red moscow

Chapter 2710

"Xiao Lin," after hearing Mesat's offer, Da Yuan turned around and asked Sokov, "What do you think of this price?"

"I think minus two zeros is about right."

"Minus two zeros?" Da Yuan asked in confusion, "I don't understand what you mean?"

"The reason is very simple. This medal is fake." Thinking that the other two Azerbaijanis could not understand Chinese, Sokov said carelessly, "The Russian medals all come with a certificate of award, which contains the medal number, the name of the awardee, and the reason for receiving the medal, etc. They can't even produce this, which means the medal is probably fake. Don't even mention $7500. Even $75 is probably too high."

"But they just said that the certificates of honor were lost because they were so old." But Da Yuan obviously did not listen to Sokov's advice and still said stubbornly: "I think even if there is no certificate of honor, this medal is real."

Sokov heard him say that and didn't argue with him. "I've said everything I need to say. It's up to you to decide whether to buy it or not. Anyway, I'll say this in advance. If you make a mistake this time, you can't put the blame on me."

"Don't worry, don't worry. I won't blame you even if I make a mistake." After saying this, Da Yuan started bargaining with the two Azerbaijanis.

Out of caution, Sokov took several photos in a row and posted them on his Moments, with a special explanation: "I accompanied my friend Dayuan to Maozi's house to buy medals. Who knew that the two Red Flag medals he took out could not provide matching certificates. Could they be fake?"

In just a few minutes, more than 20 likes were given to the post. An old man who likes military affairs left a message: "Xiao Lin, please remind Da Yuan that the various medals that appear on the market nowadays are basically fake. If there is no matching certificate of awarding medals, it is definitely fake."

Soon, someone else replied to Lao Dong's message: "If I want to buy a medal, how can I get a real one?"

"If you want to buy real medals, you can only go to those veterans. For example, every major festival in Russia, you will see many veterans wearing medals on Victory Square, Red Square and Vedanta Square. The medals they wear on their chests are real. But it is very difficult to buy these medals from them."

While Sokov was still replying to some friends' questions on WeChat, Dayuan had already bargained with the two Azerbaijanis. He said excitedly: "Xiao Lin, I have already negotiated a price with them. I will give them 2500 US dollars for two medals."

"Oh, you're really good at bargaining." Sokov said with a smile, "You just cut the price by two-thirds."

When Sokov said this, he was thinking, even if you cut the price by two-thirds, you still made a loss. The cost of this kind of medal is no more than 20 US dollars. In other words, you and the two Azerbaijanis haggled for a long time, but in the end, they still made more than US dollars from you.

When Sokov came out of the house with two boxes of medals, he suddenly heard someone calling him. He turned around and saw that it was his former employee Dania. She had worked for him for half a year, but later left because she was seriously ill and could not continue to work.

"Dania, I didn't expect to meet you here." Sokov was very happy to see an old friend: "How have you been recently?"

"Not very good." Dania shook her head and said, "Now I work in the Auchan department store in Khimki. I work 12 hours a day and my income is much lower than what you give me. Misha, do you still need anyone now? I can go over and continue to work for you."

"Dania, although I also want you to continue working for me, I now have three employees in my store, and it is now the off-season." Soko continued: "You also know that your income is a base salary plus commission. In the off-season, you can't sell much goods. In addition to the base salary, you can't get much commission. It's better for you to continue working in Auchan mall."

Dania knew that what Sokov said was true. In the off-season, if one or two fur garments could be sold a week, it would be considered very good. Under such circumstances, it was obviously unrealistic to expect to earn more. Dania sighed and said regretfully, "Misha, that's a pity."

If it was the peak season, maybe Sokov would agree to let Dania work for him. After all, one of his employees had gone home to have a baby, and the two employees were a bit too busy. But now he could only say sorry: "Yeah, it's a pity."

"By the way, why are you here today?"

Sokov pointed to the door he had just come out of and said to Dania, "I have a friend who really likes medals from the Great Patriotic War. So he came to the general's house to buy one."

"General, what general?" Dania asked in surprise.

"Here, this is the one." Da Yuan heard the conversation between Sokov and Dania and came over to say, "I just bought two Red Banner medals from him."

Daniya obviously knew the owner of this house. After hearing what Dayuan said, she couldn't help but frowned. "The ancestors of this family did participate in the Patriotic War, but they retired less than half a year after the war began because of serious injuries. A mere sergeant doesn't even have a medal. Where did the Red Flag Medal come from?"

"No way?" Hearing Dania say this, Da Yuan asked back, "Are you sure?"

"I met this old man when I was a kid. He had no skills, but he loved to brag." Dania said, "He loved to promote himself. He was originally only a sergeant, but he promoted himself one rank every week, from warrant officer, second lieutenant, lieutenant to colonel. Later, someone visited his house and saw his photo. In order to please him, he said directly: 'This is not a colonel, he is obviously a general, even an admiral.' Just like that, the neighbors around him began to call him general to satisfy his vanity."

"Is this true?" When Da Yuan asked this question, his face turned ashen.

"Of course it's true." Dania nodded vigorously and continued, "Didn't you see the photo hanging on the living room wall when you walked in? Anyone with a little military knowledge can recognize that the rank he wears is not general, but sergeant."

"Are the two people living here the descendants of that old man?"

"After his descendants rented out the house, they moved to another place and came here once a month to collect rent."

After Dania finished speaking, Da Yuan turned around and asked Sokov, "Xiao Lin, did you see the photo when you came in?"

"I saw it."

"Since you saw it, why didn't you warn me?"

Seeing that Dayuan was trying to pass the buck, Sokov quickly reminded him, "I told you at the time that the medal was fake and told you not to buy it, but you didn't listen."

"Of course," Sokov took out his phone, opened his Moments, and said to Dayuan, "After I reminded you, I also posted on Moments on purpose so that I wouldn't be confused later."

Da Yuan glanced at the circle of friends that Sokov posted and said unwillingly, "Then I'll go to them to return the goods."

Sokov sneered and said, "Do you think they will return your money?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Da Yuan, who was about to knock on the door, paused, thought for a moment, then shook his head and said, "Forget it. I know the Azerbaijanis. It's harder than climbing to the sky to get them to take out the money they have put into their pockets. Forget it, Xiaolin, let's go."

On the way to the market, Da Yuan, who was sitting in the passenger seat, kept sighing, obviously feeling sorry for the more than 2,000 US dollars he was cheated out of. Sokov didn't say a word, but just drove silently, so as not to become the target of Da Yuan's blame. Back in his store, Sokov asked Lena: "Did anyone come to see me?"

"No." Lena asked curiously: "Misha, how is Anna's injury?"

"You can walk, but you can't take the original route." Thinking that the plan to go to Sochi would need to be postponed due to Anna's injury, Sokov took the initiative to say to Lena: "Lena, Anna's current condition is obviously not suitable for long-distance travel. So our plan to go to Sochi may need to be appropriately adjusted."

"It's okay, it's okay." Lena said sensibly, "There's no rush to go to Sochi. We can go after she's fully recovered."

Sokov had just made himself a cup of coffee when Lena asked about Khabarov again: "By the way, how is Khabarov? Have you found him?"

Sokov shook his head and said: "The rescuers said that when they rescued the nine trapped people, they found that the surrounding roads were blocked by collapsed building debris and mud, so they could not determine where Khabarov and his companions had gone."

"Misha, what if, I mean what if." Lena asked hesitantly, "What if no one continues to search for Khabarov's whereabouts, will he die?"

"That's for sure." Sokov answered without hesitation: "Although Khabarov always likes to bring a certain amount of food and water when he explores, if he is trapped underground and can't get out, when the food and water are exhausted, only death will be waiting for him."

"What should we do?" Although Lena was not very familiar with Khabarov, they were acquaintances after all. When she learned that he was facing death, she could not help but worry about him: "Are we just going to watch him die underground?"

Sokov was silent for a moment, then slowly said, "I plan to go to the Hovlin Hospital myself and go deep underground to look for his whereabouts. If I'm lucky, I should be able to find him."

"Only you?"

"I definitely can't do it alone," Sokov said, shaking his head. "If I don't have anyone to go with me, I'm worried that in the end, Khabarov won't be rescued, but I will be the one who gets killed."

"Who are you going to ask to go with you?" After Lena asked this question, she volunteered: "How about I go with you?"

"No, no." Sokov rejected Lena's proposal without hesitation: "You have no experience in exploration. If you have claustrophobia in a complex underground environment, I won't be able to take care of you, so how can I have the energy to find the whereabouts of Khabarov and the others?"

Hearing what Sokov said, Lena stopped arguing. She didn't know if she had claustrophobia, but she didn't dare to take risks easily. It's better to be safe than sorry. If she really had claustrophobia after entering the underground, Sokov would definitely not have time to take care of her.

After realizing this, Lena no longer mentioned going with Sokov to look for someone, but instead asked with concern: "Misha, who are you going to take with you?"

"Officer Victoria, do you remember?"

"I remember, of course I remember." Lena nodded and said, "She's been hanging around in our store lately, so how could I not know her? Are you planning to go to the Hovlin Hospital with her?"

"It's not just her." Sokov said, "She plans to bring two more trusted men with us. This way, even if something happens after we go underground, we can still take care of each other."

"Misha, if you really want to go on an underground adventure, shouldn't you prepare some things in advance?" Lena waited for Sokov to finish speaking and immediately reminded him, "Like flashlights, food, water, etc. Otherwise, go buy them now."

"There's no need to bring food and water." Sokov shook his head and said, "After all, we're just going down to take a look and we'll be out soon. As for the flashlight, I prepared it yesterday and it's always available. Also, there's an engineer shovel in the store. It's what I used to dig stoves when I went on a picnic with others. You can take it with you underground and use it to dig soil."

"Misha, you are so thoughtful." Lena gave Sokov a thumbs up: "I believe you can find Khabarov."

While the two were talking, Victoria called.

As soon as the call was connected, Victoria asked directly: "Misha, do you have time now?"

"Yes, Vika, I have time." Sokov asked eagerly, "Shall we set off now?"

"Just drive over here. My people and I will be waiting for you outside the police station."

"Okay, I'll be there right away."

After Sokov hung up the phone, he said to Lena, "Lena, I'm leaving now. If anyone wants to see me, just tell them I'm not here and ask them to come back tomorrow."

"Yeah, I get it. If anyone comes looking for you, I'll say you're not here and ask them to come back tomorrow."

Sokov drove to the police station as fast as he could.

There was a police car parked in front of the police station. Victoria, dressed in police uniform, was standing next to the car, talking to two other burly uniformed police officers.

Sokov drove over quickly, stopped next to the police car, rolled down the window and called Victoria: "Vika, here I come!"

"Misha, you're here!" Victoria pointed at her two men and said, "This is Sasha, this is Yarosh, both of them are my most capable men. This is the Misha I told you about, and he's also my neighbor."

Two uniformed police officers walked up to Sokov's car one after another, shook hands with Sokov and said a few polite words.

"It's getting late." Victoria said to the two uniformed police officers, "I'll take Misha's car, and you drive behind me."

When driving to Hovlin Hospital, Sokov looked back through the rearview mirror and saw the police car following closely behind. He asked specifically: "Vika, do you have any weapons?"

"Have you ever seen a police officer in uniform in Moscow who didn't carry a gun?" Victoria said to Sokov. "Sasha and Yarosh not only carry their own guns, but also have an assault rifle each. Even if they encounter any accidents, they can handle them properly."

(End of this chapter)