The long flight, which lasted more than a day, made a brief last stop in San Francisco and took off again. After a brief noise, the cabin became quiet again. Soon after, even the lights were turned off, leaving only a few newly boarded passengers. The passengers on the plane were spending the next nearly six hours of the long flight with the dim light provided by the reading lamp.
Looking at Suisui, who had started to doze off since reboarding, Weiran yawned, adjusted the seat to the most suitable angle, covered it with the blanket again, and planned to put this unbearable time to rest. I slept through the last few hours. It was obvious that there were many people who had the same intention. Soon, the few remaining reading lights in the cabin were turned off one after another.
Just when the plane had only more than an hour's flight left from the Houston Airport, diagonally across the aisle from Weihan, an old white man who looked to be in his sixties appeared. The avatar opened his eyes suddenly as if awakened by a nightmare.
After distinguishing the dream from the reality, the old man suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, stretched out his hand with some age spots, and crossed himself devoutly on his chest. Then he gently lifted the blanket and picked up the crutches at hand to help him stand up.
After a little relief from the joints that had been tortured by rheumatism for a long time, the old man leaned on a crutch with one hand and the seat next to him with the other hand, and limped towards the bathroom not far away.
Almost when the old man closed the bathroom door, turned on the faucet and prepared to wash his face to wake himself up, the plane full of passengers began to tremble violently. Almost as soon as Wei Ran was awakened At the same time, the lights in the cabin also turned on, and at the same time, a broadcast that he did not understand came out.
"What's wrong?" Wei Ran pushed Suisui to wake up and asked.
"We encountered a turbulence in the airflow," Suisui yawned and translated, "Let's adjust the seats and fasten the seat belts."
Wei Ran, who was awakened, immediately relaxed after hearing this. But before he could buckle his seat belt, there was a banging sound of a heavy object falling to the ground not far away from the bathroom, followed by a painful scream, and then a knocking sound from the bathroom. Door sounds.
Perhaps there really is no distinction between nationality, color or even creed when it comes to watching the excitement. The many passengers in the cabin who had just been awakened by the turbulence all stretched their necks like marmots. , and even stretched out half of his upper body to look in the direction of the bathroom. There were even a few black guys holding their mobile phones high and recording videos.
Soon, with the busy work of several blond stewardesses, an old man with blood on the corner of his mouth but holding his right hand with his left hand was helped out of the bathroom. There was even a stewardess. The cane followed.
Although the turbulence of the plane was no longer so violent at this time, it also did not return to stability. With the help and onlookers of the surrounding passengers, the flight attendants helped the old white man with wet face back to his original position. location.
As he got closer, Wei Ran could see clearly that the old man was probably washing himself.He fell down in his hands. Not only was there a bulge on his forehead, but the remaining bloody lip seemed to have been bitten by himself. While he was taking a breath, Wei Ran could still vaguely see this unlucky man. The old guy had his front teeth knocked out and the gap was exposed.
But apart from these, the most serious injury on the old man's body is probably the wrist that he has been supporting. Judging from the appearance of the palm, it is either fractured or dislocated.
While he was observing secretly, the radio in the cabin rang again. Suisui, who was also leaning half of her body to watch the excitement, also cleverly translated in Chinese, "The radio is asking for a doctor, this old man It's so miserable. Didn't he fall on his face in the toilet? You can see it's wet."
"Why is it so disgusting?" Wei Ran tapped the other person's forehead angrily. .
Suisui covered her head and retracted her position. She picked up her tablet, which had run out of battery a long time ago, and tried to turn it on to no avail. She picked up an aviation magazine and flipped through it absentmindedly. He focused most of his attention on the old white man who was constantly gasping for air from the pain.
Seeing that the broadcast that he could not understand a few words was played back and forth three times but no one came. Wei Ran hesitated for a moment and waved to the stewardess who was still greeting the injured old man. .
The not-so-good-looking blond stewardess immediately turned around and asked something in English. Wei Ran subconsciously turned around and looked at Suisui, who immediately said happily. , "She asked what kind of work you want to do."
"Tell her that I am a veterinarian and maybe I can help the old man."
"What are you doing?" Is it time to become a veterinarian?" Suisui looked at Wei Ran with a strange look, and translated his words unchanged without waiting for him to explain, but Wei Ran could also tell that although this little thing knew English , but it is estimated that at most it is barely able to communicate.
Fortunately, the flight attendant quickly called over an Asian colleague who could speak Chinese. With the help of the flight attendant, at least the communication was barely a problem.
"I can help him simply treat the wound, at least make his hand a little more comfortable."
Wei Ran unbuckled his seat belt and said, "But I'm just a veterinarian. I don’t have the qualifications to practice medicine, so it’s up to you to decide whether you want me to help you or not.”
The Asian flight attendant who spoke Chinese first glanced at the doctor next to Wei Ran. Suisui, who started recording on her phone, hesitated for a moment and translated into English to convey Wei Ran's meaning.
On the other hand, the injured old man was happy enough. He nodded immediately before she finished speaking, and spoke very quickly a series of words of thanks that Wei Ran could understand and a series of words that he could not understand. content.
"He just said that he is very grateful for your help. He believes in you. Even if something unexpected happens, you don't have to bear the consequences. But, can you really help him?"
"It shouldn't be a big problem."
Wei Ran came to the old man's side and held him up.I looked at my right hand, which had started to become red and swollen. Fortunately, the old man had just dislocated it, which was not difficult.
“Ask him what he had for breakfast this morning,” Wei Ran said in Chinese to the Asian stewardess next to him without raising his head.
This question not only made the stewardess and Suisui, who was watching the fun behind him, look like a question mark, but the injured old man also subconsciously looked up at the stewardess and waited for him to translate.
At that moment, Wei Ran grabbed the opponent's palm and violently pulled, pushed, and pressed, followed by a crisp "click" sound, followed by a scream and a scream. The two stewardesses around him exclaimed, and the dislocated wrist returned to its original state.
"Okay"
Wei Ran let go at the right time and said to the flight attendant, "Let him move his wrist. It will be a little uncomfortable, but it should be fine."< /p>
"Then...what did he eat this morning? Are you still asking?" the Asian stewardess asked stupidly.
Wei Ran smiled and shook his head. When the other party finished translating and the old man tried to move his wrist, he continued, "His tooth was knocked out. I can't help with this. You can find some ice cubes for him to hold in his mouth, which may make him more comfortable. The wound on his lip is not a big problem, but it seems that his head has been hit. There may be some problems at this age, so it is best to wait for the plane to land as soon as possible. Send it to the hospital for a careful check."
"Thank you, thank you!" The Asian flight attendant quickly thanked her, "We will contact the airport to prepare an ambulance."
Walk towards the other party. Waving his hand, Wei Ran was about to sit down when the old white man said something, then took out a business card and handed it to Wei Ran.
"He said he was very grateful for your help, and said that if you need help in Houston, you must call him." Suisui translated before the flight attendant could speak.
Taking the business card stained with some blood from the other party with both hands, Wei Ran sat down again, and with the help of Suisui, he exchanged a few simple greetings with the other party but did not talk in detail. At this time, the plane was very bumpy. It's still going on, but through Suisui's porthole, you can already see the lights of the surface city and the distant skyline dyed red by the rising sun.
"How come I didn't know you could do this?" Suisui, who had finished her translation work, sat upright and asked in a low voice, "Did my grandpa teach you the art of massage and bone-setting?"
"You don't know much," Wei Ran said with pretentiousness, but there was no detailed explanation.
"What are you proud of!" Suisui wrinkled her nose, temporarily suppressed her doubts, and asked, "We are about to land soon, where should we go?"
< p>Wei Ran glanced around nonchalantly and said with a smile, "We'll talk about it after we get off the plane. We're pressed for time today.""Mysterious..." Suisui muttered He didn't ask any more questions, and simply brought the topic back to where Wei Ran learned how to massage and bone-setting.
In Weiran's nonsense, he was fooling this littleWhile doing this, their flight landed smoothly at the Houston airport named after a certain president more than an hour later.
When the injured old man was the first to leave the cabin with the help of the stewardess, Wei Ran also picked up his few luggage and followed Suisui out.
After joining the Sunset Red Tour Group led by Director Zhang and following the crowd to complete all the entry procedures, the sky was already turning white, and Wei Ran also saw the people picking up the airport. The waiting Katenka.
"Is this the person you are looking for?"
Suisui looked at Katenka who was wearing fancy clothes, having fancy hair, and holding a lollipop in his mouth. , and looked at Wei Ran next to him with a strange expression, and then, as if he had made a lot of determination, he patted Wei Ran on the shoulder and said with a generous expression, "Although my godfather and godmother will most likely not be able to accept this style. , But don’t worry! I will definitely help you hide it first!”
“Hide it, it’s not her I’m looking for.”
Wei Ran deliberately spoke in Russian. Tenka said hello, and then continued to speak in Russian, "This is Katenka. I contacted the hired translator in advance. I didn't know you would come with me before. Without an interpreter, I probably wouldn't even be able to get to the airport." Get out."
"Translation?"
Suisui was stunned, and then put on a disappointed expression, "I thought..."
p>"You don't think so much, let's go quickly, otherwise it will be too late." After Wei Ran finished speaking, he introduced Suisui to Katenka.
After the two girls got to know each other, they all looked at Wei Ran and asked in unison, "Where should we go next?"
"Odessa "
Wei Ran said, handing the first half of the address Gorman had given him to Katenka, "Choose the fastest way to get there, we are in a hurry."
Katenka took a look at the note with the address, took out his phone and searched it, and then said, "It will take about seven hours to drive there directly. There will be a flight from here in more than an hour." The flight to Dallas, but including the waiting flight and the time it takes to get from Dallas to Odessa, is not much faster, so I suggest just driving there."
"Just drive there"<. /p>
Wei Ran breathed a sigh of relief. Due to jet lag and other reasons, the local time at this time was still the morning of January 7th. In other words, although he still had to waste 7 hours on the road. time, but at least still within the confines of Orthodox Christmas.
Katenka naturally had no objection to Weiran's request, and simply took the two of them out of the airport and got into a white Mercedes-Benz business car.
It wasn't until the car started running that Wei Ran whispered, "Merry Christmas."
Suisui, who originally looked sleepy, and Katenka, who was in charge of driving, were stunned at the same time. Stunned, the former then replied with a silly smile, "Merry Christmas", while the latter returned to his normal state.Dan's expression didn't say anything, he just increased the speed of the car slightly.
I don’t know if this holiday greeting has the effect of refreshing the mind, but Suisui became more energetic. After putting a mask on her face, she immediately moved her waist to the passenger seat and took the initiative to talk to the driver. Katenka chatted in Russian.
Although Katenka’s dressing style is not flattering, she does pretend to be a serious tour guide with a Russian translator. She talks about various attractions in Houston and the destination of this trip, Odessa. , various historical stories and even places to eat and drink, natural scenery and scenic spots are all at your fingertips.
Without even a hint from Wei Ran, the girl explained the history of Odessa and the story she didn’t know where “great-great-grandfather once dug gold when he was building the railway in Odessa.” He ignored the family legend and naturally gave himself a false identity as a descendant of early Russian immigrants.
"So, the Odessa here and the Odessa in Ukraine really have the same name?"
Suisui asked in surprise, don't look at this girl She is Russian by nationality, not to mention that she has a father named Jiu Mengzi who was a history professor, but her knowledge of Russian history is not even as good as that of Wei Ran, who became a monk in the process.
Katenka, who had been steering the topic in this direction intentionally or unintentionally, smiled and explained, "It was originally a name. In the 1880s, Russian immigrants built railways there. Odessa is The name was the name given to Odessa in Ukraine by those Russian immigrants at that time."
"So there are many Russians there?" Suisui asked curiously.
"That was a thing in the 19th century"
Katenka joked in a matter-of-fact tone, "There used to be a lot of Indians in North America, but they were cleaned up differently. ?”
“Now I am beginning to believe that you are really of Russian descent”
Suisui became interested and chased the other party to ask about the local area besides the crater mentioned in the chat. Apart from that, are there any other attractions or places to eat and have fun?
While Katenka was dealing with the curious Suisui enthusiastically, Wei Ran closed his eyes and began to think about the next arrangements.
According to his original plan, he wanted to take photos of Gorman’s ex-wife and son on Christmas Day and send them to him as a birthday gift, and then find an opportunity to make an excuse to use the money. to Gorman's ex-wife and son. Now that there is a follower Suisui around, I'm afraid I can only rely on Katenka to do many things.
Unknowingly, Wei Ran was snoring, and even Suisui, who was sitting in the passenger seat, was coaxed into sleep by Katenka's random gold rush story.
Glancing at the two sleeping people, Katenka turned down the soothing voice that she had just deliberately adjusted. Then she secretly breathed a sigh of relief and slightly increased the speed of the car.
She is not a tour guide after all. The content of the conversation she just had with the girl named Aurora was about half of what she had arrived in advance.From what I saw during a few days of travel, most of the rest were improvised and made up on the spot.
However, unlike Wei Ran, who has been worried about safety issues, Katenka actually thinks it is a good thing to have such an ordinary girl who doesn’t know where she comes from to help cover up. The boss wants to do something, at least have a scapegoat to take the blame and facilitate their escape.
As for the idea of letting Wei Ran know what the outcome would be, Katenka subconsciously ignored it. If you really count, this trip to the United States is actually the first time for her. "Going out into the field", in other words, as a "keyboard warrior" who mostly relies on the Internet to complete her work, in this kind of field work, her experience is actually far less than that of Wei Ran, who has experienced many assessments.
In the girl's wild thoughts, the rented commercial vehicle sped westward along the road that split the Gobi wilderness. Outside the window, the wild animals passing by were seen, as well as the animals that were overtaken by Katenka from time to time. The long-headed freight truck quickly became smaller in the rearview mirror, and then was completely submerged by the new passengers and the fiery red sunrise that had already crossed the horizon behind it.
When Katianka drove the commercial vehicle into a gas station, Weiran was woken up by the sound of the car parking.
“Are you here?” Wei Ran opened the car door and asked in confusion.
“We’re here,” Katenka, who was refueling, answered with a fuel gun, “Where should we go next?”
“This location,” Wei Ran said, taking a shot from his pocket. He took out the second half of the address and handed it to the other party.
Taking the note and looking at it, Katenka put it into the pocket of his jeans and asked casually, "Are you staying in Odessa tonight? If you are staying here, I will wait. Just book a hotel, and it’s already one o’clock in the afternoon. Do you want something to eat?”
“I’ll stay here if nothing happens in the next few days. As for eating, I’ll find it first.” Let’s talk about the address just now.”
Wei Ran glanced at Suisui, who was still sleeping in the car, and whispered, “Katenko, I’m afraid you have to do some things by yourself. "
"Kill who?" Katenka screwed on the fuel tank cap, stepped on the tire with one foot, and asked in a calm tone.
"No one will be killed." Wei Ran shook his head helplessly and emphasized again, "We are not going to do anything illegal this time."
Katenko looked at " Why don't you tell me everything I know at once?"
"To put it simply, I have a client who wants to see how his ex-wife is doing."
"That's all?"
"My client is a fugitive murderer," Wei Ran said nonsensically. "He just wants our help to see how his ex-wife and children are doing."
"No more?"
Katenko looked at Wei Ran with a strange expression, "You called me over from Turin to help, and got in position to help your client secretly photograph him. Your ex-wife? Boss, your business scope sounds really perverted."
"Can you think of something wrong?Can your clothes not come in so many colors? "
Wei Ran shook his head dumbfounded, "Anyway, find this location as soon as possible. There are still many things to do next. "
"You are the boss and I listen to you," Katenka said and got into the cab.
When Weiran sat back in his original position and closed the door, Katenka When the car drove out of the gas station, Suisui stretched and yawned and woke up.
Suisui climbed back into the seat next to Wei Ran from the passenger seat and asked sleepily, "Still." Not yet? ”
“We’re already here, let’s get down to business first. "Wei Ran said, picked up a bottle of mineral water, unscrewed it and handed it to the other party.
Taking the mineral water, Suisui drank half of the bottle in one breath, and then burped regardless of her appearance. , then said with a look of relief, "Finally we're here, my waist is almost broken. "
"Do I need to send you to the hotel first? Katenka asked with a smile.
“No, no!” " Suisui looked out the window at the Mexican-style buildings on both sides of the road, "I'll be busy with his business first, but when you're done, you have to take us to eat the best local food. ”
“No problem! "
Katenka gave a confident response, then turned the car to another street, pointed at a shop on the street casually and said, "His food is delicious. I usually I often take friends there, but I don’t know if it suits your taste. ”
Seeing that Suisui was indeed attracted by such a sentence, Wei Ran, who was sitting in the back row, just suppressed a smile and shook his head secretly. That flashy girl was worthy of being captured by the old KGB-born Kajianka. He handed it over hand in hand, and he was really lying without blushing or breathing.
But this is just to fool the young and heartless Suisui, but anyone with a more thoughtful mind can realize that this is the case. The girl had to rely on the navigation system to drive in the place she said she "grew up in".
Listening to Katenka's lies, a group of three people took a car in this small town also called Odessa. After wandering around for more than ten minutes, Katenka finally stopped opposite a single-family villa with a garden.
Katenko parked the car on the side of the road and looked at the house on the other side of the road. A building with a strong Mexican style said, "That's the earth-yellow house."
Goleman took out the picture he found through Street View and briefly compared it with the building across the road. , after confirming that he had found the right place, Wei Ran took out his cell phone and took a photo of the house, then took out the SLR he had prepared in advance and handed it to Suisui.
Then he took out a photo of the house. He handed Katenka a photo of Gorman’s ex-wife taken during the Soviet era, “This is the woman we are looking for, but this is a photo of her before she immigrated here about 30 years ago. Katenka, think of a suitable and gentle reason to let the people out of the house, or you can find a way to knock on the door and see if she still lives here. ”
Katenko took the photo and looked at it, then returned it to the former and askedasked, "Where is she from before?"
"Odessa, the Odessa in Ukraine, she immigrated here after the collapse of the Soviet Union."
Hearing this, Katenka She took out her mobile phone and searched for something, then took off her colorful down jacket, ducked into the rear compartment, took out a pink pullover from her bag and put it on.
This is not over yet. Under the surprised gazes of Wei Ran and Suisui, the girl actually took off a colorful wig from her head.
"Is your hair fake?"
Wei Ran asked belatedly, while secretly complaining that even if this girl took off her wig, her original hairstyle would still be beautiful. She was still no better than Ji Ma when she was a gangster back then. Her peacock blue hair was wrapped in a hairnet, making her look like she had a large emu eggshell on top of her head.
"I'm just too lazy to wash my hair."
Katenko gave a perfunctory excuse that sounded natural, reached into her bag and took out a light blond wig and fixed it on her head. On the wig, even the corners were carefully smeared with some unknown paste to make the edges of the wig and the skin look more natural.
"How did you do it? Can you teach me?" Suisui asked in amazement.
"You want to learn?"
Katenko, who was deliberately smearing the makeup on his face, nodded excitedly at the side and generously put the makeup in his hand on the side. The box of paste was thrown to the other party, "I mixed it myself with foundation and other things. If you like it, I can take the time to teach you. It's very simple."
Katenko had already finished speaking. I kicked off the boots with all kinds of exaggerated metal spikes and put on a pair of ordinary sneakers. Then I put a sports backpack on my shoulders, and put on my myopia glasses with thick frames, and He handed something the size of a cigarette box to Wei Ran, then opened the car door on the side facing away from the house and walked out.
"What did she do?" Suisui asked, holding a SLR in one hand and a box of paste sent by Kajianka in the other.
"I'll explain it later"
Wei Ran motioned Suisui to look at the house across the road, "Wait a minute if someone comes out of that house, wait a minute if someone comes out of that house, Just take a few photos of her, remember to take more, and take more clear pictures." "What are you doing?" Suisui quickly put the box of paste aside, hurriedly. asked the SLR in his hand.
“A client of mine wants to see how his ex-wife is doing.” Wei Ran pointed to the other side of the road, “The person living in that house is my client’s ex-wife.”
< p>"Your studio doesn't even choose this kind of job now?" Suisui looked at Wei Ran strangely, "Are you a pervert, or is your client a pervert?""Take it We just need money to do some work." Wei Ran knocked on the glass helplessly, "Pay attention. If you finish your work as soon as possible, we can find a place to play for a few more days."
"Oh!" Suisui immediately raised her hand. SLR, stretched the lens out of the half-open car window and pointed it at the house on the other side of the road.
Almost at the same time she was getting ready, Katenka in disguise also walked weakly from a distance to the door of the house, and then fell to the ground with a weak foot.
This was not over yet. Katenka, who pretended to fall, walked towards the house in a decent manner, raised his arm with great effort and pressed the doorbell.
At the same time, the former's weak cry for help in English with a strong Maozi accent came from the cigarette box-sized thing she had left in the car.
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