War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1739 Afraid of being too late

Just as Xia Shushi and Qin Qi rushed to the well-prepared museum with the Downey brothers with completely different attitudes and their memories of the war, Wei Ran also boarded the high-speed train to Tianjin, and took the opportunity to buy a high-speed train ticket to Shanghai that night.

While waiting for the train to arrive, he was also thinking about a problem that was already in front of him: which things should he take to Shanghai and which things should he leave for Mr. Yu, whom he had not yet met.

During a recent trip to Spain, those "warty friends", Comrade Chanin from the United States, and the wrestler and his brother-in-law gave me all the relics related to the Spanish International Brigade.

Among the relics were the flag with 27 three-pointed stars, a harmonica with bullet holes, a Mauser bayonet, and an Astra 400 pistol.

These things were all gifts given to themselves by their "friends with warts" who bought them at auctions in order to look decent.

In addition to these, he also received a medal of the Second Spanish Republic and a Soviet SSH36 helmet from Comrade Chanin. The helmet was in exceptionally good condition, with a sickle and hammer painted in white paint on the left side, a red triangular star on the back of the head, and the tricolor flag of the International Brigade painted on the right side with paint dipped in fingers.

Of course, there are also the two seals, one is the Yu Yanlin seal carved with a carp, and the other is incomplete, with only the surname "Matsui" visible.

Although the helmet was a gift given to him by Chanin later, he bought the two seals from him for 3500 euros.

The rest was a gift from the Spanish wrestler Miguel and his brother-in-law Juliano.

Among them is the letter that can be confirmed to be from Yu Yanlin. It also has bullet holes and has been cleaned out by professionals hired by Xia Shushi.

In addition to the crucial family letter, there was also a small cloth bag containing many medals, commemorative medals, rings and other items, including a thumb-sized, carp-shaped mutton-fat jade pendant. A medal of the Second Spanish Republic was tied to the leather case used to protect it.

The third item was the film album that was only the size of a Xinhua Dictionary. He once tried to ask Anfisa to help clean up the film album with bullet holes and blood stains, but because the damage was too severe, Wei Ran did not make up his mind to deal with it.

In addition to these, an Orthodox cross and an old-fashioned razor were also found.

Most of these things were brought back by Wei Ran, even the ugly Astra 400 pistol was lying at the bottom of the food box.

The only two exceptions were the Mauser bayonet, which was slightly too long to fit into the lunch box, and the only thing not in his hand, the opened letter from home.

So what should we give to Mr. Yu?

Frankly speaking, Wei Ran couldn't bear to part with the flag. He also wanted to collect it and had even decided to hang it in the library.

But compared to these, he had not decided whether to give the selected "relics" to Mr. Yu or a complete historical fragment until the high-speed train arrived at the station and he took a taxi back to the door of the small western-style building.

Opening the gate and walking into the yard, Wei Ran went all the way to the basement, pushed open the huge mirror and entered the secret room that had long been lost in history. He opened the suitcase placed there, took out all the things one by one and placed them on the plank bed.

After a long time, he sighed, put away the traces of these romantic years one by one, put them back into sealed bags, and carefully placed them into the gap cut on the cushioning cotton in the suitcase.

"No matter what, at least let's go to Shanghai first."

Wei Ran murmured silently, buckled the suitcase, picked it up, turned around and left the secret room, left the small building, and took an online taxi back to the high-speed rail station without stopping.

However, what he didn't expect was that when he walked into the waiting hall and sat down, he saw Aniya and Daofeng sitting close to each other in the corner of a row of seats not far away, looking very affectionate.

He really couldn't help but notice that the couple's outfits were too eye-catching.

Daofeng's brightly colored outfit made her look like a spirit of dopamine, while Aniya next to her was dressed like a rainbow that had finally materialized after years of practice.

But, one of them was holding a candied strawberry and the other was holding a pancake bought from somewhere. From time to time, you fed me a bite and I fed you a bite. They were showing their weird love in a way that could break the defense of the children of Tianjin, such as wrapping pancakes with candied strawberries.

To make matters even more unfortunate, this couple was only separated from Wei Ran by the entrance passage, so before he could even get up and move, the two of them had already run over enthusiastically and sat next to him without saying a word.

"Victor, why are you here?"

Aniya asked first in Russian, and generously raised the half string of candied haws in her hand, "Would you like to try it? It's delicious."

"Thank you, no."

Wei Ran pushed the candied haws from the other person's hand away and asked in Chinese, "Why are you here?"

“We went and bought these!”

Daofeng handed the pancake in his hand to Aniya beside him, and then happily showed off the clay figurines and other things she bought.

"So you are planning to go to Shanghai?" Wei Ran asked suspiciously.

"That's right!"

Daofeng explained happily, "We saw Sister Sui Sui's circle of friends this morning, so we bought the tickets right away. What about you? How come you are in Tianjin too?"

"I'm here to pick up some things and I'm also going to Shanghai."

Wei Ran explained somewhat helplessly that he had noticed the tickets in the two men's hands, and they were indeed for the same train as his. Fortunately, they were not in the same carriage.

"Can we follow you?"

Dao Feng's subsequent questions also ruined Wei Ran's good mood. He had already noticed that someone was taking pictures of him again.

"Why are you following me?" Wei Ran asked helplessly.

"We haven't booked a hotel yet, and none of us have ever been to Shanghai."

As she spoke, Daofeng had already made a video call to Suisui, happily sharing that they had met her "brother-in-law" by chance, and the helplessness on her "brother-in-law's" face.

"In that case, just follow him," Sui Sui said with particular confidence.

"Don't you worry about me?" Wei Ran asked with tears in his eyes.

"Thank you for your hard work! We will probably arrive tomorrow afternoon, so remember to pick me up then."

Sui Sui said with a smile, she knew that Wei Ran was particularly wary of Aniya, but as for worrying, she was not worried at all.

After hanging up the video call, Dao Feng took the pancake that Aniya helped to hold and took another bite, then asked directly, "Brother-in-law, my dog ​​hemp farm will be built soon. Do you still want to invest in me?"

"When did you become so proficient in calling brother-in-law?" Wei Ran asked with a helpless smile.

"My dad said, if you eat sweet food, you won't go hungry."

Daofeng said, taking another big bite of the pancake, chewing and asking vaguely, "So you want to invest in me?"

"Tell me about the current progress of your farm," Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"Lawyer Carlos and Sister Coco helped me get all the licenses"

Daofeng said excitedly, "And Sister Koko used her farm in Gama University and part of the start-up capital to invest. Aniya will be responsible for the legal sales of dog hemp in the future. She said she has enough friends to help with this."

“She does have a lot of friends.”

Wei Ran shook his head secretly. He probably already knew why Ninel came to China this year, and why Aniya did not follow him to the mountain city but instead hid here.

"So you want to invest?" Daofeng asked, "You promised to invest $50 in me at the beginning."

"How is the return calculated?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"How about 55 points?" Daofeng asked.

"Go talk to Sui Sui."

Wei Ran smiled and said, "I'll transfer the money to you after you guys have reached an agreement."

"50?" Dao Feng asked cautiously.

"One million" Wei Ran gave the other party a surprise.

"Thank you, brother-in-law!" Dao Feng expressed her gratitude sincerely in a voice that could be called "loud", but unsurprisingly, it helped Wei Ran gain some praise such as "scumbag".

"It's time to talk about you"

Wei Ran switched to Russian and asked Aniya, "What's wrong with you? Haven't you been pestering Koko? Why did you change your target? Also, your partner probably doesn't know that you interfered in Inuma's affairs?"

"Of course Cecilia and I are together because of love," Ania said proudly.

"Don't abuse the word love"

Wei Ran just felt his head swelling. This girl, who was obviously very pretty and had an extremely hot body, was really not much different from Ji Ma from that year, except that she was a male or a female.

"Anyway, we decided to be together, and we got the blessings of Charlie and Miley," Ania said proudly.

"Where's Inuma?"

Wei Ran narrowed his eyes and asked, "You'd better tell the truth, otherwise I will tie you to a roller coaster tomorrow, and tie your partner next to you."

"Cecilia wants to start a dog farm"

Aniya spread her hands. "I have plenty of time, and I know Koko, and she is willing to help me, so why not?"

"Does your partner agree?"

“At least I didn’t refuse.”

Aniya said nonchalantly, "Victor, dog hemp and hemp are both legal businesses in the United States. What are you worried about?"

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Wei Ran shook his head and was too lazy to worry about it. Cha Xifeng didn't say anything about this matter, so he didn't know what to say.

As for whether to invest

Of course you should invest! Why not? It’s a legal business, and making money is not bad.

"He won't come tomorrow, will he?" Aniya asked carefully.

"I don't know about that," Wei Ran waved his hand perfunctorily. He didn't have the heart to care about them.

"Or can you ask for me?" Aniya asked flatteringly.

"Are you sure you want me to ask for you?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile, "What if I ask and it arouses his and Olga's interest?"

"Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."

Aniya threw back the words Wei Ran had just thrown to her, then switched to English and chatted with Dao Feng next to her about topics such as how to arrange the next few days.

Wei Ran sat uncomfortably next to these two old men until the ticket check. He was too lazy to pay attention to them. He queued up to enter the station with his suitcase and walked towards his carriage.

"Why are you two still following me?" Wei Ran asked helplessly, "Are you and I in the same carriage?"

"We'll be in a carriage soon," Dao Feng said confidently.

I should check the almanac before I go out.

Wei Ran muttered as he led the two lovers into the carriage. Dao Feng also skillfully communicated with the couple who were originally sitting in the same row with Wei Ran and successfully changed seats. This episode was destined to make Wei Ran literally eat enough dog food for the next few hours of the journey, so that he finally took out a steam eye mask and headphones to put on so that he would not be bothered by them.

After more than six hours of long suffering, the three people who met by chance got off the car together, and Wei Ran also called Xia Shushi.

"We just sent the two brothers on a flight back to the United States," Xia Shushi said as soon as the call was connected. "Have you arrived yet?"

"Just arrived"

Wei Ran said, "It's already past ten o'clock, so I won't contact your teacher. Do you know which hotel he's staying in? I'll see if there's any vacant rooms in that hotel. If there is, it would be more convenient to contact him tomorrow."

"I'll send it to you right away," Xia Shushi said as he hung up the phone, and soon after sent a string of addresses.

"gone"

Wei Ran greeted Aniya and Dao Feng, who were riding on their suitcases and chatting animatedly, and seemed not worried at all about having no place to stay. He took them into a taxi and drove to the hotel where Xia Shushi's teacher was staying.

Fortunately, this hotel can accommodate foreign guests and has quite a few rooms.

He specifically asked the front desk to arrange a room for the two girls that was several floors away from his own. Wei Ran simply rejected their invitation to have a midnight snack together and walked into his room with his only box of luggage.

After the habitual check, Wei Ran, who had been restless since morning, took a quick shower, set the alarm clock and lay down on the bed.

However, in the middle of the night, he was woken up by the ringing of the phone.

"what happened?"

Wei Ran immediately had a bad feeling when he saw that the person calling was Xia Shushi.

"Just now," Xia Shushi said, "Mr. Yu was sent to the hospital."

"What did you say?" Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, and then he came to his senses, "What's going on?"

"hypertension"

Xia Shushi said, "His son informed my teacher, and my teacher informed me."

"Is the situation very critical?" Wei Ran asked with a frown.

"We don't know the situation yet," Xia Shushi said, "Do you want to go and have a look? I'll give you the address. My teacher has already gone there. I'll also give you his phone number."

"Send it to me." Wei Ran hung up the phone with a sigh.

A moment later, Xia Shushi sent the detailed address of the floor and his teacher's phone number.

At the same time, Wei Ran had already put on his clothes and left the room.

By the time he hurriedly took a taxi to the hospital and contacted Xia Shushi's teacher, it was almost four o'clock in the morning.

"Hello, Teacher Ge, we meet again." Wei Ran hurriedly shook hands with Xia Shushi's teacher.

Mr. Ge is probably about to retire. He had previously participated in the behind-the-scenes work of the Long March cultural relics. Wei Ran had met him once before.

"You've come here for a long time, please take a seat."

Teacher Ge, who looked a little haggard, asked Wei Ran to sit down on a chair beside the corridor. He also subconsciously felt in his pocket and took out a pack of cigarettes, but soon realized where this place was and immediately put it back in his pocket.

"Let's go to the stairwell and talk." Wei Ran, who had just sat down, stood up again.

"Okay, follow me."

Teacher Ge said this, and with the help of Wei Ran, he stood up again and took him into the stairwell not far away.

"Would you like one?" asked Teacher Ge.

"Thank you"

Wei Ran took the cigarette handed to him by the other party, and at the same time took out a lighter to help the other party light the cigarette that was already in his mouth.

In the dense smoke, Teacher Ge took the initiative to say without waiting for Wei Ran to ask, "The patient is fine, but he has high blood pressure. He has been sent back to the ward and will probably be discharged tomorrow or the day after tomorrow."

"Because of the influence of that letter?" Wei Ran asked tentatively.

After a brief hesitation, Teacher Ge nodded, sighed and explained, "This morning, Mr. Yu called me and said he wanted to go to pay respects to his aunt, and asked if I wanted to go with him."

"Did you go with them?" Wei Ran asked.

"went"

Teacher Ge said regretfully, "Grandpa Yu told me a lot of stories about him and his aunt. Maybe he had been thinking about it for too long. His son said that the old man tossed and turned all night and couldn't fall asleep. In the end, he had high blood pressure.

On the way to the hospital, the old man asked his son to call me and said he had something to ask me. "

"What's the matter?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence.

"I don't know yet," Teacher Ge shook his head, took a puff of his cigarette and said, "I guess we won't know until he wakes up tomorrow."

"Teacher Ge, why don't you go back to the hotel and rest first?"

Wei Ran said, "I'll stay here for a while. I'll contact you when Mr. Yu wakes up."

"It's okay, I'll do it." Teacher Ge said apologetically, "This old man must have something important to talk to me about, I'd better wait here."

"You should go back and rest."

Wei Ran put out his cigarette and said, "I am also a historian, and I know more about the things found with the letter than you do, so let me keep it.

Besides, Xia Shushi will be here tomorrow. If you get too exhausted before he comes, he will eat me alive."

"This"

"If it's convenient for you, please introduce me to Mr. Yu's son. Then I'll send you back to the hotel and come back immediately." Wei Ran said sincerely.

"That's fine."

Teacher Ge finally nodded, put out his cigarette and said, "Thank you very much, come with me."

Having said that, Teacher Ge turned and walked out of the stairwell. After searching for a while with Wei Ran, they saw Mr. Yu's son outside a bed.

The old man, still in his pajamas, looked to be about 60 years old. At this moment, he was tapping on the screen, trying to contact someone.

"Brother Yu," Teacher Ge called softly.

"Teacher Ge"

The old man, who looked about the same age as Teacher Ge, quickly turned off his phone and said apologetically, "My father probably won't wake up until noon. Why don't you stop waiting and go back first."

"I"

"I am Mr. Ge's student"

Before Teacher Ge could speak, Wei Ran said, "Mr. Yu, how about this? I'll send my teacher back first, and then I'll come back to look after the old man for you, and you can go home and change your clothes. What do you think?"

"How can this be so embarrassing?" Mr. Yu's son said quickly, "I'll just call Teacher Ge over."

"Then it's settled."

Wei Ran didn't give the other party a chance to finish his words. "I'll send Teacher Ge back first, and then I'll come over to replace you right away. The hotel is not far away, and it will take at most 20 minutes to go back and forth."

"That's fine. Thank you for your help, young man."

"Then please wait a moment, I'll be back soon."

As Wei Ran spoke, he called Teacher Ge towards the elevator. He had already noticed that both Mr. Yu and Teacher Ge next to him seemed to be not good at speaking.

Of course, if we use the words of their time, it means being introverted or dull. If we use the words of young people, it is probably social phobia.

No matter what, Wei Ran had already called an online taxi as he went downstairs. He enthusiastically helped open the door for Teacher Ge to get in and closed the door, then he opened the passenger door and got in.

"Thank you so much for what you did just now," Teacher Ge said as if he was relieved.

"I hope you don't blame me for speaking as your student," Wei Ran said politely.

“I’m not qualified to be your teacher.”

Teacher Ge quickly said, "Your achievements have brought honor to those of us who study history, especially the photo of the red flag of the Capitol that you found. I even found the video of your interview to show my students."

"I remember Xia Shushi mentioned this when I first met him," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"Xiao Xia is my most proud student," Teacher Ge said with emotion, "but she is still far behind you."

"Teacher Ge is being modest"

Wei Ran responded gently. He now really realized that Teacher Ge was a person who was purely interested in academic research.

After a brief chat, the car drove back to the hotel entrance.

"Don't rush to pay the bill. Just wait here for a while. I'll be down soon." Wei Ran said, and took out a hundred-dollar bill from his pocket as a backup and handed it to the driver.

"Yo!"

The driver quickly took the money and said enthusiastically, "Don't worry, I've been waiting for you here. There are no orders at this time."

"Sorry for your trouble"

Wei Ran thanked him politely, then opened the car door, helped Teacher Ge out of the car, and insisted on sending him back to the room.

"That's too late."

Wei Ran muttered to himself as he walked towards the elevator, then walked into the elevator and pressed the button for the floor where his room was.

He finally made a decision and decided to give Mr. Yu a complete story about his aunt Chuncai and the unfaithful man whom Chuncai had waited for all her life - Yu Yanlin.