Chapter 104: Just Like That

Through Huang He's account, Li Xian understood the current situation in Russia; Gaidar's economic shock therapy had now reached a critical stage.

Since the government deregulated 90% of consumer goods prices and 80% of production materials prices in January, prices had skyrocketed, stabilizing briefly before shooting up like a kite with a broken string. By January, the price of consumer goods in Russia had increased more than sixty times compared to the previous month.

Due to the premature deregulation of raw materials and fuel prices, industrial goods prices had risen more than twenty times by June. Factories and businesses had cut back on production, leading to a vicious cycle where neither side could afford to buy nor produce goods, causing a market deadlock.

According to the normal plan, the government intended to implement a "tight monetary and fiscal" policy, restricting government spending. However, to stimulate the market, the government had no choice but to increase the issuance of money. Huang He said that in January, 1,000 rubles could cover a family's expenses for a week, but now, it was not even enough to buy a good pair of shoes.

The recent broadcast mentioned Gaidar's meeting speech.

The gist was that the reform was fraught with risks and crises because state-owned enterprises were not market entities, competition mechanisms were ineffective, and price reforms were like building a tower on sand—collapsing at the slightest disturbance. To accelerate privatization, privatization securities had been issued to every legal resident of Russia, but due to the slow progress, the government was encouraging people to freely purchase shares in businesses or factories.

"Hey! With such a good opportunity for free, go and buy it!"

Upon hearing this, Xu Maohé became interested.

Huang He sighed, "They keep talking about buying shares, but what's the point? Most factories are closed, and even if you get shares, you won't make any money. What's the use?"

"Where did all the subscription vouchers go?!" Li Xian stood up from his chair, anxious.

"Some people said that one subscription voucher could be exchanged for fifty thousand rubles. We had three vouchers, and we exchanged them for money. Five times the subscription amount, and the money wasn't even enough for a month's worth of food. Sigh…"

Li Xian slumped back into his chair.

Damn, he was still too late!

But thinking about it, such a huge opportunity wouldn't go unnoticed by others. Moreover, even if he acquired enough vouchers, as a foreigner, it would be difficult to take over ownership of the factories.

He vaguely felt something was amiss, as if he had overlooked some key detail.

In the whole process of economic shock therapy, December 1992 was a crucial month, and there would certainly be a wave of middleman feasts.

But where was the key point? And through what means?

Lost in thought, Li Xian was shown to his guest room by Huang He.

Despite Russia's current economic difficulties, it must be said that the infrastructure in this core country of the former Soviet Union was quite well established. Even in a remote city like Chita, there were tall apartment buildings, natural gas, and hot water pipes. Every household had a telephone, and making calls was free.

However, to make international calls, one still had to go to a special place, so Li Xian couldn't contact his home country for now.

To conduct his middleman business, Huang He had rented a room from a neighbor. The room was spacious enough, and the three of them had a room each.

While Li Xian was lost in his thoughts and taking a shower, he heard a knock on the door. Thinking it was Xu Maohé or Wang Tiecheng, he wrapped a towel around himself and opened the door.

To his surprise, Huang He's daughter, Kaja, was standing at the door in a silk nightgown!

It was clear that under the nightgown… it was obviously empty.

Li Xian swore!

He had never encountered such a situation in all his years.

Seeing Li Xian's wide-eyed stare, Kaja's fair face flushed slightly. "Hello, sir. I'm sorry to disturb you while you're bathing. But some of my things are in the room. Can I…"

She pointed towards the room.

Although Kaja looked like any other Russian girl, perhaps because of her father, her Mandarin had some involuntary retroflex sounds but was still fairly standard.

"Ah, oh!" Li Xian realized that staring at the girl like this was quite impolite. He quickly secured his towel and stepped aside.

Seeing his flustered face, Kaja smiled gently, sliding her long legs into the room and bending over the bed.

The silk-wrapped waist and hips made Li Xian feel his eyes were not enough.

Kaja rummaged under the bed for a long time, then happily exclaimed as she pulled out a pair of red ballet shoes. However, after getting the shoes, she did not leave. Instead, she scanned the room and then turned her gaze back to Li Xian.

"Sir, I need some dollars…" After hesitating, she spoke up.

Li Xian was stunned, unable to react, "What do you need dollars for?"

Kaja looked at his expression suspiciously. After confirming that Li Xian was not joking, she smiled wryly, "I… I want to leave here. To Belarus, Ukraine, Europe—anywhere, I just don't want to stay here."

Even with low emotional intelligence, Li Xian realized at that moment:

This isn't about finding shoes?

This is about seeking a way out!

He felt a shiver run down his spine, and the image of Qiao Shan flashed before his eyes like a volcanic eruption. In both the normal twenty-one years and these abnormal few months, he had never truly had a woman.

Looking at Kaja's shy yet somewhat seductive expression, Li Xian couldn't help but swallow. "What did you just say?"

Seeing Li Xian's eyes now filled with greed, Kaja felt a bit of heat. "I… I need dollars."

"Not that sentence, the next one!" Li Xian's voice rose by an octave.

Kaja was startled by his sudden intensity. After thinking for a long time, she weakly said, "I… I… I want to leave here, go to Ukraine, Belarus, Europe—anywhere?"

"Right! I got it! I got it!" Li Xian, excited, picked up Kaja and spun her around.

"Ah! You're hurting me!" Kaja exclaimed in surprise.

After spinning around several times, Li Xian rushed to the bedside, took out 200 dollars from his clothes pocket, and handed them to Kaja.

"From tomorrow, you will be my translator for the entire process! Dress nicely and take me to the places where Chita officials and businessmen frequently go!"

Kaja was bewildered, clearly not understanding what this wealthy Chinese person was thinking, "What about tonight?"

She asked hesitantly.

"Get back to your room and go to sleep!"

Stunned, Kaja was unceremoniously tossed out the door, like garbage.