Shadow Empire

Chapter 230 Good Deeds
Sitting in the car, Bridge looked at the street scene outside the window. To be honest, the prosperity of Jingang City is not inferior to the capital of the Federation, and in some places it is even more prosperous than that.

But it is obvious that the street scene on his left (north) is more prosperous, while the street scene on his right (south) looks less prosperous because the Imperial District is on the right.

Even though this place is close to the city center, it is still a little worse.

"We are going to the Starlight District next. It is one of the most lively places in Jingang City at night."

"One of?" Bridge has been working in the company for some time. He is not clear about the administrative divisions of the entire Jingang City, nor does he know which places are more lively and which places are more deserted.

But he had heard that the Starlight District was the most prosperous and lively place in Jingang City, where there were opera houses, cinemas, nightclubs...

All the places to have fun are here!

But why is this just one?

He doesn't quite understand.

The young man who was driving the vehicle in the cab said with a smile, "There is another place that is also very prosperous, that is the area in the middle of the port area."

"But the people who hang out there are... you know, for an upper-class person like you, it would make you feel uncomfortable to go to a place like that because there are only poor people around you."

"But it's undeniable that it's more lively over there."

"If you want to go over and experience the life of ordinary people, we can go around via the expressway."

It's not that side is more lively, but there are more poor people there. If there were the same number of poor people as rich people, perhaps both sides would be equally lively.

But after all, there are more poor people than rich people in this city, so some people think that the port area is more lively.

Bridge sat back in the back seat and loosened his tie. "I haven't really been around here. I can go over there and take a look. Will it disturb your rest time?"

"Of course not, I'm happy to help you, Mr. Bridge!", the driver replied quickly and pleasantly.

He then turned the car around and drove onto the expressway.

Although it was already nine o'clock in the evening, there were still many cars on the expressway, which gave us a glimpse of the prosperity of Jingang City.

Ten minutes later, the car drove out of the port expressway branch road, and a port area completely different from that in the daytime appeared in front of Bridge.

It's very lively, not in the sense that the blocks themselves are lively, but in the sense that the street vendors on both sides of the road are very lively.

Some were selling food, some were selling second-hand goods, and some girls who needed help were standing together in groups.

When tourists approach them, they will touch and pinch them as if they were selecting goods, and then choose the one they like to take away.

In a small hotel not far away.

When everything is over, they will come back here.

The whole street was so crowded with people that the speed of cars slowed down a lot. However, the hustle and bustle could not cover up the fact that the ground was full of garbage, which made Bridge, who had originally planned to go down to take a look, make a different decision.

In fact, there is one in the capital, but that world is too far away from Bridge, making him feel unfamiliar.

Bridge had no intention of getting out; he just sat in the car and took a look, like an observer outside an ant box.

Just because they like looking at an ant box doesn't mean they want to live in one.

"Let's go, there's nothing to see."

The young driver quickly chose to go to the Starlight District via Highway 13, which was the fastest route.

When the car was about to leave the port area, the young driver suddenly noticed a warning sign on the street in the northeast corner, and the outer side of the wall looked damaged.

He suddenly remembered something and couldn't help complaining, "The government of Jingang City is the worst I've ever seen. Do you see the corner over there?"

Bridge leaned forward slightly and looked in the direction the driver pointed. "Yes, there seems to be a corner of the wall that has been damaged by something. What happened to it?"

The young driver explained, "There was a car accident here last month, and this broken wall was here at that time."

"But it's been two months and they haven't even bothered to get it repaired!"

“I’m not saying it’s not good here, but I’m sure if it was in the capital, they would have patched it up a month ago.”

He knew that Mr. Bridge behind him was from the capital, and saying this was obviously an attempt to please Bridge.

The bigger the company, the harder it is to climb up.

He is advertised as a manager, but in fact there are more than a dozen managers like him on the first floor.

If there aren't many opportunities, then he will most likely just work here until he's in his thirties or even forties.

This was not the life and the life he wanted. He also hoped to be able to carry a briefcase and wear a neat suit, greet others while smiling, take the elevator with the service of others, and then watch the envious and jealous eyes of others being blocked by the elevator door.

He wants to seize this opportunity.

Bridge smiled, he understood exactly what the young man wanted to do, because he had done the same thing himself.

Just as he was about to say something, suddenly a beam of light illuminated his eyes, and the strong light made it impossible for him to open his eyes.

In an instant, many things that he had forgotten flashed through his mind.

When he was a child, his parents bought the bicycle he wanted for his older brother who had better academic performance, but he was not allowed to touch the bicycle because it belonged to his brother.

He thought about how he had studied hard and done housework in an attempt to gain his parents' praise and affirmation, but was disappointed when they took it for granted.

He thought about how he had clearly received an invitation to a university, but because his brother thought that going to university would only be a waste of the family's money, he eventually lost the opportunity to go to university.

He thought of many regrets. The first half of his life was almost entirely oppressed by his brother. No matter how he struggled or resisted, he could not make a breakthrough.

But he also thought about the future, when he entered society and became a salesperson of the Liji Group through his own efforts.

His job is to go to remote areas to resolve disputes with farmers.

Those farmers often have conflicts with the company because the company's purchase price is significantly lower than the market price.

A more peaceful approach is to refuse to sell things to the company, or even to contact surrounding farmers to refuse to sell together.

Those with more radical means of resistance will contact many farmers to prevent the company's people from approaching their farms, and may even destroy some of the company's vehicles and equipment.

These farmers... they have no idea that for the company, they are the most basic cells that provide nutrients for the entire company. Their only value is to transfer the profits they earn from their labor to the company, so the company will not allow them to damage the company's interests.

At first, Bridge was not used to this unscrupulous job because he had to find a way to convince the farmers to sell their products worth one hundred dollars to you for fifty or even forty dollars.

This persuasion does not just mean you stand together and communicate face to face to convince him, but also includes deception, intimidation, threats and other means.

Things like cutting off water and electricity are the most basic. The company has a complete set of procedures to deal with these people, but some salesmen are not conscienceless enough and they may not be able to bear to be ruthless to those old farmer couples in their fifties and sixties.

He couldn't do it at first, but as other salesmen's performance improved and attracted the attention of the head office, he knew that he had to work harder.

He used a lot of despicable and even criminal means and eventually became the top-performing salesperson. He won over all the farmers in his jurisdiction and made them accept ultra-low quotes, which made the company a lot of money.

He continued to lead the way over the next few years and was eventually promoted to work at the company headquarters.

He still remembers that day, all the employees in the department stood on both sides of the office door to welcome him.

They applauded enthusiastically, and some young girls even gave them passionate kisses...

All those beautiful scenes appeared in his mind. He saw his parents' tears of regret and his brother's obvious reluctance, but finally he bowed his head to him under the pressure of life.

He thought of the smooth skin of the girls or ladies in the office, and their strong desire for protein, even if the smell was strong. He thought of a lot, and finally all the pictures turned into strong light!
The light is so strong that it makes people unable to open their eyes!
"Boom!"

Almost everyone living nearby felt like there was an earthquake. The old man living on the first floor sat up suddenly from his bed. He leaned his head to look outside the car in a hysterical manner.

A ray of light shone on his windowsill from not far away. He already had some premonitions, and he prayed to God in his heart, hoping that what he guessed would not happen.

He walked to the window, drew aside the curtains, and could only see half of the truck head.

"Fake!"

"Fuck! Fuck!"

In an instant his face turned red, and foul language gushed out of his mouth like crazy, as if he had been holding his bladder for a whole day and couldn't hold it back any longer!
The picture frame that was already tilted on the wall finally couldn't hold up and fell to the ground with a bang, and even the wall was cracked.

The old man put on a coat and ran out. He stood on the sidewalk with an expression of disbelief!

Same place, almost the same time, another truck and another car!
The wheels of the cart are still whirring!

He doesn't care about these, what he cares about is...

"my house!"

Some pedestrians had already gathered around, looking at the tragic accident scene with shock on their faces. Some had already called the police, and some had called the fire department.

Soon police cars, fire trucks and ambulances arrived.

The truck driver was snoring, he had fallen completely asleep, no doubt another night truck driver who "drank a little alcohol to keep himself awake."

These truck drivers are dangerous and appear frequently. They have been reported in the news many times. People only see this as...fun. They think some people are so stupid that they actually think drinking alcohol can help them stay awake!

The firefighters took a look at the squeezed and deformed car. The driver in the cab was dead and it looked like he was about to "explode".

The guy in the back seat had a little better luck—

Better doesn't mean he's still alive, but that his death was a little more peaceful, only compared to the driver.

"Another car accident caused by alcohol abuse. Reporters will have new news to report tomorrow."

After investigating the scene, the police officer in charge reported the "car accident" directly to the radio station. This was not murder, not a premeditated killing, it was just an ordinary car accident.

Even the Hazardous Materials Administration and those gentlemen would rather it was just a car accident, because only in this way can they have real content to report that "drinking alcohol endangers health and life safety"!

Ten minutes later, Lenny arrived at the scene. He looked at Bridge who had been put into the body bag with cold sweat.

He even forgot to answer the officer's question until the officer pushed him and said, "Hey, is this the Bridge you know?"

"Ah?" Lenny looked at his confused expression, then seemed to understand what he was asking, and nodded quickly, "Yes, yes, this is Bridge, I know him."

He couldn't help but ask, "What happened?"

The policeman recorded the deceased's identity information. After writing it down, he pointed to the intersection with the hand holding the writing board and pen, and said, "Your friend was driving from south to north, and this car was driving from west to east. It hit it from the side and pushed it here."

"Both of them are dead. The driver was drunk and had fallen asleep when we arrived..."

Lenny swallowed, "Is it possible that this... wasn't an accident?"

The policeman glanced at him and put his hands on his waist. "You'd better be responsible for what you said. Leave your identity information and we will arrange for police officers to follow up."

Lenny thought of Lance, and some other possible, potential Avengers, and he broke out in a cold sweat, "I...I didn't mean that, I just...I'm sorry, I was frightened, I said the wrong thing."

The policeman nodded slightly and tapped his chest with the clipboard. "Next time, you'd better use your brain before you speak. You can't just talk nonsense about this kind of thing. Do you understand?"

What else could Lenny do but nod?
Soon the two cars were moved away, and the police searched the cars and found a gold watch, but they put it in their pockets.

And some cash, too.

There was nothing else to say. If they didn't dislike ties stained with blood, they might have taken off Bridge's tie.

When the driver woke up, he realized that he had accidentally killed someone, but his truck was insured - drunk driving was not considered illegal in this period. It was a moral issue, not a crime, so there was a high probability that the insurance company would argue with him.

As for how much compensation?
Maybe around 50,000 yuan. Life has always had a price, and it is written where people can see it, but people rarely notice it.

The only person who was the busiest at the scene was probably the landlord. He kept asking who would compensate him for the money to repair his house after the car accident...

The next morning, Lenny called Lance early.

"Mr. Lance..." The call was really connected, but Lenny didn't know what to say. Both of them didn't speak, and remained in this somewhat inexplicable state.

After about ten seconds, Lenny said, "Mr. Bridge was in a car accident last night. It was terrible. He died on the spot."

Two seconds passed before Lance's voice came through the receiver, a little coldly, "Really?"

"I'm so sorry to hear this. Will he be buried in Jingang City or sent back to his hometown?"

"If you're buried in Jingang City, remember to notify me and I'll go and lay a flower. At least we can be considered friends after we've met."

Lenny tried several times, and finally mustered up the courage, "Bridge's death..."

He was ultimately unable to continue, and Lance waited for a few seconds before saying, "You should ask the police. Maybe the police have different opinions on his death."

"If you don't have anything else to do, I have something else to do."

Lenny opened his mouth, but in the end he could only say goodbye to Lance and hung up the phone.

Bridge has already dealt with most of the contracts, and the rest will involve lawsuits or waiting for breach of contract. Even if a new commissioner is arranged, they will not change these strategies.

Not to mention the death of one Bridge, even if ten or a hundred died, they would not change this decision.

You know, this can bring them at least millions of profits. If a hundred people die, even if the company pays compensation, they can still have millions of profits left!
So don't expect the company to let go just because a specialist died. Once the company has bitten your flesh, there is no escape.

Lenny wasn't sure if it was Lance who did it, but he had a hunch that maybe Lance had something to do with it.

After Lance hung up the phone, he took out several stacks of money from the drawer and placed them on the table. There were a total of five thousand yuan, in denominations of five yuan, ten yuan, and twenty yuan.

In front of him was a woman, and when she saw the money, she showed an expression of obvious joy.

"Your husband has fulfilled his promise, and these are yours."

The woman thanked him and walked over to take the money, but Lance suddenly held the money. He looked at the stunned woman and said, "I don't want more people to know about this."

"Don't tell anyone to spend the money all at once. Spend it slowly. After all, your children are still young and they also need money to grow. Am I right?"

The spark in the woman's eyes quickly died down, and she nodded nervously, "Yes, Mr. Lance, I..."

Lance loosened his hand, took a brown paper bag from the side, put all the money in it, and handed it to her, "I'll have someone take you back."

The woman no longer had any worries and thanked Lance repeatedly.

Her husband, a truck driver, was diagnosed with a terminal illness and doctors told them they didn't have much time to live.

He was already in so much pain all over his body that he couldn't sleep, and then Lance found him and offered him a job he couldn't refuse.

A car accident, five thousand dollars, is enough for his children to grow up healthily!

(End of this chapter)