Chapter 15: A New Job

In the morning, the fat boss left after preparing the formula. He rarely left in the morning because this was also a peak period for sales.

The street outside was dirty and messy. According to the customers who came to buy bread, all the cleaners in the city went on strike today—

This is a more polite way of saying it; in fact, the street cleaning work in New Jincheng is basically done by illegal immigrants.

They ask for very low income, 25 dollars, and can sweep the streets twice a day.

Hiring locals would cost at least 35 dollars. Ten dollars doesn't seem very conspicuous, but if the base is large enough, it's also a very astonishing number.

There are two types of city cleaners: one is managed by the City Administration, and these people work for the federal government.

According to the standard salary income of government staff, social insurance, medical insurance, social security, various welfare treatments referenced to government staff, and there are more holidays and shorter hours.

There is another type that is private, for example, a cleaning company contracts the street cleaning work of a certain block from the City Hall at a relatively low price.

They hire illegal immigrants to work, then only give a little money, and the remaining price difference is their profit.

When the City Hall discovers that the cost of hiring cleaners themselves is far higher than contracting it to these private enterprises, they will hold a meeting and then contract out this part of public utility.

The purpose of saving expenses is not to better serve society, but just to put more money into their own pockets.

Now the conflict between locals and illegal immigrants in the city is intensifying. Even if some cleaners are locals, they dare not go out to work alone.

Thus, forced strikes appeared. Of course, this might also be another kind of political appeal, telling citizens through such means that they should calm down.

Just one night and one morning without cleaning, the street looked much dirtier, and the donkey and horse manure on both sides of the road emitted a continuous stench under the high temperature.

It's best if it doesn't rain today, otherwise, the rainwater will mix with the manure of these animals, making the whole street and the whole city full of this stench.

Today's peak sales period ended very quickly. People came very early, bought and left, and few chatted here.

At about eleven o'clock, the car Fudisi drove last time stopped outside the shop.

He sat in the car, looked at Lansi through the car window, and honked the horn. "Kid, get in the car!"

Lansi took off his apron, handed it to the fat boss's daughter, asked for leave casually, and got into the car.

"The boss wants to see you." Fudisi started the car, trying to avoid the animal manure.

Although this stuff won't hurt the car, it's very troublesome to clean after the manure is squeezed into the tire tread.

But the road was full of this, and there was no way to avoid it.

"About what?" Lansi actually had some idea in his heart, but still asked.

Fudisi shook his head. "The cigarettes are in the drawer. You'll know when you get there."

On the way, Fudisi didn't speak, always driving seriously. Protesters could be seen everywhere on both sides of the road. In some alleys, one could also see some people beating up a few people.

During this period, Lansi also saw police officers enforcing the law. They just tied a few protesters who participated in the beating of black immigrants to the lamp posts on the roadside and then left.

Fudisi glanced at it, as if explaining for Lansi. "The police station is full of these people, and it can't hold any more. And they can't be sent to prison, so the Mayor signed the 'Administrative Order for On-site Disposal' this morning."

"This kind of behavior will be directly locked to a nearby lamp post for twenty-four hours."

Lansi found the cigarettes and lit one. "Is it a big mess?"

He curled his lips. "There are many people from other places pouring in here, so you know how big it is."

Joining in the fun has always been an amateur activity for Federation people outside of work, but there are also some professionals. They take money and do things. The Federation is not short of such groups.

No matter when or where you want to create a protest of any scale, as long as the money is in place, there is nothing they can't do.

Here, luxury cars also have privileges on the road. Without anyone blocking them, they entered the alley behind the finance company. This is their parking lot, and there are many luxury cars inside.

At the back door, there were two strong men sitting on chairs, drinking coffee while bragging. After they greeted Fudisi, they stared curiously at Lansi.

"This is Howard, this is his younger brother Little Howard. Their old man drank a little wine when filling out the birth certificate."

The older brother, Howard, raised his hand and made a driving-away gesture. "Don't fucking say that!"

Fudisi shrugged his shoulders and walked into the back door while holding Lansi's arm.

Inside the back door was a very large room, like a lounge, with sofas, chairs, small round tables, as well as dartboards, pinball tables, and pool tables.

There were quite a few people sitting here. Perhaps because everyone usually stayed here, the floor would make a creaking sound when stepped on.

They greeted Fudisi, and the latter also responded to them, but more curious gazes remained on Lansi.

Many people are afraid of these people, but in fact, before their "switch" is triggered, they are not scary at all, and even very easy to get along with. This is Lansi's experience.

While learning from Fudisi to greet others with a smile, he took Fudisi's cigarettes and flew around.

"Is this a newcomer to the company?" An old guy really liked Lansi and couldn't help asking.

The first impression when contacting is very important. Lansi is very likable—young, handsome, clean, and his smile and attitude make people unable to find any fault. There is no reason not to like him.

Fudisi snatched back the cigarettes that were about to be finished in Lansi's hand. "The boss wants to see him."

Others didn't speak at this time and could only wish him good luck.

When entering the finance company from the side door, the beautiful girl at the front desk was putting on makeup in front of the mirror. She glanced toward this side when she heard the sound, and Fudisi explained again. "The boss wants to see him."

Only then did she turn her head and continue to be busy applying putty to her face.

Walking to the end, turning left, Fudisi opened the office door, but he didn't go in. "Good luck, Lansi."

He also quite liked Lansi, but now he could only wish him good luck.

The boss was watching the news. In the news, the Police Chief warned the public repeatedly on the screen not to commit crimes easily and displayed their work results for the day.

How many people were caught, how many crimes were stopped—as for when the city could stabilize, he didn't mention a word.

"Do you watch the news?" He didn't look back, raised his hand to Lansi, and signaled him to sit down. "If you want to drink something, go to the bar. I'll finish watching this news. I remember you smoke; the cigarettes are in the cigarette case."

Lansi took a cigarette, lit it, and leaned against the table, also watching the news.

At the end of the news, the Chief stated that he would do his best to restore order in New Jincheng as soon as possible. What made Lansi feel surprised was that he actually saw the police officer who asked the fat boss for protection fees standing behind the Chief.

"What does this guy do?" Lansi pointed to that person.

The boss was a bit surprised, but still explained. "His name is John. Don't think this name is very ordinary; here he has a nickname called 'Vulture'."

"Now he has been transferred to the branch as an Assistant Chief. Anyway, he is not a good person."

Who takes black money and who doesn't—for people in this circle, it's actually not a secret.

But a person running a usury business saying a police officer who takes black money is not a good person has a kind of inexplicable humor.

After the news ended, the boss turned around and signaled Lansi to sit down. "I forgot to introduce myself last time. My name is Alberto Cotti. You can call me Alberto, or Mr. Cotti."

Lansi nodded, indicating he knew.

Alberto touched his lips. "I've been watching the news these past few days. There was a large-scale conflict at the port yesterday. I heard that your people are no longer allowed to enter the port to work?"

"Temporarily!" Lansi explained.

The creditor, of course, has more power to ask him to explain all questions, and he also needs to give this Mr. Cotti some guarantee.

¤￠o

He laughed twice, didn't explain why he laughed, then sighed. "Now these outsiders have made the city a mess, and our manpower is not enough."

"You gave me a promise before that if needed, you would come to work for me. Is this promise still valid now?"

Lansi felt a bit surprised, but not very surprised. "Of course, Mr. Cotti, my promise is valid at any time."

"It's just... you know, the situation outside is a bit complicated now, and we might not be easy to do in some things."

Alberto raised his hand to stop Lansi from continuing. "I'm not a fool. I know what kind of work to arrange for you."

"I have two accounts here. These two guys intend to run away, so can you get back the money they owe me?"

"If you can handle these two orders, then the money you owe me will be written off."

Lansi didn't agree immediately. "How much money do they owe you?"

Alberto took two loan contracts out of the drawer and threw them on the table.

When Lansi picked them up, he found that these were very formal contracts. It seems they had also consulted legal advisors.

A loan of 1,000 dollars, now with principal and interest, is 3,500 dollars.

And another loan of 2,000 dollars, now it is 5,000 dollars.

He whistled; there is no business direction with higher profit than usury!

"Before I decide whether to do this, Mr. Cotti, do they have the money to pay the debt they owe you?"

Alberto spread his hands. "Of course they do. If you can't squeeze money out of them, bring them to me. It will still count as you completing the work."

"So now, what is your answer?" ===== CHAPTER 16 =====