War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1885 Are Still Alive
As Cheng Guanyin fell into coma, a strong white light appeared in front of Wei Ran's eyes.

When the dazzling light disappeared, he found that he seemed to have returned to the village where Cheng Bingquan and Old Man He were recuperating.

"Wei boy, pull the handle and help the wounded soldier onto the donkey cart!"

Before he could see clearly what was around him, he heard the loud shout of Old Man He from behind him.

He turned around subconsciously, and the expression on Wei Ran's face was a little strange.

Old man He got a skinny donkey from somewhere, and behind the donkey was a rubber-wheeled wooden cart.

At this time, Old Man He was standing at the door of the cart and the wooden house, shouting and waving at Wei Ran.

"coming"

Wei Ran quickly responded, ran over, and followed the other party into the wooden house.

At this time, the only wounded soldier recuperating in the wooden house was Cheng Bingquan, who was so thin that he was almost unrecognizable and coughed from time to time.

At the urging of Old Man He, Wei Ran picked up the frail-looking Cheng Bingquan and placed him on a cart covered with a straw mat.

After Cheng Bingquan lay down, Old Man He also brought out a clay jar with sealing mud, wrapped it with layers of tattered linen, put it in a bamboo basket, and then tied it to the cart.

"That is."

"What a plague cow."

While speaking, Old Man He had already called Wei Ran to get on the cart. He also sat in the "driving seat" of the donkey cart and gently hit the donkey's butt with the bamboo stick in his hand.

When the donkey started to walk slowly, Old Man He turned his head and looked in the direction of Shipai Fortress. "Go back to the house. It's time to go back."

"Where are we going?" Wei Ran asked after a moment of silence.

"pier"

Old Man He sighed and said, "The kid with weak legs can't be cured, so I'll take him back."

Hearing this, Wei Ran turned his head to look at Cheng Bingquan, who was lying on the cart and staring at the sky in a daze. He sighed helplessly, raised his camera and took a picture of him.

"I'm not going home, I'm going to go out and fight! Fight the devils!"

Cheng Bingquan muttered weakly in accented Mandarin, interspersed with uncontrollable coughing.

Obviously, although he survived by chance, the knife that pierced his chest still left him with serious sequelae.

"You can talk nonsense again if you can survive!"

Old Man He muttered something as if he was scolding or perfunctorily answering the question, and at the same time, he angrily slapped the donkey on its butt.

Amid the donkey's shrill cries of "hungry, hungry", the rubber-wheeled cart carrying Old Man He, who had lost his son, and Cheng Guanyin, who had luckily survived, ran towards the dock.

"Is there anyone left in your house?" Old Man He asked without turning his head.

"My grandfather, mother, father, sister-in-law and nephew are still alive. I don't know if my brother is still alive." Cheng Bingquan tried his best to suppress his cough and answered intermittently.

"Just follow me and wait until the wound is close enough to touch the flesh before pulling it off."

Old Man He paused and said, "When the time comes, I'll find you a cousin. That girl's old man is a good carpenter!
If you learn to use a chisel from him, you will only be able to make a living. If you can only build a shed and have a disease in two days, you will be considered a failure."

"Carpenter?"

Wei Ran, who had been trying hard to understand their dialect, was stunned when his eyes were suddenly covered by a thick white light.

When the white light faded again, he found himself sitting next to a clay stove.

There was charcoal burning in the small red clay stove, and on top of it was a clay pot filled with the aroma of medicine.

Turning his head to look around, he found himself still boiling medicine in the corridor outside the two-story herbal medicine shop, but outside the corridor it was overcast and rainy, and the sky was hazy as if covered by a layer of gauze.

Looking around, just by looking at the growth of the vegetation and the orange tree not far away that is already full of fruits, one can tell that at least three or four months have passed since the Battle of Shipai.

He lifted the lid of the medicine pot and saw that there was not much medicine soup left inside. Wei Ran took off the white towel from around his neck, took the medicine pot down, and poured the medicine soup into the coarse porcelain bowl on the table next to him.

Picking up the bowl of medicine and walking into the herbal medicine shop, the old man in his seventies just glanced at Wei Ran and raised his hand to point above his head.

Nodding to the other party, Wei Ran went up to the second floor and at a glance saw Cheng Guanyin lying in the rocking chair by the window.

He survived and his wounds have healed, but perhaps because of the gloomy weather, he is now using a steaming hot towel to apply heat to the wound on his leg that was pierced by a bayonet.

"sorry to bother you"

When Cheng Guanyin saw Wei Ran coming in with the medicine, he struggled to stand up.

"Sit down"

Wei Ran put the medicine down and held the other person down, "It's still hot, let it cool down before drinking."

"Wei Ran, I'm almost well."

Cheng Guanyin said, "I plan to leave as soon as the rain stops."

"Where are you going?" Wei Ran asked.

"Go fight the Japanese, go fight the devils."

Cheng Guanyin said this and glanced at the big knife, box gun and camera on the table. "After we drive away the Japanese, I will come back and look for my brother Bingquan."

"Can you find it?" Wei Ran asked.

"Yes, I will definitely find it."

Cheng Guanyin said confidently, "We have made an appointment as a family, how could we not find it?"

"Can this be arranged?" Wei Ran asked with pretended curiosity.

"Why not?"

Cheng Guanyin smiled and said, "My grandfather was a boatman on the Xiang River. My brother Bingquan and I made an agreement that whoever goes back should carve a word "Cheng" on the stone where my grandfather tied the boat. The word "Cheng" with "kou" on the top and "wang" on the bottom.

When the other one returns, I will fill in the character for "禾" next to it, which means "禾苗".

"What about the rest of your family?" Wei Ran asked, "Don't they need to carve something?"

"My grandfather has passed away. He passed away before the two of us went out to fight the war."

Cheng Guanyin sighed, "My parents, my wife and my son have all gone to hide in the countryside. Now... I don't know whether they are alive or dead."

"What about you?" Wei Ran asked, "Where are you going next?"

"Go find our team and continue to fight against Japan," Cheng Guanyin answered as a matter of course.

After a moment of silence, Cheng Guanyin asked, "Do you know how I survived that day?"

"How did you survive?" Wei Ran asked after a moment's silence.

"After falling off the cliff that day"

Cheng Guanyin shuddered, "My superior, and also my classmate Yang Qizhi, and I were first stopped by a tree on the cliff, and then fell into the mountain stream.

Yang Qi was seriously injured. When he fell on the tree, the branches punctured his lungs. Even before he died, he was still muttering about killing the devils.

At this point, Cheng Guanyin picked up the camera that seemed to have been destroyed after being soaked in water, and said, "Counting his share, I have to continue killing the devils.

If the enemy is still alive after I kill him, I will come back to collect his body and then go home. My wife, children, son, and brother may be waiting for me at home. "

"Yes, yes"

Wei Ran nodded, changed the subject and said, "Take the medicine. Drink it."

"What about you?" Cheng Guanyin asked, "Where are you going next?"

"Kill the Japanese," Wei Ran said, "Definitely kill the Japanese."

"Shall we go together?" Cheng Guanyin asked, holding a porcelain bowl.

"Are you okay?"

“Not a big problem”

As Cheng Guanyin spoke, he had already sipped a mouthful of the herbal soup, and then grimaced in pain because of the bitterness.

By the time I finished drinking the bowl of medicine, the drizzle outside showed signs of stopping.

"time to go"

As Cheng Guanyin spoke, he stood up, picked up the big knife and put it on his back, then put the box gun that had been wiped to an exceptionally shiny finish into a wooden box and hung it on his body, and finally hung the water-soaked camera around his neck.

Before stepping away from the window, Cheng Guanyin opened a cowhide magazine bag that was additionally fixed on the side of the box gun's gun case and pulled out two gold bars the size of an index finger from it.

"This is what I seized from the devils before."

Cheng Guanyin said, "Use one for the consultation fee and one for travel expenses."

"You decide for yourself about your gold bars," Wei Ran said nonchalantly, "Where are we going first?"

"Go directly to the Sixth War Zone Headquarters"

Cheng Guanyin said, "The main force must be recuperating there."

"Why don't we go to the fortress and take a look?" Wei Ran suggested.

Hearing this, Cheng Guanyin hesitated for a moment, then shook his head, "The war of resistance is more important, go back early, maybe you can find my brother's military power."

"Alright"

After trying to tell the truth but being silenced by a certain living father, Wei Ran could only sigh and give up the idea of ​​hinting at the other party. Without much delay, Wei Ran followed Cheng Guanyin, who was still a little inconvenient, to the first floor.

"Mr. Zhang" Cheng Guanyin walked to the side of the medicine table.

"Ready to go?" the old man asked as if he had expected it.

"time to go"

Cheng Guanyin nodded and handed over one of the gold bars. "Mr. Zhang, I cannot repay you for saving my life. Please keep this gold bar."

"Where are you going next?" asked Mr. Zhang.

"To fight the Japanese," Cheng Guanyin answered as a matter of course.

After picking up the gold bar and taking a look at it, Mr. Zhang returned it to Cheng Guanyin and said, "Keep it for your own safety. My son and my grandson have both died in Zhujiaping, and our Zhang family has no descendants.

This gold bar is useless to me, so help me kill two more devils, and consider it as the consultation fee."

"Okay." Cheng Guanyin nodded and put the gold bar back into his pocket.

"Wait a minute, you two brothers."

As the old man spoke, he walked into the inner room on the first floor and soon brought out a pot of thick brown rice porridge.

"Drink this porridge before you leave," the old man said without letting anyone refuse, then turned around and walked tremblingly into the inner room.

Soon, he took out two coarse porcelain bowls, three wine cups, and a wine jug that had been wiped exceptionally clean.

"Sit down," said Mr. Zhang, having already opened the lid of the casserole.

Along with the aroma that came to their faces, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin also saw that in addition to a pot full of thick brown rice porridge, there was also a chicken in the porridge.

"Sit down"

Mr. Zhang spoke before Cheng Guanyin and Wei Ran could open their mouths, then he picked up the spoon from the pot and served each of them a large bowl of brown rice porridge. He also gave each of them a chicken leg and chicken wing, even a chicken breast, and an egg that was cooked before it was even formed.

"Drink"

Mr. Zhang said, "Only when you are full can you travel faster and have the strength to kill the devils."

After saying this, he picked up the wine jug again and filled the three cups with wine.

After looking at each other, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin raised their wine glasses, clinked them lightly with Mr. Zhang, and then drank them all in one gulp.

"Eat, and go when you're full." Mr. Zhang said, standing up tremblingly and walking back into the inner room.

After looking at each other again, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin picked up their chopsticks and drank the thick brown rice porridge in the bowl in silence. They ate the plump chicken legs, chicken wings and unformed eggs, but they felt more and more uncomfortable the more they ate.

Almost at the time when the two men had filled their stomachs and put down their bowls and chopsticks, almost at the time when Cheng Guanyin hid one of the gold bars into the wine pot, Mr. Zhang came out again.

This time, he took out two straw raincoats and two bamboo hats, and also took out a bamboo basket.

"Take these with you too," said Mr. Zhang without allowing any room for refusal.

"it is good"

Cheng Guanyin did not refuse the other party. He silently put on his straw raincoat and hat, and carried the bamboo basket containing the water bag and some boiled eggs.

"Come back alive," Mr. Zhang said in his final words.

“I will pay for the consultation.”

Cheng Guanyin gave an irrelevant answer, then walked out of the herbal medicine shop and limped towards the river.

Sighing silently, Wei Ran, who was also wearing a straw raincoat and a bamboo hat, stood in the remaining drizzle and first pressed the shutter towards Mr. Zhang, and then pointed the camera at Cheng Guanyin.

"Crack!"

Accompanied by another overly crisp shutter sound, everything in front of Wei Ran was once again shrouded in white light.

When the white light dissipated, Wei Ran frowned. He once again returned to the farm in Edelweiss Clara's dream - at an unprecedented speed.

He looked around again and then turned his attention to the metal notebook on the table, where the feather pen had already written new content.

Act Three

Role 1: Street vendor Wei Ran

Return Mission 1: Assist Cheng Bingquan in completing intelligence transmission

Role 2: Communications Soldier Ran

Return Mission 2: Assist Cheng Guanyin to successfully break out
Two identities?

Wei Ran looked at the blood-red words written on the pale yellow paper, and then calmly waited for the white light to come towards him and drown out everything in his sight.

In this white light, he saw the things that could be used this time: Robert's camera bag, the anti-Japanese sword, the PPK pistol, and that was all.

When the white light dissipated, Wei Ran couldn't help but reveal a helpless smile when he looked at the things in front of him.

At this time, I was guarding a shop. The most eye-catching thing in the shop was the red paint words written on the wall: Price is 10 yuan each, no cash on delivery.

Looking at the rest of the layout, this shop is not very big. Near the door is a hanging stove made of blue bricks. There is an enamel kettle sitting on the pan on the open stove, and next to the stove is a chopping board against the wall.

At this time, you can see a large bowl filled with cooked sesame seeds and a large bowl filled with fried pickles on the chopping board.

On the other side of the hanging stove, there were two wicker baskets on a greasy round table, with a dozen baked pancakes in them.

On the other side of the pancake shop, there is a bamboo lounge chair. On a long bench next to the lounge chair, there is a porcelain pot and a large tea bowl.

Finally, I looked at myself. I was wearing a coarse white sweatshirt and black pants, a pair of black cloth shoes, a canvas apron with pockets around my waist, and a white towel around my neck.

Passing through the door at the innermost side of the shop, there is a bedroom that is not very big, even pitifully small.

The bedroom had only a wooden bed with a mat on it and a half-open back door.

After opening the back door, there is a water pressure well against the wall outside the door, and an alley leading to nowhere.

Looking at the buildings in the distance, he had already recognized that this was ninety-nine percent of Chongqing.

just
Can sesame cakes be sold in this place? Wei Ran couldn't help but wonder secretly.

"Stinky tofu——! Cough cough! Cough cough cough! Authentic Changsha. Cough cough! Stinky tofu——!"

Just at this moment, a shout mixed with a cough came from outside.

It was Cheng Bingquan! Wei Ran recognized the other party's voice immediately!
He quickly returned to the store in front and immediately saw Cheng Bingquan walking by outside.

At this time, Cheng Bingquan was leaning on a wooden stick in his hand and carrying a load on his shoulders.

At one end of the shoulder pole was a wooden barrel with a lid, and at the other end was a small stove that seemed to be made from a tin barrel.

"Stinky cough cough! Stinky tofu--!"

Cheng Bingquan shouted again, and then slowly walked to the door of the pancake shop run by Wei Ran.

"How about three sesame cakes, the same as before, without pickles, for 20 yuan?" Cheng Bingquan said.

"Can"

Wei Ran nodded happily, picked up three sesame cakes with bamboo clips and put them in the hanging oven, then picked up the enamel pot and put it on the chopping board. While pressing the lever to move the hanging oven, he asked, "How is business?"

“Very bad”

Cheng Bingquan, who can now speak fluent Mandarin, complained in a loud voice, "I can't even afford to eat, how is your business?"

"Not really," Wei Ran responded, "but I'm not worried about being hungry."

"Boss, let's make a deal. How about exchanging one serving of stinky tofu for three sesame cakes?" Cheng Bingquan said, "Let's open a business for each other."

"Then let's open a deal." Wei Ran readily agreed to the other party's transaction request.

Upon hearing this, Cheng Bingquan quickly expressed his gratitude with a series of coughs, then opened the fire door of the small iron barrel stove next to the pancake shop, then took out a small pot from the wooden barrel and placed it on the stove, then picked up a few pieces of black stinky tofu from the barrel and put them into the pot one by one.

While he was busy frying the stinky tofu, Wei Ran also took out the three palm-sized sesame cakes that he had simply heated up, sliced ​​them horizontally with a knife, and generously stuffed each one with fried pickles that were not very greasy.

Almost at the same time, Cheng Bingquan also handed over the stinky tofu in a bamboo bowl.

When Wei Ran took the stinky tofu, he immediately noticed that there seemed to be a note under the bamboo bowl.

"Come in and have a rest and some tea." Wei Ran greeted calmly.

"I can't rest. The weather is so hot. If I don't sell the tofu quickly, it will go bad."

After Cheng Bingquan finished speaking loudly, he reached out to take the sesame cake wrapped in straw paper, lowered his voice and said, "Give it to Old Man He."

After that, he said loudly, "I'm going to go to the dock again. I'll leave the bamboo bowl with you. Come and get it in the evening."

"slow walk"

Wei Ran greeted him and placed the bamboo bowl containing stinky tofu and the note underneath it on the chopping board.

"Cough cough!"

After a series of coughs, Cheng Bingquan cursed incoherently, "What a miserable life it is to be unlucky", put two of the cakes on the lid of the barrel, picked up the load again, and walked towards the nearby dock while eating the cakes in his hand.

Without rushing to look at the note under the bowl of stinky tofu, Wei Ran put two more sesame cakes into the hanging stove, stood outside the door and looked around, and then took the note out from under the bamboo bowl.

However, when the piece of paper folded into the thickness of a cigarette was opened, there was no writing on it.

Seeing this, Wei Ran smiled, folded it again and casually buried it in the large bowl filled with sesame seeds. Then he took out the sesame cake that had just been thrown into the hanging oven, cut it while it was still hot, and then put the stinky tofu that was soaked with soup in it. He held the bamboo bowl in one hand and the sesame cake to his mouth with the other hand and took a big bite.

Suddenly, the crispy outside and tender inside sesame cakes and the stinky tofu soaked with soup made him close his eyes comfortably, and then he took the second bite, the third bite, and the fourth bite - he was really hungry.