Chapter 1183 of the War Photographer's Notes. In the basement where the nephew, cousin and businesswoman were not allowed to smoke, Wei Ran, as the only audience member, patiently accompanied Mei Xiang, Qiu Shi and Yao Canhua to sing the entire play.
Taking advantage of Jasmine's delivery of a large pot of chrysanthemum tea, Wei Ran finally got the chance to leave the basement temporarily on the pretext of going to the bathroom.
At this time, the weather outside was still hot, but Cao Duba was carefully wiping the milky white car in the small shadow provided by the still young ginkgo tree.
Behind the kitchen, Ma Yang was once again sitting on the horse at the door of the boiler room, busy selecting and washing vegetables.
Seeing that no one was paying attention to him, Wei Ran walked around the room on the first floor, and finally saw the long strip hidden between the outer wall of the small building and the courtyard wall through the floor-to-ceiling window with a balcony on the west end.
of flower beds.
One end of this long strip of flower bed connected to the yard to the south is a particularly beautiful cast iron fence. The other end is close to the corner of the northwest corner of the yard wall, but it is blocked tightly by a large vat with a diameter of two meters.
In the not-so-big gap between the big tank and the corner of the wall, a smiling flower tree as thick as a wrist grows with difficulty. Between the branches of this tree and the water tank under the branches,
There is also a wooden shelf fixed to the water tank.
In addition to a small bowl, there is also a colorful macaw serving a sentence with a silver chain tied to its foot.
In that large water tank, not only was there a cluster of lotus flowers, but it seemed that a few goldfish could be seen swimming around in the rippling water.
Looking at the long flower bed between the iron fence and the water tank, the two stone lamps that are suspected of hiding the ventilation holes in the basement are not conspicuous.
Because they have been covered by the lush rose flowers with dense spikes in the flower bed, only the two octagonal pavilion-shaped tops can be vaguely seen.
He stretched out his hand to open the window, and immediately, the rich fragrance of flowers floated into the room along with the slightly harsh chirping of the parrot. Wei Ran, who looked out, also noticed a green awning above the floor-to-ceiling window that seemed to be openable.
Looking left and right, Wei Ran gently shook a metal handle on the wall. Driven by the steel wire, the awning outside slowly stretched out. Not only did it block the western sun, it also almost perfectly connected the other end of the awning.
It was placed on the courtyard wall, perfectly covering the flower bed outside the window.
Secretly admiring this exquisite design, Wei Ran shook the metal handle to close the awning, and then closed the window to block the hot wind mixed with the fragrance of flowers and noise.
With nothing to do, Wei Ran simply took out his camera and took a few photos of the room. Then he went to the yard and took a few photos of the small building from different angles.
He did this naturally because he wanted to wait until he returned to that familiar world and, if possible, try to restore the almost abandoned small building to its beautiful appearance at this moment.
Almost as soon as he returned to the room and put the second box of film on the camera in his hand, Mei Xiang also walked out of the basement with Jasmine and others.
"Wei Ran, come upstairs with me." Meixiang didn't stop going upstairs when she said this, "Canhua, come upstairs with me too."
Hearing this, Wei Ran, who heard the noise and walked out of the room with his camera, silently followed Jasmine and others, and climbed the wooden stairs to the second floor, where he had been told not to go up.
Compared with the first floor, the second floor is much spacious. One-third of the area is a banquet hall with extravagant decoration. Not only is there a white piano, but there are also two sets of beautiful chandeliers.
But they are all unavailable in later generations.
In addition to the hall used for dancing, there is also a dining room with a long table and a spacious living room on this floor. Together, these two rooms occupy at least one third of the area.
As for the remaining space, there are several seemingly bedrooms and functional rooms such as bathrooms, kitchenettes, and study rooms.
After following Mei Xiang for a brief tour on the second floor, Mei Xiang took them to the spacious banquet hall and said, "Tomorrow night some friends will come here to hold a dance together. Wei Ran, I will let you invite which lady
You can go dancing, and you are not allowed to refuse any lady who asks you to dance, but you are not allowed to accept their invitation to go out."
"No problem" Wei Ran agreed wholeheartedly, even though this new job seemed to involve "being a duck".
"In this case, starting from tomorrow, secretly you are my bodyguard, but on the surface, you are my fourth aunt's cousin, and you come to me to find a job to eat. Do you remember?"
"Remember, cousin Meixiang." Wei Ran smiled and responded with an answer that made the other party extremely satisfied.
"Canhua"
Mei Xiang turned to look at Yao Canhua, "Your Aunt Jasmine and I have always gotten along as sisters, so it's not too much for you to call me aunt, right?"
"It's not too much," Canhua replied somewhat at a loss.
Turning to look at Jasmine, Mei Xiang said with a smile, "In this case, from now on you will be my nephew and I will be your aunt. How about you take my surname of Tao from now on?"
"Ah?" Yao Canhua raised his head in surprise, then looked at his Aunt Jasmine for help, and asked reluctantly, "Change your surname."
"If you are asked to sing Wang Long, are you really Wang Long?" Jasmine explained to Mei Xiang without waiting for her eldest nephew to finish.
"What Xiao Su said is actually right."
Meixiang said while walking towards the living room, "After all, this is a study apartment where I do business for men. It is really inappropriate to suddenly have two more men, so it is more appropriate for you to pretend to be my relatives."
"When you no longer work for Miss, why don't you change your surname back to Yao?"
Jasmine angrily joked about her eldest nephew, "It's not like I'm adopting you to a young lady, it's just a show. Why don't you want to?"
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
Meixiang gave Jasmine an annoyed look, then looked at Yao Canhua who was obviously relieved, with a thick smile on her face, and asked jokingly, "Canhua, are you willing to sing this play with me?
"
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "I, I do," Yao Canhua replied with a steady voice.
Mei Xiang seemed to enjoy teasing this introverted young man who was ten years younger than herself, "How about calling me aunt?"
After saying this, Yao Canhua blushed and stammered, calling her aunt in a voice that was no louder than a mosquito farting.
"Qiushi, go get 50 yuan to buy candy for my eldest nephew Canhua." Meixiang said with a smile while sitting on the leather sofa in the living room on the second floor.
"Yes" Qiushi, who was suppressing a smile, responded, turned around and walked up the stairs to the third floor.
"Thank you, Miss." As Jasmine spoke, she did not forget to poke Yao, who had a surprised face, with her finger. No, Tao Canhua.
Yao Canhua, the eldest nephew who was bought by Fifty Dayang, finally reacted to this reminder and said in a calm voice, "Thank you, little one."
"What?" Mei Xiang looked at the red-faced young man with a smile.
"Call Auntie"
Wei Ran, who was holding back his bad words, kindly reminded her, and then deliberately raised his voice and said, "You can just have fun with such a beautiful aunt. Why are you embarrassed?"
"My cousin can still talk," Mei Xiang joked with a smile, "right? Canhua's eldest nephew?"
"Yes Yes"
Tao Canhua responded with a hint of embarrassment, and then added "Thank you, aunt" in a low voice.
After a while, Qiushi also came down from the third floor holding a wooden tray. There was also a letter of silver dollars on the tray.
"Okay, go to the practice room by yourself."
Meixiang waved her hand, picked up the cigarette case on the table, took out one and held it in her mouth, letting Weiran light it for her with a lighter. While puffing out the smoke, she pointed to a screen on the edge of the living room and said, "There will be one tomorrow morning.
A Japanese businessman came to visit us, and even before the dance started in the evening, you were responsible for hiding behind the screen and playing the piano and singing for us.
Before that, go and practice your best verses. If you sing well then, those gentlemen and ladies might even reward you with some big bucks."
At this point, Mei Xiang took another puff of cigarette, and when the smoke came out of her mouth, she continued slowly, "Anyway, if you call me aunt, then whatever they reward you will be yours, and I won't
It’s done.”
"Thank you quickly, miss"
Jasmine poked Tao Canhua again, who was still unaware of anything. The latter, who looked confused, subconsciously bowed and said "Thank you, aunt" again, and his tone became slightly smoother.
"Go ahead"
Meixiang smiled and waved her hand, letting Jasmine change her last name to Canhua "due to work needs" and leave the second floor.
"Where did you get your camera?" Mei Xiang asked Wei Ran, who had already found a single sofa and sat down with his legs crossed.
"I picked it up by chance when I was killing people and stealing goods."
As Wei Ran spoke, he had already pointed the camera at Mei Xiang, "Straighten your waist, lean forward a little, and retract your chin a little."
Hearing this, Mei Xiang, who was smiling, followed Wei Ran's instructions and made some adjustments. At the same time, she asked, "Why do you want to take photos of me? Are you going to sell my photos to those tabloid reporters?"
"Fengyue Pictorial?"
Wei Ran smiled and shook his head, "I'm not interested in them. I just think that beauty ages quickly, so I should record them while they are at their best. Now keep this posture, take a puff of cigarette and puff out."
"A beauty ages easily. Ha."
Mei Xiang murmured to herself, Youya raised her hand and took a puff of the cigarette, then puffed it out again according to Wei Ran's request.
When this puff of cigarette was no longer enough to fill her lungs, but just swirled around in Mei Xiang's mouth, and a pale white veil covered the side of her face, Wei Ran also took the opportunity to press the shutter.
It was only at this time that Wei Ran said, "After the shooting is completed, I will give you the film negatives. Whether I am from the perspective of a bodyguard or a cousin, I have the responsibility to protect your privacy."
Hearing this, a bright smile appeared on Meixiang's face, "In that case, please help me take a few more pictures."
"It's my pleasure" Wei Ran responded in a pretentious manner.
"That locked room is a darkroom."
Mei Xiang raised her finger and pointed to a room on the second floor that seemed to be directly above the storage room on the first floor, and casually said some good news, "If you can develop photos, you can help me develop them."
"My cousin also likes photography?"
The shameless Wei Ran asked Mei Xiang to return to the banquet hall, leaning on the piano, and the cousin he called became more and more skillful and natural.
“Sometimes I need to take some photos.”
Meixiang posed according to Wei Ran's request, and did not forget to explain, "The photographers hired from outside always sell the photos to the tabloids in advance, so they had no choice but to hire someone to build a darkroom. Every time they take a photo
After all, they were washed on site and the negatives were collected before letting them go."
"It seems that I saved my cousin the money to hire a photographer."
As Wei Ran spoke, he reached out to open the wine cabinet in the corner of the banquet hall, took a goblet from it, poured half a glass of wine and handed it to Mei Xiang, instructing her to make a lazy pose.
"Since I saved it for my cousin, don't expect me to give this money to you." Mei Xiang responded jokingly and let Wei Ran take a second photo of her.
Wei Ran naturally had his own plans for taking photos of this beautiful owner. After all, he couldn't just ask for a group photo of everyone, and it was a group photo of no less than five people.
If he wants to achieve this goal, he must first produce some photography results and establish a persona who likes taking photos so that it will not appear abrupt and arouse suspicion - after all, this is related to the Anti-Japanese Killing Group, so he cannot be careless.
There is no reason why Miss Meixiang is not cautious.
I picked a few rooms on the second floor and took a few photos for "Cousin Meixiang". By the way, I was able to record the decoration of the rooms on this floor. Wei Ran took the initiative and suggested, "While the light is good, why don't you change your clothes and take more photos?"
How many pictures? I bought a lot of film at noon."
"Wait for me here"
Meixiang did not refuse, and asked Qiushi, who had been watching the excitement just now, to make tea for Weiran, while she climbed the stairs to the third floor.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! "Would you like to take some pictures for you?" Wei Ran asked the little girl Qiushi.
"I'll forget it." Qiushi made Wei Ran tea while rejecting his proposal. However, there was not much rejection in her tone, but rather shyness took up most of it.
The little girl was shy, so Wei Ran didn't insist, but changed the subject and asked, "Young lady usually lives alone on the third floor?"
"Most of the time, my lady and I live on the third floor."
Qiushi said, pointing to a room next to her that was just above Tao Canhua, "That room is mine too. Sometimes when the lady is in a bad mood and wants to be alone, I will live on the second floor with Sister Jasmine and Mama Yang.
"
"Did Miss teach Jasmine the piano?" Wei Ran asked nonchalantly.
"Can't"
Qiushi nodded, poured herself a cup of tea, and said with envy, "Sister Moli can also drive. It was all taught by the lady over the years. Now the lady is taking sister Moli to learn English with Mr. Feng.
"
"Is it Miss's request that you practice in the practice room?"
"Miss has always wanted to create her own theater troupe."
Qiushi glanced at the stairs, lowered her voice and said, "You know the Rongchun Club opened by Shang Xiaoyun, a famous actor in Peking last year, right?"
"I know, what next?"
Wei Ran followed the topic and asked, how did he know about Rongchun Society, but now was obviously not the time to ask the other party to explain this.
"Last year, Miss also wanted to go to Rongchun Club to learn singing, but she was too old and they didn't want her."
Qiushi lowered her voice and said with some sympathy, "She just wanted me to study on my own for two years, and then send me to Rongchun Society to study opera. After I finish my studies, I would start a small opera troupe. I guess, that Tao Canhua
He probably has the same fate as me."
"Do you want to learn it yourself?"
"Of course I do!"
Qiushi poured her a cup of tea and said with some admiration, "Miss said, women can't live by men, they have to develop their own abilities and live by their own abilities."
Wei Ran sighed secretly, and when Wei Ran was about to say something, Mei Xiang's voice calling Qiushi also came from upstairs.
Seeing this, Qiushi immediately put down the small tea cup she had just filled with water, responded with a crisp voice, and ran upstairs in a hurry.
Wei Ran didn't wait long, and Mei Xiang, who had changed into a dress, also walked downstairs.
There is no doubt that no matter in later generations or in the Republic of China, after solving problems such as food and clothing, no girl can refuse to take photos to record her appearance - especially the more beautiful girls.
In the next half of the afternoon, Wei Ran also became a personal photographer after taking up the roles of bodyguard and cousin, taking photos of different styles for Mei Xiang who was happily changing her clothes.
Even taking the opportunity to take pictures, Wei Ran even climbed to the third floor, which the little girl Qiushi said "no man has ever been to."
Except for the only two bedrooms, a study room, a dressing room, a bathroom and a small living room on the third floor, more than half of the remaining area is reserved for a terrace filled with various potted flowers.
On this terrace, there are even two large blue and white porcelain tanks with a diameter of more than one meter. They are like the large water tank downstairs in the northwest corner against the courtyard wall. They have goldfish and water lilies. One of the tanks has goldfish and water lilies.
There is also an enamel water bottle hanging on the edge.
“This bungalow is so beautiful”
Wei Ran, who was holding a cigarette in his mouth, took a photo of Mei Xiang wearing a French dress and brought the topic to this house.
Meixiang, who was sitting on the deck chair on the terrace, seemed to have no intention of hiding anything from her cheap cousin. She posed and explained, "This house was built by a British missionary before. The missionary was a man of cruelty. Although he
On the surface, a cement factory was built, but secretly it not only sold cigarettes, but also secretly imprisoned several kidnapped prostitutes here.
Fortunately, because the missionary committed other crimes, he was caught and killed by Marshal Zhang who was stationed at the security guard, and the house was also assigned to the name of one of the Marshal's adjutants."
"Then what?" Wei Ran asked while taking another photo of his beautiful cousin.
"Although the young marshal was stationed in Baoding at that time, his second wife, Miss Gu, lived in Tianjin."
Mei Xiang explained with a smile, "I also met Miss Gu in the dance hall at that time. She liked Mei Lanfang, I liked Shang Xiaoyun, and the young marshal and I were half fellow townsmen.
So at that time, we often drove together to Peking to listen to operas. We would listen to them for several days and then come back when we had enough.
After going back and forth, we naturally became friends. It was also at that time that I asked her to help find the young commander as a guarantee, and then I redeemed myself.
As a price, I spent a large sum of money to buy this house. At that time, Miss Gu and the Young Marshal occasionally had bad tempers and even stayed here, and even invited many famous Beijing actresses to sing here."
"So that's how it is," Wei Ran couldn't help but muttered.
"Speaking of this"
Mei Xiang patted her forehead as if she had just remembered, looked at Wei Ran and reminded seriously, "You should especially avoid Miss Gu at the dance tomorrow, but you must not accept her invitation. It's best if you don't even
into her eyes.
But don't blame me for not reminding you that although she and the young marshal are divorced, if you dare to have an affair with her, someone will definitely sink you into the Haihe River, and then even your Aunt Yang and I will be implicated."
"What does my cousin say?"
Wei Ran put out his cigarette and made a promise with a smile. Firstly, he was not a scumbag like Jima, and secondly, in the wild country of Kazan in the future, there were so many beautiful girls with different tastes who would have helped him long ago.
I developed my concentration.
What's more, there is no such thing as seducing a young woman in this return mission, so he will naturally not cause such trouble for himself.
"Okay, let's go downstairs and wait. I'll change into another set of clothes before dinner."
After Mei Xiang finished speaking, she dropped the bouquet in her hand that Wei Ran had made temporarily using newspapers, gauze scarves and roses cut from the flower bed downstairs. She got up and walked back to the room with bare feet.
Seeing this, Wei Ran decisively turned around and went downstairs, lighting another cigarette for himself - the sun was about to set, and he still had about ten cigarettes left to smoke.
When he had relit the cigarette and smoked it almost to the end of the cigarette holder, Mei Xiang, who was wearing breeches, riding boots, a white shirt, and a gray newsboy cap on her head, also walked away from upstairs.
Come down.
At Wei Ran's suggestion, Mei Xiang, who was dressed like a female spy, chose the photo location next to the cream-white Chevrolet four-door sedan in the yard that had just been wiped clean by Cao Mute not long ago.
As a photographer, Wei Ran also pulled out the small ppk pistol he bought not long ago from his waist, emptied the bullets in the chamber and magazine under the vigilant gazes of Cao Duba and Jasmine, and handed it to his eldest cousin.
Used as a photo prop.
After teaching the other party a few poses and taking the photo, Wei Ran took the pistol handed back by the other party, loaded bullets into the magazine and asked, "Cousin, we have the last film left, why don't we have dinner?"
How about we all take a photo together before now?”
"Take a photo together?"
Meixiang glanced at Yang Ma, Cao Muba and others who were standing at the door of the small building watching the excitement, and then nodded happily, "Then let's take a photo together, and then we'll have dinner after taking the photo."
"Come here quickly, the lady wants everyone to take a photo together," Wei Ran said as he put the pistol on his waist again.
Hearing this, Yang Ma and others immediately gathered around and moved out a bench as Wei Ran asked, allowing Mei Xiang, Jasmine and Qiushi to sit on it. Yang Ma and Cao Mamba stood behind, while Tao Canhua stood next to Cao Mamba.
It's on the far right in the back row.
He placed the camera on a chair and adjusted the angle so that he could reserve a spot for himself in the viewfinder. After pressing the selfie stick, Wei Ran quickly ran over and stood behind Yang Ma in the back row.
"Isn't Miss pretty?" Wei Ran, who had been working hard all afternoon, asked loudly with a smile.
The others were stunned when they heard this, and then, including Mei Xiang herself, they all responded loudly with a smile, "Beautiful", and were successfully fixed on the last negative of this roll of film.
However, while taking this group photo full of laughter and laughter, Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh secretly.
He knew that the joy and laughter that followed would soon turn into a long and unsolvable sorrow due to the fall of Jinmen.
Looking at the beautiful eldest cousin again, he inevitably had a question in his heart, did the merchant girl really not know how to hate the country's subjugation?
