Our Discord Server: .gg/PazjBDkTmW
Today, Mr. William (Patricia’s father) was returning from the state governnt, and Patricia said her mother suggested they all have dinner together in the evening.
Lance had no objections to this, and he also had so ideas he wanted to discuss with William.
So he declined Vaughn’s suggestion about President Scott wanting to et him that evening and drove directly to the train station.
And at 6:40, he waited for Mr. William.
Lance honked his horn by the roadside, and William imdiately noticed the situation and saw Lance getting out of the car.
“Did they send you to pick
up?” William asked, handing his luggage to Lance while dusting off his clothes with a towel.
The station was too dusty; many tiny dust particles clung to his dark woolen clothes, and these grayish dust specks were particularly noticeable on the dark fabric.
After Lance put the luggage in the trunk, he opened the car door for him. “Pat never asks
for anything, so when she did, even if Mr. President wanted to see , I’d tell him to talk to
tomorrow morning!”
William was not at all old-fashioned; he laughed and said, “I hope Mr. President can forgive .”
The two got into the car, and as the car drove, William actively brought up the situation at Barbara’s birthday party. “Did they cause you any trouble?”
Lance was a little surprised, “It seems everyone thinks they’ll cause
trouble.”
William shrugged, “Our family situation is quite special. In such a large family with many mbers, everyone hopes to be the most outstanding one.”
“And… my grandfather had seven children, so sotis it’s not entirely for ourselves, but also for our parents.”
“They care more about their status in the family; perhaps people get like this when they get old.”
Lance was very curious, “Why do you and Mrs. Lawrence only have… Pat, one child?”
This question made William burst into laughter, “Because I’ve had enough!”
“Back then, there were over twenty of us siblings on a farm; it was a disaster!”
“I don’t want my child to be like I was back then—lively, but also suffocating.”
“Besides, she’s an only child in our imdiate family, but in the extended family, she still has many siblings; she’s not lonely at all.”
The two chatted idly and soon arrived at the community where Mr. William’s family lived. The security guard at the community entrance already recognized Lance. Although he felt he was no worse than Lance, just not as handso, not as energetic, not as young, and without a car or money, he had an equally positive and aspiring heart, and a more mature age!
He was striving to beco the head of security; he wasn’t soone without ambition.
Unfortunately, he had forever lost the chance to pursue the beautiful Miss Patricia.
“Good evening, Mr. William, Mr. White.”
Lance had registered with the community service company, so the security guard knew his na. As a less familiar stranger, he wouldn’t directly call Lance by his first na but used his surna.
“Good evening!”
Lance took out a pack of cigarettes from his briefcase, the ninety-nine cent kind, and handed it over. “I’m quitting smoking, maybe you’d be willing to help
with this small favor.”
The security guard was stunned for a mont, but then his face filled with smiles. “Of course… I an, I’d be delighted to be of service, Mr. White. Thank you for your generosity; I’ll open it right away.”
He scurried over, forcefully patted the button, and the bar lifted. He even took off his hat. “Have a pleasant evening.”
Lance raised his hand, smiled, and stepped on the gas pedal, driving away.
William looked at Lance with considerable interest, “Sotis you don’t act like a young man at all.”
“How should a young man act?”
“Impulsive, ostentatious, reckless, rash, and often foolish. You are different from them.”
Lance parked the car by the roadside and pulled the handbrake. “If you suffer enough, you’ll mature more than others. Actually, I envy my peers more; at least they haven’t suffered as much.”
William was taken aback, then his eyes filled with admiration, “A wise conclusion!”
The two got out of the car, Lance helped carry the luggage, and just as they reached the door, it opened.
Mrs. Lawrence and Patricia stood inside the doorway. “Welco back, dear, we’ve prepared a delicious dinner.”
“I hope it’s so of my favorites!” William kissed his wife on the cheek, then hugged his daughter.
Lance carried the suitcase up the steps, and Mrs. Lawrence also gave him a brief hug. “Thank you for making the trip for us. Co in quickly, we can have dinner now.”
Lance said thank you, then winked at Patricia, and the young girl rolled her eyes as she followed Mrs. Lawrence back into the room.
The table was laden with a sumptuous dinner. Two-centiter thick beef squares were the main course, stewed with small potatoes and cherry tomatoes, seasoned with so spices.
Then there was a fish whose na Lance didn’t know, probably a saltwater fish, as Federal people generally disliked freshwater fish because they often had many bones.
There were also so lamb chops, vegetable salad, soup, and a bit of macaroni and bread rolls.
In short, it was very plentiful.
There would be no serious content at the dinner table, with William talking about so of his observations in the state capital.
Although various intercity and interstate transportation thods were common during this period, people still didn’t travel far very often. These things, which were very ordinary for the locals in the state capital, sounded interesting to Mrs. Lawrence and Patricia when narrated by Mr. William.
After dinner, upon learning from Mrs. Lawrence that Lance wanted to chat with him, William proactively led Lance to the study.
Mrs. Lawrence brought red tea and three plates of pastries before leaving. It must be said that Mrs. Lawrence was definitely very skilled in cooking and baking.
William picked up a small biscuit, gesturing for Lance to try it too. “Biscuits with at filling, you’ve definitely never had them.”
Indeed, he hadn’t. Lance picked up a piece. The biscuit was a bit thicker than regular biscuits, and he could see oil seeping out from inside.
William finished it in a few bites, clapped his hands to shake off the crumbs. “She originally wanted to make a fresh at pie, but it was her first ti, and due to so unknown factors, it turned into a giant fresh at biscuit.”
“But we tasted it and thought it tasted pretty good, and we offered so suggestions, so you’re seeing its evolved form now.”
“People in the community all love these fresh at biscuits, but not everyone can make them well!”
Lance tasted it, and the flavor was indeed good. “Very delicious.”
“So…” William leaned back in his chair, “Emily said you had sothing you wanted to discuss with .”
Emily was Mrs. Lawrence’s na. Federal won, after marrying their husbands, would change their surna to their husband’s surna.
Her current na was Emily Lawrence.
“Yes.”
Lance nodded, took out a cigarette, and offered one to William. William took the cigarette and said with a half-smile, “You just said you were quitting smoking.”
Lance showed an indifferent expression, “Failed now!”
Both n couldn’t help but laugh. After the cigarette smoke began to curl, Lance said, “I currently hold about 3,700 work cards.”
“These work cards represent 7,400 jobs, and at least 3,700 illegal immigrants working for .”
“I plan to expand this number.”
Neither Lance nor William discussed the issue of the Immigration Bureau, because they both knew very well that at this stage, the Federation could not do without these cheap illegal immigrants.
To so extent, illegal immigrants have no human rights, and like the cotton pickers in the past, they are an indispensable part of economic developnt.
Perhaps if one or two illegal immigrants were reported, the Immigration Bureau would handle it, but when thousands of people gather together, they dare not interfere.
William put the ashtray in the middle of the table, motioning for him to continue, “The social status of these illegal immigrants is quite problematic right now. The President previously promised to address the awkward status of illegal immigrants, but now it seems he’s unwilling to discuss this issue.”
William understood his aning, “Are you saying you want to help them change from illegal immigrants to legal immigrants?” “I’m not too sure about this, because so far, there’s been no further news from the presidential palace.”
“You know, whatever the president promises before an election could just be a way for him to win votes.”
“Now that he’s been re-elected, he might not necessarily fulfill his promises, and the anti-immigrant protests just happened not long ago. If he were to do this now, it would only put him in a very passive position.”
“Even if this policy is to be implented, it won’t be within the next year or two.”
“They will drag it out. Perhaps it might be resolved in the last two years, but not in these two years.”
“They made a deal with the Liberal Party, and perhaps this is also part of the conditions.”
The core supporters of the Liberal Party were these people: landlords, farrs, and even forr slave owners.
They would certainly lean towards the large landowner and large farm owner class in various policies.
And illegal immigrants, who have no human rights, clearly provide great help to these groups. They can use illegal immigrants as they used to use slaves.
In order to gain their continued support, they will certainly find ways to keep illegal immigrants in their current state.
This is not the first ti they have done such a thing. Several tis in history, they have talked about giving illegal immigrants legal status, then forced them to build railways, dig tunnels, and construct highways.
Once the construction was almost finished, these illegal immigrants would disappear, and then so honest ones would be selected to beco federal immigrants, thus starting the next cycle.
“Is there no way at all?” Lance asked.
William shook his head, “There’s no way at all, unless certain… political movents occur, forcing the state governnt to pass local laws to grant legal status to illegal immigrants.”
“This situation is rare, and given the current social situation, it’s basically unlikely to happen. And even if it does, it might not truly solve the problem.”
“Furthermore, this status would only be legal within the state; once they leave the local area, they would still be illegal federal citizens.”
“However, this isn’t entirely accurate. Perhaps the President, constrained by his promises, might make so policy changes.”
“But…” William flicked his cigarette ash, “Having such a massive force in your hands is never a bad thing. Who knows when it might co in handy.”
At this mont, William already had a vague idea in his mind: if Lance’s people could one day beco Federal residents with voting rights.
Then his running for senator wouldn’t seem like a joke.
anwhile, a man in his thirties erged from a basent, cursing. He had lost another two dollars.
He had worked as a temporary worker for a week, only earning four dollars and fifty cents, and it was all gone in one night!
Gambling was a killer!
He looked at his hands, wishing he had a knife to chop them off!
Every ti he lost, he would swear various oaths, if he gambled again, he would be a motherf***ing bitch.
But as soon as he got his salary, he wouldn’t even go ho; he would go to a nearby casino to play a few hands.
It wasn’t that he never won; he had won before.
The most he ever won was eleven dollars, and after two days of enjoying himself, he lost it all back to the casino, principal and interest included, but at least he had won.
This also made him even more convinced that his losing money was just bad luck for a while, and when luck was good, he could also win.
So, he would play whenever he had money, lose whenever he played, and regret it whenever he lost, but he would co back next ti he had money.
He cursed himself for a while, then the gambling table, then the casino. As he cursed, he didn’t seem so angry anymore.
Just as he was about to leave the alley, two people suddenly blocked the entrance.
He froze for a mont, then imdiately turned around, but the back was also blocked.
A fair-skinned, well-mannered person walked towards him. “Do you know Kent?”
The gambler swallowed, “Yes, sir, but I haven’t seen Kent in a long ti.”
Will stood about a ter away from him, “I heard you used to play at his casino. What happened at his casino at the end of September, beginning of October?”
The gambler was a little scared, and so much ti had passed, he couldn’t rember at all. “Sir, I don’t know.”
Will stared into his eyes, “No, you must know. Think hard.”
The gambler was almost in tears, “I really don’t know, sir, I’m just a small fry, please let
go!”
Will stared at him for a mont, then motioned for him to leave. The gambler couldn’t quite believe it was true. As he gingerly turned around, Will picked up a wooden board from the wall in the alley and swung it at the gambler’s head!
The wooden board shattered instantly, wood chips flying everywhere. He was also knocked to the ground by the trendous force, half of his face feeling numb and swollen.
He scuttled back to the corner, and Will tore at his collar, “Do you rember now?”
“If you still can’t rember, we have all night to make you rember…”
Ten minutes later, Will fastened his torn collar, tidied his attire, and entered the car parked by the road.
After being severely injured, Mr. Gambler finally rembered what had happened during that ti—
“Sir, I rember now. Soone was lending money at Kent’s casino, and then… they seed to have a small conflict, and a few people were detained by Kent. I don’t know the rest.”
He told Will the na of one person he knew, Ennio, an Imperial immigrant.
At 8:30 PM, Ennio’s father returned to his apartnt building with tired steps.
It was another day where nothing sold. He was a bit puzzled as to why his colleagues could easily sell their products, even closing several deals a day.
But when it ca to him, he could only sell two or three items a month, and sotis he even had to buy so of the products himself to secure his basic salary.
He had read dozens of motivational books about how salespeople beco CEOs of listed companies, and he had also bought many books about sales rhetoric or how to beco a successful salesman.
He could recite these books and sales pitches by heart, but he still hadn’t achieved success.
Instead, buying these books had drained all his savings.
He wanted to be a winner in life, to realize his Federal dream. He wanted everyone who looked down on him to open their eyes and see how he would beco a successful person!
But every day, the harsh reality made him feel pain. He didn’t understand why success was so cruel to him.
The apartnt building’s first-floor manager glanced at him sideways and then looked away. He used to greet Ennio’s father when they first moved in.
He always dressed like a white-collar elite, shirt, tie, trousers, leather shoes.
But now, the manager had recognized the guy’s true colors: he was a failure.
He took the shaky elevator to his floor, picked up the cardboard box on the floor, which contained the goods he needed to sell, and his Federal dream.
When he returned to his doorstep, he was about to take out his keys, but he found the door was ajar. Imdiately, a surge of anger rose from the bottom of his heart.
Ennio, it must be that little bastard who ca back!
A destructive emotion brewed, surged, and burst forth within him!
His entire deanor changed. He pushed the door open and placed his belongings on the cabinet by the door.
The lights weren’t on in the room, but he didn’t care. He was too familiar with the place; he could navigate it with his eyes closed.
He took down the leather whip hanging by the door. He was going to make sure Ennio knew who was whose father!
Turning the corner, he saw soone sitting with their back to him in the dark living room. It must be that little beast. The angrier he got, the calr he beca. He walked over with the whip in his hand and then swung it hard…
The scream did not co from Ennio, because Ennio was currently enjoying a al and having a happy ti with his companions.
The scream ca from Will. The reason for not turning on the light was to avoid scaring people away, but he never expected that before he even did anything, this person would give him a whip…
(End of this chapter)
Reviews
All reviews (0)