458: Chapter 458: Senator’s Family (Long Chapter for Monthly Tickets/National Day Happiness) 458: Chapter 458: Senator’s Family (Long Chapter for Monthly Tickets/National Day Happiness) “Mr.
Janos, it’s said that you are preparing a proposal called the ‘Pension Expansion Act’?”
The stylishly dressed host wore an impeccable, perfect smile, hands placed in front of her, looking towards her interviewee not far ahead.
He was a middle-aged man in sharp attire, with hair black and shining, wearing a smile.
He sat on the sofa opposite the host and began softly,
“Yes, we all know that prices are rising higher and higher now, especially dical expenses which are soaring, while the increase in pensions from the social insurance groups each year is adjusted according to the ‘Consur Price Index’ issued by the Federal Social Security Bureau.”
The middle-aged man smiled,
“This ‘Consur Price Index’ asures the price changes of all consur goods and services across the Federation and reflects the living consumption level of the entire Federation, but it’s not actually accurate when it cos to the living expenses of the elderly.
“According to the data I’ve collected, in recent years, the elderly’s spending on dical care is far greater than that of other age groups, so I believe that we should change the reference for retirees’ pensions from the ‘general Consur Price Index’ to the ‘Elderly Consur Price Index,’ to provide better pension security for the elderly.”
He paused at this point, “Lin City is known across the Federation as the city of longevity.
A better pension law can also better serve the citizens of Lin City.”
······
“Pah,” Beneath the huge TV screen, a dirty young man looked up at the bright interview on the screen and spat,
“Say what you want, in the end, it’s still about raising pensions, and to raise pensions we have to pay more.”
He lit a cigarette and crumpled the beer can in his hand, “The increased pension won’t end up in the hands of the elderly anyway; it will all be swallowed up by the dical consortium.
If he’s got guts, let him enact a law to cap dical expenses.”
Standing on tiptoes, he threw the can towards the TV screen in the sky, “F**k, bastard.”
The empty can arced through the air, brushed past Janos’ smiling cheek on the TV, and fell into the shadows under the shimring TV screen.
“Hey you, what are you doing over there?”
A nearby patrolling security guard spotted the can-throwing young man and started heading his way with a rubber baton drawn.
“Bad luck.”
The young man watched the guard running towards him, spat, and limped away into the depths of the night.
“Isn’t that guy familiar?
Wasn’t he your colleague from the construction company?”
Two well-dressed girls walked under the lights and looked back at the young man who had limped off into the distance.
“Seems like it.”
The other girl took a sip of the coffee in her hand.
“I rember him being quite handso before, and he always spoke with substance.
How did he end up like this?”
The girl who had asked the question first murmured.
“He got hit by a car when he was on site, the driver fled the scene.
He broke his leg, and his dical insurance didn’t cover enough.
All his savings were spent on treatnt,”
The girl sipping coffee said slowly, “With no money, he was kicked out of the hospital, and due to his prolonged absence for treatnt, he was legally fired by the company, losing his source of inco.
I heard in the end his leg never healed properly, and he didn’t have the money for a prosthetic.”
“Sigh,”
The inquiring girl let out a sigh, “Life is so unpredictable.”
“Indeed.”
The coffee-drinking girl also sighed, and they slowly walked towards the mall in front of them.
The cold wind stirred the can on the ground, producing a ‘thud thud thud’, a raspy and piercing chant.
Click—
An elderly vagrant picked up a soda can from the ground, carrying a filthy, torn cloth bag, and staggered into the deepening dusk.
A gaunt figure slowly erged from the night, the hazy light spilled onto him, the darkness retreated from his body, revealing his resolute and chilling cheeks.
He Ao shifted his gaze from the holess man and looked towards the radiant and dazzling studio on the screen above him.
The guests in the studio wore neat and expensive clothes, their faces adorned with confident smiles.
The dical market in Lin City was completely dominated by the Stars Group.
Although the dical Monopoly Alliance would overall raise prices, the dical costs in regions monopolized by a single consortium were still higher than in cities with competition from other consortia.
Of course, these exorbitant prices would not appear directly as marked prices but were instead crumbled into the myriad of ‘services’ and ‘materials’ in the bill.
Owing to the prohibitively high travel costs between the major Fortress Cities — including ti costs, monetary costs, and the anticipated risks during travel — under these constraints, many people, even knowing that dical prices were cheaper in other cities, would not easily seek dical help elsewhere.
Moreover, due to Stars Pharma’s dical monopoly, many enterprises and individuals in Lin City purchase health insurance from the insurance companies under Stars Pharma.
The payout standards of these dical insurances abroad are either non-existent or have an extrely low compensation ratio, further hindering the patients’ steps to seek dical help in other regions.
Of course, Stars dical still claims fairness and justice on its official website, saying that all dical prices are open and transparent.
But in different places, it’s quite reasonable that so inexpensive materials and services are ‘just so happened’ to be missing.
The middle-aged man on the TV continued to speak eloquently.
He Ao lowered his head and walked towards the bustling street ahead.
Nuclear Street was the most bustling district of Lin City, even though it couldn’t compare with Dawn City’s Eighth Avenue, or even so of Dawn City’s particularly thriving large malls, it indeed gathered the largest flow of people in Lin City, presenting a thriving scene throughout the street.
Similarly, it was also the comrcial center of Lin City, with most of the city’s luxurious comrcial office buildings concentrated in the Nuclear District.
These office buildings were built towering and luxurious.
Standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows of these buildings, one could not only look down upon the glittering lights of Nuclear District but also gaze upon the vast, silent wilderness.
Among these buildings, the Nuclear Gold Office Building was the most luxurious.
The destination of He Ao’s journey, Romock’s construction company headquarters, was located inside this building.
In the early morning, the lobby of the office building was filled with hurried office workers.
They clutched bread, held milk, hurried through the access control, and entered the building.
He Ao also stopped at the entrance, opened his wristband, and showed his resu to the security guard.
“Here for an interview?”
The guard glanced at him and opened the access control.
He Ao walked in smoothly.
A long queue had already ford in front of the elevators.
These young and middle-aged office workers crowded at the elevator entrance, most of them hurriedly taking a bite of breakfast, then squeezing into the elevator.
Pete’s original company was also in this office building; he had worked there for many years.
The vast majority of office workers who worked here did not earn high wages.
They sat in the luxurious offices rented by the boss, dressed in neat clothes, but received ager salaries.
They made up the splendor of this prosperity, but this prosperity did not belong to them.
He Ao bought a cup of coffee at the coffee shop on the first floor and stood quietly at the periter, waiting for all the workers to get on the elevators, before he approached the elevator himself.
It was past nine o’clock, and the once noisy and bustling lobby fell silent in an instant.
The entire hall was empty, with only a few security guards walking back and forth.
He Ao walked up to the elevator, lit it up, and then pressed the button for the 57th floor, which is the penultimate floor of the entire building and the highest floor the elevator could reach.
——
“Daddy, do you think this swimsuit looks good on ?”
The blonde girl twirled in front of the floor-to-ceiling windows, showcasing her light blue lace sling swimsuit.
This is the 58th floor of the Nuclear Gold Office Building, the top floor of the entire building.
The 49th to 58th floors, a whole ten floors of the building, belonged to Romock Construction Company, half of the 58th floor being transford into a luxurious villa by Romock.
This villa was extrely secure, and to reach this place, one had to first pass through the stringent security on the 57th floor.
Here, Romock had a spacious open-air swimming pool and a series of exquisite luxurious rooms.
The living room was as broad as a palace.
Standing in front of this pool-adjacent floor-to-ceiling window, he could overlook most of the scenery of Lin City.
“Looks good.”
Wearing a light gray suit and holding a wine glass, Romock reached out with his sowhat calloused hand and gave the blonde girl’s pert bottom a slap.
The fair and plump peach quivered gently, ripples appeared on her snow-white skin, and the blonde girl smiled sweetly, “Then Daddy I’m going to play.”
With that, she bounced and jumped into the outside open-air swimming pool.
Her fair and slender legs moved through the water like a fish, swimming several ters away,
Then she turned back, rose from the water, and looked at Romock with an adorable smile.
Her wet hair draped over her smooth, jade-like shoulders with shiny droplets of water sliding down her chest.
“This little bitch is seducing Daddy again.”
Several hands stretched out from the water, grabbed the girl’s body, and dragged her underwater.
Several girls with graceful figures, be it youthful, energetic, charming, or cute, with varying beauties, erged from the swimming pool.
“No, no.”
The initial blonde girl who was pulled down popped out of the water again, “Sisters, spare please.”
“We can’t just let you off that easily.”
The girls started frolicking in the swimming pool.
Looking at the vibrant and beautiful scene, Romock lifted his glass and sipped the red wine in it.
These were all his ‘daughters,’ his ‘sweethearts.’
He shook his head with a smile and turned to walk toward the cloakroom nearby.
The villa’s cloakroom was the epito of luxury, with exquisitely tailored formal wear from Dawn City as well as quality fur coats shipped in from Rock City in the Northern Borders.
Romock did not like those luxury brands that claid to be entirely handmade with a long history.
He preferred pure ‘personal tailoring.’ He kept a beautiful senior designer in his mansion in Dawn City.
That designer had recently gained significant fa in the Federation’s design circles.
Every year, he would fly to Dawn City several tis to have the designer create several sets of tailor-made clothes for him.
Of course, during the fitting process, there was inevitable physical contact and in-depth communication.
Romock enjoyed this kind of life.
Long-term exercise, along with the latest vitality potions from Stars Group, kept him virile past the age of sixty.
Recently, his personal doctor recomnded that he try a ‘life extension service’ that Stars Group had only recently promoted to the public.
Stars Group claid that this service could easily extend a person’s life to over a hundred years while maintaining their vigor.
This ant that he could enjoy such days for a few more decades.
Unfortunately, this life-extension service was still by invitation only, available only to qualified VIP custors.
According to his VIP status at Romock, his private doctor had said he might have to wait a few more years.
Romock knew well the sales tactics of this private doctor, who had revealed this news in the hope that he would increase his recharge and purchases to boost his VIP level.
Romock didn’t say much, as he had always been willing to spend money to protect his life and body.
He directly spent five million to purchase a batch of new services and drugs.
By the way, he also tested the effects of a new vitality drug on that uncooperative private doctor.
Money is a good thing.
Romock smiled, placed the glass he was holding on the bar at the entrance of the cloakroom, and walked into his cloakroom filled with various expensive clothes.
“Don’t move.”
Just as he entered the cloakroom, a hard, cold object pressed against his lower back.
A hoarse voice ca from behind him.
Romock’s body stiffened, and his hand instinctively reached inside his clothes.
“Raise your hands.
I am a law-abiding citizen.
If you don’t move, I won’t hurt you.”
The hoarse voice spoke again.
Of course, the battle-hardened Romock didn’t believe this.
His mind raced, and he slowly raised his hands, “Young man, don’t be rash.
We can talk about it slowly.
If you need money, I have plenty and can transfer so to you.”
“Forty years ago, the demolition project of Morak Park, was that your doing?”
The voice behind him slowly asked.
“Morak Park…” Hearing this, Romock was taken aback, barely recalling, “It was my doing, but it’s been so long, I was just starting out then, only contracted for so simple demolition work…”
This ‘visitor’ behind him was He Ao.
He wasn’t here looking for Romock just because of a personal grudge.
According to the information Eve had investigated, Romock was the only contractor still having an active record from back then who could easily be found from the Morak Park demolition work.
Morak Park used to be the building now occupied by Stars Supre Hospital’s core area.
Before the construction of Stars Supre Hospital, a mysterious buyer had purchased the park, demolished it, and then abandoned it for twenty years.
“Then let ask you,” He Ao asked softly, “do you know the na of the businessman who bought the park back then?”
“I don’t know,” Romock said, tilting his body slightly to let his left hand get a bit closer to the hat stand on his left, “I was just a second-level contractor at the ti.
That businessman was very secretive; none of us saw him.
The one who subcontracted the project to wasn’t that businessman either.”
“You’ve been in this industry for so many years, and you really don’t know anything?”
He Ao asked hoarsely.
Romock felt the object pressing against his back shift slightly as if the person behind him was preparing to shoot.
He quickly raised his hands and shouted aloud,
“Janos!
Senator Janos!
All construction projects in Lin City have to go through the senator’s family!
They acquire the projects at a ‘high price’ through bidding and then subcontract them to us at a lower price.
The senator forty years ago was Janos’s father—they must know who that businessman was back then!”
Romock felt the ‘gun barrel’ behind him relax.
He suddenly reached into the hat stand beside him, pulled out a pitch-black submachine gun from beneath the thick clothes, spun around,
“F**k, die, bastard!”
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