War Photographer's Notebook

In the twinkling of an eye, it was the fourth night of returning to the polar town of Tula. Amidst the turbulent aurora, twelve monster trucks with dazzling headlights lined up in a long convoy and left the frozen Lower Tunguska River. Drive into the independent parking lot on the side of the Aurora Tavern.

As the car doors were pushed open one after another, groups of tourists jumped out of the car and, led by a Chinese-speaking Maozi tour guide, walked into the brightly lit Aurora Tavern.

Wei Ran, the hairy tour guide, did know him. He was an old employee of my aunt's travel agency. He was already there when Wei Ran first went to Volgograd to study at university.However, compared with this acquaintance, these self-driving tourists led by him are more interesting.

Different from the young men and women led by Su Lie a few days ago, although the tour group driving here from Turukhansk was not large in number, they were all looking at old men and women who were over half a century old.And from the warm address in their words, it seems that they are all colleagues.

In particular, Sui Sui, who was busy greeting them at the door, addressed these old men and old ladies with "teacher" as the suffix of their surnames when they opened their mouths and shut their mouths.

"Sister Aurora said that this team was organized with the help of her university teachers. Those middle-aged and elderly people are all school teachers. Not only did this group not make money, but it also cost her about 50 rubles."

Anfisa, who was sitting at the same table as Wei Ran, held a glass of sparkling wine and explained in a low voice in German, "That young woman with shoulder-length hair in a red down jacket seems to be Aurora's university advisor, and now And her partner."

"When I was in Huaxia last time, my sister and I met her and had hot pot with her." Anfeya, who was also sitting across from her, said while typing on the keyboard, "Sister Aurora also gave her She got a diamond as a New Year's gift."

"No wonder he came all the way here. This little fox co-authored to bribe the guards of the sheepfold." Wei Ran picked up his cup and muttered. Seeing that Sui Sui was still busy entertaining those teachers, he looked away and asked in German in a low voice. Said, "Can you find the detailed information of that Liuye Toys Company?"

"can't find"

Seeing that her sister was still busy, Anfisa took up the conversation and replied in a low voice, "It's just a shell company, and I can't find any valuable clues through it."

"But in another computer under my control, I found an interesting photo." While Anfeiya said this, she was still typing on the keyboard.

"What kind of photo?" Wei Ran put down his cup and asked.

"Pay attention to the clothes those people are wearing in the photos, and the positions of their chests." While speaking, An Feiya had already turned her notebook to Wei Ran.

Pulling the notebook closer, Wei Ran immediately recognized Kitao Zhida who was kneeling in the corner of the photo.And under Anfeiya's reminder, he also noticed at a glance that the chest of the kimono worn by Kitao Chitatsu seemed to have the word "carp" embroidered on it.

Zooming in on this group photo, Wei Ran frowned, counting down, there are only seven men in this group photo who are about the same age as Kitao Chitatsu.

Without exception, they all wore kimonos, but the characters embroidered on their chests were different.Among the seven devils, two, like Chitatsu Kitao, had the word "carp" embroidered in red on their chests.There are three more, but the blue "brocade" is embroidered on the chest of the kimono.

On the chest of the bald man kneeling in the center of the group photo, the word "Sacrifice" is embroidered in white.

An Feiya got up and walked around to sit next to Wei Ran, and manipulated the notebook to switch a single photo.

"This person is also one of the minority shareholders of Liuye Toys Company, and is also the owner of the computer where I found this group photo. But he is not in the group photo just now, but his computer has a lot of the same background Photos taken."

After a short pause, Anfeiya pulled the notebook in front of her, and while typing on the keyboard, she said, "I found this hot spring hotel through other photos in this person's computer."

Before the words finished, Anfeiya opened the browser and entered a URL copied and pasted from the document.

When the page load is complete, the screen
There is also a wooden building that looks very traditional Japanese style.

Turning on the page translation function and continuing to scroll down, Wei Ran found that the unsound machine-translated sentences on this page seemed to be a review about this hot spring hotel.

However, although the scenery captured in the photos included is very beautiful, in the translated sentences, comments such as "expensive", "unfriendly attitude", and "food is not delicious" are frequently mentioned .

"This hot spring hotel is located in Wakayama Prefecture, south of Osaka. What I'm doing now is trying to find out if I can follow this clue to find out something."

Anfeya tapped the screen with her sequined nails and said, "But this hot spring hotel doesn't have a website, and there's no reservation method on the Internet, and I can't even find a contact number. Simply put, everything that can be found on the Internet and this The information about this hotel is basically negative reviews.”

"Send me the group photo just now." Wei Ran thought for a while, pointed to the screen and said, "Send me the detailed address of this tavern too."

"Do you want to take a look?" Anfisa, who was sitting opposite Wei Ran, looked up and asked.

"I don't have time." Wei Ran took out his mobile phone while speaking, "I'll arrange someone to check it out."

Hearing this, An Feiya got up and sat down opposite Wei Ran again, and sent the group photo requested by the other party and the hotel address to his mobile phone.

After a little thought, Wei Ran sent the address of this hot spring hotel to Xia Shushi via WeChat, and then directly sent a voice call to the other party.

In less than ten seconds, Xia Shushi's voice came from the receiver, and at the same time, Wei Ran left the tavern with his mobile phone.

"What does Captain Wei want from me?" Xia Shushi on the other end of the phone asked jokingly. "There is indeed a business." Wei Ran paused, "Do you still have friends with the devil?"

"Yes." Xia Shushi replied without thinking, "I have several friends who are studying there."

"I just sent you an address. It's a hot spring hotel. It's not far from Osaka. You can find a few people to go and have a look. I'll pay all the expenses."

Wei Ran thought for a while, and continued, "It's best to take pictures of the hotel's surroundings. If the hotel provides kimonos, especially men's kimonos, remember to take pictures as well."

"Is there any more?" Xia Shushi asked.

"That's all," Wei Ran paused, and added, "You can let the person you are looking for stay there for a few more days."

"give it to me"

Xia Shushi responded happily, "I'll find someone now, and I promise to go there tomorrow, and I'll send you the photos tomorrow night."

"Then I'll trouble you, I'll transfer tens of thousands to you later." "Let's count together at the end."

Xia Shushi paused, but finally couldn't help asking, "Wei Ran, is this hotel?"

"You arrange someone to go over and take a look first, and I will tell you the rest after I figure it out."

Wei Ran reminded with a smile, "If someone you are looking for asks the same question, you can just say that your friend went there for a trip last time and saw that it was very beautiful, but due to time, there is no chance to live there, so ask him to help you to see the environment. .”

"Wait for my news," Xia Shushi said confidently.

After saying hello and hanging up the call, when Wei Ran turned and walked into the hotel, Sui Sui was already sitting where he was sitting just now, and was talking to Sister Katenka at this time.

Seeing Wei Ran approaching, Sui Sui immediately beckoned him to sit down, put down the cup she had just picked up and said, "Tomorrow morning, we will follow this group of people back to Irkutsk on Dmitri's flight, and then return to Irkutsk." Kazan."

"Aren't you going to Turukhansk?" Wei Ran asked puzzled. "not going"

Sui Sui explained with a smile, "I just asked, they met the convoy led by Su Lie on the road, and they also camped in the same camp for a night, the tourists who came with us are very grateful to Su Lie. Lie was very satisfied, and our driver guide also spoke highly of him.

Since this is the case, we don't have to waste time here, and wait for him to help with it a few more times. If there is no problem, then

Afterwards, this route was handed over to him. "

Of course, Wei Ran would not have any opinion on this. Anyway, this time he came to Tula, his purpose has been overfulfilled, and now it is a good thing to be able to go back earlier.

In the blink of an eye, the next morning, under the arrangement of old Ivan, a few girls wearing half masks drove an off-road vehicle with Wei Ran and the four of them went to several hotels in the small town of Tula to pick up those Tourists preparing for the return journey lined up and rushed to the airport.

It is still a cargo flight, the only difference is that in addition to these tourists, there are more than a dozen residents from the small town of Tula or other surrounding areas in the cargo hold.

He stayed in Irkutsk for an extra day. When Wei Ran returned to Kazan with Sui Sui and others, Xia Shushi also sent him the first set of photos taken from the hot spring hotel.

On the way from the airport to his home by Lake Kaban, Wei Ran carefully observed the photos sent by the other party over and over again.

The ghost knows who Xia Shushi is looking for, but he has to admit that these photos are extremely beautiful.Even in the photo, there is a pretty girl holding an expressive Shiba Inu as a model.

Flipping through one by one, Wei Ran stopped when he saw one of the photos.

In this photo, the girl who acts as a model puts her palms together devoutly, worshiping something in front of a decoration that looks like a Buddhist altar.

Zooming in on the photo, Wei Ran could only vaguely see a painting behind the incense burner.Unfortunately, because of the angle, the only thing he can see is only a corner of the painting, which seems to have a blue fish tail.

Without hesitation at all, Wei Ran drew a red circle on the photo and sent it to Xia Shushi, and added an extra sentence, "Take a close-up of this painting".

"Received" Xia Shushi quickly replied, and about ten minutes later, he sent two photos.

In the first photo, it was exactly the painting that Wei Ran wanted to see.

This painting has a strong Ukiyo-e style. In addition to the two carps, one red and one blue, the content of the painting also includes churning sea water, a red sun, a white crane with outstretched wings, and the highly recognizable Mount Fuji and falling cherry blossoms. .

There are so many elements that even when he saw the painting through the screen, he subconsciously wanted to ask the girl who was dozing off next to him, "Sui-san, have the cherry blossoms in my hometown bloomed?".

Continuing to turn back, in the second photo sent by Xia Shushi, there is a wooden tablet placed in front of the picture just now, and a samurai sword placed horizontally in front of the tablet.

It's just strange that the three words "Koi Festival" are written on this tablet.And in front of this tablet, there is a copper incense burner that looks a bit like the "Xuande furnace". On the belly of this incense burner, there is also a line of inconspicuous numbers-"11515"

Koi Festival? 11515?
Wei Ran muttered to himself, but he didn't see what it meant. "Soseki, what is the koi festival for?" Wei Ran asked while tapping on the phone screen.

"I've only heard of the Summer Festival, but not the Koi Festival."

After a short pause, Xia Shushi sent another text, "Wait a minute, I'll ask my friend, he has lived there for a long time, so he should know what this koi festival is."

"Ask about the number 11515, too, but don't let him ask the hotel staff."

"Don't worry, I'll send you news immediately." Xia Shushi immediately responded with a text.However, the wait lasted for more than [-] minutes. Seeing that the car had already driven into the urban area, Xia Shushi sent a call request.

"Are you ready?" Wei Ran asked after pressing the connect button. "No"

Xia Shushi replied unexpectedly, "My friend who is recruiting checks doesn't know what the Koi Festival is, and there is no event called "Koi Festival" in the local area, and I don't know what the string of numbers means.Also, according to your request, I didn't ask him to ask the people in the hot spring hotel. "

"Do you have any idea?"

Wei Ran paused, then continued, "I'll give you a general direction. It's the same as in World War II. No, in Southeast Asia.
It may be related to the recruiting nuclear army in combat. "

"Is it related to the recruitment of nuclear forces in Southeast Asia?"

Xia Shushi muttered a sentence to himself and then fell silent, but soon, not only Wei Ran, but also Sui Sui, who was dozing off next to him, heard this guy yelling "Fuck!" through the receiver.

"What's the matter?" Sui Sui asked with her eyes wide open. "It's okay, go on to sleep."

Wei Ran hurriedly lowered his voice, then comforted Sui Sui and leaned on his shoulder again, and then urged Xia Shushi who had been muttering "wait a minute" on the other end of the phone to explain quickly.

"If I didn't guess no no no, I definitely guessed right!"

Xia Shushi suppressed his excitement and said, "If you arrange them in order, maybe the tablet should say Carp Brocade Festival."

"What? Lee Kum Kee? Selling soy sauce?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously. "What sells soy sauce"

Xia Shushi, who was almost led astray, corrected angrily, "Carp Brocade Festival, it is still the three words on the tablet, but the order of front and back needs to be adjusted."

"Why?" Wei Ran asked.

Xia Shushi took a deep breath, and said in a serious but extremely sure tone, "Whether it's the carp brocade festival or the koi carp festival, these three words probably represent the three divisions of the devils!"
-
WAPCOM - to view