Competition Begins

"I'm very dissatisfied with the current economic climate. Personally, I believe it has mainly been caused by two factors. On the one hand, those people are simply too incompetent and refuse to do any real work..."

A familiar voice came from the television. Without even turning his head, Wang Ye recognized it—it was Khovchenko's voice!

Why had his "uncle" appeared on a television program and started loudly criticizing...

Wang Ye turned to look. Sure enough, it was Khovchenko, giving an exclusive interview.

He checked the station logo. It was a national television network with considerable influence in Russia.

Of course, it was privately owned rather than an "official media" outlet.

Wang Ye frowned. He knew exactly what it meant for this sort of interview to appear on television.

Khovchenko had rarely been willing to show his face in public before and almost never accepted television interviews. Why had he suddenly appeared on a TV program to comment on the economy?

Something occurred to him, and he quietly instructed Rosiana, "Didn't you used to work for a news agency? You should know quite a few people in the media."

"Of course. Among all the major media outlets—newspapers, magazines, television stations—there's practically no one I don't know," Rosiana said proudly.

"Then help me look into something this afternoon. Find out whether my uncle Khovchenko has any media interviews scheduled in the near future. At the same time, compile some statistics on whether he and the core members of his New Faction have been appearing frequently in the news lately," Wang Ye instructed as he thought.

He had some suspicions. It seemed he understood what Khovchenko was trying to do.

Rosiana nodded to show that she had remembered.

After lunch, when they returned to the office, Rosiana went off to contact her