Chapter 548
A Terrible Reputation as a Reseller
Chapter 548 A Terrible Reputation as a Reseller
"Director Lin, this place... are we really going to stay here?" Ivan, wrapped in a military overcoat, asked, his teeth chattering.
Lin Xiaohe remained silent, standing by the window, looking outside.
It was pitch black in the distance, with only one or two streetlights occasionally shining, illuminating the thick snow and crooked utility poles along the roadside.
Just two years after the collapse of the Soviet Union, prices soared, the ruble depreciated, and store shelves were empty.
The capital of a former superpower now resembles a fallen nobleman, shivering in the cold wind while wearing a patched suit.
Lin Xiaohe declined Andrei's suggestion and did not go to his boss's manor. Instead, she chose to go to the hotel in Moscow where the Dongguo smuggler was staying.
I heard familiar sounds of men and women talking nearby.
"Xiao Ye, remember this: don't trust anyone here. Don't trust the Russians, and don't trust any unfamiliar East Asians either," the man muttered.
Xiao Ye gripped the backpack strap tightly, like a wary little animal, looking around.
From the Moscow train station to the Ant Hotel, they experienced three separate robberies.
This is not because they were deliberately targeted, but rather a common experience for every trader in the East.
Although the hotel is spacious, consisting of five 30-story towers, it was packed with people from all over the world, mostly black-haired, yellow-skinned East Asians.
Russian, Donggu, Japanese, English, Korean—a cacophony of languages—it felt more like the United Nations than a hotel.
The man clutched the room key tightly in his hand, searching for his room while keeping a close eye on Xiao Ye: "This place was originally built by the Soviet Union specifically for the Olympics. Five buildings surround the center, symbolizing the Olympic rings. After the Olympics, it became one of the world's largest hotels with 7500 rooms."
Adhering to the principle of clear accounting even among close brothers, he laid it all out upfront: "A standard room costs between $40 and $80 per night, but we're offering a long-term room rental, four people to a room, which works out to only $15 per person. You'll have to pay for the room yourself."
Xiao Ye nodded: "Of course."
Seeing Xiao Ye's straightforwardness, the man became a little embarrassed and hurriedly explained, "Actually, there are many other 'Eastern Houses' in Moscow, such as Yanshan House, which are cheaper, only about $200 a month, but the environment is bad, and it's a mixed bag. For us middlemen, selling goods isn't impressive; being able to successfully bring the money back to China is what really matters. Let me tell you... um..."
The man gasped for breath, like a duck being choked, unable to utter a sound, his face filled with terror.
Xiao Ye followed his gaze and froze on the spot.
It's them!
Those people who opened fire on the train!
Weren't they taken away by the Moscow police as soon as they got off the train?
Why are they here?
How did they get out of the police station?
A jumble of questions raced through Xiao Ye's mind, but when the young woman at the head of the group looked over, Xiao Ye quickly lowered her head and, like a fish, disappeared into the crowd.
At the same time, Lin Xiaohe also noticed the two of them, raising an eyebrow slightly: "What a coincidence."
This small bit of fate wasn't enough to make Lin Xiaohe abandon her business and go find them.
Lin Xiaohe chose to stay at the Ant Hotel for two reasons. First, because there were many black marketeers in Dongguo there, and the place was orderly. At least she wouldn't be extorted by the police like at Dongguo Building.
Secondly, it is located right next to Moscow, and even Europe's largest wholesale market for daily necessities, the Cherkizovsky Market.
Lin Xiaohe said to everyone, "Get a good rest tonight, we'll do market research tomorrow."
"it is good."
The next morning, Lin Xiaohe and the others went to the Cerkivo market.
Locals call it the Container Market, while traders from the East call it the Ant Market.
This place used to be the Moscow Sports Institute, but it was converted into a market after the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Thousands of shipping containers lined up like streets, with shops in the front and warehouses in the back, selling everything imaginable: clothes, shoes, appliances, food, cosmetics, and even restaurants specializing in traditional Korean cuisine. In the dead of winter, a person would freeze to the bone after standing outside for ten minutes, but it was even colder inside those containers, with no central heating and only a small electric stove for warmth.
The vendor was wearing a down jacket and a leather hat, stamping his feet and exhaling white breath.
The market has no brick or tile buildings, but is made up of tens of thousands of shipping containers stacked like building blocks.
The shipping containers were used as shops on the bottom and warehouses on the top, arranged in a neat grid to form narrow streets and alleys.
Lin Xiaohe and her group squeezed through the crowd, their eyes scanning the surroundings.
Suddenly, she stopped and pointed to a stall in front of her.
A wooden sign hung on the stall with several large words written in Russian, which Ivan translated as: "This shop does not sell goods from the East."
Further on, there was another sign: "This store guarantees no products from East Korea."
The third one was even more direct: "Goods from the East? Get lost!"
Lin Xiaohe's expression changed.
She walked up to a young man from the East who was setting up a stall and asked, "Brother, what's going on here?"
The young man looked at her face and gave a wry smile: "New here, huh? Those middlemen ruined the brand a few years ago. They stuffed chicken feathers in down jackets, made cotton shoes come unglued after three days, and the lids of thermos flasks would pop open by themselves when hot water was poured in. The Russians were ripped off terribly, and now if they hear it's an Eastern product, they just shake their heads."
A salesman from Changhong's international sales department clenched his fist: "What about us, those of us who are doing legitimate business..."
"A legitimate business?" The young man pointed to himself. "I'm a legitimate business too. But what's the use? People don't care if you're legitimate or not; if you're from the East, they won't believe you."
"This is discrimination!"
Lin Xiaohe and the others kept their minds calm and continued walking inside.
Andrei, acting as the host, explained to Lin Xiaohe: "The market is divided into two main sections. The old section, the Sun section, is predominantly populated by Asians and consists of about seven or eight rows of 5-ton containers, with twenty or thirty containers per row. We are currently in the Black section, which is mainly populated by Azerbaijanis and Caucasians and primarily sells leather goods and shoes. If you want to sell color TVs here, you can only do so in the Sun section."
Lin Xiaohe nodded slightly.
It takes some time to travel from the Black Hair Zone to the Sun Zone.
Lin Xiaohe saw police stations, customs offices, courts, post offices, banks, and even casinos and brothels.
There was an unmarked shipping container with a very high volume of people. Many people went in carrying bags and came out empty-handed.
Lin Xiaohe was 100% certain that those bulging bags contained US dollars.
Without a doubt, that unmarked container was a grey market bank.
The journey was very smooth. As soon as Lin Xiaohe arrived in the Sun District, it was like entering a market in the East. Her ears were filled with Russian with an East accent, and she could even hear a few angry words in the local dialect.
Ivan couldn't help but remark, "Even an ant market isn't as chaotic and rife with mafia activity as the other dealers in the hotel described."
Andrei chuckled, glanced at everyone, and said cryptically, "The Mafia are ruthless, not stupid. There are probably countless eyes watching us right now."
A lot of content was cut from the first few chapters.
Now I finally understand the true value of "In the Name of the People." It's really not easy for this show to be broadcast on a major television network.