That year the flowers bloomed 1981

Chapter 1340 I Sold Myself to You

Li Ye was shocked after hearing Zelyushinko's words.

Zelyushchenko was fired from Kamaz Motors not just because he supported their cooperation with China, but because he also blocked their path.

Whose way are they blocking?

The elegant figure of Sophia appeared in Li Ye's mind.

Is she a good person or a bad person?

Sophia's series of abnormal actions flashed through Li Ye's mind like a revolving lantern, eventually connecting into an absurd path that led to a laughable result.

After Li Ye and his team first visited the Kamaz automobile factory, Sophia said that Li Ye "helped her" because she had accepted the task of organizing the workers to sell their shares to the British company, Kosh.

At that time, Li Ye still felt that Sofia represented the side of justice. After all, it was indeed inappropriate to sell a national pillar industry like Kamas to a British company; it should be kept in the hands of the state.

Now, things have gotten complicated. The reason Sofia wouldn't let the workers sell their shares to Koss is because she wanted to sell them to another company!

Moreover, the payment was made in the form of an IOU.

Sun Xianjin, who was impatient and shocked, asked, "What? Another company wants to acquire your shares? And they're offering to buy them with IOUs? How could you agree to that?"

Zelyushinko sneered, "What did we agree to? The factory originally belonged to the state. The Industry Bureau exercising decision-making power on behalf of the state is reasonable and legal."

Moreover, the company acquiring the shares is our own company, and we should all actively support it and resolutely not allow outsiders to touch Kamas's technology and wealth.

"."

Li Ye opened his mouth, but didn't know what to say.

He seemed to have heard of this tactic before.

Do you think it's ridiculous to write an IOU?
It's not funny at all; at least some of Li Ye's elders have actually seen similar IOUs.

However, Li Ye suddenly remembered something and asked Zelyushinko, "Do they include us when they say 'outsiders'?"

"Haha~"

Zelyushinko smiled but didn't say anything, which was obviously an admission.

Li Ye then asked calmly, "So in the workers' eyes, have we become people who break their promises, saying we'd provide you with food and funds, but in the end, we gave you nothing?"

Zelyushinko paused for a moment, then nodded with a wry smile.

Li Ye understood.

They've always been tools of the Industry Bureau, first bringing hope to Kamas's workers, then cruelly turning it into despair, just like how stocks rise first and then fall, forcing retail investors to sell at a loss.

Upon seeing Zelyushinko nod, Sun Xianjin angrily retorted, "Comrade Zelyushinko, others may not know our sincerity, but don't you? You are the union leader; you should clarify the truth to all the workers."

Zelyushinko shrugged and said self-deprecatingly, "Yeah! Just because I wanted to clarify the truth to everyone, my colleagues and I were all fired!"

"."

Li Ye and Sun Xianjin both fell silent.

When the two first met Zelyushchenko, they viewed him as a "villain," because on the list of people Sofia provided, he was labeled as a "lackey of capitalists."
In retrospect, it seems that his encouragement of the workers to sell their shares to Kosh Company was not for his own personal gain, but rather to genuinely want to earn some real money for the workers.

Perhaps he already knew that stocks could make a profit if sold to outsiders, but once they couldn't be sold, they were just worthless pieces of paper.

An IOU that you can't eat or drink is just a piece of waste paper, isn't it?

Li Ye squatted down, picked up a medal from the stall, and looked up to ask, "How much is this?"

Zelyushinko looked at it and said, "This belongs to my colleague, so you'll have to pay five dollars. It's a Second Class Medal of Honor for the Patriotic War, which my colleague's grandfather earned with his life."

Li Ye reached into his pocket, pulled out a fifty-dollar bill, and handed it to Zelyushinko.

Zelyushinko shook his head and didn't answer.

"Sorry, I don't have any change. How about I give it to you?"

Li Ye also shook his head: "No, this medal is worth fifty dollars."

"."

Actually, Li Ye felt ashamed when he pulled out fifty dollars; he could have easily taken out more. But he also knew when it was appropriate to act like a tycoon and when it was appropriate to be stingy.

Look at this market, people don't open their wallets to "reveal" their money when they take out their cash. Instead, they "feel" the money out of their pockets by touch, so fifty dollars is already quite eye-catching.

Zelyushinko licked his lips, took the fifty dollars, and then pointed to the right side of the stall.

"Fifty dollars is still too much. Everything on this felt is mine; you can take whatever you want."

Li Ye smiled and shook his head, raising the medal to indicate that it was worth the price.

Just as Li Ye was about to turn and leave, Zeliu Shenko suddenly called out to him again: "The people from the Industry Bureau told me that their cooperation with you will continue after their restructuring is completed. Is that true?"

"Actually, it's not that difficult for you to get Kamaz's gearboxes and multi-axle drive technology. As long as you find the right people and pay a certain price, there's nothing they can't sell."

Li Ye was surprised.

Because he could sense that Zelyushchenko was clearly "ashamed" when he said those words.

For a Bolshevik, this would be a classic example of "betraying one's own people."

But Zelyushinko sighed and said bitterly:
Li Ye remained silent for a long time, then nodded and said, "Okay, I will do my best."

Zelyushinko pursed his lips and said earnestly, "Thank you, my class brother."

"."

After Li Ye and Sun Xian left, Zeliu Shenko suddenly shook his head and chuckled.

When you're down on your luck, do you still have true brothers?

"."

"Hi, your name is Zelyushinko?"

Zelyushinko was chuckling to himself when he suddenly heard someone call his name.

Looking up, he saw that it was the same Eastern man who had been accompanying Li Ye earlier.

Zelyushinko put on a stern face and asked indifferently, "Yes, what is it?"

Jin Peng handed Zeliu Shenko a cigarette and then said, "You don't make money selling these things. I have some hot-selling items that sell well. Are you interested?"

Zelyushinko's heart skipped a beat as he recalled the warehouse full of tobacco and alcohol supplies.

He suppressed his excitement and asked, "So what kind of goods do you have?"

Jin Peng took a drag of his cigarette and said with a grin, "I have everything that's available on this market, from Chinese goods to Japanese goods to American goods."

Zelyushinko took a deep breath and said, "I don't have enough capital, nor do I have any property to mortgage."

Jin Peng waved his hand dismissively and said, "It's alright, just give me yourself as collateral."

"."

Zelyushinko was stunned.

He had thought that this fat, greasy, and generous Eastern philanthropist would casually give him credit!

It turns out these weren't exactly kind-hearted men and women!

However, the oppressive feeling that had been weighing on Zelyushinko's chest for so many days has actually disappeared.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and asked with a faint smile, "So how much money do you think I can mortgage?"

"When Sopunov was mortgaged to me, it was worth three thousand dollars. Now, with the market downturn, it's probably worth two thousand five!"

"Okay, I'll sell myself to you."

Zelyushinko immediately agreed.

The reason he agreed so readily was not because Sopunov was now a very famous "big businessman" in Moscow with a net worth of countless three thousand dollars, but because he was afraid that even if he stuck a straw on his head, no one might buy him.

(End of this chapter)