Double-Cut During the War of Resistance: My Wife Came from 1937

In 37, a cheap watch with a copper case, few diamonds, and no water resistance would cost 3-8 silver dollars, equivalent to one or two months' wages for an average worker.

If it's fiat currency, the price would need to be even higher.

Although according to the official exchange rate, the ratio of legal tender to silver dollars was 1:1.

However, everyone preferred silver dollars to legal tender.

Starting from the Marco Polo Bridge Incident, the legal tender was rapidly depreciating, and privately, one silver dollar was equivalent to more than two yuan of legal tender.

Mid-range watches, on the other hand, cost between 15 and 40 yuan.

Even the basic steel-shell model costs 50-120 yuan.

If it's a gold watch, it will cost several hundred or even a thousand dollars.

Xia Weiwei said, "It's not expensive, only 40 yuan each. A middle school teacher in town can afford an 80-yuan watch with his monthly salary."

The watches she brought back were mostly luminous, waterproof mechanical watches, even better than the watches that cost 8 silver dollars during the Republic of China era.

Even the watches given to the leaders weren't too expensive; they were all Seagull brand military watches for protecting the country, costing less than two thousand yuan each.

These are veteran revolutionaries, not high-ranking officials of the Kuomintang. If you were to give them gold watches, they would not accept them.

A domestically produced Seagull watch, neither too expensive nor too cheap, just right.

"Commander, Political Commissar!"

Xia Weiwei picked up two military green boxes and handed them to the two leaders, smiling as she said, "Comrade Hongwei said he really likes your calligraphy, so he plans to give you two watches as a return gift."

"This is far too valuable, I can't accept it!"

Political Commissar Zhang was the first to refuse.

Commander Liu shook his head and said, "I still have a Type 93 watch here, which I seized from the Japanese!"

They could all tell that this watch, with its special packaging, was definitely different from the ordinary watches piled up on the bed.

As leaders, they should set an example and naturally cannot accept expensive gifts.

"Sir, you are Chinese, how can you wear watches made in Japan?"

Xia Weiwei's eyes flashed as she opened the box and said to the two of them, "See this? This watch was made by our New China. The manufacturer is a watch factory established in Tianjin in the 50s. The first watch produced by China itself also came from this factory."

"Oh? This is a watch made in China?"

Upon hearing this, the two leaders were immediately relieved.

They definitely wouldn't accept a foreign luxury watch, but a domestically made one is a different story.

The two leaders looked into the box. The watch case was made of steel, and the dial was light brownish-green with the words "China Seagull" written on it.

The watch strap looks like brown canvas, but it is actually made of cowhide, with a small piece of white cloth with red trim sewn on the bottom.

The words "Defend the Homeland" are written in traditional Chinese characters above.

"What a wonderful call to defend our homeland!"

Upon seeing this, the two leaders nodded with great satisfaction.

"Since it's a watch made in China, then I'll accept it!"

Commander Liu smiled as he took the box and said to Xia Weiwei, "Xia, remember to tell Comrade Hongwei thank you for me."

"And me too, please say thank you for me!"

Political Commissar Zhang also spoke up.

"By the way, Political Commissar Zhang!"

Xia Weiwei flipped her hand, and an electronic blood pressure monitor appeared in her palm.

"This is for measuring blood pressure. I need to measure your blood pressure. If you have high blood pressure or something, I can give you some medication to lower your blood pressure. As for medication to treat brain diseases, I don't know exactly what it is, so I don't dare to give you any medication without knowing."

Commander Liu hurriedly asked, "Is there no way to treat it in the future?"

Xia Weiwei shook her head: "Hongwei told me that their treatment relies entirely on various machine tests and examinations. Without a comprehensive examination, there is no way to treat it."

"It's alright!"

Political Commissar Zhang waved his hand and said, "Having done revolution for so many years, I am already content knowing that we will be able to defeat imperialism and the Kuomintang reactionaries in the future."

"Political Commissar, your illness isn't anything serious. As long as you take good care of your health, you should be able to live for several more decades."

Xia Weiwei said, "The most important thing now is that you must rest and take good care of your body. You absolutely must not overwork yourself or get angry."

Commander Liu said with a smile, "Recently, I've been sending people to supervise the political commissar every day to ensure he gets enough rest."

"Sir, the compass and binoculars you requested have arrived!"

Xia Weiwei had another thought, and suddenly many more boxes appeared in the room.

"These are 1000 compasses and 330 telescopes."

Xia Weiwei picked up a high-powered telescope, opened the box, took it out, and handed it to Commander Liu, saying, "There are 30 telescopes in there, with objective lens diameters of 56 millimeters and a maximum magnification of 20x. They are nitrogen-filled and waterproof."

"20 times?"

Commander Liu was shocked.

During this period, the binoculars used by the military were mostly 6x and 8x magnification, and generally did not exceed 12x.

Take, for example, the "Zhongzheng" binoculars produced by the Kunming 22nd Arsenal in 39. They had a magnification of 6x and an objective lens diameter of 30mm.

The magnification of that telescope was less than a third of the one Xia Weiwei brought back, and even the diameter of the objective lens was only slightly more than half.

"I really need to try this out!"

Commander Liu's face was full of excitement and joy, just like a child who had received his favorite toy.

After saying that, he planned to leave immediately and go outside to experience it.

Xia Weiwei took two more binoculars, handed one to Political Commissar Zhang, and took one for herself.

The three then left the house and closed the door.

Political Commissar Zhang ordered, "Strengthen defenses. No one is allowed to enter this area without our orders. Anyone who disobeys will be executed on the spot!"

"yes!"

Upon hearing this, the soldiers guarding the vicinity responded in unison.

The three of them climbed up the ladder to the top of a house.

"Sir, this is how you use these binoculars..."

Xia Weiwei gave an explanation.

Commander Liu took out his binoculars and looked around.

When Commander Liu saw the scene, he couldn't help but exclaim, "This telescope is really useful! It provides a clear view and a wide field of vision!"

"Old Liu, look over there!"

Political Commissar Zhang pointed into the distance and said, "Old Xu and Old Ni brought Old Nie and Old He over."

Xia Weiwei's expression shifted, and she hurriedly asked, "Is it Deputy Division Commander Nie of the 115th Division, and Division Commander He of the 120th Division?"

"Yes, it's those two!"

Commander Liu said with a smile, "I had already sent a secret telegram to the two division headquarters, asking them to send people over."

"Wow, this is truly a gathering of big names!"

Xia Weiwei thought to herself, "That's four marshals now, almost half of them!"

They continued to observe, and only when the other party came close did they come down from the roof to greet them.

Commander Liu walked forward with a smile, extending his hand and saying, "Old Nie, Old He, welcome!"