1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 535 Taking the Initiative to Visit
In the first 10 months of 1990, more than 700 factories and mines in the Soviet Union went on strike, 200 more than the previous year.

It took McDonald's 14 years of lengthy negotiations to finally bring its fast food to this communist country.
The American law firm Arnold and Porter spent a year finalizing the paperwork for their first foreign bank.

Far Eastern Bank took only four months from the opening of its first headquarters in mid-June this year to the establishment of its second branch.

It's better to arrive at the right time than to arrive early; that's the first key point.

While other foreign banks and financial institutions were still observing the situation in the Soviet Union, being stingy and only willing to make verbal promises to various political factions—"empty promises"—they were also paying lip service.
The two Far Eastern banks have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, which have been converted into bad loans in the cities of Moscow and Yekaterinburg.

In contrast to the more than 700 factories and mines that went on strike in the Soviet Union this year, the two Far Eastern banks have accumulated more than a dozen bad debts in the past four months, each of which represents a controlling stake in a poorly managed state-owned enterprise.

They used bread and sausages to extract rubles from depositors who couldn't spend them, and then used those rubles to gradually erode national assets.

Having money and being willing to invest is the second key point.

"Inform Xu Wenhai and his team to temporarily tighten lending operations. Unless a high-quality company can obtain US dollars, all loans should be issued in rubles. Also, expansion can be temporarily suspended."

The first month of the Yekaterinburg branch's opening passed quickly, and it was already late November.

After Zhai Yuan finished tallying up the new loan debt as usual, he stared blankly at the depositors queuing downstairs outside the window for a moment, then turned to Secretary Li, who was in charge of communicating with the management of the two banks, and gave her an instruction.

The director's office, decorated several times more luxuriously than the bank lobby downstairs,

Lizhi was leaning back on the leather sofa, her two fleshy legs in stockings crossed, engrossed in reading a Russian textbook, looking determined to master the language.

Upon hearing Zhai Yuan speak, Li Zhi raised her head, brushed aside the black hair that fell between her collarbones, making her skin tone resemble that of a White Russian woman.

In a soft, gentle voice, she reminded him, "Dyachenko from the Far East Club called yesterday and has already contacted several officials in St. Petersburg (Leningrad). If you want to open a branch there, he can help make the connections."

"You can first keep in touch with them and ask if they are interested in joining the Far East Club."

Zhai Yuan stood up from his chair, stretched, and walked towards Li Zhi on the sofa.

As soon as he got close, Secretary Li took the initiative to raise her arms and hug him.

"However, opening a branch is not urgent for now. Let's put it on hold and see how the situation changes."

Zhai Yuan pushed Li Zhi down onto the sofa, resting his forehead on the woman's chest, and reached out to touch the tight lines of her waist and hips, which were wrapped in her heavy woolen skirt.

The change in situation was, of course, just a casual excuse.
The key to slowing down the pace of expansion is that Zhai Yuan needs to be more careful with his spending to cover the expenses of the two banks over the next year.

A cash flow of HK$5 billion is equivalent to more than US$640 million.

One-third of it was all of Kuaibo Technology's revenue, one-third was Zhai Yuan's savings, and the last third was the public account of Jiu Yi Entertainment Group.

The opening of the two banks, coupled with the $7000 million investment in Ye Liqing, has already cost nearly $2 million in just four months.

The daily expenses for transporting goods for a single Hong's Trading Company are in the hundreds of thousands.

So far, all the 'bad debts' that have been collected have not yet been ready to be realized. With only outflows and no inflows, Zhai Yuan really needs to consider the expenses to come.

It's November now, and there's a full year left before the empire collapses. The remaining cash flow must not only ensure the normal operation of the two Far East Banks, but also maintain the Far East Club's network of relationships, manage relations with officials in various departments, and even take into account issues such as Ye Liqing's renewed proposal to increase the donation amount...

"But as long as we persevere through this year and safeguard the core business of both banks, we'll see the light at the end of the tunnel."

Li Zhi, who was pressed down on him, gradually became more and more rapid in her breathing. Her slender white fingers caressed Zhai Yuan's back, then moved up and inserted into his hair. Her legs unconsciously squeezed together and rubbed against each other.

Zhai Yuan kneaded Li's woolen skirt with his palm, listening to the soft moans escaping from the woman in his arms, while planning the development of the battlefront for the coming year.

Until there was a knock on the door,
Ye Yuqing knocked on the door and then pushed it open, being somewhat polite but not much. "Idol, Sister Zhizhi."

Upon entering the room, Ye Yuqing was startled to see the two people lying on the sofa. She quickly closed the door.

After the incident with the big boss Ye Zhiming, Ye Yuqing became less arrogant when facing Zhai Yuan, and her sense of superiority disappeared when facing Li Zhi, making her appear somewhat cautious in everything she did.

In the past, Yu Jieqing would have screamed and shouted upon entering the room and seeing this scene, but now she stood at the door looking slightly embarrassed.

"Come here~"

Zhai Yuan's thoughts were interrupted. He glanced at Li Zhi, whose face was flushed, in his arms, and realized that he had neglected her while thinking about money.

He lowered his head and buried his face in Li Zhi's neck, taking a big bite. Then he turned his face and beckoned to Ye Yuqing at the door.

Ye Yuqing walked over with a look of grievance on her pretty face. As soon as she got close, Zhai Yuan grabbed her wrist and dragged her to Lizhi's side, then pressed down on the two big and small breasts and made them lie down side by side.

In the 1990s,

In the parallel universe, Ye Yuqing is still filming "Chinese Hero" on ATV and hasn't even broken into the film industry yet, while Lizhi has only just finished filming a few low-budget movies such as "The House That Keeps a Beauty" and "Perfect 100 Points", where she plays a decorative role.

They were both in the prime of their lives, lying shoulder to shoulder, their clothes brushing against each other, their body heat intertwined, as if they were a painting scroll.

Zhai Yuan unconsciously pursed his lips.

To paraphrase a line from Leslie Cheung's interview: Oh no, I'm getting greedy!
On one side is the naturally alluring Li Zhi, and on the other is the mature and radiant Ye Yuqing.

Zhai Yuan's gaze lingered briefly on the two faces so close together, and thinking it was time to relax, he quickly and restlessly stretched out his hand to wander over them.
One hand traced the line of Secretary Li's collarbone, slipping inside her clothes to knead it with varying pressure.

With his other hand, he slid down Ye Yuqing's hair, pinched her chin, and lowered his head to nibble on her lips.

The breathing in the room grew heavier.

Li Zhi watched Ye Yuqing's lips and tongue entwined with Zhai Yuan's, her alluring eyes half-closed. Feeling the hand teasing her chest, the woman sensibly leaned forward and gently licked Zhai Yuan's neck...

"Wait, idol~"

Several seconds passed before Ye Yuqing finally parted her lips. She took a deep breath and spoke again, her voice trembling, "I've come to see you because I have something important to say..."

Zhai Yuan held her chin tightly, teasingly saying with a smile, "Look! Serious matters aren't about talking, they're about doing!"

As he spoke, he reached under her shirt again, climbing up to her chest to measure the difference between her and Lizhi.

Ye Yuqing's eyes quickly welled up with tears. She frowned and bit her lower lip. She half-pushed and half-pulled away a little, panting slightly as she said, "It's true! My boss asked me to inform you that a man from Moscow came to our door. He said his boss is the Minister of Culture in Moscow, and the Minister would like to invite you to dinner tonight."

The head of the Ministry of Culture?

When Zhai Yuan heard the title, he raised an eyebrow and even paused in his hand movements.

When I first arrived at the airport some time ago, Director Ivan, who was the second-in-command at the vice-ministerial level, picked me up. The donations and supplies from the overpriced second-hand VCDs of Kuaibo had already been mostly handed over to the Ministry of Culture through Ivan.

What does it mean that the top leader came over at this time?
Could it be that they're all in the same boat, and the second-in-command just got a taste of success before the top leader couldn't wait to jump out?

Ye Liqing did not allow himself, a foreigner, to interfere in Soviet propaganda channels, so the Ministry of Culture no longer had much practical use for Zhai Yuan...

If there were no media outlets to speak out, what would this minister bring if he took the initiative to visit would be nothing more than a bunch of random artworks from the National Art Gallery, museums, and cinemas?
(End of this chapter)