In the ruins of Leningrad city shrouded in artillery fire and gunpowder smoke, Wei Yan, whose upper body was wrapped in a blanket, pulled Kona, who was also tightly wrapped in a blanket, on a sledge, enduring desperate hunger and almost aimlessly.
Generally, it is moving slowly towards the northeast direction that seems to never end.
Along the way, everything I could see were ruins of ruins and Leningrad residents lingering in the ruins. Some of them were lying in despair and numbness on tattered beds or on the ground, and some were still there.
Slowly, they rummaged through the ruins on the ground, trying to find something to eat or something to keep warm. Some of them had closed their eyes forever in the corner.
"Where is that place? Why are there so many people?"
Wei Ran asked, pointing to a building whose doorway was mostly blown down. There was nothing special about the building itself, but from time to time, people would come in and out through the collapsed door.
"Library," Kona replied weakly, "That's the library. Of course everyone goes there to borrow or read books."
"Reading?" Wei Ran couldn't help but look back at Ke Na who provided the answer.
"if not"
Kona stretched the brim of her hat down to block the dazzling sunlight, and said matter-of-factly, "Reading is probably the most energy-saving form of entertainment. Although books can't fill our stomachs, they can at least keep us alive.
Hope, isn’t it?”
"It's hard to imagine that these words came from the mouth of a girl as young as you," Wei Ran sighed sincerely.
"Are you very old?" Ke Na responded weakly. "26 years old" Wei Ran paused, "What about you?"
"16 years old" Ke Na paused, "17 years old, I almost forgot, it's already 42 years."
"You look only fifteen years old," Wei Ran said as he took a step forward and continued walking forward.
"I'm already small"
Ke Na, who squinted her eyes, didn't care whether Wei Ran saw it or not. She just gestured with her hands and said, "I used to be a real fat guy. I was less than 1.6 meters tall but weighed nearly 70 kilograms."
"It's hard to imagine." Wei Ran couldn't help but look back at the skinny girl on the sledge. This girl should probably weigh 70 pounds now. "Yes."
Kena sighed and said weakly, "My classmates often laugh at me because I look like a snowman. Even I never thought that I would become so thin.
However, thanks to the fact that I was so fat before, if it weren’t for the embarrassing fat, I might have died long ago.”
As if afraid that Wei Ran wouldn't believe it, Ke Na paused and added, "Several of those classmates who used to laugh at me, those who were slimmer than me, starved to death. But I couldn't be happy at all. How could I
I became happy. I would rather be blocked in the classroom and laughed at by them like before."
"Which direction should we go next?" Wei Ran took the initiative to change the subject, "There is a crossroads ahead."
"Keep moving forward," Kena responded weakly, "Everything around here has been found."
"Do you know where I can catch mice?" Wei Ran asked a question with no hope at all while walking.
"mouse?"
Kona thought for a while and quickly replied without any surprise, "I don't know. I dare say that all the rats in Leningrad have been caught long ago. Not only rats, but also cats and dogs, sparrows, owls, anything that can provide meat."
All the animals have been caught long ago, and even the human corpses..."
"We will not consider this last option." Wei Ran clearly stated his attitude before the other party finished speaking.
"I know," Kena said weakly, "I'm just explaining what's happening."
"I know too." Before Wei Ran could finish his words, he stopped again.
"What's wrong?" Kona, who didn't know whether she was about to fall asleep or about to faint from hunger, struggled to open her eyes and asked.
"Wait me a moment"
As Wei Ran spoke, he loosened the rope connecting the sledge and quickly walked towards a collapsed building on the side of the road.
At the edge of the ruins, which was only a pile of rubble, he saw a man wearing overalls and a Lenin hat, with the same beard as Lenin and the same hairstyle as Stalin.
This man was not tall and had a sallow complexion, as if he could be blown over by a gust of wind. Behind him, there was also a sledge truck.
But what caught Wei Ran's attention was that there was no collected wood at all on the sledge truck. Instead, there were two baskets woven with birch branches and a small rectangular cage woven with iron wire.
In that barbed wire cage, which was only the size of a later generation microwave oven, there was an unusually fat mouse!
But inside those two birch branch baskets, there were cages one after another that seemed to be used to capture mice!
Look at the skinny man, who is as thin as a stick. He is kneeling on the ground, sticking his butt out and reaching into the cracks of the ruins, as if he is trying to pull something out.
When Wei Ran walked less than five meters away from him, this man, who looked to be in his forties, also pulled out a barbed wire cage that was larger than a tea bucket from the cracks in the ruins. He was extremely surprised.
What's surprising is that there is actually an extremely fat mouse in this cage!
The man smiled at Wei Ran and generously handed the cage and the mouse in the cage forward, "Do you need it?"
"You want to give it to me?"
Wei Ran asked in surprise. He couldn't believe it. This disgusting mouse was worth saving lives at this time! But this man was so generous that he was ready to give it to him even if he looked at it.
They didn't even know each other before.
"Take it"
The man stood up unsteadily, and while gently patting the mud and snow on his trousers with his canvas gloves, he said gently, "I guess you need it, otherwise you wouldn't come over."
After saying that, the man limped towards the sledge truck not far away, picked up a barbed wire cage of the same size from the basket, and took out a reddish-brown pellet about the size of a fingertip from his pocket, and put it
It was threaded on a thin wire in the cage, then propped up the cage door with a mechanism, and stuffed it into the gap just now.
Glancing at the opponent's legs that seemed to be a bit clumsy, Wei Ran couldn't help but asked curiously, "Comrade, are you a professional mouse catcher?"
"Professional in catching mice?"
The middle-aged man smiled, stood up again and stretched out his hand towards Wei Ran, "I am Matvey, the golden eagle keeper of the Leningrad Zoo. These mice are prepared for the golden eagles of the zoo. Those who are picky
The guys only eat living things."
"Zoo? Keeper? Tamer?"
Wei Ran was stunned, and subconsciously shook hands with the other person's extended hand, "Hello, Comrade Matvey, I am Victor, the nursery nurse. To a certain extent, we are almost peers."
"Nursery nurse?" Matvey raised his eyebrows, "So you are responsible for taking care of the children?"
"Yes, 10 little kids."
Wei Ran pointed behind him, where Ke Na was still lying on the sledge and unwilling to get up, "Of course, there is also an older child who has just grown up."
"Oh! Sorry, I thought you were going to bury him in the grave..."
"Kona is a girl, of course, a girl who is still alive."
Wei Ran used a little joke to avoid the embarrassment of the golden eagle breeder, and then changed the subject and asked, "With all due respect, Comrade Matvey, using such precious meat..."
"You're saying this mouse might be able to save someone's life, right?"
Seeing the apology on Wei Ran's face, Matvey smiled and asked him to sit down on the sledge. He took a breath and pointed to the library in the distance where Wei Ran and the two had just passed by, and then said, "
Preserving zoos is as important as preserving libraries and concert halls. These beautiful things can bring hope to those who are still alive.
You see, as long as the animals in the Leningrad zoo are still alive, as long as the Leningrad libraries are still allowed to borrow books, as long as there are performances in the Leningrad concert halls, everyone will firmly believe that Leningrad has not yet arrived.
In the most difficult times, we will firmly believe that we will win this war."
"So can we still visit the zoo now?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously, but he didn't think this middle-aged man was a virgin.
Just like it is the absolute bottom line that people cannot live by eating the flesh of the same kind, isn't it because of these seemingly meaningless persistence that the reason why people are humans and not beasts?
"I'm sorry, I'm afraid there's nothing we can do this winter."
Matvey's tone was not only apologetic, but also full of shame, "Since the Germans bombed the zoo last September, our water, power, heating, and water and sewage systems have all been paralyzed, and many exhibition halls have also been damaged.
To the point of destruction.”
As if he was worried about disappointing Wei Ran and Ke Na who was walking this way, Matvey continued, "Please give us some time, spring! In the spring, the zoo will definitely be open for visits.
We still have more than a hundred animals, and our stars the black vulture Veroshk, the hippo Beauty and the baboon Arsha are all still alive.
We also have goats and puppies that can perform, little foxes and little monkeys, and of course, those picky and proud golden eagles, they are all alive too.
Victor, when spring comes, you must take your children to the zoo."
"Is the beauty still alive too?"
Ke Na asked excitedly, then looked at Wei Ran and said in a calm and sad tone, "Before the war, my classmates often compared my figure with the beautiful hippopotamus or Betty the elephant."
"Alive, the beauty is still alive."
Matvey nodded, "However, due to lack of water, our beauty suffered from skin diseases, but she is indeed alive. Unfortunately, Betty was killed by the Germans in September."
At this point, Matvey sighed and couldn't help but repeat, "Betty was killed. The German bomb fell next to her elephant house. Her keeper, Comrade Brak, was killed on the spot. Both of them were killed."
Days later, Betty also died."
“The zoo is too far away from us”
Kona sighed regretfully, "I don't have the strength to walk that far now, but when spring comes, I will definitely go to the zoo to see it!"
"Where do you and the children live?" Matvey asked following the topic.
"The basement of the yellow building behind the Soviet Bank." Before Wei Ran could say anything, Kona gave the answer without any thought, "There used to be a bakery there, and we were in the basement of the bakery."
"I know it's there," Matvey said regretfully, "it's really far away. There's definitely no way for the children to walk to the zoo from there."
"We can only wait until the war is over," Kona said helplessly, "if we are still alive by then."
"You will definitely survive"
As Matvey spoke, he had already put on canvas gloves, reached out to pick up the mouse from the cage and stuffed it into a mouse trap, and handed it to Wei Ran without hesitation, while saying with a deep apology,
"If you don't mind, just take it. Although these rats probably grew so big because they ate human flesh, I guess the children definitely need the nutrition they provide, and this is better than eating human flesh..."
"Our children have never eaten a bite of human flesh," Kona, who had looked regretful just now, said very seriously at this time, and there was even a trace of undisguised anger in her tone.
"Sorry, I mean..." "I understand"
Wei Ran did not take the cage offered by the other party and took it into his hand. Instead, he took the initiative to extend his hand towards the other party, "Anyway, Matvey, thank you for the gift. We will not misunderstand you, and these mice can indeed
Save children's lives.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! But forget about this one, it is enough for us to have this one. Of course, we also want to thank you for the mouse traps you gave us, they are equally important."
"You're welcome, take it."
Matvey threw the rats that could not be sent out back to the sledge behind him. He picked up two rat cages from the basket and forced them to Wei Ran. At the same time, he asked again, "You live in the bakery behind the Soviet Bank."
basement?"
"Yes." Ke Na quickly confirmed before Wei Ran spoke again. "If I have a chance, I will go there to catch mice."
As Matvey spoke, he had already pushed his sledge away from the ruins. At the same time, he did not forget to speak as loudly as possible, "You must survive. In the spring, I will be waiting for you at the zoo to take your children to visit."
"Same for you and the little animals," Kona responded weakly.
Watching Matvey get into another ruins not far away, Wei Ran immediately said, "Kona, do you still have the strength to walk back?"
"Yes, I can still go back by myself." Ke Na said, taking the three mouse traps handed over by Wei Ran, as well as the fat rat in the cage.
"Let Mrs. Weiya decide whether the children can eat this kind of rat." Wei Ran paused and continued, "If she has no objection, I will deal with this rat when I go back."
"No problem, we will wait for you." Kena said, having already hidden the three cages in the blanket she was wearing, she swayed and slowly walked towards the direction she came from.
After watching the other party go away, Wei Ran pushed the sledge and continued along the street.
It was a pity that until he walked until noon amidst the clearly audible sound of artillery fire, and his eyes turned black for a while, he could not find anything to burn.
On the contrary, he found a little guy who looked to be about thirteen or fourteen years old. He walked into the ruins alone and tried hard to peel off the remaining wallpaper on tiptoes.
To his surprise, after taking off the wallpaper, the little guy casually found a broken brick and sat down, leaning against the remaining wall, tearing off a strip of the wallpaper he had just taken off and stuffing it directly into his mouth!
"What are you eating?" Wei Ran slowly walked over and squatted next to the little guy and asked.
"Gate," the thin little boy, who was as thin as a stick, replied in a hoarse voice, "Gate on the wallpaper. Alyosha said eating it can keep me alive."
"Your parents, they..."
"died"
While the little boy was talking, he tore off a small strip of wallpaper and stuffed it into his mouth. While licking the dried paste on it, he said, "They were buried under the house, over there."
As he said this, the little boy pointed to a building in the distance with his hand holding the wallpaper, "The German artillery shells hit the roof of my house. They all died, and only I survived."
"Where do you live now?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask. "There"
The little boy pointed to another building in another direction and said, "I and several friends around here live there, and Aunt Tasha gives each of us a piece of bread every day, but I am still hungry and have a stomachache.
"
"Can you take me to have a look?" Wei Ran gritted his teeth and asked. "What are you going to do?" the little boy asked warily.
However, perhaps because the tension at this time exhausted his strength, under Wei Ran's gaze, the body of the little boy whose name he still didn't know began to tremble and shake uncontrollably, as if he would fall down at any time.
Before the other party fainted, Wei Ran supported him, and at the same time used his other hand to support the wall behind him that had its wallpaper removed to combat the darkening of his eyes caused by this strenuous activity.
After a while, Wei Ran slowly sat down next to him, letting the little guy, who was almost fainting from hunger, lie on the ground with his ankles as his pillow.
Immediately afterwards, he took off the blanket covering his body, covered his hands, took out the food box as quickly as possible, and took out a piece of chocolate from it.
Putting away the food box and wrapping it in the blanket again, Wei Ran tore off the tin foil wrapping the chocolate, broke off a small piece and stuffed it into the little boy's mouth.
Stimulated by the unique sweetness of chocolate, the little boy subconsciously began to suck the chocolate near his mouth. When he woke up from the stimulation of the sweetness, he immediately covered his mouth and began to devour it, while also curling up subconsciously.
body - as if ready for a beating.
However, when he swallowed a whole piece of chocolate, he found that Wei Ran, who was still sitting against the wall, handed him another piece of chocolate!
After being stunned for a moment, the little boy immediately took the chocolate, but this time, he did not eat it. Instead, he stumbled up and ran to a building on the opposite side of the road.
Seeing this, Wei Ran also stood up holding on to the wall. After the darkness in front of his eyes disappeared, he broke off a fingernail-sized corner of chocolate and threw it into his mouth. He patiently waited for it to slowly melt with his saliva, and followed.
The little boy walked into the building across the road.
Without any effort at all, he found five or six boys or girls as old as the little boy in a room that seemed to be a classroom, as well as a little boy who looked about four or five years old.
Under Wei Ran's gaze, the little boy walked to the edge of a table, took out a rusty knife from his pocket, and cut the piece of chocolate, which was only half the size of a mahjong block, into several even pieces.
small pieces, and a slightly larger particle.
Immediately afterwards, he first walked to the youngest boy and stuffed the largest piece of chocolate into his mouth. Then, he started stuffing a corresponding piece of chocolate into the mouths of each of his friends of the same age.
Smaller chocolate.
"Alexander, I seem to taste chocolate..." a little girl asked weakly.
"right!"
Alexander showed a silly and honest smile with a pair of rabbit teeth, and at the same time looked at Wei Ran gratefully.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! The children who were also awakened by the chocolate also followed Alexander's eyes and noticed Wei Ran standing at the door.
"Have you guys been living here by yourself?"
As Wei Ran spoke, he broke the remaining piece of chocolate into pieces and stuffed one into each child's mouth just like Alexander did just now.
Generous? He didn't know if this was considered generous, but he knew that if he didn't give these children, who were only junior high school students at most, some energy, they might starve to death in the next second.
"Originally there was Teacher Yuri and his wife Mrs. Kovlova," Alexander, who had been wary of Wei Ran before, subconsciously replied.
"them..""
"Teacher Yuri went to work at the port the day before yesterday." Alexander paused and replied, somewhat at a loss, "Mrs. Hovolova...she...she died. She died of starvation yesterday morning."
"Sorry, I'm late."
Wei Ran sighed and tried not to think about whether he was capable of taking care of so many children. He gritted his teeth and said, "Do you want to go back with me? I can take care of you. There are many children similar to you there.
.”
"Can we have enough to eat?" a little boy couldn't help but ask.
"Alyosha, what good things are you thinking about?" a little girl couldn't help but remind her.
"I guarantee that you won't starve to death," Wei Ran replied seriously, "but I can't keep you full, and I won't allow you to eat human flesh."
"We don't eat human flesh!" Alexander said subconsciously, "Teacher Yuri and Mrs. Khovorova said that we would rather starve to death than we can't eat humans, otherwise we will go to hell."
"So would you like to go back with me?"
Seeing that the children were silent, Wei Ran raised his hand and pointed outside and said, "I came here to collect firewood, so it's a bit far from where I live. If you decide to go back with me, I'm afraid you'll have to wait until dark.
"
"There seems to be no firewood on your sledge," a little girl reminded as she looked out the window.
"I haven't found any firewood yet," Wei Ran replied with a smile, "Then I found you."
"We'll go with you"
Alexander said abruptly, "Teacher Yuri said that he will not come back until spring. We must find a way to survive before he comes back. The most important thing is that we must find a way to let Teacher Yuri and Howo
It’s important that Mrs. Lova’s child survives.”
Hearing this, all the other children subconsciously looked at the little guy who was obviously the youngest.
"Let's go with you," Alexander said hoarsely, looking at Wei Ran, "I don't know your name yet."
"Victor, you can call me Victor. I am a childcare worker." Wei Ran looked at the other children, "If you decide to go with me, if you can still move, let's set off now."
"We need to let Aunt Tasha know where we have been."
Before she finished speaking, a little girl took out half a piece of chalk from her pocket and wrote in Russian on the blackboard on the wall where several names were written, "Aunt Tasha, we are with the childcare worker Victor.
"
"Is it okay to write like this?" the little girl asked while putting away the chalk.
"We also need to write down where we are going," the little boy named Alyosha added.
"That yellow building behind the Soviet Bank" Wei Ran paused for a moment. There used to be a bakery there, and we were in the basement of the bakery.
"I know it's there"
Alexander subconsciously licked his pair of thick big teeth, "I used to go there with my mother to buy bread boards, and I often went there with my father to deposit or withdraw money."
"We often go there too," the little girl said, having already taken out the chalk again and added an additional detailed address on the blackboard.
