War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 649 The Two Sides of K
"Do you want to buy all the things in the attic?" In the living room on the first floor of the holiday villa, Isai Popov looked at the disgraced Wei Ran with great interest.

"It's useless for you to keep those things, isn't it?" Wei Ran asked back with a smile.

"It's really useless." Isai thought for a while, "But I don't plan to sell them."

"Why?" Suho asked subconsciously.

Hearing this, Yisai hesitated for a moment, and finally said, "I did sell those ashes to exchange for a sum of money, but I want to know the cause of my father's death. I believe that there must be relevant clues in those things. It's just that I couldn't find it."

"Isai, maybe he can help you." Jima patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and said, "He's a historian."

"Historians who make money"

Sui Sui added on the side, with a slightly proud tone, it seems that historians who can make money are very powerful historians.

Before Wei Ran could correct this abnormal judging standard, Ji Ma nodded subconsciously, "He is indeed a historian who can make more money. In short, he can definitely help you."

Glancing at Wei Ran with a helpless expression, Yisai smiled and shook his head, "I won't bother young people like you to help me with this matter, just keep putting those things upstairs here. Alright, what are you guys doing?" Spend an hour wandering around here.

If you really want to help me with something, just give the house a quick clean, and in an hour we'll be back just in time for dinner. "

Before he finished speaking, Isai stood up from the rocking chair, slowly took a Baikal brand shotgun from the wall behind him, took out a box of ammunition from the desk drawer next to the wall, put it in his pocket, and finally carried it Climb up the ladder to the attic and leave the room.

A moment later, in the open space behind the holiday villa, there were gunshots and the characteristic hum of a metal target being hit.

The three people who were still in the room looked at each other, but in the end they could only spread their hands. Anyway, they came here just to satisfy their curiosity.

The other party doesn't want to sell those things, and they can't steal them hard. How is that different from what those bastards in the ashes urn did during their lifetime?
Of course, the ashes they wanted to take away couldn't be taken away, and they naturally forgot about the cleaning work arranged by Yisai.

When the three of them left the room, Maya, who was fishing by the lake, waved at them.

"What's the matter?" Ji Ma immediately trotted over and asked earnestly while spraying Maya with repellent.

"Look over there." Maya pointed to the opposite side of the lake, "There seems to be a tombstone there, just beside the sunflower."

tombstone?

Everyone looked in the direction of Maya's finger, and as expected, a large piece of sunflowers grew lushly in an open space opposite the lake, and the edge of the sunflowers was abnormally flat as if cut by a knife, and it also appeared The tombstone is particularly conspicuous.

Putting down the fishing rod in his hand, Wei Ran was the first to run around this not-so-big lake to the opposite side.Seeing this, Sui Sui immediately chased after him.

"Shall we go and see too?" Jima asked Maya.

"I'm not interested." Maya swayed another shot while speaking, "Stay away from me."

Hearing this, Ji Ma shrugged, obediently took a few steps aside, randomly hung some grass leaves on the fishhook, and threw them into the calm lake, but most of his attention was on the fish hook. Looking at Maya's side face, at most, he glanced in the direction of Wei Ran and the two of them occasionally.

After walking along the edge of the lake for about ten minutes, Wei Ran finally stopped at the edge of the tombstone.

This field of sunflowers is obviously in a semi-wild state where no one takes care of them. Some of the flower discs the size of the bottom of a washbasin still have petals left, while others have only plump melon seeds left, and some even brought small animals to visit. There are traces of it, and there are also some Jerusalem artichokes that are still in flower.

Not only that, but around the tombstone on the edge, there is a large field of chamomile that is about to enter the next cycle of life.

"Isai's parents will be buried here, right?" Sui Sui asked in a low voice, and at the same time picked a Jerusalem artichoke flower and put it in front of the tombstone as a token of her affection.

"It should be"

Wei Ran nodded absent-mindedly, but in fact all his attention was already attracted by the inconspicuous letter "K" at the corner of the tombstone.

He remembered very clearly that besides the name "Karenina" on the tombstone of old Katenka on the Tula River, there was also such an inconspicuous letter "K" on the edge.

But apart from a mottled letter "K", there is no name on this tombstone. Instead, there are only two steeds vaguely engraved on it.

Another man without a name.
Wei Ran sighed secretly, took Sui Sui's hand and strolled back to the gate of the holiday villa.

Yisai, who had already returned with a shotgun, obviously saw Wei Ran and Sui Sui walking back from the other side of the lake, but he did not give any explanation. After a brief cleaning, they got into the car and returned to their home on the edge of the city.

Under the warm hospitality of Yisai and his son and daughter-in-law, everyone enjoyed a sumptuous dinner, and then declined the invitation to stay overnight, and took a taxi to the hotel booked in advance in the center of the city.

"This trip was in vain"

Sui Sui, who was complaining on the way, fell on the big bed in the hotel. Although she heard the story as she wished, the plot of the story was too simple and general. It felt like she had heard it but didn't.

"At least I know what happened to that tombstone," Wei Ran comforted with a smile.

"So it's actually just a background prop for taking pictures?" Wei Ran didn't say it's okay, but when he said it, Suisui became more and more disappointed.

"There were a lot of devils sent to Siberia back then, maybe a nest could be dug up somewhere in the future"

Wei Ran paused, and said seriously, "But let's forget it this time, there's no need to get involved with Soviet spies because of a few devils."

"makes sense"

Sui Sui turned over, stood up lively and said, "I will be busy when I go back tomorrow, let's go shopping in the shopping mall I just passed before it was dark, maybe I can buy a lot of Kazan here Chinese products that cannot be bought."

"Just listen to the persuasion." Wei Ran secretly heaved a sigh of relief, and happily followed Sui Sui out of the hotel.

After spending a day wandering in Khabarovsk, the four of them boarded a flight back to Kazan the next morning.

Although it took three or four days to go back and forth, when they returned to the shore of Kaban Lake, more than half of the roof of the workshop they bought had been removed. All the work done is just the beginning of the renovation.

Handing over the task of supervising the construction to Sui Sui, Wei Ran and Jima boarded the flight to Kirov together.

Although it has been a while since they came, when the two walked out of the airport, they each remembered what happened here.

"I don't know what's going on with that old guy's health now." Jima muttered to himself, "He definitely doesn't know that I put the money in his drawer."

However, before Wei Ran could respond, his cell phone rang.

"It's Mr. Nicholas' call." Wei Ran said in surprise, and then pressed the answer button.

"I'll go find the car that Gorman left for us first," Jima responded hastily, and walked into the parking lot with knowing steps.

"Have you arrived in Kirov?" Nikolai on the other end of the phone asked slowly.

"Just landed." Wei Ran responded respectfully and candidly.

"See?" Nicholas asked with great interest.

"I see." Wei Ran immediately replied, he naturally knew that the other party was asking about Isai Popov who settled in Khabarovsk.

"If you want to see the cherry blossoms in the future, you can ask her for help."

Nicholas deliberately used a female pronoun, and then reminded, "You only need to know about this."

"I see, thank you." Wei Ran raised his eyebrows while thanking him. He didn't expect such benefits.

"Nothing." Nicholas on the phone smiled, changed the subject and asked, "I heard Daria say that you bought the abandoned factory next door to her house?"

"It cost a lot of money." Wei Ran paused, and truthfully told the other party about his plan.

“nice idea”

Nicholas praised full of air, "I will give you a gift after you renovate the place."

After finishing speaking, the old man simply hung up the phone without waiting for Wei Ran's response.While Wei Ran was putting his cell phone into his pocket, Ji Ma also drove a slightly old car and parked beside him.

"Go to meet Gorman first, or go to see veteran Leva first?" Jima asked while Wei Ran was packing their suitcases into the trunk.

"Let's go to veteran Leva first."

Wei Ran got into the co-pilot while speaking, "Give him the gift you brought first, and see how he is doing by the way."

"Hope he recognizes me, I don't even remember what I did to my face."

While Wei Ran was speaking, he picked up an Ikon countess camera that Jima had just put down.This camera was bought from the shop of the one-armed veteran Leva the last time I came here, but it was snatched by that bastard Jima later.

Now that such a long time has passed, although the camera has no bumps on the outside, the shutter has been broken by Ji Ma long ago.Taking it out now is just an excuse to ask the other party to help repair the shutter of this camera as an excuse to visit the door again.

"I just remember that you dyed your hair light blonde," Jima said uncertainly.

"Now we can only hope he recognizes the camera"

Wei Ran looked at the camera over and over again, and finally gave up the plan to re-disguise his face according to the one in his memory.After all, no matter what, this time I was looking for the other party to ask for advice, so I still have to have some respect.

In the chatting between the two, the car finally stopped in front of the old camera shop.

Pushing open the concealed glass door, when Wei Ran and the two walked in, they happened to see a little girl who was at most seven or eight years old standing behind an old wooden box camera, ready to give it to the person standing by the counter. Veteran Leva takes a photo.

It's just that, at this time, Leva not only wears two scary and strange purple eye shadows, but also has a pair of crooked old braids on his head, and his mouth is still coquettish There is a pink rose in her mouth that she doesn't know where she got it.

"Oh!"

Accompanied by the bright light blasted by the old-fashioned magnesium powder flashlight, the little girl also smiled and covered her ears.

Obviously, the veteran Leva who was dazzled by the flash did not see the stunned Wei Ran and Jima at the door of the store, nor did he notice that these two scumbags raised their mobile phones in unison to take a clear picture of his appearance at this time After finishing it, Wei Ran even sent it to Teacher Dalia.

"Grandpa, someone is here."

While the little girl was talking, she jumped up and down to Leva's side, and said with a little show off, "Did they even take pictures of you?"

"what?"

Leva rubbed his eyes with his only left hand, and after reacting, he immediately spit out the rose in his mouth, picked up the rag on the counter and wiped his face indiscriminately.

"Mr. Leva is much younger and more beautiful than when we met last time," Wei Ran joked pretending to be familiar.

"Have we met?"

Leva, whose hair was smoothed out, looked at Wei Ran suspiciously, and then noticed the Ikon countess camera in his hand, and then suddenly realized, "Oh! I remembered, you are the one who owns a Young people who are anti-dumping in Taiwan and Rollei?”

Before Wei Ran could say anything, Leva asked suspiciously, "Why do I remember that you don't seem to look like this?"

"it is me"

Wei Ran said with a normal expression, "I just dyed my hair last time, and I just had my wisdom teeth pulled out at that time, so I look fatter."

"Find a place to sit"

After Leva finished speaking, he patted the little girl's head lightly, "Yana, can you go upstairs first?"

"Ok!"

The little girl who became Yana nodded vigorously, picked up the teddy bear on the counter and hugged it in her arms, walked through the door behind the counter, and ran up the stairs.

"That's my little granddaughter Yana"

Leva proudly explained, "She will definitely become an excellent photographer in the future."

"Just now she has created her own work of art"

"An interesting grandpa" Ji Ma answered Wei Ran with a rare bright mind.

"Thank you for your compliments"

Leva laughed and said, "Young man, did you come to me to buy a camera or film?"

"Buy everything"

While speaking, Wei Ran handed the camera in his hand to the other party, "By the way, fix this camera, its shutter was broken by the idiot next to me."

"Looks like I got a big deal"

Leva took the camera and looked at it, then said confidently, "It's not a big problem, it can be fixed easily."

"Then I will trouble you." Wei Ran nodded towards the other party, pointed at the wooden camera that the little girl had just used and asked, "Is this camera for sale?"

"Sell of course"

Leva had already turned on the desk lamp while speaking, put on a loupe for repairing watches, and said while disassembling the camera in his hand, "You can take it with you for only 120,000 rubles, but it uses a wet plate, so I I suggest you consider the film machine behind your friend, although the film it can use is more expensive, but at least it is easier, making wet plates by yourself is too time-consuming."

"120,000 rubles, including teaching me how to use the camera, right?"

Hearing this, Leva raised his head in surprise, then laughed and asked, "Young man, so you actually came to learn from me?"

"That's true." Wei Ran nodded frankly.

"What do you want to learn?" When Leva asked, he lowered his head and began to disassemble the camera on the table. "Repair the camera or take pictures with a wet plate?"

"In fact, I just want to get started with some film cameras that I haven't used before. By the way, I want to hear your opinion on how to take better photos."

"That's it?" Leva raised his head again, with a smile on his face.

"That's it"

There was some hesitation in Wei Ran's tone, it was because the old guy at the counter looked too eagerly, it felt like Mr. Gorbachev saw the bitches wandering around the forest farm, or like Jima saw It's about the same as Maya without clothes.

"No problem! You can experience everything I have here!"

Leva had already taken off the magnifying glass on his head while speaking, walked out of the counter enthusiastically, pointed to the cameras in the showcase and said, "You can use all the cameras, of course, you have to pay for the consumables, if you break them Yes, you also have to pay for maintenance.”

"It's just like that?" Wei Ran asked in surprise, "I don't need to pay some experience fees?"

"If you are willing to give it, of course I will not refuse."

Leva said enthusiastically, "Not many young people like to play with these outdated things anymore, but they are the tools that can really create art."

"Can I come and learn too?" Ji Ma leaned forward and asked.

"The countess was broken by you?" Leva pointed to the camera waiting to be dismantled on the counter, and asked in a particularly vigilant tone.

"I accidentally spilled Coke on it." Jima told the truth with a silly smile.

"It's not impossible for you to learn"

Leva shook his mutilated right arm, "I only have one hand, and repairing the camera is not an easy job for me. So if you break a camera, you can only buy it, of course, As long as you buy it, I will definitely repair it for you at the cost price."

"You really know how to do business." Ji Ma grinned, and instantly lost the intention of joining in the fun. This is equivalent to earning three sums of money from him. He doesn't think he is a fool with too much money.

"In short, if you are willing to learn, come here early tomorrow morning."

Leva thought for a while and added, "Of course, if it's convenient, it's best to drive a van."

“We will be there soon”

Wei Ran winked at Jima while speaking, and the two said goodbye to Leva, got into the car and left the camera shop slowly.

"Where are we going next?" Wei Ran waited until the camera shop completely disappeared in the rearview mirror before asking.

"Meet Gorman"

Jima pointed to the mobile phone that was navigating, "When Mr. Nicholas called you, he contacted me, let's go there today. There is still more than a week before I go to class. Vic Duo, that old guy doesn't miss us because he hasn't seen us for a long time?"

"I don't think it's a good thing to be missed by him"

Wei Ran looked at the familiar and unfamiliar scenery outside the car window, and was already looking forward to how that old pervert Gorman would deal with Ji Ma in the next half month.

During the chat between the two, Ji Ma finally drove the car to the gate of the mental hospital.

"Why does this place look worse than the workshop you bought?" Jima looked at the yard next to the bridge with a look of disgust.

"I don't know, it's my first time here."

Wei Ran was about to push the car door open as he spoke, but just as he was about to step out of the car with one foot, he accidentally saw an acquaintance at the door of the mental hospital!
"Why is she here?!" Wei Ran retracted the foot he had just stepped out, and then closed the car door with a bang!

"What's wrong?" Ji Ma, who had already got off the car, turned around and asked.

"nothing"

Wei Ran once again glanced at the woman who was singing in Italian on the lawn beside the entrance of the mental hospital, then looked at the twenty or so children sitting around her, and finally picked up the quarter horse and hung it on the gear lever Putting on the baseball cap on his back, he opened the car door for the second time.

As the distance got closer, he became more and more sure that the woman kneeling on the lawn and singing was really Monica from Italy!
Isn't she a social horror?
Wei Ran muttered something to himself, and immediately widened his eyes, because not far from him, that clean freak Taci, who was also from Italy, was kneeling on the side of the road with his butt pouted, walking out of the drain with his bare hands Picking out the rotting leaves!
Compared with Monica who was singing, Tassie in this state was much more unusual, especially at this time the other party not only did not wear protective clothing, but did not even have a mask and gloves. The most exaggerated thing was that when he was doing these things, There was a smile and a muddy idea on that somewhat handsome face!
How is this cured?
Wei Ran became more and more curious, so he simply quickened his pace, overtook Jima who was staring at Monica, ran directly into the building, and found Gorman who was hiding in the office and watching American dramas with his computer.

"Come here so soon?" Gorman closed the laptop with a normal expression, "Where's that bastard Jima?"

"Looking outside at Monica's pecs and thighs drooling"

Wei Ran sat down on the chair, "Gorman, why are they here?"

"The Patient Picked Up by Anna"

Gorman said nonchalantly, "Why, you know both of them?"

"Of course I know." Wei Ran looked out of the window again, and asked in amazement, "Are they recovering from illness?"

"They're not sick at all"

"Not sick?" For a while, he didn't understand what the other party was talking about.

"Of course I'm not sick"

Gorman spread his hands, "Of course, I have to admit that Monica sings really well, and Tassie is also very serious about her job as a cleaner."

"how did you do that?"

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he waved his hand, "I'll talk about this question later, why are you back here again? You don't want to work in the studio?"

"Originally, I just took advantage of your dismissal and Jima went to Egypt to film, so I came back to take a vacation."

Gorman pointed out the window at this point, and said without reservation, "Later, Anna said that she met two very interesting patients with mental illness, and the relatives of these two patients were quite successful. So my The holidays have been extended."

"But you just said both of them."

"The two of them are really not sick"

Gorman said angrily, "But just when I was about to send them away, a warm-hearted idiot sent a group of children who were really traumatized from Africa all the way. So my vacation had to be repeated. Just extend it for a while."

"Uh, you're talking about me, right?"

"Could it be the honorable Mr. Gorbachev?"

Gorman pointed to the children around Monica outside the window, and said with a sigh, "There are 23 children in total, and the oldest has just passed her 17th birthday, but she has already given birth to two children, and even these two The fathers of the children are not the same person."

"So much?" Wei Ran's brows twitched involuntarily.

"The oldest 10 are mothers, and the rest are their children."

Gorman lowered his voice slightly, "These ten girls are basically from the United States, Canada, Britain, and France, but asking their nationalities is the current limit.

The oldest of them had been locked up in an orphanage for five years, and the long-established fear prevented the poor girls from speaking any information about their own families. "

"What should we do next?" Wei Ran asked in a pale tone. At the beginning, he asked Teacher Anna for help just because of the bottom line in his heart, but he never thought about the follow-up questions.

"Let them live here for a while"

Gorman glanced at Jima who was already waving to him outside the window, and sighed almost muttering, "We have enough experience and patience in raising orphans."

　2>1
　　
　
(End of this chapter)