In St. Petersburg, Simon ended his call with Amy Pascal, took care of some other work, turned off his computer, got up and walked out of his study.

This is a coastal suburb southwest of St. Petersburg.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with how to choose a place to live in a city, following the residence of the elite or the government department.

On the southwest coast of St. Petersburg, close to the Gulf of Finland, there are many mansions of Russian magnates during the Tsarist period, including the former Peterhof.

Russia is vast and sparsely populated, and the last thing that is lacking is land.

As a result, Simon's seaside estate was built on a 100-hectare plot between Peterhof and another Constantine Palace, and the main building of the estate was a three-storey baroque castle-style villa similar to the Hermitage in St. Petersburg, but with a rustic original lime instead of the grass green of the Hermitage.

Moreover, in order to avoid being 'mixed with sand' during the construction process, the building materials, including the construction team, are from Ukraine.

Simon knew that the bricks of the U.S. Embassy were stuffed with bugs.

Ever since that experience at the Plaza Hotel, Simon has always had a shadow about this kind of thing.

Simon left the study, and Girl A quickly greeted her with two waitresses, who also held two sets of clothes in their hands, picked one at random, changed them in the next bedroom, and then went downstairs.

The sedan was already waiting outside the villa.

Sensing that Simon was going out, a little bit broke free from his mother's arms and ran over.

To be together.

Simon picked up the little girl, and when he saw Shulshikina coming over to pick up the child, he shook his head with a smile, and said to the little one in his arms: "It's okay to be together, but you must be obedient." ”

The little guy had a sweet mouth: "Of course, Dad, Nina is very well-behaved." ”

Yulia Shulshikina didn't know what Simon was going to do next, but she understood that it was definitely not an ordinary entertainment, so she stepped forward a little more, tried to stretch out her hand, and said, "Sir, it's better to give me the child, it's not appropriate for Nina to go." ”

When the little guy in Simon's arms saw his mother coming forward, he immediately put his arms around Simon's neck like a koala, and urged, "Daddy, go quickly." ”

Shaking his head at Shulshikina again, Simon came to the villa with the child in his arms, and the waiting bodyguard drivers were slightly surprised when they saw Simon holding the child, but they didn't say anything, just opened the car door for their boss.

Simon got into the car with the child in his arms, and Girl A followed, and when the door closed, the little girl immediately grimaced at her mother outside the window.

Instead of reminding the little guy that her mom couldn't actually see inside the car, Simon just told the driver to drive.

Two identical black Mercedes cars left the estate through the long corridor and turned onto the road towards St. Petersburg.

It was already more than seven o'clock in the afternoon, and the sky in St. Petersburg, which is located in the high latitudes, was still bright, and it was expected to be dark around eight o'clock.

Located at the mouth of the Baltic Sea, this ancient city is a testament to Russia's transformation from a small, backward country in a remote corner to a European power.

At the beginning of the eighteenth century, Peter the Great moved the capital of Russia from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and forcibly promoted the process of Europeanization of Russia, accepting various advanced technologies and cultures, and finally established Russia's status as a European power for nearly 300 years until the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Speaking of which, Peter the Great happened to be in the same period as the Kangxi Emperor of China.

The two have led the two countries in completely different directions.

One is forced to promote openness and eventually become a world-class power.

One insisted on closing the country to the outside world, and as a result, it was abandoned by history.

And now, this city, which has experienced nearly 300 years of vicissitudes, can be said to have fallen into the lowest period of its life.

When Simon's car drove into the city of St. Petersburg, except for the asphalt road left over from the Soviet era, which is still wide and solid, everything else exudes a similar atmosphere of decay as the Ukrainian capital Kyiv, many buildings on both sides of the road look mottled and dilapidated due to lack of maintenance, and Russia's relatively sparse population makes it look like a ghost town at first glance.

However, Simon knows that this is still not the lowest time for Russia.

Although Russia's GDP has fallen from $517.9 billion in 1991, when the Soviet Union collapsed, to $395.5 billion in 1995, a decline of 24%, the real abyss is still after 1997.

The turning point happened to be this year.

1996 was not only a presidential election year in the United States, but also a presidential election year in Russia.

Yeltsin's success in stealing power from the Russian presidency has made a mess of the country in recent years, so that at the beginning of this year, the Russian public's approval rating for the speculator to avoid the politician was only a pitiful 3%, either 30% or a paltry 3%.

Yeltsin, who knew very well what he would encounter once he stepped down, resolutely joined forces with the major oligarchs in Russia and invested huge sums of money to reverse the situation.

Before the advent of the information age, public opinion was fairly easy to manipulate because of the limited media channels, so now, a few months later, Yeltsin's approval rating has risen to about 50 percent, ahead of his rivals, and it is no surprise that he will be re-elected in the July election.

Since the major oligarchs gave Yeltsin so much support, of course, they should give it in return.

As a result, the feast of the second division of Russian state assets became even more unscrupulous during Yeltsin's second term, and coupled with the impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis, the Russian economy fell into an even more inextricable abyss. At its lowest point in 1999, Russia's GDP was just over $190 billion, down 50% from about $400 billion at that time.

If it weren't for Yeltsin's only right thing in his last years in power, choosing a qualified successor, it would not be impossible for Russia to once again live by selling land as it did in the first place when it sold Alaska.

Simon and his entourage entered the city of St. Petersburg from the southwestern suburbs, crossed the Neva River, and after a journey of more than 40 minutes, finally entered another private residence in the eastern suburbs of the city.

It is the private home of Mikhail Friedman, an oligarch supported by the Westeros system in Russia.

Tonight, there will be a small-scale reception in the political and business fields.

The reception was personally arranged by Simon at his behest.

Over the years, as Simon's influence has grown, few things have begun to turn their backs on remembered history. After all, according to the butterfly effect theory that people are accustomed to, two seemingly completely unrelated things, under all kinds of implications, will eventually affect each other, not to mention, Simon has been involved in it for a long time.

So some things are inevitable.

In order to prevent history from going in an unfamiliar direction that he could not understand at all, Simon decided to gently push the wheel of history at a critical moment.

Just like this time.

On the Russian side, the much-anticipated presidential election is related to the political trend of the country in the next four years, and the other thing, the St. Petersburg mayoral election, which took place almost at about the same time, can almost be said to be related to the direction of Russian politics in the next 20 years.

Because there is a very key person involved.

In fact, the St. Petersburg mayoral election ended on May 19, with the incumbent mayor Sobchak losing to his rival by a paltry 1.5 percent. Unlike in the United States, where elections are usually sworn in the following year, the mayor of St. Petersburg will be sworn in on the last day of August and will begin in September.

If there is no other external influence, at that time, the original mayor team is likely to be scattered and go to various unknowns.

One of the guys entrusted by the current mayor Sobchak is certainly unlikely to be left behind, and the memory of the fact that the other party was able to get a vacancy in Moscow is actually full of chance.

If Simon doesn't intervene, it's hard to say what will happen next.

Even, if Simon wants to change history now, it's actually very easy. Give the other party a high-paying position in a private company that is completely impossible to refuse, then, the future Russia may no longer be the Russia in Simon's memory, and everything will change.

With too much thought in mind, Simon didn't plan to change.

In the night that the city was shrouded in for a long time, Simon had just gotten out of the car in this private mansion, and Mikhail Friedman, who was full of caution about the arrival of the big boss, personally greeted him, and obviously had something to say.

Simon handed the little girl who was curiously looking around in his arms to Girl A behind him, and there was no need for too many hints, several bodyguards around him stepped back, and Friedman leaned into Simon's ear and whispered something.

Hearing what the other party revealed, Simon was also a little surprised, but still said, "Then go up and talk." ”

Mikhail Friedman immediately made a gesture of please: "Simon, this way." ”

The two entered through the side door of the villa, and Friedman, noticing that Simon's entourage was naturally following, paused, and did not stop.

The corridor of the villa connected to the side door is not lit, and in the dim light, you can clearly see the scene of the reception in the hall.

Simon explained to the A girl behind her, and asked her to go directly to the hall, and she and Friedman turned to the stairs together, and came to the second floor of the villa, the corridor also did not turn on the lights, and at the door of a room, at this time, there were two burly figures standing on the left and right, and when they saw Simon and the two appear, they first looked at this side vigilantly, and then relaxed after confirming their identities.

However, when they saw the bodyguards following behind Simon and the others, the two stopped talking again.

Simon didn't pay attention to the two of them, and went straight to the door, one of them seemed to pause, but still took the initiative to help push the door open, and whispered something to the inside.

This is a study.

Only one wall lamp was turned on, and the light was as dim as the outer hallway.

Simon entered the door and saw a woman in a black professional suit with short hair sitting on the sofa in the reception area, and it was not until Simon approached that the woman stood up leisurely, although her face was raised because of her height, she stretched out her hand to Simon with a sense of unconcealed pride: "Hello, Mr. Westeros." ”

Simon smiled and shook the woman's hand: "Hello." ”

The woman paused, then took the initiative to say, "You can call me Tatyana." ”

"Okay. ”

Simon nodded, walked over to the single sofa across from him and sat down.

The woman just subconsciously pinched it, but felt completely empty, at this time, seeing the man sitting down by himself, she couldn't help frowning slightly, but she still sat down, and saw that a guy opposite was very relaxed leaning on the sofa to look at her, and finally spoke again, pointing to a bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in front of her: "Mr. Westeros, do you want a drink?"

"No, you're on your own. ”

The woman nodded, hesitated slightly, or picked up a glass of wine that she had just poured, and then felt that she was completely inferior, like a weak-hearted little girl subconsciously picking up something to protect in front of her. After a pause, the woman put the wine glass back on the coffee table, wanting to lean on the sofa as relaxed as the man opposite, and after a little hesitation, she still sat up straight.

Simon looked at the corner of his mouth with a smile for a moment, and finally said again: "Now is the critical moment of the general election, if it is revealed that you are meeting Simon Westeros at this time, it will definitely bring a very big potential risk to your father." ”

When the woman heard this, she couldn't help but say, "We are not Mr. Westeros, we will be known wherever we go, and this bit of secrecy can still be done." ”

Simon's arrival in St. Petersburg in the morning, which was also a secret trip, and there was no news in the open media, was suddenly approached by someone, apparently still noticed by many people.

Just smiling, Simon said, "Tanya, then, do you have anything to do with me?"

When the woman heard Simon's question, her expression was obviously stunned, and she remembered the business of this secret visit.

However, just now, I couldn't help but squeeze a certain guy, and I changed my tone directly, and it seemed that ...... But she is not a woman who drags her feet, and in recent months she has taken the initiative to stand in front of the stage to organize a campaign for her father, which has been very successful, so she quickly said: "Mr. Westeros, my father has always admired you very much, and he said that you are definitely the most unexpected miracle of our time." ”

"Thank you. ”

The woman is a little stingy again, shouldn't they be polite to each other at this time?

Finally, I regretted my initial deliberate manipulation.

In fact, I have seen the secret file about the young man in front of me in advance, and many things are very detailed, but the conclusion about the other party's character is unpredictable.

It's like a mix of multiple personalities.

This doesn't seem surprising at all, since it's a well-known fact that a guy was in a psychiatric hospital.

Because it's too complex, it's hard to set up a targeted response.

After pondering for a moment, the woman finally said, "Mr. Westeros, what do you think of this Russian presidential election?"

Seeing that the woman squeezed out another problem that was not nutritious, Simon shook his head directly, and said, "Tanya, I think we should be more direct, let's say, what are you looking for me?"

Tanya.

It's Tanya again.

Are we that close?

The woman sneered slightly, and finally said: "Mr. Westeros, we have found that the spokesman of the Westeros system in Russia, Mr. Mikhail Friedman, in recent years in our country does not seem to be satisfactory. And this election, not surprisingly, my father was able to be re-elected. So, if Mr. Westeros wants to develop further in Russia, maybe we can become allies?"

Simon finally showed some interested expressions: "We, who are we?"

The woman said: "The Westeros, the Yeltsin family." ”