In the next two days, the artillery company has been studying military topography in Longquanzhuang.

Including Wang Ke, he also gave several lessons to the entire company. He mainly learned about field survival training and fixed-point positioning.

The old platoon leader Hu Zhijun once again brought the problems discovered during the artillery company training, including the situation from on-site reconnaissance and survey, and went back to the regiment to report.

Next, it was a rare Sunday. Wang Ke asked for leave and prepared to go to the county seat.

Gu Maolin was the first to make noises about following Wang Ke into the county town.

"Let me be clear, I have no money. If you go with me, Gu Maolin, you have to buy a ticket for me." Wang Ke threatened him.

"No problem, platoon leader, as long as you take me there, I'll be responsible for the ticket."

Wang Ke went to the county this time and borrowed 20 yuan from Huang Zhonghe, the old squad leader. He mainly went to buy materials for making pins. In addition, Wang Ke also had an idea to buy a watch. As a company watchman, he did not have a watch.

, it’s really inconvenient.

After breakfast and a brief tidying up, Wang Ke and Gu Maolin set off immediately.

After leaving Longquanzhuang, the two of them stood at the intersection waiting for the bus.

There were only passing buses here, with only five or six a day. So by the time we arrived at the county seat, it was almost past ten o'clock. We got off the bus, left the long-distance bus station, and went straight to the department store.

First, he came to the counter selling needles and threads. Wang Ke was immediately delighted when he saw that there were all kinds of embroidery needles from No. 1 large needles to No. 7 embroidery needles.

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, what do you want to buy?" A salesperson came over, a young girl.

"Buy needles, all embroidery needles, everything after size six and below."

"Ah! That's a lot. There are six packs in total. Are you sure you want them?" She didn't expect that the People's Liberation Army in front of her wanted to buy embroidery needles.

There are thirty sticks in one pack, and one hundred and eighty sticks in five packs.

"I want it!" Wang Ke hurriedly took out the money.

The salesperson handed out the six pack of needles and asked, "What else do you want?"

"Is there any grass-green paint used for dyeing clothes? If so, please bring two packs."

"Okay, a total of sixty-two cents." The salesperson saw that the things he bought were not valuable and lost all interest, so he started to put the things on the glass counter.

"Comrade, do you have three flashlights here? Buy me one with six white elephant batteries."

"Okay! Do you want anything else?"

"Yes, do you have 2b Chinese pencils and pencil cases? If so, buy thirty. Each pencil case comes with an eraser, a knife, and two pencils."

The salesperson didn't expect that it was still a big order. She went to pick up the goods and came back ten minutes later carrying a small cardboard box.

"I also want to ask, is there anyone who sells watches?"

"Yes, it's at the clock counter over there."

"Great, please help me calculate how much it costs in total."

After Wang Ke paid the money, the two of them hurriedly ran to the daily chemical and hardware counters. They bought another twenty pairs of plastic chopsticks, a pair of needle-nose vise, and several pieces of fine sandpaper.

Finally, when I came to the clock counter, I looked at the money in my pocket and saw a little more than ten yuan left.

In the western mountainous area, all clocks are called "watches", but along the way, there are almost no watches. Because the best Shanghai brand watch costs more than 100 yuan, and even the worst Zhongshan watch costs 60 or 70 yuan.

Yuan. It seems that I can’t afford a watch, and buying an alarm clock is inconvenient to carry.

Wang Ke was a little disappointed. He didn't expect that the watch would be so expensive. Fortunately, he had already bought all the things he should buy today. Then, Wang Ke ran away with Gu Maolin carrying his satchel.

"Poor soldiers" are really very poor.

Gu Maolin just sent some letters for his comrades, bought some letter paper, toothpaste, soap and other daily necessities. In less than half an hour, the two of them finished everything they were doing. "Platoon leader, how about we go to the free market over there.

"

"What do you want to buy?"

Wang Ke looked at the time, and it was indeed still early. The bus back at noon was around one o'clock, so there were still two hours left.

"Wandering around, I'll see if there are fried peanuts and buy something for us to eat for lunch."

Wang Ke looked up at the sun, and there was indeed no place to go. "Okay."

The two of them turned around and came to the free market over there.

Although it is said to be a free market in the county town, it is only a street several hundred meters long. There are sellers of vegetables, fruits, and mountain products. Gu Maolin didn't go far when he entered and bought two kilograms of fried peanuts. Buy

I burned six pieces and put them in my satchel.

The two people strolled around and quickly walked from one end to the other. Suddenly Wang Ke stopped. Near the end, there was an old man in his sixties or seventies, wearing a broken felt hat and all black.

He was wearing a jacket and sitting on a horse. On the ground in front of him was a mottled green oilcloth with many messy playthings placed on it.

At that time, there were many salesmen who traveled from village to town, specializing in selling these miscellaneous gadgets.

There are a lot of things on this dirty oilcloth. There are hundreds of them, almost everything. But what caught Wang Ke's attention was a tiger head that looked like it was carved by a child. A piece of it looked like it had fallen into a porridge pot.

made of stone, a bulging bronze box smaller than the mouth of a tea cup, like a small turtle shell, with a bronze chain hanging next to it.

Wang Ke knew it, so it was probably a pocket watch.

"Uncle, are these for sale?" Wang Ke said, squatting down.

When he saw it was two People's Liberation Army soldiers, the old man immediately had a smile on his face. He had been sitting here for several hours, and what he was selling were all second-hand goods, and basically no one cared about them. After a lot of effort, the customer came, so naturally he would not let go.

Pass.

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, what do you see?"

Wang Ke reached for the small bronze box. "What is this?"

"Haha, comrade of the People's Liberation Army, you still have discernment. Is this a pocket watch or a foreign product?"

The old man took the lead, took the bronze pocket watch in his hand, and opened the lid with a click. Sure enough, there were ancient Roman numerals inside, and under the "vi" below, there were also the three letters "mij". Wang Ke knew this

is "madei

japa

"The English abbreviation of "Made in Japan" means "Made in Japan". But this pocket watch only has hour and minute hands, no second hand, and it still moves "stuck".

"Platoon leader, it's a pity that this pocket watch is broken. It doesn't have a second hand." Gu Maolin also squatted down and said casually. In that era, whether it was a clock or a watch, if it didn't have a red second hand, it would be dismissed.

People regard it as a bad watch.

Wang Ke took the pocket watch and looked at the case. There were a few bump marks and there were two cracks on the cover. Although it was not broken, it was not a good thing after all. But when he put it to his ear, he heard "Kakaka"

Very powerful.

"Uncle, what's wrong with this watch?"

"Well, there's nothing wrong with it? It's just a little bit faster."

"How much faster? Can it be faster by an hour a day?" Gu Maolin was amused.

But unexpectedly, the old man nodded and replied casually: "Absolutely, it will only take an hour at most. Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, if you want it, just take it for fifty yuan."

"How much? It's money!" Gu Maolin's eyes widened immediately. He snatched the pocket watch, closed the cover and threw it to the ground. "Platoon leader, a new Shanghai watch only costs 120, his piece

A pocket watch is not worth even five dollars."

Wang Ke also felt chilled. Although he didn't know the origin of this pocket watch, with the words "Made in Japan", this old pocket watch was worth dozens of yuan.

"No, the price can be negotiated." The old man said quickly, fearing that the two People's Liberation Army soldiers in front of him would slap their butts and leave.

Wang Ke reached out and picked up the "tiger head" on the oilcloth. It was a sign about the size of the bottom of a beer bottle. His knife skills were really not good. He made one deep and one shallow knife, just like a child "pretending to be a family"

"Home" was carved casually when he was at home. As he was closely influenced by it with his godfather Professor Wen, Wang Ke put the tiger head in his hand and immediately felt a cold jade feeling.

But Wang Ke pretended to be disdainful, put down the Tiger Head brand again, and picked up the stone that looked like it had fallen into a porridge pot. This stone was about the size of a fist, quite heavy and round, and its skin was actually made of pulp.

After weighing it in his hands, Wang Ke put it down, stood up in "disappointment", clapped his hands, and looked like he was leaving.

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, please make a price." The old man picked up the bronze pocket watch again and said to Wang Ke.

"Forget it, our comrades have just done it for you."

"Five dollars? That's too cheap." The old man also stood up. When he saw that Wang Ke and Gu Maolin were leaving, he immediately said: "Add two more dollars and take away the seven dollars."

Wang Ke stopped. He seemed to be hesitant. "Uncle, I see you haven't opened yet. Why don't I give you eight yuan and you give me these two things?"

As Wang Ke spoke, he bent down and picked up the tiger head sign and the stone that looked like it had fallen into a porridge pot.

"That's not possible. Everything here is covered by capital. How about you, comrade of the People's Liberation Army, add two more yuan?"

Wang Ke shook his head firmly. He bent down to put the tiger head sign and the stone that looked like it had fallen into the porridge pot. But he said: "It's enough to add two more to burn. We soldiers want these broken stones."

What’s the use of this thing?”

"Okay, comrade of the People's Liberation Army, as you said, buy me two pieces to burn, and you can take away the three items."

Wang Ke smiled, straightened up again, took the bronze pocket watch, held it in his hand and looked at it carefully. He was not in a hurry to pay.

"Comrade of the People's Liberation Army, you will not suffer any loss, just pay."

Wang Ke hesitantly handed over the ten yuan, and asked Gu Maolin to take out two more yuan. After finding the two yuan, Wang Ke put the two items into his satchel. Holding the pocket watch in his hand, he immediately took it with him

I went to Gu Maolin to find a clock repairman.
To be continued...