Reborn in 1999: Starting as a black marketeer

For the next period of time, Wang Feiyang diligently attended classes and studied Russian on his own every day, occasionally meeting up with his two old classmates, Song Yi and Wang Yan, for a meal and a chat.

I also called my parents during that time, but I didn't say much. I just told them that I actually had a talent for Russian and was learning it very smoothly. My teachers had praised me several times.

This made his parents quite gratified. After hanging up the phone, they sighed and said that their child had finally grown up and become sensible, and knew how to study hard.

Perhaps in parents' eyes, their own child is always good; even if they have many flaws, they can still find some merits...

Wang Feiyang gradually became closer to Zhang Liang, Hu Xiaoyun, and Guo Juan, spending every day together, especially since they would be classmates in a foreign country for the next few years.

Seeing that Guo Juan had moved to the guesthouse, Zhang Liang discussed it with his family and, under the pretext of making it easier to study, also moved there.

Seeing that her three classmates were all staying at the guesthouse while she was staying in a four-star hotel, making her seem a bit out of place, Hu Xiaoyun simply canceled her stay there and moved to the guesthouse instead.

However, she stayed in the most expensive luxury suite in the guesthouse, the kind with a small living room!

…………

On September 29th, after school in the afternoon, Teacher Wu announced that there was no need to come to class the next day, and that it was officially the start of the holiday. See you in eight days!

This year marks the first year of the National Day Golden Week holiday!

Everyone else gets a seven-day holiday, but it doesn't matter to their training class. Teacher Wu is worried that Wang Feiyang and Hu Xiaoyun, two students from out of town, won't be able to catch the bus tomorrow, so he might as well give them a day's holiday earlier.

Wang Feiyang didn't go home, mainly because he had only been in the provincial capital for less than a month, and there was nothing for him to do if he went back. Was he supposed to just stare at his parents every day?

It would be better to stay in the provincial capital, learn some Russian, and then go to the wholesale market to see if there are any good sources of goods, in preparation for future business.

In addition, he had made an appointment with General Manager Gu to go to the factory to check on the batch of goods he had ordered.

Even though I had worked with President Gu for many years in my previous life and knew that he wasn't the kind of unscrupulous businessman who would cheat me, it's always better to be cautious than to be naive...

Zhang Liang and Guo Juan naturally went straight home after school. Their home was in the provincial capital, so they couldn't find any excuse not to go back.

Hu Xiaoyun was picked up by an inconspicuous Santana 2000, leaving Wang Feiyang alone.

He was studying Russian in the evening when his phone rang. It was Song Yi calling.

"Wang Feiyang, this is my new phone. Write down the number; you can call this number if you need to find me later. By the way, are you going home for National Day? Let's go together tomorrow. Also, some classmates have made plans to get together at home during National Day; you can come with us."

"I won't be going back. I have some things to take care of in the provincial capital," Wang Feiyang said with a smile.

"Ah~ You're not going back? Su Ying said she wanted to see you. Really not going back? Don't you want to see Su Ying?" Song Yi asked tentatively, her tone a little disappointed.

Wang Feiyang smiled and said, "I'm really not going back. There's no point in going back and forth. Besides, you're all top students from prestigious universities. You'll have plenty to talk about when you get together. As someone who failed the exam, I won't even be able to join in."

"Pah, aren't you going to Moscow State University? That school is even more famous than Tsinghua University. What kind of prestigious university student am I? You're making a fool of yourself."

Although the provincial university of international business and economics cannot be called a prestigious university, it is actually a key university, but Song Yi is clearly not confident enough...

After chatting for a while, seeing that Wang Feiyang was determined, Song Yi stopped trying to persuade him. She just said that when she came back in a few days, she would bring Wang Feiyang some roast chicken, a local specialty from his hometown.

"That's a good idea," Wang Feiyang readily agreed.

Inside the girls' dormitory, Song Yi hung up Wang Feiyang's call and then made another call.

After the call connected, he said, "Su Ying, Wang Feiyang isn't going back for National Day... What, you're not going back either? Hey, is it really necessary? I think Wang Feiyang has forgotten about the past. That guy is living the high life now..."

…………

On October 2nd, General Manager Gu drove over to pick up Wang Feiyang and took him to the factory located in the new district of the provincial capital.

The factory is not large, with about three or four hundred workers, but the production line looks quite advanced. According to General Manager Gu, it was imported from Japan at a high price.

Moreover, the factory hired people to implement so-called 4S management, and the factory area is very clean, tidy, and orderly.

That batch of goods was already in production. After carefully inspecting the quality of the finished product, Wang Feiyang was very satisfied. President Gu had indeed not cheated him.

Watching Wang Feiyang meticulously inspect the workmanship of the jeans, General Manager Gu felt a pang of emotion. He had chatted with Wang Feiyang on the way to the factory and had a general understanding of Wang Feiyang's situation. He knew that Wang Feiyang had just graduated from high school this year and was about to go to Moscow to study, and would "incidentally" purchase a batch of jeans to resell there...

What kind of family is this that can give hundreds of thousands of yuan to a 17 or 18-year-old to practice doing business!

Although the garment factory is quite profitable, Mr. Gu doesn't own many shares in it. The factory's main business is managed by his relative who is the major shareholder, which is why he opened a store in the wholesale market to do domestic distribution.

After checking the product quality, Wang Feiyang remembered something and turned to say, "President Gu, I saw some product posters and brochures in your shop, and they looked pretty good."

"Haha, those were obtained from a Levi's store and then copied. When the bosses from other cities come to buy goods, they like to ask for a few posters and brochures. When they go back, they dare to boast that they are selling genuine products. Anyway, no one cares," said President Gu with a smile.

"Get me some too, and we'll pack them up and send them over together. Oh, and make sure they're all in English—posters and brochures, not Chinese versions," Wang Feiyang instructed.

"Isn't it said that foreigners are particularly particular about so-called copyrights and patents? You're not going to sell these counterfeit goods secretly, but you dare to make a big show of it by posting posters and brochures? Do those shops dare to put them up?" Mr. Gu asked in surprise.

It's possible that their factory mainly handles OEM orders from Europe and America, so they only dare to sell their so-called "leftover stock" domestically, since Europe and America are very strict about cracking down on infringement and counterfeiting.

Wang Feiyang chuckled. At this time, many people in China didn't really know much about the situation in Russia, but he knew it better than anyone else!

Although nearly a decade has passed since the collapse of the Soviet Union, and society seems to have stabilized, coupled with its strong foundation, Russia appears to be a developed country on the surface.

But those who really know the situation know that it is still quite chaotic there. Only the top level is basically stable, while the lower levels are basically unattended!

Otherwise, there wouldn't be such blatant so-called "grey customs clearance".

So what's the point of selling counterfeit Levi's products? The Russians don't even have a market management department anymore, because they've all been laid off!