My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 277 Look Up and Forward

Tomorrow will be the first day of normal business for the shop. Since Natasha is not very familiar with the various situations in the market, Hu Yi will go with her to guard the half-box.

It was already 12:30 when they saw Yu Feifei and the others off. Hu Yi urged Natasha to go back to her room and sleep, then hurriedly took a shower. Just as he stepped out of the bathroom, he heard Li Baoqing calling softly from inside the small room, "Old Hu..."

"Huh?" Hu Yi, drying his hair, pushed open the door and entered the room. "You weren't asleep? How are you feeling?"

"It's alright, I don't feel any pain if I don't move." Li Baoqing lay face down on the bed, his voice soft and slow, as if afraid that speaking forcefully would aggravate his back.

"Then just lie still and don't move. You might feel better after a nap. I'll go to the market tomorrow and buy some more plasters to put on for you." Hu Yi had never encountered this situation before and was helpless in the face of Li Baoqing's injuries.

"Buy another bottle of safflower oil." Li Baoqing paused, then asked weakly, "Did Feifei and the others leave?"

"Yeah, they just left."

"Give me a hand." Li Baoqing gently lifted his upper body with both arms: "I need to poop."

Hu Yi draped a towel over his shoulder, helped him off the bed and into the bathroom, and then helped him sit down slowly.

Just as he was about to turn and leave, Li Baoqing spoke up again: "Old Hu, in your opinion, was it Yuri who did what happened tonight?"

"Well... I don't know the situation, so I dare not make any conclusions. But that guy definitely has the means and the ability to collude with bandits." Hu Yi leaned on the washbasin and pondered for a moment: "Sigh, in the end, he's just a middleman in the market, and he's capable of doing anything dirty."

"Hmm..." Li Baoqing nodded, sitting thoughtfully on the toilet with a melancholy expression. "What did you say? What customer?"

"A broker. That's... a middleman, an intermediary, someone who makes money by facilitating deals." Hu Yi smiled faintly: "They do business with no initial investment."

"Hmm..." Li Baoqing sighed with difficulty, "This is the first time I've heard this word. You're really cultured."

"Alright, let's talk outside. It stinks." Hu Yi frowned as he walked out of the bathroom, grabbed a few bottles of drinking water, and placed them on Li Baoqing's bedside table. Hearing the toilet flush, he went back and helped Li Baoqing back inside.

Li Baoqing stretched out and slowly lay flat, groaning for a while with his eyes closed. Suddenly, he grinned widely, and two tears streamed down his face: "Old Hu, this time... I'm really... completely finished!"

Having known each other for many years, Hu Yi had never seen him so disheartened as he was tonight, and for a moment he didn't know how to comfort him. After Li Baoqing had sobbed for a while, Hu Yi took a tissue and stuffed it into his hand: "Why are you crying? Don't think so much right now. Once you've recovered and returned to the market, you'll be a hero again. A comeback is just around the corner!"

"You don't understand. Most of my goods were bought on credit from bosses and others, and now I'm drowning in debt." Li Baoqing wiped away his tears and blew his nose forcefully. "That's two or three hundred thousand US dollars! I only have a few thousand dollars left of everything. What chance do I have of turning things around?"

Hu Yi took a deep breath, knowing that his chances of making a comeback were slim, but he still had to encourage him: "Of course it's possible! You were lying on the bed just now, like a dead person, unable to move. Now that you've come back from the bathroom, you're lying flat again, isn't that turning over? That's a sign, it means that in the future... um... you might have to go through a roundabout way to turn over, it's like taking a roundabout route, understand?"

"Hehe... I don't know anything else besides marketing, what else can I do?" Li Baoqing forced a smile and said, "You kid, you've been quick-witted and eloquent ever since we first met."

"Ha, that's because you're too clumsy with words." Hu Yi's thoughts drifted back to the train journey from Beijing to Moscow seven years ago, and he couldn't help but shudder slightly. He sat on the edge of the bed, crossed his legs, and looked at Li Baoqing: "Hey, do you still remember the first time we took the train to Moscow?"

"By train? My memory is a bit hazy." Li Baoqing frowned slightly. "I just remember not being able to shower for a week, and my body was all sticky."

"Hmm... I really remember that feeling vividly." Hu Yi paused for a moment, then shook his head. "I mean, one day you asked us what kind of jobs we wanted to do in the future. Do you remember what you said back then?"

"I asked that kind of question?" Li Baoqing stared blankly at the ceiling for a moment, then shook his head in confusion, saying, "I don't remember."

"You said you wanted to work at the embassy so you could help your fellow countrymen or something."

"Oh...now that you mention it, it seems...there was such a thing." Li Baoqing grinned widely. "You remember it quite clearly."

"Of course, because after listening to you I felt you were quite pretentious, so it left a deep impression on me."

"Get lost, that's what I really meant back then."

"And now?"

"Now?" Li Baoqing was taken aback. "Now... obviously, it's not very possible. Sigh, things you think about don't always come true."

"Yeah, back then you probably never imagined you'd end up doing food delivery, let alone trading goods in the market, right?" Hu Yi's eyes were full of encouragement as he gently patted his chest a few times. "Same principle applies here; how could you possibly know what the future holds right now?"

"Well...I..." Li Baoqing was stunned for a moment, then lowered his eyelids and smiled lazily: "I know. Anyway, over the years...you may not have been the most eloquent person, but you've always made some sense."

"Good to know. Since it's already happened and can't be undone, let it pass as quickly as possible. Focus on recovering, stop crying, and look ahead!" Hu Yi sighed, his face full of impatience, "Ugh, I have to get up very early tomorrow morning, and I sacrificed another half hour of sleep just to get you to sleep!"

"Bullshit, Grandpa doesn't need your coaxing!" Li Baoqing cursed angrily, throwing the snot- and tear-stained tissue at Hu Yi: "Hurry up and get out of there!"

Hu Yi laughed as he got up and walked to the door. Turning back, he saw that Li Baoqing still looked a little listless, so he gestured to him with his lip: "Hey, I have some good news for you, but don't lose sleep—Feifei is coming to take care of you tomorrow."

"Feifei?! Really?! Ouch—" Li Baoqing jerked up, then immediately lay back down in pain. Hu Yi ignored him, turned off the light, and went back to the bedroom.

The market's stalls usually open at 5:30 a.m. and close at 3 or 4 p.m. Hu Yi and Natasha only slept for about four hours before forcing themselves to get up, looking exhausted as they forced themselves to wash and get dressed.

Natasha made two cups of coffee. Hu Yi finished tidying up and tiptoed into the small house before leaving. He saw that although Li Baoqing's brows were furrowed and his breathing was heavy, he was sleeping relatively soundly.

After taking a car to the market, Hu Yi spent the whole morning working on his own stall, and then went back to Fu Jiahui's box shop to keep busy. He was exhausted, so after lunch he sat down on a recliner by the box shop door and took a nap.

The news of someone being robbed last night quickly spread throughout the market. Several shopkeepers gathered around Uncle Yu's box, chattering about what they had heard. Hu Yi was also forced to open his eyes and join the discussion, but he didn't mention his experience last night or that Li Baoqing was recuperating at home.

According to the information gathered by everyone, at least a hundred containers were taken away from the freight yard last night, and many of them failed to reach their intended destinations.

Most of them were stopped by the police—or rather, unidentified people in police uniforms—while some cargo owners encountered unexpected events along the way, and after a short delay, they could no longer find the trucks.

It seems that only Li Baoqing's group was robbed by the bandits. Those who know the ins and outs of the matter believe that Yuri was behind it, and some have even heard that he has always been very close to the bandits.

This isn't surprising. The market tycoon has always had dealings with various bandit leaders, and naturally, he has no shortage of people like him operating in the gray area. However, regardless of whether it's the legitimate or criminal world, taking money to do something is considered basic professional ethics. Such despicable behavior—taking money and then turning around and biting the hand that feeds you—is truly shameless and despicable.

The crowd vehemently condemned the incident for a long time, but in the end, it was nothing more than empty words. The matter had to end there and was left unresolved.

Hu Yi stopped thinking about it and bought some good plasters and a bottle of safflower oil after get off work. He also invited an old Chinese medicine doctor who was skilled in massage from the area around the market to treat Li Baoqing at home.

Yu Feifei was washing vegetables and preparing dinner at home when Hu Yi invited the old Chinese medicine doctor into the bedroom. He then went to the kitchen, rolled up his sleeves, and helped chop vegetables while asking, "How is Baoqing doing today?"

"He still can't move, but he ate something at noon and seems to be in pretty good spirits." Yu Feifei said with a worried look, "I think he needs to rest for a few more days before he can get out of bed and move around."

"You look great? That's all thanks to you. If it were anyone else here, they would have been completely exhausted." Hu Yi smiled slightly. "Thank you for your hard work today."

Yu Feifei shook her head, handed the peeled potato to Hu Yi, and sighed softly: "I couldn't sleep at all last night when I got back to the dormitory. Every time I closed my eyes, I remembered that year in Maji, when Baoqing and I encountered a group of hooligans in the residential area after school. Those kids threw things at us, and Baoqing stood in front of me without hesitation."

Hu Yi paused, holding the potato, unsure how to respond.

"I rarely reminisce about the past, maybe it's because I'm getting old," Yu Feifei said with a sad smile. "Today, seeing him lying motionless in bed, needing all his strength even to turn over, really made me feel terrible."

"Feifei, what...what is this...?"

"It's nothing." Yu Feifei paused slightly. "You can leave your key with me for now. I can come and take care of Baoqing for the next few days."

"Of course that would be great," Hu Yi said with a smile. "I would really be worried if you didn't come."

After a thorough washing and preparation, the old Chinese medicine doctor finished his massage and came out of the small house. Hu Yi hurriedly greeted him with a smile: "Doctor, how is my friend's injury? Is it treatable?"

(End of this chapter)