Red Moscow

Chapter 2590

 After dawn, Ding Rong called the Moscow Film Studio and wanted to talk to Eisenstein.

Unexpectedly, the person who answered the phone politely told Sokov: "I'm sorry, Comrade Eisenstein has been in poor health recently and is being treated in the hospital. Please leave your name and contact information. I will contact you after he is discharged from the hospital. Conveyed to him."

After hearing this, Sokov was a little surprised and asked: "I wonder what disease you have?"

"Heart disease." The man sighed and said: "He fainted at the filming scene. After being sent to the hospital for examination, it turned out that he had a heart problem. The doctor said that it was caused by overexertion, so he suggested that he Stay in bed for a while.”

Sokov tried hard to recall the resume of Sergei Eisenstein, and vaguely remembered that this famous director, screenwriter, producer, actor, writer, and editor graduated from the Architecture Department of the St. Petersburg Institute of Civil Engineering in February 1948. Died of angina pectoris on the set of the film at the age of 50.

“In this case, I will wait until Comrade Eisenstein is discharged from the hospital and then visit him at the film studio.”

When Sokov put down the phone, Asya asked curiously: "Misha, what happened to Comrade Eisenstein?"

"The comrades in their unit told me that Comrade Eisenstein fainted on the set a few days ago and was sent to the hospital for examination. It was found that he had a heart problem. The doctor said it was an illness caused by fatigue and suggested that he rest in bed for a period of time. Time. I think it’s not too late for me to visit him after he recovers.”

“Oh, that’s okay.” Asiya then asked, “Do you have any other plans today?”

Sokov thought for a while and then said: "I haven't seen your parents for a long time. How about we go to Khimki Town to see them?"

"Really?" When Sokov said he was going to Khimki Town to see his parents, Asya looked particularly happy: "If they see you suddenly appearing in front of them, I think they will be very happy. ”

"Do you have casual clothes at home?" Sokov didn't want to be too high-profile, so he was going to wear casual clothes to Khimki: "I don't want to attract too many people's attention, so I plan to wear casual clothes."

"Yes, yes. I bought you a set some time ago. Is it appropriate for you to implement it?"

Soon, Asiya took out the casual clothes from the closet and placed them in front of Sokov.

Sokov put on his casual clothes, took a picture in front of the full-length mirror, and felt quite satisfied, so he said to Asiya: "Asiya, let me go down first to see how the car is doing. After all, it hasn't been driven for a month or two, and it doesn't matter." Do you know if it can still be opened?”

"Okay, you go out first." Asiya said: "If the car can drive, you press the horn twice and I will get out."

 Arrived downstairs, Sokov opened his barrel truck and inspected it. I have to say that German cars are good, and they are still in good condition even after not driving them for so long. So Sokov pressed the horn twice and told Asiya to come downstairs.

After the car drove out of the compound, Sokov asked Asiya: "Asiya, should we go to the nearby military store and buy something for your parents to take there?"

"I can't see it anymore." Asia waved her hands and said, "The supply of supplies in stores now is much richer than during the war. Even the goods sold in ordinary stores are not much worse than those in military stores."

Sokov heard that Asiya was talking about a military store, not an officer store, and thought to himself: "There is an officer store in Khimki town. When we get there, we can buy something there to meet my father-in-law and mother-in-law."

Seeing that the town of Khimki was just ahead, a traffic police station appeared on the road. A traffic policeman stood in the middle of the road and pointed at Sokov's car with the command post in his hand, signaling him to pull over.

Sokov quickly followed the traffic police's instructions and parked the car on the side of the road. Then he rolled down the window, looked up at the approaching traffic police and asked, "Comrade traffic police, what's the matter?"

The traffic policeman came to the car and said expressionlessly: "Why don't you turn on the lights when driving?"

Hearing what the traffic police said, Sokov couldn't help but blush. After all, he hadn't driven for a long time, and he actually forgot that when driving in Russia, you must use headlights no matter day or night. He quickly apologized to the traffic police and said, "I'm sorry, comrade traffic police, I forgot."

The traffic policeman snorted coldly, stretched out his hand to Sokov, and said expressionlessly: "Please show me your ID!"

Sokov quickly took out his military ID card and handed it to the traffic police.

The traffic policeman opened his ID card, glanced at it, hurriedly closed his military ID card, took a step back, straightened his body and raised his hand to salute Sokov: "Hello, Comrade General! Please forgive me, I don't know your identity... "

"It's okay, Comrade Traffic Police, this is not your fault." This time it was Sokov who violated the rules. Naturally, he would not blame the traffic police. Instead, he said reasonably: "Originally, I forgot to turn on the headlights when I was driving. I Open now!"

 After receiving the certificate handed back by the traffic police, Sokov continued to drive forward.

Asiya, who was sitting in the passenger seat, asked with a smile: "Misha, if you were wearing military uniform today, do you think the traffic police would still stop your car?"

"That's definitely not the case." Sokov knew very well that his general's military uniform was the best pass. If you encounter a traffic jam ahead, the traffic police may help you clear the road: "Not only will they not stop the car, but they will stand on the roadside and salute me."

After the barrel truck entered the town of Khimki, Sokov walked along the street to the entrance of the officer's store. After parking the car, he said to Asiya: "Asiya, let's go to the store to buy something. Visit your parents."

 After the two got out of the car, they closed the car door and walked towards the store.

 Although both of them were wearing casual clothes, they were not stopped by the salesperson. Because with the end of the war and the abundance of supplies on the market, officers' stores no longer restricted the entry and exit of ordinary people. But ordinary people can still only visit the store, but cannot buy the goods inside.

 After the two of them entered the store, they happened to watch an officer in a captain's uniform buy a lot of things and check out at the counter.

The saleswoman behind the counter said politely: "Comrade Captain, please show your military ID. We can only check out for you after we complete the registration."

Unexpectedly, after the captain heard this, he smiled and said a little embarrassedly: "Comrade salesman, I'm really sorry. I was in a hurry to buy something today and forgot to bring my military ID. Otherwise, I won't be able to do it the next time I come to buy something." "Can you register again?" But the saleswoman shook her head and said, "You have said this for the third time. Every time you come to buy something, you will bring your military ID. But until now." , I haven’t seen what your military ID looks like. If you can’t show your military ID today, then I can’t pay you.”

Seeing that the saleswoman was unwilling to pay for him, the captain straightened his face and said in a stern tone: "Do you know why I always forget to bring my military ID? That's because I suffered a head injury on the battlefield, which caused memory problems. Okay, it's often lost. If you insist on proving it, I'll mortgage this medal here and give it back to me the next time I bring my military ID." As he said this, he planned to put it on his chest. Take off a medal.

Seeing this, Asia whispered to Sokov: "Misha, should we help that officer?"

Sokov looked at the vodka, bacon, sausages, bread, chocolate, etc. on the counter, and a strange thought came to his mind: If an officer eats so much food alone, he can eat it for at least half a month. Since he was going to the military store to buy so many things, how could he forget to bring his military ID? This was really strange.

It was precisely because of this strange thought that when he heard Asiya's suggestion, he shook his head slightly and said, "Asiya, I think we should not meddle in other people's business."

When the saleswoman saw that the officer wanted to keep her medal here, she felt a little panicked. She quickly waved her hands and said, "Forget it, Comrade Captain, forget it this time. If you still forget to bring your military ID next time, I will never do it." Will pay for you."

 Watching the saleswoman paying the captain's bill, Sokov suddenly remembered an American program he watched later in life. The crew arranged for a young actor to push an old lady in a wheelchair into the downtown area, suddenly yell at her, and then pretend to throw away the medal she won during the war to observe the behavior of the people around her. reaction. In the United States, pedestrians coming and going turn a blind eye to what is happening in front of them, as if nothing has happened.

In Russia, when the actor yelled at the old lady, some pedestrians stopped and watched. When they saw the actor throwing away the old lady's medal, enthusiastic people immediately came forward. Some picked up the medal thrown away by the actor, and some stepped forward to beat the actor. It can be seen from this that Russians value honor more than their own lives.

After the captain waited for the saleswoman to finish the calculation, he paid the money readily and walked out of the store with his things. When passing by Sokov and Asya, he smiled and nodded to them.

Sokov and Asiya came to the counter. Before they could speak, the saleswoman said: "Two citizen comrades, this is an officer's store. You cannot buy goods here without an officer's ID card."

Sokov took out his military ID and handed it over, and asked with a smile: "Comrade salesperson, can you look at my ID and see if you can buy goods here?"

The saleswoman took Sokov's military ID card and opened it casually. After seeing the content clearly, she was startled and said in a panic: "I'm sorry, Comrade General, of course you can buy our products. I don't know. What are you going to buy?"

“Asiya.” Sokov turned to Asiya and said, “Go to other counters and see what you can buy.”

When Asiya agreed and turned around to check the goods at another counter, Sokov took back his ID and said to the saleswoman with a smile: "Salesperson, my wife is also a soldier and a military doctor. I don't know if Are you eligible to buy from this store?"

 “Yes, of course there is.” the salesperson replied hurriedly.

Sokov turned his head and looked out the door, and found that the captain had long disappeared. He asked the saleswoman curiously: "By the way, what happened to the captain just now?"

"This captain moved to the town last month, and he came with his wife and children." The saleswoman said: "He has bought goods from us several times, but every time we asked him to provide When it comes to getting his military ID card, he always says that he forgot it at home, and he will definitely ask us to make additional registrations when he goes shopping next time. He just picked a lot of things here, and he still said that he forgot to bring his military ID card, so I talked to him. There were some disputes."

 After listening to the saleswoman’s words, Sokov began to think about it: For soldiers, the military ID card that can prove their identity is never left behind. But this captain forgot to bring his military ID every time he went here to buy something. If it happens once or twice, it can be said that it was forgotten due to negligence. But if it happens every time, there might be something wrong.

 “Do you know what his name is?”

"I don't know." The salesman shook his head and said, "Because he has never shown his ID, so until now, I don't know his name."

Sokov increasingly felt that there was something wrong with the captain, and planned to go to the police duty station later to talk to the chief sergeant in charge about the matter and find out who the other party was.

 After buying things from the store, Sokov did not drive directly to the family area of ​​​​the instrument factory. Instead, he turned the car around and drove in the opposite direction.

Seeing this, Asia quickly reminded Sokov: "Misha, you are driving in the wrong direction. My parents' home is on the other side."

“Yes, I know.” Sokov nodded and said, “I plan to go to the police station to order.”

“Go to the police station?” Asiya asked puzzledly, “What are you doing there?”

"Don't you think there's something wrong with the captain you just saw?" Sokov said: "I plan to talk to the police chief about this matter and ask him to send someone to keep an eye on the captain to find out his true identity. ”

"Misha, are you a little neurotic?" Asiya heard Sokov's words and said a little dumbfounded: "Now that the war is over, how can there be fake soldiers in the city? I think the police are still on duty. Don’t go, lest you make a joke.”

But Sokov shook his head and said: "I always felt that something was wrong with that person, so I had better ask the police to check him and find out his true identity."

Seeing that Sokov was so stubborn, Asiya could not say anything more and could only nod in agreement.

Arriving at the police duty station, Sokov asked the policeman standing guard at the door: "Comrade policeman, is your police chief here?"

The policeman looked at Sokov with vigilant eyes and asked, "What do you do?"

Sokov took out his military ID card, opened it to the police, and said: "I am General Sokov. I have something important to see your sergeant."

Finding that the man in civilian clothes in front of him was actually a general, the policeman was so frightened that he quickly raised his hands and saluted: "Hello, comrade general! The police chief is inside. If you don't object, I will take you in to see him."

Sokov nodded, "Lead the way!"

The policeman opened the iron door next to him. After Sokov and Asiya entered, he closed the door first, then came to the front of the two people and said respectfully: "Please follow me, you two. I will take you to the police station." 's office."

Soon, they arrived at the door of an open room. The policeman said to the sergeant sitting in the room: "Comrade sergeant, there is a comrade general who wants to see you."