red moscow

Chapter 2671

Sokov didn't expect that the party in the suburban villa would be like this!

He felt dissatisfied with his Russian friends. They didn't even take me to such a fun place. They only took me to military bases for target practice, driving tanks, or exploring newly discovered fortifications left over from the Great Patriotic War.

When Sokov and Anna walked into the cafeteria, they saw Lena occupying a round table by the window, waving at them and motioning them to come over.

The two came to Lena, and Lena said with emotion: "I didn't expect that there would be so many people today. Misha, you sit here and take a seat. Anna and I will go get the things."

Sokov nodded and sat down at the table.

Lena stood up and took Anna to get food.

At Mumu Buffet, it’s not the kind of restaurant where you set a certain price for each person. Instead, you choose the food you want first and then take it to the cashier to pay.

Sokov missed the self-service restaurants in China that cost 69, 79 or 89 per person, where you could eat as much as you wanted without any restrictions. In Moscow, there is only one such self-service restaurant near Mayakovsky Metro Station, but it is too far away, otherwise Sokov would definitely go there.

Because there were too many customers, Anna and Lena, who went to pick up their food, did not come back for a long time.

"Friend," Sokov heard a voice familiar to him, "Can we share the table with you?"

Sokov looked up and saw two men standing in front of him. The one who was talking was the short, dark-skinned man on the left. The man on the right had a square face, a medium build, and was a bit fat, giving people a domineering feeling.

The table where Sokov sat could seat eight people. There were only three of them, including himself, Anna, and Lena. Even with his two compatriots, there were only five of them, which was enough space. So he politely said, "Please take a seat."

"Thank you, thank you so much!" After thanking Sokov, the short man found an empty seat and sat down.

The square-faced man snorted coldly and said to the shorter man, "Old Tan, if you want to treat me to a meal, you should find a better place. Why come to such a low-end restaurant? Look at the people eating around me, a bunch of ordinary Russians. Eating with them really lowers my status. You know, I have studied EMBA."

"Mr. Cai, I'm so sorry, this restaurant is the best around here." The man called Lao Tan said with a smile, "I'll treat you to a meal somewhere else when I have time."

"I don't have the time. I have to go back to China in two days." Mr. Cai said impatiently, "I thought I could see beautiful women everywhere and eat delicious food in Russia. But I was greatly disappointed. Not only can I not see beautiful women everywhere, but I only eat bread every day. You know, I came from China to cooperate with you, but I didn't expect you to be so insincere."

  Although it was the first time that Sokov met Mr. Cai, he felt disgusted with him after hearing what he said. He secretly regretted why he agreed to let him share the table.

"Misha!" Anna came over with a tray, placed the items on the table one by one, and said to Sokov, "This is for you."

"What about you?" Sokov asked.

"At Lena's place." Anna explained: "I don't eat much anyway, so the food I took was put together with Lena's."

Lena came over with a tray and saw two strangers sitting at the table. She couldn't help but frowned: "Misha, why are there two strangers sitting here with us?"

"Lena," Sokov explained to her, "They couldn't find a seat, so they came over temporarily to share the table with us. I saw that they were from the same country, so I agreed."

As the three of them began to eat, Lena and Anna talked in low voices.

Sokov was listening to the conversation between Old Tan and Mr. Cai. It wasn't that he wanted to eavesdrop on their conversation, but Mr. Cai's voice was too loud and he couldn't help but listen. In addition, the guests at the nearby tables all looked down on Mr. Cai.

Mr. Cai took a bite of the smoked fish and then spat it out, cursing, "What a shitty taste, it's so disgusting. When it comes to delicious food, our country's food is still the best."

Although Sokov disliked Mr. Cai a little, he still agreed with what he said. Chinese cuisine is incomparable to that of any other country.

He had just developed a slight favorable impression of Mr. Cai, but his next words made Sokov feel even more resentful of him.

Mr. Cai said, "My favorite dish is spicy crayfish. Last month, the company celebrated its second anniversary and we had a dinner party at the company. I spent RMB 100 to buy three pounds of spicy crayfish and treated more than 40 colleagues to a meal. Everyone praised the dish."

When Sokov heard this, he was so speechless that he could not complain: He spent 100 yuan to buy three pounds of spicy crayfish and treated more than 40 people to a meal. How stingy this boss is.

Then I heard Mr. Cai say, "Your place is not good either. There are only two single beds for five people, and three of them have to sleep on the floor every day. I am different. I have a bunk bed in my office. When clients come and I am busy too late, I will ask others to sleep in the office. I let them sleep on the upper bed and I sleep on the lower bed. It is convenient for us to chat."

Sokov couldn't help laughing when he heard this. Anna heard it and asked curiously, "Misha, what are you laughing at?"

"I heard something funny," Sokov said lightly, "so I couldn't help it."

"What's the matter, tell me!"

Sokov glanced at Old Tan, who looked livid. He was not sure how well he spoke Russian. If he told Anna and Lena about this, and they understood him, it would be troublesome. So he shook his head and said, "Let's talk about it after we finish eating."

Unexpectedly, at this moment, two policemen came in from outside. They looked around and walked towards where Sokov and others were.

When they came to the table, one of the police officers, who was wearing the rank of lieutenant, held out his hands to Lao Tan and Mr. Cai and said, "Your passports!"

Old Tan was obviously often checked by the police for his passport, so he quickly took out his passport from his jacket pocket and handed it over. At the same time, he said to Mr. Cai who was still talking nonsense, "Mr. Cai, take out your passport quickly, the police want to check it."

But Mr. Cai didn't listen to Lao Tan at all. Not only did he not take out his passport, he also squinted at the two policemen and said arrogantly: "He said he wanted to check my passport, so I had to show him my passport. Who does he think he is?"

When Sokov heard this, he secretly gave Mr. Cai a thumbs up. He was really ignorant and fearless. If he dared to be so arrogant in the United States, the American police might not empty the magazine, but they would definitely point the gun at his forehead.

After the police officer looked at Lao Tan's passport, he returned it to him and continued to say to Mr. Cai: "Please show me your passport!"

Mr. Cai stood up and said to the police confidently: "I graduated with an EMBA. What rights do you have to check my passport?"

Sokov couldn't help but laugh and cry. There was no connection between you studying for an EMBA and the police checking your passport. If you don't honestly show your ID and accept their inspection, it's considered resisting law enforcement. They can just take you to the police station for coffee.

Seeing that Mr. Cai was so stubborn, Mr. Tan was worried that something might happen, so he quickly persuaded him, "Mr. Cai, please take out your passport quickly, otherwise something might happen."

Seeing that Lao Tan was anxious, Mr. Cai reluctantly took out his passport and placed it on the table: "Here is my passport, let them take it themselves."

Sokov had sharp eyes and could see the personal information on the homepage at a glance. Mr. Cai's name was Cai Bo, and he was 36 years old. He was not young, but why did he act like a naughty child, not sensible at all?

The police officer took the passport, took a look at it, and then put it in his pocket. He then gestured to Cai Bo, asking him to follow him. Cai Bo was not willing to give in easily, and said rudely: "I am an EMBA student, and you probably haven't even finished college. Be nice to me, otherwise I will complain to your director when I see him."

Cai Bo spoke all these words in Chinese, so the police naturally didn't understand him. They just grabbed his arm and dragged him outside.

Cai Bo struggled and pointed at Sokov and said, "He is from the same place as me, why don't you check his passport?"

Old Tan glanced at Sokov with an apologetic look, and then covered Cai Bo's mouth: "Boss Cai, if you don't want to stay in the cell for a few days, just shut up."

Just like that, the self-righteous Mr. Cai was taken away by two policemen, and Old Tan, who was worried that something might happen to him, also followed him out.

"Misha," Anna, who had noticed something, asked Sokov tentatively after the restaurant calmed down, "The joke you just told was about the person taken away by the police?"

"That's right." Sokov repeated to Anna and Lena the conversation he had just heard.

After listening to her, Anna asked curiously, "Misha, I've never seen crayfish before. How many are there in three pounds?"

"How many there are per pound depends on the size of the crayfish," said Sokov. "If they are big, there are 10 per pound; if they are small, there are about 20 per pound. In other words, there are 30 to 60 crayfish per pound."

"Even if there are 60, with more than people having dinner together, each person can only get one or two." Anna shook her head and said, "They're all gone before they can even taste the flavor."

"Misha, can you tell me?" After Anna finished speaking, Lena interrupted and asked, "What is an EMBA?"

Lena's question really gave Sokov a headache. There really was no EMBA in Europe. This thing, which was first created by the University of Chicago School of Management, was quite troublesome to explain to them. He organized the words in his mind and then said, "The so-called EMBA is actually the abbreviation of Master of Business Administration for Senior Executives. It is specially designed to train middle and senior managers who have a sense of responsibility and professional ethics and are capable of high-level management work in industrial and commercial enterprises and economic management departments."

"Do you have a diploma?"

"No diploma." Sokov shook his head and said, "EMBA is a non-academic education. You can't get a diploma, only a degree certificate."

"What about tuition?"

"It's quite expensive." Sokov said after calculating the exchange rate in his mind: "Depending on the school you attend, the tuition fee is between 5 and 10 US dollars."

"You don't have a diploma, but you're charging such a high tuition fee." Lena pursed her lips and said, "Only a fool would go to study this."

"Lena, you can't say that." Sokov said, "After studying for an EMBA, whether you have learned anything or not, you can brag about it outside. Anyway, not many people know about it. The name sounds scary, and people might be intimidated by it."

After dinner, Sokov asked the two, "What are your plans later? Do you need me to take you home?"

"I don't want to go home yet." Lena shook her head and said, "From here to your house, there is a nightclub on the way. I plan to go there to play."

Sokov looked at the sky outside, then said, "Lena, it's not even dark yet. It's a little too early for you to go to the nightclub."

After hearing what Sokov said, Lena hesitated for a moment, then said, "There's a gym nearby, it would be the same if you send me there."

Nightclubs don't feel safe, and Sokov is worried about Lena going alone. But since she's going to the gym, there's no problem.

Sokov drove Lena to the gym and then turned around and drove home.

On the way, we passed a bookstore.

Seeing the bookstore, Sokov's heart couldn't help but move, and he immediately stepped on the brakes.

Anna saw Sokov park the car, looked out the window, and asked curiously, "Misha, what are you doing here?"

"I want to buy some books."

Hearing that Sokov was going to buy a book, Anna asked curiously, "Misha, what kind of book are you going to buy? A romance novel, or a history novel, or a fantasy novel?"

"A military novel." Sokov looked at Anna and said, "It would be best if it reflects the Great Patriotic War."

"It's hard to find books like this in bookstores nowadays." Anna said thoughtfully: "If you want to buy books about the Great Patriotic War, we can go to the second-hand book stall on Arbat Street. Maybe you can buy the book you want there."

"Well, let's go to Arbat Street."

Sokov drove to Arbat Street, found a place to park the car, and started shopping with Anna.

There are many art stalls on both sides of the street. Young or old artists sit among a pile of sketches, patiently waiting for customers to come.

"Anna," Sokov saw Anna's eyes constantly looking at the art stalls, so he asked tentatively: "Do you want the artist to draw a picture for you?"

Anna didn't say anything, just nodded.

Sokov looked around and saw a middle-aged woman running a painting stall in front of him on the left. He pointed in that direction and said, "Anna, let's go to that stall."

Sokov came to the stall and politely asked the middle-aged woman, "Hello, how much does it cost to draw a sketch?"

"600 rubles!" said the middle-aged woman. "In addition to sketching, I can also paint oil paintings, but the price is higher."

"Anna." After asking the price, Sokov turned to Anna and said, "Tell me where the used bookstall is and I'll go there myself. You stay here and let the boss help you draw."

"Go forward along this street." The middle-aged female painter heard what Sokov said and took the initiative to show him the way: "After you see the Mumu restaurant, walk another thirty or forty meters and you will see a used bookstall. There are a lot of books there."

After thanking the middle-aged female painter, Sokov left Anna and walked alone into the depths of Arbat Street.

As he walked, he kept thinking in his heart, wondering if he could find the old books he wanted at the used bookstall.