[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"origin-the-shadow-empire":3,"chapter-the-shadow-empire-the-shadow-empire-chapter-45":6},{"origin":4,"title":5},"chinese","The Shadow Empire",{"chapter":7,"nextChapterSlug":19,"prevChapterSlug":20,"totalChapters":21,"novelImage":22},{"id":8,"novel_id":9,"title":10,"slug":11,"index":12,"content":13,"wordcount":14,"created_at":15,"updated_at":15,"volume":16,"translator":17,"content_hash":18},2267665,4428,"Chapter 45: The Rolling Bills","the-shadow-empire-chapter-45",45,"\u003Cp>Lans took a stack of cash from the drawer, counted out ten five-dollar bills, laid them in a straight line on the desk, counted them aloud in front of the gentleman, then stacked them again and handed them over.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“May I ask why you chose us?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The gentleman said as he counted the money, “Only you were willing to lend me fifty dollars; everyone else thought it was too little, and the interest was too high.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Before coming here, he had tried borrowing elsewhere, but clearly he had failed.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s not that fifty dollars offers no profit margin—it actually offers a substantial one.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>According to current finance company practices, lending fifty dollars might require repayment of over a hundred dollars three months later; the interest rate is truly extremely high.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But there’s a problem here: whether this money can be recovered, and whether the costs incurred might exceed the profit.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It’s a simple calculation: if this gentleman refuses to repay or vanishes after the due date, would the expenses of sending two people in a car to find him and bring him back exceed the fifty-dollar profit?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It might take them a week to find him, plus other costs like meals on the road—fifty dollars wouldn’t even cover the expenses of locating him.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Even if they recovered the man and the money, there could still be a loss.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>That’s why many finance companies aren’t eager to handle such small loans; the inflated interest rates also deter people—this is precisely why Lans focuses his business on amounts under a hundred dollars.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>What they aren’t interested in, he will do—he’ll first expand the business, avoid competition, then consider scaling up later.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans made the gentleman not only sign but also affix his fingerprint, and added at the bottom: “I have carefully read the above terms and voluntarily accept them, assuming all legal consequences,” sealing the contract’s legality.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>After counting the fifty dollars Lans handed him, the gentleman took the money and left happily.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans then took out a brand-new notebook, wrote down his partner’s name, and recorded the details of this transaction: “Once his debt is settled, you’ll earn a commission of four dollars and eighty cents from this order.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The partner’s eyes crinkled into slits with joy—was he really making nearly five dollars?\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>This money was too easy to make!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans bumped fists with him, told him to keep going, then took the documents and headed to the nearest bank.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What service are you here for, sir?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>A manager in the lobby approached him voluntarily—mainly because Lans’s attire looked different from that of common laborers, and he even seemed to own a car.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Wealth is the most effective pass in the Federation—from strip clubs to the Presidential Palace, it’s always true.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“I’d like to inquire about a loan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“A loan?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Please follow me…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The two passed through the moderately well-decorated lobby and entered the credit loan office; the manager knocked, then let Lans in.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>It was a private office; a gentleman in his forties sat behind the desk, stood up, walked over, and shook Lans’s hand, “Please sit. How may I address you, sir?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Lans.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Very well, Mr. Lans. You can call me Jonathan. As you see, my job is handling loans.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Then…” he rubbed his hands together, “how may I assist you?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans placed two checks and the contract on the desk: “I want a loan of sixty-five dollars, for two months.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan took a deep breath, first examined the two checks—ordinary ones, common to nearly everyone—and checked the account numbers: it was a union worker’s wage account.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Every month, this money flows through the union and into this account; it’s common in Jingang City.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The city has the most bottom-tier workers, so the union’s influence here is unusually strong.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Then he examined the contract carefully, confirmed there were no hidden tricks in the wording, and asked uncertainly, “So this is…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Collateral.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“The owners of these two checks currently have no money in their accounts, but the first check will clear in a week—he’ll receive his first wage, thirty-seven dollars, all here.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“This is his next month’s wage, also thirty-seven dollars. I’m using these two negotiable checks to borrow sixty-five dollars—is there a problem?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan had never encountered this before; he was unsure. “To be honest, I don’t know.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“What if… this… gentleman suddenly loses his job?” he tried to find a loophole to reject this loan he didn’t understand.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But Lans gave him no chance: “So I had him sign a work card lease agreement for four months—it can fetch at least sixty dollars from any illegal immigrant.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“If you understand the market, you know the current market price for a work card has risen to twenty dollars per month.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“In other words, there’s an eighty-dollar profit margin.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>The anti-illegal-immigrant uproar is ending, but its effects linger—most notably, the rental price of work cards has surged.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>You could call it locals taking advantage of desperation, yet people still rent these cards.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Because illegal immigrants who’ve been out of work for a month or a month and a half have no savings—if they don’t work now, they’ll face starvation!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Free food distributions on the streets have nearly vanished; those crazy young people knock all food onto the ground to prevent helping those who can’t afford meals.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan was a local—he knew this well.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Currently, the bank’s personal loan interest rate is twelve percent annually—that’s one percent monthly interest.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan now found himself in a dilemma: he didn’t want to approve this deal because it was unique, unprecedented, and might bring him trouble.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But regardless of the loan’s size, it was still proof of employment—the bank valued this highly, what capitalists called “attitude.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>As he hesitated, Lans added weight to his side of the scale: “Actually, I’ve only brought one of many such deals, Mr. Jonathan.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Thousands, even tens of thousands, every month.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You’ve probably figured out what I do—so you needn’t worry about loan issues, because I resolve all problems before they become yours!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan pursed his lips. “Thousands? Or tens of thousands?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans nodded slightly. “Possibly more.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>He straightened up and studied the two checks and contract again. “But we’ve never handled anything like this, and in a week…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“You can cash the check directly—I’m certain no one can cash it faster than you!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Hearing this, he grew interested—it meant less risk: lock the account, allow deposits only, deduct what’s owed, leaving almost zero risk. “And the other one…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Same procedure—any surplus goes into my account.”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan considered for a long while, then placed the documents on the desk and extended his hand. “Cash or check?”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>“Also, you must give me an authorization letter to operate these two checks—you know, in case of problems, we need to know who bears responsibility!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Lans gripped Jonathan’s hand tightly. “No problem—you’ll find today is your luckiest day!”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Jonathan laughed and shook his arm twice. “Hope so…”\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Such a strong guarantee made borrowing from the bank extremely easy—this meant Lans had already earned fifteen dollars in profit without doing anything.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Though two months later, the bank would deduct two percent of his “loan” amount—sixty-five dollars, or one dollar and thirty cents.\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>But compared to now receiving part of the sixty-five dollars, losing one dollar and thirty cents was entirely acceptable!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>And during this process, capital kept rolling—meaning he could give the bank even more money, because the more he gave, the more he earned!\u003C\u002Fp>\n\u003Cp>Elvin worried Lans didn’t have enough cash—if he truly had enough, he wouldn’t have even mediated for Alberto; he could’ve handled it himself!\u003C\u002Fp>",1264,"2026-06-19T21:10:27.799Z",1,"Qwen3-Next 80B","f932e182069878a2621f641a3ac385bf1668255309f7852eabc4b583bd9018fe","the-shadow-empire-chapter-46","the-shadow-empire-chapter-44",1000,"https:\u002F\u002Fnovelzhen.com\u002Fimages\u002Fcovers\u002Fthe-shadow-empire-cover.jpg"]