Katyusha

6.

The grandniece who was listening to the story was already sobbing, Li Yangbing smiled and patted the head of the grandniece: "I'm so old, but I still like to cry so much..."

The grandniece wiped her tears, carefully put the letter back into the box, and then asked with sobs: "Then, after that, you never saw each other again, did you?"

Li Yangbing nodded: "Yeah, I haven't seen him again..."

"Then, that Ivan...Grandpa, has he been writing to you?"

Li Yangbing took the box from his niece and granddaughter, and gently stroked the hollow pattern on the box with fingers full of vicissitudes of life: "Here are all the letters he wrote to me, and there is not one missing, but the letters he left for me The photo, but I lost it..."

"Let me ask you, what is the relationship between you and that Ivan!" The eldest brother found a pile of letters from his drawer. Although there was nothing explicit about the content of the letters, the ambiguous feelings between the words were obvious to anyone with a discerning eye. You can see it.

Li Yangbing calmly snatched the letters from his elder brother, folded them one by one, took back the envelopes, and put them back in the original drawer: "I like him, I love him, that's all."

"Okay... okay... Let me tell you why you lost your mind after the Soviets left, Li Yangbing, you are promising! Tell me, is it him who seduced you or you are a slut!" The eldest brother saw Li Yangbing this kind of oily The look of salt not getting in suddenly became angry in my heart.

Li Yangbing turned his head and looked at his elder brother indifferently: "No one seduces, and no one commits a crime, everything is just a matter of course."

"You, you, you——" The eldest brother turned around in anger, saw the feather duster hanging on the wall, gritted his teeth, took it off, and greeted Li Yangbing directly.The little girl who was washing clothes in the yard heard the movement and hurriedly put down the clothes in the basin, only to see the eldest brother viciously whipping the second brother with a feather duster.The second brother, who has always been gentle and elegant, didn't say a word at this moment, and silently accepted it.

"Brother, what are you doing! Don't fight! It's not good to disturb Dad and the neighbors all over the yard!" The little girl stepped forward to hold the elder brother's hand, "What can't be said between brothers, you have to Do it!"

"Ask him, ask your good second brother, what did he do! I'm too embarrassed to say it, and I feel disgusted if I say it!"

The little girl looked at the second brother without knowing it: "Second brother, if you make a mistake, you should admit your mistake to the eldest brother, a family of brothers can't make enemies!"

The scars on his back were still burning hot, Li Yangbing gritted his teeth and kept his upper body upright, kneeling, smiling and looking at the little girl: "You let the elder brother do it, I just don't want to live anymore."

"You still want to die because of that man?! Thanks to the fact that the Soviets left, otherwise I would have stabbed that foreign devil to death!" Li Yangbing was so angry that the elder brother shook the feather duster in his hand, but the younger sister was shocked by these words. I didn't respond for a long time.

"What... what does it mean to die for a man..."

"I, Li Yangbing, in this life, I have only one lover like him. I don't care what others say, whether he will come back or not. In this life, I belong to him alone!"

"Slap!" The elder brother slapped Li Yangbing on the face, Li Yangbing couldn't react in time, and his body shook.The little girl hurried forward to support the second brother's body, but when the clothes were swinging, something fell out of Li Yangbing's chest pocket.

Li Yangbing's pupils shrank, and he immediately reached out to pick it up, but was stepped on by his elder brother.

"Brother...Brother, I beg you...get your foot away..." The whipping and slap just now did not shake Li Yangbing, but this thing that was stepped on by the elder brother made Li Yangbing panic.The eldest brother pushed Li Yangbing aside, picked up the thing on the bottom of his feet, it was a passport photo, and the photo was the heartthrob Ivan in the research institute.

He snorted coldly, and said to Li Yangbing: "He is gone now, he can't come back, you should stop thinking about it as soon as possible." Then he tore the photo into pieces, threw the pieces into the air, and the eldest brother walked away.

Li Yangbing stared blankly at the fragments of the photo falling slowly in the air. He rushed forward and put the fragments together, but because they were too torn, there was no way to put them back together. Tears dripped onto the photo, making it a mess.Li Yangbing held the wreckage of the photo tightly in his hand, opened his mouth wide, but couldn't make a sound.

"Second brother..." The younger sister has never seen the second brother in such pain. She couldn't help wrapping her arms around the second brother's shoulders, pressing the second brother's head on her shoulders, letting the second brother's tears soak her clothes ...

From then on, Li Yangbing never said a word to his eldest brother.He moved from his family to live in the research institute, and only his younger sister occasionally sent him some clothes and food.He applied to the research institute for the dormitory where Ivan used to live. In the dead of night, he would open his eyes and stare blankly at the ceiling. The breath left by Ivan became weaker and weaker until someone One day, no more.

Because the relationship between the two countries continued to deteriorate, Li Yangbing was lucky to receive a letter from Ivan in three months.Ivan also seems to know that sending letters is difficult, so every letter is full.It was still those trivial daily routines, or those seemingly boring journals, but Li Yangbing took the trouble to read them over and over again.He kept every letter carefully, fearing that the paper would become thin and soft if he turned it too often, so he simply memorized the letter.When he wrote back to Ivan, he would also write a lot, but every time he wrote, tears wet the letter paper, and the pen became a mess.It may take Li Yangbing a day to write a letter, but he still feels that he has written too little.

In this way, the two survived for six years relying on a few sporadic letters that could be sent.Ivan sent fewer and fewer letters. In the last letter, Ivan said that he had moved and wrote the new address at the end of the letter.Li Yangbing wrote many letters according to the new address, but did not receive a single reply.But Li Yangbing didn't have time to think about these, because the darkest hour has come.

The research institute stopped working, and many staff members in other units were dismissed for various reasons. Seeing that the situation was not right, Li Yangbing burned the envelope of the letter Ivan wrote to him overnight, leaving the letter paper behind, and stuffing it all into the envelope Ivan sent. In that box, several tin boxes were put on the outside of the box, and they ran to the woods of the Summer Palace in the dark, and buried the boxes under a big pine tree.

By the time he dug out the box again, 12 years had passed.

7.

The area of ​​the research institute has been demolished, and the overall planning of the urban area has changed everything.At this time, Li Yangbing was over 40 years old, and had completely severed contact with Ivan. All that was left to Li Yangbing was the box of letter paper and the four years of good memories in his mind.His family also turned a blind eye to him, and the leaders of the work unit also cared about his personal problems. At first, he tried to find reasons to refuse, and then he directly asked a friend in the hospital to open an infertility certificate. Only then did those people want to introduce someone to him.

With the reform and opening up, China opened its doors to the world, and he felt that this was a good opportunity for him to go to Russia.But because of the particularity of his work, going abroad is restricted by many parties. Li Yangbing is not in a hurry. He has waited for 20 years and doesn't care about waiting another 20 years.

When the Soviet Union disintegrated, he watched the reports on TV without saying a word, just holding the box silently.

Finally, at the end of the century, he retired. The moment he completed the retirement procedures, he immediately wanted to get on the plane and fly to Moscow, but his father was seriously ill.Helpless, he had no choice but to shelve his plan to go abroad.Then, the elder brother was also seriously ill. When he was dying, the elder brother held his hand and said sorry to him with tears. He only had sadness in his heart.After the eldest brother passed away, the younger sister passed away unexpectedly. The successive changes in the family could only make Li Yangbing postpone his plan to go abroad. Finally, in 2008, when people all over the world were running to China, Li Yangbing held the Air ticket, set foot on the road to Russia with my nephew.As a result, the memorized address has long since disappeared. In the past 50 years, Moscow has been changing with each passing day, and Li Yangbing returned empty-handed.

"Don't worry, Second Grandpa! I will help you find Grandpa Ivan! My grandfather tore up your photo back then, and now I will help him pay off the debt!" The grandniece vowed to take care of all matters related to going abroad.

So, in 2015, in the same hot summer as in 60, Li Yangbing sat in a wheelchair and was pushed onto the plane to Moscow by his grandniece.

On the plane, Li Yangbing hugged the box tightly. He looked at the sea of ​​clouds outside the porthole, but his heart was very calm. He said to his grandniece: "If I die, you will cremate me and bury me in the most red plant in Xiangshan. Under the maple tree, the direction should be north, I want to keep looking at Moscow..."

8.

Stepping into Moscow again after seven years, this time is no different from seven years ago. The address to send the letter is no longer there, and the post office to which the postmark belongs has also moved away. The new home mentioned in the letter asked many local people Said that there is no such a street.

Although there was still nothing to gain, Li Yangbing was more interested in traveling.He felt that since he could not find that person, it would be a worthwhile trip to take a look at the place where that person lived.He and his grandniece visited the Kremlin, the Cathedral and Red Square.When he was walking on the uneven brick floor of Red Square, he heard a street performer playing the accordion playing the song "Katyusha" on the accordion. He smiled with relief and solemnly put it down in the piano case in front of the artist. 500 rubles, and with the melodious sound of the accordion, he was supported by his grandniece and left Red Square.

Not far from the Red Square, there is a Chinese restaurant opened by Russians. The signboard at the door has strange dishes written in Russian, but it is under the banner of Chinese food.Li Yangbing was a little curious, and wanted to go in and have a look, but his niece and granddaughter said disgustedly: "This kind of shop is fake at first glance, how can fried salmon with tomato be a Chinese dish, it sounds weird..."

Li Yangbing said with a smile: "It's this kind of restaurant that is interesting. You know it's bad, but it still makes people want to taste how bad it is."

Opening the store door, there are actually many customers in the small storefront.The decoration of the store has a bit of Chinese taste, but the unknown Chinese characters and strange paintings immediately exposed the essence of the store.

"Hi, what do you need?" The beautiful Russian girl stepped forward and asked with a smile.

"Uh... Two cups of barley tea, two bowls of seafood noodles, and one fried fish cake." The grandniece managed to find a few dishes that didn't look so strange on the menu.

"And that fried tomato with salmon." Li Yangbing added with a smile.

The Russian girl smiled and said, "This is our restaurant's signature dish, wait a moment, we will serve it as soon as possible."

Ignoring the disgusted expression of his niece and granddaughter, Li Yangbing stood up bowed and looked around in the store.

An old record player, a big red carp spittoon that I don’t know where to get, and a pair of dolls with New Year pictures on the wall. Li Yangbing thought it was a little cute. When he walked behind the counter, he suddenly stopped, trembling, stretched out his finger and pointed at the picture frame. The man asked: "Excuse me... who is this person..."

The young man at the counter turned his head to look in the direction of Li Yangbing's finger, and replied, "This is my mother's uncle, what's wrong?"

"Is he...is...is his name Ivan..." Li Yangbing felt that he hadn't said that name in Russian for a long time, and at this moment he felt a little strange.

"Yeah, who are you?" The young man frowned, and the old man in front of him suddenly burst into tears, making him a little at a loss.

"Uncle Ivan used to live on Santa Maria Avenue, but that street has changed its name now, and after Uncle Ivan's accident, my mother was worried that he would live alone, so she let him live with us." Middle-aged The Russian woman drove Li Yangbing and her grandniece to the suburbs. A villa stood on the green grass. In the small garden in front of the villa, an elderly man was sitting on a recliner, as if he was resting with his eyes closed.

"Uncle Ivan? Uncle Ivan?" The woman patted the old man's shoulder lightly. The old man slowly woke up and put on the sunglasses on the table.

"Who... who's here..." A hoarse old voice sounded, the once deep and melodious voice had passed away with the years, only the still thin chin still vaguely retained the strength of the old man when he was young.

"It's a Chinese, from Beijing." The woman spoke slowly, fearing that the old man might not be able to hear clearly, so she involuntarily raised her volume.

"Bang——" the old man struggled to get up from the recliner, but accidentally knocked off the teapot on the table, and the black tea spilled all over the table, but no one cared about it at the moment.

Li Yangbing gently pushed away his grandniece who was supporting him, leaned on crutches, and walked towards the old man step by step.

"Yang...Yang Bing..." Hoarsely shouted that name in Chinese, Ivan couldn't believe it, but he really felt that someone was walking towards him, step by step, getting closer.

Covering Ivan with both hands, Li Yangbing slowly knelt down beside the recliner, took Ivan's right hand and stroked his face.

In the past 60 years, the two old people were crying.

After successfully finding Ivan, Li Yangbing decided to stay in Russia after learning that Ivan had only a few months to live.The grandniece solved the visa issue, allowing Li Yangbing to stay with Ivan at ease.Ivan, who has been blind for more than 50 years, can no longer see Li Yangbing's face. He feels a little regretful, and always touches Li Yangbing's face with his hands.

"I can't see the best, I'm just a bad old man now, you just need to remember the Li Yangbing in the past."

Ivan tremblingly kissed Li Yangbing's right hand: "I... waited... my... Katyusha..."

"Katyusha finally met her long-distance lover..."

After Ivan returned to the Soviet Union, he has been trying his best to send letters back to China, but the distance between the two countries, and there are so many irresistible factors, the news of Li Yangbing was cut off after the 70s.He could only learn about China's situation from news reports and other people's words, and every day he looked forward to the friendly relationship between China and the Soviet Union and his return to China.As a result, an unexpected fire burned everything in Ivan's room, including Li Yangbing's letters. In order to save those letters, Ivan rushed into the flames alone, but only got some wreckage.Due to the long-term fire scene, his eyes were blinded by the thick smoke, and after treatment, he could only vaguely see some light and shadow.After being blind, the research work was naturally handed over to others. Ivan insisted on learning Braille, engraved Li Yangbing's letters into Braille by memory, and rubbed them non-stop every day.

Now that the two are reunited, he can finally meet his Li Yangbing for real, but he is dying of advanced bowel cancer.

The time given to them by God always seems to be so stingy, five hours in the past, but now a few months.

But both of them are satisfied.

Three months later, Ivan passed away with a smile in Li Yangbing's arms. According to his will, all his assets were donated to a Russian organization dedicated to helping Chinese and Soviet lovers like them who were forced to separate due to some irresistible factors at the time. The charitable organization of relatives, Li Yangbing brought the body back to China after cremation.

Three months ago, Li Yangbing was accompanied by his grandniece, but three months later, it was Ivan's niece and Iwan's ashes who accompanied Li Yangbing.

A year later, Li Yangbing died in his sleep. According to his will, his assets were donated to the same charity, and his ashes and Ivan's ashes were packed in the same wooden urn and buried deep in the Fragrant Hills under a maple tree.

That maple tree is as red as blood, but also the color of heart.

--THAN--

The author has something to say:

If someone reads it, I may add a sweet episode, provided that if someone pays attention to me, it will be over~~~~~

Li Yangbing's name means that when you see the sun, it turns into water. Of course, the sun is Ivan, which is a hidden candy.