War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1793 Director of Dongyi Photo Studio

In the dark alley, Wei Ran found the rickshaw driver hiding in the alley after running a few steps. Obviously, he was still thinking about his rickshaw.

He knocked her out easily, but he did not stop. Instead, he quickened his pace and caught up with the cheongsam woman who was still running for her life in high heels.

He also knocked the woman unconscious and carried her to the side of the rickshaw driver, making the two of them huddle side by side. Wei Ran then used the warm blanket on the rickshaw to carefully cover them from head to toe to prevent them from freezing.

He returned to the rickshaw and looked around. Seeing that no one was paying attention to this place, he took off his fur coat and the fat man's woolen windbreaker, helped him out of the rickshaw, and supported him to the side of a telephone pole.

He pulled off the fat man's tie, tied it around his neck, and made him stand on a telephone pole. Then he untied the fat man's belt, and tied it around his waist again by wrapping it around the telephone pole.

This was not the end. Next, he took out the tweed windbreaker, helped him put it on by wrapping it around the telephone pole, and tied the straps tightly.

"Let me light you another cigarette. Remember to tell the King of Hell a message for me when you see him. We're probably going to send a lot of beasts there. They're all old customers. Please ask him to open a green pass to the 18th floor."

While Wei Ran was muttering to himself, he relit a cigarette for the other person and put it between his thick lips, then put his arms into the pockets of his windbreaker.

Taking a step back to take a look, Wei Ran helped him to straighten up the collar of his windbreaker and even tidied up his slightly messy hair. Then he nodded with satisfaction, turned around and walked back into the alley, carried the cheongsam woman back to the rickshaw and wrapped her tightly with her own fur coat.

Returning to the alley again, Wei Ran stuffed some of the money he had just looted from the fat man into the rickshaw driver's arms, and then slapped him to wake him up.

"Shh-"

Before the other party could speak, Wei Ran whispered in his ear, "The money in your arms is enough for you to buy two rickshaws. That beautiful woman is in the rickshaw now. If you don't want to cause trouble, just drive the rickshaw and run."

Intentionally giving the rickshaw driver some time to react, Wei Ran lowered his voice and continued, "Don't be afraid if you get caught. If the police ask you, just tell them that Mr. Zhang is in charge of his men, so they don't need to worry about it. Do you remember that?"

"Remember it clearly"

The rickshaw driver responded stutteringly, and subconsciously touched his chest. Just by the feeling of the bulge, he knew that the hush money must be a lot!

"Pull your car and roll away"

After Wei Ran finished speaking in a fierce tone, he also dodged and hid in the depths of the alley, watching coldly as the rickshaw driver pulled the unconscious cheongsam woman in the rickshaw and ran away with weak limbs.

Touching the "trophies" in his pocket, Wei Ran took out a handkerchief he had just found in the bag of the cheongsam woman, wrapped the two eyeballs and the ring, then slowly took out the suitcase, took off the windbreaker and other items he had just worn, folded them carefully and put them in, then changed into the suitcase he wore when he "appeared".

The only thing he didn't change was the country boots on his feet.

He continued walking in the dark along this alley that led to nowhere until he came to a fork in the road. He then changed his shoes, turned around and slowly started walking back.

After such a delay, when he came out of the alley again, the fat man was still leaning against the telephone pole with his hands in his pockets, but his cigarette had been finished.

Wei Ran took out the cigarette he had bought at the entrance of the theater and lit one for himself. He then randomly chose a direction and continued walking forward. On the way, he stopped a rickshaw and got in.

"Sir, where are you going?" asked the rickshaw driver.

"Let's go to Xiafeifang," Wei Ran said, "Stop if you see any cigarette vendors on the road."

"Please sit tight!"

As the rickshaw driver spoke, he started running and soon stopped next to a cigarette vendor and asked Wei Ran to buy a pack of cigarettes.

Wei Ran lit up another cigarette while thinking secretly. It was now around the Laba Festival. According to the records in the metal book, Clement and Armani should have arrived in Shencheng by now, but they would not go to Xiafeifang to visit Yu Yanlin's ancestral home until the New Year's Eve soon, and they would also meet Huang Youze.

I just don't know if I'll have the chance to see them again.

As he expected, the rickshaw finally took him to Xiafeifang again, and he saw the dilapidated house again.

Unfortunately, this time the woman next door did not come to him to ask questions, nor did he hear any gunshots. Even the rickshaw driver did not run away, but just waited for him obediently at the street corner and sent him back to the theater.

At this time, the performance in the theater had not yet ended. After Wei Ran entered, he stopped and watched for a while. He also checked his body under the bright light inside. Only after he was sure that there was no blood on his body did he calmly walk backstage and returned to the separate dressing room.

At this time, Xiaowu and Liuzi had already returned, and there were a dozen wallets of various types on the dressing table.

"Is it done?" Zhao Jingrong asked. At this time, he had changed into a black top and blue bottom robe, and held a silver-wrapped civilized stick in his hand.

"It's done"

Wei Ran placed a bulging cigarette box on the table. Zhao Jingrong saw this, reached out and picked up the cigarette box, pulled out the handkerchief inside, opened it, and looked at the eyeball and ring wrapped inside.

"Where is the person?" Zhao Jingrong asked after putting these things away.

"On the way to Paramount, I was leaning against a telephone pole thinking about something." Wei Ran answered casually.

“This guy is good”

Zhao Jingrong finally gave his evaluation, "Second brother, you can arrange the rest. I won't stay any longer."

After saying that, Zhao Jingrong picked up the top hat on the table and put it on his head, then tucked the walking stick under his armpit and walked out of the dressing room.

"I'm leaving first too."

Zhang Taichuan, who had already changed into a suit, stood up, patted Wei Ran's shoulder affectionately, picked up the windbreaker hanging on the hanger and left the dressing room.

"There is a photo studio opposite the theater."

Lin Qiaoan pushed a bunch of keys over and said, "There is an empty room on the second floor of the photo studio. You can work in the photo studio during the day."

"Who is the boss? What's his name?" Wei Ran asked after taking the key.

"From tomorrow you will be the owner of the photo studio"

Lin Qiaoan said, "Just make sure there are people there during the day. It doesn't matter whether the store is open or not."

"Okay, is there anything else we need to pay attention to?" Wei Ran asked.

"Boss Wei, if you have nothing to do in the evening, remember to come and listen to opera and drink tea often."

Lin Qiaoan smiled and said, "Occasionally I need Boss Wei to help take some photos for the female class."

"I'll leave my business to Boss Mu from now on."

Wei Ran stood up, shook hands with the other party and Zhang Zhengqi, then turned and walked out of the dressing room.

Leaving the theater alone, Wei Ran looked back at the four golden characters "Lihua Theater" on the plaque hanging on the lintel of the theater, then crossed the street, walked to the door of "Dongyi Photo Studio", opened the anti-theft fence door, and then opened the wooden door inside.

With the help of the street lights outside, you can see that this shop is not very big, only about 30 square meters in total. The counter at the door occupies a quarter of the width, and on it lies a wooden board with various photo shooting prices written on it.

The remaining width was blocked by a clothes rack with various clothes hanging on it, leaving only a passage of only about 1.5 meters wide. Hanging on the clothes rack were Japanese kimonos for men and women, as well as robes, cheongsams, Zhongshan suits and Western-style dresses.

Behind the counter, the walls on both sides are painted with mountains that look like Mount Huashan, as well as the famous Japanese painting "The Waves off Kanagawa".

The staircase leading to the second floor opposite the door was covered tightly with a white canvas from the ceiling to the floor.

He fumbled for the light cord and gently pulled it, and the only dim incandescent lamp above his head was lit. Wei Ran then turned around and locked the security door and the double wooden door, blocking out the light from the street lamps outside and the eyes of passers-by.

Walking around to the counter and sitting down, Wei Ran opened the drawer and took a look. In the only large drawer was a large photo album that looked like an account book. In it, there were receipts fixed in chronological order, as well as the corresponding negatives and photos in small paper bags.

In addition to the film album, the drawer also contained a pack of candles, two boxes of matches, a small flashlight, a box of disposable flash bulbs and two boxes of batteries.

Pushing the drawer shut, Wei Ran walked through a canvas curtain and came to the wooden staircase leading to the second floor. He first took a look at the bathroom on the inner side next to the stairs.

The bathroom is not big, but it has an old-fashioned toothpaste green toilet and a small window that is less than one meter square.

I stepped on the edge of the old-fashioned toilet and looked towards the window. There seemed to be an alley outside the window. Less than one meter away on the opposite side was a window of the same structure and size. Obviously, it was another shop on another street.

After closing the window, Wei Ran walked up the stairs to the second floor of the photo studio.

The layout of the second floor is almost the same, except that there is a not-so-big bathtub in the bathroom. The remaining space on the second floor has a bed, two tables, two chairs, and a small wardrobe as the only furniture.

There was also a cast iron coal stove against the wall in the room, and a wooden box full of coal briquettes. Next to the box was a thermos.

Although this coal stove has a tin chimney extending outside, it is not lit. Instead, daily utensils such as a kettle, lunch boxes, small pots, and hot water bottles are placed on it.

I walked to the table next to the window, and the window faced right below the street light.

Because of this, even without turning on the lights, he could see everything in the room clearly. Of course, he could also see the entrance of Lihua Opera House diagonally across the street, as well as a room on the second floor that was also under the street light.

Regardless of whether the street lamp was an excuse or not, there was an extra layer of wooden window door on the inside of the window on the second floor. After bolting the thick window door, although the curtains could still be seen from the outside, not a single light could get in.

Wei Ran just pulled the thick curtains that were enough to block out most of the light, and turned on the desk lamp.

The light was bright enough for him to clearly see the safe and two wooden boxes under the single bed not far away.

I pulled the drawer open and checked, and found that in addition to a few Japanese books, there was also a small tube of tea, a not-so-big purple clay teapot, and two plum-sized teacups.

After closing the drawer, Wei Ran first found the key to the safe from the key bunch given to him by Lin Qiaoan, and then opened this old-fashioned safe with ease - even though he didn't know the password at all, he knew that this might also be a test.

There weren't many things in the safe, just a stack of French currency, ten silver dollars and only four or five rolls of film.

The remaining space was filled with the small suitcase that contained the camera when he was in Fengtian.

He took out the small suitcase and opened it. Inside, there were cameras, flashlights, and other items. Even the small gold bar hidden in the interlayer that he had found when he checked the camera bag was still there.

He also put the other two boxes back where they were, and carefully pulled out the other two boxes from under the bed.

In the first wooden box, there were two hams wrapped in layers of oil paper and newspapers and a jar of pickles. The remaining space was filled tightly with rice, and on top of it were about thirty or forty eggs.

In the second box, there was a jar of animal oil and several bottles of red and white wine, and the remaining space was also filled with rice.

In addition, when he pulled out the two boxes, he noticed that there was a small bucket of kerosene behind the safe.

Standing up and walking to the wardrobe with a mirror, Wei Ran opened the wardrobe and took a look. The clothes inside were stacked very neatly from the inside to the outside. In the small drawer inside, there was even a Mazda 9 pistol and some bullets, as well as several coins of various shapes.

Although the room was filled with the atmosphere of life, Wei Ran just picked up a shirt at random and smelled it, then went back to the window and picked up the pillowcase and smelled it, and then he was sure that no one had ever lived here.

I don't know what this place is for.

Wei Ran suppressed his doubts, took off his woolen coat, and then lit the cast iron stove with the help of kerosene.

After the smoke in the room was exhausted, the room gradually became warmer as the fire rose.

First, boil the water in the hot water bottle, tighten it and stuff it into the quilt. Wei Ran then poured the first pot of water that boiled immediately afterwards into the bathtub in the bathroom. While the second pot of water was boiling, he carefully washed the bloodstained sheepskin gloves and the bloodstained pockets of the trench coat in the suitcase.

When he finished his work, the second pot of water was almost ready. Wei Ran took off his clothes, sat in the bathtub and took a careful bath.

By the time he came out of the bathroom naked and sat by the fire, the third pot of water had already boiled.

Wei Ran slowly found some tea leaves and made himself a cup of tea. He waited until his whole body was dry before he took out a set of thick pajamas from the closet and put them on. He continued to drink tea while waiting patiently.

He was sure that someone would come to see him later, and it would most likely be Zhang Zhengqi. He could even guess that the other party might bring some midnight snacks.

Sure enough, when he filled the cup with hot water for the fourth time, he heard some rustling noises from the first floor.

Putting down the teacup and going downstairs, Wei Ran immediately noticed that the sound came from the bathroom.

When he opened the bathroom door, he saw at a glance that outside the small window, there was a hand tapping gently on the glass window.

I stepped on the toilet to open the window, and the first thing the person outside the window handed in was a square three-layer food box, followed by a basket covered with coarse cloth.

After taking the two things, Wei Ran stepped back a few steps to make room, and Zhang Zhengqi, dressed in black, easily climbed in.

"Let's go upstairs and chat"

As Zhang Zhengqi spoke, he stepped on the toilet, closed the window and locked it from the inside.

The two went upstairs. Wei Ran had just asked him to sit down by the stove when Zhang Zhengqi whispered, "I went to see the body of that traitor. He was still standing by the electric pole on the road for a hundred years. No one noticed him. Brother Wei, you are this!"

As he said this, Zhang Zhengqi gave a thumbs up.

"Stop praising me"

Wei Ran opened the lunch box and took out some food and drinks from it while whispering, "How have you been this year?"

“Don’t mention it.”

Zhang Zhengqi sighed heavily after he finished speaking, "When Mu, Uncle Lin and I arrived in Shencheng, there were so many Japanese that we could easily step on their tails even when we were taking a shit. The Battle of Songhu had just ended, and the fighting in Jiangyin was very intense.

We were busy raising guns and medicine to support the front line, and we were busy with this for almost the entire year."

"What about now?" Wei Ran asked as he took out several lunch boxes from the food box and placed them on the stove.

The rectangular aluminum lunch box contained a variety of hard dishes and two large boxes of white rice. The rattan basket contained, in addition to two bottles of white wine, a gun and two full lunch boxes of bullets.

"We are now preparing to clean up the traitors and devils"

Zhang Zhengqi whispered, "Shencheng is beginning to be short of rice. We occasionally get rice from the guerrilla zone and sell it to fans at a low price. We also transport some weapons, ammunition and medicine to support the guerrilla zone."

“I looked under the bed.”

“You can’t eat those.”

Zhang Zhengqi quickly reminded him, "Except for eggs and rice, the rest of the food has been smeared with medicine, and the gun in the closet looks like it will explode if fired."

"Who are you guarding against?" Wei Ran asked.

"This is where we usually gather to discuss things. The Japanese want to catch us, the traitors want to catch us, and especially the wild dogs of the Anqing Gang are looking for us very hard."

As Zhang Zhengqi spoke, he beckoned Wei Ran to follow him into the bathroom on the second floor, pointed to the window opposite and said, "I live over there. There's a bookstore on the first floor of that house. I rent a house on the second floor. Xiaowu also lives over there."

Before he finished his words, the window opposite was opened from the inside, followed by Xiao Wu who also waved at him enthusiastically.

“Bookstores too”

"It is the property of a white paper fan from the Hongmen"

Zhang Zhengqi closed the window and walked towards the stove while saying, "There are two rooms on the second floor, Xiaowu and I will have one each.

Brother Wei, what you are going to do next is basically a dangerous job. If anything goes wrong, just run to the other side. The window of the toilet on the second floor is never locked."

"You killed a lot of people, didn't you?"

Wei Ran sat down again and asked while pouring wine for them.

"There are 19 people in my Mingxiang Opera Troupe, and there are 32 people in the Zhao family including servants."

Zhang Zhengqi clutched the wine glass, gritted his teeth, suppressed the pain and whispered, "No matter how many I kill, it won't be enough to pay for their lives."

"Don't worry"

Wei Ran picked up his cup and clinked it with the other man's. "I'm here. Let's kill together, until we've had enough, until they're all gone, until they dare not show their teeth to us anymore."

Just with this one sentence, Zhang Zhengqi, who had been suppressing his emotions for who knows how long, burst into tears.