Red Moscow

Chapter 2481

Asiya came home from get off work and found that Sokov was not sitting at the table writing a novel as usual, but was busy in the kitchen, humming a song. If you listen carefully, you can see that he is humming "Holy War".

Asiya secretly guessed, what happened to Misha today? Otherwise, how could he be humming a song while busy in the kitchen? She asked curiously: "Misha, is there anyone here today?"

Sokov, who was cooking, realized that Asiya had gone home. He quickly said to her: "Sit down in the living room first. I have some soup, which will be out soon."

However, Asiya did not listen to Sokov and returned to the living room to stay. Instead, she continued to ask Sokov curiously: "Misha, who came to the house today? Are you so happy? Did the other party bring you something?" What good news?"

“Have you seen the white envelope on the table in the living room?” Sokov pursed his lips in the direction of the living room and said proudly: “You will know after you open it and take a look.”

Asiya turned around and saw a white envelope on the table in the living room. As she walked towards the table, she asked curiously: "Misha, who sent you the invitation?"

"Yes, there is indeed an invitation in the envelope." Sokov said with a smile: "As for who sent it, you will know after you open it and take a look."

Asiya snorted softly, picked up the white envelope on the table, opened it, and took out the invitation inside.

When she saw the content on the invitation clearly, she couldn't help but exclaimed: "Oh my God! Misha, I read it right. It's actually an invitation to invite you to participate in the October Revolution Day military parade."

"That's right." Sokov said loudly in the kitchen: "Look at the notes at the back. You can bring your family members with you. In other words, I will not be attending the military parade next month alone, but you will also be attending. You can come with me."

Asiya came to the kitchen door with the invitation and said with some embarrassment: "I would like to go to such a grand party. But will I be able to get in then?"

"Don't worry," Sokov said with a smile: "This invitation was sent by Yasha. He said that Comrade Stalin signed it personally. In other words, on that day, others may not be able to enter the Red Square, but we But the two of them were able to successfully enter the Red Square with this invitation."

 “That’s great.” Asiya cheered excitedly after hearing Sokov’s words.

After a while, after her mood stabilized, she asked tentatively: "Misha, do you think I should tell my parents about this?"

"Yes, of course." Sokov agreed to Asiya's proposal, but he also specifically warned: "Remember, ask them to keep it secret and don't tell it everywhere, so as not to cause unnecessary misunderstandings."

 “Don’t worry, they won’t talk nonsense.”

When the two sat at the table and started eating, Asiya asked tentatively: "Has Yasha come here today?"

"Yes, he has been here." Sokov said: "He came for two purposes. One was to send me an invitation, and the other was to tell me that he had given the book I wrote to his father. He My father was very satisfied after reading it, and I’m afraid it won’t be long before the book will be officially published.”

"By the way, how are you preparing your new book?" Asiya asked: "I see you are writing every day, how much have you written?"

"There are sixty or seventy thousand words written." Sokov said: "When Yasha came just now, I gave him the written manuscript and asked him to take it to his father to see."

“You have just written the beginning of your new book. Why do you want to show it to Comrade Stalin?”

"In the first chapter, I mentioned Comrade Stalin. Yasha was worried that writing this way might cause problems, so after discussing with me, he decided to give the written chapter to his father to read. If his father said no If you ask questions, I will continue writing; if you say I can’t write, then I will stop writing this book.”

Hearing what Sokov said, Asiya couldn't help but become nervous: "Misha, what do you think the final result will be? Does Comrade Stalin agree with you to write it, or does he disagree with it?"

"It's hard to say, it's really hard to say." Sokov also felt uncertain at the moment. Although "The Siege" is a very good novel, it was published in the 1970s after all, because Stalin died more than 20 years ago. In 2000, his influence has long been negligible, so even if there are comments criticizing him in the book, it won't be a big problem. But now that Stalin is still alive and his prestige is at its peak, it would be a huge risk to have something critical of him in a book at this time. Unexpectedly, in the end, the book was banned and the people were sent to the Gulag. Therefore, he could only say without confidence: "At this point, I can only try my luck."

"I hope everything goes well." As Sokov's wife, Asya naturally hoped that the book he wrote would be published smoothly, and she quickly clasped her hands. Put it under your chin, close your eyes and pray for Sokov, praying that the written manuscript will be approved by Stalin.

 Two days later, Sokov received a call from the sentry at the door: "Comrade General, someone is looking for you outside the door!"

Upon learning that someone was looking for him, Sokov quickly asked: "Did he say what his name was?"

The voice of the sentry asking about the other party came from the receiver, and then Sokov heard the sentry report to him: "Comrade General, he said his name is Chakovsky!"

Hearing the name Chakovsky, Sokov couldn't help but tremble. He was writing "The Siege" at this time, but he didn't expect the original author to come to his door. But he quickly calmed down, thinking that the book "The Siege" he copied was published in 1975, which was still thirty years ago. Even if the whole book was placed in front of Chakovsky, he would I’m afraid I didn’t know that this would be my future big hit book.

Thinking of this, Sokov suddenly gained confidence. He quickly said into the microphone: "Comrade Sentinel, ask him to wait at the door. I will go out to see him right away."

 A few minutes later, Sokov came to the door and met the legendary Chakovsky.

Chakovsky is of medium build, has a Chinese character face, wears a pair of glasses and a black trench coat. Seeing Sokov walking over in a hurry, he hurriedly greeted him and asked politely: "Is this General Sokov?"

"Yes, I am Sokov." Sokov stretched out his hand to the other party and said in a friendly tone: "Hello, Comrade Chakovsky, nice to meet you."

"Me too, Comrade General!" Chakovsky said with a smile: "It's an honor for me to know a famous general like you!" After shaking hands, Sokov asked tentatively: "You came to see me today. ,What's matter?"

"That's it, Comrade General." Chakovsky said cautiously: "I have a friend who read me a novel you wrote, "The Dawns Here Are Quiet." I like it. Also, I heard that you are still working on a new novel, is it true?"

"Of course it's true." After Sokov figured out the origin of the other party, he suddenly felt more at ease. As long as he didn't come to accuse him, he would be fine: "The name of this book is "The Siege", which is based on the story of Leningrad. Being besieged by the German army as the background..."

"What a coincidence." Chakovsky heard Sokov say that he planned to write a book set in Leningrad, and it was as if he had found a close friend. "I have written two books before, both of which were based on Leningrad." Gullah wrote it as a background. Can you tell me about your new book? Maybe it can help me find some inspiration so that I can write more books."

"Of course." Sokov said: "But this is not the place we agreed to, so you should go to my house."

On the way, Sokov asked curiously: "Comrade Chakovsky, how do you know my address?"

"It was Xie Keluo, the editor-in-chief of the publishing house, who told me. He is an old friend of mine." After briefly introducing the situation, Chakovsky said with some embarrassment: "I just came here without saying hello to you in advance." It would be a bit presumptuous to ask you, I hope you don’t mind.”

"It doesn't matter, it doesn't matter." Sokov said generously: "I am writing books at home every day. I have a lot of time, but I am a bit bored by myself. Now a great writer like you comes to visit and chat with me. , maybe it can also help me expand my ideas." After saying that, he burst out laughing.

After returning home, Sokov poured a cup of hot tea for Chakovsky and brought the manuscript he had written: "Comrade Chakovsky, this is the manuscript of my new book. You can read it and give it to me." Let me give you my opinion."

Sokov said this, but he was muttering in his heart. Although this book was written by Chakovsky 30 years later, who knows if he has recently started collecting information. He asked him to read the beginning of the book just to test it out. Give him a look.

Chakovsky read very quickly. In less than forty minutes, he read all the more than 80,000 words written by Sokov.

After reading it, Chakovsky looked at Sokov and asked: "Comrade General, how long do you plan to take to finish writing this book?"

"I don't know," Sokov said, shaking his head: "You are also a writer, so you naturally understand that the time and speed of writing a book are the hardest to control. If there is inspiration, then write faster; if there is no inspiration Inspiration, I’m afraid I won’t be able to write a single word for ten days and a half.”

Hearing what Sokov said, Chakovsky shrugged helplessly: "Since you don't know how much time it will take, forget it. I just hope you finish the book as soon as possible."

“This will probably take a long time because I plan to write a novel,” Sokov said.

"How long is it? Like "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", is it both over 200,000 words?" Chakovsky asked.

Sokov smiled: "Maybe multiply this by 10."

Chakovsky put one hand on his forehead and said: "Oh my God. Write 2 million words. Are you planning to write a masterpiece that will be handed down for generations?"

 “Hahaha.” Sokov burst out laughing. For books these days, even a novel with 200,000 to 300,000 words is very rare, and a book with 2 million words is even rarer. high."

“Comrade General, I have two questions that I would like to ask you.”

 Sokov made a gesture of invitation: "Please speak!"

“From what I know about you, you have never been to Leningrad. How could you think of writing a book about Leningrad?”

Chakovsky's question had long been expected by Sokov. After hearing it, he slowly said: "Comrade Chakovsky, you are right. I have never been to Lenin." Grad, but there are many commanders and fighters from Leningrad in the troops I command. I have listened to them more than once telling stories about what happened when the city was besieged by the German invaders. As time went by, a thought came to my mind. I have the idea that when I have the opportunity in the future, I must write a novel set in Leningrad.”

After saying this, Sokov remembered what Asya had said to him a few days ago, saying that he mentioned the place name of Leningrad in "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" just to prepare for the next book. Foreshadowing. Now that Chakovsky asked, he just responded with this: "Comrade Chakovsky, since you have read my "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", you must have noticed that I was in it Mentioned Leningrad.”

"In your book "The Dawns Here Are Quiet", did you ever mention Leningrad?" Hearing Sokov's response, Chakovsky couldn't help but be stunned. His mind began to think quickly, recalling The place name Leningrad is mentioned somewhere in Sokov's book.

After some recollection, he finally remembered where Leningrad was mentioned in the book, and asked cautiously: "It was in the words that Major Rostov said when he scolded Warrant Officer Vaskov in the military transport office. , once mentioned Leningrad. Yes, the original words are: '...behind us, Leningrad stands tenaciously.' You did leave a foreshadowing. You wanted to use Leningrad's tenacious standing as this paragraph. words, to hint at the perseverance and heroic tenacity shown by our heroic city in the face of the crazy German attack and tight siege. Now I finally understand why the title of your book is called "The Siege". It is indeed very appropriate."

Sokov saw that Chakovsky was automatically filling in the details. He neither spoke nor interrupted him. He just looked at him with a smile, waiting for him to continue.

After a while, Chakovsky finally finished what he wanted to say. After taking a sip of the tea on the table, he immediately asked: "Now let me ask the second question. You mentioned Comrade Stalin in the first chapter of your new book. Is this appropriate?"

Sokov did not expect that Chakovsky would ask the same question, and the corner of his mouth twitched violently. He thought, is it really impossible to write about Stalin in this era? He only made an appearance in the first chapter and spoke a few words to the male protagonist. People who have read the book felt that this seemed inappropriate. If this is really the case, did you choose the wrong time to write the book "Besieged" now?

However, in the face of Chakovsky's curiosity, Sokov still pretended to be calm and said: "Chakovsky, I am a good friend of Comrade Stalin's eldest son Yakov. When he came here two days ago, he also mentioned I had encountered similar problems, so I gave him part of the manuscript and asked him to pass it on to his father for review to see if he could continue writing."

“What’s the result?” Chakovsky asked nervously, “Can you continue writing?”

"It's been several days, but I haven't received any news yet." Sokov shook his head and said with a wry smile: "As for whether I can continue to write according to my ideas, I don't know the answer yet."

 (End of this chapter)