Chapter seven hundred and twelve passwords and tokens
Russia, Saint Petersburg.
In the early morning, the weather was a bit chilly as always, but the weather looked pretty good today.
After the Ivanovich father and daughter simply ate a few bacon sandwiches and an omelette that was slightly fried at the edges, they hurriedly put on their coats and prepared to seek help according to the directions on the note.
The Tianming Group Potato Store located in the northwest corner of the city is not difficult to find.
Although the Ivanovich father and daughter had already gotten up very early, by the time they arrived, there was already a long queue outside the store. People looked expectantly at the closed store door not far away, waiting.
The shop opens at nine o'clock.
No one has ever seen the real owner of this shop. Just like its name, it appeared silently in important cities in Russia, Ukraine, Belarus and other countries like a miracle from the gods - all registration procedures,
The acquisition records and trademark registration were completed more than half a year ago, and there is no violation of the law.
As a large multinational group from Austria, Tianming Group's business scope is simply pitiful.
No matter in any city's [Destiny Group Potato Store], there are always only potatoes on the shelves, and the ruble code that occasionally fluctuates slightly. Other than that, there are almost no other things.
In the beginning, most of the cashiers were middle-aged and elderly people who would get distracted from time to time.
However, compared to the bank managers in suits and gold-rimmed glasses at Citibank, these elderly people are obviously much better at calculating potato prices, change amounts, and different currency exchange ratios.
Of course, this is not that surprising.
After all, as time goes by, people gradually discover that the last job of most of the "cashiers" in [Destiny Group Potato Store] was either in a research institute that has been dissolved, or in a university that is undergoing large-scale layoffs.
.
As for the origin of the potatoes in the store, the story becomes much more confusing.
Some people say with certainty that they are all potatoes grown in the frozen soil of Siberia, others say that they are foreign varieties shipped from some large private farms in Austria, and some even say that these are actually from the former
The food reserves secretly removed from the Soviet Union's secret war preparation food base...
But no matter what, this medium-sized store, which was established less than half a year ago, has become a more important place for the middle- and lower-class citizens living in St. Petersburg than the Peter and Paul Cathedral in the city center.
Because only in this place can the rubles in their hands be called currency, not colorful waste paper.
The mayor of St. Petersburg even specially arranged a team of police to maintain law and order in the area to avoid some bad situations that may cause this [Destiny Group Potato Shop] to leave - it is said that a similar thing happened in Kiev, and the local patrol police used law and order.
They plan to take over the store by force on the grounds of inspection and charge high public security fines.
The most direct impact was that the store announced its indefinite closure the next day.
Until now, if Kiev citizens don’t want to go to the store to buy expensive potatoes that cost twelve dollars per kilogram, they have to get up early at four or five o’clock every morning and drive to the [Destiny Group Potato Store] in a town dozens of kilometers away to buy potatoes.
In places invisible to ordinary citizens, many banking institutions and large food and light industry import companies from Austria, the United Kingdom, the United States, France, and Germany have also invariably increased their investments in Ukraine, especially in the Kiev region.
, audit standards for import and export, military industry cooperation, etc.
All capital has a common interest in sharing the rich dividends left by the former Soviet Union.
Gringotts and the Destiny Group only need to give a slight push from behind and give a few impeccable reasons, and a large number of vultures will immediately swarm up and join forces to squeeze more benefits from the shaky Ukrainian government.
All in all, the current [Destiny Group] is no less important in the eyes of the St. Petersburg government than [Citigroup], [**** Group] and other well-known large foreign groups that are located in the most prosperous commercial streets in the city.
Compared to those bankers who look noble and elegant, the Destiny Group, which specializes in selling cheap potatoes and is willing to hire local citizens, obviously has a much higher reputation and mystery among the citizens of St. Petersburg.
However, Ivanovich had never been here before.
Although he had heard a lot about the magical [Destiny Group] from the Muggles around him, before receiving that note, he had never associated such a basic Muggle food retail outlet with magic.
Together.
As a wizard, he is not yet in such a desperate situation that he needs to queue up to buy cheap potatoes.
Ivanovich looked around the surrounding streets. This was just an ordinary long street, and the people queuing up on the roadside were all ordinary Muggles. No matter where you looked at it, it didn't seem possible.
A place that served as a gathering place for wizards.
"Hey, sir! Go in line behind you, thank you!"
Just when Ivanovich was about to get a little closer and take a closer look at this strange shop, two police officers wandering on the side of the street suddenly came over, happened to stop in front of the man, and pointed at the shop not far away.
A long line of people.
These Muggle guards are really nosy.
Ivanovich frowned, subconsciously reached out and touched in his pocket, and was thinking about whether to secretly release a confusion spell to cross the blockade while Irina was not paying attention, when his expression suddenly changed.
He saw the two guards taking off the batons from their waists faster than him and pointing them at him in a very familiar posture.
From Ivanovich's perspective, he could clearly see a wooden wand embedded in the groove in the center of the brown wooden baton. Judging from the reaction speed of the two guards, it was probably
An outstanding Auror who has just graduated.
"Sir, please line up at the end, thank you - your talent is not for jumping in line..."
The slightly younger "Wizard Guard" nodded his chin at the team not far away and said expressionlessly, with a trace of contempt and pity in his eyes - for this kind of plan to fish in troubled waters with a little bit of crappy magic.
Although they haven't encountered many wizards these days, it is definitely not the first time.
Although the existence of magic brings many conveniences to wizards' lives, it is not omnipotent.
In fact, not all wizards understand, or are willing to use magic to grow crops and achieve self-sufficiency in daily life. For many of the worse wizards, they prefer to learn from the surrounding Muggle neighbors."
borrow".
Ivanovich frowned, subconsciously pulled his daughter behind him, and said in a deep voice.
"Wait a minute, we're not here to buy potatoes!"
"I'm very sorry, no matter what you're here for, please wait in line at the back. That's the rule."
The young guard shrugged unmoved, said in a calm tone, and pointed at the queue that had grown longer again.
As the three people argued, many people who were waiting in line to buy potatoes for the first time looked over curiously, and further away, several other guards on patrol also noticed the situation here.
"You! Are you really not going to get out of the way?"
Ivanovich was stunned for a moment, with an angry look on his face.
There is no doubt that these two wizards disguised as guards mostly regarded him as a bad wizard with only weak magic power, or a marginalized person close to a squib - but they actually treated him the same as those Muggles. This is simply
…
And more importantly, this made him lose a lot of his father's face in front of Irina.
However, before Ivanovich could reorganize his words, a clear voice came to his ears.
"Password, we have a password!"
Irina suddenly came out from behind him, raised her head and looked at the two wizards, and said openly.
"[ich liebe dich] We are here to ask for help. We were told that as long as we say this password here, we can get help from Hogwarts - we are in trouble."
"The password is fine, but... where is the token that proves your identity?"
The two wizard guards exchanged glances. The older wizard frowned, took out a work notebook from his pocket and looked at it carefully. He looked at the group of wizard father and daughter in front of him with some confusion, and his expression softened slightly.
Some.
"Token? What token?" Mr. Ivanovich asked with a frown.
"Each foreign specially recruited student will indeed be assigned a guide, but at the same time you should also have a letter of introduction or some other magic item. Only after activation do we know who should be notified to take charge."
"But we only received one note...I don't know..."
Irina was stunned for a moment, then anxiously took out the small piece of paper from her pocket and was about to hand it out.
At this moment, a furry little head emerged from the girl's collar and let out a fierce cry.