War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1877 The Crazy Grandpa in Memory

After patiently waiting for Li Yi Zhong and Lu Yue to coax the two old men, they introduced Wei Ran, Sui Sui and the two old men, and also explained the purpose of inviting Wei Ran to come here from afar.

"Can you please ask this young gentleman to help the crazy uncle find his roots?"

The two old men looked at each other across the Chu River and Han River, with obvious suspicion on their faces.

"Mr. Wei, is this your camera?" Li Minghua changed the subject when he turned around again.

"It's mine, then."

Wei Ran nodded. "It's a relic of an American journalist who participated in the Vietnam War. This is the commission he paid me."

"It's the American reporter who reported the news. We talked about it before." Li Yi Zhong, who had just been making tea, uttered something in Cantonese that Wei Ran and Sui Sui couldn't understand, and at the same time, refilled everyone's cup with tea.

However, Mr. Li and Mr. Lu both had inexplicable smiles on their faces because of this sentence that Wei Ran and Su Su could not understand.

"Do you want to say it or should I?" Mr. Li asked Mr. Lu who was sitting opposite him.

"Come here, come here." Grandpa Lu said as he started to clean up the chessboard.

"My father, his father."

Mr. Li pointed at Mr. Lu across from him and said, "And that crazy uncle, they are all veterans. Do you know what a veteran is?"

"I know." Wei Ran nodded.

"My grandfather was a military officer of some importance."

Mr. Li said, "It was also with his help that my father retired from the army and started business early, and soon I was born."

As he spoke, Mr. Li pointed to Mr. Lu across from him again, "His father was also an officer of some rank, and he came to Tai with his wife, and he was born soon after."

At this point, Mr. Li sighed, "But Uncle Crazy is not, he was a forced laborer by the remnants of the retreating Tang Boen in October 49.

In 50, he was assigned to Hualien as a veteran to mine marble. It was not until 57 that he was sent back to Tainan due to health reasons.

"What happened next?" Sui Sui couldn't help but ask.

“Then it was 63.”

Mr. Lu took over the topic, "Crazy Uncle used his savings of ten years to buy a small sampan from a local fisherman. He planned to sneak to Fujian."

"But on the eve of his departure, he was reported by the fisherman who sold him the sampan."

Mr. Li sighed, "It was during the martial law period. When the officer who caught him was interrogating him, he used his big knife to cut off half of his foot and then threw him in front of the entrance of the Veterans Hospital."

“My father was working at the Veterans Hospital at the time.”

Mr. Lu continued, “He took pity on Uncle Crazy and saved his life. Uncle Li, his father, also bought him a Japanese three-wheeled motorcycle so that he could make a living.”

"Since then, he has been setting up stalls in front of the Veterans Hospital and in front of our two homes."

Mr. Li continued, "This has been going on for more than 30 years. Old Lu and I grew up under his watch.

Later, I opened a photo studio and Lao Lu opened a clinic. Crazy Uncle set up stalls in front of my photo studio and his clinic.

Later, when my son and Lao Lu's son started school, he went to set up a stall in front of the school for those two children."

"Has he never returned to the mainland?" Wei Ran couldn't help asking, "I mean after the family visit was allowed in 87."

"I've been back"

Mr. Li sighed and said, "My father paid for it and I took him back. The crazy uncle went to Changsha, kowtowed by the Xiangjiang River, and brought back a pot of Xiangjiang water.

We only stayed in Changsha for two days. He fell seriously ill after returning and never went back. But every year he would set up a stall in other cities for a month around the Spring Festival."

Having said that, Mr. Li stood up, walked to the back of the photo studio, took down the Pentax 672 camera fixed on the tripod and placed it on the table.

Then, he opened a glass display case against the wall, took out a photo album, opened it, pointed at a photo that almost took up the entire page of the album, and then picked up the Pentax 672 camera he had just taken. "I bought this camera in the winter of 98, but I didn't expect that the first photo it took would be the last photo of Crazy Uncle's life."

Wei Ran first glanced at the camera that showed signs of heavy use, and then looked at the photos in the album.

It was a large enough color photo, in which an extremely old man was slumped on the side of the road. Behind him, the sign of "Lao Shencheng Photo Studio" could be vaguely seen.

A man who looked less than 30 years old was supporting the fallen old man from behind. At the same time, a man in a white coat was giving him an injection to save him.

"this is me"

Mr. Lu pointed to the back of the man in a white coat in the photo and said, "My clinic was right across from his photo studio at the time."

"What disease is it?"

Wei Ran asked while looking at the photo. This color photo was clear enough that he could see the fried stinky tofu that the old man had not yet swallowed, and the oil on his fingers. He could also see the pain on his face and the expectation hidden in the pain.

"Heart attack"

Mr. Lu sighed, "I couldn't save him. After I took care of his funeral, I closed the clinic and started selling braised pork rice and stinky tofu."

“It’s not your fault”

Wei Ran sighed and asked, "Is his sword still there? If so, can I see it?"

"Can you really find his family?" asked Mr. Li.

"At least let me try," Wei Ran replied calmly.

"Yi Zhong, take him to see it." Old Master Li waved his hand.

"Thank you for your trust," Wei Ran said as he put down his teacup and stood up.

"If you can really find the family of the crazy uncle"

Mr. Li patted the Dongfeng camera in the bag on the table and said, "I'll give this to you as a thank you gift."

"That's not necessary," Wei Ran said, "Take me to see the big knife first."

"Come with me"

Li Yi Zhong greeted them and led Wei Ran and the others through the back door at the deepest part of the photo studio and came to a not very big yard.

There are just some simple flowers and plants planted in the yard, but there is a two-story building opposite.

"After my grandfather bought this place, he turned the front store into a photo studio, and the back was where he lived."

As he spoke, Li Yi Zhong led them across the yard and then through a door.

Behind this door is a garage, inside which is parked a silver-white Mercedes-Benz sedan that has been maintained extremely well.

"This is a great car," the Kajianka sisters said in unison, a rare comment.

"Do you know each other?" Wei Ran and Sui Sui asked in Russian.

"Mercedes-Benz S123," Anfisa said.

“And it’s a 300D.”

Anfia added, “Our mom used to have a station wagon like this, and we even learned to drive in it.”

"Is it easy to drive?" Sui Sui asked.

"It can't be broken." The Kajianka sisters once again gave the same answer in unison.

“This car is older than my dad.”

Li Yizhong called Wei Ran and the others to walk up the stairs on the side of the garage to the second floor while explaining, "My great-grandfather bought it for my grandfather when he started running a photo studio."

"Can this car still be driven now?" Sui Sui asked curiously.

"Can be opened"

Lu Yue smiled and said, "But Zhong has bad driving habits, so Grandpa Li never gives him the key to the garage door."

As they were talking, everyone had followed Li Yi Zhong to the second floor of the garage.

Half of this floor is a terrace full of flowers and plants, while the remaining half is a studio that seems to be mainly used for repairing cameras.

However, in the corner of the studio, right next to the stairs, was parked the Daihatsu SB7 three-wheeled motorcycle that they had seen in the photo.

This motorcycle was moved to the second floor, and because the chassis was raised so that the three tires were suspended in the air, it even roughly retained its appearance in the photo.

The dark blue paint inevitably bears the marks of time upon closer inspection. On the right side of the cargo bed and the rear of the vehicle, there is a long wooden board that can be propped up to serve as a simple small table, and a wooden bench of the same length is hung on each.

At the head and tail of the left side of the cargo box, there is a bamboo pole that is as thick as a wrist and one and a half meters long.

On each of the two bamboo poles is hung a lamp with a green lampshade, and between the poles is a piece of white cloth with the words "The Taste of Changsha" written on it.

Inside the cargo box of this tricycle, near the front of the vehicle, there is an additional metal box welded here that contains two lead-acid batteries that power the lighting.

On its right side, in addition to two fire extinguishers, there is also a white parasol that is large enough to cover the body of the car and the surrounding area.

In the left corner, there was a not-so-big iron box filled with about a dozen or twenty 12-hole honeycomb briquettes, as well as tools such as fire tongs.

The big knife with many gaps seemed to be placed inside.

Without rushing to draw out the big knife, Wei Ran continued to look at the cargo box of the three-wheeled motorcycle.

Next to the box of honeycomb briquettes is a cast iron honeycomb briquettes stove fixed to the cargo floor with screws.

Its fire door is close to the side panel of the cargo box, and a large enough opening is opened at the corresponding position of the side panel to facilitate operation.

Not only is there a small stainless steel pot shaped like a pressure cooker on the stove, but there is also a circle of protective plates around it that seem to be made of iron oil drums.

Outside the guard plate, on the right side of the cargo box, there were several tin kettles. On the outside of the guard plate, the words "free hot water" were written in red paint. On the other side of the stove, towards the rear of the car, two wooden boards covered with stainless steel iron sheets covered the remaining half of the cargo box.

After getting Li Yizhong's permission, Wei Ran gently lifted the first wooden board.
Below this was an enameled soup bucket with a lid and a grate and a wooden box.

The soup bucket contained bamboo tongs and a bamboo strainer, while the box contained white enamel plates that were slightly larger than the palm of a hand. Fixed on the edge of the box were four bamboo tubes containing disposable chopsticks.

Lift up the second wooden board, and there is also a box and a soup bucket inside.

This time, the box was filled with glass cans covered with bamboo tubes, covered with white medical tape and labeled with words such as "chopped green onion," "coriander," and "chili oil." In the soup bucket was a long-handled wooden spoon.

Gently fastening the two wooden boards that fit tightly together, Wei Ran walked around to the front of the tricycle and carefully folded the apron he had seen in the photo on the seat of the tricycle. In addition, a transparent plastic bucket was firmly tied with wire to the outer edge of the cargo box on the left side of the vehicle.

The upper half of the plastic bucket was cut off, and the remaining half was filled with banknotes of different denominations and coins of various shapes and sizes. He even saw a few previous versions of RMB in it.

Seeing Wei Ran looking at him, Li Yizhong explained, "We should actually call Crazy Grandpa Grandpa Grandpa. After he passed away, my Grandpa paid for his funeral, and his car was left in my house.

A few years after he passed away, my grandfather also passed away.

Before he died, he asked my father to send him back to his ancestral home in Shaoguan for burial, and to also help Crazy Grandpa trace his roots and send him back as much as possible. "

"Why was it given to your father instead of your grandfather?" Sui Sui asked curiously.

"this."

Li Yizhong scratched his head awkwardly. "I heard from my father that it was because my grandfather was still in a gang at that time, and he felt that he was not trustworthy. I guess... that's probably it."

As he spoke, Li Yi Zhong pointed to a photo hanging on the wall.

In this photo, the young Mr. Li Minghua is wearing a floral shirt, bell-bottom pants and pointed leather shoes. He has a Beatles hairstyle dyed golden and wears a pair of frog-eye glasses. In his mouth, he is holding a thick cigar.

Not only that, the big flowery arm he deliberately exposed was holding an early generation Pentax 6x7 SLR.

With such a complete set of clothes and the extremely clean Mercedes behind him, even if we, the younger generation, look at it now, it is not difficult to guess what this young man was like when he was young.
Forehead.
Wei Ran and Sui Sui looked at each other, and even the Kajianka sisters looked at each other, and all four of them tacitly thought of a certain Mr. Alahe who had turned over a new leaf.

Ji Ma, at this moment, this name is enough to be used as an adjective, and Wei Ran and the other three firmly believe that this adjective is accurate enough.

"My grandpa used this method to win over my grandma."

Li Yizhong also pointed to another photo hanging on the wall, in which a beautiful woman in a gorgeous dress holding a microphone was said with particular regret, "My grandma was a singer when she was young. If it weren't for my grandpa's influence, she might have had a chance to join the Rolling Stones."

"You better stop saying stupid things like that"

Lu Yue pointed to the next room and whispered, "Otherwise, if she hears, she will quarrel with your grandpa again."

"Just pretend I didn't say that," Li Yizhong quickly retracted his rebuttal.

"It sounds like your family is well off?" As Wei Ran spoke, he finally slowly pulled out the big knife.

"Thanks to my grandfather"

Li Yizhong said thankfully, "Not long after he fled to the island, he got involved in international trade and made a lot of money, but he was quite stubborn and fantasized about counterattacks every day.

Of course, these are all what my father and grandpa told me, and I really don’t have much impression of him.”

Xiaowu? Counterattack?
Wei Ran couldn't help but smile to himself. He knew very well that it was definitely a disguise by Xiao Wu.

After tacitly dropping the topic, Li Yizhong led everyone to the terrace planted with flowers and plants outside the floor-to-ceiling windows and sat down on the chairs beside the table. Lu Yue took out some beer and snacks from the refrigerator in the studio and distributed them to everyone.

While they were chatting, Wei Ran was carefully looking at the big knife in his hand.

The blade is covered with notches of varying sizes, and there is a bullet hole at the widest part of the blade.

Right next to this bullet hole, the three words "Cheng Guan Yin" are clearly engraved.

Cheng Guanyin, is this the name of that crazy grandpa?
While Wei Ran was pondering secretly, he also turned his attention to the hilt of the knife.

The handle guard of this broadsword is made of brass, and there is a long stamp in the shape of a scale bar on it.

Looking at the handle of the knife, it was large enough for him to hold with both hands. It was tightly wrapped with fine hemp ropes, which covered the entire handle and the ring at the end.

"My dad once took the handle apart"

Li Yizhong said, "There are only two pieces of wood holding the blade, and there are no special marks on the wood or the blade itself."

"Where is the scabbard? Is there a scabbard?" Wei Ran asked.

"no"

Li Yizhong shook his head. "This sword has been in the coal box."

"So the only clue is this name?" Wei Ran asked, pointing at the three words "Cheng Guanyin" on the blade.

Li Yizhong nodded when he heard this, "Is it easy to find?"

"Hard to say"

Wei Ran sighed, thought for a moment and said, "This matter cannot be found in a short time. If you trust me, I would like to take this broadsword back to my studio for some professional analysis."

"This..." Li Yizhong thought for a moment, "I want to ask my father for his opinion."

"I wait for your news"

Wei Ran said, "Don't worry, I won't damage this sword, but some analysis work can only be done in my studio."

"I understand"

Li Yizhong said, pointing to the tricycle in the studio, "Do you need to take it with you?"

“It doesn’t have to be.”

Wei Ran shook his head, tried to wave the big knife in his hand and said, "I can now briefly tell you my guess."

"What guess?" Li Yi Zhong asked hurriedly.

“Although this knife looks a bit miserable now, the blacksmith who made it is definitely a master.”

Wei Ran waved it again. "The center of gravity of this knife is very well controlled. It is very easy to hold and wield. In today's words, the ergonomics is very well mastered."

After saying this, he pointed at the scale on the hand guard and said, "In the past, people used jargon to call it Chundian. The jargon in the south is called Chun, and the one in the north is called Dian.

But whether it is Chun or Dian, the code words about surnames are basically interchangeable between the north and the south. For example, this scale, I guess it represents the surname Cheng. "

"You also know this?" Sui Sui asked curiously.

"I'm only a bit of a nerd, but I looked up some relevant information after investigating the veterans of the Anti-Japanese Allied Forces some time ago."

Wei Ran smiled and answered truthfully, "If it weren't for the name on the blade, I wouldn't have thought of this."

"So what Brother Wei means is..."

"This is Cheng Guanyin, or Grandpa Cheng."

Wei Ran tapped the mottled blade lightly with his fingernails. "Either he was a blacksmith himself, or one of his father's generation was a blacksmith."

After a pause, Wei Ran continued, "Considering the history of Hunan Province, I am more inclined to believe that he has brothers and sisters who may have come to the island, and he may have been deliberately forcibly conscripted and used this opportunity to go to the island to find his family.

This knife may be the relic of the family he is looking for.”

"but."

“But I haven’t found it after searching for so long.”

Wei Ran sighed, "Maybe he was shaken, thinking that the person he was looking for had returned home, so he wanted to go back and look for him again.

After he returned in 87, he may have discovered that the person he was looking for did not return, so he returned to the island.

Of course, these are just guesses. Also, do you know how old this crazy grandpa is? "

“He’s older than my grandfather.”

Li Yizhong said, "But my father and my grandfather don't know exactly how old it is. My great-grandfather may know, but he has passed away for many years."

"Can you tell me about your A-Zu's situation?"

Wei Ran said, "Maybe this can help us find the family of this crazy grandpa."

Although Li Yi Zhong had no idea how this could help, the honest boy did not think much about it and simply repeated everything he knew.

There were some things he wasn't clear about, so he even took Wei Ran downstairs and back to the front shop to find his grandfather Li Minghua to confirm.

However, the old man was extremely vigilant. He either said he didn't know or used the excuse that he was too old to remember clearly.

Through these details, Wei Ran had a slight understanding that this old gentleman, who was so elegant and dashing in his youth and remained so elegant and dashing until his grandson was born, might know something.

He even did not rule out the possibility that this person had done something secretly for Xiaowu when he was young.

Thinking of this, he didn't ask any more questions. He just politely thanked the old gentleman and followed Li Yi Zhong back to the second floor of the garage.

"Can I take this sword back to my place temporarily?" Wei Ran asked when he saw the sword again, "I want to study it further."

"sure"

Li Yizhong agreed very happily this time, "But you just got here today, why don't you take a good rest? We will take you around the area and find a place to have dinner."

"The guest should follow the host's wishes. I'll follow your arrangements." Wei Ran responded with a smile.

"In that case, let's go back to Yueyue's hotel first."

As Li Yi Zhong spoke, he had already picked up the big knife and stuffed it into the backpack he brought back with the Dongfeng camera. He threw it over his shoulder and led everyone downstairs again, heading in the direction they came from.