Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

"Zhang Liang, you bought a phone? Let me see what kind it is, I'm thinking of buying one too."

Clearly, Hu Xiaoyun was more interested in Zhang Liang's new phone than McDonald's.

Seeing that the topic had shifted from him treating to dinner to his new phone, Zhang Liang was naturally very happy. He pursed his lips and pretended to be reserved, saying, "It's not that expensive, just a Nokia 3210, only a little over two thousand yuan. This phone is especially popular this year, it's sturdy, durable, has good signal, and long standby time."

As he spoke, he pulled a small but sturdy-looking mobile phone from his pocket; it was none other than the famous Nokia 3210.

This phone has many legendary stories, such as it can withstand being thrown from the tenth floor without breaking, and it can be used to crack walnuts. It sold incredibly well, with global sales reportedly exceeding 1.6 million units, which solidified Nokia's position as the world's leading mobile phone brand!

Hu Xiaoyun reached out and took it, examining it from all angles. "This phone is nice. It seems like you can change the colored cases. Maybe I should buy one too."

These days, although mobile phone prices have come down, with mainstream prices reaching one or two thousand yuan, and they have begun to become more widespread, they are still considered a "luxury" for ordinary college students.

Of course, Zhang Liang and Hu Xiaoyun are not ordinary college students. After all, families that can afford to send their children abroad to study, even if it's just to Moscow, must be well-off.

"Let me see, let me see. Is this phone over two thousand? Xiaoyun, when you go buy a phone later, call me. I want to buy one too."

Guo Juan also leaned over and snatched the phone with great interest. Although she was short, she was quite well-developed. To be precise, her figure was not "fat" but "plump"!

The weather was still a bit hot in September. She wore a tight-fitting T-shirt with a cute Pikachu printed on the front. Its big eyes were stretched out so wide that it looked like it was staring at you.

This made Zhang Liang often steal a glance at her during class, then quickly look away, afraid of being discovered.

Zhang Liang glanced at Wang Feiyang with a smug look and asked with a grin, "Wang Feiyang, why don't you buy one too? It can't be that the three of us have one and you don't, that would be inconvenient if we needed to contact you later."

To be honest, among the four, Zhang Liang and Hu Xiaoyun might be considered to have the best family background, but Wang Feiyang was definitely the worst.

Just look at Zhang Liang's head-to-toe Nike and Wang Feiyang's Semir and Warrior brands to see this...

Although he knew that Zhang Liang's words were somewhat malicious and probably meant to make him look bad, Wang Feiyang didn't care. If he were to argue with an 18-year-old, he would have wasted his life.

He smiled and was about to say that he didn't need a phone right now, so there was no need to buy one, when Wang Feiyang had a sudden thought and the words that came out were, "Okay, I do want to buy one. It's just... but I'm a little short on cash right now. How about you lend me some, Zhang Liang? I'll pay you back next week."

Zhang Liang was stunned. He really didn't expect that his casual joke would backfire so badly. Wang Feiyang really didn't treat him like an outsider, asking him for money right off the bat...

However, for boys his age, saving face is paramount. Plus, he's always been trying to impress the two girls by acting like a rich kid, so he's really too embarrassed to refuse them directly in front of them. He just can't bring himself to say it!

Besides, he wasn't worried that Wang Feiyang wouldn't pay back the money. After all, they were going to train together for three months and then study abroad together in the future. No matter what, Wang Feiyang wouldn't "run away" over such a small amount of money!

After hesitating for a moment, Zhang Liang asked somewhat reluctantly, "How much are you short? See if this is enough. I don't have much money left..."

"I'm short 1,500. I only have a little over 1,000 on me right now, and I need to save up for a few days' living expenses," Wang Feiyang said without hesitation.

"Oh? That much... I don't have enough money on me, I can only lend you six hundred at most." Zhang Liang said, his face flushed.

Wang Feiyang sighed with feigned regret, then turned to the two girls and asked with a smile, "Ladies, why don't you help me scrape together the money? I can definitely pay you back next week."

Guo Juan glanced at Wang Feiyang and refused quite decisively: "I don't even know if I can get the money from my parents to buy my own phone, how could I possibly lend you any money!"

This petite girl, though she had a baby face and looked somewhat cute, was not as innocent as she appeared, so it was no surprise that she rejected him.

His gaze fell upon Hu Xiaoyun, who was looking right at him. Their eyes met, and Hu Xiaoyun immediately lowered her head, not daring to meet his eyes. She timidly said, "I... I'll lend you the money, but you still owe... how much again? I'll lend you a thousand."

Wang Feiyang had long known that among the four of them, the real "rich person" was none other than Hu Xiaoyun!

This slender and quiet girl is usually very low-key, but after getting to know her for a while, you'll find that her family is quite wealthy. I don't know why her family sent her to study in Moscow instead of in countries like the UK, the US, Australia, or Canada.

After Hu Xiaoyun finished speaking, she took out her wallet from her small backpack, counted out ten light blue and reddish hundred-yuan bills, and handed them to Wang Feiyang.

Wang Feiyang didn't stand on ceremony, reached out and took it, patted his hand making a "slap slap" sound, and laughed, "Thanks, I'll treat you to dinner later."

That statement doesn't sound very sincere.

Then he turned to look at Zhang Liang, smiling without saying a word. Zhang Liang didn't react at first, but when Wang Feiyang patted the ten large bills in his hand again, he realized what was happening and hurriedly pulled his wallet out of his pocket.

"Six hundred, right...?"

After counting out six hundred yuan in half a day, he reluctantly handed it to Wang Feiyang.

Holding a dozen or so hundred-yuan bills in his hand, Wang Feiyang felt very reassured. As he stuffed the money into his pocket, he casually asked, "Didn't you just say you bought a lottery ticket? Let me see it. I often see articles in the newspaper about people winning big prizes, but I've never bought a lottery ticket before, and I don't even know what a lottery ticket looks like."

"You've never bought one? With the lottery being so popular, how could there be anyone who hasn't bought one? Haha."

Seemingly having discovered another area where Wang Feiyang was inferior to him, Zhang Liang laughed happily, then pulled a thin piece of paper from his wallet and handed it over, saying, "Here, this is a lottery ticket. It's very simple. Just pick seven numbers randomly, two yuan a bet, and you can buy up to a hundred times the stake on a single ticket—that's called doubling down. Of course, there's also a multiple bet option, but that's expensive, and I've never played it..."

Wang Feiyang took the lottery ticket. It was a computer-printed lottery ticket, somewhat like a supermarket receipt, with seven numbers printed in the middle of the betting area: [722546+8].

"This is a lottery ticket? It's all a mess, I can't understand a thing..."

He looked completely bewildered, but Wang Feiyang had already memorized those numbers!

While Zhang Liang was discussing the phone with the two girls, Wang Feiyang quietly wrote down the numbers on a small piece of paper and put it in his wallet...

…………

During the second period, Wang Feiyang seemed to have finally "woke up." When he asked four students to repeat the pronunciation of the letters taught in the first period, his performance surprised Teacher Wu.

Upon hearing that Wang Feiyang's Russian pronunciation was even more accurate than her own, Teacher Wu blurted out, "Тыраньшеизучалрусскийязык? (Have you studied Russian before?)"

"Конечно, Яначализучатьрусскийязыкссамогодетства. (Of course, I've been learning since I was a child.)" Wang Feiyang replied fluently in Russian.

Mr. Wu was just a training teacher that the study abroad agency found from the school. He didn't know anything about Wang Feiyang and the others, nor did he need to. He was just a little surprised to learn that Wang Feiyang had been learning Russian since he was a child, and he didn't ask too many questions.

After exchanging a few more words with Wang Feiyang in Russian, he nodded and commented that this level of skill would definitely not be a problem for him to pass the preparatory exam, and that even the three months of training would be unnecessary.

Wang Feiyang laughed and said that since there was nothing to do at home anyway, he might as well continue to participate in the training.

Of course, he didn't want to go home and see his parents' faces. It was so much better in the provincial capital, where he was free and no one cared about him, and he could also do more preparation work for the future.

However, this surprised Zhang Liang, Hu Xiaoyun, and Guo Juan, who were both nervous and somewhat happy.

The tension stemmed from the fact that the three of them had absolutely no Russian language skills and had to start from scratch. They were already far behind Wang Feiyang at the very beginning, with no chance of catching up.

Fortunately, having a classmate with good Russian skills is a great advantage for them. After all, things are very different in Moscow than back home, and they will have to handle many things on their own. Having a classmate who speaks good Russian can be a huge help!

Immediately, the way the three of them looked at Wang Feiyang changed.

…………

"Wang Feiyang, that's not very nice of you! You speak Russian so well, but you didn't even tell us. Are you afraid we'll need your help later? No way! I need to make an appointment first. If we need your help in Moscow, you can't refuse!"

After class, Guo Juan immediately got up and went to Wang Feiyang's side, smiling and pretending to scold him.

This girl looks innocent, but she's actually quite opportunistic. Now that she sees Wang Feiyang has some use to her, she immediately becomes enthusiastic towards him.

"That's right, that's right, you're playing dumb to fool others! Goodness, you speak so fluently, you seem just as good as Old Wu." Zhang Liang quickly chimed in.

The "Old Wu" he mentioned naturally refers to Teacher Wu.

In fact, Wang Feiyang's Russian proficiency is no worse than Teacher Wu's. After all, he spent seven or eight years in Moscow in his previous life and then worked in Russian for nearly twenty years. If he is not as good as Teacher Wu, who is only in his early thirties and has never studied in Russia, even though he is a Russian major, then it would be a bit unreasonable.