On October 1st, under the escort of three armored off-road vehicles, the tourists who had enjoyed some Soviet recuperation at the Hongqi Forest Farm took the bus and rushed to the airport not far away again. Under the guidance of the tour guide, they flew to
It's almost winter in Inta.
"Don't you need to go to Inta?" Wei Ran curiously asked Suisui who got into his car.
"I'm the boss"
Suisui slammed into the car door with a bang, and said while fastening her seat belt, "I'm not Zhuge Liang. I have to do everything myself and why can't I die from exhaustion?"
"Katenka and the others won't follow?" Wei Ran asked as he stepped on the accelerator.
"My two classmates and the tour guide I borrowed from my godmother are enough."
Suisui stretched while speaking, "There will be another group coming the day after tomorrow. We just need to do a good job of receiving them. Go home quickly, I want to go back and have a good sleep."
Hearing this, Wei Ran stopped asking any more questions and turned the steering wheel towards the city.
"Victor, I won't go back with you."
On the radio channel, Jima said in a regretful tone, "Maya is going to the forest farm for training, and I want to go over and help."
"Maya must have said just now that you don't have to go, but it's just right if you don't come, so we can have some peace and quiet."
Wei Ran grasped the radio and responded, then turned off the car radio directly, stepped on the accelerator and caught up with the car driven by the Katenka sisters in front.
When the two cars drove into the large yard by the Kaban Lake, Wei Ran, under Suisui's urging, went into the darkroom and developed the photo he took of the tourists and the distinguished Mr. Gorbachev in the morning without even having time to rest.
came out.
As for why we had to use this outdated film camera instead of a digital SLR that could print directly, we can only blame Suisui for insisting that this method is more compatible with the Soviet-style recuperation projects at Hongqi Forest Farm.
However, when he was holding the developed photos and preparing to ask Suisui for credit, the round and cute Caucasian cub Beria arched his back, stuck out his butt, and let out a childish cry in the direction of the courtyard door.
Grow.
“Stay there for a while”
Wei Ran raised his feet and gently pulled the little guy aside who was already a housekeeper, and then walked outside the door to take a look.
"Who is here?" Suisui, who was holding the photo frame and wondering where to hang it, asked curiously.
"I don't know, a taxi." Wei Ran walked out of the room as he spoke.
At the same time, Anfisa, who was holding a pudding in her mouth just a second ago, quietly walked to the sofa on the side of the door and sat down, and reached into the gap of the sofa.
And covered it with a sofa pillow.
Almost immediately, Anfiya simply quit and just opened the game interface. First, she handed a tablet showing the surveillance screen at the door to her sister. Then she came to Suisui's side and held her arm affectionately to help her.
Let’s think about where to hang the photo frame together.
Even the two little foxes hid behind the bared-toothed Caucasian cubs with their big ears raised, looking warily at the yard outside the door.
Outside the yard, Wei Ran raised his eyebrows when he saw the person getting out of the taxi. The person who came in the taxi turned out to be Wei Ran's cheap tutor at Kazan University, Kajik.
"Boss, why are you here?" Wei Ran pressed the remote control to open the courtyard door and greeted him enthusiastically, "Where's your car? Why didn't you drive over?"
"My car was sold a few days ago."
After Kajik took the change from the taxi, he followed Weiran to the yard and said, "I plan to buy a new car in a few days, but I didn't come to you just to talk about this. Victor, I need
Please help me investigate some things."
"Shall I help you investigate something?" Wei Ran stopped and looked at him with a strange expression.
"Don't worry, there is a commission, and it's not low." Kajik raised his finger while speaking, "It's a full million rubles!"
"Only one million rubles?" Wei Ran asked subconsciously.
"Only one million rubles? What do you mean only one million rubles?" Kajik puffed his beard and stared at Wei Ran.
Wei Ran spread his hands and said, "My previous sales started at a minimum of 200,000 euros."
"200,000? Euros?" Kajik's beard trembled visibly, "Where did you get to know so many rich idiots?"
“Most of them are delivered to your doorstep”
Wei Ran smiled, greeted Kajik into the room, and then introduced Suisui and Sui to each other before leading him to sit down at the long table.
"Your life is really enviable"
Kajik pointed in the direction of the next door, "I heard from Maya that you bought all the workshops next door?"
“It’s been almost a month since I bought it.”
While Wei Ran responded, he poured the other person a cup of coffee in a leisurely manner, while he himself just placed a large cup of hawthorn leaf tea on the table next to him.
Kajik picked up the coffee and took a sip. After pondering for a moment, he slowly opened his briefcase and took out a colorful photo from it and pushed it to Wei Ran.
I took the group photo and looked at it. There were only six men in thick clothes, but behind these six people was a DT-30 transport truck painted in snow camouflage.
On the body of this transport vehicle, there are also the words "Siberian Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences" written on it, and a conspicuous Soviet national emblem is also painted on it.
"What is this?" Wei Ran asked, putting down the photo.
Kajik glanced at the two sisters Suisui and Katenka who were busy not far away, and then said, "The only clue I have so far is this photo. If you are interested, you can go with me."
Someone at the school will explain it to you in detail."
"Now?"
Wei Ran asked pointedly. Just from Kajik's eyes just now, he could tell that this old guy didn't know anything. He made it clear that he didn't want Suisui and others to hear.
"Of course!" Kajik picked up the coffee and took another sip, "Don't worry, it won't take long."
"Then let's go"
Wei Ran stood up with a look of helplessness, returned the photo to the other party, and said hello to Suisui before taking Kajik out of the room and into the compartment of the armored pickup truck.
When he started the car, Kajik, who just now said he knew nothing, immediately said, "The photo is of an exploration team sent by the Siberian Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences in the autumn of 1991."
"which year?"
Wei Ran looked at Kajik who was sitting in the passenger seat in surprise, "In the autumn of 1991? Were they still in the mood to send out an exploration team at that time?"
Kajik spread his hands and said, "This is not something I can decide."
"Okay, keep talking." As Wei Ran spoke, he stepped on the accelerator and drove the car out of the yard.
"go to school"
Kajik gave an additional reminder, and then continued to explain, "To be precise, they set off from Irkuts on September 1, 1991, and their destination was in the northernmost part of Irkutsk Oblast.
Katanga District, according to the original plan, they will work there until the permafrost melts the next year before returning."
"etc"
Wei Ran simply stopped the car, "They set off with just a few people and one car? Also, what did they do in Katanga?"
"Of course not. The exploration team consisted of six crawler transport vehicles. There were a total of 38 people in the entire exploration team."
Kajik automatically ignored the second question in Weiran's question and said without a pause, "But in the last few days of 1991, the six people in the photo, the transport truck behind them, and
A driver responsible for driving a transport truck suddenly disappeared."
"What kind of missing?"
"Literally missing"
Kajik once again took out the photo and handed it to Wei Ran, "Due to the nature of their work, they were not with the other five vehicles a few days before they disappeared. Well...according to the records at the time, they were talking to each other.
The straight-line distance between us is at least about 15 kilometers, and the straight-line distance from the base camp behind us is about 20 kilometers."
While talking, Kajik took out a palm-sized notebook from his pocket, spread it out, and drew a pattern similar to a WIFI signal with the carbon pen inside.
"Their base camp is at the center point. There are two crawler transport vehicles left behind at the base camp. Their job is to provide materials and fuel supplies to several other vehicles. The remaining four vehicles explore different directions in a radial pattern.
When Kajik said this, he focused on the upper right corner of the pattern he drew with the tip of his pen. "This direction can be regarded as the northeast geographically. The people in the photo were exploring in this direction and disappeared."
of.
According to the regulations of the exploration team, they will communicate by radio at a fixed time every day. At the same time, although the transport vehicle they are riding in has sufficient fuel reserves, it has very few material reserves. At most, it can only support the six people in the photo plus the transport vehicle.
The driver lasted a week.”
"If calculated according to this, killing six of them can last for one and a half months or even two months?"
"Why do you have such dangerous ideas?"
Kajik raised his eyebrows, pointed at the people in the photo and said, "Of these six people, the two in the middle are doctors, and the four people on both sides of them are their students."
"Where's the driver?" Wei Ran asked.
"The driver was an active soldier at the time. He was only 27 years old when he disappeared, which is about the same age as the students in the photo."
Kajik thought for a while and continued, "According to the records, in addition to an AK74 rifle belonging to the driver in their car, the six people in the photo also carried civilian shotguns for guarding against wild animals and uniformly equipped by the Academy of Sciences.
issued a Nagant revolver."
Putting the photo on the dashboard, Wei Ran looked at Kajik and asked, "Tell me the specific circumstances of their disappearance and why you suddenly came to me to investigate this matter."
"This vehicle was codenamed Cross Pickaxe. It maintained radio contact before it disappeared. However, according to the regulations at the time, they had to return to the base camp for supplies after working outside for a week."
Kajik paused and continued, "But when there were only two days left before they could return to the base camp for supplies, a blizzard suddenly broke out in the area. The blizzard lasted for four days, but after it ended,
The car and its occupants disappeared and have not been seen since."
"Why now..."
Before Wei Ran could finish speaking, Kajik said cheerfully outside class, "The matter started almost a week ago. In Yekaterinburg, which is nearly 3,000 kilometers away from the place of disappearance, a high school geography teacher bought a
Building apartment.
When he was renovating, he found the work notes of the six people in the photo in an old-fashioned safe built into the wall. However, those work notes were only recorded on December 7, 1991, and then stopped.
In addition, he also found documents that were kept with his work notes."
"Are all the IDs of all 7 people here?"
"They are all here, and one of the doctors' Nagant revolver is also there."
Kajik paused and continued, "The teacher mailed these things he found to the Siberia Branch, where I happened to be on a business trip at the time..."
"I don't believe this last sentence"
Wei Ran stated his judgment straightforwardly without waiting for the other party to finish. Kajik did not quibble after hearing the words, but just spread his hands calmly, as if a dead pig is not afraid of boiling water.
Wei Ran simply turned off the car and asked angrily, "So after talking so much, the only clues I can get are a photo and the story you dictated?"
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! "There is still an investigation fee of up to one million rubles," Kajik reminded.
"Put aside the investigation costs first."
Wei Ran looked at the other party and said seriously, "Do you want me to help you find the car and the seven missing people?"
"Smart young man" Kajik gave a free compliment with empty teeth.
"Since you want me to help you find the missing people, at least you have to give me their work notes and IDs? Maybe I can find some clues in them?"
"Those things have been destroyed"
Kajik once again lied blatantly, "Besides the record of work content, it does not contain any valuable clues at all. You have to trust my judgment."
"The Nagant revolver was also destroyed?" Wei Ran asked mockingly.
"Is it possible that you can analyze any valuable clues from a pistol?"
"Is it possible that you can still provide me with your work notes?"
Wei Ran's eyes became more and more contemptuous, "In other words, you don't even want to provide me with a pistol? How can I check it?"
"Go to school." Kajik simply waved his hand, but did not want to say another word.
However, Weiran was in no rush to start the car, "In this case, let's talk about the commission first."
"One million rubles, didn't you already agree?"
Hearing this, Wei Ran spread his hands and said, "Boss, I just said to put aside the commission matter first, but that doesn't mean that one million rubles will allow me to take over the investigation."
"How much do you want?" Kajik asked impatiently.
"Since you are my teacher, I will give you a discount, or...five million?"
"No"
Kajik simply waved his hand, "I don't have that much money, and even if I did, my wife wouldn't allow me to use it to pay commissions."
"In this case..."
"Listen to me"
Seeing that Wei Ran was about to refuse, Kajik quickly said, "Although I can't pay a better commission, I can help you cut those broken stones into beautiful diamonds, and I can even help you sell some of them."
"How do you know this?" Wei Ran frowned immediately.
"Are you an idiot? How could you ask such a stupid question?"
Kajik looked at Wei Ran suspiciously, "I'm starting to hesitate whether to let you get involved in this matter."
"If you can really process those diamonds, it's not impossible. Of course, one million rubles cannot be less."
Wei Ran stepped on the accelerator as he spoke, "However, I need to see enough clues to decide whether there is any way to help you."
"No problem, let's go to school." Kajik said again.
"Boss, I still have a question." Wei Ran asked after the car started running.
"Where do you come from with so many questions?"
Kajik asked dissatisfiedly. While speaking, he fumbled to open the cover of the shooting hole on the bulletproof glass, then lowered the back of the seat and lit a cigarette comfortably.
Glancing at the other party out of the corner of his eye, Wei Ran suppressed a smile and asked, "Aren't you also a history major? Why don't you investigate on your own?"
"I'm not omnipotent," Kajik asked meaningfully, "otherwise you think you have a chance to come into contact with these things?"
"At least tell me what you investigated?" Wei Ran simply pointed out the topic.
"We only found out that the previous owner of that house had obtained Australian citizenship with her husband in 2001, but in 2013, the couple died due to a fire."
Kajik paused and continued, "They also have a son who was born in 1994. Their son still has Russian citizenship and finished college in Yebao. The house he recently planned to sell for starting a business.
But he didn’t know anything about the safe, and he didn’t even know that there was a safe built into the wall in that house.”
"Where are the homeowner and her husband from?" Wei Ran continued to ask.
"The homeowner is from Yebao. Her husband was once a Ukrainian. She married the homeowner in 1993. Before they left Russia, the two of them ran a bakery. Of course, after they went to Australia, they also
Runs a bakery."
Kajik thought for a while and took the initiative to say, "Among the six people in the photo, two doctors are from Petersburg, Russia, and Kharkov, Uklan. Their four students, except one from Moscow,
In addition, the remaining three are from Tartu in Estonia, Liepaja in Latvia and Minsk in Belarus."
"The composition of the personnel is really complicated," Wei Ran exclaimed.
"It seems very complicated now," Kajik sighed, "but at the time, they were all Soviets."
Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, but he did not make fun of him after all. He just speeded up the car in silence and rushed to Kazan University.
Following the cheap tutor Kajik into the office, the old guy motioned to Wei Ran to close the door, and then opened the safe next to the desk. After a moment of hesitation, he took out a stack of documents and a cowhide gun in a holster.
The Nagant revolver.
"That's all?" Wei Ran asked dissatisfied.
"That's all." Kajik closed the safe door with his toes as he spoke. "How long will it take to investigate?"
"how could I know"
Wei Ran grabbed the pile of documents and looked at them. These documents all belonged to the Siberian Branch of the Soviet Academy of Sciences. Apart from their names, there was nothing of value on them.
"That's it? Why are there only six copies?" Wei Ran put the ID in his hand on the table, "Where's the soldier's?"
"No." Kajik locked the safe as he spoke.
"Did not you say..."
"No, it means no." Kajik waved his hand impatiently, "investigate as soon as possible where the transport vehicle and the passengers on it have gone."
"Where's the investigation fee?" Wei Ran stretched out his hand and asked, "My rules are..."
"Where do you get so many rules?"
Kajik became more and more impatient, "Send over your broken stones when you have time, and I will help you polish them all."
"Let's wait until I get the results of my investigation."
Wei Ran decisively refused and said, it doesn't matter if he can't get the investigation fee, what's the point of having to put the diamond in the opponent's hand?
"If you need to go to Katanga for on-the-spot investigation, you can contact me at any time."
Kajik said noncommittally, "But you have to hurry up. By November, it will be no different from the refrigerator in hell."
"If I can find anything, I will contact you as soon as possible."
Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he had already picked up the six documents on the table, as well as the Nagan revolver in a cowhide holster.
Sauntering downstairs and getting into his car, Wei Ran stepped on the accelerator and drove away without stopping at all.
It wasn't until he drove the car to the shore of Lake Kaban that he found a quiet place to stop the car. He first went to the passenger seat to check to make sure there were no extra parts, and then he sat back in the driver's seat.
He pulled out the Nagan revolver from the cracked cowhide holster.
Although this old gun has been in service since the Tsarist Russia and was discontinued after World War II, in fact, it was still used by many law enforcement agencies in Russia until the early 21st century.
Even to this day, in some police stations in remote areas, you may be able to find a Nagan revolver that is ready for use.
As for why the Soviet Academy of Sciences issued this kind of weapon in 1991, it is not difficult to guess the reason. It was nothing more than simple and reliable.
After carefully looking at the Nagant revolver in his hand, he found that the magazine with a capacity of 7 rounds only contained 6 bullets, but there were an additional 7 bullets fixed on the cracked cowhide holster.
In addition, the grip patch of this pistol is also particularly interesting. It is not a common wood or Soviet material, but more like a material similar to mammoth ivory.
However, the workmanship of this pair of slightly cracked grip patches is really clumsy. Not only do they have traces of polishing with a file, but the left and right sizes even look a little different.
But on such a pair of patches, which are made of good materials but poor workmanship, the center of the one on the left is inlaid with a copper sickle flower decoration that is only the size of a thumbnail. The same position on the right is also decorated with a hammer.
The smooth handwriting was engraved with a name that Wei Ran had seen in those documents.
"One million rubles is too low a price..."
Wei Ran put down the revolver and muttered to himself, and then muttered secretly as if to comfort himself, "It's not a lot. What danger can there be at the end of 1991, and can you cut those diamonds?"
It’s pretty good to come out.”
With this in mind, he stepped on the accelerator again, secretly wondering what kind of people he would meet and what kind of stories he would experience this time.
