Chapter 78: Playing hard to get?
According to Veleka, Yuri went up to the second floor alone. Unlike the first floor, the second floor was composed of private rooms. To Yuri's surprise, many of the rooms upstairs were already occupied. He pushed open three or four doors in a row, and each room contained a man and a woman talking together.
Yuri suddenly realized that the private room upstairs was prepared for young men and women who liked each other and wanted to develop a relationship.
Just when Yuri was about to try the sixth box, someone he knew suddenly came over from the opposite side of the corridor. It was the same woman he met outside the side door of the theater when he was smoking before, Gerlyosha. When Yuri saw her, the woman was facing him, writing something in a notebook in her hand. She was awakened by Yuri's footsteps, looked up in this direction, and after noticing Yuri, she hesitated for a moment before slowly walking over.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, it's nice to see you again," Gerlyosha asked with a smile, stopping five or six steps away from Yuri. "It seems that you have found the person you like. Congratulations."
"Thank you," Yuri thanked him, then asked in confusion, "You are..."
"Like I said before, I work here," Gerlyosha shook the notebook in her hand and asked, "Where's the girl you like? Why are you the only one here?"
"She'll be here a while," Yuri said, shrugging.
Gerlyosha obviously misunderstood the meaning of his shrug. She looked at Yuri deeply and said, "Girls are always more introverted. You need to be more patient."
"Thank you, I will," Yuri touched his nose and thought to himself, I have patience, but I'm afraid others don't.
"Do you want to find a private room?" Gerlyosha didn't dwell on this question. She looked at the notebook in her hand and said, "The room in front, б219, is still empty. You can go there."
Yuri turned his head and looked at the door of the box next to him. Seeing that there was indeed a number on it, he thanked Gerlyosha and walked in the direction she pointed.
"By the way, can you tell me the girl's name?" After taking a few steps forward, Yuri heard Gerlyosha asking from behind.
"Oh?" With a hint of doubt, Yuri stopped and looked back.
"When she comes up, I'll tell her the room number." Gerlyosha raised the notebook in his hand and said.
"Thank you, but no need. I think someone will bring her up." For some reason, Yuri didn't want to mention the name "Suya". He waved his hand and rejected Gerlyosha's kindness.
As the oldest and largest theater in Moscow, the boxes here are naturally the most upscale. Moreover, the box arranged for me by Geryosha is in a particularly good location, facing the direction of the stage. Looking down from the box stands, the viewing effect is much better than that on the first floor.
The Political Department of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League has obviously made a lot of investment for today's event. There are even some fruits and desserts placed on the square table in the stand of the box. Although the quantity is not large, it is better than nothing.
Yuri sat in the box for a while, just when he had smoked a cigarette, someone knocked on the door of the box, but the person who pushed the door open was not Suya, but Gerlyosha.
The woman pushed the door open and first glanced at Yuri with a strange look in her eyes. She didn't say anything, but stood directly beside the door. Then, Veleka walked in.
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Vreka looked a little embarrassed and a little annoyed after entering the room. He stood at the door and said, "I'm very sorry, Comrade Suya has left. Her troops will set out tonight and go to the Borovsk area to be stationed, so..."
Oh, it seems that I have been too sentimental, Yuri was stunned. Was he wrong, or was the other party playing hard to get?
"Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich, look..." Verekha was really annoyed. He couldn't understand what was going on with that woman. Did she think that a lieutenant colonel wasn't good enough for her? What's more, the matchmaker was Comrade Malenkov's assistant, and there were people from the Political Department of the League Central Committee trying to mediate.
The troops were about to leave, what kind of excuse was that? Even if her field hospital was really going to leave, couldn't someone from the Political Department of the League Central Committee come forward to ask for leave for her? This was really outrageous. I had to report this to Comrade Malenkov, and maybe I had to check this woman's background to see if she was dissatisfied with the Soviet regime.
"Oh, it's okay," Yuri smiled. He thought this was interesting. "Now that I know where she went, it's enough for me. After a while, she will probably be assigned to the Sixteenth Army. I will go find her then."
"You mean..." Vreka's face lit up. After hearing what Yuri said, he knew that he had not given up on pursuing that woman. That was good. At least he could report back.
"I have a good impression of Comrade Suya, and I plan to pursue her." Yuri touched his nose and said somewhat awkwardly. Although it was a show , the content of the performance still made him feel embarrassed.
"I sincerely wish you success, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Vereka said with a smile, "and you do have good taste. Comrade Suya is outstanding and she is totally worthy of any man's efforts to pursue her."
"Thank you, your wishes give me more confidence. Now, I believe that I can succeed." Yuri said with a smile.
"In this case, I won't bother you anymore, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich." Although it wasn't perfect, the mission was accomplished at least. Vereka was in a hurry to go back and report to Malenkov, so he couldn't stay here for long. "You can rest here for a while and watch the show. I'll notify them not to disturb you."
"Thank you," Yuri took two steps forward and shook hands with Vreka.
Only after seeing off Veleka did Yuri breathe a sigh of relief. Now, regardless of what this woman Suya planned, at least he could relax a little for a short period of time.
"Comrade Yuri," Vereka left, but Gerlyosha stayed in the box. She waited until the footsteps in the corridor disappeared, then looked at Yuri who had returned to his chair and said in a slightly hurried tone, "Are you familiar with Comrade Vereka Aysevich?"
Yuri had just lit a cigarette. He looked at the other person in surprise and asked in confusion: "Why do you ask this?"
"I..." Gerlyosha hesitated. Obviously, she had something she was not able to say out loud.
"We are not very familiar with each other. This is the first time we met today." Yuri did not ask further questions. He said, "Do you know him?"
"Yes, he often comes to the theater to organize activities and is Comrade Malenkov's secretary," said Gerlyosha.
"You saw it, he came to introduce me tonight only according to the instructions of Comrade Malenkov," Yuri shrugged and said with some disapproval. Yes, he just disapproved. He strongly disagreed with this phenomenon in the Soviet Union. What's the difference between the organization introducing people to potential partners and forcibly arranging a marriage?
Gerlyosha was silent. She stood at the door, folded her hands on her abdomen, and twisted her fingers together. She seemed to be hesitating about something, and it seemed that she was having an intense ideological struggle.
"Is there anything else?" Yuri saw her hesitation and couldn't help asking.
"I... it's like this, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Gerlyosha bit her lip and finally made up her mind. She said stutteringly, "I know we are not familiar with each other. At this time, it is very excessive to ask you to do this, but, but I really have no other way. I hope you can help me..."
As she said this, her voice became choked and she was obviously about to cry.
"Tell me, what's the matter?" Yuri said with his head slightly tilted back and a frown.
"I want to ask you to help me find out about my family," Gerlyosha wiped her tears and said sadly, "They are all in Leningrad, my father, mother, and my child... my Elsa, she is not even three years old yet."
Just this?
Yuri shook his head. This was not a difficult matter for him. Leningrad was indeed cut off from the outside world, but only civilian contact and material supply were cut off. Military contact was always smooth. As a lieutenant colonel and a middle-level official in the People's Commissariat for Internal Affairs, although Yuri did not have many people to use, it was still easy for him to find out this information.
"I can help with this matter," Yuri said after thinking for a while, "How about this, you write to me about your parents' situation, especially their address in Leningrad, and I'll ask someone to help check it out."
"Ah, I'll give it to you right away," Gerlyosha hurriedly wiped her face with the back of her hand, then scrambled to find a pen, and just stood there, quickly writing down the information in the notebook in her hand, then tore it off and handed it to Yuri.
"Thank you very much, Comrade Yuri Arkhipovich," Gerlyosha handed the information to Yuri and bowed to him again, saying, "I have been almost going crazy recently and asked many people for help, but it was all in vain. I don't know what is happening in Leningrad, and I don't know if my family is still alive. I..."
As she said this, she couldn't help crying out loud.
"Please leave me your phone number so I can inform you when I have any news." Yuri said after looking at the information on the note.
"I don't have a telephone at home," Gerlyosha said, "but I live at 23 Lukovo Street in the Basmany district."
"Okay, I'll find a way to inform you when I have news." Yuri thought about it. He would be staying in Moscow for the next two days anyway, so he could send her the news if he had any.
