"What on earth is going on?" Sokov looked down at the bunch of keys in front of him and asked with some confusion: "Yakov, can I ask why Comrade Stalin rewarded him with a house? give to me?"
In response to Sokov's question, the expression on Yakov's face became solemn: "My capture was a humiliating event for my father. But you did it without knowing it. He rescued me from the prisoner of war camp, so that my father could make a high-profile counterattack against the German propaganda about my capture, saying that it was a rumor created by the enemy to lower the morale of our army. In a sense, don't say I’ll reward you with a house, even if I reward you with eight out of ten houses, it’s not an exaggeration.”
After Yakov finished speaking, when he saw Sokov still had a hesitant expression, he picked up the key, put it into his hand without any explanation, and said with a smile: "This is my father's arrangement, please don't do it again." I refuse. Okay, Misha, let’s go visit your bedroom now.”
The two of them came to the bedroom next door together. This room was about twenty square meters. There was a dark red carpet on the floor. On the wall facing the door, there was a tapestry. Under the tapestry was a couch. , according to Sokov’s experience, this is a folding sofa bed for sleeping. On the left wall, there are two portraits of people hanging. Judging from the clothes of the people in the portraits, they have a very long history. They should be portraits of the ancestors of the original owner of the house.
There is a writing table next to the window and two armchairs next to it. Yakov quickly walked to the table, opened one of the drawers, took out a small stack of banknotes, handed it to Sokov, and said at the same time: "Misha, you may have to live in the city for a while. Time, use this money to buy some daily necessities and come back."
Sokov took the banknotes from Yakov's hand and saw that they were basically one-ruble banknotes. He thought to himself, what could such a small amount of money be used for? After thanking Yakov, he stuffed the banknotes into his pocket. He saw that the drawer was still open, and when he was about to close it, he found a black notebook inside.
"What is this?" He reached out and picked up the book. Before opening it, he asked Yakov curiously: "Yakov, do you know?"
"This is something left by the original owner of the house." Yakov said disapprovingly: "There are some stamps in it, but they are all unused. If you buy so many stamps, you won't be able to use them all even if you send a letter. Look," Yakov pointed to a few stamps in the book that Sokov had just opened and said, "These are old stamps from more than 20 years ago. They can no longer be used to send letters. They are almost like waste paper. I don't know. What else is he doing here?"
Sokov clearly saw the several stamps that Yakov called waste paper and couldn't help but tremble all over. Later in life, he was a stamp collector. When Soviet stamps flowed into China in large quantities, he bought a lot of them, so he had a certain understanding of the country's early stamps. These are dark brown stamps with images of swords cutting off chains and the rising sun in the background. They were issued by the Russian Federation to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution.
Seeing Sokov looking over and over at these stamps, Yakov couldn't help but curiously asked: "Misha, what are you looking at, so immersed in it?"
Sokov heard Yakov ask this and decided to conduct a simple science popularization about stamps with him. He pointed to the stamps and said to Yakov: "Yakov, this is a set of stamps issued by our country on November 7, 1918, to commemorate the first anniversary of the October Revolution. This is also our overthrow of the tsarist rule. The first set of stamps issued later was not used until April 1921." When popularizing science, he still kept a cautious eye and did not tell Yakov that the dark brown toothless stamps contained in the book Since the stamp had never been used in postal services, its value is comparable to that of the famous "red" stamp of later generations.
But Sokov was obviously overly worried. For a philately layman like Yakov, a stamp was just a certificate used to send letters; if it could not be used to send letters, it was nothing more than a nice-looking little piece of paper. Therefore, he found it incredible that Sokov's eyes lit up when he stared at the stamps.
After this episode ended, Yakov sat down in an armchair and said to Sokov: "Misha, I want to talk to you about the new rocket launcher you designed."
Thinking of Yakov's expression when he came out of Ustinov's office, Sokov felt that there was something interesting about this. He quickly sat down in another armchair and couldn't wait to ask: "Yakov, Tell me quickly, what do Comrade People’s Comrade think of the rocket launcher I designed?”
"It's a pity, Misha!" Yakov shook his head and said with regret on his face: "Comrade Comrade People's Commissar is not interested in the rocket launcher you designed at all."
Yakov's words almost made Sokov's jaw hit the ground. After the room was silent for a long time, Sokov asked in confusion: "But, I saw that when you came out of Comrade People's Commissar's office, the expression on your face was quite happy..." Although he did not finish his words, But the implication is obvious. After you reported your work, you came out with a happy face, but now you tell me that Ustinov is not interested in my design. Aren't you kidding me?
"Oh, that's it." Seeing that Sokov seemed to have a misunderstanding, Yakov quickly explained to him: "Although Comrade People's Commissar is not interested in your design, he knows how much you have saved my life, so Give me 48 hours of leave and let me spend two days with you in Moscow."
Yakov poured cold water on his head, leaving Sokov completely dumbfounded. He did not expect that China's magic weapon in later generations, the "guerrilla weapon" that defeated the two great powers of the Soviet Union and the United States, was Ustinov. He actually looked down upon it. The reason why he took out the drawings of this 107 rocket launcher now is because he felt that his troops would be transferred to Stalingrad sooner or later. If he did not have a magic weapon that surpassed this era, he would not be able to defeat Stalin, who was known as the meat grinder. Surviving the Battle of Grad is simply a fantasy.
Seeing Sokov's lost look, Yakov continued: "Misha, you and I have been old friends for many years. I will tell you something directly. The reason why Comrade Comrade People's Commissar looks down on this rocket launcher , completely because the appearance is too crude, to put it bluntly, after it is covered with mud, it is impossible to tell whether it is a weapon or an agricultural tool."
Hearing what Yakov said, Sokov quickly asked: "Yakov, are you saying that the reason why this rocket launcher was rejected by Comrade People's Commissar was entirely because its appearance is too crude?"
"Yes, that's exactly what it is."
After figuring out Ustinov's true thoughts, a new hope ignited in Sokov's heart: "Yakov, I want to ask you something. Can you arrange for me to meet Comrade People's Commissar? I I want to talk to him personally.”
If someone else had made such a request, Yakov would have refused without hesitation. Just kidding, Comrade People's Commissar has so many things to do every day, how could he meet just anyone? But the person who said this now was his friend for many years, and he had saved his life not long ago, so after some thought, he nodded and replied: "Okay, Misha, I promise you. But Whether Comrade People's Commissar sees you depends on your luck."
