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Sitting in the car, Bridge looked at the street scene outside the window. To be honest, the prosperity of Golden Port was in no way inferior to that of the Federation’s capital, and in some places, it was even more prosperous.
However, it was clear that the street scene on his left (to the north) was a bit more prosperous, while the street scene on his right (to the south) looked less so, because the right side was the Empire District.
Even though this side was adjacent to the city center, it was still a bit worse off.
“We’re going to the Starlight District next. That’s one of the liveliest places in Golden Port at night.”
“One of?” Bridge had been working in the company during this period. He was not clear about the administrative division of the entire Golden Port, nor was he clear about which places were lively and which were deserted.
But he had heard that the Starlight District was the most prosperous and lively place in Golden Port. There were opera houses, movie theaters, nightclubs…
All the places for enjoyment were here!
But why was it only one of them?
He didn’t quite understand.
The young man driving the car in the driver’s cabin said with a smile, “There’s another place that’s also very prosperous, it’s the area in the middle of the Port District.”
“But the people who play there are all… you know, upper-class people like you, sir. Going to a place like that would make you feel uncomfortable because you’d be surrounded by poor people.”
“But it’s undeniable that it’s a bit more lively over there.”
“If you’d like to go and see, to experience the atmosphere of ordinary people’s lives, we can take a detour via the expressway.”
It wasn’t that that place was more lively, but rather that there were more poor people. If there were as many poor people as there were rich people, perhaps both places would be equally lively.
But in this city, there were ultimately more poor people and fewer rich people, so some people would feel that the Port District was a bit more lively.
Bridge leaned back in the back seat and loosened his tie a bit, “I haven’t really had a good look around here. We can go over there and see. It won’t take up your rest time, will it?”
“Of course not, I’m very happy to be of service to you, Mr. Bridge!” the driver answered quickly and pleasantly.
Then he turned the car around and drove onto the expressway.
Although it was already nine o’clock in the evening, there were still many cars on the expressway, which gave a glimpse of the prosperity of Golden Port.
Ten minutes later, the car came out of the Port District expressway exit, and a Port District completely different from the daytime appeared before Bridge.
It was very lively, not in the sense that the neighborhoods themselves were lively, but that the small stalls and vendors on both sides of the road were lively.
Some were selling food, some were selling second-hand goods, and there were also groups of girls in need standing together.
When tourists approached them, the customers would touch and pinch them as if choosing goods, then pick one they liked and take them away.
To a small hotel not far away.
After everything was over, they would return here.
The whole street was full of people, so much so that the speed of the car slowed down considerably. However, all this liveliness could not hide the fact that the ground was covered in trash, which made Bridge, who originally planned to get out and have a look, make a different decision.
Actually, the capital had it too, it was just that that world was already too far away from Bridge, making him feel unfamiliar.
Bridge had no intention of getting out. He just sat in the car and looked around once, like an observer outside an ant farm.
Just because they liked to watch an ant farm didn’t mean they had to live in it.
“Let’s go, there’s nothing much to see.”
The young driver quickly chose to take Highway 13 to the Starlight District. This was the fastest road.
As the car was about to leave the Port District, the young driver suddenly noticed a warning sign on the street in the northeast corner. The outer wall looked a bit damaged.
He suddenly remembered something and couldn’t help but complain, “The government of Golden Port is the worst I’ve ever seen. Did you see the corner of the wall over there, sir?”
Bridge leaned forward slightly and looked in the direction the driver was pointing, “Yes, a corner of the wall seems to have been damaged by something. What’s wrong with it?”
The young driver explained, “There was a car accident here the month before last. That broken piece of wall was already there at that time.”
“But it’s been two months, and they haven’t even planned to repair it!”
“I’m not saying it’s not good here, but I believe if this were in the capital, they would have probably fixed it a month ago.”
He knew that Mr. Bridge behind him came from the capital. Saying such things was clearly to flatter Bridge.
The bigger the company, the harder it is to climb up.
He was advertised as a manager to the outside world, but in fact, there were a dozen managers like him on the first floor.
If there were no great opportunities, then he would most likely only work here until he was in his thirties or even forties.
This was not the life he wanted. He also hoped to carry a briefcase, wear a sharp suit, smile and greet others, be served by others into the elevator, and then watch the envious and jealous gazes of others be cut off by the elevator doors.
He had to seize this opportunity.
Bridge had a half-smile on his face. He knew all too well what this young man wanted to do because he had done the same thing back in the day.
Just as he was about to say something, a beam of light suddenly illuminated his eyes. The intense light made it impossible for him to open his eyes.
In an instant, many things he had forgotten resounded in his mind.
When he was a child, his parents bought the bicycle he wanted for his brother who had better grades, while he was forbidden to touch that bicycle because it was his brother’s.
He thought of how he studied hard and did housework diligently to try to win his parents’ praise and affirmation, only to be disappointed when they took it for granted.
He thought of how he had clearly received an invitation from a university, but because his brother thought his going to university would only waste the family’s money, he ultimately lost the chance to go to university.
He thought of many regrets. The first half of his life was almost completely suppressed by his brother. No matter how he struggled or resisted, he could not get ahead.
But he also thought about later, when he entered society and became a salesman for the Liji Group through his own efforts.
His job was to go to remote places to resolve disputes with farmers.
Those farmers often had conflicts with the company because the company’s purchase price was significantly lower than the market price.
The more peaceful ones would refuse to sell their things to the company, or even contact surrounding farmers to refuse to sell together.
And those with more intense resistance methods would contact many farmers to refuse the company’s people from approaching their farms, and even damage some of the company’s vehicles and equipment.
These farmers… they had no idea that for the company, they were the most basic cells that provided nutrients for the entire company. Their only value was to transfer the benefits of their labor into the hands of the company, so the company would not allow them to damage the company’s interests.
At first, Bridge was not used to this heartless job because you had to find ways to persuade the farmers to sell you things worth a hundred dollars for fifty or even forty dollars.
This persuasion was not just you standing together, face to face, persuading him through communication, but also included deception, intimidation, threats, and other means.
Things like cutting off water and electricity were the most basic. The company had a whole set of procedures to deal with these people. It was just that some salesmen were not heartless enough, and they might not be able to be ruthless to those old farmer couples in their fifties and sixties.
At first, he couldn’t do it either, but as other salesmen’s performance improved and they gained the attention of the head office, he knew he had to step up his game.
He used many despicable and even criminal methods and eventually became the top-performing salesman. He handled all the farmers in his jurisdiction, making them accept ultra-low offers, which made the company a lot of money.
In the following years, he always maintained a leading level, and eventually, he was promoted to work at the company’s headquarters.
He still remembered that day, all the employees of the entire department stood on both sides of the office door to welcome him.
They applauded warmly, and there was even a young girl who offered a passionate kiss…
Those beautiful images all appeared in his mind. He saw the regretful tears of his parents, saw his brother’s obvious reluctance, but in the end, under the pressure of life, he bowed his head to him.
He thought of the smooth skin of those girls or ladies in the office, and their strong desire for protein, even if the smell was strong.
He thought of many things, and in the end, all the images turned into a strong light!
A strong light that was so intense it made it impossible to open one’s eyes!
“Thud!”
People living nearby almost all felt like there was an earthquake. An old man on the first floor sat up abruptly from his bed. He looked out the window almost hysterically.
A ray of light shone on his windowsill from not far away. He already had some premonition. He begged God in his heart, hoping that what he guessed hadn’t happened.
He walked to the window, lifted the curtain, and could only see half of a truck’s front.
“F—k!”
“Motherf—ker! F—k!”
In an instant, his face turned red, and curses spewed from his mouth like a bladder that had been holding it in all day and could no longer hold it!
The slanted picture frame on the wall finally couldn’t hold on, fell to the ground with a clang, and even the wall cracked a little.
The old man threw on a piece of clothing, turned, and ran out. He stood on the sidewalk, a look of disbelief on his face!
The same place, almost the same time, another truck, another small car!
The wheels of the small car were still spinning whirringly!
He didn’t care about these things. What he cared about was…
“My house!”
Some pedestrians had already gathered around. They looked at the tragic scene of the car accident with shocked faces. Someone had already called the police, and someone had also called the fire department.
Soon, police cars and fire trucks arrived, as well as an ambulance.
The truck driver was snoring. He was completely asleep. Undoubtedly, it was another nighttime truck driver who thought “a little drink can be refreshing.”
This kind of truck driver was very dangerous and appeared frequently. Many news reports had covered them. People who saw it would only treat it as… a bit of fun. They thought some people were too stupid to actually believe that drinking could be refreshing!
The firefighter glanced at the crushed and deformed small car. The driver in the driver’s seat was finished. It looked as if he was about to “explode.”
The guy in the back seat was a little luckier—
A little luckier didn’t mean he was still alive, but that his death was a little more peaceful, but only relative to the driver.
“Another car accident caused by drunk driving. The reporters will have new news to report tomorrow.”
The police officer in charge of the scene, after surveying the scene, directly reported the “car accident” response to the radio station. This was not murder, not a premeditated killing, this was just an ordinary car accident.
Even the Bureau of Hazardous Materials and those masters would rather it be a car accident, because only then would they have real content to report on the “dangers of drinking to health and life safety”!
A dozen minutes later, Lainey arrived at the scene. He looked at Bridge, who had already been put in a body bag, with cold sweat breaking out.
He even forgot to answer the police officer’s questions until the officer pushed him, “Hey, is this the Mr. Bridge you know?”
“Huh?” Lainey looked at him with a dazed expression, then as if he understood what the other party was asking, he quickly nodded, “Yes, yes, this is Bridge, I know him.”
As he spoke, he couldn’t help but ask, “What happened?”
The police officer recorded the deceased’s identity information. After finishing, he used the hand holding the clipboard and pen to point at the intersection, “Your friend was driving from south to north, and this truck was driving from west to east. It hit it from the side and pushed it here.”
“Both of them are dead. The driver was drunk. He was already asleep when we arrived…”
Lainey swallowed, “This… could it possibly not be an accident?”
The police officer glanced at him, hands on his hips, “You’d better be able to take responsibility for what you say. Leave your identity information, and we will arrange for officers to follow up.”
Lainey thought of Lance, thought of some other possible, potential avengers. Cold sweat broke out on him, “I… I didn’t mean that. I was just… sorry, I was frightened, I misspoke.”
Only then did the police officer nod slightly, tapping him on the chest with the clipboard, “You’d better use your brain before you speak next time. This kind of thing is not something you can just talk nonsense about, understand?”
What else could Lainey do but nod?
Soon the two cars were moved away. The police searched the cars and found a gold watch, but they put it in their own pockets.
There was also some cash, the same.
There was nothing else. If they didn’t dislike the tie being stained with blood, perhaps they would have even taken Bridge’s tie.
The driver only found out he had accidentally killed someone when he woke up, but his truck was insured—drunk driving was not yet an illegal act in this period. It was a moral issue, not a legal one, so the insurance company would most likely haggle with him.
As for how much compensation?
Maybe around fifty thousand dollars. Life has always had a price, and it’s written in places people can see, it’s just that people rarely notice.
The only person at the scene who might be the busiest was the landlord. He kept asking who would compensate him for the money to repair his house…
The next morning, Lainey called Lance early.
“Mr. Lance…” The call really went through. Lainey, on the other hand, didn’t know what to say. The two of them didn’t speak, just maintained this somewhat strange state.
After about ten seconds, Lainey finally said, “Last night, Mr. Bridge had a car accident. The situation was very bad. He died on the spot.”
Two seconds passed before Lance’s voice came from the receiver, somewhat cold, “Is that so?”
“I’m very sorry to hear this news. Will he be buried in Golden Port or sent back to his hometown?”
“If he’s buried in Golden Port, remember to let me know. I’ll go offer a flower. At least we were friends who had met.”
Lainey tried several times and finally mustered up the courage, “Bridge’s death…”
He ultimately couldn’t continue, and after waiting a few seconds, Lance said, “You should ask the police. Perhaps the police have a different view on his death.”
“If you have nothing else, I have other things to do.”
Lainey opened his mouth, but in the end could only say goodbye to Lance and hang up the phone.
Bridge had already settled the vast majority of the contracts. The rest were either going to court or waiting for a breach. Even if a new specialist was sent over, they would not change these strategies.
Let alone one Bridge dying, even if ten or a hundred died, they would not change this decision.
You know, this could bring them at least several million in profits. If a hundred people died, even if the company paid compensation, they would still have millions in profit left!
So don’t expect the company to back down just because one specialist died. Once the company has bitten into the meat, there is no escape.
Lainey wasn’t sure if Lance did it, but he had a premonition that perhaps this was not unrelated to Lance.
After hanging up the phone, Lance took out several stacks of cash from a drawer and placed them on the desk. There were five thousand dollars in total, in denominations of five, ten, and twenty.
In front of him was a woman. When she saw the money, a look of joy clearly appeared on her face.
“Your husband fulfilled his promise. This is yours.”
The woman thanked him while walking over, intending to take the money in her hand, but Lance suddenly pressed down on the money. He looked at the somewhat astonished woman, “I don’t want more people to know about this matter.”
“Don’t tell anyone. Don’t take all this money out and spend it at once. Spend it slowly. After all, your children are still young, and they need money to grow up. Am I right?”
The sparks in the woman’s eyes quickly extinguished. She nodded nervously, “Yes, Mr. Lance, I…”
Lance released his hand, took a kraft paper bag from the side, put all the money in it, and then handed it to her, “I’ll have someone take you back.”
The woman no longer had a trace of worry and repeatedly thanked Lance.
Her husband was a truck driver who had been diagnosed with a terminal illness. The doctor told them he didn’t have long to live.
He had already begun to feel pain all over his body, to the point where he couldn’t sleep. Then Lance found him and gave him a job he couldn’t refuse.
A car accident, five thousand dollars, enough for his children to grow up healthy!