The fat police officer standing in the doorway, blocking the bakery door with his obese body, turned around and stared at the fat boss with murderous gleams in his small eyes.
Sometimes the cops in the City of Angels were more detestable and less likeable than the gangsters.
The fat boss was faced with the choice between an unspecified but terrifying threat and two hundred dollars, and ultimately chose to protect himself by forgoing the two hundred dollars.
The bakery's monthly profit was about 400 yuan, of which about 350 yuan was left after deducting normal expenses.
The monthly sanitation fee paid to the gang was 50 yuan, and the fee paid to the police was about 65 yuan. Now the gang fee had increased to 60 yuan.
In other words, the monthly profit was only 225 yuan, and if the salary of his daughter and himself was calculated, the net profit was only 100 yuan.
This figure may still be unattainable for many working-class people, but for a shop owner, it is actually not too much.
But after all, it is still profitable.
The fat boss took a deep breath and said, "No problem, I'll get it."
Not long after, he painfully took out two hundred yuan from the secret box where he kept the money and placed it on the table.
The officer casually glanced at it, picked it up and put it in his pocket. "Johnny, don't worry, I'm a man of my word."
"You haven't actually lost out. I won't collect any more money from you for six months. You haven't been extorted by anyone, you've just paid in advance."
This explanation seemed to make the fat boss feel a little better, but Lance, who had been watching from the corner, knew very well that suddenly collecting the fees in advance was definitely not something he urgently needed money for right now.
It was very likely that this guy was really going to be transferred.
So he planned to make a profit before he moved.
However, he had no obligation to warn the fat boss, and even if he did, the fat boss would be unable to resist.
Someone had once tried to report some of the actions of the corrupt police officers, but in the end it was never resolved.
The police officer looked at the fat boss and then at Lance, before picking up his handkerchief and throwing it into the trash can by the table.
He said this, put his hat back on, patted the fat officer on the shoulder, and pushed open the door.
The "temporarily closed" sign was once again back to "open for business".
Lance saw them go to the next shop through the window. He could tell that his appetite was great.
From the front of the street to the corner, there were at least 30 shops. If each shop gave him 400 yuan, that would be 12,000 yuan.
In an era when the average salary was only 40 to 50 yuan, 12,000 yuan was absolutely astronomical for the lower classes!
"These sons of bitches with sores on their feet, son of a bitch motherfucker..." Johnny cursed in a low voice, and even cursing had to be so careful, which made Lance laugh.
He suddenly looked up at Lance, his eyes red, "Do you think I'm ridiculous?"
Lance inexplicably took a step back and waved his hands, "No, not at all."
But the fat boss seemed to have already decided that this was the case. "You can laugh at me, you saw me make a fool of myself, but it's okay, dinner is cancelled!"
After saying this, he returned to the room inside without looking back, and then the sound of things being thrown around could be heard.
Lance looked at the half-open door and listened to the cursing coming from inside. The apprentice stood with a cold smile at the back door, looking at himself. All of this gave him a clear understanding of this era.
Power is fundamental.
He and the young men who came to collect protection money, and the police officer in his thirties wearing the uniform of justice, after removing the external things, they were not any different.
What is it that makes him work for a month for nothing and still owe the capitalist three dollars, and what is it that allows those people to get a large sum of money every month without doing anything?
It is power, and power creates order!
People without power obey the order.
Lance is not a conformist, at least he is unlikely to be.
In the afternoon, while he was thinking about how to make the fat boss pay for his arrogance, a little man wearing a cap suddenly ran outside the bakery.
He was panting and looking into the bakery with his arms folded. Lance saw him at a glance and immediately went out.
On the boat, he met a lot of people his age, 17 or 18 years old. People in their late teens and early 20s are an easy group to get along with.
They didn't need to know each other, just a few words and an expression of whether they could "hang out" together would form a small group.
Most of these refugees from the same place stayed to work locally, and many worked as port laborers—
this was also the place where the most illegal workers appeared. The heaviest, most exhausting, and dirtiest jobs were always inseparable from illegal workers.
The locals looked down on those dirty and tiring jobs, and the capitalists were unwilling to hire the more expensive locals, so the illegal workers were always the best choice.
Even at this time, there were already things like "rental positions" on the bulletin boards at the port—
According to federal laws and regulations, it is ostensibly said to be to protect the legitimate rights and interests of the grassroots, but in reality it only provides capitalists with better means of exploitation. Therefore, workers who want to work need to provide at least one of the two certificates:
A federal social security number, or a work permit for immigrants.
Whether you're a native or a legal immigrant, you always need one.
What about the illegal immigrants who don't have a social security number and can't get a work permit, but they need to work?
Some locals rent out their jobs to these illegal immigrants. For example, the most common job is boat polishing.
The port management office doesn't care who the hell polishes the boat with a rag, they only care if the boat is polished on time.
The boat polisher gets paid 35 yuan a month, and the illegal worker needs to pay the boat polisher 15 yuan and complete all the work.
Then the remaining 20 yuan is their own income.
Having 20 yuan is already considered a high income. Now many work cards are increasing in price, and some have already increased to 18 yuan.
This means that a person who cannot work openly and takes the place of someone else to work hard for a month only gets 17 yuan.
Living in a concrete pipe, eating the worst and cheapest food, they can only save a few dollars a month.
Some local people with quick wits often have two or three "part-time" jobs or more at the same time, and then rent out these jobs to those who are not registered.
Earning 50 to 60 yuan a month without doing anything has become a way of life for the locals.
It is also a lifestyle unique to a few cities.
The little man in front of him is called Erwin, and he is from Lance's hometown. In a foreign land, these fellow townsmen have an inexplicable sense of trust.
This sense of trust comes from having the same past and the security of knowing each other from living in the same area. However, many people take advantage of this trust to do bad things.
But this little man can be trusted, because he came to the Federation from the Empire with Lance.
It was obvious that he was in a hurry.
Lance pushed the door open and wiped his hand on his apron. "What's wrong?"
Erwin looked anxious. 'Something's happened to Ethan!"
Lance's expression changed slightly. 'What happened to him?"
Among the group, Lance was respected by the others because of his more mature insights, and they were willing to discuss anything with him in a small group.
After all, as an adult with many years of experience, even if he is not familiar with the world, when faced with some choices, he will still be more stable and more appropriate than these half-grown children.
Erwin took a deep breath and forced his breathing to stabilize, "Today is payday. You know that we rent our work cards, so..."
Lance had already guessed the rest, "So the dock gave the wages to the people who rented your work cards, and Ethan's refused to give him his wages, right?"
Elvin nodded repeatedly, "That's right. That bastard told him that he wouldn't give him a penny and scolded him."
"Then he got angry and beat the stupid bastard up, and the son of a bitch directly called the police..."
This kind of thing is actually quite common on the docks, and it is not uncommon in the entire City of Angels. There are always people who will eye the wealth and everything you have without your knowledge!
This is also directly related to the fact that illegal households are not recognized by the judiciary in the Federation. The cost of reporting to the police is far higher than the loss of a month's hard work, so even if some people are cheated, they will ultimately just choose to pretend that nothing has happened.
This has also prompted these disgusting local maggots to become even more aggressive. After all, they know very well that no one will report to the police, and the cost of reporting to the police is something those illegal households cannot bear.
And given the current scale of employment in Jingang City, there is simply no shortage of people willing to try their luck with these work permits.
Lance frowned. This was not going to be easy. "Where is Ethan now?"
"I told him to hide in the culvert under the bridge."
"What did the guy say?"
"He said he'd let it go if I gave him two hundred bucks, and that if I didn't, he'd keep causing trouble for Ethan."
"If he does, there's a good chance Ethan will be sent back."
At this point, being sent back to the Empire is no longer a matter of going to the front. The emperor has gone mad, and he will hang anyone who escapes military service!
In other words, if Ethan goes back, there is a high probability that he will go to prison or even die!
This is the root of the problem: the Federation has the audacity to threaten and exploit them!
But two hundred dollars is really too much. These people have only been here for a month, and most of them end up with just a few dollars left after paying for food and expenses.
They can't possibly come up with two hundred dollars.
Erwin also mentioned this problem, "The seven or eight of us could only come up with sixty-three dollars, and we still need more than a hundred."
Lance sighed, 'Not only did I not get a penny this month, I also owe three dollars."
Erwin's voice was full of hatred, 'These damn vampires!"