The 1990S: A Fake Engineer Strikes It Rich in Russia

Qin Beiwang, a 21st-century gray-market dealer in used electronics, was crushed by a warehouse shelf and sent back to 1991. He became the “top technology procurement expert” the Ministry of Machinery sent to the Soviet Union. The problem was, he couldn't even read the blueprints. Qin Beiwang called the ministry's leaders in tears: “I've let the organization down. I can't make sense of a single one of those equipment specifications.” The leader was startled. “It's all right. Maybe you're just having trouble adjusting. Take your time.” But Qin Beiwang didn't give him a chance to respond. He got straight to the point: “If we're buying technology, isn't it more important to know which machine it's in than to understand how it works?” The leader: ...Something about this just doesn't seem right. A month later, three railcars of “scrap metal” arrived back home. The experts examined it and fell silent as one. Three months later, another five railcars of “junk” showed up. This time, the military-industrial sector couldn't sit still. Six months later, he brought back the blueprints, equipment, and people, packing up an entire production line and hauling it home. They say that from then on, whenever the country needed a piece of equipment, they would draw up a list, and Qin Beiwang would hunt each item down at Moscow's street markets. He was simply too audacious: trading rubles, bartering goods, swapping instant noodles for aircraft engines. That, right there, is the highest art of picking through junk.