As the fourth short day came to the hunter's cabin in the canyon, the raging snowstorm outside the window also began to decline visibly. On the contrary, everyone in the hunter's cabin also became a little overwhelmed after waking up.
Karl was lying on his wolfskin blanket, looking at the much brighter window not far away, and complained with a frown, "Why did it stop so soon? We just became friends."< /p>
Although the remaining German soldiers did not understand what Karl was talking about, they made the same complaint. Conon, who performed "Troika" on Flory's harmonica last night, was already like a scumbag, expressionlessly getting up from his wolfskin blanket and carefully dressing himself. After getting dressed, I stood in front of the window and looked at the snowy scene outside.
"It's time for this friendship to end..." Dr. Jason sighed, and stood up silently and started to get dressed.
Wei Ran and Markla's father and son looked at each other. The three of them did not say anything after all. They had never experienced what Konon went through when Leningrad was besieged, so they were not qualified to give advice at this moment. Any suggestions from him.
"I'm going to see if the animal trap has caught any prey."
Carl once again chose to escape and became depressed again in the hunter's cabin. Without waiting for anyone else to say anything, he pulled He opened the wooden door wrapped in animal skins and ran out.
Only this time, neither his father Markla nor Flory, who had become friends with him, chose to follow.
"It's time for us to set off." After getting dressed, Dr. Jason shook hands with Markla and Wei Ran respectively, and finally extended his hand to Konon.
"Thank you for performing the surgery on me"
Conon and Dr. Jason held hands together and said calmly, "After you walk out of this hut, We are enemies. You must be loyal to your motherland, and I must be loyal to my motherland." "I hope we can have a chance to sit together as friends again after the war." The doctor paused for a moment before saying this, and finally just added, "Remember to ask Victor to change your dressing on time."
Conon nodded and let go of his hand decisively.
"Jason, take our sleigh and a reindeer away." Markla pressed the wooden door and said, "For the sake of us still being friends, please accept this gift! "
"What should you do?" Dr. Jason asked subconsciously.
"There is a broken sled in the utility room."
Markla said in a relaxed tone, "As long as we repair the sled, we can continue to pursue you, and Don't forget, we also have an anti-tank weapon. Your chances of winning are not good."
Dr. Jason nodded after a moment of hesitation, "Markra, if you can, please save it for me. The bodies of Luca and Yannick, if there is a chance in the future, I will come back and take them away, if...or just let them stay here!"
“Don’t worry,” Markla solemnly promised, “They will always be here waiting for you to come back and pick them up.”
Dr. Jason turned his head and looked at it. Konon, who was staring at him, stood up straight and saluted with a military salute, "Thank you."
Kenon did not return the gift, but nodded inconspicuously.
"It's time for us to set off." Before Dr. Jason finished speaking, Flory immediately helped a wounded person out of the hunter's cabin.
Under the watchful eyes of Wei Ran and others, Dr. Jason and Flory took the three wounded and not many supplies, each took their weapons and got on the sleigh, dragged by a reindeer. With heavy steps, he left the coniferous forest where the hunter's cabin was located, and finally disappeared from everyone's sight.
"Karl, move the sleigh out of the utility room. We should get ready to go." Markla said, picking up the axe, lifting several wooden floors and walking into the utility room.
At the same time, Wei Ran also put away the camera that had just photographed the backs of Dr. Jason and others, and returned it to its original owner, Konon.
Amidst the clanging sound of knocking, the entrance to the utility room's cellar was completely sealed by the floor, and the dusty sleigh was replaced by Karl with a makeshift wolfskin blanket. The leather rope that came out was fixed to the remaining reindeer.
"Let's go, it's time for us to set off."
Makra raised one end of the anti-tank weapon, while Konon raised the other end. Ran picked up the rolled animal hide and closed the wooden door of the hunter's cabin after going out.
However, just as their dilapidated sleigh was about to enter the canyon, a clear and audible exchange of fire suddenly came from directly in front of them. Before they could react, the snow on the rock walls on both sides of the canyon began to slide away amidst the repeated echoes of gunfire, and finally galloped down like a loose wild horse!
Amidst the loud "rumbling" sound, more and more snow slid down the rock wall, faster and faster, and the steaming snow obscured all sight in the canyon. The reindeer that was pulling the sleigh and preparing to enter the canyon did not need to shout at all, but turned and ran back to the flat ground at the edge of the forest, making restless deer calls.
"What's going on?" Konon asked loudly, frowning.
"Even the reindeer knew it was an avalanche!" Carl seemed to have returned to his unpleasant venomous tongue from a few days ago. Conon choked on his words and wanted to throw him into the canyon.
The avalanche went away as quickly as it came, and it took only seven or eight minutes for the avalanche to completely recover. Without any urging, Karl ordered the reindeer to rush into the canyon that was elevated several meters, aimlessly looking for their enemy.
However, just as the sled cart was halfway through, the reindeer pulling the cart refused to leave after death. It just stood there anxiously pawing its hooves, using its mouth to dig into the snow under its feet, and at the same time There were bursts of deer calls.
“The reindeer they took away was the same as the one they left behind.right. "Makra sighed and explained, "It seems that they encountered an avalanche here. "
Before Konon could say anything, Wei Ran, who had been observing the front, immediately reminded him, "Be careful, someone is coming from ahead." ”
Hearing this, the others subconsciously picked up their weapons and looked at the two sleighs that were getting closer and closer in front of them.
About three or four minutes later, two sleds The sleigh came from the other end of the canyon and stopped less than ten meters away from them. Both sleighs were pulled by two reindeer, and three people dressed as Finnish Civil Guards were sitting on one of them. On their sled, there was also a Lati L39 anti-tank gun. On the other sled, except for the driver who seemed to be a local, the remaining two people were all wearing Soviet military uniforms. There is also a mortar in the middle.
“Is that sleigh full of Germans just your prey? "One of the Soviets stood up from the sled and asked apologetically.
"It is indeed ours"
Makra hid his sadness and said with regret on his face, " We chased them for several days and were about to capture them alive. "
"There is no need for the Germans to survive. Killing them all is the simple way. "The Soviet man said in Finnish calmly, "Are there any traces of Germans behind you? "
Markla held down Karl who was about to say something, shook his head and replied, "No, kill all the rest. ”
“In this case, we won’t go in.” "The Soviet man waved his hand and signaled the Finns driving to change direction.
The Finns in the other car obviously saw something from the whining reindeer, but In the end, he just sighed lonely and silently shouted to the reindeer to follow the previous reindeer car.
"Let's go too"
Makra sighed. , picked up a Mosin-Nagant rifle on the sled and poked it hard on the snow, "In the summer, this canyon will become a seasonal river, and all the snow will turn into river water. We Former friends will also disappear completely. "
"Dad, should we..."
"No need"
Markra obviously knew what his son wanted to do, "Death It means death. Even if the body is preserved, it has no meaning. ”
Everyone on the sleigh fell silent one after another. In the narrow and deep canyon, apart from the howling cold wind, only the sad roar of deer echoed repeatedly.
Soon after, The sleigh walked out of the canyon. When it passed the half-track ambulance that was mostly buried in the snow, Conon, who had been silent all the way, suddenly said, "Doctor Jason had already predicted that they would not be able to do anything." Went back. ”
After hearing this, Carl immediately shouted to the slowly moving reindeer to stop, and turned his head to look at Conon in confusion.
The latter took out a cloth bag from his arms and opened it, revealing the belongings of the wounded Yannick. "He asked me to send these relics back to him if there is a chance after the war. He said that even if We don't chase them, and they have already missed the last time to board the ship to go home. He just wants to give the wounded some hope of continuing to live for the time being."
"Let's go back."
Markla sighed, "I'll continue to be a hunter when I go back. The job of the Civil Guard is really not suitable for me."
"Maybe I should consider Flory's job Suggestion," Karl said with a hint of crying, "I want to be a comedian."
"Just do whatever you like." Markla tiredly took off the submachine gun on his shoulder and threw it aside. , wrapped tightly in a bearskin blanket and lying next to the anti-tank weapon that had never been used.
As time went by, there were no more snowflakes above the head, and even the temperatureless sun hanging in the sky seemed to become extraordinarily dazzling.
When the sled stopped next to the half-track armored vehicle that blinded Konon's eye, Konon signaled Karl to stop.
"What's wrong?" Karl asked impatiently.
"Shoot it with your anti-tank weapons," Konon said, pointing at the half-track armored vehicle.
"Are all Soviets so stingy?" Karl mocked, "Although it caused you to lose one..."
This time, Konon responded to Karl's venomous tongue He didn't feel cold at all, but interrupted the former's taunting with a calm tone, "Let Dr. Jason die in this car, so that at least he has a chance to be listed as killed in battle instead of missing."
Karl He was stunned, then lowered his head and said, "Sorry, I..."
"It doesn't matter." Konon waved his hand, "Hurry up, don't waste time."
"Daddy" Carl rocked his daddy Markla.
The latter had no intention of getting up, and just stretched out his hands on the bearskin blanket, "You can do whatever you want, I'm tired."
Karl looked at Wei Ran for help, The latter sighed, helped lift the anti-tank weapon, and propped it up less than a hundred meters away from the half-track armored vehicle carrying the quadruple anti-aircraft gun. Conon had already strolled back from the wreckage of the armored vehicle. , reached out and handed Wei Ran a cold armor-piercing bullet.
"Come on," Carl said to Wei Ran, "I want to watch the reindeer so as not to be scared away by the gunfire."
Wei Ran looked at the gauze wrapped around his face again. Conon finally nodded, pressed the only armor-piercing bullet into the magazine, and then vigorously shook the crank on the right side of the gun body to complete the unbolt loading.
With a crisp "click" sound, the only armor-piercing bullet was pushed into the chamber. Slowly, the muzzle of a gun was aimed at the front of the armored vehicle not far away. Wei Ran pressed the trigger with his right index finger and middle finger and slowly exerted force.
"Bang!"
A dull gunshotAfter the sound, the huge recoil caused Wei Ran, who was lying on the snow, to move back about ten centimeters. At the same time, a fierce white light also filled his field of vision.
"It's finally over..."
Wei Ran sighed, but his heart was filled with deep disappointment. He was disappointed that he had never communicated a single word with Yannick from beginning to end, and he felt sad for the inner conflicts between Markla and his son, Konon, and the few Finns he had met not long ago.
In his opinion, Dr. Jason is undoubtedly a good person, Markla and his son are even more impeccable, and even Conon is definitely not a bad person.
If they were all good people, if they all did what they were supposed to do, then why did everyone lose something precious in the end?
Maybe this is war...
Wei Ran closed his eyes tiredly, but then he realized something was wrong. When he came, he clearly remembered that he was in the hotel. But the noise coming to my ears was as noisy as at a crossroads.
Opening his eyes in confusion, Wei Ran was surprised to find that he was sitting in the driver's seat of a car. Looking at myself in the rearview mirror, my face has matured a lot, and I look like a middle-aged man.
Before he could react, the door of the car behind him was opened. A man wearing a black suit and a top hat got in first, and then another man dressed similarly but wearing a black hat came in. Man with eyepatch.
What’s quite funny is that a colorful pirate flag seems to have been graffitied on this man’s eyepatch by some naughty little guy.
“Go to the Windmill Gallery”
The man wearing an eye patch said in fluent German, “Keep driving along this street and turn left when you reach the end. "
Wei Ran glanced at the two people in the rear compartment through the rearview mirror, but did not rush to drive. Instead, he turned around and asked with a smile, "Karl, Konon, do you still know me? "
"Oh my God!"
The first man in a suit widened his eyes, "Brother Victor? ? Victor from the Civil Guard? "
"It's me!" Wei Ran nodded and asked the same question in unison, "Why are you here?"
< p>"Let me explain!"Karl said excitedly, "After the war, I became a comedian, and now I am my partner with Brother Conon."
"Are you two partners?" Wei Ran looked at Konon sitting behind him in surprise.
The latter smiled flatly, "Remember when I asked you to shoot at that half-track armored vehicle? I wrote that incident as news and sent it back to Pravda, but it was quickly exposed. , the report never made it to the newspaper, and I was almost sent to a labor camp."
"Afterwards, with my persuasion, Konon stayed in Finland. Already ambushing the GermansTime to die in an avalanche. Karl said excitedly, "Thanks to the chocolates you gave me in that hunter's cabin, Satu not only agreed to date me, but is now my wife and manager, and we have a beautiful daughter." "
Conon pointed to his face, "My blindfold is the masterpiece of his naughty daughter"
"So you two are comedians now? "
"To be precise, I am the only one,"
Karl patted his chest and said, then he put his arms around Konon's shoulders, "Brother Konon is responsible for me. I wrote a manuscript and this time I was invited to perform in Nuremberg. Victor, what about you? Why did you come to Germany? And he also became a rough truck driver? "
"Um..."
Wei Ran didn't know how to explain it for a while, but Konong seemed to have guessed an answer that was convincing enough for him, so he took the topic and said , “No matter how you are in Germany, should we find a place to have a drink? ”
“This is a good suggestion! ”
Karl said before Wei Ran agreed, “I remember there is a bar opposite the gallery. How about we go to that bar after we drop off?” "
"What do you want to give? "Wei Ran asked mysteriously as he started the car.
"Do you still remember the German soldier Yannick who didn't survive in the hunter's cabin in the snowstorm? Conon said with emotion, "Dr. Jason gave his relics to me at that time, hoping that I would have the opportunity to send them back." But it wasn’t until half a month ago that Carl’s daughter accidentally knocked over the ink bottle in my drawer that I remembered that I had never completed this commission. "
Speaking of this, Konong opened the briefcase he had been carrying, took out a candy box, opened it, took out an ink-soaked ID and showed it to Wei Ran, who was quite uneasy. "I hope the soldier's family won't blame me," he said. "
"My daughter should be blamed,"
Karl said helplessly, "Or blame my father. Since the end of the war, he has drunk himself drunk every day. If it hadn't been for him, my daughter wouldn't have run into Conon's office. ”
“Speaking of which, how is Uncle Macra doing now? ”
“Like a Soviet, I drank until I was dead almost every day. "
Conon said with a headache, "That old guy has almost become my creative source. In the past six months, many of Carl's performances have come from that old guy who makes jokes every day. "
"That's great," Wei Ran murmured to himself with emotion.
"What? "
"I say it's great"
Wei Ran slightly increased his voice, "The war is over, we are all still alive, and we can meet by chance." The main thing is that you really become a comedian. "
Karl was startled and said in a daze, "My stage name is Flory. Konon gave it to me. ”
“YesFlory gave it to you," Conon corrected as he rubbed the blindfold on his face, "My current name is Jason. ”
“It seems that I am the only one still named Victor”
Wei Ran turned the steering wheel while speaking and steered the car to a stop in front of a gallery with a windmill sign. .
"Wait for me a moment"
As he spoke, Konon opened the car door, walked to the door of the gallery across the street, and placed the candy box at the door of the gallery.
p>
When he got back into the car, the three of them seemed to have lost their conversation, and they all stared at the gallery outside the car window.
More than half an hour had passed. , a skinny boy carrying a schoolbag rushed towards the gallery amidst the flying snowflakes.
As he passed the door, the boy bent down and picked up the candy box and shook it. , then pushed open the glass door and walked in.
Through the gallery window, the three of them saw a woman walking down the stairs, and saw her lying on the table and losing her voice after opening the candy box. Crying in pain, I also saw the helpless child comforting his mother.
"That child's name is Noah, Noah Mueller." Wei Ran, who was sitting in the driver's seat, explained softly, "He. He is the son of a German soldier named Yannick. "
"How do you know? "Karl couldn't help but ask.
Wei Ran did not answer his question, but looked at Konon through the rearview mirror and suggested, "Are you going to tell him what happened? "
"Forget it"
Konon shook his head, "People have been dead for so long, why not give that woman some hope, maybe that will be more painful, but At least it would give her the motivation to live. Okay, let's go have a drink. ”
Wei Ran opened his mouth, but wisely did not try to change anything, and followed Karl and Konon into a small bar on the street.
This night, Karl and Konon chatted about their postwar experiences, the achievements they had made in Finland, the family Karl and the girl named Satu had created, and the children they had given birth to. It tells the story of Conon's failed attempt to open a dessert shop.
As cups of wine were poured into their mouths, the expressions on the three people's faces changed from excitement at first to emotion later, and even to that. Views on a war that has ended for more than ten years, and what they lost and gained in the war.
I don’t know when, Wei Ran, who had already drunk too much, felt that the two people in front of him were getting more and more serious. It became more and more blurry, and finally lost consciousness completely, and then regained consciousness immediately.
When the white light in the field of vision dissipated, the surroundings finally turned into a familiar and unfamiliar hotel room. The metal book also automatically turned to the tenth page, and the metal quill wrote out lines of text under the black and white photo.