Chinese Tycoon

After buying phone cards, Zhou Yuan led everyone around until they reached a small three-story red building tucked away in a corner of the market.

The building was rather rundown as well, and it looked like it had been there for many years.

"If you want a haircut or need to buy daily necessities later, just come here. There are several barbershops here, as well as small supermarkets that specialize in Chinese daily goods," Zhou Yuan explained.

When they entered one of the larger-looking shops on the first floor, it really did feel like stepping into a small supermarket back home.

The shelves were packed with familiar products: Master Kong beef noodles, all sorts of snacks, Lao Gan Ma chili sauce, dried noodles, and more...

Obviously, the goods here were much more expensive than back home.

A packet of Master Kong beef noodles sold for twenty-five rubles here.

A bottle of Lao Gan Ma chili sauce cost eighty rubles.

The prices were basically two to three times what they were in China, but that was hardly surprising. Shipping these goods over from China alone was expensive.

Everyone picked out some things for themselves. It had taken a lot to get here, so it would have been a real loss not to buy anything to take back.

Wang Ye bought a bottle of Lao Gan Ma, two bags of egg noodles, and several packs of instant noodles.

None of those things could be bought at the supermarket near the school.

The Russians had instant noodles too, but after trying them once, Wang Ye had kept well away from the stuff ever since...

After they finished shopping and came out, Zhou Yuan said excitedly, "Come on, it's almost noon. Let's eat at a Chinese restaurant. Food is cheap here. They've got all kinds of stewed noodles, hand-pulled noodles, beef noodles, and so on, plus stir-fry set meals. One hundred to one hundred and fifty rubles per person is enough."

They had been here for nearly a week. Apart from the welcome dinner, where they had eaten a proper meal, they had basically been getting by on bread and milk.

They were all still figuring out how to cook, so naturally, the food they made could not be called delicious.

Besides, fresh vegetables here were simply too expensive. The only relatively cheap ones were the four famous greenhouse vegetables: potatoes, cabbage, onions, and radishes.

Hearing that the food at the Chinese restaurant was quite cheap, they naturally had to go have a meal!

The group followed Zhou Yuan toward the other side of the market. When they reached a road near the large construction site, they suddenly saw a group of burly men coming toward them. Pedestrians on the road quickly moved aside.

Wang Ye and the others were no exception. They hurriedly gave way.

It was not just because every one of those burly men was over 1.9 meters tall. More importantly, the men in camouflage uniforms were all holding black objects in their arms...

Liu Xiaojie stared wide-eyed and asked in disbelief, "Are those... Uzi submachine guns?"

Zhou Yuan quickly lowered his voice. "That must be some big boss. Those Russian guys aren't soldiers—they're bodyguards."

When the group came closer, everyone saw that the short, fat man surrounded by the Russian brutes was actually Chinese.

The short, fat man looked to be in his thirties or forties. He wore gold-rimmed glasses over his fair face, a crisp suit, and a glossy black fur coat draped over his shoulders. He looked every bit the grand figure!

As if remembering something, Zhou Yuan gasped softly, "That's Boss Kong!"

"Who's Boss Kong? Boss Kong the Second's older brother?" Liu Xiaojie asked curiously.

"He's a major figure, known as the richest Chinese man in Russia. He's worth hundreds of millions and has connections in both the underworld and the legitimate world! I heard he owns shares in that newly built market next door. No wonder he puts on such a show," Zhou Yuan said enviously.

Wang Ye merely watched Boss Kong, who was surrounded by a group of Russian brutes, without saying anything.

Yet a ripple had risen in his heart.

He remembered seeing Boss Kong's grandeur in his previous life.

Back then, he had been rather envious, imagining that one day he too could be like Boss Kong, basking in endless glory.

Just like Liu Bang in the old tale, when he saw the First Emperor traveling in such splendor and sighed, "A true man ought to be like that!"

Unfortunately, even after finishing school and returning home, and even after working for more than ten years, he had never come close to touching Boss Kong's coattails...

But now, seeing Boss Kong's grandeur again in this life, Wang Ye's mindset was different.

What he thought was, I can take his place!

As someone who had been reborn, if he ended up worse off than some so-called "richest Chinese man in Russia," Wang Ye would look down on himself...

Boss Kong held his head high as he walked forward, surrounded by his bodyguards.

He had come today to inspect the progress at the construction site, then take a stroll around the old market. After all, if the new market was going to thrive in the future, they would need to draw customers over from the old market.

Such a grand display was not merely for show.

For one thing, it was truly necessary. He had offended quite a few people over the years, including plenty from the underworld. If he went out without bodyguards, someone might actually take a shot at him from the shadows!

For another, he was deliberately displaying his strength for the Chinese merchants in the old market to see!

Fully armed bodyguards were not something just any rich man could arrange. The firearms permits alone proved that he had powerful connections above!

Enjoying the stares of passersby on both sides, he strode forward with his head held high.

When he passed Wang Ye and the others, Boss Kong paid them no attention. A group of young people who looked like students must have been looking at him with envy and jealousy. He was long used to that...

Right now, the new market was all he could think about.

Boss Kong had practically staked his entire fortune on investing in this market!

If it succeeded, it would become a treasure basin that brought in money by the day, raising both his wealth and social standing to another level!

If it failed...

It would mean that his nearly twenty years in Russia had all been for nothing!

Building a market on such a massive scale was not as simple as buying land, putting up buildings, and recruiting tenants.

The work that had to be done behind the scenes far exceeded what was visible on the surface!

Any merchant who had done business in the large markets knew that the wholesale trade here was all "gray" business—neither black nor white.

Because none of the goods were imported through official customs clearance. Strictly speaking, they were all "smuggled goods"!

But that was simply how things were here. If you went through official customs clearance, there was no way to do business at all.

The consortium behind the large market also provided tax-inclusive customs clearance and logistics services. As long as you paid enough, you did not need to worry about transportation, customs clearance, or taxes. They handled everything in a one-stop package, and they were highly efficient.

The chain of interests behind it was terrifyingly vast!

After the Emperor came to power, he had cracked down on it countless times, yet he still could not eliminate it entirely. That alone showed how powerful those forces were...

Only after Boss Kong and his group had gone far away did everyone turn back and continue toward the Chinese restaurant under Zhou Yuan's lead.

Wang Ye also gathered his thoughts. Boss Kong was still someone beyond his reach for now. What he needed to do was start small, earn his first pot of gold, and worry about the rest later...