War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1832 A Child Named Murphys
On the night of the practice for Lin Qiaoan and others, the drunk Hirano Daxiang actually sat in the photo studio until Zhang Taichuan developed all the films into photos, and he carefully admired them before leaving.

Among these photos, one taken by Zhang Taichuan not only captured a street performer performing with a monkey, but also the back of Hirano Aoi, who was wearing a kimono and holding a camera in her hand.

Of course, it was just a back view. Wei Ran was very clear that the woman in kimono photographed in this photo was definitely not Hirano Aoi who was busy treating the wounded with him at that time.

"All right"

Hirano Daisho stood up with great satisfaction, gently pushed away Zhang Taichuan who tried to support him, and said as he walked out, "Kawaguchi, and Ryunosuke, I will not go to see Mr. Mu off tomorrow morning.

I have to go to Hangzhou, so I'll leave the matters here to you, especially help me protect Xiaokui."

"Do you need us to take you there?" Zhang Taichuan asked immediately, "Or do you need me to go with you?"

"I don't need it here. Just help me protect Xiaokui."

As Hirano Daisho spoke, he had already walked out of the photo studio and got into the car with the door opened by Zhang Taichuan.

After hurriedly locking the door of the photo studio, Wei Ran drove the car to send Hirano Daxiang back home first, and then returned to the next door with Zhang Taichuan.

They slept very soundly that night. The next morning, Wei Ran, Zhang Taichuan and Zhao Jingrong, who also lived here, got up early, picked up their neighbor Hirano Daxiang, sent him to the military station first, and then drove to the dock.

At this time, Lin Qiaoan and others were already preparing to board the ship with large and small bags of luggage. Hirano Aoi was also wearing an exceptionally beautiful winter skirt, and was holding a half-grown yellow dog with flat ears, a black mouth and a round muzzle, looking affectionately at Zhang Zhengqi, whom she had not seen last night.

Unfortunately, Zhang Zhengqi turned a blind eye to this, and there was no expression on his face at all.

“Let’s take a group photo.”

Seeing this, Lin Qiaoan smiled and suggested, "After this farewell, I don't know when we will meet again. Although it is a pity that Mr. Hirano didn't come, it's a good thing that Miss Hirano is here."

“It’s time to take a picture.”

Zhang Taichuan suggested with a smile, "Ms. Hirano, please stand in the middle. Manager Qi, you should also stand in the middle."

Although Zhang Zhengqi looked impatient, he would not disobey his second uncle Zhang Taichuan, and finally could only stand side by side with Hirano Aoi, who could no longer suppress the smile on her face.

"Look at me here"

After Wei Ran signaled Zhang Taichuan and Zhao Jingrong to go over, he raised his camera to frame the people standing at the dock. When everyone was ready, he simply pressed the shutter.

Before he put down the camera, Zhang Zhengqi had already stepped to the side and away as if he was avoiding the plague god, avoiding Hirano Aoi's overly scorching gaze.

"This silly boy..." Zhang Taichuan shook his head, not knowing whether to laugh or cry, but he didn't know what to say.

"Do we have a chance to get a reduction?"

Hirano Aoi asked Zhang Zhengqi in Chinese with difficulty, speaking out of tune as she ran into the US military base.

'No chance'

After Zhang Zhengqi finished speaking, he picked up the light suitcase at his feet and walked towards the passenger ship in the distance without looking back.

“I’m sure you’ll have another chance to meet again.”

Lin Qiaoan smiled and handed a card with a poster of Lihua Opera Club to Hirano Aoi. "If Miss Hirano has anything to say to Manager Qi in the future, you can write to him. I will urge him to learn Japanese."

"Thank you!"

Hirano Aoi bowed repeatedly in surprise, "Thank you! Thank you! Mr. Mu!"

"It's nothing. Miss Hirano, please say goodbye to Mr. Hirano for us." Lin Qiaoan said, "We'll set off now."

"Goodbye."

Hirano Aoi looked at Zhang Zhengqi's back in the distance, and finally sighed helplessly, but also clenched the card in her hand.

After watching Lin Qiaoan and the others board the boat, Zhao Jingrong said, "Let's go back too, Miss Hirano. From now on, the theater will belong to Mr. Aoi, and your safety will become a problem. I suggest that you call translator Qin or translator Wei to accompany you when you go out in the future. If you can't sleep well at night, you can go through the window to the room on the second floor of the bookstore to rest."

"I will be careful."

Hirano Aoi responded absentmindedly, but then asked Zhang Taichuan for a lighter to light the hard card in his hand.

"Ms. Hirano, this is..."

"I don't know if they will do anything dangerous after leaving Shencheng, but I don't want my brother or anyone else to find clues about them from here and harm them."

As Hirano Aoi spoke, she turned the burning card around and held it up until the flames chewed up the two lines of the address, then she dropped the piece of paper on the ground.

"Have yesterday's photos been developed?" Hirano Aoi took a deep breath and asked while picking up the little yellow dog.

"Washed out"

Zhang Taichuan nodded and said, "I washed it out last night while Mr. Hirano was patiently waiting."

"He definitely did more than just look at the photos, right?" Hirano Aoi asked confidently as she walked towards the car not far away.

"yes"

Zhao Jingrong smiled and said, "He also wants me to secretly monitor Translator Qin and Translator Wei to prevent you from corrupting the kind-hearted Miss Hirano."

"Mr. Hirano asked me to monitor Mr. Wei during the break of the banquet last night, for fear that he would fall in love with Miss Hirano." Zhang Taichuan also smiled and exposed Hirano Daxiang's past.

"What a coincidence"

Wei Ran took out a small yellow croaker from his pocket and weighed it. "Mr. Hirano also arranged a similar job for me at the photo agency last night and rewarded me with a small yellow croaker."

"It's so embarrassing to have a brother like this." Hirano Aoi sighed helplessly, opened the back door of the car and sat in.

"Where are you going next, Ms. Hirano?"

Wei Ran got into the driver's seat and asked. At the same time, Zhao Jingrong opened the passenger door, and Zhang Taichuan sat in the back seat from the other side.

"Let's go to the photography studio. I want to learn how to develop photos today."

Hirano Aoi complained in a slightly irritated manner, "Mr. Mu and his friends had just left this morning, and Mr. Aoi and Mr. Yan couldn't wait to rush to the theater club. I don't want to see those two wretched old men."

"If Miss Hirano doesn't want to be disturbed, she can choose to move to the photo agency or live with Mrs. Hirano," Zhang Taichuan suggested.

“My brother won’t agree to my moving to a photo agency.”

Hirano Aoi fiddled with the little yellow dog in her arms and said, "I don't want to move to that woman's house."

"I'll send some people to keep an eye on the clinic," Zhao Jingrong promised at the right time. "Ms. Hirano, don't worry about your safety."

"I'm sorry to trouble Mr. Jin."

Hirano Aoi said gratefully that she didn't even dare to fully trust her brother now. Instead, these foreigners sitting in the same car made her feel more at ease.

"Where is Captain Jin waiting?" Zhang Taichuan asked, changing the subject.

"Captain Yan chased Xiaowu from the coffin shop away early this morning."

Zhao Jingrong said, "I will arrange for him to be a clerk in my master's antique shop later."

"Do you want me to take you there?" Wei Ran asked.

"No need, I'll just get off at the photo agency later." Zhao Jingrong waved his hand nonchalantly.

"Has the person from yesterday been sent away?" Hirano Aoi started a new topic.

“Sent it out”

It was Zhao Jingrong who answered this question, "He was hidden in a coffin and sent out before daybreak. He should be safe now."

"That's good," Hirano Aoi breathed a sigh of relief, "I feel relieved that he is alive."

Hirano Aoi, who was chatting in the car, did not notice that the driver sitting in the rickshaw that just passed by was Liuzi, who had originally worshipped Mr. Ji as his master.

As if no one noticed, Zhang Zhengqi, who had boarded the ship, just wandered around in the cabin, grew a beard, and put on the uniform of the cruise ship staff. With this outfit, he quietly got off the ship and got into the rickshaw that seemed to be waiting for him.

Wei Ran and Hirano Aoi were both unaware of what had happened secretly at the dock. After the four of them rushed to the photo agency, Zhao Jingrong left in a rickshaw, while Hirano Aoi, after admiring the photos that she "took personally" yesterday, carefully followed Zhang Taichuan to learn how to develop film and photos.

As for Wei Ran, he had some free time, so he took the lively little yellow dog and diligently cleaned the photo studio upstairs and downstairs. When it was almost noon, he even took Hirano Aoi and Zhang Taichuan to the nearby Japanese restaurant to buy a hearty lunch.

Although Hirano Aoi didn't drink a drop of alcohol at the farewell party last night, she took the initiative to pour herself a full glass of plum wine produced by Zhaohe during lunch.

Unfortunately, this girl's alcohol tolerance was probably only slightly better than Sui Sui's. She started to act crazy before she even finished the glass of wine. With a cherry-like tongue-clicking sound, she stood on a small stool and cursed her "useless brother". At the same time, she also vented her dissatisfaction on behalf of her sister-in-law, Miss Yoshiko, with tears in her eyes.

Out of some tacit understanding, although Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan no longer forced Ping Ye Kui to drink, they started to cooperate with each other to get information from her.

Although the drunk Hirano Aoi was quite willing to tell everything she knew, she even introduced all the members of the Hirano family, including their cat, without anyone being asked.

But there is not much valuable information in this information. Basically, she has a brother and sister-in-law who run a rice shop together. Miss Yoshiko and she have been friends since childhood, and she is also her sister-in-law's younger sister. She married her other brother, Hirano Daisho, a few years ago and gave birth to two daughters.

Of course, she also mentioned that she has a very beautiful sister who followed the immigration group to Saipan three years ago and has always wanted to bring their mother and Hirano Aoi over to live there.

These are barely consistent with the memoir manuscripts left by Hirano Daisho in later generations.

There was no disappointment. The two men sent Hirano Aoi upstairs to rest, and then sat back at the kotatsu, continuing to drink and tease the little yellow dog while planning their evening's actions.

"Tonight, Aoi is holding a celebration banquet at Lihua Theater."

Zhang Taichuan put down his glass and said, "Captain Yan will bring all the firewood collection team members to participate, and the traitor who is pulling the strings will also go."

"How do we do it?" Wei Ran asked in a low voice, holding a glass of wine.

"The firewood collecting team will get them all drunk by then."

Zhang Taichuan also lowered his voice a little, "Zhengqi will take Xiaowu to start, and we will just provide support when the time comes. With the firewood collection team nearby, the danger is not great."

"Okay," Wei Ran nodded slightly.

Indeed, there were more than a hundred people in the firewood-collecting team, and the target was all drunk. The difficulty was not how to kill the target, but how to escape without being noticed.

Without discussing the issue too much, the two of them drank a few more glasses each, and then they sat in the reception room facing the main entrance of the photo agency, dozing off with their eyes closed due to the alcohol. They needed to get enough rest in advance for the action in the evening.

However, before the three people upstairs and downstairs could wake up, there was a banging sound on the door from outside.

Almost subconsciously, the awakened Wei Ran and Zhang Taichuan both reached for their lower backs.

"Oh no, it's someone from Dayanma's side."

Zhang Taichuan's heart sank when he saw the person outside the door. He quickly got up and opened the shop door which was half covered with large glass.

"Translator Qin, it's bad. The big mare gave birth prematurely," the man said anxiously, "We called Miss Hirano's clinic but no one answered. We didn't dare to call here."

"Where is the person?" Zhang Taichuan asked, "Have you called the doctor and the midwife?"

"Still at home"

The man quickly replied, "It's no use asking Mama to help. She's already bleeding. They said they want a blood transfusion, but we don't know how to do that!"

"I'll start the car, you go call Miss Hirano."

As Wei Ran spoke, he had already walked out of the photo studio. By the way, he glanced at the clock in the corner. The time shown on it was already past four forty in the afternoon. The glasses of plum wine he had just drunk were particularly effective in helping him sleep.

"You go first, we'll be there soon."

Zhang Taichuan lowered his voice and instructed, "Go tell Captain Jin about the situation here."

"Hey!"

The guy immediately agreed, turned around and walked out of the photo agency, got on a rickshaw and disappeared.

"This damn kid really knows how to pick the right time," Zhang Taichuan muttered, then turned around and ran up to the second floor of the photo agency.

Not long after, Hirano Aoi ran downstairs with the little yellow dog and got into the car whose door Wei Ran had opened in advance. She kept saying, "That woman has type O blood. I remember it very clearly. We need someone to give her a blood transfusion. Also, I gave her the medicine box yesterday."

“There’s a medicine box over there.”

Zhang Taichuan, who got into the car a little later because the door was locked, closed the passenger door and said, "I'll go find someone to give me a blood transfusion."

"Please!" Hirano Aoi said gratefully.

Zhang Taichuan didn't say anything, but just lit a cigarette and took this moment to think about the impact and changes brought about by this sudden incident.

Wei Ran had no idea what he was thinking, let alone whether he had come up with a solution. He just tried to drive the car to the entrance of the alley as quickly as possible.

"You go over first, I'll get you the medicine box and prepare for the blood transfusion." Before Zhang Taichuan finished speaking, he had already opened the car door and ran out first.

"Have you ever participated in a caesarean section?" asked Hirano Aoi as she got out of the car.

"I have participated in it," Wei Ran, who had already gotten out of the car, responded as he slammed the car door.

He did participate, 40 years later, in another land that was invaded by the Nazis.

"That's good," Hirano Aoi breathed a sigh of relief.

"That's good?"

“I haven’t participated”

Hirano Aoi replied, "The last time I delivered a baby was at Mr. Ji's house, and that lady gave birth to the baby with her own strength."

“This is great news”

Wei Ran muttered something, and ran towards Hirano Daisho's stable with Hirano Aoi and the little yellow dog wagging its tail.

When the two of them ran into the Shikumen building under the guidance of the servant, they immediately heard the wailing from upstairs and the encouragement of the old maid.

A little later, Zhang Taichuan also ran in with four or five people, and he was holding a huge medicine box in his hand.

"You go up with us"

Wei Ran raised his hand and chose the man who looked the best. The man immediately took the medicine box from Zhang Taichuan and followed Wei Ran and Hirano Aoi into a room on the first floor.

At this time, the big maresma from Poland was screaming on the bed, her slightly plump face was covered with beads of sweat, and the air in the room was filled with a strong smell of blood.

"This is a delivery room, how can a man..."

"We can save her life," Wei Ran said, "Let us discipline mom."

"This"

The old woman finally sighed, stood up, took two steps back, bowed and said, "Sir, Miss, no matter how lowly this girl's status is now, she will eventually become a mother. Please, please let her at least see her child."

"We'll try our best," Wei Ran said, then changed to Japanese, "Give us a blood transfusion."

"it is good"

Hirano Aoi, who had already opened the medicine box, nodded, took out the blood transfusion equipment, and connected the blood vessels of the sturdy man who followed in and the Polish woman lying on the bed.

"Do you speak Russian?" Wei Ran asked while washing his hands and switching to Russian.

"You speak Russian?" the woman lying on the bed asked in Russian.

“Some”

Wei Ran nodded, "I'll help you deliver the baby next. What's your name?"

"My name is."

"I don't know if you have a chance of surviving. If you care about your child, you can tell me your full name. If you die, at least the child will know who her mother is."

As Wei Ran spoke, he looked at the woman lying on the bed. At this time, half of her child's head was already exposed.

"My my name"

The woman lying on the bed seemed to be immersed in her memories. At the same time, Wei Ran also changed positions with Hirano Aoi and said in Japanese, "The labor has begun. It's a head-first delivery."

"Let me do it"

Hirano Aoi naturally took over the midwifery job. In this era, and under such circumstances and conditions, her chances of survival would indeed be greater if she chose natural childbirth.

"My name is not Mieko."

The Polish woman lying on the bed said while exerting force and gritting her teeth, "My. My name is. Esther. Esther Leibovich Elizaveta Goldstein.

I am a Jew, but I am innocent."

“I’ve made a note of that.”

Wei Ran sat in a chair next to the bed and repeated, "Esther Leibovich Elizaveta Goldstein, right?"

"That's right," Esther replied with difficulty amidst her heavy breathing.

"So your father is Leib?"

Wei Ran continued to ask, he was helping the other party in another way - no matter whether the other party was innocent or not, just as the old woman said before she left, she would eventually become a mother.

"That's right!" Esther, sweating profusely, clenched her fists. "My father is Leib."

"Is Elizaveta your Christian name? Are you Orthodox?"

“Yes, Eastern Orthodox”

When Esther responded to this question, she suddenly burst into tears, "I was once an Orthodox Christian, a believer who violated almost all the commandments."

"Goldstein is your last name?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"I would rather not have the surname of this golden stone"

Esther shook her head and said intermittently, "The only thing I don't want is my last name."

“Your child.”

Wei Ran sighed, "Give your child a name, a boy or a girl."

"Yes, name, give it a name," Esther, lying on the bed, repeated, but she did not give an answer until the third blood donor was replaced.

In the seemingly extraordinarily long tug-of-war, Esther, who had been continuously replenishing her blood, also regained some strength after drinking a bowl of ginseng soup brought by the old woman.

Finally, amidst a scream, her child was born safely - without any crying.

"My child." Esther looked down with difficulty.

"It's a boy," said Wei Ran.

"Then call me Morpheus"

Esther took one last look at the pipe hanging on the wall and lost consciousness contentedly.

At the same time, Hirano Aoi also lifted the baby's legs and patted them, and even tapped the little guy's mouth, finally successfully triggering a series of not-so-loud cries.

After handing the baby with the cut umbilical cord to the old woman, Hirano Aoi began to deal with the bleeding with the help of Wei Ran, and at the same time said inexplicably, "It's a boy, my brother. I think he should be satisfied."

"You don't seem happy?" Wei Ran asked while helping the other party.

"I'm worried about Miss Yoshiko," Hirano Aoi sighed, "and their two daughters, they are innocent."

"She said her name was Esther Leibovich Elizaveta Goldstein. She was a poor woman who had to come to Shanghai from Poland because of the Nazi persecution. She said..."

Wei Ran sighed, "She also said she was innocent."

"Mr. Qin, Mr. Jin, and Manager Qi's family are also innocent." Hirano Aoi sighed, "In this war, the ones who are hurt are always innocent people."

"yes."

Wei Ran glanced at the sky outside the window. It was already pitch black, with no moon or stars.

"Okay, can she survive next?"

Hirano Aoi thought for a moment and blurted out a sentence in Chinese that she had just learned yesterday, "Look at the painting."

"It all depends on fate," Wei Ran corrected with a hint of helplessness.

"Well, let's look at the flower making."

After Hirano Aoi finished speaking, she switched back to Japanese and asked, "Does it mean blessing?"

“Yes, yes,” Wei Ran nodded, “It means blessing.”

"Look at the flower making. Look at the flower making."

Hirano Aoi once again muttered this Chinese sentence to herself, and no one knew when and on whom she would use it next time.