Shadow Empire

Chapter 133

When they first came here, those imperial immigrants who had better living conditions just looked at Lance from afar and commented on the arrival of a stranger.

When he came the second time, although people still didn't recognize him, some people smiled at him and nodded in greeting because Mr. Jobaf would chat with him.

By the third time he came, people were already calling out his name, thanks largely to Mr. Burton's publicity.

A new immigrant who drives a car can give him a sense of comfort that "this is my friend, so if you respect him, it is the same as respecting me."

Until now, people have started to call him "Mr. Lance", even though his age is almost the same as that of their children in the eyes of these middle-aged people.

But they are so respectful, respectful, and even a little awed.

They had not heard of any negative rumors about Lance. The fact that he helped some of his peers make money and took care of some illegal immigrants had spread among the imperial immigrant community.

The impact of Will's death may be reflected in this -

His death made more people curious about Lance and want to know more about him.

The more you get to know him, the more you will find that he is an upright, excellent, and morally upright imperial citizen, which is why people respect him so much.

After dealing with a number of Imperial immigrants who came over to greet him and chat with him, Lance finally noticed Mr. Jobaf standing next to him and chatting with others, and his expressionless assistant.

Perhaps it was because neither of them had left any negative impression on each other during their last meeting, so Mr. Jobaf took the initiative to walk over and shake hands with him.

As they shook hands, Mr. Jobaff took a slight step forward, leaned forward, and said in a voice so low that only the two of them could hear, "Great deeds, I heard about Will."

Lance just smiled, neither admitting nor denying.

If he denied to ordinary people that he did not do it, they might become suspicious, suspecting that Lance was lying, but at the same time doubting that he was not lying.

The reason and phenomenon for this is that ordinary people have limited channels to obtain information, and they are unable to conduct comprehensive analysis through information obtained through multiple channels.

When there is only one channel, as long as they are not 100% sure, they will inevitably lose their judgment.

But Mr. Jobaf was different. He had many channels to know what happened that night, so Lance did not directly deny it, but he did not admit it either.

One of his lessons is to never admit that you have done anything wrong.

Watching Lance rising like the rising sun, Mr. Jobaf felt like he was getting old!
"I heard you were doing great over there on the docks."

Lance looked into his eyes with some surprise. It was a bit odd that an immigrant banker would not pay attention to what was happening on the dock.

It's like the presidents of those big banks, they will only talk to you about the latest financial problems instead of telling you that the belt on the factory assembly line is a little loose recently.

Lance didn't know what he wanted to do, so he could only talk about some meaningless and unsubstantial things, "It's actually not that easy to do."

"You are so modest, Lance. We all see what you have done. You are a very special young man."

"What are your plans next?"

Lance thought for two seconds and said, "I plan to settle part of the debt package you sent me first."

This answer was beyond Mr. Jobaf's expectations. He was stunned for a moment and said, "Indeed, this is also a serious matter."

He suddenly didn't know how to tell Lance. In fact, he came here to fulfill some tasks.

In order to gain a higher status in the mayor's camp, he must demonstrate more value than others.

He heard that Lance was doing well at the docks, many dock workers were hanging out with him, and he also unified the work uniforms for those imperial immigrants.

Maybe this is just a unremarkable thing in the eyes of others, but for Mr. Jobaf now, his ideas have begun to change.

These workers, the influence they create, and the most important port link in Jingang City, this is political power!

What he lacks now is political power.

Mr. Jobaf found it a bit tricky to make Lance's power his own, because this was not an ordinary young man.

Of course, he didn't think this would hurt Lance. After all, the "Boss" above him was the biggest "boss" in this city.

Absorbing Lance would only benefit him, not harm him.

As for whether Lance is willing?

He felt that Lance would definitely be willing, as he had spent hundreds of thousands of dollars to get this opportunity.

And now Lance can get it without paying anything.

Mr. Qiaobafu quickly changed his train of thought to open the topic, "They all say that workers are difficult to manage, but I see that it seems to be very easy over there. Do you have any tricks?"

If Lance had not been alert, this would have been just an ordinary chat, but he was alert, and no matter what Mr. Jobaf said, he felt that the other party had ulterior motives.

When you doubt a person or a thing, it is difficult not to continue to doubt them unless the person dies or the thing is completely ruined.

Lance smiled and replied, "If you treat them as people, not mules and horses, they will be easy to manage."

"But if you think of them as just mules, they are the worst-tempered mules."

Mr. Jobaf also noticed Lance's wariness. Although he didn't understand why this happened, he also knew that it was not appropriate to continue talking about these topics at this time.

He took the initiative to end the topic, "It sounds ordinary, but it is very wise and worth our consideration..."

Lance changed the subject, "What happened to your assistant?"

"Every time I saw him, he always acted happy. Today was the first time he looked so serious."

Mr. Jobaf gave Lance a cigarette, which was a signal for them to go to the edge of the crowd and talk.

The two men walked outside the crowd and lit cigarettes, "His nephew was killed."

Lance was a little surprised. Although Mr. Jobaf was a coward, he was still a rich man.

"He was robbed?"

"And then he didn't give the other person his wallet, so he was accidentally killed?"

This was the only thing he could think of, but Mr. Jobaf shook his head and said, "It's a long story. In short, I ran into some trouble, offended some people, and then was retaliated against."

Lance looked him in the eye again, "Didn't you call the police?"

"I know Officer Lucard from the City Police Department's Criminal Investigation Division. He is a very responsible person. If the police officer handling the case is not so smart, you can go to him and tell him that I introduced him. He will do his best to help you."

Lance was happy to find something to do for this guy who was staring at him.

However, Mr. Jobaf's next words made him realize that this matter was not simple, and he didn't want to talk about it anymore.

"This matter has come to an end. Everything is over. We don't want to cause any more trouble."

Lance didn't respond, just sighed.

The two stood together in silence for more than ten seconds. Lance pointed at the young man and said, "Please tell him that I hope he can mourn. I'm going over there first."

Mr. Jobaf glanced at the place where the young people were gathered and immediately made way. "Of course, thank you for your comfort. I will tell him."

He held out his hand and shook Lance's, "See you next week."

“See you next week!”

After leaving Mr. Jobaf, he returned to the young people. Rob and Selina seemed to be arguing again away from the crowd, while Ennio, Morris and others were surrounded by others.

They were wearing the clothes that Lance had made for them, which were very recognizable. With their slicked-back hair and hats, they looked very energetic, and had a kind of temperament that they couldn't describe.

They were all very curious about Ennio and his friends' current lives. After all, they were the first group of people to "work" with Lance. They all wanted to know how much money Ennio and his friends could earn now and what kind of jobs they had.

But no matter what, just the clothes they are wearing are enough to make many people envious.

Gerard's cousin Nancy saw Lance coming and took the initiative to greet him, "Where is Gerard?" Gerard had told Lance that there were no good people in Mr. Burton's family, and Mr. Burton had always asked to manage the money he earned as his uncle.

Rob (Gerald's cousin, Mr. Burton's son) kept borrowing money from Gerald and never paid it back.

Nancy would sometimes borrow money, but more often she would order Gerard to do things around the house, doing this and that, and asking this little cousin to do everything.

It was as if the family had found a servant who could make money for them and do their bidding.

Now that Gerard has suddenly left, the family who had been accustomed to that comfortable life finds it a little difficult to adapt.

Especially Nancy, she hadn't done housework by herself for several months. Now that Gerard was gone, all the housework fell on her, and she could not bear it.

"He didn't come."

"Why didn't you come?" Nancy's eyes fell on Lance and she felt that Lance looked particularly handsome today.

“Because he doesn’t like you!”, now not so cool.

She looked at Lance angrily, but Lance walked straight past her and walked toward the middle of the young people. Everyone greeted Lance very actively and enthusiastically.

If the enthusiasm of middle-aged people for Lans still lies in "can help us solve some problems", then the enthusiasm of young people for Lans comes entirely from "we can also be one of them".

Ennio and Maurice and their gang are examples.

How did they live in the past?
Ennio earns some... financial assistance by helping young people and even younger people to retaliate against those who bully them.

Morris ran around all day, buying things for the gamblers in the casino and making some money to spend.

His father was a complete gambler and his family didn't leave much money for him.

The same is true for other people.

But look at them now, each of them is wearing clothes made of high-end fabrics, smoking cigarettes that cost 49 cents a pack, and even has banknotes in their pockets!

This is the fucking federal dream!
For these young people, nothing can be more attractive than this!

"Lance, I want to follow you too!" Someone took the initiative to speak out what was in his heart, and others echoed him.

Lance smiled and raised his hand to quiet them down. Nancy, although angry, also stood at the edge of the group.

Rob and Selina's quarrel stopped because of Lance's arrival. They moved a little closer, wanting to hear what Lance had to say.

“I have no objection to you coming to start a business with me, but are you really ready, and is this really the path you should take?”

“We need to think before we make decisions, rather than make impulsive decisions and do things that we are bound to regret.”

He walked over to Ennio, pointed at his arm and said, "His arm was broken last month, and it hasn't healed yet. It still hurts, and it hurts even more when it rains."

"You only saw that he was wearing beautiful clothes and that he had some distance from you, but you never thought about what he had paid for all these."

"Every one of us is the same. If we are unlucky, we will be beaten, injured, or have our arms and legs broken. Are you prepared for this?"

These words caused the young people who had originally signed up enthusiastically to fall into silence.

Lance looked at them and continued, "If you really want to come with me, regardless of the danger, then we have to consider one more thing. Is this the most appropriate method?"

"Some of you are still in school, in high school. If you can study hard and go to college, it will not only bring changes to your own lives and destinies, but also provide me with more help."

"Become a lawyer, become a doctor, or even become a judge!"

Someone suddenly said, "But we don't have money to go to college!"

Lance looked at the person who was speaking. He was short, a little thin, and wore glasses. He stood on the outskirts of the crowd. "If you can get into college, I will lend you the tuition. After you graduate from college, you can work for me to pay off the debt!"

The little man with glasses immediately showed a surprised expression, but at the same time he was a little uncertain, "It costs a lot of money to go to college!"

The cost of going to college during this period was three hundred and fifty dollars, which sounds like... not a lot?
But according to the current family standards of ordinary people in the federation, if they can save fifteen dollars a month, they are already living a relatively good life.

Three hundred and fifty yuan is nearly two years' savings. It is unlikely that an ordinary person can come up with so much money.

And this is just tuition. There are also various book fees, teaching materials fees, extracurricular materials fees... These must be purchased by the students themselves, and this part of the expenditure is much higher than tuition.

Although federal publishers had not yet pushed for legislation to restrict college students from purchasing or renting other people's textbooks and other books during this period, many students could not afford elementary books that cost only a few dollars and intermediate and advanced books that cost more than ten or even dozens of dollars.

The federal government and society have always praised their education for being ahead of the world and how many inventions they have made that have shocked the world, but for the educated people, it is not a good experience.

When a student who needs to take out a loan to go to college comes to school, their instructors tell them that they need to spend dozens of dollars to buy various textbooks and supplementary materials. This is a heavy blow to the vast majority of students who take out loans to go to school!

Even if you rent it, it will cost 20 to 30 yuan per semester, and 60 to 70 yuan per year.

And as the grade increases, this expenditure will increase.

The little man obviously knew about the heavy tuition fees of college. Lance pointed at him and said, "All the fees will be on me, but only for the law, chemistry, and medicine majors."

"If you can get into a prestigious university in the alliance, no matter what your major is, I will cover all the expenses, and I will also provide additional financial support!"

The little guy was overjoyed, "Are you a man?"

Lance took off his hat and fixed his hair, "No one is manlier than me!"

This news quickly spread among the crowd. On the middle-aged side, Mr. Jobaf was stunned when he heard it. Why had he never thought about this before?

Fund more imperial immigrants to go to college, good colleges, and use them to weave a closer network of relationships.

Especially for Union Universities, they will have descendants of federal celebrities as alumni, and they have more inherent advantages.

And all these advantages can be used by him!
He glanced from afar at Lance, who was in high spirits in the crowd, and his perception of him changed again.

If he had some idea of ​​"this is an interesting kid" before, now, Lance is an equal in his eyes.

Both in terms of social status and psychologically, it was difficult for him to look down on him.

And what made him feel troubled was that he couldn't say the same words now, not even in a short period of time!
This makes people think that he may have other purposes in doing this, or he wants to curry favor.

Only after some time can he do this through other means, such as establishing a scholarship system.

Lance didn't know that Mr. Jobaf had thought about so much in such a short time, otherwise he would have been curious about why he lost so badly despite being so imaginative.

After solving the problem of the short guy, many people looked at him with enthusiastic eyes. Some of them had hope of going to college, but the biggest obstacle, poverty, had been kicked away by Lance.

Another part of me, after seeing Lance's behavior, really thinks he is so cool and wants to be his friend, brother, and family member.

When leaving, Mr. Bolton took the initiative to follow him, saying that he was "sending Lance off".

It just so happened that Lance really needed him at this time.

"Mr. Bolton, I have something to trouble you with." After Lance and he left the lawn of St. Layna Cathedral, they stopped him at the edge of the parking lot.

Mr. Bolton looked very happy, holding his hat with both hands. "I am willing to serve you, Lance, so what should I do?"

Lance gave him a cigarette and said, "Please help me spread the word in more Imperial communities. If their children can go to college, I will cover their tuition. If they can go to Alliance schools, there will be additional financial support."

He pulled twenty dollars out of his pocket and held it between his index and middle fingers.

When Mr. Bolton saw this, his breathing paused for a few seconds. He tried to pull it, but it didn't move.

He immediately realized that what he needed to do was to express his opinion!
"Sure, no problem, Lance..."

"Mr. Lance!", Lance corrected himself.

Mr. Bolton said without hesitation, "Of course there is no problem, Mr. Lance, I guarantee that as many people as possible will know about this in the shortest possible time!"

Hearing his statement that he would get at least 120 points out of a full 100, Lance took out another ten dollars and put it into his chest pocket together with the twenty dollars. Lance was also considerate enough to help him flatten his pocket: "I'm looking forward to hearing good news from you, Mr. Bolton!"

(End of this chapter)