Chapter Seventy-Five

  After dinner, everyone didn't want to leave, blowing in the breeze, admiring the ancient courtyard, a cup of clear tea in hand. The weather was much cooler, although it was hot at noon, but the trees in the yard were shaded and didn't feel hot.

  "What time is the plane from Nanning?" Liangzi asked while taking a sip of clear tea.

  "It's past two o'clock."

  "Time to go now, study hard, come back soon, don't make your family worry."

  "Hmm! I know." Fang Mo Nan knew that the old man was saying that every word his mother said, from after dinner, his mother began to be silent, and the reluctance in her eyes could be seen by everyone. Soon, after Mo Bei and Xiao Yi adapted, she would definitely come back to guard them.

  The old mother remained silent, holding up her tea cup to cover her tears that were about to fall.

  Liang Zi glanced at her watch, "It's getting late, you're not going to see Ye Lao Si anymore." She didn't let him inform anyone that she had arrived in Beijing.

  "This thing is handed over to you, after reading it he knows what to do." Fang Mo Nan took out a file bag, which was filled with thick things she had written, believing that Ye Si Ge would know its value after reading it and know what to do.

  Liang Zi sent Fang Mo Nan off on the plane, his mom didn't go, she was afraid of losing control of herself. The first time they walked together as three, she still hadn't felt it. It wasn't until after experiencing half a year without them that she realized how hard it was to get through each day without the three of them.

  Ye Lao Si received the news when Fang Mo Nan's plane had already taken off, he hastily rushed to the quadrangle courtyard, where Liang Zi was waiting for him.

  Liang Zi looked at him, sweating profusely and panting, "The thing Nannan gave you is here." He put it on the table. "Don't think of her as so worthless, besides, this is your territory. Even if we borrowed a few guts, we wouldn't dare play with you."

  "Alright, you take your time." Liang Zhi got up and brushed past him, gently closing the door behind him. After two months of being together, they couldn't be said to have a deep understanding of each other, but their relationship was pretty good.

  Ye Laosi sat down, wiped the sweat and drank two mouthfuls of clear tea. He opened the paper bag handed to him by Liangzi. Tore open the opening, pulled out a stack of paper from inside, on which was written "Your Opportunity". Ye Laosi's eyes grew wider and wider as he looked at it. Mainly about Soviet economy, politics, military, nationality and other aspects:

  Due to the long-term implementation of a highly centralized planned economy, the Soviet Union failed to complete all five-year plans except for the first two, and the speed of economic development rapidly declined in the decades following World War II. The gap with developed countries also widened. The Soviet Union entered a state of long-term economic stagnation from the mid-1970s, and the traditional extensive economy could no longer be sustained. It is worth noting that this economic crisis was not a short-term partial crisis within a certain field, but rather a comprehensive long-term crisis.

  Although the Soviet Union claimed to be "the most developed socialist country", it had a long-term shortage of main consumer goods. After more than 70 years of construction, the per capita GNP in the Soviet Union was $3,396 in 1985, not only lagging behind Western developed countries but also behind some Asian and Latin American countries. The per capita income of the Soviet people was about one-third that of Western countries. However, due to the Soviet policy of controlling consumption and high accumulation, the gap between the living standards of the Soviet people and those in the West was even greater. In 1985, the per capita housing area was only 15 square meters, accounting for 50% of that in Western countries; there were 14 cars per 100 households, accounting for 17.50% of that in Western countries. The main consumer goods were in short supply and insufficiently supplied for a long time, often requiring rationing. The people's living standards dropped from the fifth place in Europe before the revolution to the eighty-eighth place in the world in the 1980s.

  Although the Soviet Union had developed space exploration, weapons and biotechnology, only 25-30% of its research results were adopted, with an average conversion cycle of 10-12 years. In contrast, the United States had 85% of its research results converted into productive forces within five years. In modern technological fields, the Soviet Union lagged behind Western developed countries by 15-20 years, and the gap was growing wider.

  The technical level of Soviet civilian industrial products was very backward, and the quality of products was poor. Even according to the most optimistic estimates, only 18% of Soviet industrial products met international standards. They had no competitiveness in the international market at all. Due to the lack of competitiveness of industrial products, the Soviet Union could only rely on selling natural resources, especially oil resources, to earn foreign exchange and became a raw material exporting country.

  The Soviet Union's agriculture has been lagging behind for a long time, with low efficiency. Due to years of poor harvests, the Soviet Union was forced to spend its scarce foreign exchange on importing grain, spending over $7 billion each year, and its economy was strained. At the same time, the failure rate of Soviet agricultural tractors reached 12.5% per year, three times that of the United States; a large number of crops were lost due to untimely harvesting, and even if they were harvested, 20% of grain and 33% of potatoes rotted and became unusable each year due to poor storage. In 1980, half of the country's collective farms and state farms did not make a profit.

  The Soviet Union was economically backward, lacking in material goods, and the people's standard of living had been stagnant for a long time, with the gap between it and the West growing wider. This fundamentally caused the people to question the superiority of socialism. Among the Soviet leaders, Andropov was a rare clear-headed person, who made astonishing remarks at an internal meeting of the Communist Party: "The main danger to the Soviet Union does not come from world imperialism, but from the poverty and hardship of its own people."

  The overly centralized power system made the CPSU, as the core of the alliance leadership, in a state of complete lack of supervision. The appointment and lifelong tenure systems of the CPSU created a good environment for the formation of vested interest groups. The bureaucratic institutions were overcrowded and idle; the vested interest groups were corrupt and decadent, and the CPSU gradually lost its prestige among the people. Especially during the Brezhnev era, the Soviet leaders' thinking was rigid and conservative, missing opportunities for development and reform, and domestic problems accumulated. After entering the 1980s, the Soviet political crisis inevitably emerged: within just three years, three top leaders died in succession, and the country's leadership by a sick man caused the Soviet Union to lose the precious opportunity for development in the five years before 1980.

  The "socialism" of the Stalin model did not bring a satisfactory life to the Soviet people, leading to people's resistance, disgust and indifference to the traditional model. Especially when the affluent life of the upper class forms a huge contrast with the ordinary people's life, this emotion is stronger, forming people's questioning of the legitimacy of the CPSU's rule.

  The Tsarist Russia was founded on aggression and expansion, making the Soviet Union a country with the most ethnic groups in the world, but the development of these ethnic groups is extremely uneven. Many ethnic groups are still in the tribal stage, and the national question has been very sharp for a long time. Both Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union have implemented policies of oppression and assimilation against minority ethnic groups.

  In the 1970s, the Soviet Union engaged in an irrational arms race with the United States to compete for world hegemony, resulting in military spending accounting for a quarter of its national income, carrying a heavy burden; at the same time, the Soviet Union extended its hands everywhere, supporting pro-Soviet regimes and guerrilla forces. It plotted military coups, causing widespread resentment from the international community. In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, immediately becoming mired in a guerrilla war that not only caused the Soviet Union long-term "bleeding wounds" that could not be healed, costing tens of billions of rubles each year, but also greatly damaging the Soviet Union's international image.

  In 1981, after Reagan came to power, he changed the original US withdrawal strategy and responded strongly to the Soviet expansion everywhere. He also announced the study of the "Star Wars" program, which triggered a new round of arms race. At this time, the Soviet Union, which was in trouble at home and abroad, had no strength to cope with it and was forced to withdraw comprehensively.

  The Soviet Union is a train that has come to the end of the rails and can't go any further. Each leader deals with this crisis in his own way: Stalin orders the execution of the engineer and the conductor; Khrushchev rehabilitates them; Brezhnev pulls down the window blinds and orders the porters to rock the car back and forth, creating the illusion that the train is moving; Gorbachev pulls up the window blind, sticks his head out the window and yells: "There are no rails ahead! There are no rails ahead!"

  Ye Lao Si looked at it once, then looked again carefully. By now the sun had set and the room was getting dark. He felt that this was completely impossible. Although they had broken off relations with the Soviet Union, his family's older generation still had deep feelings for Big Brother, so this was simply impossible. The data was too detailed, it couldn't be fabricated out of thin air. Besides, she didn't need to deceive him like this, did she? This wasn't a joke.

  He just wants to make some money, no need to take it to an international level!

  "This...this...needs to be discussed with someone." Ye Laosi gave He Junyao a call. While waiting, he carefully read through the stack of documents. His hands rested on the armrests, his fingers tapping out a rhythm on the chair. He fell into deep thought.

  He Junyao arrived when the lights were just starting to come on, and after he pushed open the door, it was dark inside, with only one person sitting in a circle chair. "You little guy is really good at enjoying yourself, how did you find such a great place." Seeing that he didn't make a sound, "What's wrong with you? Why are you pretending to be so deep?" He found the switch and turned on the lights.

  Ye Lao Si suddenly unaccustomed to the brightness, covered his eyes with his hand and squinted: "Lao Da, you're here."

  "I'll show you some materials, but you need to be mentally prepared." Ye Laosi said mysteriously.

  He Junyao took it over, sneering: "What are you...?" His voice suddenly choked. He quickly scanned through it once. Exchanging a glance with Ye Laosi, "Impossible!" He Junyao said disbelievingly. "The Soviet Union's external data isn't like this."

  "How can it be impossible? Our country isn't also whitewashing the situation, is it?" Ye Laosi said with a curl of his lip, although he felt uncomfortable in his heart, this was indeed the truth.

  "Hey! Your mouth! You dare to say anything." He Junyao punched him in the chest. "What do you want?"

  "Where did you get this? If the data inside is true, it should be top secret." He Junyao furrowed his brow and asked seriously.

  "I don't know, someone else gave it to me. A little kid handed it to me and ran off." Ye Laosan lied with a straight face, because the last page had a note that said not to tell anyone that Fang Mennai wrote it, with the excuse that you can make up whatever reason you want, Ye Sige. Just because he still calls him Ye Sige, no matter if it's true or not, he has to keep his word and can't betray her.

  "You think I'd believe that." He Junyao raised an eyebrow and asked. "Forget it if you don't say."

  "This one? I want to verify whether the data inside is true." Ye Laosi said, "He Grandfather has a wide network of connections, and he has his subordinates in the security intelligence system, let's verify it."

  "What if it's true?" He Junyao asked.

  Ye Lao Si smiled, "Then we'll get rich. You also know our country, it's not lacking in what they need. Think back to when the old Soviets broke off relations, they not only withdrew their experts but also wanted us to repay our debts. I heard that at the time, when repaying debts with agricultural products, eggs, potatoes, and apples had to be sifted through, and those that were too big or too small weren't accepted; pork had to have just the right amount of fat, neither too much nor too little was allowed, only what was just right."

  "Hey, don't be too happy just yet. First, we need to verify the authenticity of the data." He Junyao said calmly.

  "That's all right, if it can't be helped. I'll just go to the Soviet Union and take a look." Ye Lao Si was infected by the wonderful situation depicted in his heart.

  "Don't forget, the relationship between the two countries is still frozen! If you go, aren't you afraid of being mistaken for a spy?" He Junyao poured a basin of cold water, "You'd better be honest with me, let me verify it first, and then we'll discuss it further."

  "And another thing, where did you get the capital from? The three walnuts and two dates in your hand are not even enough to fill a tooth gap." He Jiaoyu poured another bucket of cold water.

  "This will be fine... there's always a way." Ye Laosi said, going to ask Liang Zi again. "However, Old Big Brother, you should confirm it for me first!"

  "Let's go!" Ye Laosi said, and the two jumped onto the military vehicle. They sped quickly towards He Junyao's home.

  The military vehicle turned countless corners and finally entered a quiet alley, with rows of quadrangle courtyards on both sides. If it weren't for the guards standing upright at the entrance, I would have thought that we had arrived at an ancient tourist attraction. The He family was also a quadrangle courtyard, with a deep courtyard, and the early autumn night brought a hint of coolness. After they got out of the car, they hurriedly walked in.

  The lights in the house were still shining brightly. Old He sat in the middle of the room, his sword-like posture unchanged, and when he saw his grandson enter, he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt in his heart, always feeling that he had wronged this child.

  As soon as he saw Ye Lao Si following behind him, he said kindly: "Four, how come you're running here? It's been some days since you came." Although his tone was gentle, the old master had lived in a high position for a long time and had accumulated a lot of prestige. Ye Lao Si sat on his right side with a posture as straight as a clock, not daring to be presumptuous.

  "Grandpa, it's so late and you still haven't rested." He Junyao asked with a serious face, "Where is Grandma?"

  "Your grandmother should rest first," said Old Man He.

  Old Mr. He looked at his grandson's coffin-like face and got so angry that he couldn't help but scold, "Hey! Don't give me that deadpan look, it makes me furious!" His liver fire was burning fiercely, especially when he saw his grandson's poker face. It pained him to think of how good a young man he used to be, now past events were unbearable to recall.

  "Grandpa He, we have something to discuss with you." Ye Laosi said hastily.

  "Something's up!" Old He raised an eyebrow and teased, "Is it that you've gotten into another mess and don't dare go home, so you're looking for a rescue?"

  "Congratulations, Grandpa. Are you saying that Fourth Son is just a troublemaker in your eyes? When something happens, he still needs to be rescued." Ye Laosi said discontentedly.

  "What's wrong? Isn't it like that? You're so old now..."

  He Junyao watched as his grandfather began to ramble on, "Grandfather, I have a document here that needs your help to verify." He handed it over to Old Master He and helped him put on his reading glasses.

  He Lao Ye Zi flipped through it slowly, frowning and looking for a long time. The room was quiet, with only the sound of the clock ticking "tick-tock". He Junyao quietly went out and came back with two bowls of noodles. One bowl was handed to Ye Laosi, who had been called out by Ye Laosi when he hadn't even eaten dinner yet.

  "Where did you two come from?" Old Master He took off his old glasses, his face stern and his eyes piercing as he looked at the two youngsters.

  "Grandfather, don't worry about where it came from, first verify its authenticity for me, especially the economic data." He Junyao said slowly, not forgetting to finish the soup in his bowl.

  Ye Lao Si gave a thumbs up in his heart, "Awesome!", Only the eldest dared to speak loudly in front of those old men, others saw him and were like mice seeing a cat, they didn't even dare to breathe.

  "The data will be available soon, but there's someone who just returned from the Soviet Union, so we can ask him." Old Man He said, and personally made a phone call.

  About twenty minutes later, a screeching sound came from outside the gate, and a man in his thirties rushed in from outside, saluting Old He with a military salute, "Chief, good!"

  "Good! Sit down!" Old Man He said.

  He Junyao and Ye Laosi also knew the newcomer. They stood up to greet each other, then sat down together again.

  "Little Wu, it's so late to call you over, sorry to trouble you, but tell me about your experiences and feelings living in the Soviet Union." Old Man He spoke warmly, but his eyes still held a strong presence.

  Xiao Wu was surprised, the old man called him so late just to ask about his life. He glanced at He Junyao and Ye Zhenhua, who were staring at him with shining eyes. Taking a deep breath, he slowly told them about his experiences in the Soviet Union over the past year.

  After finishing speaking, Old He let his grandson send him out.

  Ye Lao Si exclaimed: "He Grandpa, it seems that this information is 60% true. The black market exchange rate for US dollars to rubles is 1:15, while the official exchange rate is 1:0.9. If there's a connection, then with one transaction in and out, the profit would be substantial!" He furrowed his brow and said: "Actually, our country's foreign exchange and the Soviet Union seem to be about the same, pretending to be prosperous."

  "Be careful what you say, our country has strict foreign exchange controls." Old He warned with a glare.

  "Hehe......" Ye Laosi snickered at the old man, covering his mouth.

  "You're a sly monkey." Old Mr. He was deeply moved, he had also been to the Soviet Union when he was young, "Alas! Big brother... I really dare not imagine it developing like this..."

  "Now is not the time for nostalgia, Grandfather. From what I've gathered and Wu's recent personal experience, since Comrade Chernenko's passing, Gorbachev has taken over. The Soviet Union's political situation has already begun to highlight contradictions and problems. The enterprise autonomy reform that began during Chernenko's era has now met with increasingly fierce opposition. You know, the Soviet Union focuses on heavy industry and military industry, while daily necessities are scarce and food is also in short supply. Our opportunity has arrived." He Junyao said seriously.

  Even if Old Man He wasn't working on the economic front line, he still had some understanding of this matter. In that case, as long as there were people with a mind to operate it, they could absolutely reap huge profits from it. Relying on daily necessities, scarce materials, food and other products. Taking advantage of the chaotic situation in the Soviet Union today, exchanging for advanced heavy industry equipment from the Soviet Union, such as machine tools, advanced punching presses, and advanced military research data and weapons. Research data and information on equipment such as aircraft carriers, fighter jets, and missiles.

  He Lao Yezi saw it more deeply, "If the Soviet Union develops like this, its control over Warsaw will also weaken. That is to say, its East European partners, Poland, East Germany, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Bulgaria, and Romania will not be optimistic! The Central Asian region of the Soviet Union's republics is adjacent to us! The Americans won't let go of this rare opportunity. It seems that we need to strengthen our reconnaissance efforts over there, and we can't let the Americans put their guns at our doorstep." After saying these words, he sighed again: "Alas! Without money, it's hard to do these things!"

  What can we say as younger generations? It's also not good to make comments at this time. The country is doing well or not, they know better than anyone else.

  "That's all for now! Everything will wait for my news." Old He said finally, holding a stack of papers, feeling heavy.

  Ye Lao Si also knew that this matter couldn't be rushed, so he could only obediently return home.

  When only He Junyao and his grandson were left in the living room, the old man pointed to the pile of materials and asked: "What do you think of the person who wrote this material?"

  He Junyao held the materials, stroking his chin, and thought for a moment: "Looking at the words, the pen is strong and powerful, the font is stable and forceful, it's a generous person. From the beginning to the end, the font is consistent, without any personal emotions, the content is objective. Moreover, he is very familiar with economics, and other things are general. The language is concise and neat, like summarizing, should not be malicious towards us, should not be a trap. The age must be in his thirties, otherwise, it would not be possible to write such good handwriting, and the words were written with his left hand."

  Old Master He smiled with his eyebrows and eyes, looked at his grandson who was talking in front of him, "Oh, then tell me, is it a man or a woman."

  This sentence almost choked He Junyao to death, his eyes looked at the information again, and he really couldn't see that the font had a woman's subtlety. It was said that men wrote it, but some details were all noted, men didn't have such attention to detail. Admitting, "Grandfather, forgive my ignorance, I really can't tell whether it's male or female."

  Mr. He watched his embarrassed grandson with a pleased expression, finally able to see him flustered and change color. "It must have been written by a woman."

  "Hmm?" He Junyao's face sank, his eyebrows raised in anticipation of Lao Ye's brilliant idea.

  "There is a faint scent on the paper, not the smell of ink or the original smell of the paper itself, but the smell that comes from pressing one's hand on the paper while writing." Old Master He said.

  He Junyao picked up the documents and held them to his nose, taking a careful sniff. The scent was very faint, so faint that if he hadn't smelled carefully, he would have thought it was just the smell of ink.

  "Little one, you still have a lot to learn." Old Mr. He was delighted, his eyes narrowing into slits as he looked at his defeated grandson.