Early on the next morning after arriving at Fort Augustus, Charlotte arranged for a red-haired white girl who could speak Chinese to take the bleary-eyed Wei Ran onto a tourist boat parked in the river. boat.
While waiting to pass through the lock, the British girl whose Chinese name was Feng Shufen spoke in Chinese with a hint of a Beijing movie accent, telling various stories about the Loch Ness Monster in a leisurely manner. Strange rumors, and by the way, Wei Ran was served a large plate of extraordinarily sumptuous breakfast.
On the dining table, which was slightly rocking as the hull of the boat, in addition to the usual fried eggs, sausages, bacon and tomato baked beans that looked pretty good, there was another dish placed in the center of the two of them, regardless of appearance. And the famous local dish Haggis is similar to the Chinese tripe pork in its cooking method.
Paired with the mashed potatoes that will not be late or absent, Weiran took a courtesy taste of the haggis highly recommended by Feng Shufen, and commented in his heart that "a pig will shake its head after seeing it". , and a series of compliments came out of his mouth particularly sincerely.
Taking a swig of whiskey to suppress the taste in his mouth, Wei Ran asked curiously, "Shufen, I'm curious who gave you this good name?"
"My college classmate"
Feng Shufen also took a sip of whiskey and explained with a smile, "My English name is Sophie. They sound very similar, don't they? As for my last name, it comes from me My Chinese boyfriend. Unfortunately, after I finished studying abroad, all that I remembered about him was this surname that sounded very much like a German aristocrat."
"I can see that you like this name very much." Wei. Ran said with a strange expression.
“I receive many Chinese tourists, especially many aunts, who like it very much. They all say that after knowing my name, they feel much younger.”
Feng Shufen was delighted. He put down the cup, glanced at the old man driving the boat, and then lowered his voice and asked, "Mr. Wei, you must be Mr. Sherlock's distinguished guest, right?"
"Why do you say that?" Wei Ran He stuffed the fried egg into his mouth and looked at the red-haired girl sitting opposite him while chewing.
“He is the weirdest and stingiest person in the entire Fort Augustus.” Feng Shufen commented in a low voice, “I have never seen him willing to charter a sightseeing boat for anyone. "
"So Mr. Charlotte's reputation locally is not good?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows.
"On the contrary"
Feng Shufen shook her head and denied, "Although Fort Augustus is not big, everyone still respects Mr. Charlotte. In fact, many families I got help from him."
"This sounds very contradictory." Wei Ran became more and more strange.
"That's why he is said to be the weirdest old guy in the whole Fort Augustus"
Feng Shufen said deeply, "This old man never attends any gatherings. He never entertains any friends who come to visit him, and even the children on Halloween can't get half a candy from him.
However.Residents of the town, no matter who encounters unsolvable troubles, will get help as long as they ask Mr. Charlotte for help. Many times, even the small town police would help him. "
"He is indeed a weird old man." Wei Ran couldn't help but nodded in agreement.
While the two were chatting, the sightseeing boat also passed through the lock and slowly sailed in. Loch Ness shrouded in drizzle
"This weather is not conducive to seeing the Loch Ness monster." When Feng Shufen saw Wei Ran put down his knife and fork and was about to walk to the deck, he immediately picked up a blanket and put it on. I caught up with him
“Can we see it when the weather is nice? "Wei Ran asked, looking at the calm lake shrouded in mist.
"No, that kind of thing only appears in legends, and you can't see it at all even if the weather is good. "Feng Shufen, who has a somewhat upright temperament, told the truth ruthlessly, "At least from the time I was born to just now, I have never seen any water monster on Loch Ness. "
"You are ruining the atmosphere," Wei Ran joked, dumbfounded.
Feng Shufen spread her hands, "But that shy water monster brought a lot of joy to Fort Augustus. attracted many tourists. "
Hearing this, Wei Ran remembered that when he returned to China during the May Day holiday, Suisui once asked him to help find a place suitable for summer fun.
Thinking of this, he He simply asked, "Shufen, in which season do Fort Augustus have more tourists? "
"Of course it's summer"
Feng Shufen replied matter-of-factly, "Even in summer, the temperature here rarely reaches above 30 degrees. Most of the time It’s all the crazy weather like now. When winter comes, there won't be any tourists in this place. ”
“In a month or two, I may bring my friends over.” "
"You can contact me then"
Feng Shufen immediately smelled the business, took the initiative to add Weiran's WeChat and kindly reminded, "Or you can also contact Xia Mr. Lott, I believe he will entertain you and your friends well. ”
“I hope I can have the opportunity to play here”
Sitting on a lounge chair under a sun umbrella, Wei Ran looked at the foggy lake while bringing up the topic again. He pulled back the Loch Ness Monster who was chasing the wind and shadows, and worked hard to create a "Loch Ness Monster lover" persona.
While he was boating on the lake in the company of beautiful women, he visited the souvenir shop. However, Mr. Charlotte stayed up all night and urgently contacted an old and trusted friend to help him go to Libya to find the treasure on the map.
In the next week, Wei Ran seemed to be in a hurry. Just like clocking in to work, every day, under the leadership of the British girl Feng Shufen, I would leave early and come back late on a sightseeing boat to wander aimlessly on Loch Ness, deliberately avoiding the French archaeologist Herbert, and at the same time making my intentions clear. Check out Charlotte's jokes and see what treasures he can find in the Libyan desert
But speaking of.Come on, this week was not wasted. He actually had a close encounter with the so-called Loch Ness Monster in the continuous drizzle.
However, after he paid a full tip of two hundred pounds to persuade the old man driving the boat to catch up, he discovered that the monster in the photo was infinitely close to the water monster, with most of the water exposed. The long-necked thing is just a tree trunk floating on the water.
On the day he discovered the "Loch Ness Monster", good news also came from Charlotte. It had only been a week, but the other party had actually found the treasure he had longed for.
While amazed at the opponent's speed, Wei Ran also walked into Charlotte's room again under the leadership of Herbert.
Different from the scene I saw the last time I came here, it has only been a week. The large room on the second floor of the souvenir shop seems to have been renovated. Not only are the decorations that can be seen everywhere, The dusty outdoor gear was gone, and even Mr. Charlotte had changed into a formal suit that suited his status and age.
In addition, sitting in the corner of the living room this time was a balding old man in his fifties wearing desert camouflage uniform.
Witnessed by Herbert, Wei Ran, and the taciturn old man in camouflage uniforms, Charlotte personally took out a plastic box that was at most the size of a microwave oven and was painted with red paint. wooden box.
The box is still stained with a lot of sand, and there are also a lot of mold spots in some places. But even so, the rusty iron seal on the box was still intact.
Charlotte took a long breath, picked up the needle-nose pliers on the table and cut open the iron seal.
As the cover of the almost rotten box was opened by an old man almost the same age as it, Wei Ran and others immediately saw that what was contained in the box turned out to be painted with red paint and written on the side. There were tin cans with the names of Carlo and others, as well as six bottles of whiskey and a tea set that Wei Ran was very familiar with. In addition, there was a slightly rusty can opener.
Charlotte turned back and said something to the middle-aged man in desert camouflage uniform. The latter spread his hands but did not speak. He just poured himself a glass of whiskey.
"What are they talking about?" Wei Ran asked Herbert in a low voice beside him.
"Mr. Charlotte was asking the man named Matt, did he only find this box full of cans?" Herbert translated in a low voice.
While he was speaking, Charlotte had picked up a can from the box and shook it, and then everyone present heard a dull knocking sound coming from the can.
After being stunned for a moment, Charlotte, whose face was originally full of disappointment, had a look of surprise, and picked up the can opener in the box
In While the three Weirans were waiting, the tin can coated with thick paint was opened. Charlotte poured out the contents and unfolded the oil paper wrapped on the outside.Finally, everyone saw that what was inside turned out to be a silver wine bottle.
This little hip flask is exactly the same as the hip flask that Wei Ran got from the blue swirl of the metal book, with the same hollow pattern and the same golden lid. Even when he got closer and took a closer look, even the words engraved on the bottom of the flask were exactly the same, except for the addition of an Italian name - Trento.
After looking over it over and over with the small wine bottle, Charlotte carefully placed it on the table, then took out a small wine bottle with the same shape from her pocket and murmured. He muttered something.
"He said that the hip flask was a relic of his father, and it was made by his father, Mr. Harry." Herbert said proactively in Wei Ran's ear.
Putting the two wine bottles together, Charlotte picked up the can opener again and eagerly opened the second tin can.
As everyone watched, as the tin cans were opened one by one, the number of identical wine bottles on the table gradually increased.
Finally, when all the cans were opened, six wine bottles with the same appearance were neatly placed on the table, as well as a can of well-preserved black tea and a can that had been glued together. sugar cubes, and five empty cans each containing a letter and a photo.
Gently pick up one of the photos. This slightly moldy color photo was taken on the picturesque shores of Loch Ness. Harry Burton in the photo is much more beautiful than when he was captured in the desert. He looked much more mature when he was captured. Next to him stood a woman who was not beautiful but had a lot of temperament.
In this woman’s arms, she was holding a baby with a pacifier in its mouth, and next to their family of three, they could see a car with a very contemporary feel.
"This is me" Charlotte pointed at the baby in the photo and said something in English that Wei Ran could understand.
Carefully placing the photo on the wine bottle, Charlotte opened the unsealed envelope and pulled out a piece of letter paper.
On the slightly yellowed letter paper, with a neat dark blue pen, he wrote a line of Italian that Wei Ran could understand, and by the way, he also told the truth about the treasure.
"My friend Mr. Pell"
Charlotte whispered:
When I left this letter, it was already a war The 7th year after the end is also the last time I come here to wait for the promised birthday party.
Since the end of the Second Battle of El Alamein, I have been worried about meeting you again on the battlefield, and the following year I chose to be a shameful and honored deserter and returned to England alive.
Although the war has ended 7 years ago, I still don’t know. If I really met you on the battlefield, should I shoot or surrender? I think the same problem is probably plaguing all of us, right?
The month after I returned to my hometown in Scotland, I personally brewed a barrel of WeiWhiskey. In the days that followed, I was waiting for the war to end and for my friends to open the barrel of whiskey together.
In the past seven years, I have come here almost every year in December, hoping to meet each of you.
It wasn’t until 1947 that I finally couldn’t help but dig out the bucket at the bottom of the well, and found a group photo in the bucket that I didn’t know who had left it.
As mentioned at the beginning, it is now the seventh year since the war ended. During this period, I met a girl during my trip to Italy, and in the summer of 1950, We had our child with her, whom we named Charlotte.
In the future, I will be a dedicated father, so I may not have too many opportunities. At the end of each year, I will spare one month and three months of income to come here and wait for you. birthday party, sorry, my friend.
The other cans with your name on them in the box are small gifts from me and the whiskey I brewed myself.
On the back of the letter, I left my detailed address. If you have the opportunity to see these, please be sure to contact me.
Thank you once again for stopping Mr. Trento who was wounded by my pistol in early December of 1941. Thank you for your unhesitating choice to make me a prisoner instead of a corpse. corpse.
Thank you once again for your willingness to let me go after you found the water, your willingness to share the gold coins and gold nuggets found at the bottom of the well, your willingness to invite me to your birthday party, and your willingness to serve me after the party. Prepared the fuel, fresh water and fragrant red wine necessary to leave this war-free desert.
No matter what the final outcome of the war was, your kindness gave me the opportunity to stay away from the war and therefore live until the end of the war. It also gave me the opportunity to be the husband of a girl and the father of a child. Thank you, my friend.
Finally, cheers to our friendship!
The prisoner you once let go
Your forever friend
Harry Burton 9·12·1952