François, Vice President of the European Company, led a delegation of NB Electric Business to inspect the investment environment, accompanied by officials of the St. Petersburg Foreign Affairs Committee.

Rorel, director of the Moscow representative office of the Berlin General Industrial Corporation, who is about to become the president of NB Electric (Russia), organized the original team of the representative office and more than a dozen former East German diplomats from European companies to come to support, and used their connections in the Soviet Union to exchange rubles in Moscow, Minsk, Kazan, Gorky, Volgograd, Yekaterinburg, Nikolaev, Riga, Tallinn and other cities at a rate much higher than that of the black market, and prepared for the next interview of BNB News reporters.

Dr. Klinsmann, Dr. Marcus, Dr. Christian, Dr. Frederik, and the members of the "Leipzig Youth Travel Agency" who arrived one after another, through friends and friends of friends, recruited gas turbines and gas turbine-related talents for the NB laboratory in Berlin.

Headquarters is trying to allocate money for this side, and European companies are racing against time to form BNB News and Pan-European International Travel Agency. and served as the base camp of "Operation Soviet", providing support to the front and colleagues who were about to rush to the front.

Everyone was busy, and the charter was extremely leisurely.

In order to keep his usual low profile, Jan Joseph, a younger-looking bodyguard, turned into an international student in the physics department of St. Petersburg University, wandering around him all day with a stack of books, and skipping classes for longer than class hours.

Like all SDSU classrooms, he also had a secretary.

Frank Elstner, a former East German diplomatic courier, is a knowledgeable and fluent Russian-language courier who illustrates this new identity very well. Come to the office together. Let's go to the lab and do experiments. Giving classes to physics students together, going back to a villa in the suburbs together, and even going to the bathroom together.

Never leave an inch, and also work as a translator when teaching, so dedicated that I couldn't be more dedicated.

The female bodyguard Magdalena became Xia Yao's classmate and best friend, went to the language center of the Summer Palace campus to learn Russian together, went shopping together, and were inseparable all day long.

And the real secretary Frederick became an "errand runner". In the morning, I went to the former East German consulate in St. Petersburg along the river street in Goriboyedov to help, and in the afternoon I drove to Pulkovo airport to pick up various items from my colleagues from NB Aviation, and then went to the suburban villa to meet the charter and others who came back from class.

Visiting scholars are not professors in the true sense of the word, and Xia Yao, like those international students from Switzerland, France, and Spain, has never thought about getting a degree, anyway, it is a preparatory department that is similar to training.

Every day at 3 p.m., the two of them carried their cameras on their backs and walked along the Neva River on foot, escorted by three bodyguards. Wander through the streets and alleys through wide roads, tall churches, romantic canals, and ethnic Russians, Ukrainians, Jews, Belarusians, and Tatars.

"It is often said that if you haven't been to St. Petersburg, you haven't been to Russia. This phrase represents the place of this historic city in the hearts of Russians. And only when you come to St. Petersburg do you understand what is called the pride of the Russians here. ”

Frank, a former diplomatic courier, is back in the role of tour guide. Unhurriedly followed behind the two and introduced in fluent English: "In 1703, the ambitious Peter the Great and his Jin Ge Iron Horse, in order to open the road from Russia to Western Europe, built the city on the eastern shore of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, at the mouth of the Neva River, which made St. Petersburg an important cultural center in Europe and the capital of Russia for the next 200 years......

With 68 canals and more than 400 bridges, it is known as the Venice of Russia. Classical buildings and places of interest left behind by the former imperial capital abound; Churches, museums and theaters dating from the 18th and 19th centuries fill the streets; The splendid Russian culture nurtured by the Neva River once attracted many famous scientists and writers to live and work here. ”

St. Petersburg is at its most beautiful, with the summer colors and the sunshine, melody wafting everywhere, and the fragrance of flowers and plants everywhere.

The leaves that can be seen everywhere show the three colors of red, yellow and green, like the beauty of the sunset, a gust of wind blows, the fallen leaves are colorful, and those swirling fallen leaves are like beautiful elves, dancing at will in this romantic city, like a moment before the end of life to bloom, dazzling.

The murmuring of the Neva River is the deep eyes of the city, which makes people intoxicated; The sparkling river surface is full of color; A bridge full of European style, beautiful and shining.

The pervasive ancient charm and simple folk customs led Xia Yao to the era of Tsarist Russia, and he looked around greedily at this miracle of the world that Peter the Great had built with all his life's energy, and muttered as he walked: "Lomonosov, Mendeleev, Pushkin, Gogol? ”

"And Pushkin."

He took her arm and pointed to a statue not far away, and said with emotion: "A great writer, poet, and novelist has become a victim of his wife Nadalia's beautiful appearance and frivolous behavior. ”

Frank was so learned that he recited "My Epitaph": "Here is buried Pushkin, who lived a lazy and cheerful life with the young muse and with the goddess of love." He had done nothing good, but by conscience, thankfully, he was a good man! ”

It's a pity that he died at the age of 37, but he can't blame all the women for it.

Xia Yao glanced back at the two of them, pouted and muttered, "Do you think his wife is a red face?" ”

"Just like Xu Zhimo and Lu Xiaoman, it's hard to say who is right and who is wrong."

Frank hadn't heard of Xu Zhimo, let alone Lu Xiaoman, but he could roughly guess the meaning of the charter, and after thinking about it, he shook his head and sighed: "Miss Xia, his rival Dantes is actually an unfortunate character, married Catherine, who is not only 6 years older than him, but also not beautiful, just to see her sister Nadalya often. Even the queen was upset for him, saying, 'I sympathize with him, is he magnanimous or a sacrifice?' ’”

Plain love is the best, and few earth-shattering ones like them don't seem to have a good ending.

The charter considers itself to be emotionally unpretentious. I won't envy the kind of love that has to be "you live or die". To put it mildly: "In their time." Duels are very popular and are one of the most popular ways for both sides of the conflict to solve problems. And the duel was proposed by him first, wealth and nobility are up to fate, life and death are up to heaven, and no one can complain about anyone.

So after he was mortally wounded and carried home, he comforted Nadalia in his pain: 'Don't worry, you are not at fault'. When the pain was excruciating, he told her to go away. He didn't want her to look at her wounded and tormented, and kept saying 'my poor wife' and sent someone to comfort her. During the interlude in pain, he called her to his side and repeatedly explained to her that she was innocent and that he would always love her......"

What a touching love story, Xia Yao couldn't help but raise his head and ask, "Charter, will you duel for me?" ”

"Will you be as frivolous as his wife Nadalia?"

"Of course not."

She pinched her little nose and asked with a smile, "Since it won't." So who do I go to a duel with? ”

Xia Yao snorted and said, "It's necrotic!" ”

They flirted and cursed, and Frank turned his back as if nothing had happened. Chat in German with vigilant Magdalena and Jan Joseph about security.

"The security here is worse than we thought."

Magdalena took off her sunglasses, looked at several Russian men behind her through the lenses, and said quietly: "The one in the jacket has been following us from the Cathedral of Spilled Blood, everyone else wears a shirt, and he also wears a coat, there must be something wrong." ”

"I noticed it too."

Frank naturally squatted down, tied his shoelaces that were not loosened at all, glanced at the Russians with bad intentions, and then got up and said, "It's not safe here, Jan, you go and drive, wait for us across the road." ”

Jan Joseph picked up the camera, took a picture of them pretending to be a couple, looked down and checked the camera, and then said loudly: "The film is gone, you wait, I'll go to the car and get it." ”

Magdalena smiled seductively and urged, "Go, hurry." ”

There is a language environment, learning foreign languages is very fast, and they deliberately speak English, Xia Yao didn't know why, and blurted out: "Mr. Joseph, I have the film!" ”

"I'm going to get a few more bottles of water." Jan Joseph waved his hand back and ran towards the parking lot.

Their safety is more important than anything else, Frank was even ready to block the bullet, tightened his backpack, and pretended to smile lightly: "Mr. Zhang, Miss Xia, I'll take you over there to have a look." ”

As he spoke, the man in the jacket suddenly walked briskly in this direction.

In a hurry, getting closer and closer, Magdalena pinned her sunglasses to her chest and turned her head suddenly, the man was stunned for a moment, and then rushed up, reaching out to grab the little kun bag in her hand.

Robbing in broad daylight, the charter has its back to them, oblivious to all this. Xia Yao, who had just said that there was a film, saw it clearly and exclaimed, "Magdalena! ”

As soon as it was too late, Magdalena waved her right hand, and the small kun bag containing a fast steel plate slammed into the man's chest with a muffled sound. Instead of helping, Frank looked blankly at the other Russians on the street.

A few kilograms of steel plates smashed the man in a daze.

Magdalena won't give him a chance to react, a side hook and another hard blow to the cheeks. The Russians let out a scream of pain with gold stars in their eyes.

The second punch, the third punch, when the charter turned around, I saw Magdalena like a sanda player, stepping on nimble broken steps, retracting his arm and punching again. Just as she was about to ask what was going on, her right knee hit the Russian's crotch, and the Russian fell to the ground with a pop, holding her hands on her life and letting out a heart-rending scream.

When it came to hard stubble, a woman was so powerful, and his accomplices hesitated.

Ensuring the safety of the boss and the boss's fiancée is the first priority, Frank didn't dare to stay here for a long time, took Xia Yao's arm and walked towards the road, and said without looking back: "Magdalena, take Mr. Zhang to the car!" ”

Only then did the accomplices come to their senses, but there were more and more onlookers, and there were even two uniformed naval officers, who did not dare to draw their guns in public.

Jan Joseph saw everything that had just happened, and if those guys dared to rush up, or pull out their weapons, he would slam on the gas pedal and cause an "unfortunate" traffic accident.

It turned out to be a few thieves who wanted to make money. He finally breathed a sigh of relief. Charter and Xia Yao were just stuffed into the car by two companions. He slammed on the accelerator and galloped in the direction of the German consulate in St. Petersburg.

Figuring out the ins and outs of the matter, looking at the cruiser Aurora on the Neva River outside the car window, the charter couldn't help but shake his head and smile bitterly: "The naval guns that sent Marxism-Leninism to China were erected here, and it is so ironic that the little Russian robbers actually robbed the property of Chinese and East German comrades in such a 'sacred' place." ”

"Are you still in the mood to laugh," Xia Yao got up and asked nervously, "Magdalena, are you hurt?" ”

Magdalena shook her head and said, "As Mr. Zhang said. Just a small bandit, I can deal with three at the same time, how can I get hurt? ”

Xia Yao was still not at ease: "Is there really anything wrong?" ”

"It's really fine, not even the skin is broken."

"This time it's a fluke!"

Frank was not as optimistic as her, and said with a serious face: "That guy has a gun, but he just didn't have a chance to pull it out, and besides, there are three accomplices." Mr. Zhang, in order to ensure your safety and Miss Xia's safety, we must be equipped with guns, if Mr. François really can't solve it. Then we'll have to figure it out on our own. ”

Although gun ownership is illegal, St. Petersburg is still rampant. It's certainly better to have weapons than no weapons at all, but this is not Germany, and the three of them are not allowed to hold guns without official permission.

The charter didn't want to cause trouble, so he flatly refused: "Franck, we have to obey the local laws, and we can't give people a tongue." Besides, today's incident is just a coincidence, so you should pay attention to it in the future. ”

"Mr. Zhang, have you read the newspaper, there have been dozens of thefts, robberies and even homicides this week. We cannot afford to guard against the depravity of officials, the corruption of the police, the rampant gangs, and the rampant crime. ”

Municipal Soviet, City Government, CPSU organs, KGB, Leningrad Military District, Baltic Fleet...... Democrats, conservatives, centrifuges, and factions, and now St. Petersburg is full of mountains, coupled with the high utilization rate, and the urgent shortage of food and various daily necessities, it is easy to breed crime, which is how the famous Russian gangsters in later generations came.

Realizing that it would not work any longer, the charter resolutely said: "Don't talk about the gun anymore, Monsieur François will negotiate with the authorities." Regardless of whether the authorities agree with it or not, we will reduce our outings from today onwards, not go to those places of right and wrong, and do not provoke people who are completely unnecessary. ”

He was so resolute that Frank could only agree: "Well, you're the boss, I'll listen to you." ”

Despite the false alarm, it attracted the attention of François, vice president of the European company.

As soon as Frank received a call from the German Consulate, he asked his entourage to send invitations to officials of the Foreign Affairs Committee and Executive Committee of the city government to attend a reception hosted by the NB Electric Business Delegation at a European hotel.

When night falls, the whole city is brightly lit, the huge buildings are brightly lit, brilliant and gorgeous, and after the starlight and moonlight fade away without a trace, it will reflect the carnival of lights, which will be watched by you and make people linger.

The main investor is NB Electric (Germany) Co., Ltd., and the German Consul, Political Counsellor and Commercial Counsellor in St. Petersburg are invited; Vice President François was French, and the French consul and his wife also gave enough face.

Representatives of Dresdner Bank in St. Petersburg and Crédit Lyonnais were also honored to accept the invitation of NB Electric. When Vladimir arrived at the hotel with a few assistants, the banquet hall was full of people chatting and laughing.

Mayor Sobchak often travels on business, and the KGB spy in front of him, who is not good-looking, is also the head of the foreign affairs committee and the action committee of the city government.

In a sense, the two committees he presided over assumed the functions of the municipal government and were key figures in the municipal administration. Before each business trip, Mayor Sobchak even left some signed blank papers, and he was asked to "watch and handle" government affairs.

François did not dare to underestimate the "failed spy" in front of him, let alone ask for help, and greeted politely with a wine glass: "Mr. Vladimir, thank you for being able to enjoy this dinner." ”

Vladimir returned home only last year, and after the Berlin Wall was torn down, he held out in Dresden for a long time.

He is very familiar with NB Electric, which was the first company to invest in East Germany, build a waste incineration plant in Berlin, open two factories of NB motor and NB instrumentation, host the Thomas Müntzel Machinery Plant, and jointly invest in the establishment of the Berlin NB Laboratory with the German federal government and the Berlin state government.

The political situation in the Soviet Union was turbulent, and almost no company from a developed country or region dared to invest in St. Petersburg. Vladimir welcomed the arrival of the NB Electric Business delegation. There is even some gratitude. After all, the mayor has openly declared that he wants to build St. Petersburg into a tourist and scientific center. You can't just thunder and not rain.

He nodded slightly at the two consuls. After greeting him, he immediately said with a sincere face: "Mr. François, you are a guest invited by the city government, and as the director of the Foreign Affairs Committee, I can't help but come." ”

I have been here for more than a week, except for the inspection is to discuss with the city government the efficiency of customs, the price of tickets to scenic spots, the specifications and charges of the designated hotel to receive tourists, and other small things related to tourism, there is no substantive action.

Comrade "Xiaomei", who went to the banquet with Vladimir, could not help but say: "Mr. François. What do you think about the law on foreign investment in the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, which has just been promulgated in Moscow? We believe that this bill should be able to dispel some of your group's unwanted doubts. ”

François shook his head and pointed out bluntly: "Mr. Dmitry, this is undoubtedly a very constructive bill, but in our opinion it is far from enough. As far as I know, both you and Mr. Vladimir are legal experts, and it should be clear that this bill establishes only the legal and economic principles for foreign investors to carry out investment activities in the territory of the Russian Federation, as well as the basic provisions for the establishment and operation of foreign-funded enterprises.

However, there are no provisions on the rights and basic guarantees of foreign investors in terms of investment, profits obtained from investment, conditions for business activities, etc. From a legal point of view, rash investment is very risky, and as the vice president of NB Electric Group Europe, I am responsible for the group. It is also responsible for shareholders. ”

The pan-European international travel agency invested by NB Bank is being formed, and their tourists do not know that it will be the Year of the Monkey. Xiaomei was extremely disappointed, and asked without humility or arrogance: "Mr. François, does this mean that your group is not ready to invest in other fields besides the tourism business?" ”

"On the contrary, the Board of Directors of the Group and the Board of Directors of European companies have great confidence in your country, especially in the city of St. Petersburg. But before we do that, we have to discuss something more important. ”

Daring to invest in Berlin before the future of East Germany was uncertain, Vladimir immediately became interested and asked with a smile: "Mr. François, what could be more important than investment?"

François said with a straight face and an unusually serious face: "Gentlemen, four days ago, I made a request for permission to carry guns for our security personnel, but so far there has been no reply from the Foreign Affairs Committee and the Operations Committee. Just three hours ago, a very important figure of our group was almost robbed by four gangsters at the Pushkin House, which shows how important this incident is! ”

How bad the security in St. Petersburg is, Vladimir knows better than anyone else, and secretly curses the unsightly bastards, and pretends to be surprised and asks: "Very important people?" ”

"Yes."

François nodded slightly, leaned into his ear and said mysteriously: "Mr. Charter, the largest shareholder and chief engineer of our group, although he rarely cares about the affairs of the group, his importance to my group is self-evident. ”

When the big boss came, Vladimir was taken aback and hurriedly asked, "Is Mr. Zhang injured?" ”

"Thankfully, he wasn't hurt, but the security guards found out that the gangster was in possession of a pistol during the fight with the gangsters. Mr. Vladimir, if the security personnel are negligent, if the gangsters have the opportunity to draw their guns, the consequences will be unimaginable. It is important to know that Mr. Lu Daozhang is not only the largest shareholder of NB Electric Group, but also the founder of NB Laboratory, and is an accomplished young scientist!

It is worth mentioning that the reason why he came to St. Petersburg was not for tourism, let alone investment, but for the invitation of your alma mater to come to the Department of Mathematics-Mechanics of St. Petersburg University for academic exchanges. ”

Fearing that they would not know the status of the boss in the academic world, François added with reverence: "Mr. Zhang is the discoverer of the 'giant magnetoresistive effect' and the pioneer of 'spintronics'. The NB laboratory he led not only helped the Kuwaiti government extinguish the oil field fire with the most practical invention, but also discovered the 'carbon nanotube' that can change the entire world! (To be continued......)