Chapter 131: Let the bullets fly a little longer

In the morning, Zhou Ming walked out of the administration building and stretched as he faced the rising sun. At this time, an administrative official from the oilfield came over to ask Zhou Ming how their rest was, and told them that Pushkin was already there preparing breakfast for them, and they could go over there at any time.

Zhou Ming nodded to indicate that he had had a good rest. In fact, he did look very 'energetic', but Li Chengtong, who had followed him out, along with the others, Irbeldov and Sergeevsky, looked a little listless. This looked very strange, but in fact it was all due to Zhou Ming's final words yesterday.

From 30 to 40 percent to a final 50 percent success rate, Zhou Ming's answer surprised everyone and left them dumbfounded, because when they first arrived here, they saw that the oil workers were treated so badly, and they felt that if Zhou Ming really wanted to make a breakthrough here, there might be a chance. However, Zhou Ming pointed out to them the issue of Pushkin's control over the entire oilfield, and they then realised that their chances were not high.

Now, after just showing his control over the workers, it would be reasonable to think that the chances of success are even lower, but instead, Zhou Ming said that the chances have increased to 50%.

Originally, what they were worried about was Pushkin's control over the workers, but now that control is in place, the chances have increased. Isn't that contradictory?

However, Zhou Ming did not explain this in the end. After giving such an answer, he ended the conversation and went back to his room to sleep. Only Zhou Ming could sleep soundly without a care in the world, but the others could only carry a brain full of question marks. To this day, since they still do not understand what Zhou Ming meant, they have not been able to rest well, which has led to everyone's poor mental state today.

In contrast, Domer, who was persuaded to quit early by Irbedov yesterday, is actually the luckiest one. He didn't hear Zhou Ming's puzzling answer, so his mental state is very good.

Zhou Ming and the others followed the oilfield officials to the canteen. Pushkin and the other oilfield officials were waiting here. They greeted Zhou Ming and the others warmly. No matter how they felt in their hearts, they still did a good job of paying formalities. Breakfast consisted of cow's milk bread and eggs. It wasn't exactly sumptuous, but it was very attentive. After all, this was just an oilfield in the middle of the wilderness, not some kind of star hotel, so what could possibly be good here?

Afterwards, Zhou Ming and the others sat down to have breakfast with Pushkin. This would have been a very normal situation. While having breakfast, Pushkin asked Zhou Ming about his schedule for the day, and they exchanged pleasantries. However, an unexpected situation occurred at this time. The sound of a plate landing on the floor was very abrupt.

Zhou Ming and the others looked back and saw a little girl in ragged clothes standing at the back of the kitchen door, staring at the people in the room, a little overwhelmed, and dropping a few egg tarts in front of her.

Seeing this little girl, Pushkin was unhappy: 'Whose child is this? How can she just come in so casually?'

Facing Pushkin's questioning, a cook hurriedly ran out of the kitchen to apologise to Pushkin: 'Mr Pushkin, I'm very sorry. I didn't keep an eye on the child. I didn't know he would come to the kitchen and steal food. I'll let him go right away. Please don't be angry, everyone.'

The layout of the canteen at the oilfield is actually very interesting. This canteen is the only canteen at the oilfield, and both the oil workers and other people eat here. Of course, in order to distinguish between the workers and the leaders, or other people who may come for inspections, there are also several private rooms specially set up here. Zhou Ming and the others, as distinguished guests that Pushkin must accompany no matter how unhappy he is, are naturally arranged to eat in the private room, and the location of the private room is just the closest to the kitchen.

It was also because of this layout that when this little girl stole something, perhaps the tart was just out of the oven and very hot, and the little girl's hand was a bit anxious and got burned, so she knocked over the whole tray of tarts, alarming the people in the box.

This plot is not difficult to guess, in fact, when they saw the little girl's tattered clothes and dirty little face, they already guessed.

The chef over there said something and led the little girl out of the box. The little girl looked pitifully at the egg tart on the floor and said, 'My egg tart.'

The little girl's voice was not loud, but it startled the chef who came out. The chef raised his hand and slapped the little girl's face hard, then scolded her, 'What do you mean your tart? This is the tart of the adults over there. You were wrong to steal their food in the first place, so how dare you say that? You better apologize to these adults quickly!'

After saying that, the chef turned his head to apologise to Zhou Ming and the others, but before he could say anything, Su Han on this side refused to accept it: 'What is the matter with you people bullying a little girl? Since she is hungry, let her eat, anyway we can't finish all this food.'

Su Han said, then picked up a glass of milk, grabbed a piece of bread and walked towards the little girl, saying to her, 'Little sister, are you hungry? Why don't you take this glass of milk and the bread and eat them? They're delicious.'

Su Han was speaking Chinese, and the little girl was a Northern Russian. She obviously didn't understand what Su Han was saying, and just looked at Su Han with wide eyes, confused. She looked at the milk and bread in Su Han's hands, and finally squatted down and quickly picked up the egg tart that had fallen to the ground and shoved it into her mouth.

The little girl obviously just wanted to eat the egg tart and didn't want the milk bread. The chef behind her heard Kalelina's translation and was shocked. He reached out and slapped the egg tart out of the little girl's hand, and angrily shouted, 'This lady is giving you milk bread, aren't you grateful to her, and you want to eat more egg tarts?'

Afterwards, he looked up and apologised to Su Han: 'My dear lady, I apologise. She is so ill-mannered. She is used to being vulgar in the oil fields and has no sense of propriety. I hope you will not be offended. I will take her away immediately and not delay your meal.'

The chef was about to pull the little girl away after he finished speaking, but Su Han firmly placed the milk and bread in front of him.

The chef was stunned at first. He subconsciously glanced over at Pushkin over there, and only after seeing Pushkin nod to him did he dare to take the milk and bread that Su Han handed him. However, his movements were very careful, and he was even afraid that his oily hands would 'make' dirty Su Han's white hands.

Sitting back down at the table, Pushkin said apologetically, 'We have lax management here, and we actually let such a little thing sneak in and steal food. I hope we haven't disturbed your appetite, otherwise I would be guilty of a great sin.'

After listening to Pushkin's words, Su Han spoke first without waiting for Zhou Ming and the others to speak: 'Mr. Pushkin, you really have sinned too much, but I don't think you should apologize to me, but to these poor oil workers. They work so hard every day, but now their children can't even eat an egg tart. How can anyone bear to see this?'

In the face of Su Han's accusations, Pushkin just laughed apologetically, 'Ms. Su also saw that our conditions are so poor, which is why we need you gentlemen and ladies to help us!'

Pushkin's brazen words made Su Han feel very angry. She wanted to say something else, but she was stopped by Zhou Ming. Su Han then remembered that with the other person's personality and the status of the people here, no matter what she said, it would be useless.

After breakfast, Pushkin went to arrange the morning's activities, while Zhou Ming and the others sat in the cafeteria's private room, resting and drinking tea or coffee to clear their minds.

'It seems that these oil workers are still very afraid of Pushkin and the others. Even if it's just a glass of milk and a piece of bread, as long as they don't have their approval, these people don't dare to take it,' Tong Gang sighed, 'Zhou Ming, do you still think there's a 50% chance?'

'Fifty percent is definitely gone,' Zhou Ming said with a smile.

This answer made Tong Gang stunned for the first time, not because Zhou Ming would answer so readily, but because of the expression on his face when he said it, a confident smile, as if the current situation was just as he had expected, and it was still the best situation.

Because of this doubt, Tong Gang asked very unconfidently, "So, Zhou Ming, what percentage do you think there is?'

Zhou Ming held up his thumb and forefinger: "Almost 80%.'

In fact, Tong Gang expected this answer from Zhou Ming, but when he actually heard Zhou Ming say it, he sincerely felt puzzled. He didn't understand why Zhou Ming, who had initially been worried that the more pressure Pushkin and the others put on the oil workers, the greater the chance of success he felt. Wasn't that completely contradictory?

Tong Gang didn't understand, and Irbedov and Sergeevsky also stared at Zhou Ming with wide eyes. Domer even opened his mouth and asked, 'Why is it 80%?'

Although Domer was persuaded to go to bed last night, he is not completely brainless. After a night of thinking, and perhaps someone talking to him, he understood a little, so when he heard Zhou Ming say this, he immediately asked out loud.

Zhou Ming explained, 'The reason is very simple. Don't you think that if they keep oppressing these oil workers like this, these workers will have a hard time and the workers will increasingly want to overthrow them? Just like past revolutions.'

If Zhou Ming's previous answer only made them feel unexpectedly surprised, then Zhou Ming's explanation of this answer completely 'confused' them.

Where there is oppression, there is resistance. This is a well-known saying, and they all believe it, but the problem is that this saying is not always realised.

With this in mind, Tong Gang reminded Zhou Ming, 'But as far as I know, these workers have been working here for at least five years. If they had any ideas, wouldn't they have rebelled long ago? Why are they still letting Pushkin and the others bully them?'

'A lot of things just lack an opportunity. Everyone, don't worry, let the bullets fly for a while longer,' said Zhou Ming.