War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1730 Death by Eating

On the afternoon of the 26th, when Wei Ran just arrived at the battlefield, the postman who helped Grant take away the family letters came to the door again. Fortunately, Wei Ran happened to return to the tent at this time.

"Grant, I got you an important piece of news." The reporter lowered his voice and said, "It's definitely the latest news."

"What news?" Grant, who had been awakened by Wei Ran a few minutes ago, sat up immediately.

Hearing this, the postman looked at Wei Ran with a slight vigilance.

"He is my friend Victor, a trustworthy friend, and also a friend of Lewis and the others. There is no need to hide it from him."

Grant then introduced, "This guy is the postman Alvin. He is also from Philadelphia. He worked at Moby Dick's auto repair shop for a long time before joining the army. He provided me with many of my news clues."

"Hello" Wei Ran took the initiative to shake hands with the other party.

"You can call me Alvin or the Postman."

The young man shook hands with Wei Ran, and then lowered his voice again to explain, "Grant, and Victor, there is an opportunity now."

"What opportunity?" Grant immediately became interested. "What news have you got?"

"I don't have any new information, but I'm going to take some people back to Shunchuan headquarters. If you're going the same way as us, maybe you can help me pick one of them up. I heard he just came back from the front. Maybe you can chat with him on the way."

"On the way! We are going to Shunchuan!" Grant made the decision immediately.

"I'm going to pick someone up first, you guys go find my car later."

As Alvin spoke, he turned and left the tent. "I'll have one of them get in your car later."

"No problem," Wei Ran agreed readily.

Before the postman Alvin could get out of the tent, Grant immediately urged, "Victor, pack your things quickly, we don't have much time."

As he spoke, he had already started packing his suitcase. Wei Ran did not delay any longer and quickly followed suit.

The two men first packed up their sleeping bags, then folded up the camp bed and put it into a waterproof canvas bag, which they tied to the wide front wheel arches on both sides of the jeep outside.

After covering the iron barrel used for heating with accumulated snow, the two men dismantled the tent as quickly as possible. After folding it, they wrapped it with the waterproof canvas that was originally used to cover the Willys Jeep and tied it firmly to the front bumper of the jeep.

Finally, they threw their sleeping bags into the back seat, and Grant sat in the co-pilot seat first, with his suitcase across his legs.

"You should drive," Grant raised his hand and pointed in a direction, "Alvin's car must be over there."

"no problem"

As Wei Ran spoke, he started the car and drove in the direction Grant had just pointed, finally stopping next to the postman Alvin's car.

After waiting for less than ten minutes, two soldiers came out of a medical tent carrying a wounded man.

"Bourne, you go take that car."

The postman, Alvin, pointed to Grant's car and said, "Mr. Grant is about to leave here, so at least this will make Carl feel more comfortable."

"Alright"

The soldier named Bourne didn't think much about it and nimbly climbed into the back seat of the jeep driven by Wei Ran.

"I'm Grant, Grant Downey." Grant, who was sitting in the passenger seat, turned around and shook hands with Bourne. "I'm a reporter who has resigned and is preparing to go home."

"Bourne, Bourne King"

The young soldier sitting in the back row said, his body still reeking of gunpowder, with a carbine still slung over his shoulder and a 1911 pistol on his leg.

"Are you joining the battle?"

Grant asked curiously as Wei Ran drove his car behind the postman's car, and handed Bourne a cigar by the way.

"We are the advisory group going to the 7th Division of Hanbang to assist in the command."

Bourne pointed at the lighter that Grant handed over and lit his cigar, complaining, "But those rubbish who can only pick up cans! They are first-rate at talking big, but their fighting ability is not even as good as those women sucking dicks panting hard in bed."

"What happened?"

Grant pretended to be worried and guided the conversation.

"We are surrounded, surrounded from three sides."

Bourne shuddered involuntarily. "The enemy appeared suddenly from three directions. The enemy's horns were heard everywhere. The men of the 7th Division were driven from one hill to another and then back to the previous hill like a flock of sheep. They did not listen to orders at all.

Our enemies are almost fighting us hand to hand, but our native allies are in no mood to fight."

"Is the situation on the front line so bad now?" Grant frowned and said deliberately, "I really thought I could go home for Christmas."

"If we escape faster, it is possible."

Bourne said with lingering fear, "The enemies we encountered were too terrifying. They were like ghosts, suddenly appearing from the most unlikely places.

You will never believe that if it weren't for the cover of the plane, there would be no chance of us escaping.

If we hadn't been lucky enough to snatch a truck from the defeated soldiers of the 7th Division of the Hanbang on the way, we might have been captured now."

"Don't worry, you are safe now."

Grant comforted the young soldier, "You are so young and you are already working in the advisory group. You will definitely have a bright future."

"Come on Mr. Grant, I'm just a translator."

Bourne said self-deprecatingly, "There is no future. This time I would rather go to court-martial than go back to the United States immediately. Fuck freedom and justice, fuck MacArthur. I've had enough."

At this moment, the jeep driven by the postman in front slowed down. Then, women and men pushing bicycles appeared on the roadside.

Grant's eyes lit up when he saw this, and he suggested to Bourne, "How about we invite the two ladies to take a ride with us? Let them sit on both sides of you, so you can stay warmer."

Without waiting for Bourne's consent, Grant looked at Wei Ran and said, "Victor, stop the car and ask them who is willing to take a ride."

"This is such a coincidence!" Wei Ran twitched his mouth, because at this moment, the short man Che Yinxu, whom he had met once, and his wife and sister happened to be standing on the side of the road.

Unlike his peers who were traveling on bicycles or pushing carts, this short man used several wooden boards with slots to tie two bicycles together to form a four-wheeled cart.

At this time, he was behind the car, holding two poles tied to the back seats and the main beam of the two bicycles and pushing hard, while his wife and sister rode on the car and pedaled to provide additional assistance.

On both sides of the racks of the two bicycles, there is an iron basket hung respectively. The four iron baskets are filled with their harvests, which are tied side by side with wooden boards. The rest of the belongings such as tents and quilts are placed on top of them.

"Just the two of them."

At this time, Bourne also noticed the girl named Che Xiaoying and her sister-in-law riding on the bike.

"Victor, ask them if they'd like a ride," Grant said immediately.

Hearing this, Wei Ran waved to Che Yinxu, the short man who seemed to have recognized him as well, and said, "Let your wife and sister chat with our friends for a while. How about we give you a ride? Of course, there will be some extra compensation."

"No problem, of course no problem! Thank you!"

Che Yinxu bowed excitedly repeatedly, then asked his wife and sister to sit in the back seat. He turned the homemade cart around, tied two wooden poles that served as handrails to both sides of the jeep, and climbed onto the four iron frames, sitting with their belongings.

Not bothering to pay attention to the "refugees" around him who were looking at him with envy, nor caring whether Che Yinxu's "seat" was safe, Wei Ran waited until the two girls sat next to Bourne and skillfully put his hand on her shoulder and put it against her chest, then he slowly stepped on the accelerator.

With the warmth brought by the two girls' chests, Bourne continued to recount his experiences on the battlefield, while his hands became more and more dishonest.

At the same time, Wei Ran was on high alert while driving. He knew that Grant would die in this war, but he didn't know when, where and why - he was worried that it was because of these three refugees who hitchhiked.

However, as Grant and Bourne's conversation became more in-depth, and the two women were already gasping for breath from the kneading, nothing unexpected happened at all. He even took the time to look back and saw that the man named Che Yinxu was half lying on the back seats of the two bicycles, smoking.

Shaking his head secretly, thinking that maybe he was overthinking, Wei Ran also focused his attention on the not-so-good road conditions.

It was precisely because of this broken road and the refugees that appeared from time to time on the road that they could not increase their speed.

Fortunately, when the cold sun was about to be blocked by the distant mountains, Bourne, who had already put a hand into his "sister-in-law's" pants, blurted out, "Finally I'm back to Suncheon alive."

At this moment, the road appeared in front of a nearly 90-degree turn. Just when the postman's jeep had turned, Che Yinxu, who was ignored by everyone, took out a 1911 pistol from his arms and then pointed it at the back of Bourne's head!

"stop!"

Under Grant's astonished gaze, Che Yinxu shouted out an English word that was not standard but at least understandable.

At the same time, the sister-in-law pulled out a bicycle brake cable from her sleeve and wrapped it around Wei Ran's neck, while the girl who had been hesitating and burying her head in Bourne's waist sat up slowly, and she had already pulled out the pistol from Bourne's pants!

"Stop the car! We don't intend to kill anyone, we just want your property and car." Che Yinxu said loudly in a cryptic tone.

"laugh!"

It was not until this moment that Wei Ran slammed on the brakes.

Caught off guard, Che Yinxu lost his balance and bumped into Bourne. Wei Ran also tilted his head back suddenly and hit the bridge of the sister-in-law's nose with the back of his head. At the same time, Grant had already opened his box and reached out to pull out the 19I1 pistol inside!

"boom!"

Almost at the same time, Wei Ran, Grant and Che Yinxu pulled the trigger in no particular order.

Wei Ran and Che Yinxu shot each other in the heart or back with guns respectively, while Grant's shot hit Wei Ran's sister-in-law behind him. At the same time, he was also shot by Che Xiaoying through the seat in panic.

But at this time, Wei Ran had gradually lost control of his body. In the rising white light, he watched helplessly as the car he was driving braked and rushed out of the road along the slope and straight into the Taedong River. In the end, only Bourne jumped out of the jeep in a panic.

"This death is so unfair"

Wei Ran muttered helplessly. He admitted that he had been on high alert, but when that old man picked up the gun, he still noticed a clear sluggishness in his consciousness and body. He knew that it must be the metal notebook that was causing trouble.

At this moment, he also saw a scene in the white light that might be a real historical event. The driver was Grant, and the one who fought back was Bourne, who was being served to the point of ecstasy. But in the end, even he was shot by the girl named Cha Hyo-young.

Even Cha Hyo-young couldn't climb out of the icy river water.

Before he could open his mouth to curse for this fucking and totally unexpected death, the thick white light disappeared from his sight, but he did not return to the world he was familiar with.

At this time, he was sitting at a table by the window in a suit and tie. Opposite him sat Brad, also in a suit and tie.

Between the two men, there were two cups of steaming coffee, and Brad was reading a letter with a red safety pull-ring ribbon between his fingers.

Outside the window next to the table, there was a big snowman piled in the yard. Next to the snowman, there was a 1950-style hexagonal tent of the US military, and a Willys Jeep was parked next to it.

The tent was made particularly straight and full by the sound of the wind, and there was a Christmas tree decorated with colorful lights outside.

There was a yellow five-pointed star on the Christmas tree, with the words 1950-1951 written on it.

If there hadn't been a very elegant-looking woman in the tent, with a little boy who looked no more than four or five years old, sitting by the red-hot stove and reading a comic book together, he would have even thought that the battlefield was outside the window.

Looking back into the house, it seemed to be the pawn shop of Tony's family, and there were many things on display inside.

On the wall behind Brad, there was a group photo of his wedding, in which not only Wei Ran was in it, but also the real Sui Sui.

In addition to this group photo, there is also the photo of the airdropped incendiary bomb that Brad gave to Wei Ran, a group photo with the crew, and so on.

"That's my wife, Martina Kruger, and our child, Curtis Downey."

Brad, who was sitting on the sofa opposite, put down the letter and introduced with red eyes, "Victor, when I received this letter, I was planning to spend Christmas with Grant when he came back, but now you tell me, he..."

"I'm sorry, I..." Wei Ran paused, "I failed to protect him."

Brad shook his head painfully, "That idiot, I've already told you that the French idiot can't protect him at all, I've already told you to keep him away from the battlefield.

What happened? He survived World War II as a tail gunner, but was killed by a streetwalker! "

After saying this, Brad took a few deep breaths, wiped his eyes, stood up, and pushed the ribbon on the table that was sent home with the letter to Wei Ran. As he walked out, he said, "I'm going to inform my mother that Grant may not be back until after Christmas. Victor, take it and stay away from the war."

"I"

Wei Ran looked at the white light rising again, finally reached out and pressed the ribbon on the table, and let out a last sigh weakly.