Before Wei Ran could cross the street, Cha Xifeng's family of three and the blond woman in formal wear who looked to be in her forties or fifties were walking over ahead of them.
"Let me introduce you"
Miley first said in Chinese, "This is lawyer Judy, who was also the teacher of Mr. Zach's daughter. Of course, she is also a member of VN15. In other words, Judy is one of her own."
After speaking, Miley switched to English again and said in a particularly friendly manner, "Judy, this is the Victor we mentioned to you. He is a very talented historical scholar."
"Hello"
Judy greeted Wei Ran in Chinese with a weird accent.
"Hello, Ms. Judy." Wei Ran shook hands with the other party with a smile, and did not forget to praise, "You speak Chinese very well."
"He praised your Chinese very well," Miley helped translate.
"Don't Mr. Victor understand English?" Judy asked curiously, and received a positive answer from Miley.
"Miley, I know this young man in advance."
Judy said in a joking tone, "He seems to like collecting young and beautiful girls very much. You have to keep Cecilia away from him. Oh, and also, thank Mr. Victor for the compliment for me. By the way,
Tell him that Mr. Carlos and I have been old friends for many years."
“What is said on the Internet may not be true.”
Mrs. Miley smiled and said a kind word to Wei Ran, who was already wanting to lift the table, and then translated the second half of Judy's words.
With a smile on his face, Wei Ran exchanged greetings with Judy under Mrs. Miley's translation, and Wei Ran followed them to another building across the closed basketball court from "Weird Kidd's Studio."
Compared with the three-story single-family building guarding the street corner just now, this four-story red brick building covers an area three times larger than the former.
But the strange thing is that the first floor facing the street is completely a solid wall, with no windows at all.
“This building is also Mr. Zach’s photography studio.”
Miley helped explain, "The beautiful house just now is more like the front desk and his collection room, while this building is his studio."
"Are the photos of sexy girls in the window on the first floor of the front desk the works of Mr. Zucker?" Wei Ran asked curiously.
"That's right"
Miley nodded and explained, "His job before retirement was mainly to take photos of graphic models, and he has cooperated with many famous clothing and luggage brands for many years."
After the introduction, the group of five people also walked to the other end of the second building.
Following Lawyer Judy into the alley less than two meters wide between this building and the third building on this street, Wei Ran also saw an inconspicuous but extremely thick security door.
"Click! Click! Click!"
As Lawyer Judy turned the key into the keyhole three times in a row, the thick iron door finally opened with a "squeak", revealing a glass door with a seal inside.
Looking up at the camera still working at the door lintel, Judy took out a document from her briefcase, signed her name, and then handed it to Mrs. Miley.
After Mrs. Miley also signed her name, the document was passed to Knife Bee's hands.
However, when the girl signed, just when Wei Ran thought he was going to sign too, Daofeng returned the document to Judy, and at the same time kept explaining, "My mother, I, and Judy
Aunts are all members of VN15, and the three of us will guarantee to take you in. If items are lost, the three of us will bear all legal responsibilities."
"So you..." Wei Ran subconsciously turned to look at Zha Xifeng.
"I won't go in. After all, I am neither a member of VN15 nor have the ability to help with the investigation, and I don't want to bear legal responsibility."
Zha Xifeng said in a joking tone while shaking the car keys in her hand, "I'll drive the car over later and wait for you outside."
"Mr. Victor, please come in with us."
Judy extended the invitation in English, also tore off the seal on the door, and used the second key to open the locked glass door.
This time, without the help of Miley or Knife Bee, Wei Ran said goodbye to Cha Xifeng who turned to leave, and naturally followed Mrs. Miley and others through the glass door.
Amid the slight musty smell that hit his face, Wei Ran stepped onto the wooden floor covered with a thin layer of dust, and while Lawyer Judy locked the two doors behind him, he looked at this huge space.
Although this building looks like it has four floors from the outside, it is not actually the case. At least the first and second floors are connected, and are divided into blocks by wooden walls. Walking along the way, each area
The block basically contains elements such as curtains, soft lights, mirrors, dressing tables, hangers and even changing rooms.
A few individual areas seem to be arranged for macro photography.
"Mr. Zach usually works here?" Wei Ran asked curiously as he visited.
"To describe it in Chinese, Grandpa Zach is an otaku."
It was Knife Bee who answered this question, "He can stay away from home for a month or even two months, locking himself in the studio, relying entirely on his assistant to take care of his life."
"Where is his assistant?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.
"He fired him a long time ago"
This time it was Mrs. Miley who answered the question, "But after that, Mr. Zach helped his assistant open a photo studio in Saigon."
"Do you know why you resigned?" Wei Ran dug into this topic quite inquisitively.
"His assistant is a Vietnamese young man named Max."
Miley stopped and pointed to a photo hanging on the wall and explained, "That's the young man in the photo, it happened after Mr. Zach's daughter met with an accident.
Mr. Zaka took Max to Saigon immediately after his daughter's funeral and helped him open a photo studio there. He did not return until Max's business was on the right track, and then returned the next day.
God announced his retirement."
"So...worried that his assistant will also be in danger?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows.
"That's what we suspect."
Miley said, taking steps again, leading Wei Ran to continue to visit everything in this huge studio.
"His assistant Max, can I still contact him now?" Wei Ran asked as he walked.
"Unfortunately, he also died." Miley said regretfully.
"What? He's dead too?" Wei Ran stopped in shock and looked back at the young man in the photo not far away.
"He is also a member of VN15"
Miley explained, “Or rather, she is an outsourced photographer for VN15, an unpaid outsourced photographer.
Soon after he returned to Saigon, he sent us many photos of children born with deformities due to the legacy of Agent Orange.
We tried to publish those photos and let more people know that the Vietnam War was not over yet.
But not long after that, Max died. The local police investigation in Saigon showed that he drowned while diving, but how could that be possible?
He has extensive diving experience and was responsible for the underwater shooting when he was Mr. Zach’s assistant.”
"So it's the same as Mr. Zach's daughter"
"Yes." Miley nodded, "Like Mr. Zach's daughter, they were both murdered."
"Everyone knows that he sent those photos back?" Wei Ran asked instead.
“Many people know”
Miley's tone became increasingly bitter, "At least most of the members within VN15 knew that at the time. None of us realized the danger of those photos, including Max himself."
After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran did not continue to ask, but took another step forward. Under the guidance of Miley and the others, he walked to the other end of the huge studio and saw the basketball court and the caterpillar car outside the bulletproof glass window.
A transport truck, and Zha Xifeng, who parked the car on the side of the road and waved to them.
"Let's go upstairs and take a look first," Miley said, pointing to the stairs leading to the second floor not far away.
Since he had to watch it sooner or later anyway, Wei Ran followed the others and climbed up to the second floor.
When he saw the ridiculously high ceiling, he was sure that this building, which looked like four floors from the outside, actually only had two floors inside.
And I don’t know if it’s a coincidence or some kind of tacit understanding. The walls on the second floor, the rows of display racks, and even the slender chains hanging above the head are all covered with old photos - just like Wei Ran’s Time Library.
Same.
The only difference is that the frames in these photos all seem to be shots taken during the Vietnam War.
In addition, in this large space, there were small safes placed every one or two meters against the wall. For a while, he couldn't even tell whether those safes were a kind of decoration.
"The Buddha statues you see in the photos were originally placed on top of those safes."
Mrs. Miley pointed to the row of small safes against the wall and said, "The gifts that are harder to send are all placed in the safes. Every time Mr. Zaka receives a gift, he will immediately set off to send the gift."
He would go looking for his friend's address, and when he came back with nothing, he would place the souvenirs he bought casually on top of the safe containing the gifts."
After a pause, Miley added, "There are 22 safes in total. Starting in 1976, Mr. Zach will receive a small gift almost every two years.
Considering that those things may contain key clues to find Mr. Zach’s friends, after discussion, Lawyer Judy, with the consent of VN15’s management, temporarily stored those things in a local bank safe.”
"Can I take some photos?" Wei Ran took out his cell phone and asked, shaking it.
"sure"
Miley translated this sentence to Judy, and after the latter nodded in agreement, she switched to Chinese and gave a cheerful reply.
"In that case, please help me open all the gauze curtains."
As Wei Ran spoke, he had already walked to the first photo and took a photo with his cell phone.
In this photo, there is an "intimate" group photo of several shirtless American soldiers and two naked women with humiliation and hatred on their faces.
Especially in the corner of the photo, there is a shirtless soldier with a lustful face, holding a syringe in his hand and seeming to be giving a woman an intramuscular injection.
He took out the photo he had taken and enlarged it to look at it. After making sure it was clear enough, he walked to the side of the second photo.
This photo and most of the ones that follow are not much different from the first one. Basically, they record all the good deeds done by American soldiers.
"Looks like it's going to take him a long time."
Knife Bee leaned between her mother and Attorney Judy and whispered in English, "Are we just waiting here?"
"Wait"
Lawyer Judy replied patiently, "Maybe he can really find something."
"If you feel bored, you can first..."
"Forget it, I'll just wait here."
After finishing speaking, Knife Bee walked to the edge of a safe, took out a few wet wipes from his bag and wiped them carefully. He sat cross-legged on it and took out his mobile phone. He first secretly took a photo of Wei Ran, and then sent it to Wei Ran.
To Suisui who is far away in Kazan.
The remake work went on for almost an hour, and Wei Ran finally discovered something different on a display rack at the end.
There are no photos on this display rack, only a Vietnam War Service Medal, a Prisoner of War Medal and a VN15 brooch.
Needless to say, the brooch, but compared to the prisoner of war medal, Wei Ran cared more about the Vietnam War Service Medal. Or rather, he cared more about the inconspicuous silver star hanging on the medal.
Battle star.
Compared with the Service Medal that can be obtained by just staying on the harder battlefield for one day, this small silver star represents that the owner of this medal participated in five official battles in the harder war. This is comparable to the service medal.
The medal itself is much more difficult to obtain.
This chapter is not over, please click on the next page to continue reading! "This safe is used to hold cameras"
Mrs. Miley came from behind and pointed to the safe under the display shelf and said, "The cameras that Mr. Zach used on the Vietnam battlefield, and those that were sent back by his friend Li Youfu, have always been lying in this safe.
"
"You seem to know Mr. Zach's story very well?" Wei Ran asked casually while putting away his phone.
"certainly"
Miley nodded and followed Wei Ran back while explaining, "Mr. Zach was just a sponsor of VN15 in the beginning. He originally just wanted us to help find his friends.
Later, he joined VN15, and we often held gatherings here. Later, after he fired his assistant, Max, we arranged volunteers to take care of him in his later years."
"Let's go and have a look at the house on the corner." Wei Ran did not continue the topic, but only quickened his pace slightly.
Seeing this, Miley didn't say much. She just walked in front with her daughter Daofeng and lawyer Judy at the stairs. She took Wei Ran back to the first floor, then passed through a thick security door and entered.
In the basketball court facing the street.
They waved and said hello to Zha Xifeng, who was smoking against the front of the car outside the barbed wire fence. Judy and Miley then walked to the wall and opened a wall-mounted display. It was more than three meters high and looked like a match.
The metal cabinet of the electrical box.
What Wei Ran didn't expect was that the former pulled out a steel cable that looked to be as thick as chopsticks from the iron cabinet, ran all the way to the opposite side, stepped on the ladder on the wall, and hung it on a cable about three meters above the ground.
On an inconspicuous hook 1 meter high.
Before Judy came down from the ladder, Miley also started to shake a handle in the iron cabinet.
Amidst the soft clicking of the ratchet, the slender steel cable gradually tightened. The knife bee who was originally watching the excitement pulled out a thick canvas curtain from the iron cabinet, trotted all the way to the opposite side, and easily
This small basketball court is divided into two parts from the midfield position.
"Sometimes some stars come here to shoot."
After fixing the ratchet handle, Miley explained, "At that time, Mr. Zach would pull up this curtain so that he wouldn't have to worry about being photographed by the paparazzi outside, but in fact, those things that were obviously from just now
The door we came in through leads to the studio."
“What an exquisite design”
When Wei Ran's free compliment came out of his mouth, Knife Bee had already opened the cab door of the M548 crawler transport vehicle.
"You guys stay away," Knife Bee warned loudly before closing the car door.
Seeing this, Wei Ran quickly stepped aside and watched as Knife Bee hit the car door and smoothly started the transport truck with anti-war symbols painted on the door.
Amidst the squeaking noise, Knife Bee drove the car forward against the wall, about four or five meters away, then stopped and turned off the engine, opened the door and jumped out.
Immediately afterwards, she ran to the back of the car, put down the handbrake of the 715 jeep that was originally blocked by the transport truck, put it in neutral, and pushed it forward a few meters with familiarity, making way for the 715 jeep that was originally blocked by the car body.
a small door.
"Let's go over," Mrs. Miley greeted Wei Ran and followed Lawyer Judy to the back of the car.
While lawyer Judy was using the light of her cell phone to open the door, Wei Ran was also sizing up the transport truck next to him.
Compared with what I saw in the photo, the cargo bed of this transport truck has been covered with a tarpaulin, and the military green tarpaulin also has a huge VN15 logo.
The changes don't stop there, even an Agent Orange barrel is fixed on the ring-shaped anti-aircraft machine gun rack directly above the driver.
Just looking at the welded fixing pins on the barrel, the size of the barrel that fit snugly into the machine gun rack, and even the faucet at the bottom of the barrel, he was sure that most of the Agent Orange barrel was custom-made specifically for this location.
"Can I go up and have a look?"
Wei Ran pointed at the transport truck and asked while Lawyer Judy opened the small door.
"Of course, of course." Miley replied without thinking.
After receiving the other party's permission, he climbed into the cab and carefully looked at the layout inside.
Objectively speaking, there is really not much difference between this car and the ATS-59G that Apolly drove at the fire rescue station, both in appearance and control.
Two joysticks control the left and right tracks, a perfect driving mode for old-fashioned tanks.
Of course, there are differences. This car has a small air conditioner behind the skylight that originally led to the machine gun rack. Moreover, outside the rear glass window of the cab, you can still see the outdoor unit of the air conditioner. Even the outdoor unit is Huaxia
Branded by a well-known underpants brother.
Obviously, these things came from later modifications, and a body information plate he found clearly stated that this was actually an extremely late M548A3.
Based on this information alone, it is unlikely that this car will participate in the Vietnam War. It may be more realistic to participate in the Gulf War.
At this moment, Miley also walked to the car door, raised her head and said, "After Mr. Zach bought this car, he often took it to participate in some military fan activities to help promote VN15. At that time, as long as he saw this car
Car, many people know that VN15 people are coming."
“This is a good car”
Weiran once again responded with a free compliment. After getting off the car, he lifted the tail panel of the cargo hold and looked inside. Unfortunately, there were only barrels of Agent Orange in the cargo hold.
Until he was sure that there was nothing more to gain from this car, he walked to the side of the 715 Jeep again.
"Mr. Zach also bought this car earlier than the previous 'tractor'. He used to drive this car and take his assistant or his daughter to go fishing around the Lehigh River."
Miley explained from the side, "But after the two young men had accidents one after another, we never saw him driving this car again, and we never saw him going fishing again."
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Picking up the dusty fishing gear bag on the jeep and taking a look at it, Wei Ran clapped his hands and said, "Let's go in and take a look."
“Come with us”
Miley raised her hand and led Wei Ran through the narrow iron gate that was originally blocked by the car and arrived at the first floor of the building guarding the corner of the street.
Rather than saying this is a photo studio, it would be more appropriate to say it is an atmospheric cafe.
Especially when the three ladies drew up the curtains to let the sunlight in, the most eye-catching thing in this large, well-lit room was the heavy-duty 28-cylinder that was originally placed in the window but was blocked by sexy photos of beautiful women.
A bicycle with a bar, and an M67 recoilless rifle strapped to the frame.
On the other two walls, there are two empty display racks.
"The cameras and lenses that Mr. Zach used to run the studio before are placed on these two display racks." Miley introduced in a timely manner.
Wei Ran nodded without saying anything. He just glanced at the coffee bar, the sofa and the coffee table not far away, and then simply followed the three ladies to the second floor.
When the blinds were opened one after another to let the sunlight in, Wei Ran could see clearly that this floor was completely a large printing room, and there were all kinds of printing and printing equipment inside.
The darkroom occupies one-third of the area.
Objectively speaking, the equipment here is much more professional than the one used in the basement of his library.
Of course, there are more than just printing equipment on this floor. On the side of the stairs leading to the third floor, there is also an Agent Orange barrel. There are also various Vietnam War equipment scattered in it, such as M14, 16 and grenade launchers.
Weapons used by the US military.
"Those were basically bought by Mr. Zach from the fundraising auction," Miley introduced as she followed Wei Ran.
Hearing this, Wei Yan put down the grenade launcher called "China Lake" that he had just pulled out of the oil barrel. Since it was bought at an auction, there was no need to waste time on it.
"What else is upstairs?" Wei Ran asked, pointing to the top of his head.
"Upstairs is Mr. Zach's living room, come with me." Miley said, already walking up the steps.
Climbing the stairs to the third floor, Wei Ran was even more amazed. The most numerous bookshelves on this floor were all kinds of bookshelves placed against the wall.
However, there are no books about photography on these bookshelves. They are basically all comics, various Japanese and American comics. Of course, there are as many as comic books, as well as various figures.
"Mr. Zach and his daughter love reading comics"
Mrs. Miley explained, "A week before his death, Mr. Zach was still reading comics."
"A man is a boy until he dies"
Wei Ran smiled, took out a pair of silk gloves from his pocket and put them on while asking, "Can I go around each room?"
"Of course." Mrs. Miley nodded and agreed to Wei Ran's request again.
"Which is Mr. Zach's room?"
"This room" Miley quickly walked a few steps and helped Wei Ran open the door to a bedroom.
Wei Ran put on the shoe covers without haste and stepped into the bedroom.
I walked to the window and looked outside. Not only could I see the studio opposite, but if I opened the window and looked down, I could probably see the small basketball court and the two cars.
But other than that, this room is extremely simple. It has a bed, a bedside table with a lamp, a wardrobe that is not too big, and even a separate bathroom.
Gently opening the closet door, there were very few clothes inside. Two sets of formal wear, two sets of casual wear, and one set of pajamas were all that could be seen at a glance.
Turning around, he walked to the bed and squatted down. Wei Ran slowly opened the drawer of the bedside table.
"Mr. Zach also bought this from the auction?"
While Wei Ran was talking, he took out a 1911 pistol and a MAT49 submachine gun from the first drawer.
"That 1911 is not"
Mrs. Miley explained, "That's Mr. Zach's own sidearm. That submachine gun was a gift from Charlie a few years ago."
A gift from Cha Xifeng?
Wei Ran thought for a moment and carefully checked the two pistols until he was sure there were no bullets inside. Then he placed them on the bed and opened the second drawer of the bedside table.
In this drawer, there is a cold helmet left behind by the French when they left the country. However, in this cold helmet, there are four special things.
The first two items were an M7 bayonet with a scabbard and a Zippo lighter. The lighter was also engraved with the words "Born in the North, Die in the South." in Yuehan dialect.
The third one was a round metal box with a lid, which contained some dried and agglomerated material that looked like some kind of ointment.
As for the last item, they are a pair of tire slippers that are almost standard equipment for soldiers in more difficult situations.
The workmanship of these slippers is not very refined, but they are extremely reliable. At the same time, they are inevitably filled with the smell of aging rubber.
"These..."
"These things may be the only clues."
Mrs. Miley said, "We had never seen these items in this drawer before Mr. Zach passed away."
"Take me to the bank"
Wei Ran stood up while he was talking and walked out as he said, "Go and see the collections he left behind."
