The issue was resolved, Gao Yang and Yarebin walked out of the cafe, and after eting with Tarta who seed to be casually strolling on the street, the three of them walked along the sidewalk.
"How did Shava leave?"
"Taxi."
"How are we leaving?"
"Taxi."
After Tarta briefly spoke to Gao Yang, he looked around and whispered, "Give so money, I’m out of cash."
Gao Yang was extrely surprised and said, "You’re out of cash?"
Tarta said irritably, "You don’t pay , I randomly took so money and spent it all, now I don’t even have money to pay for a taxi. You don’t want to rob soone or skip the fare, do you?"
Gao Yang imdiately reached into his pocket, but after he reached into his suit pocket, his expression quickly changed, and he whispered, "I’m out of cash too, I didn’t bring any..."
Both Gao Yang and Tarta imdiately turned their gaze to Yarebin, and Yarebin spread out his hands.
Gao Yang swallowed and whispered, "You settled the bill just now, don’t tell you’re out of cash too!"
Yarebin’s expression remained unchanged, he smiled and said, "I had a total of two hundred Hryvnia on , but I spent one hundred and forty Hryvnia at the cafe, and I left the remaining sixty as a tip, I didn’t ask for change."
Gao Yang shouted, "Get it back!"
Yarebin nodded, "Sure, you go ahead."
Gao Yang imdiately pulled a long face, "Forget it, I’d lose face."
Tarta said coldly, "Even if you get it back it’s not enough for us to take a taxi to the car parking spot, such idiocy, you actually left empty-handed! A foolish mistake!"
Gao Yang lowered his voice and said, "You’re the one who said not to use US Dollars! You all said in the current situation it’s best not to use US Dollars, only Hryvnia! We’ve used up all the Hryvnia we exchanged! And you didn’t exchange more cash."
Gao Yang had once exchanged one hundred thousand US Dollars for Hryvnia, and now the exchange rate for US Dollar to Hryvnia on the Ukrainian financial market was skyrocketing. The official rate was one dollar to twelve Hryvnia, but on the black market one dollar could be exchanged for twenty-five Hryvnia or even higher. As the war in Ukraine spread, everyone was trying to exchange their Hryvnia for US Dollars or Euros and other strong currencies, so the rate for US Dollars was likely to continue to rise sharply.
Being able to mobilize large amounts of cash is a skill, especially in Ukraine. Gao Yang could mobilize up to three million in cash anyti and if needed, he could have up to thirty million in cash delivered within a day. So, Gao Yang certainly wasn’t short of money.
Unfortunately, Gao Yang was short on ti. Initially, living on US Dollars in Ukraine was quite comfortable and allowed enjoying better exchange rates. But after knowing that Arica was looking for him everywhere, Yarebin and the others believed using US Dollars was a dangerous move that could attract unwanted attention, so they decided to use only Hryvnia for cash spending. Hence, Gao Yang exchanged one hundred thousand US Dollars into Hryvnia and handed out a share to each person going out for business as pocket money. But now the Hryvnia had been used up and they hadn’t exchanged more in ti.
Now it wasn’t about whether to use US Dollars or not, Gao Yang and his companions were simply out of cash.
Tarta exhaled irritably and whispered, "Steal, rob, or just directly hijack a car."
Gao Yang whispered, "I’ll call Shava, he hasn’t gone far, ask him to co back and lend us so money."
Tarta snapped angrily, "Did you see how badly beaten he was? Do you think he’d have money on him?"
Yarebin said irritably, "You two idiots! Is this the kind of place to rob? Is now the ti to commit a robbery? Is this a place or ti to wait for soone to co back with money? Find a taxi, get in, and then pull out the gun and everything’s taken care of."
Tarta shook his head, "Taxi drivers nowadays won’t go to remote places, in the urban area threatening the driver exposes us easily, but never mind, let’s do it, let’s hail a car."
They were in an old part of town, with narrow streets and lots of people, so taxis were uncommon. The trio began to walk quickly outward, but after not far, Gao Yang’s phone rang in his pocket.
Gao Yang was reluctant to take out the satellite phone on the street, as its big antenna stood out in this era of smartphones and drew attention.
Looking at the number, it was an unfamiliar call, he had to answer it. Knowing who was calling was fine, but not knowing who it was and missing the call could an missing sothing important.
Reluctantly, Gao Yang answered the call, whispering, "Hello, who is this."
The other side first let out a long breath, then whispered with a smile, "It’s , buddy, it’s really been a long ti since we last got in touch."
Gao Yang was imnsely delighted, and said, "Uriyangko! Wow, buddy, it’s been a long ti, how have you been?"
Uriyangko laughed and said, "Not bad. I’m doing great now. Today I’m heading to Ukraine, buddy, I’m coming to find you."
Gao Yang was overjoyed, chuckled, and said quietly, "Aweso! Buddy, you gotta co rescue quickly, I can’t wait. When are you arriving? Most importantly, buddy, is the negotiation settled? Can I call off the alert?"
"No, no, you need to stay vigilant. This is the critical mont, but it’s not settled yet. I can only say it’s close, buddy, close. Hang in there a little longer. I’m leaving today, but exactly when I’ll arrive is uncertain. We’ll talk more when we et. I gotta hang up, buddy. See you later."
Gao Yang excitedly hung up the phone and then smiled at Yarebin and Tarta beside him, "It’s so fast, much faster than I anticipated. I thought they would really need a month, but who knew they’d co so quickly."
Yarebin was also pleased, he smiled and said, "Indeed, once they arrive, you won’t have to deal with it anymore. Honestly, I hate these days when we have to hide everywhere."
At that mont, soone suddenly stood in front of the three of them, then drew a knife, glanced at Gao Yang and his friends, and said viciously in a low voice, "Hand over your wallets! Quick! Cell phones, watches, give them to , hurry up!"
Gao Yang was taken aback because in all these years, it seed like it was truly the first ti he encountered a robbery.
Ukraine was chaotic, and Kiev was equally chaotic. Under such circumstances, roadside robberies and similar security incidents unavoidably increased. And Gao Yang was wearing an obviously expensive suit, with an equally expensive-looking watch. He had just used a satellite phone, and the only people accompanying him were two old n, one of whom appeared too frail to even walk. So, attracting a robbery didn’t seem too odd.
Nonetheless, Gao Yang and Tarta still couldn’t help but be a bit dumbfounded because soone dared to pull a knife to rob what was probably the three most dangerous people in the world. This sort of experience was indeed too rare.
At least he could have used a gun, right?
Gao Yang had countless ways to take down the person waving the knife in front of him, but precisely because there were too many options, he actually didn’t know what to do. Oddly, he really wanted to laugh.
Yarebin and Tarta couldn’t hold back and burst into laughter.
Gao Yang swallowed and was just about to say sothing when a young man in his twenties with a shaved head, quite burly, couldn’t hold back and shouted, "Yellow-skinned monkey! You go..."
Racial discrimination exists everywhere, especially in countries like Ukraine and Russia, particularly among those skinheads. That young man was really clueless. If he hadn’t insulted, the outco might have been very different. But this young robber was not just clueless but extrely aggressive, and when he opened his mouth to curse, he actually thrust a knife directly towards Gao Yang’s chest.
Gao Yang grabbed the young man’s wrist, and with a snap of his right hand, he pushed forward, directly thrusting against the young man’s open jaw with force.
The young man, who was speaking, got his mouth slamd shut by Gao Yang’s push, biting into the tip of his tongue and completely severing it.
As the young man bent forward in pain and instinctively and strongly bowed at the waist, Yarebin saw the warped Nazi tattoo on the back of his head.
Yarebin’s still smiling face imdiately changed, filled with rage, and then he extended his cane to hook the young man’s neck and pulled him to his front.
Actually, the roadside robbers were more than just one person; there was another one at the back. Seeing the scuffle start, he imdiately pulled out a knife and rushed over.
Tarta sneered, pulling out a hamr from behind his waist.
There are many kinds of hamrs; Tarta picked a round-headed hamr this ti, not large but certainly useful for bashing in a skull.
A quick sidestep, Tarta hopped slightly and smashed down, directly hitting the second robber’s head. With a "thump," brain matter splattered out, and then the knife-wielding man fell to the ground, convulsing, with his legs twitching as if he wouldn’t survive.
Yarebin carefully examined the young man at the end of his cane and then erupted in anger, "Neo-Nazi!"
Gao Yang had never seen Yarebin so furious before, and then he watched as Yarebin suddenly and furiously smashed his cane down and snarled, "Did your elders not teach you how many lives we lost to drive the Nazis away?"
Yarebin smashed the robber to the ground with his cane. Tarta followed, promptly delivering another hamr strike, and after a "pop," he wiped the hamrhead on the twitching young man’s back, saying quietly, "If your brain’s useless to you, then you don’t need it."
After saying that, Tarta put the hamr back behind his waist, tucked in his shirt, and the three were about to leave when Yarebin and Tarta suddenly stopped.
Gao Yang spotted two people sitting in the café seats ahead of him, dressed ordinarily and looking ordinary, but just staring at them. Additionally, two others sat opposite them, suddenly turning their heads to stare at Gao Yang and his companions.
They just killed soone; normal people wouldn’t stay to watch the show, so those who stuck around to watch clearly weren’t ordinary. Then take a look at the donuts, coffee, and cola on the table, and the short earphone line visible from one person’s ear, and Gao Yang blurted, "F**k!"
Tarta snarled, "CIA!"
Yarebin said quietly, "Get ready!"
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