Chapter 24: Innocence, Naivety, and the Unusual

"What? Mr. Zhou Ming, you want me to contact friends inside the White House? You want us to go into the White House after dawn?"

In their room, Kalleina stared at Zhou Ming, her expression a mix of disbelief and shock, as though she had just heard news of the end of the world.

Zhou Ming wasn't surprised by her reaction. He simply nodded, confirming her impression. Kalleina continued, "Mr. Zhou Ming, no matter what your reasons are, as your contact and guide, I have a duty to remind you that your request is utterly ridiculous. It's so absurd it's beyond comprehension! Do you know what's happening over there?"

Kalleina pointed towards the North Russian White House and continued, "There's a coup happening right now. Thousands of troops have surrounded it, along with KGB agents. In this situation, how could we possibly make contact or get inside? Don't you think your request is incredibly naive and laughable?"

"Indeed, generally speaking, since this coup involves all the top Soviet officials from the party, government, and military, and with the military and KGB surrounding the White House, they would definitely cut off all communication," Zhou Ming said. Then he changed his tone and added, "But I don't think these things are important. Miss Kalleina, if you don't try contacting them, how will you know it's impossible? How will we know if we can't get in if we don't try?"

Initially, Kalleina thought Zhou Ming wasn't insane when she heard his initial analysis. But after hearing the latter part of his speech, she realized that all her previous advice had been in vain.

"Try? Mr. Zhou Ming, do you really think we need to try something so obvious?" Kalleina asked.

"Of course, we need to try. I'm quite stubborn. I won't give up on anything without trying, and maybe this coup isn't as complicated as we think?" Zhou Ming said, then proposed, "Or, Miss Kalleina, if you're so confident, why not make a bet? If you can contact the White House, you help me gather information and accompany me into the White House as my translator. If you can't contact them, we'll drop it, and I'll follow your advice from now on."

Kalleina looked at Zhou Ming, thinking his words were utterly absurd. If it weren't for the fact that Zhou Ming was a young millionaire with tens of millions in assets, or for knowing that he had won the favor of a woman like Lin Muqing, or for having some understanding of him, she would have thought he was insane or simply a capricious child. How could he make such naive statements at this time?

Kalleina couldn't understand Zhou Ming's thinking. If he insisted on going into the White House, she could understand it as a political risk he wanted to take. But trying to contact the White House now was pure innocence and childishness.

"Well, if Miss Kalleina, you're so insistent, why don't you dare to take this bet?" Zhou Ming deliberately provoked her.

"I'm just afraid you'll back out. If you lose, will you really follow my advice in the future?" Kalleina asked.

Zhou Ming nodded and said, "Of course. Even if you want to use a whip and candles, I'll accept it willingly. But I believe Miss Kalleina has no chance of winning."

Kalleina didn't understand what Zhou Ming meant by "whip and candles," but she could accurately sense his confidence. So, she said, "I don't understand where your confidence comes from, but to make Mr. Zhou Ming abandon this idea, I'll make the call."

Zhou Ming handed her the phone in the room. Kalleina pressed the speakerphone button and said, "I have a friend working in the White House's internal affairs office. I'll call him, though I believe this call won't go through."

Kalleina dialed a number and, to her surprise, the call was immediately answered.

Hearing the call connect, Kalleina was stunned. She hadn't expected it to connect so quickly. She was even more surprised when the call was answered immediately: "Hello, this is the Parliament Building office. How can I help you?"

Hearing the voice on the other end, Kalleina was almost jumping with surprise. The fact that the call connected was unbelievable. She turned to Zhou Ming and asked, "What's going on? Did the KGB not cut off the White House's phone lines? How is this possible?"

It was indeed improbable. Typically, in a coup, once the coup leaders deploy troops and national security forces to surround the opposition's building, not only would they cut off utilities and force or coerce the opposition, but cutting off communication with the outside world would be a basic measure.

Otherwise, if they just surrounded the place, maintaining a standoff while allowing the opposition to communicate freely with the outside world and seek help, it wouldn't be considered a proper coup.

With the KGB, one of the world's top intelligence agencies, involved, there should be no technical issues. The only explanation was that the coup leaders themselves didn't know what they were doing.

Earlier, Kalleina had said Zhou Ming's idea was too naive and childish, but now reality seemed to be as strange as Zhou Ming had predicted.

"It might be possible now that the call has gone through. It's best to talk to them first," Zhou Ming said to Kalleina.

Kalleina then asked on the phone, "Yuliaeva, is that you? This is Kalleina!"

"It's Yuliaeva. You're Kalleina? My God, you've come back to Krisk? Thank heavens! But the situation here is dreadful, even worse than when you left. I don't understand what those bureaucrats are trying to do. Reforms keep happening, but people's living standards keep declining…"

Yuliaeva sounded agitated, which surprised Zhou Ming about Kalleina's identity. However, Zhou Ming knew this wasn't the time to dwell on such details. He told Kalleina, "Ask about the situation in the White House and how we can get inside tomorrow."

Kalleina nodded and said into the phone, "Yuliaeva, we'll discuss these issues later. I have a very important question. How can I get into the White House tomorrow?"

"What? You want to get into the White House? My God, are you crazy? Don't you know what's happening outside? There are dozens of tanks and thousands of troops ready to attack the White House. Even our Prime Minister wants to flee. I'm stuck here with no choice, but why would you want to go in?" Yuliaeva's surprise mirrored Kalleina's earlier tone.

"Tell her that the army won't attack the White House. We need to go in for an important matter. We only need her to tell us how," Zhou Ming instructed Kalleina.

Kalleina relayed this message, and Yuliaeva responded, "Where did you get this information? I heard the army is planning to attack the White House early this morning, and we're all supposed to be killed. Our Minister was even making a will for his children."

"But it's already past 3 a.m., and everything seems calm, right?" Zhou Ming said, and Kalleina relayed his words.

Yuliaeva fell silent, as she instinctively agreed with Kalleina's judgment.

After a while, Yuliaeva said, "The White House is completely sealed off by the military. Getting in is impossible. However, you could disguise yourselves as foreign journalists. The military might let you through."

"Just like that?" Kalleina found it hard to believe.

"Yes, it's that simple. I don't understand why, but I saw American journalists coming in this afternoon. I'm not lying to you, Kalleina," Yuliaeva said.

"I don't doubt you, Yuliaeva. I just find it hard to believe it's that easy."

Kalleina chatted with Yuliaeva a bit more before ending the call. Despite hanging up, the shock of the conversation lingered with her. Everything from the call was astonishing, and she turned to ask Zhou Ming about it but found him already stretching and heading to his room.

"Well, Miss Kalleina, I think we've done enough for tonight. Let's wait until tomorrow to deal with the White House," Zhou Ming said.

This statement caught Kalleina off guard, and she was left unable to ask her questions. She could only murmur, "Alright, Mr. Zhou Ming. May I ask why we need to go into the White House?"

"It's nothing special. I just know there's a Mr. Nikolayevich inside, and I want to have a drink with him, that's all."

With this parting statement, Zhou Ming went into his room, leaving Kalleina confused.

Of course, Zhou Ming wasn't deliberately avoiding the issue; he simply didn't know how to answer.

His decision was based on memories from his past life, knowing that this Soviet coup would be a complete failure.

However, only Zhou Ming knew that he wasn't as confident as he appeared. After all, this life and the past one were different, and this coup's timing didn't align perfectly. Zhou Ming's judgment was based on his belief that as long as the coup leaders remained the same, the process and result of the coup wouldn't change.

In the end, it proved that his luck was good, and he made the right bet.