Far away in Moscow

Chapter 281 The Deserted New Year's Eve

What happened to Astair is a wake-up call to all those who do business in the container market.Different from the previous small-scale seizures, law enforcement officers from customs and other departments welded the doors of the containers in the warehouse to death one after another.

Overnight, the whole of Astair was filled with wailing.Many are bankrupt, and many are in debt.Some of them became lonely ghosts in the market, some chose to leave sadly, and some committed suicide in a hurry.

Not only Astair businessmen themselves, but also their creditors, suppliers, domestic factories and even the upstream supply chain were also hit hard.In the face of the raging global economic crisis, the series of consequences of this large-scale seizure can be described as far-reaching.

For more than two months, the expressions on the faces of other bosses in the market were different from before. When they saw people in uniforms, they were terrified, afraid that something would happen again. The ordinary people in the enemy-occupied areas are in constant panic.

Hu Yi, Fu Jiahui and others followed a conservative business strategy in anxiety, and once kept the purchase volume and inventory very low.But doing business has always been daring and timid. Seeing the market boom is picking up day by day, they are unwilling to hand over the customers they have accumulated for a long time, so they have the courage to return to normal after a short time The rhythm of the purchase, the spirit to welcome the upcoming 2009 Spring Festival.

Since coming to Moscow eight years ago, Hu Yi has spent almost every New Year’s Eve here. It has always been a bustling table, ranging from seven or eight people to more than ten people, even in a foreign country. , Full of flavor.

But this year, it's not going to be lively anyway.The classmates of Friendship University have all graduated and left school. Fu Jiahui and Uncle Yu also returned to China together to reunite with their families. A small forest was left guarding the market, but said that they would engage in online cross-talk with friends in online games on New Year’s Eve. New Year's Eve celebrations, no time to eat New Year's Eve dinner.

In the end, only Li Baoqing brought wine and meat to Hu Yi and Natasha's house to spend New Year's Eve together, and brought a dark-skinned, petite NMG girl.

"My girlfriend graduated from Mo University. She is not an outsider. She used to work in a travel agency with Yu Feifei." Li Baoqing introduced with a red face: "Cooking is better than mine. I will leave the New Year's Eve dinner tonight to her." Chef."

Li Baoqing has been half-buying and half-buying these years, and finally got the long-awaited undergraduate diploma last summer.After that, he moved out of school and rented a private house with others near Liubrino.

He only worked in Anna's store for two months, and when he became familiar with other bosses around him, he set up a retail booth alone. Dried impressively.But recently, like Hu Yi, he also handed over the stall to others to take care of, and got busy with other things himself.

"It's only now that I understand that selling goods is too low-level. Not to mention that Feili Bara can't make much money, and he has to worry all day long." Li Baoqing sat on the sofa slightly bowed, holding a teacup in his left hand and With a cigarette in between, his face was full of longing for the future.

"That's right." Hu Yi sighed with a smile: "Why, did Boss Li find another way to get rich?"

"Hey, what kind of boss, just a second-hand dealer." Li Baoqing smiled triumphantly: "I'm going to vacate the booth now."

"How do you get upside down?"

"Didn't Astair's warehouse be closed a few months ago? I found that some Chinese went to Liubrino to find a booth, and slowly raised the rent there."

"Oh! So you just—"

"I asked Brother Abasaf in advance—the friend of Sister Anna's—to help me find a batch of stalls, and then transfer the lease to other people, and I can get money in one hand." Li Baoqing took a sip of tea slowly. : "Now there is no monthly rent under $[-] in Liubrino, and I still have six booths in my hand, all of which are being watched by people. I think I can sell them around the fifteenth day of the first lunar month."

"Damn, you're quite smart." Hu Yi patted his thigh and smiled, "Isn't this just speculation?"

"Yeah, who made the land over there cheap. I've made up my mind. If the price increases again in the future, I'll keep a few stalls in my hands and rent them out to others as second landlords. I just count the money every month. Wouldn't it be nice?" Li Baoqing narrowed his small eyes into slits: "Speaking of which, it's thanks to you reminding me."

"Me? Remind you of what?"

Li Baoqing gritted his teeth lightly: "That's Yuri. You said he's...that...what's his name? A swordsman? Or...a jacket?"

"Broker." Hu Yi spat: "Take a look at your knowledge, and stop embarrassing yourself outside."

"Oh, broker, hehe." Li Baoqing grinned: "Anyway, it's a middleman. How easy is it to earn money by talking about it?"

"It's a good way." Hu Yi nodded, and suddenly he was a little dazed, staring at him up, down, left, and right.

"What's the matter?" Li Baoqing felt a little uncomfortable being watched: "What are you looking at?"

"How is your waist recently? Are you okay?"

"It's nothing!" Li Baoqing twisted his body left and right: "I can run and jump now, just take it easy and don't use too much force."

"No." Hu Yi turned to look at the two women in the kitchen, and said in a low voice, "I felt something was wrong when you entered the door just now, you stand up."

Li Baoqing stood up in response: "What's wrong? What's wrong?"

Hu Yi squeezed his chin for a closer look, frowned and said, "Why do you look a little... crooked? It seems that you didn't stand straight."

"Really?" Li Baoqing straightened his back subconsciously, and then frowned: "Well, it seems that I'm not very strong."

While muttering, he walked to the mirror in the living room and stared at himself in the mirror for a long time: "Old Hu, I... what's going on? So I've always been crooked?! I thought I was standing upright Exactly!"

"It wasn't so obvious when I saw you last time." Hu Yi got up and walked to him: "Have we made an appointment...Have we not seen each other for more than half a year? Is there something wrong with your waist again?"

"I don't know!" Li Baoqing stretched out his hand to wipe off the dripping sweat from his forehead: "Occasionally I feel pain, but every time I rest for two days, it's fine, and I don't take it seriously."

"This is not a small problem." Hu Yi's face showed worry: "You have to pay attention to it, you'd better go to the hospital for an examination."

"I know. Damn, I really didn't pay attention before!" Li Baoqing nodded: "After I've been busy for a while, I'll go see the doctor."

This night, Li Baoqing was disturbed by his waist, and he always adjusted his sitting posture unconsciously on the chair. He didn't enjoy the New Year's Eve dinner, and hurried home with his girlfriend just after eleven o'clock.

Hu Yi watched the video of the Spring Festival Gala on the Internet for a while, but was not interested in the boring program at all.He turned off the computer, went to the bathroom and took a good shower as a way of saying goodbye to the old and welcoming the new, and then went to bed with a yawn and got under the covers.

Natasha was sitting on the bed and reading Chinese textbooks. Seeing Hu Yi's listless face, she turned to him: "Anton, Gudu?"

"Ah? What did you say?"

"You, Gudu?" Natasha turned her head to look at the textbook in her hand, and tried to correct her Chinese pronunciation: "You, lonely?"

"Lonely? How could it be?" Hu Yi stretched his waist and hugged her into his arms: "Aren't you by my side, how can I be lonely?"

"I mean, Chinese New Year is always very lively, but there are very few friends here tonight."

"Yeah, it's a bit... deserted. But it doesn't matter, I will take you back to China to celebrate the New Year next year, and it will be very lively!" Hu Yi smiled slightly: "By the way, your so-called 'in a Russian company'... What's the matter? Didn't we often have gatherings at the beginning of the year in the past few years? Is it still happening this year? We can go to the lively scene."

"It's 'Mingsi in Russia'." Natasha pursed her lips and shook her head: "I haven't done it in the past two years, maybe it's too much trouble to travel to Moscow, and everyone prefers to gather in a small area nearby. By the way, Anton , Do you still remember Tajana from Smolensk? She sometimes travels on the Moscow transport line, and next time..."

Natasha was talking with great interest when she suddenly heard a slight snoring sound in her ears.She gently took Hu Yi's arm from her neck, kissed him tenderly on the cheek, and turned off the desk lamp.

After the Spring Festival, the harm brought by the global financial crisis was further revealed.Since the second half of last year, the exchange rate of the US dollar has rebounded, the price of crude oil has plummeted, a variety of complex factors have caused the ruble to depreciate sharply, and the Russian economy has fallen into difficulties.According to official forecasts, Russia will end its long-term growth momentum that year and experience its first economic recession since the 21st century.

The macro depression will not be transmitted to the private consumption field soon, and the business in the container market has not been greatly affected for the time being.But Hu Yi encountered difficulties when he saw the rubles he had earned: exchanging dollars for dollars would be a blood loss; repatriating them back to the country was not worthwhile; keeping them in his hands didn’t know how the exchange rate would bounce back.

After thinking about it, he decided to exchange part of the cash for goods in order to preserve the value. The remaining half was locked in the safe in the box, and the other half was taken home and hidden.

Fortunately, the bad situation didn't last long. After bottoming out in February, the ruble exchange rate embarked on a long road to recovery. By the end of May, everything seemed to be gradually stabilizing again.

The business of his small shop has been tepid recently. Hu Yi has been increasing his inventory over the past few months, and the box in the warehouse is almost full.He was going to rent another box, but was still hesitant to make up his mind.

Last night I lay in bed with Natasha and discussed for a long time with no results. Today I came to Fu Jiahui's booth and was busy all morning. I just had time to think about it, when I suddenly heard someone yelling outside. The voice seemed to be Kobayashi.

Hu Yi's heart skipped a beat, and he hurried to the door to look around.I saw Xiao Linzi walking towards this side bouncingly, holding a newspaper in his hand.

"What are you talking about? I was startled, I thought Amon was here again." Hu Yi folded his arms angrily: "It's not until eleven o'clock, why did you get up? The game is not hard enough!"

"Hey, World of Warcraft doesn't always open new versions, I'm tired of playing." Xiao Linzi peeked at Uncle Yu who was displeased, and smiled at Hu Yi and raised the newspaper in his hand: "Uncle, Brother Hu, big news! Have you read the newspaper?"

(End of this chapter)