War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1797 Fairy Days

That night, Wei Ran, as Boss Mu's new friend, watched a play and drank in a private room on the second floor of the Lihua Opera House until almost nine o'clock in the evening. He was drunk and reeked of alcohol. He was helped down by Liuzi and was sent to the photo studio diagonally opposite, talking nonsense.

Even before leaving, Boss Wei, who was not a very good drinker, almost overturned a table of guests' tea trays.

Fortunately, Xiao Wu, who was helping Zhang Zhengqi, who was also drunk, out, came forward in time, bowed and apologized, and even decided to move the table to a private room on the second floor for free.

Such a sincere way of handling the matter not only made the guests at that table unable to find any fault, but even the other guests looked at the drunken Wei Ran and Zhang Zhengqi with some anticipation, wondering whether they should take the initiative to bump into them and exchange for a private seat when they passed by.

This wish was destined to fail. Not wanting to cause trouble, Liuzi almost carried Wei Ran out of the theater and staggered to the photo studio across the street.

Xiao Wu directly called the doorman, carried Zhang Zhengqi to a rickshaw at the door, and then he got on the rickshaw and called the driver to start driving.

This was not the end. Liuzi also called the doorman to help support Wei Ran. He fumbled around on Wei Ran's body and opened the door of the photo studio. Then he sent Wei Ran to the second floor alone, helped him take off his suit, and added coal briquettes to the stove.

Only after he prepared an extra pot of tea at Wei Ran's bedside and stuffed a hot water bottle into the quilt did Liuzi draw the curtains of the window facing the private room on the second floor - the private room opposite was the table where Wei Ran almost overturned the tea tray just now.

"Brother Wei, the clothes are ready and are in the bathroom. After you change your clothes, climb through the window and go to the bookstore."

Liuzi whispered, "Go out like you did last night. There's a rickshaw waiting at the entrance of the alley. Come back quickly."

"become"

Wei Ran, who was lying on the bed, responded, watched Liuzi leave, then immediately rolled over and tiptoed under the bed, and like a gecko climbing a wall, he swam quickly along the floor to the bathroom door.

Finally, taking a look at the light in the room that seemed to have been forgotten to be turned off, Wei Ran smiled, went into the bathroom and changed into a black suit, windbreaker and hat.

Finally, he even put a beard on his face, which was also prepared by Xiaowu and the others.

While he was busy changing his clothes, Liuzi returned to the first floor of the photo studio, took out an aluminum kettle from his arms, opened it, and poured the smelly vomit on the floor and on himself.

Stuffing the kettle into his arms, Liuzi opened the door and walked out, cursing and complaining about Wei Ran's drinking habits.

As expected, his unlucky look aroused the curiosity of the doorman of Lihua Opera House. Liuzi immediately began to complain in a low voice, and after helping Wei Ran lock the door of the photo studio, he repeatedly said that he wanted to go back to change clothes and asked the doorman to help him ask for leave.

At the same time, Wei Ran climbed over the window of the bookstore and walked to the entrance of the alley, found a rickshaw waiting for him and got on it.

After waiting for a while, Zhang Zhengqi, who had changed his clothes and also put on a fake beard, came out of the alley and got on the rickshaw. In his arms, he was holding a long roll of cloth.

"The person we are going to kill is a traitor, a traitor from the Anqing Gang."

Zhang Zhengqi whispered, "This traitor just had a drink with his gang members and has gone home now."

"Where does that traitor live?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

“Not too far from here”

Zhang Zhengqi whispered, "In the home of a young widow, the young widow's husband was tied to a telephone pole and killed two days ago."

"Oh--"

Wei Ran suddenly realized that it was obvious that since the day he was asked to kill the fat man in the white suit, all their moves had been planned.

"This time we are the Japanese," Zhang Zhengqi reminded in a low voice.

"Okay," Wei Ran responded briefly and said no more. They were the Japs, so it was not difficult to just leave some traces of their characteristics.

Soon, the rickshaw stopped at an intersection. The two men got off and paid the fare. The rickshaw also stopped on the side of the road, and the driver took out the pipe from his waist and lit a pot of smoke.

At this time, Wei Ran and Zhang Zhengqi had already walked along the street to a dance hall in front that looked particularly prosperous.

However, before they even reached the entrance of the dance floor, they slipped into the alley, each put on a pair of Japanese pig's trotter shoes, and wrapped their trouser legs with socks.

Walking along this alley to the other end, it is already a neat lane.

Passing through the unlocked iron gate, Zhang Zhengqi walked along the narrow and dark alley with Wei Ran, who was more than ten meters behind him, in a familiar manner. Soon, they stopped at the back door of a two-story Shikumen building.

Pointing above his head, Zhang Zhengqi first handed an oil bottle to Wei Ran, then leaned his back against the wall with his hands folded to build a personal ladder.

Seeing this, Wei Ran stepped on the man's hands, and while he was lifting his hands upwards, he also suddenly jumped up and easily grabbed the bottom edge of the stone carving above the back door with his hands.

Using his feet to gain leverage by stepping on the wall, he carefully leaned over to take a look into the back patio. Seeing that no one had come over the wall immediately, he landed silently in the back patio.

Wei Ran took out a tin oil bottle and poured enough lubricating oil on the wooden hinges of the back door. He waited for a moment, gently pulled out the bolt, lifted the door panel slightly and slowly opened it. After Zhang Zhengqi came in, he lifted the door panel and closed it and re-bolted it.

This Shikumen building was large enough, yet deserted enough, and it also allowed the two of them to clearly see the mourning hall in the living room between the front and back courtyards - the mourning hall belonging to the fat man in the white suit.

Unfortunately, I don’t know if it was because the death was too sensitive or because my sister-in-law was busy, but the only one guarding the mourning hall was a fat calico cat lying on the coffin lid.

Who the hell said cats can't be tamed?

Wei Ran touched the big fat cat's head, then reached out to pick up an orange from the altar, peeled it, put a slice of orange into his mouth, and while eating, he followed Zhang Zhengqi up the wooden stairs quietly to the second floor.

To say that the fat man in the white suit died unjustly, the two of them didn't even see the layout of the second floor clearly, but they could hear the unbridled duet of life miracles coming from one of the rooms.

The two looked at each other, and Zhang Zhengqi, with a flushed face, opened the cloth roll in his hand. Wrapped inside was a samurai sword that looked quite exquisite.

Making a gesture to the other party to keep quiet, Wei Ran reached out and grabbed the samurai sword, then pointed at himself.

Zhang Zhengqi did not fight for it, but handed the cloth roll to Wei Ran first, and then pointed at his face.

Wei Ran understood, let go of the samurai sword, took the cloth roll, wrapped his head with the cloth in the Middle Eastern way, and then slowly pulled out the knife.

After gently waving it to test the feel, Wei Ran walked to the bedroom door and pushed it open before entering.

The room had heavy curtains drawn and a dim desk lamp on. A slim woman with fair skin was lying on the brown bed, letting a man standing by the bed with his back to the door help her unclog the drain.

"puff"

Wei Ran slashed at the man's neck with a clean and sharp knife, as he turned around subconsciously after hearing the noise, and then placed the knife on the woman's sweaty neck.

As he stepped back to avoid the spurting blood, the sharp samurai sword easily cut the sister-in-law's neck, but did not kill her immediately.

"puff"

The headless man's body pressed on my sister-in-law's body, and after completing the last piston thrust, the head rolled to the head of the bed.

"Remember to lock the door next time you do business"

While speaking in Japanese, Wei Ran held the samurai sword with both hands and stabbed it down hard, stringing the wild mandarin ducks together and nailing them to the bed.

Looking down at the floor, Wei Ran deliberately stepped on the dark red blood flowing down with his pig's hoof shoes, then left the room carrying the head.

After exchanging a glance with Zhang Zhengqi, Wei Ran went downstairs and came to the door of the empty mourning hall. He first hugged the big fat calico cat with his other hand, then signaled Zhang Zhengqi to push open the coffin lid, throw the head in his hand in, and then throw the big fat cat in.

"Stay with your master for the last time. I will let you out tomorrow morning."

While Wei Ran was whispering in Japanese, he asked Zhang Zhengqi to push the coffin lid back up and put some paper money in the corner to leave a gap to prevent the cat from suffocating.

After taking a last look at the pig's hoof prints on the stone tiles of the mourning hall floor, the two smiled at each other, turned around and left quietly through the back door.

After walking along the narrow alley for about ten minutes, the two of them took off their pig's trotter shoes and changed into leather shoes. Then they wrapped the two pairs of shoes tightly with the cloth roll on Wei Ran's head.

As the two continued to walk forward, Zhang Zhengqi also sprinkled a bag of quicklime and chili powder mixture along the way.

Not long after, the two men walked out of the alley, took off their windbreakers and top hats, and threw them along with the two pairs of shoes onto a rickshaw, and then got on a second rickshaw.

The coach had been prepared with a windbreaker and a top hat for each of them, and the driver waited until they were both dressed before he started driving.

They walked in silence all the way back to the alley leading to the Lihua Theater. They took off their windbreakers and top hats, and either climbed through the window into the bookstore or climbed through the window back into the photo studio.

Earlier than them, the windbreakers, hats, gloves, and even the two pairs of pig's hoof shoes that the two of them wore when they killed people had been burned to ashes.

Back on the second floor of the photo studio, the bath tub in the bathroom was already filled with bath water just like yesterday. In the bathroom on the second floor of the bookstore opposite, Xiaowu was also waiting there early.

He handed the clothes he had taken off to the other person with ease. After closing the window, Wei Ran sat directly in the bathtub.

"It's time to kill the Japanese tomorrow," Wei Ran pondered as he took out the wine flask he carried with him, put it to his lips and gulped down a big gulp of spicy white wine - he still needed to have a morning without waking up from a hangover.

After taking a shower and changing clothes, Wei Ran crawled to the bed as he had left, carefully climbed onto the bed, then slowly sat up, first drank the glass of water on the table, then lay down again, hugged the hot water bottle, and fell asleep under the influence of alcohol.

In the blink of an eye, it was the next morning. When Wei Ran was still "killing people in his dream", members of the Anqing Gang had already arrived at the main gate of the Shikumen building and started knocking on the door.

Not to mention that after knocking on the door for a long time with no results, the gang members realized something was wrong and rushed in. As expected, they were scared half to death by the bloody footprints on the ground and the noises in the coffin.

Wei Ran was once again awakened by Xiao Wu who brought him clothes. While he was changing clothes, Xiao Wu helped clean up the vomit on the first floor and teased Liu Zi who was covered in vomit by Wei Ran last night.

"I vomited upstairs too, can you help me clean it up?"

Wei Ran stood at the stairs and called out loudly, "I won't let you work in vain."

"What you said! I'll go up right now!"

Before Xiaowu finished his words, he had already run upstairs with a broom and dustpan in his hand.

"Uncle Zhao asked me to tell you"

Xiao Wu whispered, "Last night's incident was handled cleanly and efficiently. Now those traitors in the Anqing Gang are already threatening to take revenge."

"Are we going to do it tonight?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice as he placed the kettle full of water on the stove.

"It depends on the situation. That's what Uncle Zhao said."

Xiao Wu replied in a low voice, "He said it would be best if the Anqing Gang could take action against the devils themselves. If they don't dare, then we can help them."

"That's fine," Wei Ran replied indifferently.

"Also, Uncle Lin said that someone will ask you to take photos of the girls at the dance floor today, so he asked you to go to the Guizi Photo Studio after you finish taking the photos."

Xiao Wu paused and added, "He also said that we should try to build a good relationship with the other party, and it would be best if we could become friends."

"Did Uncle Lin say anything good about that Japanese?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"That devil believes in Buddhism"

Xiao Wu said quickly, "I almost forgot about this. Uncle Lin said that the old devil was a devout Buddhist.

There will be a coal cart driver selling coal on the street. If you ask him to buy some coal briquettes and bring them up, he will bring you a Buddha statue.

When the time comes, take a good photo of the Buddha statue and wash it there, you will definitely be able to seduce that old devil."

"I understand," Wei Ran nodded.

"I'll open the window for some fresh air."

Xiao Wu raised his voice and opened the curtains and windows on the second floor while speaking, "Wait for a cigarette and the smell will go away."

"Is your boss awake?"

Wei Ran pretended to be drowsy and asked, "Achoo! And you guys. Achoo! You guys are in charge, is he awake?"

"Our boss hasn't woken up yet, but our manager Qi has already started drinking his morning tea."

Xiao Wu responded while helping to clean up the coal dust, "Boss Wei, you should buy some coal briquettes. The remaining ones won't last a day."

“I don’t even know where to buy it.”

Wei Ran, who was leaning against the window, lit a cigarette while talking, "I'll go take a look after I wake up and see where I can buy it."

"You have to buy it early, otherwise it will be cold at night." Xiaowu said, and went downstairs with a dustpan and a broom.

Then, Wei Ran heard the other party standing at the door of the first floor greet him enthusiastically, "Boss Wei, there is a man selling coal briquettes on the street, do you want any?"

"How much is it?" Wei Ran asked below, lying on the windowsill.

"Six yuan and forty cents a load"

The old man in a black cotton jacket pulling the cart looked up and said, "Buy two loads and get a basket of charcoal for free."

"Give me two loads, they're really expensive."

Wei Ran complained that the price was indeed expensive. If he didn't have a lot of family assets stored in the suitcase, he would not have been willing to spend it like this.

"Shall I put it at the door for you?" the old man asked.

"Send it up," Wei Ran said, "If you don't send it up, I won't buy it."

"Then I'll send it to you, and you can help me watch the car." The boss said worriedly.

"Don't worry, old man. I'll keep an eye on it for you." Xiao Wu said enthusiastically.

"Thank you then"

After the old coal seller finished speaking, he picked up his shoulder pole, picked up two baskets of coal briquettes and walked towards the photo studio.

A moment later, the old man grunted and brought up the first load of coal, and Wei Ran handed him the banknotes he had prepared in advance.

“The Buddha statue is in this basket.”

The old man took the money and examined it through the window, whispering, while he kicked one of the baskets with his foot.

"Is the Buddha statue real?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"It was cast according to the mold of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva from the Yuan Dynasty. It was fermented in a mule dung pit for more than half a year. After it was cleaned, it was rubbed with incense ashes and broken incense sticks for two full months."

The old man walked downstairs while whispering confidently, "Even if Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva came, he would say it was true."

Hearing this, Wei Ran, who had his back to the window, smiled and said nothing more. He waited patiently for the old man to bring up another load of coal briquettes. Then he went downstairs, closed the door of the photo studio, and returned to the second floor to start loading the coal briquettes into the wooden box next to the stove.

Soon, he saw a roll of newspaper that was more than 20 centimeters long.

Putting the heavy roll of newspaper aside, Wei Ran continued to carefully organize the coal briquettes, and finally even swept the floor before pulling the curtains.

It was not until this time that he opened the newspaper roll.

Wrapped here is a bronze statue of Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva that looks no more than 30 centimeters tall. And unlike what he expected, this bronze statue has a thick patina, and not only does it not smell like animal dung at all, it even has a faint scent of sandalwood.

This guy is such a master of fraud.

Wei Ran turned the Buddha statue over and over, examined it carefully, then placed it on the table and looked at it quietly.

He wanted to make up a reasonable reason for the appearance of this Buddha statue, and he was even prepared to sell the statue to the devil named Ichiro Hoshino at a suitable price!

Of course it's selling. This is often how friendships are established. If you give someone such a valuable thing for free, the other person will either think you have ulterior motives or just think you're a fool.

But if you sell it to the other party at a suitable price, and at most do a small favor by bargaining, the establishment of friendship will seem much more reasonable.

Thanks to Hongqi Forest Farm for their guidance.

Wei Ran muttered silently that the Hongqi Forest Farm even had a set of mature and easy-to-use "story templates" for the process of establishing friendship through transactions. While he was learning these, he had already compiled a set of "story templates" of his own that were in line with China's national conditions and cultural background.

"In order to make this friendship unforgettable and lasting, we have to set a high price."

While calculating on the abacus, Wei Ran took out his camera and took several photos of the beautifully shaped Buddha statue from various angles.

"Kill the devils and traitors, use the devils' money to build the Jingguan, and even cheat the devils out of their money. What kind of a godly life is this?"

Wei Ran, who had already let himself go after just two days, put away his camera and sighed. If he had known this earlier, he would have taken the initiative to help his friend who was recruiting nuclear weapons in the future.

(End of this chapter)