Chapter 51

The Bear Country is Now Mine Chapter 51

051 Individual Thoughts / First Voting Day, but Yeltsin is Nowhere to be Seen?

That evening, when Yegor returned home, he couldn't control his anger and threw a vase.

Clang!

Shattered pieces scattered all over the living room, but he paid no attention and plopped down on the sofa.

At his mother's gesture to calm his father, Kirill and Dima quietly sat down.

"Grandfather said he would provide us with business funds. This means Father now has a chance."

Kirill continued, gauging Yegor's reaction.

"With sufficient funds, I believe we can create opportunities at any time."

Yegor sneered and straightened his posture.

"Hmm, opportunity? Do you really think this is an opportunity?"

Yegor thought this was not an opportunity but an ultimatum.

Without Anton, if the business fails, he would never be able to bring up the topic of inheritance again.

In other words, everything would go to Nikolai.

However, unlike Yegor's anxiety, Kirill was confident.

"Yes, I think it's an opportunity. Regardless, we can now move large amounts of money without worrying about Grandfather's approval. Even if it's a substitute for the inheritance, we can show success, can't we?"

Yegor took a deep breath to calm down and then looked at Kirill and Dima carefully.

He had told them to follow Nikolai, find his weaknesses, and learn from him, but now they seemed to have lost touch with reality and become overly ambitious.

"Who said that with enough capital, you can succeed in business?"

"Huh?"

"If what you say is true, then the CEOs of other companies should have been as successful as Nikolai, right?"

"That's... "

"Business seems easy to you because Nikolai has succeeded in everything he's done."

If it were that easy, Yegor would have started another business long ago.

He knew that business wasn't just about money, which was why he had waited until now.

"I know it's difficult, but I want to try. Please give me a chance."

"Chance... "

Yegor stroked his chin, lost in thought.

Kirill's abilities were not to be underestimated.

Nikolai was so outstanding that the people around him seemed less capable.

Deciding to trust Kirill as his father had trusted him, Yegor thought it would be even more miserable not to give him a chance.

"I'll talk to Grandfather."

Yegor then turned his gaze to Dima.

"Do you also want a chance?"

"No."

"...?"

"I will stay by Nikolai's side."

"Really?"

"I think you don't understand Nikolai well enough, brother."

"...!"

Having always kept a close eye on his eldest son, Kirill, Dima's words were somewhat surprising.

"Over the past few months, I've observed Nikolai and learned a lot."

"What do you mean?"

"Nikolai didn't just focus on making his business successful. From the start, he took care of his employees as if they were his own."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nikolai always says, 'The company exists because of the employees.' At first, I thought it was just a nice thing to say."

But it wasn't.

Whenever there were profits, he gave his employees generous compensation.

At levels that other company leaders couldn't even imagine.

Accommodation, restaurants, bonuses, and gift sets for special occasions.

All of these required a lot of money, but Nikolai acted boldly.

"I've never seen anyone who compensates their employees as much as Nikolai. Does Father compensate the employees as much as Nikolai does?"

"Ahem..."

"As you know, U-Mart, Unicorn Construction, and Gazprom are achieving record-breaking results. And the performance keeps improving every month."

This consistent performance indicated that the employees were fully aligned with Nikolai.

Dima had carefully observed this.

While it's possible to succeed initially, it's the employees who sustain that success.

Nikolai instilled a sense of ownership in his employees.

Based on this drive, he continued to grow the company.

"We only saw the surface and missed Nikolai's hidden abilities."

"Hmm..."

"At first, I was just following my brother, but now I've decided to learn more. I see Nikolai as a competitor, but I no longer hate him."

Yegor nodded at his second son's words.

He had thought Dima was just a child, but he was proud of his growth.

"I believe there will be another chance, even if Zakharchenko doesn't win this election. When the Soviet Union collapsed, our family, which had aligned with Gorbachev, was on the brink of ruin, but we seized another opportunity."

Yegor also felt something from Dima's words.

He was reminded of the fundamental truth that opportunities must be seized.

"Nikolai also seems to have the ability to change the people around him. I won't tell you what to do. Follow your own thoughts."

Yegor wanted to give his sons a different opportunity.

Not an ultimatum, but a chance to grow.

He believed this was the greatest legacy he could give them.

* * *

Zakharchenko returned home and had tea with his son, Sergei.

"About what happened at the in-laws' place."

"Yegor, right?"

"Yes. I knew he didn't like Nikolai, but he seemed to have a deep sense of victimhood."

The image of Yegor angrily speaking at the gathering lingered in his mind.

"From Yegor's perspective, it's understandable, isn't it? As the second son of a wealthy family, he might have felt that everything was being given to his grandson."

With Anton gone, Yegor might have felt a sense of crisis, but there was also a part that was understandable.

If Sergei had been born into a wealthy family and been in Yegor's position, he might have felt that Nikolai was taking everything away.

"Given the circumstances, it's understandable. Ivan is truly remarkable. He could have accepted the inheritance from his father-in-law and then passed it on to Nikolai later. Could you have done that?"

"I couldn't."

Sergei laughed and waved his hand.

He might have thought it was enough to pass it on when he found it difficult to run the company in his old age.

"Most people, including me, couldn't do that. But Ivan did it without hesitation, which is truly remarkable."

Apart from the relationship as a son-in-law, Ivan was truly reliable.

"Father, this might be presumptuous, but I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"Do you really think you can win the election? Everyone knows that Yeltsin and Zyuganov are formidable opponents."

"Hehe, what do you think?"

"Even though my father-in-law and Nikolai said there was a way... I honestly don't know."

Though he said it easily, Sergei had been deeply troubled.

If Yeltsin won a second term, both families could disappear.

This would also mean dark clouds over his own life as the chief of staff, causing him sleepless nights.

"I know it's going to be tough."

"...?"

"I hesitated a lot, but I gained confidence after listening to Nikolai."

"What did he say?"

"I can't tell you now. Nikolai insisted that only my father-in-law and I should know until the election is over. Please understand."

These were the words of Zakharchenko, who had been cautious for decades in the legal field.

This indicated the importance of keeping the secret, so Sergei decided to wait until after the election to ask again.

"Isn't it a strange and hard-to-believe situation?"

"What do you mean?"

"Both of them have entrusted our two families' fate to Nikolai. Sometimes I can't believe it. If others knew, they wouldn't understand."

"My father-in-law and I wouldn't have done this without a good reason. We started because we had a reason."

Zakharchenko recalled his past conversations with Nikolai, took a sip of tea, and changed the subject.

"By the way, is that Yahoo company really that famous in the United States?"

"Yes. I looked it up after seeing it on TV. It's so well-known that almost no one in the U.S. doesn't know about it. The stock price is also rising."

"How did Nikolai know about such a company? It wasn't even listed yet."

"Nikolai has always surprised people with his actions."

Looking back, Nikolai's actions were hard to explain.

It was better to accept them without trying to understand.

Nikolai was that kind of person, even to his family.

* * *

Tanya's face crumpled as she looked at the support rate graph.

"How much is the margin of error?"

"Plus or minus 5%."

It had increased more than the last survey.

"...If this continues, Zakharchenko will surpass Zyuganov in a few weeks, right?"

"Probably..."

"What if, hypothetically, Zakharchenko beats Zyuganov in the first round of voting..."

The chief of staff, who had similar thoughts, continued.

"There's a good chance they'll have second thoughts."

"Yes, there is. The two old men wouldn't turn their backs on us without a reason."

"Right. As I mentioned before, Yuri President is known for not acting without confidence."

"Then we need to prepare in advance."

In any case, all the promises Zakharchenko made were essentially the same as those made by President Yeltsin.

If they could present these as Yeltsin's achievements, the public support for Zakharchenko would quickly shift to Yeltsin.

Tanya believed this.

"If Zakharchenko beats Zyuganov in the first round and advances to the second round..."

"...?"

"Prepare to claim that all the promises Zakharchenko made were actually done by us. Use all the media to do this on a large scale."

"Understood. I'll prepare the TV stations in advance."

"The TV station that supports Zakharchenko is actually owned by Nikolai, right?"

"Yes, he owns 51% of the shares."

Since they couldn't arrest the campaign manager of the opposing camp during the election, there was only one option.

"Arrest the TV station's president."

"What will we do with him after arresting him?"

"Scare him enough so he never supports Zakharchenko again. It would be better if he has a problematic family member."

"I understand."

"Have you taken down all the campaign banners?"

"Not yet. They're everywhere in the country."

"Nikolai is really persistent. Take them all down as soon as possible."

Tanya thought it would have been great if Nikolai had been on Yeltsin's campaign team.

* * *

While the candidates were campaigning across the country, Nikolai was working tirelessly to gain every vote.

"Please take this flyer. I ask for your support for Zakharchenko."

The woman, without even looking, threw the flyer Sasha handed her.

"Damn... This is really..."

"Sasha, is this your first time doing this?"

"When have I ever done this?"

"Even if it's your first time, try to give it to the right people."

"What do you mean?"

"Be careful. That woman has a flower in her hair."

"Oh, a flower? I made a mistake."

As the harsh Russian winter gradually gave way to spring, people's clothing became lighter.

A month passed, and finally, the first round of voting day, June 15th, arrived.

Nikolai went to the polling station with his family and cast his vote.

That evening, scenes of Zakharchenko and other candidates voting were shown on TV.

However...

'Yeltsin isn't here.'

It was in the newspaper.

Yeltsin had been in a coma for 17 days due to a heart attack and had miraculously recovered.

Calculating the dates, today was the day.

'Tanya, right? Yeltsin's daughter. Let's meet soon.'