My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 245 Graduation is Imminent

"What else can I do? I'll find a job, whatever I can do." These days, Hu Yi least wants to face this question full of unknowns, but everyone just has to ask it.

"Just do whatever you can? Oh dear, you're probably going to be disappointed." Fu Jiahui smiled and shook his head: "What are the salary levels in China now? They can't compare to your income here at all."

"That's true." Hu Yi bit his lip. "It's definitely much worse than here, but the cost of living is lower back home, and we spend less money."

"That's a bad idea. Money isn't saved, it's earned." Fu Jiahui rubbed his fingers together and made a counting motion in front of him. "Hey, to be honest, for the past two years I've felt that giving you 20,000 rubles a salary is a bit low, but since you used to go to classes so often, 20,000 isn't a bad deal."

"Of course it's a good deal. For someone like me who works while studying, 20,000 is a lot." Hu Yi nodded repeatedly, "Really, I'm very grateful for your generosity."

Fu Jiahui ignored his comment and continued, "If you stay here to work full-time after graduation, I was originally planning to raise your salary to 25,000 immediately. To be honest, you couldn't find a salary like that in China. Plus, with your side income, you could earn at least 50,000 to 60,000 rubles a month here, right? That's over 10,000 to almost 20,000 yuan, which might be more than a year's income if you went back to China."

Hu Yi chuckled, taking a deep breath. He had considered this possibility before, but after graduating and leaving the school dormitory, he would have to rent an apartment, which would significantly increase his expenses. Moreover, he had saved some money over the years and was somewhat content with his modest wealth, so he wasn't particularly concerned about his future income. Since he had already decided to return to China, there was no need to dwell on these things anymore.

However, since Fu Jiahui had put it that way, it was necessary to leave himself a way out. Hu Yi hesitated for a moment, then coughed awkwardly, "Jiahui, I only asked because I think we have a relationship. Don't accuse me of being two-timing. If I don't find a job after going back, I might go back to Moscow. You'll have to look after me then."

"Hey! That's exactly what I like to hear! What do you mean by 'playing both sides'? You should think things through more carefully before acting." Fu Jiahui slapped his thigh, looking up at him with his head held high. "To be honest, if you changed your mind so easily with just a few words, I wouldn't think much of you. Since you've decided to go back to China, go back and give it a try. Maybe you can find a good job. If things don't go well, just give me a call, and I'll have someone bring you back to Moscow right away!"

With Fu Jiahui's verbal promise, Hu Yi's last concerns were dispelled, and he felt much lighter. Having not attended classes for over two years, and with graduation exams fast approaching, he immediately focused all his energy on the final lessons, hoping to at least earn some belated points in his teacher's eyes.

In the final few dozen days of his senior year, Hu Yi became completely absorbed in his studies, spending all his time on campus. He eagerly participated in class, trying his best to win the teacher's favor; after class, he would go home and study diligently, seeking help from high-achieving classmates whenever he encountered problems he didn't understand. He had completely entered a different way of life.

Looking back on Hu Yi's university life in Russia, if each year were likened to a floor of a building, then the foundation of this four-story building—that is, the preparatory courses—was extremely solid; the first floor could be considered an impeccably finished floor; the second floor was of good overall quality, but there were obvious signs of rushed construction in the later stages; the third and fourth floors were not so satisfactory, and strictly speaking, they even had the appearance of shoddy construction.

It's never too late to mend the fence after the sheep are lost. After two months of emergency repairs on the third and fourth floors, Hu Yi hastily filled in most of the missing key information, barely managing to bring the building to a satisfactory completion status.

Even last-minute cramming can be effective. Thanks to his solid foundation, although the tutoring in each subject was extremely arduous, it was still quite successful, greatly improving his level and confidence.

After several exams, Hu Yi's written test scores were mediocre, but thanks to his good relationship with most of the teachers and his fluent spoken English and witty remarks learned from his long immersion in the market, he performed exceptionally well in the oral test, and was virtually invincible.

As the exams concluded one after another, most of the teachers gave him a score of four, while a few stricter ones gave him a score of three. Hu Yi shouted "Long live passing!" all the way until the final exam.

The last subject was only an oral exam, but because it was Professor Sergei's course, none of the students dared to slack off in the slightest. They were still nervously reviewing and preparing for the exam until the night before, and they would call each other from time to time to exchange information.

Sergei's exam certainly deserved to be taken so seriously. For senior students, this exam was a veto; failing it meant not being able to graduate.

Sergei's exam was the most difficult to pass in the language department. His courses were scheduled infrequently, with long sessions, a huge amount of information, and many obscure words, making them extremely difficult for foreigners to master. Therefore, everyone could only rely on summarizing key points and guessing the questions to pass the exam.

Summarizing key points isn't difficult; it can be easily done by combining the notes of several good students. However, the professor's lectures covered an overwhelming amount of material, presenting a single, major point almost every class with little connection between them. This made guessing the questions the most challenging part.

In reality, guessing the questions was of little use, as the oral exams were conducted one by one in the office, and most students would be asked different questions. However, people tend to have a bit of wishful thinking in such situations, so each enthusiastic top student carefully selected some knowledge points they thought were likely to be asked. By the night before the exam, the number of high-risk questions guessed by everyone totaled as many as twenty.

Hu Yi was on the verge of tears holding the long list. Each point contained several obscure and difficult-to-understand terms that couldn't be found in ordinary dictionaries. He had no choice but to make phone calls to ask for help while groggily trying to memorize them. As he memorized, his eyelids started to droop, so he moved from the chair at the table to the bed, from sitting to lying down, and soon his eyelids slumped, his arms went limp, and he fell into a deep, carefree sleep.

He slept soundly until dawn, when Hu Yi opened his eyes and cried out in despair, "It's over! I'm doomed!"

Twenty minutes had passed since the exam started, and he had only memorized three and a half of the twenty questions from last night. A chill ran through him. He rushed into the bathroom, quickly washed up, dressed, grabbed his bag, and dashed out of the dormitory.

(End of this chapter)