Chapter 373 You Were Never Masters: Bloodstained Surgut
"Bang!"
"Bang bang bang!"
The muffled gunshots rang out one after another, stirring up a spray of snow.
Lyuba and Nikolai shielded their boss tightly behind them, while the remaining bodyguards drew their guns and fired back.
Wang Xiao and Ivanov trembled, their adrenaline surging to its peak.
Even though he had experienced countless life-or-death crises, his heart still felt like it was being squeezed when he faced the threat of death again.
Especially since I'm in the open while the enemy is in the shadows, they still don't know who the other side is or how many troops they've deployed.
"Get in the car!"
As the Lada made a sharp turn, its tires screeched against the snow, emitting a smell similar to burning. Captain Andrei leaned out of the car window, drawing his gun and firing back in the direction where enemies might be hiding, while angrily beckoning Wang Xiao and Ivanov to get in the car.
If you're in an unfamiliar place and get attacked on someone else's turf, the best thing to do is to avoid fighting and retreat as soon as possible.
The two bosses didn't stand on ceremony and quickly climbed into the car, their legs weak.
Nonsense! The gunshot rang out right at the street corner where you were hiding, and the bullet casings were already bouncing into your face. Anyone in that situation would be as soft as a boiled noodle.
Without even looking at the pedestrians on the street, even the most fearless Russians were so scared that they immediately turned tail and ran, plunging into the shops next door and refusing to come out no matter what.
As soon as Wang Xiao got on the bus, she felt it was too crowded.
She, Ivanov, and Lyuba and Nikolai, who were protecting them, already made up four people. With Captain Andrei and the driver, it was too difficult to squeeze six people into a small Lada.
The unfortunate driver was now deathly pale, trembling uncontrollably: "God, God, what are you doing?"
He just wanted to make some business and fill his stomach; he had no intention of doing business with the Grim Reaper.
Without the boss even needing to say anything, Lyuba simply pulled out a wad of US dollars from her pocket and shoved it into his hand: "Take this, get out of the car! You'll know where to get the car later."
The driver, feeling like he'd been granted a pardon, scrambled out of the car and hid behind a mailbox on the street corner.
It doesn't matter whether I keep the car or not. It's an old car that I've driven for ten years. This dollar is enough to buy another one of these old cars.
He didn't want to hear the sickening metallic clang of bullets hitting the car.
"Pfft!" A stray bullet grazed the back of Andrei's hand, leaving a trail of blood in its wake, instantly staining his hand red.
He grunted, hastily wrapped the back of his hand with a handkerchief, his eyes growing even fiercer, and roared again, "Withdraw!"
Nikola took over the steering wheel and became the new driver.
Before Wang Xiao could even see how Lyuba operated, she swam from the back seat to the front passenger seat like a fish in the moving Lada, and then continued to draw her gun and fire back.
Upon hearing the order, the remaining bodyguards and assistants also fought their way out, stopping the cars and speeding away.
Nikola jerked the steering wheel, and the car, like a drunken bear, lurched and swerved through the hail of bullets, its tires skidding wildly on the wet, black snow as it narrowly escaped the ambush.
For the first time, Wang Xiao truly experienced what it meant to drive at the speed of the "fighting nation."
My goodness, she had to hold tightly to the seat in front of her even while she was in the car, otherwise she felt like she could fly.
Ivanov wasn't much better off; he was nauseous from the jolting and kept cursing, "Who the hell are these damned bastards?"
Wang Xiao was so nervous his bladder felt like it was going to explode, his teeth chattering: "Who could it be? An oil company, of course. If they take us out, they can fake this auction."
To put it bluntly, the auction wasn't broadcast live, and there was no video recording.
What exactly happened? In the end, all we could see was a stack of documents.
To put it simply, it's just a piece of paper with writing on it; it's too easy to switch it out.
There's a ridiculous joke that says Russia produces many literary masters, including numerous popular novelists, but conspicuously lacks any famous detective novelists.
It's not that Russian writers lacked literary talent or social criticism, but rather that the Russian environment couldn't foster such a complex operation as murder.
What murder plot?
They got the person drunk, left them outside to freeze overnight, and the next day they found a frozen fish that had died.
Or, to be more straightforward, shoot him dead and dump the body into the forest; the wild beasts would surely welcome your free meal.
If you're worried about not completely destroying the evidence, those roaring boiler rooms are natural funeral homes. Throw a body into the boiler, and that's it. Finding even bone fragments is a skill.
In such an environment, the local powerhouse Surgut Oil Company, which could shut down the airport at will, would not feel any psychological pressure to take action against them.
Where is he? I don't know, I haven't seen him.
With wind and snow, the big bosses who grew up in the Moscow money pit probably couldn't handle this hardship, so they didn't come.
Someone said they saw them? Then go ask the person who saw them, we didn't see them anyway.
Russia has a lot of unsolved murder cases. Among them, newly rich people are always among the targets.
If a big shot hasn't been hunted down, they're embarrassed to say they've made it big.
None of the people in the car had ever been to the tax police station in Suvagut, but fortunately, apart from Wang Xiao and Ivanov, the two most useless bosses, everyone else possessed unique skills.
Nikola only glanced at the map in Punonin's hand on the plane, but he had already memorized the location. He managed to drive the car to the police station entrance by relying on his 2D memory.
Ivanov and Wang Xiao really did tumble out of the car, covered in dirt, and rushed toward the police station.
The tax police at the door were so frightened that they instinctively drew their guns, but it was only thanks to Andrei, who was following behind, that they were saved from being killed unjustly.
Punoning is inspecting the work.
Every worker who has undergone the inspection knows just how oppressive and suffocating the atmosphere was.
The superior who came to inspect was notoriously ruthless and merciless.
So when the unexpected guest suddenly arrived and interrupted the atmosphere in the room, Major Klevoseev's first reaction was not to be furious. Instead, after secretly letting out a sigh of relief, he raised his eyebrows and began to berate: "Do you have any manners? Which department head didn't teach you to report before entering and to knock on the door?"
Before he could finish his rant, his boss snapped, "I told you two to stay put, are you deaf? Where have you been causing trouble? Look at the state you're in!"
Major Klevoseev only then realized that the two beggars in front of him, who looked like they had rolled in a pile of ashes and spun around in the mud, and were as dirty as the homeless people on the street, were actually the two wealthy businessmen's younger brother and sister who had been so generous last time.
Good heavens, what exactly happened to them? Did they go bankrupt in just one hour?
Wang Xiao was so exhausted from running that his lungs felt like they were about to explode. He spoke in a wheezing voice, like a bellows: "V...Vlamikil, they're chasing us, they're chasing Andrei!"
As she spoke, she pulled up Andrei's arm, showing him the wound on the back of his hand, which was stained red with blood from his handkerchief, and emphasized again, "They won't let Andrei go; Andrei almost died!"
Everyone in the room stared wide-eyed, with Captain Andrei, whose hand was being held, having the widest eyes.
No...no!
A woman's mouth is a deceitful devil! You didn't say that when you were in the car.
Those people were clearly chasing after you. If I die, it will be to protect you.
But he didn't get a chance to speak.
According to discipline, he was not allowed to speak unless instructed to do so by his superior, Major General Punonin.
But Punonin seemed to have forgotten this point from beginning to end. He just looked at Wang Xiao meaningfully and repeated, "They're hunting down Andrei?"
A surge of emotion violently impacted the tax police major general's chest.
Even without Andrei's involvement, he wouldn't have given up so easily.
These two bastards were brought to Surgut by him; even if they're worthless, they were still people he brought with him.
To attack them would be to slap him in the face and disrespect him.
But Punoning had to admit that the woman in front of him was far too cunning and adept at handling situations.
Attacking a businessman and attacking a tax officer are completely different in nature.
The former might at most offend a powerful figure with connections, while the latter involves going against the entire system.
In particular, Andrei was a member of the Central Tax Police, and he was the deputy to the head of the tax police.
You shot Andrei and chased him down. What are you trying to do? Are you planning a rebellion?
Ivanov looked at Punonin, who remained silent for a long time, and felt inexplicably guilty. He subconsciously added, "Surgut Oil Company didn't participate in the auction, so their $88 million should still be there."
The eyes of all the tax police officers at the scene lit up. 88 million US dollars! Good heavens, if they had that kind of money, they wouldn't be living such a miserable life.
Major Klevoseev was excited, nervous, and fearful all at once. He subconsciously observed his superior, and his whole body trembled involuntarily.
Punonin slapped Ivanov on the back of the neck, scolding him like a son: "Mind your own business, why are you meddling in other people's business?"
As he spoke, he turned to leave, not forgetting to grumble at the two men who had rolled out of the muddy pile, "Go to the hotel and take a shower, you've made the tax police station stink."
Wang Xiao was horrified: "They just left us at the hotel! What if they come after us again?"
What does it matter if it's dirty or smelly? Compared to life, what are these little difficulties?
Punonin put on his leather gloves with a cold smile. He had taken them off earlier to make it easier to look through the documents while inspecting the work.
"Why are we chasing you?" he said slowly. "Isn't it Andrei who's being chased? What does that have to do with you?"
Ivanov almost knelt down on the spot, ready to hug his leg and wail, "Brother, we were wrong, we were really wrong. Please, don't forget our mistakes, please don't abandon us!"
But Wang Xiao spoke first, forcing out a smile that looked more like a grimace: "It's all because of misplaced anger! They must think we're in cahoots. Better to kill three thousand innocent people than let one guilty person go free. Vlamikl, they're thugs who dare to challenge the authority of the central government."
The tax police major general narrowed his eyes.
He now completely agrees with Yura's assessment; the woman in front of him is excessively intelligent, indeed frightening.
Even though she had just experienced a life-or-death crisis and was in such a sorry state that she looked like a stray dog, it didn't stop her from immediately starting to calculate, analyze the pros and cons, and use the conditions he cared about most to forcibly bind him to her ship.
What is Punonin most concerned about right now? Power, the power struggle between the central and local governments. Or more specifically, the central and local governments' power over finances.
Following the Sino-Vietnamese border conflict, he has recently paid close attention to China's reform and opening-up process.
One of them was the tax reform that China officially launched last year, which centralized most of the fiscal revenue in the central government. He was very interested in it and thought it was a brilliant move.
There's a Russian proverb called Голодныйфранцузиворонерад, which translates directly to: "The hungry French are happy even with crows."
This shows how strong people's desire for money and survival is.
If the central government firmly grasps the power of finance, then these constituent republics and autonomous regions, even if only for the sake of money, will behave themselves and stop thinking about independence all the time.
Now is a good opportunity to teach them a lesson they won't forget.
The situation in Chechnya has cooled down, and the separatist movements in various regions have also subsided as the temperature in Russia has dropped.
Surgut, as a major oil city, has always felt it deserves extra treatment and has been rather aloof.
It's time to let them distinguish between the king and the queen.
He put on his gloves and hat, then said, "Suit yourself. If you don't want to go to the hotel to rest, just stay here."
Wang Xiao also emphasized, "Please don't take everyone away with you."
So what if it's the tax police station? The emperor's reach is far away, and local bullies aren't necessarily afraid of officials.
Punoning had never seen such a noisy person before, and said impatiently, "I've already transferred him to the Ministry of Internal Affairs."
The two merchants, who had narrowly escaped death, finally breathed a sigh of relief and smiled obsequiously at him: "Vlamikil, you must avenge our Andrei! They have gone too far!"
Andrei just wanted to turn his head away and pretend he hadn't heard anything.
What does it have to do with him? He was just a convenient prop from beginning to end!
Seeing that the unlucky guy was still not quite there, Wang Xiao took advantage of the chaos as everyone was leaving and pulled Andrei aside to whisper, "You need to play it by ear. If you're lucky, you can make a name for yourself this time and get promoted immediately."
Whether someone is a hero or a role model depends on the needs of their superiors.
If you miss this opportunity, you may not be able to climb the ladder step by step in the future.
Andrei, having his secret exposed, suddenly understood and went out excitedly.
Wang Xiao and Ivanov were left staring at each other, wondering what to do. They should hurry up and take a shower; they were really dirty and smelly.
Thank goodness, although the conditions at the Tax Police Bureau were extremely basic, at least there was a duty room.
Having a duty room means they have a shower room, and since Surgut is an energy hub with no shortage of fuel, they can enjoy a hot shower.
That's why people say these two are so carefree.
After showering and drying their hair, Wang Xiao and Ivanov ate two baked potatoes with milk candy. They waited for Punonin for a long time but he didn't return, so they simply fell asleep in the police station.
Not enough beds? No problem! Just put the sofa and bench together, use your coat as a blanket, and you can sleep soundly all day long.
Since the heating has already started, sleeping in it for one night might feel dry at most, but there's no need to worry about catching a cold.
The next morning, Wang Xiao got up with messy hair, ran his fingers through his hair, brushed his teeth and washed his face. Finally, he met Punoning in the tax police station's canteen, or more precisely, a small dining hall.
I don't know exactly when he came back.
Punoning glanced at the two of them, didn't complain about how they were sleeping like pigs when he came back, and just nodded as a greeting.
After finishing his potato and milk, he asked, "What do you want? How do you plan to resolve this?"
Oh, so the higher-ups have already divided up the pork, and they're just giving you some compensation to settle this matter.
Wang Xiao and Ivanov are both pragmatic people; they certainly don't have the tenacity of Qiu Ju in her lawsuits, nor do they want to waste any more time on this case.
They made a quick and decisive request: "The oil supplied to Siberia will be from the Surgut oil field."
Wuzhou Petroleum Company participated in the auction and acquired oil fields, but this was not without purpose. Instead, it selected oil fields that could fill the oil supply gap in Siberia caused by the destruction of the Nevtegorsk oil field by the earthquake.
In this way, the oil and gas produced by the Sakhalin-1 oil and gas field project will no longer need to go to Siberia to supply the oil and gas instead.
Isn't exporting profitable? Exporting earns you foreign exchange.
As for Siberian Oil Company and Surgut Oil Company, would they suffer a great loss if they switched from export to domestic supply?
Since you often get delayed in receiving payments even when exporting to Europe through Moscow's oil export companies, it's safer to supply domestically.
Punonin watched as the two of them clicked the abacus beads loudly, and for a moment he was speechless.
Never mind, businessmen are driven by profit.
Presumably, for the sake of money, they won't cause any more trouble.
He finished the last sip of milk and nodded: "Then after you have breakfast, you can go over together."
Without a word, the two nodded quickly like chickens pecking at rice, and then began to eat their breakfast with great gusto.
Despite the limited resources, they didn't mind potatoes or rye bread, as long as they could fill their stomachs.
Major Klevoseev watched from the sidelines, secretly admiring his superior, Major General Punonin, for being a truly good older brother. Though fierce and prone to scolding, he always managed his men well when it mattered.
With a boss like that, as long as you're treated like one of your own, you're unlikely to have a bad time.
Lyuba was also eating breakfast at the table, but what she was thinking was: the boss really knows how to cater to different people.
Major General Punonin likes to be the big brother, ordering them around until they dare not utter a sound. Well then, they'll just have to fulfill his wish, acting obedient in every way, providing plenty of emotional support, and giving their big brother face without missing out on any real benefits for themselves.
How wonderful! Everyone gets what they need, and everyone is happy.
In October in Siberia, the sun, however late in the morning, never failed to rise. The sun, having climbed to the top of Khrushchev's building, cast long, thin shadows over the rows of oil tanks.
The entire city was filled with the roar of machines, and the people walking among them seemed to have forgotten how to speak; an eerie silence permeated the air.
No one lingered at the site of yesterday's gunfight, nor did anyone gather in small groups to discuss it. It was as if everything yesterday was just Wang Xiao and his friends' imagination.
The car drove past the Geological Exploration Bureau building in the north of the city.
It's unclear whether the building is abandoned or simply lacks maintenance funds; the windows are broken like eye sockets, staring blankly at passing vehicles and pedestrians.
The slogan still remains on the exterior wall: Мынашлибудущееподземлей!
We found the future underground!
Wang Xiao was stunned and couldn't come to her senses for a long time.
She didn't come to her senses until the car pulled into the Surgut Oil Company, whereupon she put on her hat and mask and got out of the car.
The oil company building is an old-fashioned Soviet building. The Lenin statue in the small square has not been toppled, but the Pravda newspaper he held aloft in his left hand has been replaced with oil valve parts by some mischievous person. The base is spray-painted with graffiti: Oil is the true ideology.
Now Captain Andrei was secretly thinking to himself: "She doesn't even participate in the auction herself, she's just watching from the sidelines, so why does she have to come all the way to Surgut City?"
Yesterday's experience had already taught him that when it came to adaptability and leveraging others' strengths, his boss's younger brother was still a level below him.
Wang Xiao was also unusually silent. He got out of the car without saying a word and followed the group into the office building like a shadow.
The company leaders I saw at the auction yesterday were all there, but they no longer had the same radiant spirit they had at the beginning. They all had injuries on their faces, looking bruised, red, and purple, a sorry sight and a comical sight.
Punonin, representing Wuzhou Petroleum Company, made a request, and the leaders of Surgut Company did not express any objection and agreed without saying a word.
It is evident that the combined power of the tax police action team and the internal affairs force is something that ordinary people cannot withstand.
Even high-ranking officials with considerable power are terrified if they are placed under investigation for two days. How much more so would they be?
It's not shameful.
The two parties drafted an agreement, signed it, shook hands, and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious, with things progressing smoothly as could be.
Just as Punonin, on behalf of everyone, declined the Surgut Company's offer to have lunch there and instead headed straight back, an unexpected turn of events occurred.
People, densely packed people, filled the entire open space of the company, all of them oil workers wearing cotton work clothes.
Upon seeing the group emerge, the lead worker immediately shouted with delight, "Sir, when are you going to give us the money? You've already received our shares, 110 million US dollars, when are you going to give them to us?"
Yesterday, they were furious and beat up the company leaders, demanding that they return the $88 million.
As a result, the group of leaders couldn't take the beating anymore and had no choice but to admit that the deposit receipts they submitted to the auction committee were actually fake; they had paid several hundred dollars to have them made into counterfeit goods.
The company had no money and didn't want an outsider to buy it, so it had no choice but to resort to this desperate measure.
The workers were skeptical, but even as they threatened to beat them to death, the leaders maintained a unified front, insisting that there was no money.
Later, the police arrived with airplanes, armored vehicles, and guns, looking very aggressive, so they had no choice but to scatter.
Fortunately, today, the company leadership finally delivered the news to them. The outsiders did indeed buy the company's shares for 110 million US dollars. Now that they have this money, everyone's salaries and bonuses will be fine.
After waiting for so long, everyone finally heard some amazing news, so of course they rushed over immediately to make sure the $110 million was in their hands.
It was already noon, and the sun, which had been pale and weak in the morning, seemed to have died out completely. The sky was overcast, as if a blizzard could strike at any moment.
Punoning was baffled. What money was being given to the factory?
What's being auctioned off is the state-owned controlling stake in the oil company. The money will naturally go into the central government's account. What does it have to do with the oil company's employees?
But as soon as such an explanation was offered, the already angry workers instantly became enraged and roared, "What country's money? This is our money! The oil field is our oil field, our oil workers' oil field!"
"Give us the money! Give us back all the money! Otherwise, none of you are leaving here!"
Punonin turned back to find the oil company's leaders, but the group of foxes had already made their escape.
So all that cooperation before was just waiting for this moment.
They dared not confront the tax police and the Ministry of the Interior's violent agencies, fearing they would be torn apart alive.
But we workers have power! They refused to believe it, so the infamous Mr. Punonin fired at the workers and drove armored vehicles over them.
Even a cotton mask couldn't filter out the cold air; Wang Xiao felt his lungs were cold as soon as he took a breath.
To be honest, she really admired the brains of the leadership of Surgut Oil Company; they were truly adept at applying their knowledge flexibly.
They suffered a loss at the hands of the workers yesterday, and today they are using the same tactics against them, turning the workers into guns against themselves, the outsiders.
The workers were still roaring, pressing closer and closer: "Give us our money back! This is our oil field!"
Forced to retreat step by step, Ivanov finally lost his temper, jumped onto the pedestal of the Lenin statue, and shouted at the top of his lungs: "The oil field is yours, and it has nothing to do with the country? Don't you have any shame?!"
"When you were exploring for oil, did you dig it out by hand? Where did you get your equipment? Did the government buy it for you?"
"Were you born knowing how to explore and extract oil? Did you learn your skills in school? Schools don't charge tuition, so how do they survive? Do they live off the air? They're funded by the government!"
"Did every oil well you drilled produce oil? If not, then who will bear the losses from the initial investment? The state!"
“You keep talking about driving out outsiders, but you yourselves are outsiders! Surgut was born because of oil in the 1960s, but before that, it was a wasteland!”
"Did your factories, your dormitories, and your residences all grow out of the ground on their own? No, they were built with government funding!"
"Even if we take a step back and say the worst, who wouldn't want oil in Surgut? Why don't Mongolia and Japan dare to come and plunder it? Is it because they think it's too cold here and don't want to? Or are they afraid of your wrenches and hammers? No, what they're afraid of is the Russian army!"
Ivanov, having reached his limit, exclaimed, "You enjoy the protection of the state, utilize state-invested equipment to extract oil, and use state-built pipelines to transport and sell it. And yet you still open your mouths and say the oil fields are yours and have nothing to do with the state. Have you no shame at all?"
He waved his arms, striking a pose like the Lenin statue behind him, and shouted, "One hundred and ten million US dollars is the country's rightful return on investment, it has nothing to do with you! You have never been the owners of the oil fields, and you have no right to become the owners of the oil fields on behalf of all the Russian people!"
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