The day after arriving in Kirov, Wei Ran left the hotel where he stayed early and drove a rented van to the door of Leva's camera store.
Ji Ma did not follow him this time. Although it was nearly a week before Ji Ma went to class, he was left behind by Gorman to capture the young man.
While waiting patiently, Leva left the camera shop with the Caucasian dog, which was as strong as a pig, and strolled along the river bank towards the upstream direction.
Wei Ran was not in a hurry to get out of the car, he simply put down the back of the seat and waited patiently for the other party to come back from walking the dog, then opened the door and said hello.
"Have you been waiting for a long time?" Leva asked with a smile.
"Just arrived," Wei Ranhun lied nonchalantly and followed the other person into the store.
I haven't seen him for just one night, but the shelves on both sides of the store are much empty. Instead, there is an old-fashioned wooden suitcase placed next to the counter.
"Take it to your car"
After Leva sent the Caucasus into the inner room, he handed the camera that Wei Ran sent for repair yesterday to Wei Ran, "Do you like to take pictures of people or landscapes?"
"It's mainly the people," Wei Ran picked up the heavy wooden suitcase and said vaguely as he walked out, "I'll also take some pictures of the scenery."
"Black and white?"
"right"
Hearing this, Leva directly picked up a canvas satchel on the counter and walked out while saying, "You will be responsible for my meals today, and you can only buy film from me for practice. Accordingly, I will
Teach you some tricks. Fair deal, right?"
“Really fair”
While Wei Ran was talking, he had already pushed the wooden box into the trunk of the van, and picked up a leather backpack camera bag and handed it to Leva, "This is a gift for you."
"What is it?" Leva asked curiously, but he was not in a hurry to take it. He just turned around and walked into the store again.
"A camera, of course, and the matching lens."
Before Wei Ran finished speaking, Leva had already put down the tripod he had just picked up. He curiously took the camera bag and put it on the counter. He opened the zipper and took out a nearly new champagne-colored camera with a wooden handle.
"This is Fuji TX-1"
Leva recognized the model of this camera at a glance, "Or you can call it Hasselblad Xpan. Victor, how much did you spend to buy it?"
"It's almost six hundred thousand rubles. This is a collector's inventory. According to him, it was only used once after buying it. Most of the rest of the time it was kept in the cupboard."
While Wei Ran responded, he put the tripod that the other party had just put down into the car. Since Teacher Dalia agreed for him to come to Leva to learn how to use the old camera, he bought this valuable camera from the Internet.
Prepare to take it as a gift.
"This is a good machine for taking pictures of landscapes." Leva fumbled for the battery and installed it, "Are you going to give it to me?"
"As long as you are willing to accept it, it is yours."
Wei Ranhun said nonchalantly, no matter what, this old guy is considered a friend of Teacher Dalia, so this gift is not expensive in his opinion.
"I have never received such an expensive gift"
Leva murmured to himself, took out two extra lenses from his bag and admired them, "I have wanted to get such a wide-format camera for a long time, Victor, you are really good at picking out gifts.
.”
"Just keep it if you like it," Wei Ran said with a smile, "I'm not interested in taking pictures of scenery."
"Wait until I put a box of movie reels in it and we'll leave."
As Leva spoke, he took out a plastic box from the counter, took out two rolls of film stingily, put one of them into the camera, and then changed another lens.
Waiting for the one-armed old man to put the camera around his neck, the two of them got into the car one after another.
"Where are we going next?" Wei Ran asked, having already started the car.
"Go to the train station. The scenery there is nice and you can see all kinds of people."
Leva raised his hand and pointed in the direction, "You can get there by driving along this road. Let's go there and shoot."
Wei Ran naturally had no objection, simply stepped on the accelerator and drove the car along this crack-covered road.
I don’t know if the expensive gift played a role. Throughout the morning, Leva not only carefully guided Weiran to try out the dozens of old-fashioned cameras placed in the wooden suitcase, but also taught him how to compose pictures.
, how to express the character's temperament, and even knowledge about what types of photos are more suitable for different cameras and different frame ratios.
Even during lunch, this old guy, who has unlimited enthusiasm for taking pictures but is extremely stingy about pressing the shutter, did not forget to let Wei Ran experience what it takes to take pictures indoors and outdoors, as well as in the sun and shade.
modification.
With the careful explanation in the morning, Wei Ran became more and more proficient in making connections by analogy in the afternoon.
In the afternoon, one of them took photos of passengers walking in or out of the train station, while the other was obsessed with taking pictures of the surrounding scenery. The only difference was that one was young and did not hesitate to press the shutter, while the other was older and more
Just cherish the limited negatives.
It wasn't until Leva used the camera given to him by Weilan to take a picture of the Kirov train station shrouded in the sunset. Then he ended the whole day of shooting, "Okay, we should go back, let's take pictures of today
All the photos were developed.”
"Are you going to wash it out today?" Wei Ran was stunned. He didn't expect that there would be such a thing.
“Pressing the shutter button is only half the job done at best.”
Kirov couldn't help but get into the van, "Of course, today we will only develop the ones you took with the Countess and your double reflex camera. The remaining films in the cameras haven't been used up yet."
, so there’s no need to rush out.”
Hearing this, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief and drove back to Leva's photo studio. Under the leadership of this old guy, he also came to the second floor of this camera shop for the first time.
Compared with the storefront, kitchen, bathroom, bedroom, living room and even garage downstairs, there is a lot less smoke and smoke on the second floor.
In a living room that is about the same size as the store downstairs, the only furniture is a large table and a single bed.
The surrounding walls are covered with photo frames of various sizes. Some of the photos in these photo frames are of people and some of landscapes, but most of them are of the little girl named Yana whom I met yesterday, and most likely...
It was Leva photographed by Yana.
In Leva's lens, Yana is all innocent and cute. In the photos that Yana is suspected of taking, the one-armed old man plays a variety of images, from a grimace with a cat's beard to a child with a belt.
There are many pirates wearing black eye patches and iron-hook prosthetic hands.
"Are these taken by Yana?" Wei Ran asked with interest.
"right"
Leva raised his hand and pointed at a photo frame and said proudly, "That was the first photo Yana took of me. She was only four years old at that time. From then on, she came here to accompany me every week.
Zhou Ye would also take at least two photos of me."
Looking in the direction of the other person's finger, Wei Ran couldn't help but laugh. The photo was obviously overexposed and blurry due to poor focus, but even so, he could still barely recognize that the photo was of a Caucasus man holding a hand.
watt.
"She took this picture last week"
Leva took Wei Ran in another direction, pointed at the photo frame also hanging on the wall and showed off, "She will definitely be an excellent photographer in the future!"
"This little guy is really talented"
Wei Ran then praised, "This photo captures Leva's profile fishing by the river, the splash of water from the salmon lifted by the fishing line, the glistening saliva flowing from the corner of the squatting Caucasian's mouth and his slightly open mouth.
As well as the smile on Leva's face that was dyed golden by the sunset, they were all frozen in this childish photo.
"I'm going to take this photo to participate in a photography competition in Yana's name. I guess she will get a good result."
"Unless the judges are blind"
Wei Ran agreed sincerely, followed the other person to one of the rooms and asked curiously, "What do Yana's parents do?"
"They are all employees of the Repse Electric Locomotive Factory"
Leva turned on the lights in the room and said while closing the thick black blinds, "Okay, you can develop the photos yourself. You don't need my help?"
"No, I can do it myself"
Wei Ran responded, but did not rush to take action. Instead, he looked at the photos and maps hanging on the walls on both sides of the room.
"Street Fighting in Grozny"
Leva looked at the map hanging on the wall and explained in a calm tone, "That's where one of my arms was lost."
"131 Brigade?"
Wei Ran asked, pointing to the photo next to the map. In this photo, 11 Afghan soldiers wearing masks with only their eyes exposed on their faces were holding various weapons in their arms. Most of them
Soldiers, soldiers, all still hold burning cigarettes in their hands.
Behind them as the background is a BMP-1 infantry fighting vehicle. On the side of this infantry fighting vehicle, the unique logo of the 131st Brigade is painted in white paint - a large square frame with a small square frame in the lower left corner.
.
But the most important thing is that the man holding the SVD sniper rifle on the right side of the photo seems to be the young Leva.
"Yes, Brigade 131."
Leva responded dryly, took out various potions for developing photos from the cabinet, and then took out the film from the camera Weihan gave him and put it on the table, "I'll leave it all to you.
prepare for dinner."
Before he finished speaking, the old guy opened the door and left, obviously not intending to discuss this topic in depth.
After looking in the direction of the door, Wei Ran moved his gaze to the wall again and looked at the second group photo above.
In this group photo, Leva is still wearing an Afghan card, but there are no weapons on him.
And to his left, a few meters away, there was a man who had lost his legs and was sitting in a wheelchair with numb eyes.
There was no infantry chariot behind these two people, but around them and between them, there were two rows of nine chairs neatly arranged.
After comparing the two photos, Wei Ran secretly sighed. Whether it was Leva or the soldier in the wheelchair, they had all appeared in the previous photo.
But the nine chairs in the second group photo imply that among the 11 people in the original group photo, only two of them survived.
"Among those 11 people, maybe there is Teacher Dalia's husband..." Wei Ran sighed secretly, turned around and started developing the photos.
When he walked out of the darkroom again, the sky outside the window had completely darkened. After hearing the harsh "squeak" sound when the door opened, Leva downstairs immediately shouted, "Come down and eat quickly."
Come on, come and have a drink with me!"
"immediately!"
Wei Ran took one last look at the maps and photos hanging on the wall of the darkroom, and then walked back to the first floor.
"Go to the restaurant and wait for me first."
Leva pointed to the lighted room and said, "I'm going to get a bottle of wine from the cellar and have a drink with me later."
"Do you need my help?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.
Leva pointed at the stairwell where the Caucasus was chained and joked, "The entrance to the cellar is under its blanket. You can enter by just opening it."
"Forget it, I'd better go to the restaurant and wait for you." Wei Ran simply turned around and walked towards the restaurant.
Leva smiled proudly, drove the unbelievably strong Caucasus aside, lifted up the blanket and the wooden board underneath, and climbed the ladder slowly into the cellar, while the Caucasus sat down.
He walked next to the entrance of the cellar, like a conscientious guard, watching Wei Ran with vigilance as he peeked through the crack in the restaurant door.
After a while, Leva brought up a small basket full of things. Caucasus also took the basket and put it aside in a familiar manner. Then he bit the belt in Leva's hand and pulled him out easily.
.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "I didn't know the Caucasus was so smart." Wei Ran, who was hiding in the restaurant, slightly increased his volume.
"Their heads are big and their brains are certainly not small, so isn't it normal to be so smart?"
While Leva responded, he did not forget to stroke the furry dog's head, and then closed the door of the cellar. When he bent down to pick up the basket, the Caucasian had already flopped down on the blanket.
"I also raised one, and it's only this big." Wei Ran gestured with his hand to size it, and then took the basket from the opponent's hand.
"It was this big when I bought it back."
Leva smiled, took out a bottle of dusty vodka from the basket in Wei Ran's hand, wiped it with a towel and handed it to Wei Ran.
While Wei Ran was unscrewing the bottle cap, he also took out a small stainless steel pot covered with frost from the freezer section of the refrigerator. In the belly of this small pot, there was also a stainless steel ingot the size of a soap bar.
Taking the wine bottle that Wei Ran had just unscrewed, Leva filled the cold pot, then put the empty bottle away and pointed at the cans in the basket.
Is this old guy using me as a can opener?
Wei Ran muttered to himself, and unscrewed a can of pickles, a can of tomatoes, a can of foie gras and a can of sardines. Finally, he opened a tin can and took out the piece of fat inside which was the size of a remote control.
The pork was taken out and cut into thin slices with a knife stuck on the table.
In a short while, Leva had already used the cold stainless steel pot to fill their glasses with vodka, and drank a glass first.
In addition to five self-made or trademarked cans, the old guy prepared dinner. The rest was roasted and sliced big ribs, as well as a large pot of passionate red meat.
vegetable soup.
"Do you usually eat this?" Wei Ran dug out a piece of foie gras and spread it on a piece of bread, then picked up two sardines and a pickle and put them on top, and then took a big bite.
"I seldom cook"
Leva picked up the cup and clinked it with Wei Ran, exhaled and drank it all in one gulp, then sniffed the pickles on the plate, and then said with satisfaction, "I usually go to the bakery next door to eat.
But I can’t entertain friends at someone else’s house, right?”
“That makes sense”
Wei Ran put down his cup and let out a sigh of relief, took another bite of the bread in his hand, and then poured wine for the two of them and said vaguely, "Is there any good restaurant in Kirov? I'll start inviting you there tomorrow."
you."
"Then it's settled"
Leva had already picked up the cup as he spoke, "It's rare to meet a young man like you, and I won't be polite to you."
"You should be lucky to meet a Chinese talent."
Wei Ran and the other party had another drink, and after drinking it in one gulp, he joked, "The attraction of delicious food to Chinese people is the same as the attraction of medals to Brezhnev."
"That's different. It's nothing if your Chinese delicacies accidentally fall to the ground."
Leva also drank up the vodka in the glass in one gulp, "But if Brezhnev's medal falls on the ground, not only will there be an earthquake in Moscow, but even the penguins in Antarctica will fall."
"I can't help it, he has too many medals and they are too heavy." Wei Ran spread his hands solemnly, followed by the young and old in the restaurant laughing in tacit understanding.
The last trace of unfamiliarity at the dinner table was eliminated with timeless Soviet jokes, and the two of them also extended their distance on the topic of cameras and taking pictures.
"Leva, you must have...must have been a war reporter before, right?"
Wei Ran, who had already drank several glasses of wine, threw a piece of greasy pig head into his mouth and asked, "Let me see those two photos in the darkroom..."
"I'm not a reporter."
Leva, who was also drunk, shook his incomplete right arm and said, "When I still had palms on this arm, I was a sniper."
"Are you a sniper?" Wei Ran burped, "I thought those two photos were taken by you."
"The person who took the first photo has died in Grozny"
Leva took out a box of cigarettes from his pocket. Seeing this, Wei Ran randomly took one out of the cigarette box and put it in his mouth. Then he took out a kerosene lighter and tried several times before he successfully made a flame.
, swaying closer to Leva.
As the light blue smoke drifted and enveloped the fluorescent tubes above his head, Leva sighed and said, "The person who took the second photo is also dead, and his heart is broken."
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, took a long puff of cigarette, and endured the dizziness caused by alcohol and nicotine and asked, "Wasn't that street fight terrible?"
“Same as Stalingrad”
Leva looked at the cigarette in his hand and said with blurred eyes, "I have never fought in Stalingrad, but I am sure that Grozny will be as miserable as Stalingrad."
"Tomorrow... do you want to go hunting tomorrow?"
Wei Ran burped and asked, "Should we be able to hunt deer this season? We...we can compete."
"You want to compete with me in hunting?" Leva raised his eyebrows, "Didn't I just say that I used to be a sniper?"
"Wouldn't it be more accomplished to defeat the sniper?"
Wei Ran shook his head, pretending to be provocative and said, "If I lose, I will personally cook for you to eat Chinese food. If I win, you... hiccup! Give me a copy of those two photos."
.”
"Are you sure you're not drunk?" Leva asked, squinting his eyes.
"It doesn't matter when you're drunk." Wei Ran poured another glass of wine as he spoke, "Don't you dare to compete?"
"What's wrong with this?"
Leva filled the cup happily and clinked it with Wei Ran again. However, before he could finish the glass of wine, Wei Ran, who was sitting opposite, tilted his head to the sky because he tilted his neck to drink too much.
The one with the chair fell on the dirty carpet, but the cigarette in his hand, which he had only taken two puffs on, had already been completely wet by the condensed water droplets on the wine glass, which saved the camera store from being set on fire.
