Kovalev was also thinking: So this is what I used to be like.
During her final visit, Wei Bing pieced together the whole truth behind Kovalev's current state, and stood there dumbfounded in the snowstorm at the armory. A short while later, Kovalev walked into the snow and draped his general's cloak over her shoulders.
Wei Bingkai looked at Kovalev's face and suddenly burst into tears.
Kovalev reached out to wipe away her tears. However, Wei Bingkai didn't hesitate to pull him into her arms and kiss his lips...
The story doesn't end there. Next, Wei Bingkai and Kovalev spent a short, sweet time together. Wei Bingkai, notebook in hand, followed Kovalev closely, constantly trying to correct his thuggish military habits and tyrannical behavior, determined to change him back to his former self. Under her influence, Kovalev gradually changed as well.
Winter passed and spring arrived, and the heavy snow at the Belosnezhsk Armory finally melted away. Wei Bingkai and the factory workers boarded a vehicle, excitedly preparing to go to town to make purchases. However, just then, the factory received a group of uninvited guests. These people wanted to take Wei Bingkai away!
It turned out that while Wei Bingkai was isolated in the factory, relations between China and the Soviet Union soured, almost to the point of complete severance. A large number of Soviet experts sent to China were withdrawn, and students studying in the Soviet Union were all to be repatriated. Wei Bingkai's other classmates had already left, but she, because the factory was blocked by snow and the journey was difficult, was only found now.
Kovalev flew into a rage, and his soldiers cocked their rifles, preparing to fight the newcomers to the death. Just then, Wei Bingkai stepped forward and prevented a potential conflict.
She couldn't abandon her homeland. Sooner or later, she would have to leave this factory and return to build her country. This farewell was already destined; it was just happening sooner.
Wei Bingkai left. Kovalev stood there, silently gazing until the car disappeared below the horizon.
Wei Bingkai never returned. It wasn't until thirty years later, when relations between the two countries improved, that she once again set foot on Soviet soil. But by then, the Belosnezhsk Armory had long been shut down, and no one knew where the former factory safety officer had gone.
Standing bewildered on the street, Wei Bingkai suddenly seemed to glimpse Kovalev's figure in the vast crowd. That instant felt like an eternity; she stood there stunned for a long time before she reacted, frantically pushing through the crowd to search for that figure, but she could never find him again…
Ten years later, the Soviet Union collapsed. Eastern Europe was in chaos and turmoil, and the elderly Wei Bingkai was no longer able to set foot on that land a third time. She could only wait, occasionally sending messages to her old classmates to inquire about Kovalev's whereabouts.
Finally, one evening as the sun was setting, Wei Bingkai was dozing off on a park bench. A young man who looked remarkably like Kovalev walked up to her.
Upon seeing the young man, Wei Bingkai seemed to have an epiphany.
"You're Kovalev's..."
“I am his son,” the young man replied.
The young man said that Kovalev was already married with children and had a very happy family. Recently, he heard that an old friend from the East had been inquiring about him. Coincidentally, the young man himself was also going to the East on business, so he brought Kovalev's message with him.
“My father said he is doing well and that you don’t need to worry about him,” the young man said slowly. “He also said that you will always be his friend.”
"Oh, right, my father asked me to return this to you."
The young man pulled a yellowed notebook from his pocket, filled with scattered notes. It was the very notebook that Wei Bingkai had used years ago, standing behind Kovalev, to constantly take notes and remind him to correct his behavior.
The notebook was well-preserved, undamaged except for the yellowed pages. Only the slightly frayed corners of the pages told a silent story.
Wei Bing held the notebook, looked at it for a long time, and finally a relieved smile appeared on his face.
"Okay, I understand... Thank you."
The young man nodded, then turned and left.
Wei Bingkai will never know that the young man was not Kovalev's son, but his sister's child. Nephew-uncle Xiao, that's why the two looked so alike.
Just as she would never know, Kovalev had committed suicide the night the Soviet Union collapsed. He chose to die as a Soviet citizen. Kovalev never married, and before his death, besides his pistol, he only had this small notebook with him.
Is all of this ultimately a blessing or a curse for Wei Bingkai?
The elderly Wei Bingkai sat on a bench, squinting as he slowly gazed at the setting sun in the distance.
The sun has set.
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