Shadow Empire

Chapter 444: Promotion, Salary Increase, Sprouting, and Engagement
Ponda came out of the elevator, stood in the lobby and looked around, and soon a happy smile appeared on his face.

He walked towards the small sofa set where Lisa was sitting, and his eyes fell on Lisa's slightly bulging belly, inside which was his child.

He had actually fantasized about his own marriage and family, but at that time the objects of his fantasy were some students from the girls' school next door, or even... a nun.

He would have very shameful dreams about these girls who used to appear in his life, and he would fantasize about living a happy life with them.

But life is obviously not that simple. He has had girlfriends before, but they all ended in failure.

Only Lisa made him feel crazy. He liked this woman and was looking forward to having a child with her.

Lisa didn't seem to notice Ponda until he sat down, her eyes instead fell on the glass wall.

"What's wrong with you?", he asked.

Lisa suddenly turned around and looked at him, with a hint of solemnity and uneasiness on her face. The two looked at each other for two or three seconds before she quickly adjusted her expression and said, "No, nothing."

"You look worried?" Ponda didn't believe it. "Your expression tells me what happened."

Lisa was silent for a while. She actually saw Mr. Hof.

She had considered the possibility of such a situation before, but she was deceiving herself and told herself that it was unlikely.

Because Mr. Hof, as an opinion leader, is unlikely to have a face-to-face opportunity with her.

She was just the wife of an ordinary Hazardous Materials Administration agent. They were not big shots, and there would be no chance or occasion for them to meet.

But just now, she seemed to have really seen Mr. Hof, which made her feel a little frightened!

She was afraid that Ponda would know these things one day.

But now, she needs to get by.

"I..." She was a little speechless, but soon found a reason, "I'm worried about the baby in my belly. I don't know if he is healthy."

The expression on Ponda's face softened quickly. He moved to Lisa's side, put his arm around her shoulders, and kissed her hair. "Don't worry, everything will go well."

After a pause, he said, "I heard that there is a film crew currently filming and they are recruiting some temporary actors. You are very interested in the movie, why don't we go and experience it?"

"We may have a few shots in the movie, lasting a few seconds or tens of seconds," he said as if taking credit.

In fact, going to the crew for a cameo was not as simple as he said. He found a colleague because wine is an indispensable thing in the movie.

Prohibition did not prohibit the presence of drinking in movies, and the explosion of movies was so rapid that the Prohibition Committee had no way to respond.

Some people also believe that scenes of drinking in movies, especially those shot before Prohibition, are appropriate and do not need to be banned.

So they might use "prop wine" as a prop on the set.

The Hazardous Goods Administration has the authority to monitor their use of such props, including determining whether the prop alcohol is real alcohol, or just a drink or water.

There would be an agent from the Hazmat Bureau on the scene, and it was through this agent that he got the opportunity to make a cameo appearance.

The trade-off is that they get to use real wine.

This is equivalent to opening a small loophole for them, allowing them to drink alcohol once.

It is conceivable that everyone from the director to the actors would have a good drink in the name of "auditioning".

This was a favor, and he didn't tell Lisa because he was worried that Lisa would think he... cared about her.

Lisa didn't know this, and even if she did, she would have refused.

Her main customer in the later period of Red High Heels was Mr. Hoff, but there were several other customers before Mr. Hoff.

It would definitely be a terrible thing if she appeared in a movie and was discovered by these people!

So Lisa rejected him directly, "I don't really want to go."

Ponda was still trying to convince her, "Just for a moment."

"Ponda!" Lisa called out his name, and he immediately wilted.

"Okay." He had read a lot of books related to pregnancy and childbirth recently, and he knew that women would have a bad temper after becoming pregnant.

After the two decided where to go, they left the hotel lobby. Lisa seemed to be in a bad mood all day, but Ponda thought it was just because of her mood swings after becoming pregnant.

Only she herself knew that her emotions were not right, all because of the lies.

The lies she told Ponda.

One lie needs to be covered up with countless lies. She doesn't know whether this lie will be exposed in the end. She also doesn't know whether Ponda will still love her after knowing all this, or whether he will divorce her.

She didn't know, wanted to know, but was afraid to know.

Tormented by her past experiences and pains, after going to several places, she returned to the hotel on the grounds of being a little tired and suggested going home early.

She is very uneasy now, and will feel better only after returning to Jingang City.

Pang Da didn't think much about it. He checked out of the hotel and drove her back to Jingang City.

It only took a few hours to get from Valley City to Jingang City. The atmosphere in the car was a bit dull along the way. Perhaps to cheer Lisa up, he took the initiative to say, "There is good news."

Lisa turned her gaze away from the fields on both sides of the road and looked at Ponda. "What good news?"

"Actually, I was planning to tell you tonight that I'm getting a promotion."

Lisa didn't say anything, so he continued, "I've done a good job during this period. I caught a lot of bootleggers and the liquor they smuggled."

"After Lucar left us, there was a senior agent position that was not filled. Director Dale thought my performance was very good and decided to promote me. The process is being followed."

"When I report to the office, I'll get a promotion!"

He seemed somewhat excited; becoming a senior agent brought him more than just emotional joy.

He received positive feedback for his efforts, which made him feel excited and happy.

At the same time, promotion will also give him more resources and opportunities!
At this moment, he selectively forgot that some of the credits, also important credits, were given to him by Lance.

He now only wanted to share the news with Lisa, but for some reason, although Lisa was smiling and saying yes, what she showed was not quite consistent with her emotions.

She didn't seem very happy about Ponda's promotion.

Ponda didn't know why she was behaving so strangely, and couldn't find any reason to do so. He could only continue to regard it as a reaction to her pregnancy.

But only Lisa herself knows that the faster and higher Ponda gets promoted, the greater the probability of her being "exposed".

If one day Ponda becomes the director or something like that, then she will definitely be exposed in front of the Bay Area!

No, now, she will be exposed!

During this period, because of Ponda's work, she was exposed to many things that she had not been exposed to before, and she gradually began to understand the importance of the Hazardous Materials Management Bureau.

Once Ponda becomes a high-level agent, someone will inevitably collect his information and put it on the desks of those powerful people in the Bay Area.

People who don't know her may just think of her as Ponda's wife, but those who know her and have had in-depth communication with her...

She felt a chill when she thought of this!
But she couldn't tell Ponda. She couldn't tell her husband.

"I used to be a high-class call girl, and I had a strong taste for it."

"There are many powerful people in the Bay Area who have done business with me. You must be prepared to face them!"

She couldn't do any of this, and she didn't know what to do.

Ponda took the time to glance at his wife who seemed to be in a low mood and even a little depressed. He decided to drop the topic and drive quietly so as not to cause bad luck.

After the afternoon cocktail party, the hotel manager personally handed a small card to Mr. Hof, which recorded the information of the person who booked the room.

Although he is only an opinion leader in Jingang City, he also has a great influence in Valley City.

The hotel was not supposed to reveal this information to anyone else, but this was Mr. Hof and they couldn't refuse!
After thanking him, he looked at the card and saw two names on it. "Mr. Ponda Green."

"Ms. Lisa Green."

Lisa was already very attractive to him before, and now that she looked like a woman and seemed to be pregnant, she was even more attractive to him!
But he was not in a hurry. A good hunter would never take action the first time he saw a gift. This was an interesting game of strategy and he would devote himself to it wholeheartedly!
Lisa didn't know it, but she once again became Mr. Hof's prey.

This time, maybe even her husband will become the prey.

It was already after the Holy Farmer's Festival, and there were only a few days left for the Liji Group to deliver grain to the Garden Trading Company.

They have begun to perform according to the contract, and a large amount of wheat has been transported from other places to Jingang City.

Liji Group also rents a number of warehouses at the dock. They have a lot of trade that requires the use of Jingangcheng Dock, whether it is buying or selling.

Agricultural products generally have one common characteristic, which is "large quantity".

No one would buy space on a freighter for a ton of wheat and then ship it somewhere else at a freight cost that would exceed its value.

The volume of agricultural product trade at the dock must be huge.

This requires a lot of warehouses, long-term warehouses. They have been cooperating with the terminal management company for many years, and everyone trusts each other.

Therefore, the Renliji Group does not have any strict management system for its warehouses. Unlike some companies, they set up their own warehousing department to be responsible for entry and exit procedures and security patrol supervision to prevent people from entering the warehouse to steal.

For them, in addition to trusting the safety of the dock, they are not actually very afraid of someone stealing in the warehouse.

The agricultural products piled up like mountains are very inconvenient to transport, and the unit price is also very low.

A barrel of wheat is only a few dollars, which is far less cost-effective than stealing something of high value.

In addition, in order to save costs, Liji Group did not use "wooden barrels" as containers.

All the wheat is stacked naturally, and if someone really wants to steal the wheat, they need to prepare too many things, making it not so easy to steal.

After the wheat was dumped into the warehouse by trucks, they took measures to prevent moisture and insects and did not manage it any further.

Once the goods are loaded onto the ship and shipped away in a few days, they will have nothing to do with them anymore.

Even insect prevention is not necessary because the insects will not have enough time to reproduce on a large scale within a few days.

It was because of their negligence that Lance's men were able to enter here easily.

In the evening, several workers at the dock did not leave immediately after finishing their night shift. After walking around outside, they returned to the dock.

There are a large number of people and goods coming and going at the dock every day. In order to ensure it is clean and tidy, water pipes and faucets can be seen almost everywhere, including outside each warehouse.

When the warehouse lease expires, the things inside will be removed. The next tenant may have certain requirements for hygiene, so they will re-arrange the warehouse, so water pipes and faucets can be seen everywhere.

Several people used the keys given to them by others to open the side door of the Liji Group's warehouse. Inside was a mountain of wheat, just dumped together.

The room was a bit stuffy, so they just turned on a low light and started working.

They connected the water pipes they brought to the faucet, then went up the upper stairs of the warehouse and began watering the wheat from above.

They have been doing this kind of work for two days, and today the temperature in the warehouse is obviously hotter than outside.

The group of people watered the plants in silence. They were all adults and knew the consequences of doing so.

One of them did not water the wheat like the others. Instead, he took a shovel and began to randomly turn over the wheat grains on the ground.

Some of the wheat further inside has begun to sprout and roots are beginning to grow.

With watering in the next few days, more wheat will sprout.

This sprouted wheat was obviously not what the Garden Trading Company wanted, and the contract was very strict. There was a time limit for shipment, and they could not temporarily transfer so much wheat, so they had to pay liquidated damages for breach of contract.

More than half an hour later, they went to the second warehouse and started watering.

There are four warehouses in total. After watering all the warehouses, several people are exhausted.

After doing this, the few people left. No one knew what they had done except themselves and Lance.

It was already the evening of the 27th when Lance returned from Jingang City. After sending Lawrence and his family back, he planned to leave.

But William kept him and said he had something to talk to him about, and they should talk about it together.

After Emily prepared some food, when the family sat at the dining table, William looked a little embarrassed, so embarrassed that he didn't know what to do with his hands.

"Let me make it clear first, that's not what I want to ask!" He emphasized his tone and distanced himself from the matter.

Lance looked at his expression and roughly knew what he wanted to ask, "Go ahead and I'll answer."

"They all want to know when you plan to get married. Of course, if it's too early to get married now, we can get engaged first." He stared at Lance. Emily and Patricia also stopped what they were doing and stared at him.

In the Federation, one can get married at the age of sixteen. Lance is twenty years old and will soon be twenty-one. This age is not considered early to get married in the Federation. It can only be said to be just right.

Most people get married at about this age. After graduating from high school, they work for two or three years. Once they settle down, they start to think about getting married.

Lance and Patricia have known each other for a year, and with a year of settling into each other, their relationship should have stabilized.

It is not too early to put forward this idea at this time.

But they were a little worried whether Lance would set a date for the wedding.

When they were at the farm, these "elders" talked privately about Lance and Patricia's marriage.

For William and Lance, who are now developing rapidly, whether they are gangsters or not is not the reason why people can accept them.

On the contrary, family members hope that they can settle the marriage as soon as possible, only in this way can the cooperation between the two sides become more stable.

William needs Lance's help, and some other members of the Lawrence family may also need Lance's help.

At the same time, Lance can also use their connections to continuously deepen his influence on this city.

It was the right political marriage, not to mention that Lance and Patricia liked each other.

The couple discussed it for several days and finally asked the question tonight.

Patricia looked at Lance nervously. Lance hesitated for a moment and said, "It may be too late this year. Let's wait until spring."

The whole family was visibly relieved, and a smile soon appeared on Patricia's cheeks. She took the initiative to reach out and hold Lance's hand, squeezing it tightly.

Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence also smiled widely. Emily said in surprise, "This is news worth celebrating!"

William nodded repeatedly, "We need a grand ceremony, and all this needs to be prepared in advance."

"If it's March or April next year, we'll have to start preparing after the Chinese New Year."

The atmosphere at the table immediately became very harmonious, and the connection between them and Lance seemed to become closer.

After dinner, Lance was about to leave, and Patricia escorted him out. "If you're worried that it's too soon, we can actually postpone it a little longer."

She was afraid that this would put pressure on Lance; not everyone wanted to get engaged and married so soon.

For the new generation of young people, they think they haven’t played enough and they are still children.

As society becomes more and more developed, people will choose to get married later and later.

Lance shook his head and kissed Patricia. "Everyone, at least the vast majority of people, have to take this step. Whether they take it earlier or later, nothing will change."

"I am not afraid of getting married, and you are my best choice, why should I refuse?"

Patricia hugged his waist, feeling extremely relieved at this moment.

After a while of tenderness, Lance left the place in the car. Through the rearview mirror, he saw Patricia standing outside the house for a long time until he could no longer see her.

(End of this chapter)