Chapter 129: Ideas and Competitions and Administrations

Alberto looked at Lans and didn't quite understand the meaning of what he just said, "You said the film industry can help us?"

Lanse nodded, "I believe you have a lot of money on your side that needs to go into a bank."

Alberto certainly wouldn't deny this point, because Lanse also had over four hundred thousand in his hands that needed to go into a bank, but it ultimately didn't go in because this money couldn't withstand an investigation.

In fact, he could completely deposit this money in a bank; the bank doesn't care if the money you take to the counter is dirty money or money you earned yourself. All they want is for you to use money to exchange for a deposit certificate that costs them no more than two cents to produce.

But the Tax Bureau cares about this. The bank tells the Tax Bureau that someone deposited four hundred thousand at once. After the Tax Bureau gets the information and investigates, they find this person hasn't reported a high income and hasn't paid taxes—investigate him.

And then Lanse would be finished.

In the hands of the Tax Bureau, no one is innocent.

So, before this money is washed clean, it can only stay in the safe, and occasionally, when it needs to be used, only a small portion can be taken out.

Lanse was already "suffering" like this with the money in his hands, and Alberto and his superiors, the Pasleto family—whose main business operations involved high-profit smuggling—had even more dirty money that needed to be washed clean.

Alberto nodded; he certainly didn't deny it, "But what does this have to do with the film industry?"

"A ticket only costs five cents; how long would it take us to wash it clean?"

"This isn't three thousand or five thousand, Lanse, this is...", he didn't continue, but Lanse could infer from his context that this was at least three to five million that needed to be washed, or even thirty to fifty million.

Lanse had a different view on this, "A person pays five cents, but he can buy a soda, which is another five cents, and then buy a two-cent bag of popcorn."

"If we also introduce a three-cent shoe-shine coupon and attract enough people, then one person entering the cinema can provide us with fifteen cents of legal income."

"One theater, four screening rooms, eight hundred tickets, one hour!"

"Scheduling eighteen shows a day is two thousand one hundred and sixty dollars."

"If you have ten cinemas, you can wash twenty thousand dollars clean in a day."

"That's six hundred thousand a month, and seven point two million a year."

"I'd rather take out a loan to build a few cinemas myself than give the Kodak family fifteen or twenty thousand in fees to have them wash my money."

"And it's not just cinemas that can wash money; the entire filming process can wash money."

"More importantly!", Lanse's tone suddenly became much heavier, "By building cinemas, we can provide jobs for society, increase local fiscal revenue, and enrich social cultural circulation."

"And it's impossible for there to be zero audience members. As long as there are audience members, even if not many, while the money is being washed clean, the loss for us will also be reduced to a minimum!"

"The most important point: this is a respectable thing; no one can blame you for it."

"When you and your cinemas are spread across the entire Federation, even in the uninhabited Western regions, people will respectfully call you 'Film Tycoon Mr. Coty'."

After listening, Alberto felt somewhat tempted; they also had their own methods of money laundering.

They would transport this portion of dirty money out of the Federation's mainland via smuggling, then return to Sumuli Island, and through their local influence, complete the process of turning this money from illegal to legal under the guise of a shell company.

By this time, one million would only be left with eight hundred thousand or so; every link received the benefits it wanted, and only then could this money enter local banks without any problems.

Then, they would let this money come to the Federation through legal channels, whether in cash or by transfer; the Federation never cares about the way money enters the Federation from people coming to invest.

But this money cannot directly enter the Pasleto family's accounts, as this would also attract the attention of federal banks and the tax system.

Some merchants from Sumuli Island would purchase some legal assets and then "lease" them to the Pasleto family for use.

Cars, houses, or other things.

In this way, although they don't have actual ownership, they also rid these assets of some trouble that might lead to them being implicated.

If the Federal Tax Bureau and the Federal Police or Department of Justice cannot prove that these assets are related to the family, then even if their family encounters trouble, these assets are safe.

It seems like this approach is quite good, and the loss isn't high, but it does have risks after all; just the act of smuggling this money out of the Federation is not an easy thing.

If you don't pull strings, in case you get caught, all this money is gone, so pulling strings to ensure this money can leave the Federation stably also requires costs and carries risks.

Calculating it overall, out of one million washed clean, about seven hundred and fifty thousand to eight hundred thousand remains; this is the limit, and it's impossible to have less.

Originally, Alberto felt this was already very efficient, but after simply hearing Lanse say this, he suddenly felt that Lanse's method seemed even better.

"I don't know too much about these things; perhaps you should talk to Mr. Pasleto personally."

He paused as he spoke, "However, we do know people in this field; you can take your friend to contact them, and they will give your friend a role."

Alberto didn't take this matter to heart; he was only interested in what Lanse said about laundering money through filming and showing movies.

The two chatted for a while longer, when suddenly Alberto seemed to remember something, "Do you have anything to do tomorrow morning?"

Lanse shook his head, "The police have been watching very closely lately, and they follow me wherever I go, so I have nothing to do."

Alberto laughed heartily after hearing this, "You'll get used to it; they used to watch me often too. We all have to go through these stages."

"Since you have nothing to do, why don't we go watch a baseball game together."

"You'll definitely love the atmosphere there!"

Lanse thought for a moment and agreed.

The next morning, Alberto took the initiative to come pick him up. Fudis drove, and the three of them went straight to the Jincheng baseball stadium. This was the home field for the Sailboat team, and before the game had even started, it was already packed with people!

Outside the stadium, many people were selling snacks and such, and Lanse even saw some people selling beer almost semi-publicly, though the police maintaining order didn't seem very interested in what these people were doing.

This also had to do with the fact that many people didn't understand the Prohibition, including many police officers who felt the Prohibition was issued inexplicably; they were also among the groups resisting it.

Some police officers would even change into plain clothes after work to go have a drink at a nearby speakeasy.

After Fudis parked the car, the three of them entered the stadium together. Lanse noticed that Alberto had specifically worn a Sailboat team jersey today and was even wearing a baseball cap!

"Our stands are in the best position, facing the batter directly. If we're lucky enough, we might even get a ball!", Alberto became excited after arriving at the stadium; it was clear he truly loved baseball.

There were many others around him who were just as excited; they were all wearing Sailboat team jerseys, wearing caps, holding gloves, and discussing intensely.

Lanse didn't understand this stuff very well, and Fudis chatted with him while drinking beer.

As the players from the two competing teams began to enter the field, the Sailboat team's anthem even rang out in the stands, and Alberto stood up, looking so fanatical he didn't look like a Sumuli person at all.

"Incredible, right?"

At this moment, an old man sitting behind them suddenly poked Lanse's shoulder with his hand, "Why aren't you singing?"

Lanse looked at him with a "what the fuck are you talking about" expression. Perhaps feeling that Lanse and Fudis beside him weren't to be trifled with, the old man finally put away his hot temper.

"You're sitting in the Sailboat team's home stands; you have a responsibility to cheer for the Sailboat team with us!"

Alberto realized what was happening, put his arm around Lanse's shoulder, and turned to the old man, saying, "This is my friend. This is his first time watching baseball, and I believe he will soon become a fan of Dai Wei."

The serious expression on the old man's face immediately turned into a smile, "Yes, no one can resist Dai Wei's charm.", and then he looked like he was saying "I'm waiting for you to become a fan."

Lanse suddenly felt that he shouldn't have agreed to Alberto's invitation to watch the game together.

When the Sailboat team's main batter stood in his position and adjusted his posture, all the home fans stood up.

This forced Lanse to stand up as well. He found it hard to understand the fanatical emotions of these people, but to avoid the old man continuing to bother him, he could only follow suit.

The pitcher was very nervous at this moment; the Jincheng Sailboat team's home field was definitely not a comfortable environment, and those home supporters who stood up put great pressure on them.

And the fans of this era weren't exactly obedient; there were indeed people who would rush onto the field to beat up players.

And baseball in this era was also considered one of the high-risk sports.

It's not that many professional athletes died suddenly due to baseball games, but that many baseball players were accidentally injured because they performed too well or too poorly.

As a batter with the potential to enter the Hall of Fame, Dai Wei was very popular here!

The pitcher threw with force, and the baseball fell into the catcher's glove with an incredible trajectory in the air. Dai Wei swung and missed, the umpire gave the result that the pitch was valid, and boos and insults immediately erupted in the stands.

Of course, they weren't cursing Dai Wei, but the pitcher. In fact, it's hard to curse very harshly in the federal language, but even with ordinary greetings, having so many people greet you at once was unbearable.

During the second pitch, the pitcher's pressure clearly increased a bit, and as the swinging bat made a "bing" sound, the atmosphere at the scene exploded instantly!

Watching Dai Wei sprinting on the field and the catcher's pursuit and interception, for a moment, Lanse seemed to understand a little bit why people would cheer for a game.

This was indeed a game full of power, speed, and passion. The eyes of the entire stadium were fixed on that "running elf" amidst the commentator's play-by-play—that was the commentator's exact words.

But an elf weighing over a hundred pounds... isn't that a bit too big?

Alberto was already waving his fists and swearing, but he wasn't swearing out of anger; this was his way of cheering.

It was probably like shouting "Go!" or "Run fast!", only now it had turned into "Fuck!".

This hit was far enough, and it also reflected Dai Wei's value as a star batter. Before they could retrieve the baseball and tag him out, he completed the final base.

The old man behind him laughed very loudly, and Alberto also waved his arms and hugged Lanse, as well as the guy on his other side...

Without a doubt, the Sailboat team ultimately won the game, and Dai Wei contributed a very brilliant performance. In fact, from a neutral perspective, Lanse felt the others did quite well too.

But... stars and fans are born with filters; this is just something that can't be helped.

After the game, Alberto dragged Lanse and Fudis to run near the exit, wanting to ask for an autograph, but it looked like the players were all quite tired. Except for the first few who signed on the baseball cards, the subsequent audience members didn't get any autographs.

Alberto didn't get one either; he was very disappointed.

"You could invite him to dinner and then get an autograph while you're at it.", Lanse didn't quite understand Alberto's thoughts and actions; in fact, he could easily get Dai Wei's autograph.

Alberto put away the prepared baseball card and shook his head, "That would lose the meaning it's supposed to have, Lanse; you don't understand this."

There was a bit of disdain in his tone; Lanse indeed didn't understand.

On the way back, he took out a card and drew a few lines on it with a pen. Lanse leaned over to take a look—it was the game schedule.

"I'm one step closer to ten million now!"

Alberto put the card away, "So this is the charm of baseball. You can not only get the passion and everything you want from them, but if you know them well enough, plus a little luck, you can gain even more happiness."

"Has anyone ever won the jackpot?", Lanse asked curiously.

If it were just a single game, he felt it wouldn't be a big problem, but if you needed to guess the entire schedule correctly, even if you didn't need to guess the scores, that was a very difficult thing.

Even if you knew every team well, problems would still arise!

He didn't believe anyone could win. Perhaps someone had won, but he didn't know if the person who won was just lucky or if it was arranged for them to win the jackpot.

Alberto gave a few examples; every few years someone would win the jackpot, from the initial two million to the current ten million. Everyone in the Federation who loves baseball is watching the annual league and the betting.

Hopefully they are playing for real!

After having lunch with Alberto at noon—a lunch with a Sumuli Island style—Lanse bid farewell.

Alberto needed a nap; the morning's game had exhausted him, and he had to rely on rest to recover.

Some people always envy the President for his high position and great power, but they don't know that when ordinary people can take a nap, the President still has to be busy with work.

The President is also a loyal fan of baseball. As a sport promoted heavily by the Federation, almost all men of all ages have a great preference for baseball.

The President even has several championship-signed baseball caps from his hometown team!

But at this moment, he had no leisure time to watch a baseball game; instead, he had just finished a meeting.

Right now, there was a document in front of him, a document for the establishment of the Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Hazardous Materials, pushed by Congress and multiple departments.

As long as he signed his name on this document, this department would be established immediately.

And the work of this new department would be to inspect all smuggled alcohol.

The church people and some capitalists, as well as politicians, were very dissatisfied with the current intensity of the Federation's Prohibition.

Although the comprehensive Prohibition had been in effect for almost a week, according to their investigation, various semi-public drinking phenomena could be seen everywhere across the country.

The so-called Prohibition only meant that because the price of alcoholic beverages had risen, some of the underclass couldn't afford to buy alcohol and couldn't drink.

Those who could afford to drink were still drinking heavily, and some areas even saw cases of robbery and theft occurring to obtain money for alcohol.

This seriously violated the purpose of implementing the Prohibition, so under the promotion of multiple departments and multiple forces, they finally decided to increase the maintenance and management system of the Prohibition to prevent alcoholic beverages from harming federal citizens!

The President held his fountain pen and waited for quite a while. Several people waiting for him to finish signing the document so they could go execute it were a bit impatient, but they couldn't really urge the President, so they could only wait quietly.

Perhaps having thought through something, the President finally moved, and then the tip of the pen landed on the signature line of the document.

The President's name appeared on it in one stroke. After he finished signing, he handed the document to the waiting staff and put away his fountain pen, "Let it be like this..."

At 2:15 PM, the Presidential Press Secretary held a press conference. The spokesperson gave examples of individuals in some areas where the Prohibition had instead led to vicious cases.

Congress and the President were both strongly dissatisfied with this, believing that some areas had not fulfilled their obligations in implementing the Prohibition.

At the same time, they realized that they shouldn't add more extra work to the city police, so they established the "Bureau of Tobacco, Alcohol, and Hazardous Materials," which would be specifically responsible for inspecting the circulation, sale, and use of these commodities.

Officer Lukaer, sitting in his office, was stunned for a while after hearing this news. Before this, the inspection of alcohol was jointly enforced by the Tax Bureau and the Police Department.

But now they were going to establish an independent law enforcement department; he didn't know who would be responsible for it here in Jincheng.

Just as he was thinking about this, someone knocked on his office door, "The Chief wants to see you."

Officer Lukaer took his legs off the desk, tidied up his attire, and quickly arrived at the Chief's office.

The Chief looked him up and down and pointed to the chair opposite, "Sit..."