Another day in August began for Vanya with a view of her worried spouse leaving the bathroom.
"Honey, is something wrong?" You look pale. Are you all right?
- Sort of...
"Like what?" You're scaring me. What happened?
"I think I'm pregnant," she said with hidden fear, looking attentively at her husband.
- Great news! Ivan was genuinely delighted. - Well, yogurt in my soul... - He thought about it. - We need a normal car. Taking a child on an old Lada in the twenty-first century is such a thing... Although we've grown up somehow, haven't we?
- I'm not sure about pregnancy yet, - Natasha's tension was released. - I need to buy a test.
- Not a question. I'm going to the pharmacy right now. Are you with me?
- Yes, you're going to the regional center, right?
"He's got a sweetheart."
- Then we will need to buy sugar, sunflower oil and..
"I understand, dear," Vanya stopped the flow of eloquence. "You make a shopping list, get dressed, and I'll go get the car ready."
The test confirmed the pregnancy of Natalia Ivanova now. Ivan's joy was restrained. Unlike his wife, he wasn't particularly worried, as he had already been through fatherhood five times. That was the first time he was terribly worried.
He wanted his family to travel in a safe and comfortable car. For all his apparent wealth, he couldn't get a cutlet of money out of his pocket and buy a car he liked. All his finances were invested in real estate, stocks and bitcoins.
It was possible to simply save by saving part of the amount from the rent from the tenants. Then in about a year there will be enough money for a normal car. But this path did not suit Vanya. My hands itched, the workshop was idle, and my pocket was burning with thirty thousand rubles - all the free funds that I managed to save up after the wedding. Such a sum meant one thing: he had a direct path to the bucket business.
It started spinning. Vanya returned to the business that he knew well. He bought inexpensive cars, swindled them as quickly and cheaply as possible, and resold them for more. He took some cars that took too long and unprofitable to repair for disassembly, selling them for spare parts, or reselling them to other dealers with a small margin.
While the pregnancy is in its infancy, Vanya suggested that his wife learn to drive a car. He gave killer arguments, with which his wife could not disagree. The child will need to be taken to a polyclinic, then to a school located in a neighboring village. Anyway, you can go on business at any time.
On September 9th, for the first time, the difficulty of bitcoin mining doubled. Consequently, Ivanov's computers began to bring in half as many bits.
In mid-October, Natasha received a driver's license to drive passenger cars. She drove boldly on country roads, but was afraid to go out on the road. Like many girls, she was confused about shifting gears. And in general, the old Lada is not the easiest car to drive. He keeps the driver on his toes. Whether it's a car with an automatic transmission. For example, in the United States, schoolchildren have been driving cars to school since the age of sixteen and don't know any problems, but that's because it's not so easy for them to meet a car with mechanics.
Pregnancy is always a test for everyone: for a woman, for a man, and for the family as a whole. One thing is for sure: Vanya was not bored.
In six months of active bucket business, the initial amount has increased tenfold. Plus, we managed to save up something from the proceeds from renting out housing. That was already enough for a good car.
After a thorough search, Ivanov despaired of finding a decent car in his budget, spat and ordered a Kaldin four-wheel drive Toyota from Japan on an automatic transmission. A seven-year-old white station wagon, reliable, comfortable and with relatively low mileage. This car usually becomes a family favorite. At the same time, Vanya was confident that even after ten years he would be able to sell this car for the same amount for which he bought it.
For a car of this level, the cost of repair with contract spare parts is tolerable, but, unlike Subaru Impreza, it is difficult to call its operation cheap. But it's a Toyota. It is reliable like no other car.
Some consider Toyota to be too simple and archaic a car with outdated technology. It's hard to argue with that. But this Japanese brand is loved precisely for its reliability, turning a blind eye to other shortcomings. Of course, there are no eternal and non-breaking cars, but Toyota can be put on its knees by four things: collective farm repairs with crooked hands; if the car is not repaired at all or poorly maintained, driving in the tail and in the mane, pouring donkey urine into the tank; seven-figure mileage; a serious traffic accident. By Russian standards, a used car in Japan is practically new.
On January 7, 2000, a landmark event in the history of mining took place - a fourfold increase in difficulty in one recalculation. At this point, a total of about four million bitcoins had been mined, of which just over two million were mined by Ivanov. The difficulty of mining cryptocurrencies has increased.
Vanya was not an expert in the field of mining, but in some article from the Internet in a previous life he read that a similar event happened in the summer of the same year, that is, six months later. But he didn't think much of it. On the contrary, I was glad that bitcoins began to be traded on the stock exchange for real money - ten cents for one bitcoin or five dollars for a block of fifty. This was facilitated by an article about mining on github, a popular foreign information resource for computer geeks.
Vanya advised Mikhail to buy at least a few bitcoins. He didn't want to spend money on any nonsense, but Ivan turned out to be very persistent. In the end, Misha gave up and, as he believed, spent ten dollars in vain so that no one would make a brain for him. After buying two pools of fifty bitcoins each, he forgot about them.
Soon, a miner came up with a way to make a video card work on mining cryptocurrency.
After these epochal events, mining became fully commercial, but the difficulty of mining the crypt increased again.
The transition to video cards has become a huge leap compared to the "classic" processor mining: not only does one video card count several dozen times more hashes than a processor, but up to four video cards can already be installed on one cheap motherboard, and up to eight in the future.
Because of this, the farm turned from Ivanov's computers into a pumpkin. But he wasn't upset. Earning two million bitcoins out of a possible twenty-one million is expensive. All you had to do was make a fuss when mining was being done by a few isolated enthusiasts around the world.
Vanya decided to move away from mining and wait for the cryptocurrency to rise in price.
An ultrasound examination performed by Natasha at the sixth month showed twins. After that, Vanya realized that the house would have to be expanded. He praised himself for his foresight, because even at the time of construction he had laid the possibility of expanding the structure. If you make an extension in front of the house, it will not block the flow of light to the bathroom and boiler room. You can safely accommodate two rooms, an additional corridor and another bathroom with a bathtub. A gas boiler, originally purchased with a reserve of power, allows you to make heating. The most expensive item is a complete redesign of the roof. If it wasn't for one thing.
Since Vanya made a house with a basement on a high foundation, an extension can be made on a low foundation and with a wall width of three meters. Even taking into account the thickness of the walls, the bedrooms will turn out to be eleven square meters, which is enough for children. The ceilings are lower, not two and seven meters, but two and three. And then the roof does not need to be redone. It will turn out to make a single-pitched roof without a roof. With good insulation, it will show itself with dignity.
But again, funds are needed for construction. And then the dilemma arose: to make money or to use the available assets?
It's already February of the year two thousand and ten. It will take a couple of months and it will be possible to start construction. Natalia will give birth in another month.
You can't make money in the bucket business in two or three months to build an extension. Prices have increased over the past ten years, and the income from the resale of cars was not really going to increase. As it was possible to earn a thousand or two dollars a month in the year 2000, nothing has changed. Although the car market itself has undergone major changes and continued to change, and prices for everything have increased significantly and continued to grow.
It turned out that at this stage, the only way to quickly get the desired amount was by selling any assets.
Ivan chose to sell one of his remaining seven apartments in Chelyabinsk. She sold out in February.
At the end of March, he purchased construction materials and began construction. This time, finances allowed us to hire professional builders.
Natasha's last month of pregnancy was complicated, which is why she had to be admitted to the perinatal center. So in April, Vanya had enough worries through the roof: to visit his wife in Chelyabinsk, to look after the builders.
Soon he had twins, two healthy girls. The happy dad brought his wife and children to the finished house, but the annex was still unfinished. That is, there were walls, a roof, and floors. No one but his friend Mikhail could have imagined the effort and expense it cost him to complete the house before Natasha's discharge. But the family moved into more or less normal housing, and not to a construction site.
The girls were named after Natasha's grandmothers: Elena and Irina.
It's time for young parents to have sleepless nights.
Ivan spent the whole summer finishing the extension and carrying out communications. In September, it was already possible to live there.
The next two years flew by like one day for young parents. Constant worries with the growing hyperactive twins will not let anyone get bored.
Vanya occasionally bought interesting cars, but not for money. Their family had enough money. Although he did not think of giving up the additional income. The main reason is not to lose your skills.
Now tinkering with old cars has become a hobby for Ivanov. He didn't spend all his time on this, only occasionally willingly tinkered in the garage. He drove the restored car for a while after that, and then sold it at a loss.
Naturally, he did not forget to track the exchange rates of bitcoin and Microsoft shares. Fortunately, both of these assets were steadily rising in value. As on any stock exchange, it was not without collapses. When bitcoin surpassed the hundred-dollar mark, Ivanov could turn into a multimillionaire at any moment. But he was like a patient fisherman, waiting for bigger prey. After all, he knew that in the future bitcoin would cost more than one hundred and fifty thousand dollars.
In December 1913, he waited for bitcoin to break the eight hundred dollar mark. At that moment, he sold ten thousand bitcoins, earning about eight million dollars at one time. He is not the only one who is so smart, there were others who wanted to merge the crypt. The appearance of a large number of pools on sale brought down stock exchange rates. As a result of this action, the cryptocurrency exchange rate collapsed by forty percent over the next month.
The commission of the cryptocurrency exchange for the withdrawal of funds and for the transfer to rubles brought up part of the income. Then the state took its share in the form of taxes. Ivanov was not going to compete with the state machine, and cryptocurrency trading is not prohibited yet. Therefore, he boldly gave the state thirteen percent and handed over the income declaration to the tax inspectorate.
In an instant, Ivanov turned from just a wealthy man into a millionaire. Two hundred and seventeen million rubles, or almost seven million dollars without more than a hundred thousand. With a reasonable approach, these funds will be enough for him and his children to live comfortably.
Often, receiving a huge amount divides people's lives into before and after. A lot of people would go all out. But Ivanov was a mentally mature person with an ossified mind. He was not inclined to take serious risks and did not seek the life of an oligarch. A calm and measured life in Badgers suited him quite well.
He invested most of the proceeds from bitcoins in securities of large and successful companies.
He did not tell anyone, not even his best friend and wife, where exactly he got the money from and in what quantities. He answered all the questions with competent investments in securities.
For the first time, a new car from a car dealership appeared in the Ivanov family. Vanya gave his wife a Toyota Land Cruiser Prado. For himself, he ordered from Japan a two-year-old right-handed four-wheel drive Toyota Camry with an automatic transmission and a mileage of forty-seven thousand kilometers in the fortieth redesigned body. Consider it new.
Vanya was not tight: he had plenty of money, to put it mildly. He could easily have bought any new car at the dealership, even a Bentley. But he was not interested in the luxurious status tarantayka. He wanted a good and reliable car for every day. He had been used to right-hand drive cars since his previous life, and he had never disliked second-hand cars. The new Camry for the European market had a significant drawback - front-wheel drive, and Vanya wanted an all-wheel drive version.
At the same time, Kaldina's Toyota remained in the Ivanov family as a car for family trips. A solid station wagon in perfect condition with all-wheel drive and a powerful engine: why get rid of it? Kaldina can only compete with Subaru Outback.
The guy was also in no hurry to get rid of the two, occasionally riding old Zhiguli for fun.
The Ivanov family has stopped being avid villagers since this year. The children have already grown up a little, and it has become possible to fly around the world on tourist tours with them from time to time.
At first, traveling the world was interesting. It's difficult because of the kids, but it's interesting. But everything new is born and becomes commonplace. So it happened with the coveted flights abroad. After a few years, the trips became more exhausting. Either Ivan's physical age, which had passed his thirties for several years, affected him, or it just happened that way. It's also time for the kids to go to first grade for the first time. As a result, the Ivanovs decided to limit themselves to two trips a year: in winter to the Alps to a ski resort, and in summer to the sea.
The twins managed to get into the best school in the district, which is thirty to forty minutes away by car. Mostly Natasha took them there and picked them up. Vanya himself occasionally did this.
He began to notice that his wife was restless and began to mope. Boredom is the first bell to discord in family relationships. As an experienced family man who had gone through fire, water and copper pipes, Ivanov immediately noticed his wife's condition and began to come up with a way to stabilize the weather in the house. As before, he valued inner balance the most. Scandals, intrigues, divorce - all this led to mental discord, which he did not intend to allow.
A way out was found as soon as possible. This was due to Vanya's fascination with watching video bloggers. On the same day that the idea came to his head, he went to visit a well-known Barsukov video specialist in narrow circles.
His former English teacher had already retired, but he still continued to earn extra money shooting videos at weddings. It is impossible to find a better specialist in video equipment and installation in the district.
Fyodor Yerofeyev, for a decent stable salary, gladly agreed to become a full-time videographer and editor for the Ivanov family. He also provided advice on the purchase of equipment and took up the padawan's training in the difficult task of filming with a video camera and editing videos.
Initially, Vanya bought equipment: video cameras, webcams, buttonholes and stationary microphones, powerful computers, spotlights, and more. He spent one and a half million rubles on everything. Pennies with his income in the form of dividends from stocks, rent and underground savings.
As a result, the spouse was confronted with the fact that the Ivanovs were becoming video bloggers!
Vanya didn't bother with the subject of the channel - he chose what he understood best - cars. Natasha had to struggle with the choice - she chose the culinary channel.
From that moment on, the Ivanovs were always busy with pleasant chores, and Yerofeyev was never out of work for a day, awash in money. With the advent of hobbies, peace, love and peace of mind were firmly established in their family. But there was no question of peace.
At first, Natasha was skeptical about this idea. But as soon as the first views and comments began, meaning appeared in her life. The girl's eyes shone with a fervent sparkle, as in those days when she first looked at the world with healthy eyes after leaving the eye clinic. She frantically searched the Internet for new recipes and cooked them in front of the cameras to make them delicious and beautiful. The whole family rejoiced at her passion, eating delicious food with both cheeks.
Vanya began to buy interesting cars that required the application of hands. On camera, he restored them and tuned them, communicating with invisible viewers. Moreover, interesting does not mean rare. Mostly Zhiguli, Volga and inexpensive Japanese foreign cars. When too many cars accumulated, he sold them, keeping for himself the most fun cars like the understated Penny and the tuned twenty-first Volga.
Both channels were slowly gaining popularity. They did not break into the top and did not bring much money, only losses, but Barsukov millionaires can afford more expensive hobbies.
The two thousand and seventeenth year was marked not only by the transformation of the Ivanovs into bloggers, but also by the rapid growth of the bitcoin exchange rate. Vanya closely followed all the information about bitcoins. When the exchange rate began to approach fifteen thousand dollars in December, he sold ten thousand bitcoins, to which the market reacted by dropping the exchange rate to twelve thousand, but soon the exchange rate crept up again. After paying commissions and taxes, his fortune increased by one hundred and twenty-nine million dollars, plus the fifteen million that his investments turned int The two thousand and seventeenth year was marked not only by the transformation of the Ivanovs into bloggers, but also by the rapid growth of the bitcoin exchange rate. Vanya closely followed all the information about bitcoins. When the exchange rate began to approach fifteen thousand dollars in December, he sold ten thousand bitcoins, tch the market reacted by dropping the exchange rate to twelve thousand, but soon the exchange rate crept up again. After paying commissions and taxes, his fortune increased by one hundred and twenty-nine million dollars, plus the fifteen million that his investments turned into. Microsoft shares alone, bought a long time ago for seventy thousand, began to cost more than half a million bucks.
If someone had asked Ivan: why does he need so much money? He wouldn't have known the answer himself. Just to make it happen. In fact, he did not know what to spend such a huge sum, which in theory he owned. And it's not about the money, which he mostly invested in reliable securities. It was about two million bitcoins.
If such an amount is thrown onto the market in a short time, it will collapse, which is unacceptable. Therefore, Ivanov was not the only one who threw away pools at the peak of the bitcoIf such an amount is thrown onto the market in a short time, it will collapse, which is unacceptable. Therefore, Ivanov was not the only one who threw away pools at the peak of the bitcoin price. There were enough "oldies" keeping thousands of units of cryptocurrency in their stash: some were still from those first hundreds of miners, others invested in bitcoins at a time when they were cheap.
On February 3 of the following year, two thousand eighteen, Vanya was looking for another car for the project. He came across an interesting suggestion. A blue left-handed Subaru Impreza WRX of the thirteenth year with one owner.
Without waiting for the outbidders to react first, he immediately dialed the seller's phone number and made an appointment.
Having arrived at the specified address to an elite apartment building, Vanya found the car from the advertisement in the parking lot. At first glance, it was in perfect condition: not battered, not dyed, well-groomed. After the inspection, he dialed the seller's number and waited for him.
A confident, richly dressed guy came out of the entrance. When he saw the customer, he froze with joyful recognition on his face.
- Ivan?
The young man's appearance turn
- Did you get up on cue balls?
"Yeah," Artyom nodded. - I'm still working on it. In the thirteenth year, as soon as I earned my first million, I immediately bought this baby," he nodded towards his car. - Back then, I was still hesitant to sell bitcoins, waiting for them to rise in price. He lived half-starved. There was barely enough money to pay the electricity bills. The girl left me. I wanted to show off in front of her, so I chose a cool car.
"And how?" Amused yourself with your emergency?
"Not really," the guy shrugged. - Then I drove up to her in this car, dressed up in cool clothes. I thought her jaw was going to fall off. And she showered me with contempt and asked: 'Who lent you this car, you bastard?'. I laughed at her then and realized how stupid it was. What's the point of showing off to a fool?
- I also sold the first bits in the thirteenth. And now I've thrown off all the rest, while they're still expensive.
Ivanov was blatantly lying. Recently, there has been news on the Internet that robbers have moved to a new level and started robbing miners. The old methods from the nineties worked fine in the two thousandth. With a soldering iron in one place, you can give anything. It's difficult to get only shares or money from bank accounts, but it's easy to get a bitcoin wallet.
Artyom pursed his lips and shook his head. - I am sure that bitcoin will still become more expensive. Haven't you tried mining anymore?
- No, Subject, I'm stupid at computers. I even had to pay you to install the program. I thought about it for a while, then the program stopped working, and I abandoned this case.
"It would be worth investigating," the guy said with a slight reproach.
"Come on," Ivan waved his hand nonchalantly. - It will be enough for my life, and it will also remain for my great-grandchildren. Where should I put the money? Soak it in yogurt?
"Wait a minute," Artyom squinted slyly. - Aren't you by any chance the guy with the nickname "yogurt" who recently leaked ten thousand bitcoins on the stock exchange?
- Who knows, yogurt in my mouth... Ivanov mirrored his sly smile. - Who knows...
"Ha ha ha! Artyom laughed. "Handsome! I also got up quite well on the same day. So I decided to change the car. Do you need my swallow for content?
— yeah. Chasing on camera, getting high. If you like it, I'll keep it for a while. Before that, I had simple Improvisations with a rotten 1.5-liter engine and brick dynamics. You ride with a slipper on the floor, and a dozen overtakes you as if you were standing up. I want to have fun.
- Listen, I don't understand, you're a millionaire, just like me. Vanya, why do you need blogging? Am I right in understanding that you earn practically nothing from it?
- I'm just leaving in the negative. It's my hobby. I will answer you as I once answered my future wife: I can and I want to!
"I understand," Artyom nodded. - Now I live by the same principle. By the way, do you know who gave you a hundred grand on your last stream?
- I guess I can guess now...
"Yeah," Artyom grinned with satisfaction. "It's me." As you said, I can and I want to, that's why I'm doing it. Do you want me to give you a Subaru?
- Subject, are you kidding me? If you were an advertiser, I would say yes.
"What about it?" It's fun for the content. The viewer drove the car to the blogger...
- Have I seen this before? Mm-hmm... Where is it?
- Are you talking about Ildar the auto review? They gave the Tatar girl old junk. But if you don't want to, I'll give you a normal discount. At least I'll be sure that my life is in safe hands.
- I won't refuse the discount. What about you, anyway? A wife, children?
"No, I didn't get married," his face turned sad. - As soon as I find a girl, it turns out that she has a mercantile interest. I keep wondering how you found yourself such a good wife.
- How-how... She was going blind and selling burnt vodka to pay for eye surgery, and I wanted to get drunk. They got caught in tongues. I'll grab her by the scruff of the neck and go home. I sold the car and paid for the operation. We've been living soul to soul ever since.
"It's like a Disney love story," Artyom curled his lips into a forced smile. - To be honest, I envy you a little. So how do I find the same girl?
"Where are you looking for them?"
- Clubs, hangouts...
- Heh-heh-heh-heh! Ivanov burst into coughing laughter. "Well, sir, you're giving it! Only girls of low social responsibility hang around there... No, Artyom, if you want a normal girl, then you definitely don't need to look for her in a club. Pay attention to the small shops in the province. For example, somewhere in the Tver region, for a salary of four thousand rubles, a charming and lonely girl is standing behind the counter right now, dreaming of a prince on a white Maybach...
"There are probably a lot of such girls in our region, too," Artyom thought about this seriously.
"Reverend Sir, just don't scare the girl right away. Don't come to her in a new Subaru packed by Versace," Vanya spoke in a cheerful tone, and continued in the same joking vein: "Start with something simpler: a Lada, a tracksuit, a slight unshaven face and an invitation to an average cafe.
- Zhiguli, you say?! The guy mused thoughtfully, ruffling his hair. - You have it! Will you sell it?
- Yes, how to pour yogurt! Let's go, choose any car you like from my collection. If you're watching my channel, you know that all my cars are in perfect condition. Even a Deuce can get to Vladivostok and back. At the same time, you will drive away Mr. Subaru, saving me on stealing*...