Chapter 72: The Shopping Spree Begins (Bug Fixes): Farm and Massager
Wang Xiao didn't sleep well all night.
Despite her calm demeanor, she was actually discussing future career developments with others.
In truth, her heart was burning with anxiety.
It wasn't that she was afraid she'd be dragged out of bed in the middle of the night and sent to a concentration camp.
Instead, the thought of how much money her business would lose if the Soviet Communist Party came back to power and the Soviet Union didn't disintegrate made her so anxious that even in her sleep she would be jolted awake and pound her bed a hundred times in the middle of the night.
Yes, she sympathized with ordinary Soviet people.
But this compassion is nothing compared to making money.
Really, never expect vested interests and ordinary people to empathize.
Even if there is empathy, it's just the empathy you feel while watching a movie.
What truly drives her crazy is always making money.
She tossed and turned in bed until dawn before finally drifting off to sleep.
When she got up in the morning to eat breakfast, she sat at the table, but neither oatmeal nor pudding tasted good to her.
Compared to her, Ivanov looked radiant as he walked from his room to the dining room.
Good heavens, thankfully everyone in this house understands their relationship and knows that they weren't even in the same room last night.
Judging from their current appearance, I think it would definitely make people suspect that Ivanov is a male demon who used yin-yang cultivation last night.
"Hey! It's all over now." Ivanov said smugly, and started dissing the CPSU again, "A bunch of useless cowards. What can they do besides hiding behind the people and thinking they can still swagger around? They don't even dare to talk big, let alone pull out a gun. A bunch of useless cowards, and they still want to go back to being cadres."
He has his own sources of information, so he slept well last night.
Wang Xiao gave him a death stare.
Damn it!
Why the hell didn't you say so earlier last night?!
Ivanov was completely unaware of how despicable he was; he had no idea that his friend needed this news.
Because she was so calm, rational, and composed, she didn't take the Red Army seriously at all. Even if they returned, it wouldn't stop her from continuing to earn money and develop her career.
If that's the case, why would he bother her in the middle of the night and disrupt a lady's sleep?
Ivanov, smugly stirring his oatmeal porridge, tapped the newspaper with his hand: "Komsomolskaya Pravda is truly an excellent newspaper."
As he spoke, he read aloud an article from the newspaper: "Russia is a strange country. Although the festival of the Communist Revolution is no longer around, Bolshevism is thriving. Although the people defeated the 'coup d' (referring to the August Coup), they proved their loyalty to Marxist values."
Before he could finish reading, he gritted his teeth and said, "The Soviet people have not betrayed us; the real traitors are this bunch of useless trash! Incompetent trash!"
Then he solemnly declared, "My dear friends, please believe me, I am still a Bolshevik, and I have always remained loyal to Marxism."
Tang Yi was completely confused, feeling that his Russian was not good enough.
Wasn't this communist revolution a victory brought about by both Bolsheviks and Marxists?
How did they manage to cut it apart again?
Wang Xiao winked at him, signaling him to ignore Ivanov.
He wants to be logically consistent, to complete the reshaping of his personality, to believe that he is a noble person, someone who has transcended base desires, so let him be.
It's good that he can stay in Moscow peacefully.
It's true, everyone has their own stage. This is his true home base; it's here that he can truly make a difference.
If he were truly forced to flee and run to China, Wang Xiao wouldn't mind supporting him, but that would only mean providing him with food.
How fragile are the relationships between people, especially for capitalists.
People who can't consistently bring her benefits, can't provide her with emotional value, and can't offer her positive companionship will inevitably drift further and further away.
Therefore, for their friendship to last, let's all strive to be useful people.
After finishing his milk and oatmeal porridge, Wang Xiao devoured a blini and spoke slowly and deliberately: "So now is a good time, my dear Ivanov. We must act immediately and gather more talent."
Tang Yicheng is struggling with oatmeal porridge; he still prefers cooked porridge to this kind of soaked porridge.
Hearing this, he looked up and wondered if Wang Xiao was being too hasty. Given yesterday's situation, they should have at least waited two more days before making a judgment. Wouldn't that have been more prudent?
“Armed, but without any armed forces,” Wang Xiao emphasized. “Those who took to the streets yesterday were ordinary citizens; there was no military involvement.”
Is public opinion important? Yes, it is very important. People can support a nation, but they can also capsize it; they can influence the course of a country's development.
Does public opinion not matter? Not at all.
Political power grows out of the barrel of a gun.
The resistance of the lower classes can only be effective if it is accompanied by blood and fire.
Without the support of the army and armed forces, the anger and roars of the people of Moscow yesterday could only be their final lament for the Soviets.
"What will follow is purge and retaliation." Wang Xiao wiped his hands and said seriously, "The new leaders in power will absolutely not be able to tolerate the fact that the CPSU still has so many believers and supporters. They will accelerate the purge and dismantle this group as quickly as possible."
What would be the result?
Many government officials will be disappointed or even lose their jobs, and may even end up in jail.
Although the general public believes that officials are useless, holding positions without doing anything, and that they could starve to death if the state stopped supporting them.
But in reality, even the most incompetent officials still thrive more in official circles than outsiders.
What Wang Xiao needs now is this feeling of being in her element.
As is widely known, well, except that she and Ivanov agreed that the new leaders after the August 19 Incident were actually the old bureaucrats.
They never truly broke free from their original circle.
Therefore, those officials who couldn't make it in the system still have a use now, as their relatives and friends are still in their positions.
For a regime with a chaotic economy and constantly changing policies, rule by man is far more important than rule of law; therefore, maintaining good relationships with officials is crucial.
Officials who have been removed from office can no longer hold office, but their status and experience make them natural brokers who can climb the ladder to power.
Chaos and the change of regimes mean that a large amount of resources will be left outside the region.
For example, a year ago, who would have dared to dream of owning a 200-square-meter shop on the commercial street next to Red Square for less than $5,000?
Moscow government officials also want to sell the rest to them, hoping for a successful start to privatization.
Speaking of this, Tang Yicheng couldn't help but get excited: "We transported supplies from China, and they can be displayed and sold in these shops. With such a good location, business is sure to be good."
That's Red Square, with huge foot traffic! It's definitely a prime location for a shop!
Wang Xiao shook his head: "No, the shop can't open now."
Are the shops on the shopping street struggling to stay afloat really because people don't like shopping near Red Square? Wrong, wrong, wrong. It's because of a severe shortage of goods.
Statistics show that in the first nine months of this year, the Russian Federation's consumer price index rose by 79 percent compared to the same period last year. Residents' spending on goods increased by 50 percent, while sales decreased by 31 percent. Market supply is extremely tight.
The shelves in Moscow's shops are empty; how can they possibly stay open?
Once you have the products, business will definitely be good.
The influx of customers will quickly drive up the land prices of shops in the area.
Is she crazy?
Why would she drive up the price of her investment before acquiring all the shops?
Even if you have so much money you don't know what to do with it, you shouldn't spend it like this. Besides, she has many other places where she needs to spend money.
Tang Yicheng felt a pang of heartache: "What's the point of buying those items? Are they just going to sit empty like that?"
"Why leave it empty? Use it as a warehouse. We need to stock up on goods, and this will help us find a place to store them."
Good heavens, how different is this from an empty space? This is a prime location shop.
Wang Xiao laughed and said, "It's not like it'll stay empty forever. Once we buy all the shops on this street, we can open for business."
Tang Yicheng's eyes lit up instantly, and he said enthusiastically, "Then we need to hire people. There are so many stores."
He counted them; there were fifty-six shops on that street. And some of them were so big they could easily be divided into two rooms.
If we do that, we'll need to hire a lot of staff.
In Moscow, you definitely have to hire locals. It's like when KFC opens a store in China, they have to hire the staff from Beijing.
It wouldn't be right to expect Americans to travel all that way to be waiters.
It has to be something they're willing to do.
"You never know," Wang Xiao said, intrigued. "There might be plenty of people wanting to come and work as shop assistants."
Tang Yicheng blurted out, "Who wants to come? They're even rationing bread."
As soon as he finished speaking, he suddenly came to his senses, "That's right, we can't possibly let them go hungry."
Big factories are sending people here in batches. So many people want to go abroad and experience the world, so there must be some who would be happy to work here.
They might even fight tooth and nail over it.
Ivanov felt uneasy when he heard them speaking Chinese, and immediately probed furtively, "What are you talking about? You seem so happy."
"They said they need to hire people for the upcoming store opening," Wang Xiao reminded Ivanov. "By the way, we need a lot of professionals, whether they're lawyers, accountants, or other managers. In short, we need people to do the work. Now is a good opportunity, we need to poach people quickly."
Dare to imagine it?
To this day, both she and Ivanov can be considered billionaires in the broad sense, but they have only a makeshift operation under their belts.
Haha, the world is truly amazing.
But it's not that they don't want to hire people. Leaving aside the situation in China, the situation in the Soviet Union is even worse.
This is a socialist welfare state, and it wasn't until the end of October this year that the Russian Federation president announced the start of privatization. What does this mean? It means that the public is accustomed to serving only the state.
Ivanov was wealthy, but in the eyes of the general public, he was just a private trafficker and a target of government crackdown.
His act of reselling goods is called black market trading, which is condemned by the mainstream.
Therefore, when he wanted to hire people before, there were hardly any decent people willing to work for him.
Even so, they managed to amass a fortune of hundreds of millions.
It's utterly absurd.
But thinking about it, even thirty years from now, so-called international corporations can still be swindled out of billions by fake seals, and countless billionaires will be victims; it doesn't seem so surprising anymore.
After all, the world itself is a makeshift operation; when the opportunity arises, even a pig can fly.
They're just trying to make this makeshift team a little more professional now.
Ivanov chuckled and joked, "Should I send some military experts to China? I see the Taiwanese are very interested in Eastern European experts, and they keep sending them to work there. I'm not bragging, but in the military industry, at most only the Americans can compete with us. As for the rest, all that Eastern European stuff is what we have left over."
After he finished speaking, he became sad again. The Soviet Union was so powerful, so why did it turn out like this?
It's all those damn Americans' fault. If it weren't for the drop in oil prices, the Soviet Union wouldn't be in such a sorry state now.
Wang Xiao was baffled. What did she need a military expert for? She had never thought about selling weapons; that wasn't something she could handle.
To put it bluntly, the legacy left by the Soviet Union alone is enough for arms dealers to make money for decades.
Ivanov then began complaining about the economic reforms implemented by Russia's newly elected president: "He's just a politician, look how stupid he is! The concrete solution to the economic crisis is to cut state spending and reduce military expenditures!"
He read aloud from the newspaper, "Starting November 1st, funding will be suspended for some central government ministries and other agencies (a total of 70).
What an idiot!
What he should really do is kick high-ranking officials out of their luxury villas and stop them from enjoying their privileges, such as having four chefs and eight waiters.
Do these high-ranking officials live off a few hundred rubles a month?
Even if they don't receive a single penny of salary, the country won't skimp on their spending!
What would happen if funding were cut for ordinary government employees, who live on salaries just like everyone else? It would lead to a complete monetization of power.
All government agencies will try every means to collect fines and various fees to make up for the trouble caused by insufficient administrative funds and sharp decline in employee income.
But doing so would have devastating consequences.
This behavior is like a warehouse keeper emptying all the bottles of liquor in order to sell them to a scrap dealer for extra income.
However, a country cannot function normally without shepherds.
So even though everyone knows this will cause enormous waste and economic setbacks, it cannot stop shepherds from seeking personal gain.
Don't say foolish things like "take a long-term view." The government has already overdrawn too much of the people's trust.
The Soviet government even did something foolish on January 22nd of this year: at 9 PM, the president ordered the nation to recall the 1961 edition 50-ruble and 100-ruble banknotes within three days via television.
His official pretext was to crack down on the black market, because black market dealers had large sums of rubles in their hands. But the problem was that at that time, many people were already receiving their wages in 50 or 100 rubles.
The latter group far outnumbers the black market traffickers.
In just three days, people didn't even have time, or didn't even know they needed to exchange the banknotes. Many people's life savings (many elderly people weren't used to saving money and kept large sums of cash at home) vanished into thin air.
Who would still trust a government like this?
Even Marx himself didn't know whether tomorrow or an accident would come first.
For ordinary people, tangible benefits are what they actually gain. Neither the Soviet government nor the Russian government is trustworthy.
"He's not mentally challenged, he's too smart. He knows exactly how to cater to these idiots!"
The cook rushed out of the house, waving her arms excitedly, "Now, talking about streamlining the government and cutting government spending is so politically correct, and so popular with idiots! These idiots have no idea how a country works, and they don't understand what the key issue is right now."
Wang Xiao was actually quite curious about what the chef was referring to, but the waitress had already started arguing with her emotionally: "Why can't we trust the new government? The initial stages of reform will definitely be painful, but things will get better after a year. This is our last chance. And the president said that if his reform plan fails, he and his entire government will resign."
Wang Xiao burst into a violent cough. Why would she be so foolish as to drink yogurt at a time like this?
Seriously, the yogurt in Moscow with sugar is quite delicious, but it can be deadly if it gets too pungent.
The plump cook patted Wang Xiao's back while mocking the waitress, "Look at your jokes, even Chinese people can't stand them. If we're talking about successful economic reforms, shouldn't we learn from the Chinese?"
As she spoke, she stared intently at Wang Xiao with bright eyes.
The waitress looked at Wang Xiao with unconvinced eyes, her gaze earnest: "My dear friend, we need a strong leader, don't we? Only someone like that is trustworthy."
Wang Xiao had a headache. How could she know if the man was truly powerful? But the fact that he was untrustworthy was undeniable.
He even resigned after the reform failed. After tasting the taste of supreme power, does he have the courage to do so?
Come on, he and his team not only didn't resign, but they were even re-elected.
In an effort to secure re-election, he even asked the US president for a loan to pay the long-overdue salaries of Russian government officials.
Therefore, never harbor any unrealistic illusions about those who benefit from the status quo.
The lower limit of ordinary people's behavior may very well be the upper limit of their behavior.
Wang Xiao, adhering to the principle of never interfering in other countries' internal affairs, simply shook his head repeatedly: "I don't know, the situations in the two countries are different."
Ivanov retorted irritably, "Stop talking nonsense. The key issue is oil. Unless international crude oil prices rise, nothing else matters. Don't forget, half of our country's foreign exchange reserves come from oil exports. Don't forget how much foreign debt we currently owe!"
The waitress instinctively asked, "When will gas prices go up?"
The cook sneered, "The United States has already won the Gulf War, so who do you think controls oil prices? This is exactly what they wanted—to kill the Soviet Union without lifting a finger."
The waitress blushed deeply: "The United States is our friend, and it will support us in achieving democratic independence."
"It wants us dead! Dead!"
Well, they no longer need to consult anyone's opinion, and they've started arguing again.
The host and guests at the table silently wiped their mouths clean and then left.
Actually, history itself contains absurdity.
According to Snowden's revelations, apart from a few American hawks, very few Americans actually want the Soviet Union to truly disintegrate.
It is important to know that this military superpower possesses a large number of nuclear weapons. If it were to disintegrate, it would mean that war could very likely break out, and the risk of nuclear proliferation would be extremely high.
Besides its nuclear weapons, its conventional weaponry is also astonishing. If this superpower were to disintegrate, these weapons could destabilize the European situation.
Putting aside the issue of weapons, the Soviet Union, with its 300 million people, represented a massive market. Why would the United States willingly give it up?
Moreover, the Warsaw Pact and the Council for Mutual Economic Assistance have now been dissolved, and the Soviet Union has gradually withdrawn its troops from Europe. The loss of leadership by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union has rendered the Soviet Union no longer the moral authority of the world socialist regime.
Everything is moving in a direction that benefits the United States.
The Soviet Union at present is like a toothless tiger. By maintaining the status quo, it is most convenient for the United States to obtain cheap oil, natural gas and mineral resources from it.
It can be done without firing a single shot, simply through economic aid.
It's estimated that the United States played a significant role in the collapse of the Soviet Union, but the latter didn't expect the former to be so weak. They just messed around, and things really went wrong.
What should she say?
After pondering for a long time, Wang Xiao, who was terrible at history, finally managed to come up with a sentence: "If you can't sell oil, then sell natural gas."
Ivanov was filled with sorrow again. As he went upstairs to change his clothes, he muttered, "We can only sell our possessions. My great and poor Soviet mother, we are so destitute."
Wang Xiao retorted directly: "Then what are we selling now? We're still selling the demographic dividend."
This is a veritable Versailles on earth! You think I don't want to be an oil princess?
It's not like the real-world conditions don't allow it!
Ivanov wanted to argue with her about whether natural resources or the demographic dividend were better, but the phone rang at home.
The caller was Xiang Dong, who wanted to ask when Wang Xiao and Tang Yicheng would return to China.
"There's something else I wanted to say yesterday. The factory manager of Aihua Garment Factory has accepted another order and is absolutely refusing to let us take the raw materials away. The villages in Xiaozhou have been getting a lot of orders lately, so this one won't make a difference. I called you earlier, but you were already on the plane, and I couldn't get through to you last night."
Uh, that's normal.
Because Ivanov was on the phone all night.
Wang Xiao didn't care who did it: "Then you keep an eye on the orders and make sure they're delivered on time."
Xiang Dong pressed further, "When exactly are you coming back? How's Moscow doing? Come back soon, lest they start fighting."
Unlike the optimistic Dr. Chen, Xiang Dong clearly understood that businessmen like them were not actually favored by the authorities.
If it weren't for a last resort, and the government couldn't handle things properly, there wouldn't be any private matters involved.
"It's alright," Wang Xiao comforted him. "Not a single shot was fired last night. By the way, you and Feng Zhonglin should look for suitable factory buildings, the kind you can rent long-term if you can't buy them."
"What are you going to do?" Xiang Dong asked curiously. "Can't you find a factory to do the manufacturing?"
"No factory makes this, so I need to import the technology and production lines from abroad."
It's quite noisy to the east; there are people coming and going all the time.
To avoid any complications, Wang Xiao gave a vague answer: "In short, find a factory building, one with a large area."
Although Xiang Dong didn't understand why, he readily agreed and then urged, "Come back quickly."
After hanging up the phone, Ivanov changed his coat, and they all went out together.
According to past practice, even if the chef didn't say anything, at least the waitresses would have escorted them out.
But now, it's clear that neither of them cares anymore; they're arguing fiercely in the tea room.
Thank goodness, these two were gentlemen who used words but not fists, otherwise Wang Xiao was really worried that the villa would have been demolished.
Unlike their heated and tireless argument, just one day later, the streets of Moscow returned to their winter chill.
Aside from the long queues outside the shops, there were hardly any pedestrians on the street.
Although the government announced that five types of food would be subject to supply restrictions, meat, poultry, and eggs were already hard to find in state-run stores, so people were queuing up to buy only bread and milk.
Obviously, bread isn't suitable for long-term storage. But subsidized bread is cheaper than wheat. Plus, with the current freezing weather, frozen bread can probably last for a while.
Moreover, even if the bread got moldy, the Soviets wouldn't throw it away; instead, they would use it to brew alcohol.
As the line stretched out, someone collapsed.
Wang Xiao subconsciously reached into her pocket, but because she was wearing gloves, she couldn't find the candy inside for a long time.
Fortunately, the people in line gathered around, and someone took out a bottle and gave the person who had fallen to the ground a couple of mouthfuls, and then they helped him up.
The old man with the thin face and wearing an old military overcoat woke up again, as if he was thanking someone.
The people dispersed and returned to their original positions in the group. The group returned to calm, and their faces became as cold and stern as winter.
No one tried to cut in line during this process.
Ivanov cursed and strode forward: "Buy up this street and that street, and open shops everywhere. We won't even have bread left, and the Tsar will laugh at us."
When they passed the entrance to the market and saw several ragged people begging, Ivanov's anger reached its peak: "This damned country, even God would laugh at us."
Well, he was a Marxist before, and now he's a Christian.
Tang Yicheng couldn't understand it at all: "Your country is so big, but you only have so many people, how come you still don't have enough food to eat?"
China has a much larger population than the Soviet Union, but its land area is smaller.
In earlier years, the Chinese people did not have enough to eat because agricultural mechanization was insufficient, and most importantly, there was a lack of pesticides and fertilizers, resulting in low grain yields.
But the Soviet Union didn't have these problems. The Soviet Union had plenty of fertilizer and a highly developed heavy industry, so its level of mechanization should have been very high.
He knew about Soviet tractors from movies when he was a child. Everyone was thinking that one day we could be like the Soviet Union, where farming was all done by machines; that would be what it meant to achieve the Four Modernizations.
Okay, okay, he admitted that the Soviet Union's climate conditions were poor.
Even if it's cold and you can only plant crops for half the year, it shouldn't be a shortage of food. There are only 300 million people in total.
The Soviet Union's land was black soil, wasn't it? That was incredibly fertile. The black soil of Northeast China was known as the "Great Northern Granary."
He ate local rice in Northeast China, and it was incredibly fragrant.
Even if the Soviet Union was in a bad state, the conditions couldn't have been that bad.
Now that China's grain coupons are practically defunct, Moscow has actually started implementing grain rationing.
Ivanov, enraged and embarrassed, retorted, "How should I know?!"
Then he entered a state of furious buying spree: "I want to buy a large piece of land, I want to buy all the land, and then use it to grow food. As a Marxist, I will never allow hunger to exist."
Good heavens.
Wang Xiao and Tang Yicheng exchanged a glance, wondering what had gotten into this guy to make him have such a wild idea.
If only I could have thousands of spacious houses, to shelter all the poor and make them smile with joy.
Ivanov became more and more excited as he spoke, and even started to come up with some wild ideas: "Your Majesty, you provide the manpower and I will provide the land. Let's contract the farm and grow crops together."
He went to Xiaozhou for fun—well, actually, when he went to register a company—and heard that villagers had gotten into a fight over a small plot of land.
He burst out laughing, saying that such a thing would never happen in their Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union may not have much else, but it has a lot of land.
Moreover, Soviet people didn't like being farmers, and many people left the farms.
Ivanov's eyes gleamed: "Indeed, Your Majesty, this is a very meaningful thing. As long as you find the people, I guarantee there will be enough land to cultivate."
Wang Xiao didn't care.
People from China have farming in their blood, but she has little interest in developing a career in agriculture, since a major characteristic of agriculture is that it depends on the weather.
She doesn't like things that are out of her control.
But finding people to come to the Soviet Union to farm was actually not a difficult task.
As of now, how to resettle the flood victims remains a major problem for local governments in East China.
Many disaster victims have not returned to their hometowns to this day, but have come to the city to beg for food.
Dr. Chen had encountered this situation, and it was particularly heartbreaking to hear about it. Some people no longer wanted to return to their hometowns; they just wanted to find a place to make money.
But they've farmed all their lives, some don't even know how to read, and there are still a lot of factories in the city that have shut down. What kind of work can they find?
Arranging for people to come to Russia to farm is not a difficult task, as long as they are paid on time.
Soviet peasants were paid wages anyway, and Ivanov was quite accepting of the idea of receiving wages.
Tang Yicheng, who was listening nearby, didn't know how to react.
They have already discussed paying the farmers a monthly wage of one hundred yuan.
If this continues, the farm will probably be built soon.
Hey, hey, hey, this is a serious matter, shouldn't you guys do some proper research? Instead, you're just spouting nonsense.
He knew about large-scale farming, and the investment involved was considerable.
If the land isn't cultivated properly, the losses can be quite staggering.
Wang Xiao turned around and casually replied in Chinese, "Just pretend he's playing a farm game."
What's the meaning?
Neither Ivanov nor she cared about this loss at all.
For a billionaire, spending millions of dollars a year to enjoy himself is no big deal.
Have you seen Clarkson's Farm? It's incredibly expensive, but that didn't stop the wealthy old man from having a second season.
Especially since she and Ivanov even paid people to come and farm the land, that's the kind of fun you get from watching Clarkson's Farm.
The biggest problem with leasing land for farming in Russia is the ever-changing local policies.
Foreigners can only contract land from Russian farmers. Is there a risk that the farmers will raise prices after a good harvest? It all depends on luck.
However, if Ivanov, a native Russian, were to contract the land, the risk would be greatly reduced.
With this premise in mind, you can do whatever you want with your farm.
Tang Yicheng felt he understood, but at the same time he felt even more confused.
They contracted land to farm, and they didn't care at all whether they made a profit or not!
What else could he say?
But considering they bought a $2.5 million plane just for a trip to Budapest, spending over a million a year on farming isn't a big deal.
Ivanov excitedly emphasized, "Really, Your Majesty, we can have the largest farm in the entire Soviet Union. There should be no beggars in Moscow, much less anyone starving to death."
If they hadn't already entered the pharmacy, he probably would have continued giving street speeches.
Fortunately, Wang Xiao was quite patient and chimed in, "That's right, we need to invite veteran workers from the Northeast Farms as technical advisors. Farmers in East China have never farmed northern land before, so they need to learn. By the way, are there any experts from the Agricultural Research Institute? The kind who go directly to the fields to farm. If so, invite two of them as well; they understand the land here better."
The pharmacy clerk looked at them strangely.
Tang Yicheng guessed that if they continued chatting, the light-yellow-haired aunt would probably have to kindly remind them, "Sorry, the pharmacy doesn't sell pesticides."
Fortunately, Wang Xiao remembered his purpose and directly asked to bring out all the massagers.
The shop assistant smiled and enthusiastically brought her a bunch of massagers.
A regular massager, the kind that's actually a massager.
Wang Xiao had to remind her: "It's not these, it's those that can make us feel happy and treat hysteria."
However, the saleswoman looked bewildered and tried to sell a neck massager she was holding, even demonstrating it herself: "This can relax your neck and shoulders, it's very comfortable."
Wang Xiao was puzzled and turned to Ivanov, asking, "Are you sure you're not mistaken? Pharmacies don't sell those kinds of massagers."
Ivanov immediately raised his hand and swore: "I guarantee it, I saw it last time."
He looked around, trying to find something.
Those massage devices aren't anything shameful in Moscow's pharmacies.
The salesperson became increasingly puzzled and repeatedly assured them, "Our massage devices are all here."
Wang Xiao had to clear his throat and said in a serious tone, "I'm here in Moscow to conduct market research, to investigate the independence of women in Russia, especially in the Moscow region. For example, this type of massager can replace a men's massager."
The shop assistant's eyes widened, as if she couldn't believe her ears.
Wang Xiao blurted out, "Adult sex toys are very normal in the United States; on average, one in three households owns a sex toy. Do you understand what I mean?"
The older woman's gaze darted back and forth between her, Ivanov, and Tang Yicheng, seemingly full of suspicion.
Tang Yicheng was still confused and didn't know what was going on.
His Russian proficiency is so poor that he struggles to keep up when encountering unfamiliar words.
Ivanov quickly realized what was happening and instinctively tried to defend himself: "No, no, no, we are just friends, we have a pure friendship."
Even if he had ten times the courage, he wouldn't dare to provoke Wang Xiao.
Because this means that if he fails, he is very likely to be kicked out of the partnership.
That would result in a significant financial loss.
For a self-aware capitalist, this is a very serious matter.
oh--
The shop assistant looked enlightened, her gaze returning to Tang Yicheng before she shook her head slightly.
Ivanov understood her subtext: Oh, poor girl, you could have had better options.
Ivanov was secretly pleased.
It's obvious, even older women know who has more masculine charm.
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes and emphasized again, "I'm doing market research."
Fortunately, the sales clerk was used to hearing all sorts of reasons for buying, so they were able to accept all excuses with a smile: "Okay, which one do you want? We have travel massagers, the 'VP-1' electric massager, the Passionate Electric Massager..."
"I want them all," Wang Xiao said generously. "Bring them all out."
Anyway, it's not expensive. The "Enthusiast" electric massager comes with 4 accessories, has several vibration speeds, and costs only 20 rubles.
However, considering that a large carp only costs 1 ruble in state-run stores now, and the average person's monthly income is just over 200 rubles, this price is not low.
Wang Xiao ordered eight different vibrators and massagers in one go, and also bought various accessories called "High-Tech Care," "Kharkov Girl," "Elvo," and "Magician."
Later, the mysterious smile on the shop assistant's face disappeared, replaced by solemn respect.
She probably now truly believes that the young Eastern woman in front of her is buying these things not for her own use, nor for genuine market research.
Although the auntie didn't understand why there was anything to investigate.
Even with so many already, Wang Xiao was still not satisfied: "Isn't there anything else?"
The shop assistant couldn't help but feel ashamed. For the sake of national dignity, she had to earnestly emphasize: "Our lives as women are rich and colorful, and we don't need to rely on these things entirely."
Wang Xiao was both amused and exasperated: "I meant the men's version."
Putting everything else aside, there should be at least one masturbator. In terms of desire, women in this era are far more restrained than men. Society generally only considers women's needs after satisfying men's.
However, there really wasn't one.
All sex toys in pharmacies are for women.
Of course, Wang Xiao does not believe that this proves that Soviet women had a high social status; this situation is very likely based on social reality.
The Soviet Union spent decades building its military and stationing troops overseas.
It is obvious that very few military personnel stationed overseas are able to bring their families, leaving a large number of military dependents alone at home.
The female vibrators sold in pharmacies were probably imported from Poland under these circumstances.
Of course, judging from the product information, some of them were also produced by the Soviet Union itself.
The shop assistant emphasized again, "Our selection is the most complete. I guarantee that in Moscow, you won't find a shop with a more complete selection."
Ivanov also endorsed it, saying, "This is indeed one of the best pharmacies in Moscow."
Wang Xiao had no choice but to temporarily accept the spoils.
As they left the pharmacy, they encountered two other Asian men with black hair and black eyes.
Tang Yicheng was about to greet the person, but they gave them a strange look, which made him blush instantly. He quickly lowered his head and ran out.
Wang Xiao was truly exasperated with him. He hadn't managed to buy any men's products today, and they wouldn't let him try them anyway. What was he so upset about?
After raiding the pharmacy, they didn't rush back to the villa, but instead went to the city government again.
Nothing else, just wanted to ask if there are any shops still selling.
Ivanov solemnly emphasized, "I'm leaving the country in the next couple of days, and my return date is uncertain. If you want to sell, then sell it now. You won't be able to find me later."
The city government's young people were particularly happy, and they firmly believed that the president's reforms would be successful.
Selling a business can not only revitalize it, but also generate substantial foreign exchange for the country, which can then be used to address the severe foreign debt crisis.
From the perspective of simply obtaining foreign exchange, they should actually welcome foreign investors more.
However, perhaps because of the increasingly intense criticism of the new government's alleged betrayal of the country, the privatization process, which has just begun, still cannot be undertaken by foreign buyers alone.
The fact that joint ventures like Wuzhou Company can become buyers is already the biggest concession the government has made at present.
Therefore, Ivanov, who spends large sums of money, is now particularly popular.
A group of enthusiastic young men and women surrounded him, not only promoting his shops but also urging him to buy a factory.
The country's private sector program starts with small businesses and then expands to large corporations.
Ivanov refused to buy the small factory, citing that the enterprise was not large enough.
Although he was a Marxist, capitalist blood flowed in his veins. He was simply too lazy to resettle the workers.
Wang Xiao didn't try to persuade him.
They're taking over factories in Moscow now, with absolutely no idea what to do with them. They can't just leave them there waiting for demolition so they can make a quick buck in compensation.
Trying to do too much at once will only lead to failure; let's leave it for now.
By the time dusk fell, they had only finished shopping on the shopping street closest to Red Square.
On another street, the city government was still going through the procedures. They hadn't expected it to sell so quickly, so they weren't prepared.
The young director kept emphasizing that he would definitely get the paperwork done for them tomorrow.
Regarding his desire to buy land to start a farm, the privatization of rural land has not yet been formally implemented. However, he urged them to trust the government, stating that land privatization would proceed immediately.
Once there is any news, the municipal government will notify Wuzhou Company immediately.
Building a large farm like the one in the United States, with at least thousands of hectares of land, would be fantastic; it would certainly become a benchmark for rural land reform in Russia.
Ivanov was a little disappointed; he was now clearly more interested in the farm than the shop.
"Alright, I look forward to your good news. I need land, lots of land. I want to build the largest farm in Russia so that every Russian can afford bread."
This topic is a bit awkward, since the rationing of bread is a new policy of the new government.
The young director could only emphasize: "Yes, the school will have more and more large farms like the ones you want, and our economic reforms will be successful. We will definitely be able to overcome the difficulties."
He personally escorted the generous patron out of the city government building.
As Wang Xiao came downstairs, he heard cheers coming from the office: "We've raised a full 350,000 US dollars for the country! If we continue like this, we'll definitely be able to quickly solve the country's foreign debt problem!"
Their voices were so young, full of youthful energy and hope for the future.
Wang Xiao found it somewhat cruel.
The Soviet Union's foreign debt had now reached $96.9 billion. To think that selling state assets to private individuals would solve the debt problem was nothing short of wishful thinking.
The only thing this tactic can achieve is an oligopoly economy.
When it was completely dark, they returned to the villa.
The chef and the waitress were still arguing.
Wang Xiao admired their voices so much. How could they hold on? From yesterday to today, didn't they have a moment to rest?
Ivanov, the host, was already numb to it all. Even though the dinner served by the cook was extremely perfunctory, consisting of only a simple salad and pie, he looked at her affectionately and said, "My dear Aunt Tarama, I will never let you go hungry. We will never lack bread again."
The chef was so frightened that she forgot to argue with the waitress.
So the entire villa was exceptionally quiet during dinner, and the sound of the wind blowing through the birch forest outside the window was particularly clear.
Tang Yicheng was utterly impressed by Ivanov.
What a weapon of mass destruction! A single sentence restored world peace.
After finishing his meal, Wang Xiao took the opportunity to approach the chef and waitress and give them massagers as gifts.
There was only one small request: to talk to her about user experience.
The cook glared at her fiercely, turned around and left without taking the gift.
She found this decadent capitalist lifestyle utterly despicable.
If Wang Xiao weren't a foreigner, she would definitely have given her a good talking-to.
The waitress was initially a little flustered and even hesitant to accept the gift. But now, as if determined, she immediately and bravely took the massager and assured Wang Xiao, "I will definitely use it well."
Her eyes burned with a fierce fighting spirit, which made Wang Xiao unable to help but emphasize: "Relax and use it, don't be too tense, this is to make us feel comfortable."
It's just for fun, don't treat it like a battle.
As for herself, she naturally had to take the spoils back to her room and study them carefully.
How do you feel?
Well, for Wang Xiao, who has a wealth of user experience, it's just so-so, too rough, practically useless.
Middle-aged people and Eastern Europeans really aren't good at making small home appliances.
If it weren't for the need to personally investigate the market, she wouldn't have wanted to continue using it after a while.
Seriously, this is so boring, and my arms are so sore.
It's like watching a completely uninteresting adult film; by the end, you're already yawning.
Finally, when the experiment was over and she could go to sleep, she even understood what it was like for a woman to fake an orgasm in order to appease her husband (partner).
It's really not easy.
However, the next morning when she went to the restaurant for breakfast, the waitress blushed and secretly told her that she felt great.
Her eyes were wet, as if she was still savoring the memory.
Wang Xiao was confused as to whether people in this era had lower expectations, or whether this kind of "enthusiastic" electric massager just happened to be the most effective.
But when she bought them, she only bought one of each type of massager; she couldn't very well use someone else's.
So before they went to the city hall to buy another street, she went to the pharmacy again.
Tang Yicheng had become numb and indifferent.
He only understood what kind of research method the so-called "research on massage devices" was when he overheard Wang Xiao's conversation with the villa's staff this morning.
He doesn't even dare to look at Wang Xiao now.
Wang Xiao, however, didn't take it seriously at all.
But before she even entered the door, the two girls with black eyes and black hair from the East she had met at the door yesterday greeted her and said, "Madam, would you like to try our products? We guarantee they're much better than the Soviet goods."
Wang Xiao raised an eyebrow and asked curiously, "You... Japanese?"
Why do I make this guess?
Because there are quite a few Japanese people among the foreigners in Moscow.
In addition, Japanese people often speak foreign languages with a unique Japanese accent.
Of course, another important reason is Japan's developed sex industry.
What this young lady took out of her handbag was clearly a sex toy.
That's quite bold.
Wang Xiao had to admire the other person's courage. How could they dare to stop people on the street and let them test this?
If the other party gets angry and embarrassed, they might slap you.
Girl, will your face ever get better?
————————
Regarding the issue of Soviet foreign debt, at the time of the Soviet Union's collapse, the constituent republics initially reached an agreement on proportional sharing of the debt. Russia inherited 61.3% of the total Soviet foreign debt, with the remaining 38.7% to be shared by the other republics. To this end, they and the G7 signed the "Memorandum of Understanding on the Debts Owed by the USSR and its Successor States to Foreign Creditor States" regarding the succession of Soviet overseas assets and debts. The memorandum stipulated the principle of "consistent responsibility" among the republics in repaying Soviet foreign debt. Debt management was to be handled by the VEB (Vanguard Bank of the Soviet Union) or its successor. However, in 1992, only Russia continued to repay its foreign debt. Other countries, due to poor economic conditions or foreign exchange shortages, failed to fulfill their repayment obligations. This prevented Russia from obtaining new loans due to the "consistent responsibility" principle. Left with no other option, Russia decided to take over the VEB, offering to assume 100% of the Soviet Union's foreign debt and all of its overseas assets. After negotiations, in April 1993, the West officially recognized Russia as the sole successor state to the Soviet foreign debt. Thus, Russia was burdened with the heavy foreign debt of the Soviet era.
Well, of course, after the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia printed a large number of rubles, causing the ruble to depreciate severely, which also caused great distress to the constituent republics that were still using the ruble.
I didn't post anything extra today; I'm getting tired very easily right now. My mind is often foggy.
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