Listening to the busy tone on the phone, Wei Ran returned the phone to Ralph on the opposite side and couldn't help but ask, "What does your grandfather, Mr. Noah, do?"
"A A less successful painter, but also a successful art dealer."
Ralph said with admiration, "He ran a gallery in Nuremberg before retiring, where he collected many precious works. Oil painting."
"German painters are a bit scary," Wei Ran said jokingly.
Ralph obviously knew what Wei Ran was talking about, and gently gave another explanation, "Don't say that, Austrian painters are really scary."
One sentence The joke brought the relationship closer between the two, and Wei Ran asked directly, "Ralph, can you tell me the story between your grandfather and his father?"
"This... ."
A hint of embarrassment appeared on Ralph's face, and then he said very frankly, "I'm sorry, I don't know much about these things. I'm just a distant grandson of Mr. Noah, if it weren't for his body. The situation is getting worse and worse. I didn't even know that I had such a wealthy relative." "You mean he never mentioned it to you?" Wei Ran raised his eyebrows.
"At most, I am only responsible for helping him manage the gallery. My main focus is on learning art appraisal and art trading from him." Ralph spread his hands, "After all, I can only meet his requirements. Only then can I inherit his gallery and the oil paintings in the gallery."
Wei Ran laughed dumbly, "I'm not used to you being so honest."
Ralph scratched his head. , "Instead of waiting for you to hear various versions of rumors from the nannies or nursing doctors after you arrive in Nuremberg, it would be better for me to tell you the real situation in advance."
Wei Ran smiled, Wisely did not take up the topic, but simply stood up, "Ralph, you can arrange the itinerary."
"There will be a flight at noon tomorrow." Ralph stood up immediately, "How about I pick you up tomorrow morning?"
Wei Ran simply agreed with the other party's decision. This commission came in time. It doesn't matter that the customer is a fat sheep who takes money instead of money. Compared with The Nordic battlefield, the main battlefield between Sud and Germany, is relatively not dangerous in itself.
And the most important thing is that it can also replenish ammunition for the rifle in the metal book. This is related to the story behind the big lever that Wei Ran has been thinking about since the year, so no matter how you calculate it, it belongs Guaranteed profit without loss.
After seeing Ralph off, Wei Ran locked the rolling shutter door and immediately got into the bathroom and took a comfortable hot bath to dispel the last bit of chill brought back from the Arctic Circle.
In the blink of an eye, the next morning, Ralph arrived at the door of the studio early, greeted Weiran attentively, got in the car, and rushed directly to the airport.
After a long journey, when Wei Ran dragged his tired body to the door of a large villa on the outskirts of Nuremberg, he saw thatThen I saw an old man in a wheelchair waiting expectantly at the gate of the stone building.
The old man wore a brown vest stained with various paints, and a loose painter's hat on his head. On the blanket on his knees, there was an unfinished oil painting. The content on the oil painting was clearly the Soviet flag planted on the Capitol Building, which was taken by Wei Ran.
"Hello, Mr. Noah, I am Victor." Wei Ran quickened his pace slightly and held the big hand that the other party extended, which was covered with age spots and stained with a lot of paint. .
"I believe Ralph has introduced me to you on the road. But he never told me that your German is so good."
Novo in a wheelchair Ya Ge said with great enthusiasm, "Come in and sit down. I'm sorry, my body no longer allows me to travel long distances by plane, and I can't go to Volgograd to see you in person."
"If I have the opportunity, It's my honor to come and visit you." Wei Ran greeted him with the same humility.
The first meeting between the old and the young left a good impression on both parties. It was a surprise for Noah that Wei Ran could speak German. Noah's humility that did not match his age also made Wei Ran feel good.
When Ralph unloaded Weiran’s suitcase from the car, Noah immediately maneuvered the electric wheelchair to spin in a circle skillfully and led them into the warm room.
Inviting Wei Ran to sit down on the sofa near the fireplace, the old man immediately signaled Ralph to prepare dinner and give Wei Ran his bedroom, while he himself poured a glass of risk for Wei Ran. The fragrant hot tea, "This is the Chinese tea that a Chinese friend of mine gave me a few months ago. I hope you like it."
"Being able to drink Chinese green tea in Germany is something special. An easy thing." Wei Ran took a ceremonial sip, followed by a series of free compliments.
After half an hour of pleasantries, Noah finally brought the topic down to business. However, the venue for this conversation was changed to a spacious study room with a view of the yard outside.
"Victor, I hope you can help me find my father."
Noah handed an A4 piece of paper to Wei Ran, "My father used to be An armored vehicle driver of the 6th Mountain Division of the Stall Army. He participated in the Battle of Lapland in 1944. Or to be more precise, he tried to escape from that battle and go home, but unfortunately, until the end of World War II, we We haven't even waited for him."
After saying this, Noah opened the drawer and took out a tin box and pushed it to Wei Ran, "We are only waiting for these things, and this biscuit is included. The boxes were all given to my family long after World War II.
But unfortunately, apart from being sure that these things were my father's relics, we have no idea what happened at that time, and we can't find them at all. To the person who mailed these things to us at the time."
"Can I open it?"
Wei Ran asked as he looked at the tin box on the table. The Kremlin print on the tin box had some paint peeling off, but the edges shone with a metallic luster. These tiny details seemed to be hinting. It is often taken out and played with.
After getting Noah's nod of permission, Wei Ran carefully opened the metal cover of the tin box, and then discovered that in addition to a P38 pistol, there was also a book of documents of a German soldier in World War II, and A pocket watch with a gold case.
Gently open the document, and in the black and white photo posted on it is a rather handsome German soldier. In this document, there is also a small card with a mailing address that is so rough that it is impossible to find out - from Leningrad.
But the information that can be seen in this document is only the name. I don’t know whether it is intentional or unintentional. The rest of the information is covered with thick black ink. However, fortunately, Mr. Noah At the beginning of the topic, the A4 paper provided contained his father's relatively accurate service experience.
According to the record on that piece of paper, this soldier named Yannick Muller belongs to the 6th Anti-aircraft Artillery Battalion under the 6th Mountain Division of the Stall Army, and is mainly responsible for the four-unit 20 Driving a mm anti-aircraft gun armored vehicle with the rank of Private First Class.
Compared with detailed service units, his combat experience only includes one sentence: "Served in the Battle of Lapland to provide cover for the 20th Mountain Group Army's withdrawal from Finland."
In addition, Yannick Müller has neither won a medal nor had any injury record at all. Even the final closing words about his life were only an extraordinarily simple sentence "In Finland and Missing on the Norwegian border” is all.
"This soldier named Yannick Muller is your father?" Wei Ran confirmed again while holding the certificate.
Noah nodded and looked at Wei Ran with some anxiety, "Can you find it?"
"I can only try to investigate"
Wei Ran responded to the other party's expectations as safely as possible, "First of all, I need to investigate your father's more detailed service experience and what specific local battles his unit participated in in the Battle of Lapland. Secondly, I can try to find out who he is. What happened during that war? If you can't investigate these, you can only try to find out who sent these things."
"I can help. What do you want?" Noah continued to ask.
"First of all, what is your impression of Mr. Yannick?" Wei Ran closed the box again and asked.
Noah shook his head regretfully, "I was born in 1943. According to my mother when she was alive, until the end of the war, I only met my father twice, but I knew him very well. There is no memory at all.
In my mother’s memory, my father joined the army in the summer of 1942 and was sent to Norway at the end of that year. Before the end of the war, he was just before I was born. the next two months, andI came back once in the spring of 1944.
The war ended, but my father never came back. After surviving the most difficult years after the war, my mother spent her life searching for my father, relying on the money she earned from selling her paintings.
Among the answers my mother found, some said he died on the battlefield, some said he found a beautiful woman in Finland or Norway to start his life again, and some said he was raped by the Soviets. Sent to a labor camp and died there. "
"So..." Wei Ran hesitated and looked at the old Noah. There is no doubt that this is another family destroyed by war.
Noah sighed, "My mother called my father's name until the moment she died, wondering where he was. That was my mother's lifelong regret. I once thought I could help her find my father, but looking at what I look like now, I am as old as my mother back then, but I don't want to take this regret to the cemetery like my mother. So young people, if you can, please try to help me. "
Wei Ran hesitated for a moment, finally nodded, and said very seriously, "Mr. Noah, I will do my best to help you investigate your father's whereabouts. Also, can you tell us about this tin box? When did it arrive at your home? "
"It was probably the winter of 1959"
Noah said uncertainly, "I was still in school at the time, and one day I came back to the door of the gallery run by my mother after school. Then I saw this tin box. I remember very clearly that there was only such a tin box, but my mother cried all night after opening the box. ”
“Only a tin box? "Wei Ran raised his head and looked at the other party, "So, it wasn't mailed from Leningrad in the Soviet Union? "
Noah shook his head, "Of course not, otherwise I might be able to find out who delivered it to my door. "
"Mr. Noah"
Wei Ran stood up and said very formally, "I will do my best to help you find your father Yannick, but I cannot guarantee that I will be able to find him. Found, and I'm sure you know, this is not something that can be done in a short time, so it may take me some time. "
"I believe you will definitely bring me good news."
Noah maneuvered the wheelchair and slowly walked towards the door, "In the meantime, if we need to do anything, What, please don't be polite, just tell Ralph. Now let's have dinner together. I'm sure you are all very hungry. "
"This is my honor." Wei Ran picked up the iron box and the folded A4 paper on the table, and followed the other person's wheelchair out of the study.
No matter what He said that before starting the investigation, he really needed to have a good meal and take a good rest. After all, it took him two days to fly from the abandoned military base at the eastern foot of the Ural Mountains to this big house on the outskirts of Nuremberg. .
Before that, he not only suffered a week of torture in the Hongqi Forest Farm, but also spent a lot more time wandering in the ice and snow with Ji Ma.
In the spacious restaurant, except for the 50-year-old nanny, although there were only three people dining, the table was filled with all kinds of German delicacies, and even Ralph was not Under Ya's instruction, he took out a bottle of Chinese spirits.
Unfortunately, the cheap green glass bottle and iron lid obviously did not match the high-end description of the wine in Noah's mouth. There is no need to guess. This humble old man was probably deceived by someone. Even Wei Ran suspected that the clever guy who gave the old man the green tea bag and Erguotou was probably the same person.
Fortunately, Wei Ran is not stupid. He naturally will not tell the other party about the status of this wine in China. Instead, he follows the hole dug by his predecessors and plants the tree. He holds back his bad words and praises her. Ming Ming wants to see how the next compatriot who interacts with this old man will react with horror when they hear the story that this wine was dug out along with the terracotta warriors and horses.
While Wei Ran maintained a tacit understanding with the previous compatriot he had never met, the three people at the dinner table also maintained another tacit understanding.
Ralph never asked anything about Noah's father, and Noah seemed not to want his distant grandson Ralph to know these things. As for Wei Ran, who was good at observing words and emotions, he would naturally not take the initiative to bring up relevant topics in front of Ralph.
After a sumptuous dinner, the guests and the host enjoyed themselves thoroughly. Wei Ran, using the excuse that he needed to organize his thoughts, got into the bedroom that Ralph had prepared for him early. After taking a leisurely hot bath, he reopened the tin box he brought in and carefully inspected everything inside.
The first thing he picked up was naturally the pocket watch with a gold case. The case of this pocket watch was embossed with a pattern that resembled a windmill. On top of this pattern, there is also a floral "M" inlaid with dozens of rubies the size of rice grains.
This pocket watch is not only made of luxurious materials for the outer shell, but also has four small dials distributed in a cross pattern on the main dial which is so complicated that it can be called luxurious. Obviously, this pocket watch, which is more fancy than practical, is definitely expensive to make, and those who are willing to carry such a pocket watch into the battlefield are probably not ordinary people.
In addition to the pocket watch, the P38 pistol in the tin box goes without saying. Although the standard World War II German equipment may not be equipped in the hands of the upper class privates, it can be used with that kind of high-end pocket watch. As a "suspected rich second generation", it is not difficult to get such a pistol. It's just a pity that apart from being in pretty good condition, this pistol doesn't have anything special about it.
After thinking for a moment, Weiran simply put it aside, took out his tablet computer, and began to search for various details about the Battle of Lapland, trying to find the sixth highest ranking position to which Yannick Muller belonged. The artillery battalion’s previous combat experience.
Speaking of the Battle of Lapland, although this war lasted for more than half a year, in fact,Whether it was the Finns or the Germans on both sides of the war, the number of soldiers killed was actually not that many.
If compared with the tragic Battle of Stalingrad, I am afraid that the total number of dead soldiers on both sides may not be even a fraction of the former.
The reason is that, after putting aside the position of the disease and the nature of the war itself, if we look at this war simply, the soldiers of the two countries on opposite sides of the war are actually not like the Soviet Union and Germany. Fighting to the death, even before the Battle of Lapland, the two sides could be called comrades-in-arms or friends.
Perhaps because of these many reasons, after seven months of fighting, only about 3,000 people from both sides were killed together.
But even so, I want to confirm whether the Yannick Muller is among the more than 3,000 people who died in the battle, or find the missing Yannick Muller among the more than 3,000 people. , no matter which one, it is actually not an easy task.
Putting down the tablet in his hand, Wei Ran stroked the tattoo on the tiger's mouth on his left hand, but his mind was recalling everything he experienced in the last battle of Suao Musalmi, as well as what he and Ji had done two days ago. Details of horses wandering around the Arctic Circle.
After a long time, Wei Ran secretly made up his mind that before using the metal notebook this time, he had to purchase some important items in advance that could be used in winter. Whether these things can be brought back depends entirely on the food box obtained after the Tengxian defense war.