Shadow Empire

Chapter 442 Dissatisfaction and the Farm

The girl in cool clothes gathered the poker cards on the table with her slender fingers. Some gentlemen who looked rich or noble were sitting beside the gambling table.

Around them, there are girls, women and girls of all kinds accompanying them.

These women are all very outstanding. They may be the dream lovers of many people and the goals they pursue.

But here, they all have careful and flattering expressions on their faces, serving the people around them.

"You're just going to let it go like this?" A man with gray hair sitting in seat one looked at Mr. Bowen sitting in seat three, "You don't do anything, and let him owe you a favor, and you're just going to let it go like this?"

Mr. Bowen settled his losing chips, feeling a little depressed.

This incident soon became known to everyone because a columnist for Today's Jingang published an article titled "Darkness in the Sun".

He revealed some things behind the Dream Crystal Agency, such as providing high-level recruiting for some celebrities and politicians, and even forcing some little girls to do some terrible things.

The reporter, named "George", also talked about the possible human trafficking issue behind this, and linked it to the hundreds of thousands of teenagers who go missing every year.

As soon as the report was released, it caused a huge public response.

Almost everyone has encountered similar things. The children of a family in the neighborhood suddenly disappeared one day and could never be found again, as if they had never existed!
They might wonder if these children got lost and then encountered something bad.

One might also wonder whether they were forced into the dark days of human trafficking.

But guesses are always just guesses, and humans are very stubborn animals.

Sometimes people know that something is wrong, but until they personally verify that it is indeed wrong, they will insist that it is not wrong.

Just as people speculated that there was kidnapping, trafficking, and human trade behind this, but until they found real evidence, these speculations only existed as "the worst possibility."

Now, a corner of the dark curtain has been revealed.

The Jingang police were very effective this time. They immediately took control of all the staff in the Dream Crystal Agency and interrogated them.

The whole process was very fast, so fast that it gave people a very special feeling, as if... they solved the case first, and then came out with this report.

But in fact, the report came out first and the case was solved later.

A large amount of evidence was found, and the general manager, trapped inside and outside, chose to commit suicide in his own villa with some management.

The court tried all the prisoners at an unprecedented speed and gave them heavy sentences. The entire Jingang City and even Likalai State felt that this was a successful justice.

People began to highly praise the police's speed and attitude and also discussed these things.

In public opinion, in addition to discussing the topic of the incident itself, there was even more praise than criticism for the federal government and city hall.

Of course, some people intend to dig deeper into this case, but it is doomed to be fruitless because those involved will soon die in prison.

Because of a kidnapping conflict in the prison, and because some criminals were very angry about the crimes they committed, they accidentally beat them to death.

This is normal.

All crimes involving women are the most looked down upon in prison, and not just looked down upon, because for these criminals.

They are in prison and cannot take care of their families, so someone may harm their family members. The women in those families, their wives, and their daughters may all be targets of harm by these people.

If the taste is strong enough, it is not impossible that it is their mother.

According to statistics from some institutions, the probability and possibility of single-parent families with women living alone with children being harmed is greater than that of healthy families.

Everything seems to be perfect.

George's news was also reprinted by the Federal Daily and the Federal Post, gradually sparking greater discussion across the country.

Because it involves hundreds of thousands of missing persons every year and crimes hidden in the sun, which is the most pressing pain point for federal officials, many people believe that George has a high probability of winning a Golden Newspaper Award this year.

It is worth mentioning that the Golden Newspaper Award is not a "sole winner award", which means that many people can receive this honor, not just one person.

A few days had passed and all the beginnings and ends had been dealt with. Mr. Bowen had nothing better to do so he sat down with some friends to play cards.

Friends around me couldn't help but mention this topic.

The gentleman sitting in seat number two raised his hand and said, "Give us some private space. Thank you for your service."

The girls, including the dealer, left the table on their own initiative. After bowing, they even left the gambling table. In the whole room, only these people were left at the gambling table.

Bowen picked up the poker and began to shuffle the cards. "I learned through other channels that the Lance family is developing very rapidly."

He tried to hide the real reason for his compromise, but others obviously did not intend to let him off so easily.

"Okay, stop telling us these lies and say something meaningful."

“Why compromise?”

Bowen began to deal them cards, "Compromise is the best thing I can do."

"It was Wade who called me."

"And do you remember?"

“The last time Cleveland came over, he spoke to Lance alone, as well as the Secretary of State and the Attorney General.”

"She's just a woman. It's just a small matter for us. Don't escalate the situation. I don't think I did anything wrong."

The others were stunned for a moment, then remembered this.

The gentleman in position 4 took a look at the cards and casually threw two chips on the gambling table. "There's nothing wrong with what you did. Who is that girl to Mr. Lance White?"

"Girlfriend, or friend?"

Mr. Bowen was a little speechless, "I don't know, they didn't tell me."

"But I think we should just be ordinary friends."

If it was his girlfriend, Mr. Bowen felt that she would not compromise, let alone say to him, "Mr. Lance owes you a favor."

He shook his head. "Let's end this matter here. I don't want to talk about it anymore."

He picked up his hand and took a look, "Call."

The gentleman in position 2 didn't even look at his cards, and chose to call, saying, "Has anyone contacted him?"

"We are not allowed to play in our gardens, it's against the rules!"

“Five major families, Charlie, is there no way we can solve this problem?”

"I don't want to be like Bowen. Next time when I'm having a great time, some Lance calls me and says he owes me a favor and asks me to hand over the person!"

The other gentlemen all chuckled, which annoyed Mr. Bowen, but what they said made sense, so he could only sulk.

The gentleman in position one threw his cards into the deck, "Charlie can't handle him?"

"A gangster, the police, and the five major families can't handle him?"

"When did Jingang City have such a top-notch organization?"

"I do not know how?"

He looked at the others and said, "I don't know what you think, but my opinion is that Jingang City does not allow such a special existence."

"What about Sidney? What about those congressmen? In the end, the facts proved that..." He stretched out his hand and poked the clay on the gambling table, making a "duoduo" sound. "We are the masters here!"

Everyone had his own ideas, and their topic soon shifted from Mr. Bowen's matter to other aspects.

For example, the Tanfit War that is currently breaking out has also been a topic of interest to the powerful in recent times.

"I heard from someone in the presidential palace that the prime minister of the Dantela Republic scolded the president during a phone call."

Mr. Bowen was also interested in the topic. He looked at the cards in his hand and asked, "Who?" "Mr. President scolded the Prime Minister?"

The person who brought up the topic shook his head, "They were the ones who scolded our president."

Others also became interested, "How did you curse?"

"Starting from the son of a bitch..."

Everyone couldn't help but burst into laughter after hearing this, because the way the Prime Minister cursed was actually not much different from when they used to swear.

After laughing for a while, their thoughts began to shift to other areas. "If our relationship continues to deteriorate, we will need to consider some trade issues with the Dantra Republic."

"I heard that the situation there is also very tense. Is there any danger of an outbreak against the federal people?"

Someone interrupted, "Do you want to stop it?"

The man didn't say anything. Mr. Bowen threw the cards in his hand into the deck. "I think maybe a conflict would be the best thing for us!"

On the other side of the city, Lance was sitting in a car with Patricia, and the Lawrence couple, heading to the Lawrence family farm.

The Holy Farmer's Day is coming in two days.

The Holy Farmer's Day is a very important festival in the Federation. Basically, there will be a holiday, and some towns will hold "Holy Farmer's Day activities" for several days.

Like farmers looking at the giant crops grown in their fields and displaying them in the streets and parades.

The activities of the Holy Farmer's Festival are different in every place. Jingang City is in the southeast of the Federation. It was connected with the world earlier, has more cultural exchanges, and the Holy Farmer's Festival is more lively.

There will also be horse racing, cattle roping competitions and other parades, which will be very interesting!
Every year, members of the Lawrence family return to the farm during the Feast of the Holy Farmer and spend this important festival with the elders in the family.

Lance is Patricia's boyfriend and William's partner, so the three grandfathers in the family also heard about Lance and asked them to bring him back to the farm for a visit.

Along the way, Patricia kept talking to Lance about interesting things in the countryside.

She spent a considerable amount of time on the farm when she was a child, because the elders in the Lawrence family, like most older generations in families with a certain background, were a bit... traditional, rigid, and conservative.

They believe that children who grow up on farms will have a stronger sense of family and be more united than those who grow up in cities.

They don't like any bullshit questioning spirit. They hope that the family can always be united and friendly together. Only in this way can the Lawrence family continue to develop.

So there were a lot of interesting things that happened to Patricia when she was a child that are hard for kids who haven't lived on a farm to understand.

"I don't know if there are many dung beetles on the farm this year. If there are, you will see a very interesting scene!"

Her eyes were narrowed into slits, and Lance could feel the joy rising naturally from the bottom of her heart. There was no concealment at all, it came from her heart!

"There would be lots of dung beetles running around the farm pushing cow dung, and we used to catch one each and give them just a dung ball..."

Emily couldn't help but say, "Pat, you're a lady, you can't keep saying this!"

William kept laughing. He held his wife's hand and said, "Honey, I think this is very interesting. There is no rule that farm children cannot play with dung beetles. I played with them when I was a child."

With William's support, Patricia made a face at Emily and continued to talk to Lance, "Then these dung beetles will push the dung ball together from different directions. Whoever pushes the dung ball away in the end wins."

"The winner gets to choose the food first at dinner!"

There are actually a lot of wild birds on the farm. If you find two wild birds circling and chirping above your head while you are working, then you must pay attention, because there must be a hidden bird's nest near you.

Bird eggs are definitely one of the kids' favorite foods on the farm.

There might be some other foods as well. In fact, the Federals at that time were not as picky as they were later. People would eat anything as long as it was meat!

She also talked about the lambs, calves and foals she raised, but the foal has grown into a big horse, and she would return to the farm whenever she had a long vacation and had nothing else to do.

She likes the scenery and leisurely life there.

Lance kept listening to her talk with a smile on his face. Some of the things he knew and even experienced, but some were things he had not experienced, such as horse riding.

It takes about a day and a half to get from Jingang City to Lawrence Farm, mainly because part of the road is not easy to travel, but overall the time is not tight.

When the car turned off the interstate and entered a small road with a sign saying "Lawrence Farm", they were not far from their destination.

They stayed in a motel last night and the soundproofing wasn't very good.

William proudly introduced Lance to the land, "Look south from here. Wherever you look, it's our land!"

Lance looked out the car window and for the first time had a clearer understanding of the "landowner class."

“Including the mountain?”

There is a mountain in the distance, which doesn't look too short.

Williams nodded and said, "Including that mountain!"

Everything around is filled with the joy of autumn harvest. Many workers can be seen working among the crops swaying in the wind.

They were all farm workers from a nearby town where a third of the population worked for Lawrence Farms.

It can be said that they are the undisputed masters here!

There were some large harvesting machines during the period, but overall there was still more labor.

During the harvest, even if the crops are not their own, they will feel the joy of the harvest from the bottom of their hearts!
Because the Lawrence family's harvest this year is stable, there will be no problem with their work. This is the most simple idea of ​​the working people.

The car gradually slowed down. The country road was not easy to drive on. After driving for about forty minutes, we finally arrived at the core area of ​​"Lawrence Farm".

A large farm, just as Lance had expected.

Many people work here wearing overalls, big rubber shoes and straw hats.

Many other people had already arrived here, and when the convoy stopped, everyone's eyes turned over.

William got out of the car and people's eyes were focused on him. Some called him "Congressman Lawrence" and some called him "Boy William."

Looking at this group of at least dozens of people or even more, the concept of "family" became more distinct in Lance's mind.

"Good boy, our family finally has a congressman. When we report to God, we won't have to face your grandfather's frown anymore!"

The person who spoke was an old man with completely white hair. He was also wearing overalls and was not much different from the farmers around him.

If Patricia hadn't introduced Lance as her second grandfather, Lance would have thought he was just an ordinary member of the farm.

Although the Lawrence family is not as powerful as the Williams family and the Wade family, it is also a large landowner family with certain influence near Jingang City.

A wrong decision made by their ancestors caused them to miss the initial golden development of Jingang City, so that the Williams family and the Wade family have crossed classes.

And they are still farming in the countryside!

When talking about this, these old people get very angry but they can't express it because it was a wrong decision made by their fathers and grandfathers after all.

William then introduced Lance to the three elderly people, "This is Lance, Patricia's boyfriend and my partner."

"It's all thanks to Lance that I was able to become a member of parliament this time."

Although "he made great efforts" and "it's all his credit" sound similar, they are actually two completely different things.

The three old men focused their eyes on Lance and they looked him over.

Since it was the first day we met, we didn't know each other well, so I didn't make any comments, but I greeted him warmly.

"The fact that William brought you here shows that he has already considered you as a family member."

"Then you are also our family, I hope you can have a happy holiday here..."

(End of this chapter)