Chapter 386: 388. Chapter 382: Some Stay, Some Leave, and Doing Work

388. Chapter 382: Some Stay, Some Leave, and Doing Work

At 7:30, six people were already sitting at the table, and one person had not yet arrived.

"Let's not wait; let's eat first; I'm hungry."

Lans asked the manager to start pouring wine for everyone; pouring wine meant that dinner had officially begun.

These people were old and young, their expressions were very cold, and in their coldness, there was a hint of suspicion.

"Everyone doesn't seem to be in high spirits?"

The last guy to arrive couldn't help but say, "Lans, if you have something to say, just say it directly; there's no need to play these games!"

He glanced at the others at the table, his eyes filled with malice.

Lans's hand had originally been on the wine glass, but because of his words, he pulled it back. "Actually, before you came, I already chatted with Kairui about the purpose of bringing everyone here today."

Kairui's expression suddenly became a bit ugly; he glanced at Lans and then quickly looked at the others.

Sure enough, as he had expected, the eyes of the others looking at him were also filled with distrust and even disgust.

Some people would think he was a traitor because he had defected to Lans!

But he really hadn't!

Up until now, he hadn't given Lans any answer, but now that he said it out, I'm afraid no one would believe it.

Lans clearly hadn't said anything, yet he made him suddenly so passive, passive to the point that he had already made a decision in his heart!

Because if he didn't do as Lans hoped, he wouldn't be accepted by this group of people, and it was possible he would be excluded, isolated, or even treated specially by them.

Lans was clearly younger than him; where did he learn these insidious tricks that only politicians would use?

Lans ignored Kairui's ugly expression and continued, "The Wolf Gang is an outsider gang; their purpose in coming here was to stir up war and disrupt the situation."

"But now, it's over."

"From the time they established their foothold until now, it has been more than half a year, and the port area has always been in chaos."

"It's time to let it stabilize."

A middle-aged man in his thirties looked at Lans and asked in a deep voice, "How do you intend to stabilize the port area?"

His tone then carried a hint of mockery. "Annex us, or drive us out?"

The eyes of the others were focused on Lans again. Lans laughed and picked up his wine glass. "Why don't we have a drink first?"

"Talking all the time makes my stomach protest to me!"

He raised his glass and looked at these people around him. "To us being able to sit here this year!"

The response from others was not very enthusiastic; only Kairui said "Cheers," but he immediately noticed the malicious eyes others were looking at him with and immediately closed his mouth again.

After drinking a sip of wine, naturally, one had to eat something. Lans asked the manager to introduce today's dishes.

Although the atmosphere here was a bit tense and strange, the manager never left.

Besides leaving two chefs to do things like barbecue to prevent these young people from not having enough to eat, and two waiters, everyone else had already returned.

He began to introduce today's dishes; it was very witty and humorous, which could adjust the atmosphere.

Lans got himself a piece of steak. "Thank you for your introduction; this makes my stomach even hungrier. I'll eat a little bit to pad my stomach first; everyone please help yourselves."

He cut the beef, watching the beef, which was perfect in both color and fragrance, being cut open by him; finally, others started to move.

The beef was grilled very well; the breed of beef was chosen well, the age was also chosen well, basically well-done but not too old; besides the meat quality, it certainly also used some small tricks.

In fact, people have always had a misunderstanding, thinking that beef is only "tender" when it is medium-rare.

Actually, it's not like that; beef from good cattle, cattle of the right age, will be very tender even when cooked well-done.

Only those restaurants whose quality is not very good, but who hope that people might think the meat quality is good, will use the method of not cooking the beef well-done to improve the taste.

Especially in the last two years, this situation has become more and more frequent.

In earlier years, if you ate steak in a restaurant and someone gave you medium-rare or not well-done, you could flip the table and they would have to endure it!

But now...

"Look, we can sit together and have dinner without killing each other; this shows that there is no irreconcilable hatred between us."

Lans waited until everyone had eaten a little something before he put down his knife and fork.

Some of the others stopped, and some continued to eat.

"Just now you asked me what I intend to do."

"Actually, my idea is very simple, and that is to return peace to the port area."

"No war, everyone makes money together."

"I know some of you don't have a stable supply of alcohol, and as it happens, I have such a path; you run bars, and I provide you with a stable source of goods."

"You make money hand over fist, and I get a stable port area; this is my purpose."

The middle-aged man who spoke thought for a while. "Will you allow us to continue to exist?"

Lans shook his finger. "No, you have to disband the gang."

Someone suddenly laughed out loud. Lans looked toward the person who laughed, a guy in his late twenties, who was very rude when he arrived.

This guy is called Zhake, has a criminal record, has been to prison, and is the largest among this group.

Three years of prison life made his gang have many prison mates from prison; these people have experienced judicial strikes and are not so easy to find work in society—

Actually, people released from prison in the Federation also face such problems, especially some serious criminals; sometimes the police will focus on taking care of them.

Zhake gathered this group of people, used the connections he had in prison, and quickly pulled up the scale of the gang.

It just so happened that at that time, Boli's brain was sick, and the Red Dog Gang was being hammered by the Wolf Gang; they took a name called "37th Street Gang," with the street they are currently on as the core activity area.

These people have been struck, so they are bolder than ordinary people; looting shops, robbery, extortion, blackmail, whatever makes money, they do it.

Zhake always felt that he had been to prison, killed people, and never put others in his eyes, and Lans was too young.

Even knowing his past, when he himself is young enough, facing someone even younger, it is very difficult to generate awe.

This is like when you are still in school, you will never feel that the grade-level first place in a lower grade is anything great, even if you can't even get into the top one hundred in the grade, you will have such thoughts.

Zhake always felt that Lans and other gangs just seized the opportunity.

Let him seize the opportunity, and he can do it this big!

Now his fame in the state prison has become a bit bigger; many people come to him as soon as they get out of prison; it won't be long before their numbers will be even more!

So when he first arrived, others dealt with Lans a bit, but he just snorted coldly and sat down without speaking.

In fact, it cannot be said that there is no hatred at all between Lans and them.

The Wolf Gang let them go to the Imperial District to grab territory from Lans; they and the Lans family have more or less already had friction, and might have also exchanged fire and attacked each other.

So to say there is no contradiction or opposition at all is obviously not very possible; it's just not as prominent as the contradiction between the Wolf Gang and Lans.

"You have a different view."

Zhake was not polite either. "Disbanding the gang is impossible, Lans; don't make it sound so good."

"Put down the gun today, and tomorrow we will die on the street!"

"We are all gangsters; don't use that set of fooling ordinary people to deal with us."

Lans put the knife and fork away and asked him, "Who did I fool?"

"Those other people, you are not a policeman, nor a politician; we are just fucking gangsters; you can fool others, but you can't fool me!"

"You said you make money with us, but I heard that you squeezed those bars in the Imperial District to bankruptcy."

"You have better sources of goods than us; you can completely force us to a dead end in price competition!"

"You can drive us all away just the same!"

"I won't be fooled, Lans!"

"If one day I die, it will absolutely not be because I put down the gun!"

What he wanted to express was that if he were to die, it must be in battle, not because he put down the gun and was killed directly.

But his level of education is a bit of a problem, so it is very difficult for him to accurately express these contents.

Lans looked at him and explained, "I have never fooled them; in the Imperial District, I don't collect protection fees, and sometimes I even help them."

"Someone runs a casino, and I haven't extorted them, or asked them for money."

"As far as I know, there are actually still many small bars in the Imperial District, and I haven't continued to deal with them."

Some family-style small bar workshops, they brew their own wine and then sell it to people around, earning a little money to subsidize the family.

Well, saying subsidizing is a bit subtle; it's just making money.

Lans never thought about dealing with them because this money is still just a small number for the whole market.

He continued to explain, "In the port area, I will adopt a unified price method to balance this problem; all our bars, including my bars, have a standard for the price of alcohol."

"I won't break this standard, and of course, you certainly won't break it either."

Zhake listened and kept shaking his head; now he felt that Lans was a conspirator, and he only came here to hear what Lans had to say.

Now, he had heard enough.

He wiped his mouth and stood up, throwing the napkin onto the table. "I'm full; the food is delicious, but I don't like you!"

He said, turning to leave; some of the others seemed to have the intention to move.

Then the second person stood up, the third, the fourth...

In less than a moment, in the entire game machine room, only Kairui and that middle-aged man remained.

"Are you not leaving?"

Lans looked at them. "I won't stop you from leaving."

Kairui sighed. "In their eyes, I have already betrayed the port area; where can I go?"

He stood up, grabbed a beef rib, pulled hard, pulled the whole rib off the steak, and held it to gnaw. "The food is delicious; give me a business card; I like your sauce."

The manager quickly gave him a business card. "We look forward to your visit, sir."

Lans looked at that middle-aged man; he was the oldest among those who came this time.

Most middle-aged and elderly gang members joined the gang when they were young and slowly struggled through.

For example... Haile from the Kamila Gang, in his forties or fifties; he didn't found the gang when he was in his forties or fifties and recruited many people.

He followed his father, uncle, and grandfather since he was a child and started a gang life.

The vast majority, at least most middle-aged people, even if they are at the end of their rope, in life, in work, they might go to extremes, kill people, or hurt others, all are possible.

Only it is impossible to suddenly form a gang for no reason!

All new gangs, the vast majority are centered on young people because their thinking is more active, they are more fearless of authority, and even eager to challenge authority!

Middle-aged people, elderly people, have long been smoothed out by society; they are not that stupid.

The reason this middle-aged man became a gang leader was purely because he was forced to.

So his experience, life experience, is also richer than others.

"Actually... I have long wanted to end my current life, but some things have always held me back, us."

"Lans, you gave me a chance; I believe in your promise, and I also believe you won't let us down!"

Lans smiled. "It seems I'm not completely unlikable."

The people around laughed, and Lans signaled them to sit over. "Since they don't want to eat, then we can't waste it."

He looked at the manager. "Grill all the remaining meat!"

The manager quickly went to arrange it.

In fact, Kairui and Lans, as well as Lans's group, had a meal and made contact, and their perception of Lans became much better.

Especially those people in the Lans family, their family atmosphere made him a bit envious; he liked this atmosphere.

But he wouldn't say it.

That would make him very embarrassed.

The meal was very satisfying; after the meal, Lans settled the bill, the manager decided to give Lans a discount, and Lans also asked him to send greetings to old man Anderson.

"I hope he won't be angered by my greetings, but I still hope you can help me convey a greeting to him."

The manager guaranteed again and again that he would definitely bring the words, and then left by car.

Kairui and the middle-aged man also left. Lans returned to the game machine room, leaving only their own people.

Lans sat on that uncomfortable chair of Woerfu again, crossing his legs, his hand tapping lightly on the armrest.

Hailamu picked his nose and asked, "Why not keep them all? We have so many people."

Lans shook his head. "If I kept them today, no one would trust what I say in the future, so let them go today."

"But after today, if we take action against them, people won't be able to say anything."

"Don't move Kairui and that middle-aged man for now; wipe the others clean, starting with that Zhake!"

Hailamu just prepared to flick the nose booger, and Lans threw the rag on the table at him. "When can you stop flicking nose boogers everywhere?"

Hailamu laughed twice. "I remembered; next time I definitely won't!"

"If you can remember, God will manifest!", Laoen teased from the side, and Hailamu immediately pounced on him; the sounds of fighting and laughter soon filled the entire game machine room.

These past few days, the Senator just arrived, and Lans doesn't intend to be too outstanding; after all, scaring the Congress gentlemen will cause big trouble.

After Lans revealed the Labor Union's idea to Tang Mu, their actions were fast; the next day, the Dock Management Company already realized that not bowing their heads would not work.

They are willing to make appropriate concessions; they can increase more meat and eggs in the workers' meals, and they can also satisfy their request for a wage increase, increasing by one dollar and twenty cents all at once, and then increasing once every six months, increasing by thirty-five cents each time, but working hours cannot be reduced.

The standard of food has a very flexible standard and bottom line; beef is meat, chicken is meat, and the meat of those cow innards that no one eats is also meat!

Anyway, they didn't say what kind of meat, and as for eggs, it's even cheaper!

Now the Federation has begun to promote large-scale farming, the price of eggs is becoming cheaper rapidly, and it's not that they have to add eggs to the workers' meals every day, and it's not that they must eat one every time.

Calculating this way, the company thinks it is still acceptable.

They have actually made huge concessions because once they compromise with the workers, it won't be so easy for them to go and talk to those companies and want to increase service fees.

They have no means of coercion, and even if they can talk it through, it won't be like what they thought at the beginning, being able to extort a little more.

If they had thought this way earlier, maybe there wouldn't be these problems later, but now the workers' demands have obviously increased, and it has also let them see a little hope.

So the workers' side did not agree to their plan; the wage increase was too small, and they thought the working hours were too long, which was very unreasonable.

It looks like it can't be determined in a short time.

In the morning, they just finished exchanging opinions, and in the afternoon, Tang Mu called Lans again.

"Have you heard about the morning's events?", he went straight to the point.

Lans knew the result of the morning's exchange of opinions; the reason it was an exchange of opinions was that it wasn't even a negotiation; they didn't even talk!

"Know, there are still big differences between the two sides."

"Yes, big differences!"

"You have to help, Lans; help us do some work for the workers; the Dock Management Company is actually very sincere; they increased the meal standard and also increased wages; when it's time to make a concession, make a concession; only in this way can it be negotiated!"

Lans keenly felt a hint of indescribable anxiety from Tang Mu's tone. "Did something happen?", he asked.

Tang Mu's reaction was fast. "What happened?"

"What aspect are you referring to?"

"Strike."

Tang Mu was silent for a while; he originally wanted to hide a fact, but soon he felt that this news couldn't be hidden for too long. "Another dock worker group in another region is on strike; they are using this method to support the dock strike in New Jincheng!"

"Listen, if we don't resolve this matter as soon as possible, the situation will only get more and more serious."

"This is not a good thing for you, for me, or for anyone!"

Lans considered it. "What do you want me to do?"

Tang Mu's speaking speed was fast. "Tomorrow we will sit down and talk; you come too; when the time comes, you help us communicate with the representatives, and we will try our best to find a...", he searched in his mind, "a point that can fit together, to resolve this matter, how about it?"

"No problem!", Lans answered. ===== CHAPTER 387 =====