Chapter 144: Unfortunately, Ivanov was destined to have nowhere to escape. Wang Xiao, however, agreed to immediately leave...
Unfortunately, Ivanov was destined to have nowhere to escape.
Wang Xiao agreed to leave immediately and go home.
But as soon as they left the International Trade City building, Ovechkin made a new discovery.
There were several people, all of whom were intellectuals who could be easily identified at a glance.
They were also setting up stalls, but instead of selling nuts, dried fruit, or salted fish, or items like binoculars or military water bottles, they were selling stacks of brochures.
What information?
There are social science materials, such as declassified archives and Soviet socio-economic research materials, which are thick like books.
There are also technical fields, and the range of technologies covered is quite extensive.
To be fair, the collapse of any regime is essentially an economic collapse, not a sign that the entire country is worthless.
On the contrary, it is well known that the Soviet Union was a master of technology in many fields.
During the Soviet era, intellectuals and researchers earned a fairly decent income.
However, the phenomenon of brain-body inversion is now very serious in Russia, where a subway driver can earn two or three times the income of a university professor.
Therefore, in Russia, intellectuals accounted for more than half of those forced to become small business owners or vendors.
It's hard to believe, isn't it? Scholars who valued spiritual life and were indifferent to material enjoyment have been forced by life to lose their civility.
This isn't about prejudice against small vendors or self-employed individuals. It's just that they themselves are unwilling, deep down. Even if they make money, they're not happy to share their business experiences with others.
In this respect, Chinese businessmen are quite the opposite. They talk about every little detail of doing business with great interest, and can even make something out of a small matter seem incredibly risky.
But no matter how unwilling the Russian intellectuals were, they had to make a living by relying on the mountains and rivers for survival.
Wang Xiao saw Ovechkin's eyes widen as he stared intently at the words "Nuclear Physics Research" on the printed materials on the carpet. He had to clear his throat and emphasize, "In Russia, they sell these openly. You can find almost any research institute, and as long as you're willing to pay, there's practically no material you can't buy."
So why would they fly all the way to Jiangzhimen to sell them? You know, ever since Aeroflot raised its ticket prices, buying a plane ticket to go abroad has become a considerable expense for the average person.
Well, this was actually a misunderstanding.
Wang Xiao sponsored Ms. Shen to copy materials from the Moscow Social Sciences Research Institute, and then joined forces with the Russian Robotics Institute to develop sex dolls and household robots. She also inquired about the possibility of making a translation app. As a result, her name became well-known in the Russian scientific community.
It's true, according to industry insiders, this mysterious wealthy woman from the East (actually, she doesn't even know what's so mysterious about herself, she's always in the public eye) is interested in all sorts of technologies and social sciences.
Therefore, quite a few research institutes wanted to approach her to promote their technical materials.
The problem is that there are no internet search engines or anything like that right now, so the information people have about Wang Xiao is mostly based on hearsay and rumors. They, especially those who want to secretly collect the information and keep it all to themselves behind the research institute's back, have no idea where they can accurately find Wang Xiao himself.
So some people simply flew to Jiangzhimen, thinking that this was, after all, Wang Xiao's headquarters. Even if she herself wasn't there, at least her subordinates could entertain them.
But once he landed, another unexpected thing happened.
What does Jinning have to offer right now? One is the Zhimen International Trade City they are currently standing on, and the other is the businessmen from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, as well as foreign businessmen from Southeast Asia, Europe and the United States, with the Jinning Grand Hotel as their main base.
They also come to the commercial city to browse around when they have free time.
By talking with foreign middlemen and observing their wholesale transactions, one can judge the ever-changing situation in the Moscow market (which is in fact a microcosm of the entire CIS countries).
It is precisely because of this that the impression that foreign traders are different from those in the north of China has been further solidified.
After all, when it comes to doing business, Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan businessmen and foreign Chinese businessmen are definitely more market-oriented and formalized than domestic state-owned enterprises and township enterprises.
Of course, these are all digressions, so I won't go into them.
Let's get back to the main point.
The key point is that this guy, who came all alone to Jiangzhimen to sell information, was completely clueless after getting off the plane, staring blankly at the sea of people in the market like an idiot.
A sharp-eyed Hong Kong and Taiwanese businessman noticed the documents he was holding and overheard him saying to the saleswoman who had approached the Russian man: "These documents, why don't you just set up a stall? Hmm, put up a sign over there where they sell books and start selling them."
Curious, Hong Kong and Taiwanese businessmen followed the Russian to the book market.
Well, there were no iPads in the early 1990s, and Wuzhou Airlines focused on low cost and practicality, so they didn't play movies on the plane (not that they couldn't, but some passengers found it noisy).
Therefore, most passengers choose to bring a book or magazine on the plane to read during their journey.
Undoubtedly, boring journeys and lively street literature are the most popular.
Even the Russian editions of novels by Sheryl, a "Hong Kong female writer" who was very famous in China from the mid-to-late 1980s, were openly displayed and sold, and the sales were quite good.
Ahem, of course, this book is a pirated copy; it has no authorization from a publisher whatsoever.
It was a group of particularly bright Russian teachers at the steel mill's night school who saw the market potential for street literature. Frustrated by their own inability to write their own, they simply gathered a group of students to translate the currently most popular Shermillie story; then they had it printed at the factory's printing plant.
Furthermore, because the students taking orders had limited Russian proficiency and couldn't use complex vocabulary, this translation of the Shermilly series used extremely simple and direct language, mostly short sentences, and couldn't connect long sentences at all.
Unexpectedly, it suited the tastes of street literature enthusiasts, and it became a hit in the entire book market as soon as it was put on display.
When Wang Xiao heard about this, he felt completely flustered and disoriented.
It can only be said that once people are freed from the desire to make money, they are truly capable of doing anything.
The Russian had just borrowed a table and set up his stall when a Hong Kong or Taiwanese businessman (the sales assistant genuinely didn't know whether it was Hong Kong or Taiwan) approached him and bought the documents he had secretly brought over for 20,000 Chinese yuan.
Let alone the Russians, even the sales assistants who were helping to translate were confused.
After a long while, the girl finally remembered to ask him, "Do you want to take the goods to Moscow to sell? Otherwise, you won't be able to use the Chinese yuan even if you bring it back to Moscow."
This Russian guy isn't a middleman; he's never done business before. He originally thought he could sell it for US dollars.
Now, holding the Chinese yuan, he's become like an abacus bead, moving with every turn.
Seeing his attitude, the sales assistant was speechless. She then gave him some advice and picked out a bunch of popular items in Moscow to take on the plane.
According to this old man, he brought it back to his hometown and resold it, making almost three times his initial investment.
Seriously, Chinese goods are such a great deal.
A pair of American cotton-padded jackets, priced at $80, can be bought wholesale for only $18 at the trade city. Even if he takes it back and resells it for $55, there are still plenty of people scrambling to buy it.
So the second time he came, he didn't bring documents with him, but US dollars.
Wait a minute, doesn't Russia prohibit taking US dollars out of the country? How did he manage to get the money out?
Sigh, Russian customs mainly checks Chinese merchants; they only give their own people a cursory glance. The Russians can easily slip through the gates with a little effort.
In short, that's how he embarked on the path of a middleman.
With his successful experience as a precedent, younger generations can learn from him.
Over time, the book market in Zhimen has become the unique scene it is today.
On one stall, there were bikini-clad women, dark gun barrels and daggers, and blood-soaked covers of street literature; on the other stall, there were all sorts of rigorous, even tedious, academic materials.
Surprisingly, both stalls were doing quite well.
One side sells fewer blonde and red hair, but buys black hair; the other side sells black hair, but buys blonde and red hair.
The two rivers are clearly distinct.
Wang Xiao explained, "They sell the data here, and can then directly purchase the goods to take back to Russia to sell, which is quite convenient. That's why more and more people are coming here to do business."
This has even become a significant selling point for the Zhimen International Trade City. In this respect, Moscow, which inherited the vast majority of the Soviet Union's legacy, certainly has a unique advantage.
Ovechkin opened his mouth wide, and after a long pause, he muttered, "Don't they find it troublesome? Wouldn't it be more convenient to sell in Moscow?"
He didn't know there was a Chinese proverb that says "a son sells his father's land without feeling the pain," but his current mindset was similar.
Ivanov was already numb to it all, and he understood the mentality of both buyers and sellers: "They feel safer here than in Moscow."
Why?
Because there's no KGB in the straight door.
Seriously, even though the Soviet Union has collapsed and KGB have largely gone into business, their deterrent power remains. Furthermore, the official level is quite vigilant about the activities of foreigners in Russia.
In addition, the long-standing Cold War confrontation and the powerful deterrent effect of the Soviet Union have left these buyers who are extremely interested in Soviet technology in a state of having the desire but not the courage to do so.
They were hesitant to travel to Moscow to buy information, fearing they would be targeted by the secret police, arrested, and imprisoned, their fate unknown.
But it's different if Zhimen is used as a base.
Both parties can openly bargain, with buyers and sellers coming together to compare prices and avoid being taken advantage of.
What they're seeing on the surface is actually child's play; there are people who bring rare metals onto airplanes and then resell them.
These things are incredibly expensive. For example, a kilogram of lithium can sell for 10 million US dollars. Yes, that's right, tens of millions.
Ovechkin stared in disbelief, and after a long pause, he finally managed to utter, "My God! My God!"
Ivanov dismissed it: "What's so strange about that? Aren't there plenty of materials exported at less than one-two-thousandth of the price after passing through our government officials?"
Although it was extremely painful, he had to admit that Russia was in a state of typical anarchy.
None of the businesses dared to rely on the government; they could only try to save themselves. At least the goods they sold generated money, and the employees received a share.
As for when the foreign exchange for goods exported by the government will be transferred to their accounts, only heaven knows.
This month, the Russian car factory that cooperates with Huaxia Commercial Street is still arguing with the relevant authorities every day over the issue of payment for cars exported to Europe.
Ovechkin couldn't help but feel nervous again: "What if they come after us?"
They were referring to KGB, which, to him now, meant the Mafia.
Seriously, he's especially afraid that when KGB is on a business trip, he might casually shoot him and make some extra money.
“Hey, those that can be sold all have connections.” Ivanov knew more about this business than his friend. “What’s the big deal? Which fleet doesn’t sell submarines? It’s just a matter of whether or not they’ve been singled out as examples. Let’s go, there’s nothing to see here.”
All he wanted to do now was leave the commercial city as soon as possible and soothe his fragile heart.
Ovechkin turned his head and looked at Wang Xiao suspiciously: "Miss Wang, why are you selling this to others? Don't you want this information? I mean, your China."
"We're broke," Wang Xiaojun said frankly. "Research institutions in China are just as poor, constantly looking for money. Those who build atomic bombs are not as well off as those who sell tea eggs, and those who wield scalpels are not as well off as those who wield razors. It's the norm."
Before transmigrating into the book, Wang Xiao often saw comments online saying that people didn't pay attention to it back then. Otherwise, by taking advantage of the collapse of the Soviet Union and seizing its technological achievements, China's scientific research, especially its military industry, could have overtaken others by 20 years.
But now that she's truly living in this era, she knows it's not that she doesn't want to, but that she simply can't.
China has developed so fast that people have forgotten that the country's people will only be able to eat their fill and have meat on their tables for at most twenty years.
Now, in early 1993, she could seriously say that whether even half of the people in the country could afford to eat refined grains like rice and wheat flour was still a big question mark.
Although Jinning is a second-tier city, it is already considered a well-developed economic region in the country, so it doesn't feel particularly impressive.
Some migrant workers from the central and western regions who come to Jinning to work even regard rice as a nutritional supplement. They only use coarse grains such as corn to exchange for rice in towns and villages when a family member is sick, and then cook porridge for the sick person.
You're asking China to spend its already limited foreign exchange reserves to buy research materials from Russia; Russia needs to be able to afford it.
Furthermore, with the United States acting as the Pacific's policeman, would it allow China to openly and legitimately purchase materials left over from the Soviet Union?
To put it simply, where do the most active buyers in Zhimen right now come from? Taiwan.
From the dramatic changes in Eastern Europe in the 1980s to the current CIS countries, besides the United States, Taiwan is the country most willing to invest in them and purchase relevant information.
They all need to understand the core technologies of Soviet weapons before they can figure out how to crack them.
Since then, from the 1990s into the 21st century, several international wars have demonstrated just how successful the United States has been in cracking the code.
It is precisely this success that has allowed American weapons to easily gain the upper hand over Russian weapons in the international arms market. If the latter weren't cheap enough, they simply couldn't compete with the former.
As for Taiwan, Wang Xiao can calmly use the coldest of thoughts to speculate about the Russian Federation government.
Russia is more willing to sell data to Taiwan than to mainland China.
This is not only because Taiwan's economy is doing well now, as one of the Four Asian Tigers, it is very wealthy and willing to spend money on military equipment.
More importantly, who are Russia's neighbors? China.
How can I allow others to spy on me from the side of my bed?
Russia, in particular, is now weakened, like a wounded bear. It is more sensitive and more fearful than ever of the rise of its neighbors.
A powerful neighbor would make it feel like it's being threatened.
The enemy of my enemy is my friend.
The strengthening of Taiwan's military power is a welcome development for the current Russian Federation government. It can effectively contain the mainland, preventing the mainland from making further military deployments in the north.
Similarly, at the level of Ukraine, it does not need a strong Russia.
The two sides have a long history of conflict, sometimes even emphasizing their deep-seated hatred; currently, they are also engaged in heated debate over the Crimean issue.
Therefore, since the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ukraine has actually had considerable exchanges with China in terms of military technology.
Now let's look at Taiwan.
The Taiwan Strait crisis in the 1990s, although online accounts say that there were traitors among the top ranks of the mainland military, which led to the mainland's disadvantage.
But now, looking at so many document dealers, Wang Xiao was thinking of another possibility: that in the 1990s, China's weapons and equipment mainly followed the old path of imitating the Soviet Union.
If the core technology is cracked, the outcome of a real war would be truly unpredictable.
The so-called three great shames of the 1990s occurred because of their own historical context and logic.
The trading stalls for buying and selling materials were set up at Jiangzhimen, and the International Trade City treated everyone equally.
Whether you sell street literature or study materials, as long as you pay a five-yuan management fee every day, you can sell however you like.
As for whether relevant institutions in China can profit from this situation?
Sigh, this is not something Wang Xiao can concern himself with.
The food is just sitting there; whether you can serve it and cook a dish depends on your own skill.
Outsiders really can't get involved.
Seeing Ovechkin's eyes glued to the documents, Ivanov thought he was ignorant.
"Alright, those Eastern European countries have been selling like this for a long time. What's the big deal?"
Mr. Fang, Wang's Taiwanese businessman friend, was mainly engaged in brokerage in Hungary, besides selling computers, acting as a middleman to facilitate the purchase of relevant scientific research materials from Eastern European countries.
There are quite a few people who do this kind of work.
Ovechkin was still not giving up. He looked at Wang Xiao and asked, "You Chinese really don't buy these materials?"
Ha, he just doesn't believe the Chinese can endure it.
Although he was not a scientific researcher, and although he suffered terribly every day during his school years.
But he knew those people, those people's thirst for knowledge was more exciting than a thirsty person seeing bread.
Wang Xiao shrugged and shook his head, saying, "I don't know."
Jinning isn't the cultural center of China, so she has no idea whether it can attract industry professionals to visit.
She turned to Chen Yu and asked, "Really?"
Chen Yu looked on with disbelief and spoke through gritted teeth, "Yes, quite a few people are buying them."
but--
Do you know what these people are going to do with the materials they buy?
They localized it into Chinese and then published it as their own research findings.
Starting in the 1980s, China resumed the evaluation of professional titles.
One of the important criteria for being eligible for a professional title is how many papers you have published and in which academic journals they were published.
Currently, without search engines, it's inconvenient for people to copy and paste information when writing papers, so the available reference materials are extremely limited.
What if you don't have any research findings that can be turned into papers?
We should try to find outside help.
Honestly, anyone living in this era understands that there's really no need to view it through any lens.
Plagiarism has existed in every era. It's just that information flow is less efficient and relatively closed off now, making it less easy to detect.
All you clever people who are focused on getting promoted, after unexpectedly discovering the treasure trove that is the Zhimen Book Market, immediately put your shrewd and pragmatic little brains to work and embark on your journey to becoming translation masters.
Chen Yu didn't know about this at first.
A Russian researcher fluent in Chinese was browsing through Chinese literature when he was puzzled to find that something looked so familiar, as if it were the results of a project from his institution.
When people came to do business, they asked about the college students at the university where the translation master worked, and that's when everyone discovered the secret.
Then the professor, who was exposed, was filled with shame, and the others took it as a warning.
What kind of pipe dream are you having?
On the contrary.
The group suddenly realized that there was such a stairway to heaven.
Honestly, in the past, when people consulted foreign literature, the information mainly came from Europe, America, and Japan; very few people would actually look at Soviet literature.
This is a treasure trove yet to be discovered.
For a time, people from all over the country flocked to Jiangzhimen to buy materials.
Some people couldn't afford to buy, so they simply rented the books to read. It cost 10 yuan per hour, and they brought their own small stools to take notes.
Hey, that's the one sitting over there.
The person accompanying him was a student from the night school's Russian language class, who acted as a translator.
Seriously, learning Russian in Jinning is in high demand right now; you can easily earn over a thousand a month.
Even Russian dictionaries in bookstores outsell English dictionaries.
That's not all. There are even more shameless people who actually approached the trade city and asked them to set up a library so they could buy all the Russian materials and store them there for their convenience.
Their reasoning was that since you're so rich, you should take from the people and use it for the people.
Haha, it makes the word "people" sound cheap, like anyone can easily be called "people".
Chen Yu hadn't gotten into university before, so she always viewed intellectuals like university professors with a heavy sense of prejudice.
Now she understands that no industry is a gold standard, and every industry has its share of worthless and rubbish products.
Honestly, it was so embarrassing. She wouldn't have wanted to bring it up at all if her boss hadn't asked her.
Wang Xiao was also completely speechless.
She never imagined that the big brothers and sisters in China would use the Soviet Union's scientific and academic heritage in this way.
She could only force a smile and say, her face ashen, "Just consider it as them popularizing science and technology."
Damn it!
Ivanov, however, finally felt good and let out a joyful "goose-goose-goose" laugh.
Ovechkin was even happier, laughing so hard he was bent over backwards, almost unable to breathe.
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes and strode forward: "Are you coming or not? Fine, you two don't need to leave either. Just stay here. Chen Yu, arrange rooms for them at the resort, normal price, no big discounts."
Ivanov immediately shut up, his face turning red from trying to suppress his laughter.
Ovechkin almost jumped up.
He doesn't want it.
He was surrounded by Russians like himself, and who knew if there were secret police among them. He needed to go somewhere safer, somewhere that was clearly not a place for the KGB.
Wang Xiao chuckled: "What place are you talking about? You need to give us a specific standard. How are we supposed to know if someone is a KGB?"
Ovechkin blinked several times before giving a resolute answer: "A place where all the Chinese, black-haired, black-eyed Chinese, live. A place where KGB has nowhere to hide."
Wang Xiao looked at him in confusion: "How do you know that an Asian face definitely doesn't mean they're not KGB? Don't forget, back then, quite a few Chinese people defected to the Soviet Union. Their descendants also have Chinese features. But I heard that some of them were absorbed into the KGB."
Ovechkin turned pale with fright and looked at the group of bodyguards in terror.
Sergei cleared his throat and mumbled, "KGB will develop staff all over the world."
Of course it's an intelligence agency. How can it gain in-depth intelligence if it doesn't develop targets?
Ovechkin almost burst into tears.
This is unbearable for him; he's so miserable. He's an honest (or perhaps unethical) businessman, and yet he's been threatened to this extent by the Mafia.
"Ivanov." He clung tightly to Ivanov's arm, refusing to let go. "My dear Ivanov, you must never abandon me."
The Russians around them stared at the two men with horrified expressions. It's important to know that in Russia, homosexuality is considered anomaly.
Ivanov was furious and tried desperately to push the disgusting guy away.
But how could Ovechkin possibly give up on this last straw?
Wang Xiao watched the two old men arguing and pulling at each other with a clear mind, and whistled triumphantly towards the sky.
Heh, make her unhappy?
She wanted to see who would be unhappy in the end.
(￣^￣) Hmph!
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^O^ While researching, A-Jin discovered that many people in the 1990s copied academic papers, some even to the point of outright plagiarism.
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