The problem Lisa reflected was actually the inner voice of the young people of the Federation in this era of great change: which is more important, moral principles or making money?
Everyone has different answers at different times and different stages.
Perhaps it’s as a certain master said, only when people have enough to eat and warm clothes to wear will they consider the issue of decency.
Before that, having enough to eat is the most important thing.
An individual’s will, under the impact of a great era, is pale and powerless.
For the past few days, Jonny had been somewhat absent-minded.
After his fat daughter’s boyfriend left, he began to take on all the work himself again and moved back into the proper bedroom.
He wanted to find two apprentices, on one hand to help him lighten his now heavy workload, and on the other hand, to continue to suck blood from the apprentices.
He had to suck blood. Just by relying on the money from selling bread, he couldn’t possibly cover the debt he owed Lance.
But his reputation was completely ruined. Even if someone in the neighborhood wanted to be an apprentice, they wouldn’t choose his place.
The case of Johnny’s bakery had gone to trial, and the details of the case were very bizarre. Both “Golden Port Today” and the newspapers that published classified ads had reported on this bizarre case.
And as more inside details of the case were exposed, people not only had no sympathy for Johnny, the “victim,” but on the contrary, felt that he really deserved to die!
Those who had these thoughts were all from the lower class, and the apprentices Jonny wanted to find were precisely from the lower class, but now he couldn’t find any.
And some regular customers had stopped coming. They always felt that buying Johnny’s bread here was an insult to their own character.
His fat daughter was listless. Ever since her boyfriend left, she had been depressed for a long time.
It had been almost a month, and she had only just barely recovered. But she had no energy for anything, as if she had lost her vitality for work.
This also made her fail to notice that Johnny’s expression was a bit uneasy. He kept looking up at the door and then turning back to his own work.
In the afternoon, the heat from the oven in the back kitchen made the entire bakery warm and cozy, and a layer of mist covered the glass windows.
His fat daughter was sleeping in her room. Johnny, clutching a rag, had to wipe the window from time to time.
At a little past three, a car stopped outside the door. His whole person seemed to become tense, but soon, he completely relaxed again.
Ethan pushed open the door, and then Lance walked in. His shiny leather shoes made creaking sounds on the floor, and the fur-lined collar of his overcoat made him look a bit more noble.
“Good afternoon, Johnny.”
Johnny stood by the counter, clutching a rag in his hand. He squeezed out an unsightly smile. “Good afternoon, Lance.”
Lance nodded and sat down in a chair to the side. “Is my money ready?”
Jonny’s body stiffened. He gripped the rag with both hands, as if about to tear it apart. “Lance, I’ve run into some trouble…”
Lance shook his head. “That’s not the answer I want, Johnny. Is my money ready?”
His peaceful tone had no ripples, like a normal greeting upon meeting, without a trace of anger, nor hatred or disgust, just as ordinary as an ordinary conversation between ordinary people.
Johnny’s face turned a little pale. He had also heard of Lance’s reputation. He now regreted how foolish he had been to have targeted Lance for exploitation.
“I… I don’t have that much money on hand right now, only over three hundred dollars…”
Lance stood up, leaning on the corner of the table. “Then that means no money.”
Johnny lowered his head. “Yes, I’m out of money.”
Lance showed a regretful expression. “Then according to the contract, I will apply to auction your house. The excess money, I will have the bank send to you.”
As he was about to leave, Johnny seemed to want to say something more. He took two steps after him, wanting to reach out and grab Lance’s clothes, but he didn’t dare to.
“Lance, listen to me. I can definitely pay back this money, but I need some time…” He had the ability to make money and could earn it. The debt he owed Lance was not large.
Two years, three years at most, and he could pay it off. He looked at Lance with pleading eyes, hoping that Lance could… for the sake of old times, agree to it.
Lance stopped. He turned back to look at Johnny. “Don’t be so naive, Johnny, you know.”
“You were never soft-hearted, and neither will I be.” He pinched the crown of his hat and walked out the main door.
Johnny, holding onto the table, collapsed into a chair. He couldn’t stand up anymore.
His legs felt weak, just like when he had gotten into big trouble as a child. He had lost his house.
Lance drove directly to Parkway Bank and found Manager Jonathan. The financial services company’s cooperation with Parkway had been ongoing, and the cooperation was very pleasant.
The bank president had also spoken with Jonathan, believing that he had played a key role in this matter.
These loans were actually not much at all, totaling only about twenty thousand dollars, but they were constantly rolling, and the interest was settled monthly. This provided the Parkway head office with some new ideas, and they were trying to create such a new loan business.
However, there were still some problems that could not be solved and needed further research, but they believed it was a good direction, with low risk, high profit, and a very fast turnover rate.
So, not only was Jonathan commended by the bank president, but some people at the head office also knew about him. He was beaming with success every day.
New developments and progress at work would directly reflect on people themselves.
Seeing Lance, he was naturally very enthusiastic. Not only did he get up to offer Lance a seat, but he also had someone go to the entrance to order two cups of fine coffee.
After he had done those things, he then asked about Lance’s reason for visiting. “Is there anything I can help you with?”
Lance took out an agreement. “If I apply for court support to auction this house to repay the assets he owes me, can I specify which bank will conduct the auction?”
As soon as Jonathan heard this, he knew what Lance meant. “You want its price to be lower than the actual price?”
Lance neither denied nor admitted it. “We have a very pleasant cooperation. The judicial auction must be entrusted to a bank. Rather than giving it to someone else, it’s better to give it to you.”
Jonathan thought for a moment. “You can apply, but the court may not necessarily accept your suggestion. However, I have a new proposal.”
He looked at the document and the property deed of the house. “Are you sure you don’t need to auction it for more money?”
Lance nodded. “Fourteen or fifteen hundred is enough.”
“Wait for me for a moment!” Jonathan left with the two documents. After about seven or eight minutes, he returned.
“I asked my colleague about this house. Two thousand is a bit difficult, but eighteen or nineteen hundred is very easy.”
“You mortgage it to us, and then we will execute it. This way, we can bypass some procedures.”
Lance didn’t care how they operated; he only wanted the result. “Is it too late to do it now?”
Jonathan said with a smile, “You can borrow fifteen hundred from me for a period of twenty-four hours, and then refuse to repay. We can then execute the auction according to the contract.”
“If he is dissatisfied with the result, he can come and sue us!”
Jonathan had already roughly understood the situation. It was obvious that this person named Jonny did not have the ability to do so.
If he wanted to sue the bank, he would have to prepare at least tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees, and he might not even win.
After all, Parkway Bank was not a private bank like Mr. Jobav’s Jinda. Parkway was one of the largest banks in the Federation, and they had a mature system for handling lawsuits.
Sometimes, even if they were in the wrong, they could use a lengthy lawsuit to drag the plaintiff to death—the legal fees alone would make some poor people give up after a few tries.
Soon, the two signed a next-day loan contract. Jonathan gave Lance the money he wanted. “The extra money from the auction, I will have someone mail to this Mr. Johnny.”
Lance asked with a smile, “About how much will be left?”
Jonathan felt his pocket and took out a twenty-five-cent coin. “Not a penny more!”
On the way back, Lance saw vehicles with the abbreviation of the Bureau of Dangerous Goods printed on them, sirens wailing, brushing past him. They were crazy, these “agents.”
They appeared in every corner of the Port District. The Brotherhood’s bars and business establishments had been almost completely cleared out. Although there had been a few shootouts, the scale was not large.
Big Polly was not at all as crazy and tyrannical as the impression he gave people. No one had even seen him recently.
It was as if he had gone into hiding. Some gangs thought this was not right. What if the Bureau of Dangerous Goods spread its hatred because they couldn’t find Polly? It would be a bad thing for them too.
And this was not impossible.
This also led some gangs to look for Polly. Only by handing him over to the Bureau of Dangerous Goods could the current tense atmosphere be resolved.
But, no one knew where he was, whether he had already escaped, or what he was preparing to do.
When passing an intersection, Lance had Ethan stop the car temporarily because he saw William.
William was standing on a platform saying something, surrounded by a lot of people.
He was preparing to run for city councilman, although his preparations were much earlier than others.
This was also the daily life of the lowest-level politicians in the Federation. They had no other way to reach more voters. The media and reporters would not waste space on these unknown people.
So, the best and easiest way for them to let the public know about themselves was to explain their political views on the streets of the constituency they intended to run in.
The current William seemed very passionate. Once a man has motivation and passion, he will have a certain charm.
Even though the current weather was over ten degrees, it still felt a bit cold.
The occasional applause from the audience became his best source of energy. He was beaming and didn’t look cold at all.
During his speech, he also saw Lance and gave him a greeting, but he did not leave there.
More than a hundred people had already gathered here. This was not an easy thing. He had to seize every opportunity!
(End of this chapter)