That night, Swift took away the legendary Gibson double-headed electric guitar.
The price she paid was $8 million.
Xiao Ran also agreed to sell her two antique guitars belonging to John Denver and Frank Sinatra.
However, the two antique guitars were stored in a vault and could only be delivered in two days.
The prices of those two antique guitars are US$1 million and US$800,000 respectively, both of which are quite high.
Emma also selected the painting she wanted, but she didn't complete the transaction immediately.
She chose a Post-Impressionist painting and a Cubist painting, both masterpieces and valuable.
For these two paintings, she paid nearly 10 million US dollars, which made her feel heartache.
After achieving their goal, Swift, Emma and the others said goodbye and went back to their respective homes.
When leaving the villa, Swift took away the legendary Gibson double-headed electric guitar, looking like she couldn't put it down.
After a while, the sound of electric guitar came from Swift's villa, and they co-wrote "Stairway to Heaven".
Of course, her guitar playing skills are far worse than Jimmy Page!
In the blink of an eye, the time has reached around eleven o'clock in the evening.
Xiao Ran's cell phone rang suddenly. It was a video call from her sister-in-law.
The moment the phone rang, Xiao Ran let out a sigh of relief.
His heart, which had been hanging high in his throat, finally returned to his stomach.
The call was connected, and my sister-in-law immediately appeared on the phone screen.
Her location was on the tarmac of the Capital International Airport.
It was morning in China at this time and the sun was shining brightly.
Not far from my sister-in-law, the Air China charter flight that had just arrived in Beijing from Boston was parked.
"Xiao Ran, the Air China charter flight departing from Boston to transport antiques and artworks back to China has successfully arrived in Beijing and stopped next to me."
"This cross-border escort mission went very smoothly, without any trouble, and everything in the cabin was intact."
"Our company's employees and cultural and museum personnel from the Forbidden City are inspecting the goods in the cabin. After the inspection, the handover procedures will be completed..."
My sister-in-law said excitedly.
As she spoke, she walked around half a circle with her phone, taking pictures of the scene.
Jin Lao and others who were also at the scene waved and said hello to Xiao Ran.
At this time, each of them was extremely excited and eager to try.
However, it is for the sake of protecting their health.
They were not able to have immediate access to the antique artworks that had just been shipped back to China, and could only wait patiently for a while.
After the company employees and the Palace Museum cultural and museum personnel completed the handover procedures, everything was moved out of the cabin.
Only then can they wear full protective clothing and come forward for inspection and preliminary identification.
The reason for this arrangement was out of necessity.
After doing it several times, everyone has already gotten used to it.
Xiao Ran waved to say hello to my sister-in-law and Mr. Jin, and said with a smile:
"Sister-in-law, gentlemen, thank you for your hard work. Fortunately, it is morning in China, so the time is not bad."
"After receiving this batch of treasures, everyone can rest for a while. I will personally escort the next batch of treasures shipped back to China."
Hearing this, my sister-in-law and the others all laughed.
Immediately afterwards, Mr. Jin said with a smile:
"It's not hard work. For everyone, the more hard work, the better. We all enjoy it."
"When you return to the capital in a few days, you must come to my house as a guest. We old men all want to have a few drinks with you."
"Okay! It's better to obey your orders than to be respectful. I will definitely come to bother you when the time comes!"
Xiao Ran smiled and nodded.
Next, my sister-in-law introduced the relevant situation.
After introducing the situation, she suddenly changed her tone.
"Director Zhao and Xiao Hu, who came back from the Air China cargo plane, were picked up by personnel from the relevant departments as soon as they got off the plane."
"Director Zhao asked me to tell you that everything went very smoothly and thank you for allowing them to take this free flight."
Hearing these words, Xiao Ran couldn't help but feel a glimmer of pride in his eyes, but it was fleeting.
Of course he knew what Director Zhao meant when he said everything went well.
At this point, he was completely relieved and completely relaxed.
In the following time, he witnessed the entire handover process remotely through video calls.
At the same time, he also said hello to Nick, Mike and others who were responsible for leading the escort.
They will rest overnight in a hotel at the Capital Airport and then fly back to Los Angeles.
After all the handover work was completed and my sister-in-law and the others left the Capital Airport with a large amount of antique artwork, Xiao Ran ended the call.
Afterwards, he washed briefly and then went into the bedroom to rest.
Just as he got into bed and gently hugged Elaine, falling asleep.
On the other side of the ocean, in Beijing, there is a courtyard surrounded by red palace walls.
An old man with a solemn face was sitting on a chair in the study, listening to a middle-aged man report on the situation.
"Judging from the top-secret intelligence and research materials just sent to the country, this epidemic that has ravaged the world is the work of the U.S. government and military!"
"The person who released the plague virus was most likely the Fort Detrick Biological Laboratory under the control of the US military. The specific release method is not yet clear."
"Technicians are cracking the computer hard drives that were just delivered. In those computer hard drives, we may be able to find clear answers and evidence."
"Judging from relevant intelligence and data, the U.S. government and military are obviously not satisfied with the lethality of this plague virus, so they are trying to increase the virus's fatality rate."
"Boston University's Institute of Medicine and Microbiology is the research institution responsible for this secret mission. After it was exposed, the relevant research tasks seemed to have stopped."
As soon as he said this, he heard a loud bang.
The old man sitting on the chair clenched his fist and slammed it on the desk.
Then, the old man said angrily:
"These Americans are simply beasts that care less about human life, and they can actually do such a thing that is outrageous to both humans and gods!"
"They want to kill others, attack our country and other countries, and kill people from other countries in order to profit from it."
"What's good now is that the country with the most deaths and the hardest hit is the United States. This is retribution!"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man who reported the report couldn't help but flash a smile on his face.
After a short pause, when the mood of the person above him calmed down a little, he continued his report.
"The chief scientist at Boston University's Institute of Microbiology and two top biologists at Fort Detrick are the most important researchers on this project."
"More than a month ago, a series of bombings and assassinations occurred in Boston, directly killing these beasts. These top-secret intelligence and information, as well as computer hard drives, should have come from them."
"These top-secret intelligence and research materials, in addition to exposing the conspiracy and ugly faces of the U.S. government and military, also have extremely high research value and can be used by me to counter the United States."
"According to Director Zhao who brought back these intelligence materials, although they don't know who sent these things to the Boston office, they are absolutely sure that this mysterious person is Xiao Ran!"
Hearing this, the old man above immediately laughed.
"Hahaha, I also guessed it, it should be this little guy who can do anything!"
"I have to say, this is a very beautiful job! It's also very relaxing!"
"I heard that he will come back to celebrate the New Year in a few days. I must meet this boy then!"
While he was talking, a staff member from the Secretariat suddenly knocked on the door and walked in.
As soon as he entered the door, the staff member said excitedly:
"Report to the chief, the passwords on those computer hard drives have been unlocked."
"Those computer hard drives contain a massive amount of research data and a lot of top-secret information, which is extremely valuable!"
"good!"
With a shout, the old man who was sitting suddenly pushed his chair away and stood up.
At the same time, the smile on his face became even brighter!
…
Nothing happened all night, and in the blink of an eye it was the second day back in Los Angeles.
After breakfast, under the protection of Anthony and the others, Xiao Ran took Elaine and the others out of the villa, preparing to visit the company.
The company has been running under Miller's stewardship for the past several months.
The company is operating normally and is thriving, and has quickly become the most profitable and attractive company in the United States.
As the owner of the company, although Xiao Ran was exploring treasures all over the east coast during this period, he knew the company's situation well.
Almost every day, Miller would report to him from time to time on the company's operations, and he would make various decisions.
To be on the safe side, Xiao Ran placed several informants in the company, each of them keeping an eye on a part of the affairs.
They are responsible for different areas, and they all contact Xiao Ran through a single line, and do not understand each other's tasks.
In this case, Xiao Ran's understanding of the company's operations is far more thorough than Miller's.
More importantly, this exploration company depends on him for its existence.
The financial power is firmly in his hands, and there is no possibility of losing control.
In a short time, the convoy arrived at the block where the company was located.
When the motorcade passed the intersection of Rodeo Drive, Xiao Ran and Elaine, who were sitting in the car, glanced at this bustling street through the car window.
Months have passed and little has changed on this landmark street in Los Angeles.
As before, many luxury shops on the street have thick wooden boards nailed to their doors and windows to prevent them from being looted.
Even so, the wooden boards on the doors and windows of several shops were pried open and smashed, and then looted.
The rest of the shops that were lucky enough to escape the damage had all kinds of graffiti spray-painted on their doors and windows.
In addition, there are more closed shops and restaurants on the streets, and the doors are locked.
Even though this is the most prosperous commercial street in Los Angeles, it is still a dilapidated scene at this time.
Since it was still early, there were not many pedestrians and vehicles on the street, and there were not many businesses open for business, making it seem quite deserted.
Seeing this scene, Xiao Ran and the others were somewhat sad.
"Without a few people, the situation on Rodeo Drive has not improved at all, but has gotten worse."
"If this continues, God knows how many businesses will go bankrupt, and more and more people will be unemployed!"
Elaine said with emotion.
Xiao Ran glanced at the street outside and then nodded.
"In this special situation, this is inevitable. The situation in other places is similar."
"In the next few years, the situation may get worse and worse, but fortunately it will not have a big impact on us."
While they were discussing, people on the street outside also saw the motorcade they were riding in.
The moment they saw the bulletproof Cullinan, people already knew who this convoy belonged to.
"Look! That lucky bastard Sean is back. This bastard is still as high-profile and flamboyant as ever. He hasn't changed at all!"
"Fake! The whole world is in dire straits, and we are almost out of food, but this bastard Sean is making a fortune. God, it's so unfair!"
Amidst the murmurs of discussion, Xiao Ran's motorcade passed the intersection and headed towards the company building not far away.
Wherever the motorcade went, everyone looked over, and everyone's eyes were filled with envy, jealousy, and hatred.
While talking, the motorcade arrived in front of the company building and slowly stopped.
As the motorcade arrived, many security team members guarding the company building immediately became alert, watching the surrounding pedestrians and vehicles with vigilance.
After receiving the news in advance, Miller, Davis and others who were waiting in front of the company building came over to greet them.
Knowing that Xiao Ran had returned to Los Angeles, some media reporters who had arrived early to prepare for interviews gathered on the sidewalks on both sides of the street.
As soon as the motorcade arrived, these guys raised their cameras and camcorders one after another, quickly pressed the shutter button, and started filming.
Of course, there were many people watching the excitement around, all looking at the motorcade curiously.
Among these guys, there are many guys with ulterior motives.
There were even a few guys who came all the way from places like Philadelphia and Boston, obviously with bad intentions.
Looking at Xiao Ran's motorcade and the bulletproof Cullinan, the eyes of everyone around them were a little red, and they were full of envy and jealousy.
"Sean, the environment is safe, you can get out of the car."
Anthony's voice came from the intercom, announcing the situation.
"Okay, Anthony."
Xiao Ran picked up the walkie-talkie and said.
Immediately afterwards, he opened the car door and took Elaine and the others out of the car.
