Chapter 852 War frozen from different perspectives
"Someone will pick you up when you arrive in Mandalay."
Outside Mo's Village, Zhou Qiguang said before leaving the cabin, "Don't worry if you can't find what you need in Mandalay. You can have a night's rest and arrange for someone to deliver it to you from Oxygen Light."
"Mr. Zhou"
Wei Ran paused for a moment, waited for the other party to look at him, hesitated for a moment and asked the question he had been wanting to ask these days, "Mr. Zhou, how was your father's later life?"
Zhou Qiguang was stunned for a moment, then sighed and replied, "My father has been homesick in his later years, but he no longer knows where home is."
"He is also an expeditionary force soldier. Have you considered letting him?"
Wei Ran spoke in general terms, but finally swallowed his inner thoughts, "I'm sorry, I was just talking too much."
Zhou Qiguang was silent for a long time, and finally said softly before opening the cabin door, "Thank you, I will think about it."
"Bang" As the cabin door closed again, Wei Ran also closed his eyes.
Amidst the roar of the propellers, the helicopter hovered into the sky and flew straight to the direction of Mandalay.
After more than an hour of flight, the helicopter landed steadily at Mandalay Airport. When the hatch opened, the fat man I had seen before had been waiting outside for a long time.
Next to the fat man, there was a young man who looked to be about the same age as Wei Ran. Although this young man was not tall, he had a rather masculine appearance. Although he had a basic cage around his waist, he still looked strong.
This unique ethnic costume gives off the apron-like temperament.
"Are you Brother Wei Ran?"
The young man waited for Wei Ran to step off the cabin and immediately put his hand on Wei Ran's shoulder as if he were familiar with it. He walked towards the ground service vehicle not far away and said enthusiastically, "Let me meet you. I am Zhong Zhen. I am
My cousin asked me to pick you up."
"Your cousin?" Wei Ran ignored the faint smell of disinfectant on the other party's body and said, "Mr. Zhou, it's you."
"My grandfather and him are cousins, isn't he my cousin?"
Zhou Quanzhen explained carelessly, stretched out his hand to open the door of the ground service vehicle, and Wei Ran and Wei Ran got into the car one after another. The extremely enthusiastic fat man also diligently helped to close the door, then got into the cab and stepped on
The accelerator was driven towards the exit not far away.
There was no need to get out of the car, so the fat man took his passport, and after more than half a week's delay, he helped him go through the immigration formalities, and then sent them to the airport.
"Get in the car"
Zhong Zhen said that he had already opened the door of a car. After Wei Ran got in, he immediately went around and got into the cab. As he drove out, he said, "I will take you to find a place to eat first, and then arrange for you to rest."
Maybe, time is too tight, I haven’t found a place that can develop film photos.”
"Then I'll trouble you."
"What's this?"
Zhong Zhen waved his hands carelessly, and when he opened his mouth to say something, the mobile phone placed on the mobile phone holder for navigation happened to ring.
He reached out to answer the phone and turned on the speakerphone. After communicating with the woman on the other end of the phone in Burmese that Wei Ran couldn't understand, Zhong Zhen hung up the phone with a smile on his face. Then he switched to Chinese and said, "I'm lucky, I just found a restaurant."
”.
"In that case, let's go first."
"No need to rest?" Zhong Zhen asked.
"No need." Wei Ran waved his hand, "Let's take a rest after you're done."
"Then let's go there now"
Before Zhong Zhen finished speaking, he had already turned the steering wheel and turned onto another road. Then he dialed a number and said a few words briefly in Burmese that Wei Ran could not understand. Then he hung up the phone and switched back to Chinese to Wei Ran.
Ran introduced various historical sites along the way.
However, for Wei Ran, this city, which is known as the second largest city without electricity, gave him the illusion of returning to the urban area where he remembered his childhood memories.
Of course, although there were tricycles racing around the streets in the urban area in his childhood memories, there were absolutely no nuns in pink robes or monks in red robes, nor were there any ancient buildings with a strong religious atmosphere, nor were there any sunsets.
In the streets below, there are women with various patterns painted on their faces with Tenaka and children running around.
"Those girls are all out to sell."
While waiting for the traffic light, Zhong Zhen looked at the girls standing on the roadside and said, "They are all poor girls who come from the slums along the river to make extra money. During the day, they set up stalls selling snacks to make money, and at night
Then they sell themselves to men who like them for a price not much more than snacks."
"Are those all?"
Wei Ran pointed at the girls on the roadside and asked in surprise. However, just such an inadvertent action made several girls who looked underage mistakenly think that there was business, and they immediately ran over with their skirts in hand.
"They basically stay in one place"
Zhong Zhen stepped on the accelerator and drove through the intersection with the disappointed eyes of the girls, "They can't help it. Civil wars and various coups have not stopped for so many years, even though this place is apparently not protected from war.
impact, but in fact there are more and more slum dwellers.”
At this point, Zhong Zhen raised the car window and waited for the car to become quiet before continuing, "If they want to survive, they can only let their wives or even daughters work an extra and unseemly job at night, and do this
Most of the troublemakers are underage girls who cannot find serious jobs."
"What's the point of living like this?" Wei Ran couldn't help but gasped.
"Got to survive"
There was no trace of sympathy in Zhong Zhen's tone, "Humans, no matter how harsh the environment, they can slowly adapt to it."
"Are there many Chinese compatriots living here?" Wei Ran asked, changing the topic.
“Not too little”
Zhong Zhen shook his head, "Although you don't have to sell your wife to become a daughter, it's not much better. Those who get 30% off are fine, but those who don't get 30% off are just like ghosts."
"Three percent off? What three percent off?" Wei Ran asked in confusion.
"The identity document held by most ethnic Chinese is free of charge, also called a third-class certificate."
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Zhong Zhen kicked the accelerator and explained in an almost cold tone, "That piece of paper only gives the holder the right to permanent residence, not to buy a house."
You can't own a car or any real estate. When the situation was turbulent before, it was useless to use that thing to apply for a passport.
To put it bluntly, even if you come with an American passport, you have more rights than a 30% discount, but it is not that easy to get such a piece of paper that even a dog hates."
"Is it also related to the anti-Chinese anti-China movement in the 1960s?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.
"On one hand, the civil war that has not stopped for more than half a century is also on the other hand. After all, people are so stupid."
Zhong Zhen explained while steering the car around the corner, "There is no such thing as a big electricity-free doctrine. But after all, I am still afraid. I am afraid that the Chinese will control this country, and I am even more afraid that the Chinese will retaliate against them. After all, they are guarding a powerful country."
Even if the neighbor is not interested in him, it is inevitable that he will not be able to sleep."
"That's why they don't want to, no, they are afraid to mention those Chinese expeditionary forces." Wei Ran muttered secretly, but he never said it out loud.
When the two of them ended the topic in unison, the car also drove to the entrance of a slightly dilapidated street.
At a glance, both sides of this street are full of dilapidated buildings, privately built tin houses, and even various small vendors placed along the street and girls wandering aimlessly in the streets and alleys.
"Can you use a gun?"
While Zhong Zhen asked Wei Ran, he reached out and opened the co-pilot's glove box and pulled out two Glock pistols fixed on quick-draw holsters. The quick-draw holsters of these two pistols were additionally fixed.
Carrying two spare magazines.
"I know how to use it." Wei Ran took the pistol and asked subconsciously while checking it, "Is it not safe here?"
"That's what you're asking, brother. Although this is the second largest city without electricity, it is also free from scammers and illegal organ trafficking. It is also a slum that is about to get dark."
Zhong Zhen responded matter-of-factly while fixing the holster on his body, "Let's put it this way, I would rather use the money to bribe the police and buy you out for shooting and killing people. I don't want to go to those fraud groups to redeem my people.
Although most of them are Chinese, they have a bigger appetite than the police. If my hands are about to pinch your waist, where can I find original ones for you?"
Seeing that Wei Ran didn't look scared at all, Zhong Zhen took out a skirt from the glove box and handed it to Wei Ran, "Anyway, as long as you don't take the initiative to cause trouble and don't let others know that you don't know Burmese, you should be fine."
What accident will happen? But if you are really surrounded, shoot when you need to. As long as you don't get caught by the police, I can send you out. Even if you are caught by the police, you are not afraid. We have people in the station.
"
"I understand." Before Wei Ran could finish his words, he had already fixed the quick-draw gun holster on his waist and loaded the bullet directly. Then he wrapped the dirty base skirt around his waist as a shield.
Pushing open the car door in no particular order, Zhong Zhen looked around and took Wei Ran into a small restaurant on the street with a Burmese signboard.
After finding a seat by the window, Zhong Zhen waved to the waiter and casually ordered three curry rice dishes, followed by two bottles of cold Tiger beer and a few side dishes.
Before the food was served, a girl with a moon pattern smeared on her face with Tenaka came over and was dressed in bells. She sat down on the opposite side of Wei Ran's narrator, Zhong Zhen, and ignored Wei Ran.
He chattered something in Burmese to Zhong Zhen opposite him.
But soon, this girl, who was wearing low-waist overalls and a tight-fitting shirt, with various small bells hanging on her neck and wrists, stood up as if her butt had springs, bowed to Wei Ran incoherently and ran away.
Sorry, he put down the beer glass that Wei Ran had just filled and had only taken a sip. But Zhong Zhen, who was sitting opposite, was already laughing unscrupulously.
After finally waiting for the other party to stop laughing and explain, Wei Ran looked surprised. Not only was he surprised that this carefree-looking girl turned out to be Zhong Zhen's student, but he was also surprised that Zhong Zhen turned out to be a teacher at the Medical University - even though
The other person is one year younger than me.
Compared with these two things, the girl holding Zhong Zhen's neck and raising her little face waiting to be kissed, and Zhong Zhen's hands blatantly hugging the other person's thin waist, were nothing.
"Jima, Qin Er, and this Zhong Zhen, why do I always meet scum?" Wei Ran muttered to himself, while dealing with Zhong Zhen's topic in a sincere tone, while filling his stomach with food that tasted good.
Full stomach.
When the girl covered in bells had eaten and drank enough, and the sky outside the window had darkened. It was only then that Zhong Zhen took out a few bills and handed them to the girl. When the other party took the money to settle the bill,
Then he greeted Wei Ran and left the restaurant and walked into this street where there were no street lights, but each vendor had his or her own light bulb in front of it.
Led by the girl covered in bells, the three of them walked for more than ten minutes along the street where the car could not turn around. Then they met another girl who looked like the girl covered in bells.
The girl met a thin, dark young man who was very familiar with her. Under the leadership of the other party, he walked through two dark alleys, then went up the dilapidated stairs and continued walking along a corridor.
Until Wei Ran almost couldn't remember where he came from, the thin black boy finally stopped, raised his hand and pointed to a lighted room and said something, and then took a wad of banknotes from the hand of the little bell.
.
Wei Ran entered the room amidst a greeting in Burmese that he couldn't understand. After he got used to the sultry heat and the smell of food and a bit of body odor mixed in, he finally saw a broken glass door facing the entrance.
counter.
What surprised him was that there were many second-hand small appliances, old-fashioned push-button mobile phones and various types of batteries on the glass counter. On the dirty glass counter, there were also items such as electric soldering irons.
class tools.
Such an environment was obviously beyond Zhong Zhen's expectations, so much so that a trace of surprise and embarrassment appeared on his face.
In contrast, the girl covered in bells looked like she was speaking very fast in Burmese as usual, asking something to the shirtless man who was watching the big-ass TV while eating, and at the same time shook the phone in her hand.
A stack of kyats.
The thin man nodded happily after responding a few words, put down the curry in his hand, and warmly greeted everyone into a room.
Contrary to Wei Ran's expectation, although this room, which he didn't know whether it was a home or a store, seemed a bit too shabby at first glance, this room, which was less than ten square meters in size, was actually an extremely standard darkroom.
He even found several Seagull cameras produced by China, a very old-looking Rainbow enlarger and several dusty film processing cans here.
While he was observing the darkroom, a thin, shirtless man in the dark room diligently opened a metal cabinet, pointing at the various potions and consumables stored in it and chattering.
Taking this opportunity, Zhong Zhen, who had just been communicating with him in Burmese, also explained in Chinese, "He is a home appliance repairman, but his brother is a photographer, um, a photographer who specializes in taking portraits of deceased persons in hospitals. But this
It’s not important, anyway, his brother passed away due to a sudden heart attack half a year ago, and these things were all left by his brother. Although he doesn’t know how to use them, he is sure to have a lot of them.”
"It's really hard for you to find such a place," Wei Ran said, dumbfounded.
“I didn’t expect to find a place like this.”
Zhong Zhen grinned in embarrassment, "Do you think the things here are okay? If not,"
"should be no problem"
Wei Ran reached out and took out a thick stack of large-size photo paper from the iron cabinet that the man had just opened, "And there is also large-size photo paper here, which is good news."
"Then it's here?" Zhong Zhen confirmed again, "Do you need me to look for more?"
“Just here”
Wei Ran said while getting familiar with the things in the darkroom, "I have a lot of film this time, I'm afraid there will be hundreds of photos, and it will take longer. So Zhong Zhen, when I start developing,
You have to help me guard outside, and don't open the door until I come out, otherwise the films will be destroyed."
"Don't worry!" Zhong Zhen had already taken out his cell phone as he spoke, "I'll call a few helpers over right now. You can wash yours in peace."
"Then let's start now." As Wei Ran spoke, he had already taken out the sealed film canister wrapped in layers from the backpack he had never left.
Seeing this, Zhong Zhen also left the darkroom with the little bell. After Wei Ran locked the door, he directly pulled out his pistol and held it in his hand. The girl covered in bells took the pile of
Half of the cash was divided and handed to the shirtless man.
After the latter took the cash, he was very straightforward. He put on a tattered T-shirt and then picked up the cigarettes on the glass counter. He left the house directly and went downstairs to hook up with a man who looked about seventeen years old.
The eight-year-old girl went somewhere unknown.
In the darkroom with the light still on, Wei Ran was not in a hurry to start working. Instead, he rummaged through the cabinets and found an air blower wrapped with tape, and carefully cleaned the antique amplifier that had not been used for a long time.
It wasn't until he cleaned the lens, cleaned the ceramic sink, and inspected the darkroom that he focused on the sealed canisters containing film.
Although these sealed tubes have been stored in waterproof bags for more than half a century, the remaining labels on them can still be recognized by Weihan. These films are divided into three parts. The first two parts are the originals of the camera at that time.
The owner, the Japs reporter who was killed, and the businessman Luke who killed it were taken. The remaining part was taken after meeting Squad Leader Liang and others.
"So what happened after meeting Squad Leader Liang was actually taken by Zhou Guochang?" Wei Ran muttered secretly, opened a sealed tube and took out the film stored inside.
During his busy work, boxes of film were developed. Thanks to the layers of protection from sealed tubes, waterproof bags and even the cave, the condition of these films was pretty good. So with the help of potions, it was
Basically everything was washed out.
It was through these negatives that Wei Ran re-viewed the war from two different angles.
In those films taken by suspected Japanese soldiers, in addition to doing their best to whitewash and beautify the war of aggression launched by the Japanese, there are also many candid portraits of unknown persons.
Some of these portraits look like they were taken on the roadside, some look like they were taken at a party, and some of them were taken after they were killed.
But the photos taken when the businessman Luke was suspected of taking Zhou Guochang to escape were from another angle.
These shots recorded some empty warehouses with British flags still flying, refugees being massacred, burning temples and monks running crazily with flames on their bodies.
Of course, there were soldiers fighting here. Through the straw sandals on the feet of those soldiers, Wei Ran could easily tell that they were expeditionary soldiers who were still alive at that time.
However, in addition to the living soldiers of the expeditionary force, what he recorded in the lens also included the corpses of soldiers buried collectively. He even saw a photo of the still young Zhou Guochang with several soldiers of the expeditionary force.
Changing the film and continuing to look at it, Wei Ran sighed. He didn't know whether the photos in this film were taken by businessman Luke or Zhou Guochang, but on those small negatives, he could clearly distinguish,
It was clearly a grave pit outside the temple in Mo's village that had not yet been buried. There were a large number of burnt corpses in the grave pit, and there were some figures wearing bamboo hats and digging with shovels around them.
Gritting his teeth and continuing to look back, Wei Ran became more and more familiar with the scene recorded in the film, but he would rather that what he had personally experienced and seen with his own eyes had never happened.
Finally, the film reached its end, and Wei Ran sighed and picked up the last film.
This film was the only one he had just discovered that had already been developed, and what was recorded in the film seemed to be some trivial events after the war.
In these shots, there is a one-armed Tan Shouzheng, a strange woman standing side by side with Zhou Guochang, a woman riding an elephant with Master Sehao, and even a group photo of the three brothers.
The common background of these photos is the temple and the blooming dragon boat flowers next to the temple.
"Your war is over."
Wei Ran murmured to himself and sighed, picked up the scissors, cut out the selected negatives one by one, and meticulously printed those moments onto large pieces of photo paper.
