Chapter 87: For the sake of profit

Villa 8, the headquarters of the Dota Project in Northern Russia, is a large building. In addition to a very grand castle-like building in the centre, there is also a very large courtyard at the back. In the morning, after the sun rises above the horizon, the two key figures, Meta and Davie, play tennis on an open-air tennis court in the courtyard. 

For these wealthy Westerners, physical fitness is a very important indicator, so unless they have something particularly important to do, they will definitely set aside a certain amount of time for physical exercise, whether it's running, playing a sport, or whatever.

Not only is this how they see it, but only people with no ability and no brains work hard every day, trading their lives for money; more importantly, they all understand the importance of physical fitness.

For example, in business negotiations, people generally think that it is a competition between the two sides in terms of information and negotiation skills. This concept is correct, but it is based on the premise that there is a difference in the level of the two sides in the negotiation. But who among those who have truly reached the pinnacle of life is not a person? Who doesn't work hard on information and negotiation skills? So since everyone is about the same in these two areas, the final competition can only be the willpower of both sides.

How can someone with poor physical fitness gain an advantage in willpower? You have to understand that a major business negotiation is likely to last several days or even half a month.

As the saying goes, the business world is like a battlefield. During this time, if one person gives up first, they will easily lose the initiative and be led by the nose.

It is also the pursuit of physical fitness. Therefore, when you meet the real aristocrats in the West, whether they are royal aristocrats or wealthy consortia, most of them keep their figures in good shape, which is the result of their regular exercise. Therefore, the saying of 'rich, handsome and talented' is not unfounded. At least in the upper circles of the West, unless their physical condition does not permit, otherwise there will rarely be a fat and lazy person.

With a backhand, Maita hit a very high-quality moonball, and the tennis ball flew over the top of David's head, where he could not reach it, and finally landed in the court.

Seeing this result, Davie stopped in his tracks, took off his tennis cap and exclaimed to Maita on that side, 'Mr. Maita is worthy of being a member of the tennis association at his old school. Although more than 30 years have passed, it seems that Mr. Maita is still in good shape!'

'I think this is the result of your lack of exercise. If you can go to the court and play a few shots when you're not busy, I think I'll have a hard time. After all, you're much younger than me,'

Maita said to Davier, and waved at him. They walked off the court together, and someone immediately came over to take their racket caps and give them towels and drinks.

Davier wiped the sweat from his face and said, 'What Mr. Maita is talking about is the red clay of France. I think it is only on that kind of soft court that my age and physical strength can be brought into full play. If it were just about skill, God, I think I would only be good for running back and forth.'

Metta smiled and said, 'That's not necessarily the case. How to turn your advantages into winning advantages is the most important thing. I think in this regard, Davie, you are lacking a lot. I think that Chinese Zhou Ming has done quite well in this regard, and even I admire him a little.'

'Sometimes I wonder if I should give him some money to compensate him after the Dota project is over and give him a chance to make a comeback. After all, I still have high expectations for his future,' Metta said.

'Mr. Mata is still doing unexpected things,'

Davier said casually, taking Mata's previous remark as a joke. Although he also thought that the Chinese Zhou Ming did have real skills, his conditions were there, and that was about it.

But since they had started talking about this topic, they couldn't stop, and they sat together on the side chairs, watching the servants busily maintaining the lawn on the field.

While watching, Davie said, 'Mr. Meta, after you spoke to Mr. Nikolic on the phone yesterday, he immediately stopped all transactions at the securities company, including some of our transactions at the securities company, and even our transactions on the black market, which was greatly affected.'

Meta nodded and said, 'This is unavoidable. There is an old Chinese saying that killing one thousand enemies will hurt oneself by eight hundred. After all, our goal is the same as theirs. Now the practice of currency replacement in Northern Russia has also disrupted us. However, we have more resources and channels than they do, so our advantage is that we will have more options than they do when dealing with these situations.'

Davier very much agreed with Metta's words. In fact, this was the reason why he had always looked down on Zhou Ming. As the person in charge of the Dota Project, Davier had a sense of pride in himself.

In addition to his pride, the supporters behind the Dota Project are all top European and American consortia and governments, and accordingly, these consortia and countries will definitely provide them with the corresponding resources and assistance. For example, the simplest and most direct way is that if they need to spend the old rubles in their hands through the capital market, they don't even need to wait for the securities companies in Northern Russia to open, because the capital markets all over the world are available.

They can choose to buy Northern Russian government bonds on the London Stock Exchange, which is closer, and then exchange these old rubles for new rubles through the British government.

It sounds very simple, but only those with access to a large amount of Western resources can do it. For those Chinese people, there is no way they can do it. How would those proud Anglo-Saxons possibly help these Chinese people?

Davyier felt relieved, but Maita was still worried. He put down the cup in his hand and asked Davyier, 'But what about the situation in the Cherv market now? I always have a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.'

Hearing Mr. Maita's concerns, Davier suddenly frowned as if he had remembered something. He replied to Mr. Maita, 'The situation at the Cherv Market is very strange. Although Mr. Nikolic personally went to the securities company yesterday to give orders, and the securities company has also stopped all transactions, the Cherv Market is still very busy.'

Davier thought for a moment and added, 'Compared to the previous peak trading volume, it has decreased, but it is still in the tens of millions.'

Meita gasped in surprise: 'There's such a thing? This is so abnormal.'

It was indeed abnormal, because the Cherv Market was now one of the very few places in Northern Russia that still strongly supported the old ruble. And after they had gone to the capital market to exchange a large amount of new rubles, they should have switched to another method, even if they did not go out of business. But what was their situation now? Were they not afraid that all the old rubles they received would be in their hands? Were they really doing charity work in Northern Russia?

If not, then it means they must have other ideas!

As if to prove their judgment, as soon as our words fell, Wilhelm hurriedly ran into the stadium, ignoring the fact that the servants had just maintained the stadium's lawn and stepped directly on it. He came to the front of Metta and Davie and reported to Metta, 'Just received news from the London Stock Exchange, they asked if you have made a large transaction of old rubles.'

'A large transaction in old roubles? I was planning to do that, but I haven't done it yet.'

Mata said, and Davie and he exchanged glances. They both had a bad feeling, and Mata immediately asked, 'William, what else did the London Stock Exchange say? Why did they suddenly ask that?'

'Because a huge amount of capital entered the pound market this morning, and since the exchange opened, the exchange rate of the pound against the old ruble has continued to rise. Then this capital was exchanged for the US dollar and the German mark, causing the entire London foreign exchange market to fluctuate very strongly. They think it was influenced by the Dota Project, so they called to inquire,' William replied.

'Chinese, could it be those Chinese people from Zhou Ming?' This was David's first reaction.

Maita did not rush to make any conclusions, and he still asked William, 'The London Stock Exchange is a well-established market with a strong anti-speculation mechanism. No one would allow any large sums of money to manipulate the market. With this kind of market volatility, they would definitely want to trace the source of the funds that caused the volatility. Have you found anything?'

William nodded and said, 'The result is that it came from Northern Russia, using an account of a joint bank and securities company on the London Stock Exchange.'

'What did you say? An account of a Northern Russian securities company on the London Stock Exchange? How is that possible? Wasn't the Northern Russian securities company forcibly shut down yesterday?'

David immediately asked in surprise, and although Maeta didn't say anything, he also revealed a very confused expression, as he didn't understand what was going on either.

William said, 'The London Stock Exchange said that this was a trading procedure that had been set up a long time ago.'

Upon hearing this answer, Maita was first stunned, and then he gave a bitter smile and said, 'It seems that the Chinese were prepared for this!'

Davyier on the other side thought about it carefully before responding, 'So the Chinese were taking advantage of such a loophole? They are downright shameless scoundrels!'

On the other hand, William, who had come to pass on the news, was a little slow on the uptake: 'How come the Chinese are using the transaction to start the priority completion setting to help the Bank of Northern Russia and the securities company exchange foreign currency and new rubles? But isn't this a violation of the president's order? How dare they help the Chinese play this borderline game? Aren't they afraid of annoying their president?'

'Because of the benefits,' Davier said in a word, getting to the heart of the matter. 'The head of the securities company is a North Russian businessman named Irbedov, and the United Bank is also his property. If he helps Zhou Ming make this deal, then such a large amount of money going in and out of his bank will create a lot of benefits for him, and I'm sure there are other benefits agreed upon between them.'

But in the end, Davier was also puzzled. He said uncertainly, 'I just wonder why the market in Cherv is still so prosperous now that the old rubles have obviously been spent. Do the Chinese really think that we won't notice?'

'Maybe that's because he can see further,' said Meta.