Chapter 169
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At six o’clock, the dock still bustled with workers. Some ships arrived at Golden Port in the middle of the night, but they couldn’t stay for long, so they unloaded their cargo overnight.
Additionally, at night, some docks needed to sort and organize the cargo urgently unloaded during the day. Some might need to be restacked, some might need to be put into warehouses, and some would be directly loaded onto trains and sent off. In short, there was a lot of work to be done in the middle of the night, and the wages at the dock were relatively higher, around thirty-nine dollars.
Workers remaining at the dock in the middle of the night were mostly immigrants and illegal immigrants, with a small number of local workers, but not many. They preferred to earn less rather than work in the middle of the night, as night work was more tiring and uncomfortable than day work.
As soon as Lance stepped onto the dock, people greeted him. Most of them were in blue uniforms, and only they were willing to work in the middle of the night, just to earn two dollars more than during the day. Lance also continuously greeted them. Several people not wearing blue uniforms actively greeted Lance and asked if they could join Lance’s firm.
“This isn’t easy to do, you know. They’re signed to my firm because they… all lack work permits and legal immigrant status.”
“They weren’t protected by unions before, and actually, even now, only the dockworkers’ union provides some convenience for them. In other places and industries, unions still close their doors to them.”
“That’s why I stepped forward to do work I shouldn’t be doing. I hope every one of us can have a good life and a brighter future.”
“Rather than being stratified into different classes with different, yet largely similar bleak futures, simply because we come from different places or have different legal statuses.”
“But you are all locals, with your own work cards and social security numbers, and the union will not refuse your applications. You are perfectly free to do any work you want.”
“If you also come to my firm, then it will conflict with the role of the local union.”
Lance said, pulling out cigarettes and distributing one to each of the people in front of him. This simple gesture alone made them feel overwhelmed! They had never had such a… distinguished person give them cigarettes. Everyone lit up happily. More people gathered around.
“I wouldn’t dare to steal jobs from the union. They’d crack my head open!” People laughed softly, but didn’t believe it was true.
However, Lance quickly continued, “I understand your thoughts. Others have brought this up to me before, and I’ve been considering it recently.”
“Perhaps we can try a different approach, but for now, we still need to think.”
“Beyond that, I hope you’ll be interested in our soon-to-open workers’ club…”
“It will feature more activity experience halls, stress-relieving programs, and I’ve even specifically added some entertainment-based competitions. You’ll surely enjoy it then.”
“And!”
He emphasized. The low murmur of discussion that had been present ceased. Lance stood in the cold wind, his exhaled breath forming a cloud of steam under the lamplight, which was then quickly dispersed by the wind.
“We offer cheap alcohol!”
Initially, they didn’t react, but then expressions of surprise appeared on the faces of these workers. Cheap alcohol, wasn’t that precisely what they needed most? Someone eagerly asked, “Mr. Lance, will it be open all night?”
Lance nodded. “Yes, twenty-four hours a day, and I assure you, only you and my people will be allowed in. I will not allow anyone else to enter.”
“This way, outsiders will come to our dock and compete with our workers for cheap alcohol and food.”
At this point, someone in the crowd said, “The union couldn’t be that kind!” His original intention was to suggest that Lance might be lying, but this statement greatly helped Lance. He had been wondering how to explain that all this was not from the dockworkers’ union, but from him, Mr. Lance. As a result, this questioner provided the most powerful assist!
He looked in the direction of the voice, then nodded and said, “I need to clarify. I have taken over the dockworkers’ club, so I am responsible for all these operations. The union has no expenditures whatsoever, so you can rest assured.”
“It won’t suddenly close down one day because it’s not making money, or open only once a week for other reasons.”
“I believe you will be shocked!”
When the workers heard that this wasn’t the union’s doing, but Lance’s, the questioning voice spoke again. “Mr. Lance, will you charge us a fee?”
Though Lance hadn’t found this person, he was still grateful to him. “Of course, but I only charge for your consumption itself. Otherwise, even if I were the richest man in Golden Port, I couldn’t afford to have over ten thousand workers at the dock drink a few glasses every day.”
“What I can guarantee is that I won’t profit from you. I know some people will say, ‘Mr. Lance, are you really that kind-hearted?'”
“In reality, when we gather, we already form a powerful force, and this force can be exchanged for money!”
“It’s just that you can’t monetize the strength you have when united, but I can. And part of the money I earn will go into my pocket, and the other part will be used to subsidize it. You’ll see a completely different club then.”
In the distance, three cars slowly parked on the internal dock road. One of the cars honked, and Elvin got out, standing beside it. There were many large lights on the dock, illuminating everything. Lance nodded when he saw him, then turned to the surrounding workers.
“The people coming to pick me up have to go. If you’re interested in the new club that’s about to open, you’ll see some progress on it soon.”
Saying that, he bid farewell to the surrounding people and left.
“I thought you’d be back later,” Elvin said with a smile after picking up Lance. His stress had been immense these past few days. Although he was fully in charge of the family’s various tasks while Lance was away, he still wished Lance was there, for his peace of mind.
There were some things he simply didn’t know how to do. This wasn’t because he wasn’t smart enough, but because he hadn’t experienced it. It was like a boy on his first date. Perhaps, for him in the darkness that night, the most despair-inducing things in the world were the zipper and brass button of a girl’s jeans! He could do everything, yet he could do nothing!
Elvin hadn’t experienced these things; he needed a process of growth. But this era was not the girl who could accompany you through growth, from youthful ignorance to maturity. It was a bitch. If you didn’t do well, it wouldn’t say, “Honey, you should do this,” but would kick you away, shouting, “Next!”
Lance got into the car, pulled out a wad of money, and handed it to Hiram and Lawn. “Go buy some coffee for them. We need them. Come back after you’ve done this, and have them deliver it themselves.” More than a hundred dollars, at least.
Both nodded. These dockworkers would be a truly significant asset for Lance since he arrived in this world. Many people consider “the first pot of gold” to be the first sum of money earned easily, no matter how. But for a more mature Lance, in his understanding, the first pot of gold didn’t refer to mere wealth, but to the power that allowed him to settle down here and have the confidence to face certain situations! Money was everywhere, but power was rare.
“Leave a car for them,” he instructed again. Then the two cars quickly departed.
Hiram and Lawn found a coffee shop outside the dock. Calling it a coffee shop wasn’t entirely accurate. It was a small storefront with two drowsy employees.
Most likely a couple. This was the initial stage of capitalist budding. If they could endure, they would enter the initial stage of capitalist budding, begin employing workers, and then move to the next stage: exploiting workers. But before that, they were exploiting themselves.
The ringing of the doorbell quickly roused the couple, who stood up alertly. Hiram flicked his hair and pulled out the money in his hand. They had asked before coming. There were about two hundred people working at this dock tonight.
Golden Port had seven docks, but he clearly didn’t need to send to every dock. Sometimes, sending to everyone wouldn’t make them feel grateful; it was about demonstrating “class difference” that would move them, make them thankful, and appreciative.
“Two hundred cups of coffee, not the best, not the worst. Deliver them to pier number three. How much?”
The couple didn’t react at first, but quickly realized this was a big business deal! The wife wrote on a scratch paper for a while before saying, “Twenty dollars, sir.”
“Do you have donuts?”
“Yes, but not many. However, we have plenty of beef burritos…”
In the back kitchen, a large pile of burritos, with some vegetables, a little minced beef, and chicken, was the dockworkers’ favorite food. Hiram had eaten this before. Each cost fifteen cents because it contained beef and chicken bits, so it was considered a meat dish.
He used to eat it about once a week, but now… He looked back at Lawn, whose eyes held an inexplicable emotion. “Do you want one?”
Lawn nodded. He turned to the boss. “Two hundred plus two beef burritos. How long will it take to make?”
“And how much money?”
Both calculated, sweating profusely, finally arriving at the answer of forty dollars. As for the extra two? Consider it thanks for their business here.
Ten minutes later, the workers at Pier Three, with expressions of disbelief, received hot coffee and hot beef burritos from some of their fellow workers. More than the physical warmth brought by the hot coffee and hot burritos, what mattered more to them was the warmth in their hearts…
On the other side, in the car, Lance asked, “How’s the situation now?” Elvin, sitting in the passenger seat, said while watching the traffic, “Sam thinks we did it. He said he wants to talk to you when you get back.”
“Lisa and the others, as you said, are hiding in Creek Valley City. I told them not to contact us proactively, unless something unexpected happens.”
Lance nodded after hearing this. “Good. Sam isn’t important. What’s important is the mayor’s attitude.”
“We’ll know the mayor’s attitude tomorrow.”
“How many grapes did you buy?” After a short rest, Lance asked the question he cared about most.
Elvin was a little awkward. “Current grape suppliers are unwilling to sign long-term orders. At most, they’re willing to sign for grapes coming to market in May.”
“How much?”
Elvin was stunned for a moment. “Ninety-nine dollars.”
Lance shook his head slightly. Elvin, seeing this in the rearview mirror, thought Lance found it too expensive, but before he could suggest trying to haggle, Lance told him, “Buy as much as you can. Mix in some cash. Don’t give all checks.”
“Two-thirds check, one-third cash.”
“If they accept a low-price contract, we can give them five more dollars per ton.”
“I don’t quite understand…” Elvin was a bit unsure if what Lance was saying was the same as what he understood.
“We can offer them… a hundred and five dollars per ton, but in the contract, they can’t write a hundred and five dollars; they have to write a lower amount.”
“This way, they can pay less tax, and we can mix in more cash.”
One hundred dollars was used to conduct business worth one hundred twenty-five dollars, or even one hundred thirty-five dollars.
The tax bureau could pretend not to notice. It would be a headache for the tax bureau to truly investigate every single transaction. But if you conducted business worth a thousand dollars with one hundred dollars, that would be a bit too brazen! Your reported pre-tax income would not be enough to support your consumption.
Where did your money come from? Did you pay taxes? Did you conceal income or evade taxes? Reducing the price on the contract, for example, to eighty-five dollars a ton, Lance could give about seventy dollars in legal income, and the rest in cash would be fine. When investigated later, it would be reasonable and legal.
Unless someone specifically wanted to cause trouble for him, the tax bureau wouldn’t proactively investigate. But if your income this month is only tens of thousands of dollars, yet you buy hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of grapes…
Now Elvin understood, but he was also a bit curious. “Are these grapes really worth it?”
Lance also looked at him through the rearview mirror, a smile on his face. “Much more worth it than you think!”
The power of alcoholics is limitless, and they themselves do indeed need to brew alcohol. And he was very certain that this was just the beginning of its price, far from its end, not even counting as a beginning, but merely a start!
The two cars quickly merged into the city’s traffic, then disappeared into the city’s rhythm. News about “Lance is back” quickly spread on the dock.
After all, the lucky ones at Pier 3 each received a very good cup of coffee and a beef burrito. Thirty cents, is that a lot? Not much, but definitely not a little. This was enough to make many people envious and jealous. And as beneficiaries, the workers at Pier Three continuously bragged about how delicious Mr. Lance’s coffee was and how tasty the beef burritos were.
Even if they knew it came from that small shop next to the port, they still found it delicious and flavorful! Someone pointed out the reason for the deliciousness—anything that costs no money tastes good—but it still made people envious.
The workers at Pier 3 also became more “supportive” of Lance, though “supportive” might not be the most accurate term. Simultaneously, news about the imminent reopening of the dockworkers’ club and the availability of cheap alcohol also began to spread among the workers.
Many people paid attention to the dock, so when Sam was still asleep in the morning, the phone rang and woke him up. It was Booker. “Mr. Sam, Lance is back.” Booker had been out recently, preparing to select some more girls.
Sam had talked to him about this; Lance might be difficult to deal with, and they had to be prepared for both possibilities. But Sam didn’t really think Lance would fight him to the end. They both worked for the mayor, so why should Lance act superior to him? At this moment, he groggily got up, tidied his appearance, ate something, and went to the phone.
The call quickly connected. A voice, distinct from Elvin’s, cleaner and more firmly confident, rang out from the receiver. “This is the Imperial Night nightclub.”
“Is that Mr. Lance?”
“It’s me.”
Sam changed his sitting posture and lit a cigarette. “Mr. Lance, I hope you can return Lisa to me. She is very important to me and my business.”
“You should know…”
Lance did not give him a chance to continue, because no matter how much he said, it would be useless.
“I don’t know where Lisa is. If you have evidence, you can come and find me.”
“No matter who you ask, my answer will be the same. I don’t know where Lisa is, nor am I interested in her whereabouts.”
“But, Sam, you need to remember one thing: your people injured my people. I will settle this score with you.”
The check Sam sent was eventually recovered. The person hadn’t even had time to drive the car away before he was stopped. At this moment, hearing Lance’s firm words, he suddenly wavered a bit, but after much thought, besides Lance, no one else had the meaning or necessity to do this!
Lance’s attitude was very firm, so his attitude softened slightly. “Lance, I don’t want to blow this out of proportion and take it to… him.”
“I’ll lose face then, but you’ll also make him very angry. We should be friends…”
Lance interrupted him again. “Mr. Sam, I’m not interested in being your friend, and I feel a bit nauseous at the thought.”
“I’ll come for you. At the same time, I must warn you: if you dare to bring girls from the Empire—whether you tricked them, bought them, or whatever—into your Red High Heels.”
“I guarantee, I will remove the red high heel from your signboard, and then shove it into your asshole!”
(End of this chapter)