Under the ruins of the clinic shrouded in gunpowder smoke and artillery fire, in the basement that could collapse at any time, Marco, who had been shot, stood up unsteadily and staggered to Wei Ran.
When the lowered head was raised, what was revealed was a terrifying flesh ball made up of countless rotting snakes, rats, and maggots. Before he could react, Marco stretched out a hand also covered with maggots and stabbed him directly in the chest.
"Ah!"
Wei Ran woke up from his nightmare with a loud cry, and then saw the startled Ji Ma leaning his entire upper body against the driver's door. On the car door, the egg tart just taken out of the paper bag in the former's arms was placed on the gear lever without any bias, as if it was wearing a small hat.
"Are you going to scare me to death?" Wei Ran and Jima complained in unison.
"Crazy" the two cursed in unison again.
"Get off the car, we're at the hotel."
Ji Ma didn't bother to argue, picked up the egg tart on the gear lever and threw it directly into the rear compartment, then opened the door with lingering fear. jumped out.
Wei Ran, who was still in the car, calmed down, then opened the car door, carrying a paper bag that was mostly empty, and followed Jima into the hotel.
"Are you okay?" Ji Ma finally asked in the elevator going up.
"What can happen?" Wei Ran handed the paper bag containing the egg tarts to Ji Ma, "It's just a nightmare."
"Can I find it for you at night? Can a beautiful witch do a divination?" Ji Ma took the paper bag and asked with a wink.
"Forget it, pretty witch, do you have a cigarette?" Wei Ran asked before the elevator door opened.
"I remember you don't smoke?" Although Ji Ma said so, he still took out a crumpled cigarette case from his pocket and handed it to Wei Ran along with the lighter.
"There's nothing going on these two days. You can go wherever you want to go. But don't drink, don't cause trouble, and wait for my call at any time." Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already walked out of the elevator and got into his own room. Room. Only Jima was left looking at his back in confusion.
After returning to the room and locking the door, Wei Ran sat down against the door, took out a crumpled cigarette from the cigarette case and lit it, then choked and coughed.
After reluctantly finishing a cigarette, Wei Ran, whose face turned red from choking, stood up dizzy, then took out his cell phone and dialed Professor Alexei.
"Why did you think of calling me, you bastard?" As soon as the call was connected, Professor Alexei's loud and angry voice came from the receiver.
"Those two knives are enough to investigate," Wei Ran said as he put out his cigarette butt and sat on the sofa.
"What did you find?" Professor Alexei immediately became interested.
“It’s hard to say yet”
Weiran replied ambiguously, “I’m in Kiev now. Ask the middleman if it’s convenient.If it's convenient, ask the Jew to call me. There are some things I must communicate with him directly. "
"You went to Kiev? be safe. I'll call the middleman right now, and you keep the line open. "Professor Alexey gave instructions and hung up the phone without waiting for Wei Ran to say anything.
While the other party was in contact, Wei Ran searched on the shopping website. , he randomly picked the simplest-looking Chinese musical instrument and placed an order. Then he stretched his body, leaned against the back of the sofa and closed his eyes.
When he was almost falling asleep again, the crisp and sweet sound of the phone sounded. The ringtone rang suddenly, and he suddenly regained consciousness. He rubbed his face vigorously, and then pressed the answer and speakerphone buttons.
"What do you want to talk to me about?" "The person on the other end of the phone asked directly without any foreshadowing, his steady bass voice carrying the usual composure of a superior.
"I want to know your relationship with Mr. Mario first." Wei Ran also said Asked bluntly.
"He is my father." After hearing the answer, Wei Ran asked closely, "In addition, I also need to know your mother's name. "
The other party was silent for a moment, and then replied, "Moura"
Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "Have you heard about it from your father or mother? Have you met Mr. Ivan? Mr. Ivan with one leg. "
"Have you found Mr. Ivan? Is he still alive? ! The originally calm tone on the other end of the phone finally changed, "Tell me where he is!" "
"Come to Kiev"
Wei Ran sighed, "Mr. Ivan passed away in 1988. If you are willing to meet his descendants, take a look His memoirs about your father's experiences, come to Kiev. "
"I will get there as quickly as possible! "When the man on the other end of the phone said this, he did not hang up the phone in a hurry. Instead, he asked after a moment of silence, "Young man, how are they doing? "
"Not too good," Wei Ran said truthfully.
"Is there anything else you need me to answer? "The person on the other end of the phone asked proactively.
Wei Ran thought for a while, "What should I call you? "
"Hans"
Wei Ran was stunned when he heard this, and then smiled and said, "Well, Mr. Hans, we'll see you in Kiev." "
"See you in Kiev." Hans on the other end of the phone responded to Wei Ran expectantly before hanging up the phone.
"Hans... is a good person. "Name" Wei Ran threw his cell phone aside and looked at the crystal chandelier on the ceiling. He couldn't help but think of his "idiot" dad again.
The time flew by in the middle of the day. Early in the morning, at Wei Ran's suggestion, Jima rented an 80%-new Mercedes Benz through the beautiful girl who had been discussing biology in his room for the past two days, put on the suit he had prepared in advance, and pulled Arriving at the airport with Wei Ran
Waiting at the pick-up gate.After nearly an hour, a thin, silver-haired old man walked out with a large family of men, women and children, as well as a few accompanying men and women in suits.
Waving from a distance to Wei Ran and Ji Ma, who was holding a pick-up sign, the old man reached out and asked in German, "Who is Victor?"
"Hello, Mr. Hans..." Wei Ran shook hands with the other party and replied also in German, "I am Victor."
"Your German and investigation speed It's all far beyond my expectations. Can you tell me about the investigation process?" Hans didn't let go of Wei Ran's hand at all, and asked impatiently as he walked out.
"Of course, we can chat slowly in the car."
With bloodshot eyes, Wei Ran waved to Ji Ma, who quickly threw the pick-up sign into the trash aside. Bucket, leading everyone to leave the airport, "But I didn't expect so many people to come back, so..."
"It doesn't matter, we prepared the car in advance." Hans also waved behind him , immediately a man in a suit came out and led everyone into the parking lot with Ji Ma.
"Let's make our car" Hans said without any explanation, pulling Weiran into a commercial van they rented, and drove the rest of the people who came with him into several other vehicles. Inside, only a little guy with a long tiger's head and a tiger's head was left, somewhat similar to Mario back then.
Led by the car driven by Jima, the convoy slowly drove out of the parking lot and headed straight for the dessert shop.
In the car that was driving smoothly, Wei Ran took a copy of Ivan's memoir manuscript, along with the two Youth League knives and the Second Class Patriotic War Medal that were shipped together, as well as a letter written in German. He took out the white paper with the honors and medal numbers and handed it to Hans, "I started my investigation from the Soviet Patriotic War Medal II you provided. According to the original owner of this medal, Mikhail, I He found several comrades who had fought with him in Berlin, and finally identified Mr. Ivan." Hearing this, Hans sighed, "When I was very young, I listened to my father. As I said, we had a friend in the Soviet Union, but unfortunately we lost contact completely after the Berlin Wall was built. Victor, tell me how you found him and how you found this memoir?" p>
"This is the most difficult part of the entire investigation"
Wei Ran sighed with a bitter smile and came up with the excuse he had thought of in advance, "In order to find Mr. Ivan, I searched After a lot of Soviet-era archives, I finally found the current address. As for this manuscript, it disappeared after Mr. Ivan suffered a home invasion that claimed his life on April 20, 1988. It can be found. It’s a complete accident.”
It’s such an ambiguous answer that seems to have been left unsaid, but it also implicitly expresses the complexity of the whole process. Hans didn't care, but took out a pair of exquisitely crafted reading glasses from his coat pocket and put them on, reading each word carefully.Poring over the memoirs' manuscripts about what happened during and after the Battle of Berlin.
It wasn’t until the car passed by the huge cemetery that Hans carefully organized the memoirs he had read and said with emotion, “I didn’t expect that my father turned out to be that person. A member of the Crispy Youth League, he and my mother have never told us about these things. Even Mr. Ivan, I always thought he was my mother’s foreign relative.”
“Your father. Mr. Mario and your mother, Ms. Mora, they must have lived a happy life in their later years, right?" Wei Ran couldn't help but think of the little boy with an injured butt and the survivor in the basement that sheltered everyone. The little Jewish girl coming down.
"Just like what is said in this memoir"
Hans said with a smile, "I still remember clearly that when I was young, my mother often She said that my father was her trophy, and until my mother passed away, she always called my father a fool. This must be the reason why they never mentioned to us what happened in that basement at the end of the war. "
Wei Ran couldn't help but smile when he heard this. He could even imagine the happy expression on the old Mario's face when he was called a fool by Mora, who was also getting older.
Hans shook the copy of the memoir manuscript in his hand and said, "Victor, are you interested in going to Berlin with me to see what the clinic mentioned in this memoir looks like now?"