people died before they could find the soil to realize their dreams.Compared with them, what kind of heroes are we people? "

"Is the world today the same as the world you imagined at that time?" Wei Ran asked abruptly.

Sergey was stunned, smiled and shook his head, "I don't know, maybe it's the same, or maybe it's different. Young man, are you interested in going to the guerrilla village with me? I haven't been back for a long time .”

"Now?"

Wei Ran looked at Sergey in embarrassment. This former boy is now an old man on the verge of death. The distance of more than [-] kilometers from Minsk to Liuban is already a heavy burden for his old body.

Perhaps knowing what Wei Ran was worried about, Sergey smiled and waved his hands, "As long as you have time, that's enough, I'll take care of the rest."

"Alright then," Wei Ran said respectfully, "It's my honor to have the honor to go with you to the places where we fought."

"Wait a mininute"

As Sergey said, he picked up the microphone of the landline on the desk, and skillfully pressed a series of numbers.

After a while, Sergey said heartily into the microphone, "Vitaly, do you have time now? I want to go home and have a look. Okay, I'll wait for you."

After hanging up the phone, Sergey explained, "My grandson, he is also a teacher at the National University, a computer teacher. Wait a moment, he will be here soon."

"Please allow me to make a call too"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he walked out of the study room, took out his mobile phone and dialed Dian's number, signaling to the other party to get ready for work in Liuban.

While waiting, Sergey opened the photo album that he took out from the safe together. In this photo album, Wei Ran not only saw the photos he took at the beginning, but also saw some photos he hadn't seen before. past photos.

It was also from these old photos that he indirectly learned about the changes in the guerrilla village.

From the camp hidden deep in the forest at first, the hospital was gradually built, farmland was reclaimed, a newspaper office and even a narrow-gauge railway that could go directly to the rear were built.

Later, even the wave 2 plane was able to land near the guerrilla village.It's just that the person who piloted the plane turned into a man that Wei Ran had never seen before.

Through questioning, he knew that this man was the brother of the female pilot Alisa, the man who dropped a key bomb in the guerrilla hospital battle.

As the album was flipped through, the guerrilla village in the black and white photos became bigger and bigger, the surrounding trees also decreased a little bit, and the farmland increased rapidly.

Later, the photos turned into color, and there were many more people working in the farmland. In one of the color photos, there was even a blond woman with a drawing board on the field.And in her unfinished oil painting, you can still see a half-painted tractor.

But the only thing that remains the same is the big group photos that appear from time to time.Although there are fewer and fewer familiar people and more and more strangers in the group photo where the background is constantly changing, the only thing that remains the same is the smiling faces of the children who are arranged at the front from beginning to end .

"Before the disintegration of the Soviet Union, Guerrilla Village would take a group photo after the harvest almost every autumn."

After gently closing the album, Sergey said with emotion, "Although most people in that village don't know the original intention of the earliest group photo, it doesn't affect everyone to keep this tradition alive."

"That's great," Wei Ran muttered to himself.

"What did you say?" Sergey, who didn't hear clearly, looked at Wei Ran suspiciously.

"I said it's really good." Wei Ran slightly increased his voice.

"Yeah." Sergey looked out the window at a slowly parked car, "It's like living in a dream. Alright, young man, let's go to the Guerrilla Village."

Hearing this, Wei Ran hurriedly got up and helped the other party put away all the things on the table, then took the briefcase, followed the other party and left the house with those lively pets.

"This is my grandson Vitaly and his wife Antosha"

Before getting into the car, Sergey introduced with a smile, "This young man is Victor, a new kid we met today, and he wants to go to the guerrilla village with us."

"hello"

Wei Ran politely shook hands with the couple. Vitali is a middle-aged man who is nearly 40 years old. Whether it is the gentle and elegant temperament of the other party, the car he drives, or even the clothes on his body, it proves that the other party's life is very special. Nice and well educated.

The woman sitting in the co-pilot seat had a kind face, and a chain watch with a hospital logo was pinned to her chest, revealing her occupation invisibly.

While the group chatted, Vitali drove the car and arrived at the guerrilla village before the sun went down.

Seven 80 years have turned the simple camp deep in the forest into a small village surrounded by vast farmland.And it can be seen that most people in this village know Sergey and his grandson Vitaly, so from time to time, someone will wave to their car and say hello.

At the same time, Diane and Prohor, who had received the news in advance, had been waiting at the head of the guerrilla village for a long time.

Perhaps it was because he saw Diane and Prohol, two strangers whom he had never seen before, or because Wei Ran had explained his purpose of coming frankly and in detail halfway.After Sergey waited for his grandson to park the car at the door of a house, he immediately said, "Vitale, take Victor to the cemetery. Let Antosha accompany me here and wait for you to come back. That's enough for dinner."

"no problem"

Vitali happily agreed, and then said to his wife who was sitting in the co-pilot, "Remember to supervise grandpa, and don't allow him to eat sweets secretly."

"Don't worry, I'm a nurse. This kind of thing is more professional than you." Before Antosha finished speaking, he had already opened the car door, and with Wei Ran's help, he helped Sergey walk into the house on the side of the road .

Vitaly waited until Wei Ran greeted the off-road vehicle not far away and followed the car he was driving to leave the village, then asked curiously, "Are you the Victor who appeared on Russian TV some time ago? I seem to have seen your interview."

Wei Ran froze for a moment, and replied calmly, "If you're talking about the interview at the Russian Museum of the Great Patriotic War, then it should be me."

"Although I don't know much about history, what you said about the Poles sounded really comfortable."

Vitali seemed to be a lot more relaxed because his grandfather Sergey and his wife were not in the car, "Frankly speaking, there are several Polish students in the class I am in charge of. It’s really interesting to go crazy during the interview, and I can take more shots of that kind in the future, and I will help you speak up on the Internet.”

"Then I thank you in advance"

Wei Ran shook his head dumbfoundingly. He really didn't expect that the controversial attitude Teacher Dalia set for himself could actually attract a group of supporters to follow suit.

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(End of this chapter)