War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 513 Teacher-student cooperation, each with its own goals

In the small living room, Wei Ran saw Mrs. Valentina looking at him expectantly. After a moment of silence, Wei Ran continued to ask, "Did your husband leave anything else?"

"I had a son"

Valentina pointed to the photo on the wall opposite the sofa, and said sadly, "My Pania died 21 years ago because of a fire in the factory where he worked. How could he have the heart to leave before me? this world"

"Don't you have any family members?" Wei Ran frowned and asked, the old man's misfortune far exceeded his expectations.

"And a grandson"

Valentina wiped the tears from the corners of her eyes, "His name is Siva, and he is 29 years old this year, but since Pania died, his mother took him to leave Kazan to live in Yeburg. The last time I saw him He was already six years ago, when he had just graduated from college.

He used to study geology at the Siberian Federal University, you must know that school, right?
Although I have never been there, I don't know what kind of work he can do in the future with his geology.But at the time he told me that it was a very good school and major, and that he would visit me often when he found a job, but..."

"I will visit you often in the future"

Teacher Daria, whose pseudonym was Katyusha, held the former's hand and gently comforted her, "Aunt Valentina, I live not far from here, and I have plenty of time. I will often Come see yours here.

If you need any help, such as going to the hospital, or if you want to chat with someone and enjoy the sun together, you can call me at any time. I gave you my phone number yesterday. "

"Thank you, good boy."

Valentina patted Teacher Darya's hand lightly, "I can't live for a few months, and I am very happy to meet you at this time."

"Would you like to meet your grandson?"

Teacher Daria continued to ask, "I know a few policemen, maybe they can help you find out where your grandson is now, maybe"

"no need"

Valentina shook her head, and said calmly, "He is probably doing well, so don't bother him. You don't need to look for my husband, although I am very grateful to you for inviting such an outstanding young man to help , but I guess my husband must be dead.

So forget it, if you are willing to waste time to accompany me, an old guy who should have been in the coffin long ago, and listen to my nagging, I am already very happy.

I... I'm just so lonely, living alone, waiting to die alone, really... really lonely. "

"Mrs. Valentina"

Wei Ran asked abruptly, "Can you treat me and Katyusha to dinner tonight? I'm a little hungry."

"Would you like to stay for dinner?"

Valentina asked in surprise, and then hurriedly agreed, "Yes, of course! Good boy, what do you want to eat? My cooking skills are very good."

"Let's have red cabbage soup!"

Wei Ran thought for a while, "How about another creamy beef stew? I'll go buy some beef later. Katyusha, what do you want to eat?"

"I'm losing weight." Teacher Dalia patted the fat on her stomach, "But I like cheese dumplings very much."

"I can do all these!" Valentina said, about to stand up, "I'll start preparing now, do you want a drink? Let's have a drink together? How about vodka?"

"Your body."

"The doctor did say I can't drink"

Valentina spread her hands towards Wei Ran, "Later I asked him if not drinking would make me live longer or make my body more comfortable, he said neither, so I think that idiot is just farting."

"Then have a drink!"

Darya also stood up, "I think he is farting too, Aunt Valentina, please wait for me a moment, Victor and I will go shopping together and come back, how about we prepare dinner together? Let Victor get us some Chinese dishes to try."

"Of course, I will wait for you, and I will always wait for you."

Valentina and Darya said as they walked towards the door, "There is a supermarket two streets away from here. The food there is the cheapest around. Children, do you have enough money? I will pay it back here."

"Don't worry, Aunt Valentina." Daria patted her pocket without waiting for the other party to finish speaking, "I just paid my salary yesterday."

"We'll be back soon," Wei Ran then promised.

"Take your time, I will always wait for you to come back." Valentina said with some reluctance.

After bidding farewell to the octogenarian temporarily, Wei Ran went downstairs with Teacher Dalia and got into the car.

"Her body."

"In the advanced stage, it has spread, and it is currently supported by painkillers."

Teacher Daria didn't rush to start the engine after closing the car door, but just lowered the window and lit a cigarette, "I went to her doctor yesterday, Valentina is too old, and it was too late to find out, no matter what Whether it was chemotherapy or surgery, it just made her suffer more before she died."

Wei Ran sighed, "Even being alive may be a torment for her."

"Can Victor help her?"

Teacher Dalia asked in an erratic tone, "I don't know where I got my compassion, but I want to help her, at least. Let her go without any regrets."

"Can you find her grandson?" Wei Ran asked after hesitating for a moment, "It can be seen that she really wants to see her grandson."

“Not too difficult”

Teacher Dalia replied affirmatively, "I'm already looking for it, and there should be results soon."

Wei Ran gritted his teeth, took a deep breath and responded, "Then let me help her too."

"Difficult?" Teacher Dalia looked at Wei Ran and asked.

"Of course it's hard"

Wei Ran spread his hands, "Find a Soviet Red Army soldier who is not in the archives and more than 70 years ago through a tank artillery firing pin. This difficulty is almost equivalent to the fact that the Poles chose the right camp, and this camp was before the French surrendered. It's like taking over Paris."

"She can only live for a few months at most." Teacher Dahlia turned the key while speaking, "If you are willing to help, please do so as soon as possible."

"Teacher Dahlia, I have a question."

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Ran asked, "According to your understanding, why is there such a situation that the record of joining the army cannot be found?"

"You ask me about this?"

Dalia looked at Wei Ran who was sitting in the co-pilot strangely, and after thinking for a while, she replied, "As far as I know, there are many reasons, and the most likely one I can think of is that only one name was registered when enlisting in the army. No last name registered.

Under such circumstances, it is actually very difficult to find accurate information about joining the army. After all, there are too many people with the same name, and their addresses are constantly changing. "

“Actually, there is another kind”

Wei Ran lowered his head and said, "It is possible that her husband was sent directly to the battlefield. Remember what Mrs. Valentina said just now? His husband joined the army in the winter of 1942, and shortly thereafter Then the contact was broken, and the Battle of Stalingrad hadn’t ended yet.”

"You mean her husband was sent to Stalingrad?"

Darya frowned. If it is really like what Wei Ran said, if you want to find Mrs. Valentina's husband, the difficulty may be comparable to that of "The Poles chose the right camp, and this camp is still surrendered by the French." previously occupied Paris".

"More than the Battle of Stalingrad"

Wei Ran looked out the car window at the old street that was slowly receding, "The firing pin was sent back in the autumn of 1943, when the Kursk Tank Battle had just ended.

In other words, even if her husband Vajim escaped the Battle of Stalingrad, he might not be able to escape the Kursk Tank Battle.In addition to these two battles, there was the third and fourth Kharkov battles.But our clue is only the firing pin of a tank artillery. "

"Is there anything I can do?" Dahlia asked after pulling the car into the parking lot of a supermarket and tightening the handbrake.

"Try to find a way to see if I can borrow that artillery firing pin."

Before pushing the car door, Wei Ran said, "I'm looking for someone to do some research together to see if I can determine which tank factory produced the firing pin in which year through some details. If all goes well, I may be able to narrow down the scope of the search. Some."

"Why did you remember to stay for dinner?" Dalia asked an unrelated question before Wei Ran got off the car.

"Because that's probably the only thing we can do for that poor old man now." Wei Ran had already pushed open the car door and walked towards the gate of the supermarket.

The reason for his willingness to help poor Valentina was, of course, the pity Darya rarely showed.

But more importantly, he was actually betting that the missing tanker Vajim participated in Stalingrad.I bet that if I can really use that firing pin to return to Stalin's meat grinder, I will have a chance to make up for the regret I have been hiding in my heart.

I can meet that deaf and dumb but extremely brave little girl again, and I can have a chance to try if I can stop her from blowing the grenade I borrowed from myself, or even just take a picture of her to prove her strength. Photos that existed in this world.

Watching Wei Ran walk into the supermarket, Dalia was just about to get off the car when a phone call came in.Seeing this, Dalia simply closed the car door again, and then pressed the answer button.

"Galkin, did you find out for me?" Dalia asked straight to the point.

"checked"

On the other end of the phone, a slightly drunk man hiccupped and replied, "I contacted a teacher at the Siberian Federal University, and he helped me find the information about the student named Siva.

After graduating from university, this student went to work in a nickel mine on the lower reaches of the Yenisei River, but in the winter of the year he joined the nickel mine, he was injured because of a conflict with the miners. "

"Wounded?" Dahlia frowned, "And then?"

"That injury made him lie in the hospital for about two months. After he recovered, he was fired by the mine and sent to prison. According to the clues I could find, he seemed to have injured several people and destroyed Some equipment of the mine.

After spending two years in prison, the young man, Siwa, disappeared without even his teachers knowing where he had gone. "

Having said that, the man named Galkin on the other end of the phone hiccupped again and asked drunkenly, "Do you want me to continue the investigation? Summer vacation is coming soon, and I just have time."

After hesitating for a moment, Dalia said, "If you are free, please continue to check for me. At least know if he is still alive and where he went."

"No problem." Galkin on the other end of the phone readily agreed, and then asked, "I heard that you are going to Egypt soon?"

"Karp and Anna will go, I won't go."

"If you have a chance, remember to help me find out if there are meteorites for sale there." Galkin made his own request, "Just find the cheapest meteorites, there must be ones for sale in Cairo."

"Who are you going to cheat this time?" Teacher Dalia asked in anticipation.

"Whoever cheats more money?" The person on the other end of the phone smiled and gave an impeccable answer.

"I'll let them help you pay attention to those broken stones." Before the words finished, Teacher Dalia had already hung up the phone and opened the car door again.

(End of this chapter)