A few days ago.
“Mom, I want to go for a walk nearby.”
The seventeen-year-old girl, Faya, looked at her mother, pleading in a low voice.
She had a younger brother who, because of his young age, took up all of her mother’s energy.
This was not their home. This was a strange country. Their homeland had been destroyed by war, and they could only flee that place full of disaster and death and come to the Federation.
The local government did not prevent its people from fleeing the country, because they had no ability, or rather, no energy, to guide and settle the refugees.
Settling refugees costs money.
You have to find them a place to live, something to eat, and if they get sick, you have to find a way to provide them with basic medical care.
The countries on the Tanfit continent were busy fighting wars. Who had the mind to manage the refugees in the frontline combat zones?
But if they fled to other countries, these burdens would become the burdens of other countries, not theirs.
So these people did not need to spend much money to take a boat and leave Tanfit.
They chose the Federation because in recent years, the Federation had developed very quickly, its industry was also very developed, and its social infrastructure was relatively complete. In short, it was good in every way.
Even the water and air were sweet.
But after arriving, some things were not as beautiful as they had imagined. The federal government did not immediately issue relevant provisions for the resettlement of refugees. They were forced to live in the sparsely populated New Port District.
Some of the bolder ones had pried open the doors of unoccupied rooms and moved in swaggeringly, acting as if they were the masters.
But more of them were crowded in places that could shelter them from the wind and rain.
Winter was coming. No one knew what the future would hold, but fortunately, Faya’s father was lucky and found a job at the docks.
It was only $20 a month, but it could keep their family alive.
Faya also wanted to find some work to do, but she didn’t know how to do anything. She wanted to go out and see if there were any job opportunities, and at the same time, she wanted to explore this country, this city.
Her mother looked at the child who could not be left alone, looked at the surrounding tents, and finally nodded in agreement.
She knew that if she refused, Faya would stay, but to restrain a seventeen-year-old girl’s curiosity about the world was a crime.
“Go, but be careful, and!”
She raised her voice a little, “Don’t be like those people and do that kind of thing. Your father already has a job.”
The “that kind of thing” she was talking about referred to selling one’s body for money. Many refugee women had started to make money this way because they really couldn’t find any other way to keep their families alive.
Faya skipped and ran out.
Although the New Port District was not very popular, it had to be said that it also reflected the beauty of the Federation’s industrial development.
The New Port District was built after the mayor took office. They had accumulated some of the problems encountered in the previous city construction process. The planning of the entire New Port District was very high, with high-rise buildings everywhere. Except for the lack of people, this place was really good.
Just through these buildings and the few Federation people walking on the street, Faya could feel a little shock from the Federation.
She actually wanted to find a job, but she didn’t know where to start, nor did she know if there was a place like a labor market here where she could clean rooms for people and do some things she could do.
She would be satisfied with just fifty cents a day. At least that would be $15 a month, which could reduce the family’s burden.
She wandered for a long while and couldn’t find a place to work. She sat down on a bench in a roadside park, feeling a little dejected.
At this moment, a man with a camera stood in front of her.
“I’ve been observing you for a while!” He directly stated the fact that he had been secretly observing Faya just now.
Faya was on high alert, stood up nervously, looking as if she was ready to run at any moment.
The photographer quickly added, “I’m a scout for Dream Crystal, and also a photographer. My job is to discover talented girls for the company and help them realize their dreams.”
“I’m not a bad person. This is my business card…” he said as he took a business card out of his pocket and handed it over.
Faya took the business card and glanced at it. Besides this person’s name, it also had his work address, phone number, and the like.
This made Faya relax her guard a little. After all, a bad person would not so generously expose some of their own information.
“You are very beautiful!” the photographer praised.
This made Faya a little shy. “Thank you,” she blushed a little. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
“Of course!” The photographer picked up the camera hanging on his chest. “Can I take a few pictures of you?”
“I think you have a very special kind of beauty in front of the camera. This beauty is natural, simple, and undeveloped.”
“There is something very attractive about you. You might become a star in the future.”
“A star?” Faya knew about this. The place she came from also had stars. Everyone yearned to become a star.
Because a star represented a high-income group.
“Me?”
“Yes!” The photographer nodded repeatedly. “So can I take a few pictures of you?”
“Maybe we will sign you as a model or an actress.”
Faya was a little tempted. “Then will there be a salary after signing?” she asked.
“Yes, there will be a minimum salary of $25 a month, and we will train you to make you more outstanding and more attractive, so that you will have more choices.”
“You will become a big star and make big money!”
Faya was a little hesitant, but the thought of making money finally moved her. “How should I cooperate with you?”
The photographer showed a smile. “It’s very simple. I will teach you…”
Soon, at the photographer’s request, Faya took a few photos, but unfortunately, she couldn’t see them.
“Give me an address. I’ll send the photos to you after they are developed. It’s also possible that the company will sign you. I need a way to contact you.”
Faya told the photographer where she was currently living. The photographer recorded it and also gave her two dollars.
“Consider it the fee for this shoot. Maybe I will use it in a photo album or a magazine. This is your remuneration.”
In the end, Faya still accepted the money, but she didn’t tell her mother, nor did she talk about these things.
She wanted to wait until she was really signed by the company, and then tell her family to give them a surprise.
Instead of letting them be happy for nothing.
Faya’s photos were quickly developed. The other scouts also thought this girl was very beautiful.
“She is like a small flower blooming by the roadside that no one knows about.”
Someone commented this way, “She has a very special and tenacious temperament. I believe someone will like her.”
Her photos were put aside separately.
These photos were put into another photo album, with her name, age, and current living situation marked on it.
A few days later, a respected client in the Bay Area needed a little diversion from his boring life. Soon, another manager from Dream Crystal, carrying a briefcase with the photo album, went to the Bay Area.
In a very luxurious villa, he saw today’s target client.
A middle-aged man who looked very refined.
He was wearing a white high-collared shirt and a gray waistcoat with white dots. His whole person was very neatly groomed, including his eyebrows and his beard, which were all carefully trimmed.
It wasn’t the kind of trimming that was just a wash. Someone would use a sharp razor to trim the excess hair for him every day.
If you didn’t consider other things, just from his appearance, he looked like… a scholar, a cultured gentleman.
“I hear there’s a lot of new stock recently?” he crossed his legs, holding a very exquisite pipe in his hand. The walrus ivory mouthpiece had beautiful patterns hand-carved by a master.
The pipe itself was also very exquisitely made. Whether it was the material, the shape, or the various embossed carving techniques, they were all top-notch.
This pipe would cost at least several hundred, maybe even a thousand.
The manager opened his briefcase and placed the three newly organized photo albums on the table, his face full of a fawning smile. “They’re all here, all the latest.”
The gentleman in front of him was one of the members of the Likalai State Industrial Committee. This was a very complex job.
Its main content was to set a series of standards and rules for the entire industrial field of Likalai State, and to assist the state government in formulating the state’s industrial development direction and plans.
For example, if the Likalai State government wanted to vigorously develop… the automobile industry, then the Likalai State Industrial Committee would have to carry out subsequent government work design and planning around this goal.
They would have to discuss which industrial groups to introduce, where to build a relatively complete automobile industry chain, and let the automobile industry get started as soon as possible.
It seemed that this was just a “designer’s” job and should not have much power, but in fact, its power was terrifyingly large.
Because everyone knew that to make big money, you had to have a monopoly. But now the federal government did not support capital monopoly.
However, they had left some opportunities, for example, “policy monopoly.”
They could formulate the “entry policy” for a certain industrial field in the state, and decide who could come in and who could not.
If a state only had one enterprise with entry qualifications, then this was a monopoly.
Although they might not do it so obviously, introducing two or three enterprises that were behind the same group of shareholders was completely in line with the policy requirements and standards.
This disguised control of regional monopoly brought them huge power and wealth. Every year, the local industrial groups would transfer benefits to them through various means.
It’s not that everyone is a bad person, but as long as it’s related to interests, in this country where capitalism is rampant, if you don’t bow to capital, they will move you from here.
These words sound very interesting. You took the money that those capitalists begged to give you, but it became the fact that you bowed to the capitalists.
Why does it seem to be reversed?
But if you don’t take it, you try, and you’ll know why its description looks reversed.
Mr. Bowen held the photo album in one hand, placed it on his $120 pants, and held the pipe in the other, slowly flipping through the album.
Every two or three pages, three or four pages, was a girl. The photos taken from various angles showed the beauty of these girls to the greatest extent.
He looked at a few, took out a pair of wide-rimmed coffee-colored glasses from his pocket, and after putting them on, he looked even more refined and gentle.
His gaze lingered on each girl’s face and body for a moment, and then he coldly looked at the next page.
There was nothing in the first photo album that could move his heart. He picked up the second photo album. “Your quality is getting worse and worse.”
The manager could only smile obsequiously. “I will criticize them.”
In fact, it wasn’t that their quality was getting worse, but that Bowen’s taste was getting more and more picky.
Before, any decent girl would do. Later, he demanded this and that, becoming more and more strict.
He even demanded various proportions, sizes, and was precise to a rough number.
But later his demands in this area relaxed, and he began to pursue a kind of temperament, something that was not direct but really existed.
When his brow furrowed tighter and tighter, the manager was already starting to sweat a little.
Mr. Bowen was a big shot, not only in the government system, but also in the Social-Democratic Party.
If he was not satisfied, he himself would also be in a lot of trouble. At least a scolding would be indispensable.
Just as he was about to do something, Mr. Bowen’s brow suddenly relaxed, and a look of satisfaction appeared on his face.
It seemed that he had found the gift he wanted.
His gaze lingered on a girl in the photo album for a long time, and he even caressed the girl’s photo with his hand for a while.
He also took off his glasses, lowered his head slightly, and looked at the photo album for a while before he pulled out her photo and handed it to the manager. “This is the one.”
The manager took the photo and glanced at it. In the photo, a girl was smiling at the camera.
Her smile was very clean, and her temperament was also very clean. There was also a faint… untamed feeling, a bit like a small flower just blooming on a roadside lawn in late winter and early spring.
Although the weather was still very cold, it bloomed so stubbornly and completely.
He couldn’t quite describe that feeling, but it made people feel very comfortable, and also made people feel that she was a girl with her own ideas.
He glanced at the name, Faya.
A Tanfit refugee, living in the New Port District. He breathed a slight sigh of relief. This kind of girl was very easy to deal with, at least easier to deal with than the locals or immigrants.
“When can you get her for me?”
Mr. Bowen took a puff from the walrus ivory mouthpiece, a slight crackling sound coming from the pipe, and then he exhaled a thick puff of smoke.
Besides the inevitable aroma of tobacco, there were also many other complex flavors.
His gaze made the manager not dare to ignore it. He quickly calculated for a moment. “Within seventy-two hours, Mr. Bowen.”
The manager pulled out all the photos related to Faya. This meant that unless she could return to the company alive, this would be her final bloom in life.
Mr. Bowen nodded slightly. “Very good. I hope you won’t disappoint me,” he paused, “It’s best not to hurt her.”
Looking at his calm face, which also had a faint, subtle smile, the manager was actually a little uneasy, because he knew that this person was also a pervert.
All the upper-class people were perverts. It’s just that some never hid the fact that they were perverts, while some, perhaps out of concern for their reputation, had to hide their perversion. That’s all.
If you think someone is not a pervert, it’s just that you haven’t discovered their perverted side, not that they are not a pervert.
He nodded. “I guarantee not a single hair on her will be harmed.”
They did not talk about money, because Mr. Bowen did not need to pay for this himself. Someone would come to take care of the money, those industrial groups.
This was also a way for them to please Mr. Bowen. They had been cooperating for many years. In the end, they just needed to show the bill to some middlemen, and then the money would be transferred to the company’s designated account.
After the manager returned to the company, he immediately called another group of people and gave them the information for this mission.
These people were not from the Dream Crystal company, but from another company. Their job was to be responsible for kidnapping, transportation, and handling the scene and other dirty work.
If someone saw a special vehicle like an “ant extermination truck” in the Bay Area, then there was no doubt that it could be them.
Faya didn’t know that because she had taken a picture, her fate had changed.
Or rather, the change she longed for did not happen, but a terrible thing happened.
Soon, this group of people found Faya in the New Port District, and when Faya was out for a “routine” stroll and job search one day, they made their move.
“Hello, do you know how to get here?”
At the entrance of an alley, someone suddenly asked Faya a question with a map. Faya tilted her head and came closer. When her attention was focused on the map, two people quickly approached her from behind.
They had a very special anesthetic from a medical group. In addition, with the control of two adult men, she soon fell unconscious and was dragged into a car.
There were a few witnesses around, but they were unwilling to cause trouble for themselves and all chose to leave in a hurry.
When Faya woke up from her coma, she was already locked in a cage. They used special props to prevent her from shouting, and she could only make humming sounds.
At this time, a special vehicle from the “Termite Gang Extermination Company” slowly drove into the villa complex.
Some people noticed this scene, but just picked up their wine glasses and took a sip with a blank expression.
Or they turned and left with a playful smile on their faces.
This was just a part of their lives, nothing to make a big deal about.
Even in the basements of their villas, there might be some people there, or there had once been some people here.
The sunlight in mid-October still shone fiercely on the earth, the light so strong that it seemed as if the whole world could not accommodate a single shadow.
(End of chapter)
The novel has already been fully translated up to the last updated chapter. You can access it on my Patreon at https://www.patreon.com/caleredhair