Chapter 39

Fifty years later, how could the people of today, even with their imagination, compare to someone who has experienced it firsthand? Since this newspaper has come into his sight, he would take this opportunity to speak out the words that have been buried in his heart for so long. The next day, after returning from the construction site, Shelepov began to compare his predictions with the newspaper of the Komsomol.

"Comrade Director, this is today's West Berlin newspaper!" Lukani walked in, holding the West Berlin newspaper in her hand. How could one not pay attention to the information from the other side while being in Berlin?

Shh! Shelepov placed his index finger on his lips, thought for a moment under the desk lamp, and began to write, "Fifty years later, in most parts of the Soviet Union, wired telephones have been phased out, and only government departments still use them for communication. At that time, the most wired telephones are in the internal affairs departments of various regions. These wired telephones are retained to assist the people in seeking help. Each person will have a mobile phone, and the value of a phone will be like a pair of shoes today! Various shops will line the cities, crime will not be eradicated but will be reduced to an extremely low level, thanks to the work of our internal affairs departments!"

"Public parking spots will be scattered throughout the cities, filled with countless bicycles. This is because everyone will have a car in the future, and the excessive number of vehicles will cause significant pollution. The government will encourage people to ride bicycles within the city! As for travel between different cities, it will be connected by trains traveling at over 300 kilometers per hour. You can appear anywhere in the Soviet Union within a day without flying. All municipal hospitals will be able to perform organ transplants, and everyone will be able to know what's happening around the world without leaving their homes, thanks to an unprecedented information platform!"

Finally, he signed it: Yuri Yefimovich Shelepov, April 10, 1959, in Greater Berlin. After finishing his predictions, Shelepov folded the paper and handed it to Lukani, saying, "Send this letter to Golyunov. I want to publish it under my real name in Pravda!"

Golyunov and Meshchayev of TASS were two of Shelepov's many close friends. For Shelepov to publish an opinion in Pravda was not at all difficult.

"No, it's a bit too conservative. Like this!" Shelepov took out a drawing board from under the table and sketched a home theater as an illustration. If he didn't do this, Shelepov really wouldn't be able to compete for attention with those imaginative people. They could talk about Mars, so he had to bring out some real material from the future.

After Lukani left, Shelepov took out the West Berlin newspaper to read. Habitually holding a cigarette in his mouth and the newspaper in his hand, Shelepov occasionally let out a cold snort. Before long, the cigarette in his mouth burned a hole in the newspaper, and through the burned hole, one could faintly see something about a tripartite declaration.

"Thieves crying 'catch the thief'—you're still so skilled at this, but it's useless!" Shelepov was about to tear up the newspaper but stopped. After all, there was no more toilet paper in the bathroom. As a representative of the always frugal proletariat, he decided to keep the newspaper to use for wiping. He was very frugal, and the American embassy flag from Hungary was still kept in his home, useful for wiping his feet...

The tripartite occupying forces blamed the current tense situation in Berlin entirely on the Soviet Union, which was not surprising. As a diplomat, Shelepov knew that the most important quality of a diplomat was a lack of shame. Even if everyone knew you were lying, you had to say it with a thick face, making the listener so disgusted that they wouldn't want to refute you, and you would win.

The West Berlin declaration, after a few days of fermentation and with the help of certain people, began to spread in Greater Berlin. For a time, the United States and the Soviet Union once again became the top news in people's minds.

Clank! "Cheers!" Several wine glasses clinked together. The representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France raised their glasses and drank the whiskey in one gulp, their faces showing satisfaction. Elegant music played in the hall, and elegantly dressed gentlemen and ladies danced gracefully, exuding an atmosphere of luxury and decadence. According to Shelepov, from the inside out, it was a complete picture of capitalist decay, but in fact, Soviet banquets were not much different.

The American representative, Stevenson, feeling refreshed, said arrogantly, "All secret police departments in authoritarian countries are the same. They think they know everything and can control everything, as if they are omnipresent! What can a KGB director coming to Berlin to take charge do? He can't control the situation. We must hold onto West Berlin; it's a nail in the heart of socialist countries. As long as West Berlin exists, the Soviets won't sleep soundly..."

"Exactly, the public pressure is all on the Soviet side. This Caspian tiger will surely be condemned by the Soviet people, and might even be recalled in disgrace!" The British representative smiled and added.

"That's even better. The difficulties that Ambassador Smith once faced will now be Shelepov's turn!" Stevenson couldn't stop smiling when he thought about Shelepov's fate. The French representative, on the other hand, watched the dance and drank alone, as if it had nothing to do with him. The representatives of the United States and the United Kingdom were used to this; France always maintained a proud attitude, and while it usually stood with the United States and the United Kingdom on major issues, it always had its own ideas.

In the East Berlin headquarters of the German Stasi, Shelepov leaned on the table, one hand supporting his head, and stared blankly out the window. The conversation of the representatives of the United States, the United Kingdom, and France was being played through the large surveillance equipment, though with some static, it did not affect the completeness of the process.

Sigh! Shelepov sighed heavily and said lazily, "All countries of the free world are the same. They always stand on the moral high ground to criticize other countries, using double standards so skillfully, as if they don't have similar departments in their own countries. I'm not worried about our reputation, but I'm very worried about our opponents. Don't let them believe their own lies; brainwashing them into stupidity would be bad. For example, Stevenson is a typical mental patient..."

"A secret service, of course, must be omnipresent. They definitely didn't expect that even their headquarters could be infiltrated by us like a sieve!" Markus Wolf modestly praised himself.

"Publish the recording of the last meeting. Let the people of Berlin judge for themselves where the root of the Berlin crisis lies!" Shelepov slapped his thigh and stood up, saying, "Comrade Markus Wolf, it's up to you. I still have to go to work!" Shelepov's "work" was naturally to be a construction worker. He had already taken a two-hour leave, and it wouldn't be good to be late any longer.

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