At the end of the snowy airport runway, only Wei Ran and her aunt Zhou Shujin were left in the warm tent.
Under the latter's look, Wei Ran lowered the tent curtain and waited until Jima and others outside were gone. Then he sat back down opposite his aunt and picked up the half-eaten carbonara. Grilled venison ribs.
"Tell me what you think," Zhou Shujin said softly in Chinese.
“What can I say?”
Wei Ran muttered, and finally answered truthfully in Chinese, “Although Ji Ma is a little unreliable, he is definitely a good guy. A good hunter, and he has a deep affection for Inta."
"What does his family do?" Zhou Shujin continued to ask as she continued to drink a cup of hot tea.
"Just an ordinary farmer, but his teacher is very good, and he was a high official in the Soviet era." Wei Ran unreservedly recounted the migration history of Nikolai and Jima's village, just Nikolai's identity as a KGB member was concealed.
"Is that the old Harley guy who lives next to the travel agency? The old man who often comes here for lunch?" Zhou Shujin asked in surprise.
Wei Ran nodded, "That's him."
"In this case, this matter can be done." Zhou Shujin made a decisive decision, "But the cost price they gave It's too low. You can tell at a glance that it hasn't done any big business. It won't last long at all. "
"You want to raise the price for them?" Wei Ran looked at his aunt confused, why is this happening? Are you rushing to increase prices?
"Of course the price must be increased"
Zhou Shujin said confidently, "At least the price of those prey must be doubled, and some service fees must be paid to them. And even if In this way, we also have a lot of profit margins. Only in this way, once we speculate on Inta, your classmate will not be jealous because we make too much money, let alone other travel agencies with higher bids. Poaching. This is a good thing for both of us."
Wei Ran shook his head simply, "I don't understand this kind of thing, just talk to Ji Ma directly."
Zhou Shujin rolled her eyes, "I won't participate in the hunting. You follow them to see if there are any hidden dangers. Now I'm going to sleep for a while and wait until night to see if there are any aurora."
Speaking of this, Wei Ran, who was about to stand up and leave, sat back down and said, "Auntie, if you bring tourists here, what will Akeem and Aunt Chris do?"
< p>"It won't affect you at all, okay? The customer groups are all different." Zhou Shujin waved her hand impatiently, "Get out of here quickly, I need to sleep for a while."Carrying two ribs, she left her aunt's restaurant. In the tent, Ji Ma has been waiting for a long time by the campfire not far away like a fool.
"How's it going?" Ji Ma immediately trotted over and asked nervously, "What's Auntie's impression of us?"
Wei Ran would not reveal his auntie's secrets easily. Attitude, simply ambiguousHe said, "She needs to think about it. During this time, how about we go hunting first? By the way, I can also help you evaluate possible problems."
"Of course no problem!"
Jima nodded happily, and then shouted to his companions who were waiting not far away, "Misha, take someone to stay to protect the camp. Alili, take two people, and we will go hunting!"
Hearing this, Alili took out the walkie-talkie from his arms and shouted, and then two sleighs were pulled over by reindeer and stopped firmly beside the bonfire.
"Go ahead and change into warmer clothes." Ji Ma pointed to another tent next to Zhou Shujin, "I've prepared everything for you."
"You should also change into this suit," Wei Ran teased with a smile.
"Of course I have to change it. I borrowed this from a friend." Ji Mahan told the truth with a smile.
Getting into his own tent, Wei Ran couldn't help but smile on his face. The tent was the same as his aunt's. Not only was there a wood stove in the middle, but the tent itself was made of both inside and outside. With two layers of canvas, this tent is warm enough to withstand the extreme low temperatures.
On the camp bed not far from the wood stove, there was not only a set of cold-proof clothing, but also an SKS semi-automatic rifle on the folding table with a rabbit skin blanket at the head of the bed. And a tin box full of bullets. Even goggles and skis are ready.
This scene made Wei Ran couldn't help but think of the memory of sniping at the Soviet Red Army in the Finnish forest with Mika and the old hunter Ino.
While recalling the two old friends in his memory, Wei Ran also had a sharp Mauser bayonet in his hand, and in a few strokes he cut the rabbit skin blanket on the table into long strips. Unhurriedly, it was wrapped around the semi-automatic rifle, wrapping most of the exposed metal parts, and tied tightly with a paracord core.
With a click, Wei Ran pressed the bullets in the magazine into the rifle. Only then did Wei Ran wash his hands and put on the cold-proof clothes and thick high-waisted boots prepared by Ji Ma.
Finally put on a cotton hat and goggles, and when Weiran came out again, Jima was already sitting on a sleigh waving to him.
"I'll drive the car," Weiran said with a smile as he climbed onto the sleigh.
"Are you coming?" Ji Ma shook the reins in his hand, "Victor, don't be kidding. The horns on the reindeer's heads are used for courtship and dueling, not steering wheels. The reins are not the accelerator and brake."
"Why talk so much?"
Wei Ran threw the rifle on his shoulder and the ski in his hand to Jima, and then He sat down on the sleigh and snatched the reins from the opponent's hand with a slight shake, and threw them on the round buttocks of the two reindeer, making a soft "snap" sound.
After receiving the signal, the two reindeer pulling the cart immediately lowered their heads and started running smoothly on the soft and thick snow.
The reindeer sauntered back and forth on the abandoned track while shouting, and stopped next to the bonfire again.Jima's face already showed a horrified expression, as if he had seen Stalin resurrected. Even Misha and Alili, who were watching the excitement, and the dozen or so members of the coal mine patrol looked surprised.
"Victor, where did you learn this?" Ji Ma asked in disbelief, "Don't tell me you've known this since you were a kid."
"Absolutely. "Wei Ran answered vaguely, "Are you ready to go now?"
"Yes, of course!"
Ji Ma sat in the sleigh calmly. On the top, he wrapped himself in a thick wolfskin blanket so that only the ski goggles on his face were exposed. "Victor, although you can drive a sleigh, it's best to follow Alili. I don't want to be thrown out by you and nailed." On the tree."
"I will pull you out when the time comes." Before Wei Ran finished speaking, he shook the reins again and shouted to the reindeer to catch up with Alili's sleigh.
In the warm tent, Zhou Shujin opened the ventilation window and curiously watched Wei Ran, who was sitting on the sleigh, getting further away, and then she safely pulled up the soft rabbit skin blanket and covered herself with it and closed it. On the eyes.
In the coniferous forest where goose feathers are constantly falling, three sleighs, led by Alili, are speeding along the long-abandoned frozen soil road in the forest like Santa Claus rushing to deliver gifts.
"Ji Ma, where are we going now?" Wei Ran turned around and asked.
"I'll take you to a place to hunt first, and then take you to a hot spring." Ji Ma shouted in response.
"Hot spring? There is a hot spring here?" Wei Ran looked at Jima sitting behind him in surprise.
"Look ahead! You bastard, be careful of hitting the tree!" Jima said as he kicked Wei Ran on the butt.
“You hit a tree, do you think those two reindeer are as stupid as you?” Wei Ran shook the reins, “Tell me what’s going on with that hot spring?”
< p>"There was an iron mine there a long time ago"Jima leaned closer and explained, "But it was abandoned before the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the mining workers from the Soviet era stayed It’s not a big hot spring at first glance. It’s where I told you you can go skiing.”
“Is there a hot spring?” Wei Ran asked in surprise, “Then why not develop it?” ?”
“It’s more than a hundred kilometers away from Inta, and it’s also more than a hundred kilometers away from Vorkuta further north,” Jima said helplessly, “Who would want to do it for hot springs and skiing? Coming to such a remote place? What's more, without those two planes, it would take at least two days to get here from Inta or Vorkuta, and it can only be done by sleigh pulled by reindeer or sleigh motorcycle. "Okay."
Wei Ran sighed secretly when he heard this. It is true that no one would come to Inta for hot spring bathing and skiing. Even if they came, absolutely no one would be willing to brave the wind and snow for two days. Just to go to this freezing wilderness to soak in hot springs. Because whether it’s hot springs or skiing, there are countless sanatoriums available in Russia’s relatively warm south.
While the two were chatting, the reindeer pulling the sleigh ran for more than half an hour, and finally a large open-pit mine covered with snow appeared at the end of the road.
When Wei Ran shouted to the reindeer to stop, Ji Ma took out a telescope from his arms and handed it over and actively explained, "This is it. The hot spring is in the mineral processing building at the innermost part of the deposit. "In the workshop."
"This place is big enough"
Wei Ran couldn't help but sigh in surprise at this open-pit mine surrounded by coniferous forest. The area is at least six or seven square kilometers. In addition to a snow-covered road that spirals downwards, the surface of the mineral deposit, which is dozens of meters lower than the ground, is also scattered with various Soviet-era engineering equipment. The most eye-catching one is a strange machine shaped like a locomotive, with a large bucket hanging dozens of meters high at one end.
As if he knew what Wei Ran wanted to ask, Alili, who was responsible for leading the way, came over with his skis in his arms and took the initiative to explain, "That is a stepping excavator produced in the 1970s. It is considered a landmark here. "
"Which airport is the iron ore dug here transported out?" Wei Ran just asked, and the people who came with him couldn't help laughing in good faith.
"Victor, this is just an iron ore mine, not a gold mine. How can it be transported by plane."
After Jima finished speaking, he pointed in the direction he came from. "Did you notice the fork in the road you just passed? That road is connected to the tributary of the Usa River. You can drive cars on the ice in winter and boats in summer. The minerals here are transported out through that river. ”
“So that’s it?” Wei Yan put down the telescope and asked, “Can we still walk on that road now?”
“It’s been long gone”
It was Alili who answered this question, and he said regretfully, "That road has to pass through two bridges and a tunnel several hundred meters long, but they were all destroyed by an earthquake a few years ago. "It's been destroyed."
"Don't worry about that. If you're interested, I can take you to see it when you get back."
As he spoke, Ji Ma said. The semi-automatic rifle on the sleigh was handed to Wei Ran, "It's time to hunt now. There are a lot of prey in this mine."
Wei Ran was still thinking about hunting at this time, so he took it The rifle was directly slung on his shoulder, "How about we go down and take a look first?"
"Of course no problem!"
Jima raised his chin proudly towards Alili beside him, "I'm right, they must be interested in hot springs."
"Go down on the skis or the sleigh?" Although Alili asked this, he had already started to tie the skis to his feet.
The kind of skis used by Alili are not the common style today that require matching ski boots. Instead, they are wrapped in deerskin and tied directly to the snowboard with leather ropes.Old styles in shoes. And this kind of skis is exactly the same type that Weiran used in the Battle of Suao Musalmi.
"What about you?"
Ji Ma asked while taking out the skis from the sleigh, "You may not be used to this kind of board, but I have prepared skis for you. Boots."
"Who are you looking down on?"
Wei Ran returned the telescope to Ji Ma, took the ski he had just picked up, and tied it to his boots skillfully.
"Don't be brave, this damn place is at least a hundred kilometers away from the nearest hospital." Jima reminded kindly.
"So be careful yourself."
As Wei Ran spoke, he had already tied up the board. After trying it on to make sure there was no problem, he put on his snow goggles. He took the ski poles handed over by Jima and lightly stretched them out, then rushed out along the winding road that was about ten meters wide.
"I'll leave the sleigh to you." Before Alili could finish his words, he had already disappeared after chasing Wei Ran.
Jima shook his head helplessly, waved to the two coal mine patrol members who were following him, and shouted to the reindeer to pull the sled cart towards the snow-covered mine deposit.
The spacious road that is four to five kilometers long and spirals downward is extremely flat after being covered with thick snow. It was a lot of fun for Weiran as he slid down the road screaming. Although this place There are not as many facilities as professional ski resorts, but such a large, long, and flat ski trail is not easy to come across. This alone is already attractive to people like him who like skiing.
With the acceleration of this semi-natural snow road and the acceleration of several ore piles piled into hills in the middle, everyone arrived at the three-story ore dressing building in just a few minutes. Workshop entrance.
Stop steadily at the door of this lonely huge workshop, Alili gave Wei Ran a thumbs up, then took off his skis, took out a key from his pocket, and opened the huge door. iron gate.
Amid a burst of harsh noise, the iron door that was large enough for a locomotive to drive in was slowly pushed open to create a two-meter-wide gap. And Wei Ran was waiting outside the door. I also immediately noticed the steam rising from a large pool in the corner.