Under the shade of the trees on the roadside, Lance looked at Ethan, "Are you feeling a little uncomfortable?"
Ethan shook his head and said insincerely, "No."
In fact, Lance could see that he was uncomfortable, but he just didn't say it.
"I worked hard for a month, but that bitch wanted to take my share. I beat him up, and now he wants me to apologize to him..."
When Lance said these words, Ethan looked up at Lance with an unbelievable, seen-through look.
"Don't look at me like that. I don't know what's going on in your mind, but I'm a young man too."
"I am like you a lot of the time. I always think that face is more important than other things, but Ethan, this is the Federation."
He raised his head and took a few deep breaths of air through his nose. "Do you smell it?"
Ethan and Erwin also raised their heads and sniffed. Erwin didn't say anything, but Ethan was quite honest. "It smells like the sea, stinks, and a little bit of motor oil."
"No!" Lance denied his findings, "It's the smell of money and power!"
"This is a good place, Ethan. It's so good that you can do whatever you want as long as you have money, but the premise is that you have to have money."
"Do you have money?" Ethan shook his head. Lance patted his arm. "So you can't do whatever you want, whether it's beating up that bitch's son of a bitch or doing something else."
"The reason I asked you to apologize is that I don't want this matter to escalate." He glanced at Erwin next to him.
"There are only so many work cards on the dock, but every day there are countless people outside the dock who don't have work cards like us waiting to start work."
"If that bastard spreads this matter in a slightly twisted way, Ethan, it will be difficult for you to survive in Jingang City."
"People won't give a job opportunity to someone who will beat up their employer anytime, anywhere. Why would they give the same fifteen dollars to someone else? Because they want to be beaten?"
"You can take all his money, but that means you, or even all of you, won't be able to find work on the docks next."
"We are so easy to recognize. They can tell us apart from other races. So this is the lesson I'm teaching you today. Rules."
"We only take what we are supposed to take. As long as we follow the rules, no one can use the rules against us."
"If he doesn't say or do anything wrong, no one will know what happened, and it won't have any impact on you."
"But if he messes up, the people who make the rules will deal with him. He is the one who caused unnecessary unrest."
"This is not the Empire. If you are wronged, you can talk to your parents, your uncles and aunts, and they will help you."
"Here, we have to carry it on our own."
Lance turned to look at Erwin and pressed his shoulder. "Ethan's brain doesn't work very well sometimes. You should keep an eye on him and get through this period first."
What happened during this period made Erwin admire Lance very much, and he obeyed him almost unconditionally.
"I will."
Lance nodded. "If there's anything you don't understand, tell me now."
"We have crossed the ocean to come here. We share the same blood of our ancestors. We are brothers. We should be open to each other and unite as one."
Ethan lowered his head for a long time and said "thank you".
Lance smiled and punched him in the chest, but his body didn't move at all, as solid as a calf!
"Okay, I should go back too. If you have any problems, don't be impulsive, come to me."
"Even if you want to kill someone one day, you must come to me before you do something stupid like this. Don't play with your life out of spite!"
He patted Erwin's arm again and drove away.
After watching Lance leave, Erwin rolled his eyes and said to Ethan, "Do you know what happened today?"
Ethan scratched his head, a little embarrassed, "I'm sorry for dragging you down."
Erwin waved his hand. "We are brothers and fellow countrymen. Lance is right. We should stick together."
Then he talked about what happened after Ethan hid, when he heard that many of his friends who came over in the same batch of ships had contributed money to him, and even two fellow villagers he didn't know also contributed three dollars.
Ethan almost cried!
He was touched, but also a little guilty because he had done something stupid and put everyone in debt.
Now when guilt began to hit the feeling of shame and anger, when he regained his rationality and calmed down, he realized how stupid he was to beat up that bitch on impulse.
"…So, the most important thing for us now is to pay back the money first."
"The good news is that I still have more than 70 yuan, so what we lack now is not much..."
In the car, the bustling street scene on the side of the road kept receding. Lance sat in the passenger seat. "Do you have a cigarette? Fordis?"
Fordyce glanced at him and said, "You should add 'Sir'!" However, he still opened the storage compartment on the center console, and there was a box of cigarettes inside.
Lance took one, took out a match, lit it, and took a deep breath.
Thick smoke, along with the fragrance of the summer years, was sucked into the lungs. The alveoli filtered not tar and harmful substances, but time, years, and history!
His right elbow pressed against the open car window, his head half out, the hot summer wind blew in his face, ruffling his hair and blowing into his heart.
A new world, a new life, a new beginning!
A smile appeared on his calm face, a smile from the heart. What brought him here? He used this world as a canvas to paint his fantasy! At
4:55, the car stopped outside the bakery. When Lance got out of the car with Fordyce, the fat boss' eyes almost popped out!
He hesitated and said, "Lance, you didn't cause me any trouble, did you?"
"This gentleman is ..."
Lance is an illegal immigrant who came here illegally. The fat boss had confirmed this a long time ago. Otherwise, it would be impossible for a normal person to do a job that pays only a dozen dollars a month, even if he is a child laborer.
The federal government never banned child labor, but only required shorter working hours and corresponding wages.
Lance has nothing, no work permit, no social security number, so he is an illegal resident.
The sight of an illegal immigrant coming back in a luxury car couldn't help but make the fat boss feel confused and a little uneasy.
Lance did not confuse certain things. "My new friend, Mr. Fordyce, please buy some bread on the way back."
"I'm not late, am I?"
Before figuring out the identity of this "Mr. Fordis", the fat boss would behave more restrainedly, "Of course, I was just joking with you."
He paused, "Go change your apron, I'll entertain Mr. Fordyce."
Looking at what this gentleman is wearing, it's obviously not cheap.
No one knows these things better than the middle class. They may not know anything, but they must know a lot!
Otherwise, who would sell those magazines to?
To the rich people who spend money without blinking an eye?
"Lance is a very hardworking young man. Even if the floor has just been brushed, he will brush it again if he has free time."
"I always use him as an example to tell others how good he is."
"But he's a bit socially reserved, and he never told me that he knew someone as important as you here."
"Can you tell me how you met?"
It was a very poor way of asking questions. Fordis glanced at him sideways, said nothing, and went into the bakery.
Although the fat boss was a little annoyed, the smile on his face never disappeared as he looked at the brand new car and the high-end fabric of the clothes.
Perhaps realizing that this guy wasn't interested in him, he stopped moving forward and said, "Lance, introduce our food to your friend."
Lance, wearing an apron, stood behind the counter. His appearance after the change of clothes made Fordis feel a little funny. "So... what are you going to recommend to me?"
Lance opened the window and said, "The only thing here that I think is delicious is this high-end ham from Musuli Island."
Musuriya Island is a little far away from here, in another country. Due to its special climate and geographical environment, Musuriya Island is rich in three things.
tobacco.
Ham.
woman.
Lance picked up a piece with tweezers and handed it to him. Fordis pressed it with his fingers and put it in his mouth to feel it. Then he shook his head and said, "It's not the authentic Sumuli ham. It's just barely okay."
"If this is the best..."
He glanced at the fat boss in the corner, "Two please, and two more buns to go with it. Any donuts?"
"Yes, buy a box of donuts and get a free cup of coffee. If you're interested in roasted wood chips, I can give you an extra cup."
Fordyce closed his eyes as if he was feeling dizzy. "So this is how you fool your customers?"
As Lance was packing the food, he laughed and joked, "Ninety-nine percent of the customers who come here just want to fill their stomachs. They only care about the price, not the taste or the origin."
He put the packed items into a paper bag and placed it on the counter. "Six dollars and ninety-nine cents."
A box of donuts for 99 cents, with a free cup of coffee.
Two of the best hams cost five dollars, and two of the better breads cost one dollar, which is a very fair price.
With his food in hand, Fordyce paid for the meal and reminded him, "Don't forget your deal with the boss!"
After saying this, he looked at the fat boss again, and pushed the door open and walked out amid the fat boss's forced smile.