War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1813 Do you know what electric fishing is?

When the white light disappeared, Wei Ran found that he did not appear in Edelweiss Clara's farm this time.

Looking around, across the road in front of me was the Lihua Theatre, and behind me was the gate of Dongyi Photo Studio.

The theater was not open at this time, and the Spring Festival couplets on the gate had been torn up. Instead, there were anti-Japanese posters and condemnations of the "traitor Mu Anzhi."

The same thing happened at the Dongyi Photo Studio behind him, except that the target of condemnation became the "traitor Wei Ran."

He took out a pocket warmer from the metal notebook, lit it, and put it into his inner pocket. Then, Wei Ran slowly took out a cigarette case, took out a cigarette, put it on the golden holder, and lit it. While puffing out smoke, he carefully read the condemnation of himself as a traitor.

“It’s really well written”

Wei Ran sighed silently. These big-character posters were pasted very firmly with glue. It would probably take a lot of effort to tear them all down.

On the other hand, he was able to determine from the final signature date of his denunciation that it should be mid-to-late February 1942, just over a month after Bai Guang's death.

According to the signatures on the petitions, these impassioned big-character posters were written or posted on the eighth day of the first lunar month in the 32nd year of the Republic of China.

Looking around, there are few shops still open. I guess it has only been a day or two since the big-character poster was posted.

Who could have written it?

While Wei Ran was pondering, he fumbled around on his body and found the door key.

At this moment, more than a month later, the gunshot wound on my arm has healed a lot, and the clothes I am wearing look more upscale. I guess it’s because of the Chinese New Year.

Opening the two doors of the photo studio, the layout inside had not changed, but there were a few more large boxes on the counter and a Japanese heating stove on one side of the entrance.

Walking up to the second floor, I found that the stove in the room was not lit, and the boxes under the bed containing rice, ham and other items were gone. Instead, there was a new quilt on the bed, and even the overhead lamp seemed to have been replaced with a higher wattage one, and there was also a beautiful lampshade.

Pulling the light cord to light the lamp, Wei Ran drew the curtains, took off his windbreaker and suit, then unbuttoned the sleeves of his shirt and rolled them up.

At this time, the wound on his arm was only left with a scar that was still painful when pressed and a blood scab that had not yet completely fallen off. Fortunately, this did not affect his activities.

After putting his clothes back on, Wei Ran carefully took out all the props in the metal book and checked them.

All the things were still there, even the unwanted yellow and white things that he had picked up when he was invited to play skipping rope at the Japanese's house were still in the suitcase.

I don't know what these gold bars are for.

While Wei Ran was thinking, he picked up two gold bars and knocked them against each other, then threw them back into the suitcase. He and Metal Book were like an "old married couple", so he naturally knew clearly that the other party would not let him take these things back to the world he was more familiar with.

In this case, these things will probably be of great use.

Wei Ran, who had been secretly on high alert, had not yet had time to pack up his suitcase when there was a knock on the door downstairs.

Then, he heard Zhang Taichuan calling out, "Boss Wei, are you ready? I'll load the truck first?"

"I'll be down right now."

Wei Ran responded, quickly put away his suitcase and cigarette holder, and ran downstairs.

At this time, Zhang Taichuan was taking his beggar brothers Wang Fu and Wang Gui to load the luggage on the first floor onto a mule cart outside the door.

"Thank you for your help," said Wei Ran, and he also picked up two suitcases and loaded them onto the cart outside the door.

"What's the big deal?"

Zhang Taichuan said loudly, "We will be neighbors from now on, so we can take care of each other. Hurry up and get in the car. After we help you move, we still have to pick up Mr. Hirano's sister and Mr. Musashi tomorrow."

"Mr. Hirano's sister is here?" Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, "What day is it today?"

"It's the twelfth day of the first lunar month"

Zhang Taichuan joked, "Why are you still so confused about your life this time when you come home?"

"I was so drunk these days that I almost forgot about this." Wei Ran patted his head in annoyance and got on the mule cart.

"Because of the medicines, weapons and ammunition we sent out before the New Year, the guerrillas outside had a good year."

When Wang Fu started driving the mule cart, Zhang Taichuan also took the cigarette handed to him by Wei Ran and lit it. He suppressed his excitement and whispered, "We have eliminated several strongholds of the Japanese and puppet troops. This is actually secondary. The main thing is medicine!

I heard from Liuzi that a lot of the scarce medicines were sent to the frontline, and they really saved a lot of lives!"

“It works just fine”

Wei Ran sighed absentmindedly, and once again suppressed his curiosity about where those medicines were finally delivered.

"After the New Year, our main task will be to transport medicine out and rice in."

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "This year is difficult. The price of rice is rising every day inside and outside the concession. Many people have starved to death. We must take advantage of the convenience of the grain collection team and bring in as much rice as possible."

"Is the capital sufficient?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

“enough”

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "We are short of rice, and the Japanese expatriates are short of fuel. That beast Pingye has a lot of fuel. The money we earn from reselling fuel is enough to buy rice outside."

"Over there, old ghost"

“Don’t worry about that.”

Zhang Taichuan lowered his voice even more, "Mr. Ji invited several of his senior brothers and junior brothers to come. Those gentlemen are masters of making old calligraphy and paintings. We will not send them gold, stone and jade articles after the New Year. Those things are too expensive."

"The cost of calligraphy and painting is low?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"A few pieces of toilet paper with some words on them can fool them."

Zhang Taichuan smiled and said, "I went to pay New Year's greetings to Mr. Aoi who returned to Shanghai two days ago. I heard from him that Mr. Musashi would hold a small private auction every year after returning to Osaka. Especially this year, the treasures we gave him sold for a lot of money.

Youqiong, do you still remember the Ksitigarbha Bodhisattva statue from that time?"

"Of course I remember" Wei Ran nodded.

"According to Aoi, the statue of the Bodhisattva is now placed in the Buddhist temple of the Japanese Chief of Staff Sugiyama Motoko's home. It seems that an Osaka merchant bought it with double the weight of gold and gave it to Sugiyama Motoko's wife. The woman from a samurai family is also a devout believer.

So just wait and see, when the old ghost comes back this time, I’m afraid he won’t want the gold bars even if we give him.”

"I don't know how much he can sell that big tripod for," Wei Ran jokingly said in a low voice.

"The old ghost didn't sell the big tripod. Aoi said that Mr. Musashi placed it in his own Buddhist temple."

Zhang Taichuan said confidently, "I guess Mr. Aoi is hinting to me that he also wants to exchange some antiques from us."

"What is Second Uncle's plan?" Wei Ran asked.

"To be a lackey or traitor, you have to be loyal."

Zhang Taichuan said with a smile, "Besides, when those broken copper, rotten iron and rotten wood are sold by the old ghost, other ghosts will not subconsciously doubt the authenticity of the things, but it may not be the case if it is sold by someone else."

"That's right," Wei Ran nodded.

"Let's not talk about this anymore, let's get down to business."

Zhang Taichuan changed the subject in a low voice, "Wei Ran, everyone is welcoming you tonight, but I'm afraid you won't be able to drink this wine."

"Who to kill?" Wei Ran asked anxiously.

"Not far from Mr. Aoi's izakaya there is a Japanese hot spring called Longyue, which is run by someone from the Anqing Gang."

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "There will be a private meeting there tonight, and no one can be left alive." "Okay," Wei Ran nodded happily.

"Aren't you curious about why they were killed?" Zhang Taichuan asked with interest.

"Recruiting nuclear personnel is enough reason." Wei Ran said as a matter of course.

"One of them is from the Black Dragon Society, another one is from the Special High Technology Department, and the rest are spies they trained."

Zhang Taichuan whispered, "These people are going to infiltrate the Qing and Hong gangs, use the gangs to find people who posted anti-Japanese posters, and destroy the anti-Japanese organizations."

"Where does this information come from?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Qiao An is the Sixth Master of Xunfeng. Where did this news come from?" Zhang Taichuan asked as a matter of course.

"I'm just worried about getting into trouble," Wei Ran responded.

He didn't know what the Sixth Master of the Patrol was. In his opinion, the Sixth Master was a strong and vigorous bomber. Even so, it didn't stop him from finding a scapegoat for the upcoming assassination.

"How did you characterize what happened between the Japanese and the Anqing Gang in that detached garden villa a few years ago?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice.

"Zhang Xiaolin personally came forward to mediate. Neither side wanted to make a big fuss, so they let the translator take all the blame, saying that he was an anti-Japanese element hiding in the Anqing Gang, and even pretended to issue a hunting order against his family and a sworn brother."

Zhang Taichuan said sarcastically, "Later, the man surnamed Zhang was shot dead, and the matter was left unresolved."

"That's all," Wei Ran asked, "How do we get there at night?"

"Zhengqi followed Boss Mu away years ago and hasn't come back yet," Zhang Taichuan whispered, "so he will go with you tonight."

"Okay," Wei Ran nodded in response, and then did not continue the topic.

From his indirect inquiries, I learned that Ichiro Hoshino had returned to Zhaohe before the New Year, and the passenger ship he was taking back to Shanghai would not dock until tomorrow afternoon.

Secondly, Hirano Daisho asked "Mr. Musashi" to hand over most of the payment to his family when he returned to China, and asked him to bring his sister to Shanghai when he came back.

Third, after two months of development, the number of grain-collecting teams has doubled to 108, with 10 mule carts. They are even equipped with a Czech-made machine gun and have their own base - a coffin shop at the junction of the county town and the concession.

The yard there is big enough and the grain-collecting team doesn't have to report for duty every day. Apart from being a little unlucky, it's really free and easy.

Of course, Lao Yan, the deputy captain of the grain collection team, had moved out of Zhang Taichuan's house years ago and moved into a much smaller Shikumen house that he bought himself.

The money for purchasing the property was lent to him by Captain Jin.

There are some benefits to Deputy Captain Yan moving out. At least Wei Ran can move into Zhang Taichuan's house and make room for Hirano Daxiang's sister.

Before the mule cart creaked into the narrow alley, he also got the whereabouts of the people in the Lihua Opera Troupe from Zhang Taichuan.

Boss Mu took the female troupe back to his hometown in Guangzhou to celebrate the New Year, and also took away Qi, the manager in charge of the troupe. They will not be back until the fifteenth day of the first lunar month.

But in fact, Lin Qiaoan did take the female artists to Guangzhou and had not returned yet, but Zhang Zhengqi did not go with them. He ran to hide in a coffin shop on the night when the Lihua Opera Company closed its doors.

When the mule cart stopped, accompanied by the shouts of the little beggar Wang Fu, Zhao Jingrong immediately came out with a dozen people.

Among them were Zhao Jingrong, another little beggar Wang Gui, two team leaders he had met before, and even Xiao Wu.

"Today is really unfortunate"

Zhao Jingrong said, "Brother Wei, congratulations on your new home. Originally, Deputy Captain Yan should have been here, but he had a mission the past two days and couldn't come back. Please don't blame Old Yan."

"Captain Jin, you're welcome."

Wei Ran said quickly, "Official business is more important, official business is more important."

"Brothers, don't just stand there and help move it!"

Zhao Jingrong called out, and the people who had come out immediately gathered around, carrying down the few pieces of luggage, which were not very many to begin with, and carried them into a room on the second floor that had a view of the back patio.

This room is naturally not as spacious as the second floor of Dongyi Photo Studio, but because there is also a cast iron stove near the window, it is particularly warm.

Moreover, all kinds of furniture were available in the room. Not only was the bed covered with new bedding, but there were even two hot water bottles placed inside in advance.

"I'll pack up tomorrow!"

Zhao Jingrong called out, "Come on, come on, the food and drinks are ready downstairs, let's drink and chat!"

After that, everyone enthusiastically embraced Wei Ran and went downstairs and sat at a big table.

This was the place where the mourning hall was placed in the past, but now it has become a gathering place. As the cup was raised, Zhao Jingrong also introduced the unfamiliar faces around him.

Simply put, these people are all "train commanders".

Each vehicle captain is responsible for a vehicle with nine members of the grain-collecting team. In addition, there are the captain, deputy captain, and two deputies of the captain and deputy captain.

The total number 108 is all the members of the grain collection team. Those who came today are the remaining 10 "team captains" except Deputy Captain Yan and his two deputies.

According to Zhao Jingrong, except for Old Yan and the two assistants he recruited, all the people who came here were his own people, and these car commanders now lived here in the name of protecting Captain Jin and Translator Qin. Of course, they were all bribed by Old Yan.

After a brief introduction to each other, everyone at the table lowered their voices and pulled Wei Ran together to coordinate their statements.

It includes what they talked about in the evening, who played mahjong with whom, who won and who lost, and even who was caught cheating and who was drunk and passed out. It is extremely detailed - just like a play.

When Wei Ran was almost full, Xiao Wu wiped his mouth, quietly took him away from the table, and went into a kitchen on the first floor that was full of firewood and coal briquettes.

This kitchen was obviously used as a storage room, especially the big rusty pot with holes on the stove, inside which was an enameled spittoon that smelled of urine.

With the dim light from outside the door, Xiao Wu picked up the big pot and put it aside. Then he lifted an iron plate in the stove, revealing a hole that was barely big enough for a person to jump down.

"Go ahead, the young master is at the other end." Xiao Wu said in a low voice.

Hearing this, Wei Ran stepped over the stove and walked down the wooden ladder, only to find that the tunnel was extremely low and narrow, yet also extremely short. It just passed through a wall.

Before he could come out from the other end, the hole behind him had been blocked. At the same time, the hole in front of him was opened by someone, and dim light came in from the hole.

Wei Ran took a step forward with his back bent, and when he climbed up the ladder he found that this was also an abandoned kitchen, even the entrance and exit were exactly the same.

"Brother Wei, we can go kill the Japanese again." Zhang Zhengqi said in a low voice, suppressing his excitement and joyful murderous intent.

"Let's go," Wei Ran said calmly.

"Come with me"

Zhang Zhengqi led Wei Ran out of the kitchen, whispering, "No one is usually in this house. I have prepared clothes and shoes for you. We'll leave after you change into them."

Wei Ran certainly had no objection. He followed the other party's arrangement and went into a room on the first floor. He changed into a black Zhongshan suit and a pair of lightweight cloth shoes with thousand-layer soles. Under the cover of night, he left quietly through the back door, each riding a bicycle and blending into the darkness.

After walking and stopping in the dim alley for more than half an hour, Zhang Zhengqi took Wei Ran to hide the car in a doorway, and then took him out of the alley. After walking along the street with street lights on for a while, they saw the Japanese bathhouse.

This bathhouse is also a Shikumen-style building, but it is much larger and the location is also good.

"What does Brother Wei plan to do?" Zhang Zhengqi asked in a low voice.

"They have to take a bath when they come to this place, right?"

When Wei Ran said this, his eyes turned to the lights on in the building, and he asked to himself, "Zhengqi, do you know what electric fishing is?"