Chapter 234: Five-Dollar Intelligence, Choices, and Jack

Where can you get alcohol?

Several old men looked at each other, and one of them shook his head. "I'm not too clear about this. Now that the prohibition is being enforced so strictly, who knows?"

He not only knew, but had also been there. If it weren't for the fact that there wasn't much money in his pocket, he would also go often.

Lanse's bar had more girls. These young girls radiated hot, youthful vitality. You just need to buy them a drink... you think they will go with you?

No, they will flirt with you.

But even if it was just flirting, for these old men, that was one of the reasons they didn't want to leave this world!

So, the reason they knew where the bar was but didn't say was because this middle-aged man spoke with a very orthodox federal accent.

Just hearing this accent could make one fantasize about his life—

Living in a bottom-level federal family. His father should be of the working class. They would have some special usage habits in their speech, which would affect their family members.

He should have attended an ordinary school and received very ordinary federal education. The way he expressed himself was like this.

He didn't have the accent of an Imperial person, didn't have the accent that a real immigrant should have, and his eyes didn't look like a real immigrant either.

The most critical point was that everyone hadn't seen this person before.

The middle-aged man shrugged. "Alright, I will go to other places and take a look, but regardless... after chatting with you, I feel much better. I will come over tomorrow. I found that talking with you is more effective than a psychiatrist."

The old men naturally agreed with smiles, and the middle-aged man felt that he perhaps first had to get familiar with this group of people, and then propose the idea of treating them to a drink.

With the poverty of these poor old men, they definitely couldn't refuse this. By then, he would know where the nearby bars were.

He took a look at the bread that was still left. "I have to go find work. I'll leave the remaining bread for you."

He was eating it by plucking it with his hands. People here all ate bread like this, so relatively speaking, it was cleaner.

The old men thanked him one after another. Having free bread to eat, they naturally wouldn't have any opinions.

After watching this guy leave, the three old men looked at each other.

One of them, who was already bald, had gray hair, and had large age spots on his face, stood up with a cane. "It's my turn this time."

The other two old men had faces full of envy and jealousy. The three of them were good friends and had agreed that when there was a discovery, they would take turns reporting it.

This was very fair to everyone. If your intelligence wasn't as valuable as others', then it could only be said that God didn't hope for you to get too much without working for it, that's all!

The old man boarded the bus happily with his cane. About a dozen minutes later, he arrived at the central area of the Imperial District.

This place had become a bit more prosperous in these two years.

Just after getting off the bus, he saw Bodun sitting in an open-air coffee shop at the street corner, and then walked over quickly.

"Mr. Bodun, good morning." The old man took off his fisherman's hat, placed it in his palm, and pressed it against his chest.

Bodun nodded. "Good morning, sir. Do you have anything you want to say?"

The old man said the intelligence he obtained without hesitation. "Someone is asking around if there are any bars nearby."

Saying this, he described the situation of the middle-aged man, and then leaned over slightly, revealing a fawning smile.

After Bodun finished listening, he took a stack of money out of his pocket. The old man's eyeballs were almost glowing!

He had already thought about how to spend this money. He could go and have a drink with the young girl who had always said she liked his maturity. Maybe the other party was true love for him and was willing to leave the bar with him.

This way, he could also go to a hotel and open a room, although he didn't know if that thing of his could still experience the battlefield. However, he felt there was no problem.

The remaining bit of money could be kept. He could eat very well this month, and occasionally have a slice of smoked ham or something.

Bodun found a five-dollar bill from a stack of money and handed it over. Then the old man took it with a smile and continued to look at that stack of money.

But he couldn't wait for the second bill, because Bodun put the money back into his pocket.

He looked at the old man's stunned expression and explained, "You are the fourth person to come and tell me about this. By logic, I could not give you money. We said that only the first three pieces of intelligence have value."

"But considering you ran so far, I still gave you five dollars."

"You had better be faster next time, otherwise..." He curled his lips and picked up the coffee cup to take a sip. "Do you want a cup?"

The old man looked at Bodun, then looked at the coffee, and finally shook his head. "No, no trouble, Mr. Bodun. Although it's only five dollars, it's also very good for me."

"Can I ask how much the first person who got this intelligence took from you?"

Bodun put down the coffee cup and pursed his lips, letting the residual coffee roll into his mouth. "Fifty dollars."

"Fuck!" The old man cursed in a low voice. That fifty dollars was originally his!

He took a deep breath. "That guy said he would come over tomorrow..."

Mr. Bodun looked at him with his legs crossed, his hands placed on his waist and abdomen. "Then you have to run faster tomorrow."

In the end, the old man left. To him, the current Lanse family was much better than those gangs in the past. Not only would they not make things difficult for them or ask them for money, but they would also give them money, although not much.

But this was indeed much better than before. He had no interest in making things difficult for anyone, nor did he dare to do so.

Watching the old man's departing back, Bodun combined some things that had happened recently and actually could already guess that it should be the Viper Gang planning to make a move on Lanse's bar.

In his heart, he took a very short time to weigh the pros and cons: should he truthfully tell Lanse these messages?

He asked himself, if he didn't say it, would Lanse know?

The answer was obvious. Lanse definitely had other channels to know these messages.

And if Lanse fell, his days might not necessarily be better.

The Viper Gang wouldn't necessarily value him so much, nor would they necessarily give him this kind of treatment now.

On the contrary, Lanse still "respected" him so much, letting him continue to work for the family, letting him not only have status and be respected by others, but also have more income.

Luo Bu's death made him very heartbroken, but he didn't dare to take revenge. He was afraid of pain and also afraid of death.

In the bathroom, he said to himself in the mirror, "You are a coward!" But in the end, he could only accept this title.

Although he also hated, hated that Lanse didn't leave any face at all, hated that idiot Luo Bu for doing anything bad, but had to betray Lanse.

But in the end, all of this was put down, at least put down for now.

He needed a better life, a better future, higher status, and more power!

Power is the foundation that determines everything!

He took out a cigarette and lit one. The originally sunny sky suddenly became overcast. With the sound of a spring thunderclap, it started to rain with thunderstorms in less than a few minutes.

Thunderstorms in spring and summer by the sea were very common. Perhaps a gust of wind blowing a large amount of rain clouds over from the sea could immediately form a rainfall.

But the duration of this kind of rainfall wasn't long. The heavy rain, as if God was holding a basin and pouring it down from the sky, washed away not only the dust in the air but also the dust in people's spirits and souls.

A dozen minutes later, the sun revealed its smile again, and the sunlight favored the world again. Bodun stood up.

His shiny brown leather shoes stepped on the few puddles on the side of the road. The water splashed to both sides, and his slightly damp trouser legs didn't become an obstacle to him continuing to walk out.

He walked into a public telephone booth, inserted two cents in coins, and dialed Lanse's number.

"Lanse, many people are asking about the location of our bar. It might be Bulinton's people..."

"I know..."

Lanse put down the phone and didn't feel surprised.

Bulinton, as a dog transferred over by the mayor from another place, definitely had to bite people to reflect his value.

Being a dog requires the awareness of being a dog. Regardless of whether he was willing or not, he had to show his duty to perform his duties.

"Call Mo Lisi over..."

Mo Lisi wasn't here; he had gone outside. Now, besides Bodun, Lanse also had Mo Lisi monitoring the situation in the entire Imperial District.

On the streets, you could often see two or three young people wearing red armbands patrolling. They were called the "patrol team," and this part of the people were managed by Mo Lisi.

These people not only had to maintain order on the streets but would also inquire about and collect some intelligence.

Because Lanse indeed didn't collect protection fees, nor did he force people to join the Imperial Chamber of Commerce, now all the merchants in the entire Imperial District maintained a good relationship with the Lanse family.

They were more willing than others for the Lanse family to continue for a long time, because as long as protection fees weren't collected, it meant they could get more profit every month!

Who would think that the money they earned was too much?

Some intelligence they obtained would also be actively told to Mo Lisi's people.

One bright and one dark, two lines, firmly controlled everything, big and small, in the Imperial District.

Even if someone had a quarrel, as long as Lanse wanted to know why they quarreled and what the result was, someone would send detailed intelligence to him.

"Go ask if anyone knows Fides. If they know the Viper Gang, it would be even better."

Erwen stood up from the sofa. "Are we going to war with them?"

Lanse leaned back. "Of course. He is already planning to make a move on us. We can't just wait for the bullet to hit us before counterattacking."

"And, Erwen, the rules are already messed up. In the process of the escalation of the conflict between locals and outsiders, many rules we don't need to follow anymore. Everything has returned to the initial stage: profit-only theory!"

After Erwen left, Lanse left the company and went to the racetrack. Today was race day.

In New Jincheng, horse racing was also a very popular sport, because it could not only bring more wealth to the rich but also bring some adjustment to ordinary people.

The racetrack sold race tickets. If you could guess correctly, you could get prize money.

Plus various ways to play, there were always people fantasizing about getting rich overnight and participating in this sport they actually didn't understand at all.

In the racetrack, more than half of the people hadn't ridden a horse, and ninety-nine percent of them hadn't owned a horse of their own.

Their love for horse racing and horses was only because these things could bring them economic income.

After Lanse parked the car, Yi Sen opened the car door for him. In this tense moment, he very likely wouldn't come out alone. Not only did Yi Sen come, but Ma Duoer also brought three veterans to follow him.

Coming here was because Lanse had an appointment with Jack to meet. After he arrived at the racetrack, it was already crowded with people.

Looking over, it was almost all people. They held "Horse Racing Guides" or "Horse Racing Newspapers" in their hands, chatting about their views in groups of three or five. There was still more than an hour before the start.

Before the start, they had to make a decision, which wasn't an easy thing for everyone, because for those dream chasers, as long as they weren't betting on a single race, the margin for error was almost zero!

Lanse soon saw Jack in the place they had agreed upon.

Jack was wearing a flat-top hat today and was dressed very formally, because horse racing was a sports event, although what these people were going to do later was wave their race tickets and shout the names of the horses.

However, they still thought they were gentlemen, and even some high-end racetracks refused people who weren't wearing formal attire from entering the racetrack.

So here, almost everyone was wearing very formal clothes.

Lanse walked over and greeted them from afar. When Jack turned around and saw him, he even waved his hand.

After the two met, they held hands. He introduced Lanse to the others. "This is my cousin Patricia's boyfriend. Perhaps you have heard his name: Lanse White."

The people around immediately revealed knowing expressions and became a bit more enthusiastic, shaking hands with Lanse one after another.

Jack took the initiative to say, "We have some things to talk about, excuse us for a moment..."

The others naturally wouldn't stop them, and the two walked to one side. Jack gave Lanse a cigarette.

The two had met before, so it couldn't be considered too unfamiliar. With the male social weapon of cigarettes, they entered the social state almost without any hesitation.

Jack was a bit older than Lanse. He first used a topic both were familiar with as an opening. "William has been actively participating in various family gatherings recently and always mentions you. He said you provided an irreplaceable role for his career!"

"I am honored that he can say that. At least this makes me feel that helping him is worth it." Lanse didn't be humble either; humility depends on the occasion.

Jack continued, "I heard some things about you. When William told me you wanted to chat with me, I felt a bit surprised."

"You see, I am neither a gang member nor a police chief. Work at the customs doesn't seem to have much use for you. After all, the alcohol you smuggle won't come in through customs."

He couldn't help but laugh when he said this. The current coast patrol was just like a fake. Of course, this couldn't blame them.

Now, large-scale smuggling teams were equipped with heavy weapons. When the coast patrol encountered them, it was basically a result of going to the bottom of the sea to hold their breath.

So don't expect the coast patrol to be very responsible. Sometimes they really saw it, but would just pretend they didn't see it.

And those large consortiums smuggling, a small customs staff member wouldn't dare to investigate. Just like there were many contraband and smuggled goods in the warehouse at the New Jincheng wharf, everyone knew about this, but who dared to investigate?

This was a thunder pit. One goes, one dies; two go, two die.

So the current customs was just that awkward. Relatively speaking, smuggling that didn't use tons as a unit of measurement wasn't their turn to manage.

Smuggling that was their turn to manage, they didn't dare to manage. He didn't know what matter Lanse could have that needed to contact him.

"The Federation will sooner or later pay attention to the customs problem. By then, your work intensity and responsibilities will both be improved."

Jack smiled. He believed that there would indeed be such a day, but in the short term, even whether he would have the opportunity to see it was hard to say. "I hope so."

Lanse then explained his intention. "I signed a contract with the Lianbang You Bao Group before. I bought ten thousand tons of grapes from them at a very low price."

Jack whistled, emphasizing this quantifier. "Ten thousand tons!"

"Yes, ten thousand tons." Lanse continued to say, "You should have some understanding of the current price of grapes; it's growing fast. They don't intend to fulfill the contract, unilaterally tore up the contract, and also intend to stop me from fulfilling the contract through lawsuits."

"I have now transferred this contract to the bank through some connections."

"A smart move, although you will lose a large sum of money!" Jack knew these things better than Patricia, so he saw Lanse's decisiveness at a glance.

In the situation where this contract hadn't fallen into legal disputes, it was directly transferred to the bank. Then, as long as Lanse breached the contract, the bank, in order not to cause major losses, had to advocate the contract dispute problem between itself and the Lianbang You Bao Group.

The conflicting parties changed from Lanse and the Lianbang You Bao Group to the bank and the Lianbang You Bao Group.

Even if the Lianbang You Bao Group was a monopoly group, facing the bank, they still had to consider the consequences.

This matter could only be done early, not late, because once a contract dispute occurred, the bank's risk department wouldn't agree to accept this huge contract, so Jack thought Lanse was a very decisive person.

After all, it might sound like a very simple thing, but in reality, it represented a loss of hundreds of thousands or even millions.

Not everyone had such great awareness to make the most correct decision in the shortest time.

At the same time, he was also a bit curious. "Maybe it's a bit presumptuous, but I still want to know, how much money did you lose?"

Lanse was silent for a while, about five or six seconds. "Conservatively estimated at one million, maybe one million five hundred thousand or even more."

Jack gasped. He subconsciously took a look at the race ticket in his hand. Even if he got it all right, there would only be a return of more than one hundred thousand.

And this was still under the condition that his luck had to be extremely good!

He suddenly understood a bit why William was shaking again in the family gathering. Regardless of who had a big financial backer supporting themselves behind their back, it was impossible to keep a low profile.

This also made Jack a bit moved. After all, Lanse was dating Patricia and supported William's election, so they would very likely become a family, right?

Since they were a family...

Could I also get some help from it?

After all, we are a family!

He revealed a sad expression, but what couldn't be hidden was the light in his eyes that couldn't be explained clearly. "It's a pity to hear this news. Then what can I do for you?" ===== CHAPTER 235 =====