1

After a terrible silence, the general took out two yellowed black and white photographs, shook them in front of everyone, and then said to Yelena: "Miss Yelena, I think you must have seen these two photos, right?" ”

Yelena recognized the two photos at a glance, "Yes, I saw it at Brenin's house, and I guessed that the person in the photo was Brenin when he was young, but I didn't expect you to be on it too!" ”

"Yes, I'm on this picture, this is a picture from our time in the KGB school, so I have it with Brynin!" Bultenko said and pointed to the young man in the photograph who was struggling to throw a snowball, and then continued: "The difference is that for so many years, I have kept these two pictures in the deepest part, in the deepest part of my memory; And Brynin was going to keep it at home, he thought no one would pay attention to the pictures, but he didn't know that I would, you, you will notice it sooner or later! ”

"So you burned Brinnin to death in your house!" Yelena stared at the general with hatred.

"I'm here to help him get free!"

"Relief?"

"Yes, relief! You have to understand why he kept these two old photos at home all the time, because these are the people and things that he will never forget! ”

"You mean you...... You are the man whom Bryning will never forget! Yelena suddenly remembered that at Bryning's house, the two photos were placed together with the photos of his relatives.

"Brynin and I were classmates and the best two in the class, and we should both have great futures, but because of my appearance, it changed his life."

"But...... But Brynin later became a general, and should be the most successful of you? ”

"No, Yelena, you don't understand what I mean, Ivan, Tang Feng, Han Jiang, and this little girl, let me tell you all this from the beginning! It all started with the cold winter after New Year's Day in 1964......"

Buldenko wrapped his body tightly in his coat, but the cold wind still kept pouring into his thin body, he walked alone on Leningrad's Neva Street, and his mind kept recalling his difficult years in the KGB in the past few years, when he graduated from the KGB school, he thought that a bright future was already in front of him, but for him, a poor boy from Siberia, he had no background, no backer, and no opportunity to display his talents. Alone in a foreign land, not even a loved one!

Buldenko thought wildly, walked to a street corner, only buried his head in walking, did not notice the person who turned out of the corner, hit the man headbutt, the man was tall, actually knocked Buldenko to the wall next to him, there was an iron nail in the wall, scratched Buldenko's coat, this is the coat left by his mother, Buldenko saw this, he was furious, his hand was already tightly in his pocket.

However, when Buldenko thought of his task, he slowly extinguished the anger in his heart, his eyes erupted, he stared at the man, and did not move, the man was frightened by Buldenko, who was shorter than himself, and finally was suppressed by Buldenko's momentum, and walked away in disgrace.

Bultenko still stands in the cold wind, mother? Somehow, the beautiful and kind face of his mother flashed through Buldenko's mind, and he had not seen her for five years, or more precisely, had lost contact with her for five years. In the past five years, there has been no news of his mother, Buldenko wants to cry without tears, he doesn't know where his mother has gone? But he thought that something must have happened to his mother!

Burdenko tried to contact his mother, but no one knew her whereabouts; He called the police, but it was useless, and this unbearable isolation and anger reminded him of the purges of the thirties, but he himself was a KGB man...... Thinking of this, Buldenko raised a little more spirit, he believed that if you want to find your mother who has been missing for five years in this country, there is no more effective department than the KGB!

Snowflakes fell in the sky, and before he knew it, Buldenko had reached the end of Nevsky Prospect, and suddenly opened up in front of him, and a splendid palace appeared in front of him, the Winter Palace! For him, a child who grew up in Siberia, the glorious Hermitage used to remain in pictures and illusory memories, and as a child, he more than once longed for the splendid temples and endless art treasures of the Hermitage. Today, however, when this splendid palace appeared in front of him in reality, he was not interested, because he had come here for his mission.

For this task, Burdenko has only a vague concept: the above is very uneasy about a person named Misha, no, it should be a person named Boris who is very uneasy, Misha is his past name, and this guy seems to have some strange and special actions recently, so although there are already two colleagues in charge of monitoring and protecting this Misha, the above still decided to send him to further strengthen the power of monitoring and protecting Misha, and find out some strange things.

2

When Burdenko came to the glorious gate of the Winter Palace, he gasped and walked into the porch, but did not enter, he decided to observe here first, the cold wind of Siberia gave Burdenko a super ability to withstand the cold, and the people in the square hurried, rushing into the house or the car, looking for a warm environment to live in, and only Burdenko stood alone under the porch of the Winter Palace.

He didn't want to mess things up, that's what Buldenko was thinking at this time, because this mission was a rare opportunity for him, maybe he could stay in Leningrad or Moscow, and he didn't want to go back to the cold Siberia, which saw that he was a new face, so he was sent to carry out this mission.

His eagle-sharp eyes were on everyone who passed by, and all he knew about Misha was records and a few photographs, but these were enough for him, Burtenko liked to take on all new challenges, he had been staring at Misha's pictures for a long time before he came, and he seemed to have a premonition that he would find something in this stranger.

Burtenko stood in the cold wind for a whole hour, not seeing Misha, but he knew that Misha was in the Winter Palace at the moment. After a while, Buldenko saw a Volga car slowly driving into the square in front of the Winter Palace, the Volga stopped, but no one came down, and Buldenko already knew that inside the Volga were his two colleagues, Isakov and Stepkin.

These are two brave and resourceless fellows who lack a sense of responsibility, and although Buldenko does not know them yet, he has already judged the virtue of these two fellows from the above introduction to them. They should have been spying on Misha outside the Winter Palace a long time ago, but only then did they appear, and Bultenko began to understand why the above was not at ease with the task of protecting Misha, and sent himself again!

Buldenko did not want to go and greet these two guys, he was used to being alone, he wanted to know more about Misha, and he had to monitor Misha alone for a few days. The wind and snow are getting heavier and heavier, Buldenko looked at Isakov and Stephkin in the Volga car, just these two stupid people, if Misha was smart enough, they should have been discovered by Misha a long time ago, thinking of this, Burdenko left the gate of the Winter Palace, he circled around the Winter Palace, and found that there was a door on the side of the Winter Palace, like a side door for staff to enter and exit, Buldenko looked at the watch, Misha should get off work.

Sure enough, ten minutes later, a man who was thinner than himself walked out of the side door, and his intuition told Bultenko that this person was Misha, and he pressed his fur hat and followed.

From time to time, Misha looked back, and Buldenko knew that he was looking towards the gate of the Winter Palace, and he must have noticed Stephkin and Isakov, and Bultenko silently cursed the two stupid fellows in his heart.

Bultenko followed Misha through two avenues, he was confident that he had not been discovered by Misha, but where was this mysterious Misha going? He was walking in the opposite direction to the location of his home.

Finally, Misha stopped at the door of a grocery store, he walked in, Burtenko knew that the grocery store was not big, he was a little hesitant, whether to follow up, just when he hesitated, Misha had already walked out with a sack, and was facing Burtenko, walking in the opposite direction, Burtenko had to lower his head and pass by Misha......

3

When Misha walked away, Burtenko slowly came back to his senses, he was not in a hurry to chase Misha who had gone away, he looked at the sign of the grocery store, and then looked at Misha who had gone away in the wind and snow, this guy was really a little abnormal, in just two minutes, he conjured a sack from this grocery store like a trick, what was in that sack?

Burtenko decided to go into the grocery store to see what was going on, he walked into the small grocery store, there was only a big man with a full beard, Burdenko walked around the grocery store, the main thing here is to sell some hardware and groceries and instruments, Burdenko didn't see anything, so he walked up to the big man with a serious face, his voice was not loud, but he asked undoubtedly: "Hey, citizen, what did the person who went out buy from you just now?" ”

The big man rolled his eyes and looked at Burtenko, and said disdainfully: "Does this have anything to do with you?" ”

"Yes, of course it does!" With that, Buldenko put his documents on the counter and gently pushed them forward in front of the big man.

When the big man saw the document, his expression changed greatly, he looked at Buldenko, and then looked at the document, I don't know what to do, Buldenko didn't seem to be in a hurry to ask the big man a question, but motioned for him to open the document to see, the big man opened the document with a little trembling hands, and muttered in his mouth: "Captain Buldenko......" Immediately, he exclaimed loudly: "Comrade Captain, I really didn't do anything illegal, so ...... I don't know that person......"

"Answer my question!" Burtenko put away his papers.

"That'...... I don't see anything wrong with that man, he ...... That's where he bought some tools......"

"Tools? Oh, what tool? ”

"It's just shovels, hammers and other very common tools!"

"Is that all?"

"That's it, how dare I lie to you?"

So, what did he say? Or is there something out of the ordinary? ”

Dahan thought for a moment and shook his head, "He didn't say anything, what if...... If there's anything out of the ordinary in his behavior, it'...... That is, he didn't say anything, he kept silent, I recommended my goods to him, he didn't care, I thought he was dumb, but in the end he still said a word. ”

"Oh! What words? ”

"He ended up saying to me, 'How much is it?'" Dahan said fifteen-ten.

When Buldenko heard this, he was immediately disappointed, but the big man said: "By the way, there is another situation, this man has been here before, and more than once, but every time he looks at it, he leaves. ”

"It seems that Misha is plotting something, damn Stephkin and Isakov, and these circumstances are not mentioned in the report they handed in." Thinking of this, Burdenko suddenly felt that this task had become important, and his future would be changed as a result.

When Buldenko came out of the grocery store, Misha was long gone, and when he arrived at Misha's house, it was already dark, but there was no light in Misha's room. Burtenko stretched out his hand and knocked on the door, no one opened the door, there was no sound, Burdenko took out a key with a strange shape, and soon opened the door of Misha's room, there was no one in the house, Misha did not seem to have gone home, Burdenko illuminated a circle with a flashlight, simple and neat furnishings, he walked lightly to the windowsill, lifted the curtain and looked out, there were few pedestrians in the street, where would Misha go?

Burtenko remained quietly in Misha's room for a while, thinking about all possibilities, a habit he had developed since childhood, perhaps...... Perhaps this habit had been inherited from his mother, and Buldenko thought of her again, and after thinking about it, he decided not to stay here for long, so he cleaned up all traces of himself and quickly exited Misha's room.

4

Back on the street, Burdenko found Stephkin and Isakov's Volga again at the corner of an alley, and these two irresponsible guys, who lost Misha but didn't know it, came to Misha downstairs again as if nothing happened, and so on! Buldenko suddenly found that there was no one in the Volgary, and the two guys were gone!

Alert, Buldenko habitually grasped the gun in his coat pocket with his right hand, quickened his pace and walked to the car, where there was nothing unusual around the car, except for two lines of footprints in the snow stretching into the alley...... Burdenko followed the footprints and walked two steps into the alley, and found that in the depths of the alley there was a remote tavern, without a conspicuous sign, and without a decent façade, but it seemed to be very lively inside, and the two lines of footprints also stopped abruptly in front of the tavern, and it seemed that the two guys had run here and slipped away.

Thinking of this, Buldenko also pushed the door and walked into the tavern, sure enough, the two guys Stephkin and Isakov were leisurely drinking vodka, and from time to time they were chatting with a group of strong men beside him, Buldenko was not in a hurry to find the two guys, he asked for a bottle of beer, sat alone in the corner, and silently watched Stephkin and Isakov, he had already learned about these two guys in detail from internal information, Stephkin has excellent marksmanship, Isakov is tall and big, good at wrestling, But these two guys have a problem - they are ambitious and talented, brave and unstrategic, if these two guys are allowed to get together to carry out the task, most of them will be unlucky, but if they let a smart person lead them, the result may be completely different!

A strong man taller than Isakov suddenly raised his voice and interrupted Burdenko's thoughts, "I was hunting once, and I once killed a wild boar with one shot!" ”

Except for Stephkin and Isakov, the group of people echoed the call, and Buldenko saw that this strong man was the head of the group, and then, seeing Stephkin very unconvinced, threw the wine bottle on the table, and shouted: "What is it that you kill a wild boar with one shot?" I'm telling you, I once killed two wolves with one shot! ”

"Killing two wolves with one shot?" "Blow it!" "Drink high!" The group shook their heads, snorted with wine, and sneered at Stephkin with contempt.

Buldenko knew that Stephkin was not bragging, and Isakov also knew that Isakov saw that the gang was so contemptuous of them, and immediately became anxious, stood up and approached the strong man opposite, "I tell you, my friend did not brag!" ”

"What? Did you see it with your own eyes? ”

The clumsy Isakov was speechless, because he had not seen it with his own eyes.

Isakov was speechless, the gang laughed even harder, and Stephkin felt that he had been greatly insulted, he stood up and argued with the gang, "You have the ability to try it now?!" I don't know who shouted such a voice in the middle of the dispute.

Stepkin, who was carried away by alcohol, was about to touch the pistol on his waist, Buldenko secretly said that it was not good, he hurriedly rushed forward, walked behind Stepkin, and pressed Stepkin's hand, Stephkin looked back at Buldenko in surprise, struggled hard, but failed to break free of Bultenko, he just wanted to shout, but saw that Isakov had already scuffled with the gang, and two people were rushing towards him.

"Don't move, beware of misfire!" Buldenko said this lightly, and then confiscated Stepkin's pistol, which made Stephkin even more surprised that he was so easily disarmed by the thin-looking man behind him. Before Stephkin could think about it, the gang had already pounced on him, and Burtenko skillfully dodged them, retreated backwards, and retreated to his position.

Burdenko calmly finished the beer in the bottle, and for some reason he didn't want to bother with the matter, maybe he wanted to teach Stephkin and Isakov a lesson, or maybe it was ...... Buldenko didn't know why he had a strange idea, he turned his head to look at Stephkin and Isakov, although they were good and could fight, but they couldn't stand the other party's large number of people, the two were obviously unable to parry, Buldenko felt his gun in his pocket and Stepkin's gun, hesitated, and at this moment, the police came.

5

Seeing that the police were coming, the people in the tavern fled in all directions, and even the tavern owner hid, leaving only Stephkin and Isakov, who were beaten and bruised and swollen, and Burdenko, who took a good bottle of wine from the bar in the chaos.

The police took Stephkin and Isakov into the police car, and then a sergeant walked up to Buldenko, who stared at Buldenko for a while before he said slowly: "The wine is so delicious, you won't run away if you fight?" ”

"Why should I run? I drink my wine! Didn't provoke anyone! Burtenko said calmly.

"You're right, so come with me."

"Where to go? Police station? ”

Burdenko didn't say anything, followed the police to the police station, the police were polite to Burdenko, did not search him, led him to a private room, Burdenko looked around here, snow-white walls on all sides, there were no iron fences on doors and windows, where is this? Interrogation room? Hehe, it's too unprofessional to look at it from the eyes of the KGB!

Bultenko sat in his chair for a while, and the sheriff walked in, and before he could speak, Bultenko preemptively asked, "Why didn't you search me?" ”

"Search you? Why? You weren't involved in the brawl, did you? The sheriff was a little surprised.

"So you searched those two guys?" Burtenko asked again.

"Yes, of course they were searched."

"What did you find?" Burtenko was completely anti-guest-oriented.

"Yes, a pistol was found from the strong man."

"Gone? That's it? ”

"There's some money, that's all."

"What did they say?"

"Didn't say anything, the two guys are already drunk!"

Burdenko secretly cursed, these two guys didn't bring anything but guns and documents, and at this moment, the sheriff came back to his senses, "Why did it become that you asked me?" ”

Burdenko smiled, "Comrade Sergeant, what can I do for you?" ”

"Your name, identity, place of origin......"

Without waiting for the sergeant to finish, Buldenko took out his papers, put them on the table, and replied solemnly: "Yuri Pavlovich Bultenko, KGB captain." ”

When the sergeant heard this, his face changed, and after hesitating for a moment, he still picked up Burdenko's document and looked at it, and then returned it to Burdenko, "So you are on a mission tonight?" ”

Burtenko nodded, "Yes, an important task. ”

"So, are those two drunk guys your colleagues, or are they your targets?"

If he admitted that Stephkin and Isakov were his colleagues, his face would be gloomy, so Buldenko said solemnly: "It is a matter of secrecy, and I am inconvenient to disclose it." ”

"What should those two guys do?" The sheriff asked.

Buldenko wanted the sheriff to release him immediately, and then teach the two guys a lesson by himself, but when Buldenko said this, he suddenly changed his mind, and he didn't know why he changed his mind, in short, he wanted these two guys to suffer more, so Buldenko said to the sheriff in a commanding tone: "You find the strongest room, lock these two drunks up for me, and ignore them no matter what they say or do, and don't give them food." ”

"Don't give them food?" The sheriff was a little surprised, "How many days will they be held?" I'm not a prison here! ”

"I'll let you know when the time comes." Burtenko dropped such a sentence, stood up and walked outside, and the sheriff accompanied him out of the police station with a swagger.

6

For three days in a row, Buldenko could find Misha coming to work at the Winter Palace on time every morning, and then leaving work at night, but every time Buldenko followed Misha, he would be led by Misha and dizzy in the complex streets and alleys of Leningrad, until Misha disappeared into the wind and snow, could it be that Misha had already discovered himself? Burdenko shuddered a little at the thought of this, he thought that his tracking technology was first-class, and it was difficult for ordinary people to find out, could this intellectual-like Misha be professionally trained? How can you find someone stalking and successfully throwing off your opponent?

And what makes Bultenko even more nervous is that Misha doesn't go home at night every time he dumps himself, where will he go? Could it be that he still has an unknown place to live in this city? On the third night, Buldenko lost Misha again, and after a while outside Misha's residence, he suddenly remembered that the two guys Stephkin and Isakov were still being held in the police station, so Buldenko bought some bread and red sausages and came to the police station, and met the sergeant last time, and when the sheriff saw him, it was as if he had seen a big savior, "Comrade Captain, you quickly take those two guys away!" ”

"What? What happened? ”

"I followed your orders, I didn't give them food, I didn't listen to what they said, they were honest on the first day, but the next day they couldn't stand it, they scolded us, and said that when they got out, they would seal our police station, and what was worse was that these two guys used all means to try to escape from prison, you see here, they are making trouble!"

Burtenko heard a loud noise coming from inside the police station, "Is this the strong man slamming on the door?" They're about to smash the door! The sheriff said in horror.

"Okay, I'm sorry for your trouble, I'll take care of the rest of the matter!" With that, Burdenko walked alone to the door of the basement where Stephkin and Isakov were being held, he told the other policemen to retreat, leaving him alone, Isakov slammed his shoulder against the sturdy door, the door had been smashed by him, and he was about to knock it over, Buldenko held the key in his hand, and did not open the door, he wanted to see how much strength these two guys had to open the door after three days of hunger?

Three minutes later, Isakov actually slammed the gate open, but when he was about to rush forward, he found Buldenko in front of him. Isakov was stunned, he was forced back by Buldenko's momentum, Buldenko took a step forward, almost face to face with Isakov, although Burdenko was not as tall as Isakov, Isakov did not dare to look Buldenko in the eyes, but retreated, Burdenko took a step forward, Isakov took a step back obediently, until he retreated back into the small basement.

Burdenko closed the broken door of the house, and heard a voice from behind Isakov: "What are you retreating, rush out?" ”

Burdenko frowned and waved lightly at Isakov, who stepped aside, and behind him was Stepkin. Buldenko's gaze was majestic and inviolable, looking directly into Stepkin's eyes, Stephkin opened his mouth, and wanted to shout something, but swallowed it back, Buldenko forced his eyes to look at Stepkin, and Stephkin also began to retreat step by step, until he retreated to the corner of the wall before stopping, Stephkin could not stand Buldenko's gaze, and finally shouted hysterically at Buldenko: "You...... Who are you? ”

Buldenko stopped, turned around, looked at Isakov, then at Stepkin, and said in a loud voice: "I am your colleague Captain Yuri Pavlovich Buldenko. ”

"What? We've already let the above know? Isakov said in horror.

"It's over, we're done, we're completely finished!" Stephkin cried out in despair.

"You're going to be unlucky, during your mission, you drank and bought, neglected your duties, lost your target, lost your gun, and now, you're locked up in the police station, and you lose the face of our KGB, even if you can escape by breaking through this door, what about it? Will you be able to escape the KGB prison? You two stupid fellows, wait for court-martial! ”

Buldenko's every word pierced the already fragile hearts of Stephkin and Isakov, and the two sat on the ground in despair, silent for a while, and Stephkin suddenly shouted hysterically: "That damned Misha, he must have disappeared these days, it's over, if he does something bad, we'll be completely finished!" ”

"Oh, listen to your tone, what have you found?" Burtenko asked.

"I ...... I ......" Stephkin seemed hesitant, "in recent times we have ...... Several times I lost Misha. ”

"How many times?"

"Three times...... Or four times, never lost before, that is, in the recent past. ”

"Why didn't you put it in the report?" Burtenko questioned.

"How dare you write this kind of thing in the report!" Stephkin said in a slurred.

"Dereliction of duty! Then you still don't stay honest, and dare to run to the tavern to drink and fight? ”

"The first few times we lost Misha, he would come home at dawn, so that day we lost Misha, so we went to a tavern near his house, drank some wine, and then went to sleep in the car, and we could see him at dawn." Isakov said honestly.

"You've got a good idea! Why don't you want to think about what he's been doing when he's been missing all this time? If anything happens, your sins will be great! Burdenko still looked serious.

"You...... Were you sent from above to arrest us? Stephkin seemed to hear something different, and dared to ask Bultenko.

"Didn't you know that a new colleague would come?" Burdenko no longer hides his tasks.

Stephkin and Isakov seemed to have seen such a thing in retrospect, and as if they had seen a new hope, they said to Buldenko with kindness: "That...... You're not going to stab this out of it, are you? ”

"Then it's up to you guys to perform!"

"We will definitely listen to you, and we will do what you say!"

When Burdenko heard this, a smile finally appeared on his face, "Okay, I'll put this matter down for the time being, but you have to listen to me, you will do whatever I tell you to do!" Did you hear me clearly? ”

Stephkin and Isakov nodded their heads in agreement.

7

Buldenko rescued Stephkin and Isakov from the police station and returned Stephkin's gun to him, but to his surprise, the next morning, the three of them did not see any trace of Misa either at his house or in the Winter Palace, which had never happened before.

Burdenko sat in the car, his brow furrowed, he had a bad premonition that something was going to happen, and the three of them spent a difficult day in a restless mood, until the next morning, when they could not find any trace of Misha. Instead of waiting in the car, Buldenko went into the Winter Palace, pretended to be a friend of Misha, and asked the museum staff about Misha's whereabouts, and the answer he received was: "Misha didn't come to work yesterday, didn't ask for leave, and didn't see him today." ”

Buldenko returned to the car disappointed, and waited until the evening, when Stephkin and Isakov went to dinner, Bultenko was still sitting alone in the car thinking about the whole thing, and he suddenly thought of the police station, if something happened to Misha, or something unusual happened in this area, the police station should be the place to know the best about the situation. Thinking of this, Buldenko did not wait for Stephkin and Isakov to come back, and drove the car straight to the door of the police station, and it was the sergeant who received him, "Why are you here again?" Our door has just been repaired! ”

"Comrade Sheriff, I won't trouble you this time, and you don't have to worry about your door." As he spoke, Burtenko took out Misha's photo and handed it to the sheriff, "Have you seen this person lately?" ”

The sheriff stared at the photo for a while, and suddenly his eyes lit up, and he exclaimed: "We just arrested a guy yesterday, very similar to the person in the photo, but ......"

"But what?"

"But this guy was dirty when he was brought in, and he didn't say anything when asked."

"Oh? How did you catch him? ”

"It's not us, it's the workers in the drainage pipes, and they found a man with a shovel and a hammer tool in the sewer pipe, sneaky, so they sent this person to the police station."

"That's ......," Burtenko immediately remembered the tools that Misha had bought at the grocery store that day.

The sheriff led Burdenko back to the basement where Stepkin had been held, and Burdenko was taken aback, "Why, he is also being held here?" ”

"Yes. Just moved him over this morning. ”

Buldenko asked the sheriff to give him the key and said that he would talk to the man alone, and after the sheriff left, Burdenko opened the door, and inside, as he had seen the day before yesterday, there was nothing but a chair, and he had not seen him for a few days, and Misha had grown a beard, and his coat looked tattered and dirty, and there was a smell of sewers, which made Burdenko wonder that Misha did not sit on the chair, but sat on the cold ground.

"What a weirdo!" Bultenko thought about closing the door and walked up to Misha, who stared at Burtenko for a while with rolling eyes, and then lowered his head.

Bultenko wanted to sit down in his chair, but he hesitated for a moment and sat down on the floor like Misha. He was about to speak, but Misha spoke first, "You're the one sent to spy on me, right?" ”

Buldenko was stunned for a moment, and then replied: "No, I am the one who has come to protect you." ”

"It's all the same thing."

"No ......"

Buldenko wanted to argue, but Misha muttered to himself: "This time it was changed so soon?" ”

Bultenko's heart was shocked, it seemed that Misha knew everything well, "You know that there are agents protecting you?" ”

"Of course, the two guys who came here last year are very interesting, one loves to drink, the other loves to fight, I don't know what you love?" Misha glanced up at Burtenko.

Who, exactly, is spying on whom? Misha turned out to know Stephkin and Isakov well, and Buldenko had to look at Misha differently, and since he was a child, his mother cultivated a habit of respecting all capable people, even if he is your enemy! So in just a few words, Buldenko didn't dare to underestimate the person in front of him.

"I ......," Burtenko smiled awkwardly, and added: "I don't have any special hobbies, and if I have to say one, it's reading." ”

"It's a good hobby, I can see that you're not the same as those two guys." Misha paused for a moment and asked Buldenko: "Then what books do you like to read?" ”

Burdenko found this conversation strange, how did it turn into Misha asking himself, but he restrained himself and replied: "My mother left me many books, mostly on history and archaeology, and some on anthropology, and I was influenced by my mother since I was a child, and I was very interested in these books, and I read most of them. ”

Although Buldenko couldn't see Misha's face clearly, he felt that when he said these words, Misha's heart must have changed, because before he came, Burdenko had already learned from Misha's archives that Misha was a historian, and perhaps the higher authorities sent him to protect Misha, and he also liked his knowledge in this area.

Sure enough, Misha slowly raised his head, looked at Burtenko in a daze, and after a long time, he said: "You must know my profession." ”

Burdenko nodded, "You are a historian. ”

"Historians? Hmph, I'm still far from it, I'm just a student compared to my teacher. ”

"You're humble."

"I'm not modest, you should know that there is no end to learning!"

"Yes, my mother taught me that." Buldenko's mind was reminded of his mother's face.

"Your mother?" Misha stopped, and began to look at Burtenko carefully, and suddenly, a glimmer of light flashed in Misha's dim eyes, and he hurriedly asked, "I...... I suddenly feel that you look like a person, who is your mother? ”

8

Bultenko's heart trembled when he heard Misha mention his mother, and he suddenly understood that his initial instinct was correct, that this Misha in front of him must know something, and that it was all about him! Thinking of this, Burdenko reported his mother's name: "My mother's name is Simonova, Nastya Sergeyevna Simonova, Simonov is my grandfather's surname, my father abandoned my mother at an early age for political reasons, so my mother kept her maiden name. ”

"What? You...... You're Nastya's son?! Misha was startled and stood up from the cold ground.

Burtenko was also shocked, "You know my mother?!" ”

"Yes, I know your mother, Ms. Nastya, she is my teacher, she used to teach us at the Department of Oriental Studies of Leningrad University, but for some reason, she only taught us for one semester and left, and when I saw her again, she was already ......"

Misha was halfway through his sentence and stopped! Because he knew that if he continued, he would be guilty of taboo, and the following was his most secret secret.

Buldenko was excited, he finally met someone who knew his mother, "Yes, my mother used to teach at Leningrad University, my mother and I grew up in distant Siberia, for as long as I can remember, she taught at a local university, I still remember clearly when she said that she could come to Leningrad University to teach, she was so excited, so longing, it seemed that life was full of sunshine all of a sudden, I was going to be a soldier, although I could not come to Leningrad with my mother, I don't know why my mother was so happy, but I was happy for her. ”

"Because Leningrad University was her alma mater, it carries so much hope for her." Misha said slowly.

"It's as if my mother told me that she went to university in Leningrad in the thirties, but whenever I continue to ask her about her university life, she doesn't want to go on."

"Because then your mother's life changed."

"Change? What happened? ”

"You know about the Great Purge of the thirties, right?"

"Of course I do."

"Then have you heard of this person Yifeng Pavilion?"

Bultenko thought for a moment, but couldn't remember where he had seen the name, and Misha continued: "Yifengge is a famous orientalist in our country, and he is also your mother's mentor. ”

"What does this have to do with the Great Purge?"

"Yi Feng Ge mysteriously disappeared in the late thirties, and some people believe that he died in the Great Purge!"

"So my mother was affected later." Burtenko immediately understood what Misha meant.

"Well, your mother was forced to interrupt her studies and was sent back to cold Siberia."

"No wonder my mother didn't want to tell me much about life here. But why was the mother implicated? Is it just because she's a student of Yi Feng Ge? ”

Misha groaned for a long time before he shook his head, "No, not only that, but also your mother's family history, and ...... I beg your pardon for not being able to go on with you right now, because that's a secret, a huge secret. ”

"A huge secret?" Burtenko became intrigued by the secrets of Misha's mouth.

But no matter how much Burtenko asked, Misha was just the tip of the iceberg of refusing to tell the huge secret. Buldenko had no choice but to change the subject and asked his mother again, "Do you know what happened to my mother after she taught at Leningrad University?" ”

"She went back to her old university and continued to teach, don't you know?"

"I know that in the same year that my mother went to Leningrad University to teach, I went to join the army, and then I saw my mother twice when I went back to visit my family, and then I lost my mother's news. I went home to see, except for the dust, everything was normal, only a bag and a few pieces of my mother's clothes were missing, my mother didn't look like she was robbed, and it didn't look like something had happened, I went to the local police station to find out, there were no vicious cases in the neighborhood during that time, only ...... Only my mother is missing. I also went to the school where my mother worked to inquire, but the teachers at the school did not know my mother's whereabouts, so I went to ask the principal again, and the principal seemed to know something, he said that several KGB people had come to the school and talked to my mother, saying that they wanted to second my mother to help them carry out a task, and they did not mention the specific situation to the principal, only issued a secondment document to the principal, and then my mother disappeared. ”

"You saw the document?"

"Well, but there are only a few words on the paper, nothing is said, it's just ...... It's just that one thing strikes me as strange is that there are two signatures under the document, one is the signature of the university president, and the one above him turns out to be the signature of Sherepin. ”

"Sherepin, chairman of the KGB?!" Misha recalled the scene when he met with Shelepin.

"Yes, Sherepin is the chairman of the KGB, and his mother is just a teacher at a third-rate university who is not very good, what important task would make the chairman of the KGB personally order his mother to be transferred? What's even more strange is that after the transfer, there has been no news of my mother, and it has been five years. ”

"So you joined the KGB?" Misha suddenly asked rhetorically.

"Yes, I think there is no more powerful organization in this country than the KGB, so when the KGB happened to come to the army to pick people, I chose to join the KGB."

Misha nodded, he seemed to have understood the whole experience of Bultenko, and finally he smiled: "It seems that we can meet today because of fate, you haven't told me your name yet?" ”

Buldenko suddenly felt that he had become a transparent person in front of Misha, and the target he was going to spy on Misha was still a mysterious person, and Burdenko tried to keep himself restrained, "My name is Yuri Pavlovich Buldenko, a KGB captain. ”

"Captain Burtenko, you already know my name, we know each other."

"But you haven't answered my question yet, and I can tell from your words that you must know something, please tell me what all this is all about." Burdenko asked Misha sincerely.

But Misha replied with silence this time, and after an awkward silence, Bultenko had to change the subject, "You don't want to say it, I think there must be something unspeakable." I'm not going to force you today, so let's talk about your recent weird behavior, do you already know that I'm secretly stalking you? ”

"No, I don't know about you, but I do know that there are KGB agents following me." Misha spoke again.

"So you've developed a way to get rid of agents."

"It didn't happen from the beginning, and it's all thanks to you!"

Buldenko nodded, "Those two idiots Stephkin and Isakov have trained you into an agent. ”

"I guess you're a lot better than those two, huh?"

Burdenko smiled, "Maybe, but I don't want to embarrass you." Let me ask you again, what did you buy so many tools and drill into the sewer pipe for? ”

Misha's answer was silent again, and Bultenko waited patiently, and after three minutes he said half-jokingly: "Don't answer me, you are tired of staying in the Winter Palace with a hoe and going into the sewer pipes, and you take pleasure in unclogging the sewers!" ”

Misha remained silent, and just like that, the minutes and seconds passed, and Burtenko was already shivering from the cold in the unheated basement, but Misha was still sitting on the ground, steady as a rock.

9

Buldenko looked at his watch, it was almost ten o'clock, he didn't want to spend it like this all the time in this cold basement with Misha, he was ready to make a final attempt, but this time he was about to open his mouth, Misha spoke, "Yuri, the question you just asked, and the two questions you asked before, it's not that I don't tell you, but because they both involve a huge secret. ”

"Or is it that huge secret?"

"Yes, whether it's the mysterious disappearance of Yi Feng Ge, your mother is implicated; Or was your mother transferred away by the KGB and never heard from you? And this time I carried the tools into the sewer pipe, all of this has to do with that huge secret, but I can't tell you this secret yet, because it is related to the future and fate of many people, even the lives. ”

Burdenko nodded, "I understand a little, no wonder the headquarters asked us to monitor and protect you twenty-four hours a day, it is because of this huge secret, and you are one of the few people who know!" ”

"Not one, I think...... I should be the only one, at least in our country! Misha said calmly, but Burtenko could see that Misha was not at peace when he said these words.

"Okay, I'll leave it at that, how about it, do you want to stay in this cold basement?" Burdenko asked Misha rhetorically.

"Of course not, do you have a way to get me out?"

"That's not a problem, you wait here for a while, I'll let you go home and sleep tonight." As he spoke, Burdenko walked out of the basement, found the sheriff, and after consulting with the sheriff, he came back and took Misha with him.

It wasn't until Buldenko sent Misha home that he saw two guys, Stephkin and Isakov, standing restlessly downstairs at Misha's house, "How did you find him?" Stephkin asked impatiently.

"Use it here a lot." As he spoke, Burtenko pointed to Stepkin's head.

"Do we still need to squat here tonight?" Isakov asked with concern.

Bultenko waved his hand, "No need tonight, you two idiots, you have made Misha find out, what's the point of staring here, go back to sleep!" ”

Stephkin and Isakov went back to sleep, and Burdenko was doomed to insomnia tonight, he thought of his mother, of what Misha had said to him, and of many ......