The Adopted Cannon Fodder Made a Comeback

Gu’er was still drowsy when the train came to a stop. Li Zhi gently patted her on the shoulder.

"We’re here."

Li Zhi found her sleepy state amusing.

The moment Gu’er heard they had arrived, she sat bolt upright. She immediately got up and started gathering their things with swift, efficient movements.

Once they were laden with bags of all sizes and had disembarked from the train, Gu’er, Li Zhi, and Dingzi followed the crowd. Gu’er noticed many others just like them, also carrying numerous bags. They were probably here to be traders, too. 𝘧𝓇𝑒𝑒𝑤ℯ𝑏𝓃𝘰𝑣ℯ𝘭.𝘤ℴ𝘮

Gu’er noticed the platforms here in Russia were particularly high, quite different from the ones back in China.

After leaving the station exit, they saw quite a few Russians.

These people looked different from the Chinese. Gu’er knew that this was Russia, and that back home, they called Russians "Old Russians." There was another term, "Black Russians," but "Old Russians" was the most common one.

Nearly all the Old Russians Gu’er saw were wearing woolen overcoats. They looked very proper and distinguished.

As they were looking around, two Old Russians approached and asked them something. Gu’er couldn’t understand a word they said but guessed they were asking if they needed a ride.

To her surprise, Old Russians also solicited customers at the station; Gu’er had thought that only happened in China.

"What do we do? What are we supposed to say?"

Li Zhi whispered to Gu’er.

Gu’er gave him a speechless look. ’I don’t understand a single word of Russian, okay?’

Seeing that they couldn’t speak Russian, one of the Old Russians went to ask someone else, but the other one kept talking to them, seemingly waiting for an answer.

"Didn’t you learn a few phrases? Tell them to find us a place to stay."

Gu’er had assumed Li Zhi would know a few words. ’It’s not dark yet, but we need to find a place to stay,’ she thought. ’We have to get settled first.’

"We, we want to lodge. Can, can you take us to lodge?"

Li Zhi said to the Old Russian who was questioning them, gesturing with his hands as he spoke.

Gu’er wanted to roll her eyes. ’He’s speaking Chinese, for crying out loud! How is the guy supposed to understand that?!’

The Old Russian rattled off another stream of gibberish.

Gu’er felt like she was watching a chicken trying to talk to a duck.

Just then, to Gu’er’s surprise, Dingzi spoke up. He was actually speaking Russian! It wasn’t fluent, but Gu’er could tell he was doing a decent job.

"It’s settled. Let’s go."

Dingzi said to the two of them after finishing his conversation with the Old Russian.

"You speak Russian?"

Gu’er was astonished.

"A few words."

Dingzi was still a man of few words. If he hadn’t found the exchange between Li Zhi and the Old Russian so unbearable to watch, he probably wouldn’t have uttered a peep.

The three of them finally managed to load all their belongings into the car and take their seats.

’Not bad,’ she thought. ’This is the first time I’ve ridden in a car since my rebirth.’

The car drove on. Gu’er had no idea where the Old Russian was taking them. After a while, she looked out at the buildings on either side of the street. They looked ancient, a uniform collection of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century architecture, with some in the Gothic style and others in Baroque. Every building was exquisitely and meticulously crafted, like a precious work of art.

’This is amazing, so magnificent,’ she thought. ’You could never appreciate this without coming out here and seeing it with your own eyes. Just getting to see these buildings made the whole trip worthwhile.’

When the car stopped, the Old Russian who was driving pointed to a building and said a few words to them.

Dingzi nodded at him.

Li Zhi took out some money to give him, but the Old Russian shook his head repeatedly, saying "NO" several times.

Gu’er was dumbfounded. ’Don’t they take Renminbi? But we just got here! We haven’t exchanged for any Rubles yet, so how are we supposed to pay?’

Dingzi said a few words to the Old Russian, but the man just kept shaking his head.

’No wonder everyone says Old Russians are so rigid and don’t know how to do business. They really are stubborn. It’s not like Renminbi is useless, why wouldn’t he take it?’

’But we don’t have any Rubles. What do we do? We can’t just not pay the man, can we?’

Suddenly, Gu’er’s eyes lit up. She pulled a pair of pants out of her bag. They were made in the south, weren’t expensive, and they had bought a lot of them.

Gu’er waved the pants at the Old Russian and had Dingzi ask if he would take them to cover the fare, since they had no Rubles.

Dingzi managed to translate for her. The Old Russian looked at the pants and, to their surprise, nodded in delight.

Seeing him nod, Gu’er finally felt a sense of relief. ’Being in a foreign land without knowing the language really is tough.’ But no matter what, the fare was settled.

Gu’er took out a piece of bubble gum and handed it to the Old Russian.

The Old Russian held the small piece of gum, frowned, and said several sentences to Gu’er, probably asking what it was.

Gu’er took out another piece for herself, chewed it for a moment, then pushed it forward with her tongue and, with a POP, blew a huge bubble.

The Old Russian stared at Gu’er’s mouth in amazement. Then he unwrapped his piece, put it in his mouth, and tried to copy her.

"Like this, like this... flatten it, push with your tongue, then blow."

Seeing that he couldn’t blow a bubble, Gu’er tried to teach him. Of course, she had no idea if he understood her Chinese, but the Old Russian did manage to blow a big bubble.

He nodded at Gu’er, gave her a thumbs-up, and said a few more sentences.

Gu’er assumed he was thanking her and nodded back repeatedly.

"He... he says he wants to buy the bubble gum. He’s asking how much it is for one piece."

Dingzi couldn’t take it anymore. The man was asking for the price, and here Gu’er was, nodding enthusiastically as if to say "you’re welcome." The corner of Dingzi’s mouth twitched.

Gu’er almost burst out laughing. So she had completely misunderstood him.

"One yuan each."

Gu’er held up one finger.

’The bubble gum is cheap, but I brought it from so far away. Factoring in labor and travel costs, one yuan a piece isn’t expensive.’

The Old Russian seemed to understand. He pulled some Rubles from his pocket, counted out ten one-Ruble coins, and handed them to Gu’er. Then he held up ten fingers.

Gu’er understood. She quickly gave the Old Russian eleven pieces of gum. ’For the first sale, I’ll give him an extra one for free,’ she decided.

The Old Russian smiled at Gu’er, then got in his car and drove away.

Gu’er was dumbfounded.

"But... but... I said one Renminbi each, and he gave me ten Rubles!"

Gu’er was still struggling to process what had just happened.

Li Zhi also stared blankly at Gu’er. The first thing they’d sold in Russia was bubble gum? And they’d sold eleven pieces for ten Rubles? ’Is this real?’

Dingzi was also looking at Gu’er, a faint expression finally appearing on his face.

"How many Renminbi can you get for one Ruble?"

Gu’er asked.

"About seven or eight yuan."

Li Zhi had already found out.

"So you’re saying... we have seventy or eighty yuan now?"

Gu’er felt like she was in a dream. Back in her village, she would work hard all day gathering wild vegetables on the mountain, then haul them to the city to sell. She’d be happy to make five yuan after being exhausted half to death. But now, just a few pieces of bubble gum had sold for seventy or eighty Renminbi. ’Am I dreaming, or is this some kind of joke?’

"Come on! Let’s get checked in, then we’ll go sell bubble gum!"

Li Zhi suddenly shouted. He felt a surge of energy course through him. If it was really like this, then they would definitely make a ton of money on this trip.

The thought of money flying into their pockets made him feel invigorated, and all his previous exhaustion vanished completely.

---

Thanks to dingdingdangdang3 for the like. Thanks to 125401451 for the monthly ticket, and thank you all for your support. It’s been a busy day. I (Xue) only had one meal today—two steamed buns. I’ll just count it as dieting.