War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1862 Comics are used to retain innocence
Early in the morning on the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, Wei Ran, Sui Sui and others took the He girls directly from Gunma Prefecture to Tokyo, which was closer, and from here they took a flight to Shencheng, China.

Although they made almost no money from last night's semi-invitational performance, the four of them were still extremely happy. They were all looking forward to their upcoming trip to China.

"What are you daydreaming about?" After the plane stabilized, Sui Sui asked Wei Ran who was still looking at the screen of his mobile phone.

"nothing"

Wei Ran handed the phone to the other party and said, "The Second Emperor has found other people who are still worshipping at that cemetery."

"who is that?"

Sui Sui immediately became interested and took the phone and glanced at it. "In Zhengzhou? Also called Mingxiang? Linmingxiang?"

"Yes, it is also called Mingxiang." Wei Ran nodded, "It is also called Mingxiang."

"What are you thinking about?" Sui Sui asked again, "Is there anything wrong with calling everyone Ming Xiang?"

"No, nothing's wrong."

Wei Ran shook his head, but in fact he was analyzing whether the clues found by Qin II were already known conditions.

The reason was simple. Qin II stated directly in the encrypted email that the above information was provided by his crazy aunt, Ms. Jiaya, and hoped that he could help find some things that were lost in the catastrophe of the ink pad.

But Jiaya didn't explain what was lost. This alone was enough to prove some of the speculations.

The current problem is how to take out the photo albums in the makeup box.

This will take some time.
Wei Ran looked at the clouds outside the porthole and fell into deep thought again.

Sui Sui next to him looked at Wei Ran thoughtfully, then happily put on the blindfold.

After a not-too-long flight, the flight landed smoothly. Wei Ran and others met Qin Qi who came to pick them up at the airport shortly afterwards.

"Where is that scumbag?" Wei Ran asked curiously after Su Sui greeted her and introduced her to He girl.

"He went to help my second brother."

Qin Qi explained hurriedly and led them to the parking lot, chatting enthusiastically with the girls.

By the time they followed Qin Qi into an Iveco car that was waiting for them, the girls had already agreed to go to the zoo to see the pandas together the next day.

"Tell me about that cartoonist?" Wei Ran asked calmly after the car started moving.

“People are already in the hotel”

Qin Qi replied, "My second brother asked his friends to decorate the room. There are many cameras and microphones hidden in the room. It's no exaggeration to say that even if the guy smacked his lips while eating, he could be heard clearly by the people next door."

"Who will talk next?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"You won't show up?" Qin Qi threw the question back.

"I definitely won't show up. It's better to let Xiao Xia do this." Wei Ran gave his advice.

"Alright, I'll send him a message right away."

"His side"

"All the descendants of Mr. Zhang Taichuan who could come have come."

Qin Qi tapped on the screen and said, "Zhang Taichuan's son Zhang Mingxiang and an adopted son named Lin Yihua, the two old people are here with their children and grandchildren.

They are going to Shengzhou today to prepare for the ancestor worship tomorrow. My second brother was afraid that he couldn't handle it alone, so he asked him to go over and help. "

"Is he in Shengzhou?" Wei Ran asked.

"No, I just went to the high-speed rail station to see them off to the train. After all, there are about a hundred people from both families." Qin Qi couldn't help but yawn as she spoke. Obviously, she had been busy these two days.

"After you finish your work over there, please try to arrange it for me. I'd like to meet Mr. Zhang Mingxiang on behalf of someone." Wei Ran stated his request.

"I arrange it"

Qin Qi responded very straightforwardly, "He's already on his way back. He'll probably get there before us."

Hearing this, Wei Ran nodded and said no more. The girls also started talking about their plans to see the giant pandas tomorrow.

Amidst the chattering, the car finally arrived at the entrance of a luxurious hotel right next to the Bund. Many girls immediately got out of the car and checked in with Wei Ran, who was at the end of the team and was particularly low-key.

However, no one was in a hurry to return to their rooms. Instead, they followed Qin Qi into one of the rooms impatiently and saw Xia Shushi holding a cup of life-saving coffee and several busy staff members.

At this time, a large screen has been set up in front of the thick curtains in this large suite. The projector on the table is projecting real-time images, showing the scene in a certain room.

In the surveillance footage, the otaku cartoonist named Hirano Haruto was wearing a loose robe and curled up in a comfortable-looking gaming chair, drawing seriously on a drawing board.

In one of the images projected by the projector in the room where Wei Ran and others were, there was even a display of the comic draft he had drawn in real time.

"What is that set of data in the upper left corner?" Wei Ran asked.

"His real-time heart rate, blood pressure, and blood oxygen"

A young girl in the room, who was wearing a backwards cap, replied, "You can come to see if he is lying."

Hearing this, Wei Ran looked back at the main surveillance screen.

In this picture, in addition to Hirano Haruto who is busy painting in the room, there is also a petite girl in a cute little skirt who is accompanying him. From time to time, she will put a piece of watermelon cut to the right size into his mouth, and even give him a kiss as a reward without hesitation.

"Why don't we stop singing and focus on studying comics?"

Hoshino Kanon or Shion said this in a voice that was neither too loud nor too soft, but just loud enough for everyone in the room to hear. Everyone could even hear the undisguised envy in her silly tone.

"To shut up"

Chizuru covered the sisters' mouths, and everyone held back their laughter and continued to look at Hirano Haruto in the surveillance camera.

“He is rushing to finish his manuscript.”

Xia Shushi put down his coffee and said, "Although the beast's method is a bit vulgar, it does work. The girl named Ayano came here from Osaka to study. She is considered a fellow student of ours."

"Studying history?" Wei Ran asked casually.

"That's right"

Xia Shushi said, "Nominally she was his creative assistant, but she also served as his translator and bedmate when he went out to play. In short, this little girl almost hooked the cartoonist into a slut."

"Are you going to test him with this breast-treading girl?"

Wei Ran asked almost subconsciously, but at the same time he couldn't help but laugh. Although this Hirano Yoto had no blood relationship with Hirano Daisho, he could be said to have enjoyed the same beauty trap that Hirano Daisho had enjoyed.

"You are such a scumbag"

Xia Shushi clicked his tongue and said, "Who came up with this method? You figured it out too quickly, didn't you? Also, the girl's Japanese name is Ayano, which means stepping on breasts."

"that's not important"

Wei Ran smiled and added, "Didn't Hirano Daisho receive the same treatment back then?"

“That’s true.”

Xia Shushi smiled and said without disguising, "I'll send it over later. Let the girl who stepped on the milk ask the questions. If I ask, it's inevitable that he will hide his thoughts."

"also"

Wei Ran said as he looked at Qianxun and the other three, "What do you think?"

"No comment"

Qianxun and the other three answered in unison, and pushed a small box to Wei Ran. "Except for the negatives and the letter Hirano Aoi left for Gentaro and Chiyoko, everything is here."

"It's your turn to perform"

Wei Ran pushed the box to Xia Shushi, but was not in a hurry to introduce the identities of Chihiro and others, just like he had not yet told the other party about the life experience of Hirano Haruto.

Xia Shushi was quite happy. He pulled his suitcase out of the room and appeared on the surveillance screen shortly afterwards.

"Mr. Xia"

When Hirano Haruto saw that the visitor was Xia Shushi, he immediately greeted him warmly.

He even used Chinese to address "Mr. Xia". His respectful look made Wei Ran subconsciously think of Captain Yan and Kawaguchi Qingshan of that year.

"Yang Dou, I brought some valuable information. I hope it can help you."

While speaking in Japanese, Xia Shushi enthusiastically called on the cutely dressed breastfeeding girl to help him take out the photo albums and other items from the suitcase and placed them on the big table, and then took out the memoir.

"Where did you find these?"

Hirano Haruto just picked up a photo album and flipped through a few pages, then asked with a look of horror, saying that the contents of the photos in it were too bloody.

“It took a lot of effort to find it.”

Xia Shushi said with high hopes, "Yang Dou, I hope these materials will be helpful for your creation.

Besides, they are all unique, so you should cherish them and never damage them."

"I will cherish it!" Hirano Haruto quickly made the promise.

"Then I won't bother you anymore."

Xia Shushi said, "This is where your great-grandfather once stayed. Don't stay in your room all the time. When you have time, let Ayano take you out for a walk. Well, I'm going to be away for a few days. I hope you have fun in Shencheng."

"When will you be back?" asked the cutely dressed girl.

“About a week later.”

Xia Shushi replied, "During the time, I'll leave Hirano in your care."

"Please leave it to me!" The milk-stepping girl made the promise confidently.

They came and went in a hurry and left the room in a hurry. Before Xia Shushi came back, Ayano and Hirano Haruto in the surveillance video began to look through the photo albums.

Soon, the girl who stepped on the milk covered her mouth and ran into the bathroom and began to retch. Soon after, Hirano Haruto also ran into the bathroom. He was not much stronger than the beautiful girl who was not worthy of him at all.

In the bathroom surveillance footage enlarged by the staff, Hirano Haruto, who was facing the mirror, and the girl who was holding the toilet were both retching violently, and eventually vomited.

“That’s how I felt when I first saw those photos.”

In the suite that served as a monitoring room, Chizuru said, "I had nightmares for a long time because of those photos."

"Mao's mother even took you to see a psychiatrist."

The Hoshino twins said in unison. The tacit understanding between these two girls is really ridiculous. "Don't laugh at Chizuru. You two vomited even more." Chihiro exposed their true colors. "And you also went to see the psychiatrist."

“You’re the only one who didn’t vomit.”

The Hoshino twins said in unison again, "You don't think so."

"will not"

Qianxun looked at the slightly disgusting scene in the surveillance video and shook her head. "But I did have a nightmare for a long time. I guess the two of them will also have a nightmare for a long time."

Before she finished her words, the two men and women who had nothing left to say had already rinsed their mouths and left the bathroom in a slightly embarrassed manner, but they had no intention of opening those photo albums again.

“This information is extremely valuable.”

Ayano said with a pale face, "Yōto, have you figured out what to do with these things?"

"What should we do?" Hirano Haruto asked a little confused.

"Don't you realize it would be disastrous if these things were exposed?"

Ayano was really frightened and shuddered, "It will be a disaster for you, a disaster for Zhaonu, and maybe even a disaster for me.

You will become a traitor to the United States, and you may even be put in a passive position diplomatically because of these photos.

Yang Dou, I think we'd better take these things to the embassy as quickly as possible while that gentleman is away, and we'd better leave China immediately."

Hearing this, Hirano Yoto fell into hesitation and struggle. Obviously, he understood everything that Ayano, the girl next to him, wanted to express.

"Yangdou, what are you hesitating about?"

Cai No asked in panic, "Don't do anything stupid, these things can't be exposed! You...you might die, and you might never be able to return to Zhaohe for the rest of your life. Even if you go back, you will be isolated!"

"What do you think he will choose?"

In the suite that served as a monitoring room, Susu asked while Chihiro was translating the conversation.

"Although I don't think highly of him," Wei Ran said bluntly, "but I still hope there are more people like Hirano Aoi."

"yes"

Xia Shushi sighed, "If most of the people in this world were people like Hirano Aoi, it would be a lot more interesting."

"I don't think he'll do well either," Qin Qi said. "I think he'll run away."

"I also think he will run away," said Sui Sui.

"Why?" Wei Ran asked with interest.

"It's hard for good people to come out," Sui Sui made an analogy, "The probability of gold coming out of the card pool is too low, especially in the face of such a devastating situation."

She had just finished speaking when Hirano Haruto in the surveillance video finally responded.

Contrary to everyone's expectations, he did not respond to the beautiful girl. Instead, he picked up the memoir again, sat cross-legged on the sofa and began to read seriously.

"Aren't you going to leave now?" Ayano asked deliberately.

"I don't plan to leave," Hirano Haruto replied a little dully.

"You can."

"I know"

Hirano Yoto replied, "Don't bother me, let me finish reading this memoir."

"But the person doing those things in those photos was your great-grandfather"

The foreign student girl insisted, "Yang Dou, don't do anything stupid, I'm worried that you will..."

"What's stupid?"

Hirano Haruto had to put down the memoir he had just picked up, "Wouldn't it be stupid to destroy these? Aren't the things recorded in those horrific photos stupid?
If that wasn’t stupid, what was I doing that was stupid? Reading this memoir?”

"Are you worried that it will affect your relationship with Mr. Xia?"

The student girl, who is a good actress, asked, "Are you still worried that it will affect your income? In fact, as long as you bring these back to the recruitment office, you can..."

"Can it be that these horrible things have never happened?" Hirano Haruto asked back.

"But you'll get into trouble! You might be..."

"If you're worried about being implicated by me, you can leave now."

Hirano Yoto said, picking up the memoir again, "But you can't take anything off the table."

"Are you an idiot? What are you talking about!" Miss Ayano asked angrily, "Didn't you say you love me?"

“It has nothing to do with feelings”

Hirano Haruto had the clarity of a veteran otaku, "And I don't think you love me, you just like money.

I am already thirty-six years old. I am not as tall and handsome as Mr. Xia. I don’t have a good figure either. Even in bed, I probably can’t really satisfy you.

So Ayano, besides money, what do you see in me? If it weren't for the salary paid by my friend, would you continue to stay here with me? "

"Are you insulting me?!"

“You are insulting yourself.”

Hirano Yoto said very soberly, "Mr. Xia is also a scholar in the field of history. He took me to meet another historian not long ago. Although the other party's attitude was particularly cold and rude, they at least abided by a bottom line."

"What's the bottom line?"

“History doesn’t lie”

Qianxun said almost subconsciously that was what Wei Ran had said to her at the beginning. Therefore, she sent a different cooperation invitation to Wei Ran and was ruthlessly rejected.

“History must be true, otherwise it is just a story.”

Hirano Yoto said in the surveillance video, "The comic competition I participated in also has similar requirements. The purpose of this competition is also to tell the true history."

At this point, Hirano pointed to the photos and said, "Those are real history. Those cruel things really happened."

"But the person who killed someone in the photo was your great-grandfather, do you understand?"

Ayano even used the Osaka dialect, "If you expose yourself, you will be isolated, and you can't expect the Chinese to let you, the descendant of the executioner, go. Yangdou, you don't have to do it for money."

'It's not about the money'

Hirano Yoto said a little stubbornly, "Before this, I could only draw some pornographic comics. People who read my comics would praise me for my good drawings, but that was all I could do."

"This is the same color as the one you painted."

"But later, I drew a comic about Mutaguchi Renya with very simple strokes. I never thought that those who read my comic, although they did not praise my drawing skills, many of them praised me for being a brave person."

At this point, Hirano Yoto smiled and said, "They left a message saying that very few nuclear recruits dare to admit that history, including you, right?"

"This is different," Ayano said.

"the same"

Hirano Yoto said stubbornly, "Why did you come to China to study? We are all from Osaka, and we all know how that period of history is recorded in the history we have learned.

Have you forgotten? We went to Jinling not long ago, and you accompanied me to that museum. Have you forgotten what you said at that time?

You said you had never seen any record of these horrific things in domestic textbooks. "

Taking a deep breath, Hirano Yoto said, "In that case, I'll draw it in my comics."

"You will because of your."

"But these truths have to be told by someone, and no one can be more convincing than me, the great-grandson of a war criminal, telling these facts."

Hirano Yoto picked up the photo album that he had not dared to continue looking at and flipped through it casually, pointing to a photo of Hirano Daisho slaughtering innocent people. "I used to be very angry at the indifferent and unreasonable attitude of the historian that Mr. Xia took me to see, but now I have found the reason.

I don't blame him, I'm even glad he didn't kill me. So I want to change something, so I use my comics."

“You are so naive”

Ayano couldn't help but say that she admitted that if this was just a flesh trade at the beginning, now she seemed to have fallen in love with this old man who couldn't really satisfy her in bed.

“Comics are meant to preserve innocence”

Hirano Yoto said seriously, "Do you know why I admire Mr. Fujiko Fujio F?"

"Why?" asked Ayano, who was distracted just now.

"Because Doraemon and Nobita were cheering and saying that the nuclear war was defeated, this is rare. I mean, at least in the nuclear war, this is rare."

Hirano Yoto said, "I can't change the embarrassing fact that I am the descendant of a war criminal, but I also want to be a brave person like Mr. Fujiko Fujio F."

After saying that, Hirano Haruto looked at the girl sitting opposite him reluctantly and said, "Okay, I'm going to start looking at these materials carefully and then start creating.

Ayano, it's time for you to leave.

Please don't worry, no one will know that we were dating, and I will ask Mr. Xia to pay you more money."

"Have you really decided to draw all of this in your comics?" Ayano asked again.

"Decided"

Hirano Yoto said, "Before that, I have to finish reading this memoir, but I will not hide any truth that I have confirmed."

"Let me help you," Ayano said abruptly.

"Are you willing to help me?" Hirano Yoto asked in surprise.

"Because I like Doraemon, too," Ayano smiled brightly, "so let me help you!"

"It seems that the single draw has paid out gold," said Su Su with particular satisfaction in the suite that served as the monitoring room.

"It seems that Hirano Aoi has changed as a person again," Chihiro sighed, "If only she had met this cartoonist earlier."

"So are we going to tell him the truth?"

The twins asked in unison, and at the same time, they looked at Wei Ran together with the other two He girls.

I thought about the choice of the cartoonist for a month. Although I know very well that the probability of a real nuclear recruit making such a choice is very low, but comics are used to retain innocence, so let's be naive.