Chapter 1 Moscow in May

In early May, Moscow was still immersed in the tail of winter and the sound of cold wind, which made people shiver.

As a military fan and die-hard Soviet fan from China, Lin Jie's purpose of this trip to Moscow was very clear, that is, the grand military parade to commemorate the Victory Day of the Great Patriotic War to be held in Moscow on May 9 this year.

In order not to miss every key detail of this rare ceremony, Lin Jie got up early at four o'clock in the morning, packed his luggage, and came to the Red Square in Moscow to line up early in the morning with the stars and the night sky above his head. In order to take the most eye-catching and cool photos at the best viewing position and send them back to China to show off, so as to satisfy his little vanity.

After waiting for a long time with trepidation and excitement, the familiar melody of the song "The Red Army is the Strongest" that year after year makes people yearn for past memories and glory, the biggest highlight of the Victory Day parade and also the most exciting and anticipated for Lin Jie, the armored troops, finally began to slowly drive along the flat road towards the viewing platform, dragging the black engine exhaust with the characteristics of the Russian bear.

"Fuck! T3485! A live, active T3485! Damn, those little bastards must be so jealous of me! Haha!"

"T72B3? This is great! I'll take a picture of the turtle-shell head, too, the iconic feature of the Russian bear!"

"Here they come! 2S35 self-propelled howitzer and 2S19! Damn, they're so pretty!"

As a colleague who helped Lin Jie get the parade ticket, Rosov Vlakovich Lavrinenko, a Russian citizen and descendant of the Soviet Red Army, was puzzled by Lin Jie's enthusiasm for taking pictures with his camera.

"Lin, your Chinese army is also very powerful now. Why did you come back here two years after graduating from Moscow University to watch the Victory Day parade?"

After hearing the question from his college classmate, Lin Jie put down the camera temporarily and smiled brightly.

"What's the big deal, Comrade Rosov? You know, the anti-fascist war is the fruit of our common victory. Don't you want to share this joy with me? My dear Davarish."

"Hahaha, when it comes to talking, I think no one in the world can be your Chinese opponent!"

The bold enthusiasm and laughter from the fighting nation easily resolved this small conversation. Before Rosov, who had just recovered his normal state, continued to speak, Lin Jie, who had been holding the camera tightly in his hand, suddenly exclaimed again in a low voice.

"Wow, here they come! It's the T14 Armata and the Kurganets 25 infantry fighting vehicle! Damn, why is this rubbish camera useless now?"

No matter whether the harvest of this day makes Lin Jie feel perfect and satisfied, the slightly hasty and busy day is finally coming to an end in the afterglow of the sunset.

Lying flat on the bed in the hotel, he took out the small box that he had temporarily borrowed from his old classmate Rosov and carefully opened it. Then, what appeared in front of Lin Jie was a genuine Soviet Hero Medal that was worthy of all the hardcore Soviet fans going crazy.

The Soviet Hero Medal in Lin Jie's hand was not a low-quality and crude counterfeit. It was an authentic Soviet Hero Medal that was awarded posthumously by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Soviet Union on May 5, 1990 to Rosov's great-grandfather, the Soviet Army's top tank ace who destroyed 52 German tanks during the Great Patriotic War - Dmitri Fyodorovich Lavrinenko.

It is not easy to pass down this legendary military medal that symbolizes the highest honor of Soviet soldiers to this day.

In the second year after the Soviet Hero Medal was awarded posthumously to Lavrinenko's descendants, the Red Soviet Empire, which was once so powerful that it could compete with the entire NATO led by the United States, finally collapsed due to its own irreconcilable institutional defects and accumulated contradictions. What was left to the Soviet people was the infinite remembrance of the once powerful motherland and the plight of life that fell to the bottom overnight.

In that gray era of great turmoil and the collapse of faith, Rosov's father, who was so hungry that the whole family could hardly afford to eat, had tried to sell the Soviet Hero Medal, which symbolized the legendary military exploits and supreme glory of his ancestor, in his confusion and helplessness, in exchange for some basic bread and food to fill his stomach.

But in the end, Rosov's father, who defeated another self in repeated fierce psychological struggles, finally chose to keep the Soviet Hero Medal and led his family through the most difficult years after the disintegration of the Soviet Union.

Now, this medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union, awarded one year before the collapse of the Soviet Union, has obviously become the most proud and show-off treasure of this guy Rosov.

Even Lin Jie, who used to drink vodka with this guy all day long in college, finally borrowed this genuine medal of the Hero of the Soviet Union from Rosov temporarily after a lot of soft and hard persuasion and lip service, so that he could play with and appreciate it carefully during the Victory Day parade.

Weighing the heavy medal in his hand, which is made of more than 90% pure gold, Lin Jie seemed to see the scene of Lavrinenko, the posthumous recipient of this medal, commanding the T34 medium tank to bravely rush to fight against the German armored forces on the war-torn Eastern Front.

Witnessing the mark of the times and feeling deeply moved, Lin Jie finally carefully put the Soviet Hero Medal back into the storage box after taking a photo. After putting it away, he put it back into the cabinet beside his bed to check it.

"Let's return this thing to this guy Rosov tomorrow. Even if there is a magnitude 9 earthquake, it is estimated that this guy can't be woken up now."

Like most Russian men who are known as the fighting nation, Rosov, who is in his prime, is also a big man who loves vodka and alcohol pleasure.

This guy who has a poor alcohol tolerance and drinking habits has an almost crazy obsession with vodka. Almost every time after drinking two bottles of vodka, this young old Russian with a red face always staggers and falls on the bed and never gets up.

Unless he wakes up slowly after the alcohol has passed, the only way to wake this guy up is to give him a thorough shower with a bucket of ice water mixed with ice cubes.

Listening to the snoring of Rosov in the next room, which seemed particularly harsh against the background of the quiet room, he slowly fell asleep. It was obvious that Lin Jie, who had been tired and running around all day on this special day, really needed a good rest.

What he didn't expect was that a change that would change the trajectory of his future life suddenly occurred from this moment on.