War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 687 Points to Mine No. 119

At noon on the third day when we came to the polar town of Tula, the Aurora Tavern was rarely open.

In the spacious hall on the first floor, on both sides of the dining table under the crystal chandelier, Maya and the middle-aged boss named Vitali sitting opposite the table, under the witness of Wei Ran, Sui Sui and others, A transfer agreement for the building underfoot is signed.

"Congratulations, Mr. Vitaly."

Sui Sui said happily, "Soon you will become a professional manager of a convalescent hotel."

"Thanks to Miss Aurora, I can't wait to take my family to Kazan." Vitali, the former owner of Aurora Tavern, said in a sincere tone with a trace of making Wei Ran, Jima and others Gratitude beyond human comprehension.

"We can all understand how you feel"

Sui Sui glanced at Maya's thumbs up behind her back, and said with a normal expression, "After the transfer procedures are completed, Dmitri will send you and your family to Irkutsk, and then you need to You and your family should switch to a regular flight and arrive in Kazan, and when you arrive in Kazan, someone will receive you. The school including your daughter’s transfer has been arranged.”

"Then let's not waste time"

Vitali, his wife who was standing behind him, and his daughter who came back from a special leave looked at each other, stood up and said impatiently, "Let's go through the formalities now."

"Maya, remember to pay." Sui Sui ordered, still dressed in a calm and breezy manner.

“We will be back soon”

Before Maya finished speaking, Jima had already stood up one step ahead, standing behind Maya like a professional housekeeper, taking advantage of the time when the former got up, and gently moved the chair back a certain distance.

Watching Jima and Maya follow Vitali's family out of the closed tavern, board the rented large off-road vehicle and drive away, Sui Sui, who looked like a man just now, immediately cheered happily, and directly put He hung himself on Wei Ran's body.

"You guys bought this place, what's next?" Wei Ran asked a key question.

"how could I know"

Sui Sui replied nonchalantly, "I didn't pay for it, let Maya have a headache about this kind of thing."

"makes sense"

Wei Ran didn't bother to think about it when he heard the words, and waited for the crazy girl in his arms to calm down, then asked her to sit down and wait patiently.

Perhaps because the town was not too big, Jima and Maya drove back to the tavern in less than half an hour.

"Where's Vitaly?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"The family has been sent to the airport by Dmitry"

While Ji Ma was talking, he had already walked into the bar, reached out from the wine rack and pulled a bottle of red wine that looked good, opened it, and brought over a few goblets, giving everyone, including the Katenka sisters, a drink of their own. Poured half a glass of red wine.

"They're still in a hurry." Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded, lightly touched the glass with Sui Sui beside him, and poured it into his mouth.

"Thanks to Aurora," Maya said gratefully, "Vitaly now insists that arriving in Kazan one day later will save one day's money."

"Leave them alone"

Sui Sui put down the cup and asked the question Wei Ran just asked, "Maya, after buying this tavern, what will happen next? Is it not going to open?"

"of course not"

Maya then put down the glass and explained, "Dmitri will come over to help run this tavern temporarily. Mr. Karp said that someone will take over here."

"So we don't have to stay here?"

Jima joined the topic at the right time, "Maya, since this is the case, why don't we stay and help Victor and Aurora?"

"This scum can really talk"

Sui Sui smiled and taunted in Chinese that only she and Wei Ran could understand, "We need his help?"

"He's not even as useful as Beria." Wei Ran also gave his opinion with a smile on his face, and then bumped fists with Sui Sui tacitly.

"What are you two secretly saying?" Jima asked vigilantly.

"It's nothing." Wei Ran spread his hands, and finally helped his good friend without a trace, "You can discuss it slowly, we will start to go to Needham downstream first."

"Sister Ma is so pitiful"

Sui Sui joked one last sentence in Chinese for self-amusement, greeted the Katenka sisters who were sitting on the sidelines and watched the fun, and went out.

Almost at the same time they started the two cars, Jima and Maya also chased them out of the tavern. At the same time, Dmitry also drove over in a tattered van.

"Dmitry, the tavern is in your hands."

Ji Ma sent the key chain that was just used to lock the door of the tavern directly along the car window that the former had just lowered, and then anxiously greeted Maya to get in the car, stepped on the accelerator and caught up with Wei Ran who had just driven out of the parking lot and others.

Dmitry, who was about to say something, weighed the key chain in his hand, then simply turned off the engine, and waited until the three large off-road vehicles completely disappeared at the corner of the joint, and then walked slowly He took out the satellite phone from his pocket and dialed it.

While he was communicating with the person on the other side through the mobile phone, Wei Ran also drove the off-road vehicle into the frozen Lower Tunguska River.

Although it is only mid-to-early October, the river has completely frozen, and some off-road trucks that are not too heavy have also replaced the work of summer cargo ships and started to gallop on the flat ice.

"Jima, how about you lead the way?" Wei Ran deliberately said on the radio channel, "After all, only you know the exact location of that old teacher."

Knowing that Wei Ran was helping himself, Ji Ma immediately agreed happily, stepped on the accelerator and drove to the front, and started the unnecessary work of leading the way.

"I'll bet a bottle of beer that Ji's scum won't take advantage of it." Sui Sui, who was sitting in the co-pilot, said with certainty.

"Maybe I'll have to suffer some more," Wei Ran echoed expectantly.

Speaking of it, Jima is not stupid, but after meeting Maya, she just licked the dog a little bit, but Maya is a little too smart.So don't look at the current Ji Ma's appearance that he is about to eat meat. In fact, it's really hard to say who is the hunter and who is the prey.

During the teasing of Jima, a group of three vehicles drove along the winding river for about half an hour, and finally a gathering area smaller than the small town of Tula appeared on the right side of the river.

What's more interesting is that on the island in the middle of the river facing the town, there is also a conspicuous iron sign, on which a sentence is spelled out in sky blue Cyrillic letters with red borders - "On the other side is the It's Needham."

Driving up the river bank along the slope paved with snow, there is no need to get off the car. This triangular town distributed along the river bank can almost have a panoramic view.

"The Needham we're looking for lives at the extreme edge of the southwest direction of the town, the farthest from the river."

On the radio channel, Jima explained based on the clues he collected the day before, "It is said that the roof of his house is brown. It's very easy to forget that I didn't say it."

Ji Ma resentfully put the walkie-talkie aside. Most of the roofs of the buildings outside the car window were covered with a layer of snow, and the color of the roofs could not be seen at all.

Fortunately, Jima finally remembered to open his mouth. After he asked a few town residents warmly and cordially, he finally stopped the train at the door of a wooden house next to the forest.

Similar to most buildings in the polar region, this wooden house is also propped up about one meter above the ground by load-bearing columns that have been driven into the permafrost. On one side of the wooden house, there is a garage also made of logs, hanging through the garage door. The translucent plastic sheet is covered, and the van parked inside can be vaguely seen.

When the three cars were turned off one after another outside the fence surrounded by iron sheets with a height of only one and a half meters, a man wearing suspenders and jeans with round glasses on his face and a beard and hair came out of the wooden house that looked extraordinarily warm. He is neatly organized and looks like an old man who is about 60 years old.

"Are you visiting my house?" The old man smiled and greeted Wei Ran and others who pushed the car door.

"If you are Mr. Lauritz, then we may have to prepare a door-to-door gift." While speaking, Jima shook the two bottles of high-end champagne in his hand.

"Good boy, come in quickly." The old man named Lauritz beckoned to everyone gently.

"He said I was a good boy"

Jima took the champagne brought from the tavern, and left the off-road vehicle with Maya who was too lazy to talk to him.

When the six of them walked into the yard and then into the warm wooden house, Lauritz said, "Are you the students I taught? Why don't I remember any of my students?" twin?"

"Mr. Laurits, it is a pity that we are not your students."

Jima said solemnly, "We found you here through Ruslan who works at the Tula Wharf."

"Ruslan?"

Lauritz immediately acted like he had realized something, "I remembered, he called me yesterday afternoon and said that a young man from a big city wanted to ask me something, so he was talking about you?"

"If there is no accident, it will be us." Wei Ran took the topic with a smile.

"Then sit down first"

Lauritz warmly invited everyone to sit down around the long table in the living room. Taking advantage of Jima helping to introduce Wei Ran and others, he also walked slowly to the fireplace and started to make coffee.

At the same time, everyone was also looking at the layout of the house.

There are not many furniture in this room, but they are all interesting.The most conspicuous thing is the various instruments on the shelves in the corner of the living room, ranging from accordions to violins to flutes and harmonicas.

In addition, there are photo frames hanging on the surrounding walls. In those photo frames, basically all of them are photos of Lauritz, a very temperamental woman and various children.

"Mr. Laurits, you must be a music teacher?" Sui Sui couldn't help asking.

"I am a geography teacher, and I am also an amateur photographer after retirement"

Lauritz poured a cup of coffee for Sui Sui, and explained with a smile, "My wife is the music teacher. If you want to ask questions about music, I'm afraid it will take a few days. She took the children to the Tulu Hanks participated in a music performance, you must know where Tulu Hanks is?"

"Where is it?" Sui Sui subconsciously looked at Wei Ran.

"The confluence of the Lower Tunguska River and the Yenisei River." Wei Ran explained with a smile, "It's one of the places where Stalin was exiled."

"Standard answer, I reward you with a cup of coffee."

While the funny Lauritz was talking, he poured Wei Ran a cup of coffee, "So you come here to find me, is there anything I can do for you?"

After thanking the other party for the coffee, Wei Ran took out the photo of the auditorium from his pocket and pushed it to the other party, "Mr. Laurits, we would like to know where this photo was taken. Ruslan at the pier and us Say, you might be able to point us in a direction."

Hearing this, Lauritz slowly picked up the glasses on the table and put them on, looked at the photo and then shook his head, "Sorry, I don't remember seeing such a place, but I'm sure, this should be some place Auditorium of a mine."

Without waiting for everyone to ask, Lauritz took the initiative to explain, "My wife once took her students to many mines for music performances. The chandeliers used in those auditoriums are almost exactly the same as those in the photos. Many of them are still It’s an old antique from the Soviet era.”

This old guy can do it
Wei Ran secretly admired, took out the clues he had prepared and asked, "Then Lauritz, do you know which mines were abandoned between 1960 and 1965?"

"1960 to 1965?" Lauritz looked at Wei Ran in confusion.

Seeing this, Wei Ran pointed to Khrushchev in the photo, and the ridicule written in red paint on the other side of the national emblem, "Since the portrait is of Khrushchev, and there is a sentence from Beria If it is ridiculed, then it must have been abandoned at the end of Khrushchev's administration.

And it must have been before Brezhnetsov came to power and extended his influence here, otherwise there should be at least [-] medals in the frame of the photo. "

"Twenty thousand medals? Hahahaha!"

Lauritz couldn't help but let out a series of hearty smiles, then stood up, walked to the bookshelf in the corner of the living room, and said while searching, "For the sake of those [-] medals, although I can't tell you the photos where the Great Hall is, but you may be able to find out for yourself."

Having said that, Lauritz has pulled out a hardcover book that looks like it is three fingers thick and at least the size of an A4 paper from the bookshelf.

Picking up a rag and gently wiping the dust that didn't exist on the hardcover book, Lauritz handed it to Wei Ran, "This is the information left by my father, and it may contain the answer you want. "

He took the hardcover book and opened it. There were only two photos on the first page. In the black and white photo on the left, it was a young man with a Prussian hazelnut head.In the color photo fixed side by side on the right side of the page is an octogenarian with white hair, a cigarette butt in his mouth, and a cane.

"That's my father"

Lauritz explained with a normal expression, "As you will definitely hear, he is a German prisoner of war."

"Put this away."

Jima hesitated for a while, and asked the question that had been accumulated in his heart for a long time, "Mr. Laurits, why didn't your father leave the Soviet Union at that time?"

"This is probably the question I hear most often"

Lauritz took a sip of coffee and explained gently, "My father is a Sudeten, which is the main reason why he didn't leave. In addition, after he was sent to Siberia as a prisoner of war, he soon died because of For various reasons, he became a prospector and mastered a lot of geological data through this job. This is the second reason why he can't leave here. Of course, there is another important reason, he fell in love with my mother .”

"Where is Sudeten?"

The ignorant Jima and Sui Sui looked at Wei Ran in no particular order, and then Maya and Katenka sisters also looked over, and even Lauritz looked at him with a face full of exams. .

Wei Ran pouted secretly, and replied with a normal expression, "Simply speaking, this is not a place name with a geographical concept, it represents the three places where German-speaking residents lived in the territory of Czechoslovakia near Germany before the end of World War II. Large tracts of land. Of course, after the Munich conference, Sudetenland was occupied by Germany."

"So?" Suho asked.

"Germany lost World War II"

Wei Ran spread his hands, "Czechoslovakia is going back to Sudetenland, and all the German-speaking residents there are deported to Germany. I think Mr. Lauritz's father failed to go back, probably because there is no place to go back. ?”

"That's about it"

Laurits nodded in satisfaction, as if the person they were chatting with was not his father at all, "So young man, are you also a geography major?"

"History" Wei Ran replied frankly.

"No wonder"

Laurits pointed to the hardcover book still in front of Wei Ran, "Before retiring in 84, my father went to most of the mines in the Tunguska coalfield, and of course, including the various small mines where he served his sentence. .

After retiring, he sorted out the situation of most of the mines he visited, and all of them were there.Young man, I hope my father can help you. "

Hearing this, Wei Ran just turned a page at the back of the room, and Sui Sui and others also surrounded her with their heads poking around, only Katenka and sisters were sipping coffee as usual, and the other was pretending to appreciate The group photo on the wall, secretly watching the car outside, and the kind old man.

As for Wei Ran and others, at this time, they really don’t know whether to attribute the detailed information they saw to the so-called “German-style earnestness”, or simply think that it is an old man who has worked in the mine all his life and loves his work.

Because in this thick book, the name of each mine, the mining time, the type of minerals mined, the degree of enrichment, and the time and reasons for closing down are all recorded in a simple but detailed manner.

Not only that, but at the end of each mine, a hand-painted map is attached, clearly marking the exact location!

, Even, Lauritz proudly explained that he helped to draw all the maps in this book full of materials.

After obtaining the other party's permission, Sui Sui immediately called Anfisa who was beside her to help him fetch the SLR from the car, and took a photo of each page.

At the same time, with the help of Anfisa and Maya, Wei Ran sorted out all the mines that were closed between 1960 and 1965 in this document.Unsurprisingly, this list of more than 119 mines includes the No. [-] mine in Lower Tunguska!
By the time Sui Sui took a picture of the last page, the temperatureless sun outside the window had already hidden most of her body below the horizon, and even Lauritz had prepared a sumptuous dinner that was enough for so many of them.

The other party was so enthusiastic, they naturally couldn't refuse, so they simply stayed and had a meal with Lauritz.

During the chatting during the meeting, everyone also inadvertently learned that almost every weekend, students who he and his wife had taught would come here for gatherings.

The oldest of them all already have children, and the youngest is still in high school.Even the long table, which is rarely used by ordinary people, was specially prepared for the convenience of him and his wife's students coming to have dinner together.

After dinner, everyone took a group photo in the living room of the old man's house at the request of the old man, and then left various gifts and left.

Going upstream along the frozen Lower Tunguska River, when they drove back to the small town of Tula and parked at the entrance of the Aurora Tavern, which had resumed business, it was already past eight o'clock in the evening.

"Where are we going next?" In the empty hall on the third floor of the tavern, Sui Sui kicked off her shoes and asked while sitting cross-legged on the soft leather sofa.

“Go to Yukta”

Wei Ran replied while drawing the satellite map, "We still have to go to Yuketa to see, and I just checked the information I compiled. On our way to Yuketa, we will pass by a man named Yeika. place.

This place is only about 40 kilometers away from Yuketa, but here, there is a tributary of the Lower Tunguska River extending northward.Among the twenty or so abandoned mines that meet the requirements we sorted out from the materials left by Lauritz's father, six of them are within the watershed of this tributary. "

Sui Sui obviously kept up with Wei Ran's channel, "So if Yukta finds nothing, we will go north along the tributary from that place called Yeika?"

"That's it." Wei Ran nodded, "Maybe it will take some time to waste."

"So when are we going to leave?" Sui Sui asked impatiently.

"Why are you so interested?" Wei Ran couldn't help asking.

"Because I had a bold idea"

After Sui Sui finished speaking, Wei Ran looked at her strangely, obviously the bold ideas of these two people did not seem to refer to the same thing.

But this time, Sui Sui rarely explained, but urged, "If you've made up your mind, don't waste time, how about we set off as soon as possible?"

"Jima, are you going with me?" Wei Ran asked Jima who was sitting on the other side.

"Maya, come with us." Without waiting for Jima to speak, Sui Sui took the initiative to invite Maya who was applying a facial mask next to her, "I need your help this time."

Her words almost moved Jima to tears, but Maya tore off the mask, and turned her back to Jima and winked at Suisui.

"Not because of that scum"

Sui Sui leaned into Maya's ear and said, "But you have to be responsible for driving the car the whole time. When we return, I need to know how you feel."

"As long as you find a way to prevent Jima from getting into the car where I sleep in the middle of the night, it will be fine." Maya put forward the only condition.

"I'll leave it to you." Sui Sui turned to look at Wei Ran.

"I'm going to take Dmitry this time. He's already making preparations. It's enough to let Jima sleep in the same car with him."

Before Wei Ran finished speaking, Dmitri, the chatterbox, also walked up to the third floor, habitually picked up Beria, the dog who was about to bark his teeth at him, and said enthusiastically, "Victor, I It's ready, we're ready to go anytime."

"Then do it now!" Wei Ran stood up and pointed to Jima, "He sleeps in the same car as you."

"No problem!" Dmitry happily agreed, "It just so happens that someone chats with me."

"I don't want to." Jima looked bitterly at Wei Ran, who was selectively blind and deaf, and then looked pitifully at Maya.

"It's ok"

Dmitry said with a smile, "If you don't want to go, you can stay in the tavern and help me take care of the business here."

"Please prepare some more earplugs for me." Jima, whose dreams were shattered, feebly put forward the only request.

Now that they decided to start, everyone didn't waste any more time. After they went downstairs, they got into their own cars.

Fortunately, Maya managed to save face for Jima. The two got into the same car after all, but Maya grabbed the driving seat according to Sui Sui's request.As for Dmitry, whom Wei Ran deliberately called, he also got into a car of the same model, and even attached an additional four-wheeled cargo bucket full of supplies to the back of Jima's car.

As the lights of the four vehicles came on, Dmitry left the parking lot for the first time and drove along the Lower Tunguska River in the direction of Yukta in the dark.

The distance between the two places is more than 60 kilometers. With these six-wheel off-road vehicles with a top speed of only [-] kilometers per hour and an actual speed of [-] or even lower for most of the time, it will take at least a whole night to drive.

Fortunately, Sui Sui didn't know what kind of madness he had, and he took over the driving job on his own initiative since he got in the car.Wei Ran was naturally happy to relax, and continued to hold the laptop, planning the next route.

According to his plan, he will not stay for too long after arriving in Yukta, he will turn back and return to the mouth of the river named Yeika, and then go north from there to a forest farm code-named Tunguska No. 58 Shake the place, then continue north along the tributary, go directly to the final destination of this trip, the No. 119 mine in Tunguska!
(End of this chapter)