Red Moscow

Chapter 2434

Sokov heard what Yakov said and felt happy for him. As a person from later generations, he naturally knew the fate of Yakov's family. Shortly after Yakov died in a German prisoner-of-war camp, his wife Yulia was also shot, leaving only his daughter Galina. people. Now everything has changed because of his appearance. Not only is Yakov, who originally died in 1943, still alive, he even has the opportunity to share the happiness of a family with his father after the war.

“Yasha, this is really exciting news.” Sokov said: “I think your brother and sister will also appear at the family dinner tomorrow night.”

"Well, it's possible." Yakov said with emotion: "It's a pity that you were not invited, otherwise it would have been even more lively."

“Why should I, an outsider, attend your family banquet?” Sokov said with a smile: “If I have time another day, I’ll invite you, your wife and daughter to my house as guests.”

After the two talked for a while, Sokov put down the phone and said to Asya who was sitting next to him: "Yasha just called me and said that his father asked Poskrebyshev to inform him that he would take his family with him tomorrow. Go to the family dinner.”

"Really? That's great." When Sokov and Yakov were on the phone, Asya, who was sitting next to her, heard some of it. She couldn't help asking about what she cared about: "Misha , I seem to hear Yasha say, you can stay in Moscow and don’t have to go to Siberia, is it true?”

"Well, he did mention this matter." Seeing that Asiya was more concerned about this matter, Sokov explained to her: "Yasha always felt that it would be better for me to stay and work in the General Ordnance Department than to go to Siberia. More appropriate.”

"Then what did you think about it?" Asiya asked: "I will give birth in a few months. If you were in Siberia at that time, I am afraid you would not be able to see your child born. Do you really Do you want this?"

　From the tone of Asiya’s words, Sokov heard a hint of resentment. He thought about it carefully and felt that it was indeed a bit too selfish for him to abandon Asya, who would give birth to a child in a few months, and run to distant Siberia alone. But if he had to stay to take care of Asiya, he would have no chance to deal with those **** little devils, which made Sokov feel very unwilling.

After Asiya finished speaking, she felt a little disappointed when Sokov was silent. She stood up and said, "I'm going to wash the dishes."

"I'll do the washing." Sokov stood up, picked up the dishes and cutlery on the table, walked towards the kitchen, and said, "Asia, give me two days to think about whether to stay here or not." Moscow or Siberia.”

Asiya heard Sokov say this. Although she didn't speak, the slightly raised corners of her mouth revealed her little thoughts.

 The next morning, Yulia came to the school where Galina went to school and found her class teacher. Before she could speak, the middle-aged woman wearing a pair of glasses said first: "Dear Yulia, I was about to go find you, but I didn't expect you to come first."

Hearing what the head teacher said, Yulia couldn't help but be stunned, and then asked: "What do you want to see me for?"

"That's it, dear Yulia." The head teacher said: "After this period of observation, I found that your daughter has a talent for dancing, and I plan to focus on cultivating her. It just so happened that my daughter recently participated in a ballet training class. , I plan to let Galina also study. So during this period, you don’t have to pick her up from school, and you will let her live in my house, which will make it easier for her to learn ballet. What do you think? "

Yulia herself is a ballet dancer, so she naturally hopes that her daughter will inherit her legacy and become a ballet dancer when she grows up. When she hears the head teacher say that she can train her daughter, she naturally wishes for it. However, the purpose of her coming here today is to ask Galina for advice. As for learning ballet, she can postpone it for a while: "I came here today to ask for leave for Galina."

“Ask for leave?!” The head teacher asked in surprise: “What are you asking for leave for?”

"Galina's grandfather invited us to dinner tonight." Galina concealed her true identity when she entered the school, so even the head teacher did not know that she was Stalin's granddaughter, and Yulia naturally would not expose it casually. Regarding the identity of his daughter, he could only say vaguely: "The last time he invited us to dinner was five years ago."

When the head teacher heard what Yulia said, he naturally would not stop him, so he nodded and said: "Since it is an old man who wants to see his granddaughter, I agree to give Galina a day off. But she must be sent back tomorrow, after all, ballet training It’s already started, you can’t miss too many courses, otherwise you won’t be able to keep up with other students.”

"Don't worry." Yulia said, "Just have a meal tonight, and I will send her back early tomorrow morning."

While Yulia was asking for leave for her daughter, Sokov and Asiya packed up and prepared to go to Khimki Town to visit Asiya's parents.

Before the two of them could go out, the phone on the table rang.

Sokov picked up the phone and listened. It turned out to be a call from Yakov: "Misha, are you going out now?"

“Yes,” Sokov said, “I am going to take the subway with Asya now.”

“I said Misha, Asiya is pregnant now. Is it appropriate for you to ask her to follow you to the subway?”

“There is no way,” Sokov said helplessly: “I don’t have a car, so I can’t walk to Khimki town with her.”

"Misha, for the convenience of your travel, I plan to temporarily lend you the car assigned to me by my superiors for a period of time." Yakov said on the phone: "My driver will be at your residence soon. Just wait at the gate of the compound with Asiya."

After Sokov put down the phone, he said to Asiya: "Asiya, Yasha will send a car to pick us up soon, so that we don't have to squeeze in the subway."

“Yasha went back to Moscow with you yesterday. Where did he get his car?”

"I heard that it was a car specially assigned to him by his superiors." Sokov said: "He thought it was inconvenient for us to go out without a car, so he temporarily lent us the car for a while. We are now going to the gate of the compound to pick us up. The car will be here in a moment."

Asiya held Sokov’s arm and when she came to the gate of the compound, she found that a black car was already waiting there.

Seeing Sokov and Asiya walking out of the compound, the car door opened, and a driver wearing a boat-shaped hat got out. He quickly came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute and then politely said Question: "Is this General Sokov?" "Yes, it's me." After raising his hand in return, Sokov asked, "Are you sent by Yasha to pick us up?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The driver said to Sokov: "I came to pick you up on the order of General Yakov. But he also told me one more thing."

"what's up?"

"He said that if you can't drive, let me be your driver." The driver continued: "If you can drive and want to drive, then let me give you the car."

Hearing what the driver said, Sokov began to wonder whether he should use Yakov’s driver, or drive himself? After thinking for a while, he felt that he should seek Asiya's opinion on this matter, so he turned to Asiya and asked: "Asiya, what do you think?"

"Misha, you know you can drive." Asiya looked at Sokov and said: "But you have been away from Moscow for too long and are not familiar with the roads. I think it is better to trouble this comrade to be our driver for a while. Bar."

"Okay, I'll listen to you." After Sokov said this, he turned to the driver and asked: "Comrade driver, I don't know what to call you?"

 “My name is Wowen.”

“Comrade Woven,” Sokov said politely to the driver, “then please be our driver for a few days.”

"Comrade General, you are too polite." Wo Wen said respectfully: "It is my honor to serve for a hero like you." After saying that, he turned around and ran to the car, opened the rear door, "General Comrade, please get in the car."

After the three of them got into the car, Wowen turned to ask Sokov: "Comrade General, what is your specific destination?"

“The instrument factory area in the town of Khimki.” After Sokov finished giving the address, he asked tentatively: “Can you find the place?”

"I know, Comrade General." Wowen replied: "I have been there before and know how to go."

After the car started, Sokov asked Wowen curiously: "Comrade Wowen, have you been working in the General Ordnance Department during the war?"

"That's right, Comrade General." Woven replied: "Since the outbreak of the war, I have been working as a driver in the Weapons and Equipment Department. My daily job is to transport comrades in the department to various places in the city, so for Moscow I am very familiar with the streets and alleys and major enterprises and factories.”

When Sokov heard what Wowen said, he immediately realized Yakov's intention. It would indeed facilitate his travels to have such a person familiar with the terrain as his driver.

When Wowen heard that Sokov had stopped speaking, he took the initiative to say: "Comrade General, I am not only familiar with Moscow, but also with some of the surrounding cities. If you want to leave Moscow and go for a walk someday, I will I can also drive you there.”

"That's a good feeling." Now that the war is over, Sokov has not been assigned a formal job yet. He has a lot of time every day. He doesn't want to sit at home and do nothing. He has thought about going out for a walk. But there were no vehicles at the time, and travel was inconvenient. Now that Yakov had lent him a car and a driver, it was just a matter of one sentence to go where he wanted to go, so he said very readily: "I want to go to Crystal City in two days." Cheng, please give us a ride."

"Crystal City?" Wowen suddenly became interested when he heard the place name mentioned by Sokov: "Crystal City is more than two hundred kilometers east of Moscow. There are many glass manufacturers in the city to produce glass and crystal products. It is well-known far and wide. In the town's more than 250 years of history, crystal products designed and produced by artistic masters have always been royal supplies for the Tsar's court and the Kremlin, daily necessities, high-end gifts, and decorative products for the upper class in various countries around the world, and have been exported to France, Countries such as Czechoslovakia, Italy, Germany, Spain, Finland, the United States and Canada.”

"Woven," Sokov interjected after hearing this, "I heard that during the Great Patriotic War, all the factories in Crystal City stopped making handicrafts, and instead worked all night to produce medical bottles and orders that were urgently needed on the front line. The Germans are terrified of Molotov cocktails. Am I right?”

"You are right, Comrade General." Wo Wen said in a positive tone: "But starting from the second half of 1944, when our army drove the Germans out of our country, the factory in Crystal City resumed crystal production. The production of crystal products. If you want to buy crystal products, this season is the best time to go.”

“Why should we go now at this season?” Asiya heard this and asked curiously: “Is there any explanation?”

"It's late September now, and it will be October in a few days." Woven said: "You all know that it snows in Moscow every year in early October, and the road to Crystal City is not easy to find. If It will be even harder to walk when it snows. If you don’t buy many crystal products, it doesn’t matter. If you buy a lot, many of them will be damaged on the road.”

 Sokov fully agrees with Woven’s statement. He once visited Crystal City once in his later life. Although most of the roads were newly built asphalt roads, there were still some sections that were covered with dirt on sunny days and mud on rainy days. The roads of the 21st century are still like this, and they are more suitable for the roads of the 1940s.

"Asiya," Sokov turned to Asiya and said, "I think we will go to Crystal City tomorrow. I'm worried about what will happen in the next two days. If the trip is delayed, I can wait until it snows before going to Crystal City. It’s inconvenient.”

"I think it's okay." Asiya nodded in agreement with Sokov's proposal, and then asked the driver: "Comrade driver, when is the best time to set off tomorrow?"

"It's more than two hundred kilometers from here to Crystal City." Woven replied: "Even if the speed is fifty kilometers per hour, it will take about five hours to reach Crystal City. You may not know that the market in Crystal City is usually only open until noon. Twelve o'clock, that is to say, if you want to spend enough time in the market to select products, it will take at least an hour. In other words, our departure time tomorrow morning cannot be later than six o'clock."

Sokov thought in his mind that he would set off at six o'clock and arrive at Crystal City around eleven o'clock. Although he had an hour to select crystals, he still chose the time in a hurry. He knew the working conditions of this era very well. As soon as the bell rang, even if it took ten seconds to complete the transaction, the salesmen would simply close the door and get off work, ignoring the customers at all. Thinking of this, he said to Wo Wen: "Comrade driver, we will set off at six o'clock and arrive at Crystal City at eleven o'clock. The time is a bit tight. In case there is another traffic jam along the way, when we arrive at Crystal City, the market will be empty." Those salespeople have all gone home from work, so our trip will have been in vain.”

Hearing what Sokov said, Woven hesitated for a moment, and then asked: "Comrade General, what time would you say would be a better time to set off?"

“Five o’clock,” Sokov replied without hesitation: “I think it would be more appropriate to start at five o’clock.”

 (End of this chapter)