Old Friend

If, when he had first arrived in Moscow in his previous life, someone had offered him fifteen hundred dollars, Wang Ye would have been ecstatic enough to jump for joy!

In fact, that would have been impossible...

His Russian back then was nowhere near what it was now!

But...

Things were different now.

Setting aside his Russian proficiency, he had nearly twenty years of work experience and had seen his share of the world.

Fifteen hundred dollars a month simply was not tempting enough for him!

Of course, before he got busy with his own plans, making some extra money was still fine.

Besides, judging by this, Little Hu's family company seemed quite capable. Making another friend meant gaining another connection for the future, and that was never a bad thing.

Wang Ye thought for a moment, then spoke unhurriedly.

"How about this, Little Hu.

"I can help with setting up the company, but I can only spare a little over ten days a month to run around with you handling these matters.

"You'll have to work around my schedule. Of course, I'll try to move as quickly as possible and won't hold anything up.

"Let's set the pay at a thousand dollars. Once the company is established, I won't come work for you anymore. After all, my studies still have to come first."

He had voluntarily lowered his pay, but Little Hu would have to accommodate his schedule.

That way, even if Wang Ye's own money-making plans got underway, nothing would be delayed.

As for attending classes...

With Wang Ye's language skills, there was really no need.

He just needed to speak with the teachers beforehand. The teachers here were generally quite "understanding."

Based on everything Little Hu had mentioned, getting it all done would probably take one to two months. If he could spare around twenty days and earn two thousand dollars on the side, that would be pretty good.

After thinking it over briefly, Little Hu agreed readily. "Alright! We'll do as Brother Ye says! Oh, have you bought a phone? Let me add your number. Call me whenever you have time, and we'll get this done quickly."

Wang Ye's proposal was actually a better deal for Little Hu.

It meant spending two thousand dollars to hire a highly skilled translator to take him around and handle the preparations for establishing the company.

Once the company was fully set up, there naturally would be no shortage of translators, so whether Wang Ye stayed or not would no longer matter.

If he did not want to work at the company, that would save the company quite a bit of money!

With business out of the way, the three of them chatted and laughed as they ate.

After the meal, Zhou Yuan and Little Hu busied themselves cleaning up. Wang Ye noticed several copies of the Moscow Chinese Newspaper on the table beside them, so he walked over, picked up the most recent issue, and began flipping through it.

Out of habit, he went straight to the advertisements at the back.

Wang Ye had not held out much hope. He was only browsing casually, trying his luck.

But to his delight, on just the second page of ads, he saw a familiar name: Liu Jun!

It was another tiny classified ad: <Wholesale and retail phone cards. Competitive prices, clear and stable calls. Interested parties, please contact Liu Jun. Tel: XXXXX...>

This was Liu Jun, the old friend he had been looking for!

Wang Ye hurriedly took out his phone and saved Liu Jun's number, though he did not rush to call him.

There was no hurry. He could contact him after he got back.

At around two or three in the afternoon, Wang Ye returned to his dormitory.

The dorm was quiet. Song Xiaogang and Little Black had disappeared somewhere, and there was no one there.

He closed the door, poured himself a glass of water, and considered things as he drank.

After a long while, once he had thought everything through, Wang Ye dialed Liu Jun's number.

The phone rang, and the call was answered quickly.

"Hello, who is this?" A deep male voice came through.

"Is this Liu Jun? I'd like to buy some phone cards," Wang Ye replied.

"How much do you want? Orders under two hundred dollars aren't delivered; you'll need to pick them up yourself. For orders over two hundred dollars, we provide delivery within Moscow." Liu Jun spoke fluently.

Wang Ye smiled. "I want to buy five thousand dollars' worth of cards!"

The other end went quiet for a moment. Liu Jun had clearly been startled by the amount.

After all, these were only phone cards, not wholesale goods from the big markets!

Normally, when people bought phone cards, even businessmen who needed to make calls every day would generally find two hundred dollars' worth sufficient.

Who would buy five thousand dollars' worth at once...

After a while, Liu Jun finally came back to his senses and asked suspiciously, "Do you sell phone cards? At one of the big markets?"

That was the only possibility. Only vendors who retailed phone cards could possibly stock up on so many at once!

But even that did not quite make sense, because even vendors selling cards or newspapers would not buy so much inventory in one go.

"No, I'm a student at People's Friendship University. I want to sell cards at school. I'm taking more at once because I want a discounted price. Bigger orders should mean better prices, right?" Wang Ye said with a light laugh.

After some hesitation, Liu Jun replied, "Are you at People's Friendship University right now? How about I come over and we talk in person?"

Five thousand dollars was not a small deal to him. It was well worth making a special trip!

Naturally, Wang Ye had no objections. "Sure, come on over. Building 6 at People's Friendship University. Call me when you get here."

"I know that area. I'll be there in about half an hour," Liu Jun said decisively.

After hanging up, Wang Ye paced around the room a few times, thinking about how he should negotiate with Liu Jun when they met.

For this five-thousand-dollar purchase, Wang Ye was putting his entire fortune on the line...

If anything went wrong, he would lose not only his living expenses for the next year and a half, but even his tuition!

But this was only a small trial...

Time passed quickly. About half an hour later, Wang Ye's phone rang.

Liu Jun had arrived downstairs.

Wang Ye put on his coat, grabbed his phone and wallet, and went downstairs.

Outside the building, he saw an old black Audi 100 parked by the roadside, its engine still humming.

Without hesitation, he raised his phone and waved at the old Audi.

The car window rolled down, and a man in his early thirties looked over at him. "Wang Ye?"

Wang Ye nodded and walked over. "You're Brother Liu, right? I'm Wang Ye. Come on, drive a little farther ahead. Let's talk at the café below Building 7. The dorm is too messy for business."

There was a café beneath the nearby Building 7 dormitory, though it could also be called a bar.

It was not large and served draft beer, grilled meat, coffee, and more.

Students with a bit more money generally liked to eat or drink there. It got lively at night.

But at this hour, there should not be many people inside.

It was a better place to talk business.

Liu Jun looked Wang Ye up and down, then smiled brightly. "Sure. Coffee's on me."

Before coming over, Liu Jun had been a little worried.

Could a student who had just started preparatory classes really come up with five thousand dollars to buy phone cards wholesale?

Was he trying to fool him?

But after meeting Wang Ye, Liu Jun could not sense the immaturity typical of a teenager from him at all.

Wang Ye gave him the impression of being mature and steady. The way he spoke and handled things was pleasant and proper.