War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1810 Friendship

On the night of Mr. Nakamura's unfortunate death, Wei Ran, filled with guilt, got drunk at the Lihua Theater. He did not drink until late at night when the show ended, and then he staggered back to the Dongyi Photo Studio across the street.

After drawing the thick curtains and closing the blackout windows, Wei Ran, who had been drunk just a moment ago, had regained consciousness. He slowly lit the gas lamp, then took out the medical kit and re-treated the wound on his arm.

At the same time, after having a few cocktails with the Polish dancer he had been thinking about, Mr. Daisho Hirano once again came to the room on the top floor of the Venus Dance Hall under the careful arrangement of his thoughtful translator Kawaguchi, and released his sticky and wet thoughts.

As for the dead Mr. Nakamura, the only person who still remembered him at this time was probably Ichiro Hoshino, who was mumbling in his sleep on the second floor of Musashino Photo Studio.

The next morning, Wei Ran got up early and cleaned up the photo studio. Then he took a rickshaw to the photo agency and carefully served "Teacher Musashi" who had just woken up from a hangover.

"The photo studio will not be open today"

Hoshino Ichiro yawned and said groggily, "Find an excuse to keep an eye on Mr. Kawaguchi and Mr. Hirano, and urge them to help Mr. Feng Rong organize a grain collection team as soon as possible."

"Teachers should also take care of their health"

Wei Ran gave some respectful instructions, then left the photo agency and went straight to Zhang Taichuan's home.

Fortunately, he arrived early, and Zhao Jingrong and Zhang Taichuan were just getting ready to go out.

"The old ghost asked me to keep an eye on you," Wei Ran smiled and whispered his purpose.

"It's great that Brother Wei is willing to help. Let's go together!"

Zhang Taichuan was the first to call out loudly, and took the two of them out of the bustling Shikumen. As they walked out, he whispered, "Hiraye is still at the Venus Dance Hall. Let's go pick him up first, and then go to the military station together."

Wei Ran naturally had no objection to this arrangement. He followed the two of them in a rickshaw to the Venus Dance Hall and once again came to Hirano Daisho's room downstairs.

I picked up the headphones and listened. It seemed that Hirano Daito had just finished stirring the Pacific Ocean with a toothpick. He was panting and saying in Japanese, "I will find a way to give you freedom."

"It seems that Mr. Hirano is interested," Wei Ran said with a smile.

"Stretch it a little longer. There's no rush."

Zhang Taichuan patiently whispered, "Let's set up the grain collection team's stall as soon as possible today. You two should make a trip today to familiarize yourself with the route."

"Is Xiaowu in danger?" Zhao Jingrong asked in a low voice.

"No, the more it is exposed, the less likely it is."

Zhang Taichuan took the cigarette handed to him by Wei Ran and lit it himself. "Next, all gangs will go to the coffin shop to buy guns and medicine. Some intelligence can also be handed over to Xiaowu. The grain collection team will send it out of the city regularly. If there are brothers outside the city who want to come into the city, they can follow the grain collection team in."

"Leave this to me. Besides, Wei Ran is with us, so he can't go out on a mission." Zhao Jingrong said as he also took the cigarette handed to him by Wei Ran.

"I guess that old guy Hirano doesn't have the strength to return to the field. Let's go." Zhang Taichuan said as he stood up.

"Wait a minute." Wei Ran waved his hand at this time, and then turned up the volume a little.

"My sister's name is Hirano Aoi"

In the headset, Hirano Daxiang said, "She is on her way to Shencheng. When she gets here, she will open a clinic. I will buy you then. You can work as a nurse in my sister's clinic. I will let you live a free life."

"This old guy has a nice idea," Zhang Taichuan snorted, "Let's go."

Wei Ran, who also had a cigarette in his mouth, threw away the headphones in his hand, adjusted his windbreaker, and followed the two people in front of him out of the room and went upstairs.

When Zhang Taichuan knocked on the door, Hirano Daisho immediately responded and came out shortly afterwards.

"How did you rest last night, Mr. Hirano?" Zhang Taichuan asked respectfully.

"very good"

Hirano Daisho, whose ear wound seemed to be inflamed, patted Zhang Taichuan's shoulder with satisfaction and said, "Let's go back to the military station. Ryunosuke, is Mr. Musashi okay?"

"fine"

Wei Ran bowed slightly and replied, "It's just that I'm not in a good mood because of Mr. Nakamura's matter."

"I heard about what happened to Nakamura," Hirano Daisho sighed, "I hope Mr. Musashi can cheer up soon."

"I will also find the murderer as soon as possible," Zhao Jingrong joined the topic.

“Leave that matter to the police.”

Hirano Daisho, who was too lazy to even act, said quickly, "Mr. Fengrong, your mission is to lead the grain collection team well."

"Hi!" Zhao Jingrong immediately gave a very Japanese response.

In a few words, the three people and the dog left the Venus Dance Hall and took a rickshaw to the military station.

At this time, there were already forty or fifty ugly thugs wearing puppet army uniforms, sitting or standing and waiting on the roadside outside the military station.

After seeing Zhao Jingrong get off the car, three of them immediately came over with a nod and a bow. After greeting him in an especially flattering manner, one of them pointed at the people on the other side of the road and said, "Captain Jin, we three have brought all the people here. Not counting the three of us, there are 50 of them."

"Mr. Hirano, are we going to bring the person in?" Zhao Jingrong asked.

"Bring it in. I applied for it yesterday."

As Hirano Daisho was speaking, he had already gotten off the rickshaw, and Zhang Taichuan immediately helped pay the fare.

"Come here, all of you, and line up."

The three guys who looked like captains immediately called the people waiting on the other side of the road to come over, and directed them to line up in two columns.

"Report to the commander! Everyone is here!" One of the team leaders saluted - but unfortunately he used the wrong hand.

“Very good, very good”

Zhao Jingrong also returned the salute with his left hand. His amateurish look was so unbearable that not only Wei Ran couldn't stand it, but even Hirano Daxiang shook his head and looked down on it.

"Captain, these are the two guards and the signalman we selected to serve you."

Another captain said, and at the same time, the two men at the head of the team also came out, nodding and bowing towards Zhao Jingrong with a flattering look on their faces.

Not to mention Zhao Jingrong who was particularly satisfied, Wei Ran actually raised his eyebrows when he saw these two. He remembered these two guys. Aren't they the two little beggars he met when he went to teach the Japanese how to skip rubber rope?

"What are your names?" Zhao Jingrong asked as he walked in. "How old are you?"

"We are both 17 years old. We are brothers and our last name is Wang."

One of the beggars bowed and introduced himself, "You can call me Wang Fu or Ah Fu, and he is my brother Wang Guier, you can call him Ah Gui."

"This name is auspicious!" Zhao Jingrong became more and more satisfied, and praised the three team leaders without paying any money.

Naturally, his smug look made Hirano Daisho's expression even more disdainful.

Under his leadership, they walked into the military station and came to the door of the warehouse again. Hirano Daxiang led Wei Ran and the other two into the locked room, pointed at the two boxes of weapons against the wall and said bluntly, "I will equip each member of your grain collection team with a long gun, and prepare 14 additional pistols. These weapons are not allowed to be traded.

There are five more carriages that also belong to the grain-collecting team. All the weapons that can be sold have been loaded into the carriages in advance. After you leave, go out of the city to collect grain immediately and come back tomorrow."

"We're going today?" Zhao Jingrong was stunned for a moment. "We originally planned to go tomorrow..."

"Today"

Hirano Daisho said, "It's not appropriate for you to be here tomorrow."

Without waiting for Zhao Jingrong to say anything, Hirano Daxiang said, "Kawaguchi, Ryunosuke, you two come with me."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan immediately followed Hirano Daxiang to his office, while Zhao Jingrong immediately called on his little beggar guards to distribute weapons to his misfits.

Objectively speaking, Hirano Daisho was quite vigilant. The long guns he prepared for the grain collection team were all British 77 rifles, and the 14 pistols were all cheap seven-bolt box guns.

Just from these seemingly generous weapons distributed to the grain collection team, one can see Hirano Daisho's careful thoughts.

Let’s put aside the question of whether the Ying 77 is a good gun, but the bullets it uses are not easy to find in this era.

The quartermaster Hirano Daisho must have a lot of British bullets in his hands, and the police in Shencheng, which has been actually controlled by the Japanese, must also have them, after all, those policemen also use this stuff.

It's hard to say about other forces. They might be able to gather together a hundred or eighty rounds, and maybe a thousand or eight hundred rounds if they try hard, but if anyone trades such a large quantity of bullets, it will be very easy to find out.

It is obvious that, at least on the surface, if the grain-collecting team wants to use the weapons in their hands, they have to find Hirano Daisho. It is also equivalent to controlling the grain-collecting team's firepower in disguise by controlling the ammunition.

As for secretly, at least secretly, the grain-collecting team will not concentrate on using the weapons issued to them to do anything. This may be the purpose of Hirano Daisho.

Those box guns were different. They were probably just the worst quality and cheapest ones that Hirano Daisho picked out from the "goods" and gave them to the grain collection team - the expensive ones were to be kept for sale.

Wei Ran could guess Hirano Daisho's business philosophy, and Zhao Jingrong could probably guess it too.

Of course, Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan, who were invited into the office at this time, had to help this beast solve his "personal needs problem". This guy wanted to "rescue a prostitute and turn her into a good person"!

"this."

Zhang Taichuan scratched his head in embarrassment and said, "Mr. Hirano, after I come back from collecting grain, I will help you find out. The owner behind the Venus Dance Hall is a German, so I'm afraid we can't rob him, we can only find a way to redeem him."

"How much do you need?" Hirano Daisho asked subconsciously.

"Well, I'll ask for you after I come back." Zhang Taichuan tried to procrastinate.

"Alright"

Hirano Daisho nodded and said, "Kawaguchi, Ryunosuke, I'm sorry to bother you with this matter. In addition, the payment for this transaction..."

"I'm afraid you'll have to negotiate with Mr. Musashi about the payment for the goods."

Zhang Taichuan lowered his voice slightly, "However, I suggest that you give priority to settling with antiques."

"Oh? Why?" Hirano Daito also lowered his voice.

"Those antiques can be sold for a high price whether they are sold to Japanese residents or brought back for research."

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "Especially if you can find a way to bring back the core, the price will more than double! This is what I heard from Mr. Musashi!" "If so, why?"

"Hi!"

Zhang Taichuan lowered his voice and patted his face gently to explain, "The seller wants to save face and doesn't want to be known as a traitor. Besides, the item is hot and he doesn't want to cause trouble for himself. That's why he and Mr. Musashi. Do you understand?"

"I see!"

Hirano Daxiang suddenly realized what was going on, then he opened the drawer, took out two pistols and pushed them to Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan respectively, "This is my gift to you two, I hope you will accept it."

"I don't need this," Zhang Taichuan said quickly.

"You will be my translator from now on, so you should carry a weapon with you." Hirano Daisho said, pushing the pistol on the table forward again.

"We should accept Mr. Hirano's friendship."

Wei Ran smiled and said, "Mr. Hirano, I won't be polite. We are all friends from now on. We will find a way to deal with the dancer's matter after we come back."

"Friends, yes! That's right! We are friends!" Hirano Daisho nodded with satisfaction.

It was not until this time that Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan each picked up the pistols on the table.

These are two Soviet-style pistols, one is a Nagant revolver, and the other is a TT30 pistol, which is absolutely rare in later generations.

"Which one do you want?" Wei Ran asked Zhang Taichuan in Japanese.

"I'll take this one. It looks lighter." Zhang Taichuan said, reaching out and picking up the revolver.

Seeing this, Wei Ran picked up the TT30 and fiddled with it in a very amateur and dangerous way, while curiously asking, "Mr. Hirano, I have never seen a pistol like this before. Where did it come from?"

"I seized this from two anti-bandit rebels when I was in Fengtian."

Hirano Daisho said proudly, "These are my spoils of war, and now I am giving them to you."

“Thank you for your gift”

Wei Ran fiddled with the gun in his hand and promised seriously with a smile, "I will cherish it."

"I don't have much ammunition for these two weapons."

Hirano Daisho said as he pushed two Japanese ammunition boxes over. "These are all we have. They were also seized at the same time. I'm giving them all to you."

“We don’t have access to weapons in normal times.”

Zhang Taichuan took the ammunition box with both hands and said gratefully, "These will be enough for us to use for a long time."

"At least have some weapons to protect yourself"

Hirano Daisho immediately asked, "When do you plan to leave the city to collect grain?"

"Let's go see if Feng Rongjun is ready," Wei Ran said as he stood up. "If he is, let's go now. The earlier we leave, the earlier we can come back."

Upon hearing this, Hirano Daisho immediately stood up to see them off. When the three of them walked out of the office, Zhao Jingrong and his three team leaders, as well as those ugly guys who came in with them, had all been given weapons.

After bidding farewell to Hirano Daisho, the huge grain-collecting team, which was as large as a box of playing cards, immediately drove the five mule carts away from the military station.

Each of the five mule-drawn carts was loaded with several sacks of fodder. Before the carts even left the military station, those unruly members of the grain-collecting team had already rushed to sit on the soft sacks.

In the last carriage, Wei Ran sat on a sack which obviously contained something hidden inside, and gave a cigarette to Zhao Jingrong and Zhang Taichuan who were sitting in the same carriage.

The driver of the car was Zhao Jingrong's "bodyguard", the little beggar Wang Fu, and Wang Gui was sitting on the other side.

However, because the three team leaders were sitting in the car in front, it was obviously not the time to chat, so Wei Ran and the other two remained silent, just smoking from time to time.

Wei Ran took out the TT30 pistol that Hirano Daisho had just given him and took another look at it. He couldn't help but sigh. The rifling of the gun was not seriously worn, but the grip patch of the pistol was made of wood, and it was obviously handmade by the user.

On the left and right grip patches are the words "The Anti-Japanese United Army has been here since then, and our descendants will never stop fighting." and "Northeast Anti-Japanese United Army" respectively.

"I don't know which soldier it was seized from." Zhang Taichuan sighed as he looked at the gun in Wei Ran's hand.

"Yeah." Wei Ran shook his head, took out the magazine of the gun and took a look. There were no bullets in it.

"I'll settle the score with him later," Zhao Jingrong muttered vaguely.

"That day will come," said Zhang Taichuan, and he also pulled out the revolver he got from Hirano Daisho.

There was no special writing on the pistol, which was why he had chosen this pistol in the first place - he was worried that Hirano Daisho was deliberately testing them with it.

"A few more people have to die today."

Zhao Jingrong motioned Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan to come closer, and whispered in Japanese, "Once we are out of the city, the two drivers in the lead must be killed. The team leader who applied the plaster will not be killed, but he must be frightened. You two should stay away from the three of them when the time comes."

"Does anyone else know?" Zhang Taichuan asked in a low voice in Japanese.

“The rest are our own people”

Zhao Jingrong lowered his voice a little, "Only you two don't know."

Zhang Taichuan nodded without saying anything else. Seeing Wei Ran loading bullets into the pistol he had just received, he simply opened the ammunition box, took out the bullets from it and loaded them into the revolver. At the double reminder of Zhao Jingrong and Wei Ran, he loaded one less bullet to ensure safety.

After walking slowly for about half an hour, the grain-collecting team with five vehicles stopped in front of a coffin shop on the edge of the county town.

This coffin shop covers a large area. In the huge yard, there are a lot of wood, stones, tombstones with rough outlines carved out, coffins of various styles, and even a lot of sorghum stalk frames for paper people and paper horses.

"Unload the truck!"

Zhao Jingrong did not hide the secret from the outsiders in the team. Those ugly members of the grain-collecting team immediately got off the car, opened the sacks, and took out the things hidden inside one by one.

At the same time, Xiaowu had brought a few waiters he had seen in the opera troupe before, and together they pushed open a few children's coffins that had not yet been painted.

After the weapons, fuel and medicines were sorted and placed in different coffins, the guys in the coffin shop immediately closed the coffin lids and arranged for someone to brush a layer of sticky tung oil on them.

This scene stunned the team leader with a dog-skin plaster on the back of his neck and the two coachmen in the lead. They had never thought that things could be hidden in such a place.

Of course, one of the puppet soldiers in charge of driving the carriage probably never thought that Zhao Jingrong had long known that he was a spy from the Anqing Gang. Even the Anqing Gang probably didn't know that Zhao Jingrong deliberately arranged for someone to tell them the news.

"Xiaowu, I'll leave the things here with you."

Zhao Jingrong said, "After dark, someone will come to you with a pass for the Lihua Opera House box to pick up the goods. You must check carefully."

"Don't worry," Xiao Wu assured, patting his chest.

At the same time, the guys in the coffin shop also carried out some small wooden boxes and put them into the hay sacks, or simply tied them under the mule cart.

"Don't just stand there," Zhao Jingrong shouted, "We need to go early and come back early. We can't delay any longer."

"Captain Jin, your business is really great!"

The team leader with the plaster on the back of his neck gave a thumbs up and complimented, "I have really broadened my horizons! From now on, we brothers will follow Captain Jin and enjoy the best of everything!"

"You're too polite, Mr. Yan."

Zhao Jingrong handed the other man a cigarette and said loudly, "This is the first time in my life that I'm a virgin getting married to a bridal sedan. I'll have to rely on Old Yan to check things out in the future. After all, you've been a captain before."

"I am so miserable!"

Old Yan immediately patted his chest and began to express his sincerity, "Just wait and see! I will definitely lead the team well for you!"

"In this case"

Zhao Jingrong jumped onto a mule cart and said, "From today on, Old Yan will be the deputy captain of our escort team! When I'm not around, you all have to listen to Old Yan!"

"Don't worry, Captain Jin!"

These pseudo "pseudo soldiers" immediately responded one after another, and at the same time all kinds of flattering congratulations were thrown to Old Yan, who was smiling with wrinkles on his face, making him repeatedly promise to treat everyone to drinks when he came back.

"What is the origin of this old Yan?"

After the mule cart started moving again, Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"I heard that he was a squad leader in the puppet army before the Battle of Shanghai."

Zhao Jingrong answered in a low voice, "After the Battle of Songhu broke out, the old man ran away because he was afraid of losing his life. When he came back after the battle, there was no place for him in the puppet army, so he simply started a business of pimping for the Japanese."

"He also rents my house," Zhang Taichuan added in a low voice.

"So this is it."

"The one who takes the blame"

Zhao Jingrong whispered, "If something happens to the grain collection team, he, the deputy captain, can't escape responsibility."

"Don't talk about him"

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "I just told Xiaowu that someone will go to the Venus Dance Hall tonight to buy that big foreign horse. When we come back, I think that beast will be sad for a while."

"When do you plan to send it back?" Zhao Jingrong asked in a low voice.

"Don't worry"

Zhang Taichuan smiled meaningfully, "It's like a double happiness. Let's wait until his sister arrives in Shencheng."

(End of this chapter)