After leaving the "print shop" run by the old man Sergei and his granddaughter, the textile girl playing the accordion could still be clearly heard after floating out of the crack in the glass door. The tires of the black Iveco on the roadside had also long been heard.
A piece of amber ice was frozen.
He turned to look at the old man Sergey who was standing inside the glass door waving goodbye to him. Wei Ran waved in the same way, then got into the borrowed off-road vehicle, started the engine and drove towards the Red Square.
On the way, Wei Ran called Teacher Dalia and briefly described the results of his investigation, and then mentioned his current situation in Moscow.
Under the instruction of Teacher Dalia, Wei Ran found a hotel to stay at and waited patiently for the other party to come and join him.
Taking advantage of this period of time, Wei Ran also roughly reviewed the criminal evidence about the smuggler from Japan that Katianka had collected for him. Now that it was almost the end of the year, he was going to hand over these things together.
To Teacher Dalia, this is the end of that delayed assessment.
While he was waiting patiently, in the afternoon of the next day, Teacher Dalia took the deputy director of the museum named Lu Ren to the hotel where he was staying.
After he let the two people into the room, Teacher Dalia found a place to sit down by herself, crossed her legs and asked, "Have you found it?"
"Found it"
As Wei Ran spoke, he placed the photo album he had prepared in advance, the photos of the tombstones he took on the outskirts of Rzhev, and the audio recording of the story told by the old man named Sergei one by one on the table.
Under the instruction of Teacher Dalia, Deputy Director Lu Ren asked, "Victor, tell me about your investigation process."
“It’s actually not too difficult.”
Wei Ran first set the tone for his "investigation process". He deliberately sat down facing Teacher Dalia and slowly explained, "According to the family information of the owner of that apartment that you provided,
, I found out that their family used to be residents of a village near Rzhev before moving to Moscow. After many checks, I finally found a hunter’s cabin in the forest.”
At this point, Weiran's subsequent investigation results can be explained in a logical and comprehensive manner, from the unnecessary piece of paper with the address, to the tombstone, and finally to the small shop in downtown Moscow.
When he explained everything and finally played again the story recorded by Sergey yesterday, Director Lu Ren finally nodded.
"How's it going?" Teacher Dalia asked, lighting a cigarette.
"Very detailed"
Deputy Director Lu Ren commented pertinently, "Except for the regret that the note with the address of the photo studio was not preserved, it is enough to find so much."
"Where's the appointment letter as a consultant?" Teacher Dalia asked.
"I brought it. I will be ready when I receive your call." Deputy Director Lu Ren shook his head helplessly, opened the briefcase he brought, and opened an appointment letter on the table.
However, before Wei Ran could see what was written on it, Teacher Dalia reached out and closed it and pushed it back to Lu Ren's side.
"What's wrong?" Deputy Director Lu Ren asked confused.
"Can't it be so casual?" Teacher Dalia shook her head, "How about choosing a suitable time and I will arrange an exclusive interview?"
"Another interview?" Wei Ran asked with a grimace.
"Shut up and go downstairs to buy me a pack of cigarettes." Dalia waved her hand like a fly.
"As if I didn't say anything." Wei Ran gave in decisively, but he didn't want to get up at all. He just wanted to see what new tricks Dalia wanted to do this time.
"What do you want to do?" Lu Ren asked angrily.
"This little guy is now our signature"
Daria said with a cheeky look, "So how about just before Defenders of the Fatherland Day? You just need to lend us a small piece of the museum grounds. It doesn't matter whether it's indoors or outdoors."
"No," Deputy Director Lu Ren said without even thinking, "The museum has activities for Defenders of the Motherland Day, and preparations must be made in the time before. It is impossible for you to do anything wrong."
"You do your activities and we do our interviews. There is no conflict between these two things."
When Dalia said this, she looked directly at Deputy Director Lu Ren, "Or should I ask her to talk to you?"
Deputy Director Lu Ren opened his mouth, but finally shook his head in confusion, "Then before the Defender of the Motherland Day. If there are any other conditions, let's tell them together."
"That's enough"
Dalia returned to her previous gentle look, hooked her hand towards Wei Ran and said, "Okay, it's time for us to leave. We can leave the rest to Mr. Lu Ren."
"Remember to inform me at least one week in advance when you have decided on the time," Deputy Director Lu Ren, who didn't even get up from his seat, reminded helplessly.
"I'll remind you"
Dalia waved her hand without looking back, led Wei Ran out of the room, left the hotel and got into an ordinary-looking car.
"Teacher Dalia, why is there another exclusive interview?" Wei Ran asked with a grimace.
"What the hell is that look on your face?"
Dalia rolled her eyes and threw the car keys to Wei Ran. She directly put down the seat and adjusted it to a comfortable position, and then explained slowly, "Victor, enjoy the light shining on you."
Use the spotlight. As long as these spotlights are bright enough, there won't be any shadows around you."
Wei Ran curled his lips secretly when he heard this. He naturally knew that the more glamorous his identity as a historian would be, the greater the benefits would be to him in the future, so he simply started the car and asked directly, "Where to go next?"
"There is a business card on the dashboard. Go to the address on the business card."
After Teacher Dalia finished speaking, she actually took out a steam eye mask from the pocket of her down jacket and put it on. At the same time, she took out a USB flash drive and handed it to Wei Ran, "Play the music in it."
Wei Ran reluctantly took the USB flash drive, inserted it on the dashboard, and then adjusted the volume to a level that satisfied the other party.
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! It was only then that he had time to enter the address on the business card into the mobile navigation software and drove the car out of the hotel.
Under the guidance of the navigation system, Wei Ran drove the car out of the city and finally stopped at the entrance of a street store that looked old and dilapidated.
This shop is worse than the photo studio I went to yesterday. The sign hanging on the lintel even has a hole as big as a bowl. Even the floor-to-ceiling windows facing the street look like they were once occupied. It looked like it had been smashed, and there were several colors of transparent tape stuck randomly on the spider web-like cracks.
Inside the floor-to-ceiling windows, in addition to an old man hiding next to a big-ass TV watching the news, there are also wooden models wearing suits placed everywhere that can be seen.
I followed Teacher Dalia into the shop without knowing why. The old man who was watching TV turned to look at Dalia, stood up with difficulty and asked, "Who are you making clothes for?"
"He" Dalia pointed at Wei Ran, "two suits, two briefcases, and one casual suit."
"What else do you want?" The old man slowly opened the drawer and took out a tape measure.
"Gloves, tie, leather shoes, belt, pocket square and shirt" Teacher Dalia thought for a while and continued, "What else do you think you need?"
The old man stood up, walked around the confused Wei Ran, and said, "Young man, take off your down jacket."
Wei Ran looked at Teacher Dalia and saw that she had no reaction at all. He could only shake his head helplessly, took off his down jacket and placed it on the wooden counter next to him.
Continuing to circle around Wei Ran, the old man grabbed Wei Ran's wrist, looked at the watch that Teacher Dalia had forcibly sold him, and after thinking for a moment, asked, "What is your identity?"
"Historian" Dalia answered this question on behalf of Wei Ran.
"How old are you?" the old man continued to ask.
"25 years old" Dalia continued before Wei Ran could open his mouth.
"Do you smoke?" the old man continued to ask.
Seeing that Dalia didn't help answer this time, Wei Ran quickly answered, "Suck it, but you don't have to."
"You can live longer if you smoke less, of course, that's what I guess."
As the old man spoke, he slowly walked to the floor-to-ceiling window, closed the thick curtains, and then pointed to the chair at the end of the store and said, "Go and take off your clothes. You don't need to take off your underwear."
Wei Ran glanced at Dalia, who was leaning against the door frame, and then at the bundles of fabrics and ready-made clothes on the shelves around the shop. Finally, he walked obediently to the end, sat on a chair and took off his clothes. Come down.
"Is this your student?"
The old man motioned to Wei Ran to stretch out his hands, and while using a tape measure to measure various dimensions such as shoulders, waist, and height, he asked Dalia behind him.
"So be it," Dalia replied nonchalantly, "How are you doing?"
“Still the same”
As if chatting with an old friend, the old man babbled in a calm tone with a hint of pride, "My grandson got a scholarship from the National University again this year, and he used the money to buy me a new washing machine." , the one with automatic drying, it took me two days to learn how to use it.”
"Where is your son?" Dalia asked, playing with the lighter in her hand. "He is still serving?"
"Maybe I'll retire in a few years."
The old man signaled Wei Ran to turn around and continued to measure while saying, "He sent back some caviar a few days ago. Do you want to try it? I don't like the taste of that stuff."
"Where?" Teacher Dalia asked curiously.
"Go and look inside. I put it in the refrigerator." The old man became more and more proud. "My grandson bought me that refrigerator this summer. It has no shortcomings except that it consumes too much electricity."
"You are not short of money"
Teacher Dalia muttered, and patted Wei Ran gently on the buttocks. Then she ignored the former's helpless expression, pushed open the wooden door familiarly, and got into the inner room.
After the old man carefully measured both of Wei Ran's feet, Teacher Dalia came back with a piece of bread spread with caviar.
"How is the taste?"
"It's delicious." Teacher Dalia glanced at Wei Ran who was getting dressed, and asked with a smile, "How long does it take to make it?"
"I'm getting old, and I'm not as fast as I used to be." The old man put away the tape measure in his hand, "Just a month, I can probably finish it in a month."
"How much?" Teacher Dalia asked after taking the last bite of bread.
"Let me do the math"
The old man took out a Nixie tube computer that looked very old-fashioned from the drawer. After pressing it here and there, he finally said, "For the sake of being your student, 1.2 million rubles."
, I will prepare the rest of the trinkets for him."
"Then 1.2 million rubles, you are not short of money anyway." Dalia turned to look at Wei Ran, "1.2 million rubles, bring the cash and come here to pick up the clothes in a month."
"Oh...Okay, okay." Wei Ran quickly endured the pain and agreed, wisely not asking further questions.
"Take this"
The old man took out a piece of white cloth from the drawer, used the big scissors on the table to cut off a piece of cloth the size of a dumpling wrapper, and then used a marker pen to write a few letters of unknown meaning on it, and then handed it over.
Gave it to Wei Ran.
It wasn't until Wei Ran put the rag into his pocket that the old man asked with a smile, "Do you want to stay for dinner?"
"What's for dinner tonight?" Teacher Dalia asked gently.
"Beetroot soup, baked potatoes and mushrooms. There are also dumplings left over from lunch and the caviar you just tasted."
"Then we're not welcome," Teacher Dalia said as if she was familiar with him.
"You guys go and sit upstairs first." The old man took off his apron from his waist. "I will call you down after I've prepared dinner."
"Do you need our help?" Dalia asked proactively.
"No, no, these are very simple, I will do it soon." After saying that, the old man walked towards the inner room tremblingly.
It wasn't until the other party's figure was blocked by the wooden door that Wei Ran asked in a low voice, "Teacher Dalia, he is..."
"A very talented fashion designer"
Dalia whispered, "In the Soviet era, he was responsible for designing and tailoring many of the dresses and formal suits we wore. Even though he is old, his craftsmanship is the best in Russia."
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment and sighed with emotion, "Another poor person forgotten by history..."
"Pitiful?"
Teacher Dalia shook her head, "He is not pitiful at all. He lives a happier life than any of us. But...it is true that not many people still remember him."
