War Photographer's Notebook

"Mr. Victor, it will take us about five hours to arrive in Bonn, Germany. You can rest for a while on the way."

In the lobby on the first floor of the hotel, Leon reminded while taking Wei Ran's luggage.

"You just drive yourself?" Wei Ran asked while getting into the car.

"I can." Leon said with certainty, "I will definitely send you to the airport in Bonn safely and on time."

"Then it's hard work for you." Wei Ran paused, and continued: "Leon, if you get tired on the road, just tell me, we can take turns driving."

"If I can't hold on, I won't be polite"

Before Leon finished his sentence, he opened the co-pilot's door, took out a blanket and a pair of cotton slippers from the seat, and handed them to Wei Ran.

After he put on comfortable slippers, covered the blanket and adjusted the angle of the seat back, Leon, who was smoking a cigarette outside the car, also opened the door and sat in the cab.

A moment later, amidst the roar of the engine, the car slowly accelerated away from the city of Paris, which hadn't yet woken up, and headed straight for Germany.

During the long-distance drive of more than five hours, Wei Ran chatted with Leon from time to time at the beginning, and then put on blindfolds and earplugs to catch up on sleep in the second half of the journey.

When he was woken up by Lyon, the street signs outside the car window had changed to German, and looking at the time, it was already past ten o'clock in the morning.

"Mr. Dominique's plane won't land until afternoon"

Leon paused for a while, and waited for Wei Ran to finish yawning before continuing to ask: "Mr. Victor, are you hungry? Do you want to find a place to eat first and then find a hotel to take a shower and rest?"

"Let's find a hotel first." Wei Ran yawned again: "I really need to take a shower to wake up."

"Then let's go to the one in front." Leon said, he had already turned the steering wheel and drove directly to the entrance of the hotel lobby.

"You can also open a room to rest." Wei Ran said before opening the car door: "If you are too tired, you can stay in the hotel in the afternoon, as long as you give me the car keys."

"I'm not tired." Leon honestly rejected Wei Ran's kindness: "I also want to see Mr. Dominique again."

That being the case, Wei Ran didn't say anything more, and let the other party arrange to stay in the hotel room. Taking advantage of the time to fill the bathtub, he notified the bad news of Mr. Dominic's death to the people in Kazan who were about to have lunch Spike.

This news not only made Suisui lament the impermanence of the world, but also made the Katenka sisters sitting at the same table subconsciously look at each other, and they both saw a trace of expectation from each other's eyes.

As the saying goes, people's sorrows and joys are not interlinked. For these two girls, they don't care about Dominic's life and death at all, but at the same time they also know that when the lonely old man passes away, the Hela organization will soon You can get investment from the Elk Foundation.

But for Wei Ran, Dominic is definitely more than just a generous boss and client.

Because of this, before departure that afternoon, Wei Ran not only took a good shower, but also deliberately dug out from the suitcase the custom-made formal suit that he would bring whenever he was on a business trip, and put on a pair of clothes that he seldom used. The Soviet Wrigley watch.

Before the sun set, Lyon drove him directly to the edge of the airport apron.At this time, not only lawyer Carlos stood on the gangway of the private jet, but also the new rich man Koko and her grandfather.

They haven't seen each other for just over half a month, and the grandpa and grandson have not changed much, just like the expressions on their faces, there is neither sadness nor rejoicing, some are just bewildered and confused from beginning to end. The apprehension did not subside.

Then look at the black coffin that has been lifted from the plane and put into the hearse, and the two owners of the "Jonas and Okan Brothers Outdoor Store", Wei Ran gently placed the bouquet of chrysanthemums that Leon had prepared for him on the coffin lid, and then walked towards the three of Carlos.

"Miss Koko, Mr. Love, I'm sorry to hear the bad news."

Wei Ranhe

While shaking hands, the grandpa and grandson also nodded slightly to lawyer Carlos standing behind.

"Brother Victor, I'll leave it to you next time." Kou Kou said rather at a loss.

"Don't worry, I will take Mr. Capet seriously." Wei Ran gently assured him, and at the same time nodded earnestly towards the old gentleman named Dominique.

"I don't really have any feelings for him."

Kou Kou's grandfather said regretfully, "Although I know he is my father, but at my age, I really don't have much need for the father's love that I missed when I was young. After all, even my mother only lives in those few pictures. It's just in the little photo."

"I understand how you feel, and I also understand Mr. Dominique Capet's loneliness."

Wei Ran paused, and continued to comfort him, "So you don't have to blame yourself, I guess even Mr. Capet has already made enough psychological preparations before meeting you."

"yes!"

The old man who had already walked to the hearse lightly touched the coffin lid: "To me, he is indeed a strange father, but I have to admit that he is a good friend.

In that senior hospital in Hawaii, I lived in the same ward with him. He told me about his childhood experience, and I told him about my experience growing up in a monastery.I don't know how to describe it, but it feels like when he was a boy and I became good friends when I was a boy, and there are good friends who can't finish talking. "

"Mr. Dominique Capet probably has no regrets." Wei Ran muttered to himself.

"He said he was satisfied"

Kou Kou's grandfather, Mr. Loew, helped to slowly close the trunk door of the hearse: "Young man, my father said, on the day I die, if I want, I can hand over the burial to you. If you are willing to help, you can bury me in the sarcophagus he prepared for my mother."

"It's still early though."

Wei Ran paused for a moment, turned his head to look at Kou Kou who was standing beside him at a loss, and the lawyer Carlos standing a few meters behind Kou Kou, and then said very formally: "But if that day comes, as long as Miss Kou Kou is willing, I will come to help."

"Take him away."

Dominic Love patted the compartment of the hearse lightly: "Send this lonely old guy home, send my father and mother home."

"Victor"

Lawyer Carlos in the distance said before Wei Ran got into the hearse: "We will wait for you at the airport."

"I see." After Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already bent down and got into the compartment of the hearse, and sat on the edge of the coffin.

"Sit still"

Okan II, who was in charge of driving, whispered a few words, then slowly stepped on the accelerator, followed a ground service vehicle and drove out of the airport, heading straight for the long-forgotten Hürtgen Forest.

Under the fiery red sunset, the black hearse drove farther and farther, and finally threw away the steel jungle behind it completely.

And in the quiet hearse compartment, I also thought of "astigoe***y" played by a blues harmonica.

At some point, Wei Ran put away his harmonica, and at some point, stretches of farmland and forests, as well as the starry night sky can already be seen outside the car window.

But this black hearse, like an arrow, did not stop from the beginning to the end—until it drove to the mill town in the Hurtgen Forest, until it walked along the gravel road on the side of the mill in the dark night. Drive deep into the forest, through a passage in the barbed wire fence, and finally stop outside the moat.

"We're here." The old man named Jonas Jr. opened the door and walked to the rear of the car while speaking, and gently opened the trunk door.

"Do you want to carry it in directly?" Wei Ran who also opened the door and got out of the car asked. "right"

Okan II responded with a hoarse voice, and grasped the sterling silver handles on the coffin with little Jonas from left to right.

Seeing this, Wei Ran quickly grabbed the two handles at the end of the coffin, followed the two of them, and lifted the heavy coffin across the moat, onto the platform, and finally into the brightly lit, and open space.

A very clean church.

At this time, not only was a dark red carpet spread in the church, but also an entrance and exit that was more than two meters long and one meter wide was opened on the floor in the center.

Looking down from here, it is the basement of the church, and beside this temporarily opened entrance and exit, there is also a tripod made of wooden cubes with electric winches and universal wheels.

"Young man, go down first."

Little Jonas pointed to the door on the right side of the icon: "Climb up the bell tower from there, and then go down the stairs inside the other door."

"it is good."

Wei Ran nodded, walked into the room next to the icon, and climbed up the bell tower by stepping on the stairs familiarly.

At the same time, Jonas Jr. and Okan II, also witnessed by the surrounding bronze statues, connected the wooden coffin and the iron chain hanging from the winch at the top of the tripod together and started the winch.

When the wooden coffin was off the ground, they immediately pushed the tripod hanging on the wooden coffin to the temporary entrance and exit opened on the floor.

Just as the two of them were getting ready, Wei Ran had already entered the basement again.Only this time, bright lights were also lit in the basement, allowing him to easily see the extra stone tablet with the names of Dominic and Nadia written side by side, and the fully opened sarcophagus behind the stone tablet .

With the cooperation of three people on the ground and underground, the joint burial coffin of Dominic and Nadia was sent into the sarcophagus, and then the heavy stone coffin lid was pulled on with the help of a winch.

As the iron chain was untied by Wei Ran, the simple funeral of the billionaire finally came to an end.The lonely old man was finally reunited with his companion again.

Sighing secretly, Wei Ran took out a group photo of the young Dominic and the equally young Nadia with the castle ruins as the background, and placed it gently on the two of them. man's tombstone.

"Don't worry, I will be everyone's gravekeeper."

Wei Ran caressed the lid of the sarcophagus and muttered something in German, then turned around and returned to the church on the surface.

After such a short time, Okan II and Jonas Jr., with the help of a tripod, used the two stone floor tiles to re-block the temporary entrance to the basement.

After everything was packed, the two old men greeted Wei Ran to help them carry the heavy tripod and the dismantled electric winch, left the church and returned to the opposite side of the moat.

"Get the hearse away."

Okan II took the tripod on Wei Ran's shoulders and threw it directly into the dry river, while explaining non-stop, "Tomorrow Leya and her gardener husband will bring people over to rebuild the place. Filled with pine trees.

In spring, the moat will be filled with water, and many rainbow trout will be stocked.In summer, a lot of mushrooms can be picked in the surrounding forests, and Leia and her husband, a gardener, dry a lot of mushrooms on the roof of the castle every summer.

In the fall, those rainbow trout raised in the spring have grown large enough.The rainbow trout here and the dried mushrooms that Leya dried are Uncle Dominique's favorite food. "

"Winter?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.

"He doesn't like winter here," said Jonas Jr., "in fact he doesn't like winter anywhere."

"He will never call us in the middle of the night again, asking us to get him some rainbow trout or dried mushrooms and fly him there." Okan II sighed heavily.

"That's not bad," Wei Ran said abruptly, "He's finally back here."

"maybe"

Jonas Jr. also sighed: "Young man, get out of here. Unless Leia or Sebastian are going to stop maintaining this castle, we won't bother you. Correspondingly, you don't have to come again. the castle."

"Okay. So... goodbye, gentlemen."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, he turned around and opened the car door, got into the empty hearse, started the engine and turned the car, and the two old people who were also grave guards
Under the watchful eyes of the gang, he left the castle tomb where all the staff had arrived.

When he drove back to the airport, it was already around midnight.

After handing over the car to Leon who was waiting in advance, Wei Ran followed Carlos, who was still waiting for him, into the waiting hall.

"After this last flight, the plane will be sold to a stock tycoon in the United States."

Lawyer Carlos said with nostalgia as he walked: "It will be difficult to meet such a charismatic and generous boss like Mr. Dominique in the future."

"really."

Wei Ran followed the other party, usually accepting the security check and asked: "Will you continue to provide legal services for Kou Kou and her grandfather in the future?" "Of course."

Lawyer Carlos nodded as a matter of course: "I have already received my salary for the next 50 years in advance. Even though I may not be able to live that long, I don't want to retire so early."

"Speaking of which, where are Miss Koko and Mr. Love?"

"They have already gone to Paris first, and I will meet them later."

Lawyer Carlos gloated and explained, "Although Ms. Koko has inherited all of Mr. Dominique's wealth, she also needs to go back to school and re-enter a university that matches her wealth." "So..."

"Until she gets her Ph.D. and has a job, she can only get a maximum of $100 million a year from the foundation."

Carlos spread his hands: "If you get a university degree certificate, you can get up to 200 million a year. If you get a master's degree, you can get 300 million. If you get a doctorate, you can get 400 million dollars a year. She can only get the full $500 million a year when she gets a doctorate and finds a stable job or chooses to start her own business and start making a profit.

Before that, the Elk Foundation will help her save the part of the living expenses that she cannot receive due to insufficient conditions every year.Victor, this requires you to strictly supervise that Mr. Sebastian. Also, this year's living expenses have been paid to her. In other words, the Elk Foundation should have an additional separate account now. And $400 million has been deposited in it. "

"I will pay attention to this matter, it seems that it is not so easy to be a rich man."

Wei Ran, who passed the security check and customs, also joked gloatingly, and at the same time couldn't help but think of the fear of being dominated by that postgraduate degree. Not only is it difficult to be a rich man, he is also not so easy as a historian.

"It's easy, even very easy, to become rich. But if you want your offspring to be rich forever, it's still far from enough to have a high education."

Lawyer Carlos muttered with deep emotion: "Generally speaking, Ms. Koko is a good heir, but she also has many shortcomings.

So maybe the future won't be much easier for her than working as a veterinarian and slaughter worker in the French countryside.Luckily, she seems to enjoy reading. "

Having said that, Carlos added rather strangely: "But that girl doesn't seem to have decided what major to study, Victor, do you have any suggestions?"

"At least don't choose history and law majors," Wei Ran said subconsciously.

"That's right!" Lawyer Carlos laughed and repeated: "That's right, at least don't choose history and law majors."

"Don't talk about her, Carlos, how much do you know about the Elk Foundation?" Wei Ran took the initiative to change the subject.

"Maybe far less than you"

Carlos pondered for a moment, "Frankly speaking, although I have always known about the existence of this foundation, the only ones who know more about it are Mr. Paul and Ms. Lily who often appear next to Mr. Dominique. As for that Sebastian , I haven't even seen him."

"Lily she"

"She has been sent to Tent City Prison for life."

Lawyer Carlos beckoned Wei Ran to get into the special shuttle bus waiting for the two of them, "The man named Butch was sent to the hospital a week ago because of anal prolapse, and he will continue to serve his sentence after he recovers.
imprisoned. "

"Carlos, I thought you were a good person." Wei Ran teased half jokingly and half seriously.

"I said it the second time we met, I'm a sort of notorious lawyer."

Carlos said very seriously, "Everything I do is within the legal framework, and I will never violate any legal provisions. As for the misfortunes of Lily, Butch and others after being imprisoned, these things can only be done by them. I hired a lawyer to sue Mr. Warden.”

"It's a cause for celebration to have such a good, not so notorious lawyer friend."

"I'm also glad that you accepted the Elk Foundation instead of Lily, that greedy woman." After Carlos finished speaking, he took the initiative to change the subject and said, "Victor, maybe I will introduce you to business in the future."

"What is it this time?" Wei Ran asked jokingly, "Is the commission also $300 million?"

"As I said just now, it will be difficult to meet such a charismatic and generous boss like Mr. Dominique in the future."

Carlos waited for the shuttle bus that only the two of them were on to stop, opened the door and walked out and said, "It's not sure whether the other party needs your help, but she will definitely not be able to offer a high price of 300 million."

"Her?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows. "It's too early to say that."

Carlos led Wei Ran into the plane and said: "Mr. Dominique still has a lot of work left, let me finish my work, and I will go to Kazan to meet you again after I finish my work."

"You are always welcome," Wei Ran responded politely, and at the same time followed him into the cabin.