red moscow

Chapter 2690 Hovlin Hospital

When we were getting ready to have lunch, Mr. Wu from the shop opposite arrived late.

After he arrived, he chatted with his nephew Xiao Wu for a few words, then came to Sokov's store and asked with a smile: "Xiao Lin, how is business today?"

"It's the off-season now, how can there be any business?" Sokov glanced at Xiao Ma who was sitting in the shop opposite and asked casually, "Your shop doesn't have any employees, and your nephew doesn't even know Russian. How can you let him come to the shop alone?"

"I'm doing this to train him," Lao Wu said. "If he wants to communicate with people around him as quickly as possible, he must study hard. This will help him improve his Russian quickly."

Sokov couldn't refute what Lao Wu said. After all, everyone has different ways of learning Russian. Whether it is effective or not can only be seen in the future. But he still raised his own question: "Even if you really want to train your nephew, you should teach him how to distinguish the goods in the store. I think he can't even tell the difference between mink and otter fur."

But Lao Wu smiled and said, "It's okay. We'll get to know each other naturally after a long time. I'm looking for you today because of other things."

"whats the matter?"

"When I came to Moscow, it started snowing in early October. Now it's considered early if it snows in early December." Lao Wu shook his head and said, "I think the fur business is on the decline. I plan to switch to other businesses."

"Another business? What business do you plan to switch to?"

"Cattery!" Old Wu said proudly, "I often go to the pet market nearby recently. A cat or dog that looks ordinary sells for one or two thousand dollars, which is almost as much as the price of our fur. Except for the coldest time in winter, when business may be a little slow, the rest of the time business is good. So I plan to find a new store and open a cattery, specializing in selling cats and pet supplies. What do you think?"

Sokov did not express his opinion on Lao Wu's idea. He knew that Lao Wu would have some strange ideas every once in a while, thinking that the fur business had no future and planning to change his career to do something else. However, after so many years, many of his ideas remained in his imagination and never became a reality. The cattery mentioned today was probably just a whim. Maybe he would have a new idea before he walked out of his store and walked into his store.

Seeing that Sokov had not agreed with his opinion, Lao Wu seemed a little anxious: "Xiao Lin, tell me, what do you think of my idea?"

"Old Wu, although I don't have a cat, I know there are many cat breeds, such as Garfield, American Shorthair, British Shorthair Blue, Golden Gradient, Silver Gradient, Ragdoll, Cow, Tabby, Calico, etc." Sokov looked at Old Wu and asked, "Which cat breed do you plan to focus on breeding and selling?"

When Lao Wu heard Sokov mention so many cat breeds in one breath, he showed a look of astonishment on his face: "Are there so many cat breeds?"

"I only mentioned the common breeds. If you really want to open a cattery, the breeds involved may be even more diverse." Sokov continued: "Also, if you really open a cattery, if the cats get sick, will you treat them? If you don't know how to treat them, once a cat gets sick, it may spread to other cats."

Hearing this, Lao Wu quickly waved his hands and said, "Forget it, forget it. It's really too much trouble. I never thought that there are so many things to pay attention to when opening a cattery."

After chatting for a while, Lao Wu was about to go back to his shop. But when he reached the door, he stopped, turned around and said to Sokov, "Xiao Lin, if I can't open a cattery, then I can open a reptile shop. What do you think?"

Here it comes again! Sokov thought to himself. He thought that the other party would have new ideas only when he entered his own store, but he didn't expect that new ideas would come up before he even left the store.

But Sokov really didn't know what a reptile was, so he humbly asked, "What is a reptile?"

"Reptiles are pets that live in a crawling manner, such as turtles, spiders, snakes, lizards and geckos."

"A person cannot make money beyond his knowledge." Sokov said expressionlessly: "Although in Russia, the market share of reptiles and cats and dogs is almost the same, if you don't know much about reptiles, I don't recommend you to open a reptile store."

"why?"

"There are several reasons," Sokov explained to Lao Wu, "First, the investment is high. If you sell the goods in the store and invest in a reptile store, I'm afraid it won't make much of a splash. You may face a situation where the variety is single and the quantity is scarce.

Second, reptiles have a long lifespan, which means a long breeding cycle. For example, snakes take at least three years to enter the breeding season. Of course, this is just an ideal state. As a novice, even if you keep a snake for three years, it may not enter the normal breeding period.

Third, almost all reptiles have very strict requirements on the environment, temperature, humidity and breeding technology. Once they get sick and are not treated in time, it is normal for them to die in batches.

So, think carefully, are you really suitable for the reptile business?"

"Then I'll think about it again." As Lao Wu left, he scratched the back of his head and said, "Anyway, I think the fur industry is now a sunset industry. It will be eliminated sooner or later. We should make plans early."

As soon as Lao Wu left the house, Lena came over and asked, "Misha, what is the neighbor across the street talking to you about? Does he have any new ideas?"

After Sokov told Lena about Lao Wu's two ideas, Lena covered her mouth and laughed.

She laughed for a long time before stopping and said to Sokov, "Misha, among all his ideas, I think these two are quite feasible."

But Sokov shook his head and said, "If he really opens a cattery or reptile shop, he will probably regret it before it even opens. Rather than regret it in the future, it is better for him to do his fur business honestly, which will at least bring in hundreds of thousands of dollars a year."

As they were talking, Sokov's phone suddenly rang. He took it out and saw that it was from Bakharov. He guessed that the other party was notifying him to go to the suburbs for a party, so he quickly answered the phone: "Hello, Bakharov, it's me."

"Misha, do you have time now?"

Sokov thought that even if it was a party, it couldn't start at noon. Baharov must have something else to ask him. So he didn't give him a definite answer, but asked tentatively: "What's the matter?"

"A group of our friends are at the Hovlin Hospital. Would you like to come over?"

"Khovlin Hospital?" Khovlin Hospital is a large unfinished building on the highway from Moscow to St. Petersburg. It was once a nightmare for local residents. There are many legends and unsolved mysteries in Russia, five of which are related to this abandoned hospital. Sokov was filled with fear for this abandoned hospital that people were afraid of. He asked carefully, "What are you doing there?" "What else can we do? Of course, we are exploring." Bakharov said excitedly, "It is said that there is a church under this hospital, as well as a cemetery that is hundreds of years old. We want to go in and take a look. Do you want to come?"

"Bakharov," Sokov said cautiously, "I'll think about it."

"Then let's go in first. If you want to come, remember to call me when you get there and I'll pick you up."

After hanging up the phone, Sokov immediately searched for information about Hovlin Hospital on the Internet.

In 1980, the Soviet Union began an ambitious global project to build the largest hospital in Moscow with 1300 beds (it should be noted that the largest hospital in Moscow, the Sklifosovsky Institute, had only 2015 beds as of 962). Since there were no medical facilities in the Khovlino area, the new hospital on Klinsky Street was a great joy for the local residents. However, in 1985, the construction of the hospital suddenly stopped without any warning.

From a bird's eye view, the unfinished hospital building looks like a six-pointed star, much like the logo of the Umbrella Corporation in the movie "Resident Evil". Therefore, Khovlin Hospital is also nicknamed the Umbrella Corporation. Over the past thirty years since 1985, more than 1500 people have disappeared here, so it is also known as one of the most terrifying places in Moscow.

After seeing this information, Sokov couldn't help but feel the hairs on his body stand on end. He thought it would be better not to go to such a horrible place.

Anna walked into the store and chatted with Lena for a while. When she didn't see Sokov, she asked curiously, "Lena, where is Misha?"

Lena pointed to the inner room and said, "He received a phone call and has been sitting in the inner room since then. I don't know what he is doing."

After hearing what Lena said, Anna walked to the door of the inner room and pushed it open, startling Sokov inside: "Anna, it's you. You scared me."

"Misha, what happened?" Anna came to Sokov, took some tissues from the table, and wiped the sweat off his forehead: "Why are you sweating so much?"

"Baharov called me just now."

"Are you telling us to go to a party in the suburbs?"

"no."

"What's that?"

"He said he and a group of friends were at the Hoflin Hospital and asked me to come over too."

"Ah, Hovlin Hospital?!" Anna obviously knew this place. After hearing what Sokov said, she showed a panic expression on her face: "Misha, you must not go there."

"Anna, do you know anything?" Sokov knew very well that the information found on the Internet might not be comprehensive. If he wanted to know more, he would need to ask someone like Anna who had lived in this city since childhood: "Can you tell me?"

"It is said that after this hospital was abandoned, many incredible things happened." Anna looked at Sokov and said in a panic, "Didn't you say before that you had seen the Moscow subway disappearance case on the Internet? That was just an April Fool's Day joke. But the disappearance of people in Khovlin Hospital is a real thing. When I was in eighth grade, I had a very good friend. He and several classmates went to Khovlin Hospital and never came out again. Later, after his parents called the police, the police dispatched more than 200 people to conduct a carpet search of the hospital, but still could not find any trace of him and those classmates. It was as if several people disappeared out of thin air."

"Really?" Sokov asked in a trembling voice.

"Of course it's true." Anna nodded vigorously and said in a positive tone: "Since this incident, the police have built barbed wire around the Hovlin Hospital to prevent people from breaking in again. But after the barbed wire was built, it didn't work very well. There are still many people who cross the barbed wire and break into the building. Misha, you must not go there. If something really happens to you, what should I do?"

  Sokov thought to himself, if the information on the Internet is true, where did all those people who disappeared in the building go? Did they also travel to another era like himself? If he agreed to Baharov today and went to this mysterious and terrifying hospital building, would he travel back to 1946 again?

"Misha, I remind you, don't go to the Hovlin Hospital." Anna said nervously, "You don't know, last time in the underground fortifications, you also suddenly disappeared, and a group of us searched for you for a long time but couldn't find you. Fortunately, you reappeared later. If you had disappeared because of this, I don't know how worried I would be."

"Okay, Anna, I promise you, I won't go to Khovlin Hospital." Although Sokov traveled back to the Great Patriotic War and had been on the battlefield and seen mountains of blood and corpses, he was still a little scared when he really had to enter a horrible place like the Khovlin Hospital building. Hearing what Anna said, he went with the flow and said, "When Baharov calls me again, I will firmly refuse him."

"That's good." Anna saw that Sokov had listened to her advice and showed a relieved smile on her face: "Have you had lunch? Do you want to go out with me?"

"Where to go?"

"There's a new restaurant in the market that serves kebabs and pilaf. Let's go try it out."

"Okay, okay, go now."

Before Sokov walked out the door, Baharov called again: "Misha, we have entered the building, are you coming or not?"

"Bakharov." Sokov had already made up his mind not to go to Khovlin Hospital, so he said tactfully: "I've thought about it carefully and decided not to go. You guys go have fun."

"Have you heard of the legend about Hovlin?" Baharov suddenly said, "It's said that so many people have disappeared. That's all nonsense. There are a lot of homeless people living in the building, and no one has ever been heard of missing. So you can come here without worry. There are 12 of us here, so there's no need to worry about anything happening."

But since Sokov had already decided not to go to Khovlin Hospital, he would not change his mind just because of Baharov's words. He shook his head and said, "Baharov, I really won't go. Have fun."

"Oh, that's a shame." Baharov confirmed that Sokov would not come again, and said with regret: "Then we will go explore the building first. I hope you will not regret not participating in this event in the future."

After Sokov hung up the phone, he smiled and said to Anna, "Anna, I have officially replied to Khabarov that I will not go to Khovlin Hospital. Now you can rest assured."

(End of this chapter)