Far away in Moscow

Chapter 159 The True Face of the Market

Markets with shipping containers as stalls are not uncommon in Moscow.But at that time, when the Chinese mentioned the "container market", they usually referred to the market located in Izmailova in the northeast of the urban area, which is often called the "ant market" or "big market."

At that time, the container market was the largest commodity distribution center in Russia, and it was also known as the largest open-air market in Europe.When Ma Ji was in school, Hu Yi had been there several times with Yan Zhiwen and Lu Tao, but most of them were eating and shopping in the living area and the nearby flea market, and he knew almost nothing about the internal conditions of the market.

After the end of the Soviet era, almost simultaneously all cities in Russia burst out with long-prepared but complex and disorderly market economic demands. Merchants frantically pouring in with various goods and materials soon spontaneously formed many commodity distribution centers. .

Take the Chinese businessmen in Moscow as an example. In the 90s, they came to this strange land one after another by train. Since they did not understand Russian, most of them could only live together under the arrangement of their relatives and friends in order to report to the group for warmth.

At that time, most of the businessmen who came to Moscow were merchants, and they could do business wherever they lived. If they rented a suitable stall in the market, they would move to live in a nearby place where Chinese people were concentrated, and gradually formed many early Chinese businessmen. land.Among them, the famous "Suokou" near Maji, the "Barracks" mainly composed of leather goods merchants in Xinji, and various "Chinese Buildings" and "XX Buildings" scattered around.

The early 90s was an era of pioneers.Although there are many Chinese businessmen, most of them are poor people who carry large bags to and fro. The supply capacity cannot fully meet the market demand. Objectively, it has caused the popularity of Chinese goods, and they can earn extremely high price differences by just dumping anything. Coupled with the fact that the Russian customs at that time were useless, many people became rich overnight.

But high profits are bound to be accompanied by high risks.In the early days, Chinese businessmen’s road to gold rush was full of dangers and there was no security. They often faced exploitation, robbery and blackmail from various local forces.For example, the once-sensational K3 international train robbery happened in that era, and was later adapted into film and television works many times.

At the beginning of the new century, with the continuous introduction of new economic policies, the continuous growth of commodity demand and the rapid development of the logistics and transportation industry, the Russian government began to make up its mind to vigorously rectify the market business environment.

Moscow bears the brunt, successively banning some chaotically managed business sites, and guiding businessmen from various countries to several large-scale markets, where they are managed in a relatively standardized way.

It was at this time that the large-scale container market was renovated and expanded, and preferential measures such as donating booths and reducing management fees were adopted in the newly opened areas in order to attract operators to settle in.

Both administrative means and commercial means were used, and businessmen flocked immediately.Over the past few years, the container market has further achieved unprecedented vigorous development, which is completely new compared with the past.

Many Chinese bosses operating in the market have changed from buying and selling peddlers to factory direct sellers.The safety is guaranteed, the operation is more convenient, the business is bigger, and the profit model has also changed from the original rare goods, one million profits, to small profits but quick turnover, winning by quantity.

Now the entire market is a city within a city, where a large number of businessmen from the Commonwealth of Independent States, China, Vietnam, Turkey and other countries operate a large number of shops, and Chinese bosses alone have thousands of stalls.There are also countless migrant workers attached here, earning a living by any means imaginable.

The market is managed and operated by a Jewish multinational business group headquartered in Berlin, Germany, and is divided into multiple areas. Each area is handed over to one or more market management companies to manage the stalls.

Among them, the largest and most formal and safe Astair District is located in the core area of ​​the market and is managed by Jewish business groups.Aster has gathered a large number of Chinese clothing, footwear and hat brands, and Li Baoqing's boss does business in this area.

The nearby Old Sun District is a place where Chinese businessmen were concentrated in the early days, and the area is relatively large. It is currently managed by several different companies.

The New Sun area adjacent to the Old Sun is relatively small, and it is the only area in the market managed by a Chinese company, so most of the stalls in the area are stalls of Chinese bosses.

The merchants in Xinyang District are mainly engaged in the wholesale of whole garments, and the district is divided into different small areas according to the roads formed by the placement of containers. Hu Yi's boss is in District 8 of Xinyang District.

There are more than one hundred stalls in District 8, and many of the owners are from a place called Xiaozhoushan in Furong Town, Yueqing, Zhejiang.Most of them are surnamed Fu, Yu, or Cai, and they seem to be related to each other more or less far or near.

The containers on both sides of the road are neatly lined up, and each booth is composed of two boxes stacked together.It was almost noon when Hu Yi and Li Baoqing arrived, and some boxes were still locked, so they didn't look too busy.

There are people sitting next to the box that opens the door, and everyone chats loudly about the daily routine while basking in the sun.Hu Yi has been in Moscow for more than three years, and he can already swear at Russians, but he can't understand the hometown dialect of these Zhejiang bosses at all.

Walking through the dirty snow and ice to a box in the middle of District 8, the young man sitting in front of the door got up and greeted him: "Baoqing, you are here!" The accent is much more authentic than that of Li Baoqing and Fang Qing The BJ cavity.

"Hey, it's really cold today, I'm freezing to death." Li Baoqing turned around and patted Hu Yi on the shoulder: "Come on, let me introduce you. This is Hu Yi, my best buddy."

"Brother Hu, hello." The young man smiled casually and stretched out his hand: "Fu Jiahui."

"Yo, I dare not take it." Hu Yi had already heard from Li Baoqing that Boss Fu was the same year as them, and his birthday was a few months younger, so he hurriedly shook hands with him politely: "You are welcome, my name is not good It's suitable, you can call me Xiao Hu or Lao Hu in the future."

"Of course Xiao Hu can't do it." Fu Jiahui smiled heartily again: "Come on, please sit down."

Fu Jiahui was not tall, but he was fair and handsome. His family was in the trousers business, and the factory was in Daxing, BJ.He went to BJ with his family when he was a teenager, so he learned fluent Beijing movies.

"Bao Qing and I have known each other since we were in BJ. Although we haven't known each other for a long time, this person is very real and doesn't have much flirtatiousness, so I can rest assured of the person he introduces." Fu Jiahui has a sincere childishness on his face: " Our family has been making pants, but I only came to Moscow last year, and I don’t speak a few words of Russian, so I will trouble you in the future.”

"You're being polite again." Hu Yi said seriously, "I will do my best. If you have any work, just arrange for me to do it."

"Okay, then let's not be polite, and you don't have to say 'you', it sounds uncomfortable." Fu Jiahui waved his hand lightly: "You understand the situation on our side, right?"

"I heard something from Baoqing."

"Our family sells fashionable women's trousers, and we make our own brand." Fu Jiahui briefly introduced: "The usual work is mainly to pick up and sort the goods. Sometimes the goods arrive late, and it may be hard for you to wait here."

"No problem, no hard work."

"Clients usually come in the afternoon, and there are also mornings, but they usually make an appointment one day in advance. Baoqing said that you sometimes have classes in the morning. This is not a big problem. We can coordinate the time if necessary."

"You... Don't worry, I will balance it well and try not to delay work." Hu Yi is very grateful for the boss's accommodating attitude: "Now it's winter vacation, I can be here all day. What time do we go to work in the morning?"

"Going to work...not necessarily. Astai and Old Sun who sell bulk goods open after five o'clock in the morning." Fu Jiahui hesitated for a while: "We mainly look at customer needs here, and it doesn't matter if you come a little late."

"Understood, I will come as soon as possible." Hu Yi nodded vigorously: "Then what am I going to do today?"

(End of this chapter)