My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 286 When Will We Meet Again?

Today's container markets are like a giant animal lying in a pool of blood, barely alive. Jackals, tigers, leopards, hyenas, and vultures are all drawn by the scent and gather nearby, eager to have a feast.

Around the small gate, there were many vans scattered around, waiting for customers. These van owners had been living off the market for years, making a living and getting rich by running short-distance transport. Now, seeing that the market was about to collapse, they seemed to have conspired to collectively raise freight rates, planning to seize the last opportunity to make a killing.

Natasha hired several vehicles, and the drivers all quoted her 5,000 rubles per package. They needed to transport about 570 packages in total, which amounted to nearly three million rubles – blatant extortion.

Natasha was both angry and anxious. In a fit of rage, she simply went to another place and rented a van at a high price, intending to transport the goods herself. However, this took more than two hours, and by the time everything was ready, it was already afternoon.

These vans can carry about twenty packages each time, and four round trips can fill a large truck. It may sound inefficient, but the bottleneck in transportation is actually within the market, so one van is enough as a transit point.

Everyone began to work in an orderly manner. Hu Yi, Yabalov, and others pulled goods out of the warehouse, loaded them into vans at the door, and then returned to the warehouse.

Natasha drove the van back and forth between the market and the truck, while Da Liu followed the proprietress. Although he had difficulty walking, he could easily handle receiving, delivering, and stacking goods while sitting in the van, and he could also avoid being questioned by the police.

Dajana and her husband, along with Uncle Yu, stayed in the truck in the open space. When Natasha arrived in her van, they moved the goods onto the truck together, and once the truck was full, they headed straight to the warehouse.

The area around the open exit was bustling with activity, as people continuously unloaded goods. The police and security guards at the entrance didn't interfere or try to extort money. It seemed they had an understanding with their colleagues inside: as long as they paid at other checkpoints, they could pass through here without hindrance.

The frantic work continued until after 6 PM. As everyone was loading goods at the entrance, the police and security guards suddenly stirred slightly. Someone clapped and shouted, "It's over! We'll close in ten minutes! Everyone leave! No more deliveries allowed!"

"Huh? We're closing the door?" Hu Yi and Fu Jiahui exchanged a glance.

"It's time for the gatekeepers to change shifts," explained a Chinese business owner who seemed to know the situation. "The person in charge is coming to inspect, so we have to close. Come back at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

Since that's the case, we'll have to call it a day. They only managed to take away less than two boxes of goods this afternoon; over four hundred packages remain in the market. However, they're quite familiar with the process, and with a full day tomorrow, they should be able to transport the rest.

After a long day of work, everyone was exhausted. They ate something simple and went home to sleep early. The next morning, they all went back to their posts.

Tanya went to help out at the truck parking area today, and Yabalov found several quick-handed Bachas, all of whom used to work with Hu Yi in the parking lot. This greatly improved the efficiency of transporting goods in the yard, and they managed to move all of Fu Jia Hui's remaining hundred-plus packages by the end of the morning.

After lunch and a short rest, Bacha and his men resumed transporting Uncle Yu's goods. By the time all two hundred packages of his goods had been moved, it was almost five o'clock. Natasha and Dagana drove the truck to the warehouse one after the other. Hu Yi let the tall, dark-haired Bacha take over the van, while he led Yabalov and the others to Old Sun's half-box to unload the packages inside.

For the past two days, Hu Yi had been extremely nervous, fearing that something might happen to the goods left in the market. As Fu Jiahui and Uncle Yu's goods were gradually transported out of the market, his mood gradually eased.

After leaving today, I don't know if I'll ever have the chance to come back. Thinking about all the days and nights I've spent in the market over the years, and all the ups and downs I've experienced, Hu Yi couldn't help but feel a surge of emotion and感慨 (gǎnkǎi - mixed feelings of emotion and reflection).

After Yabalov and the others had moved all the cargo bags away, he stepped into the small half-box, gently stroked it all over, then reluctantly withdrew, closed the box door, carefully locked each lock, and slowly turned and left.

After walking a few meters, he stopped again, turned his head and stared at the words "Anton and Natasha's Happy Cottage" sprayed on the outside of the box for a long time, murmuring, "Goodbye, our cottage."

The tall, dark-haired man drove the van back and forth three times without stopping, and Hu Yi only had a dozen or so bags of his own goods left. The last load was unloaded outside, and Yabalov and Da Liu began loading. Hu Yi had just settled wages with the other Bachas when a policeman suddenly jumped up and shouted to his colleague, "Someone's here! Close the gate!"

The other police officers hesitated for a moment, then immediately got up, closed the gate, and locked it. The officers inside yelled at the still-present owner of the goods and Bacha, "Go back! Go back now!"

Police officers outside were forcefully driving away people loading goods on the roadside: "Get out of here! Leave now!"

Before anyone could figure out what was going on, several police cars sped over from a distance and stopped next to the cargo truck. Then, the police rushed out of the cars and subdued those who were unable to escape.

It was a police raid. Seeing a police car heading straight for them, Hu Yi shouted, "Run!" He bent down, picked up a package at his feet, and rushed a few steps to throw it into the car.

Several packages were still scattered on the ground. Tall, black-haired guy and Yabalov rushed over to help. Liu also jumped off the car anxiously and limped over to move the last package.

However, the cargo package was quite heavy, and Da Liu couldn't hold on and fell to the ground. Yabalov rushed over, grabbed him, picked up the package, and rushed into the cargo compartment, accidentally knocking Hu Yi, who was running out, down into the truck.

The police car was almost upon them. The tall, dark-haired man jumped into the driver's seat, and Hu Yi shouted as he got up, "Brother Liu! Get in the car!"

Da Liu glanced back at him, then suddenly waved his hand and said, "You guys go!" With that, he dragged his crippled leg around and took two steps to block the police car.

A sharp, urgent screech of brakes rang out. Hu Yi wasn't sure if the police car had hit Da Liu, but he saw Da Liu's body go limp and he collapsed to the ground, clinging to the front of the car.

Several police officers hurriedly got out of the car to check, and the police officers and security guards who had been guarding the door also rushed over. They felt that there seemed to be a slight collision between the car and the person, but seeing that Da Liu's leg was twisted very unnaturally, as if it was very serious, they were a little stunned for a moment.

Liu lay on the ground, groaning half-heartedly. Stealing a glance, he saw Hu Yi and Yabalov still staring blankly at him from inside the car. He shouted urgently, "Hurry up and go! I'm fine!"

"Hey!" Hu Yi suddenly realized, and punched the inner wall twice. "Let's go!"

The tall, dark-haired man stepped on the gas, and the van roared away, quickly arriving at the open space where they had parked their trucks.

While Dajana and her husband were still on their way, Natasha had already returned and was working with Tanya and the others to load the packages that had been piled up on the ground onto the truck. Hu Yi got out of the car and hurried back, carefully observing the situation while taking out his phone to call Da Liu: "Brother Liu?! Are you alright?!"

"It's nothing. They were busy dealing with the people they caught, so they didn't have time to bother with me. They just cursed at me a few times and let me go." Da Liu smiled wearily. "Anyway, I couldn't understand what they were saying."

"That's good, that's good! Wait here, I'll send a car to pick you up!" Hu Yi breathed a sigh of relief: "Hey, didn't that police car hit you?"

"We almost crashed," Liu laughed again. "At the crucial moment, I stepped forward to meet the attack and ended up lying down."

"Oh my god, that scared me to death!" Hu Yi felt incredibly relieved. "This was so close! If something had really happened, I would be so worried..."

"Heh, just a staged accident, nothing special." Big Liu's voice deepened. "Keeping your goods is more important than anything else. After all these years... heh, I haven't really had anything to repay you with."

Hu Yi felt a lump in his throat, as if a thousand words were welling up in his chest, but he couldn't say anything for a moment.

After hanging up the phone and returning to the open space, Natasha had already driven the last load of goods to the warehouse. Hu Yi drove to pick up Da Liu, took everyone to his home to rest, and then returned the hardworking van.

It was rush hour, and Hu Yi and his wife Dajana had spent a lot of time on the road. Natasha returned at exactly 8:30.

Mission accomplished. Despite the many minor hiccups along the way, the hard work of the past two days paid off, and all their goods were safely transported out. From now on, no matter how volatile the container market becomes, it will have nothing to do with them.

The gloom that had lingered in everyone's hearts lifted. Uncle Yu and Fu Jiahui first settled the various expenses with Hu Yi, including the car rental and the hiring of Bacha, and then hosted a lavish banquet at a nearby restaurant. This was partly to celebrate the safe escape of their goods, and partly to thank the Dagana couple and Yabalov for their invaluable assistance.

A dozen or so people sat around a table eating. Hu Yi hadn't felt this lively atmosphere in a long time. He first thanked the Dajana couple, then went to the tall, dark-haired man and took out 20,000 rubles from his left pocket: "Thank you for your hard work, please accept today's wages."

"Thank you, Boss Anton." Blackie grinned. "Isn't this... a bit too much?"

"Not much, you put in a lot of effort. And... we don't know when we'll see each other again." Hu Yi's words carried a hint of bitterness. He had known the tall, dark-haired man for a long time. Although they only had a purely professional working relationship and no personal connection, this man would always do his best to get things done once he got paid, which was quite rare in a market like this.

The tall man happily accepted the money. Hu Yi then went between Yabalov and Tanya, took out 40,000 rubles from his right pocket: "Yaba, this is... for you and Tanya, please accept it."

"I don't want it." Yabalov pushed his hand away. "I've worked for you for many years. This time, consider it... consider it a gift from me. It's not work, it's helping a friend, I won't take any money."

"Okay, then thank you." Knowing his stubborn and straightforward nature, Hu Yi handed the money to Tanya: "Since you won't accept it, then I'll give it all to Tanya."

Tanya was flattered. Her eyes lit up as she stared at the thick wad of rubles, then she shook her head and smiled awkwardly. "No, Mr. Anton. I am not Bacha. You don't need to pay me."

"It's not wages, it's not wages!" Hu Yi simply stuffed all the money into Yabalov's pocket, feigning displeasure, and said, "This is an advance...wedding gift for you two! If you don't accept it, it means you don't consider me a friend!"

Tanya covered her mouth shyly, while Yabalov chuckled and reached into his pocket to pull out a wad of bills, some in small denominations and some in larger denominations. "By the way, Anton, this is the money we saved from the last few deliveries. Your half is four thousand one hundred and ninety rubles in total. I was planning to save it up to five thousand before giving it to you, but... I guess I won't have the chance now."

Hu Yi felt a mix of emotions. He took the money, put it in his pocket, patted his rock-like shoulder twice, and returned to his seat.

It was almost eleven o'clock, and everyone had almost finished eating and drinking. The Dagana couple suggested returning to Smolensk the next day, while Fu Jiahui and Uncle Yu began to consider their future plans.

"I've been doing business in the market for so many years, and I still hope to go back and continue in the future!" Uncle Yu said with emotion, holding up his wine glass.

"I'm afraid that day will never come. We should start thinking about our backup plan as soon as possible!" Fu Jiahui sighed, his eyes blurry with drunkenness. "Old Hu, what do you think? If the big market really does close permanently, should we go to Lyublino or Garden City? I heard that both places are developing quite rapidly now."

"Pretty much, anyway, it was all done by those Azerbaijani people." Hu Yi answered vaguely, "If you want to go to Lyublino, you can ask Baoqing to reserve two stalls for you. But I heard from a lady there the other day that the warehouses in Lyublino are also in short supply right now, and there might not be a place to store the goods for the time being. We can only take it one step at a time."

"You'll reserve two stalls for us?" Fu Jiahui hesitated for a moment. "And... what about you?"

(End of this chapter)