War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1855 Let’s start with that cartoonist
In the guest room of the Musashi family, Suo Su, who had woken up early, snuggled in Wei Ran's arms, listening quietly to him finish telling her the clues she got from Musashi and her daughter last night.

"So we have found the truth and Zhang Taichuan's grave?" Sui Sui asked with a sigh of relief, "Should we notify Brother Xia and the others?"

"There's no rush yet," Wei Ran said, "Let's talk to Mrs. Mao Musashi first and see what she means."

"When you went to talk to her yesterday, I also got a lot of information out of her." When Sui Sui said this, she even lowered her voice.

"What's the matter?" Wei Ran asked with interest.

"Those three little cakes can drink less than I can."

Sui Sui, who finally met her defeated opponent, said proudly, "So they confessed everything."

"What did you do?" Wei Ran smiled.

"The Hoshino twins said that this is what they call Mao's mother. The generations in this family are very confusing and they themselves get them wrong."

Hoho raised her hand and made a three sign, "Anyway, that Mao-san knows a lot of JRA skills, and it seems that she learned them from Gentaro and Chiyoko out of boredom.

Plus, the twins’ dad is a policeman, so the four of them learned a lot of little-known facts that weren’t taught in school since they were little.”

"Like cutting out newspapers and sending threatening letters?"

Wei Ran asked with a smile, this is just some bullshit "little-known knowledge that is not taught in school", what the Kajianka sisters learned when they were young is the real "little-known" knowledge.

"Yes, there's also things like sending telegrams, which they used to play as games when they were little.

When they were little, Mao often took them camping in the suburbs and set up a radio to send telegrams. "

Sui Sui said with a hint of admiration, "It sounds cool, right?"

"Send a telegram to someone?" Wei Ran subconsciously tensed up his nerves, "It's pretty cool."

"Uh-huh!"

Sui Sui nodded and continued to whisper in her ear, "The cause and effect of this incident is this. After the Japanese cartoonist posted the photo of his great-grandfather, it was first discovered by the girl named Musashi Chizuru. She was not right. It should be said that she and the twins also studied comics."

"Aren't they singing and dancing?"

"But they were studying comics, animation design or something, I think. I can't remember exactly, and I drank a lot last night."

“Just a big beer.”

"Shut up! That's not the point!"

Sui Sui covered Wei Ran's mouth and took back the right to speak, "Anyway, they recognized the Japanese soldiers in the old photo at a glance. They were the murderous demons in the albums they had seen. Then they told Qianxun about it, and then the four sisters told their mother Mao."

At this point, Sui Sui finally revealed something that Wei Ran didn't know, "You would never have thought that Mao told them that her grandmother, Sachiko Musashi, took Gentaro to Osaka in 1966 after she learned the truth."

"Have they been to Osaka?" Wei Ran was stunned.

"That's right! They are going to verify the authenticity."

Hoho said, "Gentaro told Mao about this when he asked him to help write his memoirs, but he specifically asked not to write it in the memoirs. Gentaro hated the Hirano family in Osaka very much."

"Because of the visit in 1966?" Wei Ran guessed.

"Maybe"

Hoho said, “It is said that when Sachiko and Gentaro arrived in Osaka, the only people still alive in the Hirano family were a woman who was almost 40 years old but not married, and a young man also named Gentaro.

In addition to wanting to verify the truthfulness of Zhang Taichuan's words, Sachiko actually also wanted to try to find the whereabouts of her father from the Hirano family.

But he didn't expect that the woman from the Hirano family flatly denied that there was a person named Hirano Daisho or Hirano Aoi in their family.

Not only that, after Sachiko showed the photos of Hirano Daisho's crimes, the woman and the young man named Gentaro not only wanted to force them to hand over all the photos, but also wanted to silence them."

"Is there such a thing?" Wei Ran widened his eyes.

"According to Gentaro's recollection, they were saved by a Chinese gang. Otherwise, they would have died in the warehouse of the Hirano family's clothing factory."

Hoho said, "It was that incident that made Gentaro determined to join the JRA at that time, and made Sachiko, who was nearly killed, a staunch supporter of this decision. And this matter is not over yet."

"Not finished yet? How can it not be finished?" Wei Ran asked.

"Not long after that incident, Gentaro from Osaka came to Kyoto." Another development popped out of Sui Sui's mouth that Wei Ran didn't expect.

"Please continue." Wei Ran was completely interested.

"Although Gentaro from Osaka was only in his early 20s at the time, he was already a gang member. And because his family was rich, he was a big brother in the gang and had many gangsters under his command."

Sui Sui knocked on the tatami mat beneath her and said, "Around one night in the summer of 1967, they came to Kyoto, found this house, and broke in."

"For the photo album?" Wei Ran asked.

"more than"

Sui Sui said, "In addition to the photo album, they also want to get a batch of antiques that Hirano Aoi stole from Hirano Daisho, and even this house. What's even more outrageous is that Osaka Gentaro also has his eyes on Chiyoko."

"This is crazy"

"So the son of a bad seed must also be a bad seed!"

Sui Sui cursed and generalized, then continued in a low voice, "Just when Osaka Gentaro was about to abuse Chiyoko, some Chinese-speaking gang members broke in with guns and faces covered.

These people cut off a thumb and a middle finger of Osaka Gentaro and the people he brought with him before letting them go. Since then, Osaka Gentaro's people have never appeared again. "

At this point, Sui Sui cleared her throat and said, "But this matter is not over yet. Didn't I just say that the father of the Hoshino twins is a policeman?"

"Ah, yes, that's what happened." Wei Ran, who was already distracted, said. He was already guessing who had done it at that time.

It is obviously impossible for Zhao Jingrong to do that. He has completely turned himself into a Japanese spy. He will not do anything for such a thing.

Lin Qiaoan, who has already gone to the United States, probably won't be able to make it in time, and Xiaowu, who is on the island, is even less likely to do so.

After such a thorough investigation, it can be concluded that the person who took action at that time could only be one of the brothers Wang Fu and Wang Gui, or even both of them were involved.

So they put down roots in Kyoto?

Yes, they have definitely put down roots, and most likely one is in Kyoto and the other in Osaka!

When he thought of this, Sui Sui also whispered mysteriously, "Then the father of the Hoshino twins became a policeman. After he knew about this, he secretly investigated the Hirano family in Osaka under the pretext of his job. Guess what happened?"

"How can I guess?" Wei Ran responded with a helpless smile.

"That year, on the night when Gentaro Osaka came to Kyoto to rob, a serious fire broke out in their clothing factory.

Although there were no casualties because it happened at night, their factory was burned down to the point where not even a single intact brick was left, and even two surrounding factories were implicated, causing them to pay a large sum of money!"

Sui Sui said excitedly, "Anyway, Gentaro Osaka didn't come back until about two months after the fire. By then, his house had been burned down and only the newly rebuilt izakaya was left.

In order to pay off the debt he owed for the fire, this unlucky guy went to a newly opened gigolo parlor in Tokyo and worked as a gigolo for two years before he could make up for the hole caused by the factory fire.

Sui Sui was obviously very satisfied with the dull expression on Wei Ran's face. She snapped her fingers and said, "But this Gentaro from Osaka is lucky for the time being. When he was a gigolo in Tokyo, he hooked up with one of his female clients. At that time, the rich woman had just lost her husband, so Gentaro moved in directly with his luggage and became a father right away."

"and many more"

Wei Ran stopped Sui Sui who was about to say something and asked, "What do you mean by becoming a father directly?"

"The rich woman is widowed and has a baby, a baby who is still breastfeeding." Sui Sui said. "So."

"That's right"

Sui Sui nodded and said seriously, "From the perspective of biological genetics, the Hirano family is extinct.

Although this Gentaro from Osaka and his wealthy wife later had a son and a daughter, these two unfortunate children did not survive for various reasons.

In 82, Gentaro from Osaka died in a car accident due to drunk driving. Perhaps it was because he had an unhappy life, as he was already a chronic alcoholic by that time.

His rich wife didn't want to clean up the mess caused by his car accident, so she ran away to the United States without even taking the child she had brought with her.

But the child brought by the rich woman was given to the unmarried woman in the Hirano family to raise early because she was not favored. "

"So that Japanese cartoonist is strictly speaking a descendant of the son brought by that rich woman from Tokyo?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"That's right"

Sui Sui nodded, "That's also why the twins' father decided to let the Hirano family go and not get involved with them anymore."

"This is really...tsk tsk tsk!"

Wei Ran finally understood why Sui Sui stayed awake last night after getting up so early in the morning and found out such a big piece of news. This girl must have been eager to share this explosive gossip with him.

"That's all I got from those silly twins and the equally innocent Chizuru."

After finally sharing the melon, Sui Sui breathed a sigh of satisfaction, "Should we get up now?"

“It’s time to get up.”

While speaking, Wei Ran had already turned over and climbed up. He couldn't wait to see what other new things he could get from Musashi Mao.

Naturally, he couldn't help but wonder whether Wang Fu, Wang Gui, or their successors were still paying attention to this family.

Whether it is or not, he has decided to be more cautious next time.

When the two of them got up and went downstairs, Chihiro, Chizuru, and the twins were already busy preparing breakfast, but "Mao's mother" still hadn't gotten up.

"Good morning," the four girls greeted in unison.

"Good morning," Wei Ran and Su Su responded politely.

"Please wait a moment, breakfast will be ready soon."

Qianxun said, "Also, my mother usually doesn't get up until noon, so after breakfast you can choose to take a nap or go out for a walk."

"When have I ever gotten up at noon? I just slept too late yesterday and was unable to get up and prepare breakfast for you."

Before she finished her words, Mao Musashi, who looked rather disheveled, walked out of her room with sleepy eyes.

only.
Even Wei Ran and Su Su could see that Mrs. Mao was definitely a habitual bed-slacker.

“Your coffee”

Chihiro, who was too lazy to refute, skillfully brought a cup of coffee and placed it in front of Mao, and also brought half a cup of milk and a can of matcha powder.

"Thank you"

Mao naturally picked up the cup and took a sip, then added half a cup of milk into the mug, and then evenly sprinkled a full spoonful of matcha powder.

While concentrating on mixing her own drink, Mao casually said to Wei Ran and Sui Sui who were already sitting opposite her, "How about we talk about the threatening letter right now?"

"no problem"

As Wei Ran was talking, the young and beautiful twins brought him and Sui Sui a cup of coffee each. The girl named Qian He brought two sandwiches with plenty of ingredients that were a bit exaggerated.

"It was Chihiro who came up with the idea of ​​sending the threatening letter." Mao took a sip of her spiked coffee and naturally put the blame on her daughter.

"If it were up to me, I would just go to the TV station and expose the photo albums and memoirs we have."

Mao put down the half-empty coffee cup, wiped her mouth sloppily, picked up the sandwich that Chizuru brought her and took a big bite. While eating it a little rudely, she said in an equally rude and unclear tone, "But our real intention is not to hope that the cartoonist will shut up."

“We just want to make things bigger.”

Chihiro also sat down with her breakfast and explained, "When things get big enough, we will reprint some photos and send them out, maybe even to the organizers of the comic submissions."

"Reverse the events?"

Wei Ran asked after taking a bite of the sandwich with great effort. There were three or four layers of ham slices in the sandwich, in addition to the same amount of bacon and double hamburger meat and very small amounts of vegetables.

"That's right"

Chihiro nodded. "That cartoonist has been very popular recently. If he draws his great-grandfather Hirano Daisho's experience based on the prototype, and if he respects the truth, then the materials we release will serve as evidence. This matter will be pushed to a new level of popularity, and he will probably make more money."

"If he lied, then those photo albums would nail both Hirano Daisho and that cartoonist to the pillar of shame, but they would also gain more popularity," added the girl named Chizuru.

"It all depends on the cartoonist's choice," the Hoshino twins said in unison.

"Our plans and objectives have all been laid bare"

Mao said, "We didn't expect someone to come to our door so soon. Of course, we didn't expect that you would bring the original manuscript of Hirano Daisho's memoirs."

"How do you want me to handle this matter?" Wei Ran simply returned the decision-making power to Mao Musashi who was sitting opposite him.

"Let the cartoonist decide for himself."

Mao Musashi said as she glanced at the twins and Chizuru who was sitting with them, then looked at Susu, "I'm sure those three big mouths told you a lot of things last night, right?"

"We are not big mouths," the three young girls retorted in unison.

"Um, that's hahahaha"

Sui Sui looked around a little embarrassedly, picked up the sandwich from the plate and took a big bite. While chewing, she changed the subject, "This sandwich is delicious!"

"From now on, you three should stop drinking."

Mao Musashi shook her head helplessly, "I guess you must have heard from the three of them that the cartoonist is not strictly related to the Hirano family by blood."

At this point, Musashi Mao added, "Just like Hoshino Gentaro back then, he also had no blood relationship with the Hirano family and the Musashi family."

"so."

"But I guess he probably doesn't know about this. Even his parents may not know about it. In this case, he has the right to choose."

Mao Musashi said, "Hirano Aoi sacrificed her life to change some nuclear recruits, so why not start with that cartoonist?"

"You mean, let him make his own choice?" Wei Ran asked.

"That's right"

Musashi Mao nodded, "You can show him all this information, but you can only show him photocopies. Before he makes a choice, I hope you can keep his blood relationship with the Hirano family a secret for the time being."

"no problem"

Wei Ran nodded, "Just like you said, Hirano Aoi sacrificed her life to change some nuclear recruiters, so why not start with that cartoonist."