War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 642 Absolute Speed ​​Xia Shushi
From the moment Wei Ran and others arrived at the hot spring camp, the torrential rain continued until dusk and then gradually stopped.

After such a heavy rainfall, large and small puddles appeared dotted around the low-lying positions on the ore bed not far away.

On the plus side, these waterholes provide a rich and varied environment for the local ecosystem.But if explained in human terms, these puddles undoubtedly provide an important breeding ground for the army of man-eating mosquitoes.

It is for this reason that almost as soon as the rainstorm stopped, the mobs in the tavern in the wooden camp camp immediately set off under the command of Aliri, driving those old-fashioned bulldozers and excavators produced in the Soviet era, and connected these puddles to the ground. Together, a drainage ditch was dug to connect the abandoned mine pit that served as a sewer.

How many mines are distributed around this vast ore deposit with an area of ​​at least six to seven kilometers, how deep are those mines and where are they connected.Not to mention that Alili and Misha, who are half masters, can't answer this question, even the old miners who have worked here may not be able to tell an accurate number.

But at least, the spring water gushing out of the hot spring in the workshop has been flowing into the mines day and night for decades, but it still hasn't filled those intricate mines.

Of course, Wei Ran and others were also not interested in exploring this meaningless topic. They set off almost at the same time as those morons, riding a cargo bucket dragged by a crawler bulldozer, along a road covered with insulation material. The pipe as thick as an oil barrel rushed to the corner of the edge of the deposit slowly.

As the distance got closer, the hot spring workshop and the glass-roofed houses behind them were completely blocked by the snowy path piled up with slag.

When they bypassed a slag pile full of weeds again, two rows of strange-looking greenhouses appeared on a high ground about two meters above the ore deposit right in front of them.

Different from the greenhouses that Wei Ran had seen in his hometown, if the main body of these embryonic greenhouses is viewed from the top down, the walls made of slag and concrete are a super-sized "工" character.

However, each stroke of this character is more than one meter thick, and the wall in the middle is nearly three meters high.Even near the corner, there is a dense row of diesel barrels connected by water pipes.

In Suisui's introduction, by mid-September, plastic insulation film will be covered along the middle vertical of the "I"-shaped wall to both sides.

And those diesel barrels are large radiators that they remodeled from free oil barrels. As for the heat source, it is naturally the hot spring.

In addition to the construction arrangement, the two rows of greenhouses that have not had time to lay thermal insulation film are now covered with a thick layer of humus-filled soil, and some places are even filled with seedling cups.

"Because of the problem of funds and heat sources, we only have these two vegetable greenhouses at present."

Sui Sui, holding a big-eared fox in her arms, explained with some regret, "They add up to only 68 meters in total. Although all the families who build wooden houses in our camp can only be allocated one meter wide, 12 meters A long greenhouse vegetable field. But after the vegetables produced in it meet the needs of the camp, the rest are their own.”

“These vegetables are worth more than rubles in Inta”

Alili couldn't help but take up the topic, "If the water output from that hot spring is not enough, we must build more."

"Ariri, go to the coal mine and find an exploration team."

The rich and powerful Jima waved his hand, "Let them look for hot springs on this mine bed, and then take a few mouthfuls of hot springs after they find them. The two movies I made have already earned about 600 million rubles. Just leave me It is enough to deposit 200,000, and the rest can be used.”

"Tell me if you don't have enough money"

Wei Ranhun said indifferently, Ji Ma has only made two movies in total now, and the 600 million rubles is probably not only the royalties he got, but maybe even his wife has already been included in it. If you can help, you must help him.

"These two big dogs"

Sui Sui rolled her eyes, but simply changed the subject and said, "Go ahead, we're not here to see the vegetable greenhouse."

Hearing this, Alili, who was about to say something, immediately greeted the guys in the cab.Amidst the roar of the engine, this crawler bulldozer, which seemed to be very old, immediately pulled the cargo bucket and continued to move forward along a winding slag road to the forest on the edge of the deposit.

Along the ruts in the forest, it was less than [-] meters deep. On a dug out unrecognizable forest glade, there was a tombstone that was seen in the photo, and behind this tombstone, those On the edge of the dug out potholes, there is also a piece of stone material that looks like a mileage pile.

"How did you find this place?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"The two rows of greenhouses were built on slag"

Sui Sui took the initiative to explain, "Although there is no need to worry about the impact of the thawing of the permafrost in summer due to the existence of slag, but if you want things to grow there, the uncles said that it is best to dig some fertile soil from the forest and put a layer on it."

"Then you found this monument?"

"may not"

Sui Sui rubbed the mud on his shoes on the edge of the stele, "Not only is this place not far from those greenhouses, but there is such a clearing in the forest, other places are full of tree roots when an excavator shovels it down."

Hearing this, Wei Ran couldn't help shaking his head secretly, even if this little girl wasn't said to be well-dressed, she was absolutely pampered and grew up.But just after graduating, it is really difficult for her to come to this ghostly place where birds don't shit and mosquitos are flying all over the sky, and take the lead in the infrastructure work for nearly a month.

"Why are you in a daze?" Sui Sui waved her hand in front of Wei Ran's eyes, "Tell me what you can see."

"How can you tell?"

Wei Ran, who came back to his senses, motioned to Ji Ma who was still on the cargo bucket to hand over the mop, and asked while wiping the soil on the tombstone, "Did you dig any bones around here?"

"Didn't dig a fart"

Sui Sui stepped on a mileage stake in disappointment, pointed to the mud pit next to it and said in disappointment, "Except for these broken stone stakes, not even a bone dregs have been dug out."

Signaling Sui Sui to take his feet away, Wei Ran squatted down and looked at this thing that was no more than ten centimeters square, less than half a meter long, and shaped like a common milepost on the side of the road.

However, apart from a mottled five-pointed star and an outline of a cherry blossom that appeared to be embossed on this piece of shit, there was nothing of value at all.

Getting up and going back to the stone tablet engraved with names, Wei Ran took another look. Wei Ran rinsed the mop in a dirty puddle again, and wiped the plaster flag in the middle with emphasis, but in the end he just patted The next photo, followed by asking Inta's buddy, still in the cab of the bulldozer, "Can you turn it over?"

Hearing this, Nainta's buddy immediately put down the jug, waved his hand to signal the people around him to stand farther away, and easily lifted the stone tablet with a push shovel.

After carefully wiping it again with a mop, Wei Ran found that on the back of the stele, there was no valuable information at all except a stick figure that seemed to be a crane and the setting sun were outlined with lines.

Also took a picture, Wei Ran looked at the forest clearing, but in the end he just shook his head helplessly.

"You can't find out?" Sui Sui asked disappointedly.

"Apart from the high probability that he is a prisoner of the Kwantung Army, I don't have any clues for the time being. Now I can only wait and see if my friend in China can find any clues."

While Wei Ran was speaking, he also sent the photos he had just taken to Xia Shushi again.This time he was really helpless, even with that stone tablet and those stone stakes, there was a high probability that even the metal book couldn't help.

Besides, even if the metal book could send him there, even if he lost his mind, he definitely didn't want to experience the service level of the Soviet farmhouse as a devil.

"It seems that you can't count on it"

Sui Sui sighed in disappointment, "I'm planning to put up a big sign to tell the history of this septic tank that is about to be built."

"You are still in a hurry"

Wei Ran shook his head dumbfoundingly, "Okay, let's go back quickly, we didn't come all this way to watch you repair the septic tank."

Hearing this, Sui Sui grinned, and followed Wei Ran obediently to climb up the cargo bucket after all.

After the car of friends who were willing to play around with Sui Sui returned to the wooden camp, the sky was gradually getting dark.

According to Sui Sui's arrangement, Wei Ran took her suitcase and moved into the wooden house where she lived these days. Anfisa, who originally lived in the same wooden house as Sui Sui, took her personal belongings and moved in with her younger sister. into the same cabin.

With the bright lights bursting out from the lights, Wei Ran finally had the opportunity to see the kang made by the four uncles and their apprentices.

Thanks to the almost free wood here, this earthen kang is not only tightly wrapped by logs, it looks extraordinarily clean, even the suspended kang surface is made of polished pine boards, and there is even a piece of paper on it. A kang mat made entirely of reindeer skin.

However, before Suisui lit the fireplace connected to the kang to show off, Xia Shushi, who was far away in China, sent a message - "I found it".

This kid can do it! Wei Ran muttered to himself, and directly dialed the other party's mobile phone number with the satellite phone.

"You found it so soon?" Wei Ran asked directly after the call was connected, and only five or six hours had passed.

"What's so hard about it"

Xia Shushi said quite proudly, "There are so many names in the photo you sent me. If you search the names one by one, you can always find the one with the right number."

"Tell me in detail"

Wei Ran turned on the hands-free function, and then used WeChat to transfer 2000 yuan to the other party as a token of his affection.

Xia Shushi cleared his throat and explained, "In the photo you sent, there is a broken name called Ohashi Yutaro. According to the documents I collected, there is a captain with the same name in the communication team of the 39th Division of the Kwantung Army.

After the surrender of this division on August 45, 8, basically everything that could breathe was sent to Siberia by Maozi. "

"That's all?" Wei Ran asked regretfully.

"Of course more than that"

Xia Shushi smiled and continued, "Following this clue, I searched the memoirs written by the survivors of the 39th Division who came back alive from Siberia, and found a key record in the memoirs written by one of the beasts."

"What record?" Wei Ran glanced at Sui Sui who was holding her ear in a daze, and then asked unhurriedly.

"Simply put, in the memoirs of this devil. They returned to China in 1956, but one month before returning to China, Maozi picked some strong prisoners of war from them, including the devil One of my friends and fellow countrymen, a heavy soldier named Hanai Yukichi from Osaka.

This name happened to appear in the photo you sent me, and until the guy who wrote the memoir returned to the island alive, his friend Yukichi Hanai did not go back. "

Speaking of this, Xia Shushi paused, "Of course, I'm not [-]% sure whether the Yukichi Hanai mentioned in the memoir is the same as the Yukichi Hanai mentioned on the broken stone in the photo.

But since that stone also has the name Ohashi Yutaro on it.I guess they should all be picked up by Mao Zi from the 39th Division. "

"That's all?" Wei Ran asked unwillingly.

"There is one last clue"

Xia Shushi said cheerfully, "The memoir I just mentioned recorded the detailed address of this Yukichi Hanai's livestock, and I hope that anyone who knows the whereabouts of Yukichi Hanai can contact his family.

But this memoir was written in the late 60s, so I can't guarantee whether I can find the corresponding sufferer at that address. "

"How did you find out all this?" Wei Ran asked in surprise after the other party finished speaking.

"Isn't there a search software for the hard drives used in the documents I sold to you? You just need to enter the corresponding name in ghost characters and you can search it."

Xia Shushi said proudly, "Not only the name of the person, but also the number of the army is fine, but you have to use the corresponding words to search."

"That's okay too?"

Only then did Wei Ran realize belatedly that he seemed to have underestimated the electronic version of the document that he hadn't paid much attention to since he bought it back.

"Otherwise, why do you think I sell those materials so expensive?"

The pride in Xia Shushi's tone was not concealed at all, "I sent you the expired address, and translated it into Chinese for you."

"Brother, you sold it cheap." Wei Ran glanced at the picture being loaded on the screen, and said casually, "Please pay for it."

"Forget about the hard work, let's treat it as after-sales service for the materials sold to you." Xia Shushi politely declined Wei Ran's thank you gift indifferently.

"Get it, buy a big flower mouse for your old man to keep for fun."

"Okay, let's talk about it later."

Xia Shushi agreed noncommittally, and then changed the subject and asked, "I see what your photo means, are you looking for a cellar where devils store potatoes in Siberia?"

"more or less"

Wei Ran and Sui Sui who was listening at the side looked at each other and smiled, and then briefly explained Sui Sui's discovery.

"Didn't dig a bone stick or something?"

After listening to Wei Ran's explanation, Xia Shushi became interested, and said with a smothered voice, "Brother, how about I borrow your picture?"

"What do you want?" Wei Ran asked back with a smile, but he didn't rush to agree or refuse.

"What else can I do!"

Xia Shushi said happily, "I have a friend who is studying at the devil's place. I asked him to go to that address to see. If the family is still alive, let's see if we can cheat some money from the devil." play with pocket money."

"Do you still have this hobby?"

Wei Ran looked strangely at Sui Sui who was nodding wildly, but still didn't rush to agree or refuse.Compared to Sui Sui who doesn't think it's a big deal to watch the excitement, he is much more rational.

"What do you like or don't like"

Xia Shushi, suffocating, said carelessly, "How much money can be swindled in this matter? The point is that we go to their funeral, but we don't tell them where the grave is, hey! If I have a chance later, I will go to your place Take a look at the resort, I have to piss on the name of Yukichi Hanai on the monument and send them a look."

Looking again at Sui Sui who was nodding wildly and shaking his brains away, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, and finally agreed to Xia Shushi's request, "Use it as you like, but don't say where you got it from."

"Then I'll use it! Let's do it first! If you need anything, call!" Xia Shushi happily hung up the phone before finishing his sentence.

Such a quick investigation led to a solution, and it was even possible to find a family member of the devil. To be honest, even Wei Ran didn't expect it.

But in the end it was just a plausible clue, so neither Wei Ran nor Sui Sui took it seriously.

In the last few days of August, Wei Ran stayed with the colorful Sui Sui in the hot spring camp steadily, and at the same time acted as a classroom interpreter for the four uncles who had opened a farming training class.

In the blink of an eye, it was the last day of this month. When Wei Ran and others were gathering with wine glasses in the tavern in the middle of the wooden camp, and were about to return to Kazan tomorrow night, Anna called.

The Chaokajianka sisters winked, signaling them to take care of Suisui who was about to have a high with Misha, and Wei Ran quietly left the room and connected the phone.

"The child's matter is settled." Anna said straightforwardly, "Do you want to meet them?"

"Solved?" Wei Ran didn't react for a while, "How did you solve it?"

“Certainly picked up from there”

Anna said as a matter of course, "They were sent to the mental hospital where you temporarily practiced to receive psychological counseling, and they will start a new life there in the future."

"Psychiatric hospital where I practiced?"

Wei Ran raised his neck and thought for a while, and then he matched up with the mental hospital that Kirov and Gorman stayed in for a short time when they first got along.

"It seems you have remembered." Anna said with a smile, "If you are interested, you can visit them. In addition, they have prepared some gifts for you."

"Have you prepared a gift for me?"

"Remember to come to me when you come back." Anna hung up the phone before finishing her sentence.

Before Wei Ran let the satellite phone leave his ears, Xia Shushi also sent a short message—"Call me back as soon as you can!!!"

Looking behind him, Wei Ran simply didn't rush in, and directly dialed Xia Shushi's number.

"Did I bother you?" Xia Shushi asked excitedly.

"No, did you win the lottery?"

"It's almost like winning the lottery!" Xia Shushi said excitedly, "Do you still remember the devil's address I gave you a few days ago?"

"Remember..." Wei Ran paused, "Is there still descendants of that well?"

"Not only did they, but their family received an invitation in the early 90s. They were invited to go to Russia to bring back the bodies of their family members."

"So you brought it back?" Wei Ran couldn't hide his surprise in his tone.

"no"

Xia Shushi gave an unexpected answer, "Whoever wrote to their family and invited them to bring back the corpse, they need to send the delivery fee of [-] U.S. dollars as required before sending the ashes to Khabarovsk.

Along with the letter, there is also a group photo, although there is indeed Yukichi Hanai in that group photo.But the family still felt that the person who sent them the letter might be a fraud, so they ignored it. "

"Have you got the address or remittance address of the person who sent the letter to this family?" Wei Ran asked with great interest.

"Of course I got it"

Xia Shushi said proudly, "My classmate invented a Russian netizen who provided that photo, and he easily asked for the address."

"Still keeping it for such a long time?" Wei Ran frowned immediately.

"The animal named Yukichi Hanai has a cub who is still alive, and they are over seventy years old."

Xia Shushi speeded up his speech and explained, "According to the old man, his mother was still waiting for his father, Yukichi Hanai, to return before his mother died at the end of the 70s.

So after receiving the letter in the summer of 1992, although he felt that the other party was a liar and did not send the money, he still kept the letter, and he personally rushed to Russia in the second month after receiving the letter. I want to meet at the address given by the other party.

But even though the Soviet Union had disintegrated at that time, foreigners were still not allowed to enter the place he was going to, and he later tried to reply to the other party but did not get any response.

In the next few years, after trying again and again, he finally went there in 1998, but he did not find the existence of the person at the address where the letter was sent, and he was almost caught as a spy. "

"Did that old devil make a request?" Wei Ran glanced at the scanned letter sent by the other party and asked with a smile.

"I mentioned it, I hope to return his father's bones to him."

Xia Shushi said as a matter of course, "When you are not busy, just buy a pig and burn it to ashes, find a jar and send it to him. You have its address anyway. I won't tell you yet, My grandpa wants to go out for a walk."

Hearing the busy tone coming from his ear, Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded, and then clicked on the scanned copy sent by the other party.

The content of this letter written in Japanese is basically incomprehensible to Wei Ran, but at the end of the letter, there is a string of addresses written in Russian.

"Vorkuta? October Town? Coal Mine Power Inspector Isai Popov?"

Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, hesitating secretly whether he should take advantage of the time before returning to Kazan tomorrow to see if there is October Town in Vorkuta, and whether there is a man named Isai in October Town · Popov's Coal Mine Power Inspector.

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(End of this chapter)