War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 657 The Attitude of the Seven
In the hot compartment, the charcoal fire was burning vigorously, and the two solid wood tables combined were also filled with all kinds of heated canned food and stewed venison.Of course, there are roasted slices of big Lieba, and only one glass of vodka per person.

In the center of the dining table, the Channel 8 portable radio was blasting the Beacon Radio news program at full volume.

"What happened to the Soviet Union?"

Dr. Murat frowned and muttered to himself, the glass of vodka hovered in his mouth for a long time, but it was not poured into his mouth.

In this snowy Siberian wilderness, the doctor was wearing a white shirt with a tie on his upper body—even though the 24-hour watch on his wrist was the same as the base winter suit he was wearing on the lower body It doesn't match the shirt and tie that should be worn with the suit at all.

"The country is sick"

Dr. Pavel, who was also holding a wine glass, reached forward and touched Murat again, but he didn't drink it, but said with a suppressed anger, "The one who treats the disease of this country, Still a quack!"

Compared with Dr. Murat, this Dr. Pavel's clothes look a bit bohemian, with a sea soul shirt with some holes, loose Afghan combat pants, and even a pair of high-waisted military boots on his feet. If it wasn't for the young people around him calling him a doctor, Wei Ran would have even thought this muscular hunk was an elite guy.

"Ugh!"

Dr. Murat resigned to his fate and drank the wine in the glass in one gulp, then exhaled forcefully, "Taras, change the channel, change to a happier one."

Hearing this, sitting next to Wei Ran, the blond student with glasses immediately put down the slice of bread that had just been covered with foie gras, stretched out his hand and twisted the knob on the radio. After a few words, the loudspeaker finally blared out the passionate music popular in this era - American Boy.

"I take back what I just said"

Pavel directly pulled Talas' hand away, and said angrily while adjusting the channel himself, "This damn country is not sick, but poisoned! It has been poisoned by the United States! Look at the good things those idiots have done!"

"Clap!"

Pavel simply turned off the radio, and the warm compartment fell into silence.

“Hurry up and eat”

Murat sighed and said, "After eating, Apoli and Victor will work hard, and we will rush back to the camp for supplies immediately. Then we have to return to the exploration site immediately."

"Should we continue?" A bald student asked in a low voice. Wei Ran had seen his photo, so he naturally knew that this bald student was from Agwan, Latvia.

"You can stay in the camp and leave here with the security vehicle of the camp."

The student named Taras said disdainfully, "Since September 9 when you decided to break away from the Soviet Union, don't you always want to go back? Stupid Latvians?"

"But I didn't leave for a moment, did I?" Agwan said angrily, "I complain not because Latvia broke away from the Soviet Union, but because"

"Okay, let's eat quickly."

Murat, the eldest in the carriage, tapped the small enamel pot containing red cabbage soup with a wooden spoon, and said very seriously, "Children, the straight-line distance from Moscow is about [-] kilometers. Sick or poisoned, what can we do for the time being?"

"Murat is right"

Pavel continued, "Our job is to complete our sampling work as soon as possible before the permafrost thaws. It has nothing to do with whether you are Russians or Latvians. Here, you are all scientific exploration on the Pickaxe." worker."

"And this may be the last chance for us to work together," Murat said quietly. "Cherish this opportunity, children, and cherish our friendship."

In the silent carriage, a student named Taras raised his glass, "Agwan, my friend, I apologize to you."

"You owe me a bottle of vodka." The bald-headed Agwan happily raised his glass and touched him.

"If you can get a share of vodka when you return to the camp this time, I will give you my vodka." After Truss finished speaking, he also drank the wine in the glass.

Compared with the two young people who had let go of their suspicions, and the two doctors who looked angry and melancholy, the other two students and the driver Apoli remained silent on both sides of the table.

However, compared to the worry on Apolly's face, the student from Minsk, named Sharip, and the student from Estonia, named Gennady, looked a little indifferent, as if their classmates It's the same as the teacher's troubles, which don't affect them at all.

Even the student named Gennady took out a coin from his pocket, and Shalip, who was sitting across from him, competed for the small amount of vodka in the opponent's glass by guessing heads and tails.

"You two seem very happy?" Wei Ran couldn't help asking.

"if not?"

Shalip asked back with a smile, "Can we calm down those big figures on the radio with a sad face?"

"Just like Mr. Murat said"

Gennady sang and said, "It's four thousand kilometers away from Moss. Since we can't change what's going on no matter what we do, why don't we work hard and have fun as Comrade Lenin said? What about the rest of the heart?"

"That's right"

While talking, Pavel took out a pack of cheap cigarettes from his pocket and distributed them to everyone, "Gennady and Comrade Lenin are right, we should work hard and rest happily .Okay, children, let's eat quickly."

Having said that, it is obvious that because of the broadcast just now, or because of the brief conflict between Talas and Agwan, this fairly sumptuous dinner has become a little tasteless.

"I'm full. Just let me know when you decide to leave. I'll be in the cab."

The driver of the transport vehicle, Apoli, said the only sentence since the meal was opened, and then without waiting for everyone to respond, he picked up the cup and drank it, and then got up and left the car on his own.

With the opening of the rear hatch, the howling cold wind made everyone in the compartment shiver. By the time they realized it, Apolly had already closed the hatch from the outside.

"Keep eating," Dr. Murat urged, but he didn't say anything more.

I hurriedly finished my own red cabbage soup and bread slices, as well as two fat and juicy deer steaks.Wei Ran got up silently, and walked to the side of the bunk with his name plate hanging on it.

This bunk belongs to the position against the wall, and the small sign hanging on the bunk above the head says Apoli's name.And under the bed, there are four long boxes placed side by side.

Not surprisingly, the crates also had their names written on them.He took out two long boxes that belonged to him and looked at them. In addition to toothbrushes and toothbrush and other toiletries, one of them also contained a few thick towels.

Pull out another one to have a look. In addition to a set of Afghan card combat uniforms and matching boots, foot wraps, and cotton caps, there are additional pairs of socks, some close-fitting underwear, warm pants and the like.

In the interlayer of his clothes, he also dug out a Zenit 1967M SLR camera produced by the Soviet Union in 3.

What is quite special is that on the body of this camera, the words "1917-1967" are printed in red, and the outline of the warship drawn by simple lines below undoubtedly proves that this camera is a commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the "October Revolution" version camera.

What is quite commendable is that this camera uses a Mir37/2.8 lens, which won the World Expo award that year.

And the reason why he can recognize so many is all due to the short study in the camera shop of the veteran Leva. Not only has he personally used the same camera, but Leva also explained this camera in detail. And behind this lens, the optical industry of the Soviet Union was once short-lived.

However, it is a bit too ironic to use a camera commemorating the [-]th anniversary of the October Revolution to photograph these students, teachers, and soldiers under the background of the disintegration of the Soviet Union.He even doubted that this was not the outbreak of the metal book's bad taste.

This is just a passerby like myself who can calmly watch. If it were any one of them, during this period of time, whenever I press the shutter with this camera, I must have mixed feelings.

Flipping through the interlayer of the clothes again, seeing that there were still two large boxes of at least a dozen film rolls inside, Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, but finally stuffed the camera back into the clothes.

After bidding farewell to the six teachers and students in the car, and temporarily escaping from the dull atmosphere, Wei Ran, who was dressed neatly again, opened the car door, stepped on the snow-covered metal ladder and left, and then helped the tower squatting at the door. Russ dragged the metal ladder into the car and closed the door.

When he got back into the cockpit, Apollo started the engine the moment he closed the door.Amidst the low roar of the engine, this huge transport vehicle started to move forward again.

After "Victor" Apoli steered the car across a frozen river, he asked abruptly, "Is this really our last chance to work together?"

"I"

After hesitating for a moment, Wei Ran finally shook his head and responded with a slightly louder voice, "I don't know."

"Where are you from?" Apolly lowered the speed of the car slightly and asked, "I don't seem to have asked where you are from."

"Kazan, what about you?"

While Wei Ran was asking questions, he took out a pack of cigarettes from the wooden box between the two of them and opened it, took out one and handed it to the other party.

Different from the six people in the back compartment, this driver named Apoli looks completely Asian, but the Soviet Union's land area is so large that he can't tell through his skin color and hair color. Where is the other party from.

"Guriyev"

"Guriyev?" Wei Ran thought for a while, and finally asked, "Where is that place?"

"Kazakhstan" Apoli explained with a normal expression, "My home is on the shore of the Caspian Sea, you always know about the Caspian Sea, right?"

"Know"

Wei Ran couldn't help grinning, if he looked at the time and space he was in, the seven people in this car came from six countries.But at this time, most of them are still Soviets.

"I don't know if Hasa will also choose to be independent." Apoli's voice was a little softer, but it was just enough for Wei Ran to hear.

"What is your opinion?"

"I have no opinion"

Apoli said frankly, "I joined the army just because I didn't want to keep raising pigs, but I also didn't want to serve in such a ghostly place. But if Hasa is also independent, maybe I will go back to raise pigs again."

"So, you don't like military service and pig raising?" After a moment of silence, Apoli just shook his head and increased the speed of the car, but didn't say anything else.

In unspeakable silence, the transport vehicle passed through a snow-covered forest, crossed two riverbeds and a snow-covered wasteland, and finally entered a land next to the coniferous forest. camp.

Outside the car window, in addition to two crawler transport vehicles, this camp also has a bulldozer and a snow wall pushed out by the bulldozer.

And inside the nearly two-meter-high snow wall, in addition to several large tents, there are actually two big red oil storage tanks with skids on the side. On the back of the MAZ537 heavy-duty towing truck, there is also a large-scale fuel generator in operation.

It is also the abundant power provided by this large generator that makes the camp almost brightly lit.

Seeing two teams of soldiers approaching, Apoli immediately parked the car under the guidance of the two small red flags in the opponent's hand and turned off the engine.Seeing that Apoli opened the car door and jumped off, Wei Ran quickly followed.

Following Apoli's example, they went to the back compartment to get the toiletries and a change of clothes, and the two walked into a steaming tent one after the other.

And behind them, Dr. Murat and Dr. Pavel are leading their students, busy carrying some wooden boxes next to each other from the cargo box.

After taking a last look at the busy teachers and students, Wei Ran got into the tent at the urging of Apoli.

After taking a comfortable hot bath, I followed Apoli to another tent connected to the sauna for half an hour. When they came out with clean clothes, Murat and others had just taken the toiletries go here.

"Do you want to get a haircut?" Apolly asked as he walked.

"Let's go together," Wei Ran said without even thinking about it. At this time, it is obviously a wiser choice to follow Apoli than to run around.

Under the leadership of the other party, I cut my hair and shaved my beard in a slightly smaller tent, and then went to a big tent with the smell of food for an extra meal, and blatantly walked away with a dozen apples and oranges , the two walked towards their transport vehicle again.

In such a short time, the transport vehicle has been filled with fuel, and even the warehouse is filled with various vegetables, frozen meat, canned food, and even bread in cardboard boxes and bags of flour.

Not only that, but even the living quarters used for living in the back have special personnel responsible for changing clean bedding and blankets.

"Comrade Apollo, Comrade Victor"

A well-dressed soldier saluted and handed over a document, "The supply has been completed, is there anything else that needs attention?"

Apoli raised his hand in a perfunctory manner as a salute, and after taking the document and signing it without looking at it, he said, "How about giving us two more barrels of fuel, and helping us get an extra box of vodka?"

"this."

"One bear skin and five wolf skins," Apolly said in a low voice, "get us some more cigarettes and candies."

“Fuel and vodka are fine”

The soldier who was fully wrapped up said in a low voice, "Cigarettes are fine, but sweets are long gone, but we have a lot of condensed milk."

"Where's the fruit?"

"Apple, we have plenty of apples," the soldier whispered.

"Since there are a lot, why don't you get us a basket of apples and a box of condensed milk?" Apolly said bluntly.

"I want to see how big the bear's hide is first"

"no problem"

Apoli returned the folder in his hand to the other party, quickly climbed up to the roof of the cab, and after pulling away the snow, untied one bear skin and five wolf skins and threw them to a place where the lights of the camp could not reach. in the shadows.

Calling Wei Ran to help spread out these animal skins, the soldier nodded in satisfaction immediately, "Two barrels of fuel, one box of vodka, five cigarettes, one box of condensed milk, and one basket of apples."

"Is there any chili?" Wei Ran, who had been silent just now, asked before Apoli nodded.

"chili?"

The soldier froze for a moment, and replied in an uncertain tone, "I'll find out after going to the kitchen."

Apoli glanced at Wei Ran, and then said with a normal expression, "If there is, help us get some more."

"No problem!" The soldier shook the folder in his hand, "As usual, none of this will be recorded here."

"No need to remind"

Apoli took a step back while speaking, letting the soldier and his companions roll up the animal skins and bury them in the snowdrift not far away.

"Get in the car" Apoli greeted in a low voice, then opened the door and got into the cab with a little bit of residual heat.

"What will they do with those animal skins?" Wei Ran asked curiously in a low voice.

"How do I know?" Apollo responded, and then said, "But I guess it will sell for a good price."

"Some people in Moscow must think so now."

Wei Ran muttered something to himself, but he didn't continue the topic. Instead, he just waited patiently in the dark cab.

Less than 10 minutes before and after, the bulldozer drove over with a whimper.Seeing this, Apoli immediately pushed open the skylight of the prototype above his head.Wei Ran, on the other hand, leaned close to the car window, looking coldly at the rearview mirror, where a few soldiers sent two large barrels of fuel into the warehouse with the rocker arm that came with the door of the warehouse.

When the hatch door of the cargo warehouse was closed, Apoli also got back into the driver's cab. At the same time, Wei Ran also pushed open the door, and silently took over the whole box raised by the soldier standing in the bucket outside the driver's cab. Condensed milk, a basket of apples and a case of vodka.

When the last box was passed to Wei Ran, the soldier whose face was covered by a mask moved his hood closer to the driver's cab, pointed to the box that Wei Ran had just passed to Apolly and said, "I only found some Dried peppers, so I added a few cans of tuna and a few cans of Salou meat for you, and there seems to be a can of tomato sauce."

"You are so generous today," Apolly said in surprise.

"Generosity comes at a price"

The soldier lowered his voice, "Apolly, if you want to buy something extra when you come back next time, you must prepare more things that can be traded."

"What's wrong?" Apollo asked, frowning.

"Vassily told me that there seems to be some problems with the logistics supply recently. Apart from the basic supplies, it may be difficult to get the rest of the things."

Having said that, the soldier took off the cotton cap on his head, took out two letters from it and handed them to Apoli, "This is your letter, which was delivered with it the day before yesterday."

"Thank you"

Apolly took the letter and put it aside casually, and handed it to the other party by taking out an envelope from the net pocket above his head, "Shagoli, help me post this letter."

"Sagoli?"

Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, and subconsciously looked at the man who was about to receive the letter.He remembered clearly that the owner of the apartment where the documents and the revolver were found back then was the name of her husband!

"No problem." The soldier put the letter from Apolly into his cotton cap, and then put it on his head.

Watching the other party leave the cab and help him close the car door, Wei Ran couldn't help asking, "Is he Shagol?"

"Otherwise, who else could it be?" Apolly responded naturally, "Don't you know him?"

"I just didn't recognize it." Wei Ran yawned deliberately, "Maybe I'm too tired."

"Don't try to be lazy"

Apoli tore open one of the letters while talking, "You will need to drive on the return trip later, let's sort out these things now, I want to read the letters my mother and my wife wrote to me."

"You and Sha Geli have a good relationship?" Wei Ran asked while stacking the wooden boxes on the seat into the space behind the seat.

"certainly"

Apoli responded of course, "Before performing this stupid task, I was the chef responsible for driving the cooking truck and cutting the meat.

Sha Geli is the chef who is responsible for baking bread on the cooking cart. Of course, he is also responsible for the supply of ingredients.

He would have been driving this car with me if it wasn't for the cook who bakes bread here at the camp. "

"Is he also from Hasa?" Wei Ran continued to ask curiously.

"Ukebab"

Apolly shook the letter paper in his hand, and said impatiently, "Victor, can't you let me concentrate on reading the letter my wife wrote to me?"

"Look, look." Wei Ran waved his hands embarrassingly.

"Change the seat, wait for you to drive." Apoli stood up while speaking.

Changing places with the other party, Wei Ran looked at Qian's densely packed dashboard and various switches, but was a little worried. He had never driven this thing before.

I looked up and looked out the car window. Fortunately, perhaps for the convenience of going out, there was an entrance and exit not far in front, and a transport vehicle was driving out from there at this time.

With the help of the reading light that Apoli had just turned on, Wei Ran seized the time to study the respective functions of those switches and instruments, and then he became a little more at ease.

After waiting for about half an hour, Murat and others came back together. After a while, Dr. Pavel's voice came from the small speaker above his head, "Apoli, Victor, it's time for us to go."

"Received" Wei Ran picked up the microphone hanging at hand and responded, then fumbled to start the engine.

Contrary to his expectations, this big guy was far easier to drive than he had imagined—except that he forgot the long tail behind him when he left the camp, so he rubbed off a big piece of the snow wall boss.

Following the ruts left by Apolly, Wei Ran steered the huge vehicle forward slowly, while Apolly, who was in the co-pilot position, put all his attention on the two letters in his hand.

After driving continuously for almost two hours, Wei Ran also returned to his "birth" position and continued to walk forward. The ruts on the snow were still extremely clear, and Apoli next to him also finished writing his letter.

"This is my son." Apoli handed a color photo to Wei Ran.

After receiving the photo, Wei Ran glanced at the little guy in national costume and the maroon pony held by the little guy, and then asked with a smile, "How old is he?"

"five years old"

Apoli pinned this photo in the net pocket above his head, looked sideways at the snow scene outside the window and said, "I haven't seen this little guy for a whole year, if Hasa is also independent, maybe I don't have to Serving in this ghost place, you can come back to him and grow up with him."

"maybe"

Wei Ran responded faintly, but for a moment he didn't know how to use this topic to continue the conversation.After all, if you just miss your family and your children, there is no need for such a big excuse.

(End of this chapter)