Chapter 108: Blood-Stained Fangs

Xu Maoh and had been elusive these past few days. Although the transaction for his batch of down jackets should have been completed, and the motorcycle transport nearly wrapped up, he still left early each day and returned later than Li Xian, who was out on his escapades.

Li Xian found this suspicious.

When he asked Xu Maoh and about his daily activities, Xu Maoh and only offered a vague, enigmatic smile, then retreated to his room without answering.

Though puzzled, Li Xian didn't press the issue due to his own busy schedule and went to bed after his nightly routine.

The next afternoon, he went straight to Alyosha, pretending that he had discussed with his domestic company about the $1000 acquisition price being too low. He said the company had agreed to raise the purchase price to $1500 for the 20 machines and $2000 for the 40 machines, provided that all necessary documentation was provided for shipping back to China.

Hearing this, Alyosha seemed somewhat disappointed but agreed after some hesitation.

When asked how many machines were needed, Li Xian, with great generosity, claimed they would take as many as available if the paperwork was complete.

Alyosha's face lit up with excitement at this news.

After leaving Alyosha, Li Xian went back to the club and intentionally spread the fabricated story he had told Alyosha, making sure it reached the ears of others in the club.

Meanwhile, in China.

At the temporary sales office of Xinlang Paper at the Beilin Paper Factory, phones were ringing off the hook.

Xinlang's high-quality sanitary paper had begun to gain traction in the ice city market, and driven by high sales profits, wholesalers were keen on this product that could attract repeat customers and generate profit.

However, these calls were not for placing orders but for urgent requests.

Chen Shulin, who had recently bought a batch of used embossing machines on Li Xian's orders, was now hoarse from answering too many calls. On top of that, he was frustrated.

After announcing the transfer of ownership of the paper factory, the employees had become disheartened. Despite Chen Shulin and Xu Dequan's attempts to get them back to work, the employees refused, insisting on demanding a resolution from the "government," much like Qiu Ju in the film "Qiu Ju's Lawsuit."

"Damn it, what are we going to do?!"

After hanging up yet another call demanding delivery, Chen Shulin turned to the distressed Xu Dequan.

"How should I know?" Xu Dequan replied with a look of resignation. "The factory manager shouldn't have paid the wages in advance. Now that they have their 10,000 rubles, they're well-fed and won't listen to us!"

As the two were discussing their predicament, a red Santana car drove into the factory.

In those days, the Santana was still a rare sight, with only a few in Beilin City. One of them was Liu Wanfa's vehicle.

But this red Santana was clearly not Liu Wanfa's.

Hearing the commotion, Chen Shulin and Xu Dequan hurried out and saw the long-lost factory manager Yuan Daqing stepping out of the car, accompanied by a portly middle-aged man, heading towards the workshop.

They exchanged glances and quickly followed.

When they caught up with Yuan Daqing and urged him to convince the workers to resume production, Yuan Daqing shrugged.

"Why are you looking for me? The subcontracting contract was signed with your factory manager, wasn't it? Didn't he manage to get the workers organized? If the workers aren't working now, don't blame me. Ask your factory manager to come!"

With that, he ignored them and led the middle-aged man into the workshop.

"Come, come, Mr. Zhou, this is our factory workshop. In terms of production capacity, our factory is the best in the region. If you take over this factory…"

Seeing Yuan Daqing's eagerness to make a sale, Chen Shulin spat in disgust.

"Damn it, look at that son of a bitch!"

Beside him, Xu Dequan, noticing that someone was visiting the factory just two days after the announcement, slapped his thigh.

"This is bad! If the factory is sold, not only will we be unable to get our current goods out, but we'll also be left in the lurch in the future!"

Chen Shulin was taken aback, realizing the more serious problem—if someone took over the Beilin Paper Factory and used their formula, they could potentially replicate their high-quality paper.

"Old Xu, you're in charge of production. Didn't you leak the formula for our Xinlang high-quality paper?"

Xu Dequan shook his head. "Of course not. How could I just give it away?"

"That's good, otherwise, without our subcontractor, other factories would get interested in our formula. If someone took over Beilin Paper Factory and started using our formula, our factory would be done for."

Xu Dequan slapped his thigh. "The formula doesn't matter! Even if you gather all the formula workers, can you keep the formula hidden?"

As the two were about to call Li Jie in panic, Yuan Daqing and Mr. Zhou came out of the workshop.

"Factory Manager Yuan, the factory looks good. Please help us with the introduction over at the district. If this deal goes through…"

"Certainly, certainly! Hahaha…"

...

In Chita.

After Li Xian increased the purchase price and promised cash in U.S. dollars, Alyosha and the other members of the Economic Reform Committee immediately took action.

Although Alyosha had benefited from the economic shock privatization wave, he had lost hope for this land amid the unprecedented domestic depression. Both he and the lower-class Kaja shared a deep resonance with the desire to leave this wretched place for better opportunities in Europe or America.

Transferring his assets was a necessary step, so Alyosha had been working on converting his real estate.

Being part of the system, the processing speed was unusually fast. Within just two days, Alyosha presented the documents to Li Xian.

Seeing the documents, Li Xian wasted no time and immediately signed the first contract for ten machines, paying Alyosha in U.S. dollars that same day.

With this start, Alyosha became restless, speeding up the paperwork and instructing workers to begin dismantling the machines on a large scale.

Xu Maoh and, who had been busy lately, was disappointed as he followed Li Xian, paid for the machines, and saw them off.

"Bro, this is what you meant by striking it rich? These machines are so bulky; the shipping cost will be high! Even though you got them at a reasonable price, considering the tariffs, there's not much profit. It would be better to deal with motorcycles!"

Seeing Xu Maoh and's distress, Li Xian smiled faintly and glanced at his exquisite Lange watch—its date had already turned to December 12.

As Chita was stirred by Li Xian's "cash purchase of machines," a major upheaval swept through the northern region on the 14th, arriving without warning.

On the 14th, the State Duma unexpectedly rejected Gaidar's nomination for Prime Minister and launched a direct assault on the economic shock therapy! After seven hours of discussion, voting, and a chaotic political brawl, the State Duma announced via broadcast that Gaidar's government was dissolved.

Correspondingly, the national economic reform that had dragged the Russian economy into a mire for eleven months was abruptly halted!

The news reached Chita, causing chaos among the Economic Reform Committee members.

Rumors had circulated that some high-level officials were advocating for halting the economic reform and reverting to the pre-reform state.

Such rumors had always troubled them, as their success in privatization would be nullified if these rumors proved true, meaning the enterprises they had worked so hard to acquire would be forcibly reclaimed.

Although this was just a rumor until now, and Gaidar, who was overseeing the reform progress, had defended the economic shock plan during a meeting on the 13th, everything was overturned in a single day!

Massive confusion erupted as those who had benefited from privatization rushed to take action. They flocked to the exit control bureau to process paperwork and began clearing their real estate holdings.

In the midst of this, the "cash purchase of equipment" by a Chinese individual immediately came to mind.

As people rushed to Li Xian with their paperwork seeking to sell, Li Xian remained cheerful. However, his words were chilling:

"Sorry, everyone, the company's plan has changed. The previously set acquisition price is now void."

"And the new acquisition price?"

"Oh, it's like this. $500 for the 20 machines, and $800 for the 40 machines."

At this, Xu Maoh and's eyes widened in shock as he replayed all of Li Xian's actions since his arrival in Chita.

In his astonishment, he pieced together the entire scheme—mingling with the elite to demonstrate strength, proposing cash purchases to make a name for himself, and then dramatically lowering the price. 

As he looked at Li Xian, Xu Maoh and shivered uncontrollably.

The "Drucker" mask had been ruthlessly torn off.

Behind the warm smile was a set of blood-stained fangs!

With a limited vocabulary, Xu Maoh and grasped the poetic meaning of the moment, albeit with a darker undertone.