My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 280 The Tragedy of Asterisk

The two quickly reached an agreement. Starting the next day, Da Liu would walk a few minutes from Huanglou to his stall at 5:30 every morning to unpack and ship the goods. Natasha would then come to take over at 9:30, which would take about four hours of work.

Many small vendors in the market hire Russian-speaking international students to help sell their goods, with typical wages around $600. Since Da Liu only needs to work half a day, he naturally can't be paid full-time.

He thought that since he lived nearby, opening the door was just a small favor, so he proposed that three hundred dollars a month would be enough. However, considering that he had difficulty walking and was responsible for a relatively strenuous period of the day, Hu Yi ultimately decided to pay him four hundred dollars.

Compared to the convenience and relief that Hu Yi and Natasha gained, four hundred dollars wasn't much, but Da Liu felt quite guilty. He was conscientious about his job, and every day after delivering the newspapers, he would voluntarily return to the stall to help out during his free time. Although he couldn't do any heavy lifting, he could at least greet customers for Natasha or take care of various chores.

With a diligent and reliable partner like Da Liu taking care of the business, Natasha now feels much more relaxed. She goes to and from business with Hu Yi every day, and only needs to worry about collecting money and purchasing goods. She is finally starting to feel like a boss lady.

After a period of leisure, Natasha felt she had a lot of free time in the market, so she brought the Chinese beginner textbook she had bought in China to her suitcase. She would sit at the table and read and write whenever she had free time, and sometimes she would ask Liu and the Chinese people around her for advice.

Da Liu's Mandarin had a slight Shandong accent, but it was still reasonably standard. The others had much more varied accents: a woman from Changchun, a young man from Luoyang, an uncle from Tangshan, and a young woman from Tianjin. Everyone, whether intentionally or unintentionally, seriously or jokingly, would make a few jokes with her, and Natasha, oblivious to the nuances, accepted them all.

Over the course of a few months, Natasha had learned quite a few Chinese words in a haphazard way, but her pronunciation wasn't very standard, and it was full of a hodgepodge of convoluted and nonsensical expressions. Occasionally, she would blurt out some dialectal phrases like "扯犊子" (che duzi), "弄啥嘞" (nong sha lei), "不逮劲儿" (bu dai jin er), and "倍儿哏儿" (bei er gen er), with an off-key tone and a serious expression, often making Hu Yi burst out laughing uncontrollably.

Over the course of more than half a year, the small shop maintained a relatively stable level of profitability. Like other shop owners, Hu Yi dared not keep too much money on hand, so he continuously used the money he earned to increase his inventory, while also gradually remitting more than one million rubles back to China through money changers, totaling nearly 300,000 yuan, which was considered a large sum of money at the time.

That summer, Xiang Nan completed her studies and graduated with top marks in all subjects, while Yu Feifei also obtained her master's degree as she wished.

Xiang Nan and Xia Yan decided to return to China to work and live, while Yu Feifei also planned to take her Malaysian boyfriend back to China to meet her family. All of them had spent several unforgettable years in Russia, and now, as they were about to leave, they were filled with emotion.

After a brief discussion, the two couples decided to travel extensively before leaving. They started from cities around Moscow, traveled all the way to St. Petersburg, and then took another route back, passing through more than ten cities of varying sizes. The trip took more than a month, and they didn't return until early September. Only then did they begin to prepare for their return home.

During this time, Beijing was hosting the Olympics, and Hu Yi and Natasha bought a large TV and watched the games on the sofa every night. They also replaced some furniture and appliances, giving their small house a fresh new look and further improving their quality of life.

A few days before the Mid-Autumn Festival, Xiang Nan, Yu Feifei, and others set off to return to China, and Hu Yi and Natasha went to the airport to see them off.

As they were leaving, Xiang Nan reluctantly grabbed Hu Yi's arm to say goodbye: "Brother, we're leaving. Take good care of yourself and your wife, and come back to visit us when you have time."

"I will. When you get home, please give my regards to your uncle and aunt, and your brother." Hu Yi patted her head and raised an eyebrow at Xia Yan: "If he dares to make you angry, tell me, and I'll deal with him when I get back to China."

"I wouldn't dare," Xia Yan muttered honestly.

"Okay!" Xiang Nan chuckled, glancing at Natasha furtively. "Brother, you must tell me when you and sister-in-law get married. No matter where the wedding is held, I want to be there."

"I'll definitely let you know!" Hu Yi put his arm around Natasha. "You'll have to give us a big red envelope then!"

"No problem!" Xiang Nan gently tugged at his sleeve: "Don't drag it out too long, Natasha will be twenty-nine soon."

"Don't worry." Hu Yi patted her cheek twice, then turned to look at Yu Feifei: "Once you marry and move to Malaysia, it will be even harder to see each other then."

"We can arrange a time to go back to China together." Yu Feifei's eyes were slightly red. "You and Natasha are also welcome to come to Malaysia to visit me. Food and accommodation are included, and there will be plenty of fruit."

The two smiled at each other, and Hu Yi took a deep breath: "Over the years, the most memorable thing for me is the time the three of us took the train to Moscow together. It's unbelievable that we've spent eight years together in Russia; time really flies!"

"Yes, if I have the chance, I'd like to take that train again." Yu Feifei looked up and said softly with a smile, "Hu Yi, I'm leaving. Take care of yourself and Natasha, and also look after Baoqing."

The time for parting had come. Several people, dragging their suitcases, waved goodbye to Hu Yi, turning back every few steps. Hu Yi watched them until they disappeared at the end of the border inspection line. Recalling the friends he had made over the years, one by one leaving Moscow, an indescribable loneliness and desolation welled up in his heart.

"Are you sad?" Natasha squeezed his hand. "Nan Nan, Fei Fei, and Xia, they are all very good people. I think I will miss them too."

"Yes!" Hu Yi let out a long sigh of relief. "We will definitely meet them again. In the future, in China."

The two walked out of the airport side by side, and just as they were about to get into the car, Fu Jiahui called: "Old Hu, have you seen your friend off yet?"

"It's been delivered. It should have just cleared customs by now." Hu Yi glanced at the time. "The truck shouldn't arrive until tonight. Is there anything wrong with the box?"

"There's nothing wrong with the boxes, but something big has happened in the market." Fu Jiahui's voice was full of worry: "You don't know yet, do you? Aste's warehouse has been sealed off."

"Huh? It's blocked again?" Hu Yi frowned and got into the car. "Which district?"

"All of them, all of Aste's warehouses."

"All of them?! How is that possible?!" Hu Yi exclaimed in surprise, "The Aste warehouse has... probably tens of thousands of boxes, right?"

"Yes, it was quite a big event today. I heard that several hundred Amon came, and they even fired shots."

"What's the reason this time?"

"Who knows?" Fu Jiahui sighed dejectedly. "The official explanation is that they're cracking down on smuggled goods."

The seizure of the Aste warehouse was part of an anti-smuggling operation led by the Russian Prosecutor General's Office. However, subsequent indications suggest that certain words and actions of the Zeliman boss may have once again acted as a catalyst.

As the largest storage area in the container market, the seizure of the Aste warehouse has caused incalculable losses to merchants. Since the market has the largest number of merchants and goods from China, Chinese merchants have suffered the most severe losses in this operation.

Due to a lack of accurate and authoritative information channels, the specific losses could only be tallied and summarized by local chambers of commerce afterward. Preliminary estimates indicate that nearly 20,000 containers belonging to Chinese businesses were seized in this operation, involving goods such as clothing, socks, shoes, hats, and toys with a total value of up to US$2.1 billion.

"Crack down on smuggling? Shouldn't we investigate those customs clearance and transportation companies first? Without their meddling, how would these goods become smuggled goods?" Hu Yi felt a chill run down his spine: "Damn it, they just think businessmen are easy to bully!"

Everyone knew the reason behind it; Hu Yi was simply venting his emotions. Fu Jiahui casually echoed twice, without saying anything more.

Hu Yi was silent for a moment, then asked in a low voice, "Jia Hui, do you think... this market can still survive? What if one day..."

"Probably not. Several sources have released information today saying that this operation is only targeting Aste and won't involve the other districts." Fu Jiahui gave a helpless bitter smile: "Besides, we still have a lot of goods in our warehouse. There's not much we can do in the short term. Let's wait and see."

"That's the only way we can do it, but we need to be more careful from now on." Hu Yi smiled along with him. "Sigh, who cares if this place is profitable? Let's just take it one day at a time!"

"That's right. I've asked the family to stop shipping for the next few days, and you shouldn't order any more goods either. Let's be cautious; better safe than sorry." Fu Jiahui let out a soft sigh: "I hope everything goes smoothly."

(End of this chapter)