My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 229 Real and Fake Police

"You! What's wrong with you?!" Hu Yi exclaimed in shock.

"I've been robbed! And now I'm so cold... and... Brother Hu!" Xiao Linzi cried incoherently, "I'm freezing to death! Brother Hu, please save me!"

"Calm down! Where are you right now?"

"I...I...I don't know!" Xiao Linzi cried and shouted, "I only...I only remember your phone number! I don't know anything else!"

"Then where am I supposed to find you?" Hu Yi cried out in distress, "Don't rush, explain yourself clearly first, what exactly happened?"

"Okay, okay." Xiao Linzi took a few deep breaths. "I went to buy a computer this afternoon, and I was carrying the case home when I ran into two policemen on the roadside who came to check...check passports! I showed them my passport, and they wouldn't give it back to me, they even...let me get in their car!"

"You're getting in the car?!" Hu Yi shouted. "Are those two really police officers?! Are you sure?!"

"No, no, no... I know... Anyway... he was wearing a police uniform, and he had a gun on his waist, in a holster."

"Where's the car? Is it a police car?"

"Hmm...it doesn't seem like it..."

"Hey! How can the police patrol the streets without a police car?" Hu Yi stamped his foot in exasperation. "So you went along in it?!"

"They pulled and dragged me, and I couldn't understand what they were saying. I... I didn't dare to go!" Xiao Linzi's voice trembled, whether from the cold or fear, it was hard to tell: "They forced me in, and drove for a really, really long time! They started hitting me as soon as I got out of the car! They even sprayed something spicy and pungent in my face! Then they dragged me into the woods, tore up my passport! They took off my clothes! They electrocuted me, and they stole my computer, phone, and money!"

"Damn it! You bastard!" Hu Yi scratched his hair a few times to calm himself down, then asked, "Where are you making this call? Whose phone is it?"

"It was by the roadside!" Xiao Linzi stammered. "I walked for ages before I found the road! I flagged down a car! I borrowed a phone!"

"What place is that? Are there any road signs or anything like that?"

"I...I don't know. There are trees on both sides, and only one road in the middle. There are no signs!"

"You...you..." Hu Yi scratched the back of his head, pacing anxiously. "Have that car bring you back! Give him plenty of money!"

"I can't say, wait a minute!" Xiao Linzi's voice suddenly drifted away from the microphone, stammering, "You, this, please, please!"

No one spoke. After a brief rustling noise, Xiao Linzi awkwardly thanked him in Russian. Then a deep-voiced man spoke: "Go in."

"Wh...what?"

"Let you in!" The voice sounded impatient.

There was a loud "bang," like a car door closing, and the man brought his mouth to the phone: "Speak."

"Hello! Thank you so much for your help!" Hu Yi tried to convey his gratitude through his tone of voice: "My friend doesn't speak Russian, and this situation is really difficult for him. Could you please take him back? We'll definitely pay you extra."

"Pay?" The man sniffed, then smacked his lips. "Where are you taking him?"

"Could you please take him to the Cherkizovsky Market? I wonder how far it is from you?"

"What market? Never heard of it." The man's speech was somewhat slurred, indicating he had likely drunk quite a bit.

"Right in Izmailovan... What? You don't know? The Blue Line metro, the stop before 'May 1st' station?"

"Subway? What subway? Where did this subway come from?" the drunken man asked. "What are you talking about? Where are you?"

"In Moscow," Hu Yi said blankly. "Aren't you?"

"Moscow?! Hahahaha!" The man seemed to have heard something utterly ridiculous: "What a joke! I'm too busy to go to such a faraway place."

"Far?" Hu Yi felt a chill in his heart and hesitated before asking, "Excuse me, where are you? I'll go and bring him back."

"Abalensk".

"Huh? Where?" Hu Yi had never heard of this place name before.

"Abalensk!" the man repeated, emphasizing each word. "Do you know Chekhov?"

"You mean...that writer?"

"No! I mean a city! A city south of Moscow!" the man explained patiently. "Not far past Chekhov, just before you turn west at Serpukhov, that's our town."

"City? Town? Wait a minute!" Hu Yi hesitated for a moment, then rushed into the box, pulled out a piece of paper, and jotted down a few place names. "Okay, I'll go right away! Where should I look for you once I get to the town?"

"I can't say for sure right now, call me when you get there." The man suddenly changed from his drunken state and said slowly with a smile, "By the way, you'd better get going soon. If you're late, I can't guarantee I'll still be able to find your friend."

"What? Why?"

"Why? Because I don't know what will happen tonight either. You'll only know if you come and see for yourself."

This ambiguous question sent a chill down Hu Yi's spine, and a sense of doubt arose in his heart: "You...who are you?"

"You're asking me? I'm a police officer," the man replied lazily. "Oh, right, maybe I can put your friend in the police station? Hahahaha!"

"That's fine too..." Hu Yi had just breathed a sigh of relief when he immediately thought of the two "police officers" who had robbed Xiao Linzi, and cold sweat trickled down the back of his neck. The man on the other end of the phone sounded rather suspicious; perhaps Xiao Linzi had just escaped one danger only to fall into another.

But if that were the case, questioning him further over the phone now would be unwise and pointless. Hu Yi composed himself and said calmly, "Okay, could you please let my friend speak?"

The phone was handed to Xiao Linzi: "Hey? Brother Hu? How's it going? Can he take me home?"

"He won't agree, but don't be afraid, I'll come pick you up in a bit." Hu Yi reassured you for a few moments, then casually asked, "Are you in the car?"

"Yes."

"Besides you, how many other people are there?"

"Only the one who was talking to you just now."

"What kind of person is he?"

"What kind of guy?" Xiao Linzi paused for a moment: "Well... a pretty ordinary Russian, about your height, around forty years old, and he seemed to have been drinking."

"Is he a police officer? Is he in uniform? Is he driving a police car?"

"Police? No, no, not a police car." Xiao Linzi shuddered. "He... was wearing a tracksuit."

Hu Yi had a bad feeling. He was racking his brains trying to figure out how to verify the other party's identity when he suddenly heard the sounds of a lighter being pressed and a car starting up on the other end of the phone. The man, who claimed to be a policeman, hiccuped into the phone, completely drunk: "Alright! We can talk when we meet! It's getting late, I'll take your friend home now, we'll have to celebrate properly tonight! Haha!"

"Celebrate? What do you mean..." Hu Yi wanted to ask more, but the other party had already hung up the phone.

"Damn it! This is..." he cursed angrily, hands on his hips, not knowing what to do.

"Trouble? What are you going to do?" Yabalov had been standing outside the box the whole time. He had overheard Hu Yi's conversation on the phone, switching between Chinese and Russian.

"It's quite troublesome." Hu Yi took a deep breath and pointed to Xiao Linzi's box: "He... was taken to a faraway place by bad guys, and his situation is unclear. I'm going to help him now."

"Bad guys? Is it dangerous?" Yabalov wiped the rain off his face. "I'll go with you."

(End of this chapter)