Moscow was known as the Red City. But from Su Tao"s understanding, the red had an additional romantic tone.
In the 1930s, the Soviet Union was extremely harsh to women, such as forbidding women from making an abortion. Any violators of this law would be exiled to Siberia.
Back then, society was also scornful of prost.i.tutes. Since Russia imported from the west at that time, they also introduced the open-mindedness of western society. Hence, desire and s.e.x filled the streets and alleys of Moscow. At the same time, the red-light districts and open-mindedness devoured the traditional ideology.
Since then, the streets of Sukharevskaya have become Europe"s fourth-biggest red-light district.
There was also data showing that four to five thousand people would use their body as a bargaining chip to conduct a transaction every day. Naturally, those streetwalkers belonged to the dangerous bunch. Compared to that, model clubs were a favourite amongst the n.o.bility in Russia for romantic affairs. Those high-cla.s.sed clubs picked those with outstanding appearances and figures from modelling schools. They"re all between 18-20, and all of them possessed the bearing of a celebrity.
Lisa was a model of this high-cla.s.sed Model club, and her task was to dance. For gorgeous newcomers like her, the club would naturally protect her. So even if there were customers that took a fancy to her, they would be rejected. This was a typical case of a merchant waiting for a good offer.
After Lisa finished her s.e.xy dance and was walking to the backstage, the drunken merchant, Sergei, charged over and held onto Lisa"s wrist with a lecherous smile. "Oh Ms. Lisa, why don"t you follow me tonight? I admire you a lot!"
As a bashful blush rose on Lisa"s cheeks, she smiled. "I"m sorry, mister, but I"m afraid that I cannot go with you."
"Why? Are you afraid that I can"t afford it?" Sergei looked indignant as he continued, "Name your price! ₽10,000 or ₽20,000?"
Shrugging her shoulders, Lisa wittily said, "The reason why I"m not going with you is because I"m afraid that your ferocious wife might come looking for me and beat me up. A sister of mine once suffered such humiliation. I"m not afraid, but I"m worried that you might be put in an embarra.s.sing position. After all, you"re someone respected, while I"m just a model."
"Haha!" Lisa"s words received the cheers of many and all of them felt humorous at how Lisa rejected Sergei.
After all, watching a respectable person being rejected was satisfying.
"What a dampener!" Sergei glared at Lisa before he muttered to himself, "I will make you submit."
Meanwhile, Lisa sighed as she entered the changing room. Recalling Sergei"s face that was covered in fat, her heart jolted from disgust.
Russia might be an open-minded country, but any good lady wouldn"t enter a high-cla.s.sed club unless they were at their wit"s end.
Lisa"s mother was paralysed last year, and she had to take care of her younger sister and brother. Her mother"s monthly medical bills alone was a huge burden, not to mention her growing siblings.
She initially wanted to be an international model by entering a modeling school, and she had also appeared in some small-scaled compet.i.tions. However, a dream was still a dream in the end. Under the recommendation of a friend, Lisa entered this high-cla.s.sed club. Since her conditions were pretty good, she did not have to accompany customers to drink or strip dance to receive a stable income.
Suddenly, the changing room"s door was barged open that startled Lisa. Seeing her boss, Maksim, she immediately buckled her bra and wore a s.h.i.+rt that covered most of her revealing skin.
Looking at Lisa"s figure, Marksim"s eyes flickered with unconcealable greed. If it wasn"t for the rules that stated that the employers couldn"t have any relations.h.i.+p with their employees, he would"ve long made his move on Lisa.
Marksim has been managing this high-cla.s.sed club for decades, so he had naturally seen his fair share of beauties. But without a doubt, Lisa was definitely the most outstanding one that he has seen so far. Since she"s his source of money, he naturally had to protect her well.
"Boss, is there anything?" Lisa swiftly wore shorts that added a graceful charm to her.
"Sergei just gave me a complaint about you." Marksim was extremely disappointed as he sighed, "If you are willing to drink with him right now, not only will he forgive you, but he will also give you ₽10,000 as a tip."
"I refuse!" Lisa"s face turned cold as she continued, "You"ve witnessed the situation earlier. I wasn"t rude to him, and he was the one that got touchy with me."
"Lisa, don"t be in such a rush to refuse. He"s just requesting for you to drink a cup with him. ₽10,000 for a cup, this is a profitable transaction no matter how you look at it. Aren"t you in need of money?" Marksim tempted. He understood a woman like Lisa well. They"re here to seek money, and they"re willing to let go of their bottom line as long as there"s money.
As Lisa bit on her lips, she started struggling within her heart. With ₽10,000, she could buy many loaves of bread and also new clothes for her siblings.
"I"ll wait for you outside, but don"t leave us waiting for too long!" Marksim winked his eye at Lisa and left the changing room.
Immediately, someone walked over and persuaded, "Lisa, don"t hesitate. Marksim is famous for being two-faced. If you don"t agree to his request, he will definitely chase you out from the club tomorrow. You"ve not received your salary, right? You have to be careful or he won"t give it to you!"
Gritting her teeth, Lisa took a deep breath then ultimately came out of the changing room and headed in the direction of Sergei"s room.
Seeing Lisa coming from afar, Marksim smiled. "The beauty is coming, so don"t you have to show some actions?"
With a satisfied smile, Sergei took out four ₽5,000 notes.
"Here"s the money for the alcohol today. Bring me a few more bottles, the stronger, the better!"
Nodding his head, Marksim turned around and left. In his heart, he was filled with disdain. That lecherous fellow wanted the treasure of his shop for just ₽20,000?
Tonight, Lisa was only drinking with him. Marksim wouldn"t let Sergei get what he wanted until he had earned enough money.
The nightclub that Su Tao and Jiang Qinghan came to was the one that Lisa worked at. The employees here weren"t unfamiliar with Chinese, nor did they have any discrimination. After all, many Chinese businessmen would pay a visit, showing their interest in the models.
The one that received the two of them was a lady who didn"t know any Mandarin. Thus, she called over a colleague, Victor. Although Victor"s Mandarin wasn"t that great, he could still understand Su Tao and Jiang Qinghan"s intentions and conducted a simple conversation.
When he finally found out what Su Tao wanted, he shrugged and replied, "I"m sorry. If you guys are here to seek fun, I can be your guide. Otherwise, please leave."
Looking at Victor in disappointment, Jiang Qinghan pointed at Yan Sun"s picture and tried to convince him, "Please, can you help me? Can you take a look at him? He"s my husband, and he hasn"t been home for over a decade."
Letting out a helpless sigh, Victor gently tapped his finger on the table and replied, "In our line of business, we would receive tons of customers every day, so how can we remember every single one of them?"
Shaking his head to Jiang Qinghan, Su Tao signalled for her to let him take over as he said, "Mr. Victor, if you"re willing to provide clues to use, we"re willing to give you some benefits."
Thereafter, he rolled a ₽5,000 note and shoved it in Victor"s pocket, "Here"s some in advance."
As Victor"s brows loosened up from the money, he took it out and briefly examined it before he smiled. "I"m not lying to you. I really don"t recognise him. But we have many people here, so perhaps some of them might have some impression of him."
Winking at Victor, Su Tao took out a few big notes from his pocket and placed them under the cup with a smile. "If you can provide me with accurate information, I"ll give these to you as a reward."
But just when Victor wanted to take them, he was stopped by Su Tao and the latter shook his head.
Touching his nose, Victor revealed an awkward smile. "I"ll ask about it immediately. Please wait here!"
After Victor happily left, Jiang Qinghan unhappily said, "These bunch of people are really materialistic."
"Money can accomplish anything in the world. This is a logic that works everywhere." Su Tao wryly smiled.
Biting on her lips, Jiang Qinghan said, "Sorry for making you spend money! As for the money…"
Waving his hand, Su Tao earnestly said, "Master, please don"t mention money. If we"re going to haggle over such worldly items, then why would I come all the way to Russia with you?"
Pondering over his words, Jiang Qinghan nodded her head and sighed, "Alright, I"ll not argue about it anymore."
In his heart, Su Tao sighed. Even he had no idea if what he"s doing was right. If they really found Yan Sun, didn"t that mean that he has wasted all of his effort so far?
Walking into the employee"s resting area, Victor waved his hand at a 6"2" man with a grave expression. "Quick, inform Marksim that he can finally take his revenge!"
"What?" Mikhail curiously asked, "Marksim has never suffered a loss, nor do I remember him having any enemies."
Glancing at Mikhail in annoyance, Victor asked, "Do you still remember that Chinese man that threw the entire club into chaos a year ago?"
As Mikhail"s lips trembled, he asked in astonishment, "You mean that man has returned?"
Victor knew that Mikhail had a trauma left by that man and sighed, "He did not return. It is his wife who has come looking for him."
Mikhail instantly understood what was going on as he glanced at Victor with a complicated gaze and asked, "We"re going to deal with his wife since we can"t deal with him? Isn"t it a little too despicable?"
Feeling exhausted from chatting with Mikhail, Victor said, "You ate so much every day, so can you grow some brains aside from those muscles? Marksim is our employer, and you"ve received such a huge deduction from your pay the other time. If Marksim becomes happy from this, he might even compensate you!"
Instantly, Mikhail grinned as he replied, "I"ll inform Marksim immediately!"