Chapter 55: The Story of Katerina

'Miss Kalelina, it doesn't seem like you want to chat.'

Zhou Ming casually put the radio back on the table and turned to Kalelina and said, and in response to Zhou Ming's words, Kalelina's expression stiffened unnaturally for a moment. It was obvious that this Northern Russian girl very cleverly understood the subtext behind Zhou Ming's words, which made her feel a little uncomfortable, because she was the kind of very conservative girl who was not promiscuous.

However, this discomfort did not stop Katerina's determination. After a moment of stunned silence, she walked around the sofa and sat down next to Zhou Ming, leaning her delicate body against him and saying, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I really do have something to discuss with you.'

Katerina leaned over Zhou Ming's ear and spoke, and the warm breeze tickled Zhou Ming's heart. This was a normal reaction. After all, Zhou Ming was a man with normal physiology and psychology. Sitting next to him was such a provocative Northern Russian woman, if he didn't have any thoughts, then there would be a problem.

However, Zhou Ming is not the kind of person who would be dominated by his lower body, and Zhou Ming could also feel that Katerina's body was very stiff, obviously she was doing this with a stiff upper lip.

Zhou Ming does not not want this hot-bodied Northern Russian beauty, but Zhou Ming does not want just a one-night stand. What Zhou Ming wants is to take her body and mind, and as a man, he wants to be domineering!

With this guiding ideology, Zhou Ming leaned over and said to Katerina, 'You have lived with me for so long, and you know my habits.'

In just a few words, Zhou Ming's tone was very flat. Katerina was a little depressed after hearing it, and she wanted to say something, but in the end she gave up and just let out a small "oh." 'I know you want to collect all the information about Northern Russia at home and abroad, and I'll wait until you're done.'

Afterwards, Katerina left Ming Zhou of her own accord, but she stayed by Ming Zhou's side, just not as close as the two of them had been. Ming Zhou glanced at her and saw that she was just sitting there quietly, not provoking him or doing anything, so he didn't say anything and began to listen to the radio and watch the news intently.

Of course, Zhou Ming didn't just listen to the radio and watch TV. He also prepared a special notebook to write down all the news he heard. This was not just to prevent him from forgetting, but more importantly, by recording it in a notebook, he could better compare before and after, and easily find the changing patterns of things, so that he could prepare in advance.

After all, it was simply impossible not to work hard on such an important matter.

Katerina also stopped talking, and for a while, the only sound in the room was the rustling of Zhou Ming writing.

After about an hour, Zhou Ming finally finished his work for the day. As he habitually stretched when he put down his pen, he suddenly noticed Katerina next to him in the corner of his eye.

Zhou Ming patted his forehead and remembered that the Northern Russian girl had come to see him.

'I'm sorry, Ms. Karelina, for keeping you waiting...'

Zhou Ming said to Karelina, but Zhou Ming could not continue after saying only half of his sentence, because he saw two lines of clear tears on Karelina's face.

Katerina was crying!

This situation took Zhou Ming by surprise. To be honest, Zhou Ming really hadn't noticed it before. Although at the beginning Zhou Ming paid some attention to her, seeing that she had just been sitting quietly without disturbing him, Zhou Ming gradually turned his attention away from her. Who would have known that this girl would just sit there silently and cry.

Zhou Ming was a dominating figure in the business world, and he was not even intimidated when faced with national leaders, but when it came to women's tears, Zhou Ming still felt a bit of a headache.

Now Katerina was crying silently like this, her tears running down her cheeks and dripping onto her gauze dress. Judging from the large water stain, she had definitely been crying for a while.

'Katerina, why are you crying? If you have something to say to me, just say it. I wasn't ignoring you just now, it's just that you know how I am.'

Zhou Ming explained to her, while subconsciously reaching out to help her wipe away the water stains. Originally, Zhou Ming wanted to help her wipe away the water stains, but when his hand touched them, he suddenly realised that her tears were dripping on her high, firm breasts and plump thighs. How could he just touch them casually? So Zhou Ming had to apologise again, flustered: 'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to take advantage of you, I just wanted to help you wipe it off.'

Katerina shook her head slightly, reached out to wipe away the tears on her face, and then said to Zhou Ming, 'It's okay, I just thought of something that has nothing to do with you, Mr. Zhou Ming. I should be the one apologising. I was too rude in front of you, Mr. Zhou Ming.'

'And...' Katerina continued, 'as you guessed, I did come with some thoughts. You can do whatever you like.'

Katerina said this, but Zhou Ming noticed an unnatural blush on her beautiful face. It was obvious that as a conservative woman, she was still unable to let go of what had just happened.

Zhou Ming nodded lightly, got up to get her a towel from the bathroom, and then sat back down next to her.

Katerina took the towel and said thank you to Zhou Ming: 'I know what you want to ask me, and I came here today specifically because I share the same thoughts as Zhoraeva. I hope you can help us in Northern Russia because I can see that the situation in our region is really bad. So I'm willing to pay any price.'

At the end of her speech, Katerina added, 'including myself.'

Zhou Ming did not say anything, and Katerina continued, 'I understand that my idea is excessive, and as a foreigner, you, Mr. Zhou Ming, are not obliged to help us in any way. But I really hope that you can lend a helping hand to our Northern Russian Republic, because at the moment, apart from you, no one else can help us. Please, Mr. Zhou Ming!'

After listening quietly to what Karina had said, Zhou Ming said to her, 'Actually, I want to say that you, Miss Karina, have misunderstood me. First of all, this favour of yours is really difficult to help, because you yourselves are a superpower. After nearly a century of development, all conditions are very mature, and it is such a big place with so many people. Now that something so big has happened, it is simply impossible for anyone to solve it.'

'Secondly, this is my personal question,' Zhou Ming said, "I'm curious why you are so persistent in doing these things? I admit that the current situation of your compatriots is indeed very saddening, but it is not to the extent that you disregard everything.'

'Because I am atoning for my grandfather's sins," Katerina replied.

'Atoning for sins?' This answer was a bit unexpected for Zhou Ming. Although Zhou Ming had thought in advance that Katerina must be a woman with a story, he never imagined that her story would be like this.

Katerina nodded and said, 'It's atonement, because my grandfather made a big mistake to this country, and was the culprit who destroyed the country's economy, so I need to atone for his sins.'

Zhou Ming shook his head and said he didn't understand. Katerina asked Zhou Ming, "Have you heard of Yefen?'

Zhou Ming felt very unfamiliar with this name. Katerina was not surprised by Zhou Ming's attitude, and he asked Zhou Ming again, "Then you must have heard of the Andropov Reform, right?'

If this had happened two months ago, then Zhou Ming would have simply shaken his head, but in the past two months, due to the twenty trillion dollar fortune for the Dota project, Zhou Ming has made up for lost time and learned a lot about the Soviet Union, including this Andropov reform.

'I know about this. The Andropov reform was an important attempt by the Soviet Union in politics and economics, and it was also a very successful reform. Could it be that your grandfather was the one who led this reform?' Zhou Ming asked.

Katerina gave a bitter smile and said, 'I really hope so, but unfortunately it wasn't. Not only did my grandfather not support the Andrei reform, but he also stood on the opposite side of this reform. Not only did he make things difficult for the reform everywhere, but he even purged officials who supported the reform. The result was that this reform was aborted, which further worsened the Soviet Union's economic problems.'

Kaleina's tone became clenched as she said, 'And after that, my grandfather was killed by those bureaucratic groups.'

'Then I wonder what your grandfather's position was at the time, Miss Kaleina?' Zhou Ming asked.

'Minister of Internal Affairs,' said Katerina.

Zhou Ming nodded silently. This answer did not surprise Zhou Ming. First, the name itself shows the importance of this position, and it is also possible to enter the Politburo as a standing committee member. Second, compared to the leadership positions of other countries, this position is less eye-catching. It is like this in China. Everyone knows the person in charge of Zhongnanhai, but if you were to ask who the butler of Zhongnanhai is, I'm afraid not many people could name him.

Even in the domestic situation is like this, in the Soviet Union side is even more needless to say, to be able to remember this, God knows how good a memory to be able to do.

'In fact, my grandfather didn't really oppose the An Reform, and at the beginning, he even supported it,' said Katerina. 'But as the reform progressed, my grandfather's position changed...'

Then Katerina told Zhou Ming the story of her grandfather. In fact, the story was not unbelievable. It was just a simple issue of class conflict.

The Ann Reform was a Soviet reform that took place eight years ago. At that time, the Soviet Union's economic problems had become prominent in the long-term arms race with the United States. So it was only natural that the succeeding Soviet general secretary would have to reform the economy. After all, if there is a problem, you have to solve it! And because the general secretary was very skilled, everyone in the country supported his reforms, and his reforms did solve many problems, and the economy of the entire Soviet Union began to gradually improve.

But just when everyone thought that the Soviet spring would come again, something happened that completely changed everything.