50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 315 Lost Items from the Yuanmingyuan
Once you understand how the files are stored, finding them becomes much easier.

Sun Zhiwei directly searched for the date 'January 18, 1977' and the military branch 'Naval Submarine Force', using two keywords.

Then he locked onto one of the filing cabinets. Only a few days had passed, and there weren't many files in the cabinet.

Among all the dozen or so documents, he immediately found the test report. It was the Trident I missile test report he was looking for.

The entire report is a thick stack of documents, at least twenty or thirty pages long.

By examining the documents layer by layer, he saw that they contained detailed missile test data, including detailed descriptions of the performance and price of the missile's manufacturing materials.

This made him very happy; this was exactly what the country needed, and the first task was considered complete.

Just when he thought the report was over, he saw the evaluations of the test from various relevant departments on the last few pages.

The Navy primarily raised improvement requests, while the procurement department raised cost issues. At the very end, he also saw Jimmy's comments.

He congratulated them on the success of the test and expressed his hope that they could complete the trial as soon as possible to address the growing pressure from bears in the North Pacific region.

Absolutely perfect; Jimmy's final assessment perfectly illustrated his attitude.

This missile was created specifically to counter Russia. Although it can be used to attack any country, at least for now, it is not targeting us.

To my surprise, he didn't have to go to Lockheed's headquarters in Maryland next door. One document solved all the problems.

Now that the item is confirmed, he has to find a way to get his hands on it.

Taking the original document directly is obviously not advisable, as there are many people managing the files here, and this particular document was only recently placed here, yet it's displayed on top.

If it's taken away, the staff will easily discover that the document is missing, and then things will escalate.

Ideally, the task should be completed without the user even realizing it.

After thinking for a moment, he went to find the tour guide sergeant and expressed his desire to use the restroom.

The sergeant pointed out the location of the restroom before continuing to explain the exhibits in the exhibition hall to the other visitors.

Sun Zhiwei quickly went to the nearest toilet, entered a stall, and closed the stall door.

At the very bottom of the door to the cubicle here, there is a small gap that allows you to see the tips of the shoes of the people inside from the outside.

He took off his leather shoes, pointing the toes outwards. Then he turned his back, used his spatial ability to retrieve the document, and laid it out on the toilet seat.

Then, he took photos with one hand while supporting the document with the other, turning the pages as he went. Three minutes later, he had photographed the entire test report, which consisted of dozens of pages.

After the filming was completed, he didn't delay and immediately used the space to put the documents back in their original location in the archives.

After putting the camera back in the storage space, he turned around, put on his leather shoes, and then began to seriously go to the toilet.

Five minutes later, Sun Zhiwei came out of the restroom, caught up with the visiting group, and continued to follow the guide, Sergeant Jun, to visit another exhibition room.

At noon, Sun Zhiwei walked out of the Pentagon with the others, ending their two-hour journey.

He had lunch at a steakhouse in Crystal City again, and after finishing, he leisurely drove back to Georgetown, just in time for the restaurant to open.

At 2 p.m., a young military officer carrying a briefcase walked into Sun Zhiwei's small shop.

Upon hearing the wind chimes, Belinda immediately greeted the guests: "Welcome!"

Sun Zhiwei's heart skipped a beat when he saw the wrinkled military uniform. He thought he had been exposed, that the Pentagon had found him so quickly.

It turned out that the army officer was a resident of a nearby community. He had come here because he had heard about the appraisal services offered and that they had a good reputation. "What kinds of items can you appraise here?"

The officer asked questions while looking at the exhibits in the store.

When he saw the descriptions of the exhibits from all over the world, from ancient times to the present, and the exorbitant prices, his face froze.

He began to wonder if he had come to the wrong place. Was this not an authentication shop, but some kind of counterfeit production site?
Belinda, oblivious to the officer's expression, continued to smile and say, "Our store manager is a certified appraiser from the M Country Appraisers Association; he can appraise almost any common item."

Only then did Sun Zhiwei stand up from the chair behind the counter, and walk up to the officer with a smile.

"I am James Robert, the store manager. May I ask your name, sir?"

The officer hesitated for a moment before answering, "I am Milan Lancaster."

"Lieutenant Milan, what items do you need appraised?"

Lieutenant Milan thought that since he was already here, he might as well let him take a look and test the quality of the shop. It would be easy to tell whether it was good or not.

So he picked up his briefcase, took out a wooden box from it, and placed it on the counter.

Belinda quickly took a piece of velvet cloth from under the counter and laid it on the counter. Then she gestured to the lieutenant to take the items out of the box and place them on the velvet cloth.

She remembered Sun Zhiwei's words clearly: never take things directly from a customer's hands, no matter what.

This is a painful lesson learned by countless antique dealers in China over the past centuries.

The lieutenant obediently opened the box, took out a bronze ornament, and placed it on the velvet cloth.

Upon seeing the item, Sun Zhiwei immediately approached to confirm its identity. He recognized it immediately; he didn't even need to use his spatial storage to authenticate it.

If I remember correctly, this should be the bronze lion, a lost artifact from the Old Summer Palace, which will later appear in a museum in New York.

Next came the authentication process. Sun Zhiwei put on a pair of brand-new white gloves, picked up a flashlight, and began to examine the details.

Then, he would rotate the angle from time to time and even flip open the base of the bronze lion to check the inscription on the bottom.

Ten minutes later, he straightened up and put down his tools.

"Lieutenant Milan, are you familiar with the appraisal prices here?"

"I understand, have you figured it out?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, this is a bronze lion from China, which is about two hundred years old."

"According to the Chinese calendar, it is an item from the Qianlong era."

Upon hearing the phrase "Over two hundred years," the lieutenant's eyes lit up, and he immediately asked, "Then how much is it worth?"

'How much?' Sun Zhiwei thought to himself, this thing probably isn't worth much money now, and his family is still constantly selling foreign exchange.

However, when our economy takes off in the future and our people become richer, this will become valuable.

"Lieutenant, if we sell it now, it probably won't fetch more than $1000. We might sell it for a little more if we find someone who likes it."

The lieutenant frowned: "Only this little bit of money?"

"Yes, Lieutenant, it's because it's incomplete, otherwise it could have sold for a higher price."

(End of this chapter)