War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1653: The Queen's Genius Plan and the Scholar's Rat Deal
In the quiet and warm car, the beautiful woman sitting in the passenger seat showed an undisguised look of regret. She did not see the vigilance she wanted to see on Wei Ran's face, but only confusion and doubt.

Just when she opened her mouth to say something, Wei Ran made an expression as if he had suddenly realized something.

"oh--!"

Wei Ran slapped his thigh, and even his attitude became much more enthusiastic. "I remember now! Is this the Berlin Guard of Honor that the descendants of that poor adventurer sent to me after I brought him back from Antarctica last time? So you are the descendant of that adventurer?"

"You're right," Ms. Page, who was sitting in the passenger seat, responded indifferently.

"Okay, so why did you come to see me this way this time?"

Wei Ran asked back with a little caution, "You don't want to get back the Berlin Guard of Honor? That's impossible. I have already..."

"If you like those scraps, I can give you another set," Ms. Page said. "Now let's talk about something more pressing."

"whats the matter?"

Wei Ran followed up the topic, but in fact he was on edge. He remembered that a key word had been mentioned in the metal notebook - the Nacui Remnant Consortium.

Whether it is the remnants of the Nazis or the consortium, they are dangerous enough.

Not to mention anything else, even if the businesses he controls and Su Su's businesses are added together, there is still a long way to go before the word "consortium".

When this consortium was given the additional label of "Nacho Remnants".
When Wei Ran thought about this, he had already roughly guessed the other party's intention.

Or maybe this beautiful woman wanted him to help her find the legendary Nacui treasures.

Or maybe she was coming for the Soap Man. He even felt that the latter possibility was more likely.

The reason is that even if you think with a sphincter, you can understand where the wealth of the consortium with the prerequisite of "Nacrispy Remnants" comes from. Of course, it is contributed by those soap people.

In this case, there are unsolvable conflicts between the soap people and them, or between them and the soap people.

To put it more bluntly, even if they put aside their past grudges, would the soap man give up the wealth in the hands of these people?
Especially the soap people "should have received their compensation" and "should have taken revenge on them". This matter has nothing to do with justice, it's just about money, and this alone is enough.

While he was sorting out the clues in his mind, Ms. Page, who was sitting in the passenger seat, took out a folded A4 paper from her pocket and handed it to Wei Ran.

"What is this?" Wei Ran asked as he took the paper handed to him, but he did not rush to open it.

"About a week ago, Mr. Igor from the Jewish Autonomous Region tried to kidnap you."

Ms. Page looked out the window and muttered to herself, “Soon after, the other Jewish tycoons who tried to get their hands on the wealth in your hands received sufficiently sincere threats.

To be honest, Mr. Victor, I like your way of threatening, which is very consistent with the elegant temperament of a historian. Those people were almost frightened by the gift you gave them.

And of course, there's that Mr. Messer video, which is really creative and as great as the films you directed!

To be honest, I have seen all the movies you have directed, and I am almost a fan of yours. "

“Thank you for the compliment, but other than the movie part, I don’t really understand what you are talking about.”

Wei Ran spread his hands and responded that of course he would not admit those things, and he indeed did not ask Anfia how she threatened those people. He did not need to bother thinking about such things.

"All right"

Paige snapped his fingers and said, "Mr. Victor, how about we work together?"

"How to cooperate?" Wei Ran asked indifferently.

"Take a look at that piece of paper first," Paige reminded with a smile.

Hearing this, Wei Ran opened the A4 paper handed to him by the other party, but found that there were only a few names and corresponding addresses written on it.

He remembered that these names were indeed mentioned in the email that Anfia had sent him before, and they were indeed interested in everything he had.

"What is this?" Wei Ran asked knowingly.

“People who are also interested in your wealth, but they are basically in Europe.”

Paige explained casually, "Some of them are interested in your castle and ski resort, some are interested in your fruit business, and some are interested in your French lover, Miss Koko, and of course, her Elk Foundation."

"How do you want to cooperate?" Wei Ran asked as he threw the paper on the dashboard.

"I'll help you get rid of these people permanently"

Paige smiled and laid out her chips, "No one will suspect you."

"Since it's a cooperation, I have to pay a price." Wei Ran reminded very soberly, "So what do I need to pay?"

"I need Mr. Mehill"

Ms. Page paused for a moment and then said, "In addition, according to my personal speculation, you have a very good team of network hackers in your hands. When necessary, I hope your technical team can help me with some insignificant small favors."

"How did you guess that?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

“very simple”

Ms. Page smiled and said, "Among the Jewish businessmen in the Russian Federation who were interested in you, a few had my spies around them, but the evidence of the crimes you sent to the tax department didn't even get to my people."

"Are these the only two points?" Wei Ran asked without comment.

"One last condition. How about keeping our meeting today a secret?" Paige smiled and offered the final condition.

"I will keep today's meeting confidential."

Wei Ran first agreed to the other party's last condition, and then said, "As for the cyber hacker team, I'm sorry, the facts may not be what you think.

I just have a pretty good relationship with the police in the Russian Federation, so I don't need to investigate any evidence myself. That's the police's job. I just need to call the police.

Frankly speaking, I am just bait. As long as those people take the bait, even their breathing will be enough evidence to send them to jail."

"All right"

Paige said nonchalantly, "About Mr. Mehill."

"terribly sorry"

Wei Ran said without waiting for the other party to finish, "Mr. Messer is not in my hands. I suspect someone is using me and..."

“Corpses are OK, too.”

Paige said nonchalantly, "Everyone knows that he is in your hands. When that video is released, Mesir will only bring you trouble."

After a moment's thought, Wei Ran said noncommittally, "I'll keep an eye on the news."

"Goodbye, Mr. Victor."

Ms. Page said, already pushing open the heavy bulletproof door, "I hope this is the beginning of a friendship between us."

"Goodbye, beautiful Ms. Page." Wei Ran smiled and watched the other party get into the black SUV and drive out of the warehouse.

Wei Ran didn't breathe a sigh of relief until the car completely disappeared from his sight. He reached out to open the glove box on the passenger seat and turned off the recording jammer fixed inside.

"Lyubofu, come and sit in the front." Wei Ran greeted her in Chaoshan language.

"The teacher told you to wait here and he will come over after you finish your conversation." Liubov, who was sitting in the back row, replied.

Hearing this, Wei Ran simply lowered his chair and waited patiently.

In less than five minutes, an inconspicuous light truck drove into the iron warehouse and stopped next to Wei Ran's armored pickup truck.

However, as the car door opened, the person who came out from the driver's seat was Mr. Culp.

"Have you met?" Karp asked after sitting in the passenger seat.

"I've seen it before"

Wei Ran directly asked the question in his mind, "Who is that woman?"

"Just an outdated mouse"

Karp casually gave a seemingly perfunctory but extremely accurate answer, "Tell me what you talked about."

Hearing this, Wei Ran repeated the conditions that the other party had just offered and the conditions that he had agreed to.

"They need Messer to set the trap, so just give them that piece of cheese that's about to go bad." Kalp said indifferently.

"So you know her?" Wei Ran asked suddenly.

“It’s far from being an acquaintance”

This time, Karp was honest enough, "I just recognized her background. She came for you."

"So it's a problem?"

"Trouble? No, no, no, it's not necessarily trouble."

Karp said with a smile, "They need Mesil, and you need to get rid of Mesil. This is the best thing. Moreover, they will help you to retaliate against those Jews who are interested in you. This is the best result."

"Will I label them?" Wei Ran asked suddenly.

Karp was stunned for a moment, then he said with increasing satisfaction, "Victor, you are such a smart guy. It seems you have guessed where they came from."

"We Chinese have an old saying: fish seek fish, shrimp seek shrimp, and a tortoise falls in love with a giant turtle."

Wei Ran spread his hands, "So they want to take back the "My Struggle" that was stolen by the Wart Tai people?"

Hearing this, Karp laughed and said, "I like this guess, but unfortunately, I don't know the purpose of that beautiful girl, but at least there is one thing I don't have to worry about."

"what?"

“You won’t be labeled by them.”

Karp smiled and said, "Based on my judgment, this is more like the private behavior of that beautiful girl. Maybe she has fallen in love with you."

"It could also be that they are trying to drag me into this and force me to take sides. Besides, there is no shortage of pretty girls around me."

'They won't do that'

Culp said with a smile, "If they needed you to stand in line, they wouldn't meet you in such a secretive way."

"Can this shabby warehouse with leaks on all sides be called secret?" Wei Ran pointed around.

"certainly"

Karp seemed confident enough, "This place is as safe as the underground galleries of the Kremlin."

Knowing that he couldn't get anything out of the other party, Wei Ran simply changed the subject and asked, "Okay, one last question. How can I give that expired cheese to that beautiful mouse?"

"Send it to me, I'll do it."

Kalp accepted the job with a smile, "Okay, you've been out long enough, it's time to go back." "Will you go back with me?" Wei Ran started the car while speaking.

"I'll let it go." Before Karp could finish his words, he had already opened the car door and got out.

After watching the other party drive the broken truck away, Wei Ran turned around and asked in Chao Shanyu, "Is there anyone else who wants to see me here?"

"The teacher didn't say that," Liubov answered honestly.

“Fasten your seatbelts”

As Wei Ran spoke, he finally started the car and drove out from another door of the iron warehouse that was leaking air on all sides.

Wei Ran made a special stop at a Chinese supermarket on the way to buy a lot of special ingredients, and then slowly drove the car back to the library yard.

While a historian transformed himself into a chef and was busy cooking Chinese food to entertain the beautiful girls who were visiting his home, Ms. Page had already rushed to the airport and boarded a public flight to Romania.

On that same evening, while Wei Ran and Sui Sui were entertaining their friends at their home around the dining table in the first-floor hall, assassinations and kidnappings were taking place one after another across Europe.

"Boss, there are some interesting news."

At the end of the banquet, Anfia handed the tablet to Wei Ran and whispered in Italian, "Those targets we haven't had time to take action against all met with accidents a few hours ago."

The action is quite fast.
Wei Ran took the tablet in surprise and swiped at the news screenshots.

In these news from all over Europe, the people who appeared on the list on the white paper provided by Ms. Page either had a car accident, encountered an avalanche while skiing, or had a fire at home, and one person even died by jumping off a building.

After a moment's thought, Wei Ran returned the tablet to Anfia, "Make Mesir an idiot and send him to Mr. Culp."

"Ok"

Anfia suppressed her surprise and nodded in agreement. She was a smart girl, so even though she had countless doubts in her heart, she did not ask any questions.

As for turning Messer into an idiot, this requirement was not too difficult for them when they came.

"Also, how did you threaten them with Mr. Igor?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"I just put them one"

"What are you talking about?"

Before Anfia could finish her words, Sui Sui, holding a glass of fruit wine, had already sat down next to Wei Ran and asked drunkenly.

"I plan to turn the basement of the winery next door into my studio." Wei Ran hugged Sui Sui, took the fruit wine in her hand and made up an excuse.

"The boss asked me to find someone to come up with a decoration plan as soon as possible," Anfia also said.

"This is not okay!"

Sui Sui suddenly came to her senses and said, "No, no, I can't let you use that basement. I have plans."

"Do you have any plans?" Wei Ran became interested. "What are your plans?"

"Bar, of course it's a bar!"

Sui Sui burped as she spoke. "I plan to turn the basement into a bar, and the ground floor into an open street garden and free parking lot. I've even thought of a name for it."

"What's your name?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"It's called. Hiccup! Time Bar!"

Sui Sui burped without any image, "It will be open every day after dark, all year round, and the church will be turned into a vodka culture exhibition hall that is open to the public for free.

Every weekend, workers’ dances are held on the second floor of the church! Vodka and candies made in that distillery are provided free of charge!”

"Are you planning to let the winery next door start brewing again?" Wei Ran asked in surprise.

"Of course!"

Sui Sui replied with a silly smile, "The name of the vodka is Time Cannonball! And there will be half a workshop dedicated to producing candy, Caban Lake brand candy!

Hehe! If my dad knew I bought a brewery, he would definitely jump for joy! "

Without waiting for Wei Ran to ask, the complacent Sui Sui continued to show off, "This brewery, candy factory, and bar can solve the employment problem for some people in the area.

And the bus stop at the entrance will be renamed the Alcohol and Candy Station, and the operating hours will be extended on weekends.”

"Anything else?" Wei Ran asked with a strange look on his face.

"The shell workshop next to ours will be used as a dormitory and office space for the girls."

Sui Sui, who was arm in arm with Wei Ran, finally blurted out the good news he wanted to hear, but then she said, "The other half of the workshop will be used to build a kindergarten after reconstruction. It will be called the Golden Fleece Kindergarten."

"Establish what? A kindergarten?" Wei Ran widened his eyes.

“The admission fee is very cheap, and we make almost no money.”

Sui Sui became more and more proud, "And I can leave my kids here on Saturdays, weekends, and winter and summer vacations and help take care of them.

Humph! The kindergarten is open during the day, the bar is open at night, and there are dances on Saturdays and weekends. I wonder who dares to attack us! "

"gollum"

Wei Ran, the Kajianka sisters and teacher Anna who was invited to be the guest all swallowed their saliva after hearing the girl's plan.

They can all see that this girl Sui Sui has brought the above people to serve as shields for herself!
Just imagine, no matter who attacks Wei Ran again in the future, as long as the bullet misses by a little bit, no, the bullet will definitely miss!
When casualties spread to the kindergarten or bar next door, or even if it just leaves a string of bullet holes on the wall, any attack, assassination, kidnapping or even just a threat will be labeled as a "Kong attack"! This is almost equivalent to declaring war on Russia!

"you"

Teacher Anna reacted for a moment before organizing her words and asking, "Aurora, how did you convince the authorities to allow the bar to open next to the kindergarten?"

“The kindergarten was closed when the bar was open, and the bar was managed by the Greva people, and the security of the kindergarten was also the responsibility of them and Baba Yaga.

I dare say there is no safer bar in all of Kazan than ours.”

The drunken Sui Sui hugged Wei Ran and said with a silly smile, "Before the kindergarten opened, the bar had already stopped operating, and my kindergarten only accepts children from ordinary working-class families, and even the kindergarten employees are only locals.

I have already negotiated with the authorities. The buildings next to the church, I mean the dilapidated houses that used to be car washes and repair shops, will be demolished and rebuilt. A police station will be added there, and the police equipment will be donated by me.

By then, the police there will use the best weapons and equipment and the best police vehicles, and this area will become the safest community around.”

"gollum"

Wei Ran, the Kajianka sisters and teacher Anna swallowed unconsciously again.

"Victor, compared to Aurora, you look like an idiot who has been in kindergarten for 20 years and still hasn't graduated." Anna couldn't help but sigh.

"Common prosperity, common defense, we prosper together, and we die together." Wei Ran couldn't help but mutter a few Chinese sentences whose essence only Sui Sui could understand.

"Snapped!"

The drunken Sui Sui snapped her fingers crisply and said in her native language with increasing pride, "That's about what I mean!"

This is no fun anymore.
Wei Ran grinned and looked at Teacher Anna, "This is not something I came up with."

"I know"

Teacher Anna shook her head helplessly, "You can't think of such a clever way to deal with it."

"In short, don't even think about taking over the winery."

Sui Sui put her arm around Wei Ran's neck and said proudly, "Just continue to make do in the basement of the library."

Wei Ran was not stupid, and he really had no reason to reject this girl's genius plan.

"What are your plans for the next few days?" Seeing that Anna seemed to want to ask something else, Wei Ran changed the subject in time.

'No plans'

Sui Sui, who was so proud just now, suddenly became listless, "Of course it's work, work, and work."

"How about going back to Volgograd?"

Wei Ran's suggestion immediately brightened Sui Sui's eyes, but she quickly rejected it with a sad face, "Forget it, forget it. I don't have time now. There is a lot of work backlog at the studio."

Seeing that Anna was not going to say anything, Wei Ran could only obediently change the topic to another direction.

The next morning came in a blink of an eye, and Wei Ran started his morning run with his dog Belia as usual.

Unlike before, this time, while he was running, he would occasionally glance at the article on protracted war that he had searched on his mobile phone screen.

After the last history about Zhao Jinyu, Hu Bazhi and others, he still had not found the answer to the shoulder pole of the Long March, but he had decided to memorize the article.

At the same time, Sui Sui, who was still hungover, was dragged out of her warm bed by the Kajianka sisters, dragged to the lobby on the first floor and forced to turn on the computer. She started morning exercises with the other girls who were forced to wake up.

A little earlier than the rest of their family got up, a transport plane from Inta on its routine flight to Kazan unloaded a wooden box, which was personally escorted to the basement of the main building of the studio by Gleva's gang thugs.

After sending away those hoodlums who looked like human beings, Kalp personally used a crowbar to open the wooden box and pulled out Messer who was inside.

"Has he become an idiot?" Apoli, who arrived earlier, looked at Messer curiously, who had almost no reaction to external stimuli.

"The students taught by that old bastard Gorman have always been excellent"

Culp answered nonchalantly, but he did not hesitate to check on Messer to make sure there were no omissions.

"Is that female mouse really willing to help?" Apoli looked up and asked.

"She'll gladly help draw the fire," Culp replied without looking up, "and this deal won't hurt her."

"Why?" April demanded. "I mean, why would she help?"

This time, Karp hesitated for a moment, but finally explained truthfully, "A friend of mine accidentally discovered the cub she had hidden, and rescued the little mouse by the way."

"You really have no bottom line," Apoli sneered.

"Since when do we need such a thing as a bottom line?"

Karp asked back seriously, "We are not glamorous historians or movie stars."

"makes sense"

Apoli nodded and muttered incoherently, "But when did we need to make a deal with rats?"

"From the day the Soviet Union collapsed, those rats and termites suddenly became eligible to do business with us overnight."

Culp gave an equally vague answer: "In order for everyone to live a good life in the future, someone has to do something without a bottom line."

"What a perfect answer," Apoli said sarcastically as always, but there was inevitably a hint of sadness in his tone.