Chapter 58: High above it all: Irbidev

On Griboedov Street, near Red Square, there is a slightly Gothic-style building. It is quite unusual in the centre of Khrushchev-era Moscow, where almost all the buildings have onion domes. This is the building that houses the securities company of the North Russian Republic.

As in China, although the name here is just 'securities company', it actually performs all the functions of a stock exchange. Unlike the securities companies of later generations, it is a transitional one in the midst of reform.

As a place with the highest volume of capital flows, the securities company is always full of people. When the securities company opens, countless people will come and go, some happy about making a profit, others wanting to jump off a building because they have lost money. There are all kinds of people; and even when the securities company closes, there will still be many people waiting outside, not sure if they are doing so to get better information or out of a pious belief.

But anyway, when the securities company reappeared in Krisco after more than 70 years of disappearance, it immediately became fashionable. After all, whether you are rich or not, you can't go against money.

Especially now that the newly emerged financial oligarchs in Northern Russia and the Hong Kong City consortium, which is gathering around Zhou Ming, are engaged in a financial battle with the Western consortium of the Dota Project, which has taken the securities company to an even greater height. This is a pathological situation when the entire Northern Russian economy is entering winter and so many Northern Russian middle classes are forced to go out on the street to sell their possessions.

The trading floor of the securities company was abuzz with activity. Everyone was staring at the huge displays overhead. Everyone was basically holding a pen and notebook in their hands, and from time to time, as the numbers on the display changed, everyone let out all kinds of shouts.

And suddenly, the shouting in the trading floor suddenly grew louder, and everyone in the hall let out a huge yell. They tore the paper in their hands to shreds and threw it in the air, as if a pot of water had finally boiled over. Obviously, something had happened again.

'Shit! Why has the damn ruble fallen again? This morning it was rising nicely, but now it's fallen like this?'

'I just exchanged my US dollars for rubles, hoping that it would rise a bit more, but why has it fallen so suddenly? And why is the stock of South Oil Company also falling? This is just not logical!'

'This must be the result of manipulation by the securities company. It must be those damned officials who have cheated us out of all our money. We cannot compromise with them. We absolutely cannot let them cheat us so easily. We must take back the money that belongs to us!'

...

Everyone in the hall was yelling and screaming in anger. In the end, someone even smashed the computer in the trading hall to vent their anger.

The staff at the stock exchange were used to such situations. Just as the commotion in the hall was beginning, the security guards on duty at the door rushed in, followed by the police stationed there. A flurry of rubber batons brought many to heel, although some people in the crowd continued to curse them.

'You're the officials' dogs! You can't even feed yourselves, and yet you help those scumbags. Don't you know that it's because of them that our brothers and sisters have to go out onto the streets to sell their possessions, that they can't even afford the simplest things like black bread? It's all because of those evil securities companies. If it weren't for them, how could the rouble have fallen in value? How could Khrushchev have turned out like this? This is the evil Pandora's box. We must overthrow this evil. No one can be dominated by them anymore. Are you still going to help them?'

Some well-spoken people in the crowd began to persuade the police and security guards, who were suddenly a little confused. The facts were indeed as they said: the ruble had depreciated and prices had skyrocketed. Everything seemed to be the fault of this evil securities company. Why were they still guarding the place? They were not helping the evil devil, and they were doing a disservice to themselves and their families.

But this thought was only momentary, because at this time, there was once again a commotion in the corner of the trading floor.

'Mr. Il'yichov, it's Mr. Il'yichov!'

Amidst the cheers, a bald Jew walked into the trading floor. People made way for him, and Il'yichov soon reached the centre of the room. He climbed onto a table, stepping on chairs, with ease and familiarity.

Standing on the table, he looked down at the people below and said, 'Hello everyone, I think you all know me, I'm Il'yichov.'

A simple self-introduction reduced the commotion below a little, but there were still a lot of people whispering. Some people were surprised: 'So that's the major shareholder of this securities company? So he's manipulating the stock market and the ruble? I heard that he's also the boss of the United Bank and has recently been acquiring automobile and oil companies. He's a major tycoon in Northern Russia!'

Some people are used to it: 'There he is again. I reckon that whether it's the rise and fall of the stock market or the devaluation of the rouble, he's definitely behind it. Otherwise, why did he come out when we started a commotion here? Isn't it because he's afraid we'll expose his scam?'

Of course, there are also some people who admire him very much: 'They say that Jews can make money, and I didn't believe it before, but after seeing this Mr. Irbedov, I kind of believe it now. Now that we've only started the privatisation reform in Northern Russia for a few days, he has already bought the United Bank and now he has also taken over the securities company. I heard that his fortune is worth several hundred million US dollars, and he has several villas in Europe and the United States. This is really amazing!'

Il'yashin-Belikov enjoyed this feeling of being on top. He knew that the people below were evaluating him, both good and bad, but this didn't matter to Il'yashin-Belikov, because all these people needed to know was that he was now in charge.

However, Il'yashin-Belikov also understood that this was not the time to daydream. No matter how much the people below admired him, some things still had to be resolved.

With this in mind, Irbeldov said, 'I know that everyone has a lot of opinions about the securities company, and you may even think that I took your money. But I don't understand why you ignored the situation with stocks and rubles, which I wrote on the door, and now that you have lost money, you want to make trouble and break things here. Are you all still two or three year olds? Blaming others when you have a problem?'

'More importantly, there is simply no such thing as a sure-fire investment in this world. If any of you find one, please be the first to contact me,' Irbeldov said.

Ilbedov's words calmed the people below, who had just been agitated, because Ilbedov's words hit the nail on the head, especially his last sentence, which made people blush.

When something goes wrong, people are used to blaming others. This is true even in games, not to mention other aspects. This is a subconscious human behaviour. It sounds fine, but if you think about it, it is simply the way children think, because only children are so irresponsible and afraid to admit their own mistakes.

If a real scoundrel were here, he would find countless reasons to refute this, but at the moment, the Northern Russians here all just feel their faces blushing.

Ilbedov stood on the table, a head taller than the people below, and he had a panoramic view of their expressions.

Looking at the way these people looked, Ilbedov knew that his goal had been achieved. He had successfully used their pride to dissuade them from causing trouble here.

At this moment, Irbedov felt like he was possessed by Zhou Ming's spirit. He finally understood Zhou Ming's mood before his speech at Hotel No. 1 and at the banquet in Kuren. It was indeed intoxicating. He had a sense of accomplishment just convincing these people here. Then Zhou Ming was convincing those wealthy people, so his psychological comfort must be even better than his own.

But that's fine, Zhou Ming just started a little earlier than I did, and in a few years, I'll be able to surpass him.

Ilbedov thought to himself, but then he felt his heart jump, because he had seen a Chinese man walk in the door of the securities company. This Chinese man was none other than Zhou Ming, who had just come to mind.

Seeing that it was Zhou Ming, Irbedov immediately jumped off the table without thinking, and under the escort of bodyguards and security guards, he made his way through the crowd and arrived at the door in three strides.

Irbedov's actions immediately confused everyone present. Everyone looked at him running towards the door, completely unable to understand what he was doing. It wasn't until Irbedov ran to Zhou Ming at the door, took the initiative to shake his hand and bow to him, that everyone erupted in an uproar.

'What's going on? Just who is that Chinese guy? Mr. Irbedov is already the richest man in the North Russian Republic, right? Why would the Chinese guy want Irbedov to go and greet him? But as far as I can remember, the powerful families in China don't seem to do things like that.'

Everyone was speculating about Zhou Ming's identity, but Irbedov didn't care about that. He just shook Zhou Ming's hand because he knew very well who was responsible for his success today, and more importantly, Zhou Ming could take everything away from him at any time.

'Hello, Mr. Zhou Ming, thank you for coming to our Krisco Securities Company. I hope you can give us some guidance on our work.' Irbedov paid a compliment to Zhou Ming, and then he asked, "I know there is a Chinese proverb that says there is no such thing as a free lunch. I wonder what Mr. Zhou Ming is doing here this time?'

'Of course there is something," Zhou Ming said, 'We hope that the attitude of our securities company will change, and I also have something to discuss with you.'