Shadow Empire

Chapter 1159 The Change of Generations, the Priest, and Broken Memories
Mayor Williams invited some well-known chefs to the lunch. Anderson (the old chef who was hit by a turd) also wanted to come, but unfortunately, his current health did not allow him to do so.

Working in the kitchen for many years has taken a toll on Anderson's health, and he now finds it difficult to cook for himself.

Actually, he's had these problems for a long time, related to his joints, but the symptoms were mild before, and now they're starting to get worse.

Age will eventually convince every young person, especially in terms of physical health and athletic ability.

This is actually a very cruel process, because everyone once had a young body, but eventually they will lose everything.

What was easy for them to run and jump in the past, they can only watch young people do as they grow old. They lose control of their bodies and eventually lose their lives.

The best chefs in Golden Harbor City now are Anderson's apprentices and their apprentices. They have inherited seventy or eighty percent of Anderson's culinary skills, and a small portion of his signature techniques, which he only taught to his son and daughter.

It's nothing special, just a spice recipe.

Every chef has their own top-secret recipe, which determines their status in the catering industry and is an absolute secret!

Mayor Williams said that this meal was for Lance, so even the current general manager, or rather the president, of Anderson Restaurant chain came in person.

That was the manager of the restaurant before; he's now the largest shareholder and president of Anderson Restaurant Chain.

He served Lance the beautiful and delicious food and sincerely thanked Lance for everything he had done for the prosperity and stability of Golden Port City.

"You're very popular!" Mayor Williams said, his tone tinged with a hint of sourness. "More popular than me!"

Lance smiled. "Because they can see my goodwill towards them."

“We’re different. I can do nothing, as long as I don’t do things they hate, and they’ll like me.”

“But you are different. You have to do things. As long as you do things, some people will like you and some people will hate you. So we are different. There is no point in comparing us.”

He paused. "Isn't Arthur coming back now?"

Mayor Williams nodded and asked James to pour Lance some wine. "He's living his life over there in Golden State, which is what his mother wanted."

He paused for a moment, then said in a slightly sarcastic tone, "High society, you know."

Arthur's wife's father was a high-ranking member of the Socialist Party, and his status was certainly higher than that of Mayor Williams, but it was hard to say who had more real power.

This is similar to a member of a party committee who holds a high position within the party, but in terms of actual power, they may not have much more than Mayor Williams.

James explained from the side, "He's very relaxed over there, no one's watching him, so he's not too keen on coming back."

“If he comes back, with us around, his life won’t be so easy.”

Lance pursed his lips. "I can understand. The thing every child wants to do most after they grow up is to get away from their parents and family and go out into the world to explore."

Mayor Williams continued, picking up where Lance left off, "It's not until they've hit a wall and gotten old that they start to really miss their home."

He waved his hand, as if shooing away a fly, "Let's not talk about that little rascal anymore. I've been thinking lately, isn't the Holy Farmer Festival coming up soon?"

"Perhaps we could go to the farm and celebrate the holidays together?"

Without an invitation from Lance or someone else, Mayor Williams and his group would find it inconvenient to go, since that place was someone else's home, not theirs.

Visiting is fine, but it would be somewhat inappropriate on such a very important festival as Saint Farmer's Day, so it would obviously be best if someone could extend an invitation.

Perhaps it's because he's getting old, Mayor Williams has begun to miss the days he spent living on the farm.

In fact, he didn't live on the farm for very long before the family farm gradually transformed into a city. But his life and everything from that time are deeply etched in his memory.

When people reminisce about the past, they are not really reminiscing about that era; what they are reminiscing about is their younger self, the self they remember.

They can't go back to the past, but they can find ways to relive what they experienced when they were young and find that familiar feeling, as if they haven't really grown old!

As he danced around the campfire with the farmers and women from the farm, he seemed to be transported back to his childhood, to when he was around ten years old, when he was also doing the same thing, around a campfire.

Meeting Mayor Williams' expectant gaze, Lance agreed, "I'll call the farm later, you can come anytime, actually."

Mayor Williams had previously jokingly told Lance that he wanted to spend his later years on a farm, and now it seems that this wasn't just a casual remark; he genuinely wanted to do so.

"I will have them prepare a house for you, where you can live. There is also a train line there, so traveling will be very convenient."

"When you want to go there, go and stay for a while. They will definitely welcome you."

Mayor Williams seemed engrossed in what Lance had described. After a while, he said with emotion, "This is wonderful. Thank you so much for your support!"

Lance shook his head, not pursuing the topic further.

The lunch went very well. Although it was supposed to be about discussing interests, it was more like a small gathering of family or friends.

James remained remarkably composed. During the latter part of lunch, Mayor Williams rarely spoke, and James did most of the talking with Lance.

Young people and the elderly do indeed think on different levels, and James appears to be more radical in his considerations for the development of some cities.

For example, on the issue of dealing with illegal immigrants and refugees, Mayor Williams' idea is to maintain the status quo and not discuss legal status with them.

However, James felt that this matter should be pushed forward to reduce illegal immigrants and refugees and turn them into federal citizens, which would only benefit the development of Golden Harbor City and have no disadvantages.

Mayor Williams may still harbor the old rancher's ideas of enslavement, seeing these illegal immigrants and refugees as the best source of cheap labor.

They are worthless.

Many people think that slavery and enslavement are inhumane, but we cannot completely say that slave owners are bad.

As slaves were the private property of slave owners, they wouldn't really kill a few of their own slaves out of boredom. If they really wanted to do that, they could just go out into the wild with their weapons and find runaway slaves. Why would they spend money to buy them back and then kill them? It's because they had more money.
In the slave-owning South, slave owners were more protective of their private property, since without these slaves, the farmland, measured in hectares, would be left unmanaged.

They also paid slaves meager wages.

Food is provided, and you can eat your fill.

It's durable and not very good; it might have been worn by someone else, but at least it won't keep you from freezing in winter.

They even pay them a salary.

This is much better than the current working conditions for refugees and illegal immigrants!
When people's mindsets shift, people like Mayor Williams show support for the exploitation and use of these illegal workers.

Give them a small amount of money, then spend it lavishly!

On the contrary, turning them into legal labor will only increase the labor costs of Jin Gang City, which is not good for the city's development.

As someone who has witnessed Golden Harbor City grow from a small town to its current enormous size, Mayor Williams knows how many slave skeletons are buried beneath this city!
Use those cheap slaves to do the most dangerous and arduous work, and when they die, bury them on the spot, and a city rises from their corpses.

The more slaves there are, the faster the city can be built, and he believes that the same principle still applies today.

The future of Jingang City lies in developing the city at a lower cost and at a faster pace!

However, if illegal immigrants and refugees can enjoy the same benefits as ordinary workers, Golden Port City loses its development potential. Yes, potential—these illegal immigrants and refugees represent the development potential of a city, while others can only clear a small plot of land with a thousand dollars.

But in Jin Gang City, you can get these people to build you a house for just 1,000 yuan!
Of course, James believes that if they can be given some hope, they can be motivated to take on more initiative and exert more power.

There are many other different viewpoints like these, but although James has his own ideas, when it comes to dealing with more serious political matters, he still tends to lean towards Mayor Williams's conservatism.

A little after one o'clock in the afternoon, Lance got up to say goodbye. Mayor Williams was clearly not very energetic and kept yawning.

That's how it is when people get old; they sleep very little at night, are startled awake before dawn, and then start feeling sleepy in the afternoon.

Meanwhile, in another city, Devon, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, approached a priest from behind.

The priest's attention was entirely focused on the few boys. Of course, he probably didn't intend to do anything; he was just watching the choir boys rehearse their program.

Because the Holy Farm Festival is just around the corner.

The church holds its Sacred Farm celebrations a day before the actual Sacred Farm festival begins, and these adorable young boys sing praises of the Lord's glory in the cathedral.

As for why a harvest festival like Sacred Farm can be associated with the Lord, this only shows once again that the Lord is omnipotent. The church says that the autumn harvest is possible because of the Lord's permission.

If the Lord does not allow it, there will be no fruit to eat in the world.

This is something that almost all religions do—link the great power of nature to their source of faith, even referring to the child in a pregnant woman's womb as a "gift from God," and hoping that her husband is also a devout believer.

By the way, it would be best if "Master" wasn't an abbreviation for a specific person.

"Can we talk?" Devon suddenly asked, which made the priest shudder.

He turned back with some surprise and anger to look at Devon, who was standing not far behind him, and took his hand out from under his cloak. "Wang Defa?"

"who are you?"

Why are you standing here?

"We're not open to the public today. You'd better get out of here before I call the police..."

The priest looked at the wad of money Devon pulled from his pocket and suddenly fell silent. To be honest, he felt a little awkward whether he spoke or not.

He wanted that money.

This doesn't mean he's never seen this money before; it's just that there's an enormous amount of it.

They were all large denomination bills of twenty yuan, and there looked to be at least forty or fifty of them, which amounted to hundreds or even thousands of yuan!
Although priests can also use their authority to gain some benefits for themselves, who would complain about having too many benefits?
“I want to donate,” Devon said, pulling out five hundred-dollar bills and stuffing them into the hood of the priest’s cloak.

The priest didn't feel humiliated at all; instead, he smiled and said, "God will have mercy on his devout believers. Your good deeds will be seen by Him, and you will receive His protection."

Devon took out a few more bills, "and I have some questions I'd like to ask you."

The priest glanced at the choir's rehearsal again, gave his assistant pastor a look, and then led Devon to his office.

The enormous office was luxurious, with a ceiling at least ten meters high. A small statue of the Passionate One hung behind him, looking down at everyone in the room.

"Is there anything I can do to help you?" the priest asked Devon, a smile plastered on his face.

In fact, it is not easy for the cathedral to raise money, because it is not just one clergyman; there is a whole team of more than twenty people.

Every transaction is clearly recorded. It's not that they can't make some money from it; for example, the priest might think the stained glass windows in the church need to be replaced.

He hired someone to replace the glass, and the person replacing the glass would inflate the cost, charging two yuan per piece as two yuan and fifty cents, or three yuan per piece.

But not more, because everyone knows the price of this thing. If we make less, we'll consider it an extra perk.

But if you do too much, the higher-ups will be very annoyed.

Cathedrals are usually managed vertically by the church, while smaller chapels, perhaps with only one priest, are where the real money can be made.

The amount of money raised by believers is entirely up to them, and no one cares where the money goes.

Therefore, he was very interested in the money in Devon's possession.

"Do you know this woman?" Devon asked, handing over two photos.

One photo is of Director Roland's secret wife now, and the other is a photo of her when she was young, taken around the time of her marriage, according to his investigation. She is very beautiful, and her youthful energy is very strong.

The priest glanced at her and nodded, saying, "I know her; I officiated at her wedding."

At that time, he was not yet the priest of the cathedral, but just the priest of an ordinary small chapel, which was also the time when he made the most money.

He was foolish; he thought that going to a bigger church would give him more money, so he gave away all the money he had saved up over the years to the people there.

They do indeed do things for money and are very reasonable, but once he actually arrived, he found himself feeling constrained and restricted.

Perhaps it will be more comfortable for him to drag everyone down with him in a few years, but that's clearly not the case now.

Devon placed two twenty-dollar bills on the corner of the table. The priest looked at the bills and suddenly wished that the man in front of him would ask a few more questions.

Do you know her husband?

The priest nodded. "Of course I know him. Like I said, I officiated at the wedding."

Devon posted two more photos, saying, "You must have officiated a lot of weddings, so why do you remember them so clearly and vividly?"

The priest recalled, "Because they were the only couple I've ever officiated for who didn't have any wedding guests. They were just the two of them, came with a dollar, and said they wanted to get married."

"I advised them to change the date and invite all their friends over, but they refused."

"So I remember it very clearly, and it was a night when no one gets married at night except them!"

Devon put a few more bills on it. Perhaps because of what he had said, the priest became even more interested, and he was determined to ask the next question in more detail!
Do you remember this man's name?

The priest thought for a moment, "My memory of things from so far ago is a little hazy, I need to think about it carefully."

He looked directly into Devon's eyes, and Devon placed the small stack of money in his hand on it. The priest's smile was as if he had been bathed in the glory of the Lord during his prayers, a genuine smile from the bottom of his heart!
“I don’t know his last name, but I know his name is Roland. That woman called him Roland, and he also asked me to call him that.”

Devon nodded, then took out some photos from his pocket, eight in total, including a photo of Roland when he was young, which he found in his college student album.

Another photo is one he took recently. Lance obtained the original photos from the reporter through his connections at the newspaper. Besides these two, there are six other photos of other people who may resemble Roland in some way, but they are not Roland.

The priest studied it for a while, and he himself became somewhat unsure, but Devon did not urge him.

Perhaps feeling that he had taken too long, so long that he was a little embarrassed, he awkwardly smiled and explained to Devon, "It's probably because it's been too long, my memory has faded a bit."

“There are two people here who look a lot like him, but I can’t tell which one it is…”

(End of this chapter)