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After hanging up the phone, Wolfley, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, returned to the gambling table and sat down. He picked up his cards from the table, glanced at the other players, and, biting the cigarette holder with his teeth, tilted his head and squinted, “Whose turn is it?”
Wolfley is Fleming’s older cousin. His father and Bandy are brothers. Although Bandy Kodak currently heads the entire Kodak family, Wolfley’s father can be considered a semi-patriarch.
The two brothers have an excellent relationship. They were among the last to have lived through the turmoil of Golden Port. They are not just blood brothers but have also faced life-and-death situations together, leading to exceptional trust in one another.
Consequently, they hope their children can continue to manage the family together as they have.
Gang-related affairs are managed by Wolfley, who has no talent for school but possesses some for gambling.
Fleming, on the other hand, is a good student and was sent to university; he manages the casino company’s business.
Bandy hopes the two brothers can shine together to ensure the continuation of the Kodak family.
He doesn’t have grand ambitions; he would be satisfied with securing their position for a hundred years.
As for whether it can be achieved, he feels the chances are high.
Wolfley is thirty-four years old. He has a side part, his dark brown hair slicked back with plenty of pomade, the comb marks perfectly undisturbed.
He is wearing a dark shirt under an off-white vest, a golden pocket watch chain dangling from his chest and swaying with his movements.
The men at the table are all gentlemen of apparent status. This is a private game, and the Kodak family is responsible for organizing all aspects of it.
Some people dislike playing at public casino tables, or perhaps they don’t trust the dealers, always suspecting them of trickery that makes it hard to win.
They prefer to play against other players, who are at least not as professional.
Whenever there’s demand, the Kodak family arranges a game.
They provide all services from setup to conclusion. The game might be held in a Kodak family casino, a villa in the Bay Area, a sunroom in the beach district, or any seaside villa.
They can arrange for beautiful female dealers and provide all the necessary cards and chips.
The price for this service is a facility fee of two hundred to two thousand dollars, plus a three percent service charge taken from the winner of each hand.
If the three percent cut is less than a dollar, it’s rounded up to one dollar.
It may sound like a lot, but for the truly wealthy, the fee is not unreasonable.
After all, the service charge is taken from the winner, not the loser.
For someone who has won dozens or hundreds, a few dollars in service fees is something they are happy to pay.
This was one such private game. Wolfley loves to play cards; he has an astonishing talent for it.
The man sitting across from him smiled and said, “It’s your turn to speak.”
Wolfley’s eyes swept across their faces. He casually picked up two five-hundred-dollar chips and tossed them onto the table. “One thousand,” he said. Then, as if a thought occurred to him, he threw in two more five-hundred-dollar chips. “And another thousand.”
“Wolfley, playing so big right from the start?”
Wolfley smiled. “I have something to attend to and need to leave for a bit, so I figured I’d go all in.”
He glanced at his hand. “Besides, my hand isn’t small. Even with one card to go, I believe in myself.”
After some thought, the other players folded.
It wasn’t that they couldn’t afford to call, but they were unwilling to raise the stakes too high so early.
The game had just begun; if they were already piling on thousands, the game would spiral out of control within a few hours.
Watching everyone else fold, Wolfley smiled and had the dealer collect his chips. He had won the pot, about two hundred dollars.
“I’ll be back later, you guys play on…”
After he left, the others asked to see Wolfley’s hand. The dealer obliged.
Seeing that Wolfley had been holding the weakest hand among them yet had won two hundred dollars, the men didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
They would have been better off not seeing the cards.
Wolfley drove back to his office and summoned his cousin, the one responsible for the family’s dirty work.
Whether it’s the Kodak family, the Pasoretto family, or the other three families, the middle and high-ranking positions in their organizational structures are mostly filled by family members with blood ties. They know all too well that in a criminal organization, most people cannot be trusted.
However, relatives are more trustworthy than outsiders. Betraying a stranger doesn’t invite much condemnation, but betraying a family member, even if that person is in the right, will be met with moral censure.
“That bastard son of a bitch Eric hurt Fleming. He has a nightclub and a few bars in the Empire District. You take some men and take care of them.”
Wolfley’s cousin considered it. “No problem, but I heard the Lance family has been making a name for themselves in the Empire District recently. Could they have some connection with Eric?”
Hearing this, Wolfley’s brow furrowed. This was the second time he had heard specifically about the Lance family.
He’d heard mentions before, but only as casual chatter from customers, and he hadn’t been interested.
The Five Families have ruled Golden Port for many years. There are twenty to thirty large gangs in the entire city, and if you include fledgling street gangs, the number could be in the hundreds or thousands!
As for unifying a district?
Wolfley had no desire to waste time understanding a “countryside” area like the Empire District. Until a gang made its way into the Central District, Starlight District, or the Bay Area, he had no interest in learning about these rising and falling minor gangs.
But hearing about this gang again from his cousin piqued his interest slightly. “Are they that good?”
His cousin wasn’t sure how to answer. “They took out the Camille gang in a very short time, and now they’ve driven the Red Dog Gang off their turf, completing the unification of power in the Empire District.”
“They don’t have a lot of men, but they are very united.” This was his perception of the Lance family—or rather, the perception throughout Golden Port.
Wolfley wasn’t concerned. From the moment he started getting involved in the “family business,” he knew how deep the Kodak family’s power ran.
“You can’t handle them?”
The cousin scratched his head. “They’re no match for us, but I heard they work for Paul.”
Paul is Mr. Pasoretto’s first name.
This made Wolfley pay a bit more attention. The most unsettling thing about the Pasoretto family was their gunmen from Summuri.
Alcohol, tobacco, and gunmen were the local specialties of that place.
There was a long-standing saying in the Federation: “Never provoke a Summurian. No matter where you are, they will always find you and put a bullet in you.”
This was one of the reasons the Pasoretto family was able to gain a firm foothold in Golden Port. Their relentless waves of gunmen in the early days were indeed a major problem.
Wolfley could look down on Lance and his family, but he couldn’t underestimate the Pasoretto family. He thought for a moment. “Proceed as I said. I’ll communicate with Paul.”
Hearing this, the cousin knew the operation was on. He nodded. “As long as you have a plan. I’ll go prepare now.”
Mobilizing shooters and enforcers, distributing guns and ammunition, and arranging for vehicles all took time.
The operations of large gangs weren’t like people imagined—a sudden decision followed by a chaotic, disorganized rush.
They required planning and arrangement before moving to execution.
In the afternoon, Lance and Hiram were inspecting a plot of land in the Port District. The property used to be a small import-export trading company. It included a warehouse and covered about six hundred square meters, large enough to build a movie theater.
Recently, as the box office for the first sound film continued to set new records, many people had taken notice of the film industry.
Previously, capitalists weren’t keen on investing in movies because the industry had low returns. Apart from true enthusiasts, few were willing to work in it.
At five cents a ticket, even if a million people watched a film, the box office would only be fifty thousand dollars.
The Federation had a population of about 110 million at the time. Assuming one in ten people watched the movie, that’s ten million viewers, for a box office of only five hundred thousand dollars.
In reality, it was impossible for that many people to see it. Many backward areas in the west had no cinemas at all, and in poor areas, people were unwilling to spend even five cents on a movie.
But even based on a five-hundred-thousand-dollar box office, after the cinemas took their cut, the production company would get two to three hundred thousand at most. Taking a middle value of two hundred and fifty thousand, that amount was taxable, and taxes would take nearly half, leaving only about a hundred thousand.
After deducting costs and various expenses, the net profit on the financial statements would be just a few tens of thousands.
In truth, not all films sold so well as to attract ten million viewers.
The reason the film industry wasn’t profitable was precisely because of the “five-cent movie” model.
Previously, the media had hyped the rapid development of the Federation’s film industry, shocking the world with the claim that the “Federation produces one thousand films a year!”
It made everyone think the Federation was a country with a highly developed civilization and economy.
But in reality, ninety percent of the so-called “films” of this era were just shorts of ten to twenty minutes.
From Lance’s perspective, these couldn’t even be called movies, just short films.
These silent films would play for a while and then show a dialogue card; their actual content was probably only eight or nine minutes long.
Under these circumstances, some filmmakers shouted the slogan “watch a movie for five cents,” leading the entire industry into an era of intense internal competition.
Fortunately, it seemed this situation was about to be broken. The first sound film brought not only a revolution in the film industry but also a normalization of ticket prices.
Capital’s pathological demand for profit never changes, so they would begin to invest in this field.
From a purely profit-seeking perspective, bootlegging surpassed ninety-nine percent of all other industries, but a person couldn’t just focus on illegal business forever.
As society gradually stabilized, some things were destined to be phased out from the stage of history.
Besides, a movie theater had more uses than just one.
“Mr. Lance, this is the situation. If you want it, for just fifteen thousand dollars, it’s yours.”
The trading company manager looked helpless. It was clear the place had once been busy, filled with desks and file cabinets.
Lance sat opposite him, looking out at the warehouse, and asked curiously, “Why did the business fail?”
“This question is a bit forward, you don’t have to answer.”
The manager seemed indifferent. “We lost a lot of money in the financial markets. We don’t have enough capital to keep the company running, so… you see how it is.”
The employees were gone, the warehouse was filled with nothing but trash, and everything was empty.
Having brought up the topic, he seemed to have a lot to say.
“We made a bit of money at the beginning, Mr. Lance. I don’t know if you follow the stock market?” Seeing Lance nod, he continued, “Then you should understand that feeling of getting rich overnight.”
“We initially invested five thousand, and in less than a week, it turned into more than thirty thousand…”
Lance could already guess the rest of the story. The short-term profits from the financial market made their eyes red, and they poured more money into it.
The most important thing for a trading company is cash flow; the core profit model is to use capital reasonably to keep it rolling and generating profit.
But the profits from the financial sector were too insane. They invested more capital in the financial markets instead of continuing their trading business.
After rounds of being harvested, their money eventually became a thing of the “past,” to the point where they needed to sell their property here to get some cash back.
Lance could even imagine that after he gave them this fifteen thousand, they would invest it back into the stock market, trying to win back what they had lost.
But in the end, they would most likely become penniless, which is the final outcome for many who blindly enter the financial markets.
The freer the financial market, the more it is a dinner table for capital crocodiles; no one can escape the fate of becoming food.
Lance listened to his story and expressed some sympathy. “I hope this fifteen thousand can help you.”
“You agree to our asking price?” He found it incredible. He thought Lance would try to haggle, but Lance showed no intention of bargaining and said something that basically sealed the deal.
Lance nodded. “If you accept a cash payment, I can give you the money right now.”
“But if you want a check, then we’ll have to continue negotiating the price.”
The manager knew what Lance meant. These gangs didn’t lack money and had a lot of cash on hand, but their accessible funds in banks were limited.
However, he didn’t care at all whether it was black money or not. More money was the most important thing!
“Mr. Lance, we accept cash payment!”
To get a little more money, he couldn’t care less if the tax bureau investigated him.
They could reinvest this money into the stock market to earn even more.
If possible.
Since the manager had no objection to receiving cash, the matter was decided. The rest was for the lawyers to handle.
Just as he walked out of the company, Morris approached him.
“What is it?”
Morris nodded. “Alberto just called. He said to have you call him back as soon as possible, so I came to find you.”
After hearing this, Lance entered a phone booth by the roadside and dialed Alberto’s number.
“Lance?”
“Yes, is something urgent?”
“I heard about what happened between Eric and Fleming. The Kodak family plans to make a move on the nightclub and bars. Paul asked me to give you a heads-up.”
“Don’t get involved!”
Lance took a deep breath. “I understand. I’ll pull my men back.”
The two then chatted about the two friends Alberto had brought back, laughing about the embarrassing things they did during their tour of the Federation as if it were hilarious!
After talking for about seven or eight minutes, they ended the call. Stepping out of the phone booth, Lance lit a cigarette. He stood by the road, watching the busy city intersection, then turned and got into his car.
The city’s mild atmosphere filled every street. Perhaps for ordinary people, this life and rhythm were very comfortable, but for someone with ambition, it was too peaceful.
After returning to the nightclub, Lance called Eric, but the call didn’t connect.
It wasn’t until after ten o’clock at night that Eric called back.
Although his head was stitched up, he had received praise from his uncle, the mayor, and he was feeling smug.
He didn’t really want to see Shayna for the next few days. On one hand, his current appearance was a bit wretched. On the other hand, because Shayna had suffered such a great loss for his sake, he suddenly felt a… hard-to-describe feeling.
It was as if he no longer wanted to pursue her; it suddenly felt meaningless.
It’s like your favorite magazine—every time you see it, you can’t help but get excited, but occasionally, you suddenly feel that the magazine is just so-so, nothing special, and you don’t want to use it anymore.
That was how Eric felt right now, a bit tasteless.
On the contrary, the experience of that night made him feel a rush of excitement, his blood pumping. He had suddenly become infatuated with this feeling.
In the past two days, Orson the lawyer had introduced him to some new friends from other cities. They also had that special aura like Lance and other gang members.
These people all gathered around him, making him feel momentarily euphoric!
“I heard you were looking for me?” His tone towards Lance was not polite. Now that he knew his uncle was about to challenge the local traditional powers, he wouldn’t be polite to any local!