Standing in the alley next to the restaurant, Mr. Anderson handed four hundred dollars to Lance with a cold expression mixed with some disgust.
At this moment, he was already certain that these two people were sent to cause trouble.
He actually had quite a few "enemies" in LOS City, including Alberto, the greedy wild dog, and his former partner.
His partner recently saw that the restaurant business had become very popular, and contacted him again two weeks ago, hoping to buy back the shares he had previously sold to him at the original price.
Of course he couldn't agree to it, so it doesn't rule out the possibility that the villain who, faced with business difficulties, blackmailed and sold his shares to him would do such a thing.
Of course, there are some competing restaurants in the surrounding area, and no one would complain that their business is too good.
They would rather have their customers wait an hour outside the restaurant before they can eat than have their customers go to other restaurants to fill their stomachs for less money.
The better his business, the more likely his competitors are to resort to some shady tactics.
He must find out who is behind this.
"I've given you the money, and this matter ends here..."
Lance counted the last twenty-dollar bill, folded them up, and put them in his pocket. The smile on his face was as dazzling as the sun. "Of course, Mr. Anderson, we are honest people."
Mr. Anderson felt that there was something behind his words, but he couldn't tell what it was. He hesitated for a moment, and finally asked, "Who asked you to come?"
He thought Lance would quibble and talk nonsense. He thought of many possibilities, but he didn't expect...
"Two hundred, Mr. Anderson."
"For just two hundred bucks, I'll tell you the truth."
"No counter-offers accepted."
Mr. Anderson almost couldn't breathe after saying this. "I have never seen such a shameless person like you in my life!"
Lance took a step back and bowed slightly, "I'll take that as a compliment."
"I have other things to do this afternoon, if there's nothing else, we need to leave."
"My poor brother still needs to go to the doctor to check his body, and I don't even know if four hundred dollars is enough!"
Mr. Anderson's temples were throbbing and he lowered his voice, filled with anger. He felt that this was Lance's greed and he wanted to continue blackmailing him.
"I'm telling you, you son of a bitch, if you dare to come to my restaurant again, I'm going to call the police. I know some big shots who can make you regret coming into this world!"
He turned around and walked away, but he only took a few steps before he stepped back. With his hands shaking with anger, he counted out two hundred dollars and threw them hard on Lance's chest. "Now, immediately, tell me the name of that bastard!"
Lance counted the money quickly, smiling from ear to ear, "Sir, Alberto Coty, I'm currently working for him..."
"Fuck!"
Mr. Anderson left cursing loudly. Erwin pulled Lance's sleeve in confusion, "Will Mr. Coty be angry because we betrayed him?"
"Selling out?" Lance shook his finger, took out sixty dollars and handed it to Erwin. "This is not a sell-out. If Mr. Coty wants to get the money back, he must put enough pressure on Mr. Anderson."
"If we don't say who it is, Mr. Anderson won't know where the pressure is coming from, and he may end up mistakenly thinking it's someone else."
"So we need to let him know who is making him uncomfortable and who to go to to resolve the matter."
Lance pocketed the rest of the money and pulled Erwin back to the car.
The hot sun hung in the sky, scorching everything on the earth.
The moment the car door was opened, a damn heat wave instantly surged out, reminding Lance of the bakery's oven.
He frowned and waited for a while before sitting in.
The black leather seats that burned his butt made him feel so uncomfortable for the first time. He opened the car window to let in as much wind as possible.
"Next...where are we going?" Erwin was obviously also suffocated by the heat.
Lance started the car and looked in the rear-view mirror and said, "Go find some people who are willing to make money..."
Soon the car returned to the culvert and Lance brought some food. The house had not been rented yet, so they would continue to live here for the time being.
I have to say it was damn cool in the culvert at this time. Winds of more than ten degrees blew out from the endless culvert. Some thin people even had to wear two more layers of clothes.
No wonder these culverts are filled with people in the summer.
When they saw Lance driving over, the friends immediately gathered around him.
"We made some money today, Melo. When it's a little cooler in the evening, take us to buy some clothes." He took out eighty yuan and gave it to Melo.
There are about twenty people here, and on average each person gets at least four dollars.
"There are too many. There's a second-hand market over at the port. You can buy one for one dollar!"
There are many similar trading markets in the port area, because there are the most poor people here, and most people sell clothes that are recycled from other areas, or even stolen!
There are special thieves who steal clothes from other people's homes and even steal clothes from the laundry room.
Of course, some were picked up from the garbage dumps of middle- and high-end communities.
Clothes that look more beautiful are often more expensive and are not a consumption item in Hong Kong. Clothes in Hong Kong mainly cost one yuan a set or sixty cents a piece.
Lance shook his head. "No, go buy some decent clothes like mine. We will be going to more upscale occasions in the future, and we can't dress too shabby."
This time, Melo was speechless. Although someone asked how much money Lance made this time, Lance just smiled and said nothing.
Erwin didn't say anything either.
"Do you know anyone who came from the Empire and has obtained immigration status?"
"There's still work to do tomorrow, and it's a little dangerous. People without ID might get into trouble."
"I need about twenty locals or people with legal immigration status."
The friends immediately started talking at once.
In fact, many people from the Empire have settled in the Federation and obtained legal immigrant status. In the process of starting the federal economy, these people have indeed made a lot of efforts.
"Little Red Riding Hood's uncle and brother seem to be legal immigrants. I heard him say that."
The word "Little Red Riding Hood" is actually not a good word in the Federation. Although there are some animated fables, even cartoons and movies centred around it, it is actually not a good word.
Some people who always choose younger ages will call their prey "Little Red Riding Hood" and themselves "Big Bad Wolf".
The reason why this "Little Red Riding Hood" is called Little Red Riding Hood is actually because he looks too much like a girl.
The sixteen-year-old boy was fair, thin, and even a little handsome. He was wearing a red baseball cap while on the boat.
So everyone gave him a nickname.
He is different from illegal immigrants like Lance who sneaked in and planned to settle down. He came here to live with his uncle.
As for why he came here on a smuggling boat, it was purely because His Majesty the Emperor had banned men from leaving the country at will.
Without sneaking, there is no way out.
In addition to Little Red Riding Hood, several other friends provided some clues.
The problems within the empire actually existed a long time ago, and a group of people had left the empire and came to the federation a long time ago, and some of them lived here.
Lance asked them to write down their address or phone number and he would contact them.
The anti-illegal immigration trend in LOS City has not yet passed. Although it has not become more serious, the improvement is limited.
Many people believe that this is due to inaction by City Hall or the state government, but in fact it is just that the high-level political struggle over LOS City has not yet ended.
Once the political struggle at the top is over, it will take less than three days for LOS City to return to stability.
This time when Lance went to visit Little Red Riding Hood, he didn't bring anyone with him. He went alone. He wasn't doing any work, so he didn't need so many people.
Little Red Riding Hood's uncle's house is not far from the port area. It is also where the lower class people live and they live in an apartment.
When some people saw Lance getting out of the car, they couldn't help but stop and look at him for a while. Not many people would get off their cars in such a low-end neighbourhood.
It wasn't until they saw Lance enter the apartment building that their staring stopped and turned into a discussion.
The address left by Little Red Riding Hood was on the seventh floor, and there was a puddle of smelly urine in the corner of the old elevator.
The sputum and toilet paper on the floor were left there without anyone cleaning them up.
During the elevator's ascent or descent, there is a chance that you will be kicked out and end up in the elevator shaft.
No wonder there was a musty smell and a faint stench as soon as I came in.
When he arrived at the door, he straightened his clothes and knocked.
The person who opened the door was a middle-aged man who looked to be in his 37 or 38 years old. He had brown hair and a clean face, which did not quite fit in with the federal trend of growing beards.
His eyes were full of vigilance and distrust. "Who are you looking for?"
"I'm looking for Gerald."
"Who are you?"
"I'm from the Empire. You can call me Lance. We met on the ship."
The middle-aged man inside took another look at Lance, and when he found that the clothes he was wearing cost at least ten dollars in total, his vigilance eased a little.
He hesitated for a moment, then opened the door. "Jerald has gone to work and won't be back until the evening. Come in and sit down first."
Lance entered the room and looked around. The space was not very large.
Lance placed the fruit in a conspicuous place on the table. He knew how to deal with these low-level people.
"You can call me Bolton and I'll call you Lance, right?"
"What would you like to drink?"
He walked over to the cupboard and looked, "I'm sorry, there's only water right now."
Bolton filled a glass of tap water and placed it on the table. "You probably just arrived at the Federation, so you may not know that the tap water in the Federation is actually drinkable."
"And if you taste it carefully, you should be able to feel that it is actually slightly sweet."
"The federal government has spent decades focusing on water quality protection and has done a lot of work on filtering and adding minerals to the water."
"I'm not saying the Empire is bad, but compared to the Federation, we still have a long way to go."
Looking at the cup of tap water that definitely contained excessive lead, Lance already knew what kind of person Mr. Bolton was and how to communicate with him