War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1850: Just do something useful for the country
When the white light faded again, Wei Ran finally relaxed completely. He finally returned to the basement of the small Western-style building in Tianjin.

However, looking at the metal feather pen writing on the paper, he still felt a little melancholy. He thought he could experience Zhang Taichuan's final destination and accompany him on his last journey.

After taking a deep breath, Wei Ran looked at the paper with lines of blood-red words written on it:
Just do something useful for the country.
Zhang Zhengqi, the young master of the Mingxiang Opera Troupe, fled Fengtian to Shanghai with his junior fellow apprentices Li Xiaowu and Lin Liuzi, and followed Hongmen disciple Lin Qiaoan in January 1938, as the Mingxiang Opera Troupe was arrested by the Japanese army. In the same year, he joined the Hongmen with Lin Qiaoan's introduction and was named Blue Lantern.

In September of the same year, Zhang Zhengqi used the alias Qi Zhenglin and served as the general manager of the Yue Opera female troupe of Lihua Opera Club. He also used public activities such as singing in the hall to transmit intelligence, personnel and materials to the anti-Japanese forces inside and outside the concession and in and outside the suburbs. He secretly assisted Zhao Jingrong and others in secretly assassinating traitors, Japanese troops in China, or overseas Chinese who raised prices.

At the end of 1942, Zhang Zhengqi was unfortunately shot during the mission to assassinate Japanese businessman Saburo Aoi. Although he was treated in time by Japanese doctor Aoi Hirano, he unfortunately died of abdominal infection.

In October 1949, Zhang Zhengqi's body was secretly sent back to the Zhang family's ancestral tomb in Shengzhou for burial by his junior fellow student Lin Liuzi (alias Lu Minglin).

Li Xiaowu, an apprentice of the Mingxiang Opera Troupe, fled to Shanghai via Fengtian with the young band leader Zhang Zhengqi in January 1938. In the same year, he joined the Hongmen through the introduction of Lin Qiaoan and went by the name of Caoxie.

In September of the same year, he changed his name to Wu Xiangli and worked as a waiter in Lihua Opera Club, secretly assisting Zhang Zhengqi, Zhao Jingrong and others in anti-Japanese and national salvation activities. Later, he became the owner of a coffin shop and assisted the firewood collection team in transporting materials and personnel.

At the end of 1942, he assisted Zhang Zhengqi in assassinating Japanese businessman Aoi Saburo and then lay dormant. In the spring of the following year, he became the captain of the firewood collection team, leading the team to transmit intelligence and transport personnel and anti-Japanese materials underground.

In the autumn of 1945, Li Xiaowu (alias Wu Xiangli) led the firewood-collecting team to join Tang Enbo's army under the pretext of "surrendering" and continued to work in intelligence.

Winter 1949
"I knew it."

Wei Ran muttered something silently, and after that sentence, the introduction about Li Xiaowu after the winter of 1949 had become unclear.

Continuing to read, there is only one sentence after that: "In 1965, he died of illness in Tainan. In 2001, his eldest grandson went through many ways to trace his roots and reburied him in the ancestral tomb in Guangdong Province."

Shaking his head helplessly, Wei Ran continued to read on. The next part was about Liu Zi:

Lin Liuzi, an apprentice of the Mingxiang Opera Troupe, fled to Shanghai via Fengtian with the young band leader Zhang Zhengqi in January 1938. In the same year, he joined the Hongmen through the introduction of Lin Qiaoan and went by the name of Caoxie.

In September of the same year, he used the pseudonym Lu Minglin and worked as a waiter in the Lihua Opera Troupe, secretly assisting Zhang Zhengqi, Zhao Jingrong and others in their anti-Japanese and national salvation activities.

At the end of December 1941, he was wounded in a failed attempt to assassinate his enemy Hirano Daisho. After treatment, he left the Ewha Opera Society and went out of the city.

In the spring of 1942, after recovering from his injury, Lin Liuzi joined the anti-Japanese guerrillas. In the winter of the same year, he joined the Fifth Detachment of the New Fourth Army and continued his anti-Japanese struggle.

After the victory of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression, he joined the New Fourth Army and joined the East China Field Army to participate in the War of Liberation.

During the period of fighting against mold and aiding Chaozhou, he followed the Third Field Army into Chaozhou to fight, during which time he made many contributions, was commended and was wounded.

In October 1952, he returned to China after completing his combat mission and was stationed in Jiading, Shanghai, for rest and recuperation. In December of the same year, he retired from active service due to disability and returned to his hometown in Henan Province with his wife and children.

On the night of January 1984, 1, Lin Liuzi (Lu Minglin) passed away in his dream on Laba Festival, leaving behind a son, Lin Mingxiang, a daughter, Lin Lihua, and an adopted son, Zhao Fengyou.

It is also called Mingxiang.
Wei Ran sighed and began to wonder. He clearly remembered that when he attended the wedding of Zhang Taichuan and Lin Qiaozhi, it was already July 1953. At that time, Xiaowu clearly said that Liuzi was still in Chaoshan and had not returned. How could it be that?
But think about the speed of letter delivery at that time, maybe.
Shaking his head, Wei Ran continued reading. The next one was about Zhang Taichuan.

However, this time, all he could see were some fragmented sentences:
Zhang Taichuan.
Hongmen
In 1966, under the name of recruiter Kawaguchi Yoshiyoshi, he went to the inkstone urgently to assist
In the same year, he unexpectedly met Hoshino Ichiro's eldest daughter Sachiko Musashi and his adopted son Gentaro Hoshino. Due to their strong requests, Zhang Taichuan had no choice but to tell them part of the truth and received their full cooperation.

On March 1967, 3, he died of sudden heart failure due to overwork. In May, his ashes were secretly returned to China on the Guanghua ship. Lin Liuzi (Lu Minglin) performed the rites of a junior and personally sent them to the Zhang family ancestral tomb in his hometown of Shengzhou for burial.

original
Wei Ran sighed and continued to read the remaining fragments:

Zhao Jingrong.
In 1966, secretly assisting
In the summer of 1998, he died in his sleep in Nagoya, leaving behind a son, Zhao Fengyou, who was secretly adopted by Lin Liuzi (Lu Minglin) after he was one month old.

Another adopted son
"Ugh"

As Wei Ran sighed again, the metal feather pen started writing a new line, and wrote a few words about Lin Qiaoan:

Hongmen Patrolman Mu Anzhi (real name Lin Qiaoan),
During the War of Liberation, Lin Qiaoan faked his death in order to save the Lin family from disaster.

After the Liberation War, he went to the United States under the name "Mu Anzhi" and served as a patrolman for the Hongmen, devoting himself to overseas Chinese.
In the spring of 1992, Mu Anzhi passed away in his sleep in San Francisco. His eldest son, Lin Yihua, was adopted by his younger sister, Lin Qiaozhi, after he was one month old.

The second son is Lin Kaihai.
Brothers Wang Fu and Wang Gui, the guardians and patrollers of the Hongmen.
Can’t I say these?
During Wei Ran's third sigh, the feather pen wrote the story about Hirano Aoi.

JCP member Hirano Aoi, at the end of 1941, was invited by his brother Hirano Daisho to go from Osaka to Shencheng, Huaxia to open a clinic. He later secretly joined the local anti-Japanese organization and assisted Zhang Taichuan and others in anti-French and anti-aggression activities.

In August 1945, Aoi Hirano, as the adopted daughter of Ichiro Hoshino (Ichiro Musashi), returned to the Musashi family in Kyoto with her brother's adopted son Hirano Gentaro and Ichiro Hoshino's second daughter Chiyoko Musashi, and was accepted by Ichiro Hoshino's mother.

The following year, Hirano Aoi joined the JCP and devoted herself to anti-war activities.

On the night of the winter solstice in 1950, Hirano Aoi was murdered by a gang, leaving behind her adopted son Gentaro Hoshino and adopted daughter Chiyoko Musashi.

In accordance with her request before her death, Zhang Taichuan sent half of Hirano Aoi's ashes to Osaka for burial at the end of the year, and entrusted the other half to Wang Fu to be sent to China, and buried under a large locust tree a hundred feet away from the Zhang family's ancestral tomb in Shengzhou.

Hirano/Hoshino Gentaro, the adopted son of Hirano Daisho, Hirano Aoi, Kawaguchi Yoshiyoshi, and Musashi Sachiko, was originally an orphan of a Chinese fur merchant and a White Russian nun.

Chiyoko Musashi, the orphan of Ichiro Hoshino, the adopted daughter of Aoi Hirano and Kawaguchi, and the adopted daughter/sister of Sachiko Musashi.

In 1966, when Gentaro Hoshino went to Jakarta with his adoptive mother Sachiko Musashi to look for her late husband, he unexpectedly met his father Kawaguchi Yoshiyoshi (Zhang Taichuan). After many days of pleading, he learned about his life experience and photos of all the crimes committed by Hirano Daisho.

In the same year, with the full support of his adoptive mother Sachiko Musashi, he changed his name to Ichiro Hirano and joined the JRA with his sister Chiyoko Musashi (alias Mieko Hirano) to carry out armed struggle, and they met their respective partners one after another.

After the struggle failed, the brother and sister returned to Kyoto with their partners.

Gentaro Hoshino joined the JCP and entered politics. In 1980, Chiyoko Musashi followed the memory of her mother Aoi Hirano and, accompanied by her husband, made many trips to Shencheng, Huaxia for business and friendly exchange activities.

In 2009, Gentaro Hoshino died of illness, leaving behind a son, Hayato Hoshino.

In 2016, Chiyoko Musashi died of illness, leaving behind a son, Tatsuya Musashi, and an unpublished memoir, "Red Blood Source," co-authored with her brother Gentaro Hoshino.

The grandchildren of the brother and sister, Hoshino Kanon, Hoshino Shion, and Musashi Chizuru, formed the underground idol group "Kaku Shoujo" in 2019.

It seems there is an answer
A smile appeared on Wei Ran's face. He already knew who in this familiar world had sent the threatening letter and even those photos to Hirano Yoto, the descendant of Hirano Daisho.

Under his gaze, the metal feather pen first wrote down an address in Shengzhou, and then on another line, wrote down an address in Zhengzhou and a contact number. The contact person's name was Lin Mingxiang.

That’s not all. It also wrote down an address in Shaoguan and an address in Kuala Lumpur. This address also has a contact person and phone number. The contact person is Zhang Mingxiang.

With Wei Ran's increasingly bright smile on his face, the metal feather pen wrote the last line, the address in Kyoto and the corresponding contact person and phone number. This time, the contact person's name was Musashi Chizuru.

Are there any more?
As Wei Ran waited greedily, the metal feather pen wrote the last two lines of blood-red Chinese characters on the page after starting a new line:
This time, you are not a spectator.

This time, you are an eyewitness.

“What kind of eyewitness am I?”

Wei Ran sighed silently. The page was full of words, but many paragraphs were blurred.

This time, he couldn't even see the countdown in the hidden parts.

In other words, maybe he
Perhaps it will be impossible to know in this lifetime what those people experienced in the second half of their lives.

Under his gaze, the page turned to the back, and the metal feather pen wrote a line of words under the slowly rotating red vortex: Go and decorate this new world, make it bright and colorful, and let her face no longer have the haze of war and the humiliation imposed by the invaders.

"How can I do this alone?"

After Wei Ran tried to take out the contents in vain while muttering to himself, he waved his hand to put away the metal book and then took out the contents.

The moment he saw this thing, he thought he had taken the wrong one. In fact, this thing was a box that was almost exactly the same as a photographic developing box. The only difference was that there was no text or pattern on it.

Gently opening it, Wei Ran couldn't help but shake his head. It was a makeup box filled with various cosmetics, wigs, beards, and even a large mirror with a circle of light bulbs.

In addition, there are three photo albums here.

The first one was from Hirano Daisho, and it was full of photos and corresponding negatives of the crimes he committed after joining the army - the original negatives.

The second one seems to be from Hirano Aoi and Zhang Taichuan. There are various group photos and individual photos and the corresponding original negatives - including those of Zhang Zhengqi before his death, and photos of the entire process of the fire at Hirano's home wine house, but the negatives are not as large as those of the aerial camera. There are even photos of Zhang Taichuan and Lin Qiaozhi's wedding, as well as photos of Hoshino Gentaro and Musashi Chiyoko when they were children. When these latter photos were taken, Hirano Aoi seemed to be still alive.

The third album recorded the entire process of counterfeiting antiques. But at the end of this last album, he also saw a photo of Zhang Taichuan, who looked much older, with a tired face, standing next to the Guanghua Wheel, and a photo of him, Wang Fu, Wang Gui, and Zhao Jingrong.

He knew that these photos and negatives would probably never be shown - for their safety.

I hope someone among so many addresses and contacts can tell a relatively complete story.
While talking, Wei Ran put the photo album back to the bottom layer of the makeup box, then put the box away, took out the cigarette case, and lit a cigarette for himself.

Only after his cigarette burned out and his emotions calmed down did he pull out his cell phone to check the date and time. Now there were only two days left until the Lantern Festival, and he needed to find someone to talk to about the unspeakable bitterness in his heart.

After taking a few deep breaths, Wei Ran took out the food box, which contained the beef dumplings that his grandparents had made on New Year's Day, as well as the freshly-made Yuanxiao that he had bought at the New Year's Fair before leaving for Hangzhou.

Of course, there are also braised pork and fried hairtail made by parents, as well as the most popular sweet thousand seeds and donkey rolls among girls, and even a string of candied haws.

Wei Ran took out the foods in the sealed bags one by one and put them into the glass lunch boxes he had bought in advance. He then took out the suitcase from the metal notebook, emptied it, and placed the lunch boxes inside one by one.

After putting away the suitcase, Wei Ran took out the metal notebook again, and in the white light, he escaped into the farm in Edelweiss Clara's dream.

"You are late again today"

Before the white light faded, Clara's voice reached his ears, and Wei Ran also felt the inexplicable weight on his body.

Looking at the girl who habitually sat on his legs and lay in his arms, Wei Ran sighed, "Yeah, I'm late again."

"Where have you been?" Clara asked, "Is it the battlefield again?"

"Yes, it's a battlefield again."

Wei Ran hugged the other person gently, "He said, this time I am not a bystander, I am a witness."

"Is there any difference?" Clara asked.

"Have"

Wei Ran hugged the man tighter, "I killed a child again, a baby, born a drug addict."

"His mother is addicted?" Clara also hugged Wei Ran tightly.

"Tableting"

Wei Ran replied, "That child was delivered by me and another doctor. The mother was an innocent Jew."

“I rarely meet innocent Jews”

This Edelweiss that had withered in the Palestinian refugee camp in Beirut murmured subconsciously, but also shivered uncontrollably and hugged Wei Ran tightly.

"I'm not sure if she's innocent. Her father sold the film to my country, but she was also sold as a dancer, and then became the woman we used to bribe the invaders, and she gave birth to a truly innocent child for them."

Wei Ran also shuddered and hugged the other person tightly. "I killed the child with my own hands. I killed him with my own hands less than 12 hours after he was born. The boy's name was Mo."

"In a humane enough way?" Clara asked before Wei Ran said the name.

"That's humane enough," Wei Ran sighed, "I broke his cervical vertebrae."

Hearing this, Clara fell into silence for only one or two seconds, then hugged Wei Ran tighter and asked almost close to his ear, "It's painful to make friends with your enemy, right?"

"Yes, yes"

Wei Ran rubbed his eyes and muttered, "It's rare to find a person with conscience among those enemies. Especially after she became friends with this enemy with conscience, she was killed by the enemy himself."

“Tell me their story.”

Clara held Wei Ran gently in her arms, comforting him gently as if he were a child, and listened to the secrets that Wei Ran could not tell to anyone except her.

After a long time, when he had finished telling this long story, his stomach growled, reminding him that it was time to take out the food.

“I just cooked some food.”

Clara changed the subject at the right time, got off him with the help of Wei Ran, stretched and said, "Wait a minute, I'll bring it over."

"it is good"

Wei Ran nodded and watched the other party walk towards the wooden house. He immediately opened the suitcase at his feet and took out the food one by one and placed them on the table.

Although there is not much of each of these foods, the variety is rich enough to fill the entire table.

"Did you bring all these?" Clara asked in surprise.

"New Year's delicacies from China," Wei Ran said after calming down, "Let's eat and chat at the same time."

"You just said that you didn't find the internationalist war called Amani?"

Clara sat down and asked, "How did you meet her?"

“We met in Spain.”

As Wei Ran spoke, he picked up a dumpling for her, dipped it in the vinegar with mashed garlic, and then put it on her plate. "At that time."

According to Wei Ran's story, Edelweiss tasted every delicacy he brought, and Wei Ran also filled his stomach with the stewed beef and Tyrolean meatballs made by her.

“Please help me put on some makeup too.”

After Wei Ran finished telling all the stories, Clara brought the topic back.

"it is good"

Wei Ran followed her and stood up, leaving the not-so-big table, and followed her into the cabin.

The furnishings in this cabin were simple enough, but it had everything it should have. What made him laugh and cry in particular was that he actually saw a lot of photos in here that he had taken or that he couldn't show to anyone.

He even saw the sterling silver coffee pot from Spain and the latest makeup box he had acquired.

“The pictures you took are brutal.”

Clara, sitting at the dressing table, looked at herself in the mirror and said, "It must have been difficult when I took those photos."

"yes."

Wei Ran responded absentmindedly, opened the makeup box, and began to work while saying, "Whether you are a bystander or a witness, no matter how painful it is, regretting not pressing the shutter at the time once is enough to regret it for the rest of your life."

“Perhaps time is made up of regrets one after another.”

Clara smiled and said, "It's painful, but it's very real, not like a dream. It has everything you want and nothing you want to escape from, but it's not real at all. That kind of dream is both heaven and hell."

"Are you talking about here?" Wei Ran asked.

“Maybe, but this place makes me feel peaceful and safe.”

Clara said nonchalantly, “I like the food you brought today, especially the sweet food. Please bring more next time.”

"it is good"

Wei Ran made the promise with a smile, but never talked about the issue of dreams and reality again.