"They're here."

When Sheng Xiping saw these people, he returned their sincere greetings.

“Sheng, these are my friends, Alexander and Viktor, they are both from Moscow.”

Ivanov introduced the two people he had brought to Sheng Xiping.

"Alexander, Victor, hello. I am Ivan's friend and partner. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Sheng Xiping could tell at a glance that these two people were not simple people; they had a very special feeling about them, mysterious and dangerous.

Alexander and Victor both came forward to shake hands and hug Sheng Xiping, extending goodwill to him.

"Sheng, they've come to discuss cooperation with you. We plan to expand trade and transport our goods to Moscow along the Trans-Siberian Railway."

The two men seemed to be not good at speaking, so Ivanov smiled and told Sheng Xiping why they had come.

Before leaving in the spring, Sheng Xiping met with Ivanov and his group to discuss their next steps.

Sheng Xiping then suggested that, if possible, they should sell the goods westward, preferably to Moscow.

Ivanov said he had some connections and could give it a try.

So during the time Sheng Xiping was away from Heihe, Ivanov tried to build connections and find partners.

This time, Alexander and his team came specifically to discuss cooperation with Sheng Xiping.

When friends come from afar, we must certainly treat them well.

So Sheng Xiping hurriedly sent someone to Longjiang Hotel to make arrangements. At noon, Sheng Xiping, Wu Yucheng, and the company's core members invited Ivanov and others to lunch.

After a year of trade, not only did Sheng Xiping and his group make a fortune, but Ivanov and others were also considered wealthy in their own country.

The chef at Longjiang Hotel showcased his culinary skills, preparing a table full of delicious and visually appealing dishes to entertain the guests.

Sun Jinggang and Wang Dongcheng were both soldiers and were particularly good drinkers. Sheng Xiping also had a good alcohol tolerance and drank quite a bit with Ivanov and the others.

The two sides also discussed and agreed on the next cooperation model over drinks.

For the time being, the transaction between the two parties will still be conducted in Heihe.

After all, Sheng Xiping and Ivanov had already paved the way for this route, and all the key points had been cleared, so no one dared to cause trouble in the middle.

While conducting the transaction, both sides also sought ways to establish connections along the route from Manzhouli to Moscow.

When the Yangtze River thaws the following spring, trade will be impossible to conduct here, so the trade will be moved to Manzhouli and carried out by rail.

Except for some sensitive goods that require a small amount of US dollars for settlement, the two sides basically adopt a barter system.

Of course, after a summer of trade, the exchange rate for goods has changed, and both sides need to make appropriate adjustments.

The meal lasted quite a while, and by the end everyone was staggering from drinking.

On the way back with Ivanov and the others, Alexander took out a piece of paper from his pocket, on which were densely written Russian characters.

"Sheng, I think you really need these. Take them back and look at them at your leisure, then let me know when you're done."

Sheng Xiping's Russian proficiency is limited to simple daily conversations; he simply cannot handle such professional material.

So after Alexander and his group left, Sheng Xiping immediately found a professional translator.

After the translator looked at it, he said that what was written on the paper were all machine tool models.

"It says here that these are all machine tools that are 80% new, and the price is much cheaper than brand new ones. However, they want 30% of the price in US dollars."

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping immediately understood that Alexander had some good stuff.

I had only heard people mention it before, but before the collapse of the Soviet Union, it was extremely chaotic. People would dismantle brand-new machine tools and assembly lines in factories and sell them as scrap metal.

Unexpectedly, Sheng Xiping actually encountered it.

It was only the end of 1986, and Alexander and his men dared to do this. It's clear that the Russians were rotten to the core.

What did I hear people say in my past life? A fallen leader is a true leader.

Sheng Xiping didn't care about all that. All he knew was that he had to take advantage of the opportunity to make as much money as possible. He would do whatever he could to earn more.

So, Sheng Xiping, ignoring the fact that he was so drunk he was staggering, immediately picked up the phone and called Wu Bingzhong.

"Uncle, this is Xiping. Could you please contact Old Yang?"

I have a list of machine tools provided by the Russians. I'm not very knowledgeable about these, could you ask Mr. Yang to arrange for someone to come over?

Back when we were working on special steel, Old Yang said that if Sheng Xiping ever encountered any problems, he could come to him for help.

Sheng Xiping was too embarrassed to approach Old Yang directly, so he first sought help from Wu Bingzhong.

Upon hearing that it was a list of machine tools, Wu Bingzhong immediately perked up on the other end of the phone.

"Okay, okay, I'll contact someone right away. Don't talk to them yet, wait for me to bring people over."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Bingzhong immediately went to find Old Yang and the others.

When Yang heard that the machine tools were from Russia, he was overjoyed. He quickly called a group of people over and then called Sheng Xiping, asking him to report the model numbers of the machine tools on the list.

Unfortunately, fax service isn't available in Heihe yet, so the list can't be sent directly to the capital. We have to submit it manually.

Sheng Xiping wasn't very good at these things, so he had the translator report it.

When the experts on Yang's side heard the machine tool models, they were so excited they didn't know what to say.

"Old Yang, these are the machine tools we need most. Even if we can get a set, it would be great. We can slowly disassemble and learn from them to develop our own machine tools."

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!