Accompanied by the lights in the city center, the suburbs of Moscow had already fallen asleep. The night had already cast its shadow on the country road, and only sporadic street lights decorated the lonely night sky. A Renault SUV passed by, raising dust that had been settled for a long time.
A birch tree gently swayed and the leaves rustled. The branches bloomed with the buds belonging to April. Among the flowers that symbolized life, there was a cross of an Orthodox church, and below the cross was an inconspicuous tombstone.
The Preobrazhensky Cemetery. This path has a poetic name – “Heroes Trail”.
A bunch of white lilies was placed in front of the tombstone. An index finger gently touched the engraving on the tombstone and removed the dust that hid the hero’s name. A line of words described her life on the tombstone. However, unlike most heroes buried there, there was no record of merits on the tombstone.
Whenever this happened, there were generally only two possibilities. The merits she obtained weren’t glorious, or her merits were difficult to record, or both…
Marina Ivanovna Nikolaev
Moscow in April was still cold. Especially at night.
In front of the tombstone, she looked at the words she had read countless times. Natasha took a deep breath and buried her face in her hands. The white mist that floated between her fingers quickly spread into the cold night and gradually blurred her vision.
“Mom, how are you?”
“Your daughter has been very good. I… I came to see you again.”
“It’s been eleven years since that day. I’m sorry that I didn’t listen to you and your daughter has finally embarked on this path.”
Her face was buried in her sleeves, and Natasha wiped her eyes and the mist that was in the way. However, a rare softness appeared on her stubborn face.
“But… it’s okay.”
Looking up at the starry sky, she opened her stiff mouth and forced on a smile.
“When this is over, I’ll retire.”
“Although I don’t know what the outcome will be… sure enough, I still want to try and pursue my own happiness.”
Once again, she took a deep breath with her nose and quietly sensed the chill that filled her nostrils. Natasha felt that her mood was slightly calmer. She then reached out and picked up a handful of dust and carefully wrapped it in a handkerchief.
Putting the handkerchief into her purse, Natasha stood up and gave the tombstone a deep bow.
Just as she was about to leave, at that moment, she suddenly noticed that there was a white rose lying not far from the tombstone.
The pure white petals were stained with dirt like they had been blown by the wind…
Walking side by side in the corridor of the villa, just as Jiang Chen was wondering why General Nikolaev brought him there, the bearded general spoke.
“Natasha didn’t come with you?”
Hearing the familiar name, Jiang Chen looked at him, confused.
“You know Natasha?”
After Nikolaev heard Jiang Chen’s question, he laughed as if he just heard a funny joke.
“You’ve known her for so long. You don’t even know her last name?”
Jiang Chen thought for a second and his expression suddenly changed.
A possibility that he never guessed suddenly emerged in his mind. But even if the answer was already obvious, he still couldn’t imagine that the Russian who looked like a relative of the polar bear was actually Natasha’s…
“Let me introduce myself again-my name is Vladimir Nikolaev. Natasha Vladimir Nikolaev is my daughter.”
Jiang Chen was silent for a long time and it took a long time for a sentence to come out.
“I’ve always suspected that Natasha’s background wasn’t simple. I just didn’t expect her to have an army group commander behind her. Don’t misunderstand me; I don’t mean anything by it; it’s just… Very surprising.”
This explained why Natasha could arbitrarily hop from the intelligence department to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Although the relationship between the father and the daughter wasn’t very harmonious, she was still the daughter of General Nikolaev. It was difficult to say that her father didn’t secretly take care of her.
Nikolaev laughed happily, but a hint of desolateness mixed into his laughter which finally turned into a sigh.
“It’s useless to say that… It seems she still doesn’t want to see me.”
“So, you invited me to come here just to see your daughter through me?” Jiang Chen showed a helpless expression. “Unfortunately, when I told her that the party was held by General Nikolaev, she asked for sick leave.”
“No, seeing my daughter is just the wish of an old father.” Nikolaev shook his head and spoke with a grin. “But standing here is General Nikolaev, commander of 58th Army Group. Do you understand what I mean?”
Jiang Chen smiled courteously and didn’t answer. He didn’t like to gossip, nor was he interested in other’s people’s private matters, and he wasn’t interested in being involved in the conflicts between father and daughter.
Nikolaev clearly understood the status of the young man in his daughter’s heart. The previous words were deliberately directed at Jiang Chen with the hope that he would do something. However, Jiang Chen didn’t respond to his expectations, which disappointed him a little.
However, these disappointments lasted only for a short moment. Today, this party wasn’t for his daughter.
After a pause, Nikolaev hid his laughter and said seriously, “Let’s get down to business. I hope you will accompany me to meet someone before attending the party.”
“Why don’t we do it after the party? It’s not good for the host to disappear for so long,” Jiang Chen said.
“Compared to the future of Russia, the party is secondary.”
Stopped in front of a wooden burgundy door, Nikolaev raised his hand and knocked on the wooden door three times.
The door opened, and a Russian man wearing sunglasses opened the door. After he confirmed the identity of the visitor, he stepped to the side. General Nikolaev stepped forward and gestured at him to come in.
“Please.”
Jiang Chen raised an eyebrow and stepped into the room. The moment he entered the door, he looked up and saw the man sitting on the sofa, and his face was unexpectedly surprised. The man smiled and took the lead.
“Welcome to Moscow, friend from afar.”
The man lifted the goblet in the distance and expressed his welcome.
Although it was the first time meeting him, Jiang Chen was no stranger to this face.
The Russian President, Putin.
