War Photographer's Notebook

On the morning of the second day when Okan came to the ruins of the castle, everyone finished their breakfast in silence amidst the extremely fierce firefight.

Watching the boys and girls get busy under the leadership of the young lovers Heike and Horst, Sophie and Qiqi looked at Wei Ran and said in unison, "You will be in charge of the lunch." gone."

"Do not worry"

As Wei Ran spoke, he handed over the MP40 submachine gun on his shoulder, and after Qiqi took over, he had to take off the holster around his waist and the 1911 pistol inserted in it.

"I have a pistol"

Sophie unbuttoned her woolen coat while speaking, and took out a small PPK pistol from a leather holster at her waist and shook it.

Scanning the pink wooden gun handle without any trace, Wei Ran finally ordered, "Be careful, and run back immediately if you find something wrong."

Sophie and Qiqi looked at each other again, nodded solemnly, and walked towards the sluice.

Before they could go far, Wei Ran waved to Okan.

"Victor, what do you need me to do?" Okan walked over with his younger brother Jonas.

Glancing at the pocket watch compass hanging on Jonas' neck, Wei Ran said in a low voice, "Wait, you and your brother don't do anything else, just go to the sluice and guard. If something goes wrong, wait for Sophie After running back with Qiqi, close the floodgate immediately."

"Leave this matter to me!" Okan immediately made a promise, and even Jonas, who was standing beside him, puffed out his small chest and saluted.

After dismissing the two brothers, Wei Ran took another look at Dominic who was cleaning the room with his little girlfriend, and finally shook his head helplessly.

The young master put all his thoughts on his little friend Nadia. At this time, he really had no hope, and he really didn't dare to entrust such an important job to Dominic at this time.

Watching the Okan brothers also disappear from sight, Wei Ran immediately left the room, took a few girls and young men who were in charge of cooking into the room where various ingredients were stored, and began to prepare for lunch.

"Victor, what do we have for lunch?" A boy who seemed to be about the same age as Dominic asked.

"eat fish"

“Braised Fish“

Wei Ran, who is good at braised everything, added secretly, and then pointed to the rainbow trout raised in the oil drum and said, "Get as many as there are people, and I will prepare other things."

While Wei Ran was busy showing off his cooking skills, Sophie and Qiqi also joined forces to open the water gate, waited patiently for the water level inside to drop, and immediately went into the waterway with their weapons.

Almost at the same time when the backs of the two of them were completely swallowed by the shadow in the waterway, Okan also rushed over with his younger brother Jonas, and sat side by side on a stone next to the sluice.

Near noon, when Wei Ran, who had already prepared lunch in advance, was about to go to the sluice to have a look around, Sophie and Qiqi walked back together.

"What do you mean by your expressions?" Wei Ran stopped in his tracks and asked.

Sophie and Qiqi looked at each other, then simply changed direction, and said while walking towards the church, "Go to my room and talk."

Of course, Wei Ran would not have any objections, and followed behind the two girls obediently.

However, when the three of them walked under the holy statue, they heard something about the initial process of life reproduction from the room where Wei Ran and Dominic lived. control noise.

Seeing that Wei Ran and Qiqi were all looking at her in unison, and seemed ready to hold her at any moment, Sophie shook her head helplessly, rolled her eyes and turned towards the stone bridge across the moat, and finally In the forest on the other side of the moat, I found a pine tree big enough to stop.

"Dominic the bastard!" Sophie clenched her fists and said through gritted teeth, "he's going to kill Nadia like this."

"It's already happened, you can't interrupt their good deeds at this time, can you?" Qiqi spread her hands rather gloatingly.

"Let's get down to business." Wei Ran changed the subject while sitting down against the tree trunk.

"More than half an hour ago, I met a student my mother used to teach, and he now
He is also a member of the labor group. "

Sophie paused, then sat down next to Wei Ran, also leaning against the mossy tree trunk and continued, "He said that my father and Uncle Jens are still alive, and he saw them when he left the fortress this morning. "

"How's their situation?" Wei Ran asked.

This time, Sophie shook her head, "He said that my father and Uncle Jens left together on a half-track motorcycle with two chain dogs, and two other half-tracked motorcycles were walking with them. Track motorcycles, and a person in charge of the fortress.

In addition, he also said that he and the driver of a motorcycle who left with him are relatively good friends. After returning to the fort tonight, he will help to ask where he went. I made an appointment with him to meet at this time tomorrow. . "

"Is that person trustworthy?" Wei Ran asked suspiciously.

"trustworthy"

Qiqi walked to the other side of Wei Ran, sat down against the tree trunk as well, lit a cigarette unhurriedly, and said in a gloating tone, "That boy seems to like Sophie very much."

"Nothing." Sophie rolled her eyes, "and I'm not in the mood to talk about love right now."

"In short, go and see tomorrow and you will know."

Qiqi asked in a cloud of mist, "What now? Shall we continue to eavesdrop on Dominique and Nadia's good deeds outside the room, or pretend we don't know anything and try Victor's cooking skills?"

"Go and eat." Sophie stood up irritably, "I'm almost starving to death."

She blatantly winked at Wei Ran, and Qi Qi also stood up and said with regret on purpose, "It's a pity, I still plan to..."

"To shut up!"

Before Sophie finished speaking, she quickened her pace. In a moment, in the forest next to the moat, there was only Wei Ran who was still walking under the pine tree.

After all, they are still a group of innocent children...

Wei Ran muttered to himself, but in the end he had no choice but to stand up and follow behind towards the castle.

At this moment, he even had a premonition that he might see Timov and Buck tomorrow.

Amidst the sound of firefighting, under the ruins of the castle that seemed to be forgotten and neglected by both warring parties, everyone, including the young Dominique with the strawberry print on his neck, and the girl Nadia sitting opposite him Everyone was given a piece of braised rainbow trout, plus a few slices of bread baked yesterday.

Although the ingredients are limited, it is different from the German-style stew that I ate countless times before, so this Chinese-style braised fish was welcomed by everyone.

But even so, after lunch, Sophie still took Dominique away with a cold face, while Qiqi picked an opportunity that no one noticed, and quietly brought the blonde girl named Nadia to the In the room temporarily borrowed by Wei Ran.

Compared with the two young girls who were having a headache on how to solve puberty problems, Wei Ran's job was much easier. He just had to watch the other children who were looking for something to do in the big room with windows, and brought along It is enough for a few "duty students" to prepare dinner together.

However, just when the sun was about to be blocked by the canopy of trees, a shell that flew from nowhere hit the moat without warning!

"boom!"

After the explosion that almost shattered the heart, the reeds that were blown away by the shock wave, the smelly mud at the bottom of the river, and the small fish and shrimp mixed in the mud all fell from the top of the head like rain for a while. Everywhere!

But compared to these, the fragments splashed by the glass window shattered by the shock wave brought real damage to the children in the room!

"Quick! Go to the basement!"

Wei Ran threw away the bucket of carrots in his hand and shouted to the children in the room, "After entering, squat down against the wall, keep a punch distance between your body and the wall and open your mouth! Quick! Go!"

"Houst! Heike! Help the injured ones in! Remember to stay away from the kitchen truck!"

Wei Ran turned off the sizzling American oil stove on the table as quickly as possible while he was speaking, and at the same time repeated the hidden essentials over and over again.

After a short period of panic, Horst and Heike immediately suppressed their panic and repeated loudly

Following the precautions that Wei Ran just mentioned, he took a few older children who were not seriously injured, and took the other children and the wounded out of the room as quickly as possible and ran into the basement.

At the same time, Wei Ran also ran towards the church at the fastest speed.Almost before and after, he also saw Qiqi who ran out of the room pulling Nadia.

"Are you injured?" Wei Ran yelled and asked from a long distance away, "Where are Sophie and Dominic?"

"No! We were not injured! The two of them were in Sophie's room, and Dominic had a seizure!" Qiqi replied with a pale face, "Where are the children? How are they doing?"

"They all hid in the basement, and a few were injured."

Wei Ran yelled as he passed by, "I'll get the first aid kit first! You wait and let the children cover their heads with sleeping bags or blankets!"

Without waiting for Qiqi's response, he rushed into Sophie's room, and then saw Dominic sitting on the edge of the bed, his hands clenched into fists, his eyes tensed and his body tensed, at the same time, His crotch was also visibly wet with the naked eye!
And Sophie was pressing his shoulders with panicked hands at this time, for fear that he would suddenly fall down, but she didn't notice at all that Dominic's face was already flushed red!
"Let him go!"

Wei Ran strode over, pushed Sophie away, picked up Dominic's legs and pushed them up, and at the same time supported his neck with the other hand and retracted it gently. Dominique, who was beside the bed, was already lying on his side on the bed.

Trying to pinch his mandible lightly, the tight muscles prevented him from using brute force, but fortunately, although his face was flushed, his nostrils were breathing rapidly.

"Turn off the oil stove and carry it outside!"

At the same time that Wei Ran gave orders at the top of his voice, there was another whistle of a cannonball flying outside the door, followed by a cannonball hitting the forest some distance away from the ruins of the castle.

It was precisely because of this shell that Wei Ran was somewhat relieved. Although he didn't figure out where the shell came from for a while, the two consecutive shells were obviously the artillery position's firing.

In other words, since the second shell had smashed into the forest, at least the ruins of the castle where they were located should not be the target of the artillery.

While analyzing the current situation in his mind, a sharp paratrooper gravity knife also appeared in Wei Ran's hand.

With the blade slashing, Dominic's sweater and shirt collar were cut wide open.

Prioritizing the smooth breathing of this furry child, Wei Ran saw that even though the other party was lying on the bed, he still kept his fists clenched as if sitting by the bed, so he simply took a step back and took the easel by the bed Tossed aside.

"What do we do now?" Sophie asked in panic.

"Help me move the bed, I need the medical kit."

As Wei Ran said, he had already grasped the position at the head of the bed, dragged the single bed to the side amidst the ear-piercing rubbing sound, and at the same time kept asking, "Have you never seen a bed?" Was he having a seizure?"

"I saw it once"

Sophie tried her best to lift the single bed and Dominic lying on the bed to the side, then pushed the box under the bed and said very fast, "I accompanied Dominic to the Youth League last time. During the interview, there happened to be a chain dog shooting a Jew on the road, he was startled, and then, he had an attack."

"and after?"

Wei Ran glanced at Dominic who was already twitching and foaming at the mouth on the bed, but actually he was trying to comfort the flustered Sophie.

"Are we going to ignore him?" Sophie asked panicked, pointing to Dominic on the bed.

"Don't press him at this time, it will hurt him."

Wei Ran gently supported Dominic's head to one side, grabbed the towel at the head of the bed and helped him wipe off the white foam on his mouth, pinched his mandible again and opened his lips to observe, before making sure that he didn't bite himself Then he let go of his hand and continued, "Continue, what happened after he had an attack?"

"The chain dog took him to the hospital on a motorcycle"

Sophie had no choice but to continue to respond, "Thanks to that attack, although he bit his tongue, he didn't have to join the boy group. For this, he

Also blamed myself for a long time. "

"Fortune favors fools"

Wei Ran muttered something in Chinese that the other party didn't understand, pointed to the single bed and said, "Dominic's condition is not a problem for the time being, I think he will recover after a while. He's looking for another suit."

"What about you?" Sophie asked belatedly, "The other children..."

"A few are injured, I'm going to help them bandage."

Wei Ran swiftly took out the medical bag and hung it around his neck, and finally shouted as he ran out, "Don't worry about Dominic for the time being, you just need to guard him, especially keep his head at the current angle. Just wipe it off. You don’t have to worry about the shells, they won’t hit again if nothing happens.”

Before he finished speaking, he had already disappeared, leaving only Sophie standing at the door in a panic, looking at Dominic who was still twitching, and then at Wei Ran's direction.

In the end, Sophie could only grit her teeth and kneel beside the bed, carefully helping Dominic wipe off the white foam at the corners of his mouth with a towel.

At the same time, before entering the basement, Wei Ran took out the kerosene lamp that had not been used for a long time from the metal notebook.

"Qiqi, how many people are injured?" Wei Ran asked loudly, and handed the kerosene lamp to Horst, "Light it up as quickly as possible."

"Five, only five." Qiqi replied calmly, "But one of them hurt his eyeball."

"What can you help?" Wei Ran had already scratched all the things on a table while speaking.

"My mother taught me how to bandage wounds and how to give intramuscular injections." Qiqi walked over while speaking, "but I don't know what medicine to use in any situation."

"Enough is enough"

Wei Ran opened the medical bag while speaking, "Let the one with the worst bleeding come over first, Hurst, hurry up!"

"Now! Now!" Horst responded, speeding up the pressurization of the kerosene lamp.

When the first crying wounded was carried to the table, the kerosene lamp finally released a bright ice blue light.

He glanced at the dense glass shards inlaid on the little boy's face, and then at the pocket watch-style compass hanging around his neck.Wei Ran has already recognized the other party, the youngest boy is none other than Okan's younger brother Jonas!
Sighing secretly, he took out a stick of morphine and pierced the skin around the wound as quickly as possible.

Not daring to use too much medicine, Wei Ran withdrew the needle, and at the same time signaled Qiqi and the pale Heike to help hold Jonas' body.

"His eyes..."

"The injured eyeball needs to be removed as soon as possible"

Wei Ran explained while adjusting the position of the kerosene lamp, "Otherwise, his other eye will be blind as well."

"Jonas is just 12 years old," Orkan pleaded, "Victor..."

"So we must keep his other eye." Wei Ran said seriously, "Okan, Jonas needs to be treated as soon as possible, and other injured children also need to be treated as soon as possible."

"Brother, it's okay, brother."

Jonas clenched the compass hanging around his neck, sobbing and said, "I...I'm not afraid, brother Victor, hurry up... hurry up, the other brothers, sisters and sisters are still waiting."

"Let me give you an early birthday present! Jonas, look here!"

As Wei Ran said, he solemnly rolled up the sleeves of his hands, and showed Jonas, who was terrified and bewildered, to look at the palms, the back of his hands and every finger.

Under Jonas' puzzled gaze, Wei Ran closed his hands together, and when he opened them again, there was already a pen lying quietly in his palm.

"How did you do it?" Jonas, who was lying on the table, stared blankly at his only remaining eye.

In fact, it wasn't just him, even Qiqi and Heike who were helping beside him, as well as Okan looked incredible.

"This pen is a small gift for you, Jonas, and happy birthday to you in advance."

Wei Ran gently pinned the pen taken out of the metal book into Jonas's jacket pocket, "Okay, lie down now and don't move, and when I'm done, I'll go back to you."
How about doing a magic trick for you?"

"it is good!"

Jonas held the compass in one hand and the pen that Wei Ran gave him in the other and responded excitedly. The original nervousness disappeared with Wei Ran's impromptu performance.

After calming down the little guy's emotions, Wei Ran signaled him to close the uninjured eye, and then lightly touched the other's eyeball with glass shards with the hemostat, seeing that he didn't respond, he immediately moved Surgery started.

The eyeball is removed, the wound is stitched up, the glass shards are cleaned from the other wounds on the face, and the stitches continue.

Before the effect of the anesthetic faded away, Wei Ran, who was missing a finger, sewed up every wound that needed to be stitched up as carefully as possible.

Handing over the final bandaging work to Qiqi, the second injured little guy was carried to the table by Horst immediately.

Under his busy schedule, there are more and more blood-stained gauze and used medical equipment piled up at the corner of the table. On an enamel plate next to it, broken glass, stone shards and even wood shards found from the wound And more and more.

Finally, the moment he sewed up the last little girl's pink face cut open by the broken glass, applause broke out in the basement filled with the smell of disinfectant and blood.

He looked up at Sophie, who was standing not far from her side, and Dominic, who had changed into a boy band uniform.Wei Ran threw the medical equipment in his hand on the table, and slowly took off the blood-stained rubber gloves.

Pretentiously putting on a haughty look, Wei Ranxu pressed his hands, and waited for the basement to quiet down, then rolled up his cuffs again with an inscrutable smile, but this time, he even exposed his elbows .

Borrowing the icy blue light of the kerosene lamp, Wei Ran used his hands to draw the shadow of a dove of peace on the wall not far away. When everyone's attention was successfully attracted to the wall, he immediately used the full snapped his left hand.

"Snapped!"

Everyone in the basement followed the snap of their fingers and looked at Wei Ran's empty hands—especially the right hand missing a finger.

Under the watchful eyes of these young audience whose average age was far less than 18 years old, Wei Ran slowly put his hands together, and when he separated his hands again, there was already a blues harmonica in his palm.

"Oh----!"

All the audience members who were injured or not were all exclaimed. Even Qiqi, who took the opportunity to clean up the medical equipment and gauze on the table, couldn't help being stunned. Although she was the closest, she still didn't see Wei Ran. Where did you get the harmonica from.

Gently pressing his hands again, Wei Ran adjusted the icy blue light emitted by the kerosene lamp to the dimmest level, and then used the harmonica in his hand to perform a piece of "astigoe***y", which is the only song he knows how to play

Gradually, everyone in the basement quieted down with the soothing tune, and the original nervousness and panic were also eliminated by the music, leaving only pairs of unusually bright eyes under the ice-blue light.

At the end of the song, Wei Ran also turned up the brightness of the kerosene lamp again, and clasped his hands together again, sending the blues harmonica back to the metal book.

When he opened his hands again, the children around him also huffed and surrounded him. Under the dazzling ice blue light, they rushed to check his hands, vowing to find the harmonica hidden by him, and by the way, temporarily Forget the still aching wound.

"It seems that our Mr. Magician is very popular"

Relieved, Qiqi said with a smile, Wei Ran's entire back was also reflected in those big ice-blue eyes.

"Yes." Sophie sighed worriedly, "but the war is getting closer and closer to everyone."