Reborn in Russia as a Big Shot

6. I was so scared I peed my pants.

Li Xiang asked Sergei to buy two identical down jackets from a Nike store.

Then sew the prepared SNOWFLYING label onto one of the pieces to cover the original label.

"You can even do needlework?" Natasha said with a look of surprise.

"If I can't rely on you, I'll have to do it myself." Li Xiang found acupuncture tutorial online, and the "deep scan" greatly improved his learning and hands-on abilities.

"The stitching is pretty good." Natasha's phone vibrated. After checking the text message, she went to the window and leaned out to look down. "Oleg has brought them over. Should we let them up now?"

"Just a few more stitches left, wait until I finish sewing." Li Xiang's overall demeanor was strange. His stitches looked neat and tidy, as if he were very skilled, but his movements were very stiff.

Natasha asked curiously, "Why would you sew a fake label onto perfectly good clothes?"

"Why do you ask so many questions? You'll know when the time is right."

-

A few minutes later, Oleg led Pavel upstairs.

"Sit down." Li Xiang stood up to greet him politely and gestured for Pavel to sit down.

Pavel smiled broadly and adopted a humble posture, waiting until everyone else was seated before preparing to sit down himself.

Before I could even get my butt on the sofa...

Natasha pulled out her pistol and slammed it lightly on the coffee table.

Although the sound wasn't loud, Pavel was easily frightened and jumped to his feet.

Li Xiang turned to look at Natasha, frowning, and asked, "What are you doing?"

Natasha explained innocently, "It hurts my butt."

"Sit down." Li Xiang gestured for Pavel to sit down again, trying to smooth things over by saying, "It's a toy gun, made of plastic."

Natasha immediately contradicted him, picking up her pistol again, cocking it with a click, pointing the muzzle at Pavel, and demanding, "I told you to sit, didn't you understand?"

Pavel sat down nervously.

Li Xiang scanned Pavel's basic information.

Vladimir Pavel | 48 years old | Clothing wholesaler | Thug

[Emotion: Fear]

[Key Information: Baldness | Moderate gambling addiction | Severe frostbite | Erectile dysfunction | Kidney damage (long-term use of veterinary drugs)]

[Core Anxiety: Survival]

[Privacy: Impersonating skinheads to bully foreign businessmen | Illegitimate children (two sons and one daughter, but only one biological child) | Customs corruption | Colluding with customs officials (insufficient level to verify)]

He's not a skinhead?

In his previous life, Li Xiang was truly intimidated by this bastard.

This is quite a clever tactic: collecting bribes for customs while simultaneously shifting the blame onto the gang.

Li Xiang whispered in Natasha's ear, "I'll talk to him alone. You and Oleg are afraid to watch him like this."

Natasha nodded and handed the gun to Li Xiang.

Li Xiang waved his hand in refusal: "No need."

"You can't even beat me. He's as big as a bear; he could sit on you and kill you." Natasha muttered under her breath, but still took the gun with her. "If he doesn't behave, just yell, and I'll come right out."

Most skinheads are big guys. How can criminal gangs have that much time to build muscle? They basically use veterinary drugs, and their muscles grow rapidly with just a little bit of exercise.

After the two left, they went into the bedroom.

Natasha eavesdropped at the bedroom door, but Oleg wasn't curious at all.

Li Xiang turned on the TV, but the sound was completely muffled by the television's volume, making it impossible to hear anything clearly.

After the frostbite healed, the dilated capillaries caused itching, and Pavel scratched it endlessly.

Trying to ease the tension, Li Xiang casually asked, "My goods aren't missing, are they?"

"No! The truck hasn't moved since it drove into the warehouse, and the cargo compartment doors haven't even been opened." Pavel, desperate to survive, nervously explained, "If I had known you were in big business, I wouldn't have dared to rob you even if you gave me a hundred lives."

"What big deal?" Pavel's words were loaded with meaning, which Li Xiang naturally understood.

"It's nothing," Pavel quickly denied.

Li Xiang explained, "We're only transporting clothing."

"Yes, it's just clothing. I didn't say there was anything else inside." Pavel slapped himself in the face. "It's all my fault for talking nonsense. I'll remember this lesson."

Li Xiang was also afraid that Pavel would act desperately, so he kept the scanner on to observe him.

[Emotional Changes: Increased Fear]

"It really is just clothing," Li Xiang explained again.

"I know."

"Is this even clearer than that?" Li Xiang blurted out in Chinese.

[Emotional Changes: Increased Fear]

Li Xiang was speechless for a moment. What the hell are you afraid of if I speak Chinese? You can't even understand it anyway.

Pavel raised his right hand and said, "I swear to God, I won't go around telling anyone."

"Don't be afraid, let's talk about something else," Li Xiang said, trying to ease the tension. "At your age, you must be married by now, with children?"

"Don't involve my family, I beg you. I'll pay you back, any amount you want." Pavel's face was contorted with rage.

[Emotional Change: Extreme Fear]

"I don't want your money, I want to do business with you." Li Xiang was also a bit annoyed, so he got straight to the point, got up and took the two down jackets, and handed them to Pavel. "One of these down jackets is Nike, and the other is a high-quality replica from a clothing factory."

"You're an expert in the clothing industry, so take a look. Besides the trademarks, what's the difference?"

Pavel dared not be perfunctory, and examined it carefully before shaking his head and saying, "I can't see the difference."

Li Xiang poured Pavel a glass of water and continued, "I can make as many high-quality replicas of this as you want."

"To avoid infringement, there still needs to be some difference in the design; it can't be a complete copy. But for the average consumer, they don't really know what the genuine product looks like."

"There are differences between the new and old models. You can just change the logo and sell it as Nike."

"How much do you want to smoke?" Pavel breathed a sigh of relief; if it's useful, he won't die.

"I don't make money illegally. I sell to anyone who comes to me for goods. What you do with the goods after you buy them is none of my business. I don't want to know, and I don't need to know."

Pavel swallowed hard.

Let me handle the most profitable parts of your business; there's definitely a more lucrative business hidden there than selling counterfeit goods. And you only ship clothing? Who would believe that? Do you even believe it yourself?

Li Xiang urged, "How is it?"

"I'll do it," Pavel quickly agreed, then asked earnestly, "How much deposit?"

"No need for a deposit. Once the store is open, you can negotiate yourself." Li Xiang maintained his smile and said amicably, "You were in the wrong first, but you've also suffered a lot. Let's call it even. We'll drop the case with the police and won't involve you. I hope we can cooperate well in the future. You can go now."

[Hostility dissolved]

[Establish a long-term dependency relationship; dependency level: 2/100]

[Core relational demand: Survival]

"I can walk now?" Pavel was overjoyed, stood up, and wanted to walk but dared not take a step.

"You still want to stay for dinner?"

"I'm not hungry, I'm leaving." Pavel panicked and almost fell as he rushed out the door.

[Fulfill Pavel's relationship request | Survive | Experience +32 | Current Experience: 38/1000]

I couldn't hear what he was saying, but I could still hear the door closing in the bedroom.

Natasha came out.

"What does it taste like?"

Upon hearing Natasha's words, Li Xiang also smelled a faint odor of urine.

Natasha covered her nose and quickly located the source of the smell: the sofa Pavel had sat on. She yelled at the top of her lungs, "Oleg, throw this sofa cushion downstairs!"

There are many similar sayings in Chinese culture, such as "A wise man doesn't suffer a loss in front of him," "A great man can bend and stretch," and "A wise man knows when to yield."

Survival is an instinct, and Li Xiang didn't find Pavel's reaction shameful. But in Natasha and Oleg's eyes, it was utterly contemptible.

Russia doesn't admire strongmen, but rather valiant individuals, similar to the spirit of "Bright Sword." If you meet them on a narrow path, as long as you dare to fight them, even if you lose, you're still considered awesome.

Natasha sat down next to Li Xiang. "What did you say to him that scared him like that?"

Li Xiang truthfully stated, "I told him I wanted to do business with him."

-

Pavel didn't even take the elevator; he ran all the way downstairs and only calmed down after he hailed a taxi and drove out onto the street.

He didn't go home or to the hospital, but went to his younger brother Sasha's house.

"Boss, what happened to your face?"

"It's from the cold." Pavel asked anxiously, "Did you open and check that batch of thermal underwear?"

Sasha reported on the situation at the time: "When I went to the warehouse, the White Russian guy was already waiting at the door with his men. As soon as the door opened, they drove away. I didn't have time to see anything."

"It's good that you didn't see it." Pavel breathed a sigh of relief.

"How much did they pay to redeem the goods?" Sasha wanted a share too, since she had contributed.

"Pay me?" Pavel spat on the floor. "I almost lost my life. If I don't hand over the goods, I'll be thrown into the wild to be fed to wolves and freeze to death."

"Is it really necessary to make such a fuss over just a truckload of thermal underwear? And to cause a death?" Sasha thought it was just a scare tactic.

"Do you think it's that serious?" Pavel lifted his shirt to show Sasha, revealing large areas of frostbite. He said with lingering fear, "You just didn't unload the goods to look at them. If you had been curious and opened it, neither of us would have survived."

"There's something else inside? What could be so important that it could cause someone to die?" Sasha asked, her eyes wide. "They're transporting..."

Pavel's expression changed drastically. "That word can't be said."

Sasha's face turned deathly pale. "What do we do now? Can we just return the goods and call it a day?"

"Bullshit! He asked me to help him sell clothes, thankfully it's just clothes." Pavel got angrier the more he thought about it, kicked Sasha, and cursed, "I told you to investigate those two kids' backgrounds, how the hell did you do it?!"

"You told me that kid from China comes from a family in business, and that's exactly the kind of business they're in!"