"Sophia, are you still in touch with Sergei? If you are, call him out sometime and let's have a proper drink. Then I'll reason things out with him. Back when we were in school, he was always putting us down, saying China was a second-rate country."
Sophia's high praise for China made Sun Xianjin, her old classmate, very happy. Then he got a little carried away and asked Sophia to round up some people for him, so he could wash away the humiliation of those years.
Looking at the excitement in Sun Xianjin's eyes, Li Ye could understand how hard his years studying in Moscow must have been. Sun Xianjin himself was not physically imposing, and his country had not been strong. It was perfectly normal for others to look down on him.
But Sun Xianjin had a ruthless streak of "if you won't submit, then fight." When he swung those little fists, they were solid as bricks. That was why he had not been bullied into becoming an outcast, and had even become friends with people like Sophia and Alyosha.
In a bitterly cold place like this, being humble and polite with them would have been a disaster!
After hearing Sun Xianjin's words, Sophia said flatly, "Sergei went to Eastern Europe after graduation. We've lost contact over the past half year. I heard from several friends who returned from Eastern Europe that he was not doing well half a year ago."
Sun Xianjin froze for a moment, then said worriedly, "Oh, that's really terrible. That guy actually isn't a bad person. His mouth is just foul."
"Hehehehe, Sun, you're still so kind. If it were me, I'd open a bottle of red wine to celebrate."
"No, no. Let me teach you a Chinese idiom—taking pleasure in another's misfortune. It