Helpers in Harbin 2

The tourists were taken to the center of Tibetan medicine, where, as Roma promised, the Tibetan lama would determine all diseases by pulse and recommend medicines for them. They were taken for a long time, the center was somewhere in the outskirts of the city. When they were led into the hall, it turned out that two or three groups of tourists were already sitting there. A respectable Chinese made a short report on the latest achievements of Chinese medicine. Then pretty Chinese women in white robes served medicinal tea to the tourists. The tea reminded Kalina of the furatsilin solution that her mother used to make her gargle her throat as a child. It was of the same rich yellow color; when looking at the tea, it seemed to the neighbor on the right that it was indistinguishable from urine in color. A pretty Chinese woman stood nearby and with a sweet smile offered Kalina to taste tea. Kalina closed her eyes and ... drank tea. The tea tasted nothing, even quite pleasant. The neighbor on the right also tasted the tea and even asked for more, to which the pretty sister refused, sternly shaking her head. After everyone in the hall had drunk tea, young people in aprons ran into the hall. They held basins of hot water in their hands. Putting a basin in front of each tourist, the young people began to convince people who were not ready for such a turn of affairs to take off their shoes and put their hard-working legs into the basin. Kalina immediately agreed. Compared to the suspicious tea, the parka of legs in the basin did not seem like something out of the ordinary to the woman. Tanya angrily pushed away the hands of a very young, almost boy, Chinese, but Kalina did not resist. Her young man waited a few minutes until Kalina's legs were steamy, and then began to massage them. Kalina almost groaned in bliss, but restrained herself in time. After such a vigorous washing of the feet, tourists were taken one by one to small rooms that were located next to the hall. Kalina was one of the first to be taken away. An elderly Chinese man in national clothes for a long time calculated something on the pulse of a woman, then asked to show his tongue, twisted his eyelids and, through an interpreter, listed the diseases that Kalina was supposedly ill with. Having recommended miracle medicines for these diseases, he ordered the translator to give a list of these medicines to Kalina. There was a tense silence in the office. Kalina read and thought! However, the prices of medicines bite! Kalina already wanted to get the money, but stopped, deciding to consult with Tanya. The last case, when Kalina decided to do something on her own, cost her dearly! Muttering what she, Kalina, would think, the woman slipped out of the office and returned to the hall. Tanya sat on the sidelines, frowning angrily.

- Well, what did he tell you? she asked, looking suspicious.

- What I already know! The heart is playing tricks, the blood vessels are bad, the liver is fatty.

- What? Tanya was surprised. - Did he say so?

"Yes," Kalina repeated imperturbably, "that's what he said: fatty liver."

- What does it mean?

- I don’t know, I asked the doctor the same question, he explained something for a long time, in the end, it all came down to the fact that you need to buy a cure for fatty liver.

- And you bought it? - again falling into suspicion, Tanya asked.

“No,” Kalina replied.

Tourists began to return to the hall, carefully clutching multi-colored boxes of medicines to their chests, the price of which for some average Chinese would cost a fortune.

Since Kalina had nothing in her hands, comments turned out to be redundant. Seeing this, Tanya thawed and said:

And I didn't buy anything. The Tibetan lama almost correctly named all my illnesses, I was already reaching for my wallet, but suddenly I realized that he did not name the main disease.

— What?

“He didn’t say anything about a deviated nasal septum!”

- Do you have such a disease?

— And you thought! This is a very serious disease. More serious than your allergies. By the way, did the doctor tell you something about allergies?

- Not.

- Well, you see, and I also told him ... - what and to whom Tanya said, Kalina did not hear, because one of the leaders of the group in a thunderous voice ordered her tourists to line up for the exit. That is exactly what she said: “On the way out!”, And the most interesting thing is that the tourists from this group took these words in all seriousness and moved to line up. No one laughed, everyone kept a serious face. “It’s necessary to train people like that,” Kalina was surprised, “no attempts to resist!”

Meanwhile, Natasha approached her friends and angrily said that she was waiting for them on the bus.

Kalina looked thoughtfully after the woman. Strange, it was the first time she had ever seen Natalya, who had always been so restrained, in such a state.

When they got on the bus, it became clear why Natasha's mood deteriorated. She had a fight with Roma. The young Chinese tour guide spoke excellent Russian. He graduated from some technical school in Khabarovsk and now studied at the university in Vladivostok. But knowledge of the Russian language did not change the young man's enigmatic Eastern soul.

“I didn’t earn anything from your group,” Roma said to Natasha, “only one tourist bought a kimono at the silk factory, no one bought anything at the pearl factory.

- But from the tea ceremony we are youwent shopping!

“Yeah, two small packs of tea!”

“Wow,” Natasha screamed, starting to boil, “two packs!” Each is priced at four hundred yuan! It's not just tea, it's weight loss tea!

“We don’t have simple teas,” Roma retorted, “they are all for a purpose!”

“And today,” Natasha began, but Roma interrupted her:

“Today,” he said with an offended pout, “I heard you advising your tourists to be on their guard and not to rush to take medicine!”

“Yes,” Natasha agreed, “and I don’t see anything wrong with that!” I didn’t forbid anyone, I just advised you to think carefully before buying something! After all,” she said soothingly, “they can always order this medicine from you!” And if that happens, you'll get your percentage! After all, you did not just drag us here, although the program did not include a visit to this center.

We had dinner at the Peking Duck restaurant. There was a lot of fat and alcohol. The waiter brought strung on a spit, more and more new varieties of meat. Beer, as always included, is free. Tanya spotted with her keen eye several containers of juice in the common room. Armed with two glasses, Kalina moved to the coveted liquid. While pouring the juice, she nearly stepped on a tiny Chinese girl. The Russians were sitting in a booth, and the Chinese were feasting right in the hall. Probably, there was some kind of celebration, because a lot of Chinese satisfied with each other gathered at the table. Probably, the celebration was special, because the Chinese brought children with them. Before that, Kalina had never seen children being taken to a restaurant with them. The children ran between the tables, played pranks, shouted, but no one pulled them up and no one hissed at their parents: “Keep your children!”. In general, harmony and harmony reigned in everything. Kalina's mood jumped sharply. She smiled at the children. Slowly pouring juice, she watched the children with pleasure. Seeing that they were being watched, the children began to play pranks even more, shout out some words, make faces. Unfortunately, Kalina could not sit in the hall, and the children were not visible from the booth. Once again smiling at the children, Kalina trudged into the booth, to adult conversations and problems. Several mischievous people ran after Kalina, but when they saw so many Russians, they got scared and rushed back. To prolong the pleasure, Kalina went for juice several more times. Children have already ceased to pay attention to her, but adults have paid attention. One especially helpful waiter suggested that Kalina sit right in the hall, placing a chair in a niche where there were no tables, but the whole hall was visible. This came in very handy, because the concert program began. Two young men, replacing each other in turn, began the concert program. The songs were slow and lyrical. The voices of the guys sounded so clear and sonorous that Kalina had tears in her eyes. The first part lasted half an hour, then the boys went to rest. Ten minutes later the songs began to play again. In general, the evening was a success. Kalina forgot to warn Tanya that she was sitting in the hall, and the group almost left without her. But of course, this could not happen, because the faithful Tanya was always on guard.

The next day was free. Tanya has already found out from those who have been to Harbin more than once where you can buy cheap and high-quality things. In the center of Harbin there was a store built before the revolution by our entrepreneur Churin. Much has changed over the years in Harbin, but this store was in its original glory. Next to the store was a network of interconnecting subways. Tanya fell into her element: she bargained, cheated, smiled, argued with the sellers. When trade came to a standstill, Tanya pretended to leave. The sellers shouted after her: “Wait, bastard!”, Which means: “Wait, girlfriend!”. Tanya returned, and the bargaining began again. Bargaining always ended in favor of Tanya. Kalina trailed behind her friend, not daring to complain of being tired. Finally, she was so tired of these endless rows of jeans, down jackets, shoes and other things that she resolutely sat down in an armchair that stood in the middle of the trading floor and gave herself an honest word that she would not budge until Tanya bought everything she had planned. Yes, by the way, the hotel administration creaked, but compensated for the damage, so Tanya had something to roam about now! The woman was almost happy that it happened! Now she could buy things three times cheaper than in Sunka, and ten times better. A two-year-old child proudly walked through the hall, mother and grandmother walked a little further, proud of their treasure. Interested, Kalina watched the happy trinity, they turned into that part of the subway, which had long attracted Kalina's eyes, shimmering in red-blue-green colors. Kalina went up to Tanya and said:

“Tan, while you are bargaining here, I will look at something for myself!” I'm not far from here, around the corner!

But Tanya, carried away by the next bargaining, only angrily waved Kalina away. Kalina moved to where children's voices rang, echoing from the marble walls of the subway. This subway was a paradise for children and their happy families.bodies. The things and toys that were exhibited here were intended for children aged from one to fourteen years. Quickly choosing things for Maxim, Kalina went to the other side of the subway, where they sold things for girls of seven or twelve years old. That is, just for the age at which the young artists who were engaged in Kalina's circle were now arriving. The children who studied with Kalina were of different social status, there was even a granddaughter of the former mayor, but children from low-income families predominated. The parents of these children could not afford the luxury of costumes for concerts. And so it turned out that on the stage the children were dressed in everything. But fifty percent of the success of any team is costumes. Looking at the wonderful dresses, skirts and blouses, Kalina dreamed about how chic her children would look in them. All the children who came to her circle, she called herself her own. Sellers surrounded Kalina from all sides and began to offer their goods, turning dresses and blouses inside out, proudly showing the quality of the goods. The noise was insane! By the time Tanya burst into the hall, Kalina managed to buy ten blouses, ten skirts, ten identical bow hairpins. She could not buy dresses yet, she had run out of small money, and large ones were hidden, sorry, in an intimate place, and she could not get them here.

— Are you out of your mind? Tanya grabbed her hand. Who did you buy so much for? Katya?

- Well ... And she, in general, too! Kalina agreed.

- How is it - in general? Have you scored your students again? What are you? They have their own parents!

- There are parents, but the parents have no money! Valya and Petya's mom works as a night nanny in the garden, Dasha and Ksyusha don't work at all now, and they don't have a dad! And Alyonushka, you know Alyonushka, she sings like an angel, you heard her - she was left without parents at all, her grandmother is raising her!

“Okay, okay, don’t be sorry! Do you remember the last time you collected gifts for prizes in Sunka, I agreed, I even added my own money! I helped you when you bought a music center for the club at your own expense, I agreed when you were bringing a self-squeezing mop for the club from Sunka - well, you don’t have a cleaning lady - where to go! But now you have outdone yourself! Do you have nowhere to put your money?

“No, Tanya,” Kalina objected, “you don’t understand!

“You don’t understand,” Tanya said, stroking her friend’s head affectionately, “they won’t let us through with this load, they’ll think we’re helping!” All your things are the same!

- Well, suppose not all! Several sweatshirts in different sizes. Scatter things in different bags, that's the whole problem!

“Kalinka-malinka, what are you doing,” Tanya shook her head, “can’t you just be left alone?

Kalina rarely got angry, but then she got really angry.

“No, Tanya, you don’t have to talk to me like that,” she grimaced, offended, “I’ve been of age for a long time and I’m spending my money!” And don't pretend that you're not the same as me! Remember, when a misfortune happened in Beslan, you sent all your monthly salary to the relief fund, emptied your wardrobe and Ksyushkin and sent everything by parcel to Beslan.

Having mentioned Tatyana's daughter, Kalina broke off and fell silent guiltily. Ksyusha, Tatiana's daughter, was now living in Australia with Tatiana's ex-husband and his new family. Exhausted by her mother’s eternal altruism, by the fact that her favorite things disappear from her girl’s wardrobe, which her mother, without hesitation, sends to some funds to help either children or adults, the girl unexpectedly agreed to move to her father, who had lived in Australia and persistently called his daughter to him. Ksyusha left for reconnaissance, swearing an oath to her mother not to take foreign citizenship and remain a patriot and citizen of Russia.

Having caught a taxi, our ladies, loaded with bags, bags and bags, plunged into the salon and went back to the hotel. Today was the last day in Harbin. At twelve o'clock, all tourists were ordered to transfer to transit rooms. Since Tanya and Kalina had a suite, that is, a huge room with windows overlooking the Sungari embankment, six tourists moved into their room. There was still a whole day ahead, so, having packed, Kalina and Tanya, with a calm soul, went for a walk along Stalin's Park - such a proud name was given to the embankment. The next number of the program was a walk along the Arbat, as the longest pedestrian street was called in common parlance, starting a few meters from the square near Sungari. Along the street were various cafes and shops with Russian nesting dolls, sables, vodka and Alpen Gold chocolate. Previously, Russians lived in the mansions where all this is now located. The Chinese lovingly preserved the style of these houses. Tired, the girlfriends went to a small cafe for lunch, and ended up ... in a museum. The first thing that caught your eye at the entrance to the cafe was the sign “Museum of Russian Life in Harbin”. The room was big enough, but it still wasn't big enough to hold all the relics the Chinese had stuffed into it. All four walls were covered with photographs. And in pricesThree, above the fireplace, hung a large portrait of a beautiful lady, probably the mistress of this mansion in the past. There were two pianos in the room, several glass cabinets, an old clock with three weights. In one of the cabinets there were many old cameras of various brands. In the other, there is an old crockery, which, probably, was used by the owners of the mansion. The room used to be a living room. There were liquor bottles in an open cabinet. The bottles, like everything else in this living room, were at least fifty years old, but it is unlikely that, if the owners of the mansion were alive, they would have arranged such an exhibition in the room where they received guests. Just like the camera exhibition, the bottle cabinet was a fantasy of the Chinese who now own this house. All the corners of the room were densely filled with shelves for newspapers and magazines, floor lamps, some sort of ottomans and antique backless chairs. But, of course, the main attraction of the cafe were the photos. There were many. The walls were so densely hung with them that there was no empty space at all. Tanya leafed through the menu, and Kalina looked at the photos. There were many photos telling about the terrible flood and the people who fought with it. Since the building stood not far from Sungari, its walls probably remembered this flood well. But the main attraction of these photographs, of course, were the people. Beautiful women in white dresses, with short curly hair, elegant gentlemen in hats, pince-nez and without them. Various feasts, family holidays. One of the photographs was of a wedding feast. Apparently, the feast was held in this very living room. There were about thirty guests, at least those who got into the frame. The photo was surprisingly clear, the faces of the guests and newlyweds were very clear. Looking again at the photograph, Kalina whistled. She had already seen this couple, these happy man and woman. But in the photograph she saw, the man and woman were already with their children, and time had left a mark on their faces. It was about the photograph that remained in Vladivostok, and because of which the girlfriends are now here, in the very heart of China. Kalina approached her friend to share her discovery, but Tanya, as always, was not up to her. She asked the Chinese woman serving their table what the salad on the menu was made of. The Chinese woman did not speak Russian well, to be honest, she did not understand a word at all. The owner of the cafe came up. He knew several dozen words in Russian. Tanya asked him her own question. The Chinese withdrew to that half of the house, which had probably previously served as a bedroom and other auxiliary premises. A few minutes later, a Chinese woman appeared with a pile of vegetables in her hands. She showed Tanya carrots, potatoes, cucumbers, tomatoes, eggplants, several sets of peppers and pantomimed that all this needs to be cut and mixed. Tanya nodded graciously. The waitress went to the kitchen to order. When Tanya cast an inquiring glance, ready to listen to Kalina's news, Kalina's fuse had already dried up, and she began to doubt that the same people were depicted in the photo that remained in Vladivostok and this one. Looking at Tanya, she smiled and said nothing. The day went by remarkably quickly. Evening has come. It is not clear why Roma, who had become better, decided to pamper tourists with another beautiful sight before dinner. Show St. Sophia Cathedral in the evening. On the day when the women were forced to miss the excursions, tourists were already taken to St. Sophia Cathedral. But then it was daytime, it was raining and no one appreciated the majestic lines of one of the few cathedrals preserved in Harbin, and before the revolution, and even after, until the forties, there were a lot of churches and cathedrals in Harbin, almost “forty forties” . And now there is only one left. The cathedral and the square around it were splendidly illuminated. It was a magical sight! Twenty minutes remained before the closing of the cathedral, and Kalina decided to go inside. The attendant directed her to the cash register. After paying twenty yuan, Kalina entered with reverence in her soul. She wanted to cross herself, but there were only Chinese around, and she did not dare. Frescoes on the themes of church scriptures side by side with the destroyed sections of the ceiling. It was upstairs, and downstairs all the walls were hung with photographs. Hurrying to see as many photographs as possible, Kalina took a few steps towards the wall most densely hung with photographs. Something caught her attention, she stepped closer and couldn't believe her eyes. There were several photographs on the stand, with the inscription "Sobolev's Photo Studio". People smiled into the lens with unnatural smiles, looked seriously and frowned, and Kalina peered into people's faces and wondered what these people were really thinking, standing and sitting in front of the lens of an old camera. Among others, there was a photograph of the same family that Kalina had already seen in another photograph. Only in this photo, in addition to a man, a woman, two girls and a boy, a Chinese woman was taken with her daughter in her arms. Twenty minutes passed like an instant, the Chinese went up to Kalina and, pointing to his watch, invited herto the exit. On the way to the hotel, Kalina thought that the man and the woman probably left a noticeable mark on the life of the city, if in two completely different places, she met images of these people. Bags and trunks were already loaded on the bus, as after dinner the tourists had to immediately go to the station. The train left at twenty-one-thirty. The station buzzed like a beehive. All around, the Chinese were shouting, singing, talking on the phone, smoking, drinking beer, ready to hit the road. There were so many people, and they were so noisy that Roma's teams were immediately drowned in the rumble and roar. To prevent tourists from losing him in the crowd, Roma held an artificial flower, a rose, over his head. The musical voice of the announcer chirped something over the speakerphone, Roma was delighted and sighed with relief, he was even more delighted when the inscription on the station board blinked, inviting passengers on the Harbin-Suifenhe flight to board. Kalina and Tanya closed the column of Russian tourists. The Chinese were moving in crowds in all directions at the same time, and it was difficult to maintain any semblance of order. But Russian tourists tried their best. The column led by Roma moved slowly past the controllers. Some particularly zealous Chinese ran into Kalina and, supposedly by accident, pushed. The woman almost fell over. Feigning embarrassment, he gave Kalina a hand to help her up. A moment - and the Chinese were no longer around, but Kalina had a note in her hand. It turned out to be a threat: “In vain you did this to me! But wait, we'll meet again! But that was not all. Inside the note was a small package wrapped very carefully. Kalina turned it around and tried to scream, but her throat instantly swelled up and the swelling blocked the air. In the bundle lay a woman's finger with gore. From this sight, the woman's eyes blurred, and she began to fall. Tanya, who was always on her guard, managed to catch Kalina before the woman sank onto the dirty floor of the station.

- What's wrong, Kalinushka? - Carefully supporting her friend, she asked, - did he push you hard? Wait, I'm going to… Roma, come here,” she suddenly shouted loudly, “what are you doing, huh?

“No, Tanya, don’t shout, please don’t make a fuss,” Kalina croaked in fright, “it will only get worse!” We need to get out of here quickly!

- Did he hit you?

- No, no, it's all nonsense! Just give me water, take a pill!

- What? Another allergy? Smell again? And you also told me that it was an allergy to bad people! You just need to be treated for a long time, go to the doctors on time!

“Tanechka,” Kalina whispered, “I just wish I could get on the train!” Tanya,” she suddenly shouted, “where is that thing that was wrapped in a note?

- What note? - Tanya was surprised, - I did not see any note! I saw a vile joke, but there was no note!

- What a joke?

“You passed out for a few seconds, and a small object fell out of your hands!” And where did you buy such crap? Just like real!

- What? What are you talking about?

- Yes, about a rubber finger! And when did you manage to buy it? I saw those prank shops, but I never thought that you...

“Tanya,” Kalina croaked pleadingly, “trust me, I didn’t buy anything!” The person who pushed me put a note and this finger into my palm! I thought he was real! There was a smell coming from the man, you know, a smell!

Yes, I understand, I understand! - Tanya said absently, - this is some kind of delusion, these smells! Maybe you should go to a neurologist?

“And the neurologist will cure me of those who send me notes?”

Where is this note? Tanya asked mechanically, sitting in the reserved seat. Today, women were lucky, they had lower shelves.

“I thought you picked her up.

— No, there was only a finger on the floor. There was no note. Hooray, we're off! the women laughed, “so what was written there?

- There were threats and a promise that we would meet again!

- That's it, Kalina, we're going home! Put everything out of your head and calm down! There, your students have already missed you, and Maxim is waiting for gifts! Good night, friend!