War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1736 Meeting

When Wei Ran went downstairs, Old Man Qin had already put away the magnifying glass and was chatting with Sui Sui.

Seeing Wei Ran coming down, the old man immediately waved at him, "Young man, come and sit down. I will tell you about this phoenix crown."

"Did you recognize her?" Wei Ran asked as he sat next to Su Su.

"I didn't recognize him," Mr. Qin gave an unexpected answer.

Seeing Wei Ran and Sui Sui looking at each other in bewilderment, Old Man Qin glanced at the phoenix crown not far from the table and said, "The phoenix crown you brought back is somewhat different in shape from the unearthed Ming Dynasty phoenix crown. If it is real, then it needs to be carefully examined. If it is fake..."

"Mr. Qin, just say what you want to say," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"If it is fake, the person who made this Phoenix Coronet must be a master. Moreover, this Phoenix Coronet does not look like something unearthed in recent years. It is an old object that has been well preserved."

At this point, Mr. Qin frowned and said, "We have never unearthed a phoenix crown from the Song Dynasty. If this phoenix crown is fake, it's fine. But if it is real, I'm afraid that many precious cultural relics have been lost overseas with it."

"If it's true," Sui Sui said, "at least bring one back."

"Are you not planning to take this phoenix crown out with you?" Old Master Qin looked up and asked.

"I don't plan to take it out," Sui Sui said with a smile, "but I haven't figured out how to deal with it yet."

After opening his mouth to speak but stopping himself, Mr. Qin finally said, "Okay, I'll go back and research it carefully."

"Then I'll trouble you, Grandpa Qin," Sui Sui said with a smile, and the name became much more intimate. "We'll book a room at a nearby restaurant."

"No, I don't have the appetite to eat now."

Old Master Qin took another look at the Phoenix Coronet. "You kids are all good friends of the Second Emperor. I won't be polite with you. Just save this meal for now. When I find out the origin of the Phoenix Coronet, I will ask the Second Emperor to take you to my place and let my wife cook a delicious meal for you."

"also"

Sui Sui agreed straightforwardly, "Then we will keep our stomachs open waiting for your good news."

"You little girl are really a rare sight"

Old Master Qin laughed. "You can ask the Second Master to take you to my place anytime you like. But not today. I have to go back and read some books. Second Master, Xiao Xia, whoever has time, please take me back."

"Grandpa, we are here for a trip today." Qin II reminded as he helped Old Man Qin stand up.

"You little bastard, do I need you to remind me?" Old Master Qin scolded with a smile, "Let's go, go back quickly!"

With Wei Ran and Sui Sui's warm farewell, Qin II and his two companions, along with Old Man Qin, got into the SUV, and Xia Shushi himself drove away from this quiet little courtyard in the bustling city.

"Where do you think it is appropriate to hide that phoenix crown?" Sui Sui waited until the Kajianka sisters closed the gate together, then she looked up and asked Wei Ran beside her.

“Not yet.”

"It doesn't matter. I already know the answer."

Sui Sui said very soberly, "I plan to keep it for four or five years, and then donate it when we both decide to return to China for development. But before that, I have to find a safe place to store it."

"Before that, don't you plan to take it back and show it off?"

"Then you must show off!"

Sui Sui, smiling happily, walked back and said, "We have to let them all see it."

"Give it to me after you're done showing off. I'll find a place to hide it later." Wei Ran said.

"Row!"

Sui Sui agreed without thinking, but she was not curious at all about where Wei Ran hid the phoenix crown. "What else do you have planned next?"

“It really does”

Wei Ran looked at the other person apologetically, "The Second Master will probably come again tomorrow. He introduced a friend to me."

"Do you need me?" Su Su asked.

"No, you should go back to grandma's house first, so that they won't be awake tonight and worry about me. I'll go back tomorrow afternoon."

"also"

Sui Sui nodded without thinking, and walked into the small western-style building happily with her arm around Wei Ran.

That afternoon, Sui Sui took the phoenix crown and the Kajianka sisters, and took a ride with Wei Ran's parents who came to pick her up, and arrived at the high-speed rail station and left Tianjin.

On the same afternoon, Qin Ershi, who also took the high-speed rail back to the capital, immediately sent away Xia Shushi and Qin Qi after sending the old man back home. He drove an inconspicuous car alone to an open-air parking lot in a large courtyard. After a careful search, he parked his car sideways in front of a car without any moral bottom line.

Next, Qin II did not even get out of the car. He just lowered the window and slightly flattened the seat back. Then he lit a cigarette, set the alarm and waited patiently.

At 5:30 in the afternoon, almost at the same time as the alarm on his cell phone rang, he sat up straight, adjusted the seat back to a comfortable angle, then pushed the door, got out of the car and walked a few steps away.

About half an hour later, a man who looked to be in his thirties walked over from a distance carrying a briefcase.

This man was quite alert. He simply turned around when he saw the blocked car from a distance.

Unfortunately, as the saying goes, the devil is always several feet taller than the good. As soon as he turned around, he noticed that Qin II was standing not far behind him, nodding and bowing with a rude look on his face.

"Brother, my dear brother."

Before Qin Ershi finished speaking, he had already rushed over, "Brother, are you off work? Brother, why is your car blocked by people? Brother, where are you going? I'll take you there!"

"No, Second Generation, do you have any tricks?" the man who was being entangled asked helplessly.

"I didn't slip away. I didn't slip away."

Qin II hurriedly grabbed the man's sleeve and said shamelessly, "My dear brother, my dear brother! Come on my car and sit for a while to warm up! Just listen to me for two minutes, okay? Just two minutes!"

"Are you in trouble again?"

The man reluctantly but helplessly followed Qin II as he walked towards an old off-road vehicle that looked very old not far away and asked.

"What you said is true. I've never been in trouble before!"

As Qin Ershi was speaking, he had already opened the back door for the other person. After the other person got in, he squeezed in from the same side and slammed the door with a "bang".

"If you have something to say, say it now and fart outside"

The man who was pushed to the other side tried to open the car door and window, but found that it was locked. He said impatiently, "Let me tell you first, if you really get into trouble, don't expect me to help you hide it from your sister and your brother-in-law."

"What's going on with them?"

Qin II said quickly, "Brother, can you come with me to meet my friend?"

"Aren't you crazy?"

“This guy is really worth meeting.”

Qin II said, "Think carefully. If you don't see me this time, it will be useless for you to beg me next time."

"If you don't brag, you will have asthma, right?"

The man was so angry that he laughed, "I beg you? Second Master Qin, I beg you to stop messing with me, okay? You come here to block me when you have a little trouble, is that fun?"

"You really won't see him?" The second emperor of Qin, who had just been servile, suddenly stood up again, "You said so!"

After saying this, Qin II simply pushed open the car door, almost jogged back to the car that was blocking the road, got into the driver's seat, started the car and drove over.

"You're here to have a seizure, right?"

The man who had just gotten out of the back seat of the SUV and was walking towards his car asked unhappily.

"I'm the behind-the-scenes manager of my insane asylum. You can meet me if you want. Bye!"

After saying this, Qin II stepped on the accelerator to the bottom and drove out of the compound in the blink of an eye.

"grass!"

The man behind him realized that something was wrong, and quickly got into his car, started it and stepped on the accelerator.

"laugh--!"

As the car just started moving, he heard the sound of airflow. When he pushed the door and got out of the car, he saw that there were hollow triangular nails under all four tires!

After clenching his fists, the man finally stopped a colleague who was also off work, borrowed a car and chased after him.

What made him even more angry was that when he drove the car out of the yard in a hurry, he found that Qin Ershi had parked his car on the roadside not far from the gate, and was leaning against the rear of the car, looking at him with a smile.

"Little Liu, do you want to see him?" Qin II asked smugly, "Just tell me whether you want to see him or not!"

"You're not done yet, are you?" the man who got out of the car asked with narrowed eyes.

"Okay, I'll leave right away." After saying that, Qin II turned around and walked towards the driving seat at the front of the car.

"Hey hey hey! Are you born in the year of the dog? How do you say that?"

"I am born in the Year of the Dog"

Qin II said as a matter of course, "If you were born in 1994, what would you be if not a dog? Ah? An elephant in the zoo?"

"Oh, oh, oh, it's my fault, my fault." The man said helplessly, "When? Where shall we meet?"

"Tomorrow morning, at nine o'clock, wait for me at the high-speed rail station closest to your dormitory. Remember to bring your ID card." Qin Ershi said, "You go alone, don't bring anyone else."

"You have to say it."

"Given our brotherly relationship, there must be a reason before I can invite you, right?" asked Qin II.

"I'll go with you tomorrow, but you'd better have something serious to do."

After the man finished speaking, he turned around and walked back, saying, "Otherwise, I'll have to find a reason to get your brother-in-law to take you to have another foreskin surgery. If I don't invite a few pretty Japanese girls to your ward to dance for you, I'll carry you to and from get off work!"

"You'd better have something serious to do tomorrow, Brother Wei."

Qin II, who successfully completed the task with his cleverness, muttered something secretly in the driver's seat, and then stepped on the accelerator as if he was escaping for his life.

That night, after returning to her grandma's house, Sui Sui took out the phoenix crown she brought back and showed it off to Wei Ran's parents and four grandparents.

On the same night, Wei Ran, who was left alone in the small western-style building, took out the guqin Yaoguang and played the few songs he knew on the stage in the basement, while recalling the secrets about this small western-style building.

The next morning, Wei Ran got up early and swept the yard again by himself with a bamboo broom. After breakfast, he took a shower, changed into a formal suit, and put on a pair of plain glasses.

At ten o'clock in the morning, an online-hailing car stopped at the door of the small western-style building, and Qin Ershi and the helpers he found pushed the door and got out of the car one after another.

After glancing at the words "望歸" on the small wooden sign hanging on the door, the person who followed stopped Qin II who was about to knock on the door, "This man is really your crazy man."

"It's fake. How can I deceive you if I don't find a reason?"

Qin Ershi stopped his companion who had already taken out his cell phone to call a taxi when he was halfway through his words. "Since we are here, can you just go in for five minutes? If you feel that your visit is in vain after five minutes, I will go find a hospital to see a specialist. That's good enough, right? Just five minutes!"

"My friend doesn't ask you to do anything for him, doesn't want to use connections, and doesn't ask for anything in return. What's the matter? Is your face so precious?"

After looking at Qin II suspiciously, the person walking with him smiled and said, "Okay, I'll trust you for once. Go ahead and knock on the door."

"Got it!"

Qin Ershi said, and immediately pressed the doorbell. After waiting for a while, Wei Ran opened the door from the inside.

After looking at each other very quickly, Wei Ran greeted enthusiastically, "Come in."

"I'm not going in." Qin Ershi stepped one foot in and said, "Wei Ran, you can just call him Brother Liu. He will take care of your money. You can discuss the details yourselves. I won't listen to it because it's too hot for my ears. What do you think?"

"Okay, please come in, Brother Liu." Wei Ran greeted warmly.

"Are you Wei Ran?" The man shook hands with Wei Ran.

"It's me. I'm Wei Ran." Wei Ran said with a smile, "Since the Second Master doesn't intend to get involved, why don't we go in and talk?"

"Go, go."

Brother Liu followed Wei Ran into the small western-style building and said, "I've seen you on the news. I even went to the museum to see those old photos of the Long March."

"My friends helped me get a chance to appear in the news"

Wei Ran said this modestly, and at the same time led the other party into the first floor, and then into the relatively private basement, where teapots and tea sets had been placed in advance.

"The Second Emperor didn't tell me anything."

Brother Liu sat down at the tea table and said with a smile, "He said he would introduce me to the person behind his insane asylum, but when we got to the door he said he lied to me. That guy mixed lies with the truth and truth with his lies."

"What's crazy? Lunatic asylum?"

Wei Ran asked in surprise while making tea, "Hasn't he been busy filming the movie about the expeditionary force? Why is he filming the Madhouse?"

"nothing"

Brother Liu smiled and asked, "What is it that Mr. Wei wants to ask me for?"

"I have something hot in my hands that I don't want anymore"

Wei Ran said as he fiddled with the tea set to make tea, "But these things are really hot, I want to hand them over to have peace of mind.

But as you said, the Second Master has never been reliable, so please forgive me, Brother Liu, I have to weigh the weight before deciding whether to hand it over."

"Okay, how do you plan to measure the amount?" Brother Liu asked, holding up a cup of tea.

“There are only four teacups in total.”

Wei Ran also picked up a cup and said, "After all, this is the first time we meet. How about we each give each other two chances?"

"Okay," Brother Liu said happily.

"This small western-style building was left to me by Mr. Tao Canhua"

Wei Ran pointed to the top of his head and said, "After I took over, I spent a lot of money to renovate this place, and I accidentally discovered something."

Hearing this, Brother Liu took a sip of tea and said, "So it was you who wrote the "Wang Gui" on the sign at the door?"

Wei Ran also took a sip of the tea in the cup, hesitated for a while, and said something incoherent, "Set up the stage to perform a play."

Hearing this, Brother Liu first stared at Wei Ran with a smile on his face, and then asked, "Dingjun Mountain?"

"Huh..." Wei Ran let out a long sigh, "The Second Generation is at least reliable for once."

"It seems that you know a lot?" Brother Liu asked.

"Not much, just a few words from Mr. Tao before he died. He was not conscious at that time." Wei Ran sighed, "Brother Liu, do you have anything to ask? I will definitely confess and I will give you leniency."

"Don't use them carelessly. Those four words are for enemies and prisoners."

Brother Liu reminded, "Do you have anything you want to show me?"

"I studied in Maozi," Wei Ran said, "and I got to know some gang friends who were involved in smuggling over the years."

"Go on," Brother Liu asked, holding the second teacup, neither putting it down nor drinking the tea in it.

"You know the news about the devils some time ago, right?"

"The one with the floating corpse?" There was a hint of surprise in Brother Liu's eyes.

"This is what that woman left behind before she died," Wei Ran said, taking out a hard drive from under the tea table and pushing it to the other party.

"Several months ago, that woman sneaked from Russia to Japan through my friend's smuggling channel, but she was kidnapped as soon as she arrived there. This thing was also found in the Tibetan warehouse by my friend."

Wei Ran said, "My friend has always been curious about what's inside, but the hard drive was encrypted and he couldn't decrypt it, so he sent it to me. I have an employee who is good at computer technology, so I thought of asking her to help crack it."

"Go on," Brother Liu stared at Wei Ran and said with a smile.

"My employee didn't take it seriously. After trying to crack it but still failing, she kept looking for key vaults and such. But before she could crack it, the Japanese reported the floating corpse. My friend got scared and contacted me right away."

Wei Ran pointed at the hard drive and said, "I was also scared. I didn't want to get into trouble again, so I just hid back with my family. I thought I might as well hand it over. What if there's something valuable in it, right?"

"Do you have any requests?" Brother Liu asked.

“This has nothing to do with me”

Wei Ran said quickly, "I am just a history student. I have dated more than ten or twenty girlfriends. I can't get enough of this carefree life.

I am not afraid of you laughing at me. If I were not worried that the people who come here would not trust me, I would not use the words that Mr. Tao said before his death to measure your weight. "

"How can you be sure that I know about this small Western-style building?" Brother Liu asked with a smile on his face.

"If you don't know, then it's because the quantity is not enough."

Wei Ran said as a matter of course, "At worst, I won't study that crappy book anymore. I can just stay in China for the rest of my life and rely on my girlfriend to support me and still have a good life."

"You are quite honest." Brother Liu smiled, "What did Mr. Tao say before he died?"

"He said that if one day in the future a relative came to visit and wanted to listen to opera or music, he would do so."

Wei Ran paused, raised his hand and pointed at the stage not far away, "Then let's put on a Dingjun Mountain for them, and play Guangling San. If I am willing, I will return this small western-style building to them."

"Are you willing to do so?" Brother Liu asked with a smile.

"At first I didn't know who Mr. Tao was talking about."

Wei Ran said as he threw a bunch of keys onto the table, "But later when we were renovating, I found some things and roughly knew who it was."

"so?"

"If they can come back now, let alone this one, I can spend some money to buy them a small Western-style house." Wei Ran said frankly.

"Can I see you in this small building?"

"cannot"

Wei Ran shook his head decisively, "I have to keep this to myself."

"Are you really not going to make some requests and just give it away for free?"

Brother Liu said this and finally drank the cold tea in the cup, then put the cup down and picked up the hard drive.

"What else can I ask for?"

Wei Ran also drank the tea in the cup, "I'm also betting that there might be something really extraordinary in that hard drive."

"What if there is nothing?" Brother Liu asked while playing with the hard drive.

"If there is no one, then there is no one."

Wei Ran poured another cup of tea for the two of them. "It's not a loss if there's nothing. If there really is something, I wouldn't know about it. If I really want something, I just hope that no one knows that this thing was taken from me."

"Okay, I'll take it." Brother Liu said, and finally put away the hard drive.

"Then can I go to Russia to continue my studies after the New Year?" Wei Ran looked at the other party and asked.

"Go if you want to"

Brother Liu smiled and said, "I remember you. It seems you have encountered a lot of dangers before?"

“Speaking with a straight face”

Wei Ran pretended to be helpless and said, "I can't keep things to myself. I always want to tell everyone about something I found in the pile of old papers so that everyone can have a good laugh. But who would have thought that someone would get furious."

"Are you scared this time?" Brother Liu asked with a smile.

"Every failure makes you wiser," Wei Ran said with a smile, "I'm still young, my waist and kidneys are good, but I don't want to be hung on the wall and worshipped so early."

"I'll say hello to you later," Brother Liu changed the subject and asked, "What are you studying there now?"

"I am currently studying for a PhD in the history of war."

Wei Ran sighed and said, "The more I read this crappy book, the less I like it."

"Reading thousands of books will take you thousands of miles, but you still have to study hard."

Brother Liu said, "Besides, whether it's the expeditionary army in the Wild Man Mountain a few years ago, or the relics of the Long March a while ago, or those old fighters of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces, it's all thanks to you that their stories can see the light of day again."

"Am I so famous now?" Wei Ran asked in pretended surprise.

"Your beautiful backgrounds played a big role"

Brother Liu paused here and said abruptly, "Wei Ran, you don't have to be so cautious. Miss Jia Ya once mentioned you to me. She thinks very highly of you."

"I will personally thank Miss Jiaya when I have the chance in the future," said Wei Ran.

"Would it have been helpful if I had moved Miss Jiaya out just now?" Brother Liu asked with a smile.

"It would have been useless even if you had asked Miss Jiaya to come to the side just now." Wei Ran's attitude was unusually serious.

Hearing this, Brother Liu smiled, picked up the teacup and drank it all, then said, "I'll take the things. No matter what's in the hard drive, it was discovered by accident when the Second Generation goes there to travel and trouble the Japanese girl tomorrow."

“Just don’t let him get spanked after making a contribution,” Wei Ran said with a smile as he stood up.

"He is a strong man, so he doesn't care about the few cents of flesh."

Brother Liu smiled and said, "Please continue to keep the matter of this small Western-style building a secret."

"rest assured"

Wei Ran said abruptly, "What if I discover something extraordinary in the future?"

"again?"

"Yes," Wei Ran said confidently.

"Let the Second Generation contact me."

"I gave Xia Shushi some precious negatives and photo albums," Wei Ran said, "Let the Second Master take you to see those things as well."

"Alright"

Brother Liu took the initiative to shake hands with Wei Ran for the last time, and with the latter's farewell, he left the basement and the courtyard.

"A child with a mother is like a treasure"

Wei Ran stood at the door of the small western-style building and muttered to himself with a smile, while at the same time he was also wondering about the origin and identity of Brother Liu. This was something he couldn't ask just now, and he was destined not to get a true answer.