"Excuse me, is this Mr. Saviev's home?" Liu Xianghai asked in pure Russian to the door.

The door opened, and an old woman stood at the door, looking at the three uninvited guests outside, and asked suspiciously, "May I ask who are you?" Is there anything to do with my husband? ”。

Liu Xianghai carefully identified the old woman in front of him, and it took him a long time before he recognized the appearance of his former wife from between the old woman's eyebrows, and he said softly: "Mrs. Saviev, do you still know me?" I'm Andrey. ”

Andrei is naturally the Russian name that Liu Xianghai took when he was studying in the Soviet Union, and it seems to be fashionable to do so in those days, because Chinese names are difficult to remember in the eyes of Russians, and if you can't afford a Russian name, the teacher can't communicate with you at all.

Hearing the name Andrei, and seeing the Oriental face in front of her, Mrs. Saviev looked as if she had been electrocuted, with a look of surprise on her face, and a light flashed in her cloudy eyes. She leaned closer, even tiptoed slightly, looked at Liu Xianghai's face seriously, and then stretched out her hands and grabbed Liu Xianghai's arm, and shouted excitedly: "My God, Andrei, good boy, is it really you?" ”。

"It's me, Mom, I'm Andre, your child is back to see you."

Mrs. Savev's "good boy" touched the softest place in Liu Xianghai's heart at once. When Liu Xianghai was studying in the Soviet Union, he was just in his early 20s, and in the eyes of Mrs. Saviev, he was like her child. At that time, they also called each other "child" and "mother", but after many years, Liu Xianghai was not sure whether he could still use the old titles of the past. Now, hearing Mrs. Saviev call him a "good boy", Liu Xianghai's tears welled up all of a sudden.

For more than 30 years, China and the Soviet Union have experienced the great controversy in the early 60s, the military confrontation in the late 60s, the Cultural Revolution, and the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Chen Tian and Lin Zhenhua stood behind Liu Xianghai, looking at the scene of a foreign mother and son recognizing each other, and they couldn't help but sigh. Chen Tian knew Russian, and he simply translated for Lin Zhenhua so that Lin Zhenhua could understand what Liu Xianghai and Mrs. Saviev were saying.

"Are these two husbands also your friends?" Mrs. Saviev managed to control her emotions, and she asked Liu Xianghai while wiping her tears with a handkerchief.

Liu Xianghai hurriedly introduced Chen Tian and Lin Zhenhua to Mrs. Saviev, and Mrs. Saviev said, "Children, come in and sit in the living room." ”

The three men followed Mrs. Saviev into the drawing-room, and Saviev had already heard the sound and had come down from the upstairs study. Liu Xianghai hurriedly stepped forward and bowed to him, shouting: "Teacher Saviev, hello, I'm Andrey, do you remember me?" ”。

"Oh, Andrey, your Chinese name is ...... Liu Xianghai, why did you come to St. Petersburg? Saviev said Liu Xianghai's Chinese name in broken Chinese, and his eyes also showed a gleam of joy.

Liu Xianghai sat down on the sofa with Saviev in his arms, and he sat beside him. Chen Tian was a self-acquaintance, and Mrs. Saviev only greeted him, and he sat down on a sofa. Lin Zhenhua played the role of a small attendant in this trip, he took Mrs. Saviev to the kitchen and handed her a large bag of gifts that he had brought with him.

"This is a canned ham? Oh, and canned tuna, this is ......" Mrs. Saviev looked at the Chinese food that Lin Zhenhua had brought, and her face showed a look of joy.

"It's meat floss, it's baked with pork." Lin Zhenhua said to Mrs. Saviev in English, he had already asked just now, the old lady is also engaged in scientific research, and basic English conversation is no problem.

"Thank you, good boy, these gifts are so valuable." Mrs. Saviev said gratefully, "You probably know in China, that in the past two years, prices in Russia have risen horribly. Even for families with relatively high wages like ours, it is very difficult to buy these things. With all this food you've delivered, I'll have something good for them to eat when my grandchildren come back at the weekend. ”

"Mrs. Saviev, you can keep this food and eat it with Mr. Saviev. We came to Russia this time and brought a lot of food, and I'll send you a big box in two days to make sure you have enough for the children. Lin Zhenhua said.

Lin Zhenhua: Of course, it is impossible for them to bring a lot of food and drink with them when they come here. But Lin Zhenhua knew that Qi Zhongmou had opened several supermarkets in St. Petersburg, which sold Chinese electrical appliances, clothing and food, and he only needed to send a security soldier there, even if it was a cart of things.

Mrs. Saviev hurriedly said, "No, child, really not. These things you have given us are already very valuable, how can we ask you for so many things? ”

Lin Zhenhua said with a smile: "Mrs. Saviev, this is all Dean Liu, oh, by the way, it is what Andre gave you." He once told us that when he was a student in the Soviet Union, he often came to your house for dinner, and he was particularly impressed by the small bread you baked. ”

"Really? That's great. Son, you must stay at my house to eat today, and I will bake you a little bread. Mrs. Saviev said.

When Lin Zhenhua returned to the living room, he saw that Saviev and Liu Xianghai each had some tears on their faces, and they were exchanging something with emotion. Chen Tian asked Lin Zhenhua to sit down beside him, and then whispered: "Dean Liu just told Saviev about his experience in those years, and now he is talking about his current work. ”

"Lao Liu didn't leak secrets, right?" Lin Zhenhua asked jokingly, of course he knew that Liu Xianghai was not the kind of person who was open-mouthed, and Liu Xianghai could figure out what he could say and what he couldn't say.

Chen Tiandao: "Dean Liu didn't say much, but the old man basically understood his situation. Dean Liu is an authority on naval equipment, Lao Maozi has been collecting his intelligence, the old man is a person in the circle, and Lao Liu is his favorite apprentice, so he naturally knows more. ”

"That's okay, everyone is open and honest, and you don't have to go around the bush." Lin Zhenhua said.

The old story between Liu Xianghai and Saviev has come to an end, and Saviev finally asked Liu Xianghai's intention. Liu Xianghai said: "Teacher, I can't hide it, I came to St. Petersburg this time to recruit some talents. What we're doing, you're basically clear. As you know, China is very short of talent in this area, and I am in great need of Russian professionals to assist me right now. ”

"So you're here to dig a corner?" Saviev's face sank slightly and he said.

Liu Xianghai asked rhetorically: "Teacher, are you saying that besides us, there are other people who have also dug the corner?" ”。

"Of course," said Saviev, "since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the Americans, the British, the Japanese, and people from unknown countries have been circling St. Petersburg like flies, and they have hired scientists from various design institutes to serve them at high salaries." Dozens of outstanding scientists have been poached by the Shark Design Institute. I'm in my 70s, and I've been approached by people who offer me $50,000 a year to work abroad. ”

"Did you say yes?". Liu Xianghai asked.

"Of course I won't agree," Saviev said, "how can we go abroad casually because our minds are filled with Soviet defense secrets?" Not to mention going to serve abroad. But not everyone thinks this way. Now the government doesn't take care of our military design institutes at all, anyone who wants to go can go, it turns out that going abroad still needs to be stamped and approved by the organization, and now you can go casually to get a visa. ”

"I see." Liu Xianghai replied perfunctorily.

Saviev said: "Andrey, are you, like them, here to poach our design talents?" Now that the USSR is collapsing and the whole world is falling, are you like them? ”。

"Well...... this" Liu Xianghai was speechless, and in the face of the teacher's questioning, he couldn't think of how to respond for a while. In his heart, he also felt a little sorry for coming to Russia to grab talents, and now he was forced to ask by Saviev like this, and he couldn't open his mouth even more.

"Academician Saviev, we are different from those in Western countries." Chen Tian spoke leisurely, he could understand the conversation between Saviev and Liu Xianghai in Russian, but what he said just now was in English, mainly so that Lin Zhenhua could also understand. He knew that Liu Xianghai was not a person who could fool, and if he really wanted to persuade Saviev, it was estimated that he would have to let Lin Zhenhua make a move.

"What's different about you?" Saviev also changed to English and asked Chen Tian.

Chen Tian said with a smile: "The biggest difference between us and Western countries is that we are a socialist country, and we and the Soviet Union used to be in the same camp. ”

"Socialism?" Saviev was stunned, although it has been less than a year since the collapse of the Soviet Union, the word socialism seems to be a little strange to Saveyev. He looked at Chen Tian in surprise and asked, "Are you saying that you still insist on socialism in China?" ”。

"Yes, Academician Savev." Lin Zhenhua joined the conversation, saying: "In the past, we said that only socialism could save China. And now, we want to say that only China can save socialism. ”