Courtyard houses: Those who are capable are rewarded, and many children bring many blessings.

When Yusupova's car arrived at the gate of the Ministry of Energy and Petroleum, a beautiful young woman was already waiting at the entrance.

Yusupowa and Niu Dazhuang got off the bus.

The two beautiful young women greeted each other with a cheek kiss: "Yusubo, you really chose a bad day today."

"Lisa, the darn weather is awful, but I've brought you a magical Easterner today who's sure to brighten your mood."

Lisa glanced at Niu Dazhuang and said with a disdainful look, "I don't like Japanese people."

"No, no, he was once from the same faction as us."

"Oh, I was wondering why Japanese men couldn't be as tall as you. Turns out you're Chinese! Hello, man from the same camp we once shared."

"Hello, woman from the Soviet Union's big brother's family." Niu Dazhuang greeted her in the same tone.

"Big Brother, this is my best friend, Elizabeth Nikolaevna Voronina!"

Yusupova deliberately pronounced the name very quickly. After she finished, the two beautiful young women crossed their arms and looked at Niu Dazhuang's expression.

Niu Dazhuang deliberately picked at his ear with his little finger and said with an exaggerated expression, "Is there an abbreviation? This name is too long, I can't remember a single word of it."

"Not bad, you didn't just brush me off. You can call me Lisa. I just heard Yusupowa call you Da Niu. Is it a big ox for plowing the fields? What a strange name." This beautiful young woman was quite talkative.

"No, my surname is Niu, but I now have your country's identity. Yusupova even gave me a name from your country, Ivan."

"Hehehe, not Ivan, but Big Ivan!"

"Big Ivan? Yusupova, are you serious?" Lisa said, glancing at Niu Dazhuang.

"Come on, come on, wait until you dance a couple of times, and you'll see how fitting the name I gave him is."

With this insider leading the way, the three of them entered the compound of the Ministry of Petroleum Industry without any problems.

As they walked, Lisa introduced the buildings within the unit to Niu Dazhuang and explained what the event was about that night.

"Da Niu, there's a saying in the East, something like this: if you have something good at home, you have to keep it a secret and not let outsiders know."

"Yes, it's called 'keeping a treasure hidden deep within.' I didn't expect you to know so much about our culture."

"My grandfather went to your area to provide assistance back then, and he brought back many books about your country. I used to hear him talk about how pure and good your friendship was back then..."

"Oh, we really are destined to meet. What are you thinking that you don't want outsiders to know?"

"I'll just use the name 'Big Ivan' when we're joking around with a few friends. But when we get to the auditorium, I'll still call you 'Big Bull,' Yusubo, what do you say, my dear sister?"

"That's true! If we have a treasure, we should keep it to ourselves. Yes, let's call it Big Ox, that's a good name."

Yusupova had just thought about the relationships between the people in Lisa's unit; this kind of thing really shouldn't be discussed openly.

"This dance is an internal event for our organization, held every weekend. It's an extracurricular activity for those of us working at headquarters. Generally, the heads of departments don't attend. The one at the end of the month is a bit bigger; besides the department heads, the heads of various bureaus and departments will all show up..."

It took Lisa more than ten minutes to walk from the main entrance to the auditorium at the back. During those ten minutes, Lisa gave Niu Dazhuang a general overview of the evening's ball.

They were all a bunch of blond-haired foreigners, but Niu Dazhuang was the only one with black eyes and a black head, an Eastern face, which naturally attracted a lot of attention.

"Ignore them, just stay close to me. After we dance a song together, some ladies will definitely come up and ask you to dance. If you like one, dance with her. Don't worry about us. We'll dance with other men too."

After saying that, he pointed to several groups of people with his eyes: "Those men are from the Mining Bureau and the Refining Bureau... You don't need to give them a good look, we don't need them."

"See that group of people? There are men and women. They're from the State Planning Department, which is nominally part of the same unit as Yusupova. Over there are people from the Foreign Trade Department and the Foreign Affairs Department. These are the departments we're focusing on."

Niu Dazhuang had no idea how Yousubowawa had fooled her or what wish she had made.

Anyway, now they've brought this alluring young woman to their side, and she's only talking about "us" and "us."

"I see."

After the song ended, everyone returned to their seats and rested for a while before a soothing piece of music began to play.

Niu Dazhuang stood up, and like the men, bent over and extended his right hand in a gesture of invitation.

Lisa happily accepted the invitation...

Niu Dazhuang wasn't exactly a master of slow foxtrot, slow tango, or lyrical duets, but he certainly wouldn't step on his partner's feet.

If I had known it would come in handy, I should have practiced more at the gambling king's ball. The skill Niu Dazhuang possesses now was also learned at the gambling king's ball.

First, she danced a song with Lisa, then with Yosupawa. After that, men started coming up to ask Yosupawa to dance.

The auditorium was full of familiar faces, except for Yusupowa and Niu Dazhuang, who were new faces. There were curious men and curious women.

A gentleman invited Yusupova to dance, and then a lady wearing a white dress with small red flowers came over and said to Lisa, "Miss Lisa, may I ask this gentleman to dance for me?"

Lisa smiled and nodded.

Niu Dazhuang stood up and politely gestured for the brave lady to proceed.

"It's an honor to accept your invitation, beautiful lady."

"You speak Russian very well. I was worried we wouldn't be able to communicate. Where are you from?"

"China."

"Oh, what a strange yet familiar name. I heard that people from your area are quite active in the Far East these days, is that true?"

"From what I understand, there definitely are, but they're not very compliant with regulations. It's all about mutual needs, I suppose. Your Soviet Union is too big; the Far East is still waiting for rice to cook, while the grain allocated here is still on its way."

Who doesn't like to hear praise for their country's strength, especially the Soviet Union, which had an innate, almost pathological, greed for land.

"Hehe, our Soviet Union is a vast country with abundant resources..." The woman's words were filled with pride.

"Beautiful woman, what's your name?"

"Valia. And you?"

"They all call me Big Bull, but today I'm going to do as the locals do and adopt your local name, Big Ivan!"

"Hehehe... Ivan it is, why add 'big'? Didn't Miss Yusupova explain to you what 'big Ivan' means?"

Niu Dazhuang feigned ignorance: "Isn't the Ivan IV a national treasure on your side?"