Chapter 584: Another Family

In the evening, Lan Si's car pulled up outside William's villa. He and Emily had been waiting for him at the entrance for quite some time.

After exchanging hugs with both of them, William said with a hint of awkwardness, "They knew you were coming, so they tagged along."

Although it was a bit awkward, Lan Si could see that Emily's face was glowing with radiance!

She was a vain woman, that was beyond doubt, but Lan Si didn't feel there was anything wrong with that.

Everyone has their own thoughts and personality, and they also need to express their emotions and other things. For Emily, the elevation of the family was the thing that made him the happiest.

Nowadays, she still sometimes returns to the Pulixiya District to live, because she is more familiar with the social circle there.

In the past, she wasn't at the core of that social circle; she would likely sit on the periphery, occasionally saying a few words to get people to pay attention to her for a minute or two, only for others to snatch that attention away from her.

She could only smile and occasionally express her thoughts, but never for long.

But now, it was completely different.

Ever since she attended some higher-level social occasions with Mrs. Williams, she had become the undisputed core of the community's social circle.

Even her seat had moved from the edge to the very center.

She would lounge lazily on that sofa chair, showing off her attire and accessories, and then everyone's eyes and attention would be focused on her.

No matter who was speaking, if she didn't like it, she could interrupt them at any time, and no one would feel uncomfortable because of it.

Even if they did, they had to hold it in.

No matter what she said, those ladies would smile and play along, even though they wouldn't provide her with any actual practical benefits.

But the emotional value they provided exceeded everything else!

It wasn't William who changed her life; she knew who it was!

If everyone in the entire family was fanatical about Lan Si, then if one were to rank them by that fanaticism, Emily would definitely be at the top of the list.

She took Lan Si's arm and complained to William, "He's so eager for everyone to know you've arrived now!"

Lan Si turned his head to look at her, "I think this sounds more like your idea, Emily."

William laughed heartily after hearing this, "You guessed it perfectly. She actually had a gathering tonight..."

The state of William's family was getting better and better, so those in the family were even more eager to have frequent contact with them; this was human nature.

Even if they couldn't gain anything from William, what if they needed to ask them for a favor in the future?

So now, family activities were becoming more frequent, and since he and Emily had moved into a new, large house, they also frequently hosted family gatherings.

Lan Si wasn't unhappy about this; after all, they would soon all be one family, and at the same time, the "local" label on him would become clearer and clearer.

As soon as he entered the lawn, people kept coming up to greet him, shake his hand, and chat. It didn't feel much like a family gathering; it felt more like an informal social event.

First came the older ones, then those around his own age.

Barbara and Patricia came out of the house together. When the girl saw Lan Si, she let out a shriek, ran over, and threw herself into Lan Si's arms.

They hadn't seen much of each other during this period; Lan Si had truly had too many things to do. Patricia didn't care about anyone else's gaze, hugging Lan Si's waist and deeply inhaling the scent on him.

The familiar scent—her whole person seemed to relax at this very moment.

William and Emily watched all of this happen with great satisfaction, without the slightest intention of lecturing them.

Everyone else also watched with smiles on their faces.

It was no longer a secret that the Lan Si family had replaced the Five Great Families to become the most powerful gang in Jincheng; the newspapers had even reported it, damn it!

And everyone knew that the Police Chief and the Deputy Chief both listened to Lan Si, and the next mayor was also in a cooperative relationship with Lan Si. This stabilized the Lawrence family.

There were many low-level civil servants in the Lawrence family. If these low-level civil servants didn't have the addition or push of other forces, they would very likely only be low-level civil servants for the rest of their lives.

But because of this connection with Lan Si, they would soon gain opportunities for promotion and begin to occupy important positions in various departments of Jincheng.

These changes brought not only the improvement of their personal power, social status, and influence, but also drove the improvement of the entire family!

Their agricultural products would be more competitive—

The Lawrence Farm didn't just refer to a single farm; it was more like a trademark. At the same time, the farms, ranches, and plantations around the Lawrence Farm would also sell their agricultural products to the Lawrence family, to be transported together to Jincheng and nearby cities for sale.

In the absence of interference from greater forces, this kind of sales was the most basic form of competition.

But when the Lawrence family's strength increased, they would have more initiative in the market!

For example, they could find any excuse to say that a competing brand or even a shopping mall was unqualified on certain issues.

Some stupid rumors, some procedural suspensions of sales or shutdowns for inspections—these could make the Lawrence Farm brand expand rapidly and go out into the world.

After more than a hundred years of waiting, they had finally waited for an opportunity to rise, and the person who created this opportunity was Lan Si. Therefore, they had no dissatisfaction with Lan Si. A family interest group with Lan Si and William at its core was slowly taking shape.

"I know you guys really need to be together, but shouldn't you put that off for a little while?"

"He belongs to you alone in the second half of the night, but right now, he belongs to all of us!"

Barbara's voice made Patricia feel a bit embarrassed. She glared at this older sister, but it had no deterrent effect.

She let go of the hand that was holding Lan Si and stood to the side, "We just haven't seen each other for a while, so we couldn't help ourselves!"

Barbara nodded perfunctorily, "Yes, yes, I can't help myself right now either!"

As she said this, she also hugged Lan Si, and she hugged him quite solidly.

A polite hug is the kind of "hollow" hug where there isn't much direct contact between the two parties except above the shoulders, especially between the opposite sex.

But Barbara's hug was solid; she almost pressed her whole body against him. Fortunately, she let go quickly, otherwise Patricia would have started smoking!

Recently, Barbara's prospects were good. "Legend of Angel Lake" was well-received at the film festival and had begun to be screened on a larger scale.

As the "silly, sweet" heroine of this film, her portrayal of the character was very successful; of course, one could also say it was a performance of her true self.

【Author's note: Content is being checked!】

She expressed the core of the horror-thriller film—where the silly, sweet girl has to make multiple-choice questions—vividly—

Hiding in the tool shed by the lake, facing Jason who had been hunting everyone down, she didn't choose the shears that could easily cut through bone for pruning branches.

Nor did she choose the steel rod that could easily be inserted into the soil, much less those hunting knives that looked very well-maintained.

Instead, she chose a baseball bat that no one could understand...

But the audience liked her because she was pretty, sweet, had a good figure, and was also a little bit... bitchy.

For Americans, being a bit bitchy isn't a bad thing; this also explains why they prefer cheerleaders over those ordinary girls.

In short, this film brought her a lot of resources. Many production companies were already talking to her about cooperation; she was going to be a big star.

However, she knew very well who had given her all of this. It was precisely because she had truly invested herself in this industry that she realized that people praising her beauty and figure—these things were worthless in this circle!

Every day, outside the doors of those production companies in Creek City, there were dozens, hundreds, or even more girls who were younger, prettier, had better figures, and were more willing to let go, waiting for opportunities.

But the probability of an opportunity favoring any one of them was very low. It wasn't that they weren't good enough; it was just that between them and success, there was a layer of something they couldn't break through on their own.

Hugging Lan Si's thigh tightly was the key!

Seeing Barbara let go of Lan Si, Patricia's little fist finally loosened. She glared at Barbara, and the latter just smiled back.

Afterward, many others came over to shake hands or hug Lan Si.

At this time, there was still a while before dinner, and people spontaneously gathered around Lan Si and William to chat.

"I read today's newspaper, but I still find it hard to believe that all the casino franchise licenses are now in your hands, including the Jincheng Casino, right?"

Someone still found it hard to believe and couldn't help but ask.

Lan Si held his wine glass and nodded, "Yes, actually, besides these casinos and licenses, I am also considering taking over some legitimate businesses from the Koda family."

Others walked closer, listening with serious expressions as Lan Si continued, "If I don't take these businesses, then it is very likely they will be carved up by the Bay Area, but as you know, there is still some friction and conflict between me and the Bay Area."

"I'm not very interested in managing these companies, but I also know that they shouldn't just be allowed to collapse."

"So, when the time comes, if any of you... are willing to be managers and manage these companies for me, you can come to me."

"By the way, the casinos are also lacking managers."

"Bandi only opened three casinos. In the past, the market was indeed only that big; opening too many would increase costs, but revenue wouldn't increase."

"But as this place transforms into a half-commercial, half-military port, there will be more opportunities and an influx of population, so I plan to fully open all five casinos, which will also require quite a few people..."

Hiring people from the outside who you don't know—how could that be as worry-free and easy as hiring these "our own people"?

Moreover, many of them were civil servants or middle-class themselves and had rich experience; managing Lan Si's businesses and casinos wouldn't be too difficult.

As for whether anyone would meddle?

Lan Si believed they wouldn't. Even if someone was truly bold enough to mess around on his turf, Lan Si wouldn't mind turning that guy into the chicken!

Hearing that there were a large number of opportunities, and good ones at that, quite a few people were immediately moved.

William relied on Lan Si to become a congressman; couldn't they also take a step further by relying on their "relative relationship" with Lan Si?

(End of chapter) ===== CHAPTER 585 =====