In "The Twelve Chairs", the con man, Ostap Bender, meets dispossessed nobleman, Ippolit Matveyevich Vorobianinov. Vorobianinov has just discovered, during the deathbed confession of his mother-in-law, that a set of jewels had been hidden from the Bolsheviks in one of the twelve chairs from the family's dining room set. Those chairs, along with all other personal property, had been expropriated by the government after the Russian Revolution. Bender forces Vorobianinov to partner with him, which ultimately helps Kisa who lacks Bender's charm and street smarts. Kisa and Bender set off together to locate the chairs and recover the fortune, but are stymied by a series of false leads, obstacles, and humorous events. In "The Little Golden Calf" Ostap Bender is still alive, presumably having somehow survived his assassination in the previous book. This time he hears a story about an "underground millionaire" named Alexandr Koreiko. Koreiko has made millions through various, not-quite-legal businesses, taking full advantage of the widespread corruption in the New Economic Policy period.