War Photographer's Notebook

Chapter 799 A Steel Helmet Worth 200,000

"Interest? What interest?"

In the hotel room, Wei Ran sat up straight, put his phone on the table beside him and asked.

Xia Shushi put the green coconut in his hand casually, wiped his mouth slowly and continued, "This helmet was found by a friend of mine in a homestay in Yunnan Province."

"Where is it? B&B?" Wei Ran was stunned for a moment, then urged, "Go on."

"The owner of this homestay is probably in his 40s." Xia Shushi paused and continued, "But he had a pretty wife in her early twenties two years ago."

"Aren't we talking about steel helmets?" Wei Ran reminded without knowing, "Also, what do you mean by having a daughter-in-law in her early twenties in the past two years? Two years ago?"

"This steel helmet is related to his daughter-in-law two years ago. As for why it was two years ago, because his daughter-in-law ran away this summer, and it is said that she ran away with a young boss who went to stay in his shop."

Xia Shushi winked and said, "According to my naughty friend, the wife of the owner of the homestay was married by him for 6000 yuan in the electricity-free countryside.

He saw that steel helmet at his little daughter-in-law's house, and thought it was interesting at the time, so he brought it back with him as a dowry. "

"Well, keep talking." Wei Ran picked up the phone, pretending that he was listening to a story.

"The origin of the helmet is probably like this."

Xia Shushi cleared his throat, lit a cigarette and continued, "Later, that steel helmet was placed in his B&B by the boss as an ornament. A few days ago, my friend went there to play and just stayed at their B&B. Li, accidentally saw it, took it and sent me a photo, and asked me if the helmet was worth anything."

"You bought it?" Wei Ran thought he had guessed the answer.

"I bought a toad leg!"

Xia Shushi got angry when he mentioned this, "My friend is just a dick, when he called me to talk about this, he never thought of avoiding that boss."

"And then?" Wei Ran asked with a smile.

"I am also a dick"

Xia Shushi patted the back of his head with a look of remorse, "I asked the owner of the homestay in the video, he bought it, no, where is the little wife he married, and the other party After giving an approximate address, it’s within the area of ​​Savage Mountain.”

"So you missed it?" Wei Ran asked happily.

"may not"

Xia Shushi said with an embarrassed face, "I said that this thing has a high historical value if it is not done well, that's great, the boss didn't even wait for me to post the video, and he started arguing all over the place. "

"Crazy poor?" Wei Ran grinned, "Your friend can't."

"Although he is two, he is not stupid"

Xia Shushi sighed, "I've been hanging out with that homestay owner for a few days, and I'm thinking about negotiating the price these two days, so I asked how much I would pay."

"Yes, how much money do you think is appropriate?"

"I think" Xia Shushi patted his thigh, "I have to ask you, otherwise why do you think I sent you the photo?"

"Are you asking me about this?" Wei Ran didn't react for a while.

"I will definitely ask you"

Xia Shushi said as a matter of course, "There is no environment for collecting such things in our country. Even if there are some military fan circles playing this, the price will fluctuate so much that it has no reference value. I was thinking about Maozi playing this There must be a lot, so isn't this just thinking of asking you?"

"This thing, you have to see how to classify it."

Wei Ran thought about it and said, "First of all, you have to find a way to prove that this thing is real, if it is really related to the expeditionary force, then you can charge the price according to the price of the collection of historical relics.

If not, or if those orthographic characters are all added later, but the helmet itself is real, considering the domestic environment and the shipping cost to buy it from abroad, 3000 yuan is almost the top, this The high-price seller is estimated to earn several hundred more. "

"What if those orthographic characters are real?" Xia Shushi asked.

"if it is real"

Wei Ran frowned, and after hesitating for a long time, he said, "If it's true, I mean, there is enough evidence to prove that this helmet is indeed from Savage Mountain, and it is indeed a relic of the expeditionary army, and there must be enough More information or evidence to prove the meaning of those orthographic characters. Under this premise, let me make a price."

Seeing that Wei Ran was lost in thought, Xia Shushi also calmed down.

However, after a while, Wei Ran did not express his psychological expectations in a hurry, but asked a question, "Has your friend counted the number of positive characters on that helmet?"

"91 and a half," Xia Shushi immediately replied, "the last orthographic letter is only written in two strokes."

"Five, nine, and four hundred and five are almost exactly the number of people in a battalion."

Wei Ran muttered subconsciously, Xia Shushi on the other end of the phone was stunned, and the expression on his face also changed.

"You mean to say that this is a battalion organization?" Xia Shushi asked cautiously.

Hearing this, Wei Ran didn't answer this question, but just looked at Xia Shushi on the screen and asked, "Is there no one else around you?"

"no"

Xia Shushi held up his mobile phone and turned around, "I was wandering on the beach, look, the one wearing the straw hat in the distance is my grandfather, and he is picking shells over there."

"This old man is really happy to live"

Wei Ran smiled, brought the topic back and said, "If the conditions just assumed can be met, I'm willing to spend at most 200,000 to [-] to buy it."

"So much?" Xia Shushi looked at the serious Wei Ran on the screen in surprise.

"I mean, that's the highest price I can offer."

Wei Ran reminded the other party, "It is probably the highest price it can sell, and this price includes not only a helmet, but also those things I just said that can prove his authenticity."

"clear"

Xia Shushi nodded immediately, "What do you mean, if this helmet and the things behind it are real, if they are circulated as commodities, they can only be sold for a maximum of 200,000, and only you are willing to pay such a high price. You buy it and it's welded to your hand later, right?"

Wei Ran nodded bluntly, "That's almost what it means. Although it's not appropriate to say that, 200,000 is the highest price for it to change from a commodity to a permanent collection."

"The point is to prove its origin and story," Xia Shushi added.

"right"

Wei Ran nodded again and finally said, "If it's just such a steel helmet, no matter what stories the other party tells, or how many daughter-in-laws the other party has run away with the big boss. Even if I'm sure the helmet is real, I'm sure the orthographic number on it It was written during the Anti-Japanese War.

But if there is no more proof, and there is no way to clarify the meaning of those orthographic characters, I am afraid that at most I can only pay 8000 yuan, and I will be taken advantage of by listening to the story. "

"If you say that, I'm on track"

Xia Shushi changed the subject in time, "When are you coming? I'll buy you a plane ticket? My grandpa has been clamoring to see you."

"Wait a few days." Wei Ran said with a smile, "I just got off the plane and haven't even returned home yet."

"If you have time, send me a message anytime, and I will arrange for you when the time comes."

Xia Shushi patted his chest and walked out to make a promise, and then asked, "What happened to the devil's stuff you asked me to translate last time? Did you find anything interesting?"

“Looking for something”

Wei Ran thought for a while, introduced the general situation of the No. 52 mine, and finally said, "I also took back the films and letters that I found in that mine with the devil's address. If you have If you are interested, I can send it to you."

"Give me a scanned copy later!"

Xia Shushi said without thinking, "I think it's unlucky to keep that crap at home, so it's still stored in the hard drive. It's better to be company with those ghost teachers who don't wear clothes and don't ride horses."

"I'll scan it and send it to you when I have time." Wei Ran responded with a smile, and took advantage of the opportunity to chat about other topics.

The two chatted through the mobile phone, and when they hung up the phone, it was already an hour later.

Checking the time on the phone, Wei Ran hurriedly opened a large suitcase in the room, picked out some gifts from it, and went downstairs to take a taxi to the home of Chen Guangling, who is also a teacher and friend.

Now, as his heart becomes more and more tough, and as more and more girls in his family rob the habitat, he hasn't played any music on that guqin for a long time, but the connection with Chen Guangling and his son in normal times is No less.

Especially for Chen Luoxiang, who is learning the craft of playing the piano, almost all the antlers he needs to play the piano come from international express delivery from Inta.According to Sui Sui, Chen Guangling has also become her travel agent. In the past six months, he has sent dozens of tourists to Inta every now and then.

It is also because of this that since he is back, it is only reasonable to pay a visit.

With all kinds of gifts, he took a taxi to the musical instrument store run by Chen Guangling. After Wei Ran opened the door and entered, he saw Chen Guangling sitting cross-legged on the edge of the piano table, plucking the strings leisurely.

Beside him, Chen Luoxiang was concentrating on reading a book, and curled up in his arms was a big fat cat with three flowers.

"Brother is back?"

Chen Luoxiang noticed Wei Ran first, put down the book in his hand in surprise, stood up and said hello to Wei Ran, the big fat cat that was lying on his lap jumped down cursingly and ran onto a grand chair Turned around and got down again.

"Wei Ran is here, why don't you call and ask us to pick you up at the airport?" Chen Guangling also pressed down on the strings lightly, got up and greeted Wei Ran.

"Sui Sui's classmate picked us up." While speaking, Wei Ran put the gift in his hand on the table on the side of the door, "When did Luo Xiang come back?"

"It's been a week since I've been back." Chen Luoxiang had already picked up the teapot and teacup while speaking, and refilled a cup of tea for Wei Ran.

While they were chatting here, after Sui Sui took sisters Katenka and Lola to visit the office addresses of her classmates in China, the ten or so young girls also headed straight to the nearest shopping mall to start shopping. Kill special kill.

Until this time, Lola, who had been uneasy along the way, was a little relieved, and was attracted by the dazzling variety of products around her and the various Chinese delicacies bought along the way.

(End of this chapter)