Chapter 1268: Growing Old

From the planning of the "game," everything was arranged, and there would be no surprises.

This is a game where many people seize political interests together, so no one will feel dissatisfied with this game.

Some people from the Jincheng Consortium can also use this opportunity to go further on the political stage of Laizhou, which only has benefits for everyone and no harm.

For the public, it is actually the same; even if there is no great benefit, there will be no great harm.

No one will get hurt in this.

Listening to Lans's promotion of subsequent plans, William listened very seriously and even took the initiative to conduct some communication.

He attached great importance to this matter; after all, Manton's position is special. If he could serve as Mayor of Manton for two years, and as long as he didn't do too badly, it would reduce a lot of resistance for his campaign for governor.

And it was unlikely he would do too badly.

Just like William in Hucheng now, he raised Hucheng's economic development level to a limit far exceeding what previous mayors could do!

Besides the fact that he himself really had some ability, it was actually more due to the participation of Lans and the Lawrence family behind the scenes.

For a small city with only 200,000 permanent residents, a rough calculation is that there are only about 30,000 to 40,000; removing those not suitable for work, the working-age population is only a few tens of thousands.

Even if a new factory providing 1,000 jobs is provided for this city, the employment rate can be increased by several percentage points in a very short time.

Not to mention that Lans and the Lawrence family's investment in Hucheng is not too small, completely to make William's political achievements look good.

For the locals, they don't care whether these foreign investments are because of their mayor William or because this place is indeed suitable for investment. For ordinary people living in Hucheng, these new jobs and work opportunities are real.

Even if the existence of these jobs has a certain purpose, people have gained more work opportunities and better working environments because of the appearance of these jobs.

They will also, and need to, thank William.

So Lans is not worried at all that William won't be selected as this Top Ten Mayor.

Moreover, even if he really failed to be selected, as the "organizer," Lans could directly add him in.

Such a practice might decay a bit when it reaches Manton, but it is still effective.

They chatted a lot about what William needs to do in subsequent plans, and then at a little past nine o'clock, the conversation ended.

William returned to his house with satisfaction. The old man prepared a house of his own for every member of the family, a detached house.

These houses are not the villa style in the city, and are even different from those detached houses in ordinary middle-class communities.

They are just small houses standing alone in the manor. There is greening around the houses. This place is like a clean and tidy small community, but it lacks some urban atmosphere.

Returning to the villa, Emily immediately greeted him and helped William take off his coat and hang it on the coat rack.

The two came to the living room, and the television was playing the hottest TV series in Laizhou recently.

Since the Jincheng News Group created this kind of "continuous movie" story drama under Lans's suggestion, people immediately became obsessed with TV series. Many people would immediately put down everything in their hands when it was playing, quietly staying in front of the TV, waiting for the broadcast of the TV series.

TV series, with their simple and straightforward nature and lack of viewing difficulty, are becoming an indispensable part of federal civilian entertainment.

From the governor's wife to the homeless on the side of the road, they are all obsessed with various series.

Now the series of Jincheng News Group are often sold to television stations in other states, and their experience and concepts in producing TV series are ahead of their time.

She lowered the volume a bit; life on the farm is somewhat boring.

Emily did not take Victor away from here to live in the city.

She knew one thing very clearly: the core of the future must be Lans's son, Ace.

Instead of taking Victor back to the city away from the true "next generation core" of the interest group, it is better to just stay here and let Victor also become a part of this next-generation interest group.

So watching TV series became her main pastime.

"What did you two talk about, to talk for such a long time?", she poured a cup of coffee for William and asked by the way.

William leaned on the sofa. The communication with Lans brought him many new impacts, not just about how he would go to Manton to be mayor, but also many "political means" he had never seen before.

William is not a mediocre person, although he had almost no major achievements in the first half of his life, just an insignificant civil servant in the Jincheng City Hall.

But such life and work also made him very familiar with the operation of the government. He never thought that politics could become something like a "game" in Lans's mouth.

Capitalization, entertainment, and it seems not bad!

Yes, not bad.

Sometimes he is also obsessed with those programs on TV. People's dependence on TV is constantly deepening, which will become a propaganda channel with greater influence than newspapers and magazines.

And making politics entertaining can allow more grassroots voters to join in.

According to statistics from non-governmental federal agencies, about more than 30% of voters do not vote every year. They are not interested in voting. Even if some political parties use fried chicken and food stamps to tempt them, they are too lazy to go out and cast their votes for people they don't know and don't care about.

There is such a saying in the election game—"Whoever can make those who are unwilling to vote walk into the polling station can control the future of the Federation!"

Perhaps... with these measures of Lans, more people can be made to walk into the polling station and cast their votes for themselves.

He chatted with Emily about the things in this, and also talked about his going to Manton to run for mayor for the first time at home.

"My God!", Emily looked at her husband in disbelief. Although she was not very interested in political things, it didn't mean she wasn't sensitive.

Her pupils were experiencing a lasting earthquake. The constantly shrinking pupils made William feel interesting, "What's wrong with you?"

Emily then came back to her senses. She sat across William, "You mean, the mayor of Manton, you?"

"Uh-huh!", William responded with a smile.

"Holy crab, when I chat with some friends, they always say... if anyone can become the mayor of Manton, then he must be a big shot in the state government in the future, right?"

At this time, Emily was undoubtedly excited. Speaking of which, she could also be considered a "noble lady" now, and she had quite a reputation in the social circle of noble ladies.

She knew where all these changes came from, and she had also fantasized about the future, but she didn't expect that the future would come so quickly!

Just... in such a short period of time, it appeared in front of her, within reach!

William considered for a few seconds and then nodded, "Yes, they are right. As the capital of Laizhou, Manton is undoubtedly an important position."

"And the state government is in Manton. This position will be highly valued by the state government. As long as you don't do too badly, you will eventually enter the state government."

"Important positions in the two houses, or governor, deputy governor, etc."

Emily's eyes widened even more, "Lans won't let you just go to be a deputy governor or something, right?"

She asked very seriously, and William did not brush her off, "We talked about this matter, I will participate in the subsequent gubernatorial election."

Emily's whole person seemed to become light, with a feeling of floating like an immortal!

She looked at William with surprise all over her face. The couple looked at each other, and after about four or five seconds, she suddenly started to undo William's belt.

William tried to block, but failed. She sat on William, holding his neck, like the female knight best at horse riding on the farm.

After everything calmed down, William lit a cigarette, and just after taking two puffs, it was taken away by Emily. She also started to smoke, "I need to calm down. This news is too shocking. I am about to become the governor's wife!"

William's face was full of smiles. He was actually very happy and excited, but he pretended to be relaxed and said, "They are all positions serving people." As a result, he was met with an eye roll.

"I am about to become the governor's wife!", she said to William while exhaling smoke. That will be the most glorious moment of her life, no one else!

Every year's Saint Agriculture Festival is the most important day of the year for people on the farm. Smiles can be seen on everyone's face, but this year there is a little difference.

Although people are still happy, they are hiding some other emotions.

On the day of the Saint Agriculture Festival, old man Herbert appeared at the event sitting in a wheelchair. He looked even worse than a few days ago and would often lose his focus.

Lans called the doctor stationed here and asked about Herbert's situation. The conclusion obtained was very bad.

"I saw his situation in the first half of the year was not bad?", Lans asked the doctor standing at the edge of the crowd.

In the first half of the year, old man Herbert looked no different from a normal person. In just a few months, his situation became bad.

The doctor pushed his glasses, "Mr. Lans, I am sorry, but I don't have any good way."

"Although science has progressed a lot, we still cannot solve the mysteries of the human body. The human body is like a treasure house, a precise instrument."

"When a part of it has a problem, it will bring down other parts that are still running, until the whole machine is completely scrapped, and then it will stop."

"This process develops very quickly. Maybe at first, it was just a gear that broke a tooth, and then the second gear next to it, the third, the bearing. Every time it turns, the degree of damage to the machine is exponential."

Lans lit a cigarette, "How long can he live?"

The doctor glanced at old man Herbert who was sitting in a wheelchair in the distance looking at the bonfire, "If it's just letting him 'live,' we can let him persist for a few more years."

"But if it's letting him live while maintaining his own consciousness, then maybe after the winter passes."

After the winter passes, that is, next March, he still has half a year.

Lans nodded. He still had a good feeling about old man Herbert. The old man was very enthusiastic and even got him a horse, although he didn't ride it much.

"If, we change his organs..."

The doctor considered for a while, "He might not even be able to get off the operating table, but it is also possible to extend his life for a period of time, not too long, maybe... half a year, or a year."

"He is too old. This is his biggest problem, not something that can be solved by changing young organs."

Lans nodded, "I know. Then take good care of him for this last period of time."

"Let him retain his dignity when he leaves."

Lans returned to the event. The huge burning bonfire illuminated everyone's face, and it seemed that all troubles were burned out in the firelight.

On the second day of the Saint Agriculture Festival, old man Herbert's situation seemed to be a little better than the day before. He said quite a lot and also asked about the results of some activities in the town and surrounding cities.

Like the big pumpkin competition, shooting competition, etc.

This year, the farm won first place in the big pumpkin competition. The seeds they got from the champion last year played a key role, plus the more expensive cultivation costs, a beautiful big pumpkin made Lawrence Farm the champion.

They were all trivial matters.

Lans stayed for a few more days, and some people who came back for the festival began to leave one after another. For example, William left earlier; he left early on the morning of the second day of the Saint Agriculture Festival, and he had to go back to take care of his city.

The lively farm gradually quieted down again, and everyone quickly returned to their roles.

On November 1st, Lans said goodbye to Patricia and Ace. Sitting in the car leaving, he looked back at the three old men sitting in rocking chairs under the eaves of the big house. Perhaps the next time he comes back, there will only be two left.

The tax investigation surrounding Lans and the people around him, including the Wanli Group, in Laizhou had stopped. They really couldn't find any tax problems—

Actually, there were some, and quite a few, but these problems were covered up by Lans using legal means.

For example, he would send some artworks to auction and get a large amount of money. The tax bureau couldn't find any problems from him; he paid taxes in full according to the new tax law.

As for the people or companies that bought these artworks, whether their money came from legal sources is another matter.

These individuals or companies that won the artworks basically couldn't be traced. Basically, after the delivery was completed, all relevant personnel would mysteriously disappear, and the company would also be deregistered.

It is almost impossible to trace back to Lans from this aspect, and the state tax bureau didn't consider tracing it down.

You don't know whether the person you are chasing is Little Red Riding Hood or the Big Bad Wolf.

So they submitted the report to the higher level, and the whole case was over.

Although the director of the Federal Tax Bureau maintained a neutral position, he was ultimately nominated and passed by the Social Party. After confirming that the state tax bureau's report had no problems, he also stopped the continued investigation of Lans and the Wanli Group, so everything ended here.

Without things to deal with, Lans spent more time and energy on the new city project under construction. There are still some troubles here that need him to deal with.

"That Imperial Commercial Group has been very active recently. They are contacting some local companies and making large-scale acquisitions."

"It can be seen that they are pointing their spears directly at us this time."

At the board meeting of the Brooks Consortium, these local big capitalists sat together and talked about some of the Imperial Consortium's moves before and after the Saint Agriculture Festival.

Roger and the others earned a lot of money following Lans. In recent years, not just ordinary business, including the liquor business, they have also been involved more or less.

The first step of Roger, this "outsider," entering South Ya'an State was to acquire some local enterprises around Shell and the surrounding areas.

Their goal was very clear, with "people's livelihood" as the main target. Supermarkets were the first project they acquired. Currently, the three large supermarkets in Shell City had been acquired by them, and some small supermarkets were also under negotiation.

Then there was logistics.

The new city project was accompanied by a large amount of transshipment, requiring a large amount of logistics services. They established a "Wansuda Logistics Company" to be responsible for this aspect of work, and also began to dig people from the surrounding areas, those truck drivers.

Actually, from the perspective of the whole state, this might just be some changes in Shell City and the surrounding areas, but for the entire Brooks Consortium, the Imperial Commercial Group had already sent a strong challenge signal.

Facing the challenge, what they need to do is to fight, not avoid.

The vice chairman of the group company's board of directors pursed his lips tightly, "The problem now is that we have no way to compete with them commercially."

"On the logistics company side, they only need to do their own work well now to meet their business needs, letting every truck driver have things to do every day."

"On the supermarket side... they can also transport food and goods from other places. Lawrence Farm is the largest crop provider in Laizhou and also their own people. They have their own supply system, and it is difficult for us to form a strong confrontation in this regard."

"And more goods are entering here, but we have nothing to do."

The chairman of the board sat there and thought for a while, "Leaving it alone will only let them constantly erode the market that belongs to us. Even if it is the smallest business, we must compete with them, letting them realize that challenging us is not that easy!"

"We have a local crop supply advantage, and the price of everything is 5% cheaper than theirs. Keep an eye on them!"

"We can not make money, but they must lose money. The bigger their steps, the more they lose. In the end, it definitely won't be us who can't hold on first!"

"In addition, a few of us considered it, and we can also promote our own 'New City Plan' to continue to compete with them."

"We have a good reputation and brand effect locally, so there is no reason we can't compete with these outsiders!"

(End of chapter)

¤ ===== CHAPTER 1269 =====