Shadow Empire

Chapter 1171 Conflicts and the End of the Festival
Director Roland's response wasn't perfect, but it at least gave the reporters some of what they wanted.

Explaining and not explaining are two different things.

Seeing the satisfied expressions on most of the reporters' faces, Director Roland breathed a slight sigh of relief; it seemed he had gotten through this hurdle.

He knew that many of these reporters would go to his hometown to investigate those matters, but he also believed that his cousin, the bureau chief, had already taken care of everything.

As long as these journalists find nothing detrimental to him, he can accuse the Federal Post of fabricating sensational fake news to frame him, a senior federal employee.

He will deal with the reporter who wrote this article severely, to make him understand that some people cannot be written about in the newspaper at will.

After dealing with these matters, he let the reporters leave and then returned to his work.

About an hour later, his secretary knocked on the door.

"Do you have the time?"

Director Roland put down his work and looked towards the door. "If it's just a short time, you can come in. The door isn't locked."

The secretary opened the door but didn't come in; she just poked her head in. "I heard that the reporters went to your place, and your wife... she seems to be talking to them."

Director Roland immediately frowned. He said "thank you" and tried to get back to his work, but he couldn't concentrate no matter what.

There are always things that prevent him from concentrating on his work.

He smoked a cigarette, but ultimately decided to go back and check on her. He was worried that the woman might say something inappropriate, which could lead to negative news reports about him.

He knew what the woman was thinking; she wanted to turn this "deal" into a real marriage, but that wasn't what he wanted.

As the director, no one would stop him from leaving if he wanted to, and he soon drove away from the FBI and returned to his residence.

As soon as he entered the community, he saw many people talking on the roadside. It was clear that some residents felt that he and his family had disturbed their living environment.

The federal middle class is very picky about these things. They are selective about their neighbors, and if a neighbor does not meet their needs, they will try to get the community service company to move that neighbor out.

They might even sue the neighbor together to get the family away from their environment.

There are many such things in federal society. Some communities do not welcome immigrants, and some communities do not welcome people of color. If anyone thinks they can challenge this conventional social order, they will definitely regret their foolishness and impulsiveness.

There was a case like this in the federal government where a dark-skinned man who had managed to climb into the middle class moved into a newly emerging middle-class community closer to the men's workplaces.

It is said that the residents of this community have some overlap in their careers with that of this dark-skinned man, and he sees this as a good opportunity for mutual support.

Through the Federation’s distinctive community social network, you can become friends with these people and then share their resources and opportunities.

But he soon discovered that things weren't so simple. Less than a week after his family moved in, the manager of the community services company contacted them.

Almost all the neighbors did not want any dark-skinned people in their community. Under pressure, the community service company hoped that the family could move out and promised to help them sell their house as soon as possible, and to provide an additional compensation of about one thousand dollars.

For example, their moving expenses, etc., will be covered by this money, with a surplus.

But this family was clearly unwilling to do so. Their middle-class status made them believe they had the power to stand up to other middle-class families. They refused to negotiate and stayed behind with a tough stance, even actively provoking the entire community.

After a period of disturbance, about two or three months later, several burglars targeted them, and the family was alerted when the burglary turned into a robbery.

Naturally, the theft turned into a horrific home invasion robbery, during which they killed the dark-skinned man and woman.

The case was solved quickly, and the criminals were sentenced to prison terms ranging from several years to ten years. As for the dead?
It was all for naught; their house was eventually sold by their relatives for a very low price, and the entire community held a grand party to celebrate their successful purification of the community.

It is said that the criminals who broke into homes and killed two people were recruited by the community service company through some connections.

The residents here pooled together about 100,000 yuan to hire someone to commit murder.

The police did not conduct a thorough investigation, and the case was closed so smoothly that, apart from the deceased, it seemed that no one was injured.

This is the unique community culture of the federal government: when a person or family starts to be disliked or even targeted by the community, they are better off moving away as soon as possible or resolving the problem.

The unfriendly stares from the neighbors on the roadside annoyed Director Roland. He honked his horn, and some people left the roadside and went home, while others continued to stare at his car and the people inside with those unfriendly looks.

He soon returned to his residence, where the lawn outside was full of people, and his wife was standing on the steps, saying something.

When someone spotted Director Roland, their attention immediately shifted to him, and some even kept saying things like "Congratulations" to him, which made him feel somewhat bewildered.

He walked to the front of the crowd and stood at the bottom of the steps. "I thought all our problems had been resolved in the Bureau of Investigation's meeting room. You shouldn't be harassing my family!"

He looked like a dutiful husband, standing in front of his wife and facing so many reporters.

The reporters weren't intimidated at all; in fact, they kept saying things that surprised him.

Perhaps sensing something, he turned to look at the woman. His nominal wife came down the stairs, took his arm, and looked at him with a happy expression. "Yes, I just told them that I'm pregnant."

A maternal glow seemed to instantly spread across her face, and Director Roland's pupils gradually dilated, "Wang Defa..."

He glanced at the woman's belly, which she was cradling in her hands. He looked at her in disbelief, his mind a jumble. "You...you're pregnant?"

His wife nodded happily, "Yes, I'm pregnant, it's our baby. I'm a little over two months along, and the doctor said I'll start showing soon."

"What, aren't you happy?"

Director Roland's expression was stiff, but he forced a smile. "Happy? How could I not be happy?"

The reporters were still wishing them well when one of them shouted, "There won't be another abortion this time, right?"

Director Roland's lips twitched. "No...it won't happen again."

He took a deep breath. "Alright, my wife is pregnant. You shouldn't bother her or disrupt the peace of the community. If you have any questions, you can come to the investigation bureau to find me, not here."

"I hope this is the last time, otherwise I will not answer any more of your questions!"

"You should leave!"

Although the reporters still had some questions to ask, seeing Director Roland's sour expression, as if someone in his family had suddenly died of a serious illness, they all assumed that their interruption had displeased him.

Although reluctant, the reporters said goodbye and left on their own.

After most of the people had left, Director Roland grabbed his wife tightly and shoved her into the house.

"You're hurting me!" his wife screamed. "Do you want everyone to know that this is how you treat pregnant women?"

Director Roland paused slightly, then relaxed a bit. He stepped forward, almost face to face, and looked at her. "I haven't fucking touched you in a long time. What the hell are you up to?!"

His wife broke free from Director Roland's grasp and sat back down on the sofa. "You were right before, we were just doing a deal."

“You saved me, and I want to repay your kindness. You let me play the role of your wife, and I am still playing that role now. We are not husband and wife, we are just friends.”

"You have no right to decide what I do. Don't you want to know what happened?" "It's simple: I slept with another man and got pregnant. That's it!"

Director Roland's eyes seemed to have the power to kill. Although he disliked this woman and didn't want to have children with her, he believed it was all part of a "script."

But when he heard that this woman had slept with other men, he couldn't control the anger rising in his heart. He walked over, stood in front of her, and said viciously, "You're fucking playing with fire!"

The woman didn't care at all about his fierce appearance; on the contrary, she seemed a little...happy. It seemed that seeing his angry yet helpless look made her feel comfortable.

"Isn't that what you said?"

"You are you and I am me."

Director Roland glared at her fiercely, his eyes seeming to want to devour her. "You disgust me!"

The woman is no longer like she used to be, saying, "You, too, disgust me. Since we both feel so disgusted with each other, let's announce our divorce to the public."

Director Roland calmed down instantly. "No way!" he decisively rejected the idea.

They announced they had a child, and then immediately got divorced?
How will people view him?

And now he's starting to think about the pros and cons of this whole thing. If he could... treat this woman like he would his wife, could he solve some of the problems at their root?
It's possible that using this woman's pregnancy to silence the media would be a good strategy.

“From now on, you’d better stay home and not go anywhere!” he said, looking at his nominal wife. “Don’t make me angry.”

His wife still seemed to be provoking him, trying to provoke him into doing things he wouldn't normally do. "Will you hit me?"

"What if I don't listen?"

Director Roland immediately grabbed her by the collar and pulled her up from the sofa. "What exactly do you want to do?"

The woman showed no fear on her face; instead, she seemed to enjoy it in a strange way. She loved the feeling of this moment; the taste of revenge was so wonderful that every cell in her body was singing!
“I don’t want to do anything, I just want to tell you that what I owed you, I have already repaid you through my first child.”

"You saved me, but you killed him!"

"Now, I owe you nothing, and you better get that straight!"

She stood up with force, knocked Director Roland's hand away, and went back to her room.

Director Roland stood there with his hands on his hips. He glanced at the vase on the table and kicked it away!

He rarely lost control of his emotions like this, but this woman successfully enraged him, in a truly meaningful way.

Even for a fleeting moment, I had an impulse to kill this woman, an impulse to destroy her!
He took a deep breath to calm himself down. The situation was beyond repair; so many reporters knew she was pregnant, so neither abortion nor divorce was an option.

His face was contorted with disgust; the thought of having to pretend to be all lovey-dovey in front of people was unbearable for him.

He didn't even know whose bastard was in that bitch's belly. He clearly didn't love this woman, but the thought of her sleeping with another man and getting pregnant made his emotions, which had just calmed down, start to fluctuate again.

He needed to get to the bottom of things; no one could deceive him!
nobody!
Hearing the loud slam of the door downstairs, Roland's wife smiled sweetly. This was the most joyful day she had had since deciding to repay her debt of gratitude, without exception!

Back at the Bureau of Investigation, Director Roland summoned his most trusted confidant and said, "Do me a favor: arrange for a few people to investigate my wife's recent social activities."

"Find out what she does every day."

Meeting the gaze of his trusted subordinate, he hesitated for a moment, "I suspect she's having an affair."

The subordinate, who had been looking at him with a questioning gaze, immediately cleared his eyes. "I understand. I promise to find that bastard!"

Director Roland patted him on the shoulder, “Be discreet, don’t let her find out. Even if she does find out, don’t alert her or anyone else. Just tell me the results.”

"You know, this kind of thing isn't really suitable to be leaked."

The incident escalated faster than anyone imagined, and the news reported on it the next day, seemingly bringing everything to a close. However, no one could guarantee that this was true.

Lance also saw this report this morning, from the Federal Times, which mentioned how Director Roland refuted the rumors and how he answered some questions that the public was concerned about.

However, the public and public opinion cannot be truly resolved simply because one person refutes the rumors. The public opinion has not yet subsided, and Lance believes that as the Post presents more evidence, this matter will continue to unfold.

The arrival of Saint Farm has made Lawrence Farm exceptionally lively, and this time Lawrence Farm has also decided to participate in the Saint Farm parade in a nearby city.

They were going to transport the biggest pumpkin from the farm, along with other crops and livestock from the farm.

For farmers living in the countryside, growing huge crops is an honor and a direct way to prove that they are better than others at work.

In addition to these, the farm also holds some events, such as bull-lassoing competitions and riding and archery competitions. With the money Lawrence Farm is paying, cowboys in the surrounding area who know about it have all signed up.

In fact, the activities held are far more than these. There are also vegetable peeling competitions, potato peeling competitions, and so on. In short, as long as someone makes a suggestion and it's not too bad, the farm will adopt it.

This is also a great opportunity to enhance the farm's influence, as people will increasingly flock to this place in the future.

On the day of Saint Farm, Lance also took his family to a nearby city to participate in the parade, with hundreds of pounds of pumpkins being hauled on flatbed trucks towed by pickup trucks.

The moment they entered the city, many onlookers and citizens who had already gathered to watch and participate in the event couldn't help but exclaim in surprise!

The three elderly men were all smiles, believing they had a good chance of winning the championship.

However, Lance was skeptical, because this year's event was so grand that it was purely a last-minute decision by the federal government. Although everyone was not well prepared, some farms had been working hard on cultivating giant pumpkins.

The city next to Lawrence Farm is not very large, with only about 500,000 people. So when it welcomed a large number of farmers, it became crowded and gave people a very lively feeling.

The event continued until the second day of Saint Farm, and unfortunately, Lawrence Farm's giant pumpkin only ranked fourth, failing to even make the top three.

The three elderly people, who were initially all smiles, turned grim after learning the result. However, before leaving, they went to the first-place farm, bought the seeds of the giant pumpkin, and made a promise to compete again next year.

Even if the federal government stops doing this, their farms can still try it, and the three old men have even decided to put up a thousand dollars as a bonus, which is very attractive.

A thousand dollars is still quite a good amount in this day and age.

Next came various activities and competitions within the farm. It's fair to say that this year's Sacred Farm Festival was truly a great success, igniting people's enthusiasm for the holiday.

Lance stayed at the farm until almost all the activities were over before leaving, since there wasn't anything else to do during those few days anyway.

He also saw the lazy cowboys on the farm perform exceptionally well on horseback, and he even set aside an extra 50,000 yuan to reward the champions and runners-up of each event.

In short, this year's Sheng Nong Festival may be the most lively in the last ten, or even twenty years, without exception.

People throughout the Federation were very satisfied with the grandeur of this Saint Farm festival.

As they return to their lives and work with satisfaction, the election voting period will soon follow...

(End of this chapter)