The three of them walked and discussed what identities to adopt as they headed west. If they didn't immediately agree on a unified cover story, they would easily be exposed when they met Andrei. After repeated discussions, Xu Mingxuan made the final decision.
"Little Watermelon," Xu Mingxuan said decisively, "That's it. When we get across, you'll use my cousin Boris's identity! Remember, my Russian name is Nikolai, and Lan'er's name is Mira. Don't call us by the wrong names and blow our cover! Understand?"
Xiang Xi nodded repeatedly, "Okay! I got it. I'm Boris, Little Lanzi is Mira, and you're Nikolai. Don't worry, Mingxuan Ge! I definitely won't call you by the wrong names!"
The three continued walking without stopping, chatting idly on the rugged mountain path.
However, Xiang Xi still quietly tugged at Chen Lan's sleeve and asked in a low, worried voice, "Little Lanzi, are we going to be exposed?"
Chen Lan saw that he was genuinely worried and scared, and thought that what she had said earlier had truly frightened him, leaving him with psychological trauma and after-effects.
So she quickly comforted him, "Little Watermelon, don't worry. Relax, take a deep breath, be natural, and don't be scared. I'm telling you, several places we're going to have a lot of Chinese people living there. Like Ussuriysk, where we're going today, also called (Shuangchengzi), and Khabarovsk (Boli), where we're going tomorrow. If things go smoothly, we might be going to Vladivostok, also called (Haishenwei), the day after tomorrow. These three regions were originally Chinese territory and were ceded to Russia by the Qing government in 1860. So, in these border towns in the Soviet Union, there are plenty of Chinese people living there! For example, in (Shuangchengzi) Ussuriysk, half the people are Chinese. Not to mention Pogranichny, the town closest to Suifenhe, where there are even more Chinese people. And just like Aunt Chang Sanmei, who is married here, there are plenty of Russian lads who marry Chinese girls here. Besides, you're of mixed Chinese-Russian descent now, and with your looks, if you say you're Russian, no one will doubt your identity! You really don't need to worry too much."
After Chen Lan's analysis and comfort, Xiang Xi regained his confidence.
The group soon arrived at the road leading to the rural cooperative in Pogranichny. Xu Mingxuan and Chen Lan surveyed the surroundings. They found it was still quite early and there was no one around. So, Xu Mingxuan and Xiang Xi kept watch at both ends of the main road while Chen Lan kept an eye out.
Chen Lan quickly opened the system warehouse with her mind and took out the old Jiefang truck. Then, she nimbly climbed into the back, took out all the tail-end samples sent by the online manufacturers from the system warehouse, and instantly filled the truck bed to the brim.
Chen Lan had been busy with other things these past few days, and this time she was in a hurry, so she hadn't had time to properly sort the goods in the system warehouse. Now, there was a problem. As soon as the goods were taken out of the system warehouse and put into the truck, they were piled up messily! Seeing this, Chen Lan felt a headache coming on.
At this moment, Xu Mingxuan and Xiang Xi, hearing the sounds behind them, turned to look at Chen Lan. Xu Mingxuan calmly and quickly walked towards the Jiefang truck. Xiang Xi stood there with his mouth wide open in shock. Xu Mingxuan took a few quick steps and, realizing Xiang Xi behind him wasn't moving, turned back and shouted, "Xiang Xi, what are you standing there for? Hurry up and get into the back to help!"
Xiang Xi then seemed to wake up from a dream and stammered, "Com-coming, Mingxuan Ge."
It was quite fast for the three of them to organize everything together! In no time, they had sorted all the goods in the truck, and even categorized them.
Although it was just a little past nine o'clock, the delay had cost them some time. The three still decided to set off immediately. It was better to arrive at the meeting point early than to be late. Xu Mingxuan would drive this time. Xiang Xi wanted to drive the old Jiefang for the experience, but Xu Mingxuan glanced at him and didn't agree.
As the two cars were approaching the entrance of the cooperative, they saw a rather old Soviet-made GAZ medium truck parked at the entrance from afar.
At this moment, Andrei had apparently heard the sound of the car starting and had come running out of the cooperative in a flash. As soon as the old Jiefang stopped, Andrei enthusiastically shouted, "Nikolai, my friend, you've finally arrived."
The couple and Xiang Xi quickly got out of the car. Chen Lan and Xiang Xi politely nodded and greeted Andrei. Xu Mingxuan warmly shook hands with Andrei and exchanged pleasantries, then introduced him, "Andrei, my friend, my wife Mira, you've already met. Let me introduce you now, this is my cousin Boris. He's with us this time. I'll have to trouble you to issue another letter of introduction."
Andrei agreed without hesitation and told Xu Mingxuan that they needed to exchange some goods with the cooperative before departing.
About an hour later, the group, driving two trucks, set off from the rural cooperative in Pogranichny. After driving for more than an hour, they reached the entrance of a cooperative in Ussuriysk.
As Chen Lan's car stopped, they saw Andrei get out of his truck and run into the cooperative opposite with surprising agility. Chen Lan thought, "Andrei, truly a nimble fat man! Such speed, truly unmatched!"
Before getting out of the car, Chen Lan inadvertently looked up at the sky. Good heavens, in just this hour or so, the sun had already begun to move westward. As Chen Lan was wondering, Xu Mingxuan lowered his head and whispered in her ear, "Lan'er, our country and the Soviet Union have a time difference."
Hearing Xu Mingxuan say this, Chen Lan immediately remembered. China's standard time zone is East Eighth Zone, while Ussuriysk's standard time zone is East Tenth Zone. There is a two-hour time difference between them. It was indeed around 1 PM in Ussuriysk now.
The three got out of the car and waited for about fifteen minutes. Then they saw Andrei coming out with a tall, scruffy-looking man. Andrei introduced them, "Mira, Nikolai, Boris, let me introduce you to my best friend, Koval."
Then Andrei introduced Chen Lan and her husband and Xiang Xi to Koval. The two sides shook hands and greeted each other. Afterwards, Xu Mingxuan began to chat with Koval and Andrei.