My hometown is far away in Moscow.

050 Tighten your belt

With Li Baoqing's $100 as a base, the three of them can eat for the time being without any problem. However, a rough calculation shows that each person's daily expenses need to be controlled within 30 rubles, which will inevitably lead to a precipitous decline in the quality of life in all aspects.

I can no longer buy beer and soft drinks, so I'll switch to tap water; I can't quit smoking, but I've switched from Marlboro cigarettes costing over twenty rubles to local brands costing less than ten rubles, and I have to control the quantity I smoke. Occasionally, I have to uphold the spirit of hard work and frugality and pick up a cigarette butt from the ashtray to make do with a few puffs.

Naturally, they couldn't pursue flavor and variety in their meals. The school cafeteria, which was usually cheap and delicious, became a rip-off in their eyes, and they dared not go to the Arabic restaurant downstairs anymore. Nowadays, their three meals a day were extremely monotonous, with tasteless white bread as their staple food, sour and hard black bread used for seasoning, and an egg poached in instant noodles was considered a treat.

Li Baoqing complained bitterly. He had been practicing track and field since elementary school and always had a good diet. Now, he couldn't eat meat at every meal, and his nutritional level had dropped significantly. He lost weight in just a few days. Helpless, he could only make do with cheap eggs, boiling eggs, frying eggs, stir-frying eggs, and making egg-filled bread, barely managing to satisfy his hunger.

Hu Yi had been used to irregular eating habits since high school, and didn't really care about the quality of his food. But in his early twenties, when appetites are at their peak, a young man like him couldn't stand eating bland food every day. He tossed and turned in bed at night, unable to fall asleep, his stomach growling. But when it came to meals, he found the two kinds of bread hard to swallow. So he bought various cheap condiments and lined them up on the table to vary his meals, making the bread and instant noodles seem less unpalatable.

In contrast, Zhou Dali seemed the most composed. He adhered to the principle that vinegar was everything. If he got tired of bread, he could dip it in vinegar; if he was fed up with instant noodles, he could mix them with vinegar; if he found it too bland, he would make fried rice with some vinegar. Later, he simply went to the market and bought a large jar of super flavorful pickled cucumbers to eat with his rice. Basically, anything with a touch of sourness could make him eat with relish. Of course, although he appeared to have no complaints, he was actually just finding joy in hardship.

A week passed like this, and all three of them were terribly hungry. They walked listlessly, spoke weakly, and every day after school, their eyes would light up when they passed an Arab restaurant, wishing they could rush in, grab a few pieces of Turkish kebabs, and run away. When Hu Yi and Li Baoqing couldn't bear it anymore, they considered going to Maji to borrow some money from acquaintances. But borrowing money would eventually have to be repaid, and thinking about the big debt they would have to cover in the future, they had to force themselves to give up the idea and continue to live frugally.

Fortunately, they have now recovered from the panic of losing the money and, after reassessing their remaining rubles, realized that they didn't have to live so hard. At least they could buy some vegetables every now and then. Although it was limited to cheap things like potatoes, carrots, onions, and cabbage, and no matter how they combined them, they couldn't eat anything new, at least they had more choices.

Yu Feifei quickly learned of their predicament, but unfortunately, she was also short of money and couldn't offer much help. She could only occasionally buy a few chicken legs and send them over for the three poor souls to treat themselves. The three were a little embarrassed, but their mouths were unusually honest, drooling from the moment they started cutting the meat until they started washing the pot. They would wipe the bottom of the pot clean with bread each time before they would stop.

Although this simple and austere life was austere, it unconsciously led them to devote a great deal of time to their studies. Now that it was the dead of winter, the three of them went back and forth between their dormitory and the school every day, oblivious to the world around them, focusing solely on their Russian language books.

In late January, Li Baoqing and Zhou Dali both passed their final exams smoothly, and Hu Yi even achieved a perfect score of 5. He couldn't wait to call home to share the good news, his excitement overflowing. His mother was naturally overjoyed to hear of her son's success, and his father immediately decided to prepare an extra three hundred dollars for him.

The exams were over, and students began their journeys home for the Spring Festival. Before leaving, Yu Feifei used her last rubles to buy two bottles of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce and a few packets of pickled vegetables for the two of them. The two were overjoyed and cheered. Li Baoqing, with tears in his eyes, held the Lao Gan Ma sauce and sang: "There's only one godmother in the world who's good~ Godmother's children are like treasures~ Chili peppers without godmother~ have no flavor at all!"

An old saying goes, "I'd rather give up two acres of land than a cigarette butt." But back then, poor students far from home often murmured, "I'd rather give up two acres of land than give up Tao Huabi." In their time abroad, Lao Gan Ma (a popular chili sauce brand) symbolized the taste of home. It could be eaten with rice, mixed with noodles, used in sandwiches, or stir-fried with vegetables. It was a culinary delight that they could enjoy three meals a day without getting tired of it. The Aunt Tao on the glass bottle label was the most familiar stranger in the students' hearts.

After Zhou Dali returned to China, their daily expenses became slightly easier. Now, with Lao Gan Ma chili sauce and pickled vegetables on their table, Hu Yi and Li Baoqing enjoyed everything they ate, and their eating habits improved significantly. With their appetites temporarily satisfied, the two began to consider finding part-time work. They didn't have much of a concept of work, and the only solution they could think of was to ask an older student.

Yan Zhiwen's phone was unreachable; he'd probably gone back to China. Lu Tao, however, was still in Moscow. Hearing Hu Yi mention looking for work, he laughed, "The New Year's is almost here! What's the point of looking for work? Xu Qiang's coming to Maji for New Year's Eve, why don't you all come and have New Year's Eve dinner together!"

Russian universities typically have short winter breaks, usually only two to three weeks. This year, the Lunar New Year falls in mid-February, and the new semester has already been underway for a week, leaving Chinese students just beginning to celebrate. Fortunately, the professors fully understand and respect the customs and traditions of different countries, and the university has an unwritten rule that Chinese students on campus can skip classes during the Lunar New Year, and those returning from abroad can also postpone their return to campus.

At this time, Zhou Dali and Yu Feifei were still in China. Hu and Li were living paycheck to paycheck, counting the rubles and kopeks they had left. They had originally planned to buy a box of frozen potato dumplings from the store downstairs on New Year's Eve as their New Year's treat. Upon hearing Lu Tao's invitation, they readily agreed. However, both of them were proud people, and even if they were short of money, they couldn't go to eat empty-handed. So, they gritted their teeth and bought the cheapest bottle of vodka at the store, arriving in Maji on the afternoon of New Year's Eve.

Yan Zhiwen and Peng Song had both returned to China, so only Lu Tao, Xu Qiang, and a few other students were having New Year's Eve dinner together. Lu Tao had already moved up to his third year, and Xu Qiang was now helping his boss while also managing his own and his domestic foreign trade business. Having not seen each other for a long time, the group enjoyed a lively exchange of greetings.

The New Year's Eve dinner was lavish, with chicken, beef, fish, and shrimp filling the table. There was no shortage of fried, stir-fried, and braised dishes. Hu Yi and Li Baoqing tried to be restrained, but having eaten bread and instant noodles for so long, they couldn't resist the temptation of such a feast. The two of them ate like beggars scrambling for a free meal, until they were so full they were burping. Only then did they have time to briefly recount the theft that had happened recently.

"Such a thing happened?" Xu Qiang frowned slightly. "Are you doing alright now? Should I lend you some money?"

"No need, no need, Feifei will bring me the money in a few days." Hu Yi waved his hands repeatedly: "We can manage for now, but there's still a big hole to cover in the future, so we want to find a job to earn some money."

Xu Qiang and Lu Tao exchanged a glance and smiled, "You're still in preparatory school, right? How's your Russian? What kind of jobs are you planning to look for?"

"Our Russian is passable, and we don't know how to do anything else. We'll probably only be able to do odd jobs at the market. But the market takes too much time, and we're worried it'll interfere with our classes." Hu Yi touched his ear sheepishly. "Brother Qiang, Brother Tao, you two know a lot of people, could you help us find some work?"

"That's right, the market isn't quite right. If you don't want to miss classes, it would be best to occasionally work as a local tour guide for tour groups, or as a temporary translator for domestic companies participating in trade shows. The schedule would be more flexible." Xu Qiang hesitated slightly. "However, these jobs require a certain level of Russian proficiency. Are you two sure you can handle that?"

"I'm not sure... but I'll give it a try," Hu Yi said, unsure of himself. Li Baoqing interjected, "How much money can you make?"

"There are quite a few, and tour guides can often earn some tips. But these are all temporary jobs, on and off, and it all depends on your abilities. If you do well, you'll naturally have more opportunities later, but if you don't, then no one will hire you anymore. Besides, tourism and exhibitions are peak season in the summer, so there are more opportunities. Right now, with all the snow and ice, nobody comes to this godforsaken place."

"I'm afraid that won't work." Hu Yi said with a wry smile, "It's probably not enough to just find these kinds of odd jobs in the summer. It would be best to find something that can be done now, something stable, and something that won't interfere with my classes as much as possible."

"Something stable that won't interfere with classes..." Xu Qiang crossed his arms and pondered for a moment: "Not for now."

Hu Yi and Li Baoqing nodded silently, slightly disappointed. Everyone poured themselves a drink, and Lu Tao suddenly spoke up: "Old Xu, didn't you say the other day that the Huanghai Hotel was looking to hire people?"

"Hmm? Huang Hai?" Xu Qiang was taken aback, then shook his head and laughed, "The working hours are suitable, but it's too tiring, and the pay isn't much."

"We're not afraid!" Li Baoqing quickly said, "As long as we can make money, a little hard work is nothing!"

"Yes," Hu Yi chimed in, "There are no hardships that can't be endured, only blessings that can't be enjoyed."

Xu Qiang hesitated for a moment, then said, "Alright, it's not really that hard work. When I first arrived in Moscow, I worked at the Huanghai Hotel. I'm quite familiar with the head chef of the Chinese restaurant there, and I have a good relationship with the boss. A few days ago, the head chef asked me to help him find two cutting boards. I haven't found any suitable ones yet, so if you're willing, you can give it a try."

"Huh? What board?"

"The chopping board is for cutting vegetables in the kitchen, and maybe occasionally for other odd jobs," Xu Qiang explained. "It's physical labor, you basically don't need to speak Russian, the working hours are from 5 pm to 11 pm, and the pay is two hundred US dollars a month. It won't interfere with your classes, but it's quite hard work. Are you interested?"

"Great! Chopping vegetables is easy!" Hu Yi's face lit up with joy.

"Two hundred?" Li Baoqing pouted reluctantly, "Well... that's fine too."