On the calm but sparkling Lake Onega, a military-to-civilian Zuk-class patrol boat, driven by Wei Ran, moved quickly and slowly towards the destination guided by Ivan.
Along the way, Ivan not only taught Wei Yan how to use the civilian ship radar that looked very old, but even took him to the stern of the ship to experience how to operate the net collection equipment he installed himself, and
How to use sonar to find fish underwater.
Under Ivan's overly enthusiastic and detailed explanation, Wei Ran roughly learned how to drive this patrol boat built in the 1980s, and also roughly figured out the identities of the other two old men on the boat.
According to Ivan, in addition to being sailors on this ship, the two old men were also his neighbors. The one wearing a baseball cap was once a lighthouse keeper who was fired because he often drank too much. The other had a big
The bearded one is a repairman in their village, a repairman who is responsible for repairing fishing boats.
But for some unknown reason, Ivan seemed to have forgotten and did not introduce their names.
After walking and listening for more than an hour on Lake Onega, this broken boat, which also bears the bad name "Sasha", also landed steadily on a small island under the control of Ivan.
On a "pit" dock.
This village, surrounded by birch trees and lake shores, is not that big. There are only about a dozen similar piers at a glance. There seems to be a lighthouse that is not too high at the northernmost position. The houses are almost adjacent to the piers.
, there are only fifty or sixty households at most.
Before the engine stalled, two men in their thirties ran over on the dock. With the help of Ivan, two other old men, and Wei Ran, they moved all the building materials, fishing nets and other things to him.
On the bed of an approaching tractor.
After receiving the shipping fee from the other party, Ivan said goodbye to his two friends and led Wei Ran towards a two-story wooden house only a hundred meters away from the pier.
It can be seen that this house is very old. Unknown mushrooms even grew out of the roots of the fence made of wooden planks. In one of the damaged areas, a dog's head with a bright red tongue stuck out.
Even if you don't look at the color, just by looking at the intelligent eyes, you can tell that this is another husky that has already caused psychological shadow to both Wei Ran and Ji Ma.
As Ivan walked into the yard, Wei Ran also saw a plump aunt who was busy baking bread in the open-air oven. On the plate next to her, there was a salmon waiting to be put into the oven.
"Why are you back so early today?" the fat aunt asked while pushing the dough into the oven, "Is this young man you invited to evaluate my cooking skills?"
"Yana, we have a guest today." As Ivan spoke, he also rubbed the dog's head. "His name is Victor, and he will stay with us for a few days."
"We rarely have such handsome young men here."
Yana gave Wei Ran a kiss and said jokingly, "Let me guess, is he Olga's friend or Olena's friend?"
"None of them." Ivan smiled, shook his head, and said in a slightly lowered voice, "This little guy is Dalia's student."
"Dalia?!"
Yana was stunned, then she held Wei Ran's shoulders in surprise and asked, "Dalia from Kazan? Are you Dalia's student? Tell me, is she okay now? How is she doing?"
"
Wei Ran was about to open his mouth when Ivan said first, "Let's go inside and chat. Just leave dinner to me."
"Remember to prepare a few more vegetables, and the beetroot soup in the pot is almost ready. Don't burn through the pot like last time."
Before Yana finished speaking, she pulled the somewhat astonished Wei Ran towards the wooden house. At the same time, she did not forget to urge, "Victor, tell me quickly, how is Dalia doing now?"
"It should be pretty good..."
Wei Ran gave an uncertain answer, then thought for a moment and continued, "Aunt Yana, haven't you and Dalia seen each other for a long time?"
"It's been a long time, it's been a long time."
The fat aunt Yana greeted her and sat down on the slightly worn sofa. Then she realized that because she was too excited, all the flour on her hands was stained on Wei Ran's shoulders and sleeves.
"Sorry, I was so excited." Yana quickly found a towel and handed it to Wei Ran, "I'll get you a cup of coffee."
"Sorry for your trouble"
Wei Ran took the towel and symbolically dusted the flour off his body, while not forgetting to look at the furnishings in the room.
The first floor of this house is not too big, but it is warm enough. Not only are there children's graffiti of various colors on the walls, there are also photos of two blonde girls, Ivan and Yana, and not far away
On the fireplace, there is a row of beautiful matryoshka dolls, and a stuffed reindeer head hangs directly above it.
What's quite interesting is that the horns of the stuffed reindeer head are covered with various beautiful little bells and crystal ornaments of kittens, puppies, fish and birds.
However, what really caught Wei Ran's attention was the girl in those photos who was holding a horse and smiling brightly. He was sure that he had never seen a real person, but he always felt an inexplicable sense of familiarity, as if he
Where have I seen her?
Before he could match the person in the photo with the person in his memory, Yana had already brought two cups of coffee and said with some pride, "The one on the left is Olena, she studied sculpture at the Repin Academy of Fine Arts.
.The one on the right is Olga, who studies piano at the Petersburg Conservatory of Music. They are both my and Ivan’s daughters.”
"awesome!"
Wei Ran sincerely admired that although he had never been to Petersburg, he knew how powerful those two academies were. For the former one, you could know its status just by hearing the name, and for the latter one, it was the same as the Vienna Conservatory of Music.
A holy place for art students that is equally matched.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! Yana greeted Wei Ran and sat down again, "You will see them when you have the opportunity in the future. Tell me about Dalia, how is she doing now?"
Hearing this, Wei Ran, who didn't know how to answer this question, could only talk about what happened during the class at Hongqi Forest Farm. Of course, this did not prevent him from also telling Dalia's horror.
After a long time, Yana smiled and said, "She is exactly the same as when she was young. She is exactly the same as Dalia in my memory, and there is no change at all."
"Aunt Yana, you must have a good relationship with Teacher Dalia, right?" Wei Ran asked curiously.
"certainly!"
Yana wiped the tears that were about to overflow from the corners of her eyes, "We have known each other for a long time, but we haven't seen each other for a long time."
"for..."
Wei Ran immediately stopped the car and swallowed back the words he subconsciously wanted to ask. Yana seemed not to notice, unreservedly revealing some of the stupid things Dalia had done when she was young.
Knowing that if he didn't want to be buried alive by Dalia, it was best not to hear these things. Wei Ran wisely changed the topic and talked about the lives of Yana and Ivan.
As the coffee in the cup was filled for the second time, Wei Ran also got to know a little bit about the old couple.
Fishing, earning some freight from the boat, selling the catch, occasionally going to the forest to hunt the prey he brought back in his spare time, raising two daughters who are about to graduate from college, but seem to want to continue their studies. As well as Ivan's rheumatism
Sickness, a roof that often leaks, and even a fishing boat engine that always breaks down, these trivial things almost make up the entirety of their lives.
Of course, there's the vodka that Slavic men can never live without, and the drunken husband that Slavic women can never get rid of.
As the two chatted, the setting sun outside the window was gradually blocked by the dense birch forest. Ivan also brought in plates of sumptuous meals and burnt toast.
"Victor, how about having a drink with me?" As Ivan spoke, he had already taken out a bottle of vodka from the cabinet under the TV.
"As long as Aunt Yana has no objection, of course I have no objection."
Wei Ran skillfully passed the decision-making power to the people around the dinner table who really had the decision-making power. In any case, he had been trained by Professor Alexei for four or five years, so he naturally knew how to deal with it.
“Forget it if you drink”
Yana glared at Ivan, stood up and took out a large plastic bottle from the refrigerator, "Come and try the birch sap I just froze before you came back! This is something you can only drink in this season.
thing."
Ivan looked at the wine bottle in his hand with a grimace, and finally put it back into the cabinet helplessly, then took out a large bottle of slightly turbid kvass from the refrigerator.
With food and drink, and the over-enthusiastic Yana, Wei Ran finally forgot what Ivan had done to him during the day.
Almost like having dinner with all the elders, he was inevitably asked about his work, relationship status and physical health. At this point, it seems that there is not much difference between Chinese and Slavs.
.
After dinner, the table was cleared, and the big-assed TV that looked a little older was adjusted to the Red Star channel. And Yana continued to work on the seemingly endless housework.
"Victor, come with me to go fishing tomorrow morning." Ivan lit a cigarette as he spoke, "If you perform well, you won't be required to work as a fish seller."
"I follow your arrangements"
Wei Ran responded nonchalantly, saying that although he didn't know the purpose of being arranged to find Ivan this time, it was at least much better than the previous assessments where he would kill people at every turn.
"Then it's decided." Ivan seemed very happy to have an extra helper tomorrow morning, and his attitude towards Wei Ran seemed to be better.
As for Wei Ran, who had eaten and drank enough, he was still secretly wondering where the horse-holding girl named Olena in the photo gave him an inexplicable sense of familiarity.
