Chapter 307 A Secret Maneuver (Correction): Countless Ovechkins

So, did Wang Xiao and Ivanov accept Ovechkin's invitation?

Of course!

Their original purpose was to prepare the necessary environment in advance for their own semiconductor business.

Antistatic gloves are just one part of the process, and now that someone is making them, isn't that a good thing?

This is similar to how KFC needed to find suppliers in China, but couldn't find suitable ones, so they proactively supported Sunner.

If it's readily available, it definitely won't bother with this.

Why should someone who runs a fried chicken shop try to make money from both the chicken farm and the slaughterhouse? There's no need.

So without saying a word, the two of them grabbed Ovechkin and left.

The factory manager chased after them, trying to salvage the situation: "You can buy the factory and produce here as well."

Although he agreed to cooperate with Ovechkin, he promised to refer all his existing clients to him, taking a 10% cut of the profits.

But the factory also wanted to sell it for a good price.

"500,000!" He offered a 50% discount, "Just 500,000 US dollars, I'll take care of all the procedures, and the factory will belong to you."

Ivanov glanced back at him, expressionless: "I don't like working with liars."

The factory manager was slightly taken aback, and subconsciously defended himself: "How can this be called deception? We're talking about the factory, the factory!"

However, Ivanov had no interest in paying him any attention and simply walked away.

The empty factory was left with only rats running around the factory manager's feet without any fear of him.

It wasn't until a fierce night wind shattered the remaining windowpanes, sending them flying to the ground and scattering shards of glass that the rats were scared away.

He stormed to the gatehouse, where he was met with a pungent smell of alcohol, deafened by thunderous snoring, and saw overturned bottles of liquor and the old gatekeeper fast asleep.

How could he possibly complain that the other side failed to stop Ovechkin from suddenly barging in?

There is no difference between the living and the dead.

But there are still quite a few differences between Moscow and Xishui Town.

While waiting for his flight in the airport terminal, Ovechkin was still trying to convince his friends: "Hey! My dear friends, there's no need to rush. Really, I won't disappear at the glove factory."

so--

Could we let him stay in Moscow for a few more days?

Good heavens! He swore he believed Westwater Town was wonderful. He could eat well, sleep well, and make a fortune.

Last year, he made over a million in net profit alone.

The problem is that Xishui Town is too good, too healthy, and it has no nightlife.

Despite the town having so many factories, restaurants, and entertainment venues, everyone goes home to their own families around 9 p.m.

By ten o'clock, there wasn't a soul in sight on the street.

Everyone went to bed early and woke up early.

My God, this is such a healthy lifestyle, just like the nutritious meals you eat when you're losing weight and getting in shape.

It's healthy enough, but it's not stimulating.

Ovechkin felt that he was not yet seventy or eighty years old and did not need to be so healthy.

He kept complaining, trying to evoke his old friend's sympathy.

However, Ivanov remained unmoved, his eyes fixed on the television screen in the waiting area.

This color TV was also donated by them, with the aim of easing the anxiety of the traders waiting for their flights, and also allowing them to watch the news and learn about the current situation in Russia.

In Russia right now, the hottest news is undoubtedly the stock of Mavrodi's MMM company.

Yes, even though government agencies had warned of the risks associated with stocks and bonds and explained to the public what a Ponzi scheme was, MMM's stock still attracted a large number of investors thanks to its viral, brainwashing advertising campaign.

On the television screen, a reporter is asking citizens queuing to buy stocks if they have ever considered that this might be a scam.

The man being interviewed gave a disdainful smile and sarcastically remarked, "If Mavrodi is a fraud, then he should be sitting behind his desk right now, formulating our country's policies."

The next elderly woman to be asked was even more incisive: "Liars? Aren't our president and prime minister the biggest liars? What have they done besides deceiving us with so-called financial reforms?"

Look, in this country, swindlers and thieves reap both fame and fortune; they stand on high platforms, becoming role models for everyone. How can anyone else feel ashamed of cheating, swindling, and stealing?

On the chair next to me, a Chinese woman was complaining about her scalper: "Do you still think that Russia today is the Soviet Union of the past? The Russians have changed a lot, and they're really good at ripping people off."

Fearing that Ivanov might have a sudden idea, Wang Xiao had someone translate it for him and quickly changed the subject: "I was thinking, are they waiting for you to turn around?"

Ivanov was still lost in his own emotions and hadn't reacted yet: "Who?"

“Punonin and Yura, mainly Punonin.” Wang Xiao was just casually trying to divert Ivanov’s attention.

As soon as she said it, she couldn't hold it in and burst into laughter.

Why?

Because she thought of the classic question, "The princess has been reflecting on her mistakes for a month; has she realized her error?"

The reply was: "The princess has already sold her dowry and left."

I can't take it anymore, I really can't. Life is just a melodramatic soap opera.

Ivanov was bewildered, not understanding why she had suddenly started laughing, and could only pat her back in vain: "Slow down your laughter, don't choke."

Wang Xiao laughed even harder.

Coincidentally, Punonin and Yura, whom she was mocking, were actually discussing Ivanov.

June in Moscow isn't exactly hot, but Yura felt like she was on fire.

He couldn't take it anymore and finally complained, "Why did you have to come to my door? My man, you've ruined everything!"

Punonin remained unmoved, adjusting his gloves: "We cannot let merchants ride on our heads. Merchants must be used by us."

Yura waved his hand irritably, pacing back and forth in the office like a caged animal, subconsciously emphasizing, "That's no ordinary businessman, that's Ivanov, our brother!"

Damn summer, why is it so hot this summer?

Punonin, seemingly oblivious to his anger and anxiety, lowered his gloves and said confidently, "Don't worry, he'll come back for us. How can he get the protective equipment plant without us? This is Moscow, Russia's only Moscow."

Under the same sun and blue sky on the same summer day, Wang Xiao, sitting in the waiting hall, finally finished laughing and said with great certainty, "They are definitely waiting for you to back down."

Ivanov curled his lip in disdain and scoffed.

He has a good temper, but that doesn't mean he'll let others manipulate him.

Ovechkin muttered to himself for a while, then suddenly realized that no one seemed to be paying attention to him.

He felt hurt and said, aggrieved, "Hey, my friends, are you listening to me?"

“Of course.” Wang Xiao’s expression changed instantly, her gaze intense as she looked at him with a beaming smile. “My dear Ovechkin, wouldn’t you like your business to grow bigger and stronger?”

The waiting hall was bustling with people, carrying a mix of sweat and perfume odors.

The color TV hanging in mid-air was playing an advertisement for MMM Company with great enthusiasm: "You're right, Liaonia, we are all partners, partners of MMM Company."

Ovechkin's dream was to be like Ivanov and successfully live off Wang Xiao's money.

But at this moment, being stared at like this by her, like prey, his biological instincts made him feel that this gigolo wasn't necessarily something he had to take.

Ovechkin instinctively wanted to refuse: "Actually, I'm fine the way I am now."

“No, not good enough.” Wang Xiao gave him a seductive smile. “You can be better. My dear friend, I believe you absolutely can be better. So, we’ve decided to help you.”

Ovechkin instinctively straightened his back: "How are you going to help?"

Wang Xiao smiled and said, "Let me visit your glove factory first."

If June in Moscow is like a forest after a heavy rain, then every breath of air you take into your lungs is refreshingly cool.

In June, Xishui Town is like a giant steamer, with steam rising from the bluestone pavement. Anyone who stands on it becomes a steaming bun.

Even Wang Xiao had a rare moment of conscience, feeling that bringing the person back from Moscow at this time seemed a little excessive.

After all, even the dogs in Xishui Town would lie down in the shade by the water vat, unwilling to move.

But the next second, she saw Vice Mayor Huang under the shade of the willow tree, fanning himself with documents, and instantly she felt no longer ashamed.

What a joke! In the sweltering summer heat, city leaders can work under the blazing sun, so why can't you?

Wang Xiao got out of the car and immediately apologized to Vice Mayor Huang: "I'm so sorry, Mayor Huang, for troubling you to take time out of your busy schedule to come and guide our work."

Vice Mayor Huang's forehead was covered in sweat, but he just laughed and said, "Not at all, not at all. It's you who have worked hard, running around both domestically and internationally."

Ovechkin had been living in Xishui Town for over a year and could understand basic Chinese, so he naturally knew the other person's identity.

He was taken aback, but not too nervous.

His experience living and working in Xishui Town told him that Chinese officials didn't seem to interfere much and wouldn't arbitrarily meddle in your factory.

Therefore, when Wang Xiao introduced the two sides and asked Ovechkin to lead everyone to visit the antistatic glove production line, he immediately and readily agreed.

The government is always the biggest buyer.

If Mayor Huang of Xiaozhou takes a liking to the antistatic gloves produced by his factory, wouldn't that mean a steady stream of large orders?

He eagerly led the way, saying, "This way."

Most of the factory buildings in Xishui Town are single-story buildings, and this antistatic glove factory is no exception.

The plaque above the gate was newly hung; under the blazing sun, the freshly painted paint looked like thick, sticky butter, as if it would melt at any moment. The humid air was filled with the smell of turpentine.

Ovechkin explained, "This used to be a shoe factory."

As for why it became his glove factory? Because the original factory owner was a gambler.

This is a common way for small business owners to flaunt their wealth and have fun, but they often end up losing everything and having to sell their factories.

The shoe factory business was only so-so to begin with, so Ovechkin simply changed careers and started making antistatic gloves.

Actually, he initially wanted to make ordinary gloves, but ordinary gloves have low technical requirements, and there is a town in the county that specializes in making gloves, so the competition is too fierce.

Ovechkin, unable to overcome them, resorted to leveraging his own strengths and utilizing Soviet technological heritage to upgrade the production of antistatic gloves.

He put in a lot of effort for this new business, and the entire production workshop was renovated.

It has a filtration system, ionizers, and air conditioning. The workshop is spotless, with anti-static flooring, walls, and ceilings made of anti-static boards. The entire workshop wasn't built with materials, but with real money.

As required, Vice Mayor Huang put on protective clothing and shoe covers before being allowed to enter the workshop.

As soon as he entered the room, he felt as if he were breathing in the negative oxygen ions from that foreign country—it was damp yet refreshingly cool. The thermometer in the corner showed 26°C and the humidity was 50%.

Maintaining this environment alone costs the glove factory a significant amount of electricity every day. But Ovechkin has to foot the bill because only under such conditions can qualified antistatic gloves be produced.

Ovechkin feigned poverty in front of the mayor to pave the way for future negotiations on order prices.

Vice Mayor Huang wore a smile, but his mind was elsewhere.

His eyes were fixed on the busy workers in the workshop.

Fifty sewing machines were running at a steady rhythm, and the fully equipped female workers wore uniform blue wristbands that always looked a bit like jade wristbands.

But the wristband is connected to a wire, and the grounding wire at the other end leaves a neat line on the ground.

This turned the female workers into puppets in a shadow play, manipulated by strings.

Logically speaking, this scene should be mechanical and static, or even resemble a scene from a Chaplin movie where he holds a wrench and treats everyone as a screw to be tightened, creating a comical atmosphere.

But at this moment, in Vice Mayor Huang's eyes, this is order, strict production order.

This was such a rare and precious order in the township enterprises of Jiangbei Province in 1994.

Only with strict production procedures can quality control be effectively achieved.

However, the next second, Vice Mayor Huang was pulled back to the fact that he was working in a township enterprise.

Underneath the anti-static rubber sheet, there is an old steel mesh.

The vulcanizing tank was converted from a drying oven. The Soviet formula required 150℃, but what if that wasn't enough? They would add two more shovels of coal and steam it for another half hour.

The soaking tank for the glue was converted from the drying tank of a shoe factory, with only three layers of graphite powder mixed with glue brushed on the inner wall.

The agitator mounted above the impregnation tank was also modified from an old motor from a shoe factory, with its speed precisely controlled at 20 revolutions per minute.

What else can we do?

Ovechkin retorted confidently, "It costs money everywhere, every place costs money; I can't possibly import all the equipment. Besides—"

He emphasized, "The gloves we produce are fully compliant with standards."

He shouted at the technician, who was engrossed in his work and glanced up at him briefly, but didn't pay any attention.

Ovechkin smiled awkwardly and explained to Deputy Mayor Huang, "Leklasov doesn't like to talk."

It's obvious. This Russian guy works alongside the Chinese technicians, preferring to use gestures rather than utter a single word.

Well, actually, Vice Mayor Huang was overthinking it. The reason neither of them spoke was because they couldn't understand each other's gibberish.

Just like families and dormitories that would be fined for not speaking foreign languages ​​in order to improve their foreign language skills, the sign language skills and facial expression communication abilities of technicians from both countries have all improved significantly in just three months.

Anyway, they can understand each other even without saying a word.

Look, with a single gesture from the gray-haired Russian, the Chinese technician, old enough to be his son, immediately adjusted the valve, and the graphite powder solution was being injected into the tank at a stable flow rate.

The liquid was grayish-black, and when the workers stirred it with wooden sticks, they could see scattered metal wires—not conductive fibers, as those were too expensive and production costs couldn't be controlled.

Technicians from both countries used makeshift methods, replacing the wire with copper. After all, the static electricity from a lighter wouldn't be as powerful as that from a tank.

Ovechkin reiterated: "Our gloves are of very good quality; even if you put a lighter on them, they won't catch fire."

Vice Mayor Huang nodded and nodded repeatedly, looking at the whole thing from beginning to end, not missing a single corner.

This includes the wastewater treatment area outside the workshop.

After all, they are Russians who have been raised with foreign knowledge and use technology from Soviet military factories, so they still adhere to the rules.

Unlike most township enterprises, their production wastewater was not secretly discharged into ditches and rivers, but was specially treated.

The three sedimentation tanks are connected in series, with the bottom of the tanks covered with a "Soviet-style filter layer" designed by engineers from the Moscow Third Protective Equipment Plant—a mixture of waste leather shoe material and graphite powder.

After such filtration, 90% of metallic impurities can be adsorbed and removed.

After that, the wastewater passes through a charcoal layer, where the charcoal pores adsorb organic matter.

This solution was provided by a long-time employee of the shoe factory. The shoe factory has many years of experience in treating leather wastewater.

The wastewater, after being treated using a combination of traditional and modern methods, looked extremely clear and was used to irrigate the flowers, plants, and trees in the factory.

As he looked through the document, Vice Mayor Huang nodded involuntarily and praised, "You've put a lot of thought into this."

Ovechkin seized the opportunity to boast: "Of course, this is where we all live, and we must protect the environment."

Wang Xiao smirked and began scribbling furiously in his notebook.

After the factory tour was over, she tore off a piece of paper she had just finished writing, handed it to Ovechkin, and whispered, "Make the changes according to this as soon as possible."

When Ovechkin saw what was written on the paper, he almost jumped up on the spot: "My God, my lady, we have done enough."

"Perfect my foot!" Wang Xiao wasn't going to put up with him. "Graphite powder is alkaline, and the wastewater has a high pH value. Direct irrigation will disrupt the soil's acid-base balance. And what about the remaining 10% of metal ions? Are they harmless to the human body?"

Ovechkin muttered, "But we've already done the best."

Look at what she wrote on the paper.

The four-layer filtration system he painstakingly set up was, in her eyes, merely the first stage of wastewater pretreatment.

What is the second stage? Fermented pig manure residue is added, and residual glue is degraded by microorganisms. Duckweed is raised on the water surface to absorb nutrients, forming a primary biological treatment.

Then there is a third stage: laying quartz sand and crushed ceramic tiles to further filter fine particles, and setting up a pH adjustment tank at the outlet to add waste hydrochloric acid to neutralize the alkalinity.

Wang Xiao explained from the side, "We can get the fermented manure residue from the farms; they have it there. We can use the quartz sand and broken porcelain pieces directly from construction sites. As for the waste hydrochloric acid, we can get it from the battery factory's waste liquid."

She emphasized, "This is an environmental protection plan that I painstakingly commissioned experts to design specifically for the characteristics of township enterprises. Now you're getting a good deal."

Ovechkin stated that he had absolutely no interest in taking advantage of the situation.

Wang Xiao then offered further enticement: "You can't go wrong if you listen to me. It won't cost much. If you satisfy the boss, you'll be able to make the money back in no time."

Ovechkin reluctantly nodded.

Look how demanding people are.

A student who scored four points was forcibly raised to a five.

They remained unmoved by students who couldn't even get three points.

Wang Xiao was naturally going to criticize Ovechkin, because from the moment she learned that he produced antistatic gloves, he had become a part of her scheme, and he had to set a good example.

After forcibly placing a burden on the person, Wang Xiao greeted Vice Mayor Huang with a smile: "Mayor, how did you find your visit today?"

"Excellent, very good." Vice Mayor Huang did not hold back his praise. "This is a typical example of technology being implemented."

Tank coating has become the material for making gloves for lighters. It looks a bit ridiculous, but it is the technology that township enterprises need most right now.

It's so down-to-earth, it's like squatting in the field, looking at the newly planted rice seedlings, and eating three bowls of rice.

I never expected that an old Russian middleman who came to take over the leather clothing factory in Xishui Town could cause such a commotion.

Wang Xiao smiled and said, "So, Mayor Huang, would you like to see a number of such township enterprises in Xiaozhou?"

Vice Mayor Huang was slightly taken aback: "What do you mean?"

“We have quite a few friends like Ovechkin,” Wang Xiao explained, referring to the one hundred million-dollar plan they had implemented in Jiangzhimen, Jinning.

"Later, some people, like Ovechkin, stayed in China and opened factories. Others felt they hadn't found a suitable opportunity and returned to Moscow."

Wang Xiao's eyes crinkled with a smile. "Now is their best opportunity. Ovechkin can produce the antistatic gloves that we currently lack domestically. Why can't they produce the other supporting components?"

Vice Mayor Huang suddenly realized: "You mean you want them to select suitable Soviet technology to make semiconductor supporting facilities like antistatic gloves?"

“Yes!” Wang Xiao nodded. “They understand the Soviet Union best. They do private trade and know what the market needs. It’s most suitable for them to be the ones to implement the technology.”

This trip to Moscow made her realize one thing: she and Ivanov would have virtually no chance of obtaining new technologies from Russia in the future.

In January of this year, their acquisition of chip technology from the Institute of Microelectronics thoroughly angered Punoning and his associates.

As high-ranking government officials, they may not be able to accomplish anything, but they certainly have the power to mess everything up.

Wang Xiao didn't plan to confront them head-on, lest he end up losing everything.

What goes around comes around. She and Ivanov were under constant scrutiny, always at risk of being blamed. Ovechkin, and countless others like him, accomplished their tasks like ants moving house right under Punonin's nose.

With them around, the flame of Soviet scientific and technological heritage should not be extinguished. A single spark can start a prairie fire. They will eventually burn brightly with hope in another form.

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[Let me see] Good morning!