War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 602 A Victorious Happy Life

When Wei Ran walked out of Pingquan high-speed railway station, it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon of the next day.

Although the homes of Chen Qi and Zhao Shengli are both within the scope of Ji Province, there is a big capital in the middle.In order to come here as soon as possible, he had no choice but to rush back to the capital to return the car to Chen Guangling, and then stayed for another night before taking the high-speed train to here.

Standing on the square in front of the high-speed rail station, Wei Ran looked around. At the end of his line of sight, there were continuous mountains. A little closer, he could see the buildings in the city.As for the present, it is no different from other cities, the black car drivers holding cards to attract customers are getting more and more enthusiastic one by one.

Randomly found a driver who looked about the same age as him, Wei Ran took out his cigarette case and handed him a cigarette.

"Hey! Huazi! Where are you going brother?" The young driver took the cigarette and pinned it to his ear, his attitude became more and more enthusiastic.

"Can I go to this address?" Wei Ran handed the address note to the other party.

The driver took the note and looked at it, "I can go! This place is not too close, it must be more than 20 kilometers away."

"How about packing your car and not picking up anyone in the middle?" Wei Ran took out another cigarette and handed it to the other party, then took out the kerosene lighter that he got from the desert to light it for the other party, "Or Bao Tian is also Row."

"Let's go! Brother, let's get in the car first!"

The young driver was afraid that others would snatch such a big deal, so he enthusiastically helped Wei Ran carry the suitcase full of gifts and walked to the far side of the road.

Seeing this, Wei Ran did not refuse, and followed the other party into a van with peace of mind.

The young driver sent the luggage to the car first, then dug out a bottle of cold mineral water from the foam box and handed it to Wei Ran, then tentatively said, "Brother, if you want to charter a car to that address, how about 220?" ?”

"What if I rent your car for a whole day?" Wei Ran asked with great interest.

"400!" The young driver gritted his teeth and said, "As long as you don't leave Hiraizumi, 400 a day is fine, but it's just gas."

"800, you have to figure out what to do with the gas money." Wei Ran got into the car while speaking, "Just drive if there is no problem!"

"No problem! No problem!"

The young driver immediately opened the door of the driver's cab, and said beamingly, "At this price, even if you want to go to the capital to see the flag raising, I will take you there!"

"No, just don't leave me halfway." Wei Ran reminded with a grin.

"That can't! That's still human!"

The young driver started the engine while speaking, and then handed Wei Ran a business card, "Call me if you need a car when you come to Pingquan, this time I will take advantage of you, next time you use a car, just 500 a day .”

"Liu Yanghe?" Wei Ran glanced at the name on the business card, couldn't help but asked with a smile, "This name is interesting."

The young driver said helplessly, "My parents are very fond of Li Guyi, so they gave me such a name."

"That's a good name." Wei Ran didn't make fun of the other party's name, but instead talked about this city that he had never been to.

It can be seen that this black car driver who is about the same age as him is very familiar with his hometown. He never stopped talking all the way from the birthplace of Khitan to their local special mutton soup, and even various local legends.

With such a driver who likes to chat, time flies along the way.The scenery outside the car window also changed from the city to the mountains.

In the end, when the van crossed a bridge that looked very old and then passed through a tunnel that was only tens of meters long, a small village surrounded by mountains appeared right in front of it.

"Brother, this is the village, how do we go next?" the driver Liu Yanghe asked, slightly reducing the speed of the car.

"Let's advance the village"

Wei Ran thought for a while and continued, "When you enter the village, please ask where an old man named Zhao Shengli is."

"Okay!" The driver readily agreed and increased the speed again.

As it got closer, Wei Ran gradually noticed that there were many fruit trees planted around the village, and there was a signboard of a canned fruit factory at the head of the village.

When the car drove into the village, the driver Liu Yanghe stepped on the brakes, and greeted an old man who was playing chess at the door with a cigarette. After some inquiries, he immediately got into the car and started to make a U-turn.At the same time, he did not forget to explain, "It has been opened, the old man you are looking for is their local party secretary, and his home is opposite the cannery at the entrance of the village, next to the compound of the village committee."

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't say anything, and happily took out his mobile phone to scan the QR code and paid the agreed fare first, "You have to wait for me later, maybe you have to go back at night."

"Okay, it's okay to wait until night."

Liu Yanghe shook his phone, "I might find a place to eat in this village later, I won't drive away, just call me when you are looking for me."

The two made an agreement, and the car stopped at the gate of a small farmyard opposite the cannery.

This farmyard is much bigger than Chen Qi's yard, and the doorway is also cleaned. Even through the open big iron gate, you can see a luxuriant hawthorn tree.

There is another yard next to this yard, and there are signboards of the village committee hanging on both sides of the open gate.

Heaving a long breath, Wei Ran pushed open the car door, pulled the suitcase full of presents and walked to the gate of the courtyard. However, before he knocked on the big red iron door, he heard a loud and angry voice inside. Criticized, "You are worthless, why are you so low in ideological awareness! What age is this? Why are you still beating your wife? That woman can hold up half the sky! Tell me about you! What else can you talk back to?" ?”

"I"

Wei Ran involuntarily twitched the corners of his mouth, he didn't even need to look, just by the voice and those words, he knew that the Zhao Shengli he was looking for must be in this courtyard!

Not in a hurry to go in, let alone knock on the door, Wei Ran simply took a few steps back, sat on the suitcase and listened to the excitement with great interest.

From the angry reprimand, Wei Ran also heard the general idea. It was nothing more than a man who beat his wife because of drinking. Call over to criticize and persuade to make peace.But in the end, the old branch secretary made the domestic violence man write a self-criticism and write a letter of guarantee, which made him want to laugh.

A moment later, a middle-aged man who seemed to be in his forties came out of the yard with an aggrieved expression on his face.Behind him, there was a middle-aged woman with slap marks on her face. Just looking at her smiling face, it was clear that someone had decided for her just now.

Behind the couple, a short, skinny old man was limping after him while dragging a cane, and yelled angrily, "Liu Laosan, write your review before dark." It's over, 500 words, even if there is one gesture missing! Then ask your wife to sign and send it over."

"What? 500 words? Still have to sign?" The expression on the middle-aged man's face became more and more aggrieved.

"You can write it if you don't want to"

The limping old man laughed and said, "Let your daughter-in-law write! After you finish writing, you can go to the village committee and use the loudspeaker to read to everyone during dinner time!"

"I'll write it myself"

The middle-aged man glanced at his daughter-in-law, and with a sad face, he rode on the electric tricycle on the side of the road, and waited for his wife to also get on and sit firmly, and then drove into the village in a hurry.

"Why haven't I seen you young man?" The old man on crutches looked at Wei Ran who was beside him with a dull face, "Which girl are you talking about as friends?"

"Are you Mr. Zhao Shengli?"

Wei Ran couldn't help but look at the other party's left leg, which was obviously missing the sole of the foot, and stammered, holding back the panic in his heart, "Your... Where's your foot? Where's your foot?"

"Yo! Do you still know me?"

Zhao Shengli shook his left leg and said with a nonchalant smile, "My foot is gone long ago, hey?! Why are you still crying? Did it scare you?"

"No! No!" Wei Ran rubbed the corners of his eyes indiscriminately, "Mr. Zhao, can I...can I go to your house for a drink?"

"Then hurry up, I have freshly dried tea! Come in quickly!"

Zhao Shengli greeted him enthusiastically, and did not continue to ask Wei Ran about his background at all. Instead, he was concerned about other issues, "Son, did you encounter any difficulties? Have you eaten yet? Where is your family? Tell grandpa , let me see how I can help you."

"I didn't have any problems"

Wei Ran said so, but his heart became more and more uncomfortable.No matter what, he never expected that the scout who used to run across mountains and mountains so that he vomited blood could not catch up, now...
"It must be tiring"

Zhao Shengli greeted Wei Ran and went into the yard and then into the house, took out a clean white porcelain cup, poured a bowl of warm hawthorn leaf tea and said enthusiastically, "Drink some water and rest! Here I am It's the same as going to your own home, if you are hungry, just tell grandpa, when my old lady comes back, I will cook you something to eat."

Wei Ran opened his mouth, held back his words and looked around. The room was very simple, but it was also very clean.The only decoration besides a map of Huaxia that occupies half of the wall is a slightly smaller portrait of the chairman, and on the remaining wall, there are several photo frames.

Among those photo frames, apart from the group photo of him with Chen Qi, Squad Leader Lin and others, the most conspicuous one was a colorful group photo containing more than a dozen people.

In this group photo, the elderly Zhao Shengli and a rich old lady are sitting side by side on chairs, surrounded by a few middle-aged people and a few young people, Zhao Shengli and the old lady are hugging each other With two little babies.On both sides of them, there are several half-grown children.

"Master, I." Wei Ran paused, "Do you still remember Chen Qi? Hygienist Chen Qi."

"Dang!"

The enamel tea mug in Zhao Shengli's hand fell to the ground, and the warm tea and a few maroon hawthorn leaves splashed out, poured on Wei Ran's shoes, and wet Zhao Shengli's empty trousers.

"Are you Chen Qi's grandson?" Zhao Shengli asked in surprise.

"No." Wei Ran bent down and picked up the enamel stick, "I have no blood relationship with him, me."

"Is he okay?" Zhao Shengli asked, seeing that Wei Ran fell silent, he couldn't help asking, "He"

"Master Chen is still alive"

Wei Ran came back to his senses, fearing that the other party might misunderstand, he quickly explained, "He has a son named Chen Kaixuan, the old man said that you gave him the name."

"Chen Kaixuan! Chen Kaixuan! Haha! I know! I know Chen Kaixuan!"

Zhao Shengli patted his legs and laughed loudly, "That is indeed the name I gave him! Can Chen Qi still move now?"

"Yes." Wei Ran paused, "He just doesn't live happily."

"Not happy?" Zhao Shengli thought for a while, "Is his son not filial?"

"Filial, very filial, and his family's living conditions seem to be good."

"Ugh"

Zhao Shengli sighed abruptly, and said after a moment of silence, "Yes...he must be unhappy, child, how did you find this place?"

"I"

Wei Ran was silent for a moment, "Old man, I am a history student. Some time ago, I inadvertently found out about Mr. Chen and you, and saw your experiences on the battlefield. I just wanted to visit him and then you. There is no other purpose, just to see if you are doing well."

"Okay, have a good time!"

Zhao Shengli patted the leg that lacked the sole of his foot, and said with a satisfied face, "It's such a good life now. There is no need to worry about food and clothing, and there is no need to fight. The village also built roads. Last autumn, even the hats of impoverished counties They’ve all been picked! Our village has planted a lot of fruit trees, and a canning factory was built a few years ago!”

"Father."

Wei Ran tried to ask something, but found that he had prepared all the way, prepared a lot of words, but he couldn't say a word.

He thought that even though Zhao Shengli was old, he was still the scout who walked like flying, but he never expected that one of his legs lost the sole of his foot.He thought that Zhao Shengli would be as depressed as Chen Qi, but he didn't expect that he would still be so sunny, cheerful and positive.

The only thing he expected was probably the phrase "Why is your awareness so low?".

But. But he didn't know why, but he couldn't laugh at all, and he couldn't be happier, but felt more and more uncomfortable.

After being silent for a long time, Wei Ran finally opened the suitcase in a panic and took out all the gifts he had prepared.

"You kid, what are you doing?" Zhao Shengli stopped Wei Ran in confusion.

"Master Chen Qi asked me to bring it to you." Wei Ran lied.

Zhao Shengli hesitated for a moment, and finally let go of his hand slowly.

"Old man, can you tell me the story between you and Chen Qi?" Wei Ran asked tentatively.

"The story between me and Chen Qi?"

Zhao Shengli sat down again, and after a moment of silence, he said with a hearty smile, "What stories do we have to tell? It's just that we fought for a few years and came back after the battle. I almost forgot about the things on the battlefield." It's clean."

"Mr. Chen. I've been waiting for them to come back"

"I can't come back." Zhao Shengli looked at the group photo hanging on the wall subconsciously, "They all stayed there, my feet also stayed there, and Chen Qi's soul probably stayed there too."

"Why didn't you go to see Chen Qi?" Wei Ran asked hard-heartedly, "He's been waiting every day."

"What's there to see?" Zhao Shengli sighed heavily, "I'm afraid of this, because I'm afraid that he won't think about adding my legs, so I don't want to see him."

"He just can't think about it"

Wei Ran put down his teacup, handed him a cigarette, and helped him light it while saying, "When I went to see him, he was sitting at the entrance of the alley. I heard that he sat there every day, waiting It's on."

In the lingering smoke of "don't blame him", Zhao Shengli looked at the paper ceiling, but just said "don't blame him" over and over again.

"old man"

Wei Ran sat up straight, and after the other party looked over, he said, "Mr. Chen asked me to give you a sentence."

"A message? What message?" Zhao Shengli asked curiously.

Wei Ran looked in the direction of the door, and waited until a well-built, silver-haired old lady walked into the main room, then deliberately raised his voice, and asked solemnly, "He asked me to ask you, are you still Do you want him to introduce you to your daughter-in-law?"

"What the hell?! Old man! Who wants to introduce you to a wife?!"

Before the words fell, the old lady who had just entered the room opened the door and walked in, and snatched the cigarette dangling from Zhao Shengli's mouth, "Smoking secretly again! You are like a chicken Remember to hit?"

"Hey! Sun Xiufang! Give me the cigarette! Someone is here!" Zhao Shengli looked at the old lady who was at least a head taller than him in embarrassment.

Hearing this, the old lady noticed Wei Ran who had been hiding a few steps back, immediately threw the cigarette butt in her hand, stomped it out and praised with a smile, "This young man! He looks really neat! Hurry up!" Sit down! Old man, whose family does this child belong to?"

"Chen Qi, Chen Qi, do you still remember?" Zhao Shengli stretched out the undershirt with a fertilizer advertisement printed on it, and asked as if nothing happened.

"Chen Qi?" The old lady reacted for a while, obviously she didn't match the name with the person.

"Chen Qi, the hygienist who fought with me and your fourth uncle, came with me when I went to your house for the first time in 52. When we got married in 54, he even gave us a marriage certificate! You What memory?"

"Oh! Oh my god!"

The old lady with a strong northeast accent slapped her thigh hard, and asked excitedly, "Son, are you Chen Qi's grandson?"

"No"

Zhao Shengli hurriedly pulled the old lady to sit down, "She is a student. I found Chen Qi after checking the information, so I went to see Chen Qi kindly, and came to see me on purpose. Don't scare the child by what you are talking about." .”

"Grandma, is your fourth uncle Sun Yannian?"

Wei Ran tentatively asked, he still remembered that Squad Leader Sun had said that he would introduce his niece to Zhao Shengli. Looking at the old couple, it was obvious that the marriage was done.

"You still know my fourth uncle?" The old lady asked in surprise, and even Zhao Shengli looked at Wei Ran in surprise.

"I know" Wei Ran nodded, but still didn't know what to say.

Hearing this, the old lady rummaged through the boxes and chests to find a basket of dried hawthorns, and a basket of walnuts, and put them on the edge of the kang. By the way, she also dug out a can of Coke from the refrigerator in the main room and handed it to Wei Ran. He greeted Wei Ran to eat whatever he wanted, and asked Zhao Shengli next to him, "Old man, tell me who wanted to introduce you to a daughter-in-law just now?"

"It's Mr. Chen Qi Chen"

Wei Ran helped explain, "He asked me to ask Mr. Zhao if he still needs to introduce his wife?"

"Why is this person so bad!"

The old lady patted her legs and laughed, obviously remembering some interesting past events, but then she asked, "How is he doing now? Is he still a doctor?"

"It's probably because I'm not a doctor anymore, but I have both children, and the children are very filial." Wei Ran explained with a relaxed mood, "It's just not very happy."

"He must still be thinking about that broken mountain." Zhao Shengli said firmly, "It's not his fault at all."

"Old man" Wei Ran asked tentatively, "What happened to that hill?"

"War, what else can happen"

Zhao Shengli poured a cup of tea on his own, "Old woman, go and get something to eat, this kid must have come all the way here and hasn't eaten yet."

"I'm going to prepare now!" Mrs. Sun left the room hastily before she finished her sentence.

It wasn’t until watching the old lady walk into the wing room and start busy cooking that Zhao Shengli explained, “The battle lasted for more than a week, and there were more than a hundred people in the company, so he carried me from the top of the mountain alone. down.

At that time, he was carrying me on his back, holding my feet in his hands, and he had to run for a day and a night before being sent to the hospital.But when he went back, the top of the mountain had been chipped away by American bombs.

After that, he fell into a heart attack, and he seemed to have lost his soul. He always felt that he was a deserter, that he was not qualified as a health worker, and failed to save everyone, but how could this matter be blamed? Him? "

Zhao Shengli sighed at this point, "After the battle was finally over, I thought I could go home, and my wife and children could live a peaceful life with their hot kangs, so he should have looked away.

Tell me, what is this war map about?Isn't it just a picture of An Sheng's life?If the living can't think about it, how uncomfortable will it be for those who didn't survive? "

Wei Ran also sighed, "It would be great if Mr. Chen could think like you."

"I couldn't even think about it at first."

Zhao Shengli sighed and said, "Then one day, I dreamed of our squad leader, and he told me to live well, to see the future for them, to see if there was still a need for war.

After that, I looked away, even for those who didn't come back, I have to live well and live happily. "

Speaking of this, Zhao Shengli said quite proudly, "Don't look at me missing a foot, but in fact it doesn't delay anything. When I was young, I worked as an electrician, and I even worked as a militia company commander for a while. What about time! This lifetime is worth it!"

"Grandpa, is that your child in this group photo?" Wei Ran stood up and asked, pointing to the colorful group photo on the wall.

"No, they are all my children!"

Zhao Shengli let Wei Ran help him up, pointed to the photos and introduced them one by one, "This is my eldest son, Zhao Kaixuan, who is now running a restaurant in Chengde. It's the same name as Chen Qi's son.

This is my eldest daughter, Lin Li. She married to Fengtian and had a grandson in her arms two years ago. "

"Her surname is Lin?" Wei Ran was stunned.

"Squad Leader Lin's Daughter"

Zhao Shengli explained briefly, "Before Squad Leader Lin died, his wife was seriously ill. Later, I took this girl home."

"What about this?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the third middle-aged man in the photo, who was also the only middle-aged man in military uniform.

"This is my youngest son, Heping. He was born in [-]."

Zhao Shengli explained with a smile, "He stayed in the army. What about the army that shoots missiles? Back then we wanted to have that thing, which could hold the American devils on the ground and fight them!"

Speaking of this, Zhao Shengli pointed to a young man wearing navy camouflage in the group photo, and introduced with pride, "This is the son of Heping, my youngest grandson Guowei, who also went to serve in the army a few years ago. What about the Navy! During the Navy Day last year, their troops even invited me to visit their ship!

At that time he told me that he also went to Somalia to fight some pirates!I wondered if that was the suppression of bandits?I've done this too!That little bastard still laughed at me after listening to it! "

"It's bandits." Wei Ran wiped the corners of his eyes, and continued to ask, "Where are these little guys?"

"Those are all my great-grandchildren!" Zhao Shengli took out a pair of reading glasses from his pocket and put them on, introducing Wei Ran to the younger generation in the photo one by one, without treating him as an outsider at all.

As an observer, a smile gradually appeared on Wei Ran's face. He could see that compared to recalling the war more than half a century ago, Zhao Shengli, who was no longer young, was obviously more addicted to the joy of children and grandchildren. Guotai Minan.

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(End of this chapter)