War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 469 Inexplicable Familiarity
On the calm but sparkling Lake Onega, a Zook-class patrol boat converted from military to civilian use, under the driving of Wei Ran, was moving towards the destination guided by Ivan at different speeds.

Along the way, Ivan not only taught Wei Ran how to use the old-looking civil ship radar, but even took him to the stern to experience how to operate the set of net collection equipment he installed himself, and How to use sonar to find schools of fish underwater.

Under Ivan's overly enthusiastic and detailed explanation, Wei Ran roughly learned how to drive this patrol boat built in the 80s, and at the same time roughly figured out the identities of the other two old men on board.

According to Ivan, the two old men were not only the sailors of the ship, but also his neighbors.Among them, the one wearing a baseball cap was once a lighthouse keeper who was fired because he often drank too much.And the other one with a big beard is a repairman in their village, a repairman who specializes in repairing fishing boats.

It's just that for some unknown reason, Ivan didn't introduce the names of the two as if he forgot.

Running stop and go all the way on the surface of Lake Onega for more than an hour, this broken boat also bears the bad street name of "Sasha", and under Ivan's control, it leans firmly against the only A "pit bit" on the pier.

This village surrounded by birch forests and lake shores is not too big. At a glance, there are only a dozen similar piers. In the northernmost position, there seems to be a lighthouse that is not too tall.The houses distributed almost close to the wharf, at most, there are only fifty or sixty households.

Before the engine was turned off, two men in their thirties ran over on the pier. With the help of Ivan, two other old men and Wei Ran, they moved all the building materials and fishing nets to them. On the bed of the coming tractor.

After accepting the shipping fee handed over by the other party, Ivan said goodbye to his two friends, and led Wei Ran to a two-story wooden house that was at most a hundred meters away from the pier.

It can be seen that this house has been around for a long time, and unknown mushrooms even grew from the roots of the fence made of wood. In one of the damaged places, a dog's head with a bright red tongue stuck out.

Even if you don't look at the color of the suit, just by looking at the wise eyes, you can tell that this is another husky that has already caused Wei Ran and Ji Ma to have psychological shadows.

As Ivan walked into the yard, Wei Ran also saw a rich and handsome aunt who was busy baking bread in the open-air oven. On the plate next to her was a salmon waiting to be sent into the oven.

"Why did you come back so early today?" The fat aunt asked while pushing the dough into the oven, "Did you invite this young man to evaluate my cooking skills?"

"Yana, we have a guest today." Ivan didn't forget to rub the dog's head while speaking. "His name is Victor, and he will stay with us for a few days."

"We rarely have such a handsome young man here"

Yana greeted Wei Ran warmly, jokingly said, "Let me guess, is he Olga's friend or Olena's friend?"

"Neither of them." Ivan shook his head with a smile, and lowered his voice slightly, "This little guy is Daria's student."

"Daria?!"

Yana froze for a moment, then supported Wei Ran's shoulder in surprise and asked, "Daria from Kazan? You are Daria's student? Tell me, is she okay now? How is she doing? "

Wei Ran was about to open his mouth, but Ivan said first, "Go inside and chat, just leave dinner to me."

"Remember to get a few more dishes, and the red cabbage soup in the pot is almost ready, don't burn the pot like last time."

Before Yana finished speaking, she dragged Wei Ran, who was a little astonished, into the wooden house, and at the same time urged, "Victor, tell me quickly, how is Dahlia doing now?"

"It should be pretty good."

Wei Ran gave an uncertain answer, thought for a while and continued, "Aunt Yana, have you and Daria not seen each other for a long time?"

"It's been a long time, it's been a long time."

Fat aunt Yana greeted Wei Ran and sat down on the slightly shabby sofa, and then realized that because of being too excited just now, all the flour in her hands had stained Wei Ran's shoulders and sleeves.

"Sorry, I'm too excited." Yana quickly found a towel and handed it to Wei Ran, "I'll get you a cup of coffee."

"Excuse me"

Wei Ran took the towel and dusted the flour off his body symbolically, while not forgetting to look at the furnishings in the room.

The first floor of this house is not too big, but it looks warm enough. Not only are there children’s graffiti of various colors on the walls, but also pictures of two blonde girls, Ivan and Yana, and not far away On the fireplace, there is a row of beautiful matryoshka dolls, and a stuffed reindeer head hangs right above it.

To my delight, the horns of the stuffed reindeer head are covered with all kinds of beautiful bells and crystal ornaments of kittens, dogs, fish and birds.

However, what really caught Wei Ran's attention was an extraordinarily bright girl holding a horse and smiling in those photos. He was sure that he had never seen a real person, but he always felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he was I have never seen her before.

Before he could match the person in the photo with the person in his memory, Yana brought two cups of coffee and said proudly, "The one on the left is Olena. She studied sculpture at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts. .The one on the right is Olga, who studied piano at the Petersburg Conservatory. They are my daughters and Ivan's."

"awesome!"

Wei Ran praised sincerely. Although he has never been to Petersburg, he knows how powerful those two academies are. The former one can know its status just by listening to its name, while the latter one is the same as the Vienna Conservatory of Music. A sanctuary for art students who are equally equal.

Yana beckoned Wei Ran to sit down again, "You will see them in the future, tell me about Daria, how is she doing now?"

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who didn't know how to answer this question, could only talk about what happened when he was in class at the Hongqi Forest Farm. Of course, this did not prevent him from telling Dalia's horror by the way.

After a long time, Yana said with a smile, "She is exactly the same as when she was young. She is exactly the same as Dahlia in my memory, there is no change at all."

"Aunt Yana, you must have a good relationship with Teacher Dalia, right?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Of course!"

Yana wiped the tears that were about to overflow from the corners of her eyes, "We have known each other for a long time, but we haven't seen each other for a long time."

"for"

Wei Ran immediately stopped the car, and swallowed the words he subconsciously wanted to ask.And Yana didn't seem to notice, and unreservedly revealed some stupid things Daria did when she was young.

Knowing that if he doesn't want to be buried alive by Daria, it's better not to hear these things, so Wei Ran wisely changed the subject and talked about Yana and Ivan's life.

As the coffee in the cup was filled for the second time, Wei Ran also got a little understanding of the old couple.

Fishing, relying on that boat to earn some shipping fees, selling catches, and occasionally going to the forest to hunt the prey brought back in his spare time, raising two daughters who are about to graduate from college, but seem to want to continue their studies.As well as Ivan's rheumatism and the roof that often leaks, and even the fishing boat engine that always breaks down, these trivial things almost constitute the whole of their life.

And, of course, there is the vodka that a Slavic man can never do without, and the drunken husband that a Slavic woman can never get rid of.

While the two were chatting, the setting sun outside the window was gradually blocked by the dense birch forest, and Ivan brought in plates of sumptuous meals and burnt toast.

"Victor, how about having a drink with me?" Ivan took out a bottle of vodka from the cabinet under the TV while speaking.

"As long as Aunt Yana has no objection, of course I have no objection."

Wei Ran, with his experience, pushed the decision-making power to those who really have the decision-making power around the dinner table. Anyway, he was trained by Professor Alexey for four or five years, so he naturally knew how to deal with it.

"Just drink"

Yana glared at Ivan, got up and took out a large plastic bottle from the refrigerator, "Come and taste the birch juice that I froze before you came back! This is only available in this season." thing."

Ivan looked at the wine bottle in his hand with a bitter face, and finally put it back in the cabinet helplessly, and took out a large bottle of slightly cloudy kvass from the refrigerator.

With food and drink, and the overly enthusiastic Yana, Wei Ran finally forgot Ivan's orders to him during the day.

Almost like eating with all the elders, he was inevitably asked about work, relationship status and physical health.At this point, it seems that there is not much difference between the Chinese or the Slavs.

After dinner, the dining table was cleared away, and the big butt TV that looked old was also adjusted to the Red Star TV.And Yana also continued to be busy with housework that seemed never to be done.

"Victor, go fishing with me tomorrow morning." Ivan lit a cigarette while speaking, "If you perform well, you won't be required to sell fish."

"I listen to your arrangement"

Wei Ran responded indifferently, although he didn't know the purpose of being arranged to find Ivan this time, but at least it was much stronger than the previous assessments that would kill people at every turn.

"Then it's decided." Ivan seemed very happy to have an extra helper tomorrow morning, and his attitude towards Wei Ran seemed to be better.

As for Wei Ran, who is full of food and drink, he is still secretly thinking about where the girl with the horse named Olena in the photo brought him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.

(End of this chapter)