Amid the constant turbulence, Wei Ran, who had been eavesdropping on the conversation between Ruan Qingcha and Li Youfu, fell asleep at some point.

When he woke up again, the fully loaded three-wheeled motorcycle had stopped.

I glanced outside subconsciously. It was rare that it didn't rain this night, and there was a brilliant full moon hanging in the night sky.

"Come down quickly"

Li Youfu greeted in a low voice, then jumped out of the carriage first and was busy unloading the wooden boxes in the carriage one by one.

Upon seeing this, Wei Ran and Zach immediately got out of the carriage. Only then did they see Charlie was busy unloading the bicycles tied to both sides of the carriage.

"You two don't need help, hurry up and get on the boat and cover yourself up." Charlie's wife stopped Wei Ran and Zach in a low voice.

After hearing this, the two of them did not dare to delay, and immediately jumped into a small boat along a simple pier under the guidance of Ruan Qingcha.

What makes people laugh or cry is that even though it was dark, Wei Ran could still recognize it at a glance under the cold moonlight. This small boat was actually modified from the auxiliary fuel tank of an American fighter jet. Even the propeller at the tail seemed to be made of

Powered by a two-stroke engine removed from a motorcycle.

There was no time to marvel at who had such a good craftsmanship, Wei Ran and Zac lay almost side by side in the cabin, covered with a torn canvas that smelled of blood and potion.

Almost at the front and back, Ruan Qingcha also placed wooden boards directly above them, almost perfectly fitting them on the sides of the boat on both sides.

Soon, the wooden boxes originally packed in the cargo compartment of the three-wheeled motorcycle were lifted to the wooden board above the two people's heads. Immediately afterwards, even the two bicycles were loaded onto the small boat.

At this point, Wei Ran and the two men were completely hidden under the cargo, especially Li Youfu and Charlie, who were almost sitting on the wooden board directly above their heads.

Lifting up the canvas covering their heads, they passed through the gap between Li Youfu and Li Youfu's legs, and could also see Ruan Qingcha at the stern of the ship who was responsible for controlling the engine.

Without too much delay, this slender boat started running lightly with the roar of the engine.

"Boy, can you have a cigarette?"

Zach, who was lying on his back, arched forward, letting his head stick out from between Li Youfu's legs.

“This angle is weird”

As Li Youfu spoke, he bent down and stuffed a cigarette into Zach's mouth, and at the same time said, "But hold on, you will be safe soon."

At the same time, Charlie also gave a cigarette to Wei Ran whose head emerged from between his two feet, and kindly took off his slippers and put them under his head.

"Why do you say that?" Wei Ran asked, letting the other party help him light the cigarette, "I mean, is this place very close to the front line?"

"Not close at all, but our boat is very fast."

Li Youfu replied while lighting a cigarette for Zach, "In just one night, we can run very far, enough to reach the territory controlled by the Americans."

"The premise is that we will not be discovered by the American aircraft patrolling at night," said Ruan Qingcha, who was operating the outboard motor, "and you will not be discovered by our patrol team."

"Miss Run, can I understand this?"

Zach, who was also sleeping in slippers, looked at the night sky above his head and asked, "When we are safe, are you going to be in danger?"

"you can..."

"We are war reporters on the front line" Li Youfu gave his answer first.

Hearing this, Zach just took a puff of his cigarette, but didn't say anything.

Amidst the low engine sound of the engine, this boat with a fully loaded auxiliary fuel tank ran very fast on the Migong River. The shadowy jungle night scenery and swarms of flying fireflies on both sides of the river were also retreating rapidly.

After an unknown amount of time, Li Youfu suddenly said, "You can come out now. You are lucky that you did not encounter our patrol team, and you will not encounter them again."

Hearing this, Wei Ran and Zac immediately crawled out of the "bottom cabin" where they were hiding.

Before he had time to ask, Wei Ran noticed two things.

First of all, the jungle on the river bank has become so bare that it has no leaves at all. The surrounding air is also filled with the strange smell of aged defoliants. Even on the river in front of you, there are some large and small leaves floating in the air.

Belly fish.

Secondly, Ruan Qingcha had turned off the engine, picked up the telescope, and looked around the banks and the night sky above with vigilance.

Looking at Li Youfu and Charlie, they have skillfully removed the paddles fixed on the outer edges of both sides of the boat, and they are working together to provide quieter power for the boat as if they were rowing a dragon boat.

Obviously, just as Zach guessed just now, the Americans may be safe when they get here, but the Viet Cong may start to face danger.

Even so, Li Youfu and Charlie still rowed extra hard without any fear, and even Ruan Qingcha looked like he was used to it.

In contrast, Wei Ran and Zach became a little at a loss. They couldn't help and didn't know what to do, but they wanted to find something to do.

"If you really have nothing to do, just help us clean the camera."

Charlie, perhaps sensing Zach's uneasiness, took off the camera hanging around his neck and handed it over along with a piece of suede.

Seeing this, Li Youfu also temporarily stopped what he was doing, and also handed over the camera hanging around his neck and a piece of suede.

Wei Ran couldn't help but laugh after taking the camera. Charlie used Minolta and waterproof Nikonos cameras, while Li Youfu used the Nikon Big F and Leica M3 that belonged to Zach, and the notebook that belonged to him.

Konica half grid.

For a moment, Wei Ran seemed to see the shadow of Zach and Li Youfu, who were both friends and teachers.

Zach, who was holding the camera with a smile on his face, might have thought of something as well. While carefully and skillfully wiping the two cameras that belonged to him, he whispered, "These are two good cameras. This Nikon is mine."

My father recommended it to me when I set out. This Leica was a birthday gift from my mother when I was 18 years old.

It was one of the first batch of Leica’s that my parents brought home when they went to West Germany to attend the Camera Expo as dealers in 1954 and used it as an exhibit. Its double film levers were used.

very comfortable."

After the introduction, Zach raised his head with a bright smile, "But since I brought it home, it has been placed in the display cabinet behind the bar. It has never been loaded with film, and has never been pressed.

.

Until the day I turned 18, my mother took it out and gave it to me, saying it was time to let the camera play its original role."

As everyone listened attentively, Zach put the cleaned Leica camera back into its leather case and hung it around Li Youfu's neck. Then he carefully folded the piece of suede into a pocket square and stuffed it into the other person's shirt.

In his pocket, "Troyer, let it play its original role in your hands."

"It's not my birthday today," Li Youfu made a little joke, "Of course, I know, it's not a birthday gift either."

Zach smiled when he heard this, but did not continue to say anything. However, Wei Ran, who was closest to him, could clearly sense that he was now much calmer and more at ease.

Chatting softly about the camera, the brisk boat was also speeding along the edge of the shadows reflected by the trees on the riverbank on the river amidst the clattering sound of oars.

While Li Youfu and the others were working tirelessly, when the fish belly turned white on the horizon, Wei Ran and Zac also noticed that the vegetation on both sides of the river had all lost its leaves.

"We have to hurry up, we're still some distance from the dock."

Ruan Qingcha said, handing the telescope in her hand to Wei Ran, "Help me keep an eye on the surroundings, especially the other side and the top of my head."

Before she finished speaking, the girl had already taken off a pair of oars from the side of the boat and joined the rowing team.

Instead of taking the telescope to keep an eye on the surrounding gases, Zach raised the Nikon F that was left in his hand and looked at the three people rowing, the slightly turbid river and even the leafless vegetation on both sides.

After entering the viewfinder, I pressed the shutter button.

"If I discover the enemy, will you join the battle?" Wei Ran asked the hypothetical question to the three people who were busy rowing.

“That’s a good question”

Mr. Zach, who had just pressed the shutter, seemed to have hit his G-spot and praised it with a satisfied expression.

“It’s different from before”

The first person to answer the question was Li Youfu, "Now I am a guerrilla first, and then a frontline war reporter. Mr. Zak, on this point, I agree with Mr. Victor's original point of view."

"What's your opinion?" Zach glanced curiously at Wei Ran, who was already sitting on the boxes behind him.

"Don't look at me, I forgot what I said."

Wei Ran, who was busy searching for potential enemies with a telescope, took it out when he noticed that the other party was looking at him.

"Mr. Victor once said that only by adhering to justice and objectivity can the photographer prevent the lens from being stained with blood. In order to prevent the lens from being stained with blood, he did not care about getting his hands stained with blood."

Li Youfu paused and said while rowing harder and harder, "I agree with this sentence."

"It seems that I have become someone who can say famous quotes..."

Wei Ran, who was holding the telescope, didn't even finish his words, but his heart trembled. He sped up his speech and whispered in a low voice, "Something's wrong. The tree with the bird's nest on the top of the tree on the right has just reflected light from below!"

In fact, before he even finished speaking, Ruan Qingcha had already put away the oars and pulled the engine's starting wire hard.

At the same time, Li Youfu, who had just expressed his attitude, also reached out and lifted the canvas that had been placed at his feet, revealing a grenade launcher with a copper base on the butt and a Type 56 bullet bag filled with grenades.

.

As he watched, Charlie also pulled out a Type 56 submachine gun with a folding stock from under the opened canvas.

“Tu tu tu tu—!”

At this moment, Ruan Qingcha had started the engine, and almost at the same time, a gunshot of "Bang!" was heard from the other side of the river!

Fortunately, due to the thrust generated by the started engine, the shot narrowly avoided Ruan Qingcha and only passed through her hairline from the earlobe down, interrupting her exclamation.

hair.

"Da da da da!"

Almost as soon as the gunfire rang out, Charlie raised his submachine gun and started to fight back. At the same time, Li Youfu also reacted very quickly and pulled the trigger of the grenade launcher in the direction indicated by Wei Ran!

"boom!"
To be continued...