War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1961: The sword chopped off the devils’ heads

On May 9th, the temperature in Moscow plummeted to single digits, but even so, Wei Ran and Sui Sui, who were invited, arrived at the ceremony on time.

However, this time Wei Ran and Sui Sui did not appear as "husband and wife" or "lovers"—although they sat together seemingly by chance.

Compared to Wei Ran, who wore the Friendship Medal on his chest, Sui Sui, dressed in formal attire, was supporting Mr. Nikolai, who was still in good health and had changed into a WWII Soviet military uniform, as a family member.

The old man had no medals on his chest, but he held in his hand the Leica camera that Wei Ran had given him from the Don River battlefield.

Also invited to sit here, on the other side of Wei Ran, is Galina, an orphan who survived the Siege of Leningrad. This was clearly a special arrangement by someone with ulterior motives.

This equally robust old lady had her chest covered with various Soviet medals. She even secretly brought Wei Ran a small bottle of vodka brewed by her husband and brought it directly into the ceremony.

Obviously, as survivors of World War II, especially the Siege of Leningrad, and as defenders of Stalingrad during the Don River campaign, Mr. Nikolai had no problem enjoying a warm bowl of white wine in this not-so-warm weather.

But Wei Ran, who was holding a Pentax camera, knew perfectly well that countless eyes and lenses were watching him at that moment.

He not only had to maintain an appropriate distance from Sui Sui, the Russian, in this situation, but he also had to be somewhat reserved.

Even so, before he could even put the bottle of wine that Grandma Galina insisted on handing him into his pocket, Grandpa Nikolai reached out and "borrowed" it, twisted it open, and after taking a swig, casually handed it to another veteran next to him who looked older than him and had many Soviet medals on his chest.

This seemingly casual action turned the wine bottle, originally intended for Wei Ran, into something he was asked to help hand to Nikolai—even though Mr. Nikolai and Galina didn't know each other at all.

"This awful weather definitely calls for a drink to warm up."

As he spoke, the veteran took a swig from the bottle and handed it to another veteran next to him, saying, "I participated in the Red Square parade in 41. I was even younger than this young man back then."

“You’re really lucky to have survived to this day,” Nikolai said truthfully.

"Surviving is painful."

The veteran touched the medals on his chest and said nostalgically, "If only those who couldn't come back could have had a sip of vodka during that parade."

“Yes,” Nikolai sighed.

"Where are your medals? How come you don't have a single one?" the veteran asked curiously. "Where were you back then?"

"It's been sold. It was sold a long time ago."

Nikolai casually replied, "Back then, I was on the Don River, outside Volgograd, where I was responsible for delivering mail for the field post office."

"Sold off when the Soviet Union collapsed?"

The veteran seemed to have found the answer himself, saying as he removed a Second Class Patriotic War Medal from his chest, "Those were indeed difficult days."

Before he finished speaking, he had already leaned closer with difficulty, and without waiting for Nikolai's consent, he handed the medal to Sui Sui. "Good girl, put this medal on this old man, even if it's just for those defenders who didn't survive."

"Thank you"

Nikolai paused for a moment, then took the medal before Sui Sui, who seemed a little lost, could say anything, and pinned it to his chest.

At the same time, the Kremlin clock began to chime, and the parade officially began. Wei Ran also raised the huge camera in his hand and pressed the shutter from time to time on everything that interested him.

Just like a line of poetry from a student of some petty-bourgeois scum poet, Wei Ran, who was busy taking photos with an old camera, also became part of the composition in other people's lenses at this moment, and incidentally became the topic of conversation for some people in front of the screen.

Regardless of how the outside world evaluates Wei Ran, after watching the military parade, he and Sui Sui first took Tima's private plane to send Mr. Nikolai back to Volgograd, and then rushed back to Kazan, which can be called their base camp.

After that, Wei Ran had some free time, but Sui Sui was extra busy.

Of course, right now, the busiest group than Sui Sui is actually the newly established Wuming Theater Troupe.

Since their successful premieres during the May Day holiday, the three opera troupes have received performance invitations one after another.

They have just finished their second performance in Tai Province, and next they will travel together to several cities in Zhaohe for their third performance.

Just as some people promised, they will definitely not lack performance opportunities.

Putting everything else aside, after finishing their performance at Zhao He, they will immediately head to the United States, where Volgograd, Berlin, Paris, and even Spain and the Philippines await them.

Without a doubt, those who invited them to perform were basically members of the Golden Fleece organization, at least nominally.

I'm going to work now.

In their home by Lake Kaban in Kazan, on the sofa in the small living room on the second floor, Sui Sui, who was lying on Wei Ran's body and refused to move, said with her eyes closed.

"How about we rest for another day?" Wei Ran asked, holding the girl in his arms.

"We can't rest anymore."

Sui Sui reluctantly straightened up, yawning as she said, "I'm going to be busy spending money lately. Every minute that money sits in the account, I'll lose a lot of money. I have to spend it quickly."

"Have you found a direction yet?"

Wei Ran stood up, holding the girl in his arms, and asked as he walked downstairs.

Sui Sui seemed quite satisfied with this humanoid mount, so she hooked her arm around Wei Ran's neck again and snuggled into his arms, saying, "Things are fine here with the Russians and the sheepfold. Whether it's the Inta, the Lower Tunguska River basin, or the tropical fruit business in Greva, we can spend the money that belongs to us here."

"It's hard to say what will happen domestically?"

"I plan to become a landlord in China."

Sui Sui yawned and blurted out a startling decision: "I'll become a landlord in your name."

"What kind of landlord?" Wei Ran asked with great interest.

"We lease land to grow grains and vegetables in greenhouses, and engage in livestock breeding and deep processing." Speaking of this, Sui Sui seemed to regain her interest in an instant.

"Can this make money?"

Wei Ran asked suspiciously, "Putting everything else aside, the cost of farming seems to be lower in the Russian Far East."

"I can't exactly help the person who gave you the medal to develop the Far East, would that be aiding the enemy?"

Sui Sui lowered her voice and whispered in Wei Ran's ear in her native language, "But how can the Russians' meals be enough with just potato porridge, rye bread, and tropical fruits? Especially in winter, shouldn't they try some out-of-season vegetables?"

"So...we'll grow it domestically?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

“I’ve thought it all out,” Sui Sui said with a beaming smile. “The Hunchun Port is so close to Vladivostok, so why not set up an agricultural export business there, and then invest all that money, clean or not, into planting and breeding on the black soil.”

"It's not that investment shouldn't cross mountains."

"They're trash."

Sui Sui was exceptionally confident, “With the Sheep Kingdom, Lyubov’s hometown, and those three hungry, fat men from Russia around, I’m not worried about not being able to exchange food for what I want.”

Wei Ran didn't press Sui Sui for what she wanted; he just thought about her enthusiasm for investing in mining and he could probably guess what she was looking for.

Seeing that the girl had taken a liking to the relationship, Wei Ran stopped trying to persuade her. Amidst the obvious and subtle eye-rolls from the girls downstairs who were being fed dog food (a Chinese slang term for witnessing public displays of affection), he carried her directly to the office on the second floor of the library.

Seeing that the other party would probably be busy for a while, a historian who had been idle for a long time went downstairs and into the library's basement. After locking the blast door from the inside, he went into his studio.

Now, the studio has three tables displaying the two gifts received more than half a month ago, as well as the kettle given by Li Yizhong and other items.

After carefully examining each of the three items, Wei Ran turned to another question: which period of history should he "take a look" at first?

Without a doubt, none of these three things could bring him any real cash benefits.

But for him now, cash income is secondary or even dispensable.

Or, if we look at this from a different angle, which period of history would he visit first? Without a doubt, Wei Ran would choose the two pacifiers for the little boy.

But as the saying goes, good things come to those who wait, so he decided to figure out the other two first before going to have some fun on the Japanese.

Therefore, the choice between three options becomes a choice between two options.

After looking at the old camera and the kettle for a while, Wei Ran hesitated.

Should we go to the Great Wall and wield our swords first, or go to the Yellow River to take a look?

Silently, Wei Ran took out his cigarette case, lit a cigarette, put his feet on the chair, took a big drag, then closed his eyes, fumbled in his pocket, pulled out a cigarette, and flicked it into the air.

"Clang clang clang"

With a series of clattering sounds, the coin first hit the table, then fell to the floor, and was finally slapped onto the floor by Belial, the dog who had followed in, with his large paws.

"come over"

Wei Ran waved to Belial, and as Belial brought his head close to his hand, he glanced at the coin lying on the floor—he already had his answer.

"This is our ancestors in heaven sending us to be loyal."

Amidst the swirling smoke, Wei Ran stroked the dog's head and muttered to himself.

He stubbed out the cigarette after it had only been smoked a few puffs, then got up, picked up his Icanta camera, and left the studio.

Carrying the camera, Wei Ran entered a room diagonally opposite. He locked his dog, Beria, outside the door, and the dog, as if it were already used to it, lay down at the door, acting as a threshold that not everyone could cross.

Besides a table, the unused room was filled with various supplies he might need, displayed on shelves around it.

Unfortunately, because the 116 film used in this camera has long been discontinued, he didn't have any spares.

Even so, he still made some preparations as much as possible, especially taking good care of the anti-Japanese broadsword that he would definitely use, as well as the Mauser pistol and Mauser bayonet that he didn't know if he would use.

"The broadswords were slashed down on the heads of the Japanese soldiers."

Wei Ran hummed the war song softly in his hoarse voice, and at the same time sat down at the table, picked up the camera that had just been placed on the table, and examined it carefully once again.

Finally, he placed it on the table, took a few deep breaths, and then took out the metal notebook.

Amidst the rustling of pages turning, the metal quill pen drew a silhouette on the latest page: a figure carrying an anti-Japanese broadsword on his back, a Mauser pistol at his waist, and holding a camera in his hand.

Who is he? Where is he? What is he filming? Did he survive in the end?

Just as these questions subconsciously popped into Wei Ran's mind, the quill pen wrote lines of blood-red characters beneath the image:
Act I

Character Identity: Wei Ran, member of the suicide squad
Return mission: Participate in at least two night raids, kill more than 10 people with melee weapons, and keep at least one piece of loot.

Skill Mission: Destroy at least one enemy mountain gun and kill at least 5 additional enemies with melee weapons.

Actually, we could have had more.
Wei Ran muttered to himself, wishing he could exceed his father's KPIs to relieve the pressure in his heart.

As for what skills he would learn this time, he wasn't curious at all.

Anyway, having too many lice doesn't make you itch, having too many skills doesn't make you worry. Except for childbirth, which I'm really not physically capable of, I can just take any other "software" and attach it to myself.

As he eagerly awaited the day he would kill the Japanese soldiers, the white light arrived as expected, and he saw the tools he could use within it.

Sure enough, this time, his father not only gave him an anti-Japanese broadsword, a Mauser bayonet, and a Mauser pistol, but also generously gave him a camera case, a kitchen knife, and even a saddlebag containing a grenade launcher.

But what he didn't expect was that he also saw the huge Schneider telescope, as well as a lighter, a pocket warmer, and a cigarette case set in the white light.

As he waited patiently, the intense white light before his eyes gradually dissipated, and before he could see anything around him clearly, he felt a bone-chilling cold.

Gradually, he heard the howling of the cold wind, the hushed conversations around him, and the distinctive, gritty sound of stones rubbing against metal.

Finally, he saw everything before him, especially the puffs of steam coming out of the mouths and noses of the people around him.

Where is this place?

Wei Ran habitually looked around, then looked at himself. This was a trench that had been built rather hastily. He and the people around him were wearing somewhat tattered cotton-padded clothes and shoes, and the weapons they used were mostly old-fashioned rifles and Hanyang rifles. Moreover, it seemed that many soldiers had broadswords on their backs or beside them, and some of them were even sharpening the blades of their broadswords with stones.

He was better off than the people around him; at least he had a dog-skin hat on his head that had lost a lot of fur, and two glove-shaped gloves tied together with hemp rope around his neck.

As for his weapon, it was also a large sword, but he had three Mauser pistols without even a gun case attached to his chest.

So now he's joined the suicide squad?

As Wei Ran was pondering to himself, a man dressed as a military officer approached them.

(End of this chapter)