Chapter 54: Are you trying to seduce me?

'Please take me and my son abroad. I can do anything, I can do anything, as long as you can give me 600... no, as long as you can give me 400 US dollars, as long as you can take me away from here!'

'Really? You can do anything? Then come over here and let me take a look... Gee, for your age, it's rare to have breasts that haven't sagged. They're still soft to the touch, which is quite good. You must have been fondled a lot by men, right? How about this: 350 US dollars. If you agree, come in and let's talk about the specifics of working abroad. What do you say?'

'Charming ladies, come to us. We have a direct route to the diamond capital, which can take you directly to the Netherlands. It is definitely not some other small Eastern European country with a similarly corrupt economy, or some place that is easier to get to. Although our offer is not the highest, it is definitely the best choice for you!'

'Can I go to the Netherlands? It's a big and nice place. But can you offer a better price? Or can I bring my family with me?'

'Of course not. We are a labour agency, not an immigration agency. You are going abroad to work, not to travel. How can you bring your family?'

'I really want to go abroad. Can I go with you? I don't care how much you pay me, I just don't want to stay here!'

'Are you out of your mind? We only want women here, what's a man like you doing here? And what would you do abroad? Reclaim land in the Netherlands? You'd need more than just your family to make it there! If you really want a better life, take your wife and daughter with you, while we're in a good mood, and you might even get a good price.'

...

Zhou Ming and Kareina followed Roulaeva down this Alba Street. The sounds of bargaining in various colours came from the front doors of the companies. Of course, with Kareina's looks, she was a high-status phoenix among these women, and people would still come and ask her about it on their own initiative. However, with Zhou Ming and ** here, those people were also driven away. That is, after a few waves of people, everyone understood and no one came anymore.

However, despite this, Katerina still felt pain. Her silver teeth clenched together, and her eyes flashed with anger and sorrow.

Her anger was undoubtedly directed at society and the current economic situation in Northern Russia, while her sadness was directed at these compatriots who had voluntarily left the country. They would rather give up all their dignity and treat themselves like goods to be picked and chosen by men here. Even those people said they would take them upstairs to talk, but they might as well just go upstairs and do whatever. How can this kind of degrading of oneself not be a kind of sadness?

However, in her heart, Kareina understood that it was not their fault. After all, it was this country that had made it impossible for them to live, otherwise, as Northern Russians with a strong sense of national pride, who would want to leave?

These thoughts made Kareina feel a wave of bitterness. Now she fully understood the reason why Zhurayeva had begged Zhou Ming like that on Gele Street before. It was not only because of her own financial difficulties, but also because she, like herself, had a deep affection for the motherland.

You have to understand that just seeing this situation makes my heart feel very uncomfortable, but she is experiencing all of this personally, watching her loved ones and friends go through this kind of dire situation every day, so how can she hold back? Add to this that on Gele Street, Zhou Ming appeared before her like a god from heaven and helped her drive away the robbers, and she also remembers when they were at the White House, Zhou Ming persuaded President Nikolaevich to go out and give a speech.

All these things piled up, how could she not regard Zhou Ming as her only support? How could she not become a drowning person, desperately trying to grab Zhou Ming as a straw?

With these thoughts, Kareina said to Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, let's go back first.'

How could Zhou Ming not understand Kareina's current mood, so he agreed without hesitation, and then they went back to the car and drove away from Alba Street.

After leaving Alba Street, they first dropped off Zhurayeva, and Katerina gave Zhurayeva 2,000 US dollars. Zhurayeva didn't want it at first, but Katerina said, 'Zhurayeva, we are good friends. I feel bad seeing you like this. I don't have anything else to help you, so I can only give you this money. These are US dollars, which will not depreciate along with the ruble. You can take it with confidence.'

'Thank you very much, Katerina. You have finally returned to your homeland, and I should be the one taking care of you. I never thought that I would have to take your money. I really...'

Rulayeva said, lowering her head, feeling remorseful and unwilling for her actions. However, Katerina smiled at her and said, 'It's just a little money. Rulayeva, this isn't like you. The Rulayeva I know is a confident and optimistic girl, but not like this, moping around, getting so downhearted over such a trivial matter.'

'Yes, you are right, my friend, Kalelina,'

Zhu Ruiyue said, looking at Zhou Ming. She wanted to say something, but in the end she didn't say a word. It was Kalelina who said to her, 'Okay, Zhu Ruiyue, you have to believe that no matter how cold the winter is, it will eventually pass, and we must always keep moving forward.'

Rayaeva nodded vigorously and said, 'Yes, we Northern Russians are all very resilient, and we will definitely get through this difficult time!'

After saying this, Rayaeva happily and firmly returned to her home, but instead, after following Zhou Ming back to the car, Katerina fell into a low mood and kept looking down, looking sullen.

Zhou Ming could understand her feelings very well. After all, everyone still has their own feelings for their motherland. Even if you put yourself in her shoes, if you saw with your own eyes people fleeing the country in the past while bullets were raining down, I'm afraid you wouldn't be able to be happy no matter what, not to mention the fact that she also saw her friends selling their jewellery and perfume outside. Things like that would make her feel even more uncomfortable.

Back at the hotel, as soon as they entered the lobby, the hotel manager came up to them and said, 'I'm sorry, but I'm sure you're all aware of the current economic situation in our country. The ruble has depreciated very sharply, so in the future, I hope that you will pay for your stay in our hotel in US dollars, at the price we agreed upon in the beginning.'

After the hotel manager finished speaking, he looked at Zhou Ming twice, and then said, 'Of course, to show our apologies, if you continue to stay with us for a long time, I can still give you a discount. What do you think?'

Zhou Ming smiled. In fact, how could Zhou Ming not see through the hotel manager's calculations? Due to the devaluation of the ruble, if they continued to pay in rubles, the hotel would be losing money. It was a normal thing to switch to the US dollar, which had basically kept the same exchange rate. As for the discount he mentioned later, it was just an attempt to persuade them to continue staying here with a preferential offer.

'It's fine if you switch to US dollars, but whether you want to continue staying here, if I have something to do, of course I will, if I want to leave, even if you don't charge me a penny a day, I won't stay here.'

Zhou Ming finished and left, because for Zhou Ming, this room rent really didn't matter, even if the manager came to raise the price today, Zhou Ming didn't care.

On the contrary, the manager felt a thud in his heart after hearing Zhou Ming's words, because looking into Zhou Ming's eyes, he felt like he was transparent in front of Zhou Ming, that he could hide nothing from him, and that even just a single sentence could make him feel a great deal of pressure.

Back in their room, recalling the manager's words just now, Katerina bitterly smiled, 'I didn't expect even this Number One Hotel to be like this. It seems that this country is really finished.'

What Katerina said was not just angry words, but the truth. After all, Hotel Number One is the best and largest hotel here, and it is also the place to receive foreign guests. Logically speaking, such a place should definitely receive support from the government. How could a hotel with government support not have to worry about economic problems? But now he has also started to worry about these things, so how can he not feel sad?

'Don't be discouraged, everything will be fine,'

Zhou Ming comforted her, and Kareina smiled at Zhou Ming, nodded softly, and went back to her room.

Kareina never came out after she went back to her room, and it wasn't until dinner time that she came out of her room. They had dinner together in the hotel restaurant.

Zhou Ming was going to go back to his room and watch TV, which had become a compulsory nightly activity for Zhou Ming since he arrived in Krisco. After all, Zhou Ming had come here to get a slice of the 20 trillion dollar pie that was the Dota project. Now that he had united the wealthy of Kong City and the domestic elites of Northern Russia to fight against the Dota project, how could he not work hard on the information front? If he missed any important information, resulting in losses of millions or billions, then he would have no tears to shed.

It is for this reason that every night, in addition to watching the news and listening to the radio, Zhou Ming will also call back to Gangcheng to communicate more with them and keep abreast of the situation in other areas.

But today, when Zhou Ming returned to his room and took out the radio and turned on the TV as usual, Katerina came to find him: 'I'm sorry to bother you, Mr. Zhou Ming, but do you have time tonight? I want to chat with you.'

Hearing Karolina's words, Zhou Ming subconsciously looked up, but suddenly froze, because Karolina was wearing a purple tulle dress with a waistline and a slim fit, which brought out her curvy figure to the fullest. Beneath the knee-length skirt were a pair of long, straight, beautiful legs, now covered in semi-sheer black stockings. The faint black colour revealed the hazy white skin underneath, which was even more seductive.

She also had on makeup, whether it was the black eyeliner or the bright red lipstick, it all complemented his outfit and highlighted the word seduction.

Of course, the most important thing was that Zhou Ming clearly remembered that when they had dinner, Kareina was not like this, and it was obvious that she had changed after returning to the room.

Is her purpose in doing this to seduce me?