My hometown is far away in Moscow.

021 A chance encounter on the street

Lu Tao laughed and said, "Selling goods at the market isn't a good job. It's hard work, going out early and returning late every day, and the risk factor is relatively high. Besides, in this kind of weather, staying outside all day, as you northerners would say, you'd freeze like a grandson. Your snot would freeze, and if you didn't urinate properly, it would freeze."

A burst of laughter erupted from the crowd. Li Baoqing put his hands in his sleeves, sniffed, and said, "Hey, what's a little cold? Making money is more important than anything else!"

Lu Tao said, "There are plenty of ways to make money; you don't necessarily have to suffer in the market. My former roommate, Xu Qiang, now works in foreign trade logistics. He sits in the office all day making phone calls and sending emails, and he earns more than a thousand US dollars a month."

"A thousand US dollars a month?! My goodness, that's...that's...a hundred thousand RMB a year!" Li Baoqing seemed to see stacks of colorful bills floating before his eyes, and he couldn't help but grin foolishly. He quickly came to his senses and scratched his head sheepishly: "That Brother Qiang must speak Russian very well. With my level, sigh, I'm afraid no one would even hire me as a handyman at the market."

Lu Tao replied, "Selling goods in the market doesn't actually require very good Russian. As long as you have basic daily conversational skills and can clearly state and understand the relevant vocabulary such as product name, style, color, quantity, time, and price, that's enough."

Hu Yi chimed in, "Brother Tao, if you can earn four hundred dollars a month selling goods at the market, how much do the bosses make? This business is too easy!"

"The boss naturally earns more, but in recent years, more and more people have come here to do business, and market competition has become increasingly fierce. Although the profit margin is still high, business is not as easy as it used to be. On the one hand, Russian customs is paying more and more attention to the issue of gray customs clearance, and goods with incomplete procedures are often seized. On the other hand, business people come here to make money, and they believe in making money through harmony. But this market is a mixed bag, very chaotic, and many people do not follow the rules. Murder and robbery often happen. For example, not long ago, a boss from the south was found dead in his own container in broad daylight, and all his money was stolen."

The preparatory students were stunned and speechless. Hu Yi frowned and asked, "Who did this? Have they caught the culprit?"

"No, we have no clue." Lu Tao sighed. "We don't know if he offended someone and was being retaliated against, or if he was murdered for flaunting his wealth."

Li Baoqing murmured, "Isn't this too dangerous? There are so many Chinese people in the market, we should... we should unite and look after each other to ensure safety together."

"After all, this isn't our own territory, so many things aren't that simple. Besides, how easy is it to achieve unity? Although there are many people from within the country, China is too big, and customs and cultures vary from place to place, so naturally, cliques will form." Lu Tao shook his head as he spoke, clearly feeling this deeply: "When big things happen, we can barely manage to deal with them together, but after a few days of peace, we start fighting amongst ourselves over trivial matters, scheming against each other, undermining each other, and in the end, it often results in both sides losing, and no one benefits."

"It's not just Chinese people; it's the same no matter where they come from," Yan Zhiwen casually added. "However, it's true that people from smaller countries tend to stick together more easily when they're abroad."

The preparatory students sighed, half-understanding, and followed the two to a Chinese grocery store. Hu Yi and Li Baoqing circled the dazzling array of goods, picking out some dried bean curd sticks, vermicelli, shiitake mushrooms, wood ear mushrooms, dried chili peppers, a few seasonings, and a bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce. The others also bought quite a few dried groceries, all beaming with joy, inexplicably gaining confidence in their rudimentary cooking skills.

The sky was fully bright now, though the sun was still shining through the overcast skies, it wasn't as bitterly cold as it had been in the early morning. Lu Tao and Yan Zhiwen led them around the market for a while longer, then glanced at their watches: "It's still early, where should we go next? Is there anything else you'd like to buy?"

Hu Yi thought for a moment: "I've run out of the cigarettes I brought from China. Do you have any Chinese cigarettes here?"

Lu Tao shook his head: "Cigarettes are hard to buy, and even if they are available, they are extremely expensive."

"Okay," Hu Yi complained disappointedly, "Those Russian cigarettes in the shop downstairs have a faint, foul smell; they're awful to smoke."

Yan Zhiwen chimed in, "I know a huge tobacco market that sells all kinds of cigarettes. Come on, I'll take you there."

The tobacco market wasn't too close to the ant market, but fortunately, most of the people there were smokers, and they all perked up when they heard they were going to buy cigarettes.

As a disciplined sports student, Li Baoqing rarely smoked when he was in middle school. It was only after being exposed to Hu Yi's cigarettes that he gradually started smoking more. Although he wasn't a heavy smoker, he liked to buy cigarettes he had never seen before to try, and sometimes he would collect pretty cigarette boxes.

Russians enjoy smoking and drinking, but most have limited purchasing power, resulting in a market flooded with cheap, poorly made goods. Li Baoqing walked from kiosk to kiosk, buying a pack of cigarettes whenever he saw one with attractive packaging. After visiting several, he suddenly called out to Hu Yi, "Hey, come look! These cigarettes are only two rubles a pack! There's no cheaper place like this!"

Hu Yi walked over and peeked inside: "Damn, only twenty rubles apiece, less than seven yuan?"

Li Baoqing nodded excitedly: "Yes, shall we buy it or not?"

"Buy it! It's so cheap, even if it's hard to smoke, I won't feel bad." Hu Yi, like a nouveau riche, spent eighty rubles to buy four packs, feeling like he had found a great bargain.

The tobacco market was large, but every shop had pretty much the same stuff, so there wasn't much to see. Everyone bought some rare cigarettes they'd never seen before, ate at a fast-food restaurant on the street, and felt a bit tired afterward.

After discussing it, Yan Zhiwen decided to buy a monitor, and Hu Yi and two others wanted to go to the computer market with him. Lu Tao and Li Baoqing decided to go back to their dormitory, and Peng Song naturally went with Li Baoqing.

They got up at 5:30 in the morning and went out, playing outside for most of the day, so they weren't very energetic on the way back. Lu Tao walked quickly, leading the two of them through a quiet alley toward the subway station. Peng Song followed with difficulty, his short legs shuffling along, getting slower and slower, so Li Baoqing had to stop every few steps to wait for him.

"Brother Tao, wait... wait for me." Peng Song called out breathlessly, only to see Lu Tao turn around, smile, and wave: "Hurry up." After saying that, he turned left at the intersection ahead.

Peng Song quickly jogged a few steps and arrived at the intersection with Li Baoqing, only to see Lu Tao suddenly turn back, his right hand pressed tightly against his side, waving it lightly forward twice, and whispering, "This way, quick."

Li Baoqing and Peng Song were both stunned. They had never been to this area before and didn't know where the subway station was, but noticing that Lu Tao's expression was off, they quickly followed behind him: "What's wrong, Brother Tao?"

Before Lu Tao could answer, a sharp whistle came from behind them. Li Baoqing and Peng Song turned around simultaneously, and Lu Tao hissed, "Don't turn around!"

The two quickly turned back, but Li Baoqing had already seen what was happening behind him in a glance: six Russians were gathered around the entrance to the underground passage not far away, with several beer bottles lying haphazardly at their feet, and some of them were glaring at him menacingly.

Peng Song couldn't see clearly, and nervously followed, asking, "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

"Skinheads." Lu Tao turned his head slightly, expressionless, and glanced at the six people following him. He urged, "Hurry, let's go."

"Skinheads?" Li Baoqing and Peng Song repeated in a low voice, immediately breaking out in a cold sweat. The two dared not turn back and hurriedly followed Lu Tao forward.