Chapter 59: Together, we can save the world

'Oh my god! Is this for real? I hope I'm not mistaken. The Chinese guy just said he had something to discuss with Mr. Irbedov, and Mr. Irbedov invited him into the reception room. The respectful attitude was so impressive that if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes, I would have thought it was the head of state!

'I also heard the Chinese man say that he wanted to change the attitude of the securities company. What does that mean? Does it mean that Mr. Irbedov is not the boss of the securities company, and that the Chinese man is? But isn't China even poorer than us, and do we need to help them? How could they possibly have the money to come here and buy a securities company? God, this must be the world's worst nightmare!'

'This must not be true. Those Chinese people are ignorant. We taught them all they know. Even we only have a smattering of knowledge about stocks and securities, so how could they possibly understand? He must be a Chinese American. In fact, he is not really Chinese. He has another identity, that of a major American capitalist. It must be like that!'

...

The entire trading floor was in an uproar, and everyone's face was full of surprise. Obviously, they all found Zhou Ming's arrival incredible, and they could not accept the conversation between Zhou Ming and Yelbeldov just now.

After all, no matter what the current situation in the Soviet Union is, at least they were once a superpower. Even if their status has declined a lot now, these Northern Russians still have the pride of being nationals of a great power in their bones. How can they accept the fact that their former juniors have climbed above them?

Since they cannot accept it, but the facts are ironclad, then these people can only choose to find a way to save face for themselves.

Zhou Ming could only shake his head helplessly at the performance of these Northern Russians, but he was not interested in educating these proud Northern Russians, because he had come here today to do something very important.

Zhou Ming followed Irbedov into the reception room of the securities company. Irbedov personally brewed a cup of coffee for each of the three of them before sitting down and happily saying to Zhou Ming, 'Mr Zhou Ming, you were absolutely right. This securities company and financial market is indeed a great place to make money. Every day, tens of millions of rubles are rolling around in the market, and if you move a little bit of it around, that's a huge income!'

Zhou Ming just smiled and didn't say anything, because this kind of market manipulation by Irbedov was actually very bad, but under the totalitarian system, this was the most normal thing. Even twenty years later, there were still CEOs of listed companies in the country who regarded the stock market as the company's best ATM, shouting that robbing a bank was illegal, but robbing money in the stock market was reasonable and legal?

Irbeldov continued, 'And there's the ruble thing. I never thought that the game of money could be played like this. Just send out a little message, and everyone goes crazy, exchanging their rubles for dollars, which results in the further devaluation of the ruble.'

'And more importantly, with the tower plan leading the way, we just need to follow behind them and pick up the money. It's so effortless to make money this way!'

Irbeldov said gleefully, while in the face of Irbeldov's excitement, Katerina seemed a little nervous. Although she didn't show it on the surface, Zhou Ming felt her hand had clenched into a fist.

Zhou Ming of course understood why she was like this, because she was worried that once their money-making plan started, it would be impossible to stop.

On the way to the securities company, Katerina had worriedly told Zhou Ming about this, and Zhou Ming's response to her was to reassure her. Zhou Ming said that since he was confident enough to come and talk about this, and since he had the ability to get this started, then he had the ability to make him stop at any time.

Zhou Ming's reply was very confident, but Kareina was still worried. She couldn't help worrying, even if she trusted Zhou Ming even more, because it was not a matter of difficulty to make a group of people start making money or to make them stop making money! It was easy to make people make money, but it was difficult to make them stop making money.

Understanding Karelina's thoughts, Zhou Ming gently patted the back of her hand and then said to Il'yichov, 'Mr. Il'yichov, I came to see you today to talk to you about stopping the devaluation of the ruble.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming...are you joking with me?' Il'yichov asked blankly, completely unprepared for Zhou Ming's sudden remark.

Zhou Ming shook his head and said, 'I'm not joking. I'm serious. The depreciation of the ruble should slow down now. At least it won't do us any good if we continue.'

'Why is that? Mr. Zhou Ming, I remember that the ruble has not yet reached the lowest point you mentioned. There is still a lot of room for depreciation. Why should we stop now?' Irbedov asked immediately.

'Don't you think we should stop now, Mr. Irbedov?' Zhou Ming asked instead of answering.

'Of course not, because I think this is the most active time in our North Russian financial sector, and it is also the time when the ruble can exert its greatest value. Every day, tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of dollars are rolling in here. As long as the ruble depreciates by even 1%, we can make millions of dollars in profits. At this rate of making money, even if the entire US printing press collectively starts operating, I'm afraid it will be impossible to do so.'

Irbedov said to Zhou Ming, 'So Mr. Zhou Ming, I don't understand, while my partners and I are making money, why do you want me to stop?'

'Please forgive me for being blunt. Now,' Irbedov concluded, 'although I respect you very much, I am more responsible to my business partners, and I also know that you, Mr. Zhou Ming, also need to be responsible to the Hong Kong City consortium behind you, right? So I hope Mr. Zhou Ming can be more careful and not say such irresponsible things.'

'But Mr. Il'bedov, what if I told you that I said I would give up the devaluation of the ruble precisely because I have discovered a better way to make money?' Zhou Ming asked in return.

Il'bedov was stunned at this news, and then asked Zhou Ming, 'Is this true? Is there any business that can make money better than following the Dota Project?'

Irbeldov asked this question to Zhou Ming, but Zhou Ming could hear a lot of distrust in his tone. In fact, this was normal, because in Zhou Ming's previous analysis, the wealth of the Soviet Union that the Dota Project was going to plunder this time could reach a huge amount of 20 trillion. Such a large sum of money, if it leaked out a little, would be a huge amount of wealth that ordinary people could never see even if they struggled for many lifetimes.

More importantly, during this period of time, Irbedov had already seen the charm of money through his manipulation of finance at the securities company. How could he possibly believe in Zhou Ming's words so easily?

This is what Kalelina is worried about, so after hearing Irbedov's tone of distrust, she became nervous again. However, Zhou Ming's next sentence immediately turned the situation around. Zhou Ming said, 'I admit that nothing will be more profitable than the Dota Project, but I wonder if Mr. Irbedov has thought about another question.'

'Mr. Zhou Ming, what is the question?' Irbedov asked with great concern.

'Will the money from the Dota Project be ours?' Zhou Ming asked.

Strictly speaking, Zhou Ming's question was not a question at all. The Dota Project had originally had little to do with them. It was a plan by Western countries to plunder Soviet assets. So in that case, how could the money plundered by the Dota Project still be theirs?

The answer seemed obvious, but now, as Irbedov heard it, it made him ponder.

And at this time, Zhou Ming continued to strike while the iron was hot and said, 'It is undeniable that we have indeed gained great benefits by following the Tower Plan, but in doing so, we are always following others' lead and picking up scraps. In this way, we are completely beholden to others, and if the person in front of us suddenly turns his face away, what will happen to us?'

The clever Yelbeldov, a Jewish man, immediately thought of the crux of the problem, which also made him panic.

Because their money was following the Dota Project and had also been invested in the financial market, once the Dota Project wanted to play any tricks, it would be easy to get all their money trapped, just like those retail investors in Northern Russia. This was the last thing Yelbeldov wanted to see.

So he immediately asked Zhou Ming, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, have you heard anything?'

Zhou Ming smiled and said, 'How could I have heard anything? It's just a hunch. Because, Mr. Irbedov, just think about it: if you were leading the Dota Project, would you allow us to exist?'

Irbeldov shook his head. The answer was undoubtedly no. Although there is no saying on the European side of the bed that others should not be allowed to snore while sleeping, anyone with a little bit of dominance will not allow others to share their cake. So since this is not allowed, the natural result is to do everything possible to ruin the competition. It is said that the business world is like a battlefield, and it is necessary to be so cruel.

'But the devaluation of the rouble is still far from the bottom line you mentioned, Mr. Zhou Ming!'

Irbeldov said with a last glimmer of hope, but Zhou Ming's answer mercilessly crushed his hopes: 'If you do something when you reach the bottom line, what's the point? To get rid of your opponent, you have to do it before they can react.'

Irbeldov lowered his head: 'So what you mean, Mr. Zhou Ming, is that we have to get out now?'

'If I remember correctly, I didn't say that. I only said that we would be doing business in a different way,' said Zhou Ming.

Zhou Ming's tongue-twisting words made Irbedov's eyes light up. "So what do you want us to do next, Mr. Zhou Ming?'

'I want you to join me and be the saviour of the people of Northern Russia for once!" said Zhou Ming.