My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 207 No sound in the south, only sound in the north

"What's wrong, Brother Hu?"

"What's up, bro?"

Hu Yi had never told Xiang Nan about his conversation with Xiang Dong last time, and he didn't want to bring it up now. He looked at her seriously and said, "You call me brother, does that mean you consider me your brother?"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Xiang Nan said with a coquettish smile, "Of course, how could it be fake? I've always treated you like my own brother."

"Since you're my own sister, I have to care about your affairs." Hu Yi said sternly, "Can you listen to your brother?"

"Of course." Xiang Nan hesitated slightly. "Why did you bring this up? It's making me a little nervous."

Hu Yi ignored her and turned to Xia Yan: "You heard everything? Xiang Nan is my own sister, do you understand what I mean?"

"I..." Xia Yan seemed even more nervous, scratching his head and whispering, "I... um... I think I understand."

"Understand what?"

"So...you...don't want us...you know, to be together?"

"Don't get me wrong, what you two do is your business, I said I wouldn't interfere." Hu Yi pointed at Xia Yan sternly, "But if you're going to date, then do it seriously. If you ever dare to betray her in the future, I'll castrate you! Got it?"

Xiang Nan chuckled and said coquettishly, "Oh, how annoying! What did you say, brother?"

Xia Yan lowered her head shyly and smiled, "I've remembered, don't worry. We... we're taking this very seriously, really seriously."

"Pah, what's with all this nonsense?" Xiang Nan punched Xia Yan's arm, her face flushed, and turned to leave.

"Wait, I'm not finished yet." Hu Yi called her back to him: "You come to see Xia Yan every day after class. It's not that I don't welcome you, but I still hope you can make time to study more."

"I can study here too, maybe even better." Xiang Nan gently twisted her body from side to side. "Brother, you don't know, do you? My two Russian roommates graduated, and now two African students have moved in. Sigh, those two ladies are always throwing parties in the room. I think they're too noisy, otherwise... I wouldn't come to your room every day."

"Hmm? I really... didn't know." Hu Yi nodded. "It's okay, just hang in there a little longer. Building 12 will be finished soon, and the dorm rooms will definitely be much more spacious then. You can find a quieter place to live—anyway, what I mean is, you're here to study, you can't neglect your studies, understand?"

"Got it?" Xiang Nan drawled, making a face at him. "Hmph, always talking about me. My class attendance is 100%, how many classes do you even attend a week?"

Hu Yi blushed slightly: "I—can I be like you? I need to work and earn money."

"Tch, you talk just like my dad." Xiang Nan pouted, then suddenly grinned mischievously, "Oh right, if you're going to earn money for Natasha—do you have to hand over your salary every month?"

"Go away, go away. You're so young, yet you know so much." Hu Yi said sullenly, "I have to go to class tomorrow and catch up on my homework. You two go play by yourselves."

With the arrest of several suspects at the beginning of the year, the fake bomb alarm that had plagued Friendship University for nearly a year finally came to an end. Hu Yi lost a shield for absenteeism, and while he was jubilant, he couldn't help but feel a little lost and uneasy, so he slightly increased his frequency of showing up in class this semester.

The next day was a snowy day. Hu Yi went to school for two classes in the morning and then rushed to the market. From afar, he saw Uncle Yu talking loudly with several shop owners by the boxes.

Hu Yi couldn't quite understand what they were saying. He opened the trunk, took out a chair, greeted everyone with a smile, rolled up his sleeves, sat down, and closed his eyes to rest.

As he closed his eyes, he suddenly felt a pang of hunger. He had just gotten up to buy something to eat when Uncle Yu turned and called out to him, "Xiao Hu, have you heard? The rent for our warehouse in Aste is going up!"

"Price increase? By how much?"

"It's still unclear. Some say it will increase by 300, others say by 500!"

"That much?! We have four suitcases over there, which means we have to pay an extra one or two thousand US dollars every month." Hu Yi grinned. "Does Jia Hui know about this?"

"I knew this morning, and he was so angry he kept swearing." Uncle Yu squatted on a chair, arms crossed, fuming. "We were just discussing it. Aste's warehouse is already the most expensive in the market. If they really dare to raise the price that much, we'll all move out of the warehouse!"

"We really should move! They're fucking rip-offs!" Hu Yi stood up, walked over to Uncle Yu, and cursed a few more times. Then he frowned and asked, "But where are we moving them to? Are there any empty boxes left in the warehouses in the other districts?"

"I don't know. Many warehouses are subcontracted layer by layer. We'll have to ask around to find out." Uncle Yu shook his head helplessly. "Speaking of which, Aste's warehouse is the largest and the safest. If it weren't for their messy practices, we really wouldn't want to move."

"Yes." Hu Yi wanted to say a few more words, but suddenly heard Da Liu's voice from behind him: "Brother Hu, today's newspaper."

"Okay, thanks." Hu Yi took the newspaper and smiled at Da Liu: "The snow is quite heavy today, be careful when you walk."

"It's nothing, I'm used to it, thank you." Da Liu pointed forward: "You're busy, I'll be going now."

"Bye-bye." Hu Yi casually opened the newspaper and read aloud, "Descendants of Yan and Huang pooling their wisdom, sons and daughters of China working together, all Chinese compatriots jointly creating a bright future for Chinese businesses in Russia. Hey, who wrote this lousy headline? It's so long and tedious."

Uncle Yu laughed heartily: "That's what you call using fancy words, it's something a truly cultured person would say..."

Before he could finish speaking, a deafening roar suddenly erupted. Hu Yi felt the ground beneath his feet shake a few times, and he quickly stepped forward and steadied himself.

The top layer of snow on the ground was shaken up a few inches, then slowly fell back down. Not far away, Da Liu lay sprawled in the snow, struggling to get up with his hands on the ground.

Uncle Yu, who was standing next to him, was thrown off his chair by the impact, looking around in a panic: "Wha...what happened? How did I fall?!"

The other shopkeepers around were either clinging to the doors of the boxes or holding onto the ladders leading to the second-floor boxes. They all looked in the direction from which the loud noise came from. They saw a thick plume of black smoke rising not far away, which quickly dissipated into the snow. They could also vaguely hear screams and cries of agony.

"It's so close to us!" Someone nearby pointed to the thick smoke in the sky. "Is that District 7 over there?"

"No, it should be District 6!" Uncle Yu, having recovered from his shock, knelt on the ground and cursed, "Those Vietnamese bastards did this! I told you long ago that their restaurant's gas cylinders were too close to the electric heater, and it was bound to happen sooner or later! Look! It exploded!"

"A gas canister? Is it that powerful?" Hu Yi steadied himself and, seeing that Da Liu was still struggling to get up in the snow, quickly grabbed his arm: "Brother Liu, are you alright?"

(End of this chapter)