My hometown is far away in Moscow.

030 New Semester, New Ideas

The faint smell of blood was nauseating, but upon closer chewing, it even seemed to have a hint of sweetness. The girl buying the beef cautiously observed him, her voice gentle yet deep: "Friend, is it delicious?"

Hu Yi nodded with a complicated expression: "Hmm... um... it's pretty good."

The man with the persimmon-shaped face laughed heartily: "Another one! A big one!"

Hu Yi smacked his lips, savoring the taste. He felt it was a wonderful experience he had never had before. He couldn't tell whether he was more resistant or more fond of it, so he cut off a small piece like Bayin did.

When he took another bite, his reaction to the bloody taste wasn't as strong as before, but he still couldn't get used to the taste and texture. He held his breath, chewed a few times, swallowed quickly, said "very fresh," handed the knife to the man with the persimmon-shaped face, and got up to leave.

The Mongolian girl also stood up, and asked in a gruff voice with a smile, "Do you like this beef?"

Hu Yi forced a smile and nodded, saying, "Yes, I like it very much, it's great." He was still not used to saying things against his conscience, so he hurriedly turned around and walked out.

Bayin escorted him to the door and whispered, "Anton, did you know that a few days ago some Vietnamese people were beaten up by skinheads on the subway?"

"I heard, he's Dam's boyfriend."

"Yes. The skinheads are causing a lot of trouble on the streets right now, so you need to be careful when you go out." Bayin stroked his chin, paused, and his serious expression gradually turned into one of confusion: "Anton, have you ever thought about those skinheads...?"

"What's wrong?"

"Why do they stay outside all day? Aren't they afraid of the cold?"

Hu Yi blinked and patted Bayin's chest twice: "I'm leaving now. Think about it yourself."

Emerging from the Mongolian house, Hu Yi still faintly tasted blood in his mouth. He returned to his dormitory bathroom, drank some water, and seeing his bedroom door still closed, guessed that Li Baoqing was probably intimate with Masha. He then wandered aimlessly for a few steps, deciding to go and chat with Yu Feifei for a while.

Yu Feifei's room was at the other end of the 13th floor. Hu Yi had just reached the door when he was suddenly shivered by a gust of cold wind. It turned out that the fire door at the end of the corridor had been opened a crack.

"Who's so rude? They didn't even close the door." Hu Yi wrapped his coat tighter and walked over to close the door, when he suddenly heard someone talking on the balcony outside. It seemed to be Yu Feifei: "Alright, you've been standing here for ages. There's no point in being sad here any longer. Go back inside. It's so cold outside, don't catch a cold."

A man answered vaguely, "No, I'm not afraid of the cold." His voice sounded like he was about to cry, and it was unmistakably Peng Song.

Hu Yi was puzzled and peeked out through the crack in the door. He saw Peng Song clinging to the balcony railing, gazing into the distance, while Yu Feifei stood by the door with a helpless expression: "Then you stay here, I'm going back inside."

Peng Song slowly buried his head in his arms, pulling on Yuan Yuan's body and saying in a trembling voice, "Go back—let me be here alone to grieve and cry."

"You really are something, a grown man like you, how can you be so... sentimental?" Yu Feifei pursed her lips helplessly, not knowing what to do, when Hu Yi pushed open the door and smiled slightly at her: "Oh, you two are enjoying the snow scenery? Aren't you cold?"

Yu Feifei breathed a sigh of relief, reached out and grabbed Hu Yi's arm, whispering, "Sigh, he's been wailing and howling like a banshee for ages, clinging to the railing as if he's going to die, nothing we say has worked. It's good you're here, quickly try to persuade him."

"What are you trying to persuade me of?" Hu Yi lightly kicked Peng Song's butt. "What's wrong with you?"

Peng Song turned around and looked at Hu Yi awkwardly. Suddenly, her small, delicate mouth trembled, and tears streamed down her face as she cried, "Brother Yi! I... I've been dumped!"

Hu Yi stared at his chubby face, red from the cold, for a moment, then exclaimed, "What? Heartbroken? Good grief, you call your girlfriend eight times a week, how could you possibly be heartbroken?"

Peng Song burst into tears, sobbing uncontrollably, "She...she...she said I'm too clingy and she can't stand me."

"Yeah, you bet. You can talk on the phone for two hours straight, it's really annoying."

"And, and, and they say I'm nagging and always talking about trivial little things. I have no manly spirit."

Hu Yi chuckled: "Huh? Your girlfriend really knows you well."

Peng Song's eyes reddened, and he pouted, wiping the snot that was almost frozen to his stubble with his sleeve. Hu Yi walked over and patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, what's there to cry about? I think you two will break up sooner or later. After all, you live too far apart, and calling each other every day won't help. Think positively, it's better to break up sooner rather than later, and it's better to have a short pain than a long one."

Peng Song sobbed twice, staring at Hu Yi with red eyes: "Brother Yi, have you ever been heartbroken?"

"I don't."

Do you have a girlfriend?

Hu Yi touched his cold ears: "Not now."

Peng Song sighed softly and said wistfully, "Alas, you've never loved or lost anyone, so of course you wouldn't understand the pain I feel."

"Stop it, stop being disgusting." Hu Yi slapped him on the head. "It's just a girlfriend, I've had plenty! What's so special about that?"

"Stop acting. I can tell you're a pure man." Peng Song rarely showed him such disdain, then smiled calmly: "Got a cigarette?"

"Damn, what am I supposed to act? I..." Hu Yi awkwardly glanced around at the distant snow scene, then pulled out the half-pack of cigarettes he'd left over from playing cards and handed it over: "Didn't you say you don't smoke?"

"My heart is breaking right now! I feel terrible, I need a cigarette." Peng Song imitated an old smoker, taking out a cigarette and putting it in his mouth. He awkwardly lit it next to Hu Yi's lighter, took a deep drag, frowned, and muttered, "Why does your cigarette... smell like stinky feet?"

"Look at you, you're such a wimp. If you have something to smoke, don't be so picky." Hu Yi rubbed his cold hands, opened the fire door, and said to Fei Fei, "Let's go back. Let him freeze here by himself."

Yu Feifei agreed, stomped the snow off her shoes as she entered the house, and stepped back inside. Peng Song hurriedly followed her into the stairwell, muttering behind Hu Yi, "Brother Yi, thank you."

"What are you thanking me for?"

"Feifei tried to comfort me for a long time, but it didn't work. You scolded me a few times, and I suddenly felt better."

"You feel better after being scolded? Isn't that just pathetic?"

"No, I don't think I'm cheap." Peng Song stared intently at the cigarette between his fingers. "Maybe your cigarette is too smelly, it's just that it's driven away all my sadness."

Hu Yi chuckled a few times, walked to the dormitory door and stopped, slapping the remaining half pack of cigarettes into his hand: "Okay, here are a few more, you can take them and heal your wounds slowly."

Peng Song hurriedly declined, "No, no, I don't want it, this smoke smells too bad."

Hu Yi pushed him into the house, and said gently but firmly, "Don't be shy, you must take it. Good medicine tastes bitter, but it's good for the illness!"

Turning back to his dorm, Li Baoqing found Martha already gone. He was curled up on his bed, electronic dictionary in hand, looking utterly dejected. Hu Yi, arms crossed, scrutinized him: "All done?"

Li Baoqing was taken aback: "What's wrong?"

Hu Yi sat down in the chair with a smile: "You look exhausted, you're all wilted. Is Masa too strong?"

"Hey! Don't overthink it. I'm just tired from speaking Russian, it's too mentally taxing." Li Baoqing blushed slightly and said softly and shyly, "I invited her here mainly to learn Russian. Our relationship is... a purely platonic one."

Hu Yi didn't know if their relationship was platonic, but Martha's closeness with Li Baoqing only lasted a few days before they rarely interacted. After the start of the semester, when they occasionally bumped into each other in the main building, they would only exchange ambiguous smiles, seemingly having lost interest in spending time with him, and naturally, the talk of learning Russian was abandoned.

Li Baoqing was very disappointed. Although he refused to admit it, he was heartbroken and had become like a heartbroken man himself. Whenever he had free time, he would call Peng Song over for drinks and heart-to-heart talks. The two of them would share a bag of potato chips and a few bottles of beer, and in their hazy drunkenness, they would talk about how fickle and heartless women were in the world. They would act as if they had seen through the world, and in the end, they would always say, "A woman's heart is like a needle at the bottom of the sea." They would look at each other with a sad smile and go to bed to sleep.

It's already late March, and the day-night cycle is gradually returning to normal. Although the temperature is still hovering below zero and snowflakes are still falling from the sky from time to time, it's not as bitingly cold as before. After being cooped up in the dorm all winter, everyone can finally go out occasionally to bask in the sun and stretch their limbs, feeling incredibly comfortable.

The new semester has been underway for over a month, and Hu Yi is finding his studies increasingly difficult, falling further and further behind. For the first time in his life, he is experiencing what "pressure" truly feels like. This trip abroad cost his family over 20,000 yuan, and he can't just return home dejectedly without any results.

"Brother Qiang, what should I do about this situation?" Hu Yi sighed repeatedly, looking at Xu Qiang with a worried expression. Xu Qiang reached up and smoothed the small braid at the back of his head, pondering, "If all else fails, you can try changing schools."

Xu Qiang was in his early thirties, thin and gaunt with delicate features. Dressed in a casual suit and with his hair tied in a small braid at the back of his neck, he resembled Gong Hanlin in the skit "Such Packaging." He was among the first group of Chinese students to study in Russia after the collapse of the Soviet Union. He used to share a room with Lu Tao and, after graduating with his master's degree, stayed in Moscow working in trade and logistics.

As the senior student of Maji among the Chinese students, the new preparatory students were already familiar with his many anecdotes, but rarely had the opportunity to meet this senior. Today, Xu Qiang happened to be visiting the school, so Yan Zhiwen invited Hu Yi and a few other preparatory students with whom he had a good relationship to have some drinks and chat together that evening.

"Change schools? I've considered that too." Hu Yi pondered for a moment, then hesitated, "I can't go to an engineering school. Moscow State University is good, but the tuition is too expensive. I've heard that Universiti Academia Sinica, Prussian National University, and Levante Normal University are all good. Which one do you think is better?"

Hu Yi mentioned Moscow State University, a prestigious institution of higher learning in Russia with a long history and extremely high costs. The Peoples' Friendship University of Russia, Pushkin State University, and Lenin Pedagogical University are also among the schools in Moscow with a relatively high concentration of Chinese students, and are frequently mentioned by those around them.

Xu Qiang looked at him with a smile: "Don't ask me yet, what are your own thoughts?"

"In my opinion, I don't want to go anywhere. I've had enough of this awful place. I have to be wary of skinheads all the time when I go out, and I have to pray to God I don't run into a bomb on the subway. There are police everywhere, but all they know how to do is ask for money. When something happens, they're nowhere to be seen." Hu Yi shrugged angrily. "If you ask me, things are much better back home. I really don't know how you've managed to survive these past few years."

Xu Qiang smiled and nodded without saying anything. Hu Yi, having vented his frustrations, sighed dejectedly, "But joking aside, this trip cost my family a lot of money. We can't just go home empty-handed, can we? We should at least get a diploma."

"That's right, at least we need to give our families an explanation, and we also need to give ourselves an explanation." Xu Qiang said, "The schools you just mentioned each have their strengths, they're all pretty much the same. It just depends on what major you like."

Hu Yi scratched his head sheepishly: "Well... I don't really have anything I particularly like. As long as I can graduate smoothly and get my degree, that's fine."

"Graduating isn't actually that hard. As long as you build a solid foundation and study diligently, you'll definitely be fine." Xu Qiang paused, then gave a meaningful smile. "Changing schools isn't bad either. Find a major that suits you. A tree dies if it's transplanted, but a person thrives."

Hu Yi nodded as if he understood, and said thoughtfully, "My current thought is..."

Before he could finish speaking, Yan Zhiwen's door was suddenly pushed open with a bang, and a preparatory student stumbled in, panting, and said, "Quick, quick, go help! Feifei and Baoqing are blocked on the road by a bunch of Russians!"

"What?" The people in the room were startled. Xu Qiang quickly asked, "Where?"

Hu Yi jumped to his feet: "How many people are on the other side?"

Lu Tao ran over from the next room: "Are they skinheads?"

Yan Zhiwen grabbed his coat and, while putting it on, asked, "Did you fight? Did you get the short end of the stick?"