Chapter 122 The New Map (Revised)
The dust has settled.
When the investigation team left, the offices on the top floor of the Vladimir City Hall were almost half empty, but they would soon be filled with joyful newcomers.
The internal combustion engine factory and the motorcycle factory were like chewed gum; all valuable assets were stripped away and sold off, leaving only a group of angry old, weak, and disabled people.
Fortunately, the auction results were declared invalid, and the sold assets were returned to their original owners. However, the two factories were severely damaged by this ordeal, and an atmosphere of unease permeated the entire organization. The company's valuation plummeted as a result.
At the second auction, personally overseen by Taras, there were very few interested buyers, and the bids seemed perfunctory. Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when the representative of the Poplar Fund raised his paddle.
He Changyi acquired the internal combustion engine factory and the motorcycle factory at a price far lower than expected. This time, when she sent people to move into the factories, it went incredibly smoothly. There were no obstacles, and even the factory manager, who was theoretically the most difficult to deal with, was all smiles.
"Your presence is the greatest honor for our entire factory! We were overjoyed to learn that you became the new boss after the auction; this is definitely the best news we've heard all year!"
He Changyi asked cautiously, "What do you want from me?"
The old factory manager asked cautiously, "You're not going to break up the factory and sell it off again, are you?"
He Changyi breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, it wasn't a case of politeness followed by force or a hidden barb; it was just simple flattery.
"Don't worry."
To the anxious old factory director, He Changyi smiled and said, "I have no hobby of killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, and I would never kill a goose that lays golden eggs."
The old factory manager nodded repeatedly, but while nodding with a puzzled look on his face, he racked his brains and said, "But why chickens? We are a factory that produces internal combustion engines. We don't have chickens or eggs... Do you mean you want to convert the factory into a chicken farm?"
He Changyi: ...
He Changyi said expressionlessly, "Just pretend I didn't say anything."
The dairy plant is now on track, having more than doubled in size and possessing a complete industrial chain from raw material procurement to product sales. Its market includes Vladimir and surrounding cities, and it is gradually gaining a reputation locally. At this time, some multinational dairy companies began to inquire about prices, offering very attractive prices, equivalent to thirty times the initial investment, a full four million US dollars.
He Changyi said in a friendly tone: No, I won't sell.
Instead of selling at a "low price", it's better to hold it for the long term. With a steady stream of income, the annual profit distribution can be quite substantial. Why sell it to a buyer who isn't serious?
Having received the hint, the next bid from the acquiring party was much more sincere. After all, compared to a humiliating behind-the-scenes battle, they preferred to stick to the proper business procedures.
After several rounds of negotiation, a price that satisfied both parties was finally agreed upon—$8.6 million.
When signing the acquisition agreement, He Changyi regretfully said, "It's still a bit too little. Actually, I prefer to round it up, for example, ten million would be much better."
The bodyguard in a suit and sunglasses who was accompanying her almost lost his composure after hearing her words.
...Eight million six hundred thousand dollars is still not enough? You have to remember that it only cost less than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars to buy this dairy factory!
This return on investment isn't just doubling, it's a whopping fifty-seven times! Fifty-seven times!
Even robbing a bank vault wouldn't be this bad, and it's even legal!
If he hadn't been wearing sunglasses, Lermontov's eyes would have betrayed his inner rage. However, even through the sunglasses, he still accurately caught the mixed look of sympathy and anger that Lev was casting at him from the side.
—Wait, what is this guy sympathizing with, and what is he angry about?
Coincidentally, the boss, who was being fawned over by everyone, also looked at him with a beaming smile, looking extremely pleased.
Lermontov had a strange, bad feeling about it.
“Lemon.”
On the way back, the boss in the back seat suddenly asked, "Do you think I'll regret this?"
Without hesitation, Lermontov in the passenger seat replied, "How could I possibly regret it? That's eight million six hundred thousand dollars!"
He said longingly, "If I could earn that much money, I could even ask a bear to do a striptease for me!"
The boss in the back seat drawled, "Oh, a striptease..."
Lev, who was driving, glanced quickly at Lermontov.
Again, a look filled with both pity and anger.
Lermontov asked, puzzled, "Lev, have you eaten too much canned herring and it's stuck in your throat? Why aren't you saying anything and just staring at me?"
Lev stopped looking at him and let out a long, drawn-out sigh: "Striptease, huh?"
Lermontov: ? ? ?
"Hey, explain yourself clearly. What's wrong with striptease? If you think regular striptease isn't exciting enough, I'm talking about a bear doing a striptease!"
Lev seemed to have no desire to talk to him at all.
On the contrary, the boss in the back seat enthusiastically agreed: "Who says a bear striptease is bad? I think it's fantastic, no one would dislike it."
Lermontov then said to Lev with a smug look on his face, "Listen, that's what the boss said!"
Lev's hands, gripping the steering wheel, were bulging with veins, and he looked utterly desperate.
The car sped along and finally stopped outside the Friendship Store.
After the car came to a complete stop, Lev was finally able to speak freely. He slammed his hand on the steering wheel, turned around, and yelled:
"Lermontov, you brainless idiot! A bear striptease? Did you come up with that with your ass?! Isn't a striptease exciting? Absolutely amazing! Especially when you're dancing, it's even more exciting!"
The boss added kindly, "No, Lev, and you too."
Lermontov was initially furious, but when he connected the keywords "boss," "Lev," "dairy factory," "friendship store," "regret," and "striptease," a lightbulb suddenly lit up in a certain area of his brain.
I bet you'll regret this!
Let's make a bet: how long it will take me to regret it.
If you lose, you have to run a lap around the store... but without wearing anything.
Lermontov stiffly turned his neck to look at his boss: "I... I remember now..."
He stammered, "But, but, we meant running around the store, not a striptease..."
Lev, exasperated, yelled, "Yes, it's just running a lap—but what's the difference between streaking and stripping!"
Lermontov took a step back abruptly, the burly man in the suit trembling, his sunglasses sliding down his nose to reveal two terrified eyes.
"You must be joking, right?" he asked desperately.
— Running around a store naked in front of countless people in temperatures of minus thirty degrees Celsius?
That will definitely be the biggest news in the city this year!
He Changyi replied firmly, "No, I'm serious."
She clapped her hands, and Xie Xuejun came up with several people from the other side.
"Wait, what are you doing... Hey, hey, aren't we brothers?!"
With an undisguised smile, Xie Xuejun said with deep regret, "The boss has given the order, so we guys have no choice but to do it. Right, brothers?"
"Yes! That's it!"
"Lemon, a bet's a bet. A real man should be able to take it and let it go!"
Lermontov screamed, "No—! I absolutely will not take off my underwear!!!"
He even shouted at Lev, "Brother, brother, we can escape together!"
Lev had already obediently taken off his wool suit and was warming up while taking off his sweater.
In response to Lermontov's plea for help, he simply shook his head expressionlessly: "I should have known better than to share a trench with a brainless idiot like you."
However, in the end, He Changyi kindly left the two of them their underwear.
That day, everyone who came to the mall witnessed a scene they would never forget—
Two burly, naked men, holding huge signs that read "Friendship Store: High Quality, Low Price" and "Far Eastern Development Bank: The Only Trustworthy Choice," left a trail of running shadows on people's retinas in the freezing winter, like two furry monkeys howling.
The child pointed and shouted in a shrill voice, "Mommy, look! It's a gorilla!"
The mother muttered to herself, "I remember the mental hospital should be quite far from here..."
The old lady took out her reading glasses from the box and said uncertainly, "Were they wearing black jumpsuits?"
Many people stood still, silently watching the two whirlwinds sweep past them, stirring up snowflakes all over the ground.
Some people who hadn't originally planned to go to the Friendship Store grumbled after seeing this scene:
"They must be having a special offer, I can't miss it..."
After circling the store once, the two whirlwinds rushed straight into the store under everyone's watchful eyes and disappeared behind the sign that read "No Customers Allowed, Staff Entrance".
Inside the office, which was sweltering hot from the stove, someone wrapped in a military overcoat, clutching a cup of hot tea, shivered and cursed loudly:
"Damn it, is your brain rusted? Are your legs rusted too? If you run any slower, we'll all freeze into icicles and stand on the ice until the next century!"
Another person wrapped himself up in a blanket like a cocoon, and even tried to stuff a hot water bottle inside, trembling as he retorted:
"Clever Lev, why don't you carry me on your back and run together? That way we can both run as fast as you!"
Suddenly, the office door was pushed open with a bang, bringing with it a gust of wind.
Lev and Lermontov, like vampires exposed to sunlight, screamed, "Turn it off! Turn it off!"
The visitor slammed the door shut and casually tossed two envelopes in front of the two men.
Lev's fingers were stiff with cold, making it impossible for him to open the envelope. So he simply asked, "Nikolai, what did you bring?"
"It's probably money."
Nikolai shrugged: "The boss said that even though you lost the bet, he'll give you an extra month's salary as a favor for promoting the store and the bank."
Lev and Lermontov, whose faces were pale from the cold, suddenly brightened up, and their complexions instantly turned rosy.
Nikolai complained, "If I had known there would be extra pay, I should have gone out and run around. The Nautilus have released a new album."
He glanced at his comrades who weren't even dressed yet, struck a bodybuilder's pose, rubbed his biceps, and muttered, "She'll definitely like my physique. I can get my hair waxed..."
Lev and Lermontov exchanged a glance, and in that instant, all grudges vanished.
Nick.
Lev spoke first: "You know, the boss is a woman of substance."
Nikolai asked in confusion, "So?"
Lermontov chimed in tacitly, "So she wouldn't like a musical idiot with no substance!"
Nikolai protested, "Hey, you can't assume she doesn't like music!"
Lev and Lermontov ignored the silly boy and started opening envelopes and counting money on their own.
Nikolai, standing to the side, pondered, "She must not know me well enough..."
He clenched his fist and shouted, "I'll make her understand me perfectly!"
Lev and Lermontov, heads close together, whispered and discussed something in front of Nikolai.
When do you think he'll realize the boss's true colors?
"Love always makes people blind... I'll bet three months."
"Six months."
"A week's salary, I'll put it on hold."
"make a deal."
Nikolai squeezed his head in and asked curiously, "What are you talking about?"
Lev said kindly, "When you're waxing, you need to remove the hair completely."
Lermontov said softly, "Sometimes, you need to strip even more cleanly, preferably without leaving a single hair."
Nikolai instinctively took a step back.
...For some reason, he seemed to have sensed a murderous aura just now.
After initially digesting the gains in Vladimir, He Changyi turned his attention to distant Siberia.
The lovely Mikhail told her some good news: a secondary local oil company located in Eastern Siberia was about to be auctioned off.
Even better, Mikhail also provided basic information about the oil company, including its annual production, proven reserves, and infrastructure.
Although it hasn't reached the level of a written report yet, in today's world of limited communication and information, simply knowing the company's name and approximate production and storage capacity is already valuable intelligence.
He Changyi made a decisive decision: the next stop would be Eastern Siberia.
Upon arriving in the small border town of Irbyat, He Changyi, through a remote introduction by Andrei in Moscow, first visited the town's resident leader, Mayor Smolensky.
"Welcome, welcome."
Wearing a black overcoat with a leather collar and a black felt hat popular during the Union era, Mayor Smolensky may seem traditional and old-fashioned, but judging from the longing look on his face when talking about Mosk, it's clear that this frontier mayor is quite politically ambitious.
He Changyi presented the gifts she had prepared in advance, but when the mayor saw the gold bars, US dollars, and overseas accounts, he only politely expressed his gratitude and did not seem particularly interested.
This is not hard to imagine. Although it is a remote and harsh border town, the Irbuyat Autonomous Region has abundant oil resources. The poverty of ordinary citizens does not mean that the mayor is poor. For him, money is just a boring number.
In terms of private wealth, even the senior officials in Mosk might not be able to match the wealth of this former mayor who ruled Irbyat for nearly twenty years.
He Changyi's mind worked quickly, and he immediately realized that what the mayor wanted was not money.
So what exactly does he want?
Since arriving in the territory of Eros, one of He Changyi's biggest worries has been why local government officials and clerks at all levels cannot make their gift-receiving preferences public in a table.
As a newcomer to the country, she sometimes found it really hard to guess the preferences of these stern-faced Russians—although most of them preferred the simple ruble, and even better if it were US dollars.
But for Mayor Smolensky, what he needs is more than just money.
Some are more hidden, more important, and more difficult to obtain...
He Changyi asked seemingly casually, "Mayor Smolensky, I once heard Andrei mention that our president needs more loyal and capable officials. Obviously, Moscow is lacking excellent senior officials like you."
Mayor Smolensky's smile subtly shifted.
"I am loyal to the country. As long as the country needs me, I can stay in the Far East, even at the cost of my health."
He Changyi then said, "You are truly the most selfless person I have ever met. If you were not in the White House, it would be a misfortune for the entire nation. You are more qualified than anyone else to sit next to the President."
Mayor Smolensky's smile widened even further.
"Your praise makes me feel ashamed. I'm just a mayor in a frontier city, surrounded by low-ranking officials like me. As for the White House? That's farther away than Antarctica!"
Finally, the mayor, who had remained composed throughout the conversation, revealed a hint of his true emotions.
He Changyi lowered his eyes, expressing deep regret over Mosk's unsuccessful career while vehemently criticizing Mosk for being occupied by an incompetent scoundrel.
Yes, yes, for a complacent but frustrated Far Eastern official, what he wanted was simple, yet extremely difficult.
That is—promotion.
He Changyi looked up at the indignant mayor and said softly, "Perhaps I can be of help."
Mayor Smolensky's expression changed, and he looked at the unfamiliar Ms. Zhong Guo with scrutiny.
"You? Or Andrei?"
He Changyi smiled calmly and said, "Does it really make any difference to the outcome whether it's me or him?"
Mayor Smolensky stared intently at He Changyi, clearly considering the veracity of her words.
He Changyi seemed oblivious to the shrewd and cunning official's scrutiny and assessment, and calmly said, "In return for your efforts, I am willing to pave the way for you to Moscow."
Mayor Smolensky asked with a hint of disdain, "How can you, a Chinese businessman, pave the way for me?"
He Changyi brought up another topic.
"On my way to the city hall, I noticed that the buildings along the road were very old, with poor living conditions, low commercial value, and were also unsightly."
Mayor Smolensky remained silent, leaning back in his large chair.
He Changyi looked at him without flinching and said in a confident tone, "Mayor Smolensky, I'm giving you a new city, an achievement that will get you a place in Moscow."
Mayor Smolensky sat up straight and finally began to look her in the eye.
When He Changyi left Mayor Smolensky's office, he even personally escorted her downstairs.
Before parting, Mayor Smolensky hinted, "Ms. He, I look forward to your plan being implemented soon."
He Changyi said with a smile, "Then you will definitely see a completely new Irbuyat."
Once the car started, Mikhail, who had been quiet all along, finally couldn't hold back any longer and asked incredulously, "A new city? Do you know how much money that would require? Irbuyat may be a small city, but it's not something you can just renovate casually! Even if you staked all your money, you couldn't even finish a tenth of the city's renovation! Are you trying to rely on Irbuyat's finances? You're mistaken. Although they have oil, they have even more idiots and parasites!"
He Changyi leaned back in her car seat, relaxed. The conversation she had just had almost exhausted all her energy.
"Quiet, quiet, Mikhail, you're too noisy."
She said lazily, "Who said I was going to use my own money?"
Mikhail asked, puzzled, "So you're planning to take out a loan from a bank?"
He Changyi shook her head and reached out her hand to him.
Mikhail was shocked: "What are you thinking? Even if I searched every house in Moscow, I couldn't get that much money!"
He Changyi said unhappily, "Who asked you for money? Give me your phone."
She took the latest and most fashionable Motorola, paused before pressing the keys, and looked up to ask Mikhail:
"You should still remember Trotsky's phone number, right?"
Mikhail: ?
Trotsky was also shocked when he received the call.
"What? You want to cooperate with me?!"
He even put the phone down from his ear and examined it incredulously from all angles until a urging voice came from the other end of the line, at which point Trotsky put the phone back to his ear.
"So, you really are He Changyi, and not some random imposter or fraudster?!"
The woman's voice on the other end of the phone sounded extremely impatient.
“Listen, Trotsky, I’m giving you a chance to make a fortune. Get to Irbyat by noon tomorrow, or never come at all.”
beep--
After hanging up the phone, Trotsky stared blankly at the black screen for a while, then suddenly jumped up with an agility completely out of character for his obese physique.
"Quick, prepare the car, I need to get to Irbuyat right away!"
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Author's Note: The scene about the bet appears in chapter 98.
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