War Photographer's Notebook

Watching Sophie leave the half-collapsed church, Wei Ran turned to think about the news that Sophie just revealed——she had notified Captain Wright about chaining the dog.

But when she notified and how she notified did not explain in detail.

And Wei Ran can almost confirm that even if he asks, Sophie will definitely not explain.

After thinking about it, Wei Ran suppressed the doubts in his heart and walked to the edge of the sluice along the path among the weeds and bushes.

There is no doubt that this is the only channel through which Letts and Sophie father and daughter communicate.But obviously, the parabolic water column gushing from the gap in the sluice cannot be used to convey any news.

Sitting on the edge of the moss-covered sluice, Wei Ran took out his binoculars and silently looked at the surroundings of the castle ruins.

As his body twisted, Wei Ran also saw Sophie who was drawing in the room, the boys and girls who were looking for something to do, and also saw a small cut-off wall next to the ruins of the main building of the castle. Sitting hand in hand, Dominic and a lovely little girl with blond hair.

When the girl who looked about the same size as Dominic kissed Dominic on the face, Wei Ran shifted the camera in a timely manner to the remaining bell tower of the church.

From the outside, the clock tower is relatively intact—except that the big clock has fallen, and fell into the moat not far away like a green onion.

Adjusting the focus slightly, Wei Ran finally managed to see, at the top of the clock tower, a camouflaged excellent Yagi antenna faintly sticking out.In addition, there are three or two pigeons flying in and out there from time to time.

Don't know what will happen next...

Wei Ran muttered to himself, re-pointed the binoculars at Dominic who was sitting on the broken wall, and then was fed a mouthful of green rations --- in just a short while, the two of them could at most Young men and women who have just entered high school are already hugging each other, and solemnly began to exchange saliva enzymes.

Why didn’t I get the hang of it when I was in high school, my wonderful youth is dedicated to Internet cafes...

Wei Ran smacked his lips enviously, but finally took back the binoculars, wrapped his Soviet cloak tightly around his body, and basked in the sun while secretly thinking about when the American soldier Timov and the seriously injured Buck would come over.

Killing the time a bit bored, after the sun went down, Wei Ran was also pulled by his cuff by a little bean sprout who looked less than ten years old and returned to the big house.

Different from the daytime, the only two windows in this house at this time have been carefully blocked by wooden boards nailed with blankets, and the canvas curtains inside and outside the windows have also been lowered and stretched tightly with ropes.

In the room, in the center of the long table, there are two chirping American-style oil stoves. On top of the oil stoves, the radiators transformed from gas mask cans have already burned red. It also looks very warm.

Finding his own seat and sitting down, Wei Ran lifted the lid of the lunch box, and immediately found that the meals tonight were indeed much richer, and without exception, all of these dishes had a strong Bavarian style. …

The big pimple soup was full of ingredients, the leftover ingredients at noon plus a few slices of canned meat from the US army made cheese snacks, burnt grilled fish, and even half a sweet and sour apple for each person.

In all fairness, the dinner under the ruins is not only not inferior to the supply in the fortress, but even the taste is obviously much better.

Filling his stomach with freshly baked bread, when Wei Ran was about to leave, a girl named Qiqi got up first, walked to the edge of the bookshelf, and accurately pulled out a beautifully covered "Aesop fable".

When the girl sat down at the long table again, all the children had already packed their lunch boxes. At the same time, Heike and her little boyfriend, Horst, gave everyone, including Wei Ran, Sent a piece of the great invention of the Weimar Republic --- licorice-flavored gummy bears.

By the time Wei Ran put the slightly shriveled head of fudge into his mouth, and ruthlessly bit off the ginger bear's head, Qiqi had already opened the book in his hand
I found the page with the bookmark, cleared my throat, and said in a calm tone, today is still a story about crows.

Does Mr. Crow still want to drink the water in the bottle today?
A little girl who seemed to be the youngest asked with a bitter face, wouldn't he find another half-filled bottle? I was dreaming last night to help him find stones that could be stuffed into the bottle.

Of course it wasn't Qiqi shaking her head in a serious manner, Mr. Crow wants to eat meat today.

After clearing her throat again, Qiqi gave a sermon with emotion. Today's story still happened in this big forest outside Hurtgen Village.In the depths of the forest, in the middle of a swamp where no hunter had set foot, there was a very, very tall pine tree.

On the first branch of this pine tree lives our Mr. Crow.The young children said in unison with laughter.

Of course, of course.

Qiqi nodded, pointed to Wei Ran who was sitting opposite, and said with a smile, but under this big tree, a neighbor came recently, he is our Mr. Fox.

This little joke immediately made these inexperienced children cover their mouths and let out giggles.

And Qiqi waited patiently until her laughter calmed down, and then continued with an exaggerated expression. On this day, the crow, who was full of water, got this——— such a big piece of meat...

In the warm room, Qiqi told the story of the crow and the fox with great emotion, and the children also looked at her intently, obviously being brought into the plot.

When Mr. Fox in the story took away the piece of meat, Sophie, who was also listening to the story, also imitated Mr. Crow in the story and sang a German nursery rhyme.

And those older children, under the leadership of Heike and Horst, either took the children to the basement connected to it to wash and rest, or were responsible for cleaning the lunch box.

Remember to remind Dominic to take the medicine. Sophie told Wei Ran that I can't go back until the other children are asleep.

Do not worry

Wei Ran grabbed Dominique's shoulders, led him out of the room, and walked towards the collapsed church in the dark.

Do you live like this every day these days?In the night, Wei Ran asked in a low voice. …

Ok

Dominic nodded and explained in a low voice that Sister Sophie is like the mother of those younger brothers and sisters.

The rest of the older ones are your classmates?Wei Ran asked along the topic.

Ok

Dominique nodded, and there were some, if not my classmates, who were my mother's students.

Where's your little girlfriend?Wei Ran asked with a smile.

What girl...girlfriend?Dominic asked stammeringly.

Remember not to sit on the wall when you date in the future

Wei Ran patted the other person on the shoulder and joked, sitting so high, maybe even Mr. Letts in the fort could see you with a telescope.

Hehe
Dominic grinned stupidly, looked behind him with a guilty conscience, and then explained in a low voice with a little bit of showing off, her name is Nadia, and we have been in the same class since we were in middle school Yes, you've seen her, she sat across from me at dinner, the prettiest blonde.

so you're here to meet nadia
Wei Ran deliberately asked, as for whether the little girl named Nadia is beautiful, I am afraid that only Dominic cares.

No... no, I mean... Well, I mean, I do want to meet her, but I don't just want to meet Nadia.

At this time, Dominic, who was only fourteen or fifteen years old, could not stand up to an old driver like Wei Ran. After some defenses at a loss, he pointed to the ruins of the church in front of him and said in a worried voice, I heard Miss Sophie say, Two months ago, Nadia's younger brother and Qiqi's mother were buried by the collapsed church. It took Sophie two full days to get them both
dig it out.But unfortunately, they all died.

After a short pause, Dominic lowered his voice, and... and last week, Nadia's parents... were also killed by a bomb dropped by an American or British plane. I haven't told Nadia yet.My dad said I should be by Nadia's side at this time and it was my responsibility to take care of her.

Mr. Kasten is right, that is indeed your responsibility.

When Wei Ran said this, he completely regarded the other party as an adult, but before Dominic could say anything else, he pushed open the door, changed the subject and asked, Dominic, do you know what you should do every time? How much medicine do you take?

Knowing that Dominic nodded, twice a day, one tablet each time.

that's fine

Wei Ran closed the door while speaking, and then lit a kerosene lamp that was found under the bed when cleaning the room today.

With the help of the dim light of the fire, Wei Ran inspected the tightly blocked windows, and then creaked enough to fill up the two American oil stoves in the room, and after igniting one of them with a gas mask The canister-modified radiator and the kettle filled with water were placed on top of it.

After receiving the medicine bottle from Wei Ran, Dominic lay on the table, fiddled with the medicine bottle and stared at the red radiator and asked, Victor, do you have a girl you like?

Are you sure you want to discuss these issues with me?

Wei Ran asked dumbfoundedly, after all, there is at least a ten-year difference between him and this Mao boy, not to mention that they lived in an era that was far beyond half a century. …

Are you still shy?Dominique showed off with a look of contempt, I kissed Nadia today, God testifies, her lips are so soft.

Seeing that Wei Ran was too lazy to answer himself, the boy came over and asked, Victor, what do you think of Sister Sophie? She can draw, play the piano, and ski. As far as I know, there are many boys in pursuit of her.If you…

Believe it or not, if you keep talking, Sophie will throw you into the moat to soak for a night sober
While talking, Wei Ran pushed a cup of slightly heated boiled water to the other party, took medicine, and went to bed early after eating.

I'll ask Sophie tomorrow!
After Dominic finished speaking, he picked up the cup, threw the pills he had prepared into his mouth, and swallowed them in one gulp with water.

Waiting patiently for this brat who was chattering and showing off his girlfriend to finally lie down on his little bed, Wei Ran also took out the British army jug full of wine from the metal book, and poured the wine inside into it. In the coconut kettle hanging on the waist, I rinsed it carefully with water, and then filled the pot with boiling water.

After turning off one of the oil stoves and lowering the fire of the other slightly, Wei Ran also got into his sleeping bag with the British army kettle that served as a warm water bag.

But this time, he did not close his eyes to rest, but listened carefully to the movement outside the door.

As time passed by, Dominic had already fallen asleep and talked in his sleep, and in this extraordinarily quiet night, there was the sound of opening the door again.

Almost at the same time, Wei Ran, who had been preparing for a long time, immediately turned over and got out of bed, put away the water bottle he had been holding in his arms, and hid in one stride to the side of the door.

After a while, he heard a slight breathing sound from outside the wooden door, and at the same time, through the crack of the door, he could vaguely smell the unique smell of oil paint.

Soon, with the sound of rustling footsteps, Sophie, who had been hiding outside the door and eavesdropped for a while, walked away quickly, and Wei Ran also gently opened the door shaft that had been greased in advance when cleaning. door.

Quietly leaving the room, Wei Ran bent his waist, followed the thin figure under the moonlight, left the ruins of the castle along the path among the weeds and bushes, crossed the almost deserted stone bridge, and finally came to the sluice next to.

However, Sophie, who was walking in front, did not stop, but instead entered the nearby forest.

Seeing this, Wei Ran, who was following behind, simply put on his clothes.
Putting on a cloak that could conceal his figure, he almost crawled and followed from a distance of several meters.

Fortunately, Sophie, who was walking ahead, did not go too deep into the forest, so she stopped beside a tall and lush pine tree.

Afterwards, the girl untied a rope tied to the pine tree, and slowly hung a wooden box from the canopy.

What Wei Ran didn't expect was that after the girl took out something from the box, she walked to the side of a stone the size of a millstone not far away, fumbled and dragged something out from under the stone, Facing Wei Ran, he began to fiddle with it.

Just when Wei Ran was wondering what the girl was doing, a loud old-fashioned telephone rang suddenly in the silent forest!
In less than two seconds, the rapid ringing stopped, and in this quiet forest, only Sophie's voice was left:

As long as you're fine, we're fine here.

Well, Brother Victor is indeed a trustworthy person, and he is very clean and smart.

Can you believe it? It took only half a day for Dad to find the radio station we hid, and he seems to have some medical skills.

There is nothing unusual about Dominic, he is having a great time and I saw him dating Nadia today.

Of course, of course I know to tell him to take medicine every day, so don’t worry about this kind of thing!
What did you say? !

Sophie, who was talking on the phone with her father in the forest, let out a suppressed exclamation. Hurtgen Village was occupied by the Americans?So fast?Wouldn't it be next...

Dad, come here quickly!
Sophie's anxious tone was even crying, bring Uncle Kasten and Aunt Heidi and hurry up, Hurtgen Village has been occupied, I'm afraid...I'm afraid...

well!

Sophie covered her mouth and said worriedly, Dad, you have to protect yourself.See you.

After a long time, Wei Ran, who was hiding behind a pine tree not far away, heard the sound of the microphone colliding with the loose push switch when it was dropped.

Immediately afterwards, he vaguely saw Sophie fiddling around the rocks, then dragged the wooden box to the treetop with a rope and hid it, then turned and ran towards the ruins of the castle.