Accompanied by the lights of the city center, the suburbs of Moscow had already gone to sleep. The night had already drawn the curtain on this country road, and only sporadic street lights decorated the lonely night sky. A Renault SUV drove by, raising the dust that had been silent for a long time on the road.
The birch tree swayed gently with a rustling sound, and the branches bloomed with buds that belonged to April. Among the flowers symbolizing life stood an Orthodox cross, and below the cross was an inconspicuous tombstone.
Preobrazhensky Cemetery. This path had a poetic name – "Hero's Path."
A bouquet of white lilies was placed in front of the tombstone. Her index finger gently touched the lines on the tombstone and brushed away the dust that hid the hero's name. Lines of tadpole-like text wrote her life on the tombstone. However, unlike most heroes buried here, there was no record of her achievements on the tombstone.
There were generally only two possibilities for this to happen. Perhaps her achievements were not honorable, or perhaps it was inconvenient for her achievements to be recorded, or perhaps it was a combination of both …
[Marina Ivanovna Nikolaeva]
Moscow in April was still relatively cold. Especially at night.
Natasha squatted in front of the tombstone and looked at the lines of words that she remembered countless times. She suddenly took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. The white mist that floated out from her fingers quickly dispersed into the cold night and gradually blurred her vision.
"Mom, are you okay?"
"Your daughter is doing well. I … I came to see you again. "
"Eleven years have passed since that day. I'm sorry I didn't listen to you, but your daughter eventually embarked on this road. "
Natasha buried her face in her sleeves and rubbed her eyes hard to get rid of the mist that was blocking her vision. However, it was also at this moment that her stubborn expression revealed a rare wisp of gentleness.
"But … it's okay."
Raising her head to look at the starry sky, she forced a smile on her stiff lips.
"When all this is over, I will retire."
"Although I don't know what the outcome will be, but … but as expected, I still want to try and pursue my own happiness."
Taking another deep breath, Natasha quietly felt the coldness pouring into her nasal cavity. She felt that her emotions had calmed down a little. She reached out to pick up a handful of dust and carefully wrapped it with a handkerchief.
Putting the handkerchief into her purse, Natasha stood up and bowed deeply to the tombstone.
Just as she was about to turn around and leave, she suddenly noticed a white rose lying not far from the tombstone.
The pure white petals were stained with mud, as if they had been blown by the wind …
…
Walking side by side in the corridor of the mansion, just as Jiang Chen wondered why General Nikolaev asked him to come here, the bearded general spoke.
"Did Natasha not follow you?"
When he heard the familiar name, Jiang Chen looked at him, confused.
"You know Natasha?"
After Nikolaev heard Jiang Chen's words, he grinned as if he heard a funny joke.
"You've known her for so long, but you don't even know her last name?"
Jiang Chen was slightly taken aback, and his expression suddenly became interesting.
A possibility that he had never guessed suddenly emerged in his mind. But even if the answer was already obvious, he still couldn't imagine that the man who looked like a polar bear was actually Natasha's …
"Let me reintroduce myself. My name is Vladimir Nikolaev. Natasha Vladimir Nikolaev is my daughter. "
After Jiang Chen heard this, he was silent for a long time before he squeezed out a sentence.
"I have always suspected that Natasha's background is not simple. I didn't expect her father to be the commander of the army. Don't get me wrong, I don't mean anything else. I just feel … very surprised. "
In this way, it was easy to explain why she could willfully jump from the intelligence department to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although the relationship between the father and daughter was not very harmonious, she was the daughter of General Nikolaev after all. It was hard to say that her father didn't secretly take care of her.
After hearing Jiang Chen's words, Nikolaev laughed a few times, but the laughter was quickly stained with a trace of loneliness, and finally turned into a sigh.
"It's useless to say this … It seems that she still doesn't want to see me."
"So, you invited me here because you want to see your daughter through me?" Jiang Chen made a helpless expression. "Unfortunately, when I told her that the banquet was hosted by General Nikolaev, she directly asked me for sick leave."
"No, I want to see my daughter. It's just the wish of an old father," Nikolaev shook his head and said in a mocking tone. Nikolaev shook his head and said in a mocking tone, "However, the one standing here right now is General Nikolaev, the bearded general of the 58th Army Group. Do you understand what I mean?"
Jiang Chen smiled politely and did not respond. He was not the kind of person who liked to gossip, nor did he have the interest to pry into other people's domestic affairs, nor did he intend to intervene in the conflict between the father and daughter.
Nikolaev was very clear about the position of the young man in front of him in his daughter's heart. The previous words were deliberately said to Jiang Chen, hoping that he would do something. However, Jiang Chen did not respond to his expectations, which made him slightly disappointed.
However, these disappointments were only for a moment. Today's banquet was not held for his daughter.
After a pause, Nikolaev stopped joking and said seriously, "Back to business.
"Let's get back to business. Before we attend the banquet, I hope you can accompany me to meet someone."
"Why not after the banquet? The host of the banquet disappearing for so long, I'm afraid it's not a good idea, "Jiang Chen said.
"Compared to the future of Russia, these are secondary."
Nikolaev stopped in front of a burgundy wooden door. He raised his hand and knocked three times on the wooden door.
A "click" sound came from the door, and a Russian man wearing sunglasses opened the door. After confirming the visitor, he neatly stepped aside. General Nikolaev took half a step forward, opened his hand to the room, and made a gesture to invite Jiang Chen in.
"Please."
Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and walked into the room. When he crossed the door, he looked up and saw the man sitting in front of the sofa, and an unexpected surprise appeared on his face. Just as he was surprised, the man smiled and took the lead.
"Welcome to Moscow, friend from afar."
As he spoke, the man raised his goblet from afar to express his welcome.
Although it was the first time they met, he was definitely not unfamiliar with this face.
Russian President, Putin.
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