Chapter 512 Unable to find information about joining the army
Contrary to Wei Ran's expectation, the car driven by Teacher Dalia did not drive into the city. Instead, it stopped near an old-looking Tongzilou building on the outskirts of the city.
"Get the things in the trunk." As Dalia spoke, she had already pressed the key and opened the trunk door of the car.
Seeing this, Wei Ran quickly ran to the back of the car and took out everything inside. The large and small bags were basically filled with things such as eggs, fruits, cooking oil, bread, cheese, butter, milk, and ham.
Food. In addition, there were several large bottles of laundry detergent, a large pack of unpacked cotton socks, and a woolen jacket.
"Teacher Dalia, what are we going to do?" Wei Ran asked, carrying two large food bags in one hand and a paper bag containing clothes in the other.
Dalia took out a bouquet of flowers from the rear compartment and placed it on the roof of the car. Then she took out her wallet, took out a stack of rubles in cash, and then pulled out a slender handle from her lower back.
With his dagger, he found an inconspicuous position and cut a slit on a cardboard box with an oven pattern printed on it in the trunk.
Pinning the weird-looking dagger to her lower back, Teacher Dalia stuffed the banknotes in her hand one by one along the slits in the cardboard box, and then placed the flowers at the door before putting them away.
Holding her in his arms, he explained as he walked into the Tongzi Building, "I'm going to visit an old man I met unexpectedly yesterday and see if you can help her."
"An old man I met unexpectedly?" Wei Ran took three steps at a time to catch up with Teacher Dalia, "Can you tell me in detail?"
"I was passing by here yesterday afternoon," Teacher Dalia said calmly, "While waiting for the red light, I saw an old man falling."
"Then what?" Wei Ran asked.
"Then I sent her home, on the fourth floor."
Dahlia gestured upstairs with one finger, then simply placed the cardboard box she was holding on the stair railing, lit a cigarette and explained in detail, "The lady has cancer, and it's only been a few months."
Can live.
When I asked her if there was anything I could do to help her, she just said she wanted to be buried with her husband. I probably couldn't help with that, but I thought maybe you could help her."
"her husband..."
"Let her tell you in person later."
Dalia crushed out the cigarette she had taken two puffs on, then put the cigarette butt into her pocket, picked up the cardboard box again and walked upstairs while reminding, "Victor, I am a supermarket cashier at Kazan University.
,Understand?"
"Understood" Wei Ran responded quickly.
Nodding with satisfaction, Dalia led Wei Ran up to the fourth floor, then gently knocked on a green iron door, and asked softly, "Aunt Valentina, are you at home? I
It’s the Katyusha who sent you back yesterday.”
After a while, the sound of the door opening came from inside, and then, an old lady wearing a plain skirt and an old shirt opened the iron door.
The old lady known as Valentina has a head full of white hair, and there are many age spots on her wrinkled face. There is even a small wound on her chin that seems to have just scabbed.
.
"Katyusha, good boy, you are really here." Valentina hugged Teacher Darya enthusiastically, and greeted her and Wei Ran, who was standing behind, into the house.
Just standing at the door, you can tell at a glance that this house is not big. In addition to a small living room that has the functions of a dining room and a kitchen, there are only three open doors connecting the two bedrooms and the kitchen.
A bathroom. Through the crack in the door, you can see that the bed in one of the bedrooms is already piled with large and small cardboard boxes.
Not only that, the furniture and layout in the living room also look particularly simple, with a hint of the Soviet era everywhere. The only appliance that can be considered modern is perhaps the one on the table next to the door with the words "
Made in China" stainless steel electric kettle.
"God, why did you bring so many things?" the old lady who became Valentina asked in disbelief.
"As I said yesterday, our supermarket has a lot of things that are about to expire recently and we have to deal with them. In addition, I have a good relationship with the boss, so I picked some that are still edible and usable and brought them to you."
At this point, Dalia pointed to Wei Ran again, "In addition, I also brought you a history student from Kazan University. If it weren't for finding him, I would have come here in the morning. Of course, he should
It hasn’t expired yet.”
"Hello, Mrs. Valentina." Wei Ran put down the things in his hands and hugged her politely, "Just like Aunt Katyusha said, I am not expired."
"Hello to you, funny little guy."
Valentina held teacher Dalia with one hand and Wei Ran with the other and sat down on the sofa that looked very old but was extremely clean. She asked Wei Ran with some doubts,
"Young man, why do I seem to have seen you somewhere?"
"I assume you must have seen him on TV"
Daria took over the topic, took out a banana from the food bag, peeled it and handed it to Valentina, while explaining in a slightly showy tone, "During World War II, the Soviet flag was planted on the Reichstag.
..”
"Oh——! I remembered!"
Valentina looked at Wei Ran in surprise, "I remembered, I did see you on TV. I watch the news every day. Katyusha, how did you invite him here?"
"I am also a student of Kazan University"
Wei Ran smiled and helped tell the lie, "When I was studying in Kazan, I often went to the supermarket where Aunt Katyusha worked to buy things. She was a very warm-hearted person and often gave me discounts."
“Katyusha is indeed a warm-hearted person”
Valentina nodded in agreement, "Thanks to her yesterday, otherwise I might have died on the street."
"I'm just along for the ride."
This chapter is not over yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading! As she spoke, Teacher Dalia had already peeled the second banana and handed it to Wei Ran. Then she changed the subject and said, "Aunt Valentina, take your husband's
Tell Victor the story, maybe he can help you, he even found the photo, maybe he can also help you find your husband."
Valentina looked at Wei Ran expectantly. After a moment of hesitation, she sighed and said, "Young man, just listen to it as a story. In fact, I have given up hope for a long time. Yesterday, I just felt that life was too difficult.
, I felt like I was going to die, so I couldn’t help but talk to Katyusha.”
"You don't have to worry," Wei Ran comforted the old lady who looked to be in her nineties, "Maybe I can really help you."
"I would be satisfied if you good kids like you are willing to chat with me."
As Valentina spoke, she stood up tremblingly. She declined Teacher Dalia's support and slowly walked into the bedroom. Not long after, she held another hand-sized bag with a red mark on it.
The five-pointed star canvas bag came out.
"This may be the only thing my husband left me, but I have no idea what it is."
As she spoke, Valentina sat back down between Wei Ran and Teacher Dalia, and carefully shook out a metal object that had almost been coated with pulp from a palm-sized canvas bag.
"Can you let me take a look?" As Wei Ran spoke, he had already placed the half-eaten banana on the table, wiped his hands vigorously on his pants, and held it with both hands.
“Don’t be so careful”
Valentina put the thing she took out into Wei Ran's palm and said with a smile, "I have kept it for more than half a century. This thing will not explode and is very strong."
"Can you tell what this is?" Teacher Dalia asked with a smile.
"firing pin"
Wei Ran looked at the thickness of the bottle cap in his hand, which was five or six centimeters long. It looked like a metal piece in the shape of a large cigarette holder. After hesitating for a moment, he added in an extremely positive tone, "To be more precise, it's T-34."
Tank gun firing pin."
"Are you sure?" Teacher Dalia asked in unison.
"Of course I'm sure." Wei Ran's tone became more and more certain. He had dismantled this thing long before he got the metal book.
He even knew that on the Eastern Front battlefield, those T-34 tanks that had to be abandoned due to various reasons. As long as time and conditions allowed, most of the tank crew members would remove such small things to avoid abandoning the tanks.
used by the Germans.
"I think it should be right, my husband is indeed a tanker"
Valentina took the firing pin from Wei Ran and put it back into the small canvas bag and explained, "But he didn't come back until the end of the war."
"Can you tell me more about it?"
Wei Ran thought for a while and asked again, "For example, which army your husband is in, when he joined the army, which war he participated in, and what honors he received."
Holding the canvas bag containing the firing pin in her hand, Valentina was silent for a moment and replied, "My husband's name is Vadim, which is the same name as the Soviet actor who played Hamlet, but my husband is far inferior to that one."
play..."
Halfway through her words, Mrs. Valentina shook her head bitterly, "Perhaps you young people don't know who the actor with the same name I'm talking about is, right?"
Dalia smiled, took up the topic and asked, "Is he that lousy actor in the 1950s? He seems to have won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival. I remember mine.
Mom has always liked that actor."
"That's the one"
Valentina smiled and said, "My husband has the same name as him, also named Vadim, but he is not so handsome, but thin and small."
Speaking of this, Valentina seemed to be lost in memories, and a calm smile appeared on her face involuntarily, "Before the war started, we were all in the countryside where Hal was born. He was a tractor driver, and I was
Like Katyusha, she was also a cashier. But at that time, cashier was a very enviable job.
Later, the Germans came and we fled with the army, first to Belgorod, then to Voronezh and Kirov. I also changed from an enviable cashier to a truly capable person.
Female garment factory worker who produces value.
It was also at that time that Vadim joined the army, and because he could drive a tractor, he was quickly assigned to drive a tank - even though one of his feet was congenitally lame."
"Mrs. Valentina, in which year did your husband Vajim join the army?" Wei Ran couldn't help but ask.
"It's the winter of 1942"
Valentina sighed and explained, "Just before the Battle of Stalingrad ended, he said that he no longer wanted to be a coward hiding in the rear and driving a tractor to plow the fields. He said that the motherland needed his driving skills. Before he joined the army
Soon after, I also moved from Kirov to Kazan with the clothing factory. Since then, I have almost lost contact with him."
At this point in the story, turbid tears overflowed from the corners of Valentina's eyes. Falling into the quiet and small living room, Wei Ran asked softly, "Mrs. Valentina, what's going on with this firing pin?"
Valentina took the paper towel handed by Teacher Daria and wiped the corners of her eyes, then poured the firing pin out of the canvas bag again, "This thing was delivered to the door in the autumn of 1943 by a political commissar who was missing an arm. He said
This is Vajim's gift to me and my soon-to-be-born child.
He also said that Vadim was still fighting bravely against the Germans on the front line, and that he had won several medals. But after that, I never heard from Vadim again, and I couldn't even contact the political commissar.
Up."
"Didn't the army find any information about him at that time?" Wei Ran asked hard-heartedly.
Valentina shook her head, "I can't find it. I asked many people, but they all said there was no information about my husband joining the army."
"How can this be..."
Wei Ran frowned. Although the Soviet Union's management of military soldiers during World War II did have loopholes, it was definitely rare that such a person was not found.
