War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 1711 The most important task at the end of the year

After seeing off the wrestler Miguel and his brother-in-law Juliano, who came and went in a hurry at the hotel entrance, Wei Ran looked at the sealed bag in his hand, turned around and walked into the hotel.

When he returned to the banquet hall, SuSu was still chatting happily with Mrs. Alona under the company and secret protection of the Kajianka sisters. On the other side of the banquet hall, Channing was also holding a glass of wine and chatting with several wealthy Jewish businessmen.

In contrast, Mr. Hans sat on the sofa near the balcony accompanied by Diane. When he saw Wei Ran coming in, Mr. Hans took the initiative to wave at him.

Picking up another glass of sparkling wine, Wei Ran walked over and sat down next to Hans's husband.

"I heard from Diane that the wrestler came to see you?" Mr. Hans asked with a smile, and clinked glasses with Wei Ran.

“Just sent them away”

Wei Ran shook the sealed bag in his hand and said, "They also sent some small gifts. Mr. Hans is interested in seeing them."

"Forget it. I'm just a retired dentist. I can't give you any help in terms of historical knowledge."

Hans waved his hand. "But I do know a little about that Giuliano. If you are interested, I can tell you about him."

"Of course, it's my honor." Wei Ran put away the sealed bag and said with a smile.

"Diane, go and do your thing. Victor will be with me." Mr. Hans said.

"You guys chat"

Diane said as she stood up and filled both of their glasses with wine before walking away.

"Giuliano was a kid who grew up in the sewers"

Mr. Hans took a sip of the mild sparkling wine and said slowly, "If it weren't for Miguel, he would have died in a gang fight or AIDS. In any case, he would not have lived past 30."

“It can be seen that Mr. Miguel has been of great help to him.”

“It’s really big”

Mr. Hans nodded. "Miguel has been engaged in legal business for many years. His illegal activities have almost all been left to Juliano."

At this point, Hans asked with a smile, "Victor, do you know how Miguel got started?"

"I've never heard of this person before," Wei Ran spread his hands.

“Selling blood”

Mr. Hans said, "War can boost the economy in many areas, especially medical blood. At the beginning of the Kosovo War, I was preparing to find a new blood source."

"Miguel?"

“It was the gang he joined at the time.”

Mr Hans said: "I didn't do this myself, but when I learned about this wrestler, he had already set up several blood collection stations in Morocco and Algeria.

During the Kosovo War, one-sixth of the blood supply for my company came from North Africa.

The boxer was careful and attentive, the blood he provided was clean and timely, and he had a very good reputation in both Morocco and Algeria.

"So he became your employee?" Wei Ran deliberately asked a stupid question.

"of course not"

Hans smiled and said, "I just gave him double the commission. In the second year, he became the gang leader. Our cooperation has not ended until now, but the blood collection business is now all in the hands of his brother-in-law Juliano.

The fat man was as careful as Miguel, and not a bag of dirty blood had appeared in all these years.

My company has sent people to their blood source for many secret investigations. The prices they offered were fair enough and all the links were of sufficient standards.

In general, Miguel and Juliano, although they run some shady businesses, are still good people. "

"I have accepted their gifts and have become friends with them." Wei Ran said with a smile.

“I’m not speaking for them.”

Mr. Hans smiled and said, "They probably don't even know they are doing blood business with me."

“I didn’t know that before I came to Spain.”

Wei Ran said as he picked up the cup, "Of course, I will help you keep this little secret."

"Thank you"

Hans thanked him solemnly, and the cup he held up gently clinked against the cup in Wei Ran's hand.

Mr. Hans took a sip of red wine and said, "Okay, I'll leave this to you young people. I'm old now. In order to live longer, I need to rest on time."

"I send you"

Wei Ran put down the cup, helped the other person up and left the banquet hall.

The banquet did not end too late that night, but even though Hans had left, Wei Ran, Sui Sui and even Channing were still welcomed by the guests, and they all reached some deals.

After seeing off all the guests, Wei Ran, the slightly tipsy Sui Sui, and the Kajianka sisters who had not drunk any alcohol the entire time, also returned to their suite.

"When are we going home?" Sui Sui gently patted her hot cheeks and asked while trying to stay awake.

"Want to go back so soon?" Wei Ran asked as he sat down, "Don't you want to go shopping tomorrow?"

"I'm so busy with things at home, and my parents are going to Kazan soon." Sui Sui yawned, "and there are guests at home."

"In that case, let's go back tomorrow." Wei Ran said.

"Have you greeted Mr. Hans?"

"I've said hello"

Wei Ran nodded. He had already mentioned this matter when he saw Mr. Hans off from the banquet hall.

"That's good"

Sui Sui seemed to be completely relieved. She lay on Wei Ran's legs without any image and fell asleep in the blink of an eye.

After looking at the Kajianka sisters who were still checking the room, Wei Ran shook his head helplessly, picked up the girl and walked into their bedroom.

The next morning, Wei Ran, Sui Sui and the Kajianka sisters got in Diane's car and left the city in the name of going to the ancient town of Ronda. They drove straight to the airport. At the same time, Channing received an invitation from Mr. Hans and prepared to go with him to another auction.

"Happy New Year in advance"

In the airport lobby, Diane gently shook hands with Wei Ran while speaking, and then warmly hugged Sui Sui and even the Kajianka sisters, "I will visit you in Kazan after the New Year."

"You're welcome anytime," Sui Sui, who had recovered fully after a good sleep, responded enthusiastically.

After saying goodbye to Diane who came to see them off, Wei Ran and the other three walked into the waiting room together.

As soon as she entered the waiting lounge, Sui Sui couldn't wait to open the small suitcase she was going to take on the plane. While showing off the phoenix crown inside to Wei Ran, she lowered her voice and said proudly, "I asked someone, guess what this treasure is?"

"Who have you asked?" Wei Ran asked curiously.

"Who else could it be? Chen Luoxiang's father, Mr. Chen."

Sui Sui said proudly, "I took a photo of this treasure and sent it to him yesterday. When I left just now, Teacher Chen had already replied to my message."

"What do you mean?" Wei Ran became interested.

“It is indeed a phoenix crown.”

As Sui Sui spoke, she took out her phone and glanced at the message sent by Chen Guangling, and introduced verbatim, "The person that Teacher Chen helped to contact said that the full name of this treasure is the Dragon and Phoenix Flower Hairpin Crown, and it is most likely from the Ming Dynasty, but the exact time period can only be determined when we have a chance to return to China for a close-up appraisal."

Putting away the phone, Sui Sui carefully closed the box and continued to whisper proudly, "Experts have said that no real phoenix crown from the Song Dynasty has been unearthed in China. If we can confirm that the one we bought is from the Song Dynasty, it will be worth a lot of money. Speaking of this, didn't you ask the wrestler where he got it from yesterday?"

"forget"

Wei Ran patted his briefcase and said, "But don't worry, they will visit Kazan in a few days, and you can ask them in person then."

"Why are they going to Kazan?" Su Su asked in confusion.

"Send the pistol and some other things that came with the flag we took a picture of," Wei Ran said and gave a brief description of their visit to him last night.

“You’re busier than me this year.”

Sui Sui locked the box and said while counting on her fingers, "Brother Xia has a friend who is looking for nuclear weapons, right? If I remember correctly, Ninel also introduced a business to you, and now add it to the list."

"Can't"

Wei Ran had already opened his briefcase and pointed to the letter in the sealed bag. "And there's this too. I'm planning to find the recipient of this letter."

"Do you think this letter is from that Yu Yu?"

"Yu Yanlin," Wei Ran reminded.

"That's right!"

Sui Sui nodded without thinking, "Do you think this letter could have been left by Yu Yanlin?"

"Hard to say"

Wei Ran shook his head. The envelope of the letter was too badly contaminated. If he wanted to know who the letter was written to without destroying the historical traces of the envelope itself, perhaps only a living ancestor could help.

“I can’t help with this kind of thing.”

Sui Sui spread her hands, leaned over the small suitcase she was holding on her lap and asked, "Which one do you plan to do first?"

"Is there any difference?" Wei Ran asked with interest.

“Is there any difference?”

Sui Sui said as a matter of course, "We should go back to grandma's house for the New Year. I have to know when you will be done with your work here."

"I need to think about this matter." Wei Ran, who had also finished showing off his gains, zipped up his briefcase and changed the subject, asking, "What are you going to do with your employees?"

“How else can we arrange it?”

Sui Sui said as a matter of course, "We'll have a holiday when we go back, and when we return to China for the New Year, we'll take everyone who's willing to follow us!"

My good reputation is really gone now.
Wei Ran grinned secretly, he finally realized the brilliance of this girl Sui Sui's trick.

It is obvious that nothing will happen between her and the girls she has drawn around her. Even if something does happen, Su Su can easily control it.

But the existence of these girls who had no ideas easily excluded those girls who were truly interested in Wei Ran and had ideas about him from a safe distance.

Couldn’t these be taught by my aunt?
Wei Ran muttered something secretly, and then chatted with Sui Sui about the New Year as usual. As for the question of which job to work on first, he already had the answer.

No matter which comes first or later, he has to go again as soon as possible to recruit the bodies in the transport truck. That is the most important job before the end of the year.

They didn't have to wait long before the four of them successfully boarded the flight back to Kazan with their respective gains.

On the same day, the registration channel for the Nuclear Server Online Comic Contest, led by the Seven-Colored Divine Elephant and offering a prize of US$50, was opened in full swing.

6◇9◇Book◇Bar

Due to Anfia's deliberate control of the news, this news did not appear on Sui Sui's mobile phone or computer.

But just because Sui Sui doesn’t know doesn’t mean that the nuclear recruiting friend that Zhong Zhen made doesn’t know, and it certainly doesn’t mean that scum, scum, and scum don’t know.

In a small courtyard of a farmhouse in Tengchong, Yunnan Province, China, which had temporarily closed, Qin II held a bowl of rice wine and clinked it with Zhong Zhen and Xia Shushi. After drinking it all, he asked, "Tell me, from which jar do you think this colorful elephant came out?"

"Cow Urine Country Song"

Xia Shushi picked up a large piece of curry with chopsticks and put it into his mouth. "The curry from the organizer is so strong that it can be used as a thick soup. Who else could it be? It can't be the scumbag Wei, right?"

"When did you start eating this crap?" Qin II asked with disgust.

"Your sister brought it."

Xia Shushi said as he picked up another piece of food with chopsticks and put it into his mouth, "This thing is really delicious."

"How about you take the trouble to carry your plate to the side and finish eating before coming back?"

Qin II waved his hand in disdain, then looked at Zhong Zhen opposite him, "What do you think?"

"Whoever you love, you can't be our scholar friend anyway."

Zhong Zhen hugged Xiao Lingling who was sitting on his lap and said, "As long as they are not our scholar friends, it doesn't matter who they are."

"Why did you change the bell stand again?" Qin II asked tiredly.

"The one before me is now in charge of the training school." Zhong Zhen patted the girl's butt on his lap, "This one has a pleasing personality."

"It really can't be a special Wei University scholar"

Qin Ershi picked up the bamboo tube again and poured a bowl of rice wine. He muttered helplessly and tiredly, "I only have this one serious friend. It can't be him. It can't be him, idiot."

"No, why are you so bothered about this?" Xia Shushi asked in confusion as he was holding the plate and putting some zheergen into his mouth.

"How can I not be entangled?"

Qin II picked up the wine bowl and drank half of it in one gulp, "My anti-human aunt is planning to donate money to that writing competition, and she wants to ask if we did it."

"Is there such a good thing?"

Zhong Zhen became interested, "Just say yes!"

"How long do you have foreskin to dare to mess with that living woman?" Xia Shushi teased.

"Who are you mapping?"

Qin II put down his wine bowl and said irritably, "There's really no way I can celebrate this New Year."

"Why don't you just ask her to ask our scholar brothers?" Xia Shushi said casually.

"Can I ask?"

Zhong Zhen snorted, "It's obvious that this wasn't done by our scholar friends. If it wasn't done, then we can't ask. Besides, there are only a few of us, right? How can we know? We definitely don't know."

"So what should we do about this?"

Xia Shushi threw the empty plate of food on the table and asked nonchalantly, "Why don't we just say we don't know who we love?"

"It's a good thing you didn't take the civil service exam"

Qin II's tone became more and more disgusted, "We have to clear ourselves of this matter, and we can't involve our scholar friends."

“This is actually easy to say.”

Zhong Zhen let the little bell in his arms put a peeled loquat into his mouth and raised his chin towards Xia Shushi, "We have a friend for nuclear recruitment, right? You have a lot of friends in Japan, just find a cultural company to sign him. No, no, no, that's not right, it can't be him. Go sign ten or eight fat otakus who draw cartoons. You kid will write the manuscripts. If it doesn't work, you can nominally invite our great scholars to help write and review the manuscripts, and let those fat otakus draw according to the manuscripts, and take their manuscripts to participate in the manuscript solicitation competition."

"Then what?" Xia Shushi asked puzzledly.

"This is enough"

Zhong Zhen said with a smile, "It's 50 US dollars, and it's from the fucking Niu Niu Country. Who wouldn't make money from it? What do you think?"

"I knew you were smart since you were young!"

While Qin Ershi was talking nonsense, he personally poured rice wine for Zhong Zhen and the little bell in his arms, "This is a really good idea."

"Anyway, we have to earn this 50 yuan bonus"

Zhong Zhen took a sip of rice wine and said, "This opportunity has been delivered to my door. As a historian, I would be crazy not to grab this opportunity."

"No, what are you two talking about?" Xia Shushi asked blankly, "No, no, why don't I understand?"

"Anyway, this has helped you become more capable and you can help Wei University scholars make money." Zhong Zhen said with a grin.

"50?"

Qin II rubbed his fingers and said, "I remember how much his appearance fee was?"

"20 euros"

Xia Shushi answered subconsciously, "If I can get all of them, I can ask him to do it twice."

"You two really have to get it"

Qin II reminded them, "If you two get the bonus, the three of us will be safe."

"Okay, I'll contact him later." Xia Shushi didn't bother to think too much. He picked up the wine bowl, clinked it with his two friends, and drank it down his throat.

After a whole day of flying, Wei Ran and his four companions returned to Kazan safely with their harvest.

There was no time to rest at all. Sui Sui couldn't wait to take out the Hanfu she had bought in China and put it on. Then she put the phoenix crown she had taken a photo on her head and started taking selfies.

Kindly not mentioning the possible discovery process of the phoenix crown to ruin the atmosphere, Wei Ran carried his gains into the basement of the library and placed everything he brought back on a vacated table.

Among these things, there was a flag of the Spanish International Brigade with 27 three-pointed stars, a harmonica with bullet holes and a Mauser bayonet, an SSH36 helmet with a sickle and hammer and the Medal of the Second Spanish Republic, two seals and a carp pendant, another bag of various medals, awards and rings, as well as a silver cross and an old-fashioned razor.

In addition to these, there was also the crucial letter and the film album, both of which had a bullet hole running through them. He even doubted whether the two items had been placed together before.

This was all he got from the auction during his trip to Spain. The only thing that was not delivered was the Astra M400 pistol.

Just as he was carefully examining the flag with a magnifying glass, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Wei Ran said without raising his head.

Before he finished speaking, Anfisa came in with a basket in her hand, sat on the sofa next to Wei Ran and asked, "When are you planning to leave?"

"Tomorrow"

Wei Ran said, "There happens to be a fruit transport flight going to Vladivostok tomorrow night."

"I'll arrange it for you."

Anfisa said, "Early tomorrow morning, the Makar family from the United States will return to Kazan from Moscow, and then take our plane to visit Inta with sister Aurora."

"Is there a tail behind them?" Wei Ran continued to ask.

"No, we have been followed these days and we haven't found any tail," said Anfisa.

"I need proof of my home," Wei Ran said, stopping the work in his hands.

“Take some selfies tomorrow.”

Anfisa handed Wei Ran a mobile phone and said, "The rest of the sisters will help you."

"I'll be back as soon as possible," Wei Ran said as he took the phone. "What are we having for dinner?"

“Spanish food”

Anfisa stood up and walked out, saying, "My sister and I are going to try Spanish food. We don't think it's difficult."

"gollum"

Wei Ran swallowed his saliva, "What are you going to do?"

“Charcoal grilled suckling pig”

Anfisa said confidently, "My sister has already driven to Jima's house to buy the suckling pig."

"I wish the cremation of suckling pigs tonight will be completed successfully"

Wei Ran muttered something unclearly in Chinese, which the other party could not understand, but in his heart he no longer had any expectations for dinner.