My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 261 Return to Moscow

"Wait here!" The shabby man pointed to the corner of the wall, put his hands behind his back, and turned to leave.

"Wait a minute!" Hu Yi called out to him, "Why are you making me wait here?"

The shabby-looking man paused for a moment, then his face darkened as he hissed, "Because your documents are problematic! Understand? It's a serious problem! It must be resolved!"

"What's the problem? How do you plan to resolve it? Please explain clearly. Have I violated the laws of the Russian Federation? Or do I not meet the entry requirements?"

The shabby man was probably taken aback by Hu Yi's eloquence and was speechless for a moment. He could only stand there and stare at him fiercely.

"What are you looking at?" Hu Yi took a few steps forward to meet his gaze. "I used to be a student at the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia and lived in Moscow for six years. I've never encountered anything like this before. Please explain yourself immediately, or I will report this to your supervisor on duty."

"Don't rush, don't rush." ​​The shabby-looking man picked up his passport and carefully flipped through it, muttering a few words under his breath before raising an eyebrow: "Ah, Friendship University, a very famous school. You graduated from there? You must be a very outstanding young man. Congratulations."

"Thank you." Hu Yi smiled wryly. "Now let's talk about my problem."

"A problem? No, there's no problem. I think it was just a misunderstanding by that young lady." The shabby man handed over his passport with two fingers, coldly raising his chin: "Let's go."

Hu Yi felt the urge to curse again, but since he wasn't even in the country yet, he figured it was better to avoid trouble. He took his passport and was about to leave when several people standing by the wall shouted in unison, "Hey, buddy! Put in a good word for us, let him let us go!"

Hu Yi sighed and pointed at the group of people towards the shabby-looking man: "Do...they have problems too?"

"Of course." The shabby-looking man smiled, his eyes narrowing. "You want to stay and keep them company?"

"No, no, goodbye." Hu Yi quickly waved his hand and shrugged at the group. "Sorry, I can't help you. These people just want money. If you give them some, you can definitely get rid of them."

Natasha hurriedly exited customs and stood outside, looking around from beside her suitcase. "Anton, where have you been? Why did you take so long?"

"I ran into a little trouble." Hu Yi dragged his suitcase over and recounted what had just happened as he walked out. Although it was just a minor incident, it completely ruined his good mood on the plane and served as a timely reminder that he was no longer a student and needed to be more careful in his actions here in the future.

"I've heard of similar things, but I never expected you to encounter it today." Natasha frowned. "This is terrible, unbelievable."

"Yeah, I managed to smooth things over with a few words. Last time I came to the airport to pick up a group from China for an exhibition..." He was about to tell Natasha the story from back then when he suddenly heard several people in the crowd ahead shouting:

"Old Hu!"

"Little Hu!"

"Brother Hu!"

"Huh?" Hu Yi looked up and saw Fu Jiahui, Uncle Yu and Xiao Linzi standing side by side at the front of the crowd outside the railing, leaning over and waving vigorously in their direction.

"Hey! What brings you all here?! Didn't I say I didn't need to pick you up?" Hu Yile excitedly pulled Natasha along, taking a few quick steps. "Wow, the whole team came! That's quite a commotion!"

"That's right! You're back, Hu Hansan! Shouldn't we take this very seriously?" Fu Jiahui rushed in front of them first. "You even chartered a car from the market, and the three of us came to pick you up from the airport. Think how much influence you have! Aren't you surprised?"

"What a surprise! What a delightful surprise!" Hu Yi smiled and looked behind him. "Why isn't Li Baoqing here? Is his injury still not fully healed?"

"Hey, that kid's been bouncing around like a baby for ages. He's at my place right now, preparing dinner to welcome you back." Fu Jiahui turned and waved, "Little Lin, come here!"

"Hey!" Xiao Linzi, with a bouquet of flowers in each arm, stepped forward and handed them to Hu Yi and Natasha respectively: "Brother Hu, welcome back to Moscow with your wife!"

"Hey, you guys, you've got some pretty fancy stuff, thanks." Hu Yi handed the box to Xiao Linzi, then looked at everyone warmly: "You guys got here early! Have you finished everything at the market?"

"You know what, we're still not done." Fu Jiahui and Uncle Yu exchanged a glance: "Something big happened at the market today."

"Huh? What's wrong?"

"Let's talk as we walk, the car is still waiting outside." Fu Jiahui called out, then turned to Hu Yi and whispered mysteriously, "A few hours ago someone robbed the market, and now the police have blocked off the Astai parking lot, so we can't unload the goods today. That's why we had time to come and pick you up."

"What? Robbery?" Hu Yi was taken aback. "How could that be? Who would dare to rob someone in the market? You weren't in any danger, were you?"

"They wouldn't even bother robbing someone as insignificant as us," Fu Jiahui chuckled. "What got robbed was that small bank in the parking lot, the place where everyone usually pays their freight bills, so actually they robbed those transportation companies."

"Wow! They dare to rob Aste?! They must be some kind of thief. How much did they steal?"

"It seems to be around eighty or nine hundred thousand US dollars!" Uncle Yu interjected. "It's said that the perpetrators were bandits, two vehicles, a dozen or so men, all armed."

"Bandits?! Robbing a transportation company in the market?" Hu Yi felt this matter was both strange and complicated, and couldn't help but gasp and laugh: "Interesting, very interesting."

The term "horse bandits" they used is a homophone for the word "Mafia," which refers to the mafia often depicted in literature and film.

The Russian mafia is no ordinary criminal organization. Within Russia alone, their influence has permeated many sectors at all levels, and they maintain close ties with certain individuals within the federal government, acting with extreme impunity.

However, given that the boss of Aste also has deep connections within the government, the bandits rarely meddle in the container market. Occasionally, a few henchmen might engage in minor mischief, but such an open and brazen robbery of a customs clearance and transportation company as today is extremely rare.

"That's quite interesting." Uncle Yu laughed with satisfaction: "Anyway, those transportation companies are pretty ruthless. They always try to squeeze money out of us. It's good to be taught a lesson. Everyone's secretly laughing about it."

"But... bandits have robbed transport companies before, but they always happened outside." Hu Yi scratched his head, puzzled. "Why are they suddenly robbing people in the market today? Isn't that... a bit strange?"

"What's so strange about that? There are plenty of bandits in Moscow, with many levels and different gangs. Big shots with status and ability certainly wouldn't do something as dangerous and shameful as robbery. In my opinion, they're probably just some small-time bandits who can't make ends meet, maybe even some out-of-towners who just pulled off a quick heist at the market and left." Fu Jiahui shook his head dismissively, quickly walked to the car, and opened the door: "Come on, get in, let's go home."

(End of this chapter)