Not So Simple

Wang Ye's Russian was good—let's set that aside for now.

Because being good at Russian alone was not enough to earn Song Xiaogang and the others' admiration. After all, some of the old Moscow hands who had been here for years spoke Russian very well too.

Like the owner of the Chinese restaurant downstairs—his Russian was extremely fluent, no worse than Wang Ye's.

The reason everyone admired Wang Ye was more importantly because he had high emotional intelligence and handled interpersonal relationships very well.

Perhaps aside from Zhang Ke and his few friends, all the other Chinese students in the preparatory buildings had a good impression of Wang Ye...

After hesitating for a moment, Song Xiaogang asked, "Brother Ye, with my level of Russian, do you think I could find some kind of part-time job?"

Wang Ye looked up at him in surprise and asked, "You've only been here for a little over half a year, right? You haven't even graduated from preparatory school yet. Why are you in such a hurry to work?"

Although plenty of international students went out to work part-time, they generally did not consider such things until after graduating from preparatory school and entering their first or even second year of university.

If you had not even graduated from preparatory school, it meant your Russian was not that good, and finding a job would be difficult too.

Song Xiaogang put down his pen and said with a bitter smile:

"I know it's a little early to talk about this, but I don't plan to go back to China this summer. I heard the preparatory graduation exams will be at the end of May, while first-year classes won't begin until September. That gives us more than three full months of summer vacation. I'm planning to work during those three months, earn some money, and ease my family's burden a little."

He had arrived last September, so he clearly could not go home for the Spring Festival, since there was no holiday here during China's Spring Festival.

But not going back during summer vacation was far less common.

Considering Song Xiaogang's family circumstances, though, it made sense. After all, plane tickets back to China were not cheap either.

Besides, after graduating from preparatory school, he could barely manage a part-time job as an interpreter at the big market. Even if he earned five or six hundred dollars a month, he could make nearly two thousand dollars in three months.

To Song Xiaogang, that was no small sum!

After pondering for a moment, Wang Ye said, "Xiaogang, don't be anxious. Right now, your most important task is to learn Russian well. I'm not going back this summer either. We'll see when the time comes. Maybe you won't need to work as an interpreter at the big market—I'll find something for you to do. You definitely won't earn less than you would at the big market!"

There were still more than five months until summer vacation. Wang Ye was confident that his business would have gotten off the ground by then.

Then Song Xiaogang could help him handle things.

After all, Wang Ye knew him well enough and could use him with confidence!

Song Xiaogang's face lit up when he heard that. With Wang Ye saying this, it meant he would have something to do over the summer!

And Wang Ye had just said that if he worked with him, he definitely would not earn less than he would as an interpreter at the big market!

Part-time interpreters at the big market earned at least five hundred dollars to start, depending on their Russian proficiency and work experience!

With Song Xiaogang's Russian level, he would probably only get the starting rate—five hundred dollars a month.

He was not greedy. As long as Wang Ye paid him five hundred dollars, he would absolutely be willing to work for him.

Not to mention that working at the big market was exhausting. He would have to get up at four or five in the morning every day to catch buses and the metro, then stand around there all day...

More importantly, working there as an interpreter was purely for making money. It would not improve any of his abilities in any way.

But working with Wang Ye would obviously be much more challenging and rewarding, even though he still did not know what Wang Ye planned to do...

Song Xiaogang did not press Wang Ye about what he intended to do. Instead, he thumped his chest and said decisively, "Don't worry, Brother Ye! I'll definitely improve my Russian. When the time comes, I definitely won't hold up your work."

Wang Ye nodded in satisfaction. This counted as taking in his first core subordinate, didn't it?

Song Xiaogang was a capable person, both scholarly and martial!

He studied diligently, improved quickly in Russian, and was tall, sturdy, and very good in a fight!

Once his business grew larger in the future, he would definitely need to cultivate some trusted confidants. Song Xiaogang was absolutely worth cultivating.

On Tuesday, Wang Ye still went to class obediently.

To be honest, there was not much he needed to learn in class. Everything the teacher taught was fairly basic.

If Angelina had not been their Russian teacher, Wang Ye would have long since dragged Little Hu off to work on company matters...

It was not some "restlessness of adolescence," nor was it that Wang Ye had never seen beautiful women.

It was simply because Angelina had been the first girl in his previous life to make his heart stir after arriving in Moscow.

But when he had attended preparatory school in his previous life, his Russian had been poor and he had no money in his pocket, so he had not dared entertain too many thoughts.

After graduating from preparatory school, he had never crossed paths with Angelina again, and later...

Now that he had been given another life, he had to fulfill a "dream" for himself!

Of course, in this life, Wang Ye had quite a few "dreams" to fulfill...

After class, Wang Ye did not hurry back. Instead, he stood in the smoking area outside the main entrance and lit a cigarette.

As groups of students poured out of the preparatory building, some who knew Wang Ye greeted him when they saw him.

Some also invited him to return to the dormitory with them, but Wang Ye waved them off and said he still had something to do.

After more than ten minutes, Wang Ye was already smoking his third cigarette when his eyes lit up. He saw Angelina walk out of the building.

However, he did not go over to speak to her. Instead, he pretended not to notice her and lowered his head to continue smoking.

Angelina seemed to have spotted Wang Ye standing alone by the roadside, smoking. She asked warmly, "Wang, why haven't you gone back yet?"

The "Wang" she said was naturally not meant as "prince" or "king." She was calling Wang Ye by his surname. Foreigners had this habit—they preferred calling people by their surnames rather than their given names.

There was a reason for that.

Because foreigners had many surnames, but far fewer given names...

And they were very unimaginative when naming people, always using the same fixed set of names.

Wang Ye looked up, tossed the cigarette butt in his hand into a large ashtray, and smiled.

"I had something to take care of and made a phone call. Angelina, are you heading back to the dormitory?"

Although Angelina was a teacher, she was not much older than Wang Ye and had only recently graduated.

She had also said not to treat her as a teacher, but simply as a friend.

So Wang Ye always called her by her name.

Angelina nodded. The wind had tousled her beautiful golden hair slightly, and she raised a hand to smooth it back before saying, "Of course I'm going back. What else could I do?"

Wang Ye said naturally, "Then let's go together. We're heading the same way anyway."

It was true. Wang Ye lived in Building 6, while Angelina lived in Building 13. Both had to walk north.

The two of them walked shoulder to shoulder toward the dormitories.

Wang Ye had waited around for so long, of course, not merely to walk the same way as Angelina for a while...

During the new book period, I still need everyone's support. Recommendation votes, monthly votes, new book investments, and so on—they don't cost anything, so please don't be stingy...