War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 852

"When you arrive in Mandalay, someone will pick you up"

Outside Mo's village, before leaving the cabin, Zhou Qiguang said, "Don't worry if you can't find what you need in Mandalay. You can rest for one night and arrange someone to deliver it to you from Oxygen."

"Mr. Zhou"

Wei Ran paused, waited for the other party to look at him, and after a little hesitation, he asked the question that he had been wanting to ask these days, "Mr. Zhou, how is your father doing in his later years?"

Zhou Qiguang was stunned for a moment, then sighed and replied, "My father has been homesick in his later years, but he no longer knows where home is."

"He is also an expeditionary soldier. You have considered letting him."

Wei Ran's words were so-so, but he finally swallowed his inner thoughts, "I'm sorry, I was the one who said something shallow."

Zhou Qiguang was silent for a long time, and finally said softly before opening the cabin door, "Thank you, I will think about it."

"Kang" as the hatch closed again, Wei Ran also closed his eyes.

With the roar of the propellers, the helicopter circled into the sky and flew straight to the direction of Mandalay.

After more than an hour of flying, the helicopter landed steadily at Mandalay Airport. When the hatch opened, the fat man he had seen had been waiting outside for a long time.

Beside the fat man, there was a young man who looked about the same age as Wei Ran.Although this young man is not tall, he looks quite masculine.Although there is a girung around his waist, he insists on wearing this characteristic national costume with the temperament of an apron.

"You are Brother Wei Ran, right?"

The young man waited for Wei Ran to get off the cabin, and immediately put his hand on Wei Ran's shoulder as if he was familiar with him, and said enthusiastically as he walked to the ground service vehicle not far away, "Get to know me, I'm Zhong Zhen, I'm My cousin asked me to pick you up."

"Your cousin?" Wei Ran ignored the faint smell of disinfectant on the other person, "Mr. Zhou is you"

"My grandfather and he are cousins, so he is my cousin?"

Zhou Quanzhen explained carelessly, stretched out his hand and opened the door of the ground service car, and Wei Ran got into the car one after another, and the extremely enthusiastic fat man also graciously helped close the car door, then got into the cab, stepped on the The accelerator drove to the exit not far away.

There was no need for Wei Ran to get out of the car, the fat man took his passport, and after more than half a week late, he helped him go through the immigration formalities, and then sent them to the airport.

"Get in the car"

Zhong Zhen said that he had already opened the door of a car, and after Wei Ran sat in, he immediately went around and got into the driver's cab, and said while driving, "I will take you to find a place to eat first, and then I will arrange a rest for you." Time is too tight, I haven't found a place where I can develop film photos."

"Then I will trouble you"

"what's this"

Zhong Zhen waved his hands carelessly, and when he opened his mouth to say something, the mobile phone that was placed on the mobile phone holder for navigation happened to rang.

Reaching out to connect to the phone and turning on the speakerphone, Zhong Zhen communicated with the woman on the other end of the phone in Burmese that Wei Ran could not understand. ".

"In that case, let's go first"

"No need to rest?" Zhong Zhen asked.

"No need." Wei Ran waved his hand, "Let's rest after busy work."

"Then let's go now"

Before Zhong Zhen finished speaking, he had already turned the steering wheel and turned on another road, then dialed a number, said a few words in Burmese that Wei Ran could not understand, then hung up the phone, and switched back to Chinese to Wei Ran. Ran introduced the various monuments along the way.

However, for Wei Ran, this city, known as the second largest city without electricity, gave him the illusion of returning to his childhood memory of his hometown.

Of course, although there are tricycles running around in the urban area in his childhood memories, there are absolutely no nuns in pink robes and monks in red robes, and there are no ancient buildings with a strong religious atmosphere, and the setting sun In the streets and alleys below, those women and children running around with various patterns painted on their faces with Tenaka.

"Those girls are for sale"

While waiting for the traffic lights, Zhong Zhen looked at the girls standing on the side of the road and said, "They all eat poor girls who come from the slums by the river to earn extra money. They set up stalls during the day to sell snacks to make money, and at night Then sell yourself to a man who likes them at a price that is not much more expensive than snacks."

"Those are all?"

Wei Ran pointed to the girls on the side of the road and asked in surprise. However, it was such an inadvertent action that made a few girls who seemed to be underage mistakenly think that there was a business, and they immediately ran over with their skirts in their hands.

"Basically, those who stay in one place are all"

Zhong Zhen stepped on the gas pedal and drove through the intersection under the disappointed eyes of those girls, "They can't do anything about it. Civil wars and various coups have never stopped for so many years, although there is no war here on the surface. impact, but actually there are more and more slum dwellers.”

Having said that, Zhong Zhen raised the car window and waited for the car to calm down before continuing, "If they want to survive, they can only let their wives and even daughters take part-time jobs that are not decent at night. Most of the people who do this kind of thing are underage girls who can't find a serious job."

"What's the point of living like this?" Wei Ran couldn't help but be speechless.

"Got to live"

There was no trace of sympathy in Zhong Zhen's tone, "Humans, no matter how bad the environment is, they can slowly adapt."

"Are there many Chinese compatriots living here?" Wei Ran asked, changing the subject.

"not too little"

Zhong Zhen shook his head, "Although you don't need to sell your wife to become a daughter, it's not much better. It's okay to have a [-]% discount, but those who don't get a [-]% discount are no different from ghosts."

"[-]% off? What [-]% off?" Wei Ran asked puzzled.

"The ID card held by the majority of Chinese ethnic Chinese is free of charge, also known as the third-class certificate"

Zhong Zhen kicked the accelerator, and explained in an almost indifferent tone, "The paper only gives the holder the right of permanent residence, and cannot buy a house or a car, or own any real estate. When the situation was turbulent before, I wanted to use that thing It's useless to apply for a passport.

To put it bluntly, even if you come here with an American passport, you have more rights than the [-]% discount, but it is not so easy to get such a piece of paper that dogs hate. "

"Is it also related to the Chinese exclusion in the 60s?" Wei Ran subconsciously asked.

"On the one hand, the civil war that has not stopped for more than half a century is also on the other hand. After all, people's brains are so stupid."

Zhong Zhen explained while steering the car around the corner, "There is no such thing as electricity-free doctrine. After all, I am still afraid. I am afraid that the Chinese will control the country, and I am even more afraid that the Chinese will retaliate against them. After all, we are guarding a powerful country. neighbor, even if the neighbor is not interested in him, it is inevitable that he cannot sleep."

"That's why they don't want it, no, they are afraid to mention those Chinese expeditionary forces." Wei Ran muttered to himself, but he didn't say it out after all.

When the two ended the topic by coincidence, the car also drove to the entrance of a slightly dilapidated street.

At a glance, both sides of this street are full of dilapidated buildings, privately built tin houses, and even various small vendors along the street and girls wandering aimlessly in the streets and alleys.

"Can you use a gun?"

At the same time that Zhong Zhen asked Wei Ran, he reached out and opened the glove box of the co-pilot, and pulled out two Glock pistols fixed on the quick-draw holsters.On the quick-draw holsters of these two pistols, two additional spare magazines are fixed.

"Know how to use it." Wei Ran took the pistol, and asked subconsciously while checking, "Is this place safe?"

"You're asking this, brother, although this is the second largest city with electricity, it's also a city full of scammers and illegal organ trafficking, and it's also a slum that's about to go dark."

Zhong Zhen fixed the holster on his body and responded naturally, "Let's put it this way, I would rather take the money to bribe the police and buy you out for shooting people. I don't want to go to those fraudulent groups to redeem people. Although most of them are Chinese, they have more appetite than the police. In case your waist is about to be cut off, where can I find the original ones for you?"

Seeing that Wei Ran didn't look frightened at all, Zhong Zhen took out a girung skirt from the glove box and handed it to Wei Ran, "In short, as long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble and don't let others know that you don't know Burmese, you shouldn't." What accidents will happen. But in case you are really surrounded, shoot when you should. As long as you don’t get caught by the police, I can send you out. Even if you are caught by the police, you are not afraid, there are people in our bureau. "

"Understood." Before Wei Ran could finish his sentence, he had fixed the quick-draw holster on his waist and put the bullet directly on it, and then wrapped the dirty girdle skirt around his waist as a cover.

Pushing the car door indiscriminately, Zhong Zhen looked left and right, and led Wei Ran into a small restaurant with a signboard in Burmese on the street.

Finding a seat by the window, Zhong Zhen beckoned to the waiter, casually ordered three servings of curry and rice, and then ordered two bottles of cold Tiger beer and a few side dishes.

Before the food was served, a girl with a moon pattern smeared on her face with Tenaka also walked over with bells ringing all over her body, and sat down on the opposite side of Wei Ran's narrator and Zhong Zhen, ignoring Wei Ran directly, He was chatting in Burmese with Zhong Zhen who was opposite him.

But soon, the girl who was wearing low-waist overalls and a tight-fitting t-shirt, and with all kinds of small bells hanging on her neck and wrists stood up like a spring on her buttocks, bowed to Wei Ran incoherently and ran away. I'm sorry, and put down the beer glass that Wei Ran had just taken a sip from.But Zhong Zhen, who was sitting across from him, laughed unscrupulously and let out a goose cry.

After finally waiting for the other party to stop laughing and explain, Wei Ran looked surprised.Not only was he surprised that this carefree girl turned out to be a student of Zhong Zhen, but he was even more surprised that Zhong Zhen was a teacher at a medical university—even though she was one year younger than him.

Compared with these two things, the girl who hooked Zhong Zhen's neck and looked up with her small face waiting to be kissed, and Zhong Zhen's blatant arms around the other's slender waist were nothing.

"Jima, Qin Ershi, and this Zhong Zhen, why do I always meet scum?" Wei Ran murmured to himself, while dealing with Zhong Zhen's topic with a sincere tone, while filling his mouth with those delicious meals. full stomach.

When the girl covered in bells was also full, the sky outside the window had already darkened.Until this time, Zhong Zhen took out a few bills and handed them to the girl, and waited for the other party to settle the bill with the money, then he greeted Wei Ran to leave the restaurant and walked into this road without street lights, but every small vendor Streets with light bulbs in front of them.

Led by the girl covered in bells, the three of them walked for more than ten minutes along the street where the car had no way to turn around, and then they met another girl who looked similar to the girl covered in bells. The black and thin guy who the girl knew very well, led by him, passed through two dark alleys, then went up the dilapidated stairs and continued walking along a corridor.

When Wei Ran almost couldn't remember where he came from, the black and thin young man finally stopped, raised his finger and said something to a brightly lit room, and then took a stack of banknotes from the little bell. .

He got into the room with a greeting in Burmese that Wei Ran could not understand. After he got used to the sweltering heat and the smell of food and body odor, he finally saw a broken glass facing the entrance. counter.

What surprised him was that there were many second-hand small appliances, old-fashioned push-button mobile phones and batteries of various types in the glass counter.On the dirty glass counter, there are also tools such as a soldering iron.

Such an environment was obviously beyond Zhong Zhen's expectations, so much so that a trace of astonishment and embarrassment appeared on his face.

In contrast, the girl covered in bells spoke Burmese very fast as usual, asking something to the shirtless man who was eating while watching the TV with his big ass, and at the same time shaking the phone in his hand. A stack of kyats.

And the thin man nodded happily after responding a few words, put down the curry in his hand, and warmly greeted everyone and walked into a room.

Contrary to Wei Ran's expectations, although this place, whether it's a home or a storefront, looks a bit too shabby at first glance, but this room with a size of less than ten square meters is an exceptionally standard darkroom.

He even found several Seagull cameras produced by Huaxia, a very old-looking Rainbow brand enlarger, and several dusty film cans.

As he was observing the darkroom, the skinny and skinny man in the dark grid opened a metal cabinet graciously, pointing to the various potions and consumables stored in it, chattering.

Taking this opportunity, Zhong Zhen, who had been communicating with him in Burmese just now, also explained in Chinese, "He is a home appliance repairer, but his brother is a photographer, um, a photographer who specializes in taking portraits in hospitals. But this It doesn't matter, anyway, his brother died of a heart attack half a year ago, these things are all left by his brother, although he doesn't know how to use them, but he guarantees that there are many of them."

"It's really hard for you to find such a place." Wei Ran said dumbfounded.

“I didn't expect to find this place”

Zhong Zhen grinned in embarrassment, "Can you see the things here? If not."

"should be no problem"

Wei Ran reached out and took out a thick stack of large-size photo paper from the iron cabinet that the man had just opened, "And there are also large-size photo paper here, which is good news."

"Then it's here?" Zhong Zhen reconfirmed, "Do you want me to look for it again?"

"Here it is"

Wei Ran said while familiarizing himself with the things in the darkroom, "I have a lot of film this time, I'm afraid there will be hundreds of photos, and it will take longer. So Zhong Zhen, when I start washing, You have to guard me outside, don't open the door before I come out, or the film will be destroyed."

"Don't worry!" Zhong Zhen took out his mobile phone while speaking, "I'll call a few helpers over here, so you can wash yours at ease."

"Then let's start now." While Wei Ran was speaking, he had already taken out the film sealed tube wrapped in layers from the backpack that had never left his body from the beginning to the end.

Seeing this, Zhong Zhen also left the darkroom with the little bell, and after Wei Ran locked the door, he pulled out his pistol and held it in his hand, while the girl covered in bells took the wad of bells in her hand. Half of the cash was handed over to the shirtless man.

After the latter took the cash, he was extraordinarily straightforward. He took a tattered T-shirt and put it on, and then took the cigarettes from the glass counter, and left the house directly. The eight-year-old girl went to nowhere.

In the dark room where the lights were still on, Wei Ran didn't start working in a hurry, but rummaged through boxes and cabinets to find an air blower wrapped with tape, and carefully cleaned the antique amplifier that hadn't been used for a long time.

It wasn't until he cleaned the lens, brushed the ceramic sink by the way, and inspected the darkroom that he focused on the sealed cylinders containing the film.

Although these sealed tubes have been stored in waterproof bags for more than half a century, the remaining labels on them can still be recognized by Wei Ran. These film rolls are divided into three parts, of which the first two parts are the original photos of the camera at that time. The owner, the ghost reporter who was killed, and the businessman Luke who killed it took pictures, and the rest of the part was taken after meeting Squad Leader Liang and others.

"So Zhou Guochang took these after meeting monitor Liang?" Wei Ran muttered secretly, opened a sealed tube, and took out the film stored inside.

During his busy work, boxes of films were developed. Thanks to the layers of protection of the airtight tubes, waterproof bags and even the cave, the condition of these films is not bad.So with the help of the potion, basically all of them were washed out.

It was also through these negatives that Wei Ran re-watched the war from two different angles.

In the film taken by the suspected devils, in addition to trying their best to whitewash and beautify the war of aggression they launched, there are also many candid portraits of unknown people.

Some of these portraits seemed to be taken on the side of the road, some at a party, and some were taken outside of being killed.

But the photos taken by the suspected businessman Luke on the way to escape with Zhou Guochang are from another angle.

These shots record some empty warehouses with Union Jack flags still flying, refugees being massacred, temples being burned, and monks running crazily with flames on their bodies.

Of course, there were also soldiers fighting here, and Wei Ran could easily tell through the straw sandals on those soldiers' feet that they were soldiers of the expeditionary army who were still alive at that time.

However, in addition to the living expeditionary soldiers recorded in his lens, there are also corpses of soldiers buried collectively.He even saw a group photo of Zhou Guochang, who was still young, with several expeditionary soldiers.

Changed the film and continued to look at it, but Wei Ran sighed. He didn't know whether the photos in this film were taken by businessman Luke or Zhou Guochang, but on those small negatives, he could clearly distinguish, It was clearly the unburied tomb outside the temple of Mo's village. There were still a large number of charred corpses in the tomb, and there were some figures wearing bamboo hats and digging the soil with shovels.

Gritting his teeth and continuing to look back, Wei Ran is becoming more and more familiar with the scenes recorded in this film, but he would rather those things that he has personally experienced and seen with his own eyes have never happened.

Finally, the film was pulled to the end, Wei Ran sighed and picked up the last film.

He also discovered this film just now, the only film that has been developed long ago, and what is recorded in the film seems to be some trivial matters after the war.

In these shots, there is a one-armed Tan Shouzheng, a strange woman standing side by side with Zhou Guochang, and a woman riding an elephant with Master Sehao.Even a group photo of the three of them.

The common background of these photos is the temple and the blooming dragon boat flowers beside the temple.

"The war that belongs to you is over."

Wei Ran sighed to himself, picked up the scissors, cut out the selected negatives one by one, and meticulously printed those moments onto large-sized photo papers.

(End of this chapter)