Shadow Empire

Chapter 120: Pick-up, dinner, discussion and a whip
Mr. William (Patricia's father) is coming back from the state government today, and Patricia said her mother suggested that everyone have dinner together in the evening.

Lance had no objection to this, and he now had some ideas he wanted to discuss with Lawrence.

So he rejected Vaughn's suggestion that President Scott wanted to meet with him in the evening and drove directly to the train station.

And at 6:40, Mr. Lawrence arrived.

Lance honked the horn on the side of the road, and he immediately noticed the situation here and saw Lance getting out of the car.

"They asked you to pick me up?" William handed the luggage to Lance and brushed the dust off his body with a towel.

There was too much dust at the station, and dark woolen clothes were stained with many tiny dust particles. These gray dust particles were particularly conspicuous on the dark clothes.

After Lance put the luggage into the trunk, he opened the door for him. "Pat never asks me for anything, so she said, even if the President wants to see me, I will tell him to talk to me tomorrow morning!"

William is not at all old-fashioned. He smiled and said, "I hope Mr. President can forgive me."

The two got in the car. As the car was driving on the road, William took the initiative to talk about Barbara's birthday party. "Did they cause you any trouble?"

Lance was a little confused. "Everyone seems to think they're going to cause trouble for me."

William shrugged. "Our family's situation is very special. In such a large family with so many members, everyone wants to be the most outstanding one in the family."

"And... my grandfather had seven children, so a lot of times it wasn't just for ourselves, but also for our parents."

"They care more about their status in the family. This may be the case when people get older."

Lance was curious, "Why do you and Mrs. Lawrence only have one child... Pat?"

The topic made William burst into laughter, "Because I've had enough!"

“At that time, there were more than 20 of us brothers and sisters living on one farm. It was a disaster!”

"I don't want my children to be like me back then, lively but also suffocating."

"She is the only one in our family, but she still has many brothers and sisters in the whole family, so she is not lonely at all."

The two chatted and soon arrived at the community where Mr. Lawrence's family lived. The security guard at the entrance of the community already knew Lance. Although he felt that he was no worse than Lance, he was just not as handsome, not as energetic, not as young, and did not have a car or money. But he had an equally positive attitude and was more mature in age!

He is working hard to become the security captain. He is not the kind of person who has no aspirations.

Unfortunately, he has lost the opportunity to pursue the beautiful Miss Patricia forever.

"Good evening, Mr. Lawrence, Mr. White."

Lance was registered with the Community Service Company, so the security guard knew his name. As a stranger who was not so familiar with him, he would not call Lance by his first name directly, but used his last name.

"good evening!"

Lance pulled a pack of cigarettes from his suitcase, the kind that cost 99 cents a pack, and handed it over. "I'm trying to quit smoking, maybe you'd be willing to do me a small favor."

The security guard was stunned for a moment, but then his face was full of smiles. "Of course... I mean I am very happy to serve you, Mr. White, thank you for your generosity, I will open it right away."

He trotted over and slapped the button hard. The pole rose up and he took off his hat. "Have a nice evening."

Lance raised his hand, smiled, stepped on the accelerator and left.

William looked at Lance with some interest, "Sometimes you don't act like a young man at all."

“How should young people behave?”

"You are impulsive, flamboyant, reckless, and often stupid. You are different from them."

Lance parked the car on the side of the road and pulled the handbrake. "If you suffer enough, you will be more mature than others. In fact, I envy those people of my age more. At least they haven't suffered so much."

William was stunned for a moment, then his eyes were full of appreciation, "What a wise conclusion!"

The two got out of the car, Lance helped carry the luggage, and just as they reached the door, it opened.

Mrs. Lawrence and Patricia stood inside the door, "Welcome back, dear, we have prepared a sumptuous dinner."

"I hope it's something I like!" William kissed his wife on the face and then hugged his daughter.

Lance walked up the steps carrying the box, and Mrs. Lawrence gave him a brief hug. "Thank you for taking our place. Come in quickly so we can eat."

Lance said thank you and winked at Patricia. The little girl rolled her eyes and followed Mrs. Lawrence back into the room.

The table was filled with a sumptuous dinner. A two-centimeter thick beef cube was the main dish of the day, stewed with small potatoes, cherry tomatoes and the like, and some spices were added.

Then there was a fish whose name Lance didn't know. It should be a sea fish. Federal people didn't like to eat freshwater fish because they often had a lot of bones.

There were also some lamb chops, vegetable salad, soup, and some pasta and dinner rolls.

In short, it is very rich.

There was nothing serious at the dinner table, as William talked about what he had seen and heard in the state capital.

Although various inter-city and inter-continental transportation had become common during this period, people still did not travel far away very often. These things that were very common to local people in the state capital were interesting to Mrs. Lawrence and Patricia when they were spoken by Mr. William.

After dinner, William learned from Mrs. Lawrence that Lance wanted to talk to him, so he took the initiative to take Lance to the study.

Mrs. Lawrence brought tea and three plates of pastries before leaving. It must be said that Mrs. Lawrence is absolutely very talented in cooking and pastries.

William picked up a small biscuit and motioned for Lance to try it. "You must have never eaten biscuits with meat fillings."

Indeed, not at all. Lance picked up a piece. The biscuit was a little thicker than ordinary biscuits, and he could see a trace of oil seeping out of it.

William finished a few bites and clapped his hands to shake off the residue on top. “She originally wanted to make a fresh meat pie, but the first time she made it, due to the interference of some unknown factors, it turned into a huge fresh meat biscuit.”

“But after tasting it, we thought it tasted pretty good and made some suggestions, so you can see its evolution now.”

“Everyone in the community loves these fresh meat biscuits, but not everyone can make them well!”

Lance tasted it and it tasted really good. "It's delicious."

"So..." William leaned back in his chair, "Emily said you had something you wanted to talk to me about."

Emily is the name of Mrs. Lawrence. After marrying her husband, women in the Federation would change their surnames to their husbands'.

Her name is now Emily Lawrence.

"Yes."

Lance nodded, took out a cigarette and handed it to William. After William took the cigarette, he said with a smile, "You just said you were quitting smoking."

Lance gave a nonchalant expression, "Now you fail!"

Both men couldn't help laughing, and when the cigarette smoke began to linger, Lance said, "I now have approximately 3,700 work cards in my hands."

"These work permits represent 7,400 jobs, and they also represent at least 3,700 illegal immigrants working for me."

“I plan to expand that number.”

Neither Lance nor William talked about the issue of the Immigration Bureau because they both knew that the Federation could not do without these cheap illegal immigrants at this stage.

To a certain extent, illegal immigrants have no human rights. Just like the cotton pickers in the cotton fields in the past, they are an indispensable part of economic development.

Maybe if one or two illegal immigrants are reported, the Immigration Bureau will take care of it, but when thousands of people gather together, they dare not do anything.

William placed the ashtray in the middle of the table and motioned for him to continue. "The social status of these illegal immigrants is very problematic now. The president previously promised to solve the embarrassing status issue of illegal immigrants, but now it seems that he is unwilling to talk about this issue."

William understood what he meant. "You mean you want to help them change from illegal immigrants to legal immigrants?" "I'm not sure about this, because actually, up to now, there has been no further news from the Presidential Palace."

"You know, whatever the president promises before the election could be a way for him to get votes."

"Now that he has been re-elected, he may not necessarily fulfill his promises, and the anti-immigrant demonstrations were not long ago. If he does this now, it will only put him in a passive position."

"Even if this policy is to be implemented, it will not be implemented within one or two years."

"They will drag it out and maybe in the last two years it will be possible to resolve it, but not in the last two years."

"They made a deal with the Liberal Party and maybe this was part of the deal."

The core supporters of the Liberal Party are these people, landowners, farmers, and even former slave owners.

Various policies will certainly favor the large landowners and farmers.

Illegal immigrants who have no human rights are obviously of great help to these groups. They can use illegal immigrants like slaves as they did in the past.

In order to gain the continued support of these people, they will certainly find ways to keep illegal immigration in its current state.

This is not the first time they have done this. Several times in history, they have said they would give legal status to illegal immigrants and force them to build railways, dig tunnels, and construct roads.

When the repairs are almost completed, these illegal immigrants will disappear, and then some honest ones will be selected to become federal immigrants, and then the next cycle will begin.

"Is there no way at all?" Lance asked.

William shook his head. "There is no way, unless there is some...political movement that forces the state government to pass local laws to grant legal status to illegal immigrants."

"This situation is rare. Given the current social situation, it basically won't happen. And even if it does happen, it may not be able to be truly resolved."

"And this status is only legal within the state. Once they leave the local area, they are still illegal federal citizens."

"But this may not be entirely true. Perhaps the president will make some policy changes due to his promises."

"But..." William flicked the ash off his cigarette, "You have such a huge power in your hands, which is never a bad thing. You never know when you will be able to use it."

At this time, William already had a vague idea in his mind that if the people in Lance's hands could really become federal residents with voting rights one day.

Then his running for parliament seems to be no joke.

At the same time, a middle-aged man in his thirties came out of a basement cursing and lost another two dollars.

He worked as a temporary worker for a week and only earned four dollars and fifty cents, but it was all gone in one night!
Gambling kills people!

He looked at his hand and wished he could chop it off with a knife!
Every time he lost, he would swear that if he gambled again, he would be raised by a bitch.

But as long as he got his salary, he would go to the nearby casino to play a few games without even going home.

It's not like he hasn't won before, he has won before.

The most he won at one time was eleven dollars. After two days of enjoying himself, he returned everything he had invested with interest to the casino. But at least he won.

This also made him more convinced that his loss was just bad luck at the moment, and he would be able to win when he was lucky.

Just like that, as soon as I have money, I go out to play, and as soon as I play, it’s all gone. Once it’s gone, I regret it, but I will come again next time when I have money.

He cursed himself, then the gambling table, then the casino, but as he cursed more he seemed to be less angry.

Just as he was about to walk out of the alley, two people suddenly blocked the entrance.

He was stunned for a moment, then turned around immediately, but was blocked from behind.

A fair-skinned, gentle man walked towards him and asked, "Do you know Kent?"

The gambler swallowed, "Yes, sir, but I haven't seen Kent for a long time."

Will stood about a meter away from him. "I heard that you had been playing in his casino before. What happened in his casino in late September and early October?"

The gambler was a little scared, and since so much time had passed, he couldn't remember it at all, "Sir, I don't know."

Will looked him in the eyes, "No, you must know. Think about it."

The gambler was about to cry, "I really don't know, sir, I'm just a small character, let me go!"

Will stared at him for a while and signaled him that he could leave. The gambler couldn't believe it was true. When he turned around tremblingly, Will picked up a piece of wood on the wall of the alley and hit the gambler on the head!
The wooden board was broken into pieces, with wood chips flying everywhere. He was knocked to the ground by the huge force, with half of his face numb and swollen.

He backed up into a corner, and Will ripped at his collar. "Do you remember now?"

"If you still can't remember, we have one night to help you remember..."

Ten minutes later, Will buttoned his torn collar again, straightened his clothes, and got into a car on the side of the road.

After being seriously injured, Mr. Gambler finally remembered what happened during that period of time.

"Sir, I remember that someone was lending money in Kent's casino, and then... they seemed to have a small conflict, and several people were detained by Kent. I don't know the rest."

He tells Will the name of one of the men he knows, Ennio, an Imperial immigrant.

At 8:30 in the evening, Ennio's father dragged his tired steps back to the downstairs of the apartment building.

It was another day when nothing was sold. He didn't understand why his colleagues could sell those goods so easily and even place several orders a day.

But when it was his turn, he could only sell two or three pieces a month. Sometimes, in order to maintain his basic salary, he had to buy some of the goods himself.

He has read dozens of motivational books on how a salesman can become the president of a listed company, and has also bought many books on sales eloquence or how to become a successful salesman.

He had memorized all these books and lines of speech, but he still hadn't achieved success.

Instead, buying these books emptied out all his savings.

He wants to be a winner in life, wants to realize his federal dream, and he wants all those who look down on him to open their eyes and see how he became a successful person!

But every day, the cruelty of reality made him feel painful, and he didn't understand why success was so cruel to him.

The manager on the first floor of the apartment building glanced at him and then looked away. He used to greet Ennio's father when they first moved in.

He always dresses like a white-collar elite, with a shirt, tie, trousers and leather shoes.

But now, the administrator has seen this guy's true face, he is a loser.

He took the shaky elevator to his residential floor and picked up a cardboard box on the ground. Inside was the goods he needed to sell, which also reflected his federal dream.

When he returned to the door of his house and was about to take out the key, he found that the door was ajar, and then a wave of anger rose from the bottom of his heart.

Ennio, it must be that little bastard who is back!

A destructive emotion brewed, gushed, and exploded in his body!
His whole demeanor changed as he opened the door and placed his things on the cabinet beside it.

There was no light in the room, but he didn't care. He was so familiar with this place that he could find the right way with his eyes closed.

He took down the cowhide whip hanging at the door. He wanted to let Ennio know clearly who is whose father!

As soon as he turned the corner, he saw someone sitting in the dark in the living room with his back to him. It must be that little beast. The angrier he got, the calmer he became. He walked over with the whip in his hand and swung it hard...

The scream did not come from Ennio, because Ennio was eating delicious food and having fun with his companions.

The scream came from Will. He didn't turn on the light so as not to scare people away, but he never expected that he would be whipped by this man before he did anything...

(End of this chapter)