After finishing the food in the lunch box, Wei Ran looked at the electronic watch on the wall. It was almost nine o'clock in the evening. He simply packed up the films and put them back into the wooden box. He closed the rolling shutter door and prepared to go to the second floor to rest.
.
But when he saw the Watts buns parked at the door, he suddenly remembered the cheating gift the professor had given him and his guess about the identity of the owner of the box and the negatives.
Maybe there are some clues in that box...
Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, opened the rolling shutter door again, and carried the rusty iron box from the trunk of the van into the studio.
This box is the size of a microwave oven, with the words "Pravda" still vaguely left on one side. However, the lid of the box and the surrounding areas have been completely rusted, and even the padlock, which is only the size of a bottle cap, is covered with green.
Rust.
Wei Ran couldn't think of cherishing such a tattered gift, even if it was given by a professor. He just found a hammer and a screwdriver and started violently dismantling it.
First, I used a hammer to smash the padlock, and then I pried along the gap between the lid and the box. It didn't take much effort at all, and the almost rusted iron box was easily opened.
“There are quite a lot of things”
Wei Ran muttered, put on his gloves carefully, and carefully started to take things out of the box. He was not worried about damaging the items in the box, he was just afraid of being cut by the rusty box and contracting tetanus.
The first things that were taken out were a few suits and ties that already had a strong musty smell and two pairs of old leather shoes that were anti-alkali. These things had no value at all, so they were directly carried by Wei Ran and thrown into the garbage against the wall.
In the barrel.
Continuing to scroll down, this time I took out a set of Soviet military uniforms from the Second World War, but this uniform wrapped in a Soviet cloak did not have any military rank insignia or anything like that.
After all, this military uniform is a complete set. Perhaps Professor Alexei can help sell it, so he simply puts it aside and continues to take things out of the box.
The expected antique camera did not exist at all. After taking out several famous books wrapped in newspapers from the box, the only thing left in the box was an old-fashioned cowhide briefcase carefully wrapped in a woolen coat.
After rummaging through the pockets of his woolen coat to make sure there was nothing, Wei Ran opened the slightly moldy black briefcase.
"Hit the jackpot!"
Wei Ran's eyes lit up the moment he opened the zipper. He reached into his bag and took out a small pistol in a cowhide holster.
Skillfully opening the holster and taking out the pistol, Wei Ran recognized the model of the pistol at a glance. It was a PPK pistol produced in Germany during World War II.
But this pistol, solidified with thick gun oil, is far more delicate than anything Wei Ran has ever seen, and not only does the sleeve and the back of the barrel have a clear steel stamp of the crisp eagle emblem, even the sides of the red wooden grip are
Engraved respectively are the national emblem of the Soviet Union and the sickle and hammer that had long been abandoned by this country.
He carefully removed the empty magazine, pulled the slide, and found that there was not a single bullet in the chamber, and it had even been completely filled with dried butter.
Subconsciously looking back at the rolling shutter door that he had locked, Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. He couldn't let the professor see this small pistol, otherwise he would definitely confiscate it.
After all, Russia is a hellish place. Although AK47 can be easily purchased, pistols are very strictly controlled. Once an international student like him is discovered by the police with a pistol on his person, deportation to the country will probably be the lightest result.
"I also have a gun now!"
Wei Ran excitedly took aim at the small pistol. After he was satisfied, he put the pistol and the two empty magazines back into the holster and put them into his pants pocket.
Continuing to flip through the black briefcase, all that was left inside was a brown leather book wrapped in layers of old newspapers and a red plastic leather ID.
"Pravda reporter: Boris Nikolayevich Polevoy?" Wei Ran looked at the press card in his hand and felt that this old man's name seemed particularly familiar.
"Wo...wo...fuck!"
Wei Ran looked at the character introduction searched on the phone screen, and after exclaiming, he finally remembered who this person was!
During the Soviet Patriotic War, as a reporter for Pravda, this Polevoy participated in many battles including the Defense of Moscow and the Battle of Stalingrad. He even followed the Soviet army into the invasion in 1945.
He traveled to Berlin and even reported on the entire Nuremberg Trials after the war!
Perhaps most Chinese people are not aware of these legendary experiences, but masterpieces such as "Traveling Thirty Thousand Miles in China" and "Real Man" (Legless Pilot) are definitely household names in China, and their authors are all from this award-winning author.
A war correspondent who received the Order of Lenin and the Gold Medal, and was even promoted to colonel after the war!
After coming back to his senses, Wei Ran threw the phone directly on the table, Saya rushed to the trash can by the wall, and carefully picked up the clothes and shoes he had just discarded!
If these clothes belonged to the legendary reporter, they would definitely sell for a lot of money and even be worthy of being sent to a museum!
After carefully checking the clothes he took out from the trash can, luckily there were no stains on them. Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief after calming down, and then picked up the cowhide notebook that he had just thrown aside.
This cowhide notebook is the same as the negative photo albums just now. They are all A4 paper size and five to six centimeters thick. However, the integrated cowhide back cover is about ten centimeters longer than the cover. When closed, it just fits on the cover to protect the edge of the book. However,
After he untied the cowhide rope, there was actually a silver-white feather-shaped bookmark fixed on the wide back cover.
After weighing the bookmark, its heavy feel proved that it was definitely some kind of precious metal.
Putting it aside carefully, Wei Ran's attitude became much more correct, and he carefully opened the slightly moldy cover. A faint musty smell came to his face. On the first page of this notebook, there was a sticker
A photo of a man wearing a Soviet military uniform from World War II.
But underneath this business card-sized photo, there was a completely unfamiliar name written in two lines of clear pen writing:
war photographer
Alexander Arkadyevich Trotsky
Who is this person? Wei Ran picked up the phone again, but after searching, there was no clue about this name at all.
With doubts, I picked up the cowhide notebook again and turned it to the second page. This page also had a black and white photo the size of a cigarette box. The protagonist in the photo was a Ural motorcycle. Next to the photo,
There is also this palm-sized paper bag, which contains several negatives that have been glued together.
On the rest of the page, something was recorded in neat Russian handwriting. Unfortunately, the cowhide book seemed to have been invaded by moisture, and most of the writing was blurred.
I patiently turned to the third page, and there was still a black and white photo, a paper bag full of negatives, and a page full of blurry text, but the protagonist in the photo turned into a GAZ car.
Continuing to scroll down, the protagonist in the photo on the fourth page is replaced by a Mosin-Nagant rifle. At the same time, the text on this page is also extremely clear and concise, with only one sentence: "I killed people I shouldn't have killed."
, but the war left me no choice."
"Who is a serious photographer who writes a diary..." Wei Ran muttered to himself and turned the notebook to the fifth page.
In the photo on this page, it turned out to be a Li-2 aircraft, and the surrounding writing was once again blurred.
Wei Ran raised his eyebrows. It was only five pages long, and he had already photographed everything from motorcycles to cars to rifles and finally even airplanes. The co-author, a photographer with a long name, specializes in photographing war equipment.
?
Wei Ran, whose curiosity was aroused, continued to flip through the page. However, in the black and white photo on the sixth page, there was only a broken watch, and there were no letters written on the light yellow page at all.
Continuing to turn back, from the seventh page to the end, the notebook is completely blank.
He gently closed the notebook and put the bookmark back to its original position. After thinking for a moment, Wei Ran took out his cell phone again and dialed Professor Alexei's number.
"Who are you talking about? Polevoy? War correspondent Boris Nikolayevich Polevoy?"
After hearing Wei Ran's description, Professor Alexei immediately stepped on the brakes and started to turn around, "I'm going back now! This time we are rich!"
Listening to the busy signal from the phone, Wei Ran curled his lips. He had already decided that when this old guy comes back, he must calculate the overtime pay before letting him in!
