Shadow Empire

Chapter 220 Chatting, Newspapers and Attitude
"You mean Jack?" Patricia looked at Lance. "I remember the last time you met was at Barbara's birthday party."

Speaking of Barbara's birthday party, Patricia revealed a hint of envy.

Barbara's life is what she longs for, and perhaps this is an idea that most good girls have had.

They longed to wear the long skirts that girls in church schools were not allowed to wear, to dress up in fancy clothes, or to laugh or cry loudly.

The gradual withdrawal of church schools from the stage of history is not only a change caused by the improvement of women's status, but more of an awakening of society and humanity.

As a disciplinary school that deprives at least some of its humanity, it is no longer in line with the development of the times and the liberation of thought.

What people pursue now is individuality and freedom, rather than wearing skirts that reach the instep, short-sleeved shirts that do not exceed the elbows, and being as serious as nuns.

Lance drove away from the roadside, "That's him, do you have his phone number?"

"Of course, you want to see him for something?"

Lance nodded and said, "Some work stuff." Although this excuse was not very good, Patricia did not seem to notice that Lance and Jack had no contact at work.

She didn't think about these things, and she wouldn't think about them this way.

The sunshine at the seaside shines lazily on people's bodies. When you are with the person you like, the whole world is shining.

Patricia and Lance talked about interesting things at work, interesting things that happened to young boys and girls.

Actually, from Lance's point of view, these stories are not that interesting and are very ordinary, but he still shows his interest in them.

This is certainly not to deceive Patricia, but to respect her, because the "narrow" and even uninteresting world she describes is everything to her!

The two did not go back immediately. Lance took Patricia to a cake shop in the city center and bought her a single-serving fruit cake.

This made the girl very happy. Sweets, like love, can make people feel comfortable. She also shared some with Lance.

Then they called Emily and told her that Lance would go back with them in the evening. This made Emily complain that they didn't tell her earlier and asked them to play outside for a while longer.

She needs to prepare the ingredients.

William is full of passion and energy during this period, which makes Emily feel like she is back to her youth!

When he was still working at the city hall, she sometimes had needs, but William would just end it perfunctorily, which made her wonder if William had some disease that most middle-aged men have.

But now, she knew that it was a stagnant, gray life that had robbed him of his color.

He is now just like he was when he was young, even like a male dog who gets in heat easily, anytime, anywhere!

A few days ago, he unexpectedly came back in the afternoon, picked her up while she was arranging flowers and threw her onto the sofa in the living room, and even used swear words in the process!
As typical representatives of the local middle class, the Lawrence family are all well educated and almost never swear at home.

This also includes the sexual life between husband and wife. They respect each other, so they won't say those dirty words. They don't need anyone to teach them. They will understand this after they grow up.

When Emily heard William say some dirty or obscene words, she didn't even feel uncomfortable, but felt very excited!

A brand new experience and a brand new passion, so she was very grateful to Lance. These were the changes that happened after Lance came here.

"My mom asked us to play outside for a while longer while she went to buy food for dinner."

The girl's eyes were a little wandering; she rarely came to the city center.

Neither Emily nor William has time, and she and her colleagues... can't really get out.

She's actually quite nice, but to some people who are familiar with her, she can seem boring.

She never wears very trendy clothes and is always so "conservative", which makes those young, beautiful and fashionable girls actually not very willing to hang out with her.

Lance took her hand and went to many places. There were many fun places in the city center, where they could eat some delicious food or watch a magic show on the street.

Patricia would smile innocently at delicious food, and would also show an expression of disbelief at street magic with obvious flaws...

In the evening, around seven o'clock, the two drove back to the Priscilla area. When they opened the door, William and Emily were busy in the kitchen.

After hearing the sound of the door being pushed open, William leaned back and stuck his head and upper body out of the kitchen. He was wearing a red and blue plaid apron and looked very busy.

"It will only be done in fifteen minutes. You can sit for a while."

Emily also leaned out half of her body, and her nimble fingers greeted Lance as if she was playing the piano in the air, "Hey, there are some cut fruits on the coffee table, you guys take a rest first, it will be ready soon."

The two of them soon returned to the kitchen, and there was a sound of kitchen utensils colliding.

Patricia changed into casual clothes while Lance read the newspaper for a while.

A copy of International News.

Talking about the "International News" is actually quite interesting. During this period, the federal economy was in a rapid development stage. Although people did not notice the lower-level workers, the remuneration they received through their labor could not support the life they wanted.

However, the rapid progress in the financial field has led some financial professionals to shout the slogan "The best decade has arrived", inflating the federal people's blind and stupid self-confidence to an incomprehensible level!

At times, there is no essential difference between a country and a person.

A country is made up of people, and people are made up of cells. They will all give birth to an overall consciousness based on collective consciousness.

Therefore, the Federation has developed very well in recent years, just like poor relatives in the countryside suddenly became rich, which made them eager to share with the international community and gain recognition from the international community.

Many middle-class people are no longer satisfied with paying attention to domestic news. They have also begun to discuss international events, as if the Federation plays a very important role in the entire international community.

If you walk on the streets of financial cities without holding a copy of the International News or the Financial Times, many people might think you are a poor boy from the country!

Lance didn't know much about the newspaper and didn't quite believe it - in this era of backward communications, the way and speed of information dissemination were equally backward, you had no way of confirming whether an event happening thousands or tens of thousands of kilometers away was really as described in the newspaper.

The channels through which people obtain intelligence are limited and unverifiable, which is one of the reasons why it is very easy for scammers to succeed during this period.

When I opened the newspaper, the headline on the front page read: "The situation in the empire has changed again, and the tyrant emperor may lose his life!"

The thick and big exclamation mark attracted people's attention, although Lance learned from Mador (the leader of the old soldiers smuggled from the Empire) that His Majesty the Emperor was actually living a good life now.

He simply used the question of "who will be the next emperor" as bait to let the rebel forces that had forced him into a desperate situation start killing each other.

They didn't even care whether the emperor had escaped from the encirclement, because they felt that if they could surround His Majesty once, they would definitely be able to do it a second time.

But in fact, Mador and his men were deeply uneasy about the Emperor's breakout this time, and it would be almost impossible to create such a good opportunity next time.

Because of the rebels' fighting, it is difficult for them to encircle and suppress the imperial army from multiple directions. This may be the rebels' last glorious moment.

Moreover, the positions of some nobles and big capitalists in the empire began to waver - it was not that they did not support the rebels, but that this group of people were really useless!

Once these people who can truly decide the direction of this war begin to waver, it is very likely that this uprising will become a not-so-glorious page in the history of the empire, just like countless previous uprisings.

But this newspaper and its writer do not think so. They believe that the rebels are now just undergoing "integration" and that after the integration is completed, the emperor will give up his crown and scepter.

The reporter said as if he had witnessed it himself that the emperor had already crawled into the velvet quilt and was shivering, completely forgetting that his big butt was facing the rebels...

The reports did their best to vilify the emperor's image, making him look both cruel and stupid.

This is what is called political correctness, because when His Majesty the Emperor declared war on the Federation, many people were terrified. They were really afraid that war would break out.

As much as they were afraid then, they now hate this emperor who may not have much military ability but is absolutely a master in politics. So no one will read reports about his wisdom and bravery, but if it says how stupid and bad he is, then readers are willing to pay five cents for it.

The second edition describes the military frictions and conflicts between several countries on the Tanfit continent this year, as well as possible development trends.

I have to say that if it weren't for the latter part of the newspaper, about one-fifth of the content would describe gossip about celebrities from various countries and some erotic stories related to current affairs.

Lance is still willing to treat it as a serious reading!
"Dinner's ready, come on over here, Lance!"

Lance walked to the table and Emily came over to give him a hug, which was the privilege of ladies, while William just shook his hand.

Maybe men don’t have the habit or idea of ​​hugging.

Patricia also came out of the room. She took a shower and changed her clothes.

The table was filled with a sumptuous dinner, but it was obvious that Patricia might not be able to eat much today. "We ate something when we were downtown."

She was a little embarrassed because these were carefully prepared by William and Emily. Emily seemed quite indifferent. "There is a cake shop over there. The taste is very good. I hope you didn't miss it when you passed by there."

The process of this kind of family dinner is often like this, starting with a simple, everyday topic and then gradually deepening.

Lance watched the mother and daughter chat for a while about the pastries they ate and the things they bought, and then William gradually turned the topic to Lance.

"I hope she didn't cause you any trouble."

"No, we get along very well together."

William smiled and said, "You said you wanted to contact Jack?"

Lance nodded, "I need him to provide me with some information."

Emily suddenly became interested. "Are you planning to start a smuggling business?"

The smuggling business is also a good business with considerable profits.

Under the control of capitalists, the federal government will impose higher tariffs and protective tariffs on some cheap goods from abroad that have obvious advantages in order to protect its domestic market.

To put it simply, a peaked-brim hat in the Commonwealth might cost between three and five dollars, and this refers to the kind of hats sold to ordinary people in ordinary stores.

But in Yalan, a rolled-brim hat of the same material might only cost fifty cents or one dollar.

The distance from Yalan to the Federation is not far, and the sea transportation is well developed. The price of these hats after they arrive at the Federation will not exceed one dollar and ten cents per hat.

This would be a devastating blow to domestic companies that produce peaked-brimmed hats because federal production costs are higher.

The small vendors would sell them back for $1.50 and then resell them for $2, which would destroy the federal cap industry.

Even if these companies lower their prices and reduce their profits, they will find it difficult to survive for long because competition is the essence of business.

They can import goods whose terminal sales prices will be lower than local production costs because they are more competitive, and competitiveness is reflected in sales volume and profits in the early stages.

Therefore, in order to protect their own interests from being destroyed by cheap imported goods, federal capitalists will impose protective tariffs on these listed goods.

A one-dollar hat has to pay a 200% tariff when it is brought to justice, which is a clear message to these people: don't even think about making money from these hats.

If the terminal sellers get the hat that costs more than three yuan, they will not be able to sell it for one or two yuan, and thus will not be able to cause an impact on local businesses.

There are actually quite a few of these products. As the federal paper economy continues to develop, the cost of federal products is also increasing. So as long as you can avoid tariffs and get things in, you will definitely make money.

Jack talked a lot about these things during family gatherings. A certain smuggling group made millions a year.

The middle class in the Federation, like other classes, actually does not have much respect for the law, otherwise Emily would not have asked such a question directly.

However, Lance shook his head and denied it, "For now, we have no plans to smuggle anything, and alcohol doesn't count."

He paused, "I went to Jack because the Liji Group was planning to tear up the contract they signed with me, which caused me to lose at least hundreds of thousands."

"Oh my God, so many?" Emily looked shocked. "You should sue them."

William had a different view at this time. "The net profit of Liji Group exceeded 100 million yuan two years ago. Ordinary people have no chance of winning a lawsuit against them."

He turned to look at Lance, "What are you going to do?"

Lance put down his knife and fork. "For companies like them that trade in bulk agricultural products, they must have a lot of warehouses and containers at the docks..."

He picked up his knife and fork again, stood up slightly, took a steak from the middle of the table and put it back on his plate, then cut a piece of it, "It tastes good!"

William and Emily would not feel it was wrong to introduce Jack to Lance, because that was the way the world was.

Everyone is trying to make money. If you make a lot of money, they will only envy you instead of looking down on you.

After dinner, Lance and William went to William's study.

After William personally brought over a pot of coffee, the two were finally able to talk about more serious topics.

"Are you planning to move their stuff away?" At the dinner table, Lance didn't say what he was going to do, which made William somewhat itchy. He wanted to know the outcome.

Lance tasted the coffee made by William. It had a strong aroma of oil and was a little bitter, but the bitterness was just right and the taste was rich. He didn't hate it.

"Although I am...the leader of a criminal group in people's eyes, this does not mean that we must retaliate against them through inefficient crimes."

"I can find someone to set up a company, order some goods from them, and then find a way to make them default and then claim compensation."

“There are lawyers who love this kind of business.”

Not only lawyers like it, but also their competitors and some mid-level companies that want to squeeze into the top tier.

And Lance's actions are not limited to this, he can also take away their goods.

He didn't plan to talk too much about this topic because it was meaningless. "The day before yesterday, I met with Mr. Jobaf. The mayor asked him to run for the Imperial District Councillor, so we have our first competitor."

William, who was not that nervous at first, frowned after hearing the news.

Of course he had heard of this "generous" imperial banker, but it was precisely because he knew a little about him that he knew this opponent was troublesome.

He has a certain status and great influence in the minds of the people of the empire. If he participates in the competition, William, who is obviously not in a dominant position, will find it difficult to gain more support.

You know, for the birth of a municipal councillor, besides party nomination and one's own candidacy, the most important thing is the voters' votes.

"What do you think?" After thinking about it, William decided to throw the question back to Lance.

Lance took another sip of his coffee, "I talked to him and asked him to give it up, but he refused."

"He thought this was the first real opportunity for him to enter the upper class since he came to the Federation, and he was unwilling to give it up easily."

"So, William, don't worry. The moment he rejected me, we were destined to stand on opposite sides."

Lance’s statement made William feel relieved. If even Lance didn’t support him, then he would definitely lose!

It’s not that you can’t choose other areas, but there’s not much chance either. Only the Empire Area has a greater chance.

(End of this chapter)