A dreamless night.

In the early morning, although no one bothered me, I habitually woke up early. I sat up and looked around, the other three beds were neatly folded, and Aksala wasn't there, and I was the only one in the room. Lifting the thin quilt over my body, I rolled over and got out of bed and headed straight to the bathroom. I secretly sighed in my heart, after all, it was a hotel for important people, the heating in the room was so good that although I was wearing only underwear, I did not feel the biting cold of the Moscow morning at all.

After washing, I came out of the bathroom, saw that there was still no one in the room, casually took the military uniform resting on the bedside and put it on, ready to go to the dining room for breakfast after dressing, and then ask Colonel Korolev what was the purpose of our visit to Moscow? You must know that it is the time of the war, the situation in Leningrad is still very serious, and so many officers have been transferred to Moscow at once, there must be something important to do.

While she was getting dressed, Aksara slammed the door open with her back, and walked backwards into the room with a plate in her hands, and when she saw me getting dressed, she said with some surprise: "Comrade commander, you have risen, and I am about to call you." ”

"yes, Acksharah." I called her by name and politely replied with a smile on my face: "I just got up and was going to go to the restaurant outside for breakfast." ”

"Don't bother, Comrade Commander. I've brought you breakfast. She put the plate she was holding on the table, and I could see that there were two plates of mashed potatoes, four slices of black bread, a pot of tea, two small crystal glasses, a small plate of sugar cubes, knives and forks, napkins, and so on.

"Thank you, my dear."

The portion of breakfast was so small that I ate the mashed potatoes on my plate in a few bites, then picked up a slice of bread and nibbled on it. The brown bread is no longer fresh, and it tastes sour, hard, and hard to swallow. I picked up the teapot, poured tea into two glasses, and politely asked her, "How many pieces of sugar do you put in it, one or two?" ”

"Two pieces, I like to be sweeter." She was eating mashed potatoes, and when I asked her, she quickly swallowed the food in her mouth and answered me a little nervously.

I put two sugar cubes in her cup, stirred them gently with a small spoon, and when I saw that the sugar was completely melted, I handed the cup to her.

"Thank you." She picked up her cup, took a big sip with her head up, and then buried her head in destroying the food in front of her.

I picked up a sugar cube from the saucer, didn't put it in the teacup, but held it in my mouth, then took a sip of the tea, leisurely enjoying the sweet feeling of the sugar cube slowly melting in my mouth.

"Comrade Commander." Aksara opened her mouth and called me. "May I ask you a question?"

I looked at her, smiled and nodded, and said, "Yes, you can ask." ”

"Your husband, the man named Oshanin, where is he now?" Her words reminded me once again that I was now a married woman, and that the husband named Oshanin, who didn't know what Lu Dao looked like, would always be the focus of attention of those I knew around me. I hesitated, feeling that this matter could not be completely avoided, so I sighed and said: "He is a captain officer at the border post, and he disappeared shortly after the outbreak of war. ”

Hearing my words, Aksara looked at me apologetically and said, "Comrade commander, I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought up your sadness. ”

I pulled a few strands of hair from my sideburns and smiled bitterly: "It's okay, it's a time of war." After a pause, I said, "Aksharah, can you stop calling me Comrade Commander in the future?" Although my rank is higher than yours, it still feels awkward to hear you call me that in private. You should call me Leda by my nickname, just like the rest of your friends. And let's not be so angry with each other, just call each other 'you'. ”

"What a shame, Leda!" She said yes very simply.

I looked up and suddenly saw the military coat hanging on the wall, and the colonel's collar badge on it was particularly eye-catching. Then I remembered that I had come to Moscow empty-handed, and I didn't even have a warm coat. Korolev's military coat doesn't matter if it's worn temporarily at night, but if I still wear it during the day, I'll be a little too arrogant. So I hesitated for a moment, and then asked a little embarrassed, "Aksharah, do you have a military coat here?" ”

"Military coat?!" She paused for a moment, then replied, "Yes, of course there are, I have two here." ”

I was a little embarrassed and asked her, "Can you lend me one?" Hearing my words, she was very surprised and said, "Don't you have a military coat?" ”

I blushed and muttered to her: "I came to Moscow yesterday because I was in a hurry and didn't bring any luggage. Although it had not snowed yet in Moscow in October, it was already winter, and I was still wearing a summer uniform, which did not keep me warm at all, and if it had not been for the kind uncle colonel who lent me his clothes last night, I would have frozen. ”

Hearing my words, she immediately ran to a closet in the wall, opened the door, took out a gray military coat from inside, turned to me and said, "This is Ina's military coat, you can take it and wear it." ”

I took the military coat in her hand and asked casually, "If you lend me Ina's clothes, she won't object, right?" ”

"No," her eyes suddenly turned red as she said this, "Ina has already died. ”

"Huh?!" I was taken aback and asked, "How did she die?" "I feel that it should be very safe to work in this well-guarded hotel, how can there be casualties?

She choked up and said, "A week ago, Ina's mother was sick. Ina asked the commissar of the hotel for leave to go back to see her mother, but when she passed by Gonchamoniskaya, she was killed by an air raid. ”

Gonzamoniskaya, hearing this familiar name, I immediately thought of the wounded Katya who had died of her wounds in the Leningrad hospital, and I had promised to bring her message to her family. Perhaps the news of her death was already notified to her family by someone from the Civil Affairs Bureau, but I have never forgotten the promise I made to her. Since I have the opportunity to come to Moscow, if I have some free time, I will definitely go to Gonchamoniskaya, look for her family, and tell her family everything about her.

"Oops!" I was startled by a sudden scream, and she pointed to the clock on the wall and said, "Just now when I came up with breakfast, I met a colonel, and he asked me to tell you to meet at the door of the hotel in thirty minutes. And now twenty-five minutes have passed, and you should be late if you don't go. ”

Needless to say, this colonel, nine times out of ten is Colonel Korolev, he is waiting for me outside, I can't be late. So I put two military coats on my left hand, said goodbye to Akshara, opened the door and walked out of the room.

There were quite a few pedestrians in the corridor outside, and from time to time officers approached them. According to the regulations, those with lower ranks should salute commanders with higher ranks. I secretly sighed to myself, I really arrived in the capital to realize that I was a small official, and these people all had higher military ranks than me, so that every time I saw someone, I had to raise my hand to salute him. In this way, on the way to the door of the hotel, my right hand kept being raised and lowered, mechanically repeating the salutation.

It was easy to come to the door of the hotel, and when he saw the familiar figure of Colonel Korolev standing next to a passenger car, he suddenly had a feeling of being out of the sea of suffering, and trotted forward a few steps and shouted: "Good morning, Uncle Pavel." ”

Korolev heard my shout, turned around and smiled at me and waved: "Good morning, Lida!" Hurry up and get in the car, we're off right away. ”