My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 227 The Happy Little Lin

The day before his departure, he went to each of the nearby box owners to say goodbye, asking them to take good care of his nephew. Finally, he brought Xiao Linzi to Hu Yi and instructed him, "Xianyu, you're familiar with everything inside and outside the company. After I leave, if you encounter anything you can't handle, come and ask Brother Hu for advice. Don't try to be clever on your own, understand?"

"Got it." Xiao Linzi nodded sullenly.

Uncle Yu smiled and looked at Hu Yi: "Little Hu, Xianyu is still very green. I'll have to ask you to take care of my suitcase from now on."

"No problem, Uncle Yu, don't worry." In Hu Yi's view, although Xiao Linzi was only three or four years younger than him, he spoke and acted like a child and did not yet have the ability to live alone abroad. Fortunately, the elder relatives living with him could take care of him, which was the main reason why Uncle Yu could return to China with peace of mind.

As for the daily tasks inside the box, they are relatively simple. There are only a few things to do each day, such as opening and closing the door, and I can just give a few pointers when necessary.

"The child is young and doesn't know any better. Please keep an eye on him and don't let him get into any trouble." Uncle Yu was still a little worried, and he added as he remembered something: "Teach him some Russian when you have time. He's been in Moscow for over a month and still can't speak many words. How will he survive?"

"Okay." Hu Yi smiled. "As long as he loves learning, that's fine."

"Sigh, I'm afraid there's not much hope for him to learn on his own initiative." Uncle Yu shook his head. "My nephew isn't very talkative; he's quite introverted. I hope he can hone his personality here."

Hu Yi smiled again but didn't reply. After spending more than a month together, he had realized that Xiao Linzi wasn't actually that introverted. Sometimes he could chat and laugh with him for half a day. However, he would become listless and timid in front of Uncle Yu, as if he was very afraid of his strict uncle.

Just as Hu Yi had predicted, as soon as Uncle Yu left Moscow, Xiao Linzi immediately perked up, straightened his back, spoke louder, and his expression became much more relaxed. The next afternoon, after returning with Hu Yi to pick up the goods, he excitedly said while locking the boxes, "Brother Hu, I'm planning to buy a computer tomorrow."

"Buy a computer?" Hu Yi laughed. "Great! Your uncle just left, so you're free now, right? Watch out, he might come back and give you a hard time."

"It's fine, he'll be staying in China for several months. Besides, even if he comes back, what can he do? He can't just throw the computer away, can he? That's what you call... what's done is done, the die is cast." Xiao Linzi put on his coat smugly: "Hey, Brother Hu, don't you have a computer in your dorm? We can play online games together at night from now on!"

"What online game? Legend?" Hu Yi curled his lip. "I wouldn't play that."

"Who plays Legend of Mir anymore? It's so outdated." Xiao Linzi initially looked disdainful, then his eyes lit up: "A new game called World of Warcraft came out recently, and that's really awesome! It's so much fun!"

"Warcraft...World?" Hu Yi hesitated for a moment. "I've played Warcraft III, is it the same thing?"

Xiao Linzi clapped his hands: "Right, right, right, the content is the same, just changed to an online game!"

Hu Yi chuckled: "I don't know how to play that game, so I can't play along with you."

"It's okay, the game isn't hard, you'll learn it in no time!" Xiao Linzi continued to encourage Hu Yi, unwilling to give up. "Doesn't Astai have a computer store? I'll set up the machine tomorrow afternoon, and you can come to my house tonight. I'll teach you from scratch, how about that?"

"No, I'm not free tomorrow night." Hu Yi waved his hand and declined, "It's my girlfriend's birthday tomorrow, we're going out to eat."

"Sigh, you're spending time with women, huh?" Kobayashi said, slightly disappointed. "So, are you free the day after tomorrow?"

"We'll see," Hu Yi said with a smile, patting him on the shoulder. "I'm leaving now. You should hurry home and be careful."

Back in the dorm, Xiang Nan and Xia Yan were preparing dinner in the kitchen. Hu Yi walked in, sniffed, and said, "Hmm, it smells pretty good." He then grabbed a slice of tomato and popped it into his mouth. "Hey, don't forget Natasha's birthday tomorrow night!"

"I won't forget it!" Xiang Nan chuckled. "I've already prepared a birthday present for Natasha."

"Really? You're such a good girl." Hu Yi patted her head twice, then turned to ask Xia Yan, "What about you? Have you prepared a gift yet?"

"Huh? Me? I...I haven't done it yet." Xia Yan blushed. "I'll prepare one tomorrow."

"What are you preparing? I was just kidding." Hu Yi laughed. "Nan Nan is giving a gift to her sister-in-law. Your relationship is too roundabout. Forget it."

Xia Yan scratched his head sheepishly: "Alright then, I'll offer you some words of care: It's going to get colder tonight, so wear more layers when you go out tomorrow."

"Thank you!" Hu Yi laughed as he walked out of the kitchen and back into his room. He took out the gift he had prepared for Natasha from the cupboard, opened the box, and examined it closely.

The gift was purchased over a month ago during a trip to a small Swiss town. The two were browsing in a watch shop when Hu Yi noticed Natasha's gaze drawn to a beautiful watch, so he decided to buy it for her. However, Natasha insisted on not taking it and, without further ado, pulled him out of the shop.

Hu Yi had already made up his mind. He returned to the hotel with her without making a sound, and that night, under the pretense of going out to buy cigarettes, he secretly ran back to the store and bought the watch, intending to give it to Natasha as a birthday gift.

After waiting for over a month, he was finally going to see her overjoyed expression tomorrow night. Hu Yi was quite pleased with his plan and carefully put the watch away.

Just as Xia Yan had predicted, Moscow and the surrounding areas experienced a widespread drop in temperature that night, and a cold drizzle began to fall the following morning. Hu Yi felt a chill as soon as he stepped outside in the morning and quickly turned back to put on another layer of clothing.

It was Saturday, and the market was a bit busy. After lunch, Xiao Linzi, beaming, came to find Hu Yi, holding an umbrella: "Brother Hu, I'm going to buy a computer!"

"Go ahead, but you can't just stay home playing games all day after buying a computer! If you don't do anything productive, I'll call your uncle." Hu Yi said a few words of advice on behalf of Uncle Yu, half-jokingly.

"How could that be? Don't worry." Xiao Linzi grinned and said dismissively, "Setting up the computer will take quite a while, and I might not be able to come over this afternoon. Could you please pick up the goods for me?"

"Damn, he's good at nothing but getting people to do things." Hu Yi sighed. "After you finish assembling the computer, go pay the shipping fee and come back to give me the receipt."

"Okay! Thanks, Brother Hu! I'm off!"

"You brat, you didn't even offer me a little something for my trouble." Hu Yi chuckled and scolded him as he watched him skip around, then sat down in the box and started flipping through a novel.

Their truck was scheduled to arrive at the market at 5 PM today, and they would pick up the goods around 5:30 PM, just enough time for him to go back to the dormitory to change clothes and then go out for dinner with Natasha and the others. However, they waited until almost 5 PM, but Xiao Linzi still hadn't come to deliver the freight bill. Hu Yi tried to call and urge him, but his phone was off.

The continuous autumn rain continued to drizzle, and the sky had already darkened. Hu Yi felt a slight unease, got up, pulled his coat tighter around himself, and strolled over to the boxes of the landlords who shared a room with Xiao Linzi. He called out loudly, "Uncles, has anyone seen Xiao Linzi?"

(End of this chapter)