My hometown is far away in Moscow.

005 Moscow

A week after departing from BJ, the train finally arrived in Moscow on Sunday afternoon.

"We're here! We're finally here! What a tiring journey!" Li Baoqing kept peering out the window at the direction the train was traveling, excitedly muttering to himself.

The weather was a bit gloomy, but not as cold as expected. The three of them dragged their luggage of various sizes off the train and saw a tall Chinese man wearing glasses on the platform. He had dark yellow skin, a square face with distinct features, and held up a white cardboard sign that read "To meet Yu Feifei and the other two, Maji".

"Madi" is the Russian abbreviation for the Moscow Automotive and Highway Institute. Yu Feifei quickly stepped forward: "Hello, I'm Yu Feifei. Are you Brother Yan?"

"Yes, I am Yan Zhiwen." The tall man nodded in a friendly manner, speaking in a Shandong-accented Mandarin.

Li Baoqing reached out his hands and approached, saying, "Hello, Brother Yan, my name is Li Baoqing."

Yan Zhiwen shook hands with Li Baoqing and helped them unload their luggage from the car. Then, he looked at Hu Yi, who was getting off the car last, with interest, and lowered his voice a few decibels: "So...you're Hu Yi?"

"Yes, I am Hu Yi."

"Oh, hehe, hello." Yan Zhiwen smiled gently.

Hu Yi was taken aback, finding Yan Zhiwen's smile strange, and felt slightly puzzled. Yan Zhiwen didn't say anything more, but picked up the large suitcase next to Yu Feifei and waved, "Let's go, the car is outside."

Like many boys his age, Hu Yi harbored a faint longing for the Soviet Union from a young age. In the minds of young people of that era, the Soviet Union was a symbol of power and strength. They might not be able to articulate the profound impact of the collapse of the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe a decade earlier on the world, but they naturally transferred their yearning for the Red Soviet Union to Russia. However, when they actually set foot on Moscow, the scene before them fell somewhat short of their expectations.

"Is this the city center? It doesn't look very prosperous." Li Baoqing pursed his lips, glanced at the dilapidated Iveco van in front of him, and then looked back at the train station he had just left: "This train station is much smaller than Beijing Station, and it's not even as big as the train station in my hometown."

Yan Zhiwen helped the three of them load their luggage into the car and casually replied, "There are nine train stations in all of Moscow, this one is indeed a bit small."

"What?! Nine?" Li Baoqing's eyes widened. "Are you burning money? Why build so many train stations?"

"Moscow has a large urban area, so having more stations is more convenient." Yan Zhiwen crouched down and climbed into the passenger seat, said something in Russian to the driver, and then turned to say, "Besides the train stations, Moscow also has three airports."

Li Baoqing stuck out his tongue: "Nine train stations, three airports, wow! What an international metropolis! Is Moscow even bigger than Beijing?"

"Of course, it's much bigger than BJ."

At that time, Beijing's fourth ring road was not yet completed, and there were only two subway lines. Although it was a first-class megacity in China, its urban area was indeed much smaller than Moscow's. Li Baoqing couldn't quite imagine the size of the city and remained silent, lost in thought.

Turning his head, Li Baoqing saw that Yu Feifei was stiff, pale, and gripping the edge of the seat tightly with both hands. He quickly asked with concern, "Feifei, what's wrong? Are you feeling unwell?"

"No," Yu Feifei forced a smile and said in a low voice, "The driver was driving too fast, I was a little scared."

Her words immediately struck the other two as the same. The bearded driver slammed on the brakes and floored the accelerator, honking the horn and swerving wildly to change lanes, turning the Iveco into a frantic, startled donkey as it weaved through traffic with a cacophony of noises.

"A race against time? Is the driver drunk?" Li Baoqing also became nervous.

Yan Zhiwen smiled nonchalantly: "That's how Russians drive. You'll get used to it."

Li Baoqing looked out the window and, sure enough, all the other vehicles on the road were in the same state, making the whole road look like a stampede of donkeys. After watching for a while, he said, "Brother Yan, why do all the cars on the streets of Moscow look so old? It's like something out of an old movie."

"Yes, almost every family here owns a car, but most of them are old models from the 70s or 80s. Russians are poor and can't afford new cars, so they just keep their old cars running as long as they're well-maintained."

Hu Yi, who had been silent all along, leaned forward and asked, "I've heard that the Moscow Metro is particularly well-developed, is that true?"

"That's right. Moscow started building its subway before World War II, and now it has ten lines and more than two hundred stations, making it very convenient. Moreover, these subway stations are very beautiful, and you'll definitely be using them a lot in the future."

None of the three had ever ridden the subway before, and Yan Zhiwen's introduction filled them with a sense of longing. Hu Yi then asked, "Is our school close to a subway station?"

"It's very close. The main building of the school is right next to the Airport Station on the Green Line of the subway, but it's still a bit of a distance from our dormitory."

The two men pestered Yan Zhiwen with questions, which he patiently answered one by one. However, after a seven-day train journey, the initial excitement of arriving in a foreign country was quickly worn away by the fatigue of the trip. Li Baoqing closed his eyes wearily and soon dozed off.

The driver turned on the stereo, and a powerful Russian song blared from the car's broken speaker. The male voice was deep and resonant, the drumbeats were rousing, and although the lyrics were incomprehensible, the highly infectious melody was still very inspiring.

Hu Yi nervously looked out of the car. The square-faced, round-eyed Lada and Volga darted about on the wide road, while rows of neat, boxy buildings sped past on either side, interspersed with occasional glimpses of exquisite European classical architecture and sculptures. The stark contrast between the rough marks of the industrial age and the elegant atmosphere of the Middle Ages was striking. This magnificent yet dilapidated scene surprisingly harmonized with the music playing in the car.

This is Moscow, the place where I will live for a long time. Hu Yi yawned and drifted off to sleep, the songs he couldn't understand still echoing in his ears:

Having experienced the baptism of war time and time again

The resounding chimes still echoed through the sky.

The capital, Moscow, will forever stand tall.

The Russian rivers will never cease flowing.

Moscow, the bells toll far and wide

Moscow, the domes gleam with golden light

Moscow, oh, countless magnificent statues

Moscow, witness to the dreams of our time

……

"Wake up, we're here." Yu Feifei woke Hu Yi up after sleeping for an unknown amount of time.

The three men unloaded their luggage from the car and stood in an open space waiting for Yan Zhiwen to settle the bill with the driver. The open space was surrounded by brick walls and iron fences, and inside the walls stood two high-rise residential buildings, which were probably their dormitories.

Li Baoqing stared at a young man with yellow skin at the building entrance for a long time, then asked in a low voice, "Hey, look, isn't that a Chinese person?"