A moment later, a certain former Ukrainian natural gas princess walked in wearing a bathrobe, greeted her in a flattering manner, and without Simon having to say anything, she took off her robe and stepped into the large bathtub on her own initiative.
Simon leaned against the window, holding a glass of water and sipping. Occasionally he glanced out the window at the darkening night of the black sea. When he saw the woman entering the water, he came over, raised his foot to hold it, and started talking directly about the business: "The railway project in Africa." , I didn’t originally plan to give it to you.”
Tymoshenko was blocked by the man, so he picked it up and helped wash it, while immediately promising: "Simon, I can definitely do a good job."
Simon enjoyed the woman's service, but his attitude did not soften: "There are three contractors in Ukraine, including you. My attitude is to keep them if they do well. If they don't do well, they will be eliminated directly. By the way, okay? A good standard is to compare it with China's railway construction team."
Tymoshenko seemed very confident: "We will not be worse than the Chinese."
Simon was noncommittal and glanced out the window again. It became increasingly difficult to see anything clearly. He retracted his gaze, put the glass in his hand aside, and then said: "Do you know about the American Pacific Railway?"
The woman shook her head in confusion.
Simon said: "The total length of the Pacific Railway is more than 3,000 kilometers. It was built in the middle of the last century and runs through the entire North American continent. This railway was basically built by the Chinese."
The woman was even more puzzled: "Simon, what's the problem?"
Simon turned to the dark window again and continued casually: "Let's put it this way, the Pacific Railway initially hired local North American laborers. Within one year of construction, it only built 60 kilometers, an average of less than 0.2 kilometers per day. The railway company that invested in this project As a result, we almost went bankrupt. Later, Chinese labor was introduced, and more than 3,000 kilometers of railways. According to the American pace, it may not be completed in 60 years. The Chinese laborers only took 6 years, during which they also set a project record of laying 16 kilometers of track in one day."
Having said this, Simon paused and did not continue.
What is not mentioned is that after hundreds of thousands of Chinese workers completed this super infrastructure project at the cost of countless people being buried in other places, the Americans were shocked and then introduced the Chinese Exclusion Act.
Because he is so capable, he is worried about taking their job opportunities.
In recent years, due to running a railway equipment company, Tymoshenko has a good understanding of this field and understands the concept of laying 3,000 kilometers of track in six years, let alone the 19th century when construction conditions were rough and harsh. After hearing what the man said, he was also shocked. He hesitated a little and said tentatively: "Simon, there should be a difference between the last century and now, right?"
Simon did not answer, but said: "I will give the workers enough wages, and your profits will be guaranteed. Then, what I want is efficiency. Compared with the Chinese team, your side is slightly worse. I It’s acceptable, but the salary will also be lowered. If the difference is too big, as I just said, then there’s no need to do it.”
What Simon didn't bother to say is that Ukraine has basically nothing left. It is a country with a population of 50 million, let alone the powerful countries in Western Europe. Its GDP is even less than a fraction of South Korea, which is also suffering from a financial crisis in Asia. If the workers here are not willing to work hard when they arrive in Africa, but still want a comfortable eight-hour working day and all kinds of so-called labor protections, then they can just come back and lie down.
When the man said this, Tymoshenko thought about it for a moment, quickly understood, nodded and said: "Simon, I understand what to do."
Anyway, there is no need for her to go to Africa to lay railways herself.
Simon hummed, stopped talking nonsense, retracted his legs slightly, and easily brought the woman over.
It was around eight o'clock in the evening when I left a certain woman and left the bathroom. The other two girls had already had dinner.
This was followed by a reception at the home of the new governor, Andres Mirnov.
until late at night.
Early the next morning, Li Fuzhen and Delphina were sent away, and Simon quietly flew to Moscow on a Boeing 737 prepared in advance.
They secretly arrived at the manor in the western suburbs of Moscow. As soon as they got off the car, Yulia Shulshkina, who had rushed to prepare in advance, came up to her and told Simon in a low voice that the guests had arrived.
Following Shulshkina into the villa, she passed through the hall and turned to the east corridor. When she saw a man in black guarding the door at the end of the corridor, there was also a panic-looking maid. Shulshkina looked shocked. , couldn't help but quicken the pace.
Simon thought something had happened, and hurriedly came closer, only to hear the waitress coming towards her with a panicked look on her face: "Madam, the lady ran in, and I didn't stop her."
Well aware of the importance of this meeting, Shulshkina's face suddenly lost its usual gentleness and tranquility. She was not ready to get angry with the waitress. She glanced at the man next to her with a pitiful expression and ignored the black-clad bodyguard who said, " It doesn't matter' and other words, and he hurriedly opened the door and entered.
Simon followed him in, and saw that Shulshkina had quickly arrived in front of the little girl sitting next to a middle-aged man. She grabbed her daughter's arm and pulled the little girl up. She said with a slight change of voice: "Nina , What did I say, how can you be so ignorant!"
The little girl had obviously never seen her mother get so angry, and she was immediately confused.
A certain middle-aged man stood up, first nodded to Simon, and then stretched out his hand in a gesture, but did not directly pull the mother and daughter away. He just said: "It's okay, Ms. Shulshkina, don't blame Ni Na, we had a great chat."
Simon also quickly stepped forward, took the frightened little girl from Shulshkina's hand, patted Nizi on the back, and said to the woman: "Okay, you can go out."
Seeing that the man was not angry, nor was a certain distinguished guest, Shulshkina relaxed a little. Over the years, she has been carefully guarding everything she has, and she is really worried about the unexpected consequences of her daughter's abruptness just now. After all, today is really special.
After apologizing to the two of them again, Shulshkina reached out and wanted to take her daughter and leave together, but the girl hugged Simon tightly like a koala and deliberately turned her head away from her mother.
The nine-year-old girl has actually gradually understood many things. For example, the man holding her now is not her biological father. For example, her mother's anger just now made her realize that she had really gotten into trouble. Although, she still didn't quite understand why, but holding tightly to the man who was still her father, the little girl was not afraid or aggrieved, but just a little Guilt, afraid to face it.
The girl didn't want to leave. Simon thought it was because he was scared, so he patted Xiao Nizi comfortingly and motioned for Shulshkina to go out first.
After Shulshikina closed the door and left, Simon greeted the middle-aged man again, sat down on the sofa with Xiao Nizi in his arms, looked to the side apologetically, and first comforted the little one in his arms: "Okay. Baby, your mother is gone."
After a short pause, Nina let go of Simon a little, already with tears in her eyes: "Dad, I'm sorry."
Simon looked at Xiao Nizi's frightened look. He didn't say it didn't matter. He just wiped her tears and warned her, "You can't be so abrupt in the future. Do you understand?"
Xiao Nizi nodded quickly.
Simon put the girl on the ground and said: "And, to this gentleman"
Before Simon finished speaking, the middle-aged man next to him had already waved his hand: "No, it really doesn't matter. In fact, Nina and I have met before, four years ago, at that party in St. Petersburg. We just chatted, but I didn't expect her to also It’s surprising to remember me.”
ps1: I read some words recently and was very moved: the last senior KGB agent of the Soviet Union, performing the last unknown mission of the Soviet Union, silently guarding the broken motherland for 20 years, 70 years old, for the motherland that has never left, for The old land that can never be returned to, the final battle.
ps2: I have read several biographies of this person, and my personal feelings are: a patriot who worked hard and achieved nothing. With the whole world facing enemies, how bad Ukraine is now can only be imagined how well the emperor has done in the past twenty years. I'm not a fan of the emperor, I don't fan of anyone, I just admire him. And, in turbulent times, some expectations of a humble citizen who is unable to change anything.