War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1728: Warland Prostitutes, Going Home for Christmas

“You can’t really help me here.”

Outside the tent, Grant said with a puff of smoke, "I don't need any help, and I'll be back soon."

“Then think of it as an interview with another reporter.”

Wei Ran said perfunctorily. He urgently needed to know whether the other party needed to go to the front line. "Grant, how about you just introduce your job?"

“I know what you’re worried about.”

Grant smiled and said, "Don't worry, I won't go to the front line. I'm more focused on interviewing the soldiers who participated in the war about their views on the war."

Grant lifted a piece of canvas next to the tent, revealing a Willys Jeep with the New York Times logo on the hood. "My daily job is to drive it and follow the transport team to various positions for interviews."

"In that case, I'll be your driver." Wei Ran said, "Where are we going next?"

"Next?"

Grant waved his hand. "No, no, no, we're not going anywhere. I just got here at noon today. If you hadn't come up to me out of the blue, I would have already started the interview."

"In that case, what do you need me to do?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"Are you really here to help me?" Grant looked at Wei Ran suspiciously.

"certainly"

Wei Ran nodded, "Why else would I be here?"

"All right"

Grant shook his head helplessly, "Let's go talk in the tent, it's too cold outside."

"I forgot to ask, who are you working for now?" Wei Ran followed him into the tent and asked, "Is it still the New York Times?"

“Yes, the New York Times again.”

Grant sat back on the cot and casually pulled out two pieces of wood from under the cot and threw them into the iron bucket with burning charcoal. "But I plan to resign. This war is over. In other words, I plan to resign when I return this time."

"Resign? Then what?" Wei Ran asked, "You don't want to be a reporter anymore?"

“Maybe I’ll be a photographer.”

Grant glanced at the Hasselblad camera on the bedside table and asked, "Do you remember Bill, the navigator of the Moby Dick?"

"I remember, of course I remember." Wei Ran nodded, "I remember he went to National Geographic after retiring. So are you going to work for him?"

“He was asking me to come work for him before the war,” Grant said. “He’s now an editor of some importance.”

"You agree?"

"agreed"

Grant smiled and nodded, "Maybe I'll go help him take pictures of the scenery soon."

"It's a good job," Wei Ran suppressed the helplessness in his heart and said as sincerely as possible.

He couldn't change anything, and this feeling of powerlessness was more painful than the war itself.

"Maybe"

Grant couldn't help but look at the Hasselblad camera again. For a moment, the tent fell silent.

Just at this moment, a black soldier walked out of the tent, "Mr. Grant, I brought dinner."

"Thank you. Please come in."

As Grant spoke, he stood up and took the two plates handed to him by the black soldier.

“Let’s eat something first.”

As Grint spoke, he handed a plate full of food to Wei Ran, and ended the previous topic.

"Thank you"

Wei Ran took the plate and placed it on the ammunition box at the head of the bed. The dinner was quite rich, with a serving of pasta, a beef stew that was obviously from a can, a few slices of bread, a fairly thick luncheon meat and bean soup, and a palm-sized steak.

“Journalist is a popular position here”

Grant introduced as he put food into his mouth, "So we will eat better than the soldiers."

It's much better than the other side.

Wei Ran sighed secretly, picked up the steak and took a big bite, then asked vaguely, "To make the reporters' mouths sweeter?"

"almost"

Grant laughed and said, "This is also MacArthur's little trick."

At this point, Grant pointed to the box at the bedside and said in a low voice, "But I also took some more realistic shots in the past few months."

"What shot?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"The wounded and dying soldiers, the Chinese prisoners of war who were tortured, no, tortured, and the colored company who were abused by Ba Ling."

Grant sighed, "These are the darkest parts of this war. These films cannot be sent through military mail. I can only find a way to bring them back myself."

"Which side are you on?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"I'll stand on whichever side the truth lies on," Grant replied matter-of-factly, "but the premise is that I can bring those films back."

"What if we go back now?" Wei Ran couldn't help but suggest after all.

"Now?"

Grant smiled and said, "Victor, this is not the bomber and arsonist I know. Why have you become so timid?"

"You'll know tomorrow."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, but said, "It's not that I'm timid. I just think it's necessary to take those films away as soon as possible."

"Or will you just take them away tonight?"

"I'm not a postman," Wei Ran rejected the other party's proposal.

“So wait a little longer.”

Grant continued to eat and said, "Maybe this war will be over soon."

"Maybe"

Wei Ran responded vaguely. Objectively speaking, no matter from what perspective Grant viewed this war, he was an American after all.

In this war, at this moment, most Americans are confident that the war will end soon. Even the First Cavalry Division, which had just suffered a defeat, is also confidently waiting to go home for Christmas.

After finishing a fairly sumptuous dinner with some random chats, Grant closed the tent door and lay back on the bed. "Victor, go to bed early. I'll take you around tomorrow and interview some people."

"Alright"

Wei Ran was too lazy to say anything else. He wiped the corner of his mouth with his sleeve and lay down on the bed.

It can be seen that Grant, who has been wandering on the battlefield since World War II, has long adapted to such an environment, so he began to snore soon.

In contrast, Wei Ran tossed and turned for a long time before falling asleep.

When he woke up again, there was a lot of laughter and chatter outside the tent. Grant, who was standing opposite him, had already gotten up. "Victor, I'm going to do an interview. Do you want to come with me or go shopping by yourself?"

"Where are you planning to interview?" asked Wei Ran who got up.

"Let's go to the command post and see if there's any good news," Grant replied, "Want to go?"

“I’m not going.”

Wei Ran, who knew clearly what was going to happen today, refused and said, "I'll just walk around and get familiar with the place."

"Do you need a camera?" Grant said, having already opened the box and taken out the Kodak camera and some film.

"Of course," Wei Ran said, taking the camera and film handed to him.

"I may be busy all day. See you in the afternoon." Grant said, and he couldn't wait to get out of the tent with the Hasselblad.

"You'll be in a hurry this afternoon."

Wei Ran muttered to himself, hung the camera around his neck, and walked out of the tent which was beginning to get cold.

It was already bright outside, and the soldiers stationed here seemed to still be immersed in the atmosphere of Thanksgiving the day before yesterday. Most of the topics they chatted about had nothing to do with the war situation. Instead, they were all planning what kind of gifts to prepare for their families after returning home.

In this seemingly safe position, in addition to American soldiers and those black soldiers who had no human rights, Wei Ran also saw many black-haired and yellow-skinned Han Chinese.

These people either gathered around the Battlefield Restaurant to help with kitchen chores, or, as rumored, rummaged through the garbage dump looking for food that had been wasted.

He could even see some girls who seemed to have just "got off the night shift" and were happily meeting the men who had come to pick them up with their hauls, chatting and laughing as they walked towards the rear of the position.

"Beautiful lady, can I take some pictures of you?"

Wei Ran stopped a young girl whose neck was covered with strawberry marks and who was holding several opened or unopened cans of luncheon meat and several Coke bottles in her arms, and asked in a veiled voice.

"Sir, can we go to the tent?"

The girl asked in embarrassment, "It's too cold in the morning. Taking off my clothes will make me sick."

"Take off"

Wei Ran twitched his lips, "No need to take off your clothes, just stay like this."

"A box of cans," the short man who seemed to be picking up the girl whispered, pushing a bicycle.

"Can I?" the girl asked. "Just a can."

"no problem"

Wei Ran responded happily, "I'll give you a box of canned food when I finish filming."

The girl gritted her teeth, then looked around and pointed at two two-and-a-half-ton trucks parked side by side and said, "Let's go over there. There are too many people here. We don't want to cause trouble and be driven away."

Is your mind full of business?

Wei Ran finally reacted, and was too lazy to waste time talking to the other party. He raised his camera, took a few steps back and said, "Look here."

Hearing this, the girl and the man pushing a bicycle next to her subconsciously turned their heads to look at Wei Ran with a confused look on their faces, and the latter immediately pressed the shutter button towards the two of them.

Wei Ran reached into his pocket and pulled out a crumpled one-dollar bill and handed it to the other party, "How about answering a few questions?"

When the young girl saw the banknote, her eyes widened. The man next to her took the banknote and put it in his pocket. "Sir, we will answer whatever you want to know."

"What is the relationship between you two?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

“She’s my sister”

The man said, "She is only 23 years old this year, and she has big breasts. You can do whatever you want to her."

"Are you doing this... business voluntarily?" Wei Ran ignored the other party's solicitation and continued to ask.

"It will give us a good life," the girl replied, "and it will also keep our family well fed."

"Are you from the nearby village?" Wei Ran asked patiently.

"No"

The short man said proudly, "We came here together from Incheon."

Incheon

This special code is sent thousands of miles away.

Wei Ran waved away the large group of alpacas that had just rushed through his mind, and patiently continued to ask, "Is this business... um... job, yes, job, this job very profitable?"

"We've already bought a cow for Dad."

The little man said proudly, "She now makes more money every night than my brother."

"What does your brother do?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"He's a soldier," the little man said proudly, "in the Second Army."

"What about you?"

Wei Ran looked at the girl who was not ugly at best, but should be more in line with European and American aesthetics, "Are you willing too?"

"I don't want to live a hard life." The girl naturally gave a "simple" answer in a sense, "My husband is dead, and I have two children to support. There's nothing wrong with this job."

"Where do you usually live?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

“Right over there”

The girl pointed to the distance and said, "Everyone lives over there, far away from the position, so it won't cause you any trouble."

"Can you take me to see it?" Wei Ran asked.

"Of course! Of course!" the short man said quickly.

"Wait for me first"

Wei Ran walked back and said, "I'll go drive."

"Xiaoying, you have to serve this gentleman well later."

Listening to the "sincere" instructions of the short man behind him and the serious answer of the girl who seemed to be called Xiaoying, Wei Ran walked towards his and Grant's tent not far away with a gloomy but enthusiastic look on his face.

At this moment, compared with the situation on the front line and those soldiers, he was more interested in these battlefield prostitutes who were in some sense exceptionally brave.

Driving the canvas-covered Willys next to the tent back to the brother and sister, Wei Ran asked them to hang the bicycle on the front bumper of the car, and then asked them to sit on the car.

"Please show me the way," Wei Ran said.

"That way, keep going that way."

The short man sitting in the back seat said, "Sir, I can drive too. Do you need me to help you drive? You can sit in the back and let Xiaoying warm your hands."

"Can you drive?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

“I first helped you drive a truck to transport supplies in Incheon,” the man replied. “I received driving training.”

"Then why don't you do it?" Wei Ran asked, but did not accept the other party's suggestion.

"I"

The man said, slightly embarrassed, "I stole a box of cookies and was caught, and then I was locked up for two months."

"What's your name?" Wei Ran asked.

The man "Cha In-wook" quickly replied, "My sister's name is Cha Hyo-young."

“Are there many people doing this business?”

“There were a lot of them.”

Cha In-wook taunted, “But the war has started again in the past few days, and some cowards have already run away. I don’t know what they are afraid of.”

How confident are you?

Wei Ran muttered something secretly, and took the brother and sister out of the military camp, walked along a snow-covered dirt road through a forest, and finally stopped on the other side of the forest.

There is a camp here that I don't know how to describe. There are less than 20 tents in total, and these tents are basically the hexagonal tents of the US military, but with some large and small white or black cloths sewn on the outside. There are also some reeds or weeds piled around them, I don't know whether they are used to keep out the cold or for camouflage.

Almost at the same time the car stopped, he heard some work noises coming from the tents, and saw some white soldiers, black soldiers, or soldiers with sticks.

And the same noise was coming from the tent next to his parking spot.

"We may have to wait a while," Che Yinxu jumped off the bike and said apologetically while lifting his bicycle off the front of the bike.

"Who's inside?" Wei Ran asked as he got out of the car.

"My wife and my guests."

Cha In-wook explained, "If you're in a hurry, I can help you find a tent."

"you do not mind?"

Wei Ran pointed to the "working" tent and said, "Your wife."

"We can eat meat, every meal," Che Yinxu replied, "and the Americans are our good friends."

“What a great friend this is”

Wei Ran muttered to himself, glanced at Xiaoying who got off the car with her "salary" and was about to say something when the movement in the tent stopped and a black man came out.

What he didn't expect was that the black man was the one who delivered dinner to him and Grant last night.

"Sir!"

The black soldier, who had not yet fastened his belt, was obviously frightened when he saw Wei Ran. He subconsciously straightened his chest and raised his head to salute, but this also caused his pants to slide down again.

"go"

Wei Ran waved his hand, and the soldier immediately picked up his trousers and fastened them, then rode away on a bicycle and disappeared. However, he did not notice that Wei Ran had already pressed the shutter button towards him when he came out of the tent.

"Sir, please come in and sit down."

Che Yinxu didn't care that his wife hadn't put on her clothes yet, and he warmly invited Wei Ran to walk into the tent.

"Just pretend I don't exist and do whatever you need to do."

Wei Ran said, and took out another dollar and handed it to the other party, "I just came to take a few photos."

Hearing this, Che Yinxu took the dollar without thinking, "You can take pictures of anything you want."

"What do you usually do next?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Usually we should have breakfast at this time," Che Yinxu replied.

"Don't worry about me," Wei Ran waved his hand again. "I said, I'm just taking a few photos casually."

Hearing this, Che Yinxu seemed to finally realize something. He called his sister into the tent where the food didn't taste that good, and even reminded her in a low voice, "Get something delicious."

After instructing the woman in the tent, Che Yinxu quickly took out a canvas sack from the frame of his bicycle and took out a lot of good things from the sack.

Although people in later generations have always been making fun of the Korean army stew, Wei Ran was still a little surprised when he saw the ingredients the other party took out of the sack at this moment.

Among these things were turkey legs with only bones and a small amount of meat left, some pasta that had stuck together, and kitchen waste such as cabbage stalks and broccoli stems. He even took out a small piece of butter from it.

At this time, the woman in the tent had also put on her clothes, and together with the girl named Xiaoying, she packed everything she brought back, as well as several cans and some condoms scattered on the bed, into a wooden box under the bed.

After taking a fairly decent photo of the two of them, Wei Ran also noticed that there was a bicycle at the innermost part of the tent.

The tent is provided with warmth by a simple stove made of a tin bucket and mud.

At this time, the two women who had just finished their "work" were sitting on the only folding bed and whispering something. From time to time, the girl named Xiaoying would secretly glance at Wei Ran who was standing at the door of the tent holding a camera.

The short man, Che Yinxu, was particularly diligent. He took out an aluminum pot from under the bed, placed it on the stove, and threw the piece of butter that he had just turned out into it.

Although the food looked a little too disgusting, the tent was still filled with an enticing aroma. The two women subconsciously took a deep breath and swallowed.

As the ingredients were thrown into the pot one by one, Che Yinxu poured some water mixed with ice cubes into the pot while Wei Ran pressed the shutter from time to time.

"Do you eat these every day?" Wei Ran asked while changing the film.

“You can only eat it if you are lucky”

As Che Yinxu spoke, he took out a not-so-big bottle of whiskey from his arms, unscrewed the cap and took a sip, then said proudly, "This was given to me by a chef this morning."

“Enjoy your meal”

Wei Ran said this, ignoring Che Yinxu who was about to say something, turned around and walked towards the jeep, taking a few photos of the soldiers who were preparing to return to the barracks one after another.

These young soldiers may not know Wei Ran, but they obviously recognize this car.

So not only would they wave enthusiastically to Wei Ran or strike what they thought were handsome poses and let him take the photo, but they would also take the initiative to greet him or say something like "I thought it was Grant coming".

On the other hand, Wei Ran was amused and sad to find that the American soldiers, who clearly had racial knights, actually got along quite well in this battlefield brothel.

Those white and black people not only talked and laughed, but also shared cigarettes or exchanged user experiences with each other.

Of course, correspondingly, those black soldiers also found here the experience of being "superior to others" that the white people got from them.

Even the prostitutes working here seem to prefer serving these white or black people, and lack the slightest enthusiasm for those soldiers with sticks.

Wei Ran tried his best to capture this ridiculous and incredible scene with his camera. When smoke was rising from the tents in the camp one after another, he drove back and took a panoramic photo, and then drove back to the direction of the position.

"Hey! Mr. Reporter, can you give me a ride?" Halfway through the journey, a white soldier who seemed to be walking over waved enthusiastically.

"Come up"

Wei Ran slowly stepped on the brakes, and the latter sat in the passenger seat very swiftly.

"My name is Josh, Josh Damon. Are you Grant's assistant?" The white soldier took the initiative to shake hands with Wei Ran.

"That's right," Wei Ran nodded, "Victor, just call me Victor."

"I just thought it was Grant coming," said Josh.

"He comes here often?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Him? He won't come here." Josh said, "You must not be familiar with Grant."

"Why do you say that?"

"If you are familiar with him, how come you don't know his nickname?"

Josh said, "Honest Grant, as you can tell from his nickname, he never comes to places like this."

"Honest Man? Honest Man Grant?" Wei Ran asked in astonishment, "His nickname is actually Honest Man?"

"That's right"

Josh said, "He doesn't like the nickname, but everyone calls him that."

"I remember he said it was his first time to come to this position."

"He came to interview the 1st Cavalry Division a few months ago," Josh said, "We all know him."

"Tell me about him."

Wei Ran took out the last remaining cigar from his pocket and handed it to the other party, "I really don't know much about him."

“He has interviewed many important people.”

Josh took the cigar and sniffed it. “Our division commander, Mr. Hobart Gay, and even Mr. Walker, are generally upright people, but they are more pessimistic.”

"Pessimistic? Why do you say that?" Wei Ran simply slowed down the car.

"Grant thinks this war may not be as simple as we think," Josh said, "but he is just a reporter. He has never participated in a war and he doesn't understand war at all."

"What about you?"

Wei Ran smiled and said, "Josh, when do you think the war will end?"

"It will be over next week, I guess next Saturday at the latest, and then we can go home."

Josh said optimistically, "I can't wait to go home, and if it can be finished next week, I can win some money."

"Are you guys betting on this?"

"why not?"

Josh spread his hands, "Victor, what about you? When do you think the war will end?"

"Next week, next Friday." Wei Ran said perfunctorily with a smile. His smile was particularly bright.

"Although you are his assistant, you seem to know more about battlefield affairs than he does."

Josh said confidently, "We'll be able to go home for Christmas soon."

"yes"

Wei Ran smiled and nodded, and said as he drove the car into the position, "We will be able to go home for Christmas soon, Josh, I wish you a happy Christmas in advance. After all, we may have gone home by Christmas and won't be able to see each other."

"Merry Christmas to you in advance, Victor." Josh said happily, and then jumped out without waiting for Wei Ran to stop the car.