red moscow

Chapter 2707

After calling Anna, Sokov sat in the store, holding his phone in a daze.

Khabarov is missing. If the survivors trapped underground are with him, they must know information about Khabarov.

If the police knew that Khabarov was on the list of missing persons, and were unwilling to expand the search range due to the complex underground environment, should I, as Khabarov's friend, go deep underground to search for his whereabouts?

When thinking about going underground for exploration, Sokov remembered that the last time he traveled through time, he was in a dark underground fortification. He lost contact with his companions because he could not see the road clearly, and suddenly came to the 1940s. If he really wanted to explore underground, he must first solve the problem of lighting.

Thinking of this, Sokov stood up and said to Lena, who was sitting in the store playing with her phone: "Lena, I have to go out for something. If anyone wants to see me, please call me."

"OK, all right."

Sokov walked a few blocks and came to the street where daily necessities were sold.

The lights installed on the ceiling of this street looked like ghost lights due to their low wattage and the fact that they were seven or eight meters above the ground. Fortunately, the lights from the shops on both sides added some brightness to this street. Walking on this street, Sokov tried to slow down his pace to avoid being bumped by someone who appeared out of nowhere.

Arriving at a stall outside a store selling lighting equipment, Sokov used the flashlight on his phone to check the merchandise on display. Seeing the store owner coming to do business, he quickly came out of the house and asked with a smile, "Friend, what do you want to buy?"

"I want to buy a high-intensity flashlight." Sokov told the other party what he wanted: "I am going to explore the forest with my friends, so I need a flashlight with high light intensity."

"Yes, yes." The shopkeeper picked up a flashlight as thick as a child's arm from the stall and said to Sokov, "Friend, what do you think of this flashlight?"

“How bright is it?”

Hearing Sokov's question, the shop owner quickly turned on the flashlight. The huge beam of light instantly illuminated the originally dim street as bright as day.

The shop owner swung the beam of light up and down, and then asked, "Friend, how about this high-intensity flashlight? Are you satisfied with the brightness?"

"Satisfied, satisfied, very satisfied." After watching the owner's demonstration, Sokov confirmed that the shooting distance of this high-intensity flashlight should be about 30 meters. It is perfect to bring such a flashlight when exploring underground. So he asked, "What's the price?"

"3000 rubles."

After hearing the price offered by the other party, Sokov felt it was a bit expensive and asked, "It's too expensive. What's the cheapest price?"

"2800 rubles, it can't be any cheaper."

"How long can it last after one charge?"

"This is the short version, with four batteries inside," the shop owner said. "It lasts 8 to 16 hours on a single charge."

Sokov thought about it and realized that if they wanted to explore deep underground, 8 to 16 hours of battery life would be too short, so he continued to ask, "Is there a longer battery life?"

"Wait a minute." The shop owner turned and went into his shop, took out three paper boxes, and held them up one by one to introduce them to Sokov: "This short one has eight batteries and a battery life of 16 to 32 hours; this long one has four batteries and a battery life of 12 to 24 hours; this long one has eight batteries and a battery life of 24 to 48 hours."

Upon learning that there was a high-intensity flashlight with a battery life of 24 to 48 hours, Sokov immediately pointed at the box and asked, "How much does this one cost?"

"5000 rubles." The shopkeeper just finished quoting the price. Perhaps worried that Sokov would find it too expensive, he quickly added: "If you really want to buy it, just give me 4800."

Sokov thought about it, then said to the shopkeeper: "I want to buy a short model with four batteries and a long model with eight batteries. I'll give you 7000 rubles. Is that okay?"

The shop owner turned around and took out his computer. After a while of typing, he found that the price offered by the other party was 600 rubles lower than his offer. When he was hesitating, he heard Sokov ask: "Boss, are you going to sell it? If not, I will leave."

"Sell it, of course." The shopkeeper asked tentatively, "Are you sure you want these two flashlights?"

"Yes."

Seeing that Sokov had confirmed that he wanted a short model with four batteries and a long model with eight batteries, the shop owner quickly took out the flashlight and demonstrated the effect to Sokov again, saying, "My friend, my products are always fair to everyone. If you find any problems with them, you can always exchange them."

Sokov paid readily, carried the two boxes in a plastic bag, and returned to his stall.

When Lena saw Sokov coming in with two paper boxes, she came over and asked curiously, "Misha, what did you buy?"

"A high-intensity flashlight." Sokov took out a short flashlight, demonstrated its effect to Lena, and said, "We are going to Sochi in a while. With a flashlight like this, it will be convenient for us to go somewhere at night." He did not say that he bought the flashlight for underground exploration, so as not to make Anna and Lena worry about him.

After hearing what Sokov said, Lena nodded and said, "Misha, you are very thoughtful. After dark, the beaches of the Black Sea are pitch black everywhere. It is very convenient to bring a strong flashlight like this."

While the two were talking, Xiao Ma from the opposite door saw the flashlight in Sokov's hand, and ran over curiously and asked, "Brother, what are you buying this flashlight for?" According to his idea, the city was brightly lit everywhere, and such a flashlight seemed to be of no use.

"We're going to Sochi after a while." Sokov felt that there were some things he had to make clear to Xiao Ma, so that he wouldn't always want him to drive him to St. Petersburg. "It's a resort on the Black Sea. At night, the beach is completely dark, so it would be more convenient to have a flashlight."

When Xiao Ma heard Sokov say he wanted to go to Sochi, he couldn't help but feel a little itchy. But then he thought about it, he had to persuade his uncle Lao Wu for a long time before he agreed to go to St. Petersburg. However, since Sokov refused to drive him to St. Petersburg, the trip was ruined. Since St. Petersburg was not an option, going to Sochi was also a good option. At least when he returned home in the future, he could brag about it with his friends after dinner.

"Brother, can you take me with you when you go to Sochi?" Xiao Ma asked tentatively.

"No, it's not convenient for you to go." Sokov didn't want to have too much interaction with Xiao Ma, so he decisively refused: "They are all foreigners, and you don't understand Russian. What's the point of going with them when there's no one to talk to?"

"Brother, you are going too." Xiao Ma said with a playful smile, "With you here, I will have someone to talk to."

"I can't always be by your side." Sokov shook his head and said, "You should wait until you have a chance in the future."

When Xiao Ma was about to say something, a man suddenly walked in from outside and said to Sokov, "Xiao Lin, are you free now?" Sokov turned around and saw that it was his friend Da Yuan. He nodded and said, "Yes, what can I do for you?"

"Well, there's a party going on at Korolev's place today, and I want to go over and see if I can get anything for free."

Korolev is a small city northeast of Moscow. There are several market days every week, and local residents set up stalls to sell some old goods, which is equivalent to a small flea market. Hearing that Dayuan was going there to pick up bargains, Sokov nodded and said, "Okay, let's go now."

Before leaving, Sokov specifically told Lena: "Lena, I have something to do and I'm leaving first. When it's time to get off work, just close the door and leave."

"Okay, Misha, I got it."

As Sokov drove Dayuan along the ring road toward Korolev, he asked casually, "Have you found anything good recently?"

"I found a blue and white porcelain last month," Da Yuan said proudly, "It only cost me 80,000 rubles. If I take it back, I can earn dozens of times more."

Sokov didn't believe what Dayuan said. After all, it was not like when the Soviet Union took over, when all the goods were sold on the streets. It was harder to find valuable goods now than to find a needle in a haystack. The so-called antiques that Dayuan bought were basically all fakes. Even if one or two were genuine, the actual value was far lower than his purchase price. Even so, Dayuan still enjoyed it. As long as he knew that there was a market in a small city around Moscow, he would rush over to join in the fun.

But since the other party was spending his own money, even if he made a mistake when buying antiques, it was his own business and had nothing to do with me. All I could do was act as a good driver and take him to the place he designated.

At this moment, they encountered a red light. Seeing that the time on the light was more than 110 seconds, Sokov asked curiously: "What does the blue and white porcelain you bought look like? Do you have a photo?"

"Yes, yes." Da Yuan nodded, took out his mobile phone, opened the album, found the photo of "Blue and White Porcelain", and handed it to Sokov: "Look, this is the blue and white porcelain I bought."

Sokov took a look and found it was a dark blue vase with "Made in the Yongzheng Period of the Qing Dynasty" written in black ink on the bottom. Although Sokov did not know much about antiques, he could tell at a glance that this so-called blue and white porcelain was fake, and it was the product of a small workshop in China. They were not even willing to make it look old, so they sold it directly to Moscow to fool the foreigners. But the foreigners were not fooled, and Dayuan became the victim. He spent more than a thousand dollars to buy this fake vase.

However, Sokov only laughed and said casually, "This vase is well preserved. It looks like it was just fired."

But Da Yuan did not hear the hidden meaning of Sokov's words. Instead, he smiled and said, "Yes, I liked this vase very much when I saw it. I bargained with the boss for a long time and finally bought it."

After leaving the city, we soon entered the city of Korolev.

Under Dayuan's guidance, Sokov soon arrived at the market.

After finding a spot to park the car, the two entered the market and began their journey to look for bargains.

Sokov knew that in such places, there were still countless fakes. If you wanted to find a bargain, you not only needed a good eye, but also good luck. But he seemed to have neither of these two, so after arriving here today, he just accompanied Dayuan around to broaden his horizons.

The two of them walked around for a while before Da Yuan noticed a unique-looking bracelet on one of the stalls. He picked it up and looked at it, then said to Sokov, "Xiao Lin, you see, this is an authentic cloisonné enamel bracelet with a history of at least two hundred years. If you take it back home, you can sell it for at least 15 to 20 Chinese yuan."

Sokov looked at the bracelet and saw that it should have been made last week. However, he couldn't help but say, "Yes, you are right."

"Friend!" Da Yuan held the bracelet and asked the stall owner, "How much is this bracelet?"

The elderly stall owner looked up at Da Yuan and said, "Twenty-five thousand rubles."

Da Yuan calculated in his mind that it was about 2500 Chinese yuan, which he thought was a little expensive, so he asked tentatively, "Can it be cheaper?"

"No." The old stall owner shook his head and said, "I never lower the price of the things I sell!"

Seeing that the other party was unwilling to lower the price, Sokov quickly pulled Dayuan away and said, "Since he is unwilling to lower the price, let's go look somewhere else."

Da Yuan was dragged forward by Sokov, but he kept looking back at the bracelet on the stall. He said to Sokov anxiously, "Xiao Lin, I'm worried that after we leave, someone will buy the bracelet."

"Don't worry, no one will want that bracelet except you." Sokov said with a smile, "Didn't you see the other products on his stall? They are basically covered with a layer of dust, which means no one buys his products."

"Really?" Da Yuan asked in a skeptical tone: "I was so focused on the bracelet that I didn't notice the other items."

The two continued to stroll in the market, but Da Yuan was always thinking about the bracelet, worried that someone would buy it while they were away. So not long after they walked, Da Yuan stopped and said to Sokov, "Xiao Lin, I've thought about it carefully. Even if I buy it at the price the old man offered, I can make 70 to 80 times more by bringing it back home."

After this calculation, Da Yuan made up his mind. He grabbed Sokov's hand and said decisively: "Let's go back and buy the bracelet. If it is really bought by someone, I am afraid I will not be able to sleep tonight."

Seeing that Dayuan was so persistent, Sokov could not persuade him anymore and could only follow him back.

Soon, the two came to the old man's stall and saw that the bracelet was still there. Da Yuan grabbed the bracelet and examined it carefully before handing it to the old man: "Please wrap it up for me."

The old man took the bracelet, wrapped it in old newspaper, and put it in a red box.

After watching the old man put the bracelet on, Da Yuan took out five 5,000-ruble bills from his pocket and handed them over: "Here, this is the money to buy the bracelet."

Unexpectedly, the old man did not reach out to take it. Instead, he looked at Da Yuan and said, "The bracelet costs 50,000 rubles, and you only have 25,000."

"What?!" Da Yuan's eyes widened in surprise, "Didn't you just say that this bracelet was priced at 25,000 rubles? How come it suddenly became 50,000? Isn't this just raising the price?"

But the old man listened to it and said calmly: "My bracelet is only 50,000 rubles. If you want to buy it, buy it. If not, get out."

Seeing the old man being so arrogant, Da Yuan was ready to argue with him, but Sokov dragged him away: "Forget it, forget it, don't argue with such a person who doesn't keep his word. Even if you win, what's the point."

(End of this chapter)