Quite the Audacity

Saturday was a day off for everyone.

But Wang Ye had arranged with his cousin Ruan Xiaozhu to first visit the dormitory in Moscow University's main building and familiarize himself with the place.

Then he would go shopping with her and buy a decent outfit.

Ruan Xiaozhu had called him last night to say she had found Wang Ye another distributor. She lived in the Moscow University district dormitories.

She was also from their hometown, a girl.

Ruan Xiaozhu told Wang Ye to bring more phone cards, because not only did the girl want a batch of cards, but Ruan Xiaozhu had nearly sold out of hers too and needed to restock.

That was easy enough. Wang Ye had just gotten a batch of goods from Liu Jun, and they were still sitting in his wallet.

Early Saturday morning, Wang Ye got up.

After washing up, he threw together something to eat, put on his coat, and headed out.

He took a taxi again. People's Friendship University was not far from Moscow University's main building, and the ride only cost two hundred rubles.

Wang Ye was still influenced, more or less, by his "previous life." Logically speaking, he was a poor student without much money, and his family circumstances were nothing special either.

He should have been taking buses and cramming into the metro whenever he went out. How could he call a taxi at the drop of a hat? That was far too extravagant!

But Wang Ye now believed his time was more important. He would rather spend a little extra on taxis than bother with buses and the metro.

There was another reason as well. As a "foreigner," taking the bus or metro here was not exactly safe...

Not to mention the notorious Skinheads, even running into the cops was a hassle.

Taxis were much more convenient!

Today was, unusually, sunny.

The sun hung in the sky, its light reflecting off the snow with a blinding glare, but the temperature was even colder than on snowy days...

Soon, he arrived at Moscow University's main building on Sparrow Hills.

Moscow University's standing in Russia might have been even higher than Tsinghua University and Peking University's standing back home!

After all, Tsinghua University and Peking University competed with each other in China.

But in Russia, no other school was qualified to compete with Moscow University!

Especially in 2001 and before, Moscow University was a genuine world-renowned institution.

On the so-called global university rankings issued by major authoritative organizations, Moscow University was always in the world's top twenty, or even top ten. At the time, Tsinghua University and Peking University were still striving just to break into the top hundred...

Completely unlike the unremarkable main building at People's Friendship University, Moscow University's main campus was itself a famous Russian tourist attraction!

The main building was a grand, majestic structure resembling a European palace!

It stood 240 meters tall, with 37 floors and more than 6,000 rooms.

Built entirely from stone, it had weathered a century of wind and rain and remained as solid as a mountain. Only the mottled exterior walls revealed its age.

Moscow University's main building had quite an impressive history.

Comrade Stalin had personally overseen its construction. The stone used had all been specially selected, and some mysterious material had been added to the cement.

It was said that by conventional means, the building was nearly impossible to destroy!

Wang Ye had come here many times in his previous life, so naturally, he was familiar with the place.

He told the Little Black-haired driver to pull up at the east gate, paid the fare, and got out.

At the security booth by the entrance, he only needed to hand over his student ID and explain that he was visiting a friend to be allowed inside.

Management here was quite strict. Student IDs had to be left at the security booth and collected upon departure. Visitors had to leave before eleven at night and were not allowed to stay overnight...

The moment he entered the courtyard, his phone rang. At the same time, he heard someone calling his name nearby.

Wang Ye looked up and saw his cousin Ruan Xiaozhu standing at the dormitory entrance, waving at him.

Moscow University's dormitories were also different from those at People's Friendship University. The conditions here were much better.

They were all suites, each with two bedrooms and a bathroom. One person lived in each bedroom, meaning everyone had a private room!

They were equivalent to Building 13 at People's Friendship University.

Of course, the dorm rooms here were all fairly small. After all, the buildings had been constructed fifty or sixty years ago.

But living alone was still very comfortable.

Ruan Xiaozhu lived on the eighteenth floor. She brought Wang Ye to the elevator, intending to ride it upstairs.

The elevators here were also different from those in China. Their interiors were decorated with wooden panels, and a Russian middle-aged woman was specifically assigned to operate each one.

"Eighteenth floor, thank you," Ruan Xiaozhu said politely.

The woman pressed the button for the eighteenth floor with a few quick taps, but she did not set off immediately. Instead, she waited several minutes until there were seven or eight people in the elevator before starting it upward.

When they reached the eighteenth floor and stepped out, Wang Ye looked around.

The style here was actually similar to the dormitories at People's Friendship University, except the corridors were much longer.

Anyone unfamiliar with Moscow University would really get lost wandering into these dormitories alone. The place was simply too huge...

Ruan Xiaozhu led Wang Ye to her dorm room. As she unlocked the door, she said, "Yanzi is from our hometown and in my class. She lives in the district dormitories. I talked with her about phone cards a couple of days ago, and she was very interested. She wants to become a distributor too. She came over today and is waiting inside. You two can talk in a moment."

As soon as she opened the door, Ruan Xiaozhu called out, "Yanzi, my cousin's here."

A girl had been reclining on the bed reading. Upon hearing Ruan Xiaozhu, she hurriedly stood up. She was clearly Yanzi.

"You two hurry up and talk. We still need to go shopping afterward. Oh, right, Wang Ye, give me some more cards too. The same amount as last time will do. I'll probably have to trouble you to bring another batch over next week. Or maybe I should take more this time. I don't have that much cash on hand right now. It's all deposited in the bank, and I'm too lazy to withdraw it," Ruan Xiaozhu said.

She had basically sold all the cards in her hands. In less than a week, she had made more than a hundred dollars in net profit.

It was not much money, nowhere near as much as she could earn working at the big market.

But it was still pretty good. After all, it was not tiring, and she did not have to get up at four or five in the morning, rush to the big market, and then stand outside in the ice and snow all day!

Wang Ye nodded, took out his wallet, counted out ten one-hundred-dollar cards and twenty fifty-dollar cards, and handed them to Ruan Xiaozhu. Then he accepted 1,600 dollars for the cards.

After settling things with Ruan Xiaozhu, Wang Ye sat down and looked at Yanzi.

Yanzi seemed rather introverted and was a little reserved around Wang Ye.

She sat on the edge of the bed and secretly glanced at him. When she noticed Wang Ye looking back, she quickly lowered her head.

Wang Ye smiled. "You're Sister Yanzi, right? My cousin should have already told you about the phone cards?"

Yanzi nodded and said softly, "She told me everything. Actually, more Chinese international students live in the district dormitories, since accommodation there is cheaper than here. So... so I want to take more cards back to sell."

That was a good thing, and Wang Ye naturally had no objection. He asked, "Then how many do you want for your first batch?"

"Um... twice as many as Xiaozhu," Yanzi answered quickly. Clearly, she had already thought through that number.

Wang Ye was a little surprised. He had not expected this seemingly introverted girl to be so bold.

She wanted more than three thousand dollars' worth of phone cards right away?

Was she not afraid they would end up sitting unsold in her hands?