1

Tang Feng and Xu Renyu had settled down at St. Petersburg University before Han Jiang, which was founded in 1819 on the north bank of the Neva River, opposite the Hermitage on the south bank. It was known as Leningrad University during the Soviet era, and after the collapse of the Soviet Union, it changed back to its original name as the city of St. Petersburg changed. St. Petersburg University has a wide range of disciplines and specializations, and the prestigious Department of Oriental Studies here concentrates the elite of Russian Oriental studies.

Xu Renyu had traveled here in his early years, and he had a wide range of interests, including engineering, science, and liberal arts, and once he overheard a lecture by a professor in the Department of Oriental Studies, and he still clearly remembers that lecture on the history of Asian nomads, and he also clearly remembers the professor's name, Boris.

When he was young, Xu Renyu was deeply impressed by Professor Boris's profound knowledge, elegance, and rigorous academic attitude, in just one class, Professor Boris talked about the Turks, Uighurs, Tibet, and then talked about the Khitan, Jurchen, Mongolia, and of course, the party, the small classroom that could only accommodate 30 people was full of students from various majors, most of the students may only be in contact with these ancient peoples in the East for the first time, Xu Renyu did not expect a Westerner, so familiar with the history of the East, Although he had previously learned a little about the history in books, this was the first time he had learned about this history systematically, so Xu Renyu listened to Professor Boris three lectures in a row within a week, and Professor Boris also noticed the black-haired, yellow-skinned Chinese student.

Xu Renyu still clearly remembers the first conversation between him and Professor Boris, that is, after Professor Boris finished a class, Xu Renyu wanted to ask the professor a question, but Xu Renyu, who was not very good at spoken Russian at that time, hesitated for a long time, and did not muster up the courage to open his mouth to Professor Boris, but Professor Boris saw Xu Renyu's doubts and asked first in proficient Chinese: "Are you Chinese?" ”

Xu Renyu did not expect Professor Boris's Chinese to be so good, let alone that he suddenly saw that he was Chinese, Xu Renyu blushed slightly, nodded, plucked up courage, and asked Professor Boris: "How do you see that I am Chinese?" ”

Professor Boris smiled mischievously and said, "To use your Chinese proverb, 'the secret of heaven cannot be revealed'!" ”

"I can't see that you're quite funny, it's completely different from when you were in class!" Xu Renyu also relaxed.

"Because I haven't seen Chinese students for a long time, to be precise, I haven't seen Chinese for a long time, although I study the East!" Professor Boris sighed heavily at this.

"Yes! Since the bitterness between China and the Soviet Union, few Chinese have come here. However, now that more and more Chinese students will come to your classes in the future! Xu Renyu comforted.

"Lend you good words!" Boris smiled mischievously again. Immediately, he asked Xu Renyu again: "How is it, are you still interested in my class?" ”

"I'm very interested, I didn't know much about these histories in China before, but I learned a lot from listening to your classes." Xu Renyu said.

"Then you are welcome to come to my classes often! By the way, you're not a student in our department, are you? Professor Boris asked.

Xu Renyu shook his head, "I came to study engineering, that day, I only occasionally passed by this classroom and heard you talk about the history of the oriental nomads, so I came in to listen, but I didn't expect to be attracted by your class at once." ”

"Hmmm! It's a pity, but I'm sure if you were my student, you would be an excellent student. Professor Boris said with regret.

Xu Renyu looked flattered, and hurriedly said: "Don't worry, as long as I am free in the future, I will come to listen to your class." ”

Professor Boris nodded with satisfaction, and from then on, Xu Renyu would come to this classroom to listen to lectures whenever he was free, and this listening was a semester.

2

A semester passed quickly, and although Xu Renyu was not a student of Boris, he seemed to have become a guest of Professor Boris, it was a difficult time when the Soviet Union had just collapsed, and the ruble was depreciating every day. But even in such a difficult situation, Professor Boris often invited Xu Renyu to his home, which is a small teacher's apartment assigned by the school, and every time Xu Renyu goes, he only sees Professor Boris alone, no hostess, and no one else.

The last time Xu Renyu saw Professor Boris was before he finished his studies in Petersburg and was about to leave.

Xu Renyu knew that the word "not ashamed" came from Confucius's "Analects", but he did not understand its meaning, so he humbly asked Professor Boris, who said quietly: "Confucius said, 'People do not know and are not ashamed, and they are not gentlemen', which means that others do not understand me, do not accept me, and I do not complain; ”

Xu Renyu was greatly moved, and after returning to China, he carefully framed and collected this character. At this moment, after more than ten years of absence, Xu Renyu returned to Petersburg, returned to this beautiful campus, and felt a lot of emotion, this word was in his purse, Xu Renyu sighed softly, and said to Tang Feng: "Let's go to the place where we live first, put down the luggage, and then I will take you to visit Petersburg, however, it is really not the right time for us to come, the cold winter, the snow covers the beautiful face of Petersburg, if it is summer, it is the most beautiful season in Petersburg, the quietly flowing Neva River, the lingering Gulf of Finland, The magnificent Winter Palace, as well as the Summer Palace, the Tsarskoye Village, the Isaakiev Cathedral, the Peter and Paul Fortress, and even more magically, the White Nights in St. Petersburg, every summer, the sun never sets, Petersburg has become a veritable city that never sleeps. ”

Xu Renyu said a lot of famous attractions in Petersburg in one breath without pity, and Tang Feng said very calmly: "We are not here to play this time, don't forget our mission." In addition, I felt that Petersburg was covered with snow and ice. ”

Xu Renyu nodded and sighed, "Yes! We're in the mood to play now, I just hope it's over soon. ”

"Alas! By the way, Doctor, we are both visiting scholars, what kind of scholars have you arranged for us two? Tang Feng asked suspiciously.

"Oh! Don't worry, I've arranged it, and we've been invited by the Department of Russian Language and Literature to visit and research. Xu Renyu said seriously.

When Tang Feng heard this, Xu Renyu actually found a major that had nothing to do with their majors, pretended to be a visiting scholar, and fainted, he yelled at Xu Renyu: "Aren't you going to show my foreign appearance?" I didn't even learn Russian so much, and you actually asked me to pretend to be a scholar of Russian literary studies, damn it! I'll see yours below. ”

"Look at me? You think I know Russian literature? At that time, I only studied Russian, and I was more engineering and didn't know anything about Russian literature. Xu Renyu spread his hands and said helplessly.

"Then what kind of garlic do you fill! You won't be looking for another major? ”

"Isn't that familiar with the professors in their department? It's all buddies! "Xu Renyu has always been very well-connected.

"I see that you are buddies with everyone, but you can't find such a ...... that we can't either" Tang Feng became more and more angry the more he said.

"Neither of us? Actually, there's nothing about Russian literature, isn't it? Pushkin, Lermontov, Turgenev, Dostoevsky, Tolstoy, and ...... And Mayakovsky, by the way, and Yesenin! Xu Renyu reported the names of the Russian writers he knew in total.

"You know a lot! Then the responsibility of communicating with the Russian counterparts will be entrusted to you. We can't disgrace my alma mater. ”

"Come on, as far as you know if you don't embarrass your alma mater, do you think my doctor is a civil science? We have letters of appointment from more than a dozen universities! Wasn't this requisitioned by the man surnamed Han? Otherwise, I would have gone to teach and educate people in the university now! ”

Tang Feng didn't say anything anymore, but Xu Renyu smiled and said: "I'll tell you the truth, I've coordinated everything, this time we will pretend to have a heavy cold, we don't need to study any Russian literature, we haven't completed a lot of tasks yet!" The two of them said and went downstairs to a teacher's dormitory.

3

The administrator of the dormitory is an old lady who has made a fortune, she brought Tang Feng and Xu Renyu to their room, a two-bedroom suite, Tang Feng looked at the room, and was quite satisfied, just to add some more things, but Xu Renyu said: "Come on, we don't know how many days to stay here, so be it!" ”

After settling down, Tang Feng asked Xu Renyu: "No matter what visiting scholar is, what is the first thing we have to do seriously?" ”

Xu Renyu thought about it, and then seemed to be talking to himself, and seemed to answer Tang Feng and said, "If only my Boris teacher was still here?" ”

"Boris-sensei?" Tang Feng was puzzled.

Xu Renyu introduced his Boris teacher to Tang Feng, and in the end, Xu Renyu said with confidence: "Professor Boris's research direction is the history of Asian nomads, which is generally called 'frontier history' in China, which is very close to your professional direction. I still remember that Professor Boris had a very beautiful little notebook, which was densely filled with his research experience, many of which he wrote in Chinese, as well as English, French, and many languages that I did not even know, and Professor Boris said that they were all ancient oriental languages. ”

"In this way, this Professor Boris may have studied the history of the Tangut side."

"Not only that, Professor Boris's mentor is the most famous Russian master of Sinology, Academician Alek, and many of Academician Alek's students were later engaged in the study of documents unearthed in Northwest China, especially those of Dunhuang and Heishui, such as Menlev, who later became a famous master of Sinology, and you should not forget the things mentioned in those seven top-secret letters." Xu Renyu reminded Tang Feng.

Tang Feng then remembered, "Yes! Of the seven top-secret letters, three are related to Academician Alec, do you suspect that this Professor Boris also knows about the jade interstitial? Even...... Even the participants of the scientific expedition that year, but there were only two survivors in the scientific expedition team that year? ”

"The people who knew about it back then were not necessarily the participants of the scientific expedition team, there should have been some scholars who knew about and participated in this matter back then, but they did not directly participate in the scientific expedition team, which you can see from the last of the seven top-secret letters."

"The last one? A letter written by the chairman of the KGB, Shelepin? Tang Feng wondered.

"It should be said that he gave the order!"

"That's right! In that letter, Shelepin asked all those in the know, especially the academics involved in the research, to keep it a secret! He even mentioned interviewing the most knowledgeable academics. Tang Feng recalled the contents of the letter.

"Yes, this shows that at least a few scholars on the Soviet side were in the know of the year, and the participants, although they did not directly participate in the scientific expedition, should also know the inside story." Xu Renyu said affirmatively.

"Hmmm! Hearing you say that, I can't wait to meet this Professor Boris now. However, after all these years, do you still have contact with Professor Boris? ”

"This ...... This is also what I was worried about, when I returned to China, I kept in touch with Professor Boris by letter, but a few years later, I sent several letters in a row, but I did not receive a reply from Professor Boris, so that I broke off contact with Professor Boris, and later, I asked a friend here to inquire about Professor Boris, but the reply from my friends here was different, some said that he was still teaching at the university, some said that he had left here, and after that, I forgot about it. Xu Renyu said with regret.

After Tang Feng heard this, he was also disappointed, "If that's the case, I don't think there's much hope of finding him!" ”

"Stop talking nonsense, aren't we here? Visit this Professor Boris right away. After Xu Renyu finished speaking, he put on his coat and went out with Tang Feng.

4

Xu Renyu stumbled for a while, and with his memory, he quickly found the teacher's apartment where Professor Boris lived back then. But in the apartment, the owner has already changed, and a young man and woman in the house have never heard of a professor Boris living here.

Xu Renyu walked downstairs stupidly, and Tang Feng asked him, "You can't be mistaken, right?" Xu Renyu raised his head and looked at the old apartment building, which was still the same as before, and he replied to Tang Feng affirmatively: "It won't be wrong, it's this building, after so many years, although it hasn't been demolished, it has long been a thing!" ”

"Shall we go to the Department of Oriental Studies and ask? We also got to know the teachers there! Tang Feng reminded Xu Renyu.

Xu Renyu nodded and said, "That's the only way!" ”

The two braved the heavy snow and spent a long time on campus to find the Department of Oriental Studies, where Professor Boris once taught, which gathered a group of outstanding Russian scholars and was an important center for Russian Oriental studies.

As the New Year approached, there was no one in the department, and just when Tang Feng and Xu Renyu were at a loss, they found that by the window at the end of the corridor, there was a young man smoking alone, the young man looked like he was in his early thirties, wearing gold-rimmed glasses, well-dressed, and looking like a scholar.

Tang Feng and Xu Renyu glanced at each other and stepped forward together, Xu Renyu opened his mouth and introduced himself: "Hello, I used to study here, I haven't come back for a long time, I want to find a teacher, but I lost contact with him, I want to ask you, do you know Professor Boris?" ”

"Who? What is his last name? The young man asked in surprise.

Xu Renyu struggled to recall: "Boris, he seems to have the surname Ustinov, he taught here more than ten years ago. ”

"You mean Professor Boris Mikhainovich Ustinov?" The young man reported the full name of Professor Boris.

Xu Renyu's eyes lit up and exclaimed, "Yes! Yes, that's him. ”

"You're a student of the professor?" The young scholar was not in a hurry to tell Professor Xu Renyu's whereabouts, but asked about Xu Renyu.

Xu Renyu nodded and said, "Sort of!" I listened to Professor Boris more than 10 years ago. ”

"Oh! If so, then I have to regret to inform you that Professor Boris died eight years ago. The young scholar said calmly.

"What? Passed away? Xu Renyu and Tang Feng exclaimed at the same time.

"Yes, trust me, because I'm also a student of Professor Boris." The young scholar said sincerely.

"You're also a student of Professor Boris?" Tang Feng asked rhetorically in Russian.

"Hmmm! I was the last graduate student under Professor Boris's supervision. The young scholar said, holding his glasses.

"How did the professor die?" Xu Renyu asked the young man.

The young scholar calmly replied: "It is a rare skin disease, and the professor experienced great pain before he died. ”

Xu Renyu secretly calculated in his heart, eight years ago? It was almost when I lost contact with Professor Boris, and it seemed that this was the case, and I had an ominous premonition in my heart at that time, but I didn't expect that after eight years, I finally confirmed my premonition back then.

Xu Renyu calmed down a little and asked the young scholar again, "Can you tell me where Professor Boris's grave is?" I want to pay a visit. ”

"At the Shuvalovo cemetery."

"Shuvalovo cemetery?" Xu Renyu wrote down the name.

"It's near the tomb of his teacher, Academician Alec." The young scholar added.

Saying goodbye to the young scholar, Tang Feng and Xu Renyu walked out of the building, Xu Renyu looked at the sky, it was getting late today, he made up his mind that he would go to the Shuvalovo Cemetery tomorrow to see Professor Boris.

5

The next day, and the last day before the arrival of the New Year, Xu Renyu wanted to go to Shuvalovo Cemetery in the morning to see Professor Boris, but Han Jiang arrived on a flight in the morning, although according to their prior agreement, the two sides did not meet in public, but Tang Feng and Xu Renyu still went to the airport. Tang Feng and Xu Renyu watched Han Jiang from a distance at the airport until they saw Han Jiang walk out of the waiting hall and get into a taxi before quietly leaving the airport.

At noon, Xu Renyu was called by a group of his Russian friends to pour two large bottles of vodka in the name of celebrating the New Year, and when he returned to the dormitory, he vomited for a while, until he vomited clean, and lay on the bed for two hours, and at three o'clock in the afternoon, Xu Renyu barely woke up.

Xu Renyu still insisted on going to Shuvalovo Cemetery, Tang Feng had to accompany him, and when the two arrived at the cemetery by taxi, it was almost four o'clock, and the sky was getting dark, Xu Renyu looked at the sky and complained: "In Petersburg in winter, the days are really short, and it will be dark at four o'clock in the afternoon." ”

Tang Feng looked at the sky, then at the crosses beside them, and said with some fear: "I think let's go back, you don't know the specific location of Professor Boris's tomb, it's just the two of us here, do we still have to look for these crosses?" Why don't you come back tomorrow at dawn? ”

Xu Renyu sneered: "We've come over with strong winds and waves, drill a graveyard, and you're scared?" Hehe! ”

Tang Feng wanted to refute, but looking at the darkening sky, he swallowed his words again. Shuvalovo Cemetery, where many famous people in Petersburg and even Russian history are buried, Tang Feng and Xu Renyu walked through a pile of various graves, looking for the grave of Professor Boris.

Suddenly, Tang Feng saw a small hill, among a large pile of grave weeds, suddenly a huge black stele, the two of them were bold, touched this black stele in front of it, Tang Feng took out the flashlight he carried, and shone it to the black tombstone, two lines of Chinese appeared on the black stele, like a couplet Chinese pasted on both sides of the door, one side is engraved with "sincerity and object, the heart is wide and fat", and the other side is engraved with "tireless teaching and learning", on the top of the stele is an open scroll, and the scroll is engraved with two words - "not ashamed".

Seeing this, Tang Feng said suspiciously: "How can a stone tablet engraved with Chinese appear in this Russian cemetery?" ”

"Because this is the burial place of Academician Alec." Xu Renyu recognized the word "not ashamed" and also recognized the owner of this cemetery.

Tang Feng looked at it carefully again and affirmed: "That's right! This is the tomb of Academician Alek, a master of Russian sinology, and the tombstone is very distinctive. ”

"That's it! Hurry up, we are looking for the grave of Professor Boris, and yesterday, the young scholar said that the grave of Professor Boris is near his teacher, Academician Alek. ”

The two searched for more than ten minutes, and then in a remote corner near the cemetery of Academician Alek, they found a very small stone tablet, which had no Chinese characters, no other superfluous words, and even the date and death of the deceased, only the name "Boris Mikhainovich Ustinov" engraved in Russian.

Tang Feng and Xu Renyu stood in front of Professor Boris's tomb for a long time, Xu Renyu put a bouquet of flowers he bought when he came in front of the tombstone, Tang Feng and he both noticed that in front of such a remote, lonely, simple and shabby tombstone, in addition to the bouquet of flowers that Xu Renyu had just offered, there was also a bouquet of flowers, which seemed to have been offered by someone not long ago, it was a bouquet of red roses, it was a kind of red that was indescribable in words, this red rose was lying quietly in the white snow, it was so bright, and it was so dazzling.

6

Tang Feng and Xu Renyu walked out of Shuvalovo Cemetery, walked a long way, only to catch a car, all the way were celebrating the New Year, the car was moving very slowly, later, Tang Feng and Xu Renyu simply jumped out of the car, also joined the carnival crowd, the two while enjoying the fireworks, while walking towards the dormitory, just like that, the two spent several hours on the road, until eleven o'clock in the evening to arrive at the dormitory.

Tang Feng opened the door, and he immediately smelled a pungent smell of smoke, which was not the smell of Xu Renyu's pipe, and he didn't smoke himself, "It's not good, someone in the room has come in!" Tang Feng instinctively retracted his hand to turn on the light, and just wanted to retreat out the door, he heard a familiar voice from the room: "Turn on the light, it's me!" ”

Tang Feng heard that it was Han Jiang's voice, he hurriedly turned on the light, and saw Han Jiang lying on his bed alone and smoking, "You scared me!" Tang Feng complained.

"Yes! I'm scared too! Xu Renyu closed the door and complained.

"Where did you two go? You're still keeping me waiting! Han Jiang sat up and shouted.

"You don't look at the car outside, besides, we don't know each other well!" Tang Feng explained.

"Humph! I found that you were all the same, and they all said that I scared you, that you were all stuck in traffic. Han Jiang sneered.

"We're all the same? Who else? Tang Feng asked.

Without waiting for Han Jiang to answer, Xu Renyu smiled and said, "Who else can there be?" Yelena! He must have gone to Yelena's boudoir and had dinner with the beautiful woman. ”

Seeing that Xu Renyu was right, Han Jiang immediately straightened his face and said seriously: "Okay!" Let's get down to business! Doctor, did I get what I got you to do? ”

"something?" Tang Feng didn't understand what Han Jiang meant.

Xu Renyu smiled, took out a newspaper package from the bag under the bed, and handed it to Han Jiang: "Huh! What you explained, I will definitely complete the task on time! ”

Han Jiang opened the newspaper, and Tang Feng saw clearly that it was a pistol and more than a dozen bullets, just when Tang Feng was surprised, Han Jiang whispered: "You just got me such a guy, TT-33, an old-fashioned guy!" There are not many bullets, how can this be used? ”

"That's it! This is not domestic, we can use whatever weapons we want, and I bought it at noon on the black market for $200. No way, it's no better now than when the Soviet Union just collapsed, at that time, if you want a Scud*, I can get it for you, just this now, I will use it! Besides, we're here to talk about cooperation, not to fight and kill, let's really do it, just a few of us? You have a good gun, it's for nothing. Xu Renyu said a lot. In the end, he didn't forget to remind Han Jiang: "I take my own money, and when I go back, I will be reimbursed!" ”

"Yes...... But Yelena told me that she has now been dismissed, and now the Colonel Ilyugin they are in charge of this matter is very difficult to deal with, so I have to guard against it! Han Jiang then told Tang Feng and Xu Renyu about his meeting with Yelena.

After hearing this, the two were also surprised, "Unexpectedly, they have changed a lot here." Are you still ready to go ahead with your plan? Tang Feng asked.

Han Jiang said: "The plan remains the same, just be more careful!" Doctor, you're going to go with me to them tomorrow! ”

"Tomorrow? I think it's better to prepare again, it's too hasty to go like this! Besides, tomorrow is the first day of the new year, and everyone has a holiday! Xu Renyu persuaded Han Jiang.

Han Jiang thought for a moment and said to Xu Renyu: "That's good! Tomorrow we will go to the Security Bureau building to check it out, and when the holiday is over, we will visit Colonel Ilyugin. ”

"So what am I going to do?" Tang Feng asked Han Jiang.

"You! Let's get in touch with the Russian scholars and see if any of them can reveal any valuable clues, and you can also go to the Winter Palace! Han Jiang assigned Tang Feng a task.

"Dr. Xu originally knew a very high-level Russian professor, but unfortunately he died eight years ago!" Tang Feng told Han Jiang what happened to them in the past two days.

After Tang Feng finished speaking, outside the window, there happened to be a New Year's bell.