Chapter 111: Reunion with an Old Acquaintance (Completed)...

Before the start of the third privatization auction of state-owned enterprises in Vladimir, He Changyi had collected a total of four million vouchers.

However, the auction rules this time are completely different from those before.

There were no bidding calls, no auctioneers and their gavels; instead, a new process similar to bidding was implemented.

In other words, under the new rules, state-owned enterprise auctions will no longer see buyers bidding on the spot. Instead, bids will be submitted with a fixed number of shares and a fixed price. It will no longer be possible to adapt to changing circumstances and adjust bidding strategies on the spot based on competitors' bids.

In addition, the auction also set requirements for the qualifications of bidders.

"...Cooperatives that have been established for more than five years, are registered only in Vladimir, have all employees who have worked in the machinery manufacturing industry for more than ten years, and must provide proof of 'no bad business record' issued by the municipal government for the past three years?"

After reading the auction announcement, two words immediately came to He Changyi's mind—bid rigging.

The city of Vladimir devised a series of seemingly legal but extremely stringent eligibility requirements to precisely exclude "outsiders" from this auction and ensure that the items would be 100% sold to its own people.

But the more they tried to manipulate the auction results, the more it proved that the state-owned enterprise auction was extremely profitable, and the more He Changyi had to squeeze in.

Just think about it, the dairy factory, tractor factory, and bearing factory she had previously photographed brought in more than thirty times the cost of the investment, not to mention the seven-axis five-linkage machine tool she found in the machine tool factory, which was undoubtedly priceless.

And who knows how many treasures are hidden in this auction?

He Changyi recently learned from the newspaper that a famous Mosk biscuit factory was auctioned for $650,000, while a similar biscuit factory in a member state was sold to a multinational corporation for $80 million, a difference of 123 times!

This is absolutely an unprecedented feast.

He Changyi handed the announcement, which was released only a week before the auction, to Ms. Tajiyanna and asked her to immediately prepare all the materials according to the requirements in the announcement.

Ms. Tajiyana quickly glanced through the text, then frowned.

"The documents aren't a problem, and neither is the $500,000 deposit—although they require a one-year term with no interest, these people are really greedy. But a cooperative registered in Vladimir and established for more than five years..."

Ms. Tatyana shook her head and said, "Although our company is registered in Vladimir, it does not meet the requirements for the length of time it has been established, and it is not a cooperative."

This requirement is extremely demanding. It should be noted that the Alliance only deregulated the market economy in 1988, allowing private enterprises to be established and formally promulgating the Cooperative Law, which is only a little over five years ago.

He Changyi said nonchalantly, "Then let's just buy a shell."

She approached Mikhail and demanded that he purchase a five-year-old cooperative within the city limits of Vladimir within three days, with no budget limit and no matter how much it cost, she only wanted the result.

Mikhail said excitedly, "Don't worry! This is a piece of cake for me. I'll have the qualified cooperatives on your desk tomorrow."

He deliberately winked slowly at He Changyi, "My dear Boss Lady."

He Changyi showed no reaction whatsoever to his flirtatious glances or his slightly ambiguous way of addressing her.

"Boss Lady? Your English is quite good."

Mikhail said enthusiastically, "Not only English, but I am also learning Chinese. It is a wonderful ancient language, and I believe that I will be able to communicate with you in your mother tongue soon."

He Changyi leaned back in his chair, looking at Mikhail with a half-smile.

"I don't recall paying you extra for translation."

Mikhail leaned forward, resting his arms on the desk, his brown eyes crinkling happily.

"It would be my pleasure to serve you."

"That sounds really—"

He Changyi slowly finished speaking the second half of the sentence.

"An incredible surprise."

She asked, "So, I've passed your test, former KGB officer?"

Mikhail said cheerfully, "No, no, no, this is not a test, just a small person's careful consideration before seeking a second career. Please understand, not everyone has the opportunity to start over, except for lucky ones like you who are blessed by heaven—"

He suddenly brandished a gun in his left hand, pointed it at his own head, and pretended to fire a shot.

"Smack."

Mikhail remarked meaningfully, "Extremely lucky."

He Changyi remained expressionless and countered with, "Just luck?"

Mikhail spoke very quickly: "Ah, I think there were probably some human factors involved, such as emptying the gunpowder, destroying the primer, shortening the firing pin, and installing locating pins on the wheel..."

Mikhail rattled off a long list of tips on how to make a revolver unfire, from tampering with the bullets to tampering with the gun itself, all done professionally and secretly, so that even if the opponent inspected the weapon, they wouldn't find anything wrong.

Clearly, he learned a lot from his previous job.

Finally, Mikhail affectionately chided, "You know, no matter what measures are taken, there's still a chance of it firing. For a young and wealthy lady like you, that's really too dangerous."

He Changyi didn't speak, but slowly a smile appeared on her face.

"What you said makes a lot of sense, but—"

She took the revolver from the drawer, raised it, and fired a shot at the sofa.

Bang!

Mikhail sprang up like a jerboa whose tail had been set on fire, and stood to the side, still shaken.

He Changyi offered a perfunctory explanation: "To prevent ricochets."

Mikhail said dryly, "You've thought this through very well."

Suddenly, a loud bang rang out, the office door was kicked open, and bodyguards, guns drawn, filed in, pointing them at Mikhail and shouting:

"Squat down! Don't move!"

"Put down your weapons and put your hands behind your heads!"

"Cheka, do you want to die?!"

Mikhail slowly raised his hands. His bodyguards were extremely nervous. Without thinking twice, they rushed up and roughly pressed him face down to the ground.

Xie Xuejun, leaning on his crutches, hopped and skipped to He Changyi's side.

Are you injured?!

He Changyi pressed his hands down, signaling the bodyguards to calm down.

"I'm fine, it was just a misunderstanding."

She stepped out from behind her desk and gestured for her bodyguards to release Mikhail.

He got up from the ground, dusted off his clothes, and complained unhappily, "This is my favorite suit!"

He Changyi said, "You can buy ten more sets, and I'll reimburse you. But before that—"

She handed the revolver to Mikhail.

"Keep it, it's a little gift."

The moment Mikhail got his hands on the gun, he immediately realized something was wrong.

It's too light.

Ignoring the occasion, he immediately removed the pistol's magazine and was horrified to find it empty.

That was the last bullet.

It was also the bullet that wasn't fired in the casino.

Mikhail suddenly stood up straight, placed his right hand on his chest, bowed slightly, and looked fervent.

"His Majesty."

He spoke in a strangely devout tone:

"You have my loyalty."

He Changyi walked past him, leaving only one sentence behind.

"Then let me see your loyalty."

Preparing all the materials required in the auction announcement within just one week is no easy task.

With the deadline fast approaching, He Changyi was extremely busy, with everyone being assigned tasks. Even the bodyguards who were carrying guns had to pick up pens and scratch their heads while working on formatted documents and reference materials.

"Lev, Lev! What is a 'yearly budget allocation plan for factory-affiliated social institutions'?"

Lermontov said dejectedly, "I've never heard of factories having affiliated social institutions!"

Lev, who was also writing furiously, said without looking up, "That's easy. It's about those kindergartens, clinics, and holiday homes. They're asking how much you plan to spend on these burdens after you buy the factory."

Lermontov muttered, "Not spending a single penny is not my responsibility..."

Lev urged, "Stop dawdling, hurry up and write, I'm not going to write it for you anymore!"

Lermontov, exasperated, mumbled a complaint while biting his pen cap: "I haven't written more than three hundred words since I graduated from high school..."

Xie Xuejun closed the dictionary and said quietly, "What's that? I can't even speak a complete sentence in Emei, but I still write here, don't I?" He added despairingly, "Even if you asked me to write in Chinese, I wouldn't know how!"

Everyone in the room sighed and cursed Fu Shi for the ten thousandth and first time, calling him inhuman.

All available personnel were put to use, even Roman, who traded foreign exchange at the bank, was drafted to draft an investment plan for the next five years and set specific targets for the factory's output, revenue, and profit for the next three years overnight.

He Changyi was also busy, depositing a deposit of US$500,000 into the designated bank account as required by the auction announcement.

It sounds simple, but this small, remote bank on the outskirts of Vermont doesn't accept bank transfers, only cash deposits, and it only accepts the auction deposit between 6 a.m. and 7 a.m. on a certain day.

In other words, He Changyi had to bring a huge sum of US$500,000 on a designated date, cross a vast snow-covered wilderness before dawn, and place the banknotes on the bank counter precisely on time.

This sounds unsafe at all, and it is.

When the jeep was stopped by thugs who suddenly jumped out from the roadside, He Changyi even had a feeling of "just as expected, as anticipated".

But the jeep didn't stop and crashed heavily into the interceptor, its wheels jolting as if it were running over wood.

Nikolai, gun in hand, opened the door and got out of the car, leaving only the words: "Give me a minute."

The modified Jeep had excellent sound insulation, and the radio inside blasted deafening rock music.

He Changyi sat comfortably in the warm car, unable to hear the sounds outside. Through the glass, she saw Nikolai act swiftly, shooting one person after another, and soon returning to the car.

At this point, a song hadn't finished playing yet.

Large patches of blood remained on the snow, steaming hot.

Nikola started the vehicle nonchalantly and said with annoyance, "I really like this song."

He was still wearing that loose sweater, slightly hunched over, with a youthful face, and killing seemed commonplace to him.

Looking at the vast snowfield ahead, He Changyi casually asked, "I remember you bought a new Walkman and albums. Haven't you had enough yet?"

Nikolai thought for a moment, then said, puzzled, "It's different."

He didn't say how they were different.

When the jeep arrived at the bank, the staff were utterly astonished to see He Changyi and Nikola behind her carrying a box of cash.

He Changyi glanced at his watch; it was exactly six o'clock.

She asked Nikolai to put the suitcase on the counter and then placed an envelope on top of it.

"Five hundred thousand US dollars, auction deposit."

He Changyi smiled at the dumbfounded teller.

"Any other questions?"

On the way back, the sun rose slowly, its rays reflecting off the snow with blinding brilliance.

He Changyi nestled in his chair, lazily closing his eyes to rest.

There was no music playing in the car, so when Nikolai spoke, his voice was exceptionally clear.

Do you need a boyfriend?

He Changyi opened her eyes.

"...I hate office romances."

After a while, Nikolai asked again, "Then do you need a lover?"

He Changyi: ...

He Changyi sat up straighter and asked directly, "I remember you met a lot of girls at the concert."

At this time, some Oros concerts were more like modern-day livehouses: enclosed spaces, dim lighting, young men and women, excessively intimate distances, and heart-wrenching, deafening music. The audience was venting their emotions rather than appreciating the music.

When he wasn't on night duty, Nikolai often stayed out all night, returning the next day with a tired face and a messy perfume smell.

He Changyi asked Lev to tell him that if he dared to touch anything he shouldn't outside, he should get out of there.

Lev added on his own initiative: "If you dare bring a woman back to spend the night, I'll kill you."

Nikolai's first reaction was, "You can't kill me."

The two stared at each other, and Nikolai, a beat slow to react, said nonchalantly, "I can't."

He thought for a moment, then added, "Some of them steal money."

Lev couldn't take it anymore and kicked and shoved Nikolai out of the room.

"Get out! You utter idiot who only knows how to listen to music and kill people!"

Inside the jeep, He Changyi organized his thoughts and asked tactfully:

"Are you short of money for concert tickets right now? Do you need an advance on your salary?"

Nikolai instinctively replied, "No, private parties are all the rage now, the kind with a singer. Would you like to come?"

He Changyi: ...

He Changyi decided to ask more directly.

"Are you looking for a girlfriend?"

Nikolai finally understood what she meant.

He looked in the rearview mirror and said very seriously, "I like you."

He Changyi asked incredulously, "What do you like about me? Do you like that I give you an advance on your salary for a year? Then you don't need to like me, I will still continue to give you an advance on your salary."

Nikolai thought for a moment and said, "No, not wages."

He even gave a shy smile.

"You are the most savage and fierce woman I have ever met."

...Savage? Fierce?

He Changyi said expressionlessly, "Then you should go to a primitive tribe and find a savage. Africa, South America, or even a small island in Australia will do. They're all fierce enough. You can also marry a dozen wives according to primitive customs. As long as your thatched hut is big enough, they can even roast an elephant for you."

Nikolai suddenly slammed on the brakes, the wheels locked up, leaving a long tire track in the snow.

He Changyi grabbed the car door handle with a start, and once the car finally came to a stop, she yelled, "Do you want to die?!"

Nikolai leaned back from the driver's seat, his eyes pure and innocent.

"I just want to tell you that I really like you, and it has nothing to do with your money."

He Changyi sneered, "What does that have to do with?"

Nikolai awkwardly gestured the shape of a gun with one hand and pointed it at his temple.

"It's beautiful," he said softly.

"I have never seen anything more beautiful than this."

She looked beautiful when she aimed a gun at herself while playing roulette, and she also looked beautiful in her disheveled state as she stood up from behind an overturned jeep.

It should have been a raging fire, but her heart was clearly as cold as ice.

The more unattainable something is, the more alluring it becomes.

He Changyi narrowed his eyes and carefully examined the assassin who had delivered himself to her door with a completely new perspective.

...not very human.

...It's more like a wild beast acting on instinct.

Nikolai, an excellent soldier, a perfect assassin, a rock music enthusiast, and, seemingly human.

He Changyi saw him remain indifferent after committing murder more than once.

Sometimes they use guns, sometimes knives, and sometimes their hands.

When using a knife, he would squat on the ground and slowly wipe the blood off the knife with the other person's clothes.

A beast that is out of step with civilized society, indulging in desires, with little to no sense of morality, acting on instinct, and pretending to be human.

“Nikolai”.

He Changyi asked him, "What do you want from me?"

Without a second thought, Nikolai said, "I want you."

He Changyi leaned forward, reached out to Nikolai, and gently patted his little face as he instinctively moved closer.

"Then think about it."

Nikolai tilted his head in confusion, looking more like a small animal that had cultivated itself into a human.

He Changyi had already sat back in his seat and coldly ordered, "Drive."

Nikolai obediently turned around, and as he stepped on the gas, he thought with a wronged expression that Miss He was completely different from any other woman he had ever met.

Are all Eastern women as cold and heartless as she is?

He Changyi quickly put Nikolai's boyish thoughts to the back of his mind and devoted himself to the third state-owned enterprise auction.

Just one day before the bid deadline, He Changyi finally submitted all the materials.

The staff member in charge of reviewing the materials was extremely surprised. He absentmindedly flipped through the thick stack of documents, his eyes hesitantly shifting between He Changyi and the documents.

Finally, he made a decision to find something wrong with the document so that he could legitimately return it.

However, before the staff could speak, He Changyi swiftly shoved an envelope into his hand.

The staff member squeezed the thickness of the envelope, his eyes darting around nimbly.

"Okay, I'll just do what I'm supposed to do, and let the rest of us have a headache."

He took the document and the official seal, and promptly stamped it with a "Approved" mark.

He Changyi breathed a sigh of relief.

And this is only the first hurdle.

On the day of the auction, when He Changyi arrived at the venue with his entourage, they were stopped at the door.

He Changyi took a look and realized that the other person was actually an acquaintance. He had met him before at a ballet performance, and his smile back then was much more genuine than it was now.

Do you have any objections to my participation in the auction?

The other person sized He Changyi up and down, then said with a forced smile, "Of course I have no objections. However—"

He then changed the subject, "Are you really a friend of Mr. Andrei?"

What does this have to do with Andrei?

He Changyi's mind raced, and in a flash, she suddenly realized something.

Andrei has not been seen in Vladimir for some time.

Her business grew bigger and bigger, and her wealth accumulated like crazy, but the king behind the scenes was slow to come and inspect his new territory, and the Iron Throne remained empty.

He Changyi calmly realized that they were already suspicious.

Rus' was actually a rather closed country.

They reject immigrants, foreigners, and anything different from themselves.

Political suspicion and cultural barriers have built thick walls, separating those who are either on your side or outsiders.

Despite the fierce fighting and bloodshed within the high walls, where heads were torn apart, they would tacitly and collectively turn their guns on anyone trying to enter, prioritizing internal stability over external threats and eliminating the newcomers first.

He Changyi is now the target of everyone's condemnation.

She's no longer one of us.

If He Changyi's previous enemies were specific individuals, then she is now facing a chaotic and massive group.

Systemic exclusion.

After understanding this, He Changyi said nonchalantly, "You want to see Andrei? That's not easy. He's a favorite of the Mosk, and too many people want to see him. However, his door is always open to me, whenever I want."

The other person looked at He Changyi suspiciously, pondering the truthfulness of her words.

He Changyi looked at him carefully and then made a move to leave.

“I’ve remembered your name. I will tell Andrei everything that happened today. It seems he is no longer welcome in Fudan City.”

The other party was startled and hurriedly reached out to stop He Changyi, but was rudely pushed aside by the Eguo bodyguard next to her.

He keenly noticed that this was a guy who had retired from the military, and there were five other bodyguards like him.

"Miss He, I think there must be some misunderstanding here."

He Changyi looked at him expressionlessly.

"A misunderstanding? A misunderstanding about deliberately preventing me from attending the auction?"

The other person gave an awkward smile and voluntarily stepped aside.

"Of course you can participate. However—"

He said meaningfully, "This is Vladimir. Even if Mr. Andrei Jr. came here in person, he should show basic respect to the people here. Do you understand what I mean?"

He Changyi looked at him for a while, then nodded and said, "Of course I understand."

The auction was conducted through bidding, and this time, large state-owned enterprises in Vladimir, such as internal combustion engine factories, motorcycle manufacturing plants, and precision machining plants, were finally put on the table.

The venue was large, but there were only a handful of bidders.

Apart from He Changyi, the other bidders all seemed to know each other, greeting each other familiarly, while giving the only foreigner present strange looks and whispering among themselves.

Manager Roman was attending such a grand event for the first time, and he was so nervous that he sat stiffly in his chair, like a primary school student attending a public lesson.

Before he arrived, he had heard a lot about the previous two auctions from his bodyguards. He thought this would be another fierce and life-or-death auction, but to his surprise, the auction was extremely quiet.

What Roman found even more incomprehensible was that the boss clearly possessed over four million vouchers, yet she only used a quarter of them in this auction.

After acquiring 51% of the shares in the precision machinery processing plant, she stopped participating in the bidding and watched as other bidders politely divided up the remaining state-owned enterprise, like an uninvolved spectator.

Roman couldn't help but whisper a reminder: "Boss, there are still... there are still three million vouchers..."

He Changyi didn't speak, but simply shook his head slightly.

When everything settled down, the satiated predators demurely wiped their mouths and left contentedly.

As the event ended, someone said to He Changyi, "Congratulations. Although the precision machining plant is a bit small, it is still a pretty good company."

He Changyi nodded and said with the same fake smile, "Congratulations to you as well. I heard that the internal combustion engine factory made more than ten million US dollars in profit last year. There is no other company in the entire city of Vladimir that can compare with it."

The other party said smugly yet subtly, "It's just a factory."

Before parting, he said meaningfully to He Changyi, "Give my regards to Mr. Andre Jr."

He Changyi watched the other person leave, and the smile on his face vanished completely when he turned around.

Roman said uneasily, "Boss..."

He Changyi stopped him from speaking.

"Let's go back first."

As always, after the auction, He Changyi personally visited the precision machining factory.

But a large, profitable factory is completely different from the small and medium-sized factories she had previously handled that were on the verge of bankruptcy.

When He Changyi inspected the factory accompanied by its leaders, he always felt a slight sense of exclusion.

A foreign boss I didn't know.

She was not one of their own.

This kind of divide, rooted in culture and bloodline, is deeply ingrained and cannot be easily changed.

Unless the precision machining plant, like the dairy factory before it, defaults on wages and is on the verge of bankruptcy, and He Changyi descends like a savior to solve people's urgent survival problems, it will be difficult to break the deadlock in the short term.

However, for now, the workers at the precision machining plant hate their new boss as much as they hate the German army in World War II.

This was the first time He Changyi had received so many hostile stares since arriving in Eros.

"Damn foreign capitalists! Don't think you can take our factories just because you have money!"

Not far away, several young workers were fiercely waving their fists at her.

"Go back to China! You yellow-skinned foreigner, you're not welcome here!"

The factory leaders didn't react at all, not even bothering to put on a show. In the end, it was her bodyguards who stopped the restless workers.

He Changyi remained calm and composed, as if he hadn't noticed anything, and bid farewell to everyone politely and gently after the inspection.

After leaving the factory, He Changyi had someone stop the car and ushered the bodyguards who were traveling with him into another jeep.

"Don't follow me, I'll drive alone and have some peace and quiet."

The bodyguards exchanged glances, and finally, the experienced and composed Lev spoke first.

"Wouldn't that be unsafe? We can follow behind in a car without disturbing you."

He Changyi's response was to pull out his pistol and place it on the dashboard.

"I'm still alive even without bodyguards."

The bodyguards hesitated for a moment, but He Changyi had already gotten into the driver's seat, stepped on the gas, and the jeep took off and disappeared in an instant.

Once we left the city, the world became a vast expanse of white, with snow stretching into the endless world.

He Changyi drove the car all the way to the end of the road.

She got out of the car, a gun in her pocket, breathing in the icy, bone-chilling air, as if her blood was beginning to freeze.

Despite the suffocating cold, He Changyi remained strangely calm and considered his next move.

It's okay. She's been through far more desperate times, but she got through them too.

This time, however, her enemy was not an individual, but rather societal rejection and exclusion.

She was forced to become Don Quixote, charging at windmills.

It sounds terrible, but there's always a way out, and she'll definitely find a solution.

After calming down completely, He Changyi turned around and walked towards the jeep.

The wilderness of Oros is not a good place to relax. Who knows when a hungry, sleepless brown bear might spawn, or a tiger nursing its second litter?

However, at that moment, in the utter silence, a rather familiar-sounding voice suddenly roared at her:

"Get away from that car!"

Before he finished speaking, the air around the jeep suddenly began to distort and deform in He Changyi's vision.

The next second, the entire car exploded!

-----------------------

Author's Note: Guess who's here?