My hometown is far away in Moscow.

028 I just have to get this off my chest

Dam's boyfriend was a young man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. He was only a little over 1.6 meters tall, but his appearance was considered quite sunny and handsome among the Vietnamese people in Ma Ji. He looked quite similar to the popular Hong Kong singer Leo Ku. Therefore, the Chinese female students secretly called him "Vietnamese Leo Ku," while the boys jokingly called him "Little Leo Ku" or "Mini Leo Ku."

Tonight, several Vietnamese students took the subway to a friend's house off-campus for New Year's Eve dinner. After arriving at the station, Dam and the others got off one after another, but her boyfriend did not come out for a long time.

The evening rush hour hadn't ended yet, and the subway station was crowded. They assumed that the tall Russians around them were blocking their view and didn't pay much attention until the train doors closed. They then discovered that several bald men were beating someone up inside the carriage, and the person surrounded in the middle was none other than Leo Ku.

As the train slowly started moving, the Vietnamese students were terrified. They quickly sent Dam to call the police for help, while the rest boarded the next train to search along the route. When they finally found the unconscious Leo Ku on the platform of the terminal station, ten stops away, he had been beaten to a pulp, his facial features distorted.

According to several eyewitnesses at the terminal station, they saw a group of skinheads whipping Leo Ku mercilessly with belts and chains inside the train carriage. As soon as the train doors opened, they left. Kind-hearted people nearby quickly carried him off the train and called an ambulance.

The Vietnamese students rushed to the hospital with the ambulance. Fortunately, Little Leo Ku's injuries were mostly contusions and not too dangerous. He had multiple fractures, including his nose and brow bone, and several broken teeth. His face was so swollen that he was unrecognizable. Dam and the others stayed at the hospital until he woke up from his coma and then fell into a deep sleep again before returning to their dormitory.

After the Vietnamese female student briefly recounted Mini Leo Ku's ordeal, Damu stood beside her, sobbing uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face. Yu Feifei, learning they were still hungry, hurried to the kitchen to prepare food. Hu Yi offered Damu a few words of comfort, smacked his lips, sighed, and quickly left.

Back in his dorm room, the desks and chairs were all back in their places. The room was quiet and empty, save for the intermittent snoring of Peng Song next door. Hu Yi gathered up the empty wine bottles on the floor and opened the window to let the stale air out.

A biting wind, carrying snowflakes, blew in, making him shiver. He quickly grabbed his coat and wrapped it around himself. Lost in thought for a moment, he remembered the pitiful state of Little Leo Ku. Recalling the previous encounters of Lu Tao and Li Baoqing, and Bayin and Persimmon Face, Hu Yi felt a pang of fear, blankly pondering how he would cope if it happened to him.

Just as Hu Yi was gritting his teeth and glaring at himself, lost in thought, Li Baoqing wobbled back into the house on his slippers. Hu Yi turned to him and asked, "Did you go to deliver Masha?"

"Yes! I just saw him off." Li Baoqing smiled happily, humming a tuneless little tune as he took off his coat and hung it on the wall. He walked over to Hu Yi and put his arm around his shoulder. "Old Hu—now that there's no one else in the house, I have to give you a lecture."

Hu Yi was taken aback: "Huh? What's wrong?"

"You did something wrong tonight. You're not happy, you're very unhappy!"

"What's up?"

Li Baoqing squinted and hiccuped: "Today is Chinese New Year, the eve of the Lunar New Year, right?"

"That's right." Hu Yi looked puzzled.

"I know you don't like Peng Song. To be honest, I have my issues with him too. But even if Peng Song has a thousand faults, shouldn't we at least give him some face during the New Year? He kindly cooked a dish for everyone, and you, on the other hand, didn't touch it at all! You didn't even try it. Isn't that a bit... tsk, too obvious?"

"Oh...you mean this...um..." Hu Yi drawled, turning to look at Li Baoqing: "Hey? How much did you drink tonight? Feeling unwell?"

"I drank... half a pound of vodka and four or five bottles of beer. I felt like throwing up several times but couldn't, and now it feels like it's about to hit my throat. My head hurts a bit. Hehe, my face hurts too."

Li Baoqing touched the scar on his face and chuckled a few times. Then, he suddenly shook his head, pulled his hand away from Hu Yi's shoulder, and said seriously, reeking of alcohol, "You...you shouldn't change the subject. I'm criticizing you!"

Hu Yi smiled, lit a cigarette, and said, "Alright, please continue. I'm all ears."

"Peng Song is a bit problematic, but he's not a bad person at heart. I know you've snapped at him several times to stand up for me, but I don't care about those things anymore, so why are you still holding onto them?"

Li Baoqing took a cigarette and put it in his mouth, shaking his head as he continued, "You, Lao Hu, are doing quite well among the Chinese in Maji. Everyone gives you face, and Peng Song even calls you Brother Hu or Brother Yi. But you also have to act... well, be more magnanimous. You can't bully Peng Song just because you dislike him; that's not right."

Hu Yi tilted his head slightly, looking at Li Baoqing with a wry smile: "I didn't bully him, did I?"

Li Baoqing threw his head back and chuckled, then pointed twice at Hu Yi's chest: "You... don't think I'm drunk. I saw everything clearly tonight. You deliberately tried to embarrass Peng Song. What was the meaning of that sullen look you gave me when I was eating chicken? Every time someone picked up a piece of spicy chicken, you stared at them for ages. Fei Fei even had to watch your expression when she picked up her chopsticks, and in the end, she didn't touch a single bite. You must have said something to her beforehand, right? How can you be so... so arrogant? Is it okay for you to do this? Why bother? Why bother?"

Li Baoqing shook his head and sighed, becoming increasingly agitated as he spoke. Hu Yi hesitated for a moment before slowly saying, "To be honest, that spicy chicken was pretty good. But... do you know why I didn't eat it? Do you know why I was staring at you?"

"No matter the reason, I think what you're doing is problematic! You're clearly trying to exclude Peng Song." Li Baoqing bent down and tapped the windowsill a few times, looking distressed. "We're all Chinese, and life in this godforsaken place isn't easy. Don't let trivial matters cause discord, okay? I ate most of the chicken tonight myself. Why? Because I was worried Peng Song would feel bad!"

"Sigh, you're such a good person. Actually, that chicken... that chicken..." Hu Yi sighed with a half-smile, and mumbled, "...fell into the toilet."

"What?!" Li Baoqing abruptly dropped his lecturing expression, reverting to his usual goofy demeanor: "Wh...what is that thing? Where did it fall?"

"That chicken fell into the toilet and spun around in there for ages," Hu Yichong pointed to the toilet. "Go look if you don't believe me. There might even be some chicken fat left on it that hasn't been flushed away."

Li Baoqing stared intently at Hu Yi: "Really??"

"We've known each other for so long, have I ever lied to you?" Hu Yi said with a grin in a low voice, "Think about it, did Peng Song eat the spicy chicken he cooked himself?"

"It seems...it seems...hmm? I didn't really notice..." Li Baoqing's gaze gradually became unfocused, and he said angrily, "Why didn't you say so sooner?!"

Hu Yi spread his hands: "I originally wanted to tell you, but I couldn't find a suitable opportunity. Then I saw you eating stewed meat and stuff, so I couldn't bear to say it. Don't worry, apart from Feifei and me, no one else knows about this. They ate quite a bit with you too."

"It's better if you don't know!" Li Baoqing exclaimed angrily, pressing his hand to his chest. "You might as well not have told me at all, it's disgusting!"

Hu Yi said aggrievedly, "I didn't plan to tell you, but you insisted on asking me why I didn't eat chicken, and you even accused me of a whole bunch of things without explanation. I was afraid you would misunderstand, so I had no choice but to tell you the truth."

Li Baoqing bit his lip and took a few deep breaths, remaining silent. Hu Yi, suppressing a laugh, comforted him, "It's okay! Just pretend nothing happened, out of sight, out of mind. Actually, once it's cooked, it's not dirty anymore. The nausea is just psychological; just don't think about it. Think back carefully; when you ate it, didn't you notice any strange taste?"

Li Baoqing pondered quietly for a while, then suddenly his throat moved with difficulty a few times. He turned around abruptly and rushed to the toilet, where he hugged the toilet and vomited violently. He vomited until he felt dizzy and saw stars, tears streaming down his face. Only then did he stand up and mutter in a hoarse voice, "You little bastard, you little... ugh... vomit..." before bending over the toilet again.

Hu Yi, leaning against the bedroom door frame, laughed until tears streamed down his face. He kept bowing to Li Baoqing, saying, "It's my fault, it's my fault. I didn't expect you to react so strongly. If I had known this would happen, I would rather be misunderstood for the rest of my life than tell you."

Li Baoqing rinsed his mouth three times, then leaned against the toilet doorframe, panting heavily. Just then, Peng Song woke up needing to urinate, and sleepily came out to use the toilet. Seeing the two of them with glistening tears in the corners of their eyes, he mumbled through his sleepy yawn, "Sigh, the holidays always make us miss our loved ones even more. Why be so sad? Let's have a happy New Year!"

"Get out of here!" Li Baoqing roared, rushed into the bedroom with a mournful face, and slammed the door shut behind him.