Chapter 288

With my rifle on my shoulder and a cloth bag of food in my hand, I carefully went down the broken stairs. As I was approaching the exit, it occurred to me that I was in such a hurry that I forgot to ask general hilov how to get to Vladimir. When they saw that I didn't ask, they probably thought I knew the way, so they didn't say much.

Go back and ask, for fear of being ridiculed; Don't ask. I'm not familiar with Leningrad. I can't find my way out. I stood in the same place and thought about it. I decided to go to the door and ask the sentry. He made up his mind and walked quickly towards the door. It's a coincidence that the Sentinels are still the two people who just checked their certificates. They are now jumping in the same place because of the cold.

The sentry on the right, the older one who had spoken to me, came up to him and asked, "Comrade soldier, I want to ask you how to get to the Vladimir street by the Neva River?"

The sentry stopped beating at once, raised his left hand and pointed to the road in front of him. He moved from left to right and answered in a hoarse voice: "Comrade major, you go out from here. After you get to the road, walk along the road to the west, walk ten minutes to the River, and you will see a public transport platform. You can take a tram from there." He took his hand back, counted it with a bent finger, and then said with certainty, "eight stops to Vladimir street."

Just as I was about to say thank you, and then I left, the sentry added, "Comrade major, because of the lack of electricity in the city, many tram flights have been cancelled. Maybe you will have to wait a long time to get a car. If you have something urgent, I suggest you take a ride

I solemnly said thanks to the sentry who showed me the way, and then walked westward to the Neva River with things and guns on my back.

There were few pedestrians on the road. After walking for a long time, I saw five or six people. They were all wearing thick clothes, hoods or hats. They could not tell whether they were male or female from the appearance, but they were all moving forward slowly in the same strange posture.

The houses on both sides of the road can hardly find a complete brick concrete structure house, which has become piles of two or three stories of construction waste. The walls of those marble buildings that didn't collapse were full of holes. After the side wall near the roadside completely collapsed, you can clearly see all kinds of indoor furniture covered by snow on the road.

From a distance, I saw seven or eight people standing in a neat line under a standing metal sign on the frozen Neva River. Looking at the track under the snow in the middle of the road, I can conclude that this is the bus stop that the sentry told me. So I quickened my pace and walked past. Without talking to anyone, I consciously ranked last in the line.

There was a strong wind by the river, and all the people in front of them were wrapped tightly, only a pair of eyes showed. Seeing their dress, I also felt colder, so I pressed down the cotton military cap on my head and wrapped my military coat more tightly.

Fortunately, time is not long, in the clear bell, a tram slowly stopped in front of the platform. As soon as the tram stopped, the line in front of me slowly moved to the open front door.

There was no conductor on the bus. Every passenger on the bus handed the money to the driver directly. I felt my pocket. Fortunately, there were a few coins in it. In such a low price era, it should be no problem to buy a ticket.

When it was my turn to get on the bus, I took out the coin in my pocket, picked up a five Gobi and handed it to me. Unexpectedly, the driver waved his hand and said feebly, "Comrade commander, according to the regulations, all military personnel taking public transport during the war are free of charge." Then he ignored me and yelled, "next one."

The seats on the bus are full and many people are standing, but it's not too crowded. I was afraid that there would be too many people on the bus later, so I tried to squeeze the back door, so that I would not be able to squeeze when I should get off.

My guess is good. The tram stops at several stops, and some people get off, but more people get on, and soon the whole carriage is packed.

As soon as the eighth stop arrived, I jumped out of the open door. The tram stops by the river. On the opposite side of the road is a group of buildings. The house I'm looking for should be among them. I looked around and saw an underground passage not far away. Instead of crossing the road, I went straight to the passage.

Just a few steps down, I saw a wrinkled old lady standing with her back against the wall, holding a pair of black cotton padded trousers in her hands. I don't know how long she has been standing here, her head and shoulders are covered with snowflakes. Curious, I walked over and saw that it was obviously a pair of cotton padded trousers that I had been wearing for several years. There was a piece of cardboard hanging on it, and there were several black words: "change 100 grams of bread."

Seeing this scene, I can't help sighing. In the current environment, people's first consideration is how to fill their stomach. As for clothing, they are not so particular about it. Not to mention the old cotton padded trousers, it is estimated that even if they are new, no one will exchange them with precious food.

I untied the cloth bag and looked inside. Kirianova and Orlova prepared a lot of things for me. In addition to five or six dried bread wrapped in kraft paper, a tin of condensed milk, a packet of sugar, a piece of cream, four or five enemas, and even a rare piece of Saro (a kind of salted meat product, similar to bacon and bacon, but it is mainly made of fat meat, Lean meat is just an embellishment. It's a Ukrainian specialty.

I took out a bag of dry bread, weighed the weight, almost 100 grams, and handed it to the old lady. However, she did not have any response, just silent, with empty, dull eyes looking at me. I pulled her hands down, put the dried bread into her hands and said, "grandma, this is a bag of dried bread. Please take it." The old lady was stunned for a while. When she realized that the food I gave her was extremely precious, she suddenly made an unexpected move. She suddenly held the dried bread and cotton padded trousers firmly in her arms, and squatted down against the wall, fearing that someone would suddenly come out and snatch the bread from her hands. I tied up my bag, carried it and went into the dark corridor without lighting. Out of the passageway, looking at the dilapidated building in front of me, I can't help but have some silly eyes. Which house is the 146 building I'm looking for? I walked towards the nearest house. The street sign on the house said building 122. I walked towards the building on the left. When I saw the sign above said building 120, I knew that I was going in the opposite direction. I turned around and walked in the opposite direction. When I came to Leningrad to meet Rita's family, I just took a formality. I met her mother and son, chatted a few words, put down some food, and quickly got away on the pretext that there was a task in the army. I didn't expect that with the approaching of building 146, my heart began to speed up. Is it that Lida's family love hidden in my body has been activated that makes me so uneasy? Is this the legendary close family? Finally, outside building 146, the house is an old three story building, which was seriously damaged by the German artillery bombardment. Two thirds of the building has collapsed, and only one unit building remains relatively intact. I went to the door of the unit and looked inside. I couldn't see anything clearly in the dark. There was silence inside the door, as if no one was living at all. I went into the door, groped for a few steps forward in the dark, and when my eyes got used to the light, I cried out, "is anyone here? Is anyone here? " With my shouts, the sound of opening the door came from my left side. I turned around and saw a middle-aged woman standing at the door of the room. She asked me in a dry voice, "Comrade soldier, what can I do for you?" I went up to her and asked in a friendly manner, "Hello! I'm looking for someone. " The middle-aged woman looked at me and asked, "who are you looking for? I know almost all the people who live here, but many of them have been evacuated. Maybe the person you are looking for has left. " Her question really caught me. I don't know Rita's mother's name besides her son's name is Alec. However, I was stunned for a moment, and then I thought about how to ask so as not to show any flaws. So I said, "an elderly woman, and a child who is only three years old. They are not from Leningrad. They came here from other cities after the outbreak of the war. "“ Oh, you said old lady Liuxia. She lives on the third floor, the first room on the right. Are people there? Yes, she must be at home, because every time before she goes out, she will say hello to me. Only our two families in this building have not been evacuated. " After thanking her, I went up to the second floor with the cold railing, and then to the third floor. Because the walls are full of holes, the light is good. I went to the first door on my right hand, took a deep breath, and then banged on the door. After knocking, I listened to the movement inside, and there was no sound at all. Is there no one to live in? can't. Just now, the woman downstairs made it very clear that the old lady lives here, and she hasn't been out of the door today. Maybe my knock on the door is too small for her to hear. Knock again! So I banged on the door again, and this time something came out, as if someone was coming slowly towards the door. I put down my knocking hand and asked aloud, "is there anyone in the room?" An old voice came out of the door: "who?"