War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 2009 Jia Ya's Visit for Help

In Dong Chunxi's home in the capital, the not-so-spacious living room was crammed with three large round tables.

Led by Wei Ran and Sui Sui, the young people, under the arrangement of Dong Chunxi and the insistence of Wen Shaotong, were evenly seated at the head of the three large round tables.

Under the hospitality unique to China, Wei Ran, who was quite open to all guests and even deliberately sought to get drunk, was successfully forced to drink cup after cup of baijiu until he almost slid under the table.

That's why, when he woke up from his hangover, he found himself lying in a hotel bed.

I groggily picked up my phone from the table; it was already past 1 p.m. the next day.

"Why did you drink so much this time?"

Almost simultaneously, Sui Sui came over from the suite next door. "Would you like a hangover soup?"

"Dumplings with vinegar and brown sugar again?" Wei Ran asked, struggling to sit up with the other person's help.

"Would you like to drink?"

As Sui Sui spoke, she walked to the table, opened the vinegar bottle, poured in a small half-cup of vinegar, and then sprinkled in a large spoonful of brown sugar.

Wisely, Wei Ran did not refuse. He took the cup offered by the other party and sipped it slowly, grimacing.

"You still haven't told me, why did you drink so much this time?" Sui Sui pressed.

"It's rare to see each other, so I had a few drinks."

Wei Ran asked in a hoarse voice, "You didn't embarrass yourself, did you?"

"no"

Sui Sui said with a big smile, "You didn't throw up until you got back to your room, you're such a good man."

"There's no need to praise me like that."

Wei Ran grinned awkwardly, "What's the plan next?"

"No plans."

As Sui Sui opened the window, she said with high spirits, "But this time I'm really going back to China to develop my career. The money I made last time is enough to do something here."

This time, I'll probably need to use your name, so you might need to come with me to various places in the near future.

"no problem"

Wei Ran nodded, pinched his nose, and swallowed the last mouthful of the incredibly sour dumpling vinegar.

"Since you have no objections, go take a shower quickly."

Sui Sui urged, "Someone wants to see you later, and they've been waiting for a long time."

"Who is it?" Wei Ran put down his cup and asked as he walked towards the restroom.

Miss Jia Ya

Sui Sui said, "She arrived yesterday afternoon and has been waiting for you to sober up."

"Her? Why is she here?" Wei Ran asked curiously as he entered the restroom.

She didn't say.

Sui Sui, who had already returned next door to help prepare clothes, explained, "She only said she wanted to ask you for help with something, and she's in the room diagonally across the street right now."

Upon hearing this, Wei Ran suppressed his doubts, calmly washed up, changed into an outfit that Sui Sui had picked out for him, opened the door, and went out.

Guided by Sui Sui, he gently knocked on the door of a suite diagonally opposite.

After only a short wait, the door was opened from the inside, and Jia Ya, dressed in a formal suit, said gently, "Mr. Wei is awake. I hope you don't mind that I asked to see you without prior notice."

"will not"

Wei Ran shook hands lightly with the other person, "I didn't know Miss Jia Ya was looking for me this time."

"How about we talk somewhere else?"

As Jia Ya spoke, she looked at Sui Sui, who was standing next to Wei Ran, "For example, the conference room at the Nameless Theater Troupe's residence?"

"Alright"

Although Wei Ran didn't know why the other party chose the nameless theater troupe's location for the conversation, he agreed readily enough.

"Let me pack up, and we'll each set off a little later," Jia Ya suggested as her second suggestion.

"In that case, let's set off now."

Wei Ran said with a smile, "Let's have dinner together at the Nameless Theater Troupe tonight. I'll have Chef Zhao prepare it in advance."

“Alright,” Jia Ya nodded with a smile. “See you at the Nameless Theatre Troupe.”

See you at the Nameless Theatre Company

As Wei Ran spoke, he and Sui Sui, who was holding his arm, walked into their room.

"It seems she wants to talk to you about something important," Sui Sui said in a low voice after the door was closed.

"Why don't you go talk to her for me?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"I don't have that kind of time in the US."

Sui Sui gave a smug hum and went into the suite to start tidying up.

At the same time, Wei Ran also called Master Zhao of the Nameless Theater Troupe and asked him to help prepare some dinner for the guests in advance.

About ten minutes later, Wei Ran and Sui Sui led several core girls downstairs with their suitcases and got into their cars.

It was only at this moment that Wei Ran belatedly realized that the reason why Miss Jia Ya parted ways with him was most likely because she didn't want to become one of his beautiful background figures.

Of course, he wouldn't be foolish enough to tell Sui Sui about this little discovery, so after Anfisa started the car, he simply closed his eyes and continued to take a nap to sober up.

Fortunately, the distance between the two places was not far, so in less than an hour, the car drove into the rather deserted theater troupe's residence.

"Master Zhao, where are the people from the theater troupe?"

As Master Zhao, whose clothes were covered in the aroma of burnt sesame cakes, opened the car door for them from the outside, Sui Sui asked...

"Off to the performance!"

Master Zhao said, "They said they were going to perform in Osaka and some kind of Guzi House in Japan. The three opera troupes set off the very night they returned from your village."

"Did they all go?" Wei Ran, who was the first to emerge from the carriage, asked curiously.

"Of course they all went. Apparently, the Chinese bosses there paid them extra to go."

As he spoke, Chef Zhao pointed in the direction of the cafeteria, "The dishes are all prepared and will be on the table in 15 minutes."

"No rush, we'll let you know in advance."

Before Wei Ran could finish speaking, he saw his scumbag friend Qin Ershi walking out of the main entrance on the first floor.

"Alright! You guys get busy, just let me know if you need anything!"

After finishing speaking, Master Zhao didn't forget to ask the other girls who had crawled out if they wanted to have a bite first.

"What are you doing here, kid?"

Wei Ran asked Qin Ershi curiously as he walked over with a toothpick in his mouth.

My gentle, reckless aunt asked me to help transport some things over.

Qin Ershi peered curiously at the van behind Wei Ran, asking, "Which van is she in?"

"Nobody's here. She's coming alone, she should be here soon," Wei Ran said, pointing to the gate.

"Hey! That old woman definitely doesn't want to be just a background figure for you!"

Qin Er Shi accurately acted as a tadpole, but his way of addressing Jia Ya changed from "old lady" to "old woman".

"What did she ask you to bring over?" Wei Ran pretended not to notice the change in the other person's attitude. "I don't know, it's a pretty big box."

Qin Ershi pointed to a conference room on the first floor, "It's in there, why don't you go take a look?"

As he spoke, Qin Ershi greeted Sui Sui warmly with "Greetings, Your Majesty," and then inquired about the plans for the next few days in a fawning manner that made Wei Ran and Sui Sui tremble.

There's no need to guess; Sui Sui's planned investments in China are definitely related to this unreliable scumbag.

As they chatted, they walked into the conference room. Wei Ran was taken aback when he saw the box that Qin Ershi had mentioned.

This box is quite large, almost the size of two 32-inch airline cases stacked together.

What's unusual is that this box not only has different Buddha images painted on each side, but it also has three locks and a red paper seal with black characters around the seams where the locks are fastened.

The problem is that although the words on the seal look like Chinese characters at first glance, Wei Ran doesn't recognize a single one, and he's quite certain that it's not Japanese.

"What is all this writing about?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Who knows, maybe it's just scribbles."

Qin Er Shi's mutterings subsided considerably halfway through—an SUV drove into the yard.

"You guys chat, I'm going to take a dump."

Before Qin Ershi could finish speaking, he dashed out of the conference room and ran straight into the restroom on the first floor.

"Why is he acting like a mouse in front of a cat?" Sui Sui teased with a smile.

Don't say that.

Wei Ran waved his hand, "Mouse isn't that afraid of cats, he's far less afraid than a mouse."

"Too"

After Sui Sui finished speaking, she stood up and called to the other girls as she walked out, saying, "I'll go make you some tea."

Knowing that Sui Sui clearly didn't want to get involved, Wei Ran didn't refuse.

Shortly after, Jia Ya walked into the conference room alone and closed the door behind her.

"I met with Mr. Wei this time to ask him for a favor."

As Jia Ya spoke, she took out two keys from her bag, unlocked the padlock on the large box on the table, and then carefully checked the lead seal and the scribbles on the seal before tearing them apart one by one.

"Is it related to what's in this box?"

Wei Ran leaned closer and asked curiously, without pressing for details about what was written on the seal.

"That's right"

Before Jia Ya could finish speaking, she had already opened the box and said, "While you were hungover all day, the United States, Australia, the nuclear power, and South Korea have listed the Eye of Horus and that assassin spokesperson as terrorist organizations."

"So this is a terrorist organization?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"In recent days, Horus has been releasing a significant number of photos of crimes every day."

After opening the box, Jia Ya walked to the furthest spot from it and sat down. "These photos have caused a great deal of chaos around the world."

Especially recently, hate-related violence has occurred in Los Angeles, Hawaii, Tokyo, and Palau.

"Miss Jiaya, are you here to share the news?" Wei Ran asked with a smile, while subtly glancing at the contents of the box.

The large box appeared to be filled entirely with manila envelopes.

Upon hearing this, Jia Ya smiled and picked up an apple from the fruit plate on the conference room table, examining it carefully.

"click"

Jia Ya tossed out the paratrooper gravity knife that Wei Ran had given her, and while peeling an apple in her hand, she said casually, "It's just a chat between friends. As far as I know, there will be some vendettas and violent acts in Manila and Indonesia in a few days."

"It seems they've become pariahs."

"This street isn't lively enough, and there aren't enough rats."

Jia Ya seemed to have all her attention focused on the apple in her hand, "So I came."

"Since you're here, let's have a meal together later."

Wei Ran smiled and extended an invitation, "Master Zhao's cooking skills are excellent. You can try it sometime."

"Alright"

As Jia Ya spoke, she brought the half-peeled apple to her mouth and took a small bite. "When do we start eating?"

"I'll go and inform them right away."

Wei Ran got up and opened the door, shouting loudly before closing it again.

"Where did those people go?" Jia Ya asked vaguely as she took her second bite of the apple.

"They went to perform."

Wei Ran replied with a smile, "Master Zhao said he went to recruit nuclear power plants."

"Oh"

Jia Ya responded with a rather indifferent tone, and the conference room fell silent.

But Wei Ran knew clearly that the "those people" the other party had just asked about were not members of the nameless theater troupe, but the Xiao Gu family and their accomplices who had disappeared more than a week ago.

“Many agencies are offering very high commissions to them,” Jia Ya reminded herself, almost as if talking to herself.

Hopefully they can find it.

Wei Ran shrugged, his tone full of confidence.

Now that the tide has turned, Hela has already begun recruiting and spreading her influence, making it difficult to find them.

"Mr. Wei is very confident?" Jia Ya asked with a smile.

"What's it to me?"

Wei Ran shrugged again, his tone full of nonchalant indifference.

Seeing this, Jia Ya smiled and decisively ended the topic, then said, "I heard from the Second Prince that Miss Sui Sui is planning to invest in China?"

"She and her friends recently set up an investment fund," Wei Ran responded ambiguously.

“I also have some savings of my own. I wonder if Miss Sui Sui would be interested in letting me join in?” Jia Ya said abruptly.

After only half a second of thought, Wei Ran said with a friendly expression, "I can't make the decision on this matter. Miss Jiaya will probably have to talk to her in person."

"In that case, I'll go talk to Miss Sui Sui first." As Jia Ya spoke, she put away her paratrooper knife, stood up, and walked towards the conference room door with an apple in her hand. "See you in the cafeteria."

"it is good"

Wei Ran smiled and agreed again, and only after watching the other person leave and closing the conference room door for him from the outside did he look back at the file folders in the box.

After a moment's thought, he took out a pair of gloves from his pocket and put them on. He then casually picked up a file, untied the rope, and took out the contents.

However, upon seeing the contents of the file folder, his previously calm expression turned quite serious.

This is a photo album; it has no cover, it's just a simple photo album.

The album also contains photos that are clearly from the war years, taken by the Japanese army themselves, depicting their crimes.

As you gently flip through the album, you'll occasionally find a card that looks yellowed, clearly displaying the identity information of the war criminals in the previous photos.

At the very bottom of the card is a time accurate to the minute, written 14 years ago, and at the end is the phrase "on trial."

What's particularly interesting is that the phrase "has been tried" wasn't written on, but rather stamped in red.

After a moment's thought, Wei Ran had already guessed Jia Ya's intention in sending these things over—to use the Eye of Horus to expose these photos as well.

"Just say it directly," Wei Ran mumbled indistinctly, "although I definitely wouldn't admit it if you just said it directly."