Chapter 25

Alberto crossed his legs and lit a cigarette. He lowered his head, and after the first puff of smoke was inhaled into his lungs because of the lit cigarette tip, he tilted his head back and exhaled it.

"So..."

Lanse continued after his words, "So I plan to find some local people with legal status, homeless people or something, give them a few dollars, and let them go to Mr. Anderson's restaurant to dine."

"And then I will also find reporters to promote it for them, for example... the restaurant most popular with commoners or homeless people?"

After listening, Alberto was stunned for a long while, then nodded quite approvingly, "Your idea is excellent, Lanse."

"No one likes to dine in the same restaurant with a group of homeless people who emit a foul smell; it won't be long before his restaurant becomes notorious."

He tapped on the table happily, "How about using our own people?"

Lanse did not agree, "Mr. Keti, it's not that I don't want to find something for them to do, but I believe Mr. Anderson will definitely call the police. If we use our own people, it might be a bit troublesome."

Alberto pondered seriously for a moment, and a smile appeared on his face, "You are so right, Lanse; this is the part I appreciate most about you."

"What you have shown is much more mature than your appearance!"

As he said this, he pulled open a drawer, counted out two hundred dollars, placed it on the desktop, pushed it over, and there was also a business card, "I don't have the habit of letting others spend their own money to do things for me; this is your new budget."

"Also, the guy on this business card has some cooperation with us; you can try contacting him."

"My only requirement is to make him incredibly angry, yet have no way out; I want him to call me and beg me!"

Lanse glanced at the money on the table and smiled, indicating, "You will see him looking exasperated yet cautious, Mr. Keti..."

The next morning, Lanse appeared at the Saint Night Cathedral. There were quite a few people on the lawn outside the church, and if you added those inside, there were at least four or five hundred people.

Four or five hundred people might be a big gap compared to the "thirty thousand people" in Mr. Burton's words, but these four or five hundred people represented at least two hundred families, and the number of families radiating out from these two hundred families could be thousands, already occupying one-fourth, or even one-fifth, of the legal immigrants.

So although the number was small, the influence was not small, and those who could come to participate in this kind of gathering were mostly the kind who were doing quite well.

Burton also saw Lanse. Originally, he didn't intend to talk to Lanse; he didn't like these gang members, but when he watched Lanse arrive by car, he changed his mind a little.

He took the initiative to walk over and greeted Lanse enthusiastically in a voice slightly louder than those around him, "Lanse, is your car parked properly?"

Lanse, who was just preparing to find a way to open up the situation, turned his head and looked back in confusion; the car was parked in the parking space without any abnormality.

But soon he reacted and returned the enthusiastic greeting, "Uncle Burton, I have confirmed that it is locked."

Mr. Burton was very satisfied with Lanse's reaction. At this time, someone immediately leaned over to him, "Burton, why don't you introduce this young man to us... where are you from?"

"Barman State!" Lanse took the initiative to walk over and shook hands with the gentleman around fifty years old next to Burton.

Mr. Burton reacted immediately, "This is Lanse, a young man who just came to the Federation, currently having a very free job."

He then introduced the person next to him to Lanse, "This is Mr. Chobafu, hailed as the pride of the Imperial people in Jincheng!"

"If you have extra money and want to find a place to keep it, and also want to earn higher interest than the Federal Bank, Mr. Chobafu is your best choice!"

"More than forty percent of the Imperial people deposit their money with him!"

Listening to Mr. Burton's introduction, Lanse took the initiative to reach out both hands to hold the hand Mr. Chobafu extended, shaking it enthusiastically a few times, "Very happy to meet you, Mr. Chobafu, are you a banker?"

Chobafu laughed, took back a cigar from the hand of the person next to him, took a puff, and exhaled slowly, "Banker is not quite the word; I just want to do something I can for our compatriots."

"Depositing money with me doesn't require you to have a Federal immigration permit, nor does it require you to have any residence permit or work card or similar documents; as long as you are an Imperial person, you can deposit money with me."

He glanced nonchalantly at the small car in the parking lot outside the church and soon had a judgment.

Although the car was an old model and might only be worth four or five hundred dollars at a used car dealer, being able to drive a car just after arriving here, and wearing a set of clothes that cost ten-plus dollars, this belonged to a young man with potential.

For a young man with potential, who wouldn't be willing to expand their connections?

After the two chatted for a few more sentences, Mr. Chobafu took the initiative to exit the circle, "I can see that there are others who also want to meet our new friend, so I won't delay your time."

After he shook hands with Lanse again and left, sure enough, new friends soon came over to greet him and get to know Lanse through Uncle Burton.

In the Empire, they might not have taken the initiative to want to know someone just because they were richer.

But after coming to the Federation and surviving for such a long time, for these Imperial immigrants who were still at the bottom, they were desperately eager to find a ladder to climb up and get rid of the status quo of being at the very bottom of society.

Although it looked like that car was not too new, at least the person came by car, while they either rode bikes or took the bus; this was the difference.

Those who came here to meet Lanse were all adults in their thirties; these people had all struggled in the Federation for at least seven or eight years.

Although some people might be hesitant about Lanse's work, most people still exchanged contact information or business cards with each other.

Dealing with these people took more than half an hour. Lanse couldn't help but ask, "Did Jieral come today?"

He just didn't want to continue being a tool for Mr. Burton to "show off" here. In essence, this kind of showing off was actually quite childish; "I have a powerful friend" and "my friend is such and such" were equally hopeless, but some people just couldn't help but do it.

Mr. Burton also had a good time today, "Of course, young people don't like to be with us old guys; they are on the side. Do you want me to take you over?"

Lanse hurriedly refused, and then trotted to the side of the Saint Night Cathedral; this was indeed a gathering place for young people.

About forty young men and women were gathered together chatting. When Lanse walked over, Jieral saw him at the first moment.

No way, Lanse took good care of them when they were on the ship.

Because Jieral looked very much like a girl, he was often subjected to malicious verbal attacks from some people, and even bullied—being made to do chores, do things for others, and so on.

Lanse helped him solve some troubles; for Jieral, this was inevitably a person with a deep impression.

"Lanse!" He jumped and waved his arms, which also made more people's eyes focus on Lanse.

"Is this the good brother you mentioned?" Jieral's cousin looked at Lanse who was walking over and commented, "Dressed too old-fashioned; not at all the youthful spirit we young people should have."

Of course, the jealousy in his words could not be hidden. The clothes worn by most of the young people here cost two or three dollars a set, and at most four or five dollars a set.

But the set of clothes Lanse was wearing, which cost more than ten dollars, immediately compared them down.

And at their age, who wouldn't want to make themselves look more mature?

Jieral ran over and gave Lanse a warm hug, but Lanse always felt it was strange because Jieral was too beautiful.

But fortunately, this hug was separated quickly. Jieral pulled Lanse and introduced his friends here.

"This is my cousin, Luo Bu..."

"This is my cousin, Nan Xi..."

"This is my cousin's girlfriend, Sai Lin Na..."

Lanse greeted and shook hands with each of them very friendly; others also had their eyes on this side all the time.

His temperament was different from theirs, carrying a kind of "hardness" that couldn't be described.

"Lanse, do you have family here?" Luo Bu asked first. His girlfriend Sai Lin Na had been sizing Lanse up, which made him feel a trace of jealousy.

Lanse didn't notice this point, "No, I'm the only one here."

A little more smile appeared on Luo Bu's face, "So you haven't obtained permanent citizenship yet?"

"Yes, I haven't obtained it yet for the time being." He didn't lie and admitted it very directly.

Originally Nan Xi was also observing Lanse, but when her cousin asked this question and Lanse answered so honestly, her interest in Lanse suddenly wasn't that great anymore.

Whether one has this card or not makes a big difference.

They had already seen many peers who didn't have cards, worked more than ten hours a day, but could only earn ten-plus or twenty-plus dollars a month.

But they, who possessed Federal citizenship, enjoyed various legal protections, worked no more than eleven hours a day, and also enjoyed two days off, as well as other welfare benefits and insurance guarantees.

They were no longer young; at this time, if they were to fall in love, it would all be for the purpose of marriage.

It was unlikely for Nan Xi to fall in love with someone who didn't have Federal citizenship, and even more impossible to marry. A love destined to have no results was not what she wanted.

Luo Bu felt that his girlfriend seemed to have lost some interest in the guy in front of him, and his emotions finally stabilized, even carrying a trace of superiority.

"Then what... work do you do now?"

Lanse didn't intend to beat around the bush with these young people either, and said the truth directly, "I work for a company; they distribute orders to me, and after I complete them, I earn income according to the amount of the order."

Luo Bu felt he understood and said with a smile, "So that's a salesman?"

"Pretty much!"

He became energetic again, "What do you sell? Perhaps we can go and help you get more commission."

Lanse smiled and didn't say. Luo Bu thought he was embarrassed to say, so he continued to dig into this pain point he thought existed, "Then can this job of yours let you earn money?"

Some salesman jobs indeed didn't require work cards; they only needed to bring guests to the company or store, pay, and place an order to get a commission.

The purpose of doing this was for capitalists to avoid some unnecessary expenses, and at the same time, this could explain why Lanse was dressed so decently.

Maybe he specifically rented a set of clothes to wear for work!

"The last order earned two hundred dollars."

Luo Bu, who originally intended to say something, suddenly fell silent; instead, Jieral exclaimed, "So much money?"

"Is this a lot?" Lanse shook his head, "This is just a very small order; when you have seen bigger orders..."

The emotions in Luo Bu's heart became a bit... complicated, just like his expression, "Listen, if you can't earn any money, no one will laugh at you."

"But if you just want to attract the attention of any of us and fabricated this lie, I think this is not fun at all!"

"Do you think an illegal immigrant who just came to the Federation and doesn't have legal status can earn so much money in one order?"

"You should keep your feet on the ground..."

Luo Bu still wanted to say something, but was pulled away from the crowd by Sai Lin Na. After walking a few steps, she pushed Luo Bu, "What is wrong with you?"

"Almost everyone can see that you are targeting Lanse!"

Luo Bu walked back and forth a few steps, "I just can't stand his self-righteous look; he is just an illegal immigrant without status, and didn't you notice?"

"He told a lie, intending to deceive you, you, and Nan Xi."

"I am your boyfriend; you don't speak for me, but instead shield him?"

Sai Lin Na felt it was very hard to understand. Usually, Luo Bu was actually a good person, although he had a bit of the arrogance inherited from Mr. Burton that was hidden extremely well, and was slightly mean, and his mouth was a bit venomous.

But this could also be seen as a kind of self-protection, but she really couldn't stand Luo Bu's performance today; he was as sharp and vicious as a mean bitch!

She flicked her hand, "You really should reflect on yourself properly." Saying this, she intended to leave; Luo Bu's performance today made her lose all face.

Luo Bu certainly wouldn't let her leave, ran over to grab her hand, and the two of them ran far away while bickering.

After Luo Bu left, more people gathered around...