Chapter 89

When you visit your girlfriend's home for the first time and see her father, and he asks if you are nervous, how should you answer?

Nervous?

Why be nervous?

Not nervous?

Why not be nervous?

No matter how you answer, it will lead to more questions, and every single one will be extremely difficult to answer; a slight carelessness and you will stumble.

Lans glanced at Patricia in the dining room and replied, "Not nervous."

He looked back at Mr. Lawrence, "If you truly love someone, standing in my position, you would understand that my heart is filled with courage."

"I will overcome all difficulties and then bring her home."

"There is only one thing that can make me nervous, and that is losing her."

"But at the same time, that fills me with courage, because I know I will surely win her back!"

Mrs. Lawrence smiled from ear to ear; she leaned over and lowered her voice to ask Patricia, "Has he always been this good with words?"

Mr. Lawrence glanced at his wife and daughter, who were watching the spectacle, and felt that Lans's answer was too... practiced. "How many girls and their fathers have you said these things to?"

Lans met his gaze directly without fear, "You and Pat are the first; I can swear to God."

In the Federation, eighty percent of people are believers, so swearing to God is a very serious matter.

He looked at Lans, and Lans looked back at him quite calmly; in this world, it was indeed the first time.

This composure made Mr. Lawrence's attitude relax a little, "You can call me William."

A very good turn of events.

Patricia quickly ran to the restroom, laughed for a while, and then returned with a flushed face; she felt very happy, right now.

Mr. Lawrence then began to inquire about some of Lans's recent circumstances.

"I heard you were sold into a sweatshop when you were a child?"

He had done some research; for a government official, it was too easy to investigate an ordinary person's identity information.

As for so-called privacy management, it was actually just used to fool ordinary taxpayers; it couldn't even fool high-level taxpayers.

No one knew better than them what this country and government were like.

Lans went through all those old stories, and Mr. Lawrence listened very carefully, "How do you intend to handle the relationship between you and your parents, as well as your sister?"

"You haven't been together for many years; I believe you should understand what I mean. You are like strangers, yet you are family."

Federal citizens place great importance on family; it has risen to become an intuitive label for distinguishing whether a person is good or bad.

If you can maintain good family relationships, even if you do something bad, others will think it might just be an accident.

But if you cannot maintain good family relationships, even if you always do good deeds, they will feel that one day you will pull something big.

"I will try to integrate, but I won't force us to be able to do so. I will bear everything I should bear; that is all I can do for now."

At least it was an answer above the passing line. Mr. Lawrence changed the subject, "I heard from Pat that you registered two companies?"

"Yes, a financial consulting firm and a labor agency."

He briefly introduced the business of these two companies and the legal portion of the income they brought him; Mr. Lawrence's expression softened further.

Although he was a Federalist, he also understood that the Social Party's policy of focusing on developing a modernized industrial economy was correct, and it was inevitable that capital would become the God of this country.

Lans had money; not discussing what he could do for society or for their family, but at least this was not a bad thing.

Inevitably, they started talking about the recent anti-immigration movement.

Lans did not go deeper into this issue, appropriately showing some sympathy for the immigrant group. Mr. Lawrence did not express his stance, but it was clear he was very satisfied with Lans now.

Not long after, it was time for dinner. Mrs. Lawrence had already opened the wine; top-tier cognac was actually just that, but Mr. Lawrence liked it very much.

The dinner was sumptuous; it was clear that Mrs. Lawrence was a good housewife, at least impeccable in terms of cooking.

In just one meal, Lans had established a very full image of himself: "trafficked as a child, then self-reliant, found the way home, and after being tempered, finally succeeded."

He called his meeting with Patricia "God's arrangement," and the Lawrence couple, who were both believers, were also very satisfied with this explanation.

From the current perspective, they couldn't find many faults in Lans.

The host and guests were all happy.

After dinner, Lans did not stay long; after resting for a moment, he tactfully requested to leave, and Mr. Lawrence naturally agreed.

After watching Lans leave, Mrs. Lawrence was very satisfied with Lans's performance during the family banquet.

Witty, humorous, intelligent, sharp, and his appearance also fit the aesthetics of people in this era: rugged and handsome.

She jokingly teased her husband, saying, "Now you won't worry anymore, right?"

Mr. Lawrence instead sighed heavily, somewhat helplessly, "On the contrary, I'm even more worried!"

As for what he was worried about, presumably he would have plenty of time to tell Mrs. Lawrence. Sometimes being too excellent is not a good thing; he was a bit hesitant, unsure how to face this matter.

The next morning, while Lans was at the company, Elvin suddenly knocked on the door, "Something up?"

Lans told him to come over and sit down. Elvin took a sip of water, "Guess who came?"

"Who?", Lans gave him a cigarette, and Elvin skillfully lit Lans's first, then his own.

"Your old boss, Jonny; he came to borrow money."

Lans was a bit surprised. Elvin briefly recounted what he had found out. After listening, Lans also felt it was a bit unbelievable; this was just too unlucky.

He had always thought the apprentice would endure until the end; he didn't expect that as soon as he left, the apprentice would deal Jonny a heavy blow, and he even felt the tax evasion issue was reported by the apprentice.

Because not many people knew how much his actual income was, just those few people.

Originally, Lans had planned to let Jonny practice on him once Sean got his lawyer's license, to thank him for the care he once gave him, but now it seemed it was too late.

Lans considered it for a moment, "I'll go over and receive him personally."

"That's what I thought too!", Elvin said with a smile.

At this time, Jonny was very depressed in the office. He had already been to other financial companies to ask; they could also only lend him two thousand dollars, and the interest was very high.

He couldn't afford to borrow it, and he couldn't afford to pay it back.

The lawyer had come today and told him that through some connections, he had obtained the demands from the tax bureau; they were claiming back taxes for ten years, plus corresponding fines, totaling ten thousand dollars.

The court would agree to their demand for back taxes; the only room for maneuver now was the amount of the fine.

But in any case, he had to prepare the money as soon as possible; there was a high probability that this lawsuit would be decided on the spot.

After the verdict, it would enter the execution period. If he didn't pay the money and the deadline passed, the tax bureau would apply to auction off his real estate.

By then, the situation would be even worse, and they would also calculate late fees.

He had looked for three financial companies; the price they offered was much higher than the bank, but the interest was much higher. He had no other choice, so he could only come here with the mindset of giving it a try.

The person who received him looked a bit familiar; he seemed to have seen him somewhere, but he couldn't remember for a moment.

The other party said such a large transaction required the manager, and asked him to wait a moment.

In the process of waiting, he thought of many things, all of which eventually turned into a helpless sigh.

Just at this moment, the door rang. He hurriedly stood up, but upon turning around, he saw Lans.

Lans was wearing a high-end suit, with the air of a successful person, "We meet again, Jonny."

Jonny was dazed for a while, and asked somewhat uncertainly, "You... here?"

Lans walked over to Elvin's chair and sat down, looking at him very uprightly, "I am the manager here. I heard you encountered trouble?"

Jonny, who had originally wanted to leave, had his expression change again and again, "Yes, I urgently need a sum of money."

Lans chuckled and fiddled with the small ornaments on the desk, "Money has never been a problem, but what do you use to guarantee that you can pay back this money?"

"You have to know, your bread-making skills are worthless here."

Jonny's face flushed; his bread-making skills were the thing he was most proud of, and he had taken pride in this craft his whole life!

But now, he couldn't even refute it.

Lans, however, did not intend to let him off, "It seems you don't agree with my words. How much are your skills worth, Jonny? Five dollars, ten dollars, or twenty dollars?"

"How much are other financial companies and banks willing to give you because of your skills?"

"Tell me, no matter how much they offer, I will add twenty percent on top of their base."

Jonny did not speak, his face turning from red to white, and white to red, because he knew that at the bank, his skills were simply worthless.

He couldn't take it anymore; if it were someone else, he might have been able to endure it, but this was Lans!

"If you want to humiliate me, then you have succeeded, but only this once!", he stood up wanting to leave; he had had enough!

Lans, however, did not give him a chance to leave, "I will give you three thousand dollars."

Jonny, who had already stood up, slowly sat back down amidst Lans's half-smiling expression.

"You want to leave?"

Jonny was silent for a while, "My butt hurts a little."

This made Lans burst into laughter, "You need to find a better lie, Jonny. This isn't a bakery; no one likes to hear you talk nonsense!"

He laughed for a good while, "Now, tell me, your bread-making skills are worthless."

"Of course, you don't have to do that, but you know, this is three thousand dollars."

Jonny struggled with his thoughts for a while; although he wasn't a good person, in some aspects, he was still very persistent.

But no matter how persistent, he couldn't hold on anymore. He said in a very decadent voice, "You win, my skills are worthless."

Lans beckoned to him, signaling him to hand over those documents.

Lans took a look and felt something was wrong, "The property you want to mortgage isn't the bakery?"

Jonny was dazed for a while, "I only need three thousand dollars."

He had a sum of money in the bank given to him by the court, plus his own three hundred dollars or so, totaling nearly eighteen hundred dollars.

If he could borrow three thousand dollars from Lans, and then find a way to scrape together and tighten his belt, he could come up with five thousand dollars in cash.

This was also the figure the lawyer thought was relatively appropriate; it might be even less. After all, he only evaded taxes, it wasn't a subjective intent to escape taxes, and the judge should consider reducing the fine accordingly.

He didn't need to mortgage the bakery, nor would he mortgage the bakery, "If you want my bakery, I can leave right now."

Lans considered it for a while, "In consideration of the fact that you at least once provided me with an environment where I could live, and let me eat my fill, Jonny, I will lend it to you."

Jonny couldn't believe this was true!

He stared wide-eyed at Lans. He began to regret the things he had done before; although it was only for a moment, and it wouldn't be long before he forgot these things, at least for now, he was regretting it.

"How much interest do others give you?"

Jonny recalled for a moment, and in hesitation, lowered the interest a little, "They are willing to lend me two thousand dollars, and want me to pay back five thousand in half a year."

"Twenty-five percent interest, very high. I will lend you three thousand dollars at an interest rate of eighteen percent per month."

Jonny was not very good at arithmetic, "If the term expires, how much money do I have to pay you back?"

Lans simply listed a calculation on a piece of paper, "Six thousand two hundred and forty dollars."

Jonny was silent for a while, "The interest is still too high, can you..."

"No!", Lans's answer was very firm, "Jonny, others lend you two thousand and ask for five thousand; I am essentially lending you an extra thousand and not asking for interest on that."

"People must learn to be grateful. If you feel the interest is too high, you can go elsewhere to try."

Jonny held his head in pain, "I don't know, Lans!"

Lans took out two contracts: one was a legal loan contract, executed according to the twenty-two percent annual interest rate cap stipulated by federal law.

There was also a "financial consulting fee" contract; its fee exceeded the reasonable interest, which could well circumvent the "Usury Law."

After he filled in all the blanks, he placed the pen and a total of four contracts in front of Jonny, "Sign, or don't sign; the choice is yours."

Looking at those two contracts, thinking about the tax bureau causing him trouble, and thinking about what the lawyer said regarding late fees if he didn't pay, he finally picked up the pen in pain and signed his name.

Lans had Elvin come over, holding a camera to take three photos of Jonny: one of him standing next to Lans holding the two contracts, and one of him flipping to the page that said "I voluntarily..."

After doing this, Lans asked, "Cash or transfer?"

"Cash!", Jonny said viciously; Federal citizens have a special obsession with cash.

Lans quickly counted a large pile of money for him. He counted it again, and when he finished, he looked up at Lans, "The money is wrong, it's eighteen dollars short."

Lans, however, looked at him with a half-smile, "You forgot, you owe me."