War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 757 Frontline Flying in the Repair Ditch
On the west side of Goronid Island across the river from Volgograd, the two-story wooden houses gradually warmed up with the green smoke from the chimney.

The interior of the room is full of various cardboard boxes. Wei Ran, who is wearing dustproof glasses and a mask, gloves, and a plaid floral apron, and Professor Alexey are each holding a big brush and working hard. Cleaning the dust everywhere in the room.

"Professor, haven't you cleaned this house since you bought it?" Wei Ran asked while busy.

"Why didn't it get cleaned"

Professor Alexey stopped his work and said while pushing away the wooden window that smelled of beeswax, "I started to redecorate this place two months ago, not only replaced the roof, but also re-laid the floor , everything that was broken was repaired and even the furniture was re-polished."

While talking, the old man knocked on the TV that didn't even tear off the protective film, "All the appliances and bedding are new."

"Then why is it still so dirty?" Wei Ran asked dissatisfied. In just a few hours, both of them have cleared out two large buckets of garbage.

"I just asked someone to do the repairs, but I didn't ask someone to clean it." Alexei said naturally, "I wanted to clean it out by myself, but I never had the time. But you just came back. Really"

"This is really what I asked for," Wei Ran muttered in a moderate voice.

"I've already sent you a plane, what else can you complain about?" Professor Alexey fooled Wei Ran with beard and eyes.

"Why don't you keep the plane? The car belongs to me?" Wei Ran mercilessly exposed the other party's small thoughts.

"I'm getting old." Professor Alexey found a perfect excuse without even thinking about it, and urged Wei Ran to hurry up and work upstairs.

Under the busy work of the old and the young, by three or four o'clock in the afternoon, all the rooms upstairs and downstairs had been cleaned, and the various decorations and bedding that were originally packed in boxes were also sorted. After everything is set up, even the refrigerator is filled with all kinds of food and drink.Not only that, Professor Alexis even specially reserved a large enough room on the first floor for Mr. Nicholas.

"We can clean out the garage when we come over again tomorrow." Professor Alexey ignited all kinds of garbage accumulated in the incineration pit while speaking.

"Come back tomorrow?"

Wei Ran took off his dirty mask and cotton gloves and threw them into the fire, "We don't celebrate New Year in the garage, what are you doing cleaning it?"

"Should I clean it myself after you leave?"

Professor Alexey accidentally told the truth, but immediately after he urged, "What if we find something good in the garage, it will be yours except the car."

"Let's talk about tomorrow"

Wei Ran replied vaguely, it seems that there are not a few days left before the new year, if he had known how tired he was, he might as well go shopping with Suisui and the others.

"Remember to keep it a secret from everyone when you go back," Professor Alexey reminded as he took off his apron.

"What about the benefits?"

"I'm not"

"Except for the plane" Wei Ran blocked the stingy old man's escape route first, it is really useless for him to have that broken plane.

"Whatever you want, you can say what you want." Professor Alexey said straight away, obviously confirming that Wei Ran would not leak his words. "My daughter has been given to you, what else do you want to be dissatisfied with?"

"You old man is boring." Wei Ran said angrily, he really couldn't accept the other party's cruel words that hurt the enemy one thousand and self-defeating thirty-two thousand.

“Don't waste your time”

Professor Alexey said as he walked towards the bathroom on the first floor of the room, "Go and take a shower, we have to go back quickly after taking a shower."

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't waste any more time, and quickly ran to the bathroom on the second floor.

When the father and father took a bath and drove back to the travel agency with the dog who had been running wildly around for a day, my aunt Zhou Shujin had already brought all the girls headed by Sui Sui back with big and small bags. Mr. Nicholas next door was also sitting on the sofa on the second floor surrounded by three little foxes, waiting for dinner.

"Where did you go today?" Sui Sui leaned close to Wei Ran and asked while scratching the furry dog's head.

Seeing the professor beating himself wildly, Wei Ran replied with a smile, "I went to Chacha Lake, there is the last farm fair of this year."

"Is that the one you and my dad used to go to?"

"He hasn't been there with me for a long time, so we went to review it." Alexey said, sitting on the other side of Wei Ran.

"Did you buy something good?" Sui Sui suddenly became interested.

"Pies, all kinds of pies." Although Wei Ran and Professor Alexei did not confess to each other, they gave completely consistent answers in unison.

"Don't ask"

Zhou Shujin, who was serving dishes on the table with the help of the Katenka sisters and Lola, said habitually, "Every time they go to that pie market, they get all kinds of pies when they come back."

“There is still some good stuff out there”

Wei Ran and Professor Alexey muttered again in unison, but this time, the former subconsciously rubbed the tattoo on the tiger's mouth, while the latter remembered something interesting, and couldn't help but feel that old face. There was a smile on the face.

I also don't know if they got along all day during the day. Compared with yesterday's meal, both sisters Katenka and Lola have relaxed a lot this time, and even taking it has made the atmosphere a lot easier.

In the blink of an eye, the next day, Zhou Shujin, who was still fresh, drove a few girls out of the travel agency early, just like yesterday.When they walked away, Wei Ran and Professor Alexei also set off immediately, and rushed to the door of the wooden house on Goronid Island again.

"How do you do it?" Wei Ran deliberately changed into yesterday's dirty clothes while speaking, and also put on protective gear such as masks and gloves by the way.

"Get that walk-behind tractor out first, then put the tires on that car and pull it out."

Professor Alexey thought for a while, and continued, "Finally, pull out that plane too, so we can clean the inside properly."

"Is that tractor still usable?" Wei Ran, with a suspicious expression on his face, had already tied the dog to the post at the door.

"Of course," Professor Alexei replied as a matter of course, "I tried to start it a week ago, and I also filled it with oil."

Seeing that the old man was sitting in the co-pilot's seat and had no intention of moving, Wei Ran didn't bother to compete with the other party, took the key from the other party's hand, opened the garage door, and found a familiar crank to start the car. dusty walking tractor.

Speaking of which, his grandma's house used to have one. During the summer vacation of high school, he often drove it to help pull lotus roots. With the experience at that time, he will naturally not be in a hurry now.

Amid the deafening roar of the engine, Wei Ran easily drove the walking tractor out.Until this time, Professor Alexey pushed open the door without haste, leaned over to the side of the tractor's bed, pulled the tires out, and called Wei Ran to help, and put them all in one by one. In that battered old Soviet car.

Compared with that single-cylinder walk-behind tractor, trying to start and drive this car is tantamount to nonsense.Fortunately, the two of them didn't plan to do so for the time being, they just needed it to make room.

They didn't use the tow hook at all. One pushed the car behind and the other held the steering wheel in the front. They easily got the black GAZ sedan out which had been covered in dust for an unknown amount of time.

Compared with the car that has been lying on the ground for an unknown period of time, the wreckage of the plane without wings and tail is easier to carry. The two of them supported the broken fuselage and helped it out like a small cart. .

At this point, there were no big items left in the garage, and the two of them stopped wasting time. They picked up the big brush and vacuum cleaner and began to fight against the dust that could be seen everywhere.

"Victor! Stop for a moment!" Not long after the start, Professor Alexei waved his hand to signal Wei Ran to turn off the vacuum cleaner.

"What's the matter?" Wei Ran waited until the vacuum cleaner stopped working completely before asking.

"Remove this broken steel plate first, it has tripped me several times."

Professor Alexey dropped the big brush in his hand while speaking, and kicked the steel plate that was originally laid under the chassis of the car with his toe.

This rusty steel plate is about half a centimeter thick, and it is big enough for a car to park on it. Wei Ran almost tripped over it just now.

"I'll bring the car in, you go find a rope." Wei Ran put down the vacuum cleaner while speaking, turned around and walked out of the workshop, backing the car they drove into the garage.

Wrapped a few times around the steel plate with the rope he found, and finally hung it on the tow hook. After Professor Alexey left the garage and hid far away, he immediately stepped on the accelerator and, amidst the clanging noise, pulled This huge steel plate moved forward a little bit out of the garage.

"We may have to put it back to its original position later." Wei Ran just pushed open the car door when he heard Professor Alexei shouting at himself.

"why?"

Wei Ran walked over in confusion, and found the answer at a glance. The place that was originally covered by iron plates turned out to be a car repair ditch less than one meter wide. Less messy things, from agglomerated bags of cement, to cans and cans in mesh bags, to bicycles that have rusted into iron eggs, and there is even a boat inside that I don’t know if it can still be used. outboard engine.

Unsurprisingly, this car repair ditch has been completely filled with garbage that has existed for an unknown amount of time. No wonder it was covered with steel plates. Drink a jug.

"Before that, you have to help me clean up the rubbish." Professor Alexey picked up the vacuum cleaner while speaking, "You are in charge of this car repair ditch, and I will do the rest."

"You would be lazy"

Wei Ran grinned, and stretched out his hand to pick up a mesh bag full of glass cans. However, before he could use any force, the bag burst open with a crash, and all kinds of cans also clanged and rolled away. Everywhere.

Seeing this, he simply restarted the walking tractor, first pulled off the wings on the cargo box, then pushed the front of the tractor against the edge of the repair ditch, and directly threw all the garbage inside into the cargo box.

As he cleaned up little by little, as the garbage became less and less, cement steps gradually appeared under his feet. Immediately afterwards, he found several alcove-like things dug out of the walls on both sides of the garage. , this alcove even has iron sliding cabinet doors.

However, Wei Ran frowned before opening the obviously self-made sliding cabinet door.

This cabinet door is composed of ordinary iron sheet sprayed with red especially, plus four bearings welded at the four corners, and two upper and lower slide rails made of angle iron.But the slightly mottled red paint can't cover the outline of the cabinet door handle.

Turning around and looking at the alcove on the right, there is also a similar outline on the blue metal cabinet door.

After a little hesitation, Wei Ran finally walked out of the garage, dug out a can of chemical cleaning agent from the car, and sprayed it on the handles of the two cabinet doors a few times.

Taking advantage of the waiting time, Wei Ran opened the cabinet door on the left, a total of three floors of space were placed in various categories of common and uncommon car repair tools and two toolboxes made of the same iron.

Turn around and open the metal cabinet door on the right. Inside are all kinds of consumables such as packing gaskets, screws and nuts, lubricating oil and even sandpaper.There was also half a pack of cigarettes, a cylinder piston full of butts, a half bottle of vodka and a rusty kerosene lighter.

Without touching the things inside, Wei Ran took off his gloves to use as a rag, and vigorously wiped the cabinet door that had just been sprayed with cleaning agent.

As the stains and paint came off together, Wei Ran's eyes widened, and then he turned around and wiped the outline protrusion on the other side of the cabinet door.

"Professor! Come and have a look! Professor!" Wei Ran shouted at the top of his voice.

"What's the matter?" Professor Alexis asked after turning off the vacuum cleaner.

Wei Ran made a fool of himself on purpose, walked up a few steps, and beckoned to the other party, "Come here and see what I found!"

"Isn't that idiot Brezhnev hiding below?" Professor Alexey joked as he walked in the direction of Wei Ran, "If it's really him, I'll put the steel plate on it right now. .”

"Anyway, you'll know when you come over and have a look." Wei Ran offered to give up his seat to the other party while speaking.

"Frontline Flight Chapter?"

Professor Alexey raised his eyebrows, reached out and touched the two silver metal pieces fixed on the left and right cabinet doors with screws, and after thinking for a while, he asked with a smile, "Tell me about their differences."

"Affixed to the red cabinet door on the left is a silver day fighter combat flight badge. Affixed to a blue cabinet door on the right is a copper night fighter combat flight badge."

Wei Ran paused for a moment, and seeing that the other party looked normal, he knew that he had remembered correctly, and simply continued, "According to the German regulations of World War II at that time, the basic requirement for obtaining a bronze flight medal was 20 missions, and the basic requirement for a silver medal was 60 missions. The requirement is [-] missions."

"What about gold?"

While examining Wei Ran, Professor Alexey used the tools found in the alcove to remove the two armbands and handed them to Wei Ran.

"A hundred times, no, a hundred and ten times."

“good memory”

Professor Alexey praised, and while walking out of the repair ditch, he pointed to the wreckage of the plane that was moved outside the garage and guessed, "If the flight badge has something to do with that plane, a pilot who is good at day combat , How would you go to fly a night combat mission?
Although he has already obtained the bronze flight medal, is it possible that he was shot down because he participated in a relatively unfamiliar night battle? "

"I'm not curious how he landed." Wei Ran weighed the metal piece in his hand, "Don't you want these two?"

"I said that the newly discovered things in this workshop belong to you." Professor Arik waved his hand after speaking, and turned on the rumbling vacuum cleaner again after a while.

Seeing this, Wei Ran also put the two flying badges into his pocket, and continued to clean up all kinds of garbage that seemed to be endless.

Fortunately, the garage was much easier than cleaning the room after all, so it only took a long time for the two of them to finish their work one after another.

"I'll pick them up at the pier, and you take advantage of this time to drive the tractor full of garbage to the nearby birch forest."

While speaking, Professor Alexis, who had taken a bath, had already changed into a set of clean clothes brought in advance, and even took out a bouquet of flowers from a large box in advance.

"I'll share the flowers in half," Wei Ran reminded, shaking the car keys.

"I knew you would say that a long time ago. There are still a lot in the box, including Mr. Nicholas." As he said, Professor Alexi pushed the cardboard box to Wei Ran, "Hurry up! They will soon We're going to the other side."

After opening the cardboard box and taking a look, Wei Ran threw the car keys to the other party, went out one step ahead of time, started the walking tractor, and drove it to the depths of the birch forest not far away.

When he returned to the cleaned room, took a shower and changed into clean clothes, Professor Alexey also drove over from a distance in the business loaf that he had picked up at the airport.

When the car door was opened from the inside, three big-eared foxes in floral padded jackets jumped down first. After looking around for a while, they rushed towards the dog Beria who was squatting at the door.

Until this time, the aunt who was wearing a blindfold and holding flowers in her arms was helped out of the car by the professor himself.

Immediately after, several girls headed by Sui Sui, and even the calm Mr. Nicholas got out of the carriage one after another.

"It's so fast, another year has passed." Wei Ran secretly sighed, looking forward to the Chinese New Year in a month or two.

(End of this chapter)