Someone Wants to Cause You Trouble

Everyone had bought phones, so naturally, the first thing they wanted to do was call home.

After all, they hadn't been in touch with their families since arriving here.

But having a phone didn't mean they could make calls directly. International long-distance calls were not only extremely expensive, but they also couldn't be dialed directly. To do that, they had to apply for activation.

They could only use the IP calling cards mentioned earlier.

When in trouble, find the class monitor!

That was what class monitor Zhou Yuan had personally told them...

So everyone went to find Zhou Yuan and asked him to help them get a few calling cards.

Wang Ye actually had a better solution for the calling cards, but he said nothing.

When Zhou Yuan arrived, he laughed in surprise. "Not bad. You've only been here two days, and every one of you already has a phone? The group before you didn't start buying phones bit by bit until two or three months after arriving. Even now, quite a few students still haven't bought one. Come on, add my number."

As he spoke, Zhou Yuan pulled out a phone.

His phone was clearly not cheap—a Motorola V60!

This model had been incredibly popular in 2001. Like the Samsung A288, it had a dual-screen clamshell design, and its outer screen was even larger than the Samsung A288's!

Naturally, it was also much more expensive than the Samsung A288.

It was said that Zhou Yuan's family owned mines. Not as a joke—they really did own mines, including a gold mine!

Though it probably wasn't a major gold mine, more likely one of those small private operations with limited output. Otherwise, he wouldn't have come to Moscow to study abroad...

Still, his family's financial situation was obviously quite good.

The boys in Wang Ye's group could only bring themselves to buy Nokia 3310s, while Zhou Yuan was already using a Motorola V60. That was the difference.

After they exchanged phone numbers, Zhou Yuan got down to business.

"How about this? I still have one calling card left. Use it first and call home to let them know you're safe. Don't talk too long, though. There's only about an hour left on it, and there are eight of you. As for calling cards, it's a holiday these next few days, right? The senior student I know is taking time off too, so she hasn't gone to work at the market. How about I take you all to the market tomorrow? Since you're in Moscow, you have to go see the market for yourselves. Later, if you want to work part-time and earn money, buy things from China, or even get a haircut, you'll have to go there..."

Zhou Yuan really was quite enthusiastic, and he wasn't stingy either.

A card with around an hour of talk time was worth more than twenty dollars. He simply took one out for everyone to use without mentioning money at all.

Besides, the market wasn't close to the school. By metro, a one-way trip took over an hour.

Adding the time it took to get from the school to the metro station, the whole journey came to nearly two hours.

Going there and back, then wandering around the market for a while, would take up pretty much the whole day...

Still, One Ant Market was truly worth visiting. It would be good for Zhou Yuan to show everyone the way.

The market wasn't just for wholesale trade. There were also quite a few retail shops.

Whatever you wanted to buy, you could find it there, especially things from China.

Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, Master Kong Braised Beef Noodles, cooking oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar—if you could think of it, you could buy it.

Zhou Yuan specifically mentioned haircuts because that really was a problem.

In Moscow, getting a haircut wasn't easy. Never mind that barbershops outside were extremely scarce!

Even if you found one, you wouldn't dare go in, because the prices were outrageous!

They could easily cost dozens or even over a hundred dollars. Ordinary people truly couldn't bear to spend that much.

In American and European TV dramas, you often saw people cutting their own children's hair. It wasn't because they were especially handy—it was because they couldn't afford a haircut...

But there were quite a few barbershops run by Chinese people in One Ant Market, and their prices were much cheaper. Seventy or eighty rubles would do, so many Chinese international students had to come here for haircuts too.

Of course, many foreign students cut their own hair. They bought clippers, scissors, and the like, and gave themselves simple trims.

In the dormitory bathroom, it was common to see foreign students moving a chair in and sitting down while a friend cut their hair.

Holding the card Zhou Yuan had "contributed," everyone took turns making calls.

Wang Ye didn't rush to compete with the others. Instead, he stayed behind and chatted with Zhou Yuan.

This class monitor was a pretty good person. He was worth getting to know.

Seeing that no one else was in the room, Zhou Yuan lowered his voice and said mysteriously, "Be careful lately. I heard Zhang Ke is planning to give you trouble."

Wang Ye was slightly taken aback and asked, "Who's Zhang Ke? I don't even know him."

"He's that short guy with long hair. Didn't he come to your dorm room to make trouble a couple days ago, only for you to beat him up?" Zhou Yuan explained.

So that short, long-haired guy was named Zhang Ke. Only then did Wang Ye understand.

But he didn't take it to heart. He merely smiled and said, "What does he want with me? Is he going to smash down my door in the middle of the night and beat me up? Heh."

If this had been back in China, Wang Ye might have been a little worried, because Zhang Ke might bring people to cause trouble for him.

He wasn't like Song Xiaogang, who had trained at Tagou Martial Arts School. If the other side had too many people, he really wouldn't be able to beat them...

But this was Moscow!

Wang Ye didn't believe Zhang Ke could find anyone here to help him. They were all international students, and no one was stupid.

Just like the two students who had come with Zhang Ke a few days ago—they could take sides and cheer him on.

But if it came to actually throwing punches, absolutely no one would be willing.

With just Zhang Ke himself, Wang Ye could beat him senseless!

So there was really nothing to worry about.

Besides, if he truly ran into trouble, Song Xiaogang would definitely step forward. Now that he had untied the knot in his heart, Song Xiaogang's fighting ability would be off the charts!

After everyone finished their calls, Wang Ye followed the instructions on the calling card and dialed his family's number back in China.

These calling cards were extremely troublesome to use. He had to first enter a long string of numbers, then input the password according to the prompts, then enter the domestic phone number. Even if he was very familiar with the process, it still took two or three minutes to actually get through.

Because of the time difference, it was already nighttime in China while it was morning here.

Fortunately, his parents were still awake. They were delighted when they received Wang Ye's call.

"Why are you calling home? After you arrived on the first, the agency called us to say you were safe. Oh, right, is it cold over there? Did you bring enough clothes? How are you handling meals? Can you cook for yourself? Can you buy groceries...?"

His mother fired off a whole string of questions, leaving Wang Ye no chance to speak...

But he wasn't impatient in the slightest. He only felt a warm glow in his heart.

Brothers, send over some recommendation tickets or monthly passes or something. There aren't many words yet, so there's not much to see, but it shouldn't be this quiet either...