When the two came out of the house together, the old lady on duty downstairs greeted Borisova with a smile on her face: "Comrade Director, you want to go out?" ”

"Yes, Aunt Ganna. Pen & Fun & Pavilion www.biquge.info" Borisova nodded at the other party and said with a smile: "Isn't it a holiday tomorrow, I'll go buy something to eat." ”

Aunt Ganna glanced at Rokossovsky with a meaningful look, and then said to Borisova: "Comrade Director, then you have to hurry, all the food stores are in long queues today, and if you go late, you won't be able to buy anything." ”

After coming out of the residential building, Borisova asked Rokossovsky with some concern: "Koschika, you said that if we go out at this time, will we not be able to buy anything?" ”

"I don't think it's going to be that bad," Rokossovsky said, remembering that on his way to the building and seeing the long queues in front of the food stores, he said with some uncertainty: "Aunt Ganna sits in the building every day and doesn't go anywhere, how does she know if there are many people on the street?" ”

The two of them came to the street with a fluke mentality, and found that the situation was more serious than what Aunt Ganna said, there were at least two or three hundred people queuing outside each food store, and judging from the speed of movement, even if they queued for two or three hours, they might not be able to buy anything.

"Oh, there are so many people, I don't know when it's going to be in line." Borisova said to Rokossovsky in some anxiety: "Otherwise, let's try it in a different place." ”

Although Rokossovsky knew in his heart that since there were no things to buy here, it would be useless to walk a few more streets, but in order not to spoil Borisova's interest, he nodded and readily agreed. He thought in his heart that even if he couldn't buy anything, it would be good to find a place to eat.

The two walked a few streets and found that as long as it was the entrance of the store, there was a long queue that could not be seen at a glance. Rokossovsky looked around as he walked, trying to see where there were places to eat nearby. But unfortunately, he searched for a long time, and except for the two coffee shops that had closed, he didn't see any restaurants next door.

Borisova stopped and said to Rokossovsky in disappointment: "Koschika, let's go back, you see so many people everywhere, even if you go any further, don't even think about buying anything." I really can't do it, I'll go to Aunt Ganna and borrow some food, and I'll pay her back later." ”

"Let's go!" Rokossovsky took Borisova's hand and walked back, and after walking a few steps, he was met by a patrol with red sleeves on his arms.

"Comrade General, please pay attention to the discipline of soldiers." As he spoke, the officer pointed at Rokossovsky, who was holding Borisova's hand.

Rokossovsky hurriedly let go of Borisova's hand, and just as he wanted to say something, the officer raised his hand and saluted him, and was about to leave, but was stopped by Rokossovsky: "Comrade Captain, please wait a moment." ”

The officer gave Rokossovsky a strange look and replied bluntly: "Comrade General, I beg your pardon, the patrol has the duty to picket military discipline, and I am also fulfilling my duty. ”

Seeing that the officer had misunderstood what he meant, Rokossovsky hurriedly waved his hand and explained to the officer: "Comrade Captain, I would like to ask, is there still such a long queue outside the food store in front?" At this point, he glanced at Borisova and added, "If we can't buy anything more, my wife and I will be hungry tonight." ”

After the officer figured out what was going on, a smile suddenly appeared on his face: "Comrade General, you go along this street, turn right at the intersection, there is a military store there, you can buy what you need there." ”

"But I'm not a soldier." Borisova interjected.

"You are not a soldier, but you can go in with your husband." The officer turned his gaze to Borisova and said proudly: "Soldiers, there should always be some privileges." ”

Rokossovsky nodded approvingly, and said teasingly: "Of course, otherwise, how can beautiful girls favor soldiers." ”

Having watched the patrol leave, Rokossovsky grabbed Borisova's hand again. Borisova turned her head to look at the patrol that was moving away, and said with some humility: "Be careful not to be seen by the patrol again, otherwise it will damage your image as a general." ”

"Don't worry," Rokossovsky said with a big grin, "since we have already encountered a patrol, the chances of encountering a second patrol in the next half hour are basically zero." ”

Borisova looked left and right and no one noticed her, raised her hand and punched Rokossovsky lightly in the back, and said coquettishly: "You were so annoying just now, you actually told the officer that I was your wife." ”

"Don't you want to be my wife?" Rokossovsky looked at Borisova and said teasingly: "In my mind, I have always regarded you as my wife." ”

"Nasty, and poor." Borisova's face flushed, and she urged repeatedly: "Okay, let's go quickly, if it's too late, maybe the store will close." ”

Following the officer's instructions, the two quickly found the officer's shop, which had two glass doors closed and a soldier standing guard at the door. Rokossovsky walked over and asked the fighter: "Comrade fighter, is the store closed?" ”

Seeing that it was a general who asked him, the soldier hurriedly straightened his back and replied, "No, Comrade General." It's still open. ”

"Can I go in?" Borisova asked from the side.

The fighter glanced at the hands held by Borisova and Rokossovsky, and quickly nodded and said: "Yes, yes, of course you can go in." After saying that, he turned around and opened the glass door and respectfully invited Rokossovsky and Borisova in.

Not only Rokossovsky but also Borisova, both entered such a store for the first time. After the two of them entered, they found that this place was really different from ordinary stores, first of all, there were no queues, and secondly, the counters and shelves inside were filled with a variety of goods, and the air was filled with the smell of coffee and chocolate.

Seeing a general coming in from outside, a middle-aged man in civilian clothes immediately came over and said to Rokossovsky respectfully: "Comrade General, I am the manager of the store, I am very happy to serve you, what you and your wife need, please choose and we will provide you with the best service." ”

Rokossovsky walked on the road for a long time, felt some back pain, so he found a place to sit down, looked up and said to Borisova: "You go around with the manager, and if you see what you need, just buy it." ”

"Koschika," Borisova, taking advantage of the manager's inattention, whispered, "I didn't expect that there was such an abundance of things in this store, so I took 20 rubles with me, and I don't know how much I could buy." ”

Rokossovsky felt in his pocket and found that there were still a few banknotes in it, so he took them all out and handed them to Borisova: "My money is here, you can click to see if you have enough." ”

Borisova took the count, and there were more than 100 rubles, so she nodded again and again and said: "Enough is enough, although the current prices have risen a lot compared to before the war, but with so much money you can still buy a lot of things." ”

When the manager accompanied Borisova shopping, he saw Rokossovsky resting on a chair at the door, so he asked curiously: "This comrade, I see that the general's face is not very good, has he ever been injured?" ”

"That's right, Comrade Manager." Borisova nodded and said: "He has a spinal injury that has not healed at the moment, so he can't stand for too long." ”

"I see." After hearing this, the manager nodded, raised his hand and called a beautiful saleswoman over, whispered a few words, and after the salesman left, he continued to accompany Borisova shopping.

Rokossovsky, who was sitting on a chair by the door, was looking at Borisova with a smile on her face, who was picking things out with her manager, when suddenly a beautiful saleswoman came over with a cup of hot tea and politely said: "Comrade General, you must be thirsty, please drink a cup of hot tea." ”

After thanking the salesman, Rokossovsky took the hot tea in her hand and sniffed it gently, knowing from the sweet heat that it contained honey and sugar cubes.

Despite the help of the manager, it took more than half an hour for Borisova to buy everything she needed. Rokossovsky looked at the things piled up on the table in front of him: two black breads, a carton of eggs, a kilogram of butter, two kilograms of white flour, two cans of pickled tomatoes, two cans of pickled mushrooms, two cans of pickled cucumbers, half a kilogram of sausage, two smoked fish, five kilograms each of carrots and potatoes.

Just as Rokossovsky was having a headache and how to get things home, the manager came over with two bottles of kvass and said flatteringly: "Comrade General, this is a gift from our store, please be sure to accept it." ”

After thanking the manager, Rokossovsky asked Borisova, who was standing next to him: "Have you bought everything?" ”

Borisova brushed away the hair that was blocking her eyes, and then said: "There are too many things that are missing at home, and I am also blindly buying, do you see what is missing?" ”

Rokossovsky glanced at what was on the table, and then said to Borisova: "And matches and kerosene." You can't drill wood to make fire without matches; Kerosene can be used to light a lantern in the event of a power outage. ”

After waiting for Rokossovsky to finish, Borisova immediately said to the manager: "Excuse me, get me ten more boxes of matches and twenty candles." ”

When Borisova was paying, Rokossovsky looked at the pile of things on the table and asked faintly: "Borisova, how can the two of us get home with so many things?" ”

"Comrade General, please rest assured." After counting the banknotes handed over to her by Borisova, the manager replied: "We can send someone to send these things home for you." ”