My hometown is far away in Moscow.

008 Little Fatty

After packing his things, Hu Yi took a shower first. Having been cooped up on the train for a whole week, he could almost smell the faint sour odor emanating from himself. He scrubbed himself vigorously, lathered with soap twice, and rinsed twice before reluctantly stepping out of the bathroom. He waved to Li Baoqing, "Your turn. I'm going downstairs to make a call."

As he rode the swaying elevator to the first floor, Hu Yi felt an unprecedented sense of ease and freedom. Perhaps it was because he was far from home that he felt so unrestrained. He made a phone call to his parents, then walked out of the dormitory building and strolled along a side path.

The path led to a large grove of trees behind the dormitory. Occasionally, a few dilapidated two-story buildings could be seen along the way, seemingly abandoned for a long time. It was late autumn and early winter in Moscow. The sun was about to set, and all around was quiet. The only thing that could be heard was the rustling sound of footsteps on the fallen yellow leaves.

A middle-aged woman wearing a headscarf walked past, carrying a large bag of food. She walked briskly, her eyes staring blankly ahead, her expression weary yet serene, giving off an almost numb feeling, as if she were forced to accept the tranquility brought on by life's pressures. This was the helplessness and bewilderment left behind by her generation after experiencing social upheaval and change, but young Hu Yi couldn't comprehend it at all.

After wandering around outside for half an hour, it gradually got dark. Hu Yi returned to the dormitory building and happened to run into Li Baoqing in the lobby on the first floor, who had just finished making a phone call.

"Where did you go?" Li Baoqing stared at Hu Yi. "Didn't Brother Yan just tell us to go out as little as possible?"

"I just wandered around the neighborhood, didn't go far." Hu Yi looked at the plastic bag he was carrying: "What did you buy?"

Li Baoqing pointed to a small shop next door: "Instant noodles and eggs, that'll be dinner."

"You've been eating instant noodles on the train for a week and you still don't get tired of them?"

"I'm really tired of Master Kong beef noodles, so I'll try some Russian instant noodles instead."

The two chatted as they walked to the turnstile. The guard in the booth knocked on the window, signaling them to show their identification. Hu Yi took out his temporary pass and handed it over. The guard took it, glanced at it, frowned at first, then curled his lip and waved him through with a half-smile.

"Is there something wrong with this kid? What's he laughing about?" Hu Yi muttered unhappily, then held up the pass and examined it for a long time, not understanding a single word.

"Yeah, is sitting in a glass cage so great? Just say what you want to say, why are you pretending?" Li Baoqing also felt that the gatekeeper's behavior was very impolite.

Hu Yi shook his head: "Forget it, we can't understand Russian anyway." The two of them returned to the dormitory inexplicably, both feeling a bit hungry. Hu Yi rummaged through the tableware, pickled vegetables, and sausages, while Li Baoqing carried a large wok he had brought from China into the kitchen.

The dormitory kitchen used an electric stove, which heated up rather slowly. Li Baoqing patiently waited for the water to boil, then opened four packets of instant noodles and threw them into the pot. A moment later, he sprinkled on the seasoning, tore off a few pieces of seaweed, and poked in two eggs. The aroma immediately filled the air.

"Hey! This tastes just like the Three Delicacies Noodles I ate when I was a kid!" Hu Yi exclaimed from his bedroom.

"Yes, that's the taste! I haven't had it in ages." Li Baoqing swallowed hard, turned around and threw the instant noodle bag into the dustpan. Suddenly, he noticed that the sliding door leading from the kitchen to Room B across the street was ajar, and a sneaky black eye was staring at him through the crack.

"Who?!" Li Baoqing was startled.

The door was flung open with a whoosh, and a chubby little boy rushed in, staring at Li Baoqing with a face full of joy: "You...are Chinese?"

The chubby boy was not tall, with round eyes, thick lips, and so-so but decent features. However, he looked listless, his greasy hair covered his neck and ears, and his face was shiny with oil, making him look very slovenly.

Li Baoqing nodded: "Yes."

"Great! I've finally seen my family!" The chubby boy's voice trembled slightly.

Seeing his agitated state, Li Baoqing smiled kindly and said, "My name is Li Baoqing, and the other one is Hu Yi. We just arrived this afternoon."

The chubby boy absentmindedly grunted an "Mmm," squeezed past Li Baoqing to the stove, and sniffed hard, pressing his face against the pot: "Wow! Noodles? What kind of noodles smell so good! And...and eggs?!"

"I bought a pack of instant noodles from the convenience store downstairs for three rubles, which is less than one yuan in RMB." Seeing the gleam in his eyes, Li Baoqing pointed to the pot and said, "Why don't you... come and have some with me?"

"Alright!" The chubby boy swallowed hard, turned around and went back into the house to bring back a large bowl. He grinned at Li Baoqing, "Hehe, then... I won't be polite!"

"Don't be shy, it's a big pot, help yourself."

"Okay! Good!" The chubby boy scooped up a few mouthfuls of noodles, but seeing that the noodles in the pot were almost gone, he sheepishly picked some back up: "Is there a spoon? I'll scoop some soup."

Li Baoqing went back inside to get a cooking spoon, then returned to the kitchen with a sausage in his hand: "Here, this is for you."

"Jinluo ham sausage?!" The chubby boy snatched it, clutching it tightly in his hand. "This, hehe, isn't it a little embarrassing?"

"Don't be shy, eat up." Li Baoqing smiled faintly, pointing to the poached eggs in the pot: "Give me an egg."

The chubby boy seemed to have been waiting for these words. He scooped up an egg with his spoon, held a full bowl of noodles and sausage, licked his lips, and said, "Well then, I'll go eat."

Li Baoqing scooped the remaining noodles and eggs from the pot into a bowl, went back into the room and served it to Hu Yi first, then cooked another portion for himself.

"Has that kid next door not eaten for three days? How can he be so useless?" Hu Yi had been listening to their conversation from the bedroom, and he was clearly quite disdainful of the chubby boy.

"Who knows? He looks fat and doesn't seem like he's missing a mouth."

Both of them were starving, so they wolfed down their noodles, then cleared away the dishes and sat down in their chairs.

"Awesome." Hu Yi rubbed his stomach, lit a cigarette, and picked up the latest issue of "Popular Software" that he had bought before leaving the country to start reading.

"I'm not happy at all." Li Baoqing sighed dejectedly, "I've been eating instant noodles every day for a week, and I miss my mom's cooking."

Hu Yi didn't even look up: "That's easy. Let's go for a walk around the neighborhood after school tomorrow, buy some groceries, and treat ourselves."

Li Baoqing looked at Hu Yi: "Can you cook?"

"Give it a try, it shouldn't be too difficult." Hu Yi was taken aback, then grinned mischievously, "If it really doesn't work, we can have Yu Feifei do it."

Li Baoqing chuckled and stood up: "Right, let's go see Feifei."

Just as Hu Yi was about to agree, the kitchen door opened. The chubby boy from next door walked in, wiping his mouth and letting out a satisfied burp: "It's delicious! You're really good at cooking."

Li Baoqing smiled憨厚ly: "Instant noodles, they taste the same no matter who makes them."

"That's different, yours is exceptionally delicious." The chubby boy praised him a couple of times, then glanced at the large suitcase standing by his bedside and exclaimed, "Wow! That suitcase of yours is really big, won't it be overweight on the plane?"

"We came by train, so we're not overweight."

"Oh? You didn't take a plane? That's good, train tickets are cheaper, more suitable for ordinary people."

Li Baoqing was speechless for a long time after being choked up. Seeing his sincere expression, which did not seem to be intentionally mocking him, he could only laugh dryly.

The chubby boy reached for the half-open pack of cigarettes on the table, shook his head, and sighed, "Honghe? Brother, we're all abroad now, let's buy some good cigarettes. Marlboro cigarettes are only eight yuan a pack here."

"These are cigarettes for ordinary people like us. If you don't like them, then don't smoke them." Hu Yi was already annoyed by the chubby boy's words, and seeing him take his cigarettes without even asking and then being picky, he couldn't help but feel resentful and coldly retorted. When he was in high school, he had to squeeze out money to buy cigarettes, usually only able to afford the two-yuan-a-pack Daji and Hademen brands. Before going abroad, he gritted his teeth and bought two cartons of Honghe cigarettes to take to Moscow, thinking it would be a big deal. But he didn't expect to be ridiculed on his very first day after getting off the train.

"I don't smoke, I don't know how." Hearing Hu Yi's unfriendly tone, the chubby boy quickly smiled sheepishly and said, "Honghe is actually... pretty good, really good. It's definitely a good cigarette, a good cigarette."

"What are you babbling about if you don't smoke?" Hu Yi glanced at him irritably and frowned, asking, "Who are you?"