Red Moscow

  Chapter 181 A bucket of cold water

"What's going on?" Sokov looked down at the bunch of keys in front of him, and asked a little confused: "Yakov, can I ask why Comrade Stalin rewarded a house?" give to me?"

Regarding Sokov's question, the expression on Yakov's face became serious: "My capture was a shameful event for my father. But you are in a situation where no one knows. Your Majesty, freed me from a prisoner of war camp, so that my father could make a high-profile counter to the German propaganda about my capture, saying that it was a rumor created by the enemy to destroy the morale of our army. In a sense, don't say It’s not too much to reward you with one house, even eight out of ten.”

After Yakov finished speaking, seeing Sokov still had a hesitant expression on his face, he picked up the key and stuffed it into his hand without any explanation, and said with a smile: "This is my father's arrangement, so don't you Declined. Alright, Misha, let's visit your bedroom now."

The two came to the bedroom next door. This room is about twenty square meters. There is a dark red carpet on the floor. On the wall facing the door, there is a tapestry. Below the tapestry is a couch. , according to Sokov's experience, this is the folding sofa bed for sleeping. On the left wall, there are two portraits of people hanging. Judging from the clothing of the characters on the portraits, they have a very long history. They should be the portraits of the ancestors of the original owner of the house.

  By the window, there is a writing desk with two armchairs next to it. Yakov walked quickly to the table, opened one of the drawers, took out a small stack of banknotes from it, handed it to Sokov, and said at the same time: "Misha, you may have to live in the city for a while. Time, use this money to buy some daily necessities and come back."

   Sokov took the banknotes from Yakov. Seeing that they were basically banknotes with a face value of one ruble, he thought to himself, what would such a small amount of money be enough to buy? After thanking Yakov, he stuffed the banknotes into his pocket. Seeing that the drawer was not closed, when he reached out to close it, he found a black leather notebook inside.

   "What is this?" He reached out and picked up the book, and before opening it, asked Yakov curiously: "Yakov, do you know?"

"This is something left by the original owner of the house." Yakov said disapprovingly: "There are some stamps inside, which are all unused. If you buy so many stamps, you can't use them up even if you send letters. Look." Yakov pointed to the stamps in the notebook that Sokov had just opened and said, "These are old stamps from more than 20 years ago, they can't be used to send letters for a long time, they are almost like waste paper, I don't know What else is he staying for?"

  Sokov saw clearly the stamps that Yakov called waste paper, and couldn't help shivering all over. He is a philatelist in his later generations. He bought a lot of Soviet stamps when they flowed into China in large quantities, so he has a certain understanding of the country's early stamps. These stamps are stamps with the pattern of cutting the chain with a sharp sword, the background is the rising sun, and the color is dark brown. They were issued by the Russian Federation to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution.

  Yakov saw Sokov looking at these stamps over and over again, so he couldn't help asking curiously: "Misha, what are you looking at, so absorbed?"

  Sokov heard Yakov ask this question and decided to give him a simple science about stamps. He pointed to the stamps and said to Yakov: "Yakov, this is a set of stamps issued by our country on November 7, 1918 to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution. The first set of stamps issued after that was not discontinued until April 1921.” When popularizing science, he still kept an eye out and did not tell Yakov that the few dark brown toothless stamps in the book Stamps, because they have never been used in the postal service, their value can be compared with the famous "Piece of Red" stamps of later generations.

   But Sokov obviously worried too much. For a philately layman like Yakov, a stamp is just a voucher for sending a letter; if it cannot be used to send a letter, it is nothing more than a nice little piece of paper. Therefore, he felt that Sokov's reaction to staring at the stamp with his eyes shining was simply incredible.

  After this episode, Yakov sat down in an armchair and said to Sokov: "Misha, I want to talk to you about the new rocket launcher you designed."

Recalling Yakov's expression when he came out of Ustinov's office, Sokov felt that there was something to be said about it. He quickly sat down in another armchair and couldn't wait to ask: "Yakov, Let me tell you, Comrade People's Commissar, what do you think of the rocket launcher I designed?"

   "It's a pity, Misha!" Yakov shook his head and said with regret on his face: "Comrade People's Commissar is not interested in the rocket launcher you designed at all."

  Yakov's words almost made Sokov's jaw hit the ground directly. After a long silence in the room, Sokov asked puzzledly: "But, I saw that when you came out of Comrade People's Commissar's office, the expression on your face was very happy..." Although he didn't finish speaking, but The implication is obvious. After you went to report on your work, you came out with a happy face, but now you tell me that Ustinov is not interested in my design. Are you kidding me?

"Oh, that's right." Yakov saw that Sukov seemed to have misunderstood, and quickly explained to him: "Although Comrade People's Commissar is not interested in your design, he knows your kindness for saving my life, so Give me 48 hours of vacation, let me spend two days with you in Moscow."

Sokov was completely dumbfounded by Yakov's cold water. He did not expect that the magic weapon of the later generations of China, the "guerrilla artifact" that beat the Soviet Union and the United States to the ground, Ustinov I can't see it. The reason why he took out the blueprint of this 107 rocket launcher now is because he felt that his troops would be transferred to Stalingrad sooner or later. Surviving the defense of Gele is simply a fantasy.

Seeing Sokov's distraught look, Yakov continued: "Misha, you and I are old friends for many years, so let me tell you something. The reason why Comrade People's Commissar doesn't like this rocket launcher , It’s all because the appearance is too simple, to put it badly, after sticking to the soil, it is impossible to tell whether it is a weapon or a farm tool.”

  Hearing what Yakov said, Sokov quickly asked: "Yakov, are you saying that the reason why this rocket launcher was rejected by Comrade People's Commissars is because of its rudimentary appearance?"

   "That's right, that's exactly what it is."

After figuring out Ustinov's true thoughts, Sokov had a new glimmer of hope in his heart: "Yakov, I would like to ask you one thing, can you arrange for me to meet Comrade People's Commissar? I want to talk to him in person."

  If someone else had made such a request, Yakov would have rejected it without hesitation. Just kidding, Comrade People’s Commissar has so many things to do every day, how could he meet with just anyone. But the person who said this at this moment is his good friend for many years, and not long ago, he saved his life, so after thinking for a while, he nodded and replied: "Okay, Misha, I promise you. But Whether Comrade People's Commissar sees you or not depends on your luck."

  (end of this chapter)