Trouble Arises

Early in the morning on January 6, everyone got up, because they had agreed yesterday to go to the big market today.

No one made breakfast, mainly because it was too much trouble. They just had some bread and milk to make do.

School would start again in another day, so today's outing counted as everyone's last group activity before the semester began.

Around nine o'clock, Zhou Yuan came over and gathered everyone to set off together.

They could have taken taxis, but the fare would have been rather high. Besides, there were nine of them, so they would need three cars.

Even someone as generous as Zhou Yuan did not dare offer to pay for everyone's taxis.

Fortunately, there was a bus stop at the entrance to the dormitory area. Almost any bus could take them to the nearest metro station, which was quite convenient.

Everyone was dressed like bears, bundled up tightly from head to toe. Even the girls who cared about looking pretty were no exception...

Before long, the bus arrived, and everyone filed aboard. The buses here were relatively new and spacious, making for a decent ride. Student fares were especially cheap—just five rubles to the metro station.

There were also minibuses like Ivecos, but their fares were much higher. A ride to the metro station cost twenty rubles.

Bus fares here were calculated by the number of stops.

Compared to the bus, the metro was even cheaper!

A student ticket cost only five rubles and allowed unlimited rides. Even if you stayed in the metro all day and rode every line without coming out, that was allowed.

The metro stations here were all rather old, most having been built during the Soviet Union era. Still, each had its own distinctive character. Every station had a different decorative style—some resembled European palaces, while others looked like art galleries. They were quite beautiful.

To be honest, before coming to Moscow, Wang Ye had never even ridden the metro...

He came from a small county town in China's central plains, where he had never had much chance to take one.

Even when he flew to Moscow, it had been his first time on a plane...

Wang Ye still remembered that in his "previous life," everything had felt fresh after he arrived in Moscow.

Going from a small county town in China straight to a major foreign city, he had been nothing more than a country bumpkin in the big city...

But now, he was clearly no longer as sheltered as he had been in his previous life.

Having lived and worked in Shenzhen for so many years, and having visited most of the world's major cities, he had long since seen the world.

Looking at Moscow in 2001 now, he found it somewhat unimpressive...

The moment they entered the metro station, Zhou Yuan began reminding everyone.

"Once we get on the metro, if it's crowded, try not to sit down. On public transportation here, you have to give up your seat to the elderly, children, pregnant women, and disabled people. Otherwise, those old ladies will really point at your nose and scold you. They love meddling in other people's business. There are also a lot of elderly people here, so we generally can't be bothered to sit down. Before you've even sat for long, you'll definitely have to give your seat up..."

Everyone nodded in agreement. When people arrived somewhere unfamiliar, they naturally became more polite and well-mannered...

There were quite a few people in the metro station, but it was nowhere near as crowded as metro stations back home. The carriage was still fairly spacious, and there were even empty seats.

Because of Zhou Yuan's earlier reminder, everyone consciously refrained from looking for seats. Instead, they gathered by the connection between the carriages, chatting and laughing without feeling tired.

They were young, after all. Standing for an hour or so was nothing.

Before they knew it, they had reached their destination: Izmaylovo Metro Station. After exiting and walking a little farther, they would arrive at the big market!

This area was clearly much livelier than the neighborhood around Wang Ye's school.

The moment they left the metro station, they were surrounded by crowds, and the road was full of cars as well.

"Come on. Follow this road for about ten minutes, and we'll reach the market," Zhou Yuan said familiarly. He had clearly been here more than once.

Everyone followed closely behind him toward the market.

But before they had gone far, Zhou Yuan suddenly lowered his voice. "Nobody say anything. There are gray dogs ahead! They might check our passports. If they do, don't say anything else. Just tell them we're students at Friendship University!"

The so-called "gray dogs" referred to the police.

They wore grayish-green uniforms and were rather detestable, especially to Chinese businessmen, who loathed them with a passion.

Whenever these gray dogs saw Asian faces, they got excited and would inevitably stop them to inspect their passports.

If there was even the slightest problem with your passport or visa, you would be in serious trouble!

Even if your passport and visa were perfectly fine, that did not necessarily mean you would avoid trouble. After all, there were always more solutions than problems—if they wanted to cause trouble for you, they could always find an excuse...

In the end, they were simply taking advantage of the fact that you did not speak the language and were unfamiliar with the place, hoping to "extort" a little money.

Basically every Chinese person who had spent time in Moscow had encountered this. No one could avoid it.

Of course, if all your documents were in order and your Russian was fairly good, there would most likely be no trouble.

After all, poor students had little money. The gray dogs were not entirely unreasonable and generally would not make things difficult for them.

But if you held a business visa and had come to do business, then sorry—unless you bled a little, you could forget about leaving.

Just as they feared, when two tall, fat gray dogs spotted Wang Ye and his group, their eyes lit up.

After exchanging a few guttural words, they headed straight toward them.

When they reached them, they barked, "Stop! Show us your passports!"

Seeing that they could not avoid it, Zhou Yuan could only steel himself and step forward. In his still rather clumsy Russian, he said, "Hello, we are university students from Friendship University."

The officers ignored him completely and merely repeated, "Passports!"

At the same time, their hands moved to their waists. They were on patrol with live ammunition...

Left with no choice, Zhou Yuan turned to everyone and said, "Take out your passports. Turn straight to the visa page and let them inspect them. It should be fine."

Fortunately, Wang Ye and the others had brought their passports with them. Before they came, the agency had stressed it over and over: once they arrived in Moscow, they had to carry their passports whenever they went out!

Otherwise, they really could be hauled off to the police station. This was no joke!

Liu Xiaojie and the others barely dared breathe. They hurriedly took out their passports, turned to the visa pages, and lined up for inspection.

Zhou Yuan handed over his passport first. He had been here for some time, and his passport, visa, and student ID were all in order. One of the gray dogs carefully examined everything and found no issues at all. Since Zhou Yuan also had a student ID, he was indeed an enrolled university student.

The officer's expression softened slightly. He closed the passport, handed it back to Zhou Yuan, and said, "You may go."

But when he inspected Wang Ye and the others, his expression changed.

He lifted a sheet of paper tucked inside the passport and said, "This thing is useless!"

Because Wang Ye and the others had only just arrived in Moscow and had come during the holiday break, their landing visas had not yet been stamped. What they had now were only temporary visas issued by the school.

Clearly, the gray dogs had found an excuse and were looking to make trouble...