War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1894 Happy Encounter

On the pitch-black strait, Wei Ran and Cheng Guanyin chatted idly as they swam aimlessly amidst the booming cannon fire.

As time went by, the seawater gradually took away more and more of the warmth from their bodies.

"Which way do you think we're swimming?" Cheng Guanyin asked weakly.

They kept swimming in the direction from which the cannon fire was coming, but in this night where not even the stars could be seen, they were not sure whether they were heading east or west.

"You hope to go further?"

Wei Ran paused for a moment, then reached out and grabbed the large sword on the other man's back, intending to take it from him.

"I don't need to, I'll carry it myself."

Cheng Guanyin stubbornly refused Wei Ran's offer, saying, "It doesn't matter which way I go. I just hope to find my brother Bingquan after I get ashore."

"We'll definitely find it."

As Wei Ran spoke, he slowed down. He saw a soldier holding a flashlight and a lifebuoy. He had snatched those items from Cheng Guanyin.

Before Cheng Guanyin could stop him, Wei Ran had already dived underwater.

A moment later, the soldier trembled, frantically looked down at the water's surface, and was then pulled underwater. The flashlight in his hand was now in someone else's possession.

"Go, go."

Wei Ran returned to Cheng Guanyin's side with a flashlight and a lifebuoy.

Cheng Guanyin sighed, and like Wei Ran, he slung a lifebuoy over his shoulder with one hand and continued swimming in one direction.

Unlike the soldier just now, Wei Ran didn't rush to turn on his flashlight. On this vast sea, a flashlight is useless; it's only for when a ship is coming.

With their lifebuoys back, the two felt a bit more relaxed and decided to continue swimming and chatting.

That night, some boats passed by, but even when they turned on their flashlights to send signals, no boat came to rescue them.

During this period of torment, Cheng Guanyin and Wei Ran talked a lot, about his impoverished family background when he was young, and about his father's decision to send him to a progressive school.

He talked about Yang Qizhi, whom he met at school, and his wife Liu Yanzhi, as well as his wedding with Liu Yanzhi and their child Huaiqian.

Of course, there was also his high spirits when he decided to join the army to save the country, and the hardships he had endured over the years.

Finally, amidst their increasingly hoarse narration, the first rays of dawn, followed by the rising sun, gradually appeared directly in front of them. They found their direction and saw the distant reefs and the island even further away.

Is that Taiwan Island?

Cheng Guanyin looked at the distant island with a blank and helpless expression on his face. He also subconsciously turned his head to look in the direction of the mainland, and was secretly photographed by Wei Ran with the camera hidden next to the flashlight.

"No"

As Wei Ran put away his camera, he said, "That's Kinmen."

"boom!"

No sooner had he finished speaking than the cannons on the island opened fire, and the booming sound of the cannons made Cheng Guanyin sigh.

Looking around, Wei Ran, with his back to the rising sun, repeatedly pressed the shutter button on the sea. At this moment, twenty or thirty survivors, tinged golden by the rising sun, could still be vaguely seen on the sea.

But Wei Ran knew that they could never go back.

Just then, the roar of a boat engine came from behind. Wei Ran turned around and took in Cheng Guanyin, who had climbed onto the reef and was reaching out to him, as well as Kinmen in the distance and the boat rushing towards them. He pressed the shutter in the white light.

When the white light dissipated, Wei Ran found himself sitting on a donkey cart.

Beside his feet, a bamboo basket contained several stacks of joss paper and a bundle of incense sticks, along with a slice of tender white tofu.

Besides himself and the offerings in the bamboo basket, a young man who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old was also sitting on the wooden donkey cart.

Although his clothes were patched upon patched, they were clean enough. Not only were his clothes clean, but his face and hands were also clean, and even his hair was neatly arranged. His toes were not showing in his cloth shoes.

It's Cheng Huaiqian!
Wei Ran recognized the young man who was dozing off at a glance.

Looking at the person sitting sideways on the side of the carriage, holding a bamboo stick and hurrying along, Wei Ran couldn't help but reveal a relaxed smile.

That was Chen Shun, who looked to be no more than twenty-four or twenty-five years old.

The old scars on his arms, face, and even neck, left by the smell of mustard, had been tanned to the same dark as the rest of his skin, the color of ripe wheat grains in the Central Plains.

"Uu——!"

Just then, Chen Shun called out to the black-skinned, white-mouthed, spotted-hoof donkey to stop.

"We're here, get off."

After Chen Shun and others had stopped the donkey cart, he first used a wooden stick to hold it in place before calling out to them.

He wasn't speaking with a Henan accent at this time; instead, his accent was closer to Mandarin.

"Uncle, are you tired?"

Awakened, Cheng Huaiqian rubbed his eyes and asked with concern. Without needing any help, he jumped down and carried the bamboo basket containing the offerings on his back.

"Not tired"

Chen Shun's honest and kind appearance was so endearing that he didn't look like a young man in his twenties at all.

He was indeed not young anymore, at twenty-four or twenty-five years old, with quite a few gray hairs on his head, and his hands were covered in calluses. It seemed that he must have endured a lot of hardship over the years.

Looking around, this place is located by the river, and the city is not far away, but it is not Hengyang—the surrounding landscape is different.

Naturally, Wei Ran was drawn to a rock on the shore.

The rock was at most a meter high, wide at the bottom and narrow at the top, like a small mountain.

At the top of the stone, there was a hole about the size of a wrist, through which a slightly faded red cloth was tied.

Slightly to the right of the waistline of this stone, there is a "呈" character, about the size of a palm, painted in red.

Judging from the inscription, there is clearly enough space left for the character "禾" (grain) that might appear next to it.

"It's Qingming Festival again, burn more paper money for your parents."

Chen Shun glanced at the character "呈" and said with slight disappointment, "Give them a few good kowtows."

"Ok!"

Cheng Huaiqian agreed earnestly, taking out the items from the bamboo basket one by one and placing them on the donkey cart. Finally, he took out two white towels from the bottom of the bamboo basket.

Under the watchful eyes of Wei Ran and Chen Shun, Cheng Huaiqian squatted by the river, carefully washed one of the white towels, then knelt down next to the rock and wiped it thoroughly, before carefully drying it with another white towel.

As the young man took out a glass medicine bottle and a brush and began to paint the characters on the stone with red paint, Chen Shun also opened a coarse cloth tobacco pouch and invited Wei Ran to roll a cigarette and light it.

“Since the Japanese surrendered three years ago, my life and his has improved. Every year on Qingming Festival, I bring him here,” Chen Shun said amidst puffs of smoke.

"Did you guys put that rock up?" Wei Ran asked.

"yes"

Chen Shun pointed in a direction, "When we first came here, we brought it back from the mountains over there by donkey cart. Huaiqian wrote the characters, and I hammered them out bit by bit with a hammer."

"Where are you staying now?" Wei Ran asked with interest. "By the sea? Have you been to the seaside?"

"no"

Chen Shun revealed a simple and honest smile, "In 46, there was a great famine in the entire southern Hunan region. I took Huaiqian to beg for food in Yichun."

"Damn it! I just settled down with Huaiqian, and now the Kuomintang is forcibly conscripting us again. I heard they're going to send us to fight in Henan province."

"You ran away again?" Wei Ran asked, overjoyed.

"They ran away, but they didn't. They ran away before they even left Yichun."

Chen Shun patted the donkey's pert, round rump with a smug look on his face. "That day, taking advantage of the rain, I not only escaped, but also stole the donkey cart carrying grain. I also killed two officers who were guarding the cart and robbed them of a lot of good stuff."

Thanks to those things and this donkey cart, Huaiqian and I were able to improve our lives and no longer had to beg for food.

The following year, when we had more money, we came back to Changsha and erected this stone, thinking that if Brother Cheng or his brother were still alive, they might be able to come back. And so we waited.”

Chen Shun sighed, "It's been five years."

"Have you been living in Changsha all these years?" Wei Ran asked after taking a puff of his cigarette.

"I've settled down in the countryside around here," Chen Shun said. "It's not far."

"Are you married?" Wei Ran asked a new question.

"no"

Chen Shun revealed an even more honest smile, "My face has been burned by the Japanese poison gas, what girl would want me?"
"Right now, I have no other plans than to raise Huaiqian to adulthood. He's been to school for several years and knows quite a few characters; he's better than me. In a few more years, I'll find him a wife through matchmaking. That way, I can say I've done right by Brother Cheng."

"Let me take a picture of you and your son together."

When Wei Ran said those words, Chen Shun's hand holding the pipe trembled slightly.

Seeing that he seemed a little dazed, Wei Ran said to the young man who had just burned incense and kowtowed not far away, "Huaiqian, let me take a picture of you and your son together?"

"Okay!"

Cheng Huaiqian quickly patted the mud off his legs and walked over to Chen Shun, standing side by side with him between the donkey cart and the rock.

Seeing Chen Shun wiping away tears, Wei Ran smiled with relief, took a few steps back, and used the viewfinder of his Robert camera to frame the father and son, as well as the donkey carts and stones on either side, taking a group photo of them with the shimmering Xiangjiang River behind them as the background.

"Brother Weiwei? Cough! Cough cough... Is it... is it you?"

Just as Wei Ran put down his camera, an excited question mixed with a cough came from behind him.

Wei Ran turned around instinctively, and a look of surprise appeared on his face. It was Cheng Bingquan!

"Great! You're still alive?!"

Cheng Bingquan let out a gasp, followed by a series of coughs.

At this time, Cheng Bingquan's body became even thinner, and his hair had turned gray, even though he was only in his early thirties.

"You are still alive too."

Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. At this moment, not only Cheng Bingquan had come, but also his wife and son. Judging from the offerings in the baskets they were carrying, they had also come to pay their respects.

"This is..." Cheng Bingquan couldn't help but look at Cheng Huaiqian, "This is...my...my nephew Huaiqian?"

"Uncle? Are you my uncle?!"

Cheng Huaiqian clearly recognized Cheng Bingquan, and then knelt down while wailing.

"Yes, it's me!"

With great effort, Cheng Bingquan helped Cheng Huaiqian, who was already a grown man, to his feet amidst his persistent coughing.

"Did you carve these words?"

Cheng Bingquan held the child in his arms, pointed to the character "Cheng" that had just been painted in red on the stone, and asked, "I thought it was your father."

"My uncle helped me transport the stone and carve it."

Cheng Huaiqian looked at Chen Shun, whose face showed a moment of confusion and helplessness, and said in Changsha dialect, "When my mother was alive, she told me that whoever survived would become a 'Cheng' (a low-ranking official) in the old man's rowing boat."

"Your grandpa, he...he still..."

Cheng Bingquan cautiously asked in the local dialect, but all he got in return was Cheng Huaiqian shaking his head while shedding tears.

"When did you get back?" Wei Ran asked.

"Just got back"

Cheng Bingquan wiped away his tears and sighed, "I've been coughing up blood since last winter. I'm afraid my body won't last many more years. I thought I'd come back to see him before I die, just in case my older brother is still alive."

This is Chen Shun.

Unable to tell the truth, Wei Ran could only sigh inwardly and change the subject, "He saved Huai Qian when he was in Hengyang City, he..."

"Brother Chen, you've done me a great favor! I'll cough for you! My brother thanks you so much!"

Amidst uncontrollable coughing and wheezing, Cheng Bingquan knelt down before Chen Shun, followed by his wife and son.

"No, no, this is absolutely unacceptable!"

Chen Shun snapped out of his daze and hurriedly helped the family up, then said, "Now that Huaiqian has found his way home, then I will too."

"Uncle, please don't abandon me."

Cheng Huaiqian's tearful words ultimately made Chen Shun unable to hold back his tears.

"Did Lawyer Wang survive? And how is Uncle Huang?"

Wei Ran asked an unrelated question, which also diverted their attention. He could tell that Cheng Bingquan had actually wanted to take Huai Qian away, but he hadn't had a chance to say it yet.

“Brother Wang Lu survived, but he went to the Chaoxian battlefield last year.”

Cheng Bingquan's wife seemed to sense the reluctance between Huaiqian and Chen Shun, and changed the subject, saying, "My dad is doing well too, he's still working as a carpenter."

"That's good"

Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief and waved the camera that had appeared in his hand without him noticing, saying, "It's a rare reunion, let me take a group photo of you all first?"

“We should take a picture,” Cheng Bingquan quickly agreed.

"Let's use this racket my dad left me."

Cheng Huaiqian frantically rummaged through the bamboo basket and pulled out a tattered Taro bag. From it, he took out a Japanese soldier's lunchbox and then the camera.

"I'll take the picture."

Wei Ran took the camera from the other person and waited for the family to stand by the rock before pressing the shutter.

As the white light gradually rose, Wei Ran took one last worrying look at Cheng Bingquan and Chen Shun.

He didn't know how much longer Cheng Bingquan's body could hold on, nor did he know whether Chen Shun would be able to visit the seaside before he died.

But in any case, they all survived until the end of the war and witnessed its end, which was undoubtedly the best outcome.

With another sigh, the white light faded, and he returned once again to the farm in Clara's dream.

As a habitual glance around, Wei Ran's gaze fell upon the metal notebook, where the quill pen had already penned new, blood-red characters:

Act V

Character Identity: Blue Lantern Guardian
Return Task 1: Take at least three solo photos of Cheng Guanyin.
Task 2: Sell at least 50 sesame cakes every day, and do not sell below the listed price or operate at a loss.

Return Mission 3: Injure Patrolman Lin Ayong

Return Mission 4: Take a portrait of Cheng Guanyin in his final moments.

Blue lanterns? Blue lanterns again?
Wei Ran's heart skipped a beat; he had a premonition that he might see Li Xiaowu next.

As he drifted into thought, the white light once again obscured everything in front of him, and he saw the tools that could be used this time.

Nikon SP camera, camera case, portable flask, sterling silver cigarette case, lighter.

In addition to these small items, there was also a Willys MC Jeep equipped with an aerial camera and a tent.

As the white light began to fade, his first sensation was the intense heat that assaulted his senses, followed by the aroma of sausage.

Once everything around him became clear, he immediately realized that he was in a room that wasn't very big.

He was wearing coarse cloth clothes and a thin canvas apron. In his breast pocket were some coins of different denominations, and around his neck was a white towel.

Looking around, the room wasn't big and looked more like a kitchen. Besides a hanging stove made from an oil drum by the window, there was a coal stove that was about to go out, and on the cutting board next to it were freshly made sausages that were still steaming.

Looking to the side, besides the cutting board and the noodle and pickle jars, there was a pile of coal briquettes in the corner.

Wei Ran moved the oven aside and took a look. He picked out the baked flatbreads inside, casually took one, cut it open, cut a piece of sausage, stuffed it in, and squeezed it hard.

Wei Ran shoved the scalded hands back and forth to ease the pain, then picked up a piece of straw paper, wrapped the sesame seed cake in it, took a bite, and left the stuffy little room.

This is a small courtyard house with three main rooms and one side room on each side. In the middle of the courtyard, paved with blue bricks, there is a Japanese-made SB7 three-wheeled motorcycle parked.

However, his expression became somewhat strange when he saw the items on the tricycle.

The cargo bed of this vehicle is not very large. A bamboo pole is tied to one side of the cargo bed, and a lamp with a lampshade is hung on it.

Inside the cargo bed, near the front of the vehicle, half of the space is occupied by a wooden crate.

On the lid of the box, three lines of traditional Chinese characters were written in red paint:
Authentic hanging oven baked flatbread
One yuan for each Hou Yi enema

Two pickled vegetables for one yuan

Upon opening the lid of the wooden box, Wei Ran was speechless.

Inside the box, including the lid, there was a thick layer of white foam for insulation. Half of the space inside was covered with a small white cotton quilt, on which were neatly arranged at least fifty or sixty steaming hot sesame cakes, along with a bamboo tong.

In the other half of the compartment, a rectangular enamel tea tray was placed tightly, with several rings of sausages piled inside. On top of it was an enamel milk pot with a lid, filled with oily stir-fried pickled vegetable shreds.

"They're really damn professional!"

As Wei Ran closed the lid, he couldn't help but look at the rear of the truck. In the back half of the cargo bed, there was a small hanging stove.

The absurd part is that this hanging stove was actually the one that the father and son from his hometown modified for him using a commercial natural gas cylinder when he went to Mr. Zhao's house to learn the craft.

The last quarter of the space remaining in the cargo compartment was another wooden box. In the only gap between the two boxes was a small cutting board and a similarly small but very handy kitchen knife. In the gap between the cutting board and the adjacent panel was a thick stack of scrap paper in a file folder.

But inside the last box were bags of coal briquettes packed in large brown paper bags.

Is it really necessary to make it this exquisite?
Wei Ran finished his sesame seed cake with sausage while secretly grumbling to himself, and then went to check out the other side room of the courtyard and even the three main rooms.

After walking around, he discovered that he was the only one living in this rather small courtyard. The side rooms on the other side were vacant, and half of the main house was also vacant, containing only a can of gasoline.

However, he was able to confirm the date as April 1961 by finding a newspaper in the main bedroom.

In addition, he also saw himself in a mirror—an old man who looked to be about 40 years old.

Looking up at the sky, Wei Ran dared not delay any longer. He loaded all the freshly made sausages and sesame cakes from the side room into the cart, shoveled the coal briquettes from the stove into the hanging stove and added more coal briquettes, then immediately opened the courtyard gate, started the three-wheeled motorcycle, and slowly drove it away.

Just by looking at the street scene outside, he knew that this must be a military dependents' village. This was evident from the names of the small shops filled with memories of various cities on the mainland, and from the accents of everyone he met, who spoke from all over the mainland.

Just as Wei Ran was pondering whether or not to start hawking his wares, a familiar voice made him instinctively squeeze the brakes.

"Hey you, give me six sesame seed cakes with sausage filling and four with stir-fried pickled vegetables."

Following the sound, Wei Ran felt a lump in his throat. It wasn't Cheng Guanyin who called out to him, but Li Xiaowu, who had been an apprentice with him in the Mingxiang Opera Troupe and had fought alongside him against the Japanese in Shanghai!

"Hey! Here we come!"

Wei Ran responded in an unusually loud voice and completely turned off the three-wheeled motorcycle that had only driven a short distance from his house—he and Xiao Wu were actually neighbors.

"How's business?"

Li Xiaowu, who was also no longer young, walked to the car with a bamboo basket and asked, while also handing Wei Ran a Marlboro.

"Thank you, sir! I just came out today!"

Wei Ran responded enthusiastically and loudly, and at the same time took the cigarette and tucked it behind his ear.

"Don't call me 'sir' anymore, just call me Lao Li."

Li Xiaowu said gently, then lowered his voice and asked, "Brother Wei, how about I help you find a job?"

"Need not"

As Wei Ran took out the sesame seed cakes and put them back into the oven to reheat, he said in a low voice, "This one is just right."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiaowu said nothing more, handed a few banknotes to Wei Ran, and watched as he skillfully took out a piece of sausage, sliced ​​it, and sandwiched it in a sesame seed cake. He then skillfully wrapped it in straw paper, and watched as Wei Ran sandwiched four sesame seed cakes with pickled vegetables and neatly arranged them in a bamboo basket.

Just then, a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old ran out shirtless.

"Minghua, call him Uncle Wei," Li Xiaowu said, picking up the little guy.

"uncle!"

Li Minghua, the young man who will become a version of Timothy in his youth, called out crisply, with a hint of Shanghai's lazy accent.

"Hey!"

Wei Ran happily agreed, and generously tossed the remaining piece of sausage into Li Xiaowu's basket.

He was happy, of course he was happy, he really did see the person he thought he would never see again.