Chapter 84 Notebook (Completed)
Old Ivan was telling the truth.
Although China had only recently been established and was in the early stages of rebuilding, it provided the best possible supply of experts to the alliance.
Take Old Ivan for example. After he was sent to China by the Alliance, he continued to receive his salary from his original military factory. China also gave him an additional salary and subsidies. All things considered, the actual compensation he received was equivalent to five times his salary in the Alliance.
Five times!
That's equivalent to the wages of ten skilled workers in the Alliance at the time!
Even today, old Ivan still can't help but laugh when he thinks about it: "My colleague, he was very reluctant to come to China at first, but those who are chosen cannot refuse. He angrily boarded the train, angrily gave lectures, and angrily went to collect his first month's salary—and then, his anger vanished instantly, like snowflakes falling on a stove."
The alliance experts, who were initially reluctant to come to Zhongguo, were like people forced to buy lottery tickets after they actually arrived. They ended up scratching the ticket and winning 500 million. Almost no one felt a trace of regret in the days that followed.
In addition to high salaries, Zhong Guo also pays for the medical and transportation expenses of the alliance experts, arranges regular summer vacations, and provides translators, security guards, and special cars, ensuring that their needs are met in every aspect.
During field operations, the meals provided to the alliance experts were also required to meet the Western food standards of the Beijing International Hotel, with meat, eggs, milk, buttered bread, and an extremely lavish diet.
Even now, when Ivan recalls it, he can't help but sigh, "I was just a carpenter's son, yet I enjoyed the treatment of a Tsar in China. My students in China were very thin, with sunken bellies, but they refused to accept my money. Even when I shared my bread with them, they would only break off a small piece and return most of the bread to me."
Zhong Guo even considered the needs of the families accompanying the experts to China, not only solving their children's schooling problems but also organizing various performances and parties. One of the two best imported film projection systems in the country was even installed in the hotel where the experts stayed.
Sergei came to China with his mother, Olesia, where he learned fluent Chinese and made friends with several Chinese children.
More than thirty years have passed, and Sergei has gone from a blond, blue-eyed boy to a middle-aged man with brown hair and eyes, but he still can't forget Zhong Guo.
Zhong Guo tightened his belt to supply the alliance experts, and even had to start controlling the number of experts providing assistance, implementing the principle of "few but excellent".
In fact, the generous treatment that Zhongguo gave to the alliance experts far exceeded the previous agreement between the two countries. It even prompted the alliance to take the initiative to stop supplementing the experts' expenses. However, Zhongguo has always been hospitable, especially to the experts who came to help establish a modern industrial system. In just a few years, Zhongguo has transformed from a war-torn agricultural country into an industrial country.
The alliance practically taught Zhongguo step by step, and even today, Zhongguo's education, industry, military, and government institutions still bear a strong influence from the alliance.
Even though the League's grave is now overgrown with grass, Zhong Guo still bears the marks of its existence.
They were comrades-in-arms, teachers, enemies, and long-gone friends.
Old Ivan recalled, "When we were asked to leave Zhongguo, my students asked me why I had to go and if there was any way to keep me here. The train started moving, and they chased after it, waving and calling my name... Everyone was in tears at that moment..."
He paused for a moment before slowly saying, "I love Zhongguo as much as I love my motherland... I was on the train thinking, let me come back to Zhongguo, to see my students again, even if it's just for a month..."
He Changyi gently asked old Ivan, "Then why are you unwilling to come to Zhongguo now?"
Old Ivan shook his head.
“It’s been too long. My students no longer need me, and neither does Jong-kook. You are all better than us.”
He Changyi advised, "How could we not need you? Professor Liu really wants you to come. In our Zhongguo dialect, 'A teacher for a day is a father for life'..."
Old Ivan interrupted her with a loud laugh, "No, no, no, I'm not Liu's father. He has his own father!"
Undeterred, He Changyi continued to persuade him, "Zhong Guo needs you, just as he did thirty years ago."
Old Ivan said, "But now, my country needs me."
He Changyi was taken aback.
Old Ivan didn't give her a chance to speak again, and instead told her a story.
"There were three prisoners in the jail, and the guard asked them why they were imprisoned. The first prisoner said, 'Because I opposed the alliance sending experts to Zhong Guo.' The second prisoner said, 'Because I agreed with the alliance sending experts to Zhong Guo. As for the third prisoner—'"
Old Ivan winked at He Changyi, "He said, I am the expert who was sent to Zhongguo."
He Changyi: ...No, she really wants to laugh, her morals and her sense of humor are fighting each other!
Ivan said, "I've loved the league, and I've hated the league, but no matter what, I will never abandon the league."
He Changyi ultimately suppressed his laughter with strong willpower, his face serious and solemn, and said to Old Ivan:
"But the league is gone."
Old Ivan pointed to his heart. "She's right here."
He used "Она," which means mother, lover, and the spirit of the dead whom he would never see again.
He Changyi then understood that no one could persuade this stubborn old man.
He is like a birch tree, its branches reaching towards the gray sky, its roots buried deep in the earth, unshaken by the Siberian cold winds.
He can die, but he will not surrender.
He will always fight for his ideals.
An untimely, eccentric, stubborn, outdated, yet admirable—true, Bolshevik.
As He Changyi was about to leave, he suddenly stopped, turned around, and bowed deeply to old Ivan.
"Thank you, and all the experts like you, for everything you have done for Zhong Guo."
Old Ivan smiled, his face etched with wrinkles; it was the first time he had ever smiled heartily.
"You're welcome. You've been kind enough to me. I will never forget Jong-kook."
He suddenly became serious again, “Please look at us, look at our fate, and then do not forget, do not waver, as long as there is one socialist country in the world, there is still hope.”
A single spark can start a prairie fire.
Perhaps one day, a great fire will reignite this world.
A ghost still wanders.
He Changyi jumped out of the jeep dejectedly, while Yan Zhengchuan was already waiting at the door.
Yan Zhengchuan walked past her without saying hello and very carefully opened the trunk—
Okay, no.
He paused, then moved to the front and opened every car door, examining every possible hiding place with the meticulousness of a crime scene investigator, even the smallest, cramped areas where a person could only fold three times over.
That's even better, really not.
Xie Xuejun, who was driving, was puzzled and asked Yan Zhengchuan, "Comrade Yan, what are you looking for?"
Yan Zhengchuan found it difficult to speak.
What is he looking for? Is he going to tell this retired soldier introduced by Old Man Yan that he is looking for the Alliance expert who was knocked unconscious in the first month of the lunar calendar and hidden in a sack?
Even if no one knows about his relationship with Zhengyue, it would be embarrassing to say it out loud!
He, a dignified criminal police captain, has a younger sister who is a kidnapper!
The one they tied up was an alliance expert who had done Zhong Guo a great favor!
Seeing Xie Xuejun's questioning gaze, Yan Zhengchuan coughed and said casually, "It's nothing. I saw a news article about a car bomb in the newspaper and was worried, so I came to check it out."
Xie Xuejun suddenly realized!
"I understand. From now on, I will check the car every day to make sure no one has a chance to cause trouble!"
Yan Zhengchuan chuckled twice: "Very good, very good, dedicated..."
Xie Xuejun had already begun to lift the hood where the engine was located and had even extended a warm invitation to Yan Zhengchuan to come and inspect it together.
Yan Zhengchuan fled in disarray!
Back on the second floor, He Changyi collapsed onto the sofa without a care for her image, sighing and complaining.
"Why did I soften my heart? Once I tied him up, how could he possibly run away?"
She got up and said to Yan Zhengchuan, "How about I learn from Boss Cao? I'd rather betray the world than let Teacher Ivan suffer!"
Yan Zhengchuan roughly ruffled her hair, but she slapped his hand away.
He wasn't angry at all, and said with a smile, "Alright, just let the old man off the hook. He's over sixty years old, can he take this kind of torment?"
Yan Zhengchuan sat on the armrest of the sofa, took off He Changyi's coat, dusted it off, and hung it neatly on the backrest.
"Alright, tell me, what happened today?"
He Changyi let out a long sigh.
"Second brother, you're right. A man's will cannot be taken away. You really can't persuade an old man who came through the revolutionary era."
She said somewhat dejectedly, "Tell me, given the current conditions in Oros, and his treatment at the military factory—I asked the contact person, and even Old Ivan's apprentices have become his superiors—if he were willing to come to China, wouldn't he be the center of attention, the center of everyone's admiration? But he absolutely refuses!"
He Changyi angrily slammed his fist on the sofa.
"I'm so angry! Why did he have to die here? The alliance has already disintegrated! The seventh day after his death has been over for several years!"
Yan Zhengchuan rarely saw her so exasperated, and he couldn't help but laugh, but he tried hard to suppress his laughter.
"You mean well in the first month of the lunar calendar, everyone knows that, but for some people, spiritual pursuits are far more important than material enjoyment."
He cited several scientists who returned to China from the United States after the founding of the People's Republic of China. They abandoned their comfortable lives, lived in anonymity in the Northwest, and some even sacrificed their lives for it.
These scientists were like that, and so was old Ivan.
His country is gone, but his faith remains.
He Changyi said, "But old Ivan's wife is sick! He doesn't even have the money to pay for her medical expenses!"
Yan Zhengchuan frowned upon hearing this. "Is it that bad? Then I'll go and give him some money. After all, he helped us back then."
He Changyi angrily interrupted him: "It's none of your business!"
With a hint of reluctance, she added, "I've told the contact person that I'll cover old Ivan's wife's medical expenses from now on. I won't show my face, so the old man won't think I'm trying to blackmail him. I'll just reimburse the medical expenses in full under the name of the military factory."
Yan Zhengchuan's heart was practically melting!
This is his sister!
Where else in the world can you find such a perfect little moon!
He Changyi slumped onto the sofa, unaware that her second brother was holding her melted heart and gazing at her with boundless love.
"Forget it, maybe I should keep looking. As long as the pay is good enough, there will always be people willing to come to Zhongguo on business trips..."
He Changyi was figuring out how to dangle a carrot in front of the contact person's nose so that the guy would willingly hand over a military expert whose technical level was almost the same as that of old Ivan, and preferably not as stubborn as old Ivan!
He's practically a gravedigger!
At that moment, Xie Xuejun knocked on the door and came in, carrying a stack of notebooks.
He looked a little confused. "Boss, someone asked me to give this to you."
Yan Zhengchuan was the first to get up and walk over, taking the notebook from Xie Xuejun and carefully placing it on the table furthest from the sofa to avoid any dangerous items being hidden inside.
While Yan Zhengchuan was checking the notebook, He Changyi asked Xie Xuejun, "Who delivered it? Where is he?"
Xie Xuejun craned his neck to look at Yan Zhengchuan, regretting his lack of foresight in bringing the notebook up.
Upon hearing He Changyi's question, he hurriedly replied, "The one who came was an old man from E'guo, who looked to be in his sixties or seventies. He put down his things and left."
He Changyi found it somewhat strange.
An old man? Who could that be? She doesn't know many old men in Oros... wait.
He Changyi suddenly thought of someone.
Suddenly, Yan Zhengchuan called her over loudly, "You absolutely have to see this."
His expression was somewhat complex, as if he were happy, but also as if he were sighing.
He Changyi walked over and looked at the page Yan Zhengchuan had pointed to—
Those were hand-drawn tank sketches, with a familiar shape, a familiar gun barrel, and an even more familiar number.
“T-80,” He Changyi murmured aloud.
She quickly flipped through the notebook. Even though she couldn't understand some of the technical terms, she could roughly tell that it was a work notebook written over many years by an experienced military expert.
The notes are filled with data, sketches, formulas, and test results, providing a detailed analysis of the structural layout, weight distribution, ergonomics, vulnerable parts, and improvement plans for various types of tanks.
Every word and phrase reflects thirty years of painstaking effort.
This is a martial arts manual that tank experts around the world are eagerly seeking knowledge from. If it were put on the black market, it would immediately ignite a fierce battle among various forces.
Yan Zhengchuan said softly, "This is a gift from him to you."
He Changyi shook his head.
"No, this is a gift for us."
She closed the notebook; on the title page was a line of familiar Emei script—
Please regard this as a lasting memento of the friendship between our two countries.
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Author's Note: Writing this chapter left me with mixed feelings... It reminded me of the comments I saw under the video of the honor guard singing Katyusha at the Red Square parade:
When we were all young and naive, we were enemies. When we faced hardship, we were loyal friends. Later, as time passed and we matured, we became more worldly-wise. On the surface, we were amicable, but secretly we schemed against each other. We weren't close friends anymore, but like strangers, we were barely old acquaintances. On this auspicious day, when everyone is happy, I've come to your house as one of your many guests. So, I'll give you a song you once taught me.
But you know better than anyone that the person who truly taught you to sing died in the winter of 1991, and you alone followed the path he left behind, forging ahead without hesitation.
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