Shadow Empire

Chapter 159 Invitation, Pride and Contract

“Can you make wine?”

Nick nodded, not thinking that this was anything to brag about. "We used to make some wine for ourselves. It is said that my family has been making wine since my grandfather's grandfather."

The imperial people also have a tradition of brewing wine. Who can refuse to have a sip of their own brewed wine while eating?
Grains, fruit, anything with a bit of starch will do.

In fact, people in many regions make wine, and Lance himself has heard about it from the elders in another family.

Grain, yeast and so on.

He can even talk to you about distillation and condensation.

But if he is really asked to do it, he may not be able to do it.

Winemaking is something that is easy to get started with, but difficult to do well. Lance had been considering whether to find a few winemakers before, but Nick, who suddenly came to him and owed him a favor, was the best candidate, wasn’t he?

Of course, before that, he had to taste the wine brewed by Nick and the others to see if it met his requirements.

"Is it still here?" Lance looked at Erwin, who nodded, "I put it in your office."

They returned to Lance's office. Lance asked someone to get some food to go with the wine at the door. When Alvin took out two bottles of wine from the cabinet, Lance whistled.

They were wrapped in a slightly thin layer of butter paper, through which the shape of the wine bottle could be seen.

Lance motioned to Erwin to give him the wine. He pulled away the yellow seal paper on the outside, revealing the bottle inside.

Pure white glass bottle, the color inside is slightly darker, rose red.

"Wine." When Lance looked at Nick, Nick explained, "Because at the end of the grape season, grapes will be very cheap."

"At this time, our winemaking costs are very low, and winemaking is not that complicated."

He gave a brief outline, and Lance looked at the bottom of the bottle. There was some sediment, mostly fruit pulp that had not been filtered out.

"Can I drink now?"

"of course can."

Alvin brought the cup, and Lance pushed the cork cap and squinted his eyes slightly. He still had some psychological burden, but fortunately there was not much air in it.

With a "pop" sound, the bottle cap was pushed out, and then the sweet smell of wine began to fill the room.

It's just wine, not dry red or dry white, so...it's more like fermented grape juice with alcoholic flavor!
But to alcoholics, they don’t care if it’s grape juice or wheat juice, as long as there’s alcohol.

Lance poured a little into the cup and took a sniff. The smell was not as strong as he had imagined, but it was not bad either. There was no smell of corruption or decay, so it should be drinkable.

He took a sip and after a slightly sweet and sour taste, he could clearly taste the aroma and alcohol produced by fermentation, which was not very strong.

But I have to say, the taste is actually quite good, if you consider this product as grape juice.

"What's the alcohol content?"

Nick also poured himself half a cup and took a sip. "It's about twelve degrees, not very spicy, but anyone who underestimates it will pay the price!"

The sweet and sour wine with an alcohol content of twelve degrees can definitely be called a girl killer.

The special sour and sweet taste makes many young girls, and boys, drink too much without realizing it, so that they overestimate their alcohol tolerance and pay the price for it.

Lance put the cup down, "Nick, I haven't asked you yet, what do you do for a living?"

Nick seemed a little... embarrassed to speak, "I'm an insurance salesman..."

Lance showed some surprise, and Nick's embarrassment soon turned into awkwardness, because being an insurance salesman is not a good job in the federation.

Of course, it is also divided into two levels. If you can reach a higher level, such as claims manager, then you can definitely make money, and depending on the type of insurance you are responsible for, you can earn commissions of varying amounts.

Almost all insurance companies in the federal government implement a "claim rejection priority rule", which means that regardless of whether the insurance company needs to pay the insured's insurance money, the main approach is to refuse to pay, even if a lawsuit is filed.

If a claims manager successfully denies a claim worth $10,000, he can receive a reward of about $500 to $1,500.

In addition, the insurance company will increase his base salary based on the number of claims he rejects, and transfer him to a more important insurance line as a claims manager.

Ultimately, their destination is senior partner of the company or even director of the board of directors.

But this does not include insurance salesmen, who are at the bottom of insurance companies, doing the dirtiest and most tiring work and yet making very little money.

Moreover, when an insurance company successfully denies a claim, most policyholders do not go directly to the claims manager or the insurance company, but to the person who helped them buy the insurance.

They earn the least money but bear the most risks. Sometimes, when things get out of hand, the insurance company will simply fire them, cutting off their direct contact with the policyholders, thus shifting all the trouble to the insurance salesmen.

Lance was a little surprised, "This is not a good job!"

Nick smiled, but said helplessly, "I am from the Empire."

After listening to this, Lance put away the faint smile on his face and nodded without comment, "It's a terrible society."

He paused. "Do you or anyone in your family brew beer or liquor?"

Nick thought for a moment, "My father would."

He seemed to realize something, "Mr. Lance, do you... need us to help you make wine?"

Lance didn't deny it, "The price of alcohol is very high now, and it will get higher and higher."

Nick was a little worried, "But brewing wine now..."

Lance smiled and spread his hands, "Do you think we'd be scared?"

After thinking about what these people had done, Nick smiled with relief.

This is a very interesting thing. Even though these people killed people and beat up those young people, Nick is not afraid of Lance, Erwin, and everyone here at all.

He had an indescribable feeling of intimacy with the people here, a feeling that came from within!

He didn't know why, maybe it was because they helped him who was in desperate need of fairness and justice, or maybe it was because they never hurt ordinary people and innocent people.

Speaking of which, he certainly hadn't heard of them hurting some innocent people, which was why he wasn't afraid.

"I'm not very good at brewing beer and liquor, but my father is. He will be happy to help you, Mr. Lance."

"But we have to wait until he recovers..."

Lance didn't force the old man to get up and work immediately. "Of course, health is more important than work, and we have plenty of time."

He glanced at Nick and said, "Insurance salesman is not a good job. Quit it. We will build some underground wineries and let you manage them."

"You don't have to worry too much about the police, because every penny we earn has a share of them..."

Nick quickly went to the hospital with the news. On his way, the news that Lance had helped Nick find justice had begun to spread widely.

Everyone felt that Lance and the Lance family were great, and this was the first time this feeling arose between them.

Although some people may still be hesitant and unconvinced, time will prove everything.

The Lance family's action immediately deterred the vicious crimes in the Empire District, and the remaining four idiots were thrown in front of the police station.

A truck suddenly stopped at the door of the police station, and then they threw four people out of the truck.

It was obvious that the four people had suffered a very painful lesson, and each of them was beaten black and blue. When several policemen rushed out with weapons, the van was almost out of sight, and the four "victims" were happily scrambling to "surrender".

This credit that came to his doorstep made Chief Blue feel Lance's "goodwill". That afternoon, Chief Blue wrote a report on "five people looting a store and shooting one person" and had it sent to the city police station.

Chief Charlie also called him and praised him for doing a great job on this matter. As for the gunman who died accidentally in a gunfight with other gangs?
It doesn’t really matter whether he’s dead or alive. What matters is that he was “caught” and they seized the pistol that was used to injure people at the scene.

The public's fears were alleviated, and Director Charlie then polished the report and sent it to the newspaper.

So much so that the next day, on the front page of the third edition of "Jingang Today", the urban life section, there was this news:

"Chief Charlie personally supervised the police station to quickly solve the armed robbery case"

In this report, Chief Charlie issued a death order in anger, requiring the branch to solve the case as quickly as possible and arrest all suspects, appease the people in the jurisdiction, and give them an explanation.

Chief Bruce immediately organized an elite force and joined forces with Officer Hunter, an expert in the city bureau's criminal case team, to completely solve the case in less than thirty-six hours.

And arrested all the suspects...

All the participants looked at the newspaper with a smile. Although it was only a small space, it was on the front page of the section and had their names on it.

After a few days of "actual combat", the new recruits have begun to get used to their work and life.

Every day, they wear the same uniforms and walk around the block. If they see someone committing a crime, they rush over to stop the crime, capture the suspect, and hand him over to the police.

Even the mayor knew about this method of close cooperation between the police and the public. After learning about Lance's approach, he suddenly became... concerned about this young man.

Because he is different from others!
For traditional gangs or families, if there are disobedient people causing trouble in their territory and they are caught, they will either beat them up and let them go, or simply make them disappear to deter those who try to offend the gang or family.

Only when they realize the heavy cost will they become afraid.

But they never cooperate with the police. Things like beating them up and sending them to the police station have never happened before.

Moreover, any criminal suspect who has been involved in the Lans family's actions must be obedient and quickly confess and accept punishment.

This type of workshop not only deters random criminal acts, but also reduces the unstable factors in social mobility.

It will have a more positive impact on society than simply beating them up or making them disappear!
He is an interesting and thoughtful young man.

But for the mayor, that's just what he said.

In just a few days, the residents of the Imperial District have begun to get used to these people in black clothes and red armbands, and they feel a sense of security.

After some small gangs and neighborhood families had quieted down, Lance arranged for Alvin to take over the Camilla gang's business.

He himself came to the office which had a slightly rotten smell.

Heller's office is very long, or rather very deep, its length being more than twice its width. A row of windows along the wall faces the south. When the weather is good, sunlight will shine in through the rows of windows and illuminate half of the room, which gives the entire office a very special flavor.

No one had cleaned this place for almost half a month. The smell of dust, the stuffy air, and the odor of rotten wood mixed together, giving a feeling of time settling.

He walked behind Heller's desk, sat in the all-encompassing chair, and turned around.

This will be his new office. When he was thinking about how to redecorate it, several footsteps were heard outside the door. He looked outside and saw four people coming in.

A young man, probably in his twenties, but from his demeanor, it can be seen that he must have a different identity.

Of the other three, two were wearing formal suits with law firm badges on their collars, and the other was a lady who also wore a badge, but a different one from the other two lawyers.

Employees of some senior firms like to wear the firm's badge on their collars to show their uniqueness.

This habit mainly occurs in some large firms, but not all.

"Mr. Lance, I'm Orson from the Shengda Law Firm, and this is my client, Mr. Eric."

"This is my colleague, and this lady will be the accountant of Empire Nightclub for the next period of time."

Lance stood up and prepared to shake hands with "Mr. Eric", but the other party turned around and walked to the window to look at the scenery, with no intention of giving Lance any face.

Eric is the mayor's nephew, but some say he is actually the mayor's illegitimate son, born to his cousin's wife.

As for what the facts are, no one knows, and those who know cannot speak carelessly.

In this city, Eric became a "lucky guy" who always took advantage. Coupled with his special background and rumors, this also gave him a natural arrogance.

A small character like Lance doesn't even have the desire to speak. Perhaps only the leaders of the five major families and some well-known gangs and big families can make him take the initiative.

Lawyer Orson seemed to be accustomed to such scenes and did not care whether Lance would feel uncomfortable, because he knew that no matter who the other party was, in this city, as long as his status was not as high as the mayor, he had to act comfortable even if he was uncomfortable.

Lawyer Orson pretended not to see anything. He walked to the table, took out some documents and handed them to Lance. "My client obtained the property rights of these properties from a judicial auction, including this house and everything in it..."

Lance opened one of the documents and took a glance at it. It really had a strong federal flavor!

Young Mr. Eric bought the house, which was worth at least fifty thousand dollars, and everything in it, for twenty dollars.

Lance couldn't help but laugh and said, "The documents are very standard. It can be seen that it is legal and protected by the law."

Lawyer Orson knew what Lance was talking about, but he didn't care at all. He even showed a somewhat arrogant smile, "No one competed with us, so we won."

Who the hell is running against the mayor?

Maybe someone will do this a hundred years from now, but right now, no one.

Lawyer Orson took out several other documents and said, "Here are some of the employee contracts that have been finalized for Empire Nightclub, including the one for the lady next to me."

"Mr. Eric hires you as the manager of Empire Night and will give you a base salary of one dollar and 30% of the net profit based on the monthly business performance."

"You only have the power to control people other than these employees. You cannot fire the people on this list or transfer them to other positions."

"If you think their professional skills are not up to your requirements for running the Empire Nightclub, you can tell me and I will consider whether to agree with some of your ideas."

"You can place about forty employees here, but before you do anything, I need a list of their identities and how much money they can take from here."

"Just a reminder, don't use too much!"

Lawyer Orson took out the last letter of appointment, placed it on the table, took out a beautiful pen, pointed to the last signature column and said, "Mr. Lance, sign here and you will become the manager here. This is a rare opportunity!"

When he said this, Lance felt like this was a reward from his superiority.

Lance glanced at him, picked up a pen and signed his name in the signature column. Now was not the time.

He smiled a little more, "When do we start working?"

Orson has seen many similar scenes, but few can get into the "state" as quickly as Lance.

Most people are very reluctant and will not behave themselves until they resort to some means.

But it’s also good this way, at least it means everything is under control.

"The weather in January was too cold and there were not many customers, so the idea was to complete the renovation work by March 1 and reopen the shop."

Lance nodded slightly, "So how much start-up capital do I have?"

Lawyer Orson suddenly laughed, "I'm sorry." He paused, "Your start-up capital depends on how much money you have..."

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About the office
(End of this chapter)