Once recognizing the role of the media group, certain forces naturally didn't take it lightly. Besides those folks from Japan, Tel Aviv also started paying attention to this bad-tempered guy.
Through professional analysis, they first needed to determine friend from foe. It was quite obvious that this guy had no political stance.
Since he didn't take a stance, there was no real opposition. The current situation was merely some people's greed.
"What are this guy's weaknesses?" Looking at the mountain of documents, Shlomo Lahat was lost in thought. To him, this kid was simply too remarkable. If he ever became an adversary, that would truly be troublesome.
"Mayor, he has plenty of flaws. Violent, rude, greedy, and lustful, though he's also quite restrained. Oh, and he's a foodie. In short, he spends money as fast as he earns it."
"Just keep an eye on him, don't stir up trouble. We've already got enough on our plate."
To be honest, he was a bit fed up with those folks from America. So greedy, aren't they worried they'll get beaten to a pulp?
William White didn't know he'd been labeled violent. If he knew, he'd probably feel wronged. The guy hadn't even been in a fight, so how could he be violent?
...
In contrast, the FBI was a bit more civil. They naturally got the notice to keep an eye on William White.
Assigning the task was simple. They just needed to talk it over. Without a specific mission objective, how were they supposed to monitor someone?
As they say, subordinates are the same everywhere: destined to take the blame. Is this even a task that can be clearly defined?
It was rather odd. Ever since this guy graduated from college, he had been busy with all kinds of invitations, practically to the point of being overwhelmed.
Ever since that so-called Fair Trade Commission investigation, he not only had to attend Elephant parties but also occasionally join the Donkey's gatherings.
He really couldn't do much about it.
...
"Young master, things have been strange lately. There are some strangers near the house."
William White's eye twitched involuntarily, then he said calmly, "Arrange people to keep an eye on them and see which forces they belong to. If necessary, we could take them out to sea for a chat."
"Okay, young master, I'll handle it."
"Tanner, we need to ramp up personnel training. It's best to use our people. Let Fulton know and clean up the house staff as well."
"Yes, young master."
Although he wasn't sure who these people were, this kind of behavior was definitely not harmonious. Frankly speaking, he wasn't just an ordinary person anymore; he absolutely couldn't allow others to spy on him.
"Oh, right, go buy some equipment to prevent eavesdropping. Don't use regular channels to purchase."
"Understood, young master. I'll take care of it right away."
Many of the high-tech devices of that era weren't for civilian use. The tiny cameras in future smartphones likely originated as spy equipment.
The Internet? Even more so. It was basically developed for military purposes. The so-called Skynet in Terminator was essentially based on the Internet.
They probably couldn't guarantee security, so it became civilian technology. The first so-called information superhighway backbone network was originally used for launching missiles.
Luckily, this unreliable thing wasn't ultimately used in such a way. Just thinking about it was scary. If some hacker ever went crazy and started fiddling around with missiles, that would be a major disaster.
...
William White's plane landed at Houston International Airport.
He hadn't been back to Texas in a while. Although it was his ancestral business, everyone knew that whenever possible, who would really want to come to this place?
Texas genuinely belonged to the wild frontier. If it hadn't been for the discovery of vast oil reserves in modern times, there probably wouldn't be many people here.
Even in this era, the population density was still not very high. Big cities like Houston were relatively bustling, but other areas were quite desolate. When a pickup drove by with a roar, there were indeed few vehicles on the road.
Come on, who would put a space center in a densely populated area?
Nowadays, the White farm was fairly lively, and the property had expanded quite a bit.
"Fulton, are the surrounding farms still not able to survive?"
"You know, young master, this is as good as it gets. In more remote areas, there's pretty much no one interested."
"Sigh, this darn economy. When will it ever get better?"
The new villa at White Farm had a simple exterior, lacking exaggerated sculptures or those ridiculous fountains.
William White barely spent a few days a year there, so it wasn't necessary to make it too fancy. However, an indoor pool was essential. The previous house lacked a modern feel, or else he wouldn't have built a new villa.
The term villa was actually a bit unsuitable here. A house of over a thousand square meters was considered a mansion. With several thousand square meters, it was hardly just a villa.
"Fulton, renovate the house again. Leave those antique pieces where they are. With the husky here, things could really get messed up."
"Hehe, okay, young master. You just need to teach it a lesson."
"Husky, did you hear that? Fulton wants me to teach you a lesson."
"Woof woof."
The silly dog didn't care at all. At most, its mischief would only earn it a flick on the little nose. No one actually gave it a beating.
"You should get some rest, young master. There will be a lot of visitors tomorrow."
"Hmm, sure, I know."
...
Thanks to the double glazing, William White had a good night's sleep. One reason to avoid having a fountain was that it'd just be a watering hole for birds.
A man, a horse, and a dog strolled leisurely across the farm as the sun rose.
Though it was hot, the husky wore a red vest. It really wasn't suited to the Texas environment.
He greeted familiar faces among the cowboys as he passed by.
Farm life was fairly laid-back. Without the vineyards, there really wasn't much to do. Despite his farm getting bigger, the number of cattle and sheep remained limited.
In a way, if it weren't for having a rather unique farm owner, the folks around would have probably gone bankrupt long ago.
He was held in respect here. After all, everyone knew the sales of White Winery hadn't soared. To continue increasing production in such circumstances could only be considered a generous act.
Alright, that may sound ridiculous; maybe he was just optimistic about a rise in wine prices.
In fact, no one cared if the price went up. That's not something typical farmers worried about. From their perspective, if William White made a pile of money, it was well-deserved. At the very least, he was a decent guy.
For being handed a good-guy card, of course, he needed to host a little gathering. That's mainly why he returned this time.
"Folks, the weather this year has been great, and the grapes are high quality. I won't be lowering the purchase price."
Hearing this introduction, a group of worried folks finally breathed a sigh of relief. They hadn't come all the way in the early morning just to have a meal of weird cuisine.
*****
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