Chapter 195 Fuck the Whole World: Are You Crazy?

That night, Wu Haoyu was especially enthusiastic, and he didn't fall asleep until he was extremely tired.

The next morning, Wang Xiao woke up again amidst their lingering intimacy.

The person crawling on the ground whispered in her ear, "Are you leaving again?"

Actually, that wasn't what he originally wanted to say. He had so many questions he wanted to ask, but he couldn't bring himself to say them. He was afraid she would refuse to answer, and he was even more afraid she would give him an answer that left no room for negotiation.

So all he could do was murmur and ask that question.

Moreover, when he asked the question, he didn't expect to get an answer.

After all, what kind of good person would say such things while actually working hard?

Wang Xiao's soul was dazed and confused in mid-air. The darkness left by the curtains blocking the light of day was rippled outwards, and his nerves were like they were electrified, with sparks crackling at their tips.

Once the turmoil subsided and the afterglow faded, she finally mustered the strength to insert her fingers into his hair.

It was damp, as if it had just rained.

She suddenly thought of a phrase, "clouds and rain over Wushan," which was truly fitting here; it was just like the clouds had cleared and the rain had stopped.

Then she spoke in a hoarse voice: "Don't force yourself to become someone else, I like you the way you are."

That's wonderful; she loves storms, and she also loves the tranquility after a storm.

Wu Haoyu suddenly felt sad.

It wasn't entirely without reason, because he was disappointed.

In another novel by Eileen Chang, "Lust, Caution," there is a line that says, "The way to a woman's heart is through the shade."

But it seems that no matter how hard he tries, he can't get into her heart.

Wang Xiao stroked his sweaty face, unconcerned by his silence.

If she could read minds, she would probably laugh and say: "You've already entered my heart. You're not mistaken, there's a copy of myself inside me."

Unfortunately, she didn't know how, so she let Wu Haoyu suffer.

Hunger made her unwilling to stay in bed any longer, so she got out of bed and took a shower.

God is my witness, despite the extremely basic conditions at the construction site, the logistics team still worked hard to make everyone's living conditions better.

There wasn't enough time to build all the log cabins, so they hastily put together container houses, ensuring that each room was equipped with a shower. This way, the workers could at least take a nice, relaxing shower after a long day's work.

The food in the cafeteria was also quite good. As soon as Wang Xiao opened the door, he could smell the aroma of oil and noodles wafting from not far away.

Ivanov stood outside like a gatekeeper, and Wang Xiao was startled when he suddenly saw him: "What are you doing? Is something wrong?"

The Moscow playboy, with a wistful look in his eyes and a pitiful expression of being utterly abandoned, said: "Your Majesty, do you know how lonely and isolated I am?"

Ah, while she was frolicking in the arms of a lover, he was all alone in his cold bed, not even a female mosquito dared to bite him.

"Come on, that's because tent-style mosquito nets are more effective." Wang Xiao interrupted his incessant complaining. "Besides, did I stop you from becoming a cultivator?"

Having spent so much time with her, Ivanov momentarily forgot to maintain his elegant and gentlemanly demeanor, rolling his eyes and looking even more aggrieved: "How could I? I just told someone to keep me in line, and then I'm here dating girls? Wouldn't that be contradicting myself?"

Ha! That damn Douglas, they still have to clean up his mess.

Wang Xiao also had a headache. They had originally planned to come yesterday to check on the oil and gas field and confirm that it had not been affected by the Hokkaido earthquake and tsunami before returning to Sakhalin City.

As a result, this incident made things difficult for the two of them.

They were afraid that the Korean community where the girl lived would retaliate after she had a medical abortion.

As the bosses, they had no choice but to grit their teeth and wait at the construction site of Project No. 1, ready to maintain stability at any time.

Just kidding, the oil and gas field project has taken so much of their effort, well, money, how could they not put their heart into it?

How boring those days of waiting were! Thankfully, the animals on the island were much more fun than the people.

Almost every morning when Wang Xiao opens his eyes, he can see seals fishing and eating on the beach.

Those chubby little boys were so much fun that Wang Xiao couldn't help but shout, "Come to my house, okay? I'll earn money to support you!"

As a result, Ivanov made some serious inquiries and finally said with considerable difficulty: it is indeed a bit difficult to keep seals in a villa in Moscow.

This left Wang Xiao both amused and exasperated; she was just being cheeky. Aside from not wanting to keep people, she had far too many animals she wanted to keep. Even the brown bears on the island looked adorable in her eyes.

Seriously, these brown bears just go to the beach every day to eat fish roe. They catch a herring, gut it, eat the roe, and then just throw it aside. People come and go as they please, but they don't care, as long as they're not disturbed while they're eating their roe.

The farmers who grow vegetables at Project No. 1 simply follow the brown bears around every day to collect the fish that have been abandoned, take them back, chop them up, and feed them to the ducks. They even cook them and feed them to the pigs.

However, the pigs didn't seem to like it much; they ate half and left the other half to rot, eventually ending up in the biogas digester along with the manure.

In contrast, they seem to prefer seaweed. If chopped up and cooked, they can eat at least 90% of it.

Ducks also eat kelp, both raw and cooked, but they don't eat fish-flavored kelp. A lot of it is left over and mixed with manure to be used as raw material for biogas digesters.

Taking advantage of the warm weather, which makes fermentation easier, farmers have started using biogas. Otherwise, they would have to find extra fuel every day to cook pig feed, which is too troublesome.

Ivanov, that chatterbox, shook his head as he looked at the picky little pig: "Alas, what a pity, he doesn't even know how to appreciate it. This is the most delicious sashimi."

That's right, herring is the famous raw material for sashimi. Russians also have a habit of eating herring, which is why he said that.

Wang Xiao rolled his eyes at him and said bluntly, "Excuse me, but in our Chinese civilization, eating raw meat and drinking blood is one of the hallmarks of savages."

Actually, she simply felt that sashimi contained a lot of parasites and didn't want to take the risk.

Ivanov chuckled and jumped up and down: "Then how do you eat sea urchins? You even go into the sea to catch them."

The sea urchins here are called horse manure sea urchins. Although the name doesn't sound nice, they taste delicious.

Wang Xiao made no attempt to hide his double standards: "If it tastes good, then it's not poisonous."

Ha! You can easily catch a bunch of seafood by diving here.

Even if you don't dive into the sea, the oysters covering the beach after each low tide will make you question your existence.

It's true, the people on this island will never starve.

Heaven is so generous; no wonder the islanders are too lazy to even eat oysters.

Ivanov laughed and said, "Why don't we just spend the whole summer here?"

How comfortable! Every day I go beachcombing, eating and drinking, without having to think about anything.

The summer sea breeze on my face and the sunshine on my body felt so pleasant.

"You're dreaming!" Wang Xiao interrupted his fantasy directly. "Once things are settled here, we have to go back immediately. There's a ton of stuff to do."

Ivanov groaned in pain once again: "God, they should all get sterilized."

Wang Xiao smiled, then smiled again: "My dear Comrade Ivanov, would you like to set an example?"

Ivanov immediately turned tail and ran as if his pants were on fire: "I'll go check what's going on."

Fortunately, Lyuba's words seemed to have an effect, since the girl's family didn't cause any trouble.

Ten thousand US dollars may not seem like much, but given the current income level of residents on Sakhalin Island, it's enough for her to work for twenty years without eating or drinking.

In fact, Douglas regretted it the next morning, feeling that he had been out of his mind the night before and had quoted such a high price; he had even wanted to bargain.

Ivanov stopped them abruptly.

What a joke! Things finally calmed down, and if things get messy again, they really won't care.

Douglas could only swallow his anger and resentment.

After the doll finally got into position, he lay on it and struggled all night, making Wang Xiao and Ivanov afraid that he would have a stroke and die.

They weren't lying; they genuinely didn't want the Americans to replace the head of the oil and gas field project at this time.

Wu Haoyu listened to the two of them having such a serious discussion and was utterly speechless.

The assistant came over to deliver newspapers to them, and upon seeing the three of them, his feelings were a complex mix of those of a bystander watching the drama unfold.

Tsk, what a male boss.

Why did he have to interfere when his female boss was being all lovey-dovey with her lover, making a fool of himself?

When he was picking up girls, Miss Wang was so magnanimous; she never interfered and would even close the door for him.

Ivanov, unaware of his assistant's inner turmoil, reached for the newspaper and casually asked, "What kind of shitty news is this? What mess has damned Moscow gotten itself into this time?"

The assistant, speaking respectfully, said, "Nothing special. The Prosecutor General's Office has opened an investigation into former Deputy Prime Minister Bordolanin for unauthorized transfer of the Palace of Science and Culture in Berlin to a German businessman. On the 21st, his office was searched."

Ivanov pursed his lips, already used to it.

Wang is right; anti-corruption is the best weapon for politicians to attack each other.

He nodded indifferently, then asked, "What news is there from other places?"

He shouldn't have said that, because what he heard next was all even worse news.

The assistant read the newspaper in a measured tone: "In the early hours of July 13, fierce fighting broke out in the middle of the border between Tajikistan and Afghanistan and along the Panj River."

Ivanov didn't take it seriously, only raising an eyebrow in disdain: "Capable countries fight and make money on other people's turf, while incompetent countries are always led by the nose."

The assistant has amazing composure; the boss didn't tell him to stop, and he just kept reading, his voice still bright and clear: "Our border guard's 12th outpost was fiercely attacked by Tajik opposition forces and Afghan mujahideen who had come from Afghan territory. Simultaneously, the village of Salitor, east of the outpost, was also subjected to artillery fire from the other side of the border. The outpost was lost, but was recaptured only after reinforcements from our 201st Motorized Infantry Division stationed in Tajikistan. Twenty of our soldiers died in the fighting. Subsequently, fighting continued at the 11th and 13th outposts as well." (Note ①)

Ivanov's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

He roared furiously, "So many people have died?! This bunch of useless bastards! This damned bunch of useless bastards, how many more innocent soldiers will they kill?"

Wang Xiao asked in surprise, "Haven't the garrison withdrawn yet?"

Last year, the issue of Russia's military presence in various CIS countries sparked a series of disputes and local wars, which the Moscow government found overwhelming.

She had assumed that these troops had already withdrawn, given Russia's drastic reduction in military spending.

Ivanov was a little embarrassed for a moment.

After all, no matter how you look at it, the issue of stationing troops overseas is just... well, it doesn't conform to China's Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence at all.

However, he didn't know what to say, so he could only vaguely reply: "Tajikistan's situation is special, and they also need military protection."

Wang Xiao chuckled and let him off the hook: "Then see if you can get more planes. We can airlift the herring from the island to major cities in China."

Ivanov asked in confusion, "Don't you not eat sashimi?"

“I don’t eat there, I eat at Japanese restaurants,” Wang Xiao explained. “For example, in Shanghai, we mainly supply king crab and lobster. But Japanese restaurants in Shanghai are quite popular, and the demand for sashimi is not small. Shanghai is a rather magical place in mainland China; its prices have their own system. No matter how expensive the Japanese restaurants are, people will still eat there. It’s not the kind of thing you’re thinking of, like public funds being used for meals or business entertainment. It’s just that ordinary people eat there too.”

Ivanov gasped in disbelief: "The people of Shanghai are so rich? Wang, we can start building houses right now. They definitely have the money to buy new houses."

“It’s not what you think,” Wang Xiao explained. “People in different places have different spending habits. For example, in Moscow, people might spend the day wandering around stalls selling blackened potatoes and shriveled tomatoes just to save a few rubles. But at night, they’ll put on pretty dresses, tie elegant bow ties, and go to the theater to enjoy art. They might even spend much more money than outside to drink a cup of coffee that’s not very good and eat a few expensive snacks.”

At first, she couldn't understand Muscovites at all; their consumption habits were so bizarre.

But over time, she accepted it.

Because throughout their lives, people are paying for the fulfillment of their emotional needs.

After all, aside from life and death, all of humanity's happiness and suffering depend on how we define things.

Ivanov nodded reluctantly, which was considered an acceptance of the explanation.

This somewhat shocked his worldview, as he had always believed that Chinese people were extremely pragmatic.

"Okay, I'll think of another way. Next one."

The assistant, who had been ignored for a long time, finally received instructions and continued reading the news: "On July 18, Russia announced the cancellation of the contract to sell rocket technology to India."

"What!" Ivanov jumped up. "Disgrace! Utter disgrace! The disgrace of losing face and being trampled on!"

His strong reaction stemmed from the fact that when the president and speaker of parliament visited India, they had solemnly promised that they would absolutely fulfill the contract.

As a result, now that the United States is putting pressure on Russia, Russia doesn't dare to utter a single word.

Good heavens! The eldest son of the great Soviet Union is such a useless piece of trash!

Ivanov grabbed the newspaper and threw it hard on the ground: "Damn bastard!"

Wang Xiao was helping to pick up the newspapers when he noticed a Japanese newspaper among them. Curious, he asked, "What does this say? Is it from the CIA?"

Sakhalin Island is too close to Hokkaido, and there are many Japanese people on the island, so local newsstands also offer Japanese newspapers that they seem to have gotten from somewhere. And since there are many Chinese characters in Japanese, especially in written form, Wang Xiao was able to understand it by guessing and some deduction.

Wu Haoyu glanced at it casually, then subconsciously frowned slightly.

Wang Xiao was even more puzzled: "What's wrong? What happened?"

Wu Haoyu hesitated for a moment: "It's nothing serious, it's just that something feels off."

At first glance, the news doesn't seem particularly special. It says that on July 20, White House Counsel Vincent Foster was found dead in a park near the CIA headquarters.

How did he die? Police initially believe it was suicide.

However, this Mr. Foster is a close friend of the current US President Clinton, and accompanied him through the election.

Now he's dead, less than five miles from the White House, right under the nose of the CIA, and he committed suicide.

Are you going to cause trouble or not?

Whether you've seen the movie or not, you'll be able to imagine the plot of "House of Cards".

Ivanov forgot about getting angry and looked at Wang Xiao, completely baffled as to what was going on.

Their business instincts made them feel a little uneasy.

Ivanov stood up first: "Your Majesty, we must return to Sakhalin."

Wang Xiao also agreed.

Returning to the city center means better access to information and convenient transportation, making it easier to resolve any issues promptly.

Wang Xiao urged Wu Haoyu, "I'll buy you a plane ticket; you should go back to Japan."

Although Wu Haoyu was somewhat reluctant, he knew that he had been staying for more than a week and it was indeed inappropriate.

"All right."

On July 23, Ivanov had just returned to his hotel in Sakhalin and had lunch when he received a call from an old friend in the financial sector: "My dear friend, please dispose of your old rubles as soon as possible. Starting July 26, the old rubles will cease to be used."

Ivanov doubted his ears: "Rubles? What year were they issued?"

“All of them, from those issued in 1961 until the end of last year.” My friend’s voice was very anxious. “Please hurry, I need to get in line to exchange money. God, this damn country.”

Ivanov was about to roar: "Today is already the 23rd, and you're telling me that on the 26th my money will become worthless?"

“I just found out myself,” my friend said irritably. “This policy is designed to exploit rich people like you. It’s extremely secretive, and I only found out by chance. Hey, if we weren’t friends, I would never have risked making this call to you. If anyone found out, I’d be finished.”

"Okay, thank you, my dear friend. I'll be back in Moscow right away."

Ivanov's hands were trembling. He cursed the president's ancestors while calling a higher-ranking friend: "Hey! My friend, the ruble is going to be abolished. Why didn't you let me know at all?"

The high-ranking friend was taken aback: "My dear Ivanov, you're really something, managing to get this information. I'm sorry, but why are you so angry? It won't affect you at all. The bank has set up a special point on the commercial street to collect money. Your daily revenue goes directly into the bank. You don't need to worry about exchanging money."

Ivanov was at it again, wanting to fuck the whole world: "What about my farm? What about my other businesses? Do you want me to become a pile of waste paper?"

The high-ranking friend only offered a verbal apology: "My dear friend, that's not what I meant. I just didn't think of it. And I really can't say. This matter has a huge impact, and I can't bear the responsibility. The government has no choice. Those republics all want to continue enjoying the preferential monetary policies of the Soviet era and free-ride. We Russians can't withstand such pressure."

Ivanov wanted to curse, but he was afraid of wasting time, so he could only let out a fierce curse: "The idiot who came up with this idea and made this decision should be torn to pieces and sent to the eighteenth level of hell!"

Wang Xiao was being interviewed by reporters in the lobby downstairs.

A keen-eyed reporter was astonished to discover that incredible changes had taken place on the island that summer.

Vegetable gardens have appeared in the open spaces in front of almost every household.

Between the bricks, large cabbages, bok choy, eggplants, tomatoes, and cucumbers grew.

While the fruits and melons will have to wait a little longer, leafy green vegetables have already been harvested and are appearing on everyone's tables.

When the reporter tasted it, he couldn't believe his eyes.

Following her neighbor's directions, she found the non-staple food production base and then asked her way to Wang Xiao.

How could Wang Xiao not take advantage of such a golden opportunity that came knocking on his door?

She immediately emphasized the long-standing friendship between the two peoples, saying that this was only natural.

The reporter praised the Chinese people for their warmth, kindness, and generosity.

She praised the support the Russian people had given to China in the past.

"When we were working to control the sand dunes, it was your scientist, Professor Petrov, who selflessly taught the Chinese people the checkerboard technique. We all hope that everyone is doing well and that life gets better and better."

She looked up, caught a glimpse of Ivanov's anxious expression, and immediately smiled calmly at the reporter: "I hope that in the future, our two countries can have deeper cooperation in more fields. My friends and I are working towards this. I hope that when the results are in, I can still grant you an interview."

The reporter smiled and nodded, stood up, shook hands with her to say goodbye: "I look forward to this day coming soon."

She personally saw the reporter off until he got into his car before waving goodbye and leaving.

Wang Xiao turned around and asked, "What's wrong, Ivanov?"

“The ruble.” Ivanov pulled her into the room with a look of anxiety, and only dared to speak after closing the door. “They’re going to abolish the ruble again, all the rubles issued between 1961 and 1992.”

Wang Xiao's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.

She suspected she was hallucinating.

"Are they crazy? They're abolishing all rubles? Do they want to quit? Financial bankruptcy means the government is finished!"

Throughout history and across the world, the bankruptcy of any regime is essentially the bankruptcy of its economy.

"Don't they know how the reactionary Nationalist government collapsed? It wasn't because of rampant corruption during the takeover of Japanese-occupied property, but because of failed financial reforms that turned money into worthless paper!"

Throughout history, the common people have shown an alarmingly high tolerance for corrupt officials. If the people in Japanese-occupied areas could endure the exploitation by the Japanese, how could they easily give up on the exploitation by the Nationalist government? In any case, one administration after another came and went, and there was no official who wasn't corrupt.

However, if you implement financial reforms and fail, the so-called gold yuan becomes worthless in reality, and the people will not be able to tolerate it.

When the Liberation War first broke out, the People's Liberation Army was under tremendous pressure.

The nation had just won the War of Resistance against Japan, and the prestige of the Nationalist government, as the legitimate government, had reached its peak. American weapons and the like were actually minor factors; the support of the people was the most powerful weapon.

Therefore, in March 1948, the Chairman said that it would take at least five years to win the war (starting from July 1946).

As a result, the Nationalist government's financial reforms failed, and its army collapsed instantly.

Wang Xiao doubted the accuracy of this news. She knew that not only had this government not collapsed, but the president had even been successfully re-elected.

She couldn't imagine what kind of innate, divine, and resilient people the Russian people must be to tolerate a government that turns their banknotes into worthless paper.

No one could stand it, okay!

Today is the 23rd, and the old ruble will be abolished on the 26th. What can you do in such a short time?

Damn it, if anyone dares to bankrupt her, she'll definitely bombard their entire family!

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Note ① is from the article "Moscow Correspondence 22 - Confusion and Reflection" in the 16th issue of International Outlook in 1993.