War Photographer's Notebook

A week has passed since they returned to the villa by Lake Kaban with the canned wild mushrooms and two large bottles of self-brewed wine that Jima's parents helped to make, and everyone returned to their original lives.

The only difference from before is that every morning after breakfast, Sui Xin will ride the sidecar motorcycle with the help of Lola and Sui Sui, and after going around the yard here, she will become more and more comfortable. Fafa skillfully passed through the gate between the library and the next door, and then drove the sidecar motorcycle directly into the library.

Later in the evening, she would ride the motorcycle again, leave the yard and stop by Lake Kaban, fish for an hour alone, and then ride the motorcycle back to the yard just one road away to have dinner with everyone.

Sui Xin is definitely not the only one who has found new hobbies, among other things, in this short week, Sui Sui took Lola, sisters Katenka and Wei Ran out of the city to pick mushrooms and make mushroom sauce by herself every now and then. , canned mushrooms, and dried mushrooms sun-dried here and there.

It was also during this week that the girl Hela, who was aliased as Joanna Grochowska, also successfully smuggled across the border twice in a row, successfully rushed to Katowice, a city in southern Poland, and rented it online in advance. In a small apartment, I successfully found a Polish passport with my photo and new name printed on it.

She carefully kept this important passport close to her body. Using the knowledge she had learned in the small town of Tula, she searched the room carefully and successfully found a brand new passport in the refrigerator in the kitchen. A laptop and a latest smartphone, plus a wad of cash that would allow her to live on her own for a few months.

A similar scene also happened in the three major cities of Wu Kelan in the neighboring country. At almost the same time, three girls who were going to recruit foreign students also walked into different classrooms as transfer students, and each gave a brief introduction After that, they successfully became friends with those classmates who were similar to their age.

In Paris, France, the famous jewelry store, which is only about 500 meters away from the Republic Square, also began a drastic renovation after receiving the first batch of investment from the Elk Foundation.

With sufficient financial support, the storefronts on the left and right sides of *** Jewelry Store were successfully purchased and the walls were opened.Correspondingly, with the removal of the walls on both sides, the original storefront of nearly [-] square meters has been enlarged by a full two times.

Waiting for rebirth is far more than the luxury jewelry store. In a private hospital in Paris that has some relationship with the Elk Foundation, Alan, the owner of the obese jewelry store, is also obediently lying on the hospital bed wrapped in gauze.

Compared with the behemoth when he first met Wei Ran, after a series of operations, he has lost a lot of weight.Even though the whole person is wrapped in gauze, he still looks a bit reborn.

However, just like a jewelry store, for Alan who was lying on the hospital bed and couldn't move, this was just the beginning.

Also in Paris, France, in the sixth arrondissement, which is much better in terms of security and location, on the left bank of the Seine, in a luxury apartment where you can easily see the boats on the Seine when you stand in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows.

The newly promoted young rich man, Koko Love, is being surrounded by her grandfather, Mr. Dominique Love, lawyer Carlos, and legal counsel Orr who once met Wei Ran in the * * jewelry store. Tower, even everyone including Sebastian surrounded in the middle.

"Miss Kou Kou, I suggest you consider majoring in business administration." Sebastian suggested, "After you graduate, you can come to the Elk Fund..."

"Law major is also a good choice"

Ms. Horta, a legal consultant in formal attire, gave a new suggestion without waiting for Sebastian to finish speaking, "If you choose a legal profession, in the future..."

"The hair will fall out in the future." Lawyer Carlos gave a prediction that made Horta's teeth itch.

"Coco, you already have a choice, right?"

Dominique Love, who was much better than before in terms of spirit, temperament, and clothing taste, asked his little granddaughter with a smile.

"I do have a choice"

Kou Kou, who was wearing home clothes, paused, then turned to look at the smiling

Looking at his lawyer Carlos, he cleared his throat and said, "I want to go to the Artists Union College to study jewelry design."

"Jewelry design?" Sebastian and Horta looked at each other, apparently not expecting Kou Koo to choose such a major.

"Miss Koko, can I hear your reason?" Sebastian asked after the first reaction, and made a promise before the other party spoke, "I will help you find a way to get a recommendation later. Letter, you will be able to enroll after the end of this summer vacation at the latest."

"The reason is simple"

Kou Kou sat cross-legged on the soft sofa, "Who doesn't like jewelry? Dazzling gold, charming gems, these reasons are enough for me, a country girl."

"But these must not be all the reasons, right?" Legal counsel Horta obviously guessed something.

"It's not the whole reason"

Kou Kou glanced at the grandfather sitting next to him, and then said in a joking tone, "Mr. Carlos told me that Mr. Victor, my guardian of property and life, used his legal authority in the foundation to go to Paris Invested in a small jewelry company.”

"It's true," Sebastian and Horta said in unison.

"I want to be in charge of managing that jewelry company in the future."

Kou Kou said very soberly, "This is also the suggestion of my grandfather and Mr. Carlos, Mr. Sebastian, Ms. Horta, I don't know why my great-grandfather Mr. Capet chose Victor to supervise Ki Plenary session books.

But me, my grandfather, and lawyer Carlos all thought that if I could manage Mr. Victor's investment in the foundation in the future, it seemed that it would not be a bad thing. "

Hearing this, Sebastian and Horta looked at each other, and finally said helplessly, "I understand Miss Koonong, we will help you figure out how to go to the Artists Union Academy to study jewelry design."

"thanks"

With a sweet smile on her face, Kou Kou watched Sebastian and Horta leave her and grandpa's new home, and when the door closed, she immediately breathed a sigh of relief and lay on her side on the sofa.

"Is this really useful?" Koko got up again and asked Carlos.

"At least it's better than you becoming a puppet in the hands of those two people in the future.
Lawyer Carlos said with a smile, "If Mr. Dominique really trusted Sebastian completely, he wouldn't arrange a guardian for you."

"Carlos is right"

Kou Kou's grandfather agreed, "No matter what business administration or law you study, even if you graduate in the end, you may not be better than those two people just now, and it is even more impossible to have more experience than them."

Speaking of this, the old guy jokingly asked, "Who would kill a sheep faster than a butcher?"

"But is that Victor trustworthy?" Koko asked slightly uneasy, "I haven't even spoken a few words to him."

"Do not worry"

Carlos smiled and walked out of the promise, "That young man is different from Sebastian and the others. He has already made great achievements in his field. He will not occupy the Elk Foundation, because for that troublesome For young people, the current situation is the best outcome."

After a short pause, Carlos continued, "As for your relationship with him, I don't think you need to be friends with him. But if you can help him run that jewelry store, I think he will appreciate you Yes, and I will do my best to help you.”

"Let me try it!" Kou Kou looked at the scenery outside the window with some trepidation, and muttered expectantly, "I hope jewelry design is easier than taking a veterinary exam."

"Miss Koko, you will graduate from the Artists Union College with honors." Lawyer Carlos reassured.

Compared with these changes that are more or less involved with Wei Ran, Wei Ran himself has not gone anywhere these days except for going out to pick mushrooms every now and then, basically just nestling in the basement of the library, locked After the entrance and exit are dead, all the things stored in the metal book are carefully checked.

A full range of cleaning and maintenance, by the way, is also waiting for the customer introduced by Mr. Edward, the British guy, to visit.

As the saying goes, hard work pays off, when he patiently completed the cumbersome filling of track lubricants for the half-track motorcycle in the metal book, a man who looked to be in his 70s with silver hair But the extravagant old lady also brought two black men who were rare in Russia, and a white boy to open the door of Time Library.

What was quite special was that one of the black men was carrying a black cello case on his shoulders.

"Tell her, I'm looking for historian Victor." The old lady said in English with a strange accent.

Hearing this, the white boy who followed immediately asked Lola who was busy at the bar in Russian, "Hello, we are looking for Mr. Victor, a historian."

"Hi, do you have an appointment?"

Lola looked up at the bunny face, looked at the young man who was a head taller than her on the opposite side of the bar and asked.

"reserve?"

The Caucasian boy was stunned for a while, then turned his head to communicate with the old lady behind him, and then said in Russian again, "I have an appointment, and Mr. Edward from England made an appointment for us about a week ago."

"Wait a minute, you can sit in the rest area next to you for a while." After Lola finished speaking, regardless of whether the old lady was willing to move her seat or not, she just picked up the walkie-talkie on the table and announced that she was actually there. Wei Ran was busy in the basement under his feet.

Of course, there is no need for any so-called appointment to meet Wei Ran. As for the question about whether to make an appointment just now, it was just Zhou Wei Ran asking Lola. As for the purpose...

Naturally, it was to elevate his grade, and to see if he could ask for a high price by the way—after all, Wei Ran did not lose money from Mr. Edward back then.

In the basement, Wei Ran, who received the notification from Lola, immediately put away the half-track motorcycle that had just been maintained, took off his leather apron and work gloves, went into the darkroom next door, changed into a suit of formal clothes, and then walked out slowly. In the basement, I walked into the library filled with the aroma of coffee.

"You are Victor?"

Before Wei Ran could speak, the old lady who had been waiting by the bar asked in English, her tone was full of disappointment and distrust.

"Lola, who is looking for me?"

Wei Ran ignored the old lady and asked directly to Lola who was wearing a Soviet female soldier uniform at the bar.

"That old lady" Lola pointed to the old lady next to Wei Ran, "Boss, do you need coffee?"

"No, let's talk next door later."

After Wei Ran finished speaking, it seemed as if he had just noticed the old lady, and he greeted gently in Russian, "Hi, I'm Victor, are you looking for me?"

After he finished speaking, the old lady also subconsciously looked at the white young man beside him. After the latter translated Wei Ran's Russian into English, he said to Wei Ran, "Hi Mr. Victor, from England Mr. Edward from , made an appointment for us to meet today about a week ago. The one next to me is Mrs. Margot Kantan. "

"Hello, Mrs. Cantan."

Wei Ran smiled and greeted the old lady standing opposite, then raised his hand to invite, "Please come with me, let's talk in a quiet place."

After the white guy finished translating, the old lady nodded slightly, followed Wei Ran out of the library with the two strong black bodyguards and the little white translator, and walked into the villa next door.

Calling everyone to sit down, Wei Ran poured a cup of coffee for the old lady sitting opposite and the translator sitting next to each other, but then just cupped his hands.

Slowly picked up the coffee and took a sip. After the old lady put down the cup, she waved lightly to the two black bodyguards standing behind her.

Without waiting for her hands to rest on her knees again, one of the black men put the cello case that had been in his hand all this time on the table and gently opened it, revealing the contents inside.

Glancing at the contents in the box, Wei Ran raised his eyebrows, this

In the cello box that occupies most of the area of ​​the coffee table, there is fixed a French FR-F2 sniper rifle with obvious traces of extensive use.

The body of this sniper rifle is wrapped with dusty cloth strips, and on the right side of the wooden butt, there are "Thirty"-shaped notches clearly carved with a knife.

In addition, there is an upside-down photo frame in this piano case, and a very rare and expensive P88 pistol with a split ring fixed on the trigger guard, and a weird-looking bayonet.

The reason why the bayonet looks weird is because Wei Ran recognized it at a glance. It is an M49/56 bayonet adapted to the French Famas rifle.

But different from what Wei Ran remembered, the muzzle ring at the end of this bayonet is gone, the fixed tenon in the center of the handle is gone, and even the handle patch has been replaced with a more beautiful antler patch.

However, compared to this magic-modified bayonet, what Wei Ran cares more about is the p88 pistol facing the carefully crafted triangular logo on the wooden handle patch of his own.

"The Second Foreign Paratrooper Regiment? Or the elite?"

Wei Ran couldn't help but mutter a sentence. In the intelligence gathering course, he often memorized by rote and even drew the logos of various military organizations under the pressure of Teacher Anna. Dismissed, but still instantly recognizable, the triangular logo represents the [-]nd Parachute Regiment of the French Foreign Legion.

The white boss sitting across from Bei didn't intend to say anything, Wei Ran simply asked, "Can I pick it up and have a look?"

After the Caucasian boy translated the sentence, the old lady just nodded silently, then picked up the coffee cup, and took another sip reservedly.

Seeing this, Wei Ran got up and walked to the desk not far away, opened the drawer and took out a pair of white silk gloves to put on, then walked back, closed the cello case, and carried it to a more spacious long room. Re-open on the table.

But from the beginning to the end, the old lady was sitting on the sofa, and she didn't even take a second look. Correspondingly, the old black who was in charge of carrying the piano case walked over step by step, with her hands behind her back. Li stared at the piano case on the table without saying a word.

Hesitating for a while, before picking up the contents of the piano case, Wei Ran deliberately took off his suit jacket, and then took off his tie, then picked up the pistol, pulled out the magazine and gently pulled the slide until After making sure there were no bullets in the chamber, he turned it over.

On the handle patch on the other side of this pistol, it is engraved with a cartoon version of the detonator that is often seen in animations such as "Tom and Jerry".

The detonating wire extended from the detonator finally pointed to the safety position of the pistol after wrapping around a particularly beautiful Arabic numeral "4".

4?The 4th Company of the [-]nd Parachute Regiment?

Wei Ran muttered secretly, put the pistol's magazine back into the depression on the cello case, and then picked up the sniper rifle.

Counting the notches on the stock of this sniper rifle, there are only 26 in total, but Wei Ran knows that these 26 notches have a great probability to represent 26 lives taken away by this gun .

"Can I take a look at this sniper rifle?" Wei Ran turned to the translator who was sitting with the old lady.

After the translator changed the original words into English, the white old lady finally turned her head and took a look at Wei Ran, then got up and walked over, sat down on the chair next to the long table worriedly, and then turned to Wei Ran for more nodded.

Seeing this, Wei Ran first removed the magazine, and then pulled the bolt. After confirming that there were no bullets in the chamber, he moved his eyes to the chamber and the muzzle for a careful observation.

Although the appearance of this gun is a bit vicissitudes, but through some details, Wei Ran can see that this gun is actually well maintained.

Picking up the magazine with no bullets again and shaking it, the rustling sound also caught his attention.

Stretching out two napkins and laying them on the table, Wei Ran lightly pressed the magazine's support plate

Turned it around and tapped it on the napkin.

Immediately, fine sand flowed out of it, and piled up on the napkin to form a miniature grave bag.

Shaking the magazine in his hand again, Wei Ran reloaded it on the sniper rifle, then walked to the door with the gun, removed the protective cover of the scope, pushed open the door and aimed at the building opposite Kaban Lake.

Just like what he had guessed before, although the appearance of this gun was a bit vicissitudes, it was indeed well maintained, especially the crucial scope, which was not damaged at all.

After snapping on the protective cover of the scope and putting it back into the cello case, Wei Ran took out a magnifying glass from the desk drawer and put it on the napkin.

After some observation, he said almost to himself, "This seems to be the dregs of poor-quality concrete, mixed with shredded tobacco and... um... it looks like a broken cockroach corpse. So it's urban warfare?"

While he was muttering here, the young translator who followed the old lady, also put his ear to the old lady, and relayed Wei Ran's muttering, but there was nothing special on the old lady's face expression.

Putting the magnifying glass at hand, Wei Ran carefully wrapped the dust on the napkin and put it aside, then picked up the only upside-down photo frame left in the cello box.

The photo in this photo frame is not too big, but there is an extra postcard attached to the photo frame to block the photo inside.

On this colorful postcard, a beautiful coastline is photographed, with several beauties in bikinis on the silver sandy beach.

Gently opened the postcard, but on the back there was a particularly horrifying red handwriting in French, "They will all die, and I will bury them in the same cemetery."

Move your eyes to the photo frame. On the color photo under the glass, there are four young men wearing camouflage uniforms, green berets on their heads, and holding wine bottles or ice cream in their hands.

In the background of this photo, the long coastline and beauties in bikinis of various colors can still be vaguely recognized.

Turning to the front of the postcard again, the background in this photo seems to be the coastline photographed on the postcard.

"The guy second from the left in the photo is my son Athol."

The old lady sitting opposite the long table pinched the corners of her eyes, "Young man, I need you to help me find him. He has been missing for more than 20 years." Waiting patiently for the young man to translate it into Russian, Wei Ran said Only then raised his head in surprise, "Missing?"

"Yes, missing."

The old lady who called herself Marge sighed, "My son Ashol joined the French Foreign Legion in 90. He participated in many battles, fought in the Gulf War, and even experienced the tragedy in Rwanda and survived intact. back to me."

After patiently listening to the translation, Wei Ran tentatively asked, "So..."

"Shortly after the tragedy in Rwanda ended"

Mrs. Margot pointed to the group photo in the frame, "I remember it very clearly. It was September 1994, 9. The other three boys in the photo came to Madagascar and knocked on the door of my house."

"Are you Malagasy?"

After Wei Ran finished the translation, he asked in French abruptly.Leaving aside the threat of French on the back of the postcard, Madagascar has been a French colony for quite a long time, and there is no reason why Mrs. Margot can't speak French.

"You speak French?"

Mrs. Margot finally had an expression on her face, but soon, she waved to the translator beside her and the two old blacks who looked like isolation blocks, and said in English, "You go to the yard and wait under the oak tree first. me."

Hope you don't step on shit...

Wei Ran secretly blessed, watched the three little followers leave the room, and then continued to speak in French, "Mrs. Margot, please continue."

"it is good"

Mrs. Margot sighed, changed into obviously more proficient French and continued to recall, "Not long after the three boys came to my house, Athol left with them. At that time, he told me that they

Ready to go back to Corsica to collect their French status and rewards from their last mission. "

"He became a French citizen?" "Yes."

Mrs. Margot nodded, "That's his dream all along. When my Atsol was born, the French descendants had an unsatisfactory experience in the already independent Madagascar. So he wanted to leave Madagascar even in his dreams. Returning to France as a man, enlisting in the Foreign Legion was his only option at the time."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked after a short silence. "Then they never came back"

Mrs. Margot sighed, "I went to Corsica to inquire later, but my Atsol and his three friends did not go back to report. In fact, after the operation in Rwanda ended, they chose to Retired and has acquired French citizenship."

"Where are his comrades?" Wei Ran asked, "Don't they know where your son went?"

"do not know"

Mrs. Margot sighed and shook her head, "The Foreign Legion asked all his friends for me, but no one knew where he and his three friends went."

Speaking of this, Mrs. Margot pointed to the cello box on the table, "But, on Christmas of the second year that my Athor disappeared, I received the contents of the cello box. I am very sure that those weapons are My son's stuff. Especially the ring fastened to the pistol, which was his and his wife's wedding ring."

"Where's his wife?" Wei Ran subconsciously asked. "died"

Mrs. Margot sighed, "On the second day after Athol's wife was shot, these things appeared in my garage. According to the police, it was from this gun that killed the poor girl." Out of the bullet.

But those idiots thought it was my Athor who killed his wife and wanted him. "

"It seems that the police did not find your son." "If they can help me find my son, I would like to thank them."

Mrs. Margot touched the photo frame that Wei Ran had just put down, "Young man, help me find my son, find the cemetery mentioned in the postcard, or find the other three young men in the photo."

Before Wei Ran could speak, Mrs. Margot said, "For this, I can offer 5 euros."

"This price may not be enough," Wei Ran said bluntly. "I can only take out so much cash"

Mrs. Margot said helplessly, "Why don't you help me investigate first? After you find valuable clues, we will sit down and discuss a commission that satisfies you."

"I don't have such rules here"

Wei Ran gently closed the cello case while speaking, "If you really expect me to find out something, it's best to offer enough chips to make my heart beat right now."

"How about uncut diamonds?" Mrs. Margot's temperament also changed, "I have enough diamonds."

"So, how much can you give me?" Wei Ran asked bluntly.

Looking around, Mrs. Margot reached out and picked up the celadon tureen teacup in the center of the long table, "Just take this teacup as the measure. If you can find it, you will get enough diamonds from me to fill this teacup."

"Mrs. Margot"

Wei Ran stood up while speaking, and stretched out his hand to the old lady on the opposite side, "I'm already moved by the reward you offered."

Mrs. Margot gently shook hands with Wei Ran across the table, "I'll take this beautiful cup away, and when I return to the hotel, I will fill it with water and place it on the balcony table.

Mr. Victor, before all the water in this cup evaporates, I hope you can give me a satisfactory result of the investigation. "

"I will do my best," Wei Ran responded confidently.