"Why did you think of bringing little animals over to perform for the children?"
While Wei Ran asked the other person, he also squatted in front of the other person, "Take off your shoes and let me see what's going on with your feet."
“Isn’t the purpose of the zoo’s existence to bring happiness to children and all kind-hearted people who like animals?”
Matvey, who was dragging the empty sledge truck belonging to Weiyan, replied matter-of-factly, "So after I heard that there were many children there, I decided to bring the animals over to perform for the children. As for my feet,
It's just a sprain."
"How did you sprain it?" Wei Ran asked with some inquisitiveness. Matweihun spread his hands indifferently, "When I was setting up the mouse trap a few days ago, the German planes dropped a series of incendiary bombs. In order to
To escape the arsonists, I jumped from the second floor of an apartment building."
"Take off your shoes and let me take a look at them."
As Wei Ran spoke, he had already grabbed the opponent's sprained leg and took off the opponent's gray felt boots without any explanation.
"Victor, are you still a doctor?" Matvey asked curiously, "Aren't you a nursery nurse?"
"Before a veterinarian"
Wei Ran said while tearing off the other party's smelly foot binding, "A veterinarian who specializes in treating animals' legs and feet."
"Veterinarian?" Matvey's eyes lit up, "Can you cure the hippo's skin disease?"
"What did you say? Hippo skin disease?"
Wei Ran gently pinched the opponent's ankle with his hand and asked in surprise, "Isn't that thing covered in armor? Can it also get skin diseases?"
"What kind of stupidity are you talking about...oh——!"
The unprepared Matvey let out an exclamation without finishing his sentence, and at the same time, there was a snapping sound at his ankle.
"Try now to see if it still hurts."
Wei Ran stood up and asked. This guy's ankle was not dislocated. He just used massage and bone setting, which literally heals diseases and saves lives, and gave him a small fake local joint massage.
After carefully moving his ankle, Matvey tried to stand up, took two steps with one bare foot, and said in surprise, "Although it still hurts a little, it's much better than before. Victor, how are you doing?"
Did it?"
"Do you want me to demonstrate it to you again?" Wei Ran asked pretending to be expectant.
"Forget it"
Matvey quickly waved his hand, sat on the former's sledge again, picked up the smelly foot-wrapping cloth, and after wrapping his feet, he put on his felt boots again. At the same time, he did not forget to say naggingly, "I guess you might
It can really help our beautiful hippo treat her skin disease."
"I'm afraid I can't help."
Wei Ran stood up slowly while holding on to the sledge, and while fighting the dizziness caused by hypoglycemia, he responded, "I have never treated hippos, especially skin diseases. That is not my area of expertise at all."
"Forget it," Matvey did not insist, but said instead, "Now hurry up and take me to meet the children!"
"We can't afford the performance fee," Weiran said jokingly, while helping the other party pull the heavy sledge truck and giving his own sledge truck to Matvey.
"It doesn't matter"
Matvey also said in a joking tone, "You can wait until spring, no, wait until the war is over!
When the war is over, how about you come back to the zoo and ask me or my colleagues to pay for the performance, 1 ruble per person, and only accept payment in person from the audience?"
"It's not expensive," Weiran responded with a smile.
"It is directly paid by the audience themselves," Matvey emphasized again, "especially children."
"Of course, it is directly paid by the audience themselves, especially children, but we will only pay the performance fee to Comrade Matvey, otherwise we will not recognize people bringing animals to perform for us."
Wei Ran raised his voice slightly, and while repeating the other party's request, he also made a promise and made a request full of blessings.
Hearing this, Matvey ignored the second half of the request, and instead pretended to be happy and said, "One ruble for each child, 10 rubles for 10 children, this is enough..."
"16"
Wei Ran didn't wait for the other party to finish before he corrected him, "We had 6 more friends yesterday, so now we have 16 young viewers."
"This is really good news," Matvey immediately said with a smile. "So if you don't want the zoo to lose a huge sum of 16 rubles, when the war is over, it is best for the children to find you in the zoo."
"Of course!" Matvey patted his chest and made his promise. After agreeing on the "price," the two pulled the sledge and crossed the bridge across the Neva River amidst the constant firefight.
He slowly walked towards the basement.
During the chat along the way, Wei Ran also learned that in order to perform for the children, Matvey had already set off at around six o'clock this morning.
Not only that, but from what he said, it seemed that his other two friends also took small animals to do voluntary performances for other children in the city. Such activities have been suspended since the zoo was bombed.
, he and his colleagues, as well as those versatile little animals, almost everyone performs once a week. The rest of the time is used to collect supplies and food that can fill the stomachs of the little animals.
"So where do the food for the carnivores in your zoo come from?" Wei Ran couldn't help but asked curiously.
"Frontline," Matvey replied simply, "I have a few colleagues who will go to the frontline every once in a while. There are many..."
"Germans?" Wei Ran couldn't help but answer. "Our little animals don't eat human flesh."
Matvey quickly waved his hand, "It's horse meat. There are many carcasses of war horses on the front line. The soldiers cut off the good parts of the carcasses and ate them, but there are still a lot of things like internal organs and horse skin left. Those things are all
It’s edible.”
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Hearing this, Wei Ran's eyes immediately lit up, "When will you next go to the front line to collect horse meat?"
"You want to go too?" Matvey looked at Wei Ran in surprise. "Of course."
Wei Ran nodded matter-of-factly, "We have 16 children, an old man, two adult girls and me waiting to eat."
"But those war horses..."
"It's much better than a mouse, isn't it?" Wei Ran asked back, "Even if it's just the internal organs and intestines of a horse, it still provides more meat than a mouse."
Hearing this, Matvey thought for a while, gritted his teeth and said, "Originally, I was going to wait until my foot healed, but in this case, let's wait until I finish performing for the children!
Tomorrow... no, no, no, the day after tomorrow! I will take you to the battlefield to find horse meat the day after tomorrow. But then you have to go to the zoo to meet me. I don’t have the strength to walk so far to pick you up."
"Then the day after tomorrow." Wei Ran agreed immediately after seeing a way to survive. They agreed to go to the battlefield together to find food, and the two of them quickened their pace again.
Before noon, the two finally returned safely to the ruins of the building where the basement was located. As expected, the arrival of Matvey and his little animals was enthusiastically received by the children who had been hiding in the ruins of the war for who knows how long.
welcome.
We haven’t seen each other in the past half morning. Lydia has already registered with the older children headed by Alexander and the little boy named Bogdan. Moreover, even she herself was also busy because she helped at the port last night.
I needed a rest after a busy night, so it was rare that I didn't go out to work.
Not only that, Kona also happened to take the older children and use a sledge truck to transport some broken wooden boards.
Without asking, the girl took the initiative to explain that just over half an hour ago, an artillery shell blew up a nearby house. These wooden boards were only enough to burn for half a day at most. She and her children took the risk to demolish them.
Came back.
Under the leadership of this girl, several hungry older children took the wooden boards into the unlocked room and stacked them neatly. Then they simply cleaned up the open space at the door of the three rooms, which was regarded as giving way to the performance.
site.
When Mrs. Via walked out of the warm room with the other children, each wrapped in a blanket and wearing a colorful Budyonni hat, Wei Ran also generously stuffed two pieces of chocolate that had been prepared in advance.
Matvei preparing for the performance.
"eat it"
Wei Ran said in a low voice, "I don't want you to starve to death here while acting. Then we will have to cry and put the little actors in the car into the pot."
"You are so vicious"
Matvey shook his head dumbfounded, but did not take the chocolate from Wei Ran's hand, "I know how precious this thing is, so I'd better leave it to the children. I'm here to bring hope to the children, not to eat it."
Dropping their candy."
"Eat at least one," Wei Ran said seriously, "so that you can have the strength to perform for more children."
Hearing this, Matvey looked straight at Wei Ran, who had a sincere face. After hesitating for a moment, he nodded seriously, carefully picked up the piece of chocolate, bit off at most one third, and then
Wrap it in tin foil and put it in your pocket.
Gently patting Wei Ran on the shoulder, Matvey unloaded a small stroller from his sledge and placed it on the ground. He then took out a children's bicycle and a colorful leather ball.
"Responsibility for Si Qi——!"
Matveira shouted a name in a long voice, and at the same time he stretched out his hand and snapped his fingers.
With the crisp sound of "pop!", the children, the girls, and even Mrs. Via, who was holding the baby Galina in her arms, subconsciously looked at Matvey and him in the center of the field.
The sledge covered with a canvas cover behind it.
"Comrades! Classmates! The performance is about to begin! Please look here! Yes! Look here! This is it!"
Under the thick canvas cover, an unpleasant drake voice greeted in Russian, and the girl Kona, who was sitting on the dilapidated stairs, also used the bayan in her arms to add a small string of funny and cheerful music to the occasion.
.
This tacit cooperation, which was not discussed at all in advance, immediately made the hungry children burst into laughter that could not be destroyed by war.
At the same time, Wei Ran also walked to Ke Na and whispered, "Close your eyes and open your mouth."
Hearing this, Ke Na, who was holding Bayangqin, was stunned for a moment, and then she closed her eyes and opened her mouth. In less than half a second, she felt a small square with sharp edges being covered.
Throwing it into her mouth, she immediately tasted the sweetness of chocolate that she had not tasted for a long time!
"Shh-" Wei Ran gestured towards her to silence, and at the same time showed a reassuring smile.
It wasn't until the girl nodded excitedly that he turned around and walked towards Lidya, who was not far away and was energetic.
"Lydia" Wei Ran whispered into the other person's ear. "What's wrong?" Delia asked feebly, and couldn't help but yawn after speaking.
Without even waiting for the yawn to end, Wei Ran quickly put a piece of chocolate into the other person's mouth.
"Well!"
Lidya was startled and was about to spit out the contents of her mouth, but Wei Ran covered her mouth first. At the same time, he stuffed two small pieces wrapped in tinfoil into the pocket of her woolen coat.
of chocolate.
"Eat it," Wei Ran whispered. "There are two more pieces in your pocket. Keep them for yourself. The children and Mrs. Wea need you to survive."
With just one sentence and the long-lost sweetness in her mouth, tears burst into Lidia's eyes.
"Today is a happy day, isn't it?"
Wei Ran glanced at Matvey who was introducing himself in the middle of the venue to Chisi Qi Qi, who was under the canvas cover, and continued with a smile, "How can an animal show not have candy, so I let go
Hand, can you eat everything in your mouth in big gulps?"
Hearing this, Lidya, who was in tears, nodded vigorously. When Wei Ran's hand left her cheek, she immediately covered her mouth, trying not to choke.
Just when Wei Ran was busy using various little lies to stuff a piece of fragrant chocolate into the mouths of every child except the baby Galina, Matvey finally opened the door to the children's expectations.
There was a small window in the canvas cover.
Amidst the flapping of its wings and the exclamations of the children, a colorful macaw flew accurately onto Matvey's shoulder, and first rubbed its little head affectionately against Matvey's belt.
The frostbitten cheeks were followed by a crackling imitation of a fart sound.
Amid the laughter of the children, Matvey, who pretended to be farted, opened the second small window. Soon, a not-so-big, skinny dog came out wagging its tail.
Matvey carried it onto the sledge truck, and Wang Wangwang began to compete with the children on arithmetic problems.
At the same time, Wei Ran also approached Mrs. Via who was holding Galina, and said with a smile, "Mrs. Via, open your mouth."
"What are you going to do again?" Mrs. Weiya asked helplessly. She had already discovered Wei Ran's little tricks, but she also knew that there was nothing she could do to stop him from "wasting food".
"Anyway, just open your mouth," Wei Ran urged with a smile, "Anyway, open your mouth quickly, I'm in a hurry to watch the show."
Hearing this, Mrs. Weiya sighed helplessly, opened her mouth honestly, and let Wei Ran stuff a piece of chocolate into her mouth.
"I'll watch you eat it before you leave," Wei Ran said seriously. "You shouldn't waste food like this." Mrs. Weiya said with a wry smile. She naturally knew what was in her mouth, but she couldn't figure it out at all.
Where did it come from.
"Anyway, eat it first," Wei Ran insisted stubbornly, "If you eat it, the children will still have it in the future. If you don't eat it, I won't be too lazy to look for it in the future."
For this reason, knowing that she couldn't resist Wei Ran, Mrs. Weiya could only chew the chocolate in her mouth bite by bite, and ate it into her stomach under Wei Ran's "supervision".
"Now can you tell me where you found the chocolate?" Mrs. Via asked after swallowing the chocolate.
"I found the wreckage of a German plane"
Wei Ran sat down next to the other person and explained matter-of-factly, "I found it on him, and also found some other gadgets. Anyway, don't worry, I will definitely let the children survive.
, I promised."
Hearing this, Mrs. Via licked her lips that still had the sweet taste. Although she didn't say anything else, there was a smile of relief on her face.
At the same time, Matvey also put the parrot, which was not resistant to freezing at all, into a warm cage, and the dog, which had finished the arithmetic problems, also pushed the small stroller around with its front paws.
It circled around the edge of the field.
It was only then that the children noticed that there was a little monkey in the stroller with big eyes and eating his fingers! Almost subconsciously, all the children looked at Mrs. Via Ana who was clinging to her.
Stasia, this little girl also loves to eat her fingers!
In this inexplicable coincidence, the atmosphere at the scene became more and more lively. The little monkey who was riding a stroller around the field also rode the bicycle in a circle.
Coincidentally, the midday sun passed through the cracked gap in the ceiling on the first floor, like a natural spotlight, illuminating Matvey, who was standing in the center of the venue with a friendly smile, and also illuminated the hope on the faces of the children.
.
Seeing this, Wei Ran silently left Mrs. Weiya, walked alone around Ke Na, who was in charge of the accompaniment of the forest farm, climbed up to the first floor, found an angle with the sun behind him, and turned the basement to his performers and children.
, all included in the viewfinder of that Rolleiflex twin-lens reflex camera, and they were fixed on the film.
Back in the basement, he found a few more angles and took a few photos of Matvey, his little actors, and the children with smiles on their faces.
After the little monkey finished his performance, as the last canvas window opened, a naive and obviously under-adult little bear slowly walked out.
Amid the children's exclamations, Matvey directed the smart little bear to stand up and put the ball on top of its furry head.
When the little guy standing on two hind legs began to walk slowly with the ball on his head, the children who clapped their hands crazily and the adults forgot about hunger and ignored the cheerful accompaniment provided by Kona on the bayan.
The unmistakable sound of artillery fire and the roar of aircraft.
And in the center of this happy place, Matvey, who was shrouded in bright sunlight, also at this moment, looked at Wei Ran who had just pressed the shutter on the edge of the place, and both sides saw something in each other's eyes.
Things that are exactly the same but completely different.
It was a little difficult to circle around Matvey and the sledge truck. The smart little bear didn't know whether he couldn't hold on or completed the task, and sat down on the ground. The little bear and the Budyonny on the children's heads
The colorful leather ball, which was as colorful as a hat, just rolled off the top of the little bear's head and rolled to Matvey's feet.
Seeing that he had put away the ball, the little brown bear immediately ran to the edge of the field, stood up again, ran sideways with its furry calves, and waved it towards the children in a decent manner.
little paws.
While the little guy was interacting with the children, Matvey also put on a set of small reins for the dog that had just performed, and the little monkey that was released again put on a set of Cossacks.
Ethnic Clothing.
When the little monkey started galloping around the field on the dog, the naive little bear followed behind him with its four legs flying. And after Matvey opened the door of the parrot's cage, the macaw
After flying onto his shoulder, it actually imitated the sound of horse hooves.
This shocking performance did not end here. Matvey snapped his fingers towards Kona who was sitting on the stairs and said loudly, "Comrade Kona, the song of the Red Cavalry!"
"No problem!" Ke Na responded loudly, and the bayan in her arms immediately changed its style and played the Red Cavalry Song smoothly.
At the same time, Matvey in the center of the field also sang the Red Cavalry song loudly with a loud and powerful voice.
Gradually, Mrs. Via and Lydia also sang this song, and several of the children also sang along.
When the song tore through the rumbling gunfire and the roar of the plane, squeezed out of the ruins, and finally spread to the streets covered with ice and snow, some people who were originally pulling sledges to move slowly came one after another.
They stopped and sat swaying on their respective sledges, looking at the direction where the music was coming from. They sang along with this war song that brought strength and hope with voices that almost only they could hear.
