Chapter 45: The Kulen Banquet

Northern Russia is a sparsely populated country with a lot of land, so it is very easy to build a house here. Although at this time, Northern Russia has not yet reached the crazy standard of almost every family having a country house, as in later generations, you can often see various manors in the suburbs.

Kulen Villa is a luxurious villa located in the eastern suburb of Krisko. On the seventh day after the beginning of the privatisation reform in Northern Russia, from noon onwards, many cars arrived here one after the other.

In the courtyard of the villa, tables and wine glasses had already been set up, and there were many pretty girls dressed as maids walking among them, setting up tables and chairs. It was clear that a grand banquet would be held here.

For this kind of upper-class banquet, it is generally a good opportunity for everyone to socialise with each other and expand their personal and business circles. Just like a certain sea feast that was criticised in later generations, no matter how unbearable the rumours from the outside world were, it was still held firmly on time, and the participants enjoyed it.

Of course, this is not for those green tea girls, and the wonderful women's projects inside. In fact, those who can attend such banquets all have family assets of tens of millions or even billions of dollars, and many of them come here by private jet. It's not difficult for such rich people to get women, is it? Why waste time making a special trip for this?

These people attend such banquets more to expand their own social circles and keep enlarging their circles. Only with more and more business partners will the business become bigger and bigger, and the way to make money will become easier and easier. As for women, they are just a way to socialise, or entertainment after socialising. As the saying goes, 'The two iron bonds of life are having shared the gun and the whore.'

The club format was introduced to China from the West. Although Northern Russia may not be part of the Western world, some things are still similar.

Although the banquet has not officially started yet, the mingling has already begun.

Inside and outside this villa, wherever there is an open space, you can see businessmen or officials with status who have come to the banquet. They gather in groups of two or three, raising their glasses and chatting.

'Hello, Mr. Comodo. I am in charge of the forest farm in the east. I know you are a paper tycoon in our country, and I hope we will have the opportunity to cooperate in the future. I believe that my forest farm and your paper factory will definitely reach a higher level!'

'Of course. In fact, I have always wanted to talk to you. After all, the eastern mountains have a large area of rich forest resources that are inexhaustible.'

Some people come straight to the point and talk about business, while others are not so direct and first cultivate common interests.

'Opera is a very refined art form, and I have always had a soft spot for it. The soaring vocals and beautiful melodies can intoxicate me every time I hear them. My favourite is the song 'Nessun dorma' from Turandot. We have an opera singer here, so we can ask her to perform for us...'

'This caviar is delicious. When you eat it and feel it explode in your mouth, the juices flowing everywhere, it's truly intoxicating...'

'My father and grandfather were both proud knights, so I also really like to ride horses. I can take you to my horse farm to have a look when I have time, or we can gallop together and play a hearty game of polo together. You must wear protective gear, though, I don't want to see any accidents...'

All this talk of this and that may sound like it's got nothing to do with anything, but in fact it's all just a form of socialising. The point is not the conversation, but getting people to get to know each other and then make money together in the same circles.

While the socialising in the villa was in full swing, suddenly a very impressive car drove into the villa, instantly attracting the attention of everyone in the villa.

The car stopped at the designated location, and then a middle-aged man in his forties with a balding head got out of the car. When this person appeared, it immediately caused a commotion at the scene, and many people immediately walked towards the middle-aged man, surrounding him like the stars surrounding the moon.

'Dear Mr. Irbedov, I am very glad that I had the opportunity to come to your manor to attend this grand banquet and witness Mr. Irbedov's legend with my own eyes. If I had missed this banquet and failed to meet Mr. Irbedov, I think I would regret it for the rest of my life.'

The middle-aged man with a receding hairline is Irbedov, the current president of the United Bank of Northern Russia. He listened to the compliments of these people with a smile on his face. He shook his head and said, 'Don't say that. I'm just an ordinary businessman, not a big shot. If you meet, you meet, if you don't meet, you don't meet. There's no regret.'

When Irbitov heard this, someone immediately objected, 'Oh no, Mr. Irbitov, how can you say that? You are the pioneer of the privatisation reform in Northern Russia. If it wasn't for you opening this different door for us, I'm afraid we would still be like in the past, guarding a gold mountain but never knowing how to develop and utilise it.'

Someone took the lead, and others naturally followed suit, saying, 'Yes, Mr. Irbedov is the follower of all Northern Russian businessmen. He is now not only the largest shareholder of the United Bank, but also the giant who has integrated the oil and gas companies in the south. If Mr. Irbedov is not considered a big shot, then I'm afraid there are no big shots in the entire Northern Russian Republic!'

Irbeldov laughed heartily. He had indeed had a very comfortable week. In the past, he had been the president of the United Bank and was quite an important person in Northern Russia, but he was far from reaching his current height. Moreover, due to political reasons, he was still the target of suppression. Many people with connections simply did not take him seriously. How could he be the rising star in the country like he was now?

Now he is not only the boss of the United Bank of Northern Russia, but also controls more than one fifth of the capital flow in the whole of Northern Russia. Coupled with his business operations, he has also consolidated the energy companies in the south, and has vaguely taken shape as a financial oligarch.

With such a huge influence, even the head of state has to give him face, and other businessmen in Northern Russia all look up to him as a role model. That is why everyone has gathered around him when he appeared here today, making him the focus of the entire banquet.

'Mr. Irbedov, the situation in our Northern Russia is changing every day. Today, you have organised such a banquet and invited so many like-minded friends from all over the country to come together. Surely there must be some major decision to be made?'

Someone asked Irbedov, and the others immediately nodded and looked at him. No one who was invited today was a fool, so everyone understood that Irbedov must have a purpose for doing this today.

Ilbedov did not hide this either. He said, 'Since the reform of privatisation, I believe everyone has benefited a lot from this matter. However, I want to tell you that these benefits are not the final benefits, because these benefits are all obtained through our respective abilities, and the time is too short. Once something unexpected happens, we may well lose everything.'

Everyone nodded along with Irbeldov's words, and listened to him more intently as he spoke, because what Irbeldov said was exactly what they were worried about.

Whether they admitted it or not, the wealth they had acquired was deeply problematic. Coupled with the long-standing totalitarian system, no matter how much reform there was now, it still left them feeling insecure, afraid that one day the money they had acquired would be taken back by the state, as it had been done in the past few decades.

'So Irbeldov is hosting this banquet today to tell us the way?' someone asked him.

'That's one aspect,' Irbeldov nodded, 'but what I think is most important today is that we should all unite to meet another challenge in the future.'

Il'yadov's words left everyone stunned. Obviously, no one understood what he meant by this challenge. Il'yadov didn't explain much about it either, just saying, 'Okay, everyone, let's chat with each other more. The banquet will start soon.'

This remark aroused everyone's interest: "Why hasn't the banquet started when you're all here, Mr. Il'yadov?'

Il'yadov shook his head and said, "Of course it hasn't started yet, because we're still waiting for one of the most important guests.'

Everyone let out a gasp, and looked at Irbedov incredulously, because Irbedov was no longer the Irbedov of the past. He was a man with the potential to become the biggest financial oligarch in Northern Russia, and his status was definitely extraordinary. So now he said that the reason the banquet was not starting was because they were waiting for the most important guest. What kind of person would this guest be?

'Mr. Irbedov, may I ask if the guest you are waiting for is the President of our Republic, or some other important leader?'

someone asked him, because in everyone's opinion, the only person who could make Irbeldov wait like this was the president of the republic, or some important central official.

But Irbeldov gave an answer that no one expected: 'This guest is not an official of our country, he is not even from our country. His name is Zhou Ming.'

This answer made everyone look at each other, no one understood what he meant, but they didn't need to guess much. As soon as Irbeldov finished speaking, the villa's butler came to report to him that the guest had arrived. Irbeldov immediately excused himself and walked with the butler towards the villa's front door.

Irbeldov left, and the others immediately followed, because they all wanted to know who this person was that could make Irbeldov treat him so solemnly.