Chapter 36 The Country I Can't Return To (Revised)...

The train that He Changyi hurriedly boarded was a Russian domestic train, and its conditions were significantly more basic compared to the international trains that He Changyi usually took.

The conditions on international trains were already terrible, but He Changyi never expected that Russian domestic trains could set a new low.

The green train was very old, as if it had just been decommissioned from the battlefield of World War II and had been subjected to the baptism of Allied artillery fire.

The interior of the carriage was filthy, as if it weren't Russia, but some large country in South Asia.

Cockroaches were scurrying around on the floor, and the smell inside the car made you wonder if someone had defecated or urinated on the floor—and it had even been wiped clean with a mattress.

The carriage wasn't full; many berths were empty. Clearly, the owners of these empty berths had been kept on the platform.

Apart from a greasy, black mattress, there was nothing on the bed; the sheets, pillows, and blankets had all disappeared.

He Changyi disgustedly lifted the dirty mattress and sat on the bare bed board, fully clothed.

Alexei sat opposite her, silent, staring at the desolate and barren scenery outside the window.

He Changyi didn't say anything either. After everything that had happened today, she had no mood to coax the giant bear.

Just then, there was a knock on the compartment door, and the train attendant poked his head in, asking them to send a representative to the train attendant's rest room to collect bedding.

He Changyi stood up, paused, and then sat back down.

Alexei didn't look at her, but it was as if he knew what she was thinking.

"I will not jump off a moving train."

So there's no need to worry. Even if He Changyi isn't watching him, the private room won't be empty when she comes back.

Having his thoughts exposed, He Changyi retorted with feigned bravado:

"As a gentleman, shouldn't you be the one to collect the bedding?"

Alexei finally turned his head and looked directly at He Changyi.

"I'm not some kind of gentleman."

He stood up, walked up to He Changyi, and used his fingers to lift her chin, forcing her to look up at him.

"I am a villain."

After saying that, Alexei pushed open the door of the private room and went out before He Changyi could refute him.

He Changyi paused for a moment, then couldn't help but mutter to himself:

Do I look like some submissive, docile lady?

She chased after it aggressively, determined to teach the giant bear a lesson; she wasn't one of those delicate little girls who could be easily teased.

The poor conditions on domestic trains are evident in many aspects. For example, coal is used to boil water on the train, and the smoke fills the entire carriage.

For example, a hole suddenly appears in the floor at the connection between two carriages.

Through the hole, you can see the railway tracks and gravel on the ground, which are large enough for a child to fall through whole.

He Changyi didn't notice and took big strides to chase after Alexei, almost falling into the hole.

As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Alexei turned around, grabbed He Changyi under the armpits, and lifted her up forcefully to prevent her feet from touching the ground.

Still shaken, He Changyi instinctively cursed, "Sukabul!"

Alexei chuckled softly.

"Your pronunciation is really standard."

He turned around and placed He Changyi on the other side of the intact floor. She leaned against the wall, and the hole in the floor looked like a wide-open mouth.

"What is the railway bureau doing? They take money but do nothing! At least they could patch up the floor! Are our train tickets just caviar for the leaders?!"

Alexei reminded him:

"I didn't buy a ticket; you're the one who dragged me in."

He Changyi replied smoothly:

"If the train conductor comes to check tickets, I'm willing to buy you a ticket and pay the fine."

Alexei gave a cold laugh, showing no sign of pleasure.

“I would be very grateful for your generosity, even though it was completely unnecessary.”

Seeing that he was finally willing to communicate with her normally, He Changyi shamelessly explained:

"Um, the journey is so dangerous. I'm just a little girl from China. Are you sure you'd let me travel alone on the train for such a long time?"

Alexei, however, said expressionlessly:

“I am very relieved about this. What I need to worry about are the other people traveling with you. If they have any inappropriate thoughts, I'm afraid they won't be able to reach the final destination intact.”

This guy was unyielding to both soft and hard tactics, so He Changyi stopped pretending and said bluntly:

“Grandma Vitalie asked me to take you away. Although I don’t want to leave her alone in Mosk, I don’t want to make her sad either. I respect her decision, and I ask that you do the same. At least don’t let your poor old grandmother worry anymore.”

Alexei said coldly:

"How great and considerate you are, He Changyi. I never imagined you were such a kind and thoughtful person. I am truly flattered."

He pronounced the four words "overwhelmed with gratitude" slowly and deliberately, each word dripping with sarcasm.

He Changyi lowered her eyes, offering no defense for herself.

“I’m sorry, I know it was wrong to take you away without your consent, but I couldn’t think of any other way. I did consider taking Grandma Vitalie with me, but I couldn’t change her mind. She was a true warrior and a person with ideals.”

Alexei said sharply:

"Do I look like a coward who's afraid of dying?"

He Changyi said calmly:

“You are not, but Grandma Vitalie wants you to live, and please live for her sake.”

If Alexei were left in Mosk, he wouldn't be the type to stay home and take care of his grandmother.

Alexei had too many things to do outside, whether on the street or in the square, he always managed to run into the line of fire.

Using the phrase "seeking one's own death" might seem a bit harsh, but to some extent, using one's physical body to fight against a tank is more than just a futile attempt.

Grandma Vitalie knows her grandson well, and He Changyi also knows him in some ways.

Perhaps someone will hide in the kitchen during this dark moment, and, having survived the ordeal, pour themselves a glass of vodka.

But Alexei would rush into the square, becoming part of the human wall, ready to sacrifice his life at any moment.

—For a political struggle whose outcome was already predetermined.

A silence fell between them. In this turbulent time, it seemed that nothing they did was right, yet everything they did could be understood.

Both Grandma Vitalie and He Changyi wanted Alexei to live.

I'd rather he be a coward who ran away than a hero who sacrificed himself.

In short, please survive.

Alexei didn't speak again; he didn't even look at He Changyi.

He simply turned around in silence and walked towards the private room.

He Changyi watched his retreating figure and shook his head helplessly.

Perhaps one day in the future, he will recount his youthful impulsiveness as a joke, how he almost became a political victim and fodder for news stories, ultimately becoming an insignificant number in a history book.

But now, he needs more time to calm down.

He Changyi received two sets of bedding from the train conductor's rest room, including sheets, blankets, pillows and pillowcases, as well as a blanket so dirty it could be used to wipe the soles of shoes, for a total deposit of fifty rubles.

Passengers around were complaining that they had to pay a deposit to get bedding, asking why the train should provide it.

He Changyi handed the rubles to the train conductor, thinking that there was probably no way he could get the deposit back.

This is a disguised form of self-interest.

He Changyi returned to her compartment with her things. Alexei wasn't there, but she wasn't too worried. The train was still moving at high speed, and she didn't believe Alexei would dare to jump off and run back to Moscow.

He Changyi spread the bedding she received on the bed. When she unfolded the sheet, she was shocked to find a huge hole in the middle, making the whole sheet look more like a smock a hairdresser would wear on a customer.

There was only one blanket, which He Changyi placed unceremoniously on his bed.

She believed that with the bear's physique and the rage in his heart, he would surely be able to withstand the cold of the night.

Alexei still hadn't returned by the time it was completely dark.

Whenever the train arrived at the station, He Changyi would go to the platform to observe whether there was a 1.9-meter-tall bear trying to sneak away among the crowd.

However, she didn't see Alexei; he was probably still somewhere on the train.

Someone in the next compartment had brought a radio and was playing live news, attracting many passengers to gather around and listen.

When the radio broadcast the news that tanks had fired on the government building, the carriage fell silent, with only the hollow sound of the wind audible.

The situation is beyond repair, or rather, this turmoil is about to end after reaching its peak.

Even if Alexei got off the train now and rushed back to Mosk, by the time he arrived, the battlefield would probably already be cleaned up.

He Changyi was completely relieved and stopped looking for him.

It's October now, and while some cities in southern China are still experiencing summer, in Oros, the nighttime temperatures have already dropped to the point where it's chilly enough to make you shiver.

The car wasn't heated, and cold air kept pouring into it through the holes in the floor and the broken windows.

The doors on both sides of the carriage, used for boarding and alighting passengers, were not closed and were left wide open. Even when the train was traveling at a considerable speed, the doors remained open, and the train attendants walked by as if it were perfectly normal.

Cold air relentlessly poured into the dilapidated train from all directions, as if it were not a theoretically sealed carriage, but some kind of open-top tractor.

He Changyi felt she had good reason to suspect that the train was not equipped with any heating facilities and that the railway bureau was planning to freeze the passengers to death and transport them directly to the border city for export as "zombie meat".

Genuine zombie meat, absolutely no adulteration.

Who would have thought that it would be colder inside a train than outside?!

He Changyi wore a thin coat and a turtleneck sweater, which was more for aesthetics than practicality; its biggest advantage was that it looked exceptionally good.

Based on the usual temperature, this coat is warm enough, and at midday I have to take it off and drape it over my arms.

However, the wide cuffs and V-shaped collar are letting in cold air, providing no warmth whatsoever.

He Changyi was shivering from the cold. He didn't care about how dirty the blanket was. He wrapped it around himself through a slightly cleaner sheet and then used the tattered sheet to block the draft in the window.

Even so, her body temperature continued to drop, and her face turned pale from the cold.

He Changyi huddled on his bunk, gritting his teeth and cursing the corrupt officials of the Eros Railway for making every drop of vodka they drank from industrial alcohol and every bite of bread they ate from wheat containing aflatoxin.

As night deepened, the temperature inside the car dropped further and further, even becoming colder than outside due to the cold air.

He Changyi was half asleep, or rather, she was probably about to faint from the cold.

The door to the private room opened softly, and someone walked in.

She was too weak to open her eyes, let alone be wary of whether this was a petty thief trying to steal her money. All she could think about was taking the money and getting out of there, then closing the door and making sure no one took her blanket.

However, the person who came was clearly not very considerate.

He reached out and pulled the blanket off He Changyi's body, somewhat roughly, without caring whether he would wake his owner.

He Changyi gathered some strength from his anger and tried to open his eyes, only to find that the person standing in front of him was an acquaintance.

Alexei frowned and reached out to pull the blanket off her.

He Changyi clutched the blanket, refusing to give it to him, and scolded him in a soft, gentle voice:

"Don't you dare take my blankets! If you want to take one, go take one from the next room... and you'd better take several and give me half of them..."

Alexei was so angry he almost laughed.

"let go."

He said coldly, "Do you want to freeze to death?"

He Changyi was so cold that her mind was foggy and she didn't understand what Alexei was saying. She still clung tightly to the blanket.

Alexei clicked his tongue impatiently.

He Changyi wasn't strong enough to pull the bear away, and in the end, the blanket was snatched from her.

The cold air enveloped her instantly, as if she had been pushed into a cold storage.

He Changyi cursed Alexei viciously, wishing him to spend the rest of his life with sildenafil. The next moment, she suddenly fell into a warm embrace.

Alexei sat on his bunk, holding He Changyi in his arms as if he were holding a scratchy wildcat or a disobedient puppy, wrapping the two of them together with a blanket.

His body temperature was very high, like a nuclear fusion furnace, radiating an irresistible heat.

He Changyi squinted, sighed happily, and subconsciously moved closer to a warmer place.

Alexei, his face dark, pulled her cold hand out from under his clothes.

"Don't move, or I'll throw you out!"

Even in a state of slight confusion, He Changyi still managed to discreetly withdraw her hand, as if nothing had happened.

Alexei lowered his eyes, looking at the top of her black hair resting against his chest, and after a long while, he let out a long breath.

never mind.

When the sun rose again, He Changyi was fully recovered.

She stormed into the train conductors' break room and slammed a stack of rubles on the table.

Give me more blankets!

For the sake of the rubles, the train conductor readily complied.

He had previously claimed that all the blankets in the car had been distributed, but now he has taken out several clean blankets from a locked cabinet.

He Changyi carried a stack of blankets back to the private room like a triumphant warrior.

Hearing the door open, Alexei, who was looking out the window, did not turn around.

The next second, a blanket was thrown on his head.

Alexei pulled off the blanket, turned around with a sullen face, and saw He Changyi standing triumphantly with his hands on his hips, saying to him:

"Who will freeze to death now?"

When the train arrived at the border customs, a long queue had already formed.

Chinese traders eager to return to China crowded in front of the iron gate at the border crossing, waiting for customs officials to open so they could pass through.

Alexei followed He Changyi at a distance, and stopped when they reached the customs.

He Changyi also stopped in her tracks, turned around, and the two looked at each other silently.

Alexei didn't speak or make any gesture of saying goodbye. He just gave He Changyi one last look before turning around and leaving decisively.

He Changyi sighed silently.

Well, at least we can stall him for a few more days.

To be honest, she wasn't confident she could actually drag a 1.9-meter-tall bear into China's territory unless she had a tranquilizer gun.

He Changyi was at the end of the line outside the customs gate, with a steady stream of people arriving behind her.

"Damn it, the Russian customs officials are getting more and more dishonest. Why aren't they coming to work? So, since their president is attacking the government, they're taking a holiday too?"

"Shh, don't say that here. These customs officers all understand Chinese. If they hear you, they'll cause you trouble."

"So what if they hear it? Do you think I'm afraid of them? See? That's our house over there. I don't believe they dare to do anything to us at our doorstep. Do they think our customs and border guards are pushovers?"

Even so, the middleman lowered his voice and looked around nervously, as if he was afraid that the Oros customs officer would hear him.

At the front of the line, a smuggler who had arrived early cursed:

"What's the use of being on our doorstep? This is still within the territory of Oros. They can deal with you whenever they want. Are we afraid of you?"

The person next to him chimed in:

"That's right, those big-nosed people are desperate for money, they'll actually do something like preventing people from returning home. Look at us, we've been here for two days and they still won't let us through!"

"I'm so confused, why won't they let us through? Is there some spy of Ye Mouqin hidden among us? This dragging on is disgusting!"

From the cacophony of voices, He Changyi roughly understood that the Oros customs at this port seemed to be deliberately making things difficult for the Chinese.

He Changyi had previously returned to China via Khorchin or Erenhot. As these were large border crossings, their management was usually quite standardized. This was the first time she had encountered the Oros Customs using the border crossing to manipulate people.

He Changyi thought to himself, "At worst, I'll just give them money. Anyway, the Russians fall for that. All the difficulties they've caused are ultimately for the purpose of extorting bribes."

But the reality was somewhat different from what she had imagined.

After finally making it to eight o'clock, customs started work, but the customs gate was only opened briefly for a few minutes. After letting in the first few people in line, the Russian customs officers in uniform slammed the gate shut again.

No one will be allowed to pass through today!

The scalpers in the group started making a ruckus.

"What does this mean? Even if someone is late, leaves early, or doesn't work properly, it doesn't mean they can only work for two minutes!"

"What the hell? Is this even possible? Isn't this just deliberately trying to cause trouble?!"

"Open the door! We want to go home!"

The smuggler at the front of the line shook the iron gate vigorously. If it weren't for the border guards with guns nearby, some of them would have even climbed over the gate and jumped to the other side.

The commotion got so bad that a uniformed staff member, who looked like a leader, came out and threatened in broken Chinese:

"If you dare cause trouble again, I'll lock you all up!"

As if he felt the deterrent effect wasn't enough, he added:

"Tear up all your passports! Fines! You're all going to jail for immigration!"

This really hits the black marketeers where it hurts.

Even the most unruly scalpers no longer dare to shake the iron gate and obediently start queuing again.

He Changyi squeezed into a corner, grabbed a passing customs officer, and politely handed over US dollars, pleading:

"Comrade, could you please make an exception and let me through? I have some things to take care of back home."

The customs officer's expression softened when he saw the US dollars, but when he heard He Changyi address him as "comrade," his face immediately changed, and he angrily shook off her hand, but left the US dollars behind.

"I'll let you off the hook this time since it's your first offense. But if you dare to do it again, I'll arrest you!"

He Changyi then realized that her way of addressing the customs officer had probably touched a nerve.

This is so ironic. They used to call themselves "comrades," but now they can't even stand hearing that word.

Left with no other option, He Changyi had to retreat to the group and think of other solutions.

However, many people shared the same idea as her, but all of them were like throwing good money after bad, never to return.

"Have these Russians changed their ways? They used to do things for money, but now they just take the money and don't do anything?"

"I found out that it was ordered by higher-ups that someone in the government wants to close the border and prevent people from entering or leaving."

"Didn't some people go out this morning?"

"Perhaps they haven't received any official orders yet, and they themselves aren't sure."

"Sigh, if I had known that Oros was so chaotic, I would have stayed in my hometown to work. It's not easy to earn a few dollars, and I live in constant fear."

The traders in the queue sighed and complained, but for now they could only wait for passage to resume, as required by customs.

Night fell again, and this time it was an open-air environment, with no dilapidated carriages left to barely block the wind.

The queue in front of the customs building did not disperse; instead, it became even more concentrated.

Half of it was because they were afraid of the cold and wanted to stick together for warmth; the other half was because they were afraid of being cut in line and wanted to be the first to return home.

The queue grew longer and longer, with traders from all directions gathering in front of the small iron gate, crowding together like a group of penguins in Antarctica.

He Changyi originally wanted to find a hotel nearby to stay in, but seeing the situation, he had no choice but to stay with the group.

After all, the higher your ranking, the better your chances of returning home.

On the first night, He Changyi forced herself not to sleep. When she was too cold to bear it, she ran and jumped around to keep warm.

The chill of the night air is like countless tiny needles, silently piercing through clothes and deeply embedding themselves in flesh and bone, until the fingers can no longer bend.

The customs office opened briefly again on the second day, letting in a few people before slamming the door shut once more.

He Changyi stared at the gate that was right in front of her, secretly gathering her strength. Tomorrow, as long as it was tomorrow, it would be her turn to cross the border and return home.

The second night was still unbearable.

During the day, shrewd Oros peddlers would push carts selling birch sap and black bread at ten times the normal price.

He Changyi bought bread, a pot of hot tea, and even paid extra to the vendor to sell her an old military overcoat.

Although the cotton lining of the coat has been felted, greatly reducing its warmth, the thick enough material can still keep out the cold wind.

He Changyi said something to the familiar traders in front and behind the group, then wrapped himself in his military overcoat and managed to catch up on a nap in the sun.

When night fell, she dared not sleep, fearing that she would not wake up due to hypothermia.

As the sky began to lighten, He Changyi knew that she had endured another night.

Once customs opens, she can return to China today.

However, the time customs opened the doors to let people in was even shorter, so short that it made people doubt their own eyes.

Clearly, returning home was only separated by an iron gate, but now it felt like an insurmountable chasm.

The resellers, who had been queuing for two days and two nights, were furious and pushed forward frantically, waves of people crashing against the iron gate.

"Open the door! We want to go home!"

"Open the door! Why are you preventing us from passing through!"

"Go to hell with you Russians, I'm never coming to this damn Oros again!"

"Open the door! Open the door! Open the door!"

The iron gate rattled loudly as it was shaken. He Changyi was caught up in the crowd, but a sense of foreboding suddenly welled up in her heart. She used all her strength to back away.

At that moment, the border guards started hitting the crowd with rubber batons!

He Changyi's backward movement allowed her to narrowly avoid the police baton, but she watched helplessly as the baton struck the head of the person in front of her, who immediately collapsed to the ground, bleeding profusely from his head.

This isn't a customs post; it's a death trap.

The angry crowd was stunned by the blood and violence, and no one dared to push forward.

The third night.

He Changyi's mental and physical strength had reached their limit. She could clearly sense that her body could no longer muster any more heat to withstand the low temperature of the night.

Even with the military overcoat keeping her warm, her body temperature continued to drop.

He Changyi was keenly aware that this was the extent of her ability to hold on.

As dawn broke, He Changyi staggered to his feet, forcing himself to stay awake, intending to find a hotel to rest first, and then think of another way to return to China.

She had only taken two steps when the world spun around her, her legs gave way, and she fell straight to the ground.

Someone caught her.

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Author's Note: Why did the female lead insist on forcibly taking Alexei away? Because this silly kid actually dared to run into a tank, and she couldn't just stand by and watch him turn into a pile of mushy pancakes, could she? *shrug*