r18novel 029 Holiday Time
029 Holiday Time
The Spring Festival away from home was somewhat lonely, but also much more leisurely. At least there was no need to feel exhausted by the endless visits and greetings from elders and relatives. Before Yan Zhiwen returned to China, Li Baoqing moved his television and VCR to his bedroom. Other Chinese students came in waves to watch the videos, and room 1302 became a popular gathering place for everyone during the winter break.
The videotapes were still the same four as before, and after watching them over and over again, they got boring. Right now, Moscow was freezing cold, and skinheads were popping up everywhere, so most foreign students were staying home. Before, when classes were hectic, everyone looked forward to holidays, but now, after being cooped up in their dorms for two weeks, they felt bored and were actually hoping for school to start again soon.
For Chinese students, drinking is a good way to pass the time. But vodka is really hard to drink, and beer is really expensive. After thinking about it, the only economical and enjoyable form of entertainment is playing cards.
People from Shandong love to play "Gouji," a game where six people are divided into two teams. The rules are complex and detailed, but it is highly competitive, emphasizes cooperation, and requires a certain level of teamwork and sacrifice. Compared to other card games, the game is more chaotic, exciting, and unpredictable. Once you learn it, it is easy to get addicted.
Since the start of winter break, the card games in room 1302 have never stopped. Most of the preparatory students in Mati did not smoke when they first came to Moscow, but after half a year, many of them were worn down by the boring days and developed the habit. Hu Yi's room was filled with smoke from morning to night, and he had to open the window to let in fresh air every now and then.
After several days of intense card games, the players were all a bit tired, but since they had nothing else to do, they habitually gathered here to watch videos and chat, even when they weren't playing cards.
Hu Yi has become increasingly absent-minded these days. The new semester is about to begin, and he has been trying to find time to study every night. However, he gets distracted and his eyelids become heavy whenever he sees anything related to math.
After lunch, Hu Yi played a few more rounds of Gouji (a card game). While shuffling the cards, he muttered, "Damn it, the next semester is about to start. What am I going to do? I can't understand a single thing in that damn math class."
One of his card-playing friends yawned and suggested, "If you ask me, you should just change your major."
Hu Yi was slightly taken aback: "Oh? Are there majors that don't require studying math?"
"I don't think so." The others shook their heads in unison: "We're an engineering school; all majors involve math, physics, and chemistry."
"Then what's the point of me replacing it with anything?" Hu Yi said irritably, tossing an empty cigarette pack into the trash can. "Any more cigarettes?"
Li Baoqing checked the empty cigarette packs on the table one by one, then turned and shouted gruffly to the person across the hall, "Peng Song! Peng Song! Come downstairs and buy me two packs of cigarettes!"
A person nearby said, "I saw him go out earlier, and he hasn't come back yet. I'll go downstairs to buy it."
"Hey, wait a minute." Hu Yi slapped his forehead, chuckled, and got up to take out a pack of cigarettes from the closet. "Look at my brain, I bought four packs at the tobacco market the other day and completely forgot about them in the closet." He then unpacked them and threw a pack to everyone in the room.
The card players exclaimed in admiration, "Wow! Brother Yi is really generous, giving out whole packs of cigarettes!"
Hu Yi chuckled, "These cigarettes are cheap, smoke as much as you want, there's plenty!"
Li Baoqing picked up the cigarette pack and gently squeezed it: "The pack is flimsy, it's definitely cheap stuff." He then opened it and took out a cigarette: "The tobacco is loosely plugged, what a rip-off."
Hu Yi also felt the cigarette packaging looked cheap, and comforted himself, "It's alright, two rubles a pack, how good can it be?"
Several people slammed their cigarettes on the table, lit them, took a couple of puffs, exchanged glances, and remained silent. Hu Yi took another deep drag, frowned, and said, "This cigarette has absolutely no strength. It's like smoking air."
The card player who had just given him the advice clicked his tongue and said, "Not only is it boring, it also smells bad."
Hu Yi pondered for a moment and said, "Russian cigarettes are a blend, they all smell pretty bad, kind of like cigars."
Li Baoqing shook his head firmly: "Absolutely different. This smoke is exceptionally smelly, eerily smelly."
The others nodded in agreement. Hu Yi wanted to try another cigarette, but it burned very quickly and was almost finished. He lit another one, took a deep drag, and muttered to himself, "Not enough, another one. Hmm, you guys suck harder, it's got a little kick."
The others followed suit, finishing their second cigarettes in just two or three puffs, still feeling nothing. Li Baoqing, looking pained, clutched his wound and said, "My face hurts from sucking so much, and all I got was a stench."
The card player chuckled and took out two cigarettes: "Brother Yi, you have to smoke like this." He lit both at once, took a few puffs, coughed lightly, and said, "Hey! A little better than before, but my breath smells even worse."
Hu Yi lit two cigarettes to try, then suddenly chuckled, "This lousy cigarette is too hard to smoke. How about we play Texas Hold'em? The loser gets to smoke one, how about it?"
The suggestion was novel, and the other five agreed. They picked out a deck of cards and started playing Texas Hold'em. The three players with the lowest cards in each round would light a cigarette and put it in their mouths as punishment.
This is definitely a great way to quickly burn off cigarettes. Half an hour later, the pack of cigarettes I had just opened was almost finished. Although the doors to the room were open, the entire bedroom was still filled with smoke, and I couldn't even see the face of the person opposite me clearly.
Everyone in the room had seven or eight cigarettes dangling from their mouths, their eyes watering and coughing constantly from the smoke. Li Baoqing had lost the most, his mouth crammed full of ten cigarettes side by side, making it difficult for him to breathe freely, but he still couldn't shake off his laughter and high spirits.
Hu Yi got up and took out another one from the closet. Just as he was about to open it, he suddenly heard someone shout in the hallway, "Fire! Fire!"
The six men were startled, hurriedly stubbed out their cigarettes, and went outside to check. They found that the smoke from their own room had drifted outside, and the nearby corridor was filled with a thick white haze of smoke, just like a fire. Through the smoke, they saw several foreign students pointing in their direction with alarmed expressions: "Anton! Your room is on fire?"
Hu Yi coughed and laughed, about to explain, when the Ugandan from across the street rushed out, glanced into their house, covered his mouth and nose, and frowned, saying, "It stinks! What burned?"
Hu Yi and his friends laughed heartily, waving their hands repeatedly at their foreign friends: "Sorry, it's nothing, please go back!"
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the dormitory supervisor came rushing over from the elevator lobby, calling out as he went, "What happened? Is there a fire somewhere?"
Seeing that he was an administrator, Hu Yi slightly suppressed his smile: "No, not anywhere."
The manager, looking suspicious, went into the room to check it over, then quickly retreated, his face contorted from the choking fumes: "What are you all doing? Having a barbecue in here?"
"No, no." Hu Yi scratched his head sheepishly, coughed twice, and chuckled, "We're smoking."
"Good heavens! Are you smoking cigarettes? I thought it was charcoal!" The manager exclaimed in shock, fanning himself in front of the room. "Why does it smell so bad?"
Hu Yi turned his head and pointed at Li Baoqing: "He was just taking a dump."
"Go to hell!" Li Baoqing said in Chinese, "Your stench is worse than shit!"
The others burst into laughter, which displeased the administrator. His face hardened into a menacing expression: "What are you laughing at? Having fun? I'm reporting your dangerous behavior to the school! Who lives in this room? Show me your identification!"
The six men were stunned, standing there dumbfounded, unsure of what to do. One of the card players reacted quickly, pulling out a cigarette and offering it to the administrator with both hands: "Mr. Administrator, we're just having a New Year's party, we don't need to, we don't need to tell the school."
The dormitory manager, with his hands behind his back, refused the cigarette and said sternly, "A party? I've never seen a party like this with so much smoke. Your behavior poses a fire hazard to the dormitory and is extremely dangerous! Quickly, show me your identification."
The card player timidly retreated, turning his head to whisper, "Does he want money?"
A single sentence reminded everyone, and Hu Yi hurriedly went back inside to find his wallet, but didn't know how much to give. While hesitating, he glanced at the pack of cigarettes he had just taken out and saw it still on the table. So he grabbed it, took it to the door, and, smiling, stuffed it into the manager's hand: "This is for you. Please try it; it's not dangerous, not dangerous at all."
The administrator coldly pushed the cigarette back: "I can't take it."
"No, no, you don't understand." Hu Yi hurriedly put his arm around his shoulder: "Now, it's Chinese New Year. If you come to a Chinese person's room, you're a good friend of the Chinese. In China, you must give your good friend a New Year's gift, and your good friend must accept it. If they accept it, they'll be happy! If they don't, they won't be happy!"
The administrator's claim of reporting it to the school was just a momentary outburst of anger, a casual remark to bluff them. After all, smoking isn't prohibited in student dormitories, so there's no need to make a fuss. The Chinese man in front of me spoke broken Russian, but his meaning was clear and appropriate. Glancing sideways at the pack of cigarettes in his hand, although it looked cheap at first glance, it was still worth at least a few dozen rubles. Why not take it?
The administrator's expression immediately brightened. He took the cigarette, stuffed it into his shirt, and shook hands with Hu Yi with a smile: "In that case, I have no choice but to accept your gift. Happy New Year to you all. Please be careful when smoking indoors and don't start a fire." With that, he turned and left.
The six people breathed a sigh of relief. Hu Yi put his hands on his hips and watched the administrator walk away, shaking his head smugly: "Hey, I almost tried to give him a hundred rubles, but I got rid of him with just twenty."
Everyone returned to their room laughing and joking. Li Baoqing picked up a magazine and, while fanning himself vigorously out the window, said, "Stop smoking. This room stinks. Masha is coming to see me this afternoon."
Hearing that Masha was coming, the mahjong players surrounded Li Baoqing and teased him for a while before returning to their dormitories. Li Baoqing hummed a little tune as he tidied up his room, opened the windows to air it out, and sprayed some air freshener inside.
Hu Yi flipped through the book for a while, then stared at the two packs of cigarettes left in the cupboard, feeling troubled: although smoking these cigarettes was no different from eating farts, they were still bought from afar with a lot of money, so he was reluctant to throw them away.
Just as he was undecided, Masha arrived. Li Baoqing sat beside her on the bed, holding a Russian-Chinese dictionary and gesturing slowly as they conversed, like a novice sorcerer drawing talismans and chanting incantations. His Russian was so halting that even Hu Yi was getting impatient with him, but Masha patiently gazed at him, her eyes seemingly sparkling with a hint of flirtatious intent.
Hu Yi felt like a 100-watt light bulb in the room, so he quietly left the room with the remaining two packs of cigarettes under his arm and went to the dormitories of his acquaintances one by one. When he saw a classmate who was smoking, he would stuff two packs into his hand without saying a word.
After walking around up and down the stairs, Hu Yi had already given away most of the two packs of cigarettes. Satisfied, Hu Yi returned to the dormitory entrance, thought for a moment, then went to the opposite side of the corridor and knocked on Bayin's door, handing him the remaining four packs of cigarettes: "These cigarettes were bought at a market very, very far away. They're a gift for you."
Bayin took the cigarette and looked at it, then his face lit up with a smile: "A gift for us? Thank you!" He then gestured for us to come in: "Come on, have some beef, join us!"
Hu Yi hesitated for a moment, then Bayin pulled him inside. Inside, three people were sitting in a circle on the floor. One had a round, persimmon-shaped face, while the other two were Mongolian girls with large faces, high cheekbones, and robust physiques. Although their makeup was exquisite, it couldn't hide their fierce expressions. Between them sat a metal plate containing a large, bloody piece of raw beef.
"Our friend, she bought some top-quality beef," Bayin said to Hu Yi, pointing to one of the girls. He then waved his cigarette at the girl, puffed out a few words in Mongolian, and looked smug. It seemed that Hu Yi's timely arrival made him feel very proud.
Bayin pressed Hu Yi down to sit on the ground, then sat cross-legged beside him and handed him a short knife: "Please, don't be shy."
Hu Yi gripped the knife handle, hesitated for a long time, stared at the piece of beef, and asked, "Just like that... we'll eat it directly?"
"Yes, it's delicious and very fresh." Bayin took the knife back from him, cut a thin strip of beef along the edge, put it in his mouth, chewed it a few times, and swallowed it. He then handed the knife back to Hu Yi and gave him an encouraging look.
Hu Yi looked hesitant. He had heard that the Japanese liked to eat sashimi, but eating raw beef was unheard of. He wanted to politely decline, but seeing the four Mongolians smiling at him, it seemed impolite not to eat. He lightly weighed the knife in his hand a few times, then gritted his teeth, cut off a piece of meat about the size of his little fingernail, and stuffed it into his mouth.