My hometown is far away in Moscow.

Chapter 94 Old Wei Returns to the Scene

After seeing the Koreans off, Li Baoqing inexplicably approached Hu Yi and asked, "What were you talking about with that girl? Buying kimchi?"

"That's right, I plan to have her make a big box."

"Why do you need so much kimchi? Are you going to sell it along with our lunchboxes?"

"I haven't decided yet." Hu Yi bit his lip and pondered for a moment. "Selling this separately probably won't work. How about—buying a lunchbox and getting kimchi as a free gift? What do you think?"

Li Baoqing leaned back lazily in his chair: "Sending kimchi? Is this the brilliant idea you came up with?"

Hu Yi had this idea suddenly popped into his head while eating, but now that he thought about it carefully, he felt it lacked some strength. So he chuckled to himself, "This is just the first step. The important thing now is to broaden our thinking and not just limit ourselves to working in isolation."

"That's true." Li Baoqing crossed one leg and lit a cigarette. "If I had known it would turn out this way, I should have learned more dishes when I was in Huanghai's kitchen."

"Yeah," Hu Yi replied casually, then suddenly remembered something and stared blankly ahead.

"How about I take some time to go to Huanghai and ask them for advice?" Li Baoqing asked tentatively. "If Lao Wei were still here, that would be great. He knows us best and would definitely be willing to teach me a few tricks."

"Right!" Hu Yi clapped his hands. "We can just go find Old Wei!"

"That's great!" Li Baoqing exclaimed happily, "You can find him?"

"I have his number!" Hu Yi excitedly pulled out his phone to dial, then hesitated and lowered his hand again: "Or maybe—"

I'll call him later. It's been a long time since I've contacted him; let me think about how to bring it up.

Li Baoqing glanced at his watch, tilted his head back, and yawned: "Okay, I'll go home now."

"Let's go back." Hu Yi counted out half of the day's takeout revenue and handed it to Li Baoqing, then patted him on the shoulder twice. "By the way, I remember Peng Song's spicy chicken is pretty good. You two are close, call him and ask him to teach you sometime."

Li Baoqing agreed, picked up his schoolbag, and went out. Hu Yi took out his books, finished his homework, took a hot bath, lay comfortably on the bed, smoked a cigarette, and then picked up his phone again.

Hu Yi hadn't contacted Lao Wei since he got Lao Wei's phone number from Chef Huang Hai a few months ago. It had been over half a year since they'd last seen each other, and hearing his voice again felt incredibly heartwarming.

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Hu Yi cautiously asked, "Brother Wei, I heard you're no longer with Huang Haiqian. How have you been lately?"

"Sigh, what's so good about it? Let's just make do." Old Wei paused slightly, then hesitated, "Who told you that?"

"I met the head chef a while ago; he told me about it."

"Oh?" Old Wei paused for a moment, his tone becoming somewhat unnatural. "Then—you know why I left?"

"Hmm—" Hu Yi didn't want to bring this up, but since Lao Wei had asked, there was no need to pretend he didn't know, so he answered vaguely, "It seems—I heard him mention it."

"Sigh!" Old Wei sighed deeply, then laughed heartily, "It's alright, it's been a long time, and I've come to terms with it now. I did it all myself, why should I be afraid of others finding out?"

Hu Yi breathed a slight sigh of relief and quickly comforted him, "To be honest, what you had was really nothing serious. It's all because that Russian boss was too serious."

"You can't say that. In the end, it's still my fault. There's nothing to complain about." Old Wei's tone was very serious. "Don't say anything more. I remember you and Li Zi advised me before you left. It's a pity I didn't take your words seriously at the time. I deserved to be fired."

Hu Yi felt a pang of emotion. He didn't want to talk about Old Wei's past anymore, so he changed the subject and talked about what happened afterward.

After leaving the Huanghai Hotel, Lao Wei felt resentful and stayed at home drinking alone for more than half a month. Later, a friend introduced him to a Chinese restaurant in the market as a chef, but the place was a bit far from his home, the working conditions were poor, and the pay was low, so he quit after less than two months.

Old Wei hasn't found a new place to work yet. He makes braised meat and other delicacies at home every day and sells them to the Chinese people in his building. Although his income is not very stable, he lives a relatively carefree life.

When Hu Yi mentioned wanting to learn a few dishes, Lao Wei readily agreed: "Sure, no problem. Just tell me what you want to cook, but cooking can't be explained in a few words over the phone, it would be best if you could teach me in person."

"That would be perfect!" Hu Yi was overjoyed. "When are you free? Baoqing and I will come to see you."

"I live far away, and you guys are all so busy with classes, so please don't come all the way here." Old Wei chuckled憨厚ly. "Besides, I have several people sharing this place, it's a mess, and I don't want you to laugh at me. Let's arrange a time for me to come to Youda University to find you."

Having Lao Wei come to Building 10 was clearly not a good choice. Firstly, the dormitory was too basic to accommodate guests, and secondly, they couldn't let him publicly teach his cooking skills in the communal kitchen. So, they discussed it and decided to invite Lao Wei to Zhou Dali's house on Saturday.

The temperature was very low on Saturday morning. Hu Yi and Li Baoqing were bundled up tightly and arrived at the subway station near Zhou Dali's house early in the morning to wait for Lao Wei.

Although it was said to be "early morning," it was actually almost ten o'clock. However, more than ten minutes had passed since the agreed time, and Lao Wei still hadn't shown up.

Just as the two were getting worried, Old Wei called: "Hey? I've been here forever, where are you guys? I'm freezing!"

"You arrived early?" Hu Yi looked around. "Didn't we agree to meet by the turnstiles? I don't see you here."

"Yes," Old Wei muttered, "I was indeed next to the turnstile."

"What happened? Did you get off at the Belyaeva station?"

"That's right!"

"A port?"

"yes!"

"This is really strange," Hu Yi said, puzzled. "You must have gone to the wrong place. Look around again, is there anything else?"

"The rest of the stuff—a row of shops, there's a cigarette stand next to the turnstiles, and a magazine stand too." Old Wei sniffed twice. "You know what, these turnstiles smell pretty good, quite fragrant. Can you smell it? Follow the scent and you'll find me."

"A shop? It smells good!" Hu Yi was stunned for a moment, then waved to Li Baoqing and quickly walked to the underground shopping street near the exit. As soon as he turned the corner, he saw Lao Wei standing by the window of a fried chicken shop with his neck hunched over, stomping his feet on the ground in turn.

"You're waiting here?" The two were both annoyed and amused. "Brother, we said we'd meet by the turnstiles at the subway exit!"

"Huh? Fried chicken at the subway exit?" Old Wei chuckled sheepishly. "I didn't see it when I passed by earlier."

"The turnstile! That machine!" Hu Yi gestured with his hand: "The subway ticket gate, the thing blocking you from entering!"

Old Wei suddenly realized: "Oh! You call that thing a turnstile?"

"Of course!" Li Baoqing finally managed to stop laughing. "What do you call that thing?"

"Hehe, we don't know the scientific name, we just call that thing 'three sticks'."

The three of them burst into laughter. Hu Yi glanced at the fried chicken shop next door and said, "It smells pretty good. Shall we buy one to take home for lunch?"

"No, I'll be cooking several dishes for lunch." Old Wei picked up the plastic bag he was carrying. "I also brought you some good stuff. Try my cooking."

Chatting and laughing all the way, the three of them went to a large supermarket next door and bought some meat, eggs and vegetables. When they arrived at Zhou Dali's house, Zhou introduced him and Lao Wei to each other. Li Baoqing then followed Lao Wei into the kitchen.