Vladimir Yankov came forward to shake hands with Yan Xiaojun. He took it and shook it vigorously leaving Yan Xiaojun gaping at him. Then he turned towards Ying Yue and shook her hands softly.
"I am Vladimir Yankov. But please call me Vlad! I am so happy to meet someone from China. I try my best to meet any Chinese people who come to visit our country if I am not doing any work," he said and sat down on the chair beside him.
As soon as he sat down, the guesthouse owner left the room. Only Miloje and his bodyguards were there. Ying Yue and Yan Xiaojun also sat down in their earlier places.
"How can we help you?" asked Yan Xiaojun very courteously.
"I am here to tell you a story and also make a request. I hope you will not decline my request," said Vladimir.
"Sure," replied both in unison.
"Please don't laugh at this old man," he chortled. He could see the surprise on their faces. But Vladimir was a man of purpose who didn't like wasting an opportunity.
He was eager to tell them his story.
He narrated, "I was a soldier in Bulgaria and fighting for the country when our unit was heavily shelled from the front. Most of my comrades died, only a few of us could make it back to our bunkers. We hid there for three days surviving on little rations. One of our comrades was heavily injured couldn't sustain the trauma of his injuries and died a painful death leaving just the four of us. When the heavy shelling stopped after three days, we emerged out of our bunker and made our way to our side of the troops. Since it was night and there wasn't much firing, we reached our army after walking for three hours.
I hurt my leg as a bullet had pierced through my calf muscle. I had removed the bullet using a knife when we had hidden in the bunker, but the wound was getting infected. When we reached our camp, I was so overjoyed seeing my people I collapsed. I woke up two days later.
When I opened my eyes, I saw a petite girl with cute features, checking my temperature. She smiled when she saw that I had woken up and ran to call the doctor. The doctor came and asked how I was feeling. I was feeling better. The doctor explained that I had fainted and had woken after two days and this little girl here was looking after me all the while.
The doctor kept talking, but I looked at the girl intently. When the doctor left, I asked her name. She replied, 'Lu Wenqian'.
A Chinese by birth, the eighteen-year-old Wenqian had come to Bulgaria as a red cross volunteer for the peacekeeping corps. Over the days I became friendly with Wenqian but a day came when I had to be discharged from the hospital. They were sending me to a station an hour away from the hospital. I knew I wouldn't be able to meet Wenqian as often as possible so I applied for a leave for one week, which was luckily granted. That one week I had the most wonderful time of my life. I spent every single waking hour with Wenqian. She had also taken five days to leave from her work. Together we explored various places in Bulgaria trying to stay safe at the same time. It was during one of those days we made love in a moment of passion.
Our vacation got over on a sweet note. I had to resume my duty and Wenqian had to go back to the hospital. We were in touch with each other over letters and phone calls. A month later Wenqian informed me she was pregnant. You cannot imagine my joy. I wanted to run to her, hold her in my arms and take her to the church.
I sent her a reply asking her to marry me when I come back from duty. I returned two months later and Wenqian was three months pregnant by then. She showed me the pictures of the ultrasound scan and said it was a baby girl."
At this point of time Vladimir's eyes welled up, and he took his hands in the overcoat's pocket to dig a picture out. He showed them those ultrasound photos and added, "See that's my baby".
Yan Xiaojun and Ying Yue saw the photo and gave it back to him. What could they make out of an ultrasound picture, which only showed a bump.
Vladimir continued speaking, "I decided to call my baby girl Lina. I proposed to Wenqian, and she agreed to marry me. When we were about to get married in the church, and the guests had poured in, the police came and arrested Wenqian for flouting the visa norms of the country. I pleaded them to release her as she was expecting my child. But they ruthlessly deported her back to her country and Wenqian could never return. I lost forever my love and my child in this world…" his voice became sad.
"In my rage, I killed the policeman who was mainly responsible for deporting her. I became a criminal and ran from the clutches of the law to live my life. And now I am the King of the Underworld here. I have tried numerous times to find my love, but the results have always been negative. I killed every policeman who was involved with Wenqian's disappearance. Somehow I could never marry… I am still living in hope to see Wenqian and maybe Lina…" he said stroking the ultrasound photo gently.
He took another picture out from his coat pocket and showed it to them. There was a lovely Chinese lady hanging on the arms of the younger version of Vladimir. "That's Wenqian…" he said love exuding from his face…