My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 11 Liquid Gold, a beverage on par with vodka
"Brother Qin, come with me. I know a relatively reliable hotel nearby. The price is reasonable, and it accepts foreigners. Your transit visa should be fine."

Chen Jianhua's voice interrupted Qin Yuan's thoughts.

With Chen Jianhua's help, they quickly found a four-story building with a hotel sign on a relatively quiet street near the train station.

The hotel was old, and the corridors smelled of disinfectant and old carpets. The rooms were small and simple, but they were clean.

Most importantly, after the front desk verified their transit visas, they were able to check in smoothly.

After settling his luggage, Chen Jianhua said goodbye: "Brother Qin, I have to hurry back to school to register."

"You guys take a rest first. I'll go back and ask about the guide for you. I'll come back and give you an update by tomorrow noon at the latest!"

"Thank you so much, Brother Chen! Take care on the road!"

Qin Yuan sincerely thanked him and escorted Chen Jianhua to the hotel entrance.

After seeing Chen Jianhua off, Qin Yuan returned to his room.

Old Zhang had already stood up impatiently, his eyes filled with urgency: "Yuanzi, we've arrived at the place and settled in."

"I need to go to the Cheka market and see if I can find my old friend's nephew. Time is of the essence!"

Qin Yuan nodded and looked at Da Binzi: "Binzi, you go with Uncle Zhang."

"Remember, observe more and talk less, protect Uncle Zhang's safety, and keep an eye on our samples!"

He took out several pairs of jeans and a sample sheepskin coat and stuffed them into a bag.

"Understood! Don't worry, Brother Yuan!" Da Binzi replied in a deep voice, holding the sample bag tightly in his arms.

Old Zhang and Da Binzi left the hotel in a hurry.

Only Qin Yuan and Gangzi remained in the room.

Gangzi looked out at the unfamiliar street, feeling both excited and somewhat lost: "Brother Yuan, what are we going to do? Just wait here?"

"Wait?" Qin Yuan's lips curled into a smile. "Come on, Gangzi, let's go out for a walk."

He wanted to see what Moscow lacked most and what it wanted most!
The two left the hotel and joined the crowds on the streets of Moscow.

Qin Yuan, like a keen hunter, scanned everything on both sides of the street.

They walked past shops with food signs and saw a not-too-long queue outside, but the expressions on people's faces were mostly numb and waiting.

The variety of goods in the shop window was rather limited: bread, sausages, canned goods...

It is far less abundant than the Yanjing greenhouse market.

They passed by some shops with clothing signs, but the styles inside were outdated, the colors were dull, and the quality looked mediocre.

Occasionally, you can see some fashionable young people wearing jeans or jackets that are obviously imported, which makes them stand out in the crowd and attract envious glances from others.

But soon, Qin Yuan's attention was firmly grasped by another, more widespread and intense phenomenon.

liquor!
On almost every street corner, under every slightly sheltered wall, you can see groups of two or three men.

Most of them were dressed in tattered clothes, their faces flushed from the cold wind and alcohol, and they either held flat metal flasks or glass bottles wrapped in old newspapers.

A strong, pungent smell of cheap alcohol wafted through the air from time to time.

At the entrance of a small alley, Qin Yuan even witnessed a small commotion: a drunken man was clinging tightly to a bottle of vodka he had just bought from a small shop, while two other men with similarly murky eyes were pulling and fighting over it.

The three men rolled around in the snow, reeking of alcohol and spewing profanities, all for that cheap bottle of liquid.

Finally, the bottle shattered with a "crack" on the cold stone steps during the tearing, and the dark red wine mixed with snow water flowed out.

The three men stared blankly at the broken bottle and the spilled "treasure" for a moment, then erupted into even more intense cursing and fighting...

Most pedestrians around seemed oblivious, hurrying around as if they were already used to this scene.

"Holy crap..." Gangzi stared in disbelief, swallowing hard. "These Russians... they'd risk their lives for a drink?"

Qin Yuan shook his head: "The current situation is still a result of the prohibition. Before that, in Moscow, thousands of alcoholics froze to death on the streets every year."

Gangzi was speechless.

But Qin Yuan's words were absolutely true.

The Soviet government had a very conflicted attitude towards vodka.

This wine has brought in a lot of fiscal revenue, but it has also caused great health problems for the whole society.

80年代苏联统计，每年有4万人死于酒精中毒，男子的寿命在20世纪70年代从66岁下降到了 63岁，酒精中毒的死亡率达到了千分之一。    是世界平均水平的十倍。

By the mid-80s, nearly 900 million people in the Soviet Union were going to specialized institutions each year to sober up, and 400 million had become addicted to alcohol and had to undergo specialized treatment.

The top reformers realized that in order to revitalize the economy, it was necessary to control alcoholism among Soviet citizens.

Therefore, starting in 1985, a nationwide ban on alcohol was implemented.

50% of the wineries were shut down;

Large vineyards were bulldozed.
The store is prohibited from selling alcoholic beverages before noon;

Baijiu (Chinese liquor) companies were forced to rectify and shut down.

However, this policy not only failed to bring about the expected "enlightened society," but instead directly led to the collapse of Soviet finances.

In 1987, legal liquor taxes were drastically reduced, and national income plummeted by 8% to 10%.

In 1988, Prohibition was quietly relaxed, but the black market had already proliferated, with vodka smuggling and underground alcohol trading thriving.

Even some cleaning agents containing alcohol were bought up by Soviet alcoholics.

Not only that, but also cheap perfumes, air purifiers, insecticides, and shoe polish—anything containing a little alcohol is in high demand.

This shows just how huge this market was, and how crazy the Soviet alcoholics were.

And now, this shocking scene before our eyes confirms this more directly than any other information.

In light industrial products, clothing and shoes are necessities and represent a certain level of sophistication.

But in this land of ice and snow, oppression and confusion, alcohol, especially strong liquor, is the real "liquid gold" that can ignite the blood, numb the pain, and even serve as hard currency!
Suddenly, Qin Yuan thought of something.

Alcohol, yes, it's alcohol.

What the Russians want most right now is alcohol.

But this was in 1990, and Prohibition was still in effect.

Since alcohol cannot enter this market openly and legitimately.

What about sparkling water containing alcohol?

Or, a beverage that contains no alcohol at all, only the taste of alcohol.

Will it become a hot seller in this market?

Qin Yuan thought of a beverage—kvass.

Qiulin Kvass, a low-alcohol beverage originally created by Slavic peoples, but which took root and flourished in Harbin.

In his previous life, he had read information about kvass.

In the 1950s, the Corn Emperor attempted to promote kvass, but his failure to improve the taste made him a laughing stock.

Just because it didn't work in the past doesn't mean it won't work now!

It was during the Prohibition era, and the Soviets were even enjoying cleaning products. Why would they complain about kvass, which used to taste bad but was very strong?
He remembered that in his previous life, kvass also seemed to have become popular and was placed next to vodka on the shelves of Russian supermarkets.

This means that kvass was later accepted by the Russians.

what about now?

Have kvass appeared in the streets and alleys of Moscow?

Qin Yuan immediately rushed to the state-owned department stores of all sizes on the streets of Moscow.

There wasn't a single bottle of kvass in sight.

　Ordinary Soviet citizens, especially the older generation and rural residents, did indeed widely possess the "technique" of making basic kvass through simple, natural lactic acid fermentation using breadcrumbs. This was a life skill passed down through generations, requiring no complicated tools or specialized knowledge.

　　Almost like pickling vegetables or making soybean paste in China, it's a matter of common sense and family tradition. Many housewives or elderly people know how to make it.

　　However, there is a huge technological gap between this kind of home-based production and industrialized production (such as that represented by Harbin Qiulin). The latter involves specialized microbiological knowledge, precise process control, modern equipment, and large-scale production management.

　　During the Prohibition era, what the Soviets came to Harbin to learn was "modern production technology" to upgrade their traditional national beverage into a high-efficiency, high-quality, and large-scale commercial product to meet the surging market demand under the Prohibition. What they lacked was not "how to make kvass," but "how to mass-produce kvass quickly and efficiently in factories."

　　Harbin's mature technology and historical heritage (especially its industrialization experience while preserving traditional flavors) were valuable resources that the Soviet Union desperately needed.

　　The protagonist is now exploiting this loophole, before the Soviet Union had systematically established a kvass production line, to seize this portion of the gold.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)