"I remember you said you wanted to organize a private auction, didn't you? Why did you do it so quickly?" Wei Ran asked confused.
Professor Alexei handed the fragrant coffee to Zhou Shujin, then sat down on the sofa and explained proudly, "I originally wanted to organize an auction, but Mr. Alexander offered a high price of 42,000 US dollars.
It has far exceeded my highest expectations for the auction. And most importantly, he gave us a job.”
"Don't talk about work first."
Zhou Shujin interrupted Professor Alexey's show off, took over the topic and said, "Wei Ran, what I mean is, the money from selling the gun will be sent back to your parents, and you will have no shortage of food and drink here.
, you might as well let your parents save such a large sum of money."
"But I think Victor should make his own decision about the proceeds from that gun. Not to mention us, not even his parents have the right to decide for him how to spend the money."
Alexei directly ignored Zhou Shujin this time, "So I didn't agree with her suggestion. I want to wait until you come back and let you decide how to spend the money."
"You two wait a minute," Wei Ran said and looked at Professor Alexei, "What do you mean, the money from selling the gun belongs to me?"
"Is it me?" Alexei asked, pointing to his nose.
"Forehead..."
Professor Alexei stood up, walked to the inner room, opened the safe, took out a bulging small leather bag and opened it on the coffee table, "I said it was a gift for you, so even if there is someone inside who is still smoking a pipe,
Stalin, those are also your personal belongings. Victor, you decide how to spend the money. No matter what decision you make, I will support you."
Looking at the stacks of U.S. dollars in the open wallet, Wei Ran swallowed hard, took out the thinnest stack and stuffed it into his bag, then buttoned it with a "pop!"
He took the box and pushed it to the aunt sitting next to him, "Is this still a decision? Of course it will be sent to my mother!"
"Look at it?! Look at it?! He is my godson after all!"
Zhou Shujin rubbed Wei Ran's messy hair vigorously, picked up the wallet containing tens of thousands of dollars, and walked out. At the same time, she did not forget to tell her, "I will send the money to your mother this afternoon, please remember in advance."
Tell her to avoid thinking that I sold her precious son."
When Zhou Shujin left the studio angrily, Professor Wei Ran and Professor Alexey each sighed in sequence.
"You just said that Professor Alexei provided us with a job?" Wei Ran threw his backpack on the sofa and asked.
Professor Alexei nodded and said happily, "Mr. Alexander is going to invest in building a museum in Volgaski. He wants me to be the director. I also asked you to work as a consultant. Every month
The salary is one hundred thousand rubles!"
"You don't want to give up your job as a university professor? This studio is closed?" Wei Ran asked, tilting his head.
"These jobs do not conflict with each other," Professor Alexei explained proudly, "We only need to go to his museum to work for two days every Saturday and weekend."
"I won't go." Wei Ran shook his head and refused without thinking, "And I'm sure my aunt won't agree with you going either."
The expression on Alexei's face froze, and then he heard Wei Ran say, "And Professor, have you ever thought about, once we work for Alexander, who will get the profits from our pursuit of the historical truth? Or you?"
Do you think he really just asked us to go to the museum he invested in to get paid for nothing? I’m afraid we have to check the history of every exhibit in that museum. Then we should
Normal charges, or should we work for free?”
"this..."
"Anyway, I won't go," Weiran said decisively, "I don't want to work for capitalists."
"Alright alright"
Alexei spread his hands helplessly, "Your views are almost completely consistent with your aunt's. Since you both say so, just pretend I haven't mentioned it. Now let's talk about you, what have you been doing these days?
?Are you really not fooling around with a girl?"
"What a fool!" Wei Ran picked up the coffee on the table and took a sip, "Of course I'm going to investigate the clues about the anti-tank gun."
"Found it?"
"We have some clues," Wei Ran said noncommittally, "I think we can find out in a day or two."
"In this case, all the work on the anti-tank gun will be left to you." Professor Alexey stood up after saying that. "It just so happens that I am going to Moscow with your aunt in the next two days to discuss a business deal."
"Don't leave in a hurry yet, there's still something else to do."
Wei Ran grabbed Professor Alexey who was about to stand up, "I told you before that I want to learn German and learn how to use World War II weapons and equipment. You won't forget it, right?"
"Is this happening?"
Professor Alexey muttered, then patted his chest and promised, "How could I forget! You don't have to worry about German. You can just go to class after the summer vacation. As for the weapons and equipment of World War II... you wait."
!”
Before he finished speaking, the drunken old man rummaged through the box and found a business card and handed it to Wei Ran, "Call this phone, mention my name, and tell me your request."
"Valley? What is this?" Wei Ran asked in confusion.
"Valley Search Team"
The drunken Alexei explained vaguely, "They are a relatively large-scale Russian civilian team of Diggers, and they are also the largest war reenactment group. With them, you can experience various Soviet-German World War II weapons.
equipment."
"A repeat of the war? Forget it, just pretend I didn't say it."
Wei Ran suddenly lost interest and directly returned the business card in his hand to the other party. Admittedly, Mao Zi's war reenactment did look like that, but he also wanted to compare with others. With his two battles in the Battle of Stalingrad,
I have personally experienced and seen the re-enactments on Victory Day every year. Those "actors" were really thrown into the battlefield of World War II. If 10 out of 100 people survived, I'm afraid the Germans were cheating.
Professor Alexei didn't care at all. He threw the business card into the trash can, stood up and walked out, "Forget it if you don't go. It's useless anyway. It's better to look at the historical archives if you have that time. Okay,
I'll leave the studio to you. If there is business during this period, you can decide whether to accept it or not. We will be back in about a week and will bring you a gift then."
After sending Professor Alexei away, Wei Ran took out his cell phone and called his mother, informing her of the good news that tens of thousands of dollars would be sent back, which inevitably made her worried.
After finishing all the trivial matters, Wei Ran dug out the glass jar that Kazan had put away before, took out the paint block inside, and with the help of turpentine and rust remover, carefully unscrewed a piece of paint stuck to it.
Identity capsule.
Use tweezers to take out the piece of paper marked with the identity information from the capsule, and carefully open it. Aleutian's name is clearly written in the name column.
Based on the detailed information on it, Wei Ran opened the official website established by the Russian Ministry of Defense and easily found the general information of the other party.
According to the information found on the official website, Vaalyushin did come from a correctional camp, but before that, he actually participated in the battle to defend Moscow! And the crime of being sent to the correctional camp turned out to be desertion!
If Aleutian was a deserter, what about Captain Vanya? There are also the last group of veterans who were added before the collapse of Position 19. They were obviously very familiar with Aleutian and Vanya. So does that mean that Aleutian and those
Are veterans also deserters from the same battle?
There are more questions than these. If they were deserters and had been sent to the correction camp, how did they come to the battlefield of Stalingrad?
You know, the Moscow Defense War ended in early 1942, and the exchange of fire at Position 19 was in July 1942. In other words, they only stayed in the correction camp for less than half a year?
Suppressing the doubts in his heart, Wei Ran continued to browse the content on the web page. In the records about the Aleutians, he was indeed sent to the Don River Position 19, and even the position where he died was the Don River Position 19. But except for
In addition, there is no record of any military exploits related to him.
It seems that I have to talk to Nikolai when I have time. Maybe he knows something...
Making up his mind, Weiran stuffed the identity note back into the capsule that was still solidified on the paint and tightened it, put it into his backpack along with the printed resume about Aleutian, and drove straight to the factory on the other side of the Volga River.
I called Federer on the way and arranged a time to meet. When he arrived, Federer had already been waiting at the entrance of the factory for a long time.
"Why are you so anxious to see me?" Federer opened the door and got directly into Wei Ran's van.
"There's a clue about that anti-tank gun."
While speaking, Wei Ran showed some paint blocks that were still in the glass jar, and then handed the file bag to the other party, "Based on the information found in the identity capsule, I found the last combat record of this soldier named Aleutian.
Oh, by the way, I found the paint block in the can in the barrel of the anti-tank gun."
After quickly browsing Aleutian's war experience, Federer took the glass jar from Wei Ran's hand and looked at it, "The other two identity capsules have not been opened?"
"No." Wei Ran shook his head, "Besides, I want to meet with your boss."
"Meet our boss?" Federer looked at Weiran with a strange expression and asked tentatively, "About that anti-tank gun?"
Wei Ran nodded and said with great solemnity, "Federer, tell your boss that we may have discovered a group of unrecognized Soviet heroes."
Seeing the suspicious look on the other party's face, Wei Ran reluctantly opened his backpack, took out the photo frame he got from Nicholas and showed it to the other party, "This is a survivor I spent a lot of effort to find.
provided by the author.”
"I'll contact Mr. Alexander immediately!"
Federer just glanced at the application form for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the signature of the applicant Aleutian, then decisively opened the door and dialed Mr. Alexander's phone.
Less than two minutes later, Federer opened the car door again and said, "Victor, go to the city, to the auto repair shop you went to a few days ago!"
"Sit tight," Wei Ran said as he stepped on the accelerator to the bottom and rushed to his destination in the city center.
When he stepped on the brakes again, Alexander, who had already put on a formal suit, had been waiting under the bright sun at the entrance of the auto repair shop for a long time. The other party's solemn attitude also made Wei Ran feel a little more towards this capitalist.
of goodwill.
"I heard that you discovered a group of Soviet heroes?" Alexander asked impatiently before Wei Yan could get out of the cab.
"A group of unrecognized heroes of the Soviet Union," Wei Ran corrected with a hint of regret in his tone.
"A hero does not need to be recognized by the Soviet Union or Russia, come in with me." After Alexander said that, he personally helped Wei Ran open the car door and led him to the gun modification workshop in the innermost room of the auto repair shop.
After the two sat down on the sofa in the lounge, Alexander lit a cigar and asked, "Young man, what is your name?"
"Victor"
Wei Ran briefly introduced his name, and then handed Aleutian's resume and the glass bottle containing the solidified paint blocks to the other party, "I cleaned out a shell casing from the barrel of that anti-tank gun. These paints are in
Found in that shell casing."
"What else?" Alexander looked at the things in his hands carefully, and finally placed them on the velvet-covered coffee table.
"There is also this application report for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union. I borrowed it from a survivor. If nothing else, the applicant for this report is the Aleutian you just saw in the information.
"As Wei Ran spoke, he handed the photo frame to the other party.
After carefully reading the contents on the photo frame, Alexander thought for a moment and returned the photo frame to Wei Ran, "Young man, now tell me why you want to see me."
"I want to know what you plan to do with that anti-tank gun" Weiran asked the first question.
Alexander smiled and said, "If nothing else happens, it will be placed at the entrance of the Geography Exhibition Hall together with the T-34 last time."
Wei Ran secretly breathed a sigh of relief and continued to ask, "What are you going to do with this application report?"
"Are you going to sell it to me?" Alexander asked expectantly.
Wei Ran shook his head, "I need to know your decision first before I can decide whether to hand over this report to you."
"Of course, together with the anti-tank artillery." Alexander naturally gave Weiran's most anticipated question.
Wei Ran completely relaxed, and after hesitating for a moment, he pushed the photo frame to the other party again, "Mr. Alexander, in accordance with the wishes of the survivor, this application report for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union will be donated to the monument you established free of charge. The only condition is,
You're going to put it and the anti-tank gun on permanent free display."
Alexander glanced at Wei Ran in surprise, then waved to Federer, who was standing behind him, and said something into his ear.
Federer bowed slightly and left the lounge, while Alexander also lit a cigarette and asked himself, "Victor, as far as I know, you seem to be Chinese?"
Seeing Wei Ran nod, Alexander continued to ask, "Since you are Professor Alexei's student, you should know the value of this application report. If it were that stingy old guy who came here, this report would be the least valuable to me.
It won’t be a problem to sell it for hundreds of thousands of dollars.”
Wei Ran smiled and replied in a calm tone, "We have a saying in China that a gentleman loves money and gets it in the right way. However, if Mr. Alexander has uneasy conscience about this donation, you can pay some compensation and I will help you transfer it to
Donor’s.”
"Although I don't understand what you just said in Chinese, I don't see the greed in your eyes." Alexander smiled after saying that, "Let's have a cup of coffee."
Wei Ran suppressed the anxiety in his heart, picked up the coffee and took a sip. The bitter taste did not have a trace of sweetness, but the unique aroma of the coffee was exceptionally rich.
For more than half an hour, the lounge fell into silence. The two people sitting opposite each other seemed to have lost sight of the conversation, each thinking about their own concerns.
It wasn't until Federer knocked on the door and came in that Alexander seemed to have just woken up. After taking a page of A4 paper handed over by the other party, he read it carefully, wrote his name in the lower right corner, and then handed it to Federer to write on the name.
Stamped with a big red seal.
After reading it again, Alexander handed it to Wei Ran across the coffee table, "Victor, give it to the donor."
Taking the thin A4 paper in confusion, Wei Ran raised his eyebrows in surprise. The promise made by Alexander was listed in detail. He could even take away that important document at any time just by holding this piece of paper.
The application report for the title of Hero of the Soviet Union and the anti-tank gun!
The other party was so open, and Wei Ran had no doubts at this time. However, before he could speak, Alexander continued, "Besides, I have another thing that I need your help with. Of course, I will pay a fee."
A reward that satisfies you.”
"What's going on?" Wei Ran asked warily.
"I want to know why this Aleutian was a deserter, and why he only stayed in a correctional camp for half a year before being sent to the battlefield. I also want to know why he didn't receive any medals."
Alexander paused and continued, "This matter has nothing to do with the promise I just gave you. It doesn't matter even if you don't want to investigate. The promise on that piece of paper is still valid."
Wei Ran hesitated for a moment and then said, "Mr. Alexander, I need to think about this matter before I can give you an answer."
"no problem"
Alexander waved to Federer behind him again, who placed a particularly familiar metal gun case on the coffee table, opened it, and then placed two wads of brand new banknotes next to it.
Alexander handed over his hand to the guard, "I am very satisfied with the investigation of that artillery. Of course, I am also far more generous than your teacher, Professor Alexei, so in addition to the agreed commission, this pistol will be given to you."
Consider it a thank you!"
"Give it to me?"
Wei Ran asked in surprise. He remembered clearly that the price of this pistol, which made extensive use of titanium alloy, was a full 25,000 US dollars, which was far more than the cost of investigating the cannon.
Alexander smiled and returned another stack of bills on the coffee table to Wei Ran, "Besides this, I need you to help me transfer the other fifty thousand dollars to the donor."
"Aren't you worried that I'll take the money and run away?"
"Just think that I used the money to buy the exhibition rights of that report. They deserve these meager rewards."
Alexander stretched out his hand to Wei Ran in a particularly free and easy manner, "In a week, the artillery and this report will appear together at the entrance of the Volgasky Geographic Exhibition Hall for permanent display. Welcome you and the Don No. 19 position
The survivors can come and visit at any time.”
“Thank you for your generosity”
Wei Ran no longer had any doubts, shook hands with the other person respectfully, and left the auto repair shop with the gun case on the coffee table, the two wads of banknotes, and the letter of commitment signed by Alexander himself.
