My hometown is far away in Moscow.

004 No talk of the future

The hard sleeper compartment was very small. Two bunk beds and a small table by the window took up most of the space. After departing from Beijing, everyone had to stuff their luggage under the beds, pile it between the two beds, or even put it on the beds. It wasn't until another passenger in the same compartment got off in Manzhouli that the three of them were able to pile all their suitcases onto Yu Feifei's upper bunk, which was barely enough to make ends meet.

Yu Feifei continued eating her bread on the bed, while Li Baoqing sat beside her with a bowl of instant noodles. The two chatted and laughed as they ate. Hu Yi finished packing her toiletries, took a can of eight-treasure porridge from a plastic bag next to her suitcase, and then took out three sausages, handing one to each of them.

"Thank you." Yu Feifei smiled shyly, and politely used a fruit knife to cut off the metal buckle on top and carefully peeled it off.

"You're welcome." Hu Yi stuffed the metal buckle of the sausage into his mouth and bit down hard, then tore off the outer packaging. He listened to their idle chatter with a blank expression as he ate.

The three individuals were all recent high school graduates from the same city, and were going to study at the same university through the same study abroad agency. Even before applying for their visas, they had attended a short-term Russian language training course organized by the agency.

The introductory Russian training courses covered extremely basic content. Hu Yixi listened to a few classes in a perfunctory manner, and apart from some local customs and traditions, he only remembered some letters that looked like English letters and a few commonly used words.

Of course, even these simple words, he memorized by rote through the homophones of Chinese characters: for example, "Russia" is "laxi ya"; "where to go" is "ku da"; "goodbye" is "da si wei da ni ya", and so on. It was quite fun to memorize them.

Unlike him, Yu Feifei has mastered a wider vocabulary through self-study in her spare time and can now have simple conversations with Russian train attendants. This is understandable, as although all three are studying abroad at their own expense, their situations are quite different.

For Hu Yi, a poor student, taking the college entrance examination was merely an experience. His score of less than 400 points left him with no other choice, and studying abroad at his own expense was a last resort.

Yu Feifei studied very hard since she was a child and her grades were always good. However, she underperformed in the exam and took a chance when filling out her college application, which resulted in her not being admitted to her ideal first choice. Therefore, she made the painful decision to go to Moscow.

Li Baoqing fell somewhere in between. He wasn't particularly bright, but among the many sports students, he was considered one of the more diligent students. Ultimately, he barely managed to get into a second-rate university based on his athletic talent. Knowing his future was bleak, he chose to study abroad at his parents' arrangement.

Although their circumstances are different, they are now traveling together to a distant and unfamiliar country, and they inevitably have a tacit understanding with each other that is hard to explain.

Back then, although many Chinese had already gone abroad to work and live, overseas travel was still far from common for most ordinary families, and the trend of high school students going abroad to attend university was only just beginning. The three of them didn't feel much when they boarded the train in Beijing, until they saw the train slowly pulling towards the border between China and Russia, and then they truly realized that they were about to be in a foreign land, and their emotions were suddenly stirred.

I always heard people on TV talk about "going abroad," and I used to think it was just a saying. But I never expected there to actually be a tall gate standing on the border. After crossing the border, the three young people who were initially strangers suddenly felt that the distance between them had been shortened, and they quickly became familiar with each other.

"Hey? Aren't the dorms co-ed? Will the three of us end up in the same room?" Li Baoqing asked with a silly grin while holding a bowl of instant noodles.

"You're dreaming," Hu Yi said dismissively, having thought Li Baoqing was a bit silly from the first moment he saw him. "Mixed living just means boys and girls live in the same building, how can you possibly be in the same dorm? What about showering? What about using the toilet?"

Li Baoqing nodded with a simple and honest look: "That's right, that's right. But it's not bad to be in the same building, it's more convenient to be close by."

"Distance is secondary. Do you know what's most important when you're traveling?" Hu Yi leaned against the headboard with his legs crossed: "The most important thing is that everyone works together and looks out for each other."

"Yes, yes, we're all Chinese, and compatriots should help each other, um... and make progress together." Li Baoqing finished his instant noodle soup, smacked his lips with lingering satisfaction, and said, "Feifei, you're a good student, so please help us out more often."

Hu Yi smiled at Yu Feifei with a smirk: "That's right, we'll be counting on you for the exams from now on. Let us copy your answers more often."

Yu Feifei smiled and nodded to Li Baoqing, then nodded slightly to Hu Yi. In her opinion, although Li Baoqing was clumsy with words and had a somewhat fierce appearance, he was actually quite talkative, hardworking, good-tempered, and a kind-hearted person.

Hu Yi, on the other hand, is quite the opposite. Despite his handsome features and neatly combed hair, he always has a gloomy expression, likes to use filler words when he speaks, and his occasional laugh is roguish, giving the impression that he is eccentric and difficult to get along with.

Li Baoqing diligently collected the three people's breakfast trash into a large plastic bag under the small table, then climbed up to the top bunk, grabbed the "University Russian" textbook from the bedside table, placed it in front of him, and after flipping through a few pages, stared blankly out the window. After a moment, he leaned down and asked, "What are your plans after graduation, you two?"

"After graduation? Hmm..." Yu Feifei pursed her lips and thought for a moment, "I'll probably go back to China and find a translation job or something, or... become a Russian language teacher at a school? I haven't thought that far ahead yet."

"Go back to China to be a teacher? That's so boring." Li Baoqing squinted and shook his head. "I want to stay in Russia in the future, preferably working at the embassy. I've heard that Chinese people often encounter all sorts of troubles abroad, and working at the embassy would allow me to help as many of my compatriots as possible."

Yu Feifei smiled sweetly: "I didn't realize you were so perceptive."

"Of course. My dad always says that everyone has to rely on themselves to live, but you should still try to help others when you can." Li Baoqing reached out and patted the edge of the bed: "Hu Yi, what do you plan to do in the future?"

Hu Yi replied lazily, "We'll talk about the future later. It's a one-year language preparatory course, a four-year undergraduate program, and it'll be five years before we graduate. What's the rush?"

He spoke calmly, but Hu Yi was actually a little flustered. Russian universities have an easy admission system but strict graduation requirements. Although you can get in by paying tuition, he had no idea whether he could graduate smoothly.

"Go to sleep." Hu Yi rolled over and lay down, not wanting to continue the topic.

"Sleeping again?" Li Baoqing asked in surprise. "Didn't you just wake up?"

Hu Yi yawned: "We still have several days to go before we arrive, what are we doing instead of sleeping?"