As night fell, the autumn rain that enveloped the abandoned lumberyard finally stopped as though it was still lingering after taking away the remaining warmth.
But in the tent under the birch tree, a warm kerosene lamp hung on the hook on the top of the tent pole and on the handle of the airdrop box.
The crackling stove, burning with firewood, continued to release heat while patiently heating the enamel kettle filled with hawthorn leaf tea.
On the folding bed covered with bear skins by the stove, Wei Ran, who had eaten his fill and was slightly tipsy, entered an extremely warm dreamland with braised pork everywhere.
At the entrance of the tent beside the folded bed, the dog Beria lay on a canvas blanket prepared for him, looking at the forest shrouded in darkness outside the tent in ecstasy. Occasionally, he would yawn with a wide mouth.
While the two went out to relax, Suisui, her twin assistants, and Sui Xin and Lola who came to help, were still working overtime in the office on the second floor of the library.
On the island in the middle of the Neva River, thousands of kilometers away, huge black and white photos were placed throughout the exhibition hall with the busy work of Dalia and Yin Wan’s family, almost as if they were
The ruthless way unabashedly displayed the horror and sadness of the siege more than half a century ago.
In the exhibition hall next door, the constantly changing group photos stand next to each other, but they silently tell the story of what releases light in the abyss-like darkness.
After hanging the colorful photo of the elderly Galina and Mr. Zurab under the apple tree in the last position, Olga inevitably asked with some anxiety, "Aunt Daria, we really want to hold a photography exhibition.
?"
"It's a music photography exhibition," Olena corrected and couldn't help but stretch her body.
"Aulena is right," Dalia hugged Olena and said with a smile, "This is a music photography exhibition."
"Okay, music photography exhibition." Olga couldn't help but stretch, "I will rehearse those songs as soon as possible."
"How are your preparations going?" Dalia turned to look at the girl she was holding on to.
"It has already begun," Olena promised confidently, "I will definitely be able to complete those two sculptures."
It was still this time, and Osinowitz, Galina and Zurab, who were not far away from Ridalia and others, were guarding an almost identical cast-iron stove and listening to the sound on the table just like Wei Ran.
On the radio, one after another talked about today's harvest, tomorrow's weather, the upcoming winter, and what to plant in the yard next spring.
On the wooden wall next to the two old men, there is a huge photo that represents the end of World War II and the victory over the Nazis.
On the small table between the two old men, in addition to the radio produced in the Soviet era, there was also the largest photo album from the Time Library.
This photo album was visited by a very polite and respectful young man at noon today, and he took the initiative to add photos that the family had saved for more than half a century, as well as more old photos that were not in their photo album.
"Look, there are still people who remember my brothers and sisters."
Galina pointed to the Russian names listed under a group photo and read them out one by one, "Comrade Vya, retired accountant of the Soviet Bank, Comrade Matvey, the keeper of the Leningrad Zoo, Li, the teller of the Soviet Bank"
Comrade Dia, Comrade Kona of the Leningrad Conservatory of Music, this is my mother, this little guy, he calls them comrade."
“It’s been a long time since I’ve heard such a title.”
Mr. Zurab put on his reading glasses and continued to read the Russian list in the photo album and the notes on each name, "Alexander, I guess he is the king of children. Alyosha, he must be Alexander's best friend."
"He guessed it right" Galina wiped her eyes and nodded with a smile.
"Sasha, she..."
"Lai Shia, she must be a gentle and strong girl."
Also in another wooden house in Osinowitz, Anastasia, who was wearing reading glasses on her face, was also holding a huge photo album that was exactly the same, sitting in a wheelchair, guarding the same style, but without the airdrop box.
cast iron stove, with a thick smile read the list and suffix on the same page.
The old lady nodded in agreement and couldn't help but glance at the fire beside her, "Laixia is indeed a gentle and strong girl. I still have an impression of her. She, relying on this stove, can bring her
With six younger brothers and sisters, she persisted until brother Alexander brought them back."
Opposite the old lady, an old man over fifty years old, a woman with gray hair, and a little girl who was only four or five years old listened carefully. From time to time, the little girl would ask questions about their childhood.
It seems that the question has been asked.
"So great-grandma"
The little girl raised her neck and asked, "Were you scared at that time? If you didn't have enough to eat, would you cry?"
"Not afraid"
Anastasia closed the photo album and let the little girl crawl onto her lap flexibly. After hugging her, she said gently but firmly, "We were only as old as you at that time, and we would cry too, but
We are never afraid.
Good boy, hunger and cold cannot hit us, and we will never be afraid of hunger and cold."
"I'm not afraid either!"
The little girl clenched her white and tender little fists, but her big eyes were full of determination.
In a blink of an eye, it was early the next morning. Before the early morning mist dissipated, Wei Ran, who was full of blood and resurrected, watched the stove burning all night and cooked a pot of rice porridge to fill his stomach. Then he packed up all his things and took the dog with him.
The driver drove towards the city again.
However, before he could drive the car to the shore of Lake Kaban, Anfiya called.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "What's wrong?" Weiran slowed down slightly and then opened the no-question channel.
"Boss, do you still remember that lucky Luke? The Australian who set up a tent in front of his house."
"Remember, he sent a message?" Wei Ran asked curiously.
"No, he is missing." Anfia gave a surprising answer.
"What did you just say? He is missing?" Wei Ran stepped on the brakes as he spoke and slowly stopped the car on the side of the road.
The weirdo who originally said he wanted to sell him a photo album has not been in contact since he left. This is no different from disappearing.
But there is a problem if Anfiya can take the initiative to call and specifically explain that he is missing.
"A piece of news I saw last night"
Anfia explained, "The general content is that an Australian guide and several Japanese tourists encountered a flash flood while hiking in the tropical rainforest of Papua New Guinea. At present, the guide and several tourists have all been confirmed to have died."
After a pause, Anfia continued, "I saw the photo of the hiking guide in the news, and I am sure that he is Luke who came to visit us in the first place."
"Where are you now?" Wei Ran asked directly.
"I'm buying breakfast"
"I'll wait for you by the lake," Wei Ran said, simply hanging up the phone and stepping on the accelerator again.
The car was driven to the shore of Kaban Lake at a fast speed. In less than two minutes, an armored commercial vehicle also parked behind the pickup truck. Following closely, Anfiya got into the passenger seat of Weiran carrying a tablet computer.
.
"The girls from Hela and I have been paying attention to the news on recruitment recently."
Anfiya closed the car door and handed the tablet in her hand to Wei Ran while explaining, "This news appeared two days ago. According to the information disclosed so far, Lucky Luke is from Papua New Guinea, and his official name is
He is a sailor by profession, and he mainly works on passenger ships traveling between Papua New Guinea and northern ports in Australia. He also works part-time as a rainforest hiking guide during the rest of the time.”
"So he's an unlicensed wild tour guide?" Wei Ran muttered subconsciously.
"maybe"
Anfiya pointed to the tablet in Wei Ran's hand, "Currently, local officials are looking for Luke's family through the media, but the progress seems to be not ideal. In addition, last night I hacked into the local police station's network and found
Luke’s autopsy results.”
Seeing this, Wei Ran looked at the tablet in his hand. The photo on it was very clear, clear enough for him to recognize that the young man with most of his body buried in the mud was the lucky one who took the initiative to come to the door.
Luke.
Continuing to scroll back, the second picture shows a screenshot of the autopsy results in English, with an additional annotation of the Russian translation.
"Death by gunshot?" Wei Ran frowned, "What do you want to say?"
"I have nothing to say"
Anfiya took the tablet from Wei Ran's hand, "My sister and I just speculated that he broke off contact after meeting us, and then took some Japanese tourists to hike. Could it be that he wanted to find other people who could
Buyers who offer higher prices.”
"Then those Japanese buyers chose to pay by killing him?" Wei Ran frowned, "What secrets in that photo album are worth killing?"
"I'm curious too"
Anfiya spread her hands, "If there are any secrets in that photo album, it may be helpful to our next plan. Even if there are no secrets, the old photos in it can be included in the photography exhibition proposed by Sister Aurora.
.”
"So we're going to Papua New Guinea?"
"Sorry, it's you, not us."
Anfiya had already opened the car door as she spoke, "We will be busy with operations against the Kitao family in the next period of time, and sister Aurora also has a lot of work here, so my sister and I probably won't have time to go with you.
All we can do is provide remote assistance, but you can try to ask Ms. Jia Ya, whom you met last time in the Philippine Monkey Country, she may be able to help."
Watching the girl in the rearview mirror get into the armored commercial vehicle behind and drive away, Wei Ran waited there for a moment until the taillights of the car were no longer visible, then he slowly stepped on the accelerator and drove home.
