Chapter 2704 - 2678: Memories

Gao Yang accompanied Yarebin slowly walking out of his home.

From the moment this house was purchased, from every angle, it became Yarebin’s home.

Yarebin was in great spirits, with high interest, having moved past the stage of being timid near home, he had reached the moment of excitement for returning to his hometown.

"Look over there, that house with the blue roof, it used to be the home of my father’s friend. I had a very good relationship with a girl living there; she moved away when I was ten. I don’t know why, but her sister always hated me, probably because I buried her doll in the ground; we were playing funeral games."

Gao Yang couldn’t help but laugh, and said, "Funeral games, Teacher, your childhood games were quite unique."

"Well, kids, it’s normal to want to imitate what we see, oh, look there, that big tree, follow me!"

Suddenly, Yarebin quickened his pace towards the tree, and then started eagerly circling the tree, muttering.

"Here it is, haha, here it is! Look, I was this tall at the time."

A light named innocence shone in Yarebin’s eyes, Gao Yang looked in the direction Yarebin pointed, seeing a very faint row of characters.

"I engraved this when I was twelve, I think. Next to it is my companion’s name, Alessandro Kopav; his name was too long, we didn’t finish before adults found us, and then we ran."

Feeling the very faint engravings, Yarebin grinned widely, then tapped the unfinished name, saying: "Alessandro joined the military at seventeen, in."

After saying that, Yarebin smiled at Gao Yang: "Back then Sochi was a holiday resort, many senior military officers were allocated vacation villas here; Alessandro’s father was in the North Caucasus Military District so he lived here often."

Taking a deep breath, Yarebin patted the tree with his name engraved on it, then stretched his hand out, saying: "Let’s go, keep walking."

Yarebin continued walking forward with interest, sometimes politely smiling at passing pedestrians, or thanking those who made way for him.

"This place left me with beautiful memories, you know? Back then, I was a local celebrity because I scored fives in every subject; this didn’t make my friends get scolded, hence classmates and friends were quite resentful of me."

At a place that looked like a school, Yarebin stopped his steps, nostalgically said a word, then pointed at a building that was no longer a school, smiling: "Back then I was a celebrity here, parents were proud of me, teachers liked me. Although classmates hated me for causing them to get scolded, they admired me and respected me because I was a genius."

If someone else claimed to be a genius, Gao Yang would certainly spit in their face, but when Yarebin said he was a genius, Gao Yang could only offer his knee.

"Actually, when I was young I really dreamed of becoming a scientist; if there hadn’t been wars, WWII destroyed everything but built a strong Soviet Union. The change for me was wanting to become a soldier, like my father."

Yarebin pointed, continued walking forward, and said with interest: "Although interrupted by WWII, it didn’t hamper my studies much. Everyone thought I would go to university, but as soon as I entered high school I impatiently joined the army. But I didn’t enter the military; instead, I entered the KGB. You know, back then I feared the KGB."

Gesturing for Gao Yang to follow him around the corner instead of continuing straight, Yarebin continued: "I entered the KGB, but didn’t expect they wanted me to continue schooling."

Seemingly regretful yet perhaps proud, Yarebin smacked his lips a few times and laughed: "They sent me to school, the best one, I went to Moscow State University. In 1954, Khrushchev proposed a concept for training a super spy to compete with America; I was the sixth chosen in the first batch, but in the end, only I persisted."

Yarebin suddenly stopped, pointed at his head, with a serious face, saying: "You know, even now I often wake up from nightmares where I dream I failed the exams."

Gao Yang paused for a moment, then laughed, saying: "You only dream of failing exams, not being late?"

Yarebin laughed: "No chance of being late, so I never worried about that. Back then it was continuous exams, studying, exams, studying, exams. They wanted to cram everything useful for a spy into my head; it was a nightmare-like experience."

Continuing forward, Yarebin laughed: "Khrushchev proposed the plan, Brezhnev completed it. Why did I become the Black Demon’s team leader? Because I’m the only genius capable of leading other geniuses; of course, there was no other choice."

"Why? Weren’t several batches trained?"

"Uh, they died; spies can’t just learn, they also need to practice and learn in practice. Some died, some went mad, only I remained, they had no other choice."

"Went mad?"

"Do you think everyone can withstand that pressure? Haha."

Gao Yang nodded with a sigh, saying: "Yes, exams can really drive people crazy."

Yarebin suddenly pointed with delight, loudly saying: "Hey! Look there!"

Gao Yang followed Yarebin’s finger, seeing: "A restaurant?"

"Yes! The 1934 restaurant, it was here shortly after I was born. Its Georgian dumplings are famous; my father liked them, my mother too. They said they were authentic; I ate there many times in childhood, but back then my father hesitated to bring me often. Let’s go!"

Actually, Gao Yang wanted more to hear Yarebin’s history, but finding a restaurant from Yarebin’s memory meant they had to eat there.

Yarebin stood at the restaurant entrance, then with interest said: "Apart from the name, nothing else is the same. I wonder if the taste changed; let’s go in and test it."

Naturally, Gao Yang would accompany him; he and Yarebin entered the restaurant, guided by a waiter to a two-person table.

Having passed the lunch peak, there weren’t many people inside. After sitting down, Yarebin immediately eagerly said: "Two servings of Georgian dumplings, Chacha wine, thank you."

When the waiter left with the menu, Yarebin looked at Gao Yang seriously, saying: "It’s always been you paying. This time let me cover it; let me treat you to my hometown’s cuisine and Chacha wine."