War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 537 Taking the Gold Master to the Desert ([-]-in-[-] Update)

After half a day of filming, the two teachers and the actors headed by Ji Ma returned to the camp dejectedly, escorted by many security vehicles, as if they had lost the battle.

"What's your situation?" Wei Ran asked after stopping Jima.

"Forget it"

Wearing a World War II German uniform, Jima said angrily, "Those amateur actors are more suitable for acting in comedy! Even being president is better than coming here to participate in filming!"

"To shut up!"

Karp slapped on the back of Ji Ma's head, "They have only received less than four months of acting training, and it's very good to be able to do this. Besides, when you first made a movie It doesn't seem to be much stronger than them."

"But."

"Nothing but"

Anna calmly took the signal receiver from Wei Ran, "Our supplies are enough to stay here for two or three months, and there is no problem, and maybe you will often act together with them in the future, so be more patient , if you think their acting skills are not good, use your experience to teach them how to act, instead of complaining like a bitch here."

"Try Harder"

Wei Ran patted Ji Ma on the shoulder. Although he didn't follow on the first day of filming, he had already seen through the short contact before that the rest of the actors really didn't have much experience.

"Didn't you often say that you were a very talented actor?"

Maya, with a slightly hoarse voice, also came over, and said half excitedly and half encouragingly, "Since you are so talented, it shouldn't be a problem for you to teach others, right?"

"Of course it's not a problem!" Ji Ma, who was downcast a second ago, immediately patted his chest and made a promise, "I'll teach them how to act!"

"This idiot." Anna shook her head helplessly, "Victor, come here."

Hearing this, Wei Ran immediately followed the former into his armored pickup truck, while the rest of them also got into the car again under Karp's call and drove to the camp two 300 meters away.

It wasn't until the car door was closed that Anna, who was sitting in the co-pilot, looked at the sunset outside the window and asked, "How's the situation?"

"stared at me for most of the day"

Spreading his hands, Wei Ran spread out his previous guess about Edward, and then pointed to the signal receiver in Anna's hand, "I drove the pickup truck around a few times in the afternoon, and I was within sight of the camp the whole time. Things have been looking at me too. So although I don’t know what he’s talking about, I can basically be sure that it’s coming towards me.”

Anna lit a cigarette and said in a tired tone, "Solve your troubles as soon as possible."

"If it's not needed here, or should I take him away first?" Wei Ran said impromptu.

"Take it away? Where are you taking it?" Teacher Anna became interested at this moment.

Hearing this, Wei Ran took out his laptop, called up the scanned pictures stored in the USB flash drive that Edward gave him before, pointed to the content inside and said, "This is a scanned copy of the work notes left by his grandfather. Mr. Edward spent 50 Euros to For the price, please let me find out where the rest of his grandfather Mr Laws's colleagues are."

"It's really easy for you to make money in this job." Teacher Anna joked while flipping through the pictures on the computer casually.

"Not at all easy"

Wei Ran spread his hands pretending to be helpless, "These work notes are all written in English, and there must be hidden important value. I have spent almost a week just translating them into understandable Chinese."

"Do you need my help?" Anna asked with a smile.

"I won't trouble you anymore"

Wei Ran waved his hand, "If you are interested in the contents of these notes, I can give you a copy to pass the time."

"Forget it, I won't waste my time on such boring things."

Anna said, and returned the laptop to Wei Ran, "After all this, you haven't said where you are going to take Mr. Edward."

"Of course, go to some of the places mentioned repeatedly in these work notes."

Wei Ran buckled his notebook and threw it aside, took out the map that Edward had left behind, pointed to the red circle on it and said, "And according to Mr. Edward's description, his grandfather, Mr. Laws, is on the border between Libya and Egypt today, near Egypt. A place not far from here was captured by the British.

That location is only about a hundred kilometers away from our camp. I plan to invite Mr. Edward to go and have a look. "

Speaking of this, Wei Ran spread his hands, "Not only will this not cause trouble for you, but I can also make some extra money by the way."

"Let Saleh and his sons be with you"

Anna took a look at the map in Wei Ran's hand, and continued, "In addition, I also lent you Jima's off-road vehicle. The 100 kilometers are almost all in the depths of the desert. It is easy for you and Edward to have accidents in the past. And Sa Lih can also speak English, let him drive Edward in the car and see what he wants to do by the way."

"Won't it have any impact on you here?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously, he didn't expect Teacher Anna to be so generous.

"will not"

Anna returned the map to Wei Ran, picked up the signal receiver again, weighed it in his hand and explained, "The reason why we are willing to bring Mr. Edward here this time is also to use his influence to do something. If It is also a good thing to take this opportunity to find out his details."

"Find out the details of Mr. Edward?"

Wei Ran frowned, but he remembered clearly that Kajianka followed the surveillance virus back to a small financial company.Obviously, Hongqi Forest Farm is definitely not looking at the financial company.

But obviously, Anna didn't mean to explain in detail, but just opened the car door and asked, "How about leaving early tomorrow morning?"

"I can do it anytime"

Wei Ran quickly gave a response. He wanted to take Mr. Edward away on the spur of the moment. He really just didn't want to cause trouble for Teacher Anna and others.

As for the job of looking for colleagues of his grandfather, Mr. Laws, it is natural to have enough fun in the desert first.This is a rare trip to Egypt. Since he has no chance to see the pyramids, he must let him wander in the desert, right?Is it possible to waste time in the shooting camp every day?
"Clean up and move back to the camp." Anna jumped out of the car, "This damn place is not safe at night."

"Shall I drive you back first?" Wei Ran asked before the other party closed the door.

"Need not"

Before the words were finished, Teacher Anna had already hung the heavy car door, and walked slowly towards the camp alone with a cigarette in her mouth.

Looking at the setting sun that was about to be blocked by the sand dunes, Wei Ran honestly dismantled the tents and canopy that had been set up during the day, rolled them up indiscriminately, and threw them into the cargo bed of the armored pickup truck together with the tables and chairs that had been moved down, leaving only Watermelon rinds and cans all over the floor.

Slowly driving the car back to the camp, Wei Ran got into the shower car and took a comfortable bath, then took another hearty meal along the way and walked into the big tent in the center of the camp.

"Did Mr. Edward come to eat?" This time, Wei Ran took the initiative to sit beside Mr. Charlotte and asked.

"He said he seemed to have high blood pressure and felt dizzy, so he didn't plan to have dinner."

Mr. Charlotte, who was still wearing an outdoor outfit, said with a disgusted face, "I suggested him to do some outdoor activities ten years ago, but he always wastes his life shutting himself in the office. See? He just 50 years old, not as good as me, I was on the set all day and I was fine."

He is not suffering from high blood pressure.
Wei Ran laughed to himself, holding up his binoculars to peep for the whole day, and it wasn't like Charlotte with an accompanying Matt to help, it's no wonder that Edward didn't feel dizzy.

"what a pity"

Wei Ran spread his hands pretending to be helpless, "I have just finished translating the work notes left by Mr. Edward's grandfather, Laws, and I am planning to visit the place where he was captured tomorrow."

"Have you got a clue?" Charlotte asked in surprise, but then, a trace of hesitation flashed across his face.

"no leads"

Wei Ran spread his hands pretending to be helpless, "It's because I haven't found any valuable clues in those work notes for the time being, so I'm going to go to the place where Mr. Laws was captured."

Hearing this, after Charlotte hesitated for a moment, she turned to Matt who was sitting beside her and said in English, "Just ask Mr. Edward."

Charlotte looked at Wei Ran again, and said in Italian, "Victor, why don't we sit in Edward's tent and have dinner together?"

"Of course." Wei Ran nodded happily.

"Matt, go and get some food for Edward." After Charlotte finished speaking in English, she immediately stood up and picked up a plate full of food, and was the first to walk out of the big tent that served as a restaurant.

Unobtrusively smiled at Teacher Anna, who had been paying attention to this place secretly, and Wei Ran also followed out with an Egyptian flatbread filled with various meats.

Led by Charlotte, the two got into Edward's tent one after the other.Compared with the tent used by Wei Ran, Edward's tent is obviously much more spacious. Not only does it have a kerosene heating stove, but there is even a slowly rotating electric fan and a small refrigerator. There is even a lamp hanging above the head. flashlight.

The wire half-buried in the sand outside the tent extended all the way to the direction of the generator car on the edge of the camp.Obviously, this is a special treatment that only belongs to the guests.

"Why are you here?"

Edward, who was lying on the bed, asked in English rather tiredly. For most of the day, he had been secretly staring at Wei Ran with a telescope, and he was already dizzy at this time.

Glancing at the slightly red and swollen eyes of the other party, although Wei Ran's face remained calm, he was already smiling inwardly.

No matter how powerful this Edward is in the city, in this desert, no matter who he wants to spy on, he can only do it himself.It was clear that Mr. Edward was not skilled at the job.

"Victor intends to visit the place where your grandfather, Mr. Laws, was captured tomorrow, and wants to invite you to go with him."

Charlotte sat on a folding chair, explained the two people's intentions in English, and then asked, "Edward, are you really going to continue to hide from Victor who works for you? How important is it to find the truth and not to hide it?" No help."

"I don't trust him"

After Edward finished speaking, he switched directly to German, and by the way, changed the communication partner to Wei Ran, "Victor, listen to Mr. Charlotte, are you going to visit the place where my grandfather was captured? What value did you find?" Got a clue?"

"no leads"

Wei Ran spread his hands, and replied as a matter of course, "It is precisely because there are no clues that I am going to go to the place where he was captured to see if I can find anything. I originally wanted to invite you to go with me, but now your physical condition seem."

"I'm fine." Edward sat up as if nothing happened, "When are we going to leave?"

"How about tomorrow morning?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile, "According to the map comparison, that place is more than a hundred kilometers away. If we set off tomorrow morning, we will definitely be there before the sun goes down."

"Then tomorrow morning"

Edward agreed without thinking, but then switched back to English, and asked Charlotte who was sitting opposite the folding bed, "Can Mr. Matt go with me?"

"Sorry, I'm not interested."

It was Matt who came in with a plate of food that responded to Edward. The taciturn old man said bluntly, "I am not Charlotte's servant, and you and I are not friends."

"Matt, can't you be more tactful?" Edward reluctantly accepted the food offered by the other party.

"sure"

Matt turned and walked out and replied perfunctorily, "I've had diarrhea since tomorrow, which can't be stopped, so I'm sorry Mr. Edward, I can't go for a drive in the desert with you. I'm going to find someone tonight A quiet and undisturbed place, and get yourself a field toilet in advance where you can defecate with peace of mind."

Edward shook his head helplessly, and lost his appetite for the fairly sumptuous dinner on the plate. He raised his voice and said to Matt who had already walked out of the tent, "Forget it, I take back what I just said, Mr. Matt, and you should express your feelings directly in the future." Just a thought."

"No problem, I just don't want to work with you, diarrhea is just an excuse."

Matt, who had already walked out of the tent, also raised his voice and responded, obviously for some reason, he had an undisguised prejudice against Mr. Edward.

Charlotte glanced at Wei Ran with a blank expression on his face, and shook his head helplessly, "Edward, how did you provoke Matt? Why do you two turn into this ghost picture every time you spend more than 24 hours together? look?"

"how could I know?"

Edward looked at the fragrant Solyanka soup and Russian kebabs on the dinner plate, and then thought about what Matt just said. No!It must be an excuse to disgust myself, and immediately lost any appetite.

"never mind"

Charlotte stood up as usual, "Whether Matt is willing to follow you or not, Edward, believe me, Victor is a trustworthy young man, whether you are willing to tell him what you really want to investigate, at least he can Take care of yours."

"Why do you trust this young man so much?" Edward glanced at the confused look on Wei Ran's face, and asked Quan as if he didn't exist.

Hearing this, Charlotte, who was already planning to get out of the tent, stopped, "When he helped me investigate the treasure left by my father, he even took the initiative to find the treasure map he found in order not to be seen by the French swindler. , and took the initiative to stay, and didn’t leave until Matt brought the treasure back.”

Charlotte patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and continued to speak in English with a smile, "I had the same concerns as you at the time, but this young man is very smart. Not only did he guess that the French scammer was not the real employer, but at that time He also didn't know that the so-called treasures were actually some worthless relics, but he also chose to send the treasure map over by himself, isn't that enough?
Edward, look at the staff outside the tent, these are the young people giving back to me, you don't need me to tell you, the value of this movie has already exceeded the commission I paid. "

Speaking of this, Charlotte has already stepped out of the tent again, leaving only one sentence, "This is why I am willing to believe him."

"If I can praise you, how about a few more compliments?"

Wei Ran, who had been pretending not to understand English, muttered to himself, then turned to look at Mr. Edward.

"I'll think about it"

Edward first responded loudly to Charlotte who had already left in English, and then switched to German and said to Wei Ran, "Victor, we are leaving early tomorrow morning, do you need me to make any preparations?"

"Tomorrow a truck will follow us as a security vehicle"

Wei Ran replied with a firm expression and tone, "In addition, I have prepared a separate off-road vehicle for you, so you can bring more things you think you need. Of course, if you are not feeling well, I will go by myself. Or you can go a few days later.”

"My body is fine," Edward replied with great certainty, "Just tomorrow morning!"

Having agreed on the itinerary with Edward, Wei Ran didn't delay too much. Holding the big cake that he didn't even have time to eat, he wandered around to find Saleh and his son at the edge of the camp.

"Anna has already told me." Saleh said immediately after Wei Ran sat down, "I will prepare the supplies in advance tonight."

"Don't worry too much"

Wei Ran picked up the pancake and took a hard bite. While chewing, he explained vaguely, "Let's take Mr. Edward to play in the desert for a few days, and just rush there slowly."

"Play with Mr. Edward, or with you?" Saleh asked with a half-smile.

"Is there any difference?" Wei Ran took his second bite of the pie while speaking.

"There's really no difference." Saleh grinned, his old face already full of jokes.

Early the next morning, before the sun jumped out of the horizon, Edward was woken up by Wei Ran, carrying the luggage he packed last night, wearing that ridiculous set of pajamas, and boarding the off-road vehicle waiting at the edge of the camp.

Meanwhile, Saleh's son, a young man named Soliman, had attached weighted boards to smooth out ruts to the rear of a Ural truck with a canvas cargo cover.

"Is it necessary for us to leave so early?"

Edward yawned and asked, it was only before five o'clock in the morning, and when he was woken up by Wei Ran, he even thought that the camp had been attacked by Kumbu elements.

“Go early and arrive early”

Wei Ran explained seriously, and at the same time he handed two hot lunch boxes to Mr. Edward in the off-road vehicle, "Take it and eat on the road."

"Thank you." The sleepy Edward took the lunch box helplessly, and let Wei Ran close the car door for him.

"Let's go when you're ready." Saleh, who was in charge of driving the off-road vehicle, had already raised the window and stepped on the accelerator before he finished speaking.

Seeing this, Wei Ran immediately got into the armored pickup next to him, and followed along the ruts left by the opponent.

Behind them, a young man named Soliman also started the truck, and while chasing after the ruts, he also used the long wooden board pulled by the rear of the truck to easily smooth out the marks on the sand.

The three cars drove toward the destination at an angle of 90 degrees for more than half an hour. Saleh, who was leading the way, slowly stepped on the brakes beside a not-so-high sand dune, and turned on the double flashing by the way.

"Why did you stop?" Edward asked vigilantly.

"It's nothing, pee." Saleh responded in stumbling English, and opened the car door while speaking.

Seeing this, Edward closed his eyes again, but after a while, he opened them again, bent down and got out of the carriage, chose a direction opposite to Saleh, and urinated on a stone in the desert. The rising sun dyes a golden parabola.

Not long after, Wei Ran, who followed far behind, also stepped on the brakes, watching Soliman at the rear of the team through the rearview mirror, skillfully removed the wooden board at the rear of the truck, and fixed it to the side of the cargo bed.

It wasn't until Soliman also flashed double flashes that Saleh beckoned Edward to get back into the car and stepped on the accelerator.

From here, the three cars began to drive straight to the destination, but Saleh, who led the way, slowed down the speed of the car a lot. Along the way, he enthusiastically introduced the scenery in the desert and various indistinguishable things to Edward. True and false legends.

His son, Soliman, who was doing the same thing as him, was in charge of driving the truck, except that Soliman's listening object became Wei Ran on the other end of the radio.

"Soliman, do you often come to the desert?" Wei Ran asked curiously, clutching his hand, "It sounds like you are very familiar with things in the desert."

"certainly"

Soliman responded in Russian, "I started driving a car when I was 12 years old and helped my dad take guests to the desert."

"Take guests to play in the desert?" Wei Ran was stunned, and asked curiously, "Are you a tour guide?"

"Barely count"

Soliman shyly gave an answer that made Wei Ran's jaw drop, "I usually receive some tourists, from Asia, Europe, and North America, I take them all."

"Is this still barely enough?"

"You don't make money as a tour guide"

The content of Soliman's words became more and more outrageous, "Compared to smuggling to make money, whether it is smuggling weapons to Libya, or smuggling weapons to Egypt, or other things, as long as you run once, it is basically like doing a month's work. Tour guides make a lot of money.”

"Then why do you still want to be a tour guide?"

"My dad said I'm going to have a real job"

Soliman answered as a matter of course, "Being in contact with different tourists, not only can you learn a few more foreign languages, but you can also learn how to deal with people.

I think it makes sense, although the work of a tour guide does not make money, but I have two girlfriends at the same time through this hard work that does not make money, one is from France and the other is from the United States, and they are both beautiful. "

What a big difference!
Wei Ran was silent for a moment, but his curiosity was aroused, and he asked out of words, "Where's your guy? I remember his name is Haba, right? He's also a tour guide? Or is he just doing smuggling with you?"

"It's not Haba, it's Baja. He is our driver. Whether it's transporting tourists or weapons, he is the one who drives most of the time."

Soliman replied knowingly, "Of course, this does not mean that he has better driving skills than me, but because his mother is a nomadic Berber, he can not only speak Berber, but also get Help from some nomadic tribe."

"Is your smuggling business dangerous?"

Wei Ran continued to ask, he admitted that he had really misjudged.Originally, he thought this young man who was not very talkative was an honest boy, but he didn't expect that the other party's quietness was actually more beautiful than Jima's toad-like frog.

“Really more dangerous”

Soliman replied sincerely and helplessly, "Egypt's border has become more and more strict these years. Our business is not big. It usually takes several months to have a single smuggling business. At most, we can sell some rifles and bullets or something."

Where did you find all this?
Wei Ran cursed secretly, but in fact, he already had a rough guess in his heart, no matter the information he got from Jima before, or Saleh's proficiency in his mother tongue. No, maybe Russian is Saleh's mother tongue.From this point alone, he could basically guess Saleh's identity.

There is no doubt that the bald old man is likely to be the same as Katenka who suffered from Alzheimer's disease in the past, and he is an abandoned child who was buried and forgotten during the great change almost 30 years ago.

But if you go back 30 years, wouldn't Saleh be about the same age as he is now?How did he end up in Egypt?And why didn't they go back, but chose to marry a wife and have children in Egypt to take root, and also started a smuggling business?

In the boundless sea of ​​sand dyed golden by the sun, while chatting with Soliman, Wei Ran became more and more curious. In the 90s, those teachers at Hongqi Forest Farm, even that Saleh and others People who don't know, what happened at that time to end up in today's end.

And, today, almost 30 years later, for what reason did they choose to come back out of the arena, not only did they no longer hide their names, but they started making movies with great fanfare.

These doubts are destined to not get real answers from Soliman or his father Saleh. All Wei Ran can do is to listen to the Egyptian stories on the radio while enjoying the dazzling scenery outside the window.

From morning to noon, seeing that the sun had risen to its highest point, Soliman had already stopped explaining. At this time, they were only less than 40 kilometers away from their destination in a straight line.

On the radio channel, Saleh asked abruptly, "There is a Berber settlement behind the rocky mountain ahead, Victor, do you want to go and have a look and take a rest?"

"What's there?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"A small oasis, a well and, of course, the Berbers and their camels and goats."

Soliman took the topic and introduced, "We can have a meal and rest there, and there are some interesting things there that you might be interested in."

"What?" Wei Ran, who got up early in the morning and was exposed to the sun through the car window all morning, immediately became refreshed.

"A jeep." The one who answered the question became Saleh, "It seems to be an American jeep left over from World War II. How about it? Do you want to see it?"

"Of course, since it's not far away, of course I'm going to have a look."

Wei Ran agreed without even thinking about it. He was here to pass the time this time, and to take a walk with Mr. Edward. There is a "new attraction" right now, so he will naturally go there to learn more.

(End of this chapter)