Under the shade of a tree by the roadside, Lance looked at Ethan and asked, "Aren't you a little uncomfortable?"
Ethan shook his head and said insincerely, "No."
In fact, Lance could tell that he was uncomfortable, but he just didn't want to admit it.
"I worked hard for a month, but that son of a bitch of a woman planned to swallow even my share. I beat him up, and now I have to apologize to him..."
When Lance said these words, Ethan looked up at him with an incredulous, penetrated gaze.
"Don't look at me like that, I don't know what you're thinking, I'm just a young man too."
"I'm a lot like you, I always think that face is more important than anything else, but Ethan, this is the Federation."
He looked up and took a few strong sniffs with his nose, "Do you smell it?"
Ethan and Alvin both looked up and sniffed. Alvin didn't say anything, but Ethan was honest enough to say, "It smells of the sea, of rotten fish, and a little of motor oil."
"No!", Lance denied his findings, "It smells of money and power!"
"This is a great place, Ethan, so great that if you have the money you can do whatever you want, but only if you have the money."
"Do you have money?", Ethan shook his head, and Lance patted his arm, 'So you still can't do whatever you want, whether it's beating up that son of a bitch or anything else."
"The reason I let you apologize is that I don't want this to get out of hand.' He glanced at Alvin next to him again.
"There are only so many work cards on the docks, but every day there are countless people outside the docks, just like us, waiting to start work without a work card."
"If that bastard twists this story just a little, Ethan, there won't be much room for you in Kingport."
"People won't give a job to someone who beats up their employer at any time. Why should they give you the same fifteen dollars as someone else, just because they want to get beaten up?"
"You can take all his money, but that also means that you, or even you, won't find work on the docks in the future."
"We're too easy to recognize, they can tell us apart from other races, so this is the lesson I'm teaching you today, rules."
"Only take what we deserve, as long as we follow the rules, no one can use the rules to attack us."
"If he doesn't talk nonsense and act recklessly, no one will know what happened and it won't affect you."
"But if he acts recklessly, the person who makes the rules will go and deal with him, he's the one who started the unnecessary commotion."
"This is not the Empire. If you are wronged, you can talk to your parents, your uncles and aunts, and they will stand up for you."
"Here, we have to bear it ourselves."
Lance turned his head and looked at Erwin, patting him on the shoulder, "Ethan's mind doesn't work very well sometimes, so keep an eye on him. Just get through this period first."
What had happened during this period made Erwin admire Lance very much, and he obeyed what he said almost unconditionally.
"I will."
Lance nodded, "If there's anything you don't understand, anything you're not sure about, tell me now."
"We crossed the ocean to get here, we share the same ancestral bloodline, we're brothers, we should tell each other everything, we should stick together."
Ethan bowed his head for a long time, and said, "Thank you."
Lance laughed and punched him in the chest, but his body didn't move at all, it was as strong as a young calf!
"Okay, I should get back too. If anything happens, don't do anything rash, come to me."
"Even if one day you want to kill someone, you must come to me before doing such a stupid thing. Don't gamble with your life!"
He patted Alvin's arm again and left in the car.
After watching Lance leave, Alvin 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 guys down."
Irving waved his hand, "We're brothers, we're from the same hometown, Lance was right, we should stick together."
Then he told what happened after Ethan hid, when he heard that many friends from the same batch of ships came over to raise money for him, and even two people he didn't know from the same hometown also contributed three dollars.
Ethan burst into tears!
He was moved, but also felt a little guilty, because he had done something stupid and made everyone incur a debt.
Now, as the guilt began to overwhelm the shame and embarrassment, allowing reason to return and calm him down, he realized how stupid it was to have beaten up that son of a bitch on impulse.
"...So, the most important thing for us now is to pay this money back first."
"The good news is that I still have more than 70 yuan here, so what we're actually missing isn't that much..."
In the car, the bustling street scene kept receding behind them. Lance sat in the passenger seat and said, "Got a cigarette? Fodis?"
Fodis gave him a sideways glance and said, 'You should add 'sir'!" But he still pulled open the storage compartment on the center console, which contained a box of cigarettes.
Lance took one, lit it with a match, and took a deep drag.
The thick smoke was inhaled into the lungs along with the fragrance of the summer filled with the fragrance of the years. The alveoli filtered not tar and harmful substances, but time, years, and history!
His right elbow pressed against the open window, half sticking out his head, the hot summer wind blew in his face, tousling his hair and blowing into his heart.
A new world, a new life, a new beginning!
There was a smile on his always composed face, a smile from the heart. Something made him come here, so he would use the world as a canvas to paint his own fantasies!
At 4:55, the car stopped in front of the bakery. When Lance got out of the car with Fudis, the fat boss's eyes nearly popped out of their sockets!
He hesitated, unsure, "Lance, you haven't gotten me into trouble, have you?"
"This gentleman is..."
Lance was an illegal immigrant, and the fat boss had long since confirmed this. Otherwise, a normal person would not take a job that paid only ten dollars a month, even if it was child labor.
The federal government had never banned child labor, but it had stipulated fewer working hours and required the payment of a corresponding salary.
Lance had nothing, no work permit, no social security number, so he was an illegal immigrant.
An illegal immigrant came back in a luxury car, which could not help but make the fat boss feel suspicious and a little uneasy.
Lance did not confuse things. "A new friend, Mr. Fudis, stopped by to buy some bread."
"I'm not late, am I?"
Before figuring out who this 'Mr. Fudis' really was, the fat boss would behave more restrainedly, 'Of course, I was just joking with you."
He paused for a moment, 'Hurry up and change your apron, I'll entertain Mr. Fudis."
Looking at the clothes this gentleman was wearing, it was obviously not cheap.
There's no one who knows these things better than the middle class. They may not have it, but they certainly know a lot about it!
Otherwise, who would buy all those magazines?
Rich people who don't mind spending money?
"Lance is a hardworking young man. Even if the floor has just been mopped, he'll mop it again if he's not doing anything else."
"I always use him as an example to show other people how good he is."
"But he is a bit socially awkward, and he never told me that he knew someone as important as you here."
"Can you tell me how you two met?"
A very clumsy line of inquiry. Fodis gave him a sideways glance and, without saying anything, entered the bakery.
The fat boss was a little annoyed, but seeing the brand new car and the high-end fabric of his clothes, the smile on his face never disappeared.
Perhaps realizing that this guy was not interested in him, he no longer pushed forward. "Lance, introduce your friend to the delicacies in our store."
Lance, who had put on an apron, stood behind the counter. The way he looked after changing made Fudis feel a little funny. 'So...what are you going to recommend to me?"
Lance pulled open the display window. 'The only thing here that makes me feel remotely related to deliciousness is this high-end ham from Musuri Island."
Musuri Island is a little far away, in another country. Due to its special climate and geographical environment, Musuri Island is abundant in three things:
tobacco.
ham.
women.
Lance picked up a slice with tweezers and handed it over. Fudisi felt it in his mouth with his fingers and then shook his head. "It's not authentic Musuri ham, just barely passable."
"If this is the best..."
He glanced at the fat boss in the corner, "Let's get two of those, and two pieces of bread that go with it. Do you have any donuts?"
"Yes, buy a box of donuts and get a cup of coffee for free, and if you're interested in wood ash, I can give you an extra cup."
Foudees closed his eyes as if he had a dizzy illusion. "So this is how you fool your customers?"
Lance smiled and flirted while he packed the food, "Ninety-nine percent of the customers here just want to fill their stomachs. They only care about the price, not the taste or the origin."
He put the packed things into a paper bag and placed it on the counter, "Six dollars and ninety-nine cents."
A box of donuts was ninety-nine cents, and he gave a cup of coffee for free.
The two best hams together cost five dollars, and the two better breads cost one dollar. The price was very fair.
With his food in hand, Ferdis paid the bill, and in passing, reminded him, "Don't forget your deal with the boss!"
He glanced at the fat boss again, and in the smile he squeezed out, pushed the door open.