Red Moscow

"Thank you, Lieutenant Colonel Kulak." Faced with Kulak's kindness, Sokov waved his hand and refused: "What just happened was just an accident. I don't think it will happen again before I leave Vladimir. It’s something similar, so there’s no need to send soldiers to stand guard for me.”

After sending Kulak away, Yakov closed the door and said to Sokov: "Misha, although the war is over now, it is obviously inappropriate for you not to have a guard around you. Otherwise, I Call Moscow and ask them to send you a few guards. If that doesn't work, they can arrange an orderly for you."

"No need, Yasha, it's really unnecessary." Sokov was not used to having a stranger following him around at any time, so naturally he would not agree to Yakov's proposal: "Now that the war is over, the chance of encountering danger is almost It’s zero, there’s no need to bother anyone else.”

Seeing Sokov's stubborn attitude, Yakov couldn't say anything else. He could only nod and said: "Okay, Misha, since you don't want to bring a few guards around, then I won't force it. I It’s time to go back to bed, so you should go to bed early.”

 No words all night.

 Early the next morning, Sokov was washing up when he suddenly heard a rapid knock on the door.

　　When I opened the door, I found that the person knocking on the door was Eisenstein, so I asked curiously: "Sergey, why are you here so early today?"

"Misha." Eisenstein asked nervously, "I heard that someone came to your place to cause trouble last night. How about it? Are you okay?"

 “I’m fine, what can I do?”

“Tell me quickly, why do people come here to make trouble.” Eisenstein asked with concern: “If you think the environment here is not good, we can change to a guest house.”

Seeing that Eisenstein cared so much about him, Sokov told him in detail what happened last night. Finally, he said: "Sergey, this matter has been resolved, let him pass. By the way, do you still want to continue filming today?"

“Yes, we will definitely be shooting today.” Eisenstein said to Sokov: “Because there are some important shots, we may go to the municipal building to shoot. How about it, are you interested in coming with us?”

Sokov has been in Vladimir for a long time, but he has never been to the municipal building that is just around the corner. Since Eisenstein extended an invitation to himself, there was no reason to disagree. However, he quickly thought of Agni, Grudit and others who were assisting him in writing the novel, and he said with some embarrassment: "Sergey, if I follow you to the municipal building, then when Agni and the others come over, , wouldn’t it be all in vain?”

"It doesn't matter. I'll have someone tell them later and ask them to come back in the afternoon." Seeing that Sokov had finished washing, Eisenstein actively invited him: "Let's go, let's go to the cafeteria for breakfast first. "

Sokov readily agreed to the other party's proposal, got dressed and followed him out of the room, heading towards the cafeteria.

The two of them found a corner in the canteen and sat down, chatting quietly about the novel. At this time, Petrov came over and said to the two of them: "So you are here, which made me look for it for a long time."

After Petrov sat down opposite Sokov, he asked: "General Sokov, I heard that someone harassed you last night. Is it true?"

Seeing Petrov ask about this, Sokov had to tell him what happened last night in detail.

"I heard him say that he is going to the city hall to meet with the city leaders today." Sokov remembered what the fat man said last night, and said to the two of them: "You will be filming in the municipal building later, maybe Met him."

After hearing this, Petrov nodded, and then said: "The section chief of the Industrial Bureau is an inconspicuous little character. If you want to deal with him, just tell me and I can call their director immediately. Let him give him a good rap.”

"No need." Sokov didn't want to get to know a little person, so he naturally rejected Petrov's kindness: "Comrade Petrov, as you just said, he is just an inconspicuous little person. We don’t need to be on the same level as him.”

“By the way, I heard Sergey say that your novel will be finished in a few days at most. Is it true?”

"Of course it's true." Sokov answered affirmatively at first, and then explained to Petrov: "If I had written it myself, I'm afraid it would have taken a month and a half. But now we have the stenographer and the stenographer you sent. Scribe, the writing speed has been greatly improved, I believe it will take only a few days to complete the manuscript."

For a novel written in a few days, even though Eisenstein kept praising him in front of him, Petrov was not optimistic at all. He did not think that Sokov could write a novel that impressed him in such a short period of time. Favorite book. However, out of politeness, he still said politely: "General Sokov, if your book is published, you must let me be your first reader."

"Vladimir, I think you have no chance to be the first reader." Eisenstein next to him interrupted: "I go to Misha's place every day to read the latest manuscript he has written. If you are talking about who Being the first reader, I think it has to be me.”

"Yes, yes, you are right. You have to read the latest manuscript every day. You can indeed be regarded as the first reader." Petrov said with a smile: "But I can be the first reader after General Sokov finishes the manuscript. A reader.”

Sokov saw that although Petrov said this with a smile, his expression seemed a little disapproving, and he immediately understood that the other party was not optimistic about the book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" at all. What he said was nothing more than Just out of courtesy. But Sokov saw through it without saying anything. He just smiled lightly and said in a friendly tone: "Comrade Petrov, when the book is finished, I will definitely ask you to read it and let you be the first reader after the manuscript is completed."

"Okay, okay, definitely, definitely." Petrov said this, but he was thinking in his heart that when Sokov's novel is finished, he will find some reason to hide out, so as not to be able to get on the stage. The book stained my eyes.

 After breakfast, Sokov accompanied Petrov and Eisenstein to the municipal building.

In addition to several crew members standing at the door of the building, there was also a tall man wearing a Lenin suit. Seeing Petrov coming, he quickly stepped forward to shake hands and introduced himself: "Hello, Comrade Petrov, I am the secretary-general of the city. I have been ordered to assist you in filming in the building today. What do you need? If you need help, just say hello to me and I will do my best to help you."

"Thank you, Comrade Secretary-General." Petrov held the other person's hand and said with a smile: "With your help, I believe that all the shots in the building can be filmed in two or three days at most." The hands of the two men After letting go, Petrov introduced Eisenstein to the Secretary-General: "Comrade Secretary-General, this is my deputy director, Comrade Sergei Eisenstein. When I am away, he will be in charge of the shooting scene."

"You are Comrade Sergei Eisenstein." After hearing Eisenstein's name, the Secretary-General showed a surprised expression on his face: "I have heard of your name a long time ago. Every movie you directed has attracted my attention." I’ve seen it all. I really didn’t expect it. It’s such an honor to see you here today.”

When the secretary-general saw Sokov, the expression on his face did not change. He thought Sokov was an actor who came to film, so he casually asked: "Comrade directors, do you know whether this actor is here?" Who is playing in the movie?"

The two directors were stunned by the secretary-general's words. They were both thinking, there are no actors around us. Who is he talking about?

But the next moment, they suddenly understood that the Secretary-General must have mistaken Sokov for an actor on the crew, and quickly explained: "Comrade Secretary-General, you are mistaken. This is General Sokov. He is not an actor, but a real person." General."

When he learned that Sokov was a real general, the Secretary-General was shocked. He quickly apologized to Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, I thought you were an actor. If my attitude towards you has anything to do with it, I apologize for any rudeness, please forgive me."

Sokov held the Secretary-General’s hand, shook it twice and said with a smile: “Comrade Secretary-General, don’t be nervous, I’m just following the two directors here to learn more and see how the movie is shot.”

“Oh, that’s it.” After hearing what Sokov said, the expression on the Secretary-General’s face suddenly became relaxed: “I thought you were sent by your superiors to inspect the work. I was wondering why you were not notified in advance.”

“Oh, your superiors are going to send someone to inspect your work?” Sokov heard what the Secretary-General said and immediately connected this matter with the fat man last night: “Is it from the Moscow Industrial Bureau?”

"That's right." The Secretary-General asked in surprise: "Do you know the leader who wants to come to us to inspect our work?"

“We met last night.” Sokov said with a wry smile: “But we had a little misunderstanding, and then he moved out of the guest house.”

"Do you know who he is?" Although the Secretary-General received a call from his superiors and knew that someone from the Industrial Bureau was coming to inspect the work, he had no idea who the other party was and could only ask Sokov Ask: "If you know his identity, please tell me."

Seeing that the secretary-general was so polite to him, and that the fat man's identity did not need to be kept secret, Sokov said openly: "He said that he is a section chief of the Industrial Bureau, and he is here to inspect the work. Today we are going to Go to the municipal building to meet with city leaders.”

“It turns out he’s just a section chief.” After listening to Sokov’s words, the expression on the secretary-general’s face became relaxed. Although Vladimir is a transportation hub for roads and railways, and has many factories and mining enterprises, it is a small city after all, so the level of the city's leaders is similar to that of some department-level cadres in Moscow. At this moment, I heard that the Industrial Bureau only had a section chief, and the secretary-general knew in his mind what standards should be used to receive the other party.

"I'm sorry, comrades." The Secretary-General said to Sokov, Petrov and others: "I have some things to deal with now. I will come with you later. You can start shooting now."

"It's okay, Comrade Secretary-General." Petrov said magnanimously: "If you have something to do, just go ahead and do it. There is no need to come over to accompany us. You can arrange two staff members for us. If anything happens, we can contact you through staff communication.”

“No problem, no problem.” The secretary-general said carelessly, “I’ll go back and arrange manpower for you.”

After the Secretary-General left, Eisenstein leaned close to Sokov and whispered: "Misha, if I guess correctly, Comrade Secretary-General is going back to receive the fat man from the Industrial Bureau."

"Well, that should be the case." Sokov said disapprovingly: "That fat man is here to inspect the work. As long as we ignore him, he will have nothing to do with us even if he is dissatisfied with us."

"That's true." Eisenstein nodded and said, "Besides, given your status, he wouldn't dare to offend you at all. I guess seeing you here and far away, he would hide aside to avoid being attacked by you. Discover."

As soon as the two of them talked for a while, a female staff member wearing military casual clothes and a belt tied around her waist came over. First, he asked Sokov: "Hello, Comrade General, are you General Sokov?"

“Yes, I am Sokov.” Sokov looked at the strange female staff member and asked, “What do you want from me?”

"That's it, Comrade General." The female staff member said with a smile: "It was Comrade Secretary-General who asked me to come to you and ask me to assist you in today's work."

Hearing what the female staff member said, Sokov immediately realized that the other party might have misunderstood the Secretary-General's meaning, and quickly explained: "Female comrade, I think you may have made a mistake. The person you want to assist is this Sher I just came over to watch the work of assistant director Guy Eisenstein and director Vladimir Petrov."

When the female staff member heard what Sokov said, she couldn't help but blush slightly. After saying sorry to Sokov, she came to Petrov and said politely: "Hello, Director Petrov, I am The secretary-general sent me to assist you in your work. If you have anything, just ask me and I will do my best to assist you."

"Girl," Petrov pointed to the hall in front and said to the female staff member: "We are going to shoot busy scenes during the war. Look, there are not many people in the hall, and everyone is walking leisurely. Slowly, without any sense of tension during the war..."

When Sokov heard what Petrov said to the female staff, he smiled and said to Eisenstein: "Sergey, Comrade Petrov, is this a show to the female staff?"

“Well, it should count.” Eisenstein nodded and said, “This will be the main shooting location for a while, and we really need more people walking back and forth here to show the intensity of the war.”