A pen with a beautiful pattern was suddenly placed in front of Natasha. Jill said with great pride: "This is my gift! A very good pen, I think you will definitely use it."
"you……"
Natasha is not that kind of pure country girl. Just by virtue of the special pattern of this pen, she knows its precious value.
Why? The reason is also very simple. This pen is a type of pen that was mass-produced after the establishment of the Soviet Union.
Tsarist Russia was indeed second-rate among imperialists, but it did have certain industrial strength.
During World War I, everything from tanks to pens could be produced, but its production capacity was seriously inferior to that of its powerful neighbor, the Second Reich of Germany.
The Soviet Union inherited Tsarist Russia's "pen industry" and immediately began to produce pens with beautiful patterns and engraved with the sickle and hammer emblem.
Perhaps out of national character, the Soviets did not want to create a variety of styles for one fountain pen.
Pens are for writing, so why do they need so many styles? Compared with style, the quality of the pen tip should be considered more. According to the requirements of the relevant departments, if a pen is dropped from a height of one meter, the pen tip that touches the ground cannot be bent and can be picked up.
Wipe off the dust and continue writing.
In order to produce high-quality pens, it is indeed difficult for factories to reduce the cost, so the price set by the authorities for pens has always been very high.
Natasha had her own pen, and it was a Parker pen that was very rare in the Soviet Union at this time. Speaking of that pen, it was a trophy captured from the German army! If the troops hadn't destroyed the German command post, she wouldn't have gotten this.
Good baby.
But she clearly remembered that when she was in middle school in Mozyr, she could only look at the pens in the state-owned stationery store and sigh. Why? It was really unaffordable! The price was sixty rubles! It was incredible!
Although she now has enough financial resources to buy it, her consumption concept has not changed! She already thinks that in today's world, ten rubles is still a huge sum of money, but she does not know that due to serious overpayment, the ruble is depreciating rapidly.
She didn't even think about it carefully. The style of the pen that Jill took out could be said to be the same for twenty years! She even didn't expect that this pen was actually selected by Jill's father himself and had his son give it to her.
.
"Give it to me? It's too expensive." Natasha instinctively refused.
"It's just for you. I said I wanted to give you a gift."
"But, it's very expensive."
"Yes!" Jill took the opportunity to emphasize, "So, I want to give it to you."
Accept? Or reject?
Natasha finally thought about it and accepted Jill's gift.
In any case, this Gil is a good person. If he rejects him in public, it will break his heart.
Natasha didn't want this simple boy to be sad, but after accepting the gift, her heart was a little clogged.
She put the pen into her pocket, looked sideways at Jill's happy smiling face, ignored the surprise of her classmates, and said sideways: "I will also give you a gift. But...ah, by the way, what do you need?
If they are sold in state-owned stores, I will buy you one."
"Ah?" Jill was a little confused and said quickly: "No need! No need at all."
"No, I should give you a gift, otherwise I'll feel bad."
"It's really not necessary." At this time, Jill had an idea and pointed to the small sack on the table, "Thank you for these rusk treats, it is the best gift."
Gil didn't bother Natasha anymore, the gift had been delivered, so he hurriedly drank the soup and ran away with the plate with potatoes, just as suddenly as he came.
"Oh... don't be impatient."
Natasha shrugged and watched the monitor disappear without a trace.
She came back to her senses, sighed a little, and saw Anna looking at her with evil eyes.
"Oh? What do you think I'm doing? What's wrong with me?"
"Are you pretending to be confused?" Anna joked: "By accepting his gift, you are responding to his love. Poor you, this beautiful girl. You have only been in school for less than two weeks, and you are still attracted by someone.
A bad boy cheated him."
"You...you! You, you, you, don't talk nonsense. I didn't, I'm not!" Natasha quickly denied it. Her panic seemed to others to be an admission of the fact.
"It doesn't matter." Lyudmila comforted her, "Gil is a nice guy, and his family is relatively well-off. My dear, you have to think about your future. Listen, good men are rare."
Everyone is eighteen years old, Natasha is about to turn eighteen, and all girls must consider marriage issues when they reach eighteen.
Lyudmila made this crazy suggestion, and Natasha quickly understood what they were trying to do. Thinking of the marriage issue, Natasha put her strong and strong hands into her pockets, clutching the pen, and then realized that she was accepting the gift.
Something is wrong.
"No!" Natasha, who was raising her head, suddenly raised her head: "He is a good person, but I don't love him. I should find a time to explain to him that he and I are just classmates."
"Oh? You actually...you don't actually want to go further?" Anna said in surprise.
"Of course not. Oh my, this matter really cannot be explained in a few words."
Natasha looked impatient, and Lyudmila took the opportunity to ask: "Is it possible that you always have someone else in your heart?"
This sentence hit her heart directly, and her irritable expression instantly solidified.
Natasha did not answer, and her silence gave Lyudmila acquiescence to the speculation.
"Dear." Lyudmila said solemnly: "Since you don't love him, you have two choices now. Either you return the pen to him, or you respond to him with a gift. Just like you
As I said, you can go to the state-owned store to buy something. I hope...I hope you have some money. If funds are tight, I can help you."
That sentence woke Natasha up, and she suddenly remembered something.
Even before the outbreak of the war, the commodity economy of the Soviet Union was very inactive. Although there were a large number of state-owned stores throughout the country, the scale of those stores was not large. Only some big cities had large self-selected stores, which were so-called "super stores."
"Market". There is only one large-scale self-selection store in Mozyr City, which has a wide variety of products, but the prices are relatively expensive.
For example, the patterned silver pen and other high-end office equipment that Jill just gave away.
"Do I have money? Of course I do! I opened an account in Moscow, and the huge bonuses for my military achievements were allocated at that time! From now on, there will be large subsidies every month. I am really rich now!"
It's ironic to say that if Natasha hadn't been bumped by Lyudmila, she would have forgotten the fact that she was a rich woman.
The result of killing an enemy is worth 100 rubles, and destroying a tank is worth another 500 rubles. The various bonuses have exceeded 100,000 rubles. She has the right to control this huge sum of money. The only restriction is the upper limit of the Soviet authorities' withdrawal limit for citizens.
"Then let's find an opportunity to go to the state-owned store and have a look. Don't worry, I still have some money. Besides, it's cold now. I hope I can buy a coat in a clothing store."
"You?" Lyudmila felt that Natasha had said something shocking again: "You want to buy a coat? A coat of two thousand rubles? Silly girl, you can't afford that kind of clothes. We... no, including those from well-off families.
Jill can't afford it either."
"Two thousand rubles?" Natasha was also surprised when she heard this figure. "Have prices risen to this level? The situation in Moscow is not so bad. A coat there is less than two thousand rubles."
"Whether it's two thousand or one thousand, who among us can afford it?" Anna said quickly, "I really miss the past, when a wool coat cost one hundred rubles. Now, only those officers who have made military exploits can afford it, right?
"Two thousand rubles, even if my father works for a year, he can't get that much salary."
Natasha was indeed shocked by its price, but compared to the monthly allowance of her major rank, two months' allowance was enough.
She thought for a while and said quickly: "Forget it. I hope there are some cheap things in the store. Tell me what boys generally like."
"Hmm..." Lyudmila pinched her chin and thought hard: "Some sporting goods? Or notebooks, belts, socks."
"Liu De, you are too naive." Anna almost laughed out loud, "Don't you understand the current situation? Even if Natasha gave Jill a can, Jill would be delighted. Besides, it was Natasha.
The American cans obtained from Moscow prove their preciousness just by the English labels on them.”
Lyudmila provided important information, that is, you can still buy in-demand goods from the store even if you pay a huge amount of money. Natasha, who is in tenth grade, has already begun to learn some economics knowledge. The official implementation of raising prices is a stabilization war.
An important strategy for the current economy.
If everyone can't afford new clothes, then everyone will have to make do with old clothes. Clothing factories no longer have to make new civilian clothes, and all they produce are military uniforms.
Even though it was expensive, Natasha was determined to at least buy one to keep herself warm.
The afternoon classes were relatively intense. After the English class, the whole class rushed to the chemistry laboratory.
Both men and women, they all put on white coats, white dust caps on their heads, and pure glass goggles on their faces.
All students, they must learn to perform some chemical experiments. The experiment of preparing oxygen with potassium permanganate is purely pediatric. Now they, now Natasha, she performs the experiment on sulfuric acid.
The experiment is full of dangers, not only because of the terrifying corrosiveness of the splashed concentrated sulfuric acid, but also because of the pollution of the air.
Even with all the windows in the laboratory open, the faint smell of rotten eggs inevitably produced by the experiment still made all the students very unhappy.
"It's true! It's too bad that there is an exam at the end of the experimental class. After every experimental class, I feel dizzy." Anna stood outdoors, took a deep breath, and complained a few more times.
"Why don't you go to the school hospital and let them give you an injection?" Lyudmila joked.
"Forget it! Just go back to class and rest for a while. Instead of caring about me, you might as well ask Natasha and Lilia."
There were trace amounts of sulfur dioxide and hydrogen sulfide in the laboratory, which were poisonous. Natasha felt that the main reason why she felt dizzy was because she was hungry.
"I'm fine." Natasha said, "Since we have to take the academic exam in the end, let's not complain."
"You are so thoughtful." Anna muttered.
In fact, Natasha already has a strong immunity to these odors.
Why? The reason is really simple.
The reason why the Guerrilla Republic was able to make its own ammunition was that it controlled a sulfur mine. Every day, carriages hauled the yellow-white ore back to the Blacksmith Village or Catfish Village. The rough processing of the ore inevitably made the air in the village contain odor.
gas.
Over time, all soldiers and civilians have adapted to this faint odor, including Natasha herself, and will not feel disgusted.
What's more, the smell of gunpowder smoke on the battlefield is worse than the smell of sulfur. Once you get used to it, you'll be fine.
After the experimental class, the students of Class 6 spent their last self-study class in class, followed by the meal that everyone was looking forward to.
What will be served in the canteen tonight? Probably potatoes and vegetable soup. Today is definitely not a "bread day".
Bread and kimchi soup is a very good way to eat it.
When the bell rang, Natasha was about to go to the cafeteria with her classmates. Unexpectedly, several uninvited guests came to the door of the class.
They were four boys, and they suddenly stood at the door of Class 6. The originally quiet and attentive class suddenly became noisy, and the whispers of some boys were immediately heard by the curious Natasha.
He is actually the director of the track and field club and the director of the shooting club!
What were these two strangers doing at the door of the class? Natasha immediately understood that they were here to wake her up.
It can be said that once a person becomes famous, all kinds of people are attracted to him.
They just came to find themselves.
As soon as the bell came, the hungry students quickly dispersed, leaving only a few students who took turns cleaning.
Natasha also stayed. She knew that she had to complete negotiations with the two ministers first.
She sat in her seat, and the four people, accompanied by the squad leader Gill, moved the bench and sat in front of the girl.
"Hello, I am Vasily Ivanovich Chekovlev, the director of the school track and field club."
"Okay, I'm Nikita Semyonovich Premedev, the director of the school shooting club."
"Well, I'm Natasha Petrovna Halkova. What do you want from me?" Natasha asked knowingly.
"I have something important to say." Vasily, the minister of track and field, took the lead to grab the right to speak: "We got the news that in your class's physical education class last week, you not only participated in the boys' five-kilometer long-distance run, but also far surpassed all the boys. Your speed
We also learned about the record, which lasted less than seventeen minutes. Classmates, how about joining our club? Run for our great Soviet motherland!"
"Listen to me." Nikita from the shooting club, who was a step behind, said quickly: "We also know the information about you on the shooting range yesterday. It's incredible that you actually hit the target 400 meters away five times in a row.
Target. You have excellent shooting skills, even better than all our members. Join us, we can vote, and the position of deputy director of the shooting club must be yours."
"Oh?! This is your fault, Comrade Nikita." Vasily from the track and field club couldn't sit still at all, "In order to win over a new comrade, you actually used the position of deputy minister as bait. This is a kind of
corruption."
"How can you say that? Our shooting club has always relied on strength. Kharkova has excellent abilities. If she is voted to be the minister, I will be willing to take a back seat."
"Now that you say so." Vasily from track and field looked seriously into Natasha's clear eyes: "Join us, we will vote for you to be the deputy minister."
"No! Still join us. Your shooting ability is very good. It is said that you have served in the militia? That's great. We need a cadre who has served in the militia as a coach."
"It's better to join our track and field club. We can contact the sports coaches of Perm University. If you join us, you will definitely be admitted to Perm University. You only need some professional training and you will be able to win the long-distance running at the All-Soviet Sports Conference.
Ranking, no! It’s a medal! You really have a bright future!”
Natasha was sitting in her seat, with a handsome face, watching the two boys singing together.
They are all wooing themselves, and both of them have their own reasons.