War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 643 The Guessed Truth

"Find it so soon?"

In the wilderness tavern, Sui Sui became interested immediately after listening to Wei Ran's retelling, put down the beer mug with a bang, and said enthusiastically, "Anfisa, change the ticket! Let's go back two days later. We will go back tomorrow morning. Go see Vorkuta."

"Are you really planning to go?" Wei Ran asked dumbfounded.

"Of course I'm going!"

Sui Sui, who was a little drunk, replied without thinking, "I've been busy for so long, and I haven't even found a bone. The septic tank that my uncles ordered to build hasn't even laid the foundation yet."

"Don't mention that broken pool, and don't change the sign."

Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, the so-called septic tank is actually just an abandoned mine connected to the sewer of the wooden campsite tens of meters away, but the entrance of that mine is the same as that discovered before. The tombstone was sealed, and a dry toilet was built by the way.

As for Suisui's so-called foundation-laying ceremony, it was nothing more than trying to write the experience of the owners of those names recorded in the tombstone on the wall of the dry toilet.

"It's hard to find a clue"

"It's really not such a trouble"

Misha refilled Sui Sui's glass with beer, "I'll call my dad later and ask him to look it up in the population file, whether it's Inta or Vorkuta. "

"I'll ask the people in the coal mine too."

Alili sat down next to Wei Ran, "The population flow here is not too big. If you know the exact time and the jobs in the coal mines, it's easy to find out."

"We'll go find him after we find out"

Jima, who was holding a large glass of beer, also came over, sat down beside Maya with a shy face, changed the subject and asked, "Aurora, are you really going to let Pasha and the others go to Huaxia? They Even Inta hasn't left."

"I helped them arrange the air ticket and visa, is it fake?"

Sui Sui burped, and hugged a sleepy-eyed little fox from Anfeya's arms, "Anyway, don't worry! They will be back in a month, and after arriving in Huaxia, They will also be accompanied by a Russian-speaking guide throughout the journey.”

"And where they study they are looked after by our friends"

Wei Ran added on the sidelines that the Pasha and others mentioned by Jima were three men and three women who were picked out by Sui Sui in the past month, a total of 6 young people with an average age of only 22 years old.

These six will go to Huaxia with the four mason uncles tomorrow, and then under the guidance of the tour guide arranged by Wei Ran's parents, they will go to Chen Luoxiang who is learning the piano in Yangzhou, and will be recommended by Chen Luoxiang's master , It took a month to learn to scrub and knock back with two scrubbers.

Although this proposal was Wei Ran's first bad idea, it was obvious that Sui Sui would take it, especially after Wei Ran said that he could afford all the tuition and travel expenses, these few people who didn't know what to say even made a small-scale sea select.

As for whether the six young apprentice scrubbers with red and black thorn tattoos on their wrists could learn something in a month's time, everyone present had no hope at the beginning.

In Sui Sui's words, sending these people to Huaxia to learn to take a bath is such an inconspicuous thing. It was originally a gimmick to cooperate with her classmates in China who are responsible for recruiting people. Those who have passed plant a seed.As for whether they can use the skills they have learned after returning from "gilding" in China for a month, it is actually not important at all.

When the topic talked about bathing, the clue of the devil's bones that originally attracted Sui Sui's attention was also thrown out of the sky in the cups he raised again and again.

But obviously, no matter Misha or Alili, they both took this matter to heart and left one after another to make a phone call.Before the lively dinner was over, the two received calls one after another.

"I found it," said Alili and Misha, who hung up the phone almost at the same time, in no particular order.

"Let's talk first." Misha raised her glass to Aliri.

"The message I asked from the Pechora coal fields"

Alili lit a cigarette and said, "October Town was abandoned in 94, and the coal miners who lived there basically moved to other places.

Among those who moved was indeed an electric power inspector named Isai Popov.According to the archives of the coal field, in the winter of 94, he moved with the mining team and his family to Gongqing Town, more than ten kilometers away.But before spring came the next day, he quit his job in the coal mines, and no one seems to know where he went after that. "

"My father also helped to find this person"

Misha said with a strange expression, "If this man named Isai Popov is still alive, he is less than 70 years old."

"Wait." Wei Ran immediately realized something was wrong, "Is he less than 70 years old?"

"He was born in 1955."

Misha's expression became more and more strange, and she even glanced at Alili and Jima before continuing, "When he was 19 years old, he joined the Abezi Coal Mine as a circuit inspector. From then on until In 1988, he worked at the Abez coal mine, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Abez coal mine could no longer pay wages, so he went to Vorkuta."

"The Arbez Coal Mine?"

After hearing this name, Jima subconsciously looked at Alili who looked surprised. At the same time, many people in this tavern also subconsciously looked over after hearing this name.

"What's the matter?" Sui Sui, who had already drank and was somewhat confused, asked.

"Alili used to be the captain of the air patrol at the Abezi Coal Mine," Jima explained dumbfoundingly.

"It's not surprising"

Alili spread his hands, "Although this mine produces iron ore, it was indeed under the jurisdiction of the Abezi mine in the Soviet era, and the distance between here and Abezi is even closer than that of Quinta. .”

"There is no record of where this Isai Popov went afterwards."

Misha glanced at Jima again, and then continued, "But his sister is still alive, and she is in Inta."

"What did you say?" As soon as the words came out, all the people at the table looked at Misha.

"His younger sister is called Sida, who is 15 years younger than him"

Misha glanced at Jima and Alili who stared wide-eyed and continued, "She married Inta in 88, and she is still working as a chemistry teacher in Inta's middle school. Guliye, the dispatcher, you all know him."

"really know"

Jima replied dumbfounded, "When I was a hunter, Guliye helped me get a seat in the high-end sleeper car, and even their son is now with Gleva in Kazan, but I can I've never heard that Aunt Xida actually has an older brother."

"Ms. Sida even taught me," Ariri continued, "and I was caught by her for stealing alcohol lamps from the chemistry lab."

"This world is really small," Maya, who has been listening to the excitement, couldn't help but sigh.

"It's not that the world is too small"

Misha sighed, "It's because Inta is too small. Everyone living here basically knows each other. Just like Alili said, Sida is also my teacher. Unfortunately, my chemistry class grades It's really not that good."

"How about visiting that teacher Sida before we leave tomorrow?"

Sui Sui took another sip of cold beer and asked, "I'm getting more and more curious about what happened here in the first place."

"As long as you can stay awake tomorrow." Wei Ran reached out and took the draft beer mug from Sui Sui's hand while speaking.

"Then it's settled!" Suho responded confidently.

"Looks like we're going to leave early tomorrow." Wei Ran touched Alili with the cup he got from Suisui.

"Don't worry, there's not enough time." Before Alili finished speaking, he had already picked up his cup and greeted him.

In the midst of toasting, the lively party finally came to an end, and Wei Ran also walked into the temporary wooden house carrying Sui Sui, who was stupefied and staring at him.

Early the next morning, Sui Sui, who was in a hangover, let Wei Ran lead her in a daze, and left the camp with the four uncles who were also dazed, Jima and others, and took the plane driven by Alili Returned to Inta.

It happened to be the weekend, and Xida, who worked as a teacher in the local middle school, would definitely not have to go to work, so Jima took Wei Ran and Suisui, the Katenka sisters and Maya directly to Xida's home.Instead, Misha and Alili stayed at the airport, accompanying the four mason uncles who were still confused, and the six local friends who were planning to go to Huaxia together in the lounge.

On the slightly muddy road, Jima drove the van familiarly and left the city, and drove straight to a small village on the edge of the town.

There are no more than [-] families in this village. Behind it is a dense forest, and not far in front is the railway and the road leading to the railway station.

It can be seen that Ji Ma is very familiar with this place, and he can clearly remember every hurdle along the way.

In the end, he drove the car and parked in front of a yard.What's more interesting is that although the yard is not big, the surrounding wall is surrounded by containers, and on the top of the container on the side of the gate, there is a satellite cauldron for receiving TV signals. On the door of the container cabinet, there are also two strong-looking Caucasian dogs that look scary.

"Don't get out of the car yet"

Jima reminded a little nervously, "The two dogs of his family are also the patrol guards of the freight station, and these two dogs can receive a salary of [-] rubles every month."

"Dogs can also receive wages?" Anfeiya, who had been quiet for the past few days, asked in surprise, and then subconsciously looked down at the cute little fox in her arms.

"couldn't have"

Jima honked his horn, swallowed and said, "But three years ago, a wanted criminal who was about to hijack a train driver was bitten off by the two of them and started to get paid."

Hearing this, Sui Sui, who was sitting next to Wei Ran, simply closed the car window that had just been opened.The two Katenka sisters moved in unison and stuffed the little fox that was originally in their arms into the bag.

Speaking of which, Sui Sui asked Anfeya to help bring these two little foxes from Kazan.It's a pity that she was too busy in Inta these days, and she didn't have time to mess with these two cute little guys.

After Ji Ma pressed the horn for the third time, a bald old man wearing a sea soul shirt finally came out of the small courtyard.Until this time, Ji Ma dared to lower the window to say hello.

Seeing that it was Jima who came, this old man who looked completely Asian immediately waved his hands enthusiastically, and then drove the two bulldogs, which stood taller than people, into the container and closed the cabinet door.

"Jima, come down!"

The old man greeted warmly, "Sida and I just went to see your movie last weekend. I didn't expect you to come to us so soon."

"How is my performance?" Ji Ma jumped out of the cab and hugged the old guy happily, then handed him the two bottles of wine he had prepared in advance.

"Excellent performance!"

After drinking, the old guy said, "In the future, we must make more movies that you can watch casually in the cinema without buying a ticket."

"I"

Ji Ma, who was still waiting for praise just now, grinned, glanced at Wei Ran and the others who had just gotten off the car and laughed, and wisely changed the subject and asked, "Uncle Guliye, don't you invite us to go in and sit down?" ? Also, is Aunt Xida at home?"

"here I am!"

Guliye looked curiously at Wei Ran and the others who got out of the car, but he was not in a hurry to bring everyone in, but pointed to Sui Sui and said, "Let me guess, she must be Aurora, right? So the guy next to her is her boyfriend?"

"Hi, I'm Aurora."

"I'm Victor"

Wei Ran and Sui Sui shook hands with each other one after another.

"Then which of the remaining three beautiful girls is your girlfriend?" Guliye asked with a smile, obviously an old man who likes to joke.

However, before Jima could speak, the Katenka sisters and Maya stepped aside in unison, making it clear that they didn't want to take the blame.

Jima patted the back of his neck, pointed to Maya and said, "This is mine."

"broker"

Maya revealed her identity first, and the Katenka sisters, who didn't want to be hurt, had already stood behind Wei Ran and Suisui, and said in unison, "We are Aurora's assistants."

"Come in!"

Guliye laughed loudly, and said as he walked into the yard, "I'm relieved to see that little bastard Ji Ma is still so unpopular with serious girls."

"You old bastard," Jima muttered resentfully.

"It seems that the unscrupulous girl likes you very much." Maya teased Jima in a flat tone, and walked into the small courtyard with Sui Sui, who was energetic.

Under the leadership of Guliye, a group of people walked into the wooden house facing the gate.The house didn't seem to be that old, and it was cleaned inside and out.When they entered, a middle-aged woman who looked very gentle was busy baking bread.

Before they could sit down, a few furry Caucasian cubs came over wagging their tails, and were immediately hugged by the four women who came together on their laps.

"Our big star from Inta is here?" The gentle middle-aged woman brought a teapot and warmly poured a cup of black tea for everyone.

Jima showed a rare shy look, "I'm not a celebrity, so don't make fun of me, Aunt Xida."

"Jima, did Tonya cause trouble for you?"

Guliye pulled a chair and sat down, and asked nervously. After he said these words, Xida also subconsciously grabbed the apron that was stained with flour.

"No, of course not!"

Jima quickly said, "Tonya is working very well at Kazan Railway Station. I heard from Greva that he seems to have a girlfriend."

"He has a girlfriend?" Xida asked in surprise.

"I also heard from Greva, you can call him and ask him."

Jima smiled, and brought the topic back to the main topic, "Aunt Xida, we actually came here this time to ask you something."

"Find me?"

Xida was stunned for a moment, and then nodded happily, "What do you want to ask? As long as I know, I will tell you."

"Is such that."

Jima paused, briefly described what he found in the hot spring camp, and finally said, "Aunt Xida, we accidentally found out that your brother Isai Popov seems to be related to this incident. , we wanted to find him and ask him what happened there.

Of course, as I said just now, Victor is a historian, and he is just curious about the historical truth. "

"I do have a brother"

Sida picked up the cup and took a sip of the warm black tea, "But my brother moved to Khabarovsk more than [-] years ago."

"Khabarovsk?"

Wei Ran and the others looked at each other. This so-called Khabarovsk is only separated from Huaxia by a river. The other name of that city may be more widely known-Khabarovsk.

"The last time he came here was six or seven years ago, but we often call each other."

Xida shook his head, "I probably know some of the things you mentioned. I remember very clearly that he did make a lot of money around 93."

Sida sighed, "Even when my Sasha and Tonya were born, it was because of his help, otherwise I would not be able to support these two children at all. Life in those years was really too tight."

"So." Ji Ma had a tangled expression that hesitated to speak.

"That is indeed his handwriting"

Xida picked up Wei Ran's mobile phone on the table again and glanced at it, and gave an affirmative answer to the scanned letter on the screen.

"Aunt Xida, those tombstones..." Sui Sui rubbed the dog's head that came closer, and didn't know how to say it for a while.

"This matter actually starts with my father." Xida smiled, put Wei Ran's mobile phone on the coffee table, then got up and walked into the bedroom.

After waiting for a while, Xida sat back on the chair in the living room with a photo album that looked very old.

After some searching, Xida pointed to a black-and-white photo in the album and said, "This is my father. He used to be a colleague with Mr. Nicholas."

"A colleague with Mr. Nicholas?"

Wei Ran and Jima patted their foreheads in unison. They really didn't think about this, and they forgot that Mr. Nicholas had lived in Inta for a long time.

“Of course a colleague”

Sida turned a few pages back, pointed to a group photo and said, "Look, this is a group photo of my father and Mr. Nicholas."

Everyone looked over in unison, and as expected, the group photo was indeed the young Mr. Nicholas.

In this photo, a shirtless and tattooed Nikolai laughs as he leans against a wooden railing with a bottle of frothy beer.

Next to him was a thin young man with an Asian face. He was also holding a bottle of beer. Around his neck was a Moscow brand accordion.

"I remember my mother said that my father used to be in charge of prisoner-of-war management at the Abez mine manager. Then after my brother was born, he was sent to the Far East to work in the mineral and timber trade."

Far East?

Wei Ran and Jima glanced at each other, and sisters Katenka subconsciously also glanced at each other, apparently keenly aware of something.

Sida continued to flip back, "From the second year after my brother was born, my father may not be able to come back once a year. My mother also moved to Khabarovsk with my brother for the convenience of meeting my father. , I was born in Khabarovsk.

However, when I was three years old, my father had an accident because of a car accident.Mom also moved back to Arbez with my brother and me.

So I don't really have much memory of my father, except that my brother said he spoke Japanese very well, and our house in Khabarovsk was huge. "

After talking about this, Xida continued to turn a few pages back, pointing to a young man wearing a hard hat in a group photo and said, "In 84, our mother also passed away. This photo is from the first half of my mother's death. It was taken in 12. This is my brother Isai, I was only [-] years old at the time, and my brother’s first child was only seven years younger than me.

Then our mother died, and my brother and I took her to Khabarovsk to be buried with our father.From then on until I met Guliye and decided to marry him, my brother took care of me. "

"When Yisai knew that the two of us were going to get married, he took his friend and taught me a lesson." Guliye said with a sigh.

"Later, I followed Guliye to Inta"

Sida held Guliye's hand and continued to recall, "The coal mine where my brother worked could not pay wages that year, and then he moved to Khabarovsk with his children and wife, until the beginning of 92. At that time, he returned by himself, but left his wife and children in Khabarovsk."

"He went to Vorkuta shortly after his return, still working in the coal mines."

Gullier took over the topic and said, "At that time, I was also unemployed, and Xida was still pregnant with Tonya's sister. Although he scolded me, he still took our family in and continued until Sasha Let us go back to Inta only after birth."

"Then one day, my brother slipped me $[-], which was a lot of money at the time."

Sida sighed and said, "He asked Gullier to take me away from Inta, to Moscow, to Petersburg, even to live in a city like Kazan or Khabarovsk."

"You didn't leave?" Sui Suo couldn't help asking.

"We went, we went to Moscow in high spirits."

Guliye shook his head bitterly, "But it was only when I went there that I realized that five thousand dollars was not enough for our family to live there for a long time, so after wasting five hundred dollars and not finding a decent job, we went back to Inta .

Although it is not as good as Moscow here, the money was not spent until Tonya was born in 95. "

"Why didn't you go when Mr. Nikolai helped everyone move to Kazan?" Jima subconsciously asked.

"We just came back from Moscow at that time. Isai helped me get a job as a train dispatcher before leaving here. With his help, Sida also found a stable job at Inta School." Gulier Speaking of which, he spread his hands, "It's better than going to Kazan to start all over again, isn't it?"

"That's right," Ji Ma nodded involuntarily.

"I once asked my brother where the money came from"

Xida said dumbfoundingly, "He told me at the time that he found some things left by Dad at Boli's house, and he sold those things for money, but he never said that he sold them. It turned out to be the ashes of a prisoner of war."

"So those ashes really exist?"

Sui Sui asked in surprise, she never expected that there was such a story behind the tombstone she accidentally discovered.

"If you are interested, you can ask my brother."

Xida took out a pen and a small palm-sized notebook from his jacket pocket, fluently wrote down a string of addresses and a phone number, tore them off and handed them to Jima, "Call him or go directly to him It will be all right."

"Thank you!" Ji Ma quickly took the note from the other party.

"It's time for me to ask the question"

Xida refilled the tea for everyone one by one, and asked enthusiastically, "You just said that Tonya found a girlfriend? What's the girl's name? Where is she from?"

"She's from Samara, a beautiful white girl"

While Jima and Xida were exchanging information, Wei Ran was looking at the young man who took a photo with Nicholas in the photo album, and comparing it with the scanned letter sent by Xia Shushi yesterday.

In this scanned copy, besides the unintelligible Japanese and Russian addresses, there is also a group photo.

In this group photo, a group of ghost prisoners of war are each holding a piece of bread the size of two bricks stacked together, and in the other hand, they are each poking a piece of steak the size of a bowl with a fork. joyous.

Wei Ran didn't know who the sufferer Hanai Yukichi was in this group photo, but he found a prisoner of war who looked like Xida's father in this group photo.

Thinking about the clues obtained before, Sida’s elder brother Isai Popov was born in 1955. Sida just said that their father was sent to the Far East to develop timber and Mining work.Before that, he was responsible for the management of prisoners of war.

In addition, in Xida's recollection, her brother once said that their father was very good at Japanese.Also the name Isai Popov is weird because he doesn't have a middle paternal name at all.

Coupled with the accidental death of their father, and their mother taking them away from Khabarovsk and returning to Abez, where foreigners could not reach at all during the Soviet era.

Based on these clues, the identity of Xida's father has already been revealed.Looking at the slightly blurred group photo of the prisoners of war on the screen of the mobile phone, Wei Ran is almost sure that Xida's father is probably a spy who pretended to be a prisoner of the Kwantung Army and broke into the Devil's Country!

After going back, do you want to go to Mr. Nicholas to check your guess?Regarding this idea, Wei Ran only hesitated for less than a second, then shook his head secretly.

Mr. Nicholas, who is now over ninety years old, lives a carefree life in Volgograd every day, and there is really no need for him to recall the past.Moreover, Xida has already given Jima her brother's address and phone number. If you want to satisfy your curiosity, you can just ask him face to face when you have a chance in the future.

Of course, even if he didn't ask, Wei Ran had already guessed the general idea.After all, what better way for a falsely repatriated prisoner of war to blend into local relationships than to bring back the ashes of a comrade and help send them home?Even the tombstone and cemetery were most likely props used by Xida's father to disguise his identity.

He didn't even have the slightest doubt that Xida's father might have been married, had children, and had a family in disguise as in Guizi Country.

The only thing he didn't know was that maybe that person who didn't even know his name lost his life.

"Shall we go to Khabarovsk to satisfy our curiosity?" Sui Sui whispered to Wei Ran's ear.

"Don't go for now"

Wei Ran thought for a while and said, "Let Alili and the others put the tombstone in the dry toilet with cement."

"Why?" Suho asked puzzled.

"Mr. Isai Popov's ability to give five thousand dollars to his sister Sida is enough to show that some devils have been fooled."

Wei Ran paused, then changed into Chinese that only the two of them could understand, and continued, "So if it turns out that the stele was changed into a dry toilet urinal by you, it might be given to Isai Bo Bofu caused unnecessary trouble, after all, Xida's son is still a younger brother under Jima."

"makes sense"

Sui Sui sighed regretfully, "I'm going to follow your friend's method, burn a pig to ashes and send it back to that little devil."

"Do you think the son of the prisoner of war named Huajing would care if you send back his father's ashes or pig's ashes?"

"What do you mean?" Sui Sui looked at Wei Ran puzzled.

"Even if you send back a bunch of dried shit and tell him it's his dad. I guess he'd be happy to believe it."

Wei Ran said soberly, "For the living, that jar of ashes is a psychological comfort. If you send it over, his son will have no regrets. Even if it's not his father's ashes, as long as you don't tell him The truth, his heart is satisfied."

Looking at Sui Sui who suddenly realized, Wei Ran said with a smile, "So even if it's a piece of shit, I don't plan to send it to him. Is it good to let him beg for it with regrets until he dies? I didn’t tell him that I found it, I didn’t tell him that I didn’t find it, and I didn’t even tell him where the tombstone was photographed.”

"Comrade Wei Ran, what you said makes sense!"

Sui Sui patted Wei Ran's shoulder solemnly, "You little comrade is very thoughtful and promising, and I will cultivate you well."

"speak politely"

Wei Ran angrily pulled away the dog's hair-stained hand and paw, and smoothly lifted the belly-uppuppy pup on the other's knee to his lap.

　It can be regarded as three-in-one, with a small addition.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)