Waking up in a warm and comfortable big bed again, Natalie Vodianova quietly pinched herself under the quilt.
Not a dream.
The surroundings are still dark, but you can smell the faint fragrance wafting in the room.
Recalling everything she has experienced in the past few months, Natalie feels that she is probably in heaven.
Born in a small town in the Novgorod region of the Soviet Union, and living in the most run-down neighborhood of the city, Natalie was raised by her mother alone from an early age. She was 9 years old when the Soviet Union collapsed. She was still ignorant and had no idea what it meant. She only heard many people saying that good times were coming, and felt the excitement in everyone's discussion about this matter. The little girl also Very happy.
The good days did not come.
The economic situation of the new Russian Federation has plummeted. The factory where her mother worked suddenly closed down and she can only make a living by selling fruits. She also dropped out of school after the ruble collapsed last year and struggled to make ends meet with her mother.
Everyone has no food to eat, and naturally few people can afford to eat fruit anymore.
Moreover, society is lacking in material resources and can only get very few goods from wholesalers at a time. Many times they can’t earn more than 10,000 rubles a day. Prices in Russia are so high now that 10,000 rubles can only buy two loaves of bread. The mother and daughter have often been hungry since last year, and sometimes they have to seek help from their grandparents, who are also not well-off. .
Although she is a fruit seller, she does not remember what the fruit she sells tastes like. Even if the excess fruit cannot be sold, it will be returned to wholesalers when it is about to go bad, and it is said that it will be canned.
More than two months ago, my good friend Nia showed everyone a recruitment notice printed in a newspaper. A very powerful modeling agency in the United States was recruiting trainees, and she was just the right age.
One of the most popular topics in this country in recent years has been immigration.
It's just that for people at the bottom of society like them, the word 'immigration' is really out of reach. However, as long as there is a one-in-10,000 chance to leave Russia, no one will let it go.
This time, even her mother didn’t object and squeezed out a little money to help her make a resume and send it out.
Due to unplanned photography and postal expenses, the mother and daughter were unable to eat enough for the next few days. When she found out that many girls around her had made similar attempts, she still complained about Nia in her heart. However, she showed the recruitment notice to too many people. Even among the groups of friends around her, she was not beautiful in appearance and not tall enough. high.
With so many people sending in their resumes, the chances of getting a chance are slim to none.
She had been fantasizing about it for more than half a month, but there was no response, and so were the girls around her, so she gradually gave up.
Indeed.
There must be more and more outstanding girls in big cities like Moscow and St. Petersburg. How could it be their turn to be girls in run-down communities in small cities
When a black luxury car that she had not seen on the city streets for many years parked in front of her house and took out the resume she had sent two weeks ago, she almost fainted with joy.
But, wasn’t it about recruiting model trainees? How could they become personal life assistants
The word sounded very formal, but her mother, who had a straightforward and aggressive personality, saw the essence at a glance: she was actually a maid, right
The middle-aged staff member who was responsible for communicating with them did not deny it, saying that it was understandable. She was just a maid in a wealthy family, so she needed to be trained from an early age and the requirements were very high. Not just anyone could be a maid.
In fact, neither mother nor daughter hesitated much.
With the current situation at home, let alone the maid, it doesn't matter even if she is asked to marry an old man immediately as his wife, as long as she can go to the United States.
However, my mother still cautiously asked how much money she could earn in the future.
The middle-aged man who seemed very successful said that once selected, he would receive a salary of US$200,000 per year, plus other benefits.
My mother immediately became unhappy.
fraud!
Do you think they are fools
In Russia today, even Yeltsin's annual salary is less than $200,000.
Well, how much is $200,000
As she listened, she was calculating in her head. On weekdays, many people around her discussed the US dollar and the British pound. She probably knew the exchange rate. The value of the new ruble issued last year increased a thousand times. Now it would cost about 4,000 to exchange for 1 US dollar. ruble.
200,000 US dollars, equivalent to 800 million rubles.
The mother and daughter can only earn about 300,000 rubles or 800 million rubles a month now, eh, eh, eh, eh.
My mother was probably a little dizzy too.
I have determined that the other party is a liar, but I don't want to give up. I don't want to joke about the $200,000. As long as my daughter can go abroad and she doesn't do some shady business, I don't expect anything else.
After all, a liar with no real skills can't drive such a luxurious car.
The middle-aged woman was very patient about this and explained seriously that she was not a liar and that the $200,000 was real. However, it was not easy for her to get the job. Their boss might only want 10 girls in the end, but it would cost tens of thousands. She was selected from among the girls. He came here today just to give her an interview opportunity to enter the primary election. There are thousands of girls entering this stage, and only dozens of training places will be selected from them.
Mother and daughter were blinded again.
When I asked the middle-aged man who the boss was, he said he didn't know, and he was just the most junior clerk.
Then another question came to mind.
What if you don't choose
The middle-aged man regretted that if he was not chosen, there was nothing he could do.
Obviously, what is happening now will be what will happen in the future.
This is too bad.
In a blink of an eye, her mother began to test how to be selected. She sat on a small stool next to her and found that her mother had unknowingly moved closer to the middle-aged man. She quickly lowered her head obediently and pretended not to understand anything.
The middle-aged man did not stay long, but introduced some matters in a very formal way, saying that if the mother and daughter were willing, they could go to Moscow for an interview in the near future.
Moscow.
how to get to
How much will it cost
The mother and daughter cannot afford such expenses now.
Fortunately, the middle-aged people said that board and lodging were all included during the interview period and they would not spend a penny.
So I felt a little more relieved.
Scammers usually try their best to get people to pay. If it doesn't cost a penny, it's probably not a liar. Moreover, Moscow is the capital of Russia, so if the mother and daughter go there together, nothing too bad will happen.
After receiving a positive response, the middle-aged man asked them to sign an agreement and left in a hurry.
Then she discovered that there were actually seven girls rushing to Moscow together from the small town, and two of her friends, Natalia and Nia, were among them. Immediately, I felt a sense of crisis, and once again complained in my heart that Nia should not have shown the recruitment notice to too many people.
When we arrived in Moscow, we were arranged in a very good hotel. We also found that this hotel was filled with girls and parents who came from all over Russia, and there were more than 30 in this group.
Sure enough, all board and lodging are included, and there are no restrictions on ordering food.
My mother always asked the waiter for an extra biscuit and planned to take it home when she left. She wanted to stop it, not because she felt embarrassed, but because what if it was discovered that it would affect the interview
Then she noticed that many people were doing this, and some even stuffed their luggage bags with bread. The person in charge who lived with them didn't say anything, so she didn't say anything to stop her mother's little move.
Russia is in the coldest time of the year.
Moscow, the capital city that we imagine should be very prosperous, but many people are queuing up to buy food in the cold wind.
The first interview was scheduled the day after arriving in Moscow.
Physical examination to be precise.
She had experienced it during the Soviet era, but this time the physical examination seemed to be beyond her knowledge. The various items lasted for two full days. Six tubes of blood samples were taken from her, and even her teeth and armpits were taken. Both the legs and feet should be checked. She also discovered that the team responsible for the physical examination were not all local Russian doctors. A large part of them were foreigners and spoke English.
The physical examination is over, and then the rest continues.
After accompanying their children throughout this physical examination, some parents who were originally hesitant were relieved and joked privately that maybe even Yeltsin might not have such meticulous medical examination treatment.
She was a little worried.
Such strict screening will definitely mean that many people will be eliminated.
When I told my mother, she also became worried. She started to ask for more biscuits every time she ordered food. If she was eliminated, she would bring at least one batch of food back.
This wait lasted for five full days. I probably realized something, and the people around me gradually became less relaxed.
On the morning of the sixth day, another staff member with superiors appeared and summoned everyone to an auditorium near the hotel. He said that the results of the physical examination had been released and the girls who passed the screening would continue to stay. Those who did not pass the screening would receive 100,000 rubles. compensation and a free return ticket.
Everyone is nervous.
But he didn't realize that the results of the elimination were more cruel than imagined.
There were a total of 36 girls in the hotel, only 11 passed the first round of screening, and the other 25 had to leave.
Luckily she was one of the girls who passed the selection.
Of the 7 girls from their small town, only 3 passed the screening. Natalia stayed and Nia was eliminated.
She didn't find it strange.
Nia was considered the prettiest of the three of them, but she had body odor, and when she checked her armpits, she realized that this might be the result for Nia. Although people usually don't think much about things like body odor, after all, many people have it, but with such strict screening, big shots will definitely not want girls like Nia.
When the person in charge read out the results, she hugged Nia regretfully, but she couldn't help but think that she had lost another competitor. It's a pity that Natalia was not eliminated together. She is also prettier and taller than me.
Regarding this result, some people questioned, some begged, and some tried to cheat and demand more compensation.
Faced with the commotion, the staff member called for a team of police officers.
Everyone immediately did not dare to make a mistake.
The hotel was mostly empty that afternoon. The hotel owner was very disappointed. In this era, there was no business at all in the hotel. These people were big customers. The hotel owner was also well aware of people's little tricks of deliberately ordering more food. Happy to see it come to fruition.
In Russia today, the most profitable items are basic daily necessities such as food.
Then there are some more logs waiting.
Someone tried to ask, and the person in charge explained that many other girls were being tested. As for the next test, the other party did not disclose.
On the afternoon of the sixth day, another car finally came to pick them up.
This time it was in a very high-end office building in the center of Moscow. The girls were called into different rooms. For more than an hour, they were asked a lot of ordinary and weird questions by the people inside.
There was also a video camera filming nearby.
It inevitably made the girls taking part in the test even more nervous.
The woman wearing glasses who was responsible for asking her questions was very gentle, but she didn't dare to relax at all. Even if it was a simple question like what she likes to eat on weekdays, she would think it over carefully before answering. As for the answer A map asked her to choose one of the three routes between two places with such a clueless question. She hesitated for a long time before making a decision, very worried about making a mistake.
Finally I chose the shortest one.
I think this can make me appear more candid.
Returning to the hotel, some knowledgeable people said that this was a psychological test.
It didn’t take too long after this test.
They took another test the next day. The 11 girls were divided into three groups based on age, education, etc. This time it was an IQ test. In three hours, she answered most of the questions, but it was still not easy. She felt Many of the questions are quite simple, and I don’t know how others have answered them.
Afterwards, I tried to test other girls, but everyone remained tight-lipped.
This time the wait was even longer. After two weeks, only 2 of the 11 girls were left, her and Natalia.
When they learned from the person in charge that there would be no other tests and that they were selected, the two families almost cried with joy. Uncle Yuri, who brought Nata to this interview, drank two bottles of vodka that night and sang loudly in the empty room. No one in the hotel protested.
However, when she thought of the words of the middle-aged man who came into contact with them for the first time, she realized that this was probably just the beginning.
This is indeed the case.
They changed to a hotel with better conditions, and the 10 girls who were successfully selected were gathered together again. The person in charge was also changed again. The other party also accidentally revealed that there were probably more than 50 girls selected in Russia.
The slightly better news is that in addition to free food and accommodation, they also received a subsidy.
The girls who were eliminated were given 100,000 rubles as compensation every time they left.
The subsidy they received this time was as high as 10 million rubles, equivalent to the mother and daughter's income from selling fruit for three years.
However, she once again thought about the words of the middle-aged man she met with them for the first time. After finally getting the job, the annual salary was 200,000 US dollars and 800 million rubles.
How much is 800 million rubles
She has never been able to form a very intuitive concept in her little mind. She only knows that this is a very large amount of money, which may be enough for her to spend her whole life.
After the subsidy was handed out, she watched her mother count the thick stack of banknotes. She felt that she should have a share here, so she asked for it, but was immediately rejected. She laughed out loud at the way her head stopped suddenly after a few times.
The mother was afraid of breaking her.
I am very valuable now, hum.
It is estimated that the girls selected have become the treasures of the family.
Then she was busy for more than half a month, signing contracts that she didn't quite understand, and having to apply for passports and visas. She also knew that she was about to go to London, England, not the United States.
London is not bad, and is even closer to Russia.
But he didn't set off immediately.
The person in charge explained that some preparations were still being made in London and that they would have to wait until January next year. He also said that if they did not want to stay in the Moscow hotel, they could go home and wait for notification.
The temptation of free room and board is still great, so most people choose to stay. Of course, some people have to leave temporarily due to various reasons, and those who leave are basically just their parents, and the girls are all left on their own initiative.
Mother and daughter were alone, so of course they stayed.
Uncle Yuri asked his mother to take care of Natalia who stayed behind, but he returned to his hometown.
There are seven members of their family, and Uncle Yuri is the backbone of the family. During the time he lived in Moscow, Uncle Yuri secretly sent food to the family several times, all of which were squeezed out of hotel meals. If this opportunity hadn't been too rare for Natalia, he wouldn't have been able to stay away from home for too long.