Koshkin was obviously very familiar with the terrain in this area. After driving for less than ten minutes, Sokov, who was sitting in the passenger seat, saw a military store appearing on the roadside in front of him.
Sokov originally thought that Koshkin would park the car in front of the store, but unexpectedly he drove straight past. Sokov thought that he did not see it, so he quickly reminded him: "Lieutenant Koshkin, there was a car on the roadside just now.
There is a military store, why don’t you stop?”
Koshkin quickly glanced sideways at Sokov and said: "Comrade General, that is an ordinary military store. Given your rank, you should go to the officer store."
This was the first time Sokov heard about the officer's store. He was stunned for a moment and then asked: "What are there in the officer's store?"
"How should I put it, Comrade General." Kosh said carefully: "Anyway, the products inside are richer than those in the military stores we often go to."
Sokov has gone to military stores to buy things several times. Although there are many types of products, there is no comparison with the supermarkets he visited in later generations. At this moment, Koshkin said that the products in military stores are better than those of military personnel.
The variety of goods in the store was more abundant, which aroused his curiosity.
Nina, who was sitting in the back row, also heard Koshkin's words and couldn't help but curiously asked Asiya: "Asiya, have you been to the officer's store?"
"No." Asiya shook her head and said, "I heard that officers at the military level are required to be eligible to shop at military stores. I always shop at ordinary military stores and have never been to an officer store."
"Misha." After Nina waited for her daughter to finish speaking, she smiled and said to Sokov sitting in the front row: "I really didn't expect that when we first met, I would be able to take advantage of you and see you.
What does the legendary officer's store look like?"
Sokov laughed dryly and said a little embarrassedly: "Nina, actually I have never been to the officer's store, so I don't know what is going on there."
When the car arrived in front of a stone building with an obvious European style, Sokov saw a sign hanging above the glass door at the entrance that read "Officer Shopping Store", and there were two sentries standing guard at the door.
, there is a wooden table next to them, but there is no one behind the table.
When Sokov and others got off the bus, they followed Koshkin to the door of the officer's store.
Seeing Sokov and others trying to enter the store, the store was opened by an officer from the inside. He came to Sokov, raised his hand in salute, and said politely: "Comrade General, please show your ID!"
Checking documents has always been a Russian tradition. Even Lenin had the experience of having his documents checked many times on the road, not to mention a very ordinary general like himself. So Sokov cooperated and took out his ID.
, handed it to the other party.
The officer took Sokov's ID, sat behind the table, opened his book and began to carefully register the information on Sokov's military ID. After he finished registering, he looked up at Koshkin, Asya and others.
People said: "Where are your documents?"
"Comrade Second Lieutenant," as an officer of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Koshkin was not even afraid of officers with a higher rank than himself, let alone officers with a lower rank than him. He did not take out his ID, but accused the other party with a straight face.
: "Your duty is to register at the door, why weren't you at your post just now?"
The officer saw clearly at this moment that the officer following Sokov was actually wearing a blue hat of the Ministry of Internal Affairs. He was suddenly frightened and broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly stood up and replied respectfully: "Comrade Lieutenant, the weather is too hot outside."
When it gets cold, you go indoors to warm yourself up..."
But Koshkin said reluctantly: "You are absent from your post without permission, do you know that?"
Sokov agreed with Koshkin's statement. Judging from the current situation, the officer's duty was to register the information of people entering the store. But he was not at his post just now. He was said to be good at
There is nothing wrong with leaving the post. As for the reason for leaving the post, it is even more unreliable. He is afraid of the cold. So the two sentries standing guard at the door, aren't they cold? They didn't leave their posts, so why can you?
What about special?
If it were normal times, Sokov would probably give the other party a lesson when he saw this situation. But since he was here for shopping today, there was no need to get into trouble, so he calmly said: "Lieutenant Koshkin, I would like to ask Second Lieutenant
This is also the first offense, so there is no need to hold him accountable."
"That's right, Comrade General." The officer returned the military ID card to Sokov with both hands and said respectfully: "This is indeed my first offender, and I will never leave my post without permission again."
Since Sokov didn't pursue the matter, Koshkin couldn't say anything else. He nodded to the officer with his hand, snorted heavily, reached out and pushed open the closed glass door, and then said to Sokov
: "Comrade General, please come in!"
Entering the store, Sokov immediately saw the difference between this place and other places. The products here were not placed on the counter, but on open shelves. Customers could choose the products they wanted at will.
To match this, the salespersons in the store were all young and beautiful, with enthusiastic attitudes. Seeing Sokov coming in with a cane, a salesperson suddenly felt his eyes light up, and he quickly went up to greet him and asked politely: "Hello
, Comrade General, may I ask what I can do for you."
Sokov hadn't seen clearly what products were in the store and didn't know what to buy. He could only say perfunctorily: "I want to take a look and tell you if there is anything I need to tell you."
"Okay, Comrade General." The salesperson said with a slight smile: "If you need anything, please just ask and I will do my best to serve you."
"Asiya," Sokov turned to Asiya and said, "You and Nina go around the store to see what you can buy." Before Asiya could answer, he said to Koshkin
, "Koshkin, you are also looking around, but is there anything you want to buy?"
After Asya, Koshkin and others left, the salesperson saw that Sokov did not want to move around because of his inconvenience, so he took the initiative and said: "Comrade General, I think your leg seems to have been injured. Stand still."
You must be very tired, why not go to our rest area to rest for a while."
Sokov did not refuse the salesperson's kindness and followed her to the rest area nearby.
Sokov never dreamed that there would be such a comfortable rest area in the store, with not only comfortable sofas, expensive coffee tables, but also free refreshments.
The salesperson placed the hot tea in front of Sokov, placed a plate of biscuits, and asked politely: "Comrade General, do you need anything else?"
"No need for the moment," Sokov politely replied after seeing the name on the other person's nameplate clearly: "Lena, thank you! If you have something to do, just go and do it and don't worry about me."
"Comrade General," Lena stood still and said to Sokov: "You have an injury on your leg and it is difficult to move. I'd better stay and take care of you. As for your wife, there is also someone accompanying her.
"
After hearing what Lena said, Sokov looked towards where Asiya and the others were. Sure enough, he saw Nina, Asiya and her daughter, with a salesperson each following them. In the store at this time
But there was no shopping cart, so the two salesmen followed behind them with baskets. Once they saw any products they were interested in, they took them directly and put them in the baskets.
Seeing this, Sokov nodded slightly, squeezed out a smile on his face, and said to Lena: "Lena, your service is so considerate, thank you so much."
"See what you said, Comrade General." Lena replied with a smile: "It is our job to provide you with the best service."
"Please sit down, Lena." Sokov felt that Lena was standing in front of him, raising his head when he wanted to talk to her, so he asked her to sit down: "Let's sit down and talk slowly."
When Lena heard what Sokov said, she was not pretentious. After thanking her, she sat down on a sofa next to her.
"Comrade General," after Liena sat down, she felt that she needed to talk to the young general, so she took the initiative to ask: "Can I ask how your leg was injured?"
Sokov smiled bitterly and replied: "On my way to the front for inspection, I encountered a small German army disguised as our army. They pretended to be engineers and said that there were mines on the road ahead and asked me to go to the next room.
Rest. Unexpectedly, they had already planted a bomb in this room. I noticed something was wrong and immediately jumped out of the window to escape. However, I was still a step too late and was seriously injured by the bomb. I stayed in the hospital for four or five months before my injuries recovered.
He has recovered, but the leg injury will take some time to recover."
"You are so lucky," Lena said with emotion: "If it had been another person, he might have been killed in the house by the Germans."
"Lena, how long have you worked here?"
"Almost a year and a half." Lena's expression suddenly turned gloomy when she heard Sokov's question: "Since my husband died, my superiors arranged for me to work here in order to take care of me.
.”
"I'm so sorry, I reminded you of the sad past."
"It's nothing," Lena replied with a smile on her face: "Since it's a war, death is inevitable. Besides, it's not just me, almost all the salespersons working here have their relatives sacrificed on the battlefield."
"Do you have children?" Sokov asked tentatively.
Unexpectedly, Lena shook her head and said frankly: "I met my husband when I was drinking coffee with some friends in a cafe. At that time, his unit was about to go to the front line. Not long after we met, we went
The marriage was registered at the Marriage Registry, and after getting the marriage certificate, he returned to the team and went to the front line without even saying a few words."
What Lena said reminded Sokov of the similar situation when he and Asiya got married in Stalingrad. They just went through the marriage registration procedures at the marriage registration office. But so far, the relationship between him and Asiya has been very similar.
There is only the name of husband and wife, but no reality of husband and wife.
Sokov couldn't help but look at Asiya who was selecting goods in the distance, and thought to himself: If he hadn't been rescued after the explosion, Asiya would have remarried again.
The burden of children.
"Comrade General, Comrade General." Perhaps he was so absorbed in his thoughts that Lena shouted several times before Sokov heard him. He quickly turned his head, looked at Lena and asked: "Is something the matter?
"
"I would like to ask, which unit are you the commander of?" Lena said cautiously to Sokov: "Maybe my husband is still one of your subordinates."
"Which army did your husband belong to?"
"He is from the 38th Group Army." Lena said hesitantly: "I don't know which division or regiment he is from."
"Have you ever had no contact since you separated?"
"Yes, we have always been in contact." Lena nodded vigorously and explained to Sokov: "We usually communicate through letters. But you also know that the field letter inspection agency is very strict, and any military numbers involved
And the specific location will all be obliterated, so that I only know my husband’s field mailbox number, but not his unit number.”
"Lena, I have served as the commander of the 21st and 27th Army, but I have never dealt with the 38th Army." After Lena finished speaking, Sokov said with an apologetic look: "So
, I probably don’t know your husband.”
Sokov's answer was obviously beyond Lena's expectation. After listening, she nodded slightly and said sadly: "I just want to know how my husband died and where he was buried.
.If I have the chance, I would like to visit his grave."
"Can you tell me his name, military rank, and email number of the unit he is in?" Seeing Lena's expression, Sokov couldn't help but feel pity, and said to Lena: "Maybe I can find a way to help you find out.
Let’s take a look and see if we can find any information about your husband.”
"Great, this is really great." Lena has worked in the officer's store for so long and has asked many officers for help. But after hearing her story, those officers felt that they needed to find such a long-lost person.
The little people were like looking for a needle in a haystack, so they rejected her requests without exception.
At this moment, Lena was overjoyed to hear that Sokov was willing to help her get information about her deceased husband. She took out a pen and paper and quickly wrote down her husband's name, military rank and combat email number. Sokov saw her finish writing
, just as she was about to reach out to pick up the small note, Liena suddenly said: "Wait a minute, Comrade General, I want to write down the code of the death notice. This may be helpful in finding his whereabouts."
"Then write it down." Sokov felt that the encoding of the death notice might be a major breakthrough. After all, when the civil affairs department sent the death notice, they must have known some information that Lena did not know, so he said casually: "
Maybe this code will provide us with useful clues to find your husband."
After Sokov and Lena reached an agreement, Asya and her mother also completed the purchase of goods. Sokov looked at the piled basket and saw that there were not only vegetables, but also fruits and hams.
Commodities such as smoked fish and coffee. These items may not have been rare before the war, but during the war, if you did not come to this officer's store, you could only buy these items at high prices on the black market.
After everyone got in the car, Asiya suddenly asked: "Misha, I think you and the salesperson had a very interesting chat. What did you talk about?"
Sokov felt that there was nothing he could not tell others about the conversation between him and Lena, so he recounted it to Asya. After finishing the conversation, he thought of looking for someone, and Koshkin was undoubtedly the best candidate.
He handed the note that Lena gave him to Koshkin: "Lieutenant Koshkin, I leave this job of searching for you to me."
