Outside the casino, Sarif looked at Alberto and Francisco walking out of the room, a smile appearing on his face. If these two hadn’t follow
Outside the casino, Sarif looked at Alberto and Francisco walking out of the room, a smile appearing on his face.
If these two hadn’t followed him out and had stayed inside, then he would have had to consider leaving Golden Port.
He could fight the Cassia family, but he couldn’t fight anyone else.
The Kodak family might not be that formidable in his eyes, but they really had a lot of money and could also mobilize some political connections.
These connections, this money, could allow the Cassia family to end this war as soon as possible.
You don’t even need to think about it to understand that they are definitely on the same side!
But now that there were still people on his side, he had the confidence to continue causing trouble for these people!
“They foolishly think they can make us let go of our hatred with just a few words. That’s absolutely impossible!”
“Alberto, we need to form an alliance and deal with them together!”
“Otherwise, with the strength of just one of us, I’m afraid we’re no match for them.”
Alberto nodded, “Besides, I have an ally who is very interested in taking care of them. Perhaps we can sit down and talk.”
Sarif was a little curious. Anyone in Golden Port who would dare to be “interested” in the Five Families would not be an unknown character. “Who is he?”
“Lance!”
“Okay, I got it… no problem, just like that, see you then.”
Lance hung up the phone. The call was from Alberto. He had already rejected the Kodak family’s peace overtures. At the same time, the Tita family was also very much against it. Now, the two sides were united.
However, to fight against the two traitorous groups, as well as the Keane family whose position was still unclear, they needed some outside help.
This outside help was Lance.
This was not a small matter that could be cleared up with a few words over the phone. This required a detailed negotiation, as it concerned the distribution of benefits after the matter was successful.
Only by sitting down and talking, talking it over well, and stabilizing it, could they begin to make a move.
Lance walked to the mirror, adjusted his attire in his reflection, and then took his hat and left the room.
“Call me if anything comes up, you know the number!” He looked at Elvin, who nodded.
He was going to attend the Lawrence family’s gathering. On the one hand, it was a tradition for large families in the Federation to have gatherings from time to time. On the other hand, it was because William was about to run for municipal councilman.
Although from all aspects it seemed impossible for him to lose, for the family members, this was still a very important matter. They needed to let William feel the power of the family!
Many people who are not familiar with the Federation have always heard in rumors about the “independence” of Federation people and Federation families, such as “Federation people move out of their homes after graduating from high school at eighteen” or “Federation people all get part-time jobs to earn their own tuition and living expenses after entering university.”
In these rumors, it seems that every Federation person and Federation family is independent, hardworking, and outstanding. But is the actual situation really like this?
Of course not. Moving out of the house after graduating from high school is simply because the parents can no longer afford, or are unwilling to continue to bear, the expenses of the child’s subsequent life.
Unless they pay their parents a sum for daily expenses, they can continue to live in their parents’ house.
Otherwise, they will be asked to live on their own, at least not to continue to add to the financial burden of their parents.
The situation of university students having many part-time jobs is also the same. Not everyone’s family can afford to pay for their university tuition and still have a large sum of money for them to enjoy university life without worries.
Most university students have heavy student loans, which have already drained their families’ short-term finances. If they don’t get a part-time job, they cannot get more financial help from their families.
On the contrary, those who should represent the middle and upper classes of Federation society, especially the upper class, are completely the opposite of the Federation people in the rumors.
They will live in large estates, and each child will be arranged as close to them as possible. Even if the children want to live independently, it will make the elders reluctant.
Family relationships are always related to the amount of wealth. The richer the family, the more harmonious the family relationship, and the more reluctant the family members are to leave each other.
Who the fuck would want to take the initiative to leave a multi-millionaire grandfather and go out to live a hard life on their own?
On the contrary, the poorer the family, the colder and more independent the family members’ relationships.
When your grandfather is in a mountain of debt, you will only want to be far away from him!
The Lawrence family was not a low-class family, but a typical large landowning class. Their affluent life might not be like those richer large families who all lived together…
But they would still have a gathering from time to time.
As Patricia’s boyfriend and William’s “political partner,” it was obviously necessary for Lance to attend.
Elvin nodded, “You told me the number. Have a good time tonight!”
Lance smiled, “Thanks. You guys should also consider this matter.”
He put on his hat as he spoke and left the company.
The luxury car convoy of twenty thousand dollars looked different. The traffic on the road changed a little because of its entry.
Lance first went to pick up Patricia and the Lawrence couple, and then they went to Barbara’s large villa together.
Although they had been severely fleeced by a group of scammers, and their debt problem had been taken care of by Lance, besides the loss of some cash, which was indeed heartbreaking, it had not yet reached the stage of being seriously damaging.
Seeing the luxurious convoy stop outside, Barbara upstairs quickly picked up her skirt and ran down from the second floor. As she ran, she shouted to her father, “Uncle William is here.”
The fat man took a deep breath, and together with his wife and daughter, they walked towards the door.
“I thought you’d be later,” he hugged William. The two brothers didn’t have much to say. Saying too much would make them seem distant.
The two ladies also exchanged simple greetings. Everyone’s eyes were focused on Lance and Patricia.
Today, Lance had chosen a blue headband with pearl and shell pendants for Patricia, a pair of amethyst earrings, and a beautiful gemstone necklace.
Her skin was very fair, and she could pull off any color of jewelry. Even though it was already evening and the light was not so strong, she still looked so radiant.
“Barbara!” Patricia let go of Lance’s arm and took the initiative to go and touch faces with Barbara. “You look absolutely beautiful!”
Barbara smiled and also flattered her, “When you weren’t speaking, I thought some princess had graced our party with her presence!”
Her gaze was focused on the jewelry, and then she linked her arm with Patricia’s and looked at Lance.
His father took the initiative to walk over and extend his hand, shaking hands with Lance. “Thank you for your help last time. Otherwise, I really don’t know what I would have done.”
Lance shook his hand while patting his arm. “You don’t have to be so grateful to me. For me, it was just a simple little thing.”
“Whether it was troublesome for you or not, you helped us!”
“Thank you!”
Lance smiled and patted his hand. “We’re all family.”
After they released their hands, Lance greeted his wife and Barbara, and the family walked inside.
In fact, at this time, almost all of the Lawrence family had arrived. They also knew about the things that had happened before and felt how important it was for the family to have a strong character.
Before, they had no chance, but now, it seemed they also had such an opportunity.
“Let me formally introduce you…”
“This is Heather…” a blonde woman who looked to be in her fifties, a bit fierce-looking, but she was very enthusiastic towards Lance and spoke very gently.
“This is Marianne…” Marianne was the youngest sister in their generation, not yet forty, only thirty-nine, but she herself said she was only thirty-eight, more energetic and younger.
“This is Bennett…” Barbara’s father was the eldest, and Bennett was the second eldest, also a civil servant and a lawyer.
“This is Deans…” Deans was the youngest boy among them, thirty-seven this year, and worked in the family business—
It was said to be a family business, but in fact, it was a company that specialized in agricultural and animal husbandry products. Every year, the Lawrence family’s farm would have a large amount of agricultural and animal husbandry products that needed to be sold, and he was mainly responsible for these matters.
He introduced the official members of the family to Lance. There were a total of eleven people in their generation, and four in the generation above them.
That is, their fathers and uncles’ generation. These people were not in Golden Port now; they were on the land that the Lawrence family had passed down for generations.
That is, on the farm, taking care of the crops and livestock.
It sounds like… it gives the impression that these people should be wearing leather overalls, with a sweaty shirt full of holes on top, and a straw hat on their backs, holding a large handful of green fodder and feeding the livestock in cow dung and horse manure.
But in fact, they don’t do these things themselves, because they simply can’t.
That was a very huge farm, which also included a small section of a river. On the fertile land, there was a team of at least nearly a thousand people responsible for the daily work.
Grains, vegetables, and fruit trees, as well as a pasture.
They also had horses.
According to William, Patricia’s grandfather, that is, his father, had always wanted to breed a few champion horses.
The four brothers were all members of the Federation Jockey Club, and their rank was not low.
They were used to life in the countryside. Making them come to Golden Port would only make them suffer. And being in the countryside did not mean not enjoying life.
After removing the older generation and William’s generation, there were more than twenty young people, and possibly more children.
Many of Patricia’s generation were married, so in fact, the number of people who came here today was over sixty.
They still sat separately at four different tables. The last time Lance came, there were not so many people. That was just an ordinary party, for Barbara’s birthday.
But this time, there were a lot of people. Basically, everyone who could come did their best to come.
Because William was very likely to become the first person in the family to become “upper class.” Once his campaign for municipal councilman succeeded, the surname Lawrence would once again shine with its former glory on this land.
People continuously came over to greet William, and also to greet Lance.
The influence of the Lance Family might not be so sensitive to those non-local locals, but for the real natives, it still had a great influence.
There was wine at today’s gathering. It was normal for a large landowning class to have their own stock and collection of wine. Even in the constitutional amendment, it only mentioned production, transportation, and sale, not storage and drinking.
Although the Department of Justice had added some supplementary rules, for example, it could not be cited publicly, but this was now a private occasion. As long as they could prove that this wine came from the family’s storage, the Bureau of Hazardous Materials, besides fighting a lawsuit they were unlikely to win, could do nothing.
“Lance!” Jack (a customs inspector) waved his arm, holding a wine glass, and quickly walked over. The other people who originally wanted to come over and chat with Lance temporarily stopped in their tracks.
With the continuous strengthening of the coast guard, the stock of customs was getting higher and higher.
The businesses that could really make big money were always written in the criminal law, and smuggling was one of them.
The first hurdle that smuggling had to face was inspection. They had to open boxes and randomly check the goods. It was said to be a random check, but it could also be not random.
So Jack’s status in the family had also risen.
Lance clinked glasses with him. There were no waiters here to come over with a tray to take away their glasses when necessary.
The two naturally walked to the side. “Is your cooperation with McCock still going smoothly?”
Lance nodded. “It’s okay. He’s a contented person.”
McCock nodded. “He’s a smart man. He didn’t change his car, nor did he change his house. If you hadn’t said, I would have thought you weren’t cooperating anymore.”
McCock would sell the smuggled liquor he caught to Lance. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to sell to others, but that he didn’t know how to go about it.
He couldn’t just go up to someone and say, “Brother, I have a batch of smuggled liquor, do you want it?”
On the contrary, Lance’s side was quick with the money, and it was also very safe. At the same time, he also held the secret of him selling inspected goods. So before there were any other changes, he would not break off contact with Lance.
“The most feared thing in this kind of business is encountering a fool. Undoubtedly, McCock is not that kind of person.”
“How have you been recently?”
“Customs is getting more and more popular now. I hear many people have started to look for connections in customs. Did you also make a fortune?”
They didn’t beat around the bush when they talked about these things. Jack nodded. “Yes, every day people come to me with gifts and checks, but I don’t really dare to accept them.”
“Why?” Lance asked. He had a vague feeling that this was related to Jack’s initiative to come and find him.
Jack licked his lips. “My superior is a bit stubborn.”
Lance raised his eyebrows. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
Jack glanced at his family in the distance. He took a sip from his glass. “Do you know anyone in customs?”
Lance shook his head and said, “No, our goods used to bypass customs directly, so I don’t have any connections with customs.”
“Can your problem be solved with money?”
“If money can solve it, then I can solve it.”
To get Jack to the next level, regardless of whether Lance would be involved in smuggling in the future, was a very good choice.
Jack shook his head. “I don’t know, I just feel this person is a bit old-fashioned.”
Lance thought of James. “Give me his name. I’ll ask James. Maybe he can solve it.”
“Little Williams?” Jack was very sensitive to this name. “I didn’t know you two knew each other!”
He looked at Lance, his eyes sparkling.
These local natives had their own social network. They already knew that Councilman Williams was going to run for mayor, and that there were no other competitors.
In addition, Little Williams, that is, James, would also announce his candidacy on September 1st, running for the position of Golden Port municipal councilman.
This way, two generations of father and son would firmly control the era of Golden Port.
Although it seemed to be only four years, after four years, Councilman Little Williams would also gradually grasp a large amount of power. This place would become their backyard.
Lance didn’t know any of this news. Of course, it wasn’t that Councilman Williams didn’t tell him, but that they hadn’t announced it publicly.
Only some relatives knew about these things, and among their relatives, some happened to be in-laws with the Lawrence family, so the news had spread.
“Is it strange that I know James?”
Jack’s face was full of smiles. “If he can help me, this matter will still be very easy to solve.”
Lance thought for a moment. He and Jack went into the house, found a phone, picked it up, and dialed James’s number.
“I have something to ask you. Are you familiar with customs?”
“Customs?”
“Of course I’m familiar. We also deal with them often. But if you’re looking to cause them trouble, you’d better find Arthur.”
“The family business part is now being handled by Arthur. If he’s more familiar with those people than I am, whether you’re looking to cause them trouble or send them money, Arthur is the best choice.”
As soon as Lance spoke, James roughly knew what it was about. It was only these two things that would make Lance call him.
“I don’t have his number.”
“Write it down…”
Jack, on the side, watched as Lance made another call to Arthur, and Arthur patted his chest and promised to help him get this done. Jack suddenly became a little excited.
He had actually been stuck in this position for five years.
After five years with no progress, the difficulty of making progress later would be even greater. He didn’t expect that a single phone call from Lance’s side would give him hope. How could he not be excited?
“Lance, thank you for your help. I promise that in the future, when your goods go through customs, no one will open the boxes for inspection.”
“Those things, on my side, are all exempt from inspection.”
(End of chapter)