Wives of Party, Government and Military Leaders

  Magda plays with the children in the snow, while Speer stands beside her, his arms crossed over his chest.

  Magda's eyes remained on the children, her vermilion lips slightly parted: "Is it over?"

  Speer glanced sideways at her: "Goebbels, the Fuehrer has appointed him Chancellor of the Government."

  He found Magda's shoulders shaking slightly, and after a few long minutes, she slowly turned around, smiling with restraint: "Thank you."

  Speer was taken aback: "Thank me? You should thank the Führer."

  After a while, Schepel felt empty on her left side. She had long gone, leaving the child to the nanny.

  Speer went to telephone his deputy and have him bring his wife up the mountain, as the Führer had invited all those present to spend Christmas Eve with their wives.

  In the telephone room, he saw Kettel and Jodl doing the same business. Kettel waved his cigar and said: "Speer, it seems that we three also have to buy a house here, you think of a way, find a cheaper villa for us."

  Magda rushed into the room, Goebbels was frequently changing his tie, she asked knowingly: "What's the good news that makes you change ten ties in one minute?"

  Goebbels glanced at her and joked: "I've got a peach blossom luck."

  "Hmm." She smiled and walked up to him, helping him adjust his clothes, removing a small pimple from his face, then wrapped her arms around his neck, gazing at him affectionately: "I knew you'd have this day, Premier."

  Goebbels kissed her and said insincerely: "The responsibility is great, you have to support me."

  Magda wiped off the lipstick mark on his face and scolded, "What are you supporting? Supporting your philandering ways? Now look what's happened, how many shameless women will try to seduce you?"

  "Alright, to make those shameless ones despair, I'll resign from the leader." After saying that, pretending to go out, Magda gently held one of his hands and turned her whole body around, embracing him.

  He held her flushed cheeks with both hands, pressed his forehead against hers, and she playfully twisted her hips.

  Gorin came in with everyone, scratching his ears and cheeks as he looked at them, because the two were simply affectionate. Gorin's heart felt sour, and even speaking was accompanied by acid: "The two are really like a pair... what's that called."

  Magda said: "Adulterer and adulteress."

  Everyone burst out laughing, G?ring laughed heartily, Himmler laughed sarcastically, Speer smiled awkwardly, and Ribbentrop smiled insincerely.

  Magda spoke of her happiness in a light and casual tone, while Goebbels was proud and bashful about his own happiness, like a dogtail flower that was so full of life it didn't know shame, and yet just six months ago the two had been at each other's throats over another woman.

  There was a tactless person who made a tactless joke, and Ribbentrop said: "Magda, you must take good care of him. As the Chancellor, he is now the most powerful man in Germany, and who knows how many beautiful women are after him."

  "Mind your own business and take care of Henkel, don't let her eat my vinegar again."

  Everyone burst out laughing again. Goring patted Ribbentrop on the shoulder: "Do you know what the first thing to do after entering the Standing Committee is? Learn how to speak."

  Suddenly a shrill cry came from upstairs: "What? You let the prime minister go to him? It's simply absurd, and now Margarete is even more arrogant."

  It was Eva's voice. Everyone, accustomed to watching ballet at the opera house, held their breath, perked up their ears, and faintly heard the supreme leader's deliberately lowered voice: "I cannot let mundane affairs entangle me, affecting my command of the war on the front lines."

  "Hmph. With so many generals and marshals, do you need to rush into battle? It's clear that you can't put down that Russian woman in your heart, even muttering her name in your dreams last night."

  "It's not Russia, it's Latvia, how many times have I explained this to you?"

  ……

  In the afternoon, the whole Upper Salzburger Land is decorated, everywhere Christmas trees and laughing children.

  In the grand foyer, the wives of party and state and military leaders stood: Frau Bormann held a cookbook in her hand, pointing out something to Frau Himmler who was knitting a sweater, making it impossible for anyone not to glance at what she was indicating, a recipe.

  Himmler has many things to be blamed for, but in terms of integrity and self-discipline, it's hard to find fault with him, unlike this low-key noble lady: although her husband is a high-ranking party leader, Frau Himmler and her daughter still live on a chicken farm in Munich, where their daily focus, apart from family, is the farm. In other words, Frau Himmler is no different from the wife of an ordinary farmer.

  People often say: "Dragon finds dragon, shrimp meets shrimp, phoenix finds peacock, turtle finds tortoise. Gollin and Mrs. Amy are a match made in heaven, born on the same earth, with the same love for vanity, the same recklessness, the same passion for dressing up, and the same fondness for showing off. The man is fat, the woman is plump. Amy wears beautiful clothes, like a fashionable woman who has just returned from shopping in Paris, afraid that people will not know how rich and elegant she is.

  Mrs. Bowman soon lost interest in Frau Himmler and turned to Frau Goebbels, as the former was hard to keep up with her train of thought and speech, and all she talked about were family affairs and farm matters, with a faint smell of chicken manure on her hair.

  Magda was pretty and clever, fashionable but tasteful, warm and considerate in her manner. Now the two ladies stood together, chatting and laughing as if no one else were present, completely ignoring Frau von Ribentrop's blazing eyes.

  Every time Ribbentrop attends a gathering, he brings his wife along. Every time she sees the elegant and refined Magda, she becomes consumed with jealousy. Now, as the de facto First Lady of the Empire, she has added another title - Chancellor's wife, her envy is about to spill over.

  Actually, the one who should be most pitied is Eva, because the crown of the First Lady of the Empire should have been on her head. Unfortunately, the Führer vowed to remain unmarried for life in order to revive the German nation, making her name not legitimate and not being able to speak properly, and in other people's eyes, she was just a plain and unremarkable "Miss Eva".

  Eva made a stunning entrance, the ladies stopped chatting, put down their knitting, dropped their books, and withdrew their jealous glances to applaud Eva, or rather, the man standing next to her.

  The girlfriend of the head of state wore a seemingly simple black and white top, with smooth tailoring and lines that highlighted her tall figure. The skirt fell to her calves, with small flowers embroidered along the hem, becoming denser towards the bottom. Her elegant and refined attire, combined with her cute and playful expression, made Aiwa appear even younger.

  A servant in black trousers and a white shirt came forward: "My lord, please take the lady... miss to dinner."

  Lee Tung held out his arm to Eva and escorted her to the dining room, some female guests looked at the ridiculous appearance of the leader wearing a tailcoat and followed behind him, covering their mouths and giggling.

  G?ring and his wife followed close behind; Magda had her entire arm tucked into Goebbels' elbow; Himmler and his wife walked with a slight distance between them, when suddenly Himmler frowned and gritted his teeth: the pin on his wife's coat was poking him in the hand; the eyes of the high-society daughter kept darting towards other women, occasionally being pulled forward by Ribbentrop; Bormann and his wife chatted face to face; Speer's wife looked hesitantly at the ground, afraid of slipping; the two generals' wives tried their best to imitate their husbands' military stride.

  Guests slowly enter the spacious hallway, and the first thing that catches their eye is the magnificent vaulted ceiling supported by large columns. Passing through this hall, you can see a spacious staircase made of clear-textured pine wood, from which you can go upstairs, and to the east is the dining room.

  Two waiters stood on either side of the restaurant's entrance, but what was different from usual were the children's exclamations: Inside the restaurant there was also a Christmas tree, with all sorts of gifts piled up underneath it.

  Lee sat in the middle seat facing the window, gazing at the snow-capped mountains in the late afternoon. On the dinner table were small peach trees and long-stemmed roses. These fresh flowers were provided by first-class florists from Berlin and Munich. To his left was Eva, to his right was Magda.

  A male chef came over with bread, butter, cheese, smoked salmon, caviar, salad, cake, champagne and red wine, as well as roasted goose and turkey in the Christmas spirit. In front of Li De were bread, cake, pea salad, fruit salad, pickled cucumber and marinated tomatoes, with an extra serving of champagne compared to usual.

  It was time for the children's program, and Santa Claus came in with a sack of toys, went around, put it on Heidi Goebbels' little body, threatened to give it to the big bad wolf, scared Heidi to cry, until she held the toy in her hand and burst into laughter.

  ……

  The leader, with his arm around Eve's waist, entered the ballroom where a few men and women were playing violins and a red-haired young man was sitting at the piano playing Bach's lively Courante. Some young people in the dance pool were twisting happily. As soon as the leader arrived, the music changed to a light and elegant Allemande.

  Li Dequan danced with Eva, then successively with Frau Bormann, Mrs. G?ring, Himmler's wife, Speer's daughter, Ribbentrop's lover, Jodl's wife and Keitel's child's mother. Alas! Even the Führer found it difficult to dance without offending someone, as whoever was not asked would be displeased and spread their discontent to their husband, saying that the Führer valued appearance over character.

  Mrs. G?ring was dressed to kill, her movements always gave the impression of a prima donna on stage, Mrs. Himmler's dress could not be called simple, but compared to these ladies, she was clearly inferior. Moreover, she herself did not like to talk much, when dancing with the Führer, she didn't say a word, only thanked him at the end of the music.

  Li De hugged Magda in his arms. With her high chest pressed against his, Magda whispered quietly in his ear: "My leader, thank you for promoting him, I told you earlier that Goebbels is useful to you."

  "So you won't be making a fuss about divorce anymore?" Li De gazed at her delicate face, and he really couldn't help but want to take a bite.

  "If he's too much, I'll leave." Magda turned her head to look for her husband in the crowd, and Li De took the opportunity to peek at her plump breasts. Magda turned back, saw this scene, and spat a mouthful of saliva on Li De's face: "You men are always so naughty."

  Li De was taken aback, his mind still wandering in fantasies, the music screeched to a halt, and he stepped on Magda's foot.