"Are you saying that I need to buy back my life with my own money?" Zhao Xiaohai naturally knew what he liked most, and he said in surprise.

"Well, if you don't plan to let your younger brother and wife live with you, then you only have to pay for your own life." Zyuganov said in a relaxed tone.

"So how much do you need?" Zhao Xiaohai asked. He wouldn't bother with nonsense like "Li Qiang and Jin Lulu had nothing to do with his crimes." After all, he was facing Soviet soldiers, not an international court. In the eyes of this Soviet "war machine," any logic was bullshit.

"To be honest, it's a lot, so much so that we ourselves feel the price is a bit excessive," Zyuganov said with a chuckle. His words made the seven or eight officers in the hall laugh.

"Then I'll be honest. I can't afford it," Zhao Xiaohai answered more directly. "Don't even mention it's a lot. Right now, I can't even come up with a mere 100,000 rubles. The goods and cash you seized this time are all my savings. Do you think I can still afford your so-called life-saving money under such circumstances?"

"I think Mr. Zhao has misunderstood," Zyuganov said with a smile. "We don't intend for you to pay this money directly out of your own pocket, and we also know that you simply can't afford it. Therefore, what we need now is cooperation with you, just like your previous cooperation with Vasily."

"You mean smuggling?" Zhao Xiaohai said with some surprise.

"That's right," Zyuganov nodded, speaking calmly. "It's smuggling. We need your connections in China, and you need us to be lenient with you. That's the basis of our cooperation. But don't worry, we won't let you work for nothing. Just like the deal between you and Vasily, we'll split the profits of each transaction 40% to 60%—we take 60% and you take 40%."

Honestly, although Zhao Xiaohai knew that corruption in the Soviet military was widespread and serious, he had never imagined it would be so widespread. Clearly, the officers in this hall were all important figures at the rank of colonel or above. What did this indicate? This undoubtedly indicated that the entire Far East Military Region's KGB was involved in this premeditated smuggling trade.

"What? Are you worried? Or are you dissatisfied with our terms?" Zyuganov smiled as he approached Zhao Xiaohai. "You should know that cooperating with us is far better than cooperating with Vasily. He can only bring your goods in, but he can't provide you with the necessary security guarantees. We are different. In this Far East, your trade will never be interfered with by anyone, whether it's the Ministry of Internal Affairs, the Trade Commission, or anyone else."

"What about your superiors?" Zhao Xiaohai curled his lips and said disapprovingly, "As your target of investigation, Vasily can be easily dealt with by you, but don't forget that you also have superiors. Perhaps in their eyes, you are no different from Vasily. I don't want my crimes to become more and more serious."

"What if I tell you that our cooperation is tacitly approved by the higher-ups?" a young major interrupted, but he quickly shut up because Zyuganov glared at him.

I understand. Zhao Xiaohai understood everything. He knew the Soviet government's financial difficulties had finally erupted, and the widespread corruption that followed had finally become apparent. For the ignorant Soviet people who admired Western-style democracy and clamored for reform all day long, the disaster they had caused was about to erupt. But for those with ulterior motives like him, Zhao Xiaohai, a new golden age had already dawned.

"If that's the case..." Zhao Xiaohai, with a firm mind, pretended to be thoughtful. After considering for a moment, he said, "Then our cooperation is still very promising. But first, I want to ask, everyone, how big is the gap in the funds you need? To put it bluntly, how much money do you need to earn?"

"The more the better." Susihof answered without hesitation.

"Yes, I think this is what you expect, Mr. Zhao?" Zyuganov nodded and smiled. "But within the next month, we must first obtain at least 600,000 rubles in cash. This is the money we urgently need."

"Six hundred thousand rubles?" Zhao Xiaohai snorted. He thought to himself that these people looked down on him too much. Six hundred thousand rubles? If he couldn't even get six hundred thousand in a month under the current conditions, then he simply didn't need to live as a human being. But such words were fine to think about in his mind, but they were absolutely unacceptable to say out loud.

"What's wrong?" Zyuganov frowned. The army urgently needed this money, and as a leader, he was almost getting gray with worry.

He shook his head slightly, then nodded. After confusing a bunch of generals and officers, Zhao Xiaohai continued to ask, "Then what do you think is the best type of goods we want to smuggle?"

"Of course it's tobacco, just like you did last time," Zyuganov said without hesitation.

"We have already taken control of Vasily's sales channels, and this type of banned goods is in high demand and has high profits."

"Hey, everyone, I'm not trying to throw cold water on you," Zhao Xiaohai said with a smile, "You really don't understand the situation in China. It's true that tobacco isn't a controlled commodity here, but it's a state monopoly. We have the Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, the Sugar and Wine Company, and the Grain Bureau. Commodities like tobacco, alcohol, sugar, salt, cooking oil, and grain are basically state-monopolized. I have a license issued by the Greentown Tobacco Monopoly Bureau, but acquiring large quantities of tobacco is never easy. That last batch, for example, took me months of hard work to stockpile. Do you think such goods are suitable for long-term, large-scale smuggling? More importantly, we've already begun improving our customs anti-smuggling system. I think it will become much more difficult to smuggle large quantities of goods from within China in the near future. Hehe, of course, all the risks within China belong to me, so you don't have to worry about them, but you still have to consider your own money, right? Are you hoping that the Chinese customs will confiscate your entire payment for the goods one day?"

My dear, there is more to this chapter. Please click on the next page to continue reading. It will be even more exciting later!