Chapter 138 Expanding Territory (Completed)...

Megerdinov has been having a bit of bad luck lately.

After leaving home in the morning, he discovered that the heel of his leather shoes had come unglued. He could have managed to hold on a little longer, but then a pack of damn stray dogs chased after him and tried to bite him. When he arrived at the office building barefoot and looking disheveled, he was called in by his superiors for questioning.

"Where is that batch of Chinese goods? It's been almost a month, why hasn't the train arrived in our country yet?"

Megerdinov forced a smile and said, "The problem lies with Zhong Guo..."

Seeing his superior's displeasure, he quickly added, "But it's just a minor issue, I can handle it!"

The leader remained silent, staring intently at Megerdinov for a while until he broke out in a cold sweat.

"You'd better handle this quickly. The Prime Minister is very unhappy and wants to sell that batch of Chinese goods to the public as soon as possible. If Chinese goods haven't been shipped within a week, then we'll find someone else who can do it!"

Megerdinov readily agreed: "I'll take care of it right away!"

The leader stared at him for a while before letting out a cold snort and telling Megerdinov to get out.

Megerdinov staggered out of the office, his legs weak. After catching his breath, he immediately dialed an international number with a fierce expression.

"Get He Changyi here!"

However, the voice on the other end of the phone was not the familiar female voice, but an unfamiliar one.

"Sister He isn't here. What's the matter? Tell me, and I can pass it on."

Megerdinov snapped, "Who do you think you are? Tell He Changyi to answer the phone! Tell her that if she dares not answer my call, she'll regret it!"

First, I heard the sound of a microphone being placed on the table, followed by a distant rustling of conversation.

"What should we do? He insists on letting Sister He answer the phone?"

"This black-haired guy is pretty arrogant. Let's ignore him. Does he think he can just go looking for Sister He whenever he wants? Let him go cool off somewhere else."

"Is it appropriate to say that? He's, after all, the general manager of a foreign state-owned enterprise..."

"It's alright, he's just a grasshopper in autumn, he won't be able to jump around for many more days!"

When the microphone was picked up again, a different person spoke, confidently and loudly declaring, "Our Sister He isn't here! You can either talk to me or wait. Anyway, you're paying for the call, so talk for as long as you want!"

It seemed someone nearby reminded him, because the other person quickly changed his tune, saying, "No, I can't let you keep the line occupied. If you don't say something, I'll hang up!"

Megerdinov was furious, his beard bristling and eyes bulging. Seeing that he remained silent, the person on the other end actually hung up the phone. The last words heard before the call ended were—

"I knew Blackie was up to no good, he was just trying to waste Sister He's time..."

Mederdinov: ? ? ? !!

The receiver went dead. Megerdinov was utterly incredulous. Was this really the Chinese man he knew? How dare he treat a distinguished foreign guest so rudely!

Megerdinov was furious and about to smash the telephone to the ground when he remembered his superior's dark face. He withdrew his hand and, swallowing his anger, dialed the number again.

"I need to speak with He Changyi!"

The person on the other end said impatiently, "Those who want to see Sister He all have something to say, and they wouldn't dare bother her if they didn't. Just say what you need to say, stop dawdling, I don't know how you became a leader..."

Megerdinov endured the humiliation and pretended not to hear the last sentence.

"Tell He Changyi that we have made a decision. As soon as the goods arrive in Ackermantan, we will ship them. This time it's for real!"

The person on the other end muttered, "That sounds nice, but I wonder if it's true or not..."

Megerdinov continues to endure humiliation and hardship!

"Okay, I've got it. I'll tell Sister He when she gets back to China. You just wait."

Megerdinov asked sharply, "Back home? Where did she go? When will she be back? I'm in a hurry, a very urgent hurry, I can't wait!"

A scoff came from the other end: "Why didn't you do this sooner? You're only getting anxious now, like you're about to have diarrhea and then you think about finding a toilet... Alright, stop rushing me. Our Sister He has a lot on her plate; she'll call back when she has time."

The phone went dead again, and Megerdinov tried to breathe into the receiver.

He didn't believe He Changyi would really give up a deal worth 30 million US dollars. He was just taking the opportunity to retaliate and put him on the defensive. It didn't matter. He just needed to be patient for now and would retaliate a thousand times over later!

One day, two days, three days...

By the fourth day, Megerdinov couldn't wait any longer.

He dialed the number again, and before the other party could speak, he impatiently asked, "He Changyi, where are your goods?!"

However, the same hateful voice came from the other end of the phone.

"Why is it you again? I already told you that Sister He is abroad and not here right now. Let's wait until she comes back to talk about it."

Megerdinov interrupted, "I can't wait! Didn't you tell her what I said?!"

The person on the other end asked curiously, "She's not even in the country, how am I supposed to tell her?"

Megerdinov was furious and started hurling insults, but because his Chinese vocabulary was insufficient, he used Akmanstein.

Three days have passed! And He Changyi still doesn't know about this news!

"Tell her! Tell her right now! I'll send someone to ship 10,000 tons of tungsten ore! Ship it! Immediately!"

It seemed like the person on the other end had moved the microphone further away; all that could be heard was complaining.

"Blackie is going crazy again."

"Alright, just bear with it. Sister He will make it up to you when she gets back..."

Megerdinov roared desperately, "Didn't you hear me?! Tell He Changyi I'm shipping the goods!"

The microphone's sound came closer.

"Okay, okay, I understand. I'll tell Sister He... Honestly, if you were going to ship it, you would have done it long ago. It's taken you so long to remember to urge them..."

After hanging up the phone, Megerdinov paced back and forth in his office like a caged animal.

His superiors only gave him a week. If he couldn't resolve the issue, he could forget about sitting comfortably in the general manager's position any longer!

No, he can't wait here; he has to do something!

Megerdinov pushed open the office door and instructed his secretary, "Book me the fastest flight to Zhongguo!"

He wanted to personally go to He Changyi to urge the shipment!

At the Beijing airport, Megerdinov's yellow eyes and foreign face attracted a lot of attention, and passengers discussed it among themselves.

Is this a foreigner?

"It doesn't seem like it. Could it be a minority group from the border region?"

"Wait here, I'll go ask..."

As Megerdinov was hurrying towards the airport exit, someone suddenly stopped him and greeted him enthusiastically: "Hello!"

Mederdinov: "...Get out!"

The person who greeted him was taken aback, and said sullenly, "So you're not a foreigner after all... What's with the attitude... Just because you have yellow eyes doesn't mean you're any better..."

Megerdinov glared at the other person, not caring about the foreigner issue, and rushed out to flag down a taxi. The driver's eyes lit up when he saw him.

"Hey, it's a foreigner! Hello, wanna go climb the undeveloped Great Wall?"

Megerdinov: ...

Why is his luck so bad lately!

After paying a clearly exorbitant taxi fare, Megerdinov finally arrived at He Changyi's office in Beijing. However, He Changyi himself was still not there.

"Was it you who made the call?"

The person in charge of reception looked at Megerdinov curiously and said, "I already told you, our Sister He has gone abroad and hasn't come back. You've come for nothing."

Megerdinov's vision blurred, but he managed to ask, "When is she coming back? You must have her contact information!"

Another person came out of the office area and chuckled when he saw Megerdinov.

"Megertinov, right? I've heard so much about you. But what brings you here? Our Sister He is in Akmanstein right now."

Megerdinov could hardly believe his ears.

"What?! He Changyi is in Ackermantan?!?!"

The other person nodded seriously and said, "You didn't ask, did you? Hurry up and go home now, you might even see Sister He."

Megerdinov was dizzy and lightheaded, and the jet lag made him unsteady on his feet.

The person in charge of reception nudged their colleague and whispered, "It's almost noon, should we prepare his lunch? I heard foreigners love Peking duck..."

The man said firmly, "Of course not! What do we care about food? We've already set a trap for him at the ore mine. Let him go home and eat by himself!"

He turned to Megerdinov and said kindly, "You'd better hurry up and go, don't miss your return flight! Otherwise, the next flight won't be for several days. We won't keep you any longer, goodbye!"

Megerdinov mechanically walked outside, and taxi drivers on the street, seeing a foreigner hailing a cab, enthusiastically rolled down their windows.

"Hey, you're a foreigner? Want to climb the Great Wall? The wild Great Wall is a rare sight!"

When Megerdinov returned to Akmanstein, his office was in complete chaos; his superiors were looking for him.

"What have you done?!"

Megerdinov looked bewildered and aggrieved, stammering, "I...I didn't do anything..."

The superior retorted, "You didn't do anything?"

Megerdinov quickly changed his tune: "No, no, I did it, of course I did it! I've been contacting He Changyi to get the goods shipped; I can't let the Prime Minister's plans be delayed!"

He said with a hint of self-satisfaction, "That female merchant from Zhong Kingdom tried to delay the delivery, so I personally went to the capital and demanded that she deliver the goods immediately. She has agreed and will ship the goods to our country right away!"

The superior asked, "Did she agree?"

Megerdinov nodded vigorously: "She promised me herself!"

Suddenly, the superior officer sprang to his feet and slammed the silver teapot on the table heavily onto Megerdinov's head.

"You idiot! Useless! Trash! That shipment of thirty million dollars has already been taken by the president's men!"

Megerdinov, ignoring the wound on his head, was completely stunned and said in disbelief, "The President? Impossible! How could He Changyi possibly know the President?! She's just an ordinary Chinese businesswoman..."

The superior sneered, "She not only knows the president, she also knows the president's daughter, Haldane!"

"Holdan has already exchanged 300,000 tons of chromium ore for that shipment, and the president is currently giving a speech on television, saying he's going to sell it to the whole country at a discounted price! It's all your fault, you idiot, you've ruined us all! Now the prime minister is going to hold you accountable, so go and face the prime minister's wrath yourself!"

Megerdinov felt dizzy and everything went completely black.

It's all over, it's all over...

While the Prime Minister's faction frantically searched for He Changyi, she had already left Akmantan with 300,000 tons of chromium concentrate and a long-term cooperation agreement.

Although this barter business was fraught with twists and turns, it was ultimately quite fruitful, opening up the market in Central Asia.

He Changyi put the original copy of the cooperation agreement into the safe, turned around and said with a smile, "Speaking of which, we should thank Medertinov. He did us a great favor with his bad intentions."

Xie Xun was still somewhat uneasy: "The Premier's faction suffered a great loss this time, and I doubt they will let it go."

Is it considered a loss not to gain an advantage?

He Changyi said casually, "Then let them not give up so easily."

Xie Xun asked her, "Aren't you afraid they'll protest to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs?"

He Changyi raised his eyebrows and said, "Then let's get their president and prime minister to reach an agreement first! Power cannot be used twice, and politics cannot be divided. I'm quite curious, if the official statements from Akmantan are inconsistent, which one should be taken as the truth?"

Xie Xun smiled and shook his head: "I'm the one worrying unnecessarily."

He Changyi comforted him instead: "Don't worry, I've made all the arrangements. Even if Medertinov wants to accuse us of double-selling, I've already prepared evidence of his breach of contract. We can't just let Medertinov and his gang resort to such underhanded tactics."

She said cheerfully, "At worst, we'll go to court. The first trial will drag on to the second, and the second trial to the third. It will drag on year after year. Maybe before the case is resolved, the Prime Minister will have to step down and bow."

Xie Xun asked curiously, "Do you think more highly of the president? Is he more moral than the prime minister?"

Before leaving Akmenstan, He Changyi met the president through Khordan's introduction, while Xie Xun was rudely excluded by Khordan and did not have the opportunity to meet the head of state.

Recalling the president he had met before, who spoke fluent Ego language and seemed more like a traditional bureaucrat of an alliance than a president of a country, He Changyi shrugged.

"I don't comment on the moral standards of political animals, but the alliance is gone, and Eros is too busy to care for itself. Even if the Prime Minister wanted to surrender and become a subordinate, he would have to see if the Kremlin had the resources to help him. In comparison, our cunning opportunist president seems to be more adaptable to this rapidly changing new world."

Xie Xun listened thoughtfully, his gaze fixed intently on He Changyi.

He said with a sigh, "You're always better than I imagine, but sometimes I wish you weren't so good."

It's too dazzling.

He was both infatuated and terrified, afraid that too many people would see her, yet also afraid that others wouldn't.

Contradictory and uneasy, he could only feel a trembling sense of relief—at least he hadn't made a mistake.

He Changyi replied, "This is nothing."

She extended her hand to Xie Xun and said cheerfully, "Inspired by Mederdinov, I have a better idea for making money. Want to join me?"

Xie Xun chuckled and took her hand without hesitation.

"certainly!"

Unlike Russia, the Central Asian countries lacked once-wealthy citizens, large-scale financial markets, and mature heavy industrial systems. Despite sharing similar problems with Russia, the Russian experience cannot be simply applied here.

Fortunately, beneath the vast wilderness lies a wealth of mineral resources, including non-ferrous metals, rare metals, coal, oil, and gas. These resources are abundant, easy to mine, and served as an important supply base during the Alliance era, with well-developed mining areas and supporting industrial facilities.

In Central Asia today, bartering is the most suitable and likely to be implemented.

But this time, He Changyi does not intend to use the same transaction model as Akmanstein.

Not every country has a Khordan who helped his father seize power, but every country certainly has guys who want to be like Mederdinov.

For the northern barbarians who regularly raided for supplies, getting something for nothing was a completely stress-free experience. At least they spared the lives of their trading partners. Compared to their ancestors, how merciful and kind they were!

The total risk is directly proportional to the return.

Faced with such enormous potential profits, it's not impossible to take the risk, no matter how great the risks ahead.

He Changyi had already tried it. She exchanged goods worth 30 million US dollars for 300,000 tons of chromium concentrate, making a profit of more than 10 million US dollars in one fell swoop. More importantly, she obtained a long-term cooperation agreement, which meant that a continuous stream of chromium concentrate and the huge amount of US dollars it represented would flow to her.

This time, He Changyi still intends to enjoy the substantial profits all to herself, but she does not intend to bear the risks alone.

Xie Xun asked uncertainly, "What do you want to do?"

He Changyi said cheerfully, "Of course, we'll bring people in!"

Xie Xun raised an eyebrow: "I didn't know there would be such a rich and foolish person who would only take the risks and not share the profits."

He Changyi said, "You'll find out soon enough."

She approached metallurgical companies with ore procurement agreements, promising to provide high-quality ore at below-market prices in the long term, with only one request—to provide guarantees for Changyi's bank loans.

The metallurgical company was initially hesitant, but He Changyi offered her company, which she used for reselling scrap steel, as a counter-guarantee for the metallurgical company's guarantee. In other words, if He Changyi was unable to repay the loan, this company, which had been supplying Yansteel for a long time, had stable revenue, and had excellent financial statements, would bear the ultimate responsibility for repayment.

The head of the metallurgical company was tempted but hesitant: "You can apply for a loan directly from the bank without our guarantee."

He Changyi spread his hands and said helplessly, "I also want to take out a loan directly, but the banks won't accept it. Only if your state-owned enterprise provides a guarantee will the banks be willing to lend money."

After a meeting and discussion, the metallurgical company finally agreed to provide a guarantee, but required He Changyi to be the sole supplier, so that even if they could not use up all the ore, they could still sell it and make a small profit.

He Changyi readily agreed to the metallurgical company's request—after all, she had purchased more than just this one type of ore from Central Asia.

After repeated attempts and with the guarantees of several state-owned enterprises, He Changyi finally obtained a total of 100 million yuan in loans from different banks.

As soon as the money was in hand, He Changyi immediately went on a shopping spree in China, sending dozens of teams to purchase food and light industrial products from factories all over the country. The products ranged from over a hundred different items, and the initial deposits alone almost wiped out the entire 100 million yuan.

Meanwhile, He Changyi and Xie Xun rushed to various Central Asian countries for negotiations. In each country, while connecting with the higher-ups, they quickly set up a small-scale Chinese goods exhibition, featuring a dazzling array of products from food and clothing to household appliances and daily necessities.

Some potential partners who were initially hesitant immediately made up their minds after seeing the wide variety of Chinese goods. They signed the agreement without hesitation. Although the terms of the agreement were somewhat harsh, requiring inspection of ore grade, prior delivery of goods by their own side, and a fixed exchange ratio that refused to fluctuate with international prices, if this barter transaction could be successfully completed, it would quickly alleviate the domestic shortage of supplies, allow them to get rid of unsold ore, and open up new Eastern markets. So, it was not an unacceptable agreement to sign it.

The goods that He Changyi brought to Central Asian countries for exhibitions were not wasted. Before the exhibition ended, government officials who couldn't wait to get their hands on them all took them away, and even the temporary scaffolding was moved away, leaving only an empty venue.

In the end, apart from the Central Asian countries that had broken out in civil war, He Changyi traveled all over Central Asia, and the barter agreements and subsequent long-term procurement cooperation agreements he signed were stacked up to be half a person high, with a total value of over US$100 million.

Compared to the first collaboration with Akmanstein, He Changyi's initial investment this time was negligible. He no longer needed to withdraw large amounts of cash from his own funds. Instead, he leveraged bank loans to secure this massive deal.

Moreover, He Changyi took this opportunity to establish friendly cooperative relationships with major state-owned enterprises in China. This is not just a reward-based cooperation like the previous Yansteel bidding, but a more mutually beneficial, stable and long-term relationship.

For banks, a reputable and financially strong businessman is practically the perfect candidate for a loan. Not only will he not default on his debts, but he can also generate substantial interest for the bank. Not to mention, He Changyi himself is a major depositor, making him an ideal client.

In addition, He Changyi also conducted a survey of local specialty industries and outstanding factories, and trained a group of procurement talents. Perhaps not all of them will stay, but they can lay the groundwork for the subsequent expansion of Friendship Store.

More importantly, this time He Changyi demonstrated her business acumen, financial resources, and extensive international network to her domestic partners.

She can accomplish what others cannot; she can befriend powerful figures that others cannot.

She was able to make a name for herself in Oros and also build a career in Central Asia.

Compared to most companies that are still confined to their domestic market and are hesitant to venture abroad, this is more than just a case of standing out from the crowd.

He Changyi may not have started as early as others, but she will definitely go further.

Today, money is no longer important to He Changyi; it's just a boring number on a balance sheet that keeps rolling longer.

Now she prefers more challenging and difficult problems.

However, just as the business in Central Asia was getting on track and there was no need to worry, problems came knocking on their door.

When He Changyi returned to the Yan family to visit relatives, he encountered an unexpected guest.

"Hello, Xiao Yan, I heard that you did a lot of business in the former alliance. I wonder if you know anything about Uzbekistan?"

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Author's Note: I've added half the word count as a little gift for those of you who stayed up until the early hours to wait for updates~