That night, Stella visited Victoria in the darkroom in Tan Yi's apartment. Victoria was a bit unclear as to how all this happened, but Stella knew - the two of them were barely half of the same industry, and she also had a lot of knowledge about old-fashioned cameras. As soon as the conversation opened up, she I quickly found Victoria’s unconventional topic.
In the dim red darkroom, Victoria was developing photos at the workbench, and Stella looked around the room.
"So you used to be a war correspondent, and you joined Mercury Needle later?"
"Um."
"Amazing... I thought mercury needles were raised from child soldiers."
"Mostly, not entirely."
Stella slowly passed by several old photos posted on the wall. Most of the pictures showed scenes of dilapidated wasteland. There were people in every picture - an old man drying clothes in the sun, the corpse of a soldier who was killed in the corner, a building with only The church with its flowered stone floor and the priests and believers celebrating mass in the ruins...
The shade in the photo is beautiful and has a deep texture.
"I was also born in the wasteland," Stella said, "but I was too young at that time and can't remember many things clearly."
"Which wasteland?"
"In District 5, I forgot where exactly," Stella looked at the photo, "Are there frequent wars in the wasteland?"
"Occasionally, but not much."
"Then these are..."
"Most of it is due to chelation disease."
Stella continued browsing, and after a while, she stopped in front of a half-person portrait. The woman in the photo was holding her dead child and staring at the camera. Looking at the woman's slightly open mouth, Stella suddenly became curious: "When you took the photo, was she talking?"
"Um."
"What is she saying?"
Victoria was silent for a while, "'Are you waiting for photos like this?'"
"..."
Stella looked back at Victoria, and she suddenly had some new understanding of what happened in the afternoon.
Finally, Stella’s eyes fell on a photo frame beside the workbench.
"This is Anna, I recognize it." Stella pointed to the photo. She observed the clothes of the people in the photo for a while, "Was it taken in spring?"
"No, it should be autumn." Victoria thought for a while, "Probably 4617."
"That was indeed shortly before the arrest...she was arrested in December, right?"
"How do you remember so clearly? Do you pay attention to her?"
"Yes and no, I have a sister who likes her very much, and another good friend has also been her student, so I will pay more attention to it." Stella sat down on the workbench where the sundries were piled, "Also, I've heard some rumors."
Victoria raised her eyes and glanced at her. Stella was looking at her, silent because she was deliberately showing off.
"...What rumors?"
"I heard that Anna is related to the Mother City of District 15, which has never been opened." Stella deliberately lowered her voice to create a sense of mystery, "There are rumors that she grew up secretly in District 15, and then— —”
"She is from District 14," Victoria laughed. "If you don't believe me, go back and ask your sister and that friend of yours."
"Huh? Are you sure?"
"You haven't read Anna's book."
"...I'm not very interested in knowledge about animals and plants."
"Both Districts 15 and 16 are in the southern hemisphere, close to the equator, and the climate is completely different from that in the northern part of District 14," Victoria said softly, "And Anna spent her childhood in the snowfields, and she wrote a lot about it. The details of life in the northern woods—you can’t imagine it.”
"Really? I don't see anything in the world that can't be made up by imagination." Stella jumped down from the table - after all, she herself is an expert in this field. "Maybe she has someone who grew up in the snowfield. A friend? Maybe she has read a lot about snow fields?"
Victoria laughed and stopped talking. She moved the developed film into the fixing solution. After about thirty seconds, she took out the film again, dried the water, and put it back into the fixing solution.
A few minutes later, the two went outside the darkroom to turn on the light to see the effect.
"Which one of these four photos do you think is better?" Victoria asked.
Stella leaned her head over, and the four pictures in front of her were all portraits.
"If you're talking about exposure, the middle one is the best."
"Where's the picture?"
"This one." Stella pointed to the rightmost position of the film.
This is a middle-aged woman who is wailing on her back. Her hands are tightly grasping the skirt of her chest, as if she is shouting or calling. Because the exposure time was too long, the photo on the far right is very dark. It loses some details, but highlights the silhouette of the character in the sunset.
"Why?"
"You still ask," Stella raised her eyes and looked at Victoria, "you won't be happy when I say it."
Victoria laughed out loud. She was just about to apologize again for what happened in the afternoon, but Stella had already interrupted her.
Stella pointed at the film, "It should be said that every picture has a story, and everyone seems to be talking - this one is happy and ecstatic, and her tears seem to say, 'Okay, you There is also today!'; This picture is about pain, roaring saying 'I hate!' 'I hate!'; This picture is about weakness and exhaustion, the character has no words, but heavy choking and gasping can be heard."
Stella's finger finally moved towards the portrait in the middle. In the picture, two women were praying to the distant sky.
"This one just...has no sound."
"No sound?"
"The characters are blurry - not that the face is not clear, but the entire 'face' is lost. But it is quite beautiful and calm, a bit like a religious painting."
For a moment, they looked at the photo and said nothing.
Victoria leaned back in her chair, thinking about Stella's comments, and suddenly found that these analyzes well explained her mood changes when taking pictures in the afternoon.
"The divinity in the characters overwhelms the humanity, doesn't it?" Victoria said suddenly.
Stella thought about it and said, "...Yes."
The praying women bowed their heads humbly, expressing repentance and gratitude to the distant Heavenly Father - it turns out that there is indeed karma in the dark, and it turns out that God will indeed send down heavenly punishment for the unjust things on earth, as long as Wait and believe with a meek heart, and you will eventually get your own justice.
...That's it.
Stella reached out and grabbed a handful of her hair - unlike Victoria, she clearly knew the stories behind these faces.
But how did Rishi do it?
How did he accurately select the same type of people from so many people - these women who are as diligent as cows and horses, as weak as sheep, and cherish their feathers like swans... all of them are like natural sacrifices.
“How many people took your business card today?”
"Two." Stella replied, "I don't know if they will contact me."
