Chapter 940

In St. Petersburg, Simon ends his video call with Amy Pascal and does some other work. He turns off his computer and walks out of his study.

This is a coastal suburb southwest of St. Petersburg.

As for how to choose the best residence in a city, it's absolutely right to follow the powerful mansions or government departments.

Along the southwest coast of St. Petersburg, there are many tsarist Russian palaces, including Peter's palace. Simon began to layout Russia a few years ago, and naturally chose his residence in St. Petersburg here.

Russia is vast and sparsely populated, and the most important thing is land.

Therefore, Simon's waterfront manor has set aside 100 hectares of land between the Peter's palace and another Constantine palace. It took three years to complete the construction. The main building in the manor is a baroque style three story villa similar to the winter palace in St. Petersburg, but the appearance of the villa is simple and heavy raw lime, rather than the grass green of the winter palace Color.

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

Simon knows the story that the bricks of the U.S. Embassy are filled with eavesdroppers.

Simon has always had a shadow over this kind of thing since his experience at the Plaza Hotel.

After leaving the study, girl a quickly comes to meet her with two waitresses. The waitress holds two sets of clothes in her hand and chooses one at will. Simon changes them in the next bedroom and goes downstairs.

The car has been waiting outside the villa.

Perceiving that Simon was about to go out, a little girl broke away from her mother's arms and ran to her.

We need to be together.

Simon picked up the little girl and saw Shul higgina coming to pick up the baby. He shook his head with a smile and said to the little guy in his arms, "we can do it together, but we must be good."

"Of course, Dad, Nina is very good."

Yulia shuershiggina didn't know what Simon was going to do next, but she knew that it must not be an ordinary party. She stepped forward a little and said, "Sir, you'd better give me the baby, Nina. It's not suitable."

The little guy in Simon's arms saw his mother come forward, immediately put a koala around Simon's neck like a koala, and urged: "Dad, let's go."

He shakes his head to schulthina again. Simon comes to the villa with his child in his arms. The waiting bodyguards and drivers are surprised to see Simon holding a little bit, but they don't say anything. They just open the door for their boss.

Simon holds the child to get on the car, and girl a follows in. When the door closes, the little girl immediately makes a face at her mother outside the window.

Without reminding the child that her mother couldn't see the car, Simon told the driver to drive.

as like as two peas, the two black Mercedes crossed the long corridor and left the road to the highway heading for St Petersburg.

It's already more than 7:00 p.m., and it's still bright in St. Petersburg, which is located in the high latitude area. It's expected that it will be dark after 8:00 p.m. Simon looks at the city outside the car window while dealing with various problems of the little guy in his arms.

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

At the beginning of the 18th century, Peter the great moved Russia's capital from Moscow to St. Petersburg, and under the unanimous opposition of domestic dignitaries, he strongly promoted Russia's Europeanization process, accepted various advanced technologies and cultures, and finally established Russia's position as a powerful country nearly 300 years before the collapse of the Soviet Union.

It is said that Peter the great was in the same period as Emperor Kangxi of China, but they led the two countries to two completely opposite directions.

One is forced to open up and eventually become a European power.

One insisted on seclusion and was abandoned by history.

Now, this ancient city, which has experienced 300 years of vicissitudes, has once again fallen into a period of downturn in its life.

When Simon drives into the city of St. Petersburg, except for the asphalt road left over from the Soviet era, which is still broad and solid, there is a similar decadent atmosphere with Kiev, the capital of Ukraine. Many buildings on both sides of the road are mottled and dilapidated due to lack of maintenance. In addition, Russia's relatively sparse population, at first glance, is similar to that of Ukraine If the ghost town.

Simon knows that this kind of decadence is still not the lowest point in Russia.

Although Russia's GDP has dropped from US $517.9 billion when the Soviet Union just disintegrated in 1991 to US $395.5 billion in 1995, a drop of 24%, the real abyss is still after 1997.

And the turning point is this year.

1996 is not only the presidential election year of the United States, but also the presidential election year of Russia.

Yeltsin succeeded in stealing the power of the president of this country at the beginning of this year. After a few years, he completely made a mess of Russia. As a result, at the beginning of this year, the Russian people's support rate for the president who had more speculators than politicians was only 3%, either 30% or 3%.Yeltsin, who knows exactly what will happen to him if he loses the election this year, resolutely joined hands with Russia's major oligarchs and invested a lot of money to turn the situation around.

The information age has not yet fully arrived, because the media communication channels are limited, the manipulation of public opinion is quite easy, and a large amount of money has been thrown down. A few months later, Yeltsin's support rate has risen to about 50%, ahead of his competitors. Not surprisingly, the other party will be reelected in the general election in July.

Since the oligarchs have given Yeltsin so much support, of course they have to ask for something in return.

As a result, the second feast to carve up Russia's state-owned assets became more and more unscrupulous during Yeltsin's second term of office. Coupled with the impact of the Southeast Asian financial crisis, Russia's economy fell into a more difficult abyss. At its lowest point in 1999, Russia's GDP was only over $190 billion, a further drop of 50% compared with about $400 billion at that time.

If Yeltsin had not done the only right thing in the last period of his administration and elected a qualified successor, it would not have been impossible for Russia to make a living by selling land again even after the millennium.

Simon and his party entered the city of St. Petersburg from the southwest suburb, crossed the Neva River, and finally came to another private residence in the eastern suburb of the city after more than 40 minutes' journey.

This is a private house of Mikhail Friedman, a business oligarch supported by the westero system in Russia.

A small reception in the field of politics and business will be held here tonight.

The reception was arranged by Simon himself.

Over the years, with the influence of Simon, the big butterfly, getting bigger and bigger, many things are more and more back to the history in memory. After all, according to the commonly understood butterfly effect theory, two seemingly unrelated things will eventually affect each other under various implications. What's more, Simon is directly involved in them.

So some things are inevitable.

In order to avoid history going in a strange direction that he could not understand, Simon decided to push the wheel of history gently at the critical moment after much deliberation.

Just like this time.

On the Russian side, the attention focused presidential election is related to the political trend of the country in the next four years. Another thing, the new St. Petersburg mayoral election, which almost happens at the same time, is related to the political trend of Russia in the next 20 years.

Because it involves a very key person.

As a matter of fact, the election of St. Petersburg mayor ended on May 19. The current mayor of St. Petersburg, Sobchak, lost to his competitors by a tiny margin of 1.5%. Unlike in the United States, the mayor of St. Petersburg will be sworn in on the last day of August and take office in September.

Without the influence of other external forces, the original mayoral team will probably be scattered.

To the unknown.

One of the guys entrusted by the current mayor of Sobchak is definitely impossible to be left behind. In my memory, the other party can finally get a vacancy in Moscow, which is also full of all kinds of contingency.

If Simon doesn't step in, it's hard to say what's going to happen next.

Even if Simon wants to change some history now, it's very easy to give him a high paid position in a private enterprise that he can't refuse, then Russia in the future may not be the Russia Simon remembers, and everything will change.

Simon is not going to change.

In the dark of the city, Simon just got off the car in the private residence in the eastern suburb. Mikhail Friedman, who was full of caution about the big boss's visit, welcomed him personally, and obviously had something to say.

Simon gave the girl who looked around him curiously in his arms to girl a behind him. It didn't take much hint. Several bodyguards around him all stepped back. Friedman just came up to Simon and whispered something.

Hearing what the other side revealed, Simon was a little surprised, but still said, "let's talk."

Mikhail Friedman immediately made a please sign: "Simon, this way."

They enter through a side door of the villa, and Friedman notices that Simon's entourage naturally follows, pauses and doesn't stop them.

The villa corridor connected to the side door did not turn on the light. In the dim light, you can see the scene of the reception at the end of the corridor.

Simon told the girl a behind her to take the little guy directly to the hall. He and Friedman turned to the stairs and came to the second floor of the villa. There was no light on in the corridor. At the door of a room, there were two big figures standing on the left and right. When they saw Simon's appearance, they first looked warily at this side, confirmed their identities, and then relaxed.

However, when they saw the bodyguards behind Simon and Simon, they were again reluctant to speak.

Simon ignored them and went straight to the door. One of them hesitated and offered to help push the door open. He also said something to the inside.This is a study.

Only a yellow wall lamp was turned on, and the light was as dim as the corridor outside.

Simon came in and saw a black professional suit woman with short hair sitting on the sofa in the reception area, her legs up, and a glass of wine in her hand. Until Simon came near, the woman put down her glass and stood up. Although she raised her face slightly because of her height, she held out her hand to Simon with a little deliberate pride: "Hello, Mr. westrow."

Simon smiles and shakes the woman's hand: "hello."

The woman paused, and then took the initiative to say: "you can call me Tatyana."

"Good."

Simon nodded, went straight to the opposite sofa and sat down.

Women just subconsciously pinch some, but at this time feel completely hit in the empty place, can not help but produce some depression.

Seeing that Simon sat down on the sofa and frowned slightly, he finally sat down. He noticed that the man opposite was very relaxed and looked at her. Finally he spoke again and pointed to a bottle of whiskey on the coffee table in front of him: "Mr. westrow, would you like a drink?"

"No, you can help yourself."

The woman nodded, hesitated a little, or just picked up the glass of wine, and then felt completely down, like a guilty little girl subconsciously picked up something in front of her body. After a pause, I put the wine cup back on the coffee table again. I want to lean back on the sofa like the man opposite me, but I still sit up straight.

Simon looked at everything in front of him with a smile and suddenly said, "this is the critical moment of the general election. If it comes out that you meet me at this time, it will certainly bring great potential risks to your father's election campaign."

Hearing this, the woman couldn't help saying, "we're not Mr. westrow. We'll be known everywhere. We can still keep this secret."

Simon arrived in St. Petersburg in the morning, which was also a secret trip. There was no news in the public media. Now suddenly being approached, it is obvious that it is still noticed by many people.

Hearing this, Simon just laughed: "so, Tanya, what can I do for you?"

The woman's expression is slightly stagnant, which is the official purpose of this secret visit.

However, just now, I couldn't help running on a guy and changed my voice directly. It seems that However, she is not a woman who drags water and mud. In recent months, she took the initiative to stand in front of the stage to organize an election for her father, which has achieved remarkable results. She quickly said, "Mr. westrow, my father has always admired you very much. He said that you are absolutely the most unexpected miracle of this era."

"Thank you."

The woman is a meal again, a little stingy and stuffy. Shouldn't we be polite to each other at this time?

Finally some regret the initial deliberate pinch.

In fact, I read a thick secret file about the young man in front of me in advance. Many things are very detailed.

However, when it comes to the character of the other party, the conclusion is uncertain.

It's like a mixture of multiple personalities.

When you are cold, you can start a war without hesitation. When you are tender, you can even love the little vase you once abandoned. The pursuit of women seems endless, and in a twinkling of an eye, you can restrain yourself to be an ascetic

It doesn't seem strange. After all, someone's experience in a mental hospital is well known.

Because it is too complex, it is difficult to set a targeted response.

After a moment's deliberation, the woman finally said, "Mr. westero, what do you think of the Russian presidential election?"

Simon saw that the woman squeezed out another nutrition problem and shook his head directly: "Tanya, I think we'd better be more direct. Come on, what are you looking for me for?"

Tanya.

Tanya again.

Is there such intimacy between us?

The woman said, "Mr. westero, we find that the development of Mikhail Friedman, the spokesman of westero system, in Russia in recent years seems unsatisfactory. And in this election, not surprisingly, my father will be re elected. So if Mr. westero wants to further develop in Russia, maybe we can be allies? "

Simon finally showed some expressions that seemed interested: "we, who do you mean?"

The woman said, "the Westeros, the Yeltsins."