Red Moscow

When Sokov heard Bakanidze's accusation, he immediately guessed that Asiya's mother might have fainted after hearing the bad news. At this moment, he didn't know how to tell his father-in-law the news about Asiya.

Seeing that Sokov was still silent, if Bakanidze didn't understand that something big was going on, he would be as old as a dog. He slowed down and asked: "Misha, please tell me truthfully, what happened? Just say it, I can handle it!"

"Something happened to Asya." Sokov said in a hoarse voice: "She had a car accident on her way back to the city from Khimki. She was seriously injured. After more than ten hours, although she was out of danger, she So far, he has not woken up.”

"Child, where is the child in her belly?" Bakanidze learned that his daughter had been in a car accident, and he became impatient: "Has the child been saved?"

Sokov felt that his nose was sore. He suppressed his sadness and tried his best to say in a calm tone: "The child was not saved!"

"Where are you? We'll rush over immediately." After saying this, Bakanidze realized that he might have said the wrong thing, and quickly added: "Yes, we are calling from your home. You must be At home. Why didn't you stay with Asiya in the hospital and ran home by yourself?"

"I couldn't help it. The hospital didn't allow family members of patients to stay with them in bed, so they kicked me out." Sokov explained to Bakanidze: "But don't worry, the hospital has specially arranged four nurses to be available 24 hours a day." Take care of Asiya intermittently. If you want to see Asiya, you can come to me first. When the visiting time comes, we will go to the hospital to visit Asiya.”

"Okay, we'll get there as soon as possible."

Sokov put down the phone and felt exhausted, so he struggled to the sofa, lay down directly on it, and began to quietly think about everything that had happened from yesterday to today.

Maybe Yakov's analysis is correct. Someone wants to deal with Zhukov, Malenkov, Khrushchev and others, but the strength of the three of them is not something that anyone can move if they want. If you want to move them, you must first eradicate them. If they take action when they are single and weak, their chances of success will be greatly increased.

The general idea was there, but Sokov couldn't figure out who was going to deal with Zhukov and others. Therefore, when he read the history of Soviet Russia in the past, he basically saw it until the end of the Great Patriotic War. Except for some major events that he still remembered, the rest of what happened was unknown.

He closed his eyes and began to take a nap, trying to regain some strength before Asiya's parents arrived. Unexpectedly, just as he fell asleep, the phone rang again.

Sokov was awakened by the ringing. Although he was dissatisfied, he did not dare not answer the phone for fear of missing a call related to Asiya: "I am Sokov, who are you?"

"Hello, Misha, I'm Eisenstein," said the person on the other end of the phone. "It's great to finally be able to speak to you in person."

"Hello, Sergey." Sokov asked politely, "How are you doing?"

"It's not good. I stayed in the hospital for a while due to heart problems a few days ago." Eisenstein said, "When did you return to Moscow and why didn't you contact me?"

"I have been back in Moscow for more than half a month." Sokov explained: "But soon after I came back, I was transferred to the General Ordnance Department to perform a special work there and could not contact the outside world, so I apologize for not contacting you in time."

"So that's it, I understand." Eisenstein said reasonably: "Since you are busy with work, it's understandable that you can't get in touch with me. By the way, I'm calling you just because I'm doing this. Regarding the casting of the film "The Dawns Here Are Quiet" that is being produced..."

"I heard Yasha and Asya mention this," Sokov said: "Sergey, I believe in your vision. Who do you think is suitable for the role in the movie? Just make arrangements. There is no need to worry about anything. Everyone asks for my opinion. Because I may suddenly disappear for a period of time due to accepting a secret mission. If you can't make your own decision, it will affect the filming of the movie."

"In this movie, I think the most important character, besides Vaskov, is Lida." Eisenstein continued: "I think you should already know that I plan to use Comrade Serova to play Lida. Da, do you have any comments?"

"No, I don't have any objections." Sokov looked up at the clock on the wall, thinking to himself that if he could end the call with Eisenstein as soon as possible, he would be able to sleep more before Asya's parents arrived. a while.

But what he didn't expect was that when Eisenstein talked about movies, there were countless topics. He didn't notice at all that Sokov, who was talking to him, just wanted to end the call as soon as possible. He answered his questions as if they were in a telegram. So simple.

By the time Eisenstein noticed something was wrong with Sokov today, an hour had passed. He asked cautiously: "Misha, I think the tone of your speech today is a bit wrong. Did something happen?"

"Yes," Sokov replied exhausted, "something did happen."

"Can you tell me what happened?" Eisenstein asked with concern.

"Asia had a car accident yesterday." Sokov's nose felt sore and he felt like tears were about to flow down his cheeks. However, he still tried hard to control his emotions and said in a calm tone: "She She was seriously injured, and although she was out of danger, she had not yet regained consciousness, and the child in her belly was gone..."

Sokov stopped talking at this point. He was worried that if he continued talking, he might lose control of his emotions and might even cry on the spot.

Eisenstein did not expect that this was what Sokov said. After a short silence, he said cautiously: "Misha, this is really unfortunate news. I sincerely hope that Asiya can wake up soon. As long as you are good, you will still have children in the future.”

"Well, that's what I thought too."

Eisenstein realized that Sokov didn't want to talk any more, so he wisely said: "Misha, please express my condolences. I will call you when I have time."

Sokov put down the phone and lay back on the sofa, trying to continue sleeping. But although his eyes were closed, his spirit seemed extremely excited. Countless pictures kept flashing through his mind, making him a little unclear whether he was in a dream or reality.

The doorbell rang. Sokov thought it was Asiya's parents who had arrived. He got up and opened the door, still thinking about how to comfort the two old people.

Unexpectedly, when he opened the door, he saw Yakov standing at the door.

"Misha, I just came here and found that the lights in your house were on. I guessed that you had gone home, so I came up to take a look."

After letting Yakov in, Sokov said to him: "After I entered the hospital, I found that Asiya had no signs of waking up. The nurses who took care of her said that they would take good care of Asiya and let me go back. I wanted to stay at home to stay with me, but the nurse told me that there was no policy in the hospital for family members to stay with the patient, so I just went home.”

Yakov walked into the kitchen, picked up the kettle and started boiling water. At the same time, he said to Sokov: "Misha, I have your car towed away by the repair shop. It is the New Year period. , the vast majority of people are on vacation at home, so it will take about a week at the earliest to fully repair your car.”

"What if I don't have a car to go see Asya?" Sokov said with a wry smile: "I can't take a taxi every time, right?"

"Don't worry about the car. If you need a car, I can arrange a car for you first and even provide a driver." After Yakov said this, he asked with concern: " Have you told her parents about Asiya?”

"As I said, they will be here soon and are ready to go see Asya with me tomorrow."

Yakov took out the car key, put it on the table, and said to Sokov: "This is my car key. You can use my car for the next two days. If you feel that your condition is not good and you are not suitable to drive." , just tell me and I will arrange a driver specifically for you."

"There is no need for a driver. I think I can play the role of driver."

The water in the kitchen was boiling. Yakov made himself and Sokov a cup of tea each, and then asked: "Misha, have you considered what we said outside?"

"Of course I have considered it." Sokov nodded and said: "You are right. Someone may want to deal with Zhukov, Malenkov and Khrushchev, but considering their strength, there is no chance of winning directly. , I started from their side, clipped my wings first, and then launched a surprise attack when they were weak, catching them off guard. In the coming days, more people from Zhukov’s faction will have troubles one after another.”

"The war is over, and the importance of soldiers is certainly not comparable to that during the war." Yakov expressed his opinion: "So it is not that difficult to eradicate Marshal Zhukov's wings. Do you think something will happen next? Who could it be?"

"I don't know." Sokov shook his head and said, "I can't guess, and I don't want to guess. Let everything take its course."

"Asiya's condition, even if she recovers, she may not be able to work for a long time." Yakov kindly reminded Sokov: "You have to be mentally prepared."

"Well, I know that." Sokov nodded and said: "After a while, I may have to move to a nearby villa. Then there will be more rooms in the house. Not only can I accommodate Marshal Zhukov who sent me Guards, and also allow Asiya’s parents to live at home to take care of Asiya.”

"Misha, I've been thinking about something." Yakov lit a cigarette and said, "Don't you think it's strange that the city's housing management department suddenly contacted you?"

"Strange?" Sokov asked in confusion: "What's strange?"

"Don't forget, it's still the New Year period, and all units are still on holiday. Why would someone come to your house to look for you?"

Yakov's words made Sokov feel vaguely uneasy. He felt that Asiya's car accident might be related to the note posted on the door. He stood up, found the note, placed it in front of Yakov, and asked: "Yasha, do you think there is something wrong with this note?"

Yakov picked up the note and looked at it, then nodded slowly: "I think the problem is big."

"tell me the story."

"First of all, what I said only represents my personal opinion." Yakov issued a disclaimer before continuing: "This so-called housing management staff came here to visit you, most likely to check whether you are at home. When he found that you were not at home, he deliberately left this note because he knew that once you came home and saw the note, you would call them according to the phone number on the note. In this way, they can figure out your whereabouts and take the next step in a targeted manner."

Hearing this, Sokov raised his hand to stop Yakov from saying the rest. He wanted to think about this matter carefully to see if the other party's analysis was accurate. He walked back and forth in the room with his hands behind his back, quickly analyzing what Yakov said in his mind.

After a long time, Sokov stopped and said to Yakov: "Yasha, I have such a guess. In fact, someone has been monitoring Asiya since she returned home. Since they didn't see any trace of me, they sent someone pretending to be someone from the city housing management department to find me at home. Whether I am at home or not, he will feedback the information in time."

"Well, that's what I think." Yakov continued: "Think about it, those people don't want you to get involved in the dispute between them and Marshal Zhukov, so they plan to divert your attention by hurting Asiya. When you call them, they can confirm that you are not with Asiya, so that they can implement their pre-made plan. Believe it or not, you will never be able to get through this so-called city housing management department from now on."

"Really?" Although Sokov thought Yakov was right, he still had a little bit of luck in his heart. He walked to the phone, picked up the receiver, and dialed the number on the note. The call that was easily connected last time came with a dead tone. He hung up the phone and dialed again, but unfortunately, the call was still unanswered.

"How is it, Misha?" Seeing Sokov holding the microphone in a daze, Yakov said to him: "My guess is right, the phone number on the note can't be dialed."

"Yes, the phone can't be dialed."

"What are your plans next?"

"I will contact Marshal Zhukov as soon as possible and tell him about this." Sokov said: "If the villa assigned to me is just someone else's conspiracy, then when the guards sent by Marshal Zhukov to me arrive, I have no place to accommodate them."

"Don't worry, Misha." But Yakov stopped him: "I think we should wait a little longer. When the New Year holiday is over, if you still can't get in touch with the municipal housing management department, it won't be too late to tell Marshal Zhukov about this. Anyway, he is more experienced in dealing with such things than you. What do you think?"

"You are right, then let's wait a little longer." Sokov agreed with Yakov's proposal: "Then I will wait a few more days and talk about it after the New Year holiday is over."