Red Moscow

Regarding Sokov's housing problem, Zhukov casually mentioned it to Stalin when reporting on his work.

But after hearing this, Stalin didn't even raise his eyelids, as if he didn't hear what Zhukov was saying at all. Seeing that Stalin did not respond, Zhukov could not bring up the matter anymore and could only continue to report on the exercise.

After Zhukov and Antonov left, Stalin picked up the phone on the table, dialed a number, and said, "Find Yakov for me!"

At this moment, Yakov had just returned to his office in the General Ordnance Department. When he heard the phone ringing on the table, he quickly grabbed the phone and put it to his ear: "I'm Yakov!"

"Yasha, it's me!"

Yakov recognized his father's voice and immediately stood up from his seat and said respectfully: "Hello, what can I do for you?"

"What's going on with Xiao Misha's housing?"

When Yakov appeared at the military meeting, he heard what Zhukov said. When he heard his father asking about it on the phone, he guessed that Zhukov had fulfilled his promise and was going to mention Sokov when reporting on his work. Regarding housing: "That's right. His house was allocated shortly after the Battle of Stalingrad. He was only a major general at the time, so the area of ​​​​the house was not very large. After he was promoted to general at the end of the war, He still lives in the original house. You also know that according to his rank, even if he is no longer in the army, there should be security personnel around him. But because the house at home is too small, he cannot arrange for security personnel to stay there. It’s all one person.”

After listening patiently to his son's story, Stalin said calmly: "I understand." After that, he hung up the phone without waiting for Yakov to speak again.

Half an hour later, Malenkov came to the office and reported to Stalin on this year's work arrangements.

After Malenkov finished his report, Stalin lit the pipe in his hand and asked seemingly casually: "Comrade Malenkov, are you familiar with Xiao Misha?"

"Little Misha?!" Malenkov was stunned for a moment when he heard the name Stalin said. Then he guessed who the other party was talking about, but he still asked tentatively: "Comrade Stalin, are you talking about Suo Misha?" General Koff?"

"Yes, that's him." Stalin said to Malenkov after walking a few steps in the house with a pipe in his mouth: "I heard that his house is so small that there is no room for the security personnel Zhukov wants to arrange for him. live."

Malenkov did not expect that Stalin would suddenly mention this matter. He did not know what the other party was thinking and did not dare to express his opinion casually. Instead, he asked cautiously: "Comrade Stalin, what kind of instructions do you have?"

"There are many villas vacant near where he lives." Stalin said, "I think you can arrange one for him, so that the security personnel assigned to him can have a place to stay."

"I understand, Comrade Stalin, I will make arrangements for him as soon as possible."

Since Stalin personally intervened in this matter, Malenkov naturally did not dare to neglect. When he came out of Stalin's office, he immediately contacted relevant personnel and arranged a new residence for Sokov.

That night, Sokov received a strange phone call: "Hello, is this General Sokov?"

"Yes, I'm Sokov." Sokov heard that the caller's voice was unfamiliar, and he asked warily: "Who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"Hello, Comrade General, I am from the city's housing management department..."

Unexpectedly, when Sokov heard that the other party said that he was from the housing management department, he suddenly got angry: "You bastard, you want to lie to me again. Get away as far as you can. I warn you, don't harass me again, otherwise it will cause trouble." You are responsible for all the consequences." After saying that, he hung up the phone.

Who knows the next moment, the phone rings again. Sokov put the microphone to his ear and heard the voice just now. He said timidly: "General Sokov, you may have misunderstood. I am indeed a staff member of the city's housing management department." Maybe he was worried about Sokov. The husband hung up the phone again and spoke faster, "We have received instructions from Malenkov to arrange a villa for you as soon as possible."

Hearing the other party mention Malenkov's name, Sokov realized that he might have misunderstood the other party and mistook Li Kui for Li Gui, so he slowed down and said, "Where is the house and how long will it take to move?"

"Comrade General, if it is convenient for you, we will send someone to pick you up at ten o'clock tomorrow morning, and then take you and your wife to see the house prepared for you." The staff said respectfully: "Do you think it will work? "

"Okay." Sokov thought that he had been deceived once before. Even if he was deceived again this time, it wouldn't matter. But if it was true, then he could move to a new home as soon as possible: "I'll wait for you to come over tomorrow morning. ”

After putting down the phone, Sokov said to Asiya, who was sitting next to him and playing with the cat: "Asiya, the staff of the city's housing management department called me and told me to arrange for us to go to a nearby villa area to view a house tomorrow morning."

"Isn't it a lie again?" Asiya said in the same suspicious tone.

"I think not." Sokov said: "Since the other party can tell Malenkov's name, he must not be lying."

"Misha, I know you know Comrade Malenkov." Asia said vigilantly: "But the relationship between you doesn't seem to be close. Why would he personally ask about our house? I think there may be something wrong."

"Asia, although the relationship between Comrade Malenkov and I is not too close, it is definitely not distant." Seeing Asia's doubts about Malenkov, Sokov told her an important thing: "When you had a car accident, the people guarding outside the operating room included Marshal Zhukov and Marshal Rokossovsky. Comrade Sokov. You know, the doctors in the hospital were helpless with your injuries, and even made me prepare for the worst. But after Comrade Malenkov came, he summoned some highly skilled doctors from other hospitals to save you, and only then did he snatch you from the hands of death. "

After hearing what Sokov said, Asiya widened her eyes in surprise: "Misha, is what you said true? Did Malenkov really find highly skilled doctors from other hospitals to save me from the brink of death?"

Sokof didn't say anything, but just nodded slowly.

Seeing this, Asiya couldn't help but get anxious: "Misha, why didn't you tell me such an important thing? If I knew that Comrade Malenkov saved my life, I would have accompanied you to his home and thanked him in person. Otherwise, you can arrange it in the next two days, and we will visit Comrade Malenkov's home as soon as possible."

"Don't worry, I'll take you to see Comrade Malenkov when I have the chance next time."

"Okay then." Asiya said unwillingly: "Then you should hurry up too."

Seeing Asiya so happy, Sokov really didn't want to pour cold water on him. He knew that in a few months, by June, a large group of people would be unlucky. In addition to Zhukov, Malenkov, Antonov and others would be demoted and transferred out of Moscow. If he had too close a relationship with these people at this moment, he would inevitably be implicated, so it was better to keep some distance.

The next morning, a black car really came downstairs of Sokov's house.

Not long after, a middle-aged man in military uniform came to the door of Sokov's house and knocked a few times.

Sokov opened the door and saw a strange man standing at the door. He asked curiously, "Who are you looking for?"

"Excuse me, are you General Sokov?"

"Yes, I am Sokov." Sokov recognized the other party's voice and knew it was the person who had called him last night, so he asked tentatively, "Did you call me last night?"

"Yes, Comrade General." The middle-aged man said respectfully, "My name is Yosifov, and I am a staff member of the Municipal Housing Management Department. I made an appointment with you last night and went to see the house together today. May I ask if you and your wife are ready to go?"

"Oh, it turned out to be Comrade Yosifov." Sokov stretched out his hand and shook hands with the other party, then said, "My wife is washing up, and she may have to wait for a while. It's cold outside, please come in and wait."

"No, Comrade General." Yosifov smiled and said, "It's snowing outside, and my soles are full of snow. I will step on your house and make it dirty. I'd better wait at the door."

Seeing that Yosifov was unwilling to enter the house, Sokov no longer forced him. He didn't close the door, but went straight to the bathroom, urging Asiya to speed up: "Asiya, the comrades who came to pick us up to see the house are here, hurry up, we are leaving."

Hearing what Sokov said, Asiya poked her head out of the open door and said in surprise: "Misha, are we really going to see the house?"

"Of course." Sokov nodded and said in an affirmative tone: "Hurry up, don't let the comrades from the Housing Management Department wait too long."

A few minutes later, Sokov and Asiya got into the black car parked outside the building under the guidance of Yosifov.

When the car started, Asiya leaned close to Sokov's ear and said excitedly: "Misha, I am not dreaming, are we really going to see a house?"

"We are all sitting in the car, is this true?"

Yosifov, who was sitting in the co-pilot seat, heard Asiya's voice, turned halfway around, and said with a smile: "Comrade General's wife, you will see your new house soon, and I believe you will be satisfied with it."

More than ten minutes later, the car drove into a yard, which is the so-called villa area.

There are not many villas, probably only more than 20, all of which are two-story independent buildings.

After entering the villa area, the driver slowed down the car, and Yosifov turned around again and asked politely: "Comrade General, there are four villas left in the middle of the villa area. It depends on which one you like."

Sokof didn't know what the villas here were like, so he couldn't choose. He could only say to Yosifov: "Comrade Yosifov, please take us to those villas so that we can make the final choice."

Yosifov nodded after hearing this, and then told the driver: "Go to villa No. 16 first, and then go to villas No. 19, 20 and 22."

Soon, the car stopped in front of a villa.

"Comrade General, this is villa No. 16." Yosifov turned his head and said to Sokov: "If you don't object, we can go in and take a look."

After getting Sokov's consent, Yosifov got out of the car first, then came to the back seat, opened the door, and asked Sokov and his wife to get out.

In front of the villa, there is a yard surrounded by iron fences, with many flowers and plants planted in it. Perhaps because no one has taken care of it for a long time and it is winter, these flowers and plants have withered.

Yosifov opened the gate, invited Sokov and the others in, and said to them: "This yard is more than 200 square meters. After you move in, you can hire a gardener to help you take care of the flowers and plants in the yard."

Sokof was not interested in planting flowers and plants in the yard. He just wanted to know how many rooms there were in this two-story villa and how many people could live in it: "Yosifov, how many rooms are there in the villa, how many people can live in it?"

"The villa is divided into a basement and two floors." Yosifov introduced to Sokov: "There is a kitchen and three bedrooms on the first floor, and four bedrooms on the second floor. If you want to live here, at least a dozen people can live in it."

Hearing that more than a dozen people can live here, Sokov suddenly felt more at ease. I even thought that if there were really seven bedrooms, I could not only bring Asiya's parents to live here permanently, but also hire a chef and a gardener in addition to the guards Zhukov sent me. If Asiya didn't object, I could even hire a few more waiters.

When I walked into the villa, the first thing I saw was the spacious living room, which was more than 70 or 80 square meters. Even if I invited people to dance, such a large space was enough.

When I walked into the bedroom, Sokov instantly felt that his original residence was not so good. One bedroom was more than 40 square meters, and two bedrooms were larger than his original residence.

After visiting his villa, Sokov asked Asiya for her opinion: "Asiya, what do you think of this villa?"

"I think it's very good. What about you?"

"I think it's good too." Sokov asked tentatively: "There are three other villas. Do we need to go and see them?"

"No," but Asiya shook her head and said: "I think the other three villas should be similar to this one. The only difference is the location. I think this one is good. Let's choose this one. There's no need to see the other three."

"Comrade Yosifov." Although Sokov knew that the structures of the same type of houses of the old Russians were similar, he still asked Yosifov out of caution: " Are the other three villas the same as this one? "

"You are right, Comrade General." Yosifov replied: "This villa area was built in the early 1930s. The structure of each villa is the same. The only difference is the location. "

Seeing that Yosifov's statement was similar to Asiya's guess, Sokov made up his mind and said to Yosifov: "Comrade Yosifov, then we will choose this one, and we don't need to look at the other three. "

"Okay, Comrade General." Seeing that Sokov didn't want to look at the other three villas, Yosifov naturally wanted it. He asked carefully: "Comrade General, I wonder when you plan to move. Can I arrange someone to help you move?"