Chapter 213 You're affecting our business (bug fixes): Closing Lenin's Mausoleum

Crisis is an opportunity.

Ivanov began contacting the military in the container market while still in his car.

Safety, undisturbed safety, safety without the torment of repeated checks.

If he could do that, he guaranteed that every good young man in the army could have a comfortable year.

“My friend,” he sighed, “it’s so unfair that they’d rather send outsiders to Moscow at such a critical time.”

Presumably to ensure security and prevent leaks, the troops were brought in from the suburbs, and even the joint police force from the Sverdlovsk region was transferred.

The paratroopers at the container market, on the other hand, did not move.

The person on the other end of the phone was very wary: "My friends, who are they? Moscow is chaotic enough; it doesn't need rebels."

Ivanov confidently stated: "Ordinary businessmen, even those who barely speak Russian. I guarantee they have no interest in ideologies; they only care about business. Oh, absolutely not arms. You know, we only sell food, drink, clothing, and other necessities."

While the people on the other side were still hesitating, another group of guests were taken away after being searched outside the car.

God knows how wronged they were.

From a theoretical perspective, ordinary citizens should not be allowed to carry weapons.

But this is Moscow, a Moscow where tanks are left out in the sun and rain, easily driven away; a Moscow teeming with the Mafia, where ordinary people struggle to protect themselves; a Moscow where far too many people possess weapons.

Of those, perhaps less than one in a hundred are truly interested in politics and stand with parliament.

But now, no one listened to their explanations; the stern-faced soldiers dragged them away without a second thought.

Ivanov complained into the phone, “My friend, look what Moscow has become. All I asked for was the safety of the residents and their property. Hey, you were so sure about it, that there wouldn’t be any problems.”

“Alright.” The person on the other end finally made up their mind. “But I require that they undergo a strict identity check before checking in.”

“Of course,” Ivanov readily agreed. “In fact, the market doesn’t want any troublemakers mixed in.”

After the call ended, Ivanov nodded to Wang Xiao.

Section Chief Tang finished the listening test with difficulty, feeling that he had guessed fairly well, and quickly asked Wang Xiao, "How is the rent calculated?"

Wang Xiao smiled and said, "Don't worry, the price won't increase. It's the same as before: $100 for a single room, $300 for a two-bedroom suite, and $400 for a three-bedroom suite."

The male cadre, oh, he was also a section chief, surnamed Fang, exclaimed in surprise upon hearing this: "So expensive! And that's not even a proper house. We might as well rent a diplomatic apartment, which is only $800."

Wang Xiao didn't care: "Whatever."

She rolled down the car window and shouted out in Russian, English, and Chinese: "Do you have somewhere to go? If not, sign up and you can come with us."

One Chinese businessman boldly asked, "Where are you going? To a wholesale market?"

“There’s a container market there, with houses and soldiers patrolling. You can rent for short or long term.” She read out the rental prices. “If you’re leaving, we’ll go out and take the subway in a bit. We’ll meet at the subway station.”

Someone sighed, "Can we still take the subway now? It's so chaotic, I wonder if they'll arrest people on the subway too."

After listening to the translation, Ivanov immediately assured him, "No, the subway has returned to normal, and everyone has to go to work today."

Wang Xiao gestured to Section Chief Fang: "We have other things to do today, you can go to the diplomatic apartment by yourself. If you're not familiar with the area, you can go to the embassy."

She couldn't be bothered to waste her time on such low-level people.

Even if they risked having a gun to their heads to rescue him from the nightclub, he wouldn't be grateful; instead, he would take it for granted.

There's really no need to deal with truly selfish and foolish people anymore.

As expected, Section Chief Fang not only didn't apologize for causing so much trouble for others, but instead jumped up and down: "You have to take me to the diplomatic apartment."

Wang Xiao glanced at the rising sun and admired his courage.

Does this mean they feel emboldened now that it's dawn, and they can walk around with impunity?

She didn't even glance at Section Chief Fang, but instead, Xiao Gao's eyes pierced him like ice blades, startling Section Chief Fang so much that he hurriedly opened the car door and scrambled out.

And so, he still got to experience the treatment of a car tire brushing past his legs and spraying him with exhaust fumes.

Then he broke down, yelling, "What kind of hell is this place! I want to go home, I want to go home right now!"

Tsk, it's like Moscow begged him to come, he really has no self-awareness.

Section Chief Tang was so frightened that the hairs on the back of his head stood on end. He hurriedly explained, "Well, I'm not familiar with him. We only met at the trade fair. Ugh, what a guy. How could he do this?"

Wang Xiao didn't go to bed until almost midnight, and was woken up again at 5 a.m. She's still sleepy now.

She dozed off with her eyes half-closed, without making a sound.

We just met, we're not familiar with each other, and yet a lone man and woman can go to a nightclub to watch striptease late at night. It's truly an ocean.

They each have families and children.

You officials really know how to have fun.

No wonder they were so afraid of the embassy getting involved.

Wang Xiao deliberately feigned surprise: "You're not familiar with him? I thought you two were on good terms. You just pulled out fifty dollars to pay his fine."

Section Chief Tang suddenly remembered and slapped his thigh: "Fifty US dollars! He hasn't paid me back yet. Mr. Wang, Mr. Wang, I need to get my money back."

Fifty US dollars, more than her monthly salary.

Ivanov, with a penchant for stirring up trouble, actually turned the car around.

As a result, Section Chief Fang refused to pay up, saying, "I didn't ask you to accept extortion from the Russian police."

Section Chief Tang was so angry that he wanted to fight him.

Wang Xiao was unwilling to waste time and had no interest in watching the spectacle.

The Russian soldiers haven't even withdrawn yet, what are you all arguing and fighting about? Are you afraid you haven't lost face enough?

She glanced at Xiao Gao, who immediately understood: "Are you getting on the bus or not? If not, we're leaving."

Section Chief Tang got into the car angrily, cursing through gritted teeth: "Consider it as me spending fifty dollars to buy him a wreath."

Wang Xiao tried to comfort her, saying, "Just consider it as like you paid for his services."

But then I thought about it again, and I guess the two of them probably didn't have a chance to take things further last night.

Besides, given the quality of Director Fang's work, probably no one would order it for fifty US dollars. We can't inflate pork prices or duck prices.

So, you should just treat it as buying a funeral wreath.

Moscow on October 5th did not find peace following the surrender of the Speaker and Vice President on the 4th.

Although firefighters extinguished the fire at the White House in the early hours of the morning, a new battle has begun.

TASS, Russia's largest and official news agency, was attacked on October 5.

The pro-presidential newspaper, Moskovsky Komsomolets, was also shot at by unidentified individuals, forcing its editors to quickly hide in the basement.

Even in broad daylight, sporadic gunshots still rang out in the city, and some parliamentary supporters refused to surrender, determined to fight the government to the very end.

Amidst the chaos of war, military and police patrols became the norm, and people were frequently arrested.

On several occasions, Wang Xiao saw people with blood-covered faces, like little chicks, being carried and pushed into military or police vehicles.

But it is precisely this chaos that has given the container market its best opportunity for development.

Small vendors who used to get their goods from wholesale markets or other large wholesalers and then sell them in the free market are now collectively moving to the container market to rent rooms and stalls.

Because the military and police are arresting people, non-Moscow citizens who violate Moscow's residency regulations are also being deported back to their places of origin.

A few years ago, obtaining legal residency in Moscow was relatively easy, but now the threshold has been raised. Many of the new scalpers are illegally staying in Moscow and dare not be checked by the military and police.

Even vendors with legal residency rights dare not stay in their rented residential homes anymore.

Because corrupt police officers might use the excuse of checking your passport to take the opportunity to steal money from your wallet, or even beat you up, throw you into the forest, and drive away.

Oh, that's considered good; at least no one died.

Given the current situation in Moscow, it's normal for anyone to get shot. Who do you think you are? Nobody cares whether you live or die.

The container houses on the market were rented out in a hurry.

Some wealthy individuals rent an entire three-story building, with a total of three three-bedroom apartments.

Some people are thrifty and rent a building together, with each person having a two-bedroom apartment all to themselves.

However, most students choose single rooms, similar to student dormitories with private bathrooms. Cooking is not allowed, but there is a communal dining hall where meals can be eaten.

There are many single men among the middlemen who engage in illegal reselling, so they prefer to stay in these cheap single rooms and have their meals outsourced, which saves them trouble.

The cold steel container market, surprisingly, offered a rare warmth to everyone on this Moscow winter day, just like the sunflower color it was painted.

The panicked merchants retreated into their small buildings to live in seclusion; but the outside world was anything but peaceful.

With Parliament in disarray, a large number of government officials, including those in the Ministry of the Interior, suffered greatly.

Well, on October 3rd, when Congressional supporters broke through the White House blockade, more than 300 Interior Ministry personnel defected and switched their support to Congress.

Now that parliament has lost, they are naturally going to be held accountable.

New high-ranking government officials were appointed, and new orders were issued one after another.

Russian authorities say the October bloodshed was a rebellion orchestrated by the Communist Party.

Newspapers supporting communism were shut down, related political parties were dissolved, and Soviet organizations in various regions were required to withdraw voluntarily.

Look, they used to accuse the Soviet government of being undemocratic and restricting people's freedom of thought and speech; now they're doing it better than anyone else.

The hunt for the opposition continues, and even Lenin, who had been at rest for many years, can no longer find peace.

On October 6, under the pretext of reforming protocol, the authorities removed the Russian No. 1 post guarding Lenin's Mausoleum and suspended its opening.

The official statement said that, "in accordance with Lenin's wishes," his remains would be moved to his hometown of Simbirsk to be buried with his mother.

Wang Xiao didn't notice this at all at first.

Honestly, you can't really blame her for being careless.

If you were in Moscow in early October 1993, you would know just how chaotic things were here.

So many things, so much news.

The curfew has not been lifted, the military and police have been making arrests, and government officials have been constantly changing.

OK, that's right. She and Ivanov did indeed predict in advance that the blindly confident parliament was doomed to lose, and based on this, Ivanov updated his network of contacts in the military and political circles.

However, the problem is that the vast majority of Russians, especially those in the military and political circles, often do not explicitly express their political leanings; and even if they do, it doesn't mean they won't voice their opinions when the power struggle between the president and parliament escalates to armed conflict.

This is why Ivanov had to update his network of contacts again.

These issues alone, along with the container market, are enough to keep them extremely busy. Who has time to pay attention to the commotion at Lenin's Mausoleum?

Even the shop assistants on the commercial street didn't think it was anything special.

On October 9th, a large crowd gathered in Red Square, emotionally demanding to pay their respects to Lenin's body; Wang Xiao, who was passing by in a car, wondered, "What's going on?"

An assistant who is always by the boss's side is definitely the all-powerful special assistant in a CEO romance novel. These days, she has also been extremely busy, and when asked about such trivial matters, she was quite bewildered.

But anyone who reaches the level of a special assistant, when asked a question by their boss and completely bewildered, will not immediately try to shift the blame, but will instead immediately state: "I'll go and find out right away."

Five minutes later, he got back into his car, his constipated face strained with despair: "Lenin's Mausoleum is closed, and Lenin's body is going to be moved. Citizens want to pay their respects to Lenin's body, and newlyweds want to lay flowers at Lenin's Mausoleum. Now they are very resentful."

What?

Wang Xiao blurted out, "What crazy thing are they going to do now!"

She's the one who's really resentful now, okay?

It is no exaggeration to say that Lenin created half of the KPIs for Red Square as a tourist attraction.

Yes, yes, there is a famous church here. But to put it bluntly, where isn't there a church? Even in a country like China, where people worship gods and Buddhas, there are churches. How many people would specifically travel to Red Square just to see a church?

Oh, right, there's the ancient Red Square and the Kremlin. But to put it bluntly, doesn't St. Petersburg have a Winter Palace? Catherine the Great's fame is comparable to that of all the other Tsars.

As for the current president, what gives him the audacity to think that his influence is comparable to Lenin's?

Yes, yes, yes, it was precisely because he knew he was not even as good as Lenin's little finger that he felt guilty, that he was afraid, and that he even disturbed the soul of an old man who had passed away 70 years ago.

Wang Xiao said firmly, "That won't do."

Ivanov replied without hesitation, "Of course not."

He mentally searched through a list, selected his target, and immediately called to protest: "Hey! My friend, what exactly do you want to do? He's just an old man, an old man who died 70 years ago, why are you still messing with him?"

The man on the other end replied without hesitation, "No, brother, I've moved. That place isn't under my jurisdiction anymore. You go find..."

He gave a name and laughed, "My brother, I knew it, only you would ask something like this."

Ivanov retorted without any politeness, "How can you laugh? Don't you know how terrible this is?"

His friend's laughter grew louder: "God, my dear Ivanov, is this even a big deal compared to other terrible things?"

Ivanov had no intention of arguing with him any longer, so he hung up the phone and made another call.

But this time, the person who answered the phone wasn't so agreeable: "My dear friend, why are you asking this? Ivanov, I've always been very worried about you. Your tendencies, you know what I mean, are very dangerous. Our motherland was destroyed by the Communist Party, and all of us Russians are striving to escape the shadow of socialism. Now, are you trying to summon that ghost again?"

Ivanov said impatiently, “I’m a businessman, I’m talking business with you, what are you talking about ideologies with us? Of course I care about Lenin’s Mausoleum. My shopping street is right next to Red Square. Do you know how much foot traffic Lenin’s Mausoleum brings every day? Don’t you know how many foreigners fly to Moscow specifically to pay their respects to Lenin’s remains? God, they spend a fortune; they are my important clients. If Lenin’s Mausoleum is moved and Lenin’s remains are buried, who will compensate me for this loss? To be honest, does our government have any money right now?”

"You're arresting so many people every day, where are you going to send them? To farms in Siberia? What's the difference between that and what the Red Army did back then? Put them in prison and let them eat for free? Does the government have that much spare money? I pay hundreds of billions of rubles in taxes, is it just to support idle people?"

"God, now you're cutting my customer traffic too. What are you trying to do? Are you trying to kill me? You banned the circulation of old rubles in July, and then suddenly extended the ban. I suffered huge losses!"

Even now, thinking about it makes Ivanov's chest ache.

That's right, they successfully made their money back thanks to orders for fleece clothing.

However, they could have avoided losing this money!

The voice on the other end of the phone became even more serious: "Ivanov, I know you are a kind and gentle man. Really, we all like you very much; you are so compassionate. But, my friend, too many unsuitable people have gathered around you. We are very worried about you and feel negatively influenced. The Communist Party, like a ghost, has caused suffering to the Russian people; they even orchestrated this tragedy. We all know what kind of incompetent the CPSU is. I strongly suspect the involvement of communist parties from other countries in their actions. Do you understand what I mean? My friend, your situation is very dangerous now, you…"

Wang Xiao grabbed the microphone and cut the other person off: "Are you talking about me? Fine, how about we drive over right now and talk things out face to face?"

Ivanov pleaded from the side, "Hey! Your Majesty, don't be angry, he just..."

Wang Xiao didn't hold back at all: "It's just a ghost! It even cricketed right in my face. Even a clay figure has some temper. Does it think I'm dead?"

Ivanov shrank back in fright and shouted into the phone, "Why did you provoke her for no reason? Even if Ovechkin and the others combined, they couldn't win an argument against her."

"Shut up and stop holding me back!" Wang Xiao showed no appreciation whatsoever, insisting on doing everything himself. "I'm genuinely curious about how your thought processes work. Everyone says the Soviet Union cultivated the world's smartest STEM minds, but I feel like you guys don't even understand logic?"

"Haven't you studied history? The history of the People's Republic of China is so long; half of it was spent fighting against the Soviet Union."

"I grew up hearing the slogan 'Dig deep tunnels, store plenty of grain, prepare for war and famine for the people.' What war were we preparing for? The war against Soviet aggression!"

"What kind of logic do you have that makes you think we're trying to revive the Soviet Union?"

"I now believe that the idea that mastering math, physics, and chemistry will make you invincible is just a load of nonsense. If that were true, why have you made such a mess of everything and still can't figure out what's going on?"

Seriously, who the hell said that humanities have no meaning and that all you need in the world is science and engineering?

Look at the Soviet Union. Wasn't its science and engineering field strong? And how did the Soviet Union die?

Wang Xiao grew increasingly angry as he spoke, and began to dredge up old grievances: "You've been muddle-headed since the Soviet era, always thinking about being the boss. Do you think that when we say 'Big Brother Soviet Union,' we mean we acknowledge the Soviet Union as our leader? Wrong. That's just a respectful way of addressing you. We've always emphasized independence and self-reliance. We won't acknowledge you as our leader, nor do we have any interest in being your leader."

"Let's just talk business properly, why do we have to make such a fuss?"

"There's a theory that you seem to have never learned from the Soviet Union to the present: make more friends and fewer enemies."

"To fabricate non-existent enemies, to fill the people with fear of them, and to make them forget the real contradictions; isn't this the crime of the Soviet Union that you exposed? Why are you doing the same thing now?"

"Don't you always say that the enemy exists within Russia? You want to eliminate the shadow of socialism, what does that have to do with us? Does having different ideologies mean we can't do business together? Sorry, there are plenty of European, American, and Japanese companies investing in China. They fly their red flags, and that hasn't stopped them from making money."

"Don't you watch international news? Don't you really know how international public opinion is evaluating the government? You say you want to return democracy and freedom to the people, but what are you doing now?"

“If things continue like this, how will you attract foreign investment? You've scared everyone away. To foreign investors, your current performance is more terrifying than that of the Red Army.”

"So what if Lenin's Mausoleum is preserved? Sun Yat-sen's Mausoleum in Nanjing has always been there. Even when the two countries were at war, we still hung portraits of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin on specific days. Even now, we hang portraits of Sun Yat-sen on May Day and National Day. What are we afraid of?"

"You're afraid of even this? Are you trying to show the world just how weak you are, that you're afraid of an old man who died 70 years ago?"

Wang Xiao complained, "Who came up with such a terrible idea? Don't you know what a rebellious mentality is? The more you forbid something, the more taboo it becomes, the more people, especially young people, are eager to try it. The people don't care about your ideology; what they really care about is their livelihood. Whoever makes the people's lives better, that's the real skill."

"That's interesting. You don't actually think that by taking the capitalist road, you'll become a developed country like the US, Japan, or Western Europe, do you? There are plenty of poor and developing countries in the capitalist world. Many of them have no food, no clothes, and no houses to live in."

"If the world's most powerful and richest socialist country falls into your hands and gets worse and worse, that would be a real joke."

"Is it precisely because you've realized this that you've started fabricating imaginary enemies to divert people's attention?"

The person on the other end of the phone was being bombarded like a machine gun, unable to get a chance to speak, and could only shout angrily, "Ivanov, you really need to clean up your circle, this..."

"What, when we're presenting facts and reasoning, and you can't win against me, you resort to personal attacks?"

Ivanov couldn't hold back and burst into laughter.

His friend was furious: "How can you laugh? Look at the state you've become! Aren't you ashamed? Are you planning to listen to everything she says?"

“Oh, my friend,” Ivanov whistled merrily. “If you can help me make money, I’ll do whatever you say. Or, you could set up an import-export company for me.”

My friend felt that one couldn't discuss ice with a summer insect: "I think you're crazy, I have nothing to say to you."

Ivanov wouldn't let him hang up: "Lenin's Mausoleum! Lenin's Mausoleum must not be closed!"

"This isn't something I can decide," my friend said impatiently. "It's the president's order, do you understand? This is an order personally issued by the president!"

"My God!" Ivanov roared. "I really wonder what's going on in that guy's head, and what kind of idiots are around him to make such a decision. Really, my dear friends, sometimes I really feel like I don't understand you. What is it about him that you see in him?"

My friend said impatiently, "A strong Russia needs a tough leader. At least, someone who dares to criticize the White House."

Ivanov was instantly speechless, utterly dumbfounded: "Hey! If that's how it works, then you should be in parliament. Didn't parliament attack the TV station first? If you're going to elect thugs, parliament would be more suitable. The president used that as a reason to send troops into the city for a counterattack, but now he's denying it?"

My friend said impatiently, "It's not that we don't acknowledge it, it's that Parliament itself doesn't acknowledge it. Your Speaker and Vice President keep saying they've been wronged, that they never gave the order to attack the TV station. It's the enemy deliberately smearing Parliament."

Ha! This has suddenly become a Rashomon-like situation.

My friend, however, thinks that whether or not it's Rashomon is irrelevant.

Because regardless of whether it's an order from Congress or not, it doesn't affect his ability to criticize the Speaker and Vice President.

"If they gave the order, but now they deny it, it only shows that they are cowards who are afraid of death."

"If it weren't for their orders, they wouldn't even have the courage to launch a full-scale attack, which further proves that they are a bunch of incompetent good-for-nothings!"

Ivanov was rendered speechless by the rebuttal and could only skip the topic: "Lenin's Mausoleum, brother, Lenin's Mausoleum cannot be closed. Closing it will only easily incite a new wave of riots. I will send you a fax with all the reasons clearly written down."

"Did you write this?" His friend didn't believe it at all. "I think it's some foreigners ghostwriting for you again, Ivanov. You should clean up your social media."

After the call ended, Wang Xiao and Ivanov exchanged bewildered glances, unable to understand why this guy was targeting her like this.

But his resistance also seemed to convey the attitude of the authorities.

Two days later, the authorities issued a new order: all foreigners in Moscow must go to the nearest police station to register and then reapply for entry visas.

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Note: This might seem exaggerated to some. Ivanov was not even 30 years old; most of his friends were probably his age, or at most a few years older. Why were so many of them in high positions? It sounds like a typical CEO romance novel. Well, while this is indeed a wish-fulfillment story, it actually reflects the reality of the Russian political and business circles at the time. The newly wealthy class in the business world consisted largely of young people (the famous seven oligarchs weren't that old, and some were even born in the 1960s). Gaidar, the father of Russia's "shock therapy," was born in 1956. He was a member of the expert group of the State Economic Reform Committee in 1983, appointed Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Finance and Economy in 1991 at the age of 35, and became Prime Minister of Russia in 1992 at the age of 36. This seems unbelievable now. However, at that time, the transfer of power to younger people was a common phenomenon in Russia.