Chapter 102: This is the Jianghu

In recent days, the mute girl seemed to be deliberately avoiding him. Li Xian hadn't seen her at all. After finishing all the affairs at the factory, he set off for Harbin.

He had originally planned to go alone, but considering that he would be in a foreign country in Russia, he decided it would be better to bring someone along. So, he called Wang Tiecheng down from the mountain.

Upon arrival and meeting up with Xu Maohé, Li Xian realized that being a "middleman" in this era was no simple matter.

Usually, obtaining a passport to travel abroad is very troublesome, involving months of political review procedures. However, Xu Maohé only took Li Xian and Wang Tiecheng to the Civil Affairs Bureau with their ID cards, and they received their documents on the third day.

Just from this experience, Li Xian was convinced that Xu Maohé had impressive connections. But Xu Maohé claimed to be just an ordinary figure in the world of middlemen.

This led Li Xian to wonder what a top-tier middleman must be like.

"What's it like? Heh heh…" Xu Maohé responded to Li Xian's question, smirking and pointing his thumb upwards. "Mou Qizhong, Master Mou! He swapped 500 carriages of small goods for four TU-154 planes. Isn't that impressive? He's a national treasure level middleman. And let's not forget Cheng Liuxian from Harbin. He once chartered nine entire carriages to ship goods! That's what you call true influence."

Seeing Xu Maohé's prideful expression, Li Xian couldn't help but be taken aback, gaining a deeper understanding of the madness of this era.

With a rosy fantasy of the middleman world, Li Xian exchanged over 200,000 RMB for US dollars.

Noticing that Li Xian had no plans to stock up, Xu Maohé was puzzled. After the dissolution of the Soviet Union, Russia lacked a light industry system in the western regions. Although it had advanced heavy industry at the time, the light industry was extremely weak. While planes and tanks were abundant in warehouses, everyday items like toothpaste, toothbrushes, and soap were in high demand and scarce.

To what extent was it scarce?

At the time of the Soviet collapse, you could trade a truckload of watermelons for a T-34 tank that could still run!

Thus, middlemen typically took various goods and clothing from China to Russia, using barter to obtain Russian products and make a profit. The classic example was Mou Qizhong exchanging canned goods for airplanes.

Facing Xu Maohé's curiosity, Li Xian gave a mysterious smile and did not elaborate further.

Feigning mystery, Xu Maohé did not probe further. He prepared 500 down jackets, compressed them into one large package using a press machine, and with the help of his six assistants, boarded the K33 train to Russia, which traveled via Harbin and Manzhouli.

Upon boarding the train, Li Xian's rosy fantasy about middlemen completely vanished.

The train was packed with large and small bundles, and the voices of people from all over mixed together. Most people were dressed sloppily, resembling a refugee army.

Seeing Li Xian's disappointed expression, Xu Maohé, wrapped in a military coat, smiled slightly and pointed at a group of people sitting cross-legged and playing cards with their shoes off.

"These Wenzhou folks sell fake Nike, fake Adidas, and down jackets stuffed with poor quality cotton along the railway. Damn it, they make ten or so per trip. The reputation of middlemen like us is bound to be tarnished by these people sooner or later."

While introducing the factions within the middleman world, Xu Maohé suddenly gaped in shock.

"Liu Changqing, damn it!"

With an expletive, he jumped up from his seat and rushed towards the aisle.

Li Xian turned around to see a middle-aged man in a blue wool coat, white shirt, and neatly tied tie walking with a young woman.

Xu Maohé's shout drew everyone's attention in the carriage, including the man, who looked surprised and stepped back.

As Xu Maohé tried to grab the man by the collar, several people behind him surged forward to block Xu Maohé.

The man hid behind his assistants, sighed, and then looked at Xu Maohé with a smile, "Old Xu, it's really you! Oh, I haven't seen you in a long time. How have you been? Where have you been making money lately?"

Li Xian noticed that Xu Maohé's face twisted upon seeing this person.

Xu Maohé's six assistants also stood up from their seats and moved closer.

The atmosphere in the carriage, which was relaxed before, became tense. Li Xian observed that everyone in the carriage had grouped together, standing silently in front of their respective goods.

Xu Maohé looked at the man's unnatural smile and spat on the ground. "Damn you!"

The man was not embarrassed. He stepped back, smiled, and said, "Old Liu, I need to say something. Are we still on about that trivial matter? A few days ago, I was thinking of making money with you. I heard you've been dealing in production materials recently. There's plenty of that in Chita. I was thinking of swapping some with you."

"Old Liu, who's this?" During the conversation, the woman with the curly hair leaned against the man and pointed at Xu Maohé with her chin.

"Oh, this is Xu Maohé, whom I mentioned to you before. He's my brother." The man patted the woman's hand and smiled.

"Liu Changqing, how dare you even mention the word 'brother'?" Xu Maohé said coldly, pointing at the woman. "You've been changing women frequently. Who have you swindled money from recently?"

Despite the repeated mockery, the man was not angry. He patted the woman's hand and nodded. "Niece, niece…"

"Niece your ass! Liu Changqing, if I catch you today, I'll break one of your arms. I'll make you take my surname!" Xu Maohé spat through his teeth.

Facing the threat, the man smiled and looked at his assistants. "Well, you'll need to have that ability."

Just as Xu Maohé was signaling his assistants who had already reached into their pockets, another group of people entered the carriage.

The leader of the group was a burly man in a wool coat, with somewhat disheveled white hair. Seeing the tense atmosphere in the carriage, he stopped in his tracks.

"Master Cheng Liuxian."

Someone around greeted him. Li Xian was immediately drawn to this title and carefully examined the man.

The man nodded slightly to those who greeted him, walked over to Li Xian, and stood next to him. He looked at Xu Maohé and Liu Changqing and said in a deep voice, "What's going on here?"

Xu Maohé turned around, his anger slightly subsided, and nodded. "Master Cheng, it's a personal grudge."

"Xiao Xu, I've heard a bit about your situation. It's some messy business, and I shouldn't interfere. But since we're still on the train, you two better keep it down. If you have grievances, sort them out after we get off."

Cheng Liuxian's words made Xu Maohé grind his teeth. He glared at Liu Changqing and said in a low voice, "Wait and see."

Liu Changqing chuckled, clasped his hands in salute to Cheng Liuxian, and then glanced at Xu Maohé with a smug look. "Remember, from now on, your surname will be Liu."

After saying that, he took the woman by the hand and led his assistants to the next carriage.

Watching Liu Changqing depart, Cheng Liuxian patted Xu Maohé on the shoulder and led his entourage away.

Returning to his seat, Li Xian noticed Xu Maohé's lingering confusion. Xu Maohé sighed and, after a moment of contemplation, recounted his past experiences in Russia in detail:

Liu Changqing was originally the head of the supply department at Harbin Yongsheng Machinery Factory, responsible for procuring auto parts from Russia. Xu Maohé had known him since he was eighteen or nineteen, making him an old acquaintance.

People who frequently traveled to Russia had no fixed items for trading, usually dealing in whatever was in demand. With a keen market sense, Xu Maohé had earned over two million in the past few years.

At the height of his success, Liu Changqing approached him, saying that there was a batch of auto parts in Chita that needed to be sold urgently but lacked the funds. He wanted to partner with Xu Maohé to buy them.

When Xu Maohé arrived, he confirmed the deal and agreed. However, Liu Changqing suggested that instead of normal customs procedures, they should pack the auto parts in barrels, with partitions nailed in, and declare them as nails to lower customs duties. Xu Maohé, momentarily foolish, agreed.

But when Xu Maohé returned to China and saw the goods at the Manzhouli customs inspection, he was shocked to find that the barrels were filled with actual nails—nails that were worthless domestically.

In this transaction, Xu Maohé lost all the goods he had traded for the auto parts. What was worse, the customs declaration was indeed for nails, leaving him with no recourse. When he sought out Liu Changqing, he found he had vanished. Furious and embarrassed, Xu Maohé returned to Harbin and swore off Russia.

Hearing Xu Maohé's experience, Li

 Xian couldn't help but feel sympathy.

Looking out at the vast snowy landscape, he felt a deep chill.

This, truly, is the Jianghu!