Early on the second morning after arriving in Kiev, when Wei Ran walked out of the room, he happened to see Jima in the room opposite the door stuffing a few banknotes into the chest of a young girl. The latter wrapped his down jacket tightly as if there was no one around, and put his head on Ji Ma's face, leaving a red lip mark. Then he walked into the elevator with a leather bag and walked into the elevator. When the elevator door closed, he even looked at the guard. Ranfei winked.
"Is this the guide you're looking for?" Wei Ran turned to Ji Ma, who still had a look of lust on his face, and teased.
"It's enough to have a mobile phone to navigate. How can I find a guide for this kind of getting rich?" Ji Ma waved to Wei Ran in a silly manner, and whispered with a sly look, "Follow me first. Come in."
He walked into Jima's room without knowing why. The former pointed to the backpack on the bed as if he was taking credit, "This is the main reason why I came to find that beautiful girl."
"What?"
Wei Ran opened his backpack curiously and saw at a glance that there were two crappy Makarov pistols, two spare magazines and two paper boxes inside. bullets.
"I bought it from a local gangster, so at least we can be safer." Jima lowered his voice and said, "Although I have never been to Kiev, this is Ukraine after all."
< p>"It sounds like Russia is so safe"Weiran muttered to himself, picked up one of the pistols, almost subconsciously took it apart and checked it, then loaded the magazine and put it in In the inner pocket of the jacket.
"Don't worry, I checked it last night." Ji Ma picked up another gun and stuck it in his waist, shaking the car key in his hand shamelessly, "I even rented a gun to our girl. I checked everything carefully, and as a thank you, the other party rented a car for me."
"Rented?" Wei Ran looked at Ji Ma who was loading bullets into the magazine, "This thing. Can we rent it?"
Ji Ma said matter-of-factly, "It's much cheaper than buying it. We can't take it back anyway, and it's not worth taking it back, so why should we spend money to buy it?"
"He is a good comrade who is diligent and thrifty"
Wei Ran took the magazine handed to him and put it in his pocket, dumbfounded. Although the gun was rented and there was a high probability that it would not be used at all, the other party's attitude towards doing things made him particularly satisfied.
After Ji Ma filled another spare magazine with bullets, the two divided the remaining bullets into their pockets, then left the hotel and drove a shabby old car. Lada went straight to the Potili district in the northwest corner of the city.
With the help of the navigation, the dilapidated car drove along the highway toward the outside of the city, and finally drove into a community on the edge of the city surrounded by cemeteries, farmland, and forests.
Just from the dilapidated buildings on both sides of the street, you can tell that the people who live here may not be living a happy life. The gangsters with fierce faces who were obviously looking for targets on the street, as well as the girls who were also screening customers on the street, made Ji Ma, who was in charge of driving, sigh that he was lucky to be prepared in advance.self-defense weapons.
Walking all the way through the streets and alleys, when Jima stepped on the brakes in response to the navigation prompts, outside the car window was a wooden house facing the street. There was a wooden house on the side of the window next to the street. Although neither of them knew the fluorescent sign written in Ukrainian in cartoon fonts, they could at least understand the ice cream, egg tarts and coffee cups drawn on it.
“Dessert shop?” Jima put his head to the edge of the phone screen, “Victor, did you get the address wrong?”
“It should be here. ”
Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already opened the car door, stepped on the steps inlaid with various colored stones, and walked to the window with the signboard. At the same time, he also saw a tall flower planted next to it. In Oak's yard, there are several tables and corresponding wooden chairs scattered in an orderly manner, as well as a rather old-looking slide.
Bent down slightly and looked through the glass window. There were a lot of equipment for a dessert shop on the wall of the spacious room. In addition, there was a man wearing denim overalls with his hair on his head. A young girl wearing a peaked cap is busy in front of the oven.
But in addition, on the wall facing the window, there are two crossed double-barreled shotguns. Right above the shotguns, there is a constantly flashing fluorescent sign with " The words "Guns loaded, please go next door to rob." are written in clear enough Russian. Above this piece of Russian, there is a similar line of Ukrainian, which presumably expresses the same meaning.
Wei Ran laughed dumbly. After hesitating for a moment, he raised his hand and knocked lightly on the glass window.
The girl who was busy inside saw a customer coming, and quickly put aside the egg tart she had just taken out from the wall, then opened the window and asked in Ukrainian.
Seeing Wei Ran's confused look, the girl immediately asked in Russian, "What do you want?"
"Can the table in the yard be used?"
Wei Ran leaned his upper body on the window sill and asked, "If you can use it, some egg tarts and twice the coffee. If you have other things, you can also have some."
" Of course." The girl pointed to the car parked on the side of the road, "But you'd better drive forward so as not to affect my business."
"Of course" Wei Ran stepped back. Taking a step forward, he straightened up and waved to Ji Ma, who was standing by the car, "Drive forward, and then come over and have something to eat!"
Ji Ma gestured OK and did not start the car. , pushed it forward a few meters, put on the handbrake, locked the door, and ran over. Before the two of them could sit down, the girl in overalls had already brought a variety of desserts, two large cups of coffee, and a small ticket on the table.
"Eat first" Wei Ran winked at Ji Ma, who immediately took back the words that had reached his mouth, honestly picked up an egg tart and stuffed it into his mouth.
While eating dessert, Wei Ran was also looking at the yard, which was not that big. It could be seen that theEverything is prepared for children, and even the table they are using is much shorter than normal.
"Victor, are you sure the person we are looking for is here?" Jima asked in a low voice.
"Eat first, and then we'll talk after you finish." Wei Ran was not in a hurry, as if all his attention was focused on the desserts that served as breakfast.
Ji Ma secretly glanced at the girl who was busy in the room, and couldn't help but said, "It's not a loss even if we can't find the old soldier, at least the girl is really beautiful."
p>Wei Ran pointed to the oak tree not far away, "If you're not hungry, go play on the slide, or build a castle or something in the sand pit under the tree."
Ji Ma grinned, and honestly picked up the second steaming egg tart and stuffed it into his mouth.
After slowly finishing the dessert served by the other party, Wei Ran picked up the small note on the table, walked back to the window facing the roadside, and handed in a large note. While the girl was looking for money, she asked, "Excuse me, there used to be an old man named Mikhail who lived near here. He was a veteran of the Soviet Red Army. Do you know where his home is?"
< p>The girl who was looking for money did not stop her movements at all, and asked in a calm tone, "You don't look like a Ukrainian, why are you looking for him?""I just want to meet," Wei Ran said At the same time, she took out the memoir manuscript that had been copied in advance from her bag, "I want to know what happened behind this story."
Pushing a pile of change to Wei Ran, the girl picked up the manuscript After just one glance, he returned it to Wei Ran and said simply, "He is dead. He died decades ago."
"Does he have any descendants left?" Wei Ran He stuffed the manuscript and change back into his bag and continued to ask.
Unexpectedly, the girl actually took out a small PSM pistol from the pocket of her overalls and said in a cold tone, "There are still several months until April 20th, you guys Did the idiot really think that I didn’t dare to shoot?”
Wei Ran slowly raised his hands and asked in confusion, “Did you recognize the wrong person?”
Just as he raised his hands, Jima, who had been observing here, immediately took out his pistol and rushed over, aiming at the girl in the room outside the other window.
"Ji Ma! Put the gun away!"
At the same time as Wei Ran stopped Ji Ma, a woman with a plump figure and an apron came from another room on the first floor. He ran out of the room, wiping the foam on his hands on his apron, and shouted anxiously, "Anna! Put the gun away quickly!"
Jima glanced at Wei Ran, and then simply put it away. Pick up the pistol. On the other hand, the girl in the room didn't hold back her anger and put the pistol back into her pocket until the fat woman, who looked to be in her fifties, hit her head gently and not hard.
"How much do you want?" The wealthy woman opened the cash register while speaking, "We just paid for it today.When I started my business, I didn’t make much money. "
"Mom! "The girl named Anna watched helplessly as the former handed the big ticket that he had just received from Wei Ran through the window, and immediately couldn't help but take out the pistol again.
" Madam, I think you may have misunderstood, we are not here to rob. "Wei Ran pushed back helplessly, then took out the copied manuscript again and handed it to the woman with a pleading look on her face, "We are just here to find the author of the manuscript. "
Taking the manuscript without knowing why, the woman took out a pair of glasses with medical tape wrapped around the temples from her apron pocket and put them on. She only glanced at the beginning and then looked at Wei Ran in confusion. , "I know you're here for my grandfather, but..."
"Can we sit down and talk?" "Wei Ran pushed the money on the window sill forward again.
After hesitating for a moment, the woman returned the copy of the manuscript to Wei Ran, turned around, took the pistol from her daughter's hand and put it into her apron pocket. He ordered angrily, “Go and make a pot of coffee, use coffee beans, not instant coffee. "
When the girl named Anna reluctantly picked up the coffee pot, the woman pointed to the yard outside the other window and said, "Let's sit in the yard. "
Wei Ran turned around and walked back to the yard. At the same time, he whispered to Jima, "Go to the car."
Jima glanced at the man who was picking up the food from the room. The middle-aged woman who came out with the tray responded in a low voice, "Be careful yourself. ”
It wasn’t until Wei Ran nodded that he walked out of the yard and took advantage of the cover of the old Lada to hold the gun in his hand again. Under the oak tree, Wei Ran was also talking to the middle-aged woman. They sat down on both sides of the table.
It wasn't until Anna poured them a cup of fragrant coffee that Wei Ran asked, "Madam, can you tell me about your relationship with Mr. Ivan?" ? This is about whether we want to continue talking.
The woman sitting across the table sighed, "Ivan is my grandfather. If you don't believe it, I can find a photo of our family and show it to you. Young man, now tell me about you." The origin of it. "
"Can I see the group photo you mentioned? "Wei Ran asked as he hit the snake along the pole.
" Bang! "Anna, who was standing aside, placed the tray in her hand heavily on the table, turned around and walked into the room.
"Don't mind," Anna's mother said with a wry smile, "Because of my grandfather, we often Got robbed. ”
“Get robbed often? "Wei Ran became more and more confused, but the woman walking opposite had no intention of explaining.
During the silence between the two of them, Anna took out a group photo, and in this old color In the group photo, Wei Ran immediately saw Ivan who was missing one leg. Compared with the time during the Battle of Berlin, Ivan in the photo was already an old man, but his military uniform was still exceptionally straight and the medal hanging on his chest. There is far more than what is recorded in the cowhide notebook
Anna’s mother pointed to the person standing in the photo.The young couple behind Ivan said, "Those are my parents."
Before Wei Ran could say anything, she pointed to the photo where Ivan's only remaining child was sitting. The little girl on that leg said, "Although the changes are a bit big, that's when I was little. Okay, young man, can you tell me why you're here now?"
Wei Ran will always be there Picking up the copy of the memoir manuscript in his hand, he flipped through it and found out the content of Ivan's memories during the Battle of Berlin and the memory of attending Mario's wedding. He placed them on the table. He briefly introduced himself, and then He briefly recounted the whole story of this incident.
“I have seen this manuscript”
Anna’s mother said holding a copy of the manuscript, “It was after the explosion of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant that my grandfather started writing , but he died in a robbery in 1988. But where did you find this manuscript? I remember that it disappeared after the robbery."
"Finding this manuscript really took a lot of energy out of me. It was even harder than finding your address." Wei Ran explained vaguely, then directly changed the subject and asked, "You just said, because your grandfather Mr. Ivan, why are you being robbed so often?”
“Because my grandfather was robbed on April 20th”
Anna’s mother He sighed and explained, "You are not Ukrainian, so you may not know that since the collapse of the Soviet Union, there have been some new people here who worship mustaches, because mustache's birthday is April 20th, but my grandfather not only He was a Soviet Red Army soldier who broke into Berlin, and died at the hands of robbers on April 20th." Anna, who was sitting aside, saw that her mother didn't want to continue talking, so she simply took over the conversation, filled with indignation. He continued, "So in the eyes of those idiots, robbing our house has almost become their repertoire on April 20th every year. Even on normal days, the police will come to our dessert shop to cause trouble."
"Why don't you..."
Wei Ran's question only started at the beginning and could not be continued. If they had the ability to move, how could they continue to struggle in a place like this?
"Moved"
Anna seemed to see what Wei Ran wanted to ask, and said in a calm tone, "My father moved away more than ten years ago, and even We took away all the family’s savings. Now that we have satisfied your curiosity, is there anything else you want to ask?”
Wei Ran opened his mouth, and after a moment of silence, he opened his satchel and took out the copy. The original manuscript of the memoir was handed to Anna's mother with both hands, "I am not here to satisfy curiosity, I just want to return this manuscript to you. In addition, the Mario mentioned in Mr. Ivan's manuscript, His son might want to meet you."
Anna and her mother looked at each other. After a moment of hesitation, the latter returned the original manuscript in the brown paper bag to Wei Ran." When I was little I oftenI heard my grandfather talk about a moron named Mario. Don’t get me wrong, that’s exactly what he said, a moron named Mario. "
"So are you willing to meet that idiot Mario's son? "
Wei Ran's question finally amused the mother and daughter, who had not been happy with their lives. Anna's mother nodded after thinking about it, "If he is willing to come, let him bring the manuscript with him. Come here, it just so happens that I also have something I want to give to him. "
"Forgot to ask, what is your name? "Wei Ran put away the manuscript and asked.
"Mola" Anna's mother replied with a smile, "My name is Maura. It is said that that idiot Mario named me. "
Wei Ran was stunned when he heard the words, and couldn't help but think of the little Jewish girl who was taciturn but extremely strong and smart.
"Ms. Mora, I believe we will be here soon. We will meet. "Wei Ran stood up and said in a very formal manner.
Maura patted her daughter on the shoulder, "Go and pack some egg tarts for Victor to eat on the way. "
Anna rolled her eyes, "They have eaten a lot just now. "
"Go quickly! "Maura patted her daughter on the butt, and the latter reluctantly picked up the tray and walked into the dessert shop.
Wei Ran did not refuse the kindness, and after taking the full After eating a paper bag of egg tarts, he said goodbye to the mother and daughter politely, got into the car and chose a random direction, leaving the inconspicuous dessert shop behind.
"So this. The first harvest is just a bag of egg tarts? "Jima asked disappointedly.
"Go back to the hotel first"
Wei Ran took out an oven-temperature egg tart from the paper bag and stuffed it into his mouth, slurring ’s said, “We may need to stay here for a few more days before going back. "
"I have no objection! "Jima immediately turned the car around and drove towards the city of Kiev along the way he came.
Behind them, the middle-aged woman named Mora had already climbed up the mountain with her daughter. Go up to the second floor and use the ladder to take out a dusty wooden box from the dusty attic.
“Mom, what is this? "Anna asked curiously.
Maura found a rag and wiped off the dust on the wooden box, then slowly opened it, revealing a box full of outdated toys and a thermos full of The colorful nesting dolls, large and small, explained with memories, "These toys were gifts prepared by my grandfather for Mario's son a long time ago. When I was young, I often clamored to play with these toys, but my grandfather never wanted to play with them." Never agreed.
He said that after the Berlin Wall was torn down, he would give the little boy who was about the same age as me a surprise. Unfortunately, the Berlin Wall remained there until his death. However, not long after his death, the Soviet Union collapsed. ”
“Have you not seen the man named Mario? "Anna asked curiously.
Maura shook her head, "Don't talk about me, my parents don'tI have seen each other, but my grandfather was not a rich man. He only went to Germany once after World War II. My father said that in order to raise travel expenses, he sold all the TVs at home.
Anna rolled her eyes and picked up the big scary matryoshka doll from the box, "How about you let me play with these things before you give them away?" "
"Before that, aren't you going to explain where this pistol came from? "While Maura was speaking, she took out the thin and scary little pistol from her apron pocket.
"Of course I bought it with my own pocket money"
Anna She carelessly fiddled with the matryoshka dolls that she opened layer by layer, "There are no bullets in it. Only after I bought the pistol did I realize that its bullets were so...Mom!" Look at this! ”
Maura, who was about to teach her daughter a lesson, took a few steps towards the table. Then she saw that inside the nesting doll that had been removed to the innermost layer, there was actually half a thumb-sized gold bar. !