Chapter 78 Grand Opening Special (Bug Fix): We also want to buy the restaurant.
Wang Xiao and Ivanov went to great lengths to run the store well.
First, there's the issue of business model. Initially, in order to improve efficiency and customer experience, they planned to operate a self-service store.
Supermarkets were not a rarity in the Soviet Union.
As early as 1970, when the first self-service store opened in Leningrad, the Soviet Union began large-scale construction of self-service stores.
However, in these self-service stores, customers don't go directly to the checkout with their items. Instead, they select their goods, write down the prices on a piece of paper, take the paper to the checkout, and then pick up their goods.
It's somewhat similar to the business model of an international trade city.
But as soon as the thought crossed their minds, Wang Xiao and Ivanov both shouted in unison, "No!"
Why?
Because they dare not.
Do you know how far the business has progressed in the market now?
Whether setting up stalls in free markets or doing business at train stations, the resellers always acted as models, trying on clothes for the Russians to see.
If the Russians wanted to touch the fabric, they could only do so by touching a person directly.
If you like it, then you can exchange money for goods at the same time.
Sellers will never let them try them on, because nine times out of ten they will just wear them and run away.
If you dare to chase after them, you're doomed; the remaining goods on the stall will be packed up and taken away by someone else.
If they're this fierce in individual combat, then if supermarkets were open, well, Wang Xiao felt he'd definitely be able to experience zero-yuan shopping firsthand.
Forget it, I shouldn't test other people's integrity so casually.
After all, people only know honor and shame when they are well-fed and clothed, and they only know etiquette when their granaries are full.
When people experience a strong existential crisis, it is difficult for them to maintain their original moral standards.
Rather than making things ugly for everyone later, it's better to stick to the traditional store business model.
The second issue is with the sales staff.
Because it was a joint venture store, and they were making money on someone else's turf, they decided that the Russian and Chinese employees would each have half.
In Moscow, it's easier to talk to people. Being a shop assistant was already considered a respectable job here, and with the current shortage of supplies, people are even more willing to work as shop assistants.
They initially planned to recruit 500 salespeople in Moscow, but nearly 30,000 people showed up instead.
It's worth noting that when the first McDonald's opened in Moscow last year, it only received 27,000 applications for 630 jobs.
In just over a year, things have turned out like this. Not only in Moscow itself, but people from other cities in the Moscow region have also come to apply after hearing the news.
Among them are graduates from prestigious universities, and those with exceptionally high academic achievements.
This left Ivanov, who was actually a poor student, completely bewildered. When he called Wang Xiao, he was even a little lost: "How am I supposed to choose people?"
All his men combined don't even number that many.
Without hesitation, Wang Xiao gave the standard answer: "Under the same conditions, choose the good-looking or handsome one."
This way, they'll have ready-made models to use, and they won't have to search the world for people to shoot posters.
Then Ivanov followed this principle and selected eight hundred people in one go.
Wang Xiao had no objection to this. The extra manpower was a good opportunity to train, and when they bought other stores later, they wouldn't have to worry about not having anyone to help with the work.
As for Jiangdong, Wang Xiao was initially worried that there wouldn't be enough manpower to go there.
After all, for today's young people, the United States, Japan, and Western Europe are the places they aspire to go; international students are unwilling to go to the Soviet Union.
Her initial idea was to increase the goodwill of the children of employees of large factories towards Moscow by taking them to sanatoriums for vacation.
However, because the time frame is too short, so far, not even one-fifth of the steel plant's employees have had a turn, and she feels the results won't be very good.
As a result, the job posting in the night school's bulletin board window was met with an overwhelming influx of applicants.
In addition to students who were already studying Russian at the night school in Dachang, students from other night schools in the provincial capital, and even students majoring in Russian at universities and vocational schools, came to enroll.
Wang Xiao also found it strange, not understanding why everyone was so obsessed.
Dr. Chen thought his daughter seemed quite smart usually, so why did she keep asking silly questions at crucial moments?
It's said that nowadays, in any border city that has opened up, whether it's Heihe or Erenhot, the entire population is engaged in foreign trade.
Even the children no longer run around aimlessly after school; instead, they all go to the market to wander around and try to make a little money.
Although their provincial capital is large and populous, so it hasn't reached that level yet, the actual situation is not far off.
At least half of the city's light industrial factories now supply goods to the Jiangzhimen International Trade City. To exaggerate a bit, it could even be said that foreign trade orders support half of the city's light industry.
Right now, the area around Zhimen is packed with people, and its liveliness is in no way inferior to that of the city center.
At this point, which ordinary person in the provincial capital doesn't know that doing business with the Russians is profitable? What's so strange about young people in this city wanting to work in Moscow?
However, the Russian teacher at the night school had the opposite view from Dr. Chen. She believed that even if it weren't Moscow, many people would sign up to work in any other foreign city.
More than two years have passed since the requirements for studying abroad in Qatar were first introduced in 1989.
Young people's desire for freedom is growing rapidly, coupled with the current trend of going abroad to seek their fortune, especially in big cities.
They would rush out at any opportunity to go out.
Regardless of the reason, a large number of applicants will help to select more talented individuals.
Wang Xiao handed the task over to Xiang Dong. After selecting the candidates, they spent a week interning at the International Trade City. Then, with their passports ready, they boarded a plane together and went to Moscow.
Once they arrived, they would undergo a week of intensive training to familiarize themselves with the environment of the Moscow store.
Wang Xiao left a little later than them, setting off on the winter solstice.
When she arrived at Jiangzhimen, she happened to run into people from the Industry and Commerce Bureau inspecting counterfeit goods.
They didn't come to the commercial city to investigate, but rather to two nearby villages.
Wasn't it Wang Xiao who cleared out the street stalls outside the commercial city before?
But the vendors didn't actually leave; they adopted a guerrilla strategy, encircling the cities from the countryside and penetrating deep into the villages. Some rented houses from villagers to open small wholesale shops, while others simply set up stalls in the villages to continue doing business.
The village wasn't part of the commercial center's territory, so the commercial center had no right to interfere. Besides, they weren't using the commercial center's name, so Wang Xiao let them go.
As for the issue of selling counterfeit and shoddy products, well, aren't the Industry and Commerce Administration and the local police station in charge now? (Actually, she didn't understand why the latter was also in charge of this.) Having tasted the sweetness of the fine last time, she believed that the relevant regulatory departments would keep a close eye on it.
Even so, some people are still stubborn and insist on committing crimes against the wind.
When Wang Xiao and his group were about to board the plane, they saw someone walking right into their trap.
The arrested vendor kept muttering, "I got my goods from a legitimate factory. How was I supposed to know that his shoes would fall apart after only a week?"
The officials from the Industry and Commerce Bureau were blunt: "Which factory is it? Tell me, and I'll confiscate the fine as well."
A chubby Russian man next to him emphasized to his companion, "See? They're very strict here. Whether it's goods in a shopping mall or in the market, if the goods aren't good, you can find someone to take care of it. But although things in shopping malls are more expensive, they'll even compensate you if you buy counterfeit goods."
Tang Yicheng watched the uniformed men walk away in a grand procession and instinctively chuckled: "Hey, this is practically free advertising for us."
This is probably one of the characteristics of sole proprietors: they hate being managed by others, but they hope that their trading partners will be strictly regulated.
He led the team to Moscow to bring the car back.
Now, whether it's Jinning, the provincial capital east of the Yangtze River, or Xiaozhou, the provincial capital north of the Yangtze River, both are becoming increasingly bustling, and there are far too few taxis.
Previously, Wang Xiao had asked Ivanov to find a Lada sedan to be transported back to China for use as a taxi. Now that the car issue is being resolved, it's natural to hurry up and get it back.
As the year draws to a close, there are more and more people using cars on the streets.
This car purchase was quite interesting; it wasn't Wuzhou Company that directly paid for it, but rather it went through a roundabout process, passing through several middlemen.
Why make it so complicated?
Like most countries today, the Soviet Union currently restricts people from taking US dollars out of the country.
Regardless of whether one was a Soviet citizen or not, the amount of US dollars one could take out of the country was extremely limited; any excess would be confiscated at customs.
Some middlemen are wealthy and use international money transfer routes. Because they frequently travel between China and other countries, even if they receive the money in China a week later, it doesn't affect their business much.
But many others lack this ambition, or even have enough US dollars, only rubles. So, if they want to do business in China, they have to take a roundabout approach.
Bartering is a relatively common method.
The problem is that they can't guarantee that what they bring to China will sell; if it becomes unsellable, they'll suffer huge losses.
So what should we do?
Try asking a transportation company for help.
The Wuzhou Company collected their rubles, issued them receipts, and then they could use the receipts to exchange for goods of corresponding value at the International Trade City, which they could then transport back to Moscow to resell.
What to do with these rubles? They'll be used to buy equipment needed for the company's development.
For example, this time, the 300 Lada cars were acquired in exchange for 2 million imitation leather jackets.
Resellers welcome this form of trade; it saves everyone a lot of trouble.
Tang Yicheng said with great interest, "With these three hundred cars, we'll be able to hail a taxi even if we don't have one when we go out."
Wang Xiao scoffed: "This place is far from enough. The provincial capital alone can accommodate 30,000 vehicles."
The problem is that the military here has too few veterans who can drive; there simply aren't enough, so they can only field three hundred drivers.
The next batch of drivers won't be able to leave the mountain until at least the first month of the lunar calendar; otherwise, she'll need at least three thousand cars this time.
Tang Yicheng stared wide-eyed in disbelief.
Do we really need that many? Thirty thousand cars.
Taxis are so expensive that ordinary people simply can't afford to take one.
Wang Xiao found it somewhat amusing, but didn't think Tang Yicheng was ignorant.
Just as it was difficult for people in China in 1991 to imagine what the country would look like 30 years from now, it is also difficult for people 30 years from now to imagine how backward urban development is now, and how small the urban area of a provincial capital is.
In the future, large tracts of farmland around the city will be transformed into high-rise buildings, and the urbanization process will advance by leaps and bounds. Shops and office buildings will spring up like mushrooms after rain.
There are just too many people who can afford a taxi and need one.
Wang Xiao has already been thinking about starting a driving school to train drivers.
However, she was still unsure about the procedures for setting up a driving school and needed to ask around.
The plane arrived in Moscow in the afternoon.
As soon as we got off the plane, we felt the power of the Moscow winter.
Seriously, a month ago Wang Xiao thought it couldn't get any colder, but it turns out she was incredibly naive. It just keeps getting colder here.
But the cold weather did not dampen people's enthusiasm for traveling. The airport was packed with people, and it was bustling with activity. People were coming and going, carrying large and small bags.
Ivanov was already waiting at the airport, looking radiant and full of energy.
He pointed proudly to the Christmas decorations on the street and emphasized, "We sourced them all."
Last month, when they went to Budapest, at a dinner in a Hong Kong restaurant, the Chinese businessman was worried about when his paper lanterns and paper garlands, which were tossed about at sea, would arrive. Wang Xiao directly asked who the manufacturer was, and then turned around and bought some without hesitation.
They have the advantage of air transport, and even though the order was placed in November, 100,000 paper lanterns and paper garlands have already arrived in Moscow smoothly.
Tang Yicheng was quite surprised: "They've already been sold wholesale so quickly? Isn't Christmas on January 7th for the Orthodox Church?"
According to Chinese businesspeople in Budapest, families and shops only begin Christmas decorations ten days before Christmas.
It seems a bit early now.
Ivanov waved his hand dismissively: "We'll still celebrate Christmas Eve as usual."
Anyway, Moscow is a mess right now, so it doesn't really matter.
They chose to open their store on Christmas Eve, the day after tomorrow, just like before.
As the group walked out of the airport and prepared to get into their car in the parking lot, a large group of seven or eight people arrived in front of them.
Because of racial differences, to this day, apart from people she knows very well, all other Russians look pretty much the same to Wang Xiao. If they change their vests or hairstyles, she won't recognize them.
So when the person opposite her shook hands and exchanged pleasantries, she didn't even realize who it was.
It wasn't until the other party went on and on, expressing their welcome to the Chinese friends on behalf of the Moscow city government and people, that she suddenly realized they were officials from the Moscow city government.
Previously, when she and Ivanov went to buy shops on the commercial street next to Red Square, it was he who received them.
For a moment, Wang Xiao felt quite embarrassed.
How could this happen? Ivanov didn't mention it beforehand.
Ivanov was even more bewildered; he swore he had not notified the Moscow city government of this matter at all.
Why would he need to do something extra when he came to the airport to pick up his business partner?
With a "snap," everyone instinctively turned their heads to look.
A veteran was taking pictures with a camera in his hand. He used to work in propaganda in the army and knew how to take pictures.
Seeing everyone staring at him, he looked a little bewildered: "Taking pictures? Doesn't this need to be promoted?"
He just heard from Tang's translation that the person who came was a high-ranking official from the Moscow municipal government.
The city leaders came to meet us personally, so the significance must be extraordinary. We must develop the photos and put them on the wall so everyone can see that they are no ordinary organization.
Wang Xiao was delighted. Yes, it was time to promote it.
She must have just gotten off the plane and her brain was frozen stiff; she wasn't even as quick-witted as a veteran.
She immediately adjusted her mindset and repeatedly expressed her gratitude to the leaders of the Moscow city government for personally picking her up at the airport.
The young, already balding office manager smiled broadly and said enthusiastically, "We have a large number of volunteers who can help move supplies."
Wang Xiao was confused again. What supplies were they moving?
Ivanov quickly replied, "No need, no need, we've already made arrangements. There will be a dedicated convoy to transport the cargo after the plane arrives; we don't need to do any unloading."
He immediately took his leave, saying, "I'm so sorry, Miss Wang has been on a plane for half a day and is very tired. We need to go back and rest first. Mr. Sobyanin, we hope you will attend the opening ceremony of our commercial street on the 24th."
Then, without giving the other party any time to react, Tang Yicheng and two Russian bodyguards had already escorted Wang Xiao into the car.
The rest of the people, led by Ivan, went to take the subway.
After all, a group of more than 300 people is too large, and a long convoy is too conspicuous.
Since none of them had ever ridden the subway before and were full of curiosity about it, they decided to give it a try.
As Wang Xiao got into the car, he quickly bowed to the officials of the Moscow city government as a farewell and said goodbye.
She watched from the car as Ivanov exchanged a few more pleasantries with the other person before rushing back.
As soon as he got in the car, he told the driver, "Drive! Drive!"
Then came a torrent of complaints: "They can't raise enough supplies for Christmas, so they're targeting us and want to open early today. How is that possible? We have so much work in progress; how can we just open so casually?"
His previous excuse to the municipal government was that the current security situation was so bad that the containers transported by train had been looted, and they had to temporarily re-transport supplies by air.
Then they cursed the Soviet Union's terrible social order, the collapse of social order, and rampant banditry; they also looked forward to Russia's bright future, and he thought that was the end of it.
I never expected them to pull this stunt.
Tang Yicheng wanted to touch his nose. Last time when they were in Moscow, Ivanov claimed to be a Marxist, but now he's cursing the Soviet Union. Doesn't this guy realize that his thinking is confused?
As expected, those who can become big bosses are no ordinary people.
Suddenly, a thought struck him: "Hey, this director is even helping us move supplies. It's just like the Soviet Communist Party back in May."
Wang Xiao and Ivanov also remembered.
At that time, the Chinese government provided aid supplies to the Soviet government, and the Second Secretary of the Moscow City Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union personally led party cadres to the train station to unload the goods.
Now, only half a year has passed, but everything has changed.
Ivanov sighed heavily and began cursing viciously again: "Serves you right!"
Neither Wang Xiao nor Tang Yicheng uttered another word.
The former was because they knew that the ultimate fate of the Soviet Union was disintegration.
The latter saw in the newspaper that the leaders of Russia, Belarus, and Ukraine jointly signed the "Agreement on the Commonwealth of Independent States" on December 8, formally announcing the formation of the "Commonwealth of Independent States".
These were the three leaders of the Soviet Union. Their declaration that they were no longer playing with the Soviet Union and their declaration of independence from the Baltic states was on a completely different level.
As the car drove past Red Square, people could see through the windows that the two shopping streets were now packed with people.
A large red banner fluttered in the Moscow blue sky, facing Red Square, and read: Grand Opening Special - 10% off for the first three days.
Under the banner, many people lingered at the shop entrance, as if the longer they waited, the opening date would change from the 24th to the 22nd.
As originally planned, one of Wang Xiao's reasons for arriving early was to check on the store's preparations.
Seeing the situation before her, she didn't even need Ivanov to persuade her; she simply chose to give up and get off the train.
They were all afraid of the crowd becoming agitated, so the store was forced to open early, which resulted in a stampede because the preparations were not done well.
Store employees wearing the same custom-made down jackets were weaving through the crowd, handing out store brochures.
No one disgustedly threw the brochures into the trash. Instead, they all carefully accepted them, and some even huddled together, shielding each other from the wind, and started flipping through them on the street despite the freezing weather.
Wang Xiao looked around to observe the situation outside the car window, and then made a direct request: "Is this all the people? Not enough! We need to distribute brochures in Red Square as well."
Tang Yicheng asked in surprise, "Aren't you afraid that too many people will cause trouble?"
Wang Xiao dismissed it: "This is nothing. When McDonald's opened in Pushkin Square, there were 30,000 people queuing on the first day. On our two streets, if there aren't 300,000 people queuing, it's considered deserted. Don't forget, Moscow is a big city with more than 14 million people."
She wasn't worried at all that the people queuing up would freeze in such cold weather.
McDonald's opened in January of last year, and Moscow is just as cold as it is, enough to freeze a cow to death.
Muscovites are experienced and accepting of queuing.
Ivanov nodded vigorously: "That's right, that's right. When I went there on the day McDonald's opened, the streets were full of people, and there were police officers maintaining order."
As he finished speaking, he added with a hint of melancholy, "Forget it, with the police like this, they can barely maintain daily order. Besides, I've already placed ads in the newspaper for half a month, so there's no shortage of people."
Wang Xiao wasn't as easily satisfied as him, and insisted on her own attitude: "We still have to send it out. Advertisements need to be run repeatedly to make a deep impression on everyone and generate a desire to buy. Don't forget, everyone has been stockpiling supplies for a long time, and they may be tired and unwilling to buy anymore."
Tang Yicheng worriedly said, "What if there are too many people? Let's prioritize safety."
To be honest, he was particularly worried that someone would fall while waiting in line.
Moscow winters are so cold that he's even afraid people who fall will freeze to the ground and never get up again.
“Aren’t there volunteers?” Wang Xiao fully demonstrated the shamelessness of a capitalist. “Since the Moscow city government has volunteers who can help us move supplies, they can also help maintain order.”
Call, my dear Comrade Ivanov, we must make the new city government fully feel our affection for this city, and our wholehearted desire to meet the needs of the Moscow market.
No, let's turn around and go to the city government in person to request their support and assistance. This matter is of great significance, and we should make it a bigger undertaking.
Like a frightened bird, Ivanov instinctively refused: "The city government would love for us to open right now."
If it weren't for his mastery of Tai Chi, he really wouldn't be able to say for sure when the store would open.
"It's alright," Wang Xiao said confidently. "We can give them even more."
What is it? It's, of course, real money to support the new government's privatization process.
It's really disheartening for the current Russian government.
Despite their positive attitude and various forms of advocacy, it's unclear whether it's because the Soviet Union still exists, causing lingering doubts, or for some other reason.
Even though the Russian parliament passed the "Basic Principles of Enterprise Non-nationalization and Privatization" and the "Law on Privatization of State and Municipal Enterprises in the Russian Federation" on July 1st and 3rd of this year, respectively, it did not trigger the privatization reform boom that they had envisioned.
To date, not to mention Moscow, there are only a little over a hundred privatized shops throughout Russia, a few dozen restaurants, and a couple of dozen service businesses.
In summary, this is all the progress made in privatization over the past few months.
After Wang Xiao and Ivanov expressed their desire to buy several suitable restaurants, the previously somewhat displeased Director Sobyanin immediately put on a sincere smile and showed them the restaurant information.
Wang Xiao was quite nonchalant, marking up the documents directly and indicating his willingness to conduct an on-site investigation right now.
Without saying a word, Director Sobyanin immediately led the way, assuring them that if they liked something today, all the formalities would be completed.
Wang Xiao subconsciously glanced at the other staff members in the office. This kind of behavior of leaders arranging overtime for others is really hateful.
However, to her surprise, none of the young people showed any impatience.
On the contrary, they were all excited and assured each other that they would not delay the affairs of Wuzhou Company.
After getting in the car, Ivanov asked her curiously, "Why are you buying so many restaurants? You might as well buy shops instead."
Look what a great partner he is.
Although he had no idea what the other party was thinking, he absolutely supported all of his partner's decisions.
It's only a few tens of thousands of US dollars at most; consider it as buying Christmas presents for fun.
“We sell Chinese fast food.” Wang Xiao pointed in the direction of the free market. “More and more Chinese people will come to Moscow to do business, and they will need a place to eat.”
Ivanov was shocked. Running a restaurant could earn more money. Besides, this was Moscow, a city where even milk and bread were rationed; running a restaurant was incredibly difficult.
Putting everything else aside, McDonald's was incredibly popular when it opened, with 30,000 people lining up. Now, look at it again, and you won't find that kind of glory anymore.
Because of the sharp devaluation of the ruble, McDonald's Big Mac has increased in price from 3.7 rubles when it opened to 9.45 rubles. Currently in Moscow, apart from foreigners and the wealthy, ordinary people simply cannot afford it.
At the same time, the supply of materials was also a major problem. The various republics were all seeking independence and refusing to hand over the materials originally planned for supplying the central government.
Kazakhstan is stockpiling its own vegetables, Georgia is refusing to hand over its tomatoes, and Ukraine is unwilling to continue supplying potatoes to Moscow.
Nowadays, many families in suburban villas have abandoned roses and switched to growing tomatoes and potatoes so they can make their own tomato sauce fries. He had tried their homemade fries when he went to a friend's house for dinner.
Running a restaurant under these conditions is practically suicidal; it's incredibly inefficient.
After all, if the restaurant business were so good, the government wouldn't be in such a hurry to privatize them.
Shops are different. Shops don't do well because of insufficient supplies. They have connections to ensure supplies, so they don't have to worry about business.
However, it's impractical to airlift vegetables, meat, and grains to a restaurant every day, as that would result in excessively high operating costs.
Wang Xiao laughed and said, "This is your development direction. You're running a farm, right? Besides wheat and potatoes, vegetable farming can also be put on the agenda. Raising poultry and livestock are also viable projects. Don't believe me? Ask him—"
She pointed at Tang Yicheng and said, "Growing vegetables is much more profitable than growing grains, and it can enrich the Russian people's dining table and help everyone achieve a balanced diet."
Wang Xiao got more and more excited as she talked, gesturing wildly with her limited agricultural knowledge, "Moscow is so cold, we can build greenhouses to increase the variety of vegetables."
Even though Ivanov was thrilled and felt ready to roll up his sleeves and get to work, his businessman's intuition told him that Wang Xiao had missed the point.
Tang Yicheng felt the same way. As for the development direction of the farm, he estimated that Wang Xiao would only be interested in observing from the sidelines and would not delve into it at all.
In other words, she has no reason to be so enthusiastic about the catering industry.
They're even making Chinese fast food?
That doesn't fit her style of making money at all.
Wang Xiao had no choice but to admit: "Chinese people don't have the habit of drinking coffee, and even the vendors who set up stalls in the free market don't have the habit of drinking tea. Everyone is busy, and the best place to exchange information is at the dinner table."
"More and more Chinese are coming to the Moscow market now, and we need to keep up with their news so we can adjust our business strategy accordingly."
Ivanov suddenly realized: "So, Chinese fast food is your coffee shop."
Tang Yicheng also expressed his understanding, noting that teahouses have always been the fastest place to spread information.
Chinese traders and speculators don't have time to sit down and leisurely drink tea; the dinner table is indeed a good place for conversation.
Ivanov sighed. "You think too much."
Unlike him, who is always anxious and insecure.
If it weren't for the bloody lessons learned by the Japanese in America during World War II, he might have already sold his assets and immigrated to the United States.
Wang Xiao rubbed his forehead: "I can't help but think about it. The situation is changing too fast, and the market is constantly changing."
Since Russia, Ukraine, and Belarus have already signed agreements to declare independence, it's estimated that the Soviet Union doesn't have much time left.
Indeed, not much time had passed since the spring of 1992.
The collapse of the Soviet Union would cause chaos in the entire economic market.
Whether it's thirty years later or now, having witnessed the collapse of the Soviet Union from the sidelines, she still doesn't understand who gave these countries the courage to say goodbye so easily.
None of these countries have a complete industrial chain, and they're all desperately short of foreign exchange. If that chain breaks, they'll all be starving.
When the car stopped and Wang Xiao and his group got out, the municipal government officials had already opened the locked restaurant doors.
This is a two-story building, not very large, maybe 300 square meters at most. The interior decoration is also quite rough and simple, which is indeed quite suitable for a fast food business.
The location is good, with a lot of foot traffic, and the restaurant's tables, chairs, and large kitchen appliances are all there. The reason it's failing to stay in business is probably related to the difficulty in obtaining supplies from the market.
Wang Xiao looked it over twice, then went to the nearby free market to chat with the Chinese traders, asking them what kind of food they wanted to eat.
The free market was really lively; it sold all sorts of things, including tabloids on the stalls.
It was printed with eye-catching so-called secrets such as "The Death of Gagarin", "The Secret of the October Revolution" and "Lenin's Mistress".
Sigh, this really has nothing to do with freedom of the press. These kinds of unsubstantiated or even fabricated rumors are really taking advantage of people not being able to crawl out of their coffins and directly strangling the storyteller.
The vendors at the stalls read newspapers while waiting for customers to come in.
The Chinese businessmen responded quite positively to Wang Xiao's initiative inquiring, with several of them requesting rice.
Seriously, it's so hard to get rice in Moscow.
If they have a couple of ounces of rice, along with five or six pieces of braised pork, and even if the only vegetables are Russian pickles and onions, they'll accept it for one or two dollars.
Tang Yicheng was taken aback. One or two US dollars might not seem like much, but the problem was that one dollar could now be exchanged for 120 rubles (that's right, in the blink of an eye, the price of the ruble had dropped again).
Are they planning to eat up a month's salary for an average Russian in one meal?
That's really extravagant.
But the resellers didn't care at all and kept talking non-stop. If there were steamed buns, mantou, tea eggs, and the like, that would be even better.
Could you pack lunch and dinner in boxed meals and deliver them? I'm busy tending the stall and can't leave.
Wang Xiao nodded and asked them with a smile where they got their goods from.
However, the scalpers who had been talking so enthusiastically just moments before immediately became wary and unwilling to talk to her any further, clearly not wanting to increase their competition.
Wang Xiao repeatedly assured, "I'm not setting up a stall. I'm running a restaurant and I want to know where everyone comes from so I can judge their tastes."
Only then did people start answering her questions one after another. But compared to the previous enthusiasm, it was much less.
Tang Yicheng was amused; it was rare to see Wang Xiao put up with something. Especially when it came to gathering information, she was always successful.
Wang Xiao rolled her eyes at him and instructed, "Put up more posters of our trade city in the restaurant later."
I don't care which market you wholesale your goods from, I just want you to know that it's the most convenient and cost-effective way to buy from our trade city.
The Moscow city government officials listened to her chattering to the vendor, though they didn't understand a word she said, but they were still quite pleased.
They felt that Wang Xiao's seriousness meant he genuinely wanted to run the restaurant business and had the means to secure sufficient supplies to keep it running well.
The more private business owners there are, the more prosperous the market will be, and the more abundant the supply of goods will be.
In the short term, their presence will indeed cause prices to rise rapidly.
However, this is an inevitable growing pain brought about by the development of a market economy, and there is no need to panic.
Once their numbers reach a certain level, and they compete with each other, prices will naturally come down and remain stable.
The government official glanced at the free market again and sighed inwardly. They were also setting up stalls to sell goods, but most of the Chinese didn't speak the language and relied entirely on calculators to do business, yet their business was the best.
Whether they are Poles, Hungarians, or Russians, none of them combined are a match for them.
At the same location, one stall was bustling with activity, with a constant stream of customers coming to inquire and buy; the other was deserted and quiet, with hardly anyone visiting, making the stall look like a state-run store.
Tang Yicheng was already used to it.
Not to mention Moscow, he saw the same thing at the COMECON market in Budapest (as the locals call it because the vendors are mainly from former COMECON countries).
The vendors in these countries are like state-owned factory workers forced to set up stalls to sell their own products. They don't know how to attract customers at all, so they just stand there and only open their mouths when someone comes over to ask.
In contrast, Chinese small vendors are seasoned veterans, quick-witted, responsive, good at bargaining, and hardworking. Even with just a computer and a few simple local words, they can still run a thriving business.
It aroused envy, jealousy, and hatred among its peers.
Wang Xiao visited three free markets and booked three restaurants.
The largest building was the original two-story building; the rest were relatively small.
The smallest one was less than 100 square meters, but Wang Xiao still agreed to take it; selling simple fast food didn't require a large space.
They didn't leave the city hall until it got dark.
On the 23rd, Wang Xiao was also busy. She and Ivanov first visited the Chinese Embassy, inviting the diplomats to visit the commercial street if they had time.
The shops on both streets sell Chinese goods.
Originally, they wanted to hold a grand opening ceremony, invite the ambassador to cut the ribbon, and make it a lively event with official backing.
However, perhaps because the current situation in Moscow is somewhat complicated, and the entire socialist camp is in dire straits, the Chinese embassy, as the official representative of a socialist country, is hesitant to take any action that could be considered a statement.
Because if one is not careful, it could lead to a serious diplomatic incident with unimaginable consequences.
However, the embassy staff were extremely friendly and repeatedly said that they would go to the shopping street in their personal capacity to see the bustling shops.
Although the result was less than satisfactory, Wang Xiao and his team weren't too disappointed. They figured they might as well try, and at least they'd made a gesture to the embassy.
After leaving the embassy, they went to the Moscow city government and asked for two more restaurants, also near the free market. This time, however, they didn't insist on selling Chinese food; they also catered to the tastes of people from other countries.
This time, the city government officials no longer planned to open the restaurant ahead of schedule; they were busy with all the necessary paperwork and procedures.
Anyway, even if it's not ahead of schedule, Store No. 24 will officially open.
Wang Xiao was unusually nervous, tossing and turning in bed, afraid that something might go wrong when the business officially opened.
She even woke up suddenly in the middle of the night, knelt on the bed and kowtowed several times, begging all the gods and Buddhas to protect her and prevent a stampede.
As long as no major problems arise, everything else is negotiable.
On the opening day, the people of Moscow gave her a huge surprise.
The scheduled opening time was 8:00 a.m. on the 24th. When they arrived at the street next to Red Square at 7:00 a.m., the queue for the first store had already stretched from the store entrance to Red Square.
Wang Xiao estimated that the number of people in line was definitely over a thousand.
Further inside, there were long queues in front of every shop, and new people were constantly joining.
Some were clearly families who came together and, following the instructions in the brochure, split up and went their separate ways.
That's right, the shops on these two streets are just like online stores, each specializing in one type of product.
For example, underwear sellers specialize in underwear, down jacket sellers specialize in down jackets, leather jacket sellers specialize in leather jackets, and the same principle applies to other products such as shoes and socks.
Anyway, no matter what you want to buy, just line up in front of this store. The counters are all set up for you, one by one, so you don't have to line up in the wrong direction.
Volunteers from the Moscow city government also came and distributed brochures to everyone.
For customers who don't know where to queue, they personally guide them to the appropriate queue based on their individual needs.
Even though Wang Xiao didn't have a high opinion of the current Russian government, she had to admit that these young people genuinely hoped the city could quickly return to a peaceful and prosperous state.
The long lines of Moscow residents also amazed her.
They were so quiet that even though no one knew when it would be their turn, no one cut in line or argued over where to stand.
Wang Xiao even wondered if the Soviet Union wouldn't have silently disintegrated if they had been able to start arguing.
Of course, the high level of civility among Muscovites while queuing greatly helped the shopping street.
At eight o'clock in the morning, as soon as the store opened, business began busily but in an orderly manner.
The 1,500 store employees were all extremely busy.
Thankfully, the stores all use computerized checkout systems; otherwise, the sales clerks would probably be working themselves to the bone.
There were so many that every store was packed with customers.
They pulled rolls of banknotes from their pockets, eagerly exchanging them for various goods, then carrying large and small bags out to queue at the next store.
It seems that no matter how long they stand there, nothing can dampen their enthusiasm for shopping.
They buy in large quantities, starting with at least three to five items, and sometimes even ten or twenty.
The volunteers panicked, and some even came over to ask Ivanov if he should impose purchase limits.
If the people in front of you buy everything, and the people behind you have queued for so long, wouldn't it be incredibly disappointing if they couldn't buy anything?
Ivanov shook his head and refused outright, emphasizing firmly, "We do not impose purchase restrictions."
A reporter from a local Moscow newspaper immediately snapped a close-up photo of him and quickly wrote in his notebook: We don't have purchase limits.
That's probably the headline of today's news about the opening of the commercial street.
Wang Xiao felt pretty good.
Feeling they couldn't persuade Ivanov, the volunteer tried to convince Wang Xiao: "Those who buy twenty items at once are definitely not buying them for themselves or their families. They're definitely small-time vendors who will resell them. Your items are of high quality and cheap, which is exactly the kind of resale goods they want."
For example, a down jacket might be listed for 8,000 rubles in a store in Moscow, but it sells for 7,000 rubles on the Huaxia Commercial Street here, and after a 10% discount, it's 6,300 rubles.
Of course, this price is more expensive than the five thousand to five thousand five hundred rubles commonly found on the free market.
However, the quality of goods and after-sales service in the free market cannot compare with those in stores.
Small vendors can buy down jackets for 6,300 rubles, then spend a dozen rubles to travel to other remote areas and sell them for an extra 1,000 rubles.
One thousand rubles is already several months' salary for many people.
Therefore, the volunteers' guesses could very well be true.
But what does this have to do with the store? Once the item is purchased, it belongs to the buyer, and they can do whatever they want with it.
So Wang Xiao rejected the volunteer's suggestion without hesitation: "That's not necessarily true. Maybe they made an agreement with their neighbors to each line up in front of a store, and one person was responsible for buying clothes for several families, so they bought more."
She smiled and reassured the other party, "It's okay, we're ready, the goods can be airlifted over at any time."
The young volunteer could only blink her beautiful big eyes and walk away with a worried expression.
Oh my god, she's still so worried. If everyone keeps buying like this, the whole street will be emptied out.
Equally astonished by the purchasing power of Muscovites were Wang Xiao's two bodyguards, both former special agents.
Both of them remarked, "If someone who doesn't know the situation saw this, they would definitely think that we Russians are as rich as the Japanese. French stores are asking Japanese customers to limit their purchases, and our stores are asking us to limit ours too."
An old man in line nearby suddenly blurted out, "The Soviet Union collapsed because we were too rich."
The young man behind him chuckled: "Old man, you're being sarcastic. It's that damn Soviets that's making us poorer and poorer."
"No, no, no, you don't understand." The old man said with a serious face, "We're just too rich. The government gives us housing and all sorts of subsidies, and our education and medical care are free."
The debt belongs to the country, not us, so we feel no pressure.
When we can't spend our money or buy what we want, we get angry and think the country is at fault.
If we owed the country a huge debt, and the country were our creditor, we wouldn't have so many demands.
The young man's eyes widened as if he were listening to a fairy tale: "What nonsense are you talking about?"
“I’m stating the facts, the facts you’re unwilling to acknowledge. Since 1985, your complaints have grown louder and louder. That is, the GDP that year was over 380 billion rubles, but our people’s income was over 440 billion rubles.”
We have over 200 billion rubles in household savings, and a large number of people keep tens of thousands of rubles in their homes. The government doesn't even know the exact amount of savings.
And how much debt do we have? Two billion. For such a large country with so many people, the total debt is only a little over two billion rubles. So, do you think we're rich or not?
With more money comes more demands. If each of us were burdened with hundreds of thousands of rubles in debt, there probably wouldn't be so many complaints.
Tang Yicheng wanted to attend the opening ceremony of the commercial street before transporting the cars back to China.
He suddenly understood and turned to look at Ivanov. "No wonder your country abolished the 50 and 100 rubles issued in the 1960s. It turns out there was too much money, and the government couldn't provide enough goods for everyone to buy. So they simply decided to make sure you couldn't spend your money."
Well, although it sounds like a fantasy, it's not impossible.
After all, few people dare to trust the government's integrity these days; everyone collectively believes that it's not surprising what they do.
The young man arguing with the old man was now red with anger: "Are you saying our lives are getting worse and worse? Will the Russian Federation also completely collapse?"
The old man laughed: "No, no, no, you misunderstand. What I mean is that our lives will get worse and worse so that the Russian Federation can survive. After all, when people are so poor that they have to live on the streets, they won't have time to complain anymore."
He casually glanced around, then nodded solemnly, "Just spend all the money."
The young man was pulled by his friend, and immediately turned away, not wanting to talk to this strange old man anymore.
The old man muttered to himself, "It doesn't matter. The good Soviet Union is gone, the Soviet Union as a country is gone, so no one will complain anymore."
He queued for two days straight, from Christmas Eve to Christmas Day.
People from the front and back of the group would occasionally chat with him, and he always emphasized that once all the money was spent, the world would be at peace.
The Soviet Union is dead, and everyone is satisfied.
This left the initially agitated young people unsure how to respond to him.
Ivanov felt uncomfortable listening to this and muttered under his breath, "It's a holiday, can't you stop talking about death? It's so unlucky."
Tang Yicheng laughed and said, "Anyway, Christmas is over today, so it doesn't matter whether I live or die."
He has to lead a team to transport cars tomorrow.
Wang Xiao glanced at the time; the store was supposed to close at 8 p.m.
For the first three days after opening, they extended the opening time to 10 p.m. to meet everyone's shopping needs.
She felt sleepy and tired, and really wanted to sit down and rest for a while.
The evening news on the TV in the store was about to finish when Wang Xiao looked up and suddenly saw a familiar face.
She subconsciously tugged at Tang Yicheng and Ivanov's arms, and then they heard together the speech announcing the resignation of the Soviet leader.
In that instant, Ivanov suddenly lost his ability to speak; he couldn't understand what the point of this so-called resignation was.
He stared blankly at the television, remaining unresponsive for a long time.
Until someone in the street shouted, "The Soviet red flag has been lowered over the Kremlin!"
Strangely, no one cheered.
This includes young people who repeatedly emphasize that the Soviet Union should have died long ago.
Almost everyone wore a blank expression; they didn't know how they should react.
Wang Xiao felt a sense of relief, as if everything had finally settled down.
The other slipper upstairs finally landed, and their business was about to embark on the next chapter.
"It's snowing."
Someone outside shouted loudly.
Wang Xiao looked up and looked out.
Large snowflakes drifted down from the dark sky.
She suddenly thought of a line from "Dream of the Red Chamber": "Like birds returning to the forest after eating their fill, leaving behind a vast expanse of white, truly clean."
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Sorry, I had a headache yesterday and forgot to set up updates before going to bed.
Additionally, if you read the news about the opening of the first McDonald's in Moscow, you might notice that the article mentioned the militia helping to maintain order.
When I was researching, I found something very strange, so I did some more research and discovered that the Russian word for "police" directly translates to "militia." Therefore, I personally lean towards the conclusion that it was a translation issue, and that those helping to maintain order in Pushkin Square were likely police officers.
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