My Realistic Simulation Game

Chapter 213 The Auto Union is all small-time stuff.
"Making a fuss over nothing?" Director Ekaterina sneered.

"Mr. Qin, do you really think you can get away with what you did on Soviet territory?"

"Do you really think our National Security Council is just a figurehead, someone who does nothing but sit around doing nothing?"

Before she finished speaking, she pulled a thick document from the drawer, casually tossed it onto the smooth tabletop with a crisp "thud," and slid it in front of Qin Yuan.

“Take a good look, Mr. Qin.” Her voice was cold and sarcastic: “Every day you spent in the Soviet Union, your main activity patterns, every key figure you ‘visited,’ and every ‘gift’ you offered to break the ice…”

"I have detailed records of everything here. Would you like to check them carefully to see if anything is missing?"

Qin Yuan's heart skipped a beat in his chest, but his face remained calm and composed.

He reached out, picked up the document with steady movements, and slowly opened it.

The first name on the first page made his eyelids twitch – Natasha's father, Ivanovich (an executive at Moscow State Bank).

He continued reading, and when he saw the names and related events at the end, his pupils involuntarily contracted slightly.

That was in Khabarovsk, where he offered "favors" to several powerful figures in the local industrial bureau in order to secure the largest bread factory in the area as a kvass production base.

This matter was handled with extreme secrecy, and the amount involved was not large. In principle, it would not have attracted any attention when he was just starting out and unknown.

But the KGB actually knew about it and had it on record!

Scrolling further down, you'll find an even more shocking list and brief details.

Apart from a few extremely secretive arrangements that he himself had almost forgotten, the names of Kadanikov, Berezovsky, and even Colonel Sergei Petrovich of the Senets military base were all prominently listed!

Qin Yuan grew increasingly alarmed as he looked, a fine layer of cold sweat seeping down his back.

The level of detail in this file far exceeded his expectations.

The KGB's pervasive reach and intelligence-gathering capabilities are truly legendary!

“Mr. Qin, let me tell you the truth,” Ekaterina’s voice rang out again, “you have been under our surveillance ever since you acquired the Baroev Bakery in Khabarovsk.”

"After that, you founded Far East Kvass, wiped out the Caucasian gangs and integrated the smuggling channels... Every step you took is recorded in our archives."

She leaned forward slightly, her gaze pressing down on Qin Yuan as if it were a physical object: "I have to admit, you are the smartest, boldest, and most business-minded foreigner I have ever met."

"But young man, you must remember, there are no secrets that stay hidden forever!"

"Your business has crossed too many red lines!"

"And your biggest mistake was your audacity in daring to set your sights on rocket engines, which are strictly prohibited from being exported by the country!"

Qin Yuan's face remained unchanged, but his mind was racing.

What exactly is the purpose of this director of the Twelfth Bureau?
Was all this elaborate intimidation, this "evidence" that could ruin him, merely meant to intimidate him?
He took a deep breath, raised his head, looked directly at Ekaterina, and asked a crucial question: "Comrade Director, if I may ask, has this document... been delivered to the headquarters in Lubyanka, Moscow?"

"Moscow?" Ekaterina paused for a moment, then a meaningful smile appeared on her lips. "What, are you scared now?"

She gently shook her head: "Don't worry. I'm the person primarily responsible for this area and such matters. What you have in your hand now is the original record file." "That's good."

Upon hearing this, Qin Yuan acted almost without hesitation. He pulled a metal lighter from his pocket, struck it with a "snap," and, to the astonishment of Ekaterina and Elena, unhesitatingly held the thick stack of documents containing countless "evidence" of his crimes to the flame!
The paper was quickly ignited, and the orange-red flames greedily devoured the ink, curling up the charred edges and turning into ashes that drifted down.

Ekaterina was clearly completely taken aback by Qin Yuan's audacious act. Watching the documents rapidly vanish in the flames, her face darkened instantly, and her voice was icy cold: "Mr. Qin! Do you think I don't have a copy? Burning it will make it all seem like nothing happened? Will everything be alright?!"

Qin Yuan didn't look up, his gaze focused on the flame in his hand. Only when the last bit of paper turned to ashes did he gently blow out the flame and put the lighter back in his pocket.

He brushed the ashes off his hands, his tone calm to the point of indifference:
"If you want to keep the photocopies, that's your prerogative. In my opinion, they're just a few sheets of scrap paper that can be 'added' at any time."

He raised his head, his gaze clear and sharp, looking directly at Ekaterina: "If I'm not mistaken, the reason you went to such lengths to 'invite' me from Moscow to St. Petersburg, instead of throwing me directly into Lubyanka's basement, wasn't to send me to prison, but rather... to seek my cooperation, right?"

“In that case,” he shrugged and said calmly, “what does it matter whether you have my so-called ‘evidence’ or not? Cooperation is based on mutual benefit, not threats, isn’t it?”

Ekaterina stared intently at Qin Yuan, and the room fell into a long silence, with only the faint smell of burnt paper lingering in the air.

After a long while, she suddenly let out a low, ambiguous laugh, breaking the silence.

"Haha...hahaha..." she laughed, turning to look at Elena, who was pale and had a complicated look in her eyes. "Elena, Elena, now I understand why you look at this man differently...you made a good choice. He's got guts and brains!"

She suppressed her smile and looked at Qin Yuan again, her gaze less cold than before, and more scrutinizing and...approving?
“That’s right, it’s cooperation.” Ekaterina pointed at Qin Yuan, then at herself, “Your cooperation with me.”

“I know everything about your business in the Soviet Union. That ‘Auto Union’ you started with Kadanikov and Berezovsky was quite an idea. But,”

She changed the subject, her tone tinged with disdain, "These are all too trivial, too small-minded!"

"I ordered the arrest of your men in Kuibyshev."

"We invited you here to see how you, a smart person whom many people have high hopes for, would react and what choices you would make under absolute power pressure and seemingly hopeless crisis."

Her eyes shone brightly: "As expected, you did not disappoint me."

"Calm, decisive, risk-taking, even... daring to burn your own 'evidence' in front of the KGB chief. You proved your worth."

Qin Yuan silently processed this information, glancing out of the corner of his eye at Elena, who remained expressionless but whose fingertips trembled slightly. He understood that things could not possibly be as simple and easy as she made them out to be.

If it was just to test him, why go through all that trouble, going from Kuibyshev to St. Petersburg?

Moreover, what role did Sobček play in all of this?
Why would the KGB cooperate with a Chinese businessman?
There are too many questions behind this.

But he knew that after wielding the big stick, it was time to offer some sweet treats.

"Comrade Director, I wonder what exactly you mean by cooperation?" He cut straight to the point.

Ekaterina did not answer immediately, but instead asked, "Before we talk about cooperation, I'd like to ask you a question."

Qin Yuan knew that the main point was about to be made: "Please ask me."

(End of this chapter)