1982 Started from Hong Kong

Chapter 540 Vladimir

While Zhai Yuan and his group were still doubting Natasha's identity,

Far away in the city hall of St. Petersburg, Sobhek, a man in his forties, sat at his desk, rubbing his face with his hands and exhaling a breath of stale air.

"Two more factories went on strike yesterday. Workers' representatives demanded that the city soviet guarantee wage payments, while members of the economic management department demanded that restrictions be imposed on them."

The man in his forties, of mixed heritage from four countries, possesses the air of a scholar and politician.
Having transitioned from a doctorate in law and professor of economic law at St. Petersburg State University to politics in just two or three years, he is already overwhelmed by the current situation.

"If you're an entrepreneur, you only need to manage a few companies and a few hundred people. But once you enter politics, you're responsible for the livelihoods of millions of citizens, and that's just a small part of the problems politicians face every day."

Sobuke smiled at a young man standing opposite him, who had a very upright posture, and said jokingly, "So, from the perspective of someone who's been there, I still suggest you go back to work for the Moscow KGB, get close to politicians but stay away from politics. Otherwise, when you try to put the theoretical knowledge you learned in school into practice, you'll end up like me, standing in front of the mirror every day as soon as you open your eyes, counting how much your hairline has receded."

Vladimir, in his thirties, wiped his bald forehead and replied with a smile, "It's beyond saving, teacher."

Sobuhek laughed, then changed the subject: "Go to Yekaterinburg, Vladimir. Compared to the current mess in St. Petersburg, Ye Liqing obviously needs you more."

Vladimir glanced at Sobkhok and asked, "Is it because of those councilors?"

Sobuheke nodded slightly, leaned back in his chair, and rubbed his temples. "My position as chairman of the municipal Soviet means that I must listen to the opinions of the councilors, otherwise they will dismiss me. A large portion of these councilors are fence-sitters, and their opinions must be unified."

As the second most prominent democratic reformist in the Russian Federation after Yeltsin, Sobkhok's home city, St. Petersburg, still lacks significant autonomy.

For this reason, he must now be deeply tied to the presidential candidate Yeltsin. Once Yeltsin becomes the President of the Russian Federation, St. Petersburg will establish a mayoral position like Moscow, at which point Sobkhok will be able to completely break free from the shackles of the parliamentarians.

Not long ago, Ye Liqing personally contacted this ally, asking him to bring his prized student Vladimir to Yekaterinburg to stabilize the KGB's influence there.

A year earlier, Vladimir was an obscure KGB major. With the fall of the Berlin Wall, the attacks on the Stasi and the KGB by the people reached an unprecedented level. Vladimir, who was then collecting intelligence in East Germany, asked the 38-strong Western Army Group stationed there for help, but received the reply that "we cannot take any action without orders from Moscow." Soon after, the Soviet Union abandoned East Germany.

'They lost everything, thinking they could gain Western goodwill in return.'

Disheartened, Vladimir declined the invitation from the KGB headquarters and returned to his hometown of St. Petersburg. He studied at the State University for three months and, through his teacher-student relationship, became an assistant to Sobkhek, who had just been promoted to chairman of the city Soviet.

Thus began his extraordinary life.
In just six months, Vladimir has used his connections within the KGB to directly compel the KGB agents stationed in St. Petersburg to remain neutral.

With Zhai Yuan's arrival, Ye Liqing needed manpower, and this nobody who had dealt with the KGB in St. Petersburg was noticed by the Ye Group for the first time.

"I'm leaving tonight."

Vladimir agreed to go to Yekaterinburg, but then asked, "Is Ye Liqing our comrade, teacher?"

Sobkhok paused for a moment, then smiled. "Of course. But in the Soviet Union, comrades are often more dangerous than enemies. Enemies only want to defeat you, but comrades want you and your family dead. This is the last lesson I'm giving you. get out of class dismissed, Major Vladimir."

…………

Years later, when Ye Liqing wanted to climb further up the ladder of power,

The first target was their current ally, Sobukh.

"Get close to politicians, but stay away from politics."

In his room, Zhai Yuan briefly reviewed the experiences of several key figures in the Soviet Union, once again sounding the alarm for himself.

"Ah Yuan, the people from St. Petersburg have arrived. Are you going to see them now?"

When Ye Zhiming entered the boardroom of Far Eastern Bank, Zhai Yuanzheng was sitting on the sofa reviewing the bank's reports for the week.

Secretary Li, who had her legs together and was using Zhai Yuan as a pillow, held a Russian textbook and read it quietly.

Ye Yuqing sat on the other end of the sofa with her legs crossed, looking down as she carefully applied nail polish.

"Who?"

Zhai Yuan glanced at Ye Zhiming, then immediately realized what was happening and rolled off Secretary Li's lap: "Isn't this the super agent who fired the KGB? Quick, quick, invite him in!"

Three minutes later, led by Ye Zhiming,
An unremarkable-looking Russian man, dressed in a slightly worn gray suit and shiny leather shoes, knocked and entered. This wasn't the first time Zhai Yuan had met Vladimir.

But this was the first time Vladimir had met his boss, Zhai Yuan.

"Hello Mr. Zhai, I am Vladimir."

After entering the room, Vladimir stopped a few steps away from Zhai Yuan, his gaze sweeping across the room before he bowed his head respectfully.

With just a quick glance, I could already clearly see what the new boss looked like.

A man in his twenties with an East Asian face sat beside two voluptuous East Asian mistresses.
The new boss was very polite; the other person stood up immediately as soon as he entered, while his mistress remained seated on the sofa.

"Give me back my goodness, goodness!"

Zhai Yuan strode forward, extended his hand to Vladimir, and said with a smile, "You've had a long journey, haven't you? Have you eaten yet?"

A hint of surprise flashed in Vladimir's eyes. Given his reserved and restrained manner when meeting East Asians for the first time, was this Mr. Zhai being overly enthusiastic?
He smiled and shook hands with Zhai Yuan, responding in English, "Thank you, I had a full meal on the plane."

What's so good about airplane food?

Zhai Yuan patted Vladimir's shoulder forcefully, his eyes filled with satisfaction.

He then turned to Ye Yuqing and instructed her, "Yuqing, go tell the kitchen to prepare two main dishes, and also bring in a cup of coffee."

Feeling like she was being treated like a beast of burden, Ye Yuqing pouted in dissatisfaction and dawdled, unwilling to move.

But under Zhai Yuan's intimidating gaze, she had no choice but to throw down her nail polish and go out to do her work.

Even Ye Zhiming, who was standing to the side, couldn't stand it anymore.

He thought to himself, "He's just a major, why are you being so eager to get him? And you're even ordering my sister around!"

…………

Ural Hotel
Natasha rested her chin on one hand, while holding an earphone close to her ear in the other, listening to every move on the other side.

“Vladimir…”

Natasha scribbled the name down on the manuscript paper.

The KGB super agent that Zhai Yuan mentioned?

Natasha pursed her lips. There were very few KGB agents who could be called super agents by the East and West German State Security Ministries. This guy surnamed Zhai obviously didn't know anything.

The conversation in the headphones continued, interspersed with the sounds of food being chewed.

Natasha couldn't help but swallow hard, picked up the half-eaten piece of dry bread on the table, and took a bite.

The KGB was gradually running out of funds, and these agents who worked for the committee could eat and live with the targets when they went out on field surveillance missions, and then take the bills back to get reimbursed.

Therefore, this period saw many memorable scenes where the KGB deliberately exposed their identities.
If the target is sensible, they will voluntarily go to a fancy restaurant and spend money, giving the KGB the opportunity to reimburse them. If the target doesn't eat or drink all day, causing the KGB to go hungry as well, they will be dragged into an alley and beaten up or have their tires punctured in no time.

But in departments like Natasha's, where they did wiretapping work, not only did they not have the opportunity to eat and live with Zhai Yuan, but their basic salaries were also withheld by the organization.

Because Zhai Yuan suspected her of being a spy, he hadn't contacted her for several days since their last farewell, so Natasha had no chance to freeload a meal.

"Damn it! I simply didn't do what the swallows were supposed to do, and you're already convinced I'm a spy? I still hold the position of a section chief in the Ministry of Culture!"

Natasha chewed on her bland bread, listening to the sounds of a knife and fork cutting steak through her headphones, while her stomach rumbled.

The woman frowned and sighed helplessly, thinking, "Once this task is completed and I get the teacher's exemption order, I'll have to apply for a job transfer."

(End of this chapter)