East Berlin's June Boat Song

===========================

Dr. Sasha Kopaczki was sitting next to me when Allen rushed into the room. It was the next morning, and I was sleeping soundly and recovering.

Thanks to Sasha's excellent medical skills, oh yes, Sasha said that although he is much older than me, he still hopes that I can call him "Sasha".

"Because it makes me feel young and has no distance from you." He said while stroking my head.

"But are you 30 years old?" I asked ignorantly.

"29, soon, my dear, I am ten years older than you, your friend is coming soon."

When he got up, Allen happily pushed open the door of the ward, glanced at me, and then at Sasha.

"Hi, I'm Alan Claude, a friend of Rhine's, a student at the Faculty of Medicine of the Humboldt University of Berlin."

He stretched out his trembling hand. Sasha was still a gentleman, and he shook his hand gently.

"I am Dr. Sasha Kopatsky. Your friend is much better. Please take good care of him. I still have patients, so I will leave first."

Allen was about to say something, but Sasha had disappeared outside the ward.So he walked up to me and tapped on my head: "You're disobedient, I've been looking for you all day."

I hugged him: "Good Alan, take me back, I'm sorry for you."

Allen sighed: "I never needed your apology, little Rhine."

Before I left, I thanked Sasha. Sasha raised her slender neck among a group of patients and nodded to us with a smile. Unconsciously, I still want to hold it.

It must be very warm, I thought.

I left with Allen and got into a taxi next to Gussamank Church.

"It's such a powerful person to open a clinic at such a young age." Allen shook his head.

And I just looked out of the window silently, and suddenly a thought came into my heart: "What day is it today?"

"It's Friday, dear."

I still remember that Sonia said that she would go to work in Karlshorst starting this week. I didn't have any intention to go back to that place, but there are some things I always want to ask.

A long time ago, when I was still on the front line in Romania, I often worried that Misha would die on an unknown front, but at that time I always felt that there was nothing missing in my heart. I thought that if he died, my heart would be There must be an extra hole, where the cold wind will whistle.

After experiencing the initial grief, I carefully felt my feelings. Although it was heavy there, there was no cold wind.

Maybe it's because I refuse to admit that Misha is dead.

But I trust my gut.

If I have a chance, I will ask General Azrael clearly, but if I can get a little mercy from him, I may know something about Misha.

If he really died, I would kill myself without hesitation.If he is not dead, I will find him no matter where and bring him back.Even if it is a concentration camp on the Gulag Islands, I will go across the ocean.

So the next day, when I stood outside the outpost in Karlshorst, I looked at the gray eastern suburbs and prayed silently.A murderous spirit seems to rise from this land, and countless beasts from Siberia are dormant here, controlling the entire East Germany.

I couldn't imagine being locked up here for three months.

After showing the ID that Sonia gave me in advance, the sentry looked at me vigilantly and said in not-so-fluent German: "Follow this road and you will arrive at the general's mansion, remember, except this road Don't go anywhere or we won't be held responsible if you get shot."

I nodded silently, and kept silent all the way, not daring to vent my breath.I'm a German, and I walked alone in the Soviet military headquarters. Although the war was over, I was still guilty of death.

Russians are notoriously tough.

When I raised my eyes a little, a group of tall and burly Soviet troops ran past on the road, and several military trucks buzzed past. I hurriedly stood on the side of the road and lowered my head, for fear that I might see some military secrets that I shouldn’t see.Even though their eyes didn't rest on me at all, my knees started to weaken unconsciously.

After finally walking to the mansion, there was a group of guards outside the courtyard. They were tall and mighty, and their leather military coats were full of deterrence. They were all loaded with live ammunition, which looked very scary.They came over to check my papers and did a full body search before letting me in.

After a set of procedures, I broke out in cold sweat.

The iron carved gate opened, and I stepped into the garden in front of the mansion. There were no flowers in the cold winter of East Germany, and the yellowed lawn was neatly manicured. The Cupid sculpture in the central circular fountain was bathed in Cupid's arrows. Under the sprayed crystal water column, it sprinkled on the surrounding water surface.

Under the gray-blue sky, the surrounding sycamore trees that were almost bare were still swaying in the cold wind, and the withered and yellow leaves were falling in circles. I stretched out my hand, and one piece fell on the palm of my hand.

Squeezing it made a crunchy sound.

"Rhein!" A clear voice like a silver bell sounded, and I looked up and saw Sonia in military uniform standing in front of the milky white gate of the mansion.

I bowed to her: "Hello, Sonia."

Sonia waved at me and signaled me to go over: "You came quite early, but the general has already started working."

She led me into the mansion, and I stepped on the clean, soft, short-hair carpet and watched a huge crystal chandelier fall over the hall.The carpet leads from the door to the spiral staircase in the center of the mansion. The ivory staircase is elegant mahogany handrail full of simplicity.There are two huge blue and white porcelain vases on both sides of the stairs, which are half the height of a person.

"It's all the original decoration, and the overly complicated ones have been demolished."

Sonia led me into the depths of the hall and came to the back door of the mansion. After opening the door, there was an empty yard surrounded by sycamore trees, square and square, only a wooden house stood alone at the far end. Guess it's a good place for the Brits to play cricket.

But at this moment, only an old man in a blue uniform was asking to sweep the fallen leaves, and Sonia waved at him: "Hey! Comrade Ansolov!"

The old man known as "Comrade Ansolov" raised his head and responded to Sonia with a smile: "Comrade Dounechka, is this our new little helper?"

His benevolent gray eyes looked at me, and I blushed and bowed to him.

"Hello, comrade."

Sonia smiled and patted me on the shoulder: "Okay, our little bourgeois, you can work with Comrade Ansolov, he will tell you everything."

I blushed from the teasing of the phrase "Little Bourgeois". In the Democratic Germany under the control of the Soviet Union, this term has become more and more sensitive in recent years. Sometimes street hooligans would scold each other when they were fighting, "You damn it Sooner or later, the bourgeois will be blown to the head by the iron fist of socialism!"

I didn't quite understand it at the time, but after three months in prison, I began to understand it gradually.

Then I watched Sonia go back down the hall, and a short while later I heard her combat boots on the stairs.

"You are Rhine Muller, aren't you?"

"Yes, comrade." I respectfully.

Ansolov smiled and waved his hands: "Just call me Ansolov!"

Then he introduced me to the general's mansion.

"It can only be on the first floor and the back yard. The office on the second floor can only be visited when allowed, and the third floor is the general's piano room and bedroom. You must not go there, you know?"

He made me change into a blue uniform that was exactly like his, and then hung a plaque around my neck with my name and photo on it.

"We have to love our labor, Rhine, and do our best, because only if we clean up the mansion, the general can get a better rest, and our great cause of socialism will go further."

He spoke with great enthusiasm, and then led me across the yard to the front of the wooden house: "This is the utility room, you can rest here. And, little Rhine, I will teach you to identify something later."

"What?" I asked.

Ansolov smiled and said: "Bug, little Rhine, you must remember to keep an eye out for bugs in this mansion during the cleaning process. It's a small thing, but you will I found that young people have good eyesight, unlike me, Sonia often said that I need to get a pair of glasses."

He later showed me a series of pictures of bugs, all kinds of them, such as lighters, toothpicks, dragonflies, and those hidden in leather shoes.

"Of course, every once in a while, professionals will come to test, and we just have to stay vigilant."

Ansolov handed me a broom: "Now let's deal with the fallen leaves. Someone will bring lunch."

He was about to go back to the mansion, but after walking a few steps, he turned around and said, "Oh yes, your salary is paid monthly, and I will pay you at the end of the month."

I nodded, actually not interested in salary.Seeing him walk into the mansion, I stood in the empty yard, looking at the row of arched windows with dark green curtains on the third floor of the mansion.Strictly, you can't see anything.And behind a window on the left side of the second floor, I can vaguely see Sonia's figure.

With her back against the window, she seemed to be talking to someone while holding a cup of coffee.

I think maybe Major General Azrael.

I sighed and got to work.I worked very hard and seriously, and I only hope that one day I can be allowed to go up to the office on the second floor and have a few words with him.

He must know everything about Misha.

But I forgot that he could actually go downstairs, so at the end of the day, when I dragged my exhausted body to pack up the cleaning utensils, changed my work clothes in the utility room and was about to leave, he suddenly appeared in the yard.

He was standing on the side of the yard, facing me diagonally, with a sniper rifle in his hand.

I was startled, and hurriedly hid behind the utility room. Through the gap in the wooden door, I saw that he was wearing a casual Soviet uniform, which looked very thin, but it fully revealed his perfect tall and strong figure.He raised the gun gracefully, with his head slightly tilted, and his silver hair fell on the gun like moonlight.

He stood still, and fired several shots at a target on a plane tree.

Bang bang bang!

The sycamore tree trembled for a while, and the fallen leaves rustled down. I widened my eyes and thought, isn't this just looking for something for me?

He fired a few shots, then looked my way.

"come out."

His voice was very soft, but I could hear it very clearly.I had no choice but to walk out resentfully, full of confusion, with embarrassment written all over my body.

"I didn't report to you today."

I let out a cry, I don't know if I still need to report to him?What kind of rule is this?No one told me?

"Sorry, General, I don't know this rule, I will report to you tomorrow."

I spoke respectfully and bowed slightly.

The corners of his mouth were raised slightly, his smile was so cold that I shivered.

"Why are you so obedient now?" He raised the gun in his hand: "Because of this?"

I bowed my head, my face was flushed, and then I took a deep breath and said loudly: "General, I am the one who is sorry! I should not have shot at you or done anything to hurt you. It was all done by me alone, and it has nothing to do with others! "

I looked up at him, because I was afraid that tears would flow out uncontrollably: "You, can you tell me... Misha... Where is Misha?"

I was shaking, if he ordered me to get down on my knees and kiss his shoes, I would do it, if only he would tell me, I would give anything.

And he just tilted his head unobservably, without even moving his expression, his eyes were like needles piercing my face.

He reached out and handed me the sniper rifle.

"Bullseye."

His voice was soft, the light golden eye feathers fell slowly, and then lifted up again, a little more playful, exuding a shocking aura and charm, just like that time in prison, let me see I was sweating all over, and couldn't help looking more.

"I'll tell you if I hit the bull's-eye."