Nan Yi had long heard that there was a "big market" in Warsaw, which was the largest free trade market in Poland and even in Eastern Europe.
The Great Market is located on the east side of the central area of ​​Warsaw, around the Tenth Anniversary Stadium on the right bank of the Vistula River. When you step into the Great Market, the first impression you get is "big", with a grand scale and spectacular scene.
It consists of three circles: the outer layer, the middle layer and the inner layer. The goods sold in these three circles are roughly divided: the outer layer is mainly clothing, furs, and food; the middle layer is mostly knitwear, underwear, shoes and hats; the inner layer is a variety of daily necessities and handicrafts.
In the old days, Shanghai was described as a prosperous market as a "foreign concession". This proverb is probably the most appropriate here.
If the three layers of shops were laid out in a long line, it would probably stretch for more than ten kilometers. Due to the large scale, wholesale and retail business, complete facilities, convenient transportation, low rent, reasonable taxes, and prices about 20% cheaper than ordinary shops, Warsaw citizens, merchants and tourists from all over Poland and neighboring countries flocked to the market and never tired of it.
The parking lot was filled with small sleeper cars and tourist buses, and carts and small trucks were shuttling back and forth. As a result, there appeared a scene that is rarely seen in cities in Europe and the United States - crowds of people, shoulder to shoulder, booming business, and a bustling atmosphere.
The second impression that the big market gives people is "complete". The goods come from all over the world and are of various varieties. Moreover, the vendors come from many countries, especially those neighboring countries of Poland. They speak stiff Polish, or simply speak Russian or English, supplemented by gestures and using computers to press prices to sell their goods.
Here you can buy not only the familiar famous, high-quality and special commodities from various countries, such as various brands of French perfumes and cosmetics, novel Italian clothing and leather shoes, colorful Russian fur coats (mostly resold from China), exquisitely made German telescopes, small and exquisite Japanese cameras and tape recorders, exquisitely shaped Swedish stainless steel appliances, and peculiar-looking perfume quartz watches, etc.
You can also buy special handicrafts from various countries: such as Hungarian silverware with fine workmanship and simple shapes; exquisite and unique Czech glassware; Finnish daggers with gorgeous decoration and peculiar shapes; Swiss folding army knives with diverse functions and high quality; crystal clear and bright yellow Polish amber products;
There are reindeer antlers from frigid Northern Europe, peacock tail feathers sold by Vietnamese in the subtropics, small oil and watercolor paintings by unknown painters, and various decorative handicrafts. It is truly a colorful and dazzling sight.
The third impression the big market gives people is "strange". For example, the stalls over here display pictures or reliefs of the Virgin Mary and Jesus with solemn expressions, while the stalls next to them sell pornographic books and magazines from the West with scantily clad women. They go at opposite ends of the street and live in peace, which is both ridiculous and laughable.
What is even more amazing is that some stalls actually display woolen military caps, uniforms and coats of the former Soviet revisionist army, navy and air force. The collar badges and cap insignia are complete, only the epaulettes are missing. Nan Yi saw an old man with a moustache, gray hair and eyebrows, speaking Russian, sitting on the stall. He was wearing an old military coat and seemed to be an old soldier from the early days of the Soviet revisionism.
At another stall, in front of the feet of a man who looked and acted like an old Soviet soldier, there was a large stall of dull, variously sized, and shaped former Soviet military medals and commemorative medals displayed for sale.
The fourth impression that the “big market” gives people is “healthy” – transactions are stable and follow certain business ethics.
Nan Yi figured out a little bit of the situation after a quick walk around. The market here is managed by officials, and there is no bullying or exorbitant prices or bargaining. Poland's retail industry has been completely privatized, and goods in stores are all sold at clearly marked prices with no room for price fluctuation, although there are differences in prices between stores.
It is different in big markets, where you can bargain, but the range is not big, usually between 5% and 10%.
Nan Yi met a few Chinese people who came here to stock up on goods. They spoke not very authentic English and seemed to be doing business in a neighboring country and had just gone abroad not long ago.
The reason for this judgment is that when they bargained, they still followed the domestic custom and bargained for half or 1/3 of the price, which made the owners dumbfounded, confused and at a loss, and they could only shake their heads repeatedly.
Nan Yi found that there were very few fake and inferior products in the big market. Generally, the price was charged according to the quality, and there was no phenomenon of inferior products being sold as good ones. Generally, when this happens, there must be an invisible big hand controlling and regulating it. Nan Yi guessed that the punishment for fake and inferior products here might be very severe.
After wandering around the big market for a long time, although the colorful new products were dazzling, Nan Yi's eyes were always focused on searching for Chinese products.
Hard work pays off. Two hours after entering the market, Nan Yi finally found some scattered Chinese goods as if he had discovered an isolated island in the ocean: Temple of Heaven shirts from Beijing, pens, handkerchiefs, flashlights, and pencils from Shanghai, and silk headscarves from Zhejiang Province. Nan Yi saw that the styles were familiar, so he rummaged through the pile of headscarves and found the Yiwan International mark.
In order to supervise the quality control of follow-up orders, to avoid disputes that may arise during the trade process, and to take into consideration the company's brand marketing, Yiwan International will put its own marks on certain items in a box of silk products exported by the company.
Nan Yi felt strange when he saw the mark. Yiwan International had never taken any orders from Eastern Europe. Maybe it came from other countries, or maybe there was a problem within the company, and someone was using the company's name to buy goods from the manufacturer at a low price.
If it is the second possibility, it is not difficult to find out who they are.
Nan Yi sneered. If only a few people inside joined forces to smuggle orders, he could part ways amicably. But if they joined forces with outsiders to betray him, that would be a veiled exposure of Nan Yi's hypocritical mask. There was no doubt about it, he would not stop until they were beaten to a pulp.
"Merchant, mark..."
Nan Yi bought a headscarf with a label on it and chewed it.
Putting aside the episode for the moment, Nan Yi continued to explore forward. Then he saw some knitwear that were undoubtedly from China based on the patterns and colors, but he did not see the iconic "Made In" words.
In a corner of the outer layer, which was not in a very good location, Nan Yi also saw two or three stores specializing in domestic clothing. The business was not very prosperous and the stores looked a bit shabby.
While studying at Peking University, Nan Yi read the domestic foreign trade information. In the 1950s, Chinese products, especially Shanghai products such as underwear and daily necessities, were the most popular goods in the Polish market. They were famous in Poland and Eastern Europe for their high quality, and Oolong tea had a monopoly position.
We haven't seen what the future holds for oolong tea yet. Shanghai's products have changed, and the categories have all changed. Temple of Heaven shirts shouldn't be here. As a 36-year-old brand, it should have long ago developed into a branded product sold in high-end shopping malls. It is still squeezed in the wholesale market, and its future is worrying.
The market was too big. Nan Yi looked at the time and felt that it would take more than one day to visit it thoroughly, so he quickened his pace and started to walk around with a purpose.
After a while, they arrived at the prime location on the middle floor. There was a row of about five stalls of varying sizes. At first glance, they should be businesses owned by the same stall owner. Nan Yi glanced at the stalls first, then raised his eyes and looked deep into the stalls, where he happened to meet the eyes of a man of similar age.
"Are you here?"
“Here I come.”
"Finally here?"
"Yes, I am coming."
"Has the village not forgotten us yet?"
"How could I possibly forget..." Nan Yi was about to deliver a line from the Chinese drama "Toilet Paper" but after thinking about it, he decided to hold it back and patted the shoulder of Xian Weixing, one of the members of the Cigarette Butts Column opposite him, "Thank you for your hard work."
"It's not hard, not hard at all. Come in and sit down." Xian Weixing grinned and welcomed Nan Yi into the stall. He made room for Gongfu tea in a corner of a small table piled with goods, boiled water and made tea.
Watching Xian Weixing busy at work, Nan Yi asked, "You suffered a lot when you first came here, didn't you?"
While washing the cup, Xian Weixing replied calmly, "It's okay. When I first arrived, I was bullied by the people here and we had a fight. But after staying here for a while and getting familiar with them, I got better. I had a hard time learning to speak at first, and my tongue became tangled."
As he spoke, Xian Weixing placed a cup of tea in front of Nan Yi.
Nan Yi knew that it would not be easy to gain a foothold in a foreign country without speaking the language. Only those who have experienced it know the hardships involved.
Picking up the teacup, Nan Yi asked quietly, "Do you think the village committee sent you out in the first place?"
"Is there still a village committee in Wenchangwei?" Xian Weixing said dissatisfiedly: "Although I haven't been back in these years, I still know the situation in the village. How come my uncles are not as good as you, a person with a different surname."
"Let's not talk about the village committee. Things are a bit complicated. You can't understand them just by hearing a little bit. How is business?"
If Wenchangwei did not change, the golden time of East European trade would be approaching, and the columns of rags and cigarette butts would be in full bloom and bear fruit, bringing at least 10 billion in profits to the village every year. Once domestic and foreign connections were made, several large groups would be established.
"Before last year, everything was good. I was the only one selling down jackets and travel shoes from China. Others from Poland who needed to stock up for the New Year came to me. I could make 7 to 8 million zlotys a year.
Things haven’t been going well since the second half of last year. A few people from China came to do similar business to mine. I don’t mind competition, but these losers shipped a large number of inferior goods from China.”
Xian Weixing picked up a down jacket and said, "The down jackets they sell are stuffed with chicken feathers and other messy things."
Xian Weixing picked up another pair of sneakers and pointed at the glued part. "The sneakers will come off and the soles will break within five minutes of wearing them. The Polish people call them chicken feather clothes and angry shoes.
"The whole reputation of Chinese products has been ruined by them. 'Made in China' has become low-end, cheap and inferior. I used to supply products to several shopping malls on a regular basis and had a good cooperation with them, but my business has also soared."
Xian Weixing suppressed his rising anger and said in a low voice: "Fortunately, I have been here for a long time and my reputation has always been good. After half a year, business has started to pick up again."
[The new zloty, issued in 1989, was worth the same as the U.S. dollar in 1991, at 1.057 to the dollar.]
"It's good to see some improvement. I am now working in the wholesale and retail markets in Moscow. Leather jackets and down jackets are very popular in Moscow. In order to control the quality, I plan to find a group of factories in China to specialize in OEM for the big wholesalers in the market, so that I can make some profit from the price difference."
Xian Weixing asked in surprise: "We still need to find a factory. Can Haitang Trading not supply the goods?"
"No, the goods shipped by Haitang Trading to the Suxiu area are branded and follow the route of shopping malls. The quality control is stricter and the cost is higher. If the same goods appear in the wholesale market, it will impact our business."
Nan Yi pointed at the clothes and shoes on Xian Weixing's stall and said, "The ones sent to you don't have trademark marks, but the styles are from the same batch. That's why I don't allow you to ship to Suxiu."
Haitang Trading has two business lines. One is food, which is Nan's business, and the other is clothing. It was originally planned to be a private partnership business with Men Saner. After the two broke up, Nan Yi merged this line into Haitang Trading and it no longer belonged to him personally.
"I understand." Xian Weixing nodded and asked, "How many days can you stay this time?"
"I can't stay long. I didn't come here for a special trip. I'm just transiting here. I'll leave on the train tomorrow morning."
"So soon!" Xian Weixing exclaimed in disappointment, then calmed down and said, "Sleep at my place today. I'll ask Mucha to cook Polish food."
Nan Yi pointed at the school beauties behind him and said, "Forget it. There are too many people. It will definitely be inconvenient for you. Don't worry about accommodation. You still have to eat dinner. I haven't met my sister-in-law yet. It's a good opportunity to meet her and give her the red envelope."
"Okay, I'll go get the account book."
"Um."
The main credit for Xian Weixing and his team being able to gain a foothold outside goes to themselves, but they also relied on the support of the village (the village at first, and Nan Yi took over later). Naturally, the village also had a share of their business.
When Xian Weixing brought the account book, Nan Yi simply flipped through it and put it aside. "You've had your green card for more than five years, right?"
Xian Weixing: "It's been longer than that. It's been almost eight years now."
“How much arable land can a private individual buy?”
Xian Weixing: “300 hectares at most.”
"What about the forest?"
Xian Weixing shook his head, "I'm not sure about that. I haven't asked about it."
"Okay." Nan Yi nodded slightly and said, "There are two things you can do for me. First, buy 300 hectares of arable land for me in your name, preferably in the wheat and sugarcane producing areas in the central and northern parts of the country. Let's buy land in Pomerania, a piece of land suitable for growing wheat.
Second, find out about the relevant policies on forest transfer, whether it is for local or foreigners. "
In fact, Nan Yi knows everything about Poland’s land transfer and forest transfer policies. It should be said that Nan Yi knows the land policies of almost every country in the world. Shennong Nanliang has been operating for so many years, how could it not pay attention to collecting such information.
Shennong Nanliang has no plan to establish agricultural and forestry farms in Poland. Nan Yi bought arable land and forests to lay the groundwork for the future seed company to enter Poland and establish a bridgehead. It will not send people to Poland in the short term. Some things must first be executed through Xian Weixing.
The two things he just mentioned were nothing more than wanting Xian Weixing to figure out the tricks; they were not serious or important matters.
"good."
…
It is said that ever since Zhao Jinghua followed Zhu San, she would sleep until one or two in the afternoon every day. If she was in the mood and had the energy, she would have sex. If she was not in a good mood or had lost a lot the night before, she would get up immediately.
First go to the restaurant to fill your stomach, then go to the Sandutnov Bathhouse to take a good wash, steam, and sometimes have a massage. After feeling refreshed, rush to the casino immediately.
They sit at the gambling table and play for an hour, then take a break , eat a luxurious meal prepared by the casino, go outside the casino to get some fresh air, smoke a few cigarettes, encourage each other, and immediately return to the gambling table to start the most efficient and productive time of their day.
Gamble, eat, steam, gamble, eat, gamble, and sleep. These seven words are Zhu San and Zhao Jinghua's entire daily schedule.
Maybe the two of them secretly listened to Zheng Zhihua's song "Thirty-three Yuan" in advance. Just like the song goes, "I have thirty-three yuan in my pocket, and the rest of the money went into other people's pockets. Maybe it was God's deliberate arrangement, or maybe it was just bad luck..."
Before, when Zhu San was alone, he won and lost, won and lost. Although he was still losing if you counted the details, he made up for it from time to time, so the loss was not fast. The more than 200,000 US dollars in his hands disappeared very slowly.
Ever since he and Zhao Jinghua had been together, perhaps because his success in love had led to his failure in the casino, Zhu San had been losing every day, and his losses were quite large, at least three or four thousand US dollars a night, and sometimes over ten thousand. Zhao Jinghua was the same, losing an even amount of four or five thousand every day.
If you add up the numbers for both of you and average them out over the days, you'd definitely lose more than $10,000 every night.
Half a month passed after the happy days. One day, Zhu San went to the briefcase to get money, ready to continue his good life. He was surprised to find that there were only three stacks of money left in the briefcase.
How can this be? I have no money. Is this the end of my bad life?
It has to be said that Zhu San is not a real gambler. Before he lost all his money, he had already come to his senses and was thinking about finding a way out.
Zhu San and Zhao Jinghua gathered together to figure out what to do next. There was only one way out for them - to use the remaining 30,000 US dollars as capital to continue to be a dealer. It wouldn't take long for them to earn back the money they lost.
As for people, it is easy to go from simple to luxurious, but difficult to go from luxurious to frugal. After enjoying a day of doing nothing and losing more than 10,000 US dollars, and then going back to work hard as a trader and earning 1,000 yuan a day, the gap in my heart is too big and a bit unacceptable.
Zhu San and Zhao Jinghua are both risk-takers. They have heard about the recent robberies in Moscow, where the proceeds from each robbery range from tens of thousands of US dollars to hundreds of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of US dollars. After the two of them thought, isn't this a way to make money quickly?
After the development route of the "robbery" was formulated, the two began to discuss the details. The first thing was to recruit soldiers and expand the team. This was not difficult for both of them. Nowadays, people who do business carry a lot of cash everywhere. Who doesn't have a few gangster friends and know a few prisoners who have been released after serving their sentences?
Zhu San called the phone to China and two people came. One of them was called Ma Bian. He was a young man who was brave and aggressive. He didn't know how to control his strength. When he heard that there was a way to make a fortune, he hurried to Moscow.
The other was Newton, the same name as the great scientist. It is estimated that when Newton's parents named him, they hoped that their son would become a scientist. But who knew that Newton was not very good at studying and loved to stir up trouble since he was a child. In his 27 years of life, he spent seven or eight years in prison.
Neither Ma Ben nor Newton was alone, they were accompanied by several brothers.
Zhao Jinghua also called over someone, Miao Yonglin, who grew up in the same alley as her and was five or six years younger than her. He had always liked Zhao Jinghua since he was a child, and even though Zhao Jinghua had a more complicated emotional story, he still liked Zhao Jinghua.
As soon as Zhao Jinghua called him, he came over, and he also brought two brothers with him.
Just like that, a criminal gang was established with Zhu San as the leader and Zhao Jinghua as the second in command and strategist, and Zhao Jinghua's nickname "Second Sister" became well-deserved.
When the Zhu-Zhao gang was formed, two other gangs of robbers were arrested at the 71st Precinct.
Zhao Jinghua, the military advisor, analyzed the situation and suggested taking advantage of this vacuum period, when it is dark under the lights, to find a good target to grab, then board the K3 train to grab another wave, hide in other cities for a few days, and return to Moscow after the storm has passed.
The plan was made in this way and it was executed in this way. What's more, there was nothing wrong with Zhao Jinghua's plan. The Zhu-Zhao gang successfully carried out a robbery in Moscow and then made a lot of money on the K3 train.
When Nan Yi returned to Moscow, it was already the afternoon of the 17th. As soon as he arrived at the consulate, Sergei came to report on the situation of the two gangs of robbers.
Before, Nan Yi had contacted Lerlin of Bureau 71 directly, which was to give the other party face and to show an attitude of equal dialogue. It was okay to do it occasionally, but it was impossible to do it for a long time. Nan Yi was talking to Yepisov, and Lerlin asked Sergei to connect with him, which was not equal, and it had a bit of a concession.
According to the information obtained from Sergei, the two gangs of robbers were completely robbed by the people from the 71st Precinct. Just as Nan Yi expected, no victims came forward to point the finger at them, and both gangs have been released.
In addition, a new gang of robbers appeared in Moscow, and their methods were more brutal than the previous two gangs. If the previous two gangs robbed people with courtesy, the new gang robbed people with force. They beat people up without saying a word and then demanded money. Everyone who was robbed was beaten black and blue.
Nan Yi was delighted to hear the two pieces of news brought by Sergey, knowing that Friendship Leather City would usher in a peak period of occupancy. At the same time, he was a little angry that he did not fight for it. He created an opportunity to eliminate public pollution, but it was a pity that the victims were useless.
In a blink of an eye, it was five o'clock in the afternoon on the 18th, and the banquet hosted by Aksinya began.
Usually there is always a theme for a banquet, such as birthday parties, charity banquets and so on. Nan Yi’s banquet certainly also has a theme, and “venture capital meeting” is the theme of this banquet.
A venture capital meeting, as the name suggests, is a meeting between venture capital and entrepreneurs, where entrepreneurs can take their business plans or project plans to talk to investors.
In order to make the venture capital meeting look more like a real thing, Nan Yi also invited Lin Shuyi. After all, she was a partner of Lehman Brothers and a representative of a well-known investment bank. In addition, he asked Vasily to invite Smolensky, Khodorkovsky, Potanin, Gusinsky, Berezovsky, and Izmailov.
Needless to say, Smolensky is one of our own. Vasily helped him a lot in establishing his Metropolitan Bank. At the same time, the Metropolitan Bank is also an extension of Nan's industry, and Nan holds 45% of the shares.
Khodorkovsky has always been a good trading partner. Nan and his Minatech Trading Company have cooperated in the fields of timber, white sugar and brown sugar.
Khodorkovsky used "non-cash" to exchange for timber, and then sold the timber to Nan and Guo Fuxi's company. Nan would pay for the timber in the form of cash and sugar.
There has always been a "barter" trade of oil and Cuban brown sugar between the Soviet revisionists and Cuba. Starting in the second half of 1989, this trade fell into the hands of Khodorkovsky. After the emergence of Nan, the trade model was upgraded again.
Mark Rich's company was introduced to Khodorkovsky, giving him another channel to export oil. It has been almost two years now, and no one knows how much oil has been exported through this channel, but it must be a considerable amount.
Potanin used to work in the Ministry of Foreign Trade, engaged in the import and export of raw materials. He played a key role in the transaction of scrap steel. Although the deal was finalized with the Gorbachev government, the definition of "scrap steel" was a problem when it came to implementation.
In fact, the scrap steel trade plan of 47 million tons initially increased not only the quantity by nearly 5 million tons when it was implemented, but also the quality was greatly improved, 30% of which were high-quality steel ingots. Officially, the money was still paid according to the figures on the contract.
Privately, Potanin's profits spread out to countless leaders of steel mills, automobile factories, tractor factories, and motorcycle factories, and the people standing behind Potanin were bound to get a share of the profits as well.
Now, Potanin has just resigned from public office and is concentrating on running his Trans-Russian Company. This company has absorbed more than 20 state-owned strategic partners and has almost monopolized the foreign export business in Russia.
Needless to say, the Trans-Russian Company could not belong to Potanin alone. This company should be a tool used by the Soviet revisionist Ministry of Foreign Trade to make profits.
While running the Trans-Russian Company, Potanin was also planning to set up his own bank.
Gusinsky, a partner of the Nan family with whom the relationship has not yet been made clear.
There is no need to say much about Berezovsky and Izmailov. Today's banquet was prepared for the two of them. Berezovsky is the main one, and Izmailov is just a sidekick.
Nan Yi and Aksinya arrived at the restaurant a little after 4:30. Nan Yi left the task of welcoming guests to Aksinya and ordered some food to fill his stomach. He then went to the bathroom to pick his teeth and clear the food in his stomach.
Then we went through the back door of the restaurant to the tree-lined path at the foot of Sparrow Hills, stood next to a tree and looked out at the Moscow River not far away.
At a banquet, the important people are always the last to appear. Before everyone arrives, Nan Yi will stay here to enjoy the cold wind. It's not that there is no place to rest in the restaurant, it's just a relatively closed environment. Nan Yi still prefers to breathe the fresh air here and relax his eyes.
At ten past five, Crispy Burger walked out of the restaurant.
"Boss, everyone is here."
…