Chapter 67 of 100

Chapter 67

15 min read3,831 words

As for the types of tigers, Cherov was not very clear, just like seeing a black person; unless he knew the other person was dark enough, all black people looked the same to him, just a group of black and shiny ones! By the way, black and shiny shoe polish now held a high place in Cherov's heart, after all, it was a well-known trademark from his hometown.

"Yulia, look at your father down there..." Isamotni stood by the fence, holding her daughter, teasing her daughter while mercilessly stabbing Cherov in the heart.

"Baba..." Cherov's daughter stretched out her little hand forward, and Cherov hurriedly picked her up, not forgetting to scold Isamotni, "This is what you deserve. Wasn't it you who ordered the protection of the Caspian tiger when you were in Azerbaijan?" Variya's wavy smile was like a little fox. After Cherov left Azerbaijan, with the rise in her position, the Ministry of Internal Affairs around the Caucasus increased the penalties for poaching, with the Caspian tiger being a key protected species, which is why it could be seen in the Kyiv Zoo.

The Caspian tiger was a subspecies of tiger that had become extinct in later times, but it was protected due to the efforts of a KGB chief, a perfect irony. Without lingering for too long, Cherov held his daughter and went to see the brown bears.

"Medved, medved..." The little one in Cherov's arms kept fussing, mumbling about bears! This warm feeling made Cherov have the urge to let go of everything, but it quickly disappeared. He had the responsibility to protect the current peaceful life; people couldn't live as simply as animals.

After leaving the zoo, they went to the Palace of Culture. His daughter didn't leave his arms all day, and they only returned to the apartment in the evening. Today, Isamotni and Lukani did not stay here but went to the KGB guesthouse. Cherov had completed his transformation from the floor to the big bed.

"You're not a very good mother, your daughter isn't close to you at all. I'm starting to doubt whether she's my daughter with Yelena and not with you? Yulia hardly recognizes you anymore..." Cherov hugged his wife, one hand on her slightly protruding belly, where his child was forming, but his mouth didn't spare the daughter beside him. This woman was good in every way, whether in appearance or work attitude, even outstanding, and her body was irresistible, but she had a problem in this area, as if after giving birth, the child had nothing to do with her.

"Am I not busy? No matter what, I am Yulia's mother, and no one can change that!" Variya huffed, her voice filled with委屈 (grievance), "Who gave birth to your child? It was me, not some secretary of a certain director. I satisfied your needs, and then you went to other women..."

This is against reason! Cherov really wanted to say, "Didn't you start as my secretary too? You just got there a bit earlier!" He could only think this in his heart; if he said it out loud, Variya would definitely explode.

"If I had that idea, with my current status, I could fill Lubyanka Square with women! Have a million children, and there would be no need to worry about the population problem of Russians, just thinking about it makes me anxious! According to this year's statistics, the Russian population has dropped by 0.4%!" Cherov said with a troubled look, "We must curb this, otherwise the consequences will be unimaginable!"

The current Russian population was still close to 60%, in the 1980s it was a bit over 50%, and by the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, Russians barely made up half. How terrifying it is for a country to lack a dominant ethnic group, the Austro-Hungarian Empire's demise was less than 50 years ago.

"Is it that serious already?" The Soviet Union, due to the heavy toll of World War II, only republished population data in the 1960s. The average Soviet citizen was unaware of this gradual change, even Variya didn't know. Hearing her husband's words, she finally understood a bit of Cherov's concern, "That's why you want me to eliminate the Ukrainian language, you want to redraw ethnic boundaries?" As Cherov's confidante, Variya was very smart and had already understood the man's thoughts from the clues.

"Of course, is there anything in the Soviet Union that is out of our sight?" Cherov kissed the woman and said, "Name any industry, and it's within our sight! The population statistics are no exception. The internal name of the Seventh Directorate is the Directorate for Surveillance and Investigation, responsible for this kind of work!"

Under the Chairman of the Council of Ministers, the KGB had everything. The Soviet Union had the Supreme Court, the Supreme Procuratorate, the KGB had the Secret Court, the Special Investigation Department. The Soviet Union had the Ministry of Communications, the KGB had the Eighth Directorate for Communications Management. The Soviet Union had the Red Army, the KGB had the Military Directorate, the Border Guard, and the Internal Troops. The Soviet Union had the reorganized Ministry of Internal Affairs, the KGB had the Fifth Directorate for Secret Police and the Ninth Directorate for Police. The Soviet Union had the Organization Department, the KGB had the Personnel Management Directorate. Even the KGB had an anti-corruption bureau, with the same functions as the departments under the Council of Ministers. Theoretically, anything the Council of Ministers could do, the KGB could do.

The KGB was like a massive auxiliary department, but unlike ordinary auxiliary departments, the KGB supported everything the Soviet Union had. If a new industry emerged, it wouldn't be a problem; the KGB had several vacant directorates that could be activated overnight to start work.

"Alright, stop boasting! Being a spy has given you a sense of mission, my son will grow up to be an educator!" Variya, who was pregnant, was a bit listless, snuggling into Cherov's arms.

"My son will of course be a spy, what's wrong with that?" Cherov didn't say it loudly, but he had already made up his mind. If it was a daughter, it would be different! Responsibility couldn't be borne by women. If it was a son, he would be sent to the domestic counterintelligence school to study from the moment he learned to read, then directly to the Lenin Technical School, and at 16 to the Karl Marx University of Military Technology in East Berlin, and then sent to a neutral country for an internship. Variya's child was not yet born, but Cherov had already planned out his route for his teenage years.

Cherov would never go easy on his own children, especially his son! People will eventually face some issues in life, and the strict education in the Soviet Union was the foundation. The kind of happy education promoted in the United States was just fooling the people like pigs. People lack self-discipline, and children even more so; they must be raised with a strict attitude.

After staying in Kyiv for more than a week, Cherov, recharged emotionally, set off on his journey back. Before leaving, he instructed Variya to take maternity leave and return to Moscow in three months, and to have Yelena keep an eye on her, before reluctantly boarding the train!

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