Three men spent another day visiting several rural cooperatives in Vladivostok before deciding to head back the next day to prepare their stock. Since this transaction was concluded, it was now up to Xu Mingxuan to settle all the sales commissions with Andrei. Thus, the two of them went to Andrei's room with a stack of delivery receipts.
Chen Lan and Xiang Xi did not participate in this matter. They were both huddled on the kang, chatting. They could figure it out themselves, and besides, with the delivery receipts from each transaction, what could be difficult for two grown men to calculate? It would certainly be a matter of minutes.
As expected, not long after, Xu Mingxuan pushed open the room door and entered. Xiang Xi asked in Russian, "Nikolai, how is it? All settled?"
Xu Mingxuan saw both of them looking at him, grunted, and closed the door, took off his snow boots, and also got onto the kang. He then lowered his voice and said softly, "Andrei wants half in rubles and half in goods. After all, he came out under the pretense of procuring for the cooperatives. If he doesn't procure some items to take back, it wouldn't make sense! Don't you think?"
Chen Lan also lowered her voice and asked softly, "Brother Mingxuan, do we have any goods left in our truck? I think even if there are, they should all be exchanged for grain and sausages, and a lot of canned goods. We shouldn't have any goods for him now, right? Should we give them to him next time we come back?"
Xu Mingxuan smiled and extended his hand to pat Chen Lan's hand, replying, "Smart, Lan'er. You guessed correctly. He's not going back to Pogranichny today. He's going to Ussuriysk to drink with his best friend, Koval, and then the day after tomorrow, we'll all come back together. Lan'er, we'll leave tomorrow after breakfast."
Chen Lan quickly lowered her voice and asked softly, "Brother Mingxuan, what about our two days of rent? Can't state-run hotels refund it?"
Xiang Xi also lowered his voice and interjected, asking softly, "That's impossible, right? I estimate that even if they don't give a refund, we should at least be able to change the accommodation dates, right?"
Xu Mingxuan gave Xiang Xi a thumbs-up and, lowering his voice, praised him unusually softly, "Little Watermelon, smart. I've extended the accommodation by two days."
The next day, the four of them drove out of Vladivostok as planned. After driving for more than two hours, they arrived in Ussuriysk. After waving goodbye to Andrei, the three of them embarked on their journey back to Pogranichny.
This time, they were a bit pressed for time. The three of them didn't plan to go back and decided to use one day to return all the grain bags to the several farms, and then see if they could exchange for more grain, sausages, and frozen fish to take back.
The distance from Vladivostok to Pogranichny is about 300 kilometers. Ever since separating from Andrei, Xu Mingxuan had pushed the old Jiefang truck to its limit, speeding towards Pogranichny.
Despite the road conditions not being great and not being able to drive fast, due to Vladivostok being in the 11th time zone, which meant a three-hour time difference, Chen Lan and the others arrived in Pogranichny just before 1 p.m. They reached the foot of the mountain, and seeing that no one was around, Chen Lan put the old Jiefang truck, along with its cargo, into the system warehouse.
The three of them, familiar with the way, arrived outside the cave. Xu Mingxuan saw that the branches blocking the cave entrance had not changed, so he pulled them aside, took Chen Lan's hand, and entered first. Xiang Xi followed closely behind.
Chen Lan took a chopping knife and a sickle from the system warehouse and handed them to the two men. She then said, "Brother Mingxuan, Little Watermelon, you two quickly go and cut more dry grass and chop more firewood. I'll go out and start cooking now, otherwise, it'll be dark soon."
The two men left the cave without a word, taking the tools for work. Chen Lan also followed them out. She found some stones near the cave, set up a simple stove, and took out a pile of cooking utensils from the system warehouse, and began washing pots and bowls to prepare the meal.
Having driven for several hours today, Chen Lan felt a bit tired, so she didn't plan to make anything too complicated. She decided to make a fragrant seafood pot, which Xu Mingxuan loved. Having not eaten any vegetables for several days, she felt a bit homesick, so Chen Lan bought some extra vegetables to go with the seafood pot. She also specially bought a portion of fatty beef and three servings of self-heating rice for Xiang Xi.
The weather was quite dry this winter. Chen Lan decided to make it in its original flavor. As soon as the seafood pot started to simmer, the air was filled with the rich, pungent aroma unique to seafood.
Chen Lan then busied herself with preparing the three servings of self-heating rice.
Xu Mingxuan and Xiang Xi could smell the aroma of the rice and the distinctive scent of the seafood pot from afar. Xu Mingxuan twitched his nose and said happily, "Little Watermelon, let's finish our work quickly so we can go back and eat. Lan'er is making seafood pot and white rice again today."
As soon as the two men returned, carrying two large bundles of dry branches and two full baskets of dry grass, they brushed off the dust from their clothes, washed their hands, and immediately started eating. All three were quite impatient. Chen Lan first scooped a small bowl of soup for herself. She took a sip, and it was truly delicious, rich and flavorful.
She then picked up one of her favorite large shrimp, peeled its shell, and took a bite. She couldn't help but frown. Seeing Chen Lan's expression, Xu Mingxuan asked, "Lan'er, what's wrong?"
Chen Lan asked, "Brother Mingxuan, try this shrimp. Is it not very fresh?"
At this point, Xiang Xi said, "Little Blue, your mouth must be malfunctioning. How is it not fresh? It's like it was just caught from the sea. How fresh do you want it to be?"
Chen Lan ignored Xiang Xi and continued, "Then why does this shrimp have such a strong fishy smell today?"
Xu Mingxuan and Xiang Xi looked at each other. Then, they each took a shrimp from the pot, quickly peeled them, and ate them. They both shook their heads and said, "There's no fishy smell! It tastes the same as every time. It's very delicious."
This made Chen Lan feel a bit strange. She painstakingly picked up another shrimp, peeled its shell, and took a bite. She couldn't help but frown again, still feeling a strong fishy taste in her mouth.
Xu Mingxuan took the two shrimp that Chen Lan had each bitten into with his chopsticks and said, "Lan'er, give me the shrimp. If you don't think it tastes good, don't eat shrimp. Eat something else! Don't worry too much. It might be because you haven't been resting well recently, which has affected your appetite. You'll feel better in a couple of days."
Chen Lan thought about it and agreed. She hadn't been resting well these past few days, always thinking about the KGB, making herself nervous all day long! So, she didn't dwell on the matter anymore.