War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 7 The Waltz of Flowers

Lieutenant Lev played with the PPK pistol he just picked up, and then handed it to Wei Ran reluctantly, "Your spoils, this is not something ordinary German soldiers can use."

After taking a look at the pistol, Wei Ran passed it to Lieutenant Lev, "Take it, I don't need it."

"Then I'm welcome!"

Lieutenant Lev happily took off the cowhide holster from the waist of the corpse and hung it on his waist, then inserted the pistol into it, covered it with the hem of his tattered clothes, and then continued to rummage through the corpse for possible Useful things.

"It's biscuits again. Bless you, Comrade Lenin! There's still wine!"

Lieutenant Lev took out a silver jug ​​from the corpse's arms in surprise, but unfortunately when he unscrewed the lid and poured it into his mouth, there was only a small mouthful.

"Sorry, I accidentally drank it all." Lieutenant Lev said awkwardly.

Wei Ran waved his hands with a wry smile, "It's okay, let's go see that little girl."

"She won't live long"

Lieutenant Lev threw away the flagon in his hand, smashed the sniper's rifle optical sight with the butt of his gun, and then removed the firing pin and put it in his pocket, "I guess it won't be long before the Germans will catch up, and It is impossible for us to complete the mission with her."

"At least let her have a full meal." Wei Ran stood up unsteadily, dragged his slightly trembling body with weak legs, and walked towards the small room next to the stairwell.

From the beginning to the end, the skinny little girl didn't make a sound, but just hid in the corner and shivered obediently, wrapped in a blanket.

Wei Ran took the biscuit from Lieutenant Lev and handed it to her. Seeing this, the little girl immediately stretched out her thin, dirty hand, put the biscuit into her mouth and started to gobble it up.

"Drink"

Wei Ran untied the water bottle on his waist, only to find that a bullet had been embedded in it at some point, and the water in it had already leaked out.

"Drink mine." Lieutenant Lev, who followed in, took off his water bottle and threw it over. "I'm going to see Oleg."

Taking advantage of the absence of Lieutenant Lev, Wei Ran took out more than half of the biscuit box he seized not long ago, and stuffed it directly into the hand of the little girl who was almost choked by the water, and asked softly, "What's your name?" ?”

The girl put down the kettle, pointed her dirty fingers at her throat and ears, and then waved her hands.Wei Ran sighed secretly, waved his hand to signal that the other party kept the water bottle and didn't need to return it to him, stood up and was about to go out.

But in the next moment, he felt his legs being hugged, and he lowered his head. The skinny little girl looked up at him eagerly with half a biscuit in her mouth.

"You want to go with me?" Wei Ran thought he had guessed the answer.

But she didn't want to, the little girl simply shook her head, raised her finger and pointed at the grenade on Wei Ran's waist.

"Why do you want this?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

The little girl looked at Wei Ran quietly, her big eyes had long since lost the trembling just now, instead there was a calmness and anticipation that was rare amidst the rumbling gunfire.

"Ugh"

Wei Ran sighed, and after struggling for a long time, he silently pulled out the only two grenades from his waist and handed them to the little girl.

Looking at the big smile on the other's dirty little face, Wei Ran left the small room in a panic as if he had been scalded.

And behind him, the little girl calmly crossed herself on her chest, then hid the grenade in the light blue blanket, and continued to stuff dry and hard biscuits into her mouth.

After waiting in the corridor for less than five minutes, Oleg ran over from the opposite side with his sniper rifle on his shoulder.

"Are you not injured?" Wei Ran asked with relief.

After taking the biscuit from Wei Ran and stuffing it into his mouth, Oleg shook his head vaguely, "He missed me, but the Germans went to search the ruins where we just hid, and I tried to avoid them. Didn't dare to shoot, but they should catch up soon."

"In this case, let's set off quickly." Lieutenant Lev threw the few remaining biscuits into his mouth, and walked along the dilapidated corridor to the other end farthest from the little girl.

"How far are we?" Wei Ran asked looking at the direction behind him.

Lieutenant Lev pointed to another building that was almost next to him outside the window, "We may be able to see the firing point after we pass through at most three such buildings, but there must be many Germans around."

Before he finished speaking, he stepped on the window sill and jumped over the less than one-meter-wide gap between the two buildings. After he stood still, he immediately raised his submachine gun and aimed in the direction of the corridor to help Wei Ran and Oleg take cover.

"Don't be in any danger anymore." After Oleg jumped over, Wei Ran looked under the window and saw no Germans passing by, so he immediately stepped on the window sill and jumped to the opposite side.

Compared with the building just now, only one-third of the part of the building that still maintains a complete outline is left, and the rest of the building collapsed completely to the outside, forming a large ruin, as if it had been split with a knife from the middle. .

What was even more weird was that when they walked to the edge of the other end of the corridor, the sound of playing a piano came from a room next to them!

The three of them looked at each other, and after receiving Lieutenant Lev's nod, Oleg gently pushed open the wooden door that was concealed with his rifle.

This is a small room with a maximum of thirty square meters. In the center of the room, there is an exceptionally clean piano. An old man over half a century old, wearing a slightly worn-out black tuxedo, is sitting on a lame An unknown tune was being played earnestly on the chair with two legs, and on a small sofa against the wall, an old woman with silver hair was looking at the performer with a happy face.

The two of them did not react at all to the three young men who suddenly appeared outside the door.Even after a piece of music was finished, the performer with his back to the door said in a calm and gentle tone, "If you want to come in and listen to me play the piano, you'd better knock on the door first. This is the most basic etiquette." .”

Lieutenant Lev, who stood among the three of them, was silent for a moment, raised his big blood-stained hand, and knocked lightly on the wooden door.

"Please come in." The old man sitting in front of the piano said with a sense of ceremony, then stood up, and carefully leaned the chair with one leg missing on the piano.

"What do you want to drink?" The old lady sitting on the sofa also stood up, "Sorry, we only have hot water."

"Hot water is fine," Wei Ran said quickly, while looking at this small room that wasn't too big.

It is hard to imagine that such a warmly furnished room can be found in such a tragic battlefield.Although the only window has been completely blocked with bricks, there are two pots of flowers blooming with red flowers on the small table next to the window, and even the not-so-big double bed has been made up. exceptionally clean.

"Just find a place to sit, this place is only this big." The pianist slowly closed the door, and sat on the crippled chair again, "What song do you want to hear?"

The three of Wei Ran looked at their dirty clothes, walked to the table by the window and sat down a little bit awkwardly, but for a while, no one knew how to respond to the old man's question.

"Then the waltz of flowers, I hope the music can make you forget the damn war outside the door." The old man confirmed the song as if talking to himself, and used half a brick to level the small chair, then picked up a towel After carefully wiping off the dust on his hands, he began to play.

At the same time, the old lady who came out of the small kitchen brought them each a glass of warm water, and by the way put three boiled potatoes the size of ping-pong balls on the table.

Before the three of them could express their thanks, the old lady waved her hands indifferently, sat back on the small sofa, and looked at the old man who was playing happily.

The three people sitting at the table tacitly didn't touch the three potatoes, and didn't even drink the water in the cup. This war has progressed to this point, and both food and clean water are becoming more and more precious.

The cheerful piano music echoed in this not-so-big room. Wei Ran stood up quietly, walked to the door silently and raised the double-lens reflex camera on his chest that had been stained with blood. Everyone in the room was included in the square viewfinder, and the shutter was lightly pressed.

"boom!"

A sudden but exceptionally clear explosion came in at the same time Wei Ran let go of the shutter. Before he had time to put down the camera, Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, opened the door like crazy and ran out of the room, looking at the people who came when they came. direction.

Even through the windows of two buildings, he could still clearly see the large cloud of smoke and dust rising from the place where the sniper was killed, and he could even see the light blue blanket that had been blown into pieces like flower petals It fluttered and landed on the floor full of corpses.

"puff"

Wei Ran leaned against the wall and sat weakly on the floor. He was not a saint, and he didn't care how many people died in this war that had long been settled in the history books, and who won who.For him in the 21st century, those are just a string of numbers and letters that must be memorized for professional exams.

But even so, the shock of seeing the cruel side of war at such a close distance still made his eyes cry uncontrollably.

It's hard to tell how long it took, and the bright piano music in the room behind him had stopped. Lieutenant Lev and Oleg came out, and saw Wei Ran who was leaning against the wall in a daze.

"We should go"

After Lieutenant Lev finished speaking, he patted Wei Ran's shoulder extraordinarily hard, and continued muttering, "For that little girl."

Wei Ran slammed the floor under him, stood up silently, followed the two silently, and walked up the stairs to the first floor.

Looking at the ruins formed after the collapse of the building outside, and then at the silent Wei Ran, Lieutenant Lev took out a half pack of cigarettes from his pocket irritably, and Oleg each took out a cigarette and lit it. , puffed and said, "Victor, you are a reporter, you should take a picture of that little girl, this is the only thing you didn't do and you need to blame yourself, the rest has nothing to do with you."

"I"

"Don't waste time, and don't let that little girl's efforts go to waste."

Lieutenant Lev said again, "If you are still a qualified taxi and a qualified reporter, please take your camera and submachine gun, and don't let me waste any more time enlightening you."

Wei Ran looked up at Lieutenant Lev, then at Oleg who deliberately hid in the distance, and finally nodded solemnly, "Let's go."

(End of this chapter)