A Convenient Older Cousin

Just as Wang Ye had expected.

The next day, Sunday, far fewer people came to buy phone cards.

By the end of the day, they had only sold four fifty-dollar cards and one hundred-dollar card...

It seemed that phone card sales would be about the same from now on—perhaps even worse!

He needed to get in touch with Moscow University as soon as possible.

Actually, Wang Ye had an "acquaintance" at Moscow University, and they were even somewhat related.

He had an "older cousin" who was currently studying at Moscow University. She was already in her third year and had come to Moscow three years ago.

The reason Wang Ye had not contacted this "older cousin" after arriving was that their family connection was honestly rather tenuous.

This cousin was named Ruan Xiaozhu. She was the goddaughter of Wang Ye's mother's younger cousin's paternal cousin...

Calling her "older cousin" was technically not wrong, but in truth, the two had never met before.

In his "previous life," Wang Ye had met this older cousin on a flight back to China. Only after they started chatting did they discover that not only were they genuinely from the same hometown, they also had this family connection!

After that, Ruan Xiaozhu jokingly made Wang Ye call her "older cousin."

His older cousin was quite a character and had been thriving at Moscow University.

In his "previous life," while Wang Ye had studied in Moscow, she had looked after him a great deal and helped him with many things.

Still, getting in touch with her would not be easy. Wang Ye could not remember her phone number.

But that was fine. He could call home and ask his mother to have her younger cousin ask her paternal cousin...

On Monday morning, Wang Ye went to school early.

Given his Russian proficiency, there was no need for him to attend classes at all. He only needed to show up for exams and go through the motions.

Yet he had barely skipped any classes lately.

After all, there was nothing to do sitting around in the dormitory. Besides, the semester had just started, and he needed to get acquainted with the teachers.

Also, the beautiful teacher Angelina had classes every day, and Wang Ye wanted to get a little closer to her.

Well, his purpose was perfectly simple: he just wanted more practice speaking Russian...

During class, Wang Ye was the only person in the entire class who could converse freely with the teachers. His Russian was not even much worse than theirs.

That made his classmates green with envy. The handsome Latin American guy even asked Wang Ye after class why he still came to class with Russian skills like that!

Clearly, seeing Wang Ye chatting and laughing with Angelina had made the handsome guy a little jealous.

After class ended at a little past two in the afternoon, Wang Ye returned to the dormitory.

On the way, he called home.

It was around seven or eight in the evening in China, so someone should be home.

His mother was a little surprised to receive his call. Wang Ye had just called a few days ago, so why was he calling again today?

This was an international long-distance call. It was expensive!

"What's wrong? Did something happen?" his mother quickly asked.

"Nothing. I just remembered that before I went abroad, didn't my aunt say that her older cousin's goddaughter was also here in Moscow? I've been wanting to visit Moscow University lately, so I thought I'd get in touch with this... I guess I should call her older cousin? We're related, after all. It would be good to have someone to look out for each other here," Wang Ye replied with a smile.

That caught his mother by surprise. She had not even considered it. Since when had Wang Ye become so good at handling things?

Perhaps boys really needed to go out into the world and make their way!

She said happily, "Right, right! You should contact her. I'll call your aunt in a bit and have her ask for that girl's mobile number. She's been in Moscow for several years, and her family is doing quite well, so she should have a mobile phone."

"Okay. Call this number later. It's my roommate's mobile number." Wang Ye gave his mother the number.

He still did not dare tell his family that he had bought a mobile phone...

After all, his mother did not even have one. If he bought a mobile phone right after going abroad, his family definitely would not understand.

In their minds, Wang Ye had come here to study hard!

Even if he had other ideas, he should wait two or three years until he was familiar with the situation here before considering anything else.

Ruan Xiaozhu's family really was well-off. Her father was the top official of some township in the county where Wang Ye was from.

Do not underestimate such a tiny official. He had real power!

Especially around the 1990s—those who knew, knew...

By the time Wang Ye returned to the dormitory, fiddled with a few things, and was just about to eat, his mother called.

He heard her say in a hurried voice, "I got the mobile number. Find paper and a pen and write it down quickly!"

Wang Ye was a little puzzled. "Huh? Okay... I'll go find some. Why the rush?"

"You silly child, international long-distance calls are so expensive! Hurry up, don't waste time," his mother urged.

Fortunately, there was paper and a pen on the table. Wang Ye wrote down his older cousin's mobile number, but before he could say much more to his mother, she hung up...

That made sense. His mother did not have an IP calling card. She had called directly from the home landline!

Looking at the mobile number on the paper, Wang Ye hesitated and did not call right away.

He was in the preparatory program, so classes ended a little after two, but his older cousin might still be in class.

Calling now would not be appropriate.

It would be better to wait until six or seven in the evening.

After dinner, he went out and delivered phone cards twice more.

At around eight, Wang Ye dialed the number.

The phone was answered after only two rings, and a crisp female voice came through.

"Hello, this is Aili."

She said it in Russian. Wang Ye could tell that her pronunciation was not quite standard, carrying a hint of Chinese-accented Russian.

This "Aili" was probably Ruan Xiaozhu's Russian name.

He replied in Chinese, "Is this Ruan Xiaozhu?"

There was a brief pause on the other end before she responded in Chinese, "This is she. Who are you?"

Wang Ye explained, "Hello, Sister Ruan. My name is Wang Ye."

Afraid that Ruan Xiaozhu would not know who Wang Ye was, he immediately added, "Your godmother is my aunt's paternal cousin. I arrived in Moscow at the beginning of this month. Since I knew you were here, I thought I'd get in touch."

Ruan Xiaozhu laughed as soon as she heard that. "Hehe, I know who you are. When I went back to China during last summer vacation, I heard my dad say you were coming over too. Why did you only come this year?"

Wang Ye gave another explanation. Those agencies really misled people!

Ruan Xiaozhu pondered for a moment before saying, "Are you busy right now? If not, why don't you come over and we can meet?"

Wang Ye checked the time. It had only just turned eight, so he said without hesitation, "Sure. Should I go directly to your Moscow University dorm? By the way, Sister Ruan, do you live in the main building or somewhere else?"

"I live in the main building, but I'm at the Little Eagle Hotel right now. Just take a taxi here. Tell the driver the name and he'll know it. Call me when you arrive," Ruan Xiaozhu replied.

Little Eagle Hotel?

That was quite an interesting place...