Shadow Empire

Chapter 793 Unexpected Discovery
There is a city called New Birmingham near Inden State, which is close to Likale State.

Some people may think that there should be an "Old Bermingham City". In fact, this place used to be the "Old Bermingham City".

The old city of Birmingham was destroyed in a major earthquake, and the new city of Birmingham was built on the ruins.

People added a "new" prefix to it, hoping that it and the people living here can start a new life.

The city of New Bern has a population of about half a million people and has some industrial equipment that provides supporting services to some factories in Indonesia and Likalai.

Overall, this is a city with great development potential.

It was the Holy Farmer's Day, and most factories in New Bermingham chose to take a holiday.

The workers' union demands that all factories either give workers holidays or let them enjoy the holidays that belong to them and are granted to them by law.

Otherwise, give them at least double or more overtime compensation.

As far as the capitalists are concerned, these workers are worth what they are worth in a day. They absolutely cannot pay them double their salary, and it is even more impossible for them to ask them to work overtime.

In this way, people can be seen everywhere on the streets of Newberming, a city that is not particularly large.

Some farmers and cowboys from the surrounding countryside would also come to the city to celebrate, and horse-drawn carriages from the countryside could be seen on the streets.

In the carriage sat country girls dressed in exaggerated and fancy clothes, and there were crops beside them or under their buttocks.

This is also one of the festival celebrations of the Holy Farmer's Day. People will show the largest and heaviest crops produced from their fields.

Some places also hold competitions, and the farms that produce the largest crops will receive some bonuses and even some extra orders.

The name of the farm and contact information were painted on the carriages. The streets were already crowded with people, who were pointing at the crops on the carriages and exclaiming constantly.

This is a festival for everyone, whether you live in the city or in the countryside or in towns.

God has given people food so that humans can reproduce. This is a day to thank God!
The only regret is that there is no wine on such a happy day, which is indeed a pity.

If you can have a drink while watching various festival celebrations and parades, that would be the perfect life!
This is how people's desire for alcohol is, it is stimulated again and again inadvertently.

The city of New Bermingham also has its own bars and smugglers. The profits from alcohol are so great that those bootleggers have long since spread their footprints throughout the federation!

It is said that the indigenous people are also making wine now because they are protected by federal law and do not need to abide by laws that are not directed at them, so it is not illegal for them to make, drink and sell wine.

This also led some people to go to the pubs run by the indigenous people to drink under the pretext of traveling to the protected area.

The less something is enjoyed, the more attractive it is.

According to an incomplete unofficial statistics, the number of federal alcoholics continued to rise during Prohibition, which is a fucking joke!
"Hey man, wanna get a drink?"

A young man who looked to be in his twenties stood at the entrance of the alley and spoke to a peer who looked a little annoyed.

He had been observing the young man for a while, and the guy's clothes and accessories told him that the young man was not poor.

He was well dressed, and the band on his fedora (the band of fabric on a fedora that adjusts the tightness of the hat) was satin, which meant it was not cheap.

You should know that most people's hat bands are made of cotton, which is strong and durable.

Although satin looks good, it is easily damaged and will look ugly if it gets dirty or torn. It is a mid- to high-end product in the lives of ordinary people.

A fedora with a satin band is at least two or three dollars more expensive than an ordinary fedora. All this shows that this young man is a guy who at least has some money in his pocket.

The guy who was talking was wearing a plaid baseball cap. He was leaning against the wall at the entrance of the alley, with a smile on his face that said "friends come in to play."

The guy standing at the entrance of the alley was stunned for a moment. He looked around and saw people watching the horse-drawn carriage parade on the street.

He pointed at his nose and asked, "You mean, me?"

He was a little unsure, but the guy in the peaked cap nodded vigorously. "Fine whiskey, very cheap. Want some?"

Originally, young people had no intention of coming in. New Bermingham was also "poisoned" by cheap grape bricks, and now many people have glass jars specifically used to ferment wine at home.

At the beginning, these things were indeed very attractive. A large bucket cost more than two dollars and could satisfy people's desire for alcohol to the greatest extent.

But as people enjoy it more and more, some people begin to become irritated, anxious and disgusted.

Because the quality of grape bricks is difficult to control, and even if they are from the same brand, the fruit ingredients and quality may not be exactly the same.

The situation is better when the weather is colder, and the taste of the fermented food is relatively normal.

But as grape bricks are now sold in many places, the competitive pressure on grape bricks has begun to increase. At the same time, as the weather is starting to get warmer, factories will use some cheap bad fruits as raw materials.

This results in the wine fermented from each grape brick being completely different.

Some fermented products are simply undrinkable, bitter, sour, and smelly.

If you are luckier, you can get some good bricks, and the wine brewed from them is pretty good, but it is not what people want to enjoy.

On the contrary, sales in the bar have become hot again after a period of lows.

Compared to the homemade grape fermented wine that tastes weird, the clear and transparent wine in the bottles in the bar is the real wine.

The young man thought it was another guy selling homemade wine, but when the other party said "whiskey", his throat slid uncontrollably and then he swallowed.

He looked around again, "How much is a cup?"

He could only afford one glass, the price of a bottle was too expensive!
The guy in the baseball cap smiled as if he had known this would happen. "Brother, three dollars a cup!"

"Fuck, three dollars?"

The young man cursed in dissatisfaction at first, but then he licked his lips and said, "Is this really the best whiskey?"

The price of whiskey in the bar is a bit more expensive than this, so three dollars can only be said to be a reasonable price.

Prohibition is now in full force, so the prices of alcohol will be outrageous, but this situation will not last long.

As bootleggers everywhere corrupted Prohibition agents and local Prohibition agencies, the price of alcohol would soon fall.

"Brother, why don't you give it a try? It's only three dollars. Even if you get cheated, you can just think of it as helping a poor girl. It won't be a big loss for you."

The young man was silent for a moment. "Bar?"

"No, just inside, follow me."

Although the young man was a little hesitant, he still followed him into the alley. His desire for higher quality alcohol brought him here.

Soon the guy in the baseball cap came out from behind a door and brought a glass bottle, a small glass bottle without any trademark.

There was some bright liquid inside, emitting a strong aroma of alcohol.

Originally the young man was not so "hungry", but the moment he smelled the scent, he couldn't help it.

He immediately took out a two-dollar bill and a one-dollar bill and stuffed them in, "Give it to me!"

He almost snatched it away, then took a small sip with his eyes closed. After a long while, he let out a long sigh of relief.

With a smile on his face, he waved his fist, “Fuck, it tastes good. How can I contact you later?”

The guy in the baseball cap also smiled and said, "You can come here to find me, or call this number." He handed over a small card.

He lowered his voice slightly, "To be honest, it would be more cost-effective if you could buy a bottle."

"You should know a lot about alcohol. These high-quality whiskeys would cost at least 70 or 80 yuan, or even 100 yuan, on the market."

"But I only charge you fifty dollars, and I'll give you a five-dollar rebate for every bottle your friend buys." "If you can sell more, you'll get more!"

The young man nodded and said, "This price is very suitable." He took the small card. Besides the satisfaction of high-quality alcohol, he also had the idea of ​​making some extra money in his mind.

As the guy in the baseball cap observed, he was a kid from an urban middle-class family, and in the community and around him were friends with the same family background as him.

These young people were full of rebellion, questioning, and resistance that were encouraged by this era, so the more Prohibition prevented them from doing something, the more they liked to do it.

For a bottle of high-quality whiskey, he can get an extra five dollars in commission. If they consume three or four bottles at a party, it means an extra ten or twenty dollars in income for him.

This can definitely be done!
He nodded, hesitated for a moment, took out his wallet, counted out forty-five dollars, and handed it over. "Give me a bottle first. I have to let them know how good this bottle of wine is."

The wine dealer grinned with delight, "Wait, brother!"

He returned to the room and quickly took out a bottle of wine. The label had been cleaned off and the bottle cap had been replaced with one that was obviously incompatible.

The young man frowned at what he had in his hand, "Is this what you gave me to drink?"

The guy in the baseball cap immediately soothed him, "Listen to me, we don't want to cause trouble either. These are all wines produced by big manufacturers, understand?"

"Look at this design. Is it the same as some of the big brands you remember?"

The young man looked at the slightly strange bottleneck, and several wines with similar shapes immediately came to his mind.

These wines are not cheap in bars and restaurants.

He whistled. "It seems I got a great deal."

He unscrewed the lid and took a sip. It was indeed what he had just drunk, so he felt relieved.

He put the bottle of wine in his arms, shook hands with the guy selling the wine again, and then left the alley.

The guy in the baseball cap counted the money in his hand and a smile appeared on his face.

This is the fifth full bottle he has sold today. As for the individual bottles?
More than a dozen cups have been sold.

He packed up briefly and then came to the alley entrance again. While smoking a cigarette, he observed the passers-by nearby, looking for the next suitable target.

There were so many people on the street on San Nong's Day, and so many people wanted to have a drink that by the end of today's event in the evening, he had sold more than seventy glasses and eight bottles of wine.

It adds up to more than five hundred yuan.

He had just finished a long day's work, it was getting dark, and the surrounding streets would become unsafe if he didn't leave.

Even though he wasn't a good guy and had weapons on him, you never know how many people you'll run into who want to kill you.

Just as he was about to leave the alley, a car stopped at the entrance.

The guy sitting in the passenger seat was staring at him from afar through the driver's window. Instead of being afraid, he trotted over, bent over, and stuck out his butt to look at the passenger in the passenger seat.

Although the man was in plain clothes, the liquor dealer knew him. He was a state police officer in charge of the interstate highways in the vicinity.

"How's business today?" the policeman in the passenger seat asked with a smile.

The guy in the baseball cap took out the money in his hand and handed it over. "A total of five hundred and eighty-five dollars."

The policeman in the passenger seat took the money from the liquor dealer, counted it, and then took out sixty dollars and handed it over, "This is yours."

A happy smile immediately appeared on the wine dealer's face; they were partners.

Although he didn't know where the state police got the alcohol, as long as he sold it, he would get a one-tenth commission.

This business can be done and the risk is not great. After all, the state police are behind it. Even if they are caught, the state police can find a reason to take them away from the Hazardous Materials Administration in the name of assisting in the investigation.

The policeman put the remaining money into a box, which already contained a lot of money. After he put the money away, he looked up at the wine dealer and said, "Remember, don't tell anyone about our affairs."

After saying that, the police car restarted and left.

The wine dealer clenched the sixty yuan in his hand, curled his lips, put his hands in his pockets, shrunk his neck, and left quickly.

In the evening, the young man returned home with a bottle of wine and as soon as he entered the door, he found that there seemed to be guests in the house.

He walked into the living room with some curiosity and saw the girl sitting on the sofa.

He tried to identify it for a while, and his mouth widened. "Oh my God, cousin, it's you!"

The girl who came was his cousin, and now she has moved to Jingang City in Likalai State.

He heard that this cousin married an old man who could be her father, and even gave birth to a child for that old man!
Some people think that she brings shame to the family, but for the younger generation, when they hear that this cousin now drives a luxury car and spends money lavishly, they don’t care at all whether she brings shame to the family or not. They only care about how rich she is!

It’s just that my cousin has been staying in Jingang City and seldom comes back, not even during the Chinese New Year, so they have very few opportunities to meet, and they only hear a lot of things from other people.

He hurried upstairs, "I'm going to change my clothes and come down right away!"

His father, who was sitting on the sofa, smiled and said to the girl, "He is always like this, but it can be seen that everyone misses you. How many days will you stay this time?"

Although she was called a girl, she was actually a young woman. She combed her hair, revealing her delicate earrings that sparkled with jewels.

This made the hostess of the house's heart tremble slightly.

Emerald earrings and pendants look like they cost a lot of money!

"I will leave after the Holy Farmer's Day. I mainly come back to see Grandpa. I heard that his health is not very good."

She hadn't gotten to meet her grandpa yet, because he was an old fogey and he nearly got mad when he heard that one of his granddaughters was marrying a man that old!

If the old man had not been in poor health and was bedridden, she would not have even planned to come back.

In this era, her behavior is indeed a bit... controversial, but she is a human being after all, and she wants to live a good life. Is there anything wrong with that?
Moreover, she did not steal or rob, she just controlled her own body and life, so she did not like others talking about her, even her relatives.

The man sighed, "The doctor said he won't live long. He's been a little confused lately. Maybe this is the last time you see him alive."

next time?
The next time will definitely be at his funeral!

The young woman was silent for a while, and suddenly a little scared, but she soon became calm again.

People, even relatives, will become less affectionate if they don't live together for a long time.

Obviously, she should feel sad and scared after hearing the news, but at this moment her inner world was calm, without any ripples.

But she still pretended to show some sadness, "I hope everything will be fine."

The young man had changed his clothes and came down from upstairs. He first greeted the young woman and then started chatting with her.

During dinner, the young man even took the initiative to suggest having a drink.

Middle-class families all have some alcohol in stock, and the couple did not refuse. After all, the girl in the family seemed to be living a good life now.

Who knows if they will need her help in the future, so they originally planned to get some wine, but the young man said he had a bottle of good whiskey, so they got instructions and brought what they bought in the afternoon.

Although everyone is surprised that it has no wine label, considering the current situation of Prohibition, the lack of a wine label is not surprising, as long as the quality of the wine is good.

After everyone tasted it, they found that it was indeed a good whisky, and the atmosphere at the table became even more lively.

But they didn't notice that the young woman's expression occasionally looked a little strange when she looked at the wine bottle.

Because she was so familiar with this bottle, the ones that Burton often brought home were like this, but they were even more advanced than this one...

(End of this chapter)