Far away in Moscow

Chapter 144
Natasha doesn't care about her humble living conditions: "I don't have too many personal belongings, so living here is no problem for the time being."

The room was tidy and tidy, the small window on the wall was clean and bright, and there were a few old books standing upright on the spotless window sill, which seemed to be related to business and society.

"Well, it's such a neat room, but it's a little smaller." Hu Yi felt that the space was a bit oppressive, and his smile was not natural.

"Fortunately, there is a small cabinet to put things in, and this table." Natasha moved a box of milk and half a piece of bread on the table to the window sill: "I can eat, read, and iron clothes here, enough gone."

"Natasha."

"Ok?"

"You should have flowers in your room."

"Maybe." Natasha smiled slightly: "But it's fine now."

Hu Yi went to the subway station and picked a bunch of beautiful but unnamed flowers, put them in a simple glass vase and gave it to Natasha.

Natasha only expressed her gratitude lightly, but there was full joy in her eyes.She placed the vase in the center of the small table, and took care of it carefully every day, until it gradually withered, and she was not willing to throw it away.

From then on, Hu Yi took time to chat with Natasha every day.The room was too small, he rarely went in to disturb her, most of the time he just stood in the corridor, and sometimes he would find a lame excuse to invite her to go around, and Natasha did not refuse.

Getting to know each other better day by day, every time Hu Yi cooks in the kitchen, he will send a small portion to Natasha's room.Natasha always accepted, but insisted on giving something in return every time—two slices of bread, or a stick of butter.

Now Natasha often visits Hu Yi's room, borrows his computer to browse some work information online, or communicates with friends in Minsk by email, then chats with Hu Yi for a while, and helps him clean up the table.

Over the past few weeks, the daily communication between the two has become more frequent and more intimate.Hu Yi even occasionally read a flash of tenderness from Natasha's eyes, and then he was disturbed by the deer in his heart, lying on the bed at night and couldn't sleep at night.

During this period of time, Xiang Nan came to Hu Yi's dormitory to play every now and then, every time he came after eight o'clock in the evening and stayed until eleven o'clock.

When Hu Yi was using the computer, she would stay next to Xia Yan and Cai Hua and watch them play games, or flip through books casually on Hu Yi's bed.When Hu Yi didn't use the computer anymore, he sat down at his desk to watch TV dramas.

At first, Hu Yi didn't think there was anything wrong, but after hearing Yu Feifei say that Xiang Nan sometimes went to her dormitory, and he didn't leave until eleven o'clock in the evening, he felt something was wrong.

Although the school secretly let go of the word that this year's preparatory students who were injured by the fire will pass the exam without any worries, Hu Yi still hopes that Xiang Nan can study hard and lay a good foundation in language, and he must not be like himself when he first came to Moscow. It was so embarrassing.

When he saw Xiang Nan again in the dormitory at the end of the year, Hu Yi took the initiative to ask: "Nan Nan, I haven't had time to ask you recently, how is your study? Can you keep up with the class?"

Xiang Nan stared at the computer screen without looking back: "It's okay, I can understand almost everything in class."

"The exam is coming in January, how do you feel?" Hu Yi smiled and looked at her: "Although you should pass this exam, I still hope that you can fully grasp the content taught by the teacher."

"Uh...I think...it should be fine."

"Should be possible? You are only in the first semester of the preparatory school, so you can't use this standard to demand yourself." Hu Yi said with a straight face: "You have spent most of your evenings playing computer games and watching TV. Don't you need to read books and study?"

Xiang Nan froze for a moment, then turned to look at Hu Yi blankly.

Are you talking too harshly?Hu Yi felt apologetic for a while, thinking that she was not his own sister after all, he softened his tone again: "I know, you want to watch TV dramas, but you don't have a computer, do you?"

"Hmm..." Xiang Nan's expression was a little hesitant: "In the dormitory...in the dormitory...it's boring."

"I understand that life without a computer is quite boring." Hu Yi sighed: "Persevere, take the exam first, and wait for the winter vacation..."

He originally wanted to say, "I'll ask Dongzi to help you choose a laptop to bring back when I return to China during the winter vacation", but then I immediately thought that Xiang Nan lost more than 2000 US dollars in living expenses in the fire, and it was already difficult for the family to quickly make up for the money for her. Nan would definitely not ask his parents to buy a computer for him.

So he paused for a while, and changed his words: "When I come back after the winter vacation, brother will help you get a notebook and copy all the TV series into it. You can watch it while lying on the bed when you are tired from studying, okay?"

"Yeah." Xiang Nan nodded timidly: "Then...brother, can I continue to watch it with you?"

"Of course I can! You can come at any time." Hu Yi persuaded with a pleasant face, "But the exam is coming soon, so I still need to find time to read books. It's already past 10:30, so let's go back and rest today."

"Okay." Xiang Nan forced a smile, stood up and said softly, "Then I'll go back, brother."

"Well, be careful on the road, don't slip and fall." Hu Yi sent Xiang Nan to the door, and said: "Everyone will have dinner together at the end of the year. You come directly after class, don't forget."

December 31st, the last day of 2003.The dinner this evening is not only a gathering of friends to bid farewell to the old and welcome the new, but also contains many other meanings.

For Hu Yi, who is about to turn 22, this year has brought him the growth of knowledge, the accumulation of experience, the tempering of life, and some indescribable complex emotions.

Relying on his own whim and the great support of his friends, he made a small fortune in the first half of the year from his hard-working food delivery business, but this indirectly caused his best friend Li Baoqing to be expelled from the school. His heart felt uneasy.

Bringing Xiang Nan to Russia to study also made him very disturbed.From the moment he agreed to Dongzi, Hu Yi felt a heavy burden on his shoulders.The heart-piercing and distraught feeling when the fire broke out is still in front of his eyes. From then on, he regarded Xiang Nan as his own sister from the bottom of his heart, so he worried about her study in a hurry.

This year, he also has a few new friends around him.Xia Yan and Caihua are two new roommates, the bold and capable Russian elder sister Anna, and Natasha who seems to be slightly interested in herself.

There are also a few small things that Hu Yi will never forget.The loud bang by the floor-to-ceiling windows of McDonald's once terrified him, and the restaurant that couldn't open due to a fire accident also made him disheartened.

However, all of this is no big deal, it's just a small disturbance on the road of my life.Say goodbye to this year, everything will definitely change for the better.

After summarizing his 2003 with emotion, Hu Yi carefully shaved off his stubble, stretched out his hand to tidy up his newly cut hair, stared at himself in the mirror with a slight smile, turned and went out.

(End of this chapter)