The air in the warehouse grew heavy.
Everyone stared at each other with wide eyes and small pupils.
No one spoke anymore.
Only Song Heping was there, laughing awkwardly.
"This…"
Yusuf frowned and finally spoke up.
Song Heping's heart was hanging in the balance.
"Why didn't you tell earlier?"
Yusuf turned his head to look at Song Heping, his face filled with confusion.
Seeing this, Song Heping felt that Yusuf must be angry.
So he hurriedly explained, "When I was at your place earlier, I didn't think it through. Indeed, the goods here are very good. I almost don't need to look at the rest; the guns here alone are enough for to place an order. But I didn't expect storage to be an issue.
Obviously, renting storage in the Green Zone is impossible; these goods can't be exposed… Renting outside the Green Zone, I'd need a little ti…"
"You don't need a warehouse…"
Yusuf said.
Song Heping paused, "What did you say?"
Yusuf said, "I an, you don't need to look for a warehouse."
"This…"
Song Heping thought Yusuf wanted to cancel the deal and was figuring out how to retain the order.
But then Yusuf continued, "Why not ask for a warehouse? Who am I? I'm from the supplies departnt. Across Illiguo, we manage properties and warehouses everywhere. How much do you need? How many?
Where? What's your price range?"
Yusuf imdiately turned into a property agent.
"South side Bai Zuer, Buseye, Salem, or the central Jassam, Misur, or even the western Nuhaib, and right in Baghdad, I have warehouses. I guarantee safety; our people are guarding them, official warehouses, unless there's an ard attack, our own people will absolutely not check them out!"
"This…"
Happiness ca too suddenly.
Song Heping had never imagined.
That Yusuf would have so many available warehouses.
But thinking about it, it made sense.
After all, he was the one in charge of seizing and confiscating Sadam's property and the assets of the previous governnt. Even Salem said that his fat cousin sotis took things into his own hands, seizing the property of bosses who had been friendly with Sadam.
With that, of course he would have a lot of available properties on hand!
I've been so foolish!
Song Heping couldn't help but curse himself.
So close to the City God Temple yet not asking for a good sign, and instead looking far and wide for a warehouse...
That was peak stupidity!
"Thank you so much!" Song Heping grabbed Yusuf's chubby hand, "If you have such a warehouse, I can provide rent!"
"Of course!" Yusuf said, "Our properties are ant to be managed or sold. If you need… I'll give you a discount on the rent."
"Great! I'll rent it for a year! How much?"
Where else could you find such a good deal?
Song Heping didn't bother to discuss it with the cook anymore.
He made his decision then and there.
"$20,000 a year, 5,000 square ters, the location is on the outskirts of Baghdad, near a US Military Base, with 4 warehouses…"
As Yusuf spoke, he was watching Song Heping's face.
He saw Song Heping's expression change.
Thinking it was too expensive for him.
So he hastily explained, "Actually, this price is quite fair. Look, I have to arrange for at least 4 soldiers to guard it, all our own people, and their salaries will cost at least $600 a month, which is $7,200 a year just for that, plus…"
"No problem!"
Song Heping grabbed Yusuf's hand that was still counting on his fingers.
"The price is very reasonable. You just need to send two people over there to put up appearances, and I'll arrange the rest of the guard."
Actually, Song Heping did this only because he didn't trust the IDC soldiers' professionalism and responsibility.
Better to have his own people guard his things.
But saying this made Yusuf even happier since it saved him the salary costs of two more guards.
"That's great, deal!"
"I need it tonight!"
"No problem! I'll arrange transport here, and over there, we'll handle the unloading!"
"Are the people trustworthy?"
This was the issue Song Heping cared most about.
"They're trustworthy," Yusuf said.
Song Heping was still not reassured, "Are you sure?"
Yusuf said, "I will transport it under the na of the Temporary Managent Committee. I can issue a mobilization order from the supplies departnt. All of this is legal, and no one will know these weapons are for you. They'll think it's just a temporary allocation for the ICDC, and the ICDC doesn't even know about this allocation."
Song Heping finally understood.
Yusuf was definitely an old hand at this.
He was well-practiced in doing these kinds of deals.
This ant he wasn't the only one pocketing money; a bunch of people were in on it.
That was even better.
The best way to make money in this gray area was to drag everyone into it.
If everyone was wet, if everyone had dirt on their butts, then everyone was tied to the sa string of grasshoppers.
"Ferrari, transfer $20,000 to our brother Yusuf's account right away,"
Song Heping liked to move fast.
This is military style.
Decisive and swift.
"No problem," Ferrari extended his hand, "What about the bank account?"
Yusuf hesitated, "Is it possible to deal in cash?"
Ferrari and Song Heping exchanged a glance, instantly understanding each other.
This was clearly black money.
"Brother Yusuf," Ferrari said, "It's not convenient to withdraw cash right now, and keeping that much cash at ho isn't just conspicuous, it's also unsafe."
Upon hearing this, Yusuf frowned and said, "I have no choice..."
Ferrari imdiately displayed his expertise, "How about this, I'll set up an account for you at an offshore bank using your identity, you keep the password and account number. Whenever you need money, just take it from there. I'll take care of cleaning it up for you, at a friendly price!"
"Can it really be done like this?" Yusuf's small eyes doubled in size.
"Of course, it can," Ferrari said. "It can not only help you avoid supervision but also dodge the risk of keeping a pile of cash at ho, killing two birds with one stone. To be honest, if you ever decide to leave Illiguo, you can use the money in that account in any country..."
His implication couldn't have been clearer.
Making money like Yusuf's ca with risks, always on the edge of danger.
Although Illiguo was currently in chaos and everyone was frantically grabbing money, this didn't an there wouldn't be a strict investigation in the future.
The benefits of setting up an offshore account were obvious.
"I can't thank you guys enough! I also have a lot of cash at ho, can you help deposit it later?"
Seeing Yusuf speak like this, Song Heping beca even more certain of his judgnt of the man.
Not bad, he liked this guy too.
To make money off the grid, you need soone willing to take and be tempted by cash.
If it had been Samir in Yusuf's position, this deal probably couldn't be done.
Of course, if it were Samir in this job, he'd be squeezed out within two months.
The two sides hit it off instantly.
"What are we waiting for? Let's get to it!"
Song Heping was getting impatient.
"Arranging the trains and the transportation, storing in warehouses, may I entrust these matters to Brother Yusuf?"
"Leave it to , just a few phone calls!" Yusuf took on the task confidently.
Indeed, money talks.
Making money in a place like Illiguo, what a thrill!
As long as the price is right, anything can be arranged!
Song Heping felt like a great door had opened before him.
He couldn't say exactly where the door led.
But for now, he was standing at its threshold, peering inside.
Fuck!
Bright gold glare!
The blinding sort!
Yusuf was indeed efficient.
He imdiately made two phone calls.
One to the transportation team, and another to a warehouse called Yelda on the outskirts of Baghdad, instructing them to be ready, saying that a batch of military hardware had been allocated and needed to be transported there for storage.
Then he began to show Song Heping around the weapons inventory of the lumberyard warehouse.
As they checked each warehouse, Song Heping grew more and more shocked.
The weapons in those warehouses included almost every personal gear except for heavy machinery like tanks and planes!
Besides the RPG rocket launchers commonly seen in the Middle East, there were also recoilless rifles, mortars, light and heavy machine guns, antiaircraft machine guns.
Upon entering one of the warehouses, Song Heping imdiately spotted sothing familiar.
"107 rocket launcher?!"
Song Heping could hardly believe his eyes.
It was a quality dostic product!
In so of China's field army units, they still equipped this thing.
The Type 63 107mm rocket launcher, commonly called the 107 rocket.
Developed independently by China, born in 1963, 107 milliters in caliber, thus the na.
The theoretical range of this launcher is 8.5 kiloters, and its total weight in marching condition is just over 300 kilograms, with a very simple structure—simple enough that when you see it up close, it looks just like several tubes bundled together.
Because of its lightness, it can be towed by a jeep, or even, when conditions do not allow, dragged by a strong man, truly a mountain artillery marvel.
"Brother Yusuf, do you have the shells for this thing here?!"
Yusuf stepped forward to check and laughed, "This is a special product from your holand!"
Song Heping was amused by his reference to a "special product."
Indeed, it was a special product.
During the eight-year war between Illiguo and the Persians, at its peak, the army had up to 1.2 million people. They bought a huge amount of various equipnt from the Soviet Union and China, ranging from guns to cannons, and from cannons to tanks and planes.
Illiguo spent several hundred billion US Dollars in that war and incurred massive debts. Otherwise, they wouldn't have tried to occupy the neighboring country to default on their debts.
So of the dollars earned from selling oil and so that were borrowed, were now right in front of him.
"Of course, the shells are there! They are in the ammunition warehouse next door; I have seen them," Yusuf answered confidently.
"Great, I want to buy so of these launchers and their ammunition!" Song Heping didn't hesitate for a mont.
Because the 107 rocket was too useful, especially its ammunition, which could be called miraculous.
Guiding the rocket launcher's ammunition doesn't require a launch fra; a simple modification to the rear and a spark can cause it to launch like a rocket...
Of course, the large arsenal brought more surprises to Song Heping than just the 107 launcher, there were even more astonishing things.
When he followed Yusuf to the last weapons warehouse and saw a huge weapons case, dusting off the dirt to read the words on the case, he first furrowed his brow, and then was ecstatic!
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