red moscow

Chapter 2697

The two entered the building, and when they pressed the floor button in the elevator, Victoria looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, are you going home directly, or are you going to my house first and then going back?"

Sokov thought about it and realized that he had spent enough time outside today. If he didn't go home as soon as possible, Anna would be worried. So he said decisively: "I will go home directly. I will visit Lida tomorrow when I have time."

"Okay then." Victoria nodded and then pressed buttons for two different floors.

As soon as Sokov opened the door, Anna appeared in front of him and threw herself into his arms. She said with a worried look on her face: "Misha, you are finally back. I was worried that something happened to you."

"What could possibly happen to me?" Sokov said with a smile, "I just went to the Hovlin Hospital, and I wasn't alone."

"Who went with you?"

"Officer Victoria is downstairs." Sokov patted Anna's back gently. "With her accompanying me, there will be absolutely no danger."

"You haven't had dinner yet," Anna said as she pulled Sokov's hand towards the kitchen, "You must be starving. Come and try my cooking."

When Sokov sat at the kitchen table to eat, Anna sat next to him, holding her cheeks with her hands, staring at Sokov eating.

Sokov felt a little embarrassed by being stared at. He stopped and asked, "Anna, why are you looking at me?"

"Tell me, why did you let Officer Victoria accompany you to Hoflin Hospital today?"

Although Anna tried her best to ask questions in a calm tone, Sokov could still sense the sour taste in her voice. He smiled and said, "Have you forgotten that it was the police who called me to come over? If I went alone, they would think I was a big fat sheep and might blackmail me when they saw that I was a foreigner. But if I went with Officer Victoria, the situation would be different. When they saw that there was an officer with me, they would be hesitant about what they wanted to do."

"Oh, so that's how it is." Anna nodded and continued to ask, "Any news about Baharov and the others?"

"No." Sokov shook his head and said seriously, "The police conducted a carpet search of the hospital building, but still found no trace of them. I guess there are too few people in charge of the search, and the hospital is too large. Maybe there are some hidden passages that the searchers didn't find at all."

"You mean, they might have entered some hidden passage?" Anna asked, "like the underground fortification we explored during Victory Day?"

"I think that's the case." Sokov nodded and said, "Given Baharov's adventurous nature, they might have found a hidden passage in the hospital that no one had discovered, and after entering, they have never been able to come out."

Anna tried hard to recall the process of discovering the underground fortifications and felt that what Sokov said made sense. Bakharov's friends who loved adventure could even discover fortifications hidden underground for decades. It seemed not impossible to find a secret passage that no one knew about in the legendary place of Khovlin Hospital.

After thinking for a while, she looked at Sokov and asked, "Misha, when can they come out?"

"I don't know." Sokov spread his hands and said helplessly, "Unless they have had enough fun in there and feel that there is no fun anymore, they might come out. Before that, I'm afraid no one can find where they are."

Although he said this, Sokov was secretly muttering in his heart: "Could it be that they happened to encounter a wormhole and traveled to other eras? The last time I traveled, although I stayed in the 1940s for several years, it only took a few hours here. According to this ratio, Baharov and his companions have been in that unknown era for more than ten or twenty years."

After dinner, Sokov went into the study alone again. While looking up information, he looked at the dressing mirror in the corner from time to time, secretly hoping that the image calling him would appear again. But unfortunately, the mirror did not respond at all.

It was late at night, and only after Anna urged him several times did Sokov reluctantly leave the study.

The next day, I drove to the market and just opened the door of the shop, and the pony next door ran over and said, "Brother, are you free later?"

Sokov didn't know what the other party wanted to talk to him about, so he didn't dare to agree easily, so he asked cautiously: "What's the matter?"

"Well, I heard there's a famous flea market in the city. Can you take me there to see it?"

Hearing the other party's request, Sokov seemed very embarrassed. Old Wu's family didn't hire any employees. Originally, Old Wu was the only one who looked after the store. After Xiao Ma came, Old Wu left the store to him to manage. He only came to take a walk around at noon every day and left early. If he took Xiao Ma to the flea market, it would mean that Old Wu would have to come to look after the store, and he might not be happy. It was for this reason that he said cautiously: "I think it won't be too late for us to go to the flea market after your uncle comes and gets his consent."

But Xiao Ma obviously didn't notice the hesitation in Sokov's eyes, and said cheerfully: "Well, I'll tell my uncle when he comes."

The flea market Xiao Ma mentioned is called Izmailovo Flea Market. Chinese people like to call it by its Russian transliteration, "Ant". It is usually open on Wednesdays and Sundays. At first, it was just an ordinary handicraft market, selling low-grade oil paintings, nesting dolls, etc., which was deeply loved by Chinese people who ventured into Russia. Later, as more and more Chinese people visited the market, the types of handicrafts became more and more complete, and the grade gradually improved. You can buy military uniforms and accessories from the last century, dresses, kerosene lamps, tableware, silverware, toys, samovars, iron, old photo frames and many other interesting things.

After Lena went to work, she pestered Sokov to ask about the visit to Khovlin Hospital yesterday. After Sokov told Lena about the incident, he took out his cell phone and checked it. He was worried that the police had found Khabarov and his men, so when he called to inform them, the call did not go through.

But there were no missed calls, which meant that the police had not found Khabarov and his friends yet. Sokov couldn't help but worry. Khabarov and his friends had been missing for more than 30 hours, and there was still no news. Could it be that they had really traveled to some unknown era?

Lao Wu came to the market near noon. After hearing Xiao Ma's request, an unhappy expression appeared on his face.

Sokov stood opposite and saw the change in Lao Wu's expression. He was still a little worried, worried that he would be the one to be blamed and Lao Wu would think that Xiao Ma wanted to go to the flea market because of him. After all, once Xiao Ma left, Lao Wu would have to stay and look after the store, which meant that he could no longer wander around, and he must be unhappy.

Sure enough, after a while, Lao Wu came over. As soon as he entered the door, he asked Sokov: "Xiao Lin, was it you who mentioned the flea market to my nephew?" Sokov shook his head quickly, trying to distance himself from the matter, so that Lao Wu would not have any bad thoughts: "He asked about it on his own initiative. Didn't you mention it to him at home? Otherwise, how could he know there was a flea market? You know, many people have been here for five or six years, and they don't even know whether the flea market's gate faces east or west."

After hearing what Sokov said, Lao Wu was at a loss for words. He raised his hand and scratched the back of his head, then said hesitantly, "My nephew wants to go to the flea market now. I wonder if you are willing to take him there."

"If you don't object, I can take him there to broaden his horizons."

According to Lao Wu's idea, today is Sunday, the busiest day for business, and there is only one employee left in Sokov's store. He definitely doesn't want to take his nephew on this trip, so he can justifiably reject his nephew Xiao Ma's request. But what he didn't expect was that Sokov agreed without hesitation, which made him a little embarrassed for a while.

"Well, I'll ask him to go with you."

After more than ten minutes, Sokov drove his car and took Pony to the flea market dozens of kilometers away.

On the way, Xiao Ma asked curiously, "Brother, I have read some posts written by traders who came to Moscow after the collapse of the Soviet Union. They said that they took international trains to Russia with daily necessities, and at every station along the way, there were locals buying goods. When they arrived in Moscow, the goods they carried were converted into cash. Then they used the cash to buy stamps or antiques at the flea market and brought them back to their country to sell. They could make a lot of money by going back and forth every 20 days or once a month. Are these things true?"

"Yeah, it should be true." Although Sokov had not experienced it, he had heard their stories from more than one trader who came to Russia to compare. What Xiao Ma said was basically consistent, so he nodded and said, "Russia was short of supplies back then, and our products were in great demand when they came over, so they naturally had no trouble selling."

Hearing what Sokov said, Xiao Ma seemed very excited: "Then let's go to the flea market today, will there be a chance to find a bargain?"

"If it was when the Soviet Union just collapsed, people at that time would sell off many valuable things in their homes to make a living," Sokov said to him. "If you went to the flea market at that time, you might have a chance to pick up a bargain. But now it has been more than 30 years, and such opportunities to make money are long gone."

Although Sokov had made his words very clear, Xiao Ma still asked unwillingly: "If we can't find the antiques, what about the stamps?"

"Of course not." Sokov continued, "I remember someone bought an unperforated miniature sheet of "Mei Lanfang's Stage Art" at a flea market for $1. The domestic market price at the time should have been around yuan."

Xiao Ma's eyes widened in surprise. "What? He bought an imperforated miniature sheet for only 1 dollar. This person's luck is too good. According to the exchange rate of 1:8.5 at that time, 3500 yuan is equivalent to US dollars."

After a pause, he asked cautiously, "Brother, I know it's impossible to find a leak like the Mei Lanfang miniature sheet nowadays. But what about other stamps? How much are they worth?"

Sokov poured cold water on him again: "There are indeed people selling stamps in flea markets, mostly commemorative stamps from the 1950s and 1960s, and the most common ones are large sets of stamps such as "Goldfish", "Huangshan", "Butterfly" and "Peony".

"Big ticket package?" Hearing the unfamiliar term, Xiao Ma showed a confused expression on his face: "What is a big ticket package?"

"A large set of tickets usually refers to a set of more than 10 tickets. For example, a set of "Goldfish" has 12 tickets, a set of "Butterfly" has 20 tickets, a set of "Peony" has 18 tickets, and a set of "Huangshan" has 16 tickets."

"Brother, you know a lot. Have you ever collected stamps before?"

"Yes, I have collected stamps." Sokov gave the other party an affirmative answer, and then reminded him: "Although these stamps can be seen in flea markets, the prices are very high, ranging from three or four hundred US dollars to thousands of US dollars. If you just buy them for collection, it doesn't matter. But if you want to use them for investment, then it's not necessary, and it's hard to sell them after you buy them."

Arriving outside the flea market, Sokov found a place to park the car, and took Xiao Ma in through the side door, so they didn't have to buy a ticket.

Walking into the flea market, Xiao Ma looked at the dazzling array of goods on the stalls on both sides, and his eyes were overwhelmed. He pointed at the colorful nesting dolls and asked, "Brother, are these Russian specialties?"

"Yes, nesting dolls are indeed a specialty of Russia." Sokov said with a smile, "But most of the nesting dolls in this market are actually produced in Northeast China."

Xiao Ma, who was examining a nesting doll carefully, put down the doll in his hand immediately after hearing what Sokov said: "If these dolls are all made in China, forget it. I would be so embarrassed if I brought a gift from so far away and found out that it was made in China."

The two continued to walk forward. Xiao Ma looked at the rusty shells of various calibers on the stall next to him and asked with a guilty conscience, "Brother, are these shells real?"

"Yes, it's true." Sokov nodded and said, "Many shells were dug out by the diggers from the battlefields of the Great Patriotic War. The fuses have basically been removed. You don't have to worry about a sudden explosion."

"Oh, so that's how it is. I was shocked."

Xiao Ma walked forward a few more steps and was suddenly attracted by the military uniforms hanging on a stall on the right. There were two sets of military uniforms hanging on the pillars of the stall, one was a black SS uniform, and the other was a Soviet uniform.

Xiao Ma walked over and saw many medals on the stall, including various medals of the Soviet Army and the Iron Cross of the German Army. There were also bundles of new military uniforms piled up in the stall. He turned around and asked, "Brother, are these things real?"

Sokov said with an expression like this: "The Great Patriotic War ended in May 1945. Now it is 5. Do you think a set of military uniforms can still be so new after 2018 years, as if they just came out of the clothing factory?"

After hearing what Sokov said, Xiao Ma immediately realized that the military uniforms sold at this stall were probably imitations, not left over from the Great Patriotic War. But he still asked unwillingly: "Is there nothing real on this stall?"

"There might still be some genuine stuff out there." Sokov pointed to an M35 helmet in the corner that was one-third rusted away and said, "That tattered German helmet might have been produced more than years ago."

(End of this chapter)