50s: Starting with a storage ring

Chapter 428 The Fear Brought by the KGB

As soon as Sun Zhiwei said he was buying a gift for his child, the Lubyanka Central Children's Store was immediately approved by an overwhelming majority.

Most of the newlyweds this time have families, so everyone probably has the task of bringing gifts home. It's a good opportunity to visit and shop at the same time, combining business and personal convenience.

The reason he added that sentence to guide people to choose the Lubyanka Central Children's Store was to take a look at Lubyanka Square No. 11, which is nearby.

The infamous KGB headquarters, I'm going to see it for myself today.

I heard that the KGB building during the "seventh card" era was a beautiful Gothic building.

Later, due to the expansion of the KGB, the building was too small to be used, so a neighboring building was merged into it, resulting in the sturdy building we see today.

After the embassy bus drove off, Sun Zhiwei noticed that several cars were following behind.

The cars were practically blatantly following them, making no attempt to hide it. The driver seemed used to them following him, glancing at them only once in the rearview mirror before ignoring them.

Sun Zhiwei swept the space over and saw that the people in the car were all wearing the same uniform. Judging from the epaulets and hats, they were all KGB officers.

KGB uniforms are easy to recognize; the shoulder boards, collar tabs, and cap badges are all blue, and the insignia on the shoulder boards is 'ГБ' (which should be the Russian abbreviation for KGB).

Seeing that the embassy staff, like the driver, glanced at them and then ignored them, he realized that this must be an unspoken agreement between the two sides. The Russians were very powerful now, and protests were useless.

So this situation has arisen: we allow them to follow us, since we don't go to any sensitive places anyway, and as long as they don't go too far, we just have to put up with it.

This will affect Sun Zhiwei's travel. He needs to go out frequently to gather information, and what will he do if he is constantly being followed?
"Comrade, are they really following us so openly? Is everyone who goes out being followed?"

Sun Zhiwei then found an opportunity to quietly ask the veteran leader in charge.

The old man said angrily, "That's right, they even follow people who come out to buy groceries."

Upon hearing this answer, Sun Zhiwei's brows furrowed. Given the dire situation at the embassy, ​​it seemed the only option was to find another way in and out.

Soon their car arrived at Red Square. After everyone got out of the car, they followed the old comrade to see the buildings in Red Square and then walked to Lenin's Mausoleum.

Those who brought cameras wanted to take pictures of everyone, but Sun Zhiwei declined, saying he wasn't photogenic.

During this time, the KGB officers in the cars behind also got out of their vehicles, and most of them followed behind them.

At this point, everyone who wasn't stupid noticed them, and the old comrade took the initiative to explain the situation, telling them not to worry about it and to just pretend these people didn't exist.

That being said, everyone had just arrived in Moscow. Although they had anticipated the situation beforehand, when they actually faced these KGB officers, their faces changed color, and they even spoke in much softer voices.

After leaving the cemetery, everyone got back on the bus, which this time drove directly to Lubyanka Square. The Central Children's Store is located in the center of Lubyanka Square.

Upon arriving at Lubyanka Square, the car stopped in front of the Central Children's Store, and everyone got off in turn.

Of the people in this car, apart from the driver and the older comrades, none of them knew that the yellow building opposite the Central Children's Store was the KGB headquarters.

Sun Zhiwei glanced at it casually when he got off the bus, and like everyone else, he didn't look at it again.

When everyone saw the Central Children's Store, they were immediately attracted by its exquisite architecture and decoration.

The Central Children's Store, also known as "Children's World," is like a palace from a fairy tale, with a huge atrium in the center containing a carousel. The counters on floors 1-3 are filled with children's toys and other goods produced by Woolworths. There are also many imported goods, mostly from member countries.

There's a lot of foot traffic here, and it's full of people with children.

For children, a trip to "Children's World" is a reward; they are brought there by adults on birthdays or special occasions.

Parents sometimes reward their children with a new toy if they achieve good grades at the end of the school year. In August, before the new school year begins, many people go to "Kids' World" to buy uniforms.

The boys in front of the counter were all looking at "Lunnik," a remote-controlled lunar rover made in Latvia. Electronic toys were every Russian child's dream at that time.

As everyone entered the children's store and saw the wide array of children's products, they thought about the joyful expressions on their own children's faces when they received gifts, and their serious expressions softened.

Sun Zhiwei was surprised to find that there was an escalator installed here. Did escalators already exist at this time? Most of the comrades had never seen an escalator before and were quite surprised.

People strolled through the children's store, looking at this and that, and buying whatever they liked.

Everyone exchanged a lot of rubles before going out, and now they can finally put them to use.

Sun Zhiwei took a liking to the matryoshka dolls here, which are one of the more distinctive products from the Mao Xiong family.

Since this is a children's store, most of the matryoshka dolls here are ordinary wooden products, and the prices are not very expensive.

However, based on domestic prices, a set would cost around 30-50 yuan, which is certainly not cheap compared to domestic prices.

Although everyone working away from home earns a decent wage and no one can't afford it, it's just a matter of whether or not they're willing to spend the money.

Sun Zhiwei didn't pretend to be poor; he simply bought a set of four dolls, each depicting a family of two adults and two children.

There are four people in my family, so one set is just right for each person.

Many people in the group are not short of money, but they are hesitant to buy expensive items because they are concerned about the impact on their lives.

Seeing that Sun Zhiwei had started, the others no longer held back and many followed suit, buying several sets as well, since there's a lot of people involved.

Perhaps this was everyone's first time out together, and the experienced and emotionally intelligent leader simply smiled as everyone bought such expensive matryoshka dolls, without saying anything to spoil the mood or advise everyone to be thrifty.

After spending half a day browsing in the children's store, everyone finally returned to the car, completely satisfied.

To leave Lubiyanka Square, you need to take another route, which passes right next to the KGB headquarters building.

As the car drove past, the driver involuntarily accelerated and sped past.

The KGB vehicles following behind them seemed to have anticipated the driver's actions and began to accelerate almost simultaneously with them.

Then, Sun Zhiwei, who was driving the car, noticed that the KGB members in the car behind him were laughing wildly without restraint.

They probably find it funny that we're so afraid of a building.

(End of this chapter)