Chapter 37

The Bear's Country is Now My Territory Chapter 37

037 Cash Rich / Dollars Again

Kirill returned from Vladivostok after printing the contract. He was glaring at Nikolai, who was scolding him as if he were a primary school student.

“A single mistake in a contract can cost an entire apartment. What were you thinking, printing it like this? Brother, do you have the money to buy this apartment?”

“You're being too harsh.”

“You should have checked if the ink had smudged or not. Look with your own eyes. It’s all smudged.”

Kirill clenched his teeth.

“From now on, you’ll handle printing contracts, inspecting the restaurant, and patrol the area for two hours every night.”

“Isn’t that a bit much? Even if you say so, isn’t the night patrol a bit much? We have night security, so why should I do it?”

“I want you to keep an eye on whether they’re slacking off or not. If you don’t want to do it, go back to Moscow. I won’t stop you.”

He’s my cousin.

He’s strangely adept at twisting things around to torment me intelligently.

“...Then, can you reduce it to one hour? It’s too cold in the early morning.”

“Two hours!”

“Can’t we compromise and make it one and a half hours?”

“Two hours!”

“Bad kid. Fine, two hours.”

Stepping out of the office, he looked up at the darkening sky.

“He must be a demon.”

Since coming here, Kirill has felt that his life in Moscow was heaven.

“I have to patrol for two hours at night.”

And in this cold.

He couldn’t bear to tell his father that he had to patrol the area and inspect the restaurant, in addition to printing contracts.

“No, I need to think. I’m the only relative here, so he keeps giving me the tough jobs.”

Then there was only one way.

Kirill entered another office and picked up the phone.

“Hey, it’s Kirill. Come to Ussuriysk.”

-...Why there?

Kirill decided to involve his brother to share this pain.

“Sorry, Dima. I can’t handle this alone.”

* * *

Ivan, who is building two U-marts in Moscow and three in St. Petersburg, couldn’t help but smile as he watched people entering the airport check-in counter.

“Since we sold 50% in Moscow in one day, if we add these people...”

The mayor of St. Petersburg, being one of Yeltsin’s close associates, helped a lot with building the U-mart.

This time, he received introductions to people with a lot of money without having to make a big deal with the bank.

The people boarding the plane were going to see the apartments in Ussuriysk.

“Is it true that Nikolai sold 2,500 apartments in one day?”

In response to his daughter Victoria’s question, Ivan waved to one of the people entering the check-in counter.

“Unbelievable, but true.”

“But the land in Ussuriysk is practically worthless. Didn’t you buy that land, Dad?”

“I did.”

It was during the peak of the Russian economic crisis.

Moreover, it was land that hadn’t been sold for decades, so he practically picked it up for free.

“With that cheap land and a 35-story building...? To sell it so expensively and still manage to sell over 2,500 apartments...”

“I couldn’t believe it either when I got the call, so I checked multiple times.”

“But you said the apartments weren’t cheap?”

“A bit cheaper than those in Moscow.”

“To sell 2,500 apartments means the revenue is incomparable to U-mart sales. It’s insane!”

* * *

When Dima, Kirill’s brother, arrived at the Ussuriysk site, he was overwhelmed by the 7-story apartment complex and its vast area, unable to close his mouth.

“Nikolai is in charge of this huge site?”

“He’s not just in charge; all these apartments belong to Nikolai. I only found out later.”

Kirill learned this from the apartment contracts.

The legal name of Unicorn Construction was registered under Nikolai.

The shock and betrayal he felt towards Yuri Yusupov were indescribably deep.

Yegor also flew into a rage when he found out.

Since then, Kirill has been made to stay even closer to Nikolai.

Kirill deeply regretted coming here on his own initiative, now unable to escape.

But what could he do?

The deed was done, and he couldn’t ask Yuri to undo it.

‘Still, there are many opportunities left.’

Are there?

He decided to wait for the right moment.

“How much does a 45-pyong apartment cost here?”

“What do you need to know that for? Just follow me.”

Kirill led the sacrificial lamb to Nikolai.

In the office, Nikolai and Sasha were preparing for the next customers.

“Did you receive the special bonus?”

“Yes, sir!”

“Thank you very much.”

“Sir, I’m already grateful for being called, and to receive a bonus as well, thank you.”

The eyes of the handsome and beautiful assistants sparkled like diamonds.

“I value the process, but I also reward good results. If you do as well as last time, there will be another bonus, so work hard with all your heart.”

“We will work with all our heart!”

“I like that attitude. Let’s start additional training following the last session. First, our apartments are not fully built yet, so it’s important to inform customers about the future development potential.”

Nikolai pointed to a spot on a large map with a pointer.

“In three years, a six-lane national highway connecting Vladivostok and Ussuriysk will be completed. The road connecting this highway to our apartments will be completed before the move-in date, greatly improving accessibility to the city.”

“Yes!”

“It’s important to emphasize the future improvements, even if they don’t exist now.”

The land in this area is vast and flat, making it easy to build on.

Therefore, he planned to take advantage of both the geographical and topographical benefits to build a large amusement park here.

“We will build a theme park much larger than Disneyland in the U.S.”

The assistants’ faces were filled with anticipation.

As if they were ready to go as soon as it was built.

“The apartments will be completed, and the theme park will open no later than three years after that. Emphasize this point. Also, mention that it will be far enough from the apartments to avoid any noise.”

After a long training session, Kirill poked his head in.

“Let’s stop here for today. Follow Sasha’s instructions for the rest.”

“Yes, sir.”

As they left, Kirill entered with Dima.

“What’s Dima doing here?”

Dima is the same age as Nikolai.

“Kirill called me.”

Nikolai stared at Kirill.

“...?”

Why did he call him?

“I told Father. I said you would help and learn.”

“I’m fine with it since it’s free labor, but Dima, are you sure you’re okay with it?”

Dima glared at his brother, who had brought him here without telling him, but he couldn’t say anything because Father had already given his permission.

If he rebelled here, he knew his allowance and everything else would be cut off.

“So, you’ll be Kirill’s assistant?”

Nikolai’s words made Dima’s face crumple.

“Can I transfer some of my responsibilities to Dima?”

“Start with the night patrol. You’ve worked hard.”

“Thank you.”

The words “You’ve worked hard” were so gratifying.

Kirill, who was not used to showing weakness, felt his eyes well up.

In fact, he couldn’t tell anyone, but the night patrol was a nightmare.

He had only done it for a few days, but it was something he had never done before, and it was truly miserable.

Nikolai insisted he patrol from 2 AM to 4 AM, which made it even worse.

He always went to bed at 11 PM and woke up at 6 AM, so he couldn’t get a good night’s sleep.

That night, at dawn.

“Even if it’s uncomfortable, you must wear safety boots. Otherwise, you might get tetanus from stepping on a nail.”

Dima shone a flashlight in Kirill’s face, and Kirill hit his head.

“Aim it below 45 degrees. You’re only patrolling with me today, so you’ll do it alone from now on.”

“Did you really do this job?”

“It’s our little secret.”

“Why do we have to go to such lengths? Let’s just go back to Moscow. If we explain it well to Father, he’ll understand.”

Understand? Haha. This is something Father forced us to do.

“Don’t you want to make a lot of money?”

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“Don’t you want to spend money freely without worrying about Father?”

“Of course...”

Dima was a bit taken aback by Kirill’s unusual behavior.

Kirill, known for his fearlessness and lack of scruples, seemed to have changed a lot in just a few months.

“Did you see the big success of the U-mart in Moscow?”

“I did.”

“It’s different from the apartments. Do you know why Nikolai wakes up at 6 AM?”

“...?”

“This crazy guy receives all the apartment sales in dollars.”

“In dollars, not rubles?”

“Yes. Every morning at 8 AM, a cash truck from the bank comes.”

The truck takes the money after Nikolai counts it all.

“This lunatic wants to count and feel every dollar with his own hands.”

“Oh, that’s why there were so many armed people guarding the office.”

“Don’t even look at that office.”

“Is that why you told me to wake up at 6 AM to count the money?”

“Ha...”

Kirill sighed deeply, and a white mist appeared.

“The money that was piled up was sent today, but when the rest of the apartments are sold, he’ll start counting again from the morning.”

“Wow, Nikolai is so greedy.”

“I’ve seen many strange people in the world, but Nikolai is the first of his kind.”

“Why do you keep pushing me towards him?”

“Even though he’s crazy, he has a natural talent for making money. If you want to make a lot of money, stick close to him and learn.”

Although he said that, Kirill had no intention of doing so.

He only wanted to pass his suffering on to his brother.

“And be nice to Sasha. He gives all the small instructions.”

“Sasha? He used to do odd jobs at Uncle’s house.”

“Odd jobs? Never say that again. If you say that in front of Nikolai, you won’t have a bone left. And even though he used to do odd jobs, Sasha is richer than you now.”

“What do you mean?”

“Nikolai gave him a 35-pyong apartment, the best royal floor. You don’t have that kind of money, do you?”

You don’t have that kind of money when you rely on an allowance from Father.

“Money is everything these days.”

“Still, bowing to Sasha is a bit...”

“The site manager is Nikolai, and the second in command is Sasha.”

“Who’s third?”

“...Of course, it’s me.”

He couldn’t bring himself to say that the third in command was the site supervisor and that he didn’t know where he stood.

This Ussuriysk site had a strange ability to create secrets that he couldn’t share with anyone.

* * *

Finally, the people they had been waiting for arrived in large numbers.

With customers flooding in from St. Petersburg, the site regained its vitality.

Targeting the rich was a good decision.

They didn’t hesitate much.

They signed contracts immediately after receiving accurate information and the price.

To them, these apartments were sufficiently attractive.

Why wouldn’t they be?

Nikolai had pulled the future 30-year apartment designs and built them.

“Do you have plans to build in other cities?”

“After the sales here are complete, we plan to build in Moscow and St. Petersburg, but I can’t guarantee they will be as good as here.”

People pour all their effort into their first project.

Nikolai was no different.

He had invested a lot in this site, so there was no guarantee that he could build better apartments in other cities.

“You mentioned building a theme park larger than Disneyland. Is that confirmed?”

“It will definitely be built and will be open year-round.”

The biggest problem with building a theme park in Russia was the snow, but he had already thought of a solution.

With the theme park, they could attract tourists from South Korea, stabilizing the museum’s operations.

Moreover, the status of the apartments would rise.

Additionally, the industrial park would become more widely known, attracting more foreign companies.

‘Ussuriysk is already a food industry park. Next, we should create a specialized industrial park for electronics and machinery...’

* * *

A few days later, in Yuri Yusupov’s study.

“Korea’s Future Auto has contacted us about building a car factory in St. Petersburg.”

“A car factory?”

“Yes. They want to form a joint venture with us.”

Unicorn Group also had a car company.

It was a state-owned enterprise from the Soviet era that they acquired during the Russian economic crisis.

However, Future Auto’s entry into Russia in the original timeline was in 2010, which is 15 years earlier.

“What do you think?”

“I think it’s fine. Building a car factory will create many jobs and boost the domestic market.”

“Hmm. I’ll talk to the higher-ups, so you try to push it forward.”

“Yes.”

At that moment, a voice came from outside.

“Chairman, the bank president is here.”

“Ask him to come in.”

“Yes.”

The door opened, and an elderly man carefully sat down opposite.

He was the president of the Russian state bank, which was now a subsidiary of Unicorn Group.

“What brings you here, President?”

“Chairman, have you not heard from Mr. Nikolai?”

“...?”

“...?”

Not only Yuri but Ivan also stared at the president, not understanding what he meant.

“A huge amount of dollars has been deposited in the bank.”

“Dollars? What does that have to do with Nikolai?”

“All the apartments in Ussuriysk have been sold.”

“What?”

Yuri and Ivan’s eyes widened almost simultaneously.

“And what do you mean by dollars?”

“It seems he received all the sales in dollars.”

Yuri’s brows furrowed.

“Nikolai said these dollars must not be taken out of the country.”

Yuri Yusupov felt a strange sensation.

It was one thing that Nikolai hadn’t told him yet, but receiving dollars was not a trivial matter.

It reminded him of the last economic crisis, which made him even more concerned.

“Did he say anything else?”

“Yes, I thought you might know the reason, so...”

“If the sales were completed yesterday, he will probably contact us today. I’ll find out and let you know, so you can leave now.”

“Should we report to the government...?”

“I’ll handle it, so don’t report for now.”

“Understood.”

As the president carefully left, Yuri Yusupov asked.

“If 5,000 units were sold, that’s a huge amount of money, right