The staff member picked up Katya's student ID card and did not open it immediately. Instead, he looked at her and asked, "Girl, are you eighteen years old?"
"Yes," Katya nodded quickly after hearing the staff member's question and said in a positive tone, "I just celebrated my eighteenth birthday two days ago."
After getting a positive answer, the staff opened Katya's ID. After reading her birthday, she nodded and said, "Sure enough, she is over 18 years old and fully meets the standards for marriage registration."
The staff member's words aroused Grisa's curiosity: "Why, are there any people who come to you to register for marriage whose age does not meet the marriage registration standards?"
"Of course there is." After the staff checked their documents, he took out two large marriage certificates from the drawer. Before formally filling them out, he said to Grisa: "Just an hour before you came, A captain brought a girl here to register her marriage. But the girl was still five months away from turning eighteen, so I rejected their request to get married."
After learning that a girl's marriage request to an officer was rejected, Grisa curiously asked: "What happened next? Did they just leave like that?"
The staff member smiled and continued: "Although the girl has not yet reached the age of marriage, this is during the war, and there can be exceptions at any time. Therefore, I made a suggestion to the two of them, asking them to go to the garrison commander and give them They issue a marriage certificate, so even if I register their marriage, it won't be a violation of the regulations."
"You are such an enthusiastic person." After praising the other party, Grisa asked tentatively: "Does this really not violate the relevant regulations?"
The staff member blinked at Grisa and said with some pride: "Comrade Lieutenant, the duty of soldiers is to defend our motherland. It is okay to give them some privileges appropriately. Besides, it is still during the war. I am doing this. I believe the superior leaders won’t say anything.”
After the staff filled out the marriage certificate, they pushed it in front of the two of them and said to them with a smile: "As long as you sign your names below, you will be a legal couple."
The two signed their names on the marriage certificate in front of them in their own places, exchanged their signatures again, and then pushed the marriage certificate to the staff. After the staff checked the signatures on the two marriage certificates, they nodded, picked up the seals on the table, slapped them on the two marriage certificates, and then pushed them over together with their certificates, with smiles on their faces. Said: "Congratulations to both of you, from now on, you are officially a couple."
In order to express his gratitude to the staff, Grisa took the paper bag from Sergeant Yelizavita's hand, took out two cans of canned vegetables, placed it gently in front of the staff, and said politely : "This is a little bit of our thoughts as a couple, please accept it."
Although they were two cans of very ordinary canned vegetables, under the conditions of the rationing system, they were a very valuable gift. The staff did not expect Griza to be so generous. As soon as he took action, he gave him two cans of canned vegetables that were almost impossible to buy in the world, and quickly expressed his gratitude to him.
Just as Grisa was holding Katya's hand and walking outside, a young girl suddenly broke in from outside. As soon as she saw Katya, she shouted: "Katya, you are indeed here."
"Yes, Nina. I came here to register my marriage." Katya turned to look at Grisa beside her and said happily: "This is my husband, Lieutenant Grisa, congratulating me. Bar!"
Unexpectedly, the young girl named Nina did not congratulate her as Katya imagined. Instead, she grabbed her arm and said excitedly: "Katya, you don't know yet, our school My classmates in the 1990s were all recruited into the army, and we were asked to rush to school to gather in the shortest possible time. I will go to your home to inform you and listen to what your mother said, if you come here for a blind date, maybe you will I came here specially to go through the marriage formalities."
"What, you are all incorporated into the army?" Grisa was shocked when he heard the news. He asked in an unbelievable tone: "But you are all women, a group of people who have not gone through any military training." What role can the trained female students play in the army?"
Hearing Grisa's question, Nina hesitated for a moment, and then said in an uncertain tone: "It is said that we were all organized into the air defense force."
Grisa looked at Katya and said: "Katja, I originally wanted to follow you home and worship your parents. Now it seems that this wish cannot be achieved."
"I'm sorry, dear Grisa." Katya looked at Grisa and said apologetically: "I didn't expect things to develop to this point. It seems that if you want to visit my parents, you can only wait until later. Let’s talk again when we have a chance.”
Several people came to the street outside. Just as the two sides were preparing to say goodbye, Grisa suddenly saw a flower house not far away and quickly said to Katya: "Katya, wait for me here. I will come soon." return."
Grisa trotted to the flower house and said to the middle-aged woman selling flowers inside: "Hello, please bring me a bouquet of flowers."
"What flowers do you want?"
Grisa turned to look at Katya, who was still standing at the door of the marriage registration office, and said to the middle-aged woman with a red face: "Flowers for my wife."
"I understand, Comrade Commander." The middle-aged woman said with a smile: "Since these are flowers for your wife, I suggest you buy red roses." She pointed to a few bouquets of roses in a vase behind her and asked, "There are five-branch and seven-branch ones, which one do you want?"
Grisa thought that it was her first time to give Katya a gift, so naturally she couldn't be too stingy, so she pointed at a bouquet of roses and said to the middle-aged woman: "Bring me a bouquet of seven roses."
When Katya saw Grisa appearing in front of her holding a bouquet of flowers, two blushes appeared on her face. She looked at Grisa and asked a little embarrassedly: "Dear, are these the flowers you gave me?"
"Yes, Katya. This bouquet of bright red roses was given to my beautiful wife by me." Grisa looked at Katya and said affectionately: "I just don't know if she likes it?"
Katya took the flowers, nodded vigorously with a red face, and said loudly: "I like it, I like it. As long as it is something you gave me, I like it."
After the two showed off their affection, Nina urged impatiently: "Katya, it's getting late. Let's get to school as soon as possible."
Grisa took out two paper bags from Sergeant Yelizavita's arms, stuffed them into Katya's arms, and said, "Katya, take all of these."
…………
After listening to Grisa tell the story of his marriage, Sokov and Belgin were silent. While they were envious of Grisa's beauty, they also felt sorry for his separation from his new wife. Sokov was even thinking secretly: "Judging from the brutality of the Stalingrad defense battle, whether Grisa's wife was in the ordinary infantry unit or the air defense unit, the chance of surviving was almost zero. "
Thinking of this, Sokov asked: "Lieutenant Grisa, do you know where Katya's home is?"
Grisa did not expect that Sokov would suddenly ask this question. After hesitating for a moment, he shook his head and replied: "I don't know."
"Then do you know the names of her parents and how old they are?" Seeing that Grisa couldn't answer his question, Sokov then asked: "What kind of job do you have now?"
Sokov had just heard from Grisa's narration that he knew nothing about the woman except that she was called Ekaterina and that she was a tenth-grade student. Therefore, he had no idea whether he could To answer my own question, I no longer have any hope. As expected, Griza still chose to shake his head in response to Sokov's new question.
Seeing Grisa asking questions, Belkin couldn't help but feel anxious for him: "Comrade Lieutenant, you don't know where Katya is studying; you don't know where she lives. Even if you don't know about her parents, Even more ignorant, I want to know now, how will you find Katya after we repulse the enemies attacking Stalingrad?"
The question raised by Belkin was rather pointed, which immediately left Grisa speechless. Grisa was silent for a long time, and then said: "I think you should be able to find relevant information at the marriage registration office."
"Comrade Lieutenant, you are too optimistic." Sokov felt that it was necessary to give Grisa a warning and let him prepare mentally in advance: "The upcoming defense battle in Stalingrad will be extremely cruel. , the tragedy is completely beyond your imagination. Many buildings in the city will be reduced to nothing in this battle, and maybe the marriage agency where you registered your marriage will also be wiped out. If the information is destroyed Where are you going to find your new wife? To put it bluntly, you have only known each other for a few hours, and you probably haven’t left a deep impression on each other. Maybe you won’t be able to recognize each other the next time you meet face to face. .”
After Grisa left, Belkin suddenly asked Sokov: "Comrade Brigadier, I want to ask, will the upcoming battle to defend Stalingrad really be as tragic as you said?"
"Yes," Sokov nodded and said in a positive tone: "I think it will be ten times a hundred times more tragic than any battle we have ever experienced."
Although Belkin was a little dissatisfied with Sokov's statement in his heart, thinking that he was exaggerating. What battle could be ten or a hundred times more tragic than the battles he had experienced? However, he did not argue with Sokov on this matter. Instead, he asked unexpectedly: "Comrade Brigadier, I think Asiya has always been interested in you. When will you register for marriage?"
Sokov was asked by Belgin. He did not expect that his political commissar would ask him such a sensitive question at this time. He thought to himself: In addition to liking Asiya, he also likes Agelina, who has repeatedly penetrated into the heart of the German army. There are also two female medical staff working near his apartment, and he seems to have a liking for her as well. If you really have to choose a marriage partner, Asiya is really not the best candidate.
Seeing that Sokov was speechless by his question, Belgin did not continue to ask, but said to himself: "Comrade Brigade Commander, if the next battle is really as cruel as you said, , I think you should give Asiya an explanation. No matter which one of you two dies in the battle in the future, there will be no regrets. Are you right?"
Belkin's words made Sokov feel speechless. He grinned and said to Belkin bravely: "Don't worry, comrade political commissar, I know this matter well."
Sokov thought in his heart that the last time he went to the city for a stroll, he got sulky because of the incident in the department store, and ended up having a bad time. Although the city leaders of Stalingrad have issued an alert to the people of the city, saying that the entire city has officially entered a state of war, in any case, the battlefield is still a long way from Stalingrad, so he might as well take advantage of this last opportunity. When the time comes, I will take Asia to the city for a walk another day and buy her some gifts and the like to make her happy.
After making up his mind, Sokov said to Belkin: "Comrade Political Commissar, I plan to take Asya to the city for a trip tomorrow. If possible, we will find a marriage registration office to get married. Things on the trip , I will trouble you to take care of me."
Hearing that Sokov planned to take Asya to the city to apply for a marriage certificate, Belkin suddenly smiled and said: "Comrade Brigade Commander, this is great, this is great. On behalf of the commanders and fighters of the entire brigade, I would like to express my sincere wishes to you in advance. Congratulations." After saying that, he reached out and shook Sokov's hand.
Sokov's original intention was just to take Asya for a walk in the city. The so-called marriage was just a casual mention, but Belkin took it seriously. However, he did not explain it specifically to Belkin, but promptly changed the subject: "Comrade Political Commissar, the superiors have been saying that they will send us a chief of staff, but why has there been no movement until now? If that doesn't work, first Let Fourth Battalion Commander Briskey temporarily act as Chief of Staff."
"I think we should wait." Belkin said to Sokov: "Yesterday when Ozor and I went to the city defense committee for a meeting, we met the commander of the front army, General Gordov. I asked him When we mentioned the lack of commanders at all levels in the brigade, he fully agreed and said that he would send us a group of capable military cadres to the brigade in the shortest possible time. Comrade Brigade Commander, we might as well wait for two more days. Otherwise, even if Briskey is hurriedly appointed as the acting chief of staff, within a few days, he will have to go back to be the battalion commander. Doing so will definitely dampen his enthusiasm for work."
Belkin's words made Sokov realize that he had considered the problem too simply. When it comes to sending a brigade chief of staff to you, your superiors must have an overall arrangement. If you rashly disrupt this arrangement, it may cause unnecessary trouble. Therefore, after Belkin finished speaking, he nodded slightly and said, "Okay, Comrade Political Commissar, we will wait a few more days."
