Chapter 213:


    Chapter 213


    Wow


    The train station to my hometown had changed. The quiet station at the foot of a gentle hill was now a busy ce with hundreds of peopleing and going.


    Over here! Load it up!


    No, not there, over there!


    The workers were loading and unloading cargo, mostly grains, onto and off the freight trains.


    Heavy machines were moving and lifting tons of cargo.


    Niki, who couldnt imagine such a scene, opened his mouth wide and looked around nkly.


    Hey, where are you from, bumpkin?


    Huh? Im from here


    A worker with muscr arms pped Nikis back and joked. Niki, startled, answered without thinking.


    Did youe from the Tsars era No? Niki?


    Huh? Uncle Ivan?


    Hey, you b*****d, youre not dead! I thought you died since you never came back! Hahahaha!!


    Niki recognized him after a moment of vague memory.


    He had met so many people that he had forgotten the faces of his old hometown friends.


    It took him some time to remember.


    Wow! You finally came back! Your parents have been waiting for you so much!


    Hahaha It just happened that way.


    He had written letters mostly to Katia, and only told his parents that he was alive. He felt sorry for his parents and scratched the back of his head.


    Anyway, lets go! Im done here. Ill give you a ride home.


    Huh?


    What are you so surprised about?


    Uncle Ivan put his arm around Nikis shoulder andughed heartily. He dragged Niki to the truck parked near the station and got in.


    How did you get this truck, uncle?


    How did I get it? The party gave me a few.


    Niki was shocked. Uncle Ivan started the truck with a familiar gesture. It was clearly a brand new American 2.5-ton truck. Why was it in this vige?


    Didnt you know? They brought them in for military supplies or what do you call it license production? The party distributed them to the collective farms inrge quantities. Theres no farm without one of these these days.


    Is is that so


    The dusty dirt road he had left with a draft notice had turned into a paved asphalt road. Uncle Ivan turned the steering wheel smoothly and pointed out the window with his finger.


    Do you see those round cylinders?


    Huh? Yes! Yes


    Those are what do you call it silos, where they store grains. Now you just have to take them there, right?


    Niki barely understood the concept of silos, having received only elementary education as a farmer. But he had a rough idea of what they were. A kind of intermediate storage warehouse, right? As a former battalionmander who connected the lower and upper units, he knew why they were needed.


    Thendscape of his hometown had changed. The train station had grown huge, and there were roads and facilities he had never seen before.


    Thats the new barn over there and this is the construction site for the khrushchyovka


    There were quite a few trucks on the road. Niki wondered if there were so many vehicles in our country.


    Of course, there might have been. He had seen the endless wave of tanks, so there must have been a lot. But so many trucks in this backwater vige!


    Uncle Ivanughed again when he saw Nikis stunned expression.


    Hey! Didnt you go to war and y in the big water? You look like you came back more of a bumpkin! Hahahaha!


    Hahaha, I guess so


    He felt that way too.


    He couldnt adapt to the world that had suddenly grown and widened. He wanted to go back to his small and old hometown, which seemed to be the same forever. He thought he could find a suitable job for him in his hometown.


    But the hometown he longed for was not his hometown. The people looked well-fed, with plump faces and clothes and houses that were not shabby and falling apart like before.


    But his hometown was not like this in his memory.


    Here we are. Your parents are maybe in 326?


    Ah yes, thank you.


    The entrance to the farm was simr to before, but the inside was different.


    Niki gasped when he saw the newly built white-painted khrushchyovka apartments.


    These days, theyve built so many of these theyre much warmer and nicer than before.


    Is that so


    Hey! Niki is back! Pyotr Vasilyevichs son!


    Huh? Niki?


    Finally, he saw some familiar faces.


    Misha! Sasha! Sofia!


    Hahaha! You finally came back?


    Niki! How long has it been?


    His old friends, who had aged and worn a bit, but were still the same as in his memory, were there.


    Mikhail and Alexander, who had gone to the army with him on the same train, and Sofia, who had cried and sent them off, were in their hometown.


    Why were you sote? The war endedst year, didnt it?


    Did you go to the Far East?


    Haha, no, thats not it


    Most of the soldiers had returned home, but the officers had to stay in the army for downsizing, reassignment, and reorganization. Niki had received a high performance rating thanks to his medal and was forcibly transferred to the former German front, wherepetent officers were needed.


    Anyway, its good. Do you know where Mr. Pyodor lives? Come on, lets go!


    Huh? Oh, okay


    Niki, you b*****d. Howe you havent changed at all? Hahahaha!


    The friendsughed loudly as they saw him hesitating at the sight of the changed neighborhood. Niki smiled bitterly to himself.


    Thats right. There are things I wish hadnt changed


    His heart pounded with every step he took on his way home.


    The house he had missed so much, the house he had thought of repairing many times when he returned, was now a neat new apartment. How could this ce, with the smell of fresh paint, be our home? It felt strangely new.


    Who is it?


    Mom!


    Niki?


    When he knocked on the door of his hometown house, the door opened with a creak. His mother peeked out her head.


    His mothers face had more wrinkles than before. Niki felt like tears would spill out, and he flung open the door and ran into the house.


    Is this you came early, but youre onlying now? Did you eat well? Hey, why are you folding your cor like that Your father will be home around dinner time. I dont know why his back is so bad these days.


    His mother nagged as usual. Niki was so moved that he couldnt say anything.


    His mother looked at him with a pitying eye and spat out.


    You should have written more often.


    ***


    Hey, son. Youre here?


    Dad!


    His father casually remarked as he saw the unfamiliar boots when he opened the door.


    He threw off his muddy boots and walked briskly toward his son, whom he hadnt seen in years.


    Let me see


    Mr. Pyodor, whose hands were full of calluses and bent at every joint, examined his sons face and hands. He burst outughing.


    Youre not a moron, are you? Good for you. Thats all that matters!


    Dad too No, then would I havee back as a moron?


    Niki knew as he chatted.


    Not everyone who left with him had returned.


    There were asional stories in the letters that the farm manager sent. Someones death notice had arrived. I hope you alle back healthy. Niki shivered whenever he saw a postscript attached. Who died this time?


    He wondered.


    There was no postscript since he received officer training.


    Lets eat!


    His mother put down arge pot on the table.


    She had cooked his favorite food, since he hade back after a long time. The delicious smell tickled his nose.


    Yeah. Lets talk while we eat.


    Yes, dad.


    The first meal at home was his favorite food.


    Wow! Do you still eat army stew here?


    Of course, of course. This is the cheapest these days Isnt it greasy and salty?


    His mother scooped a spoonful of the army stew, which was full of spicy seasoning, American spam, homemade sausage, and various meats, and poured it into Nikis bowl.


    Eat a lot, my baby.


    Yes!


    His mother and father told him stories about their lives. Someone got married, someone had a baby, and someone else was doing something these days


    Of course, they avoided talking about the dead and injured.


    There wasnt enough time to tell only happy stories in his hometown, which he had returned to after a long time.


    His father casually remarked that people were getting fat because of the new barn and imported goods, which made milk and meat abundant.


    His mother cut him off.


    By the way, who is that girl?


    Uh, cough, cough


    Right? Who is that girl? What does she do?


    Uh, how do you know about Katia, dad and mom?


    Was her name Katia? His mother asked with a smirk.


    She likes you, doesnt she? No, you dont even write to us, but she somehow knew and wrote to us? You dont write to us, but only to your girlfriend? How We heard from her, not you, what youre doing.


    Cough, cough


    Niki coughed incessantly, as if the soft spam was stuck in his throat. Katia had asked him for his home address!


    Hey, they said you got a medal So thats why they gave you money for being a decorated veteran? You must have done something there? Hahahaha!


    What does she do, then? Shes not a weird person, is she?


    No, mom! Why do you say that to people?


    Niki was flustered by his mothers sudden question and snapped. But his mother calmly said with a nk face.


    What? If she likes someone like you, there must be something wrong with her, right? Maybe her eyes are bad


    Hey, honey! He looks just like me when I was young. Howe the girls dont like him? Then what are you?


    I was a moron


    His mother sighed deeply and muttered as if confessing. His father, who was babbling and speechless, was the same as always.


    Hahahahahaha!


    Niki was able tough happily for the first time in a long time.