Jonathan had a blind trust in Lance. He had, in a way, watched Lance start from nothing.
Last year, this young man was still bringing someone else’s IOU here to get a loan from him, and now, he was scheming against a monopolistic enterprise like the Liji Group.
Although his own promotion speed was already very fast, when he felt the confidence in Lance’s words, he felt that his own development was not fast at all.
“Since you have your own ideas, then I won’t influence your judgment. But if there’s anything I can help with, give me a call.”
Jonathan felt that a new legend would continue.
In fact, the underworld was not short of various miraculous stories. In Golden State, there was a young man who, in just two or three years, became one of the top gang forces in the local area.
The underworld and the world above are different. There are too many rules in the world above, and many things that need to be followed, which restricts one’s hands and feet.
And the acquisition of “power” does not come from courage.
In other words, you may have the courage to declare war on large capital groups and large political groups, but that doesn’t mean you really have the qualifications to fight them.
They won’t even look at you directly, or they won’t even notice you. The people below will take care of these things.
Erasing a small, insignificant challenger is just a matter of a phone call for them.
But the underworld is different.
The biggest rule here is that there are no rules. As long as you have the courage to challenge, then you have a chance to create a miracle.
And only in the underworld has God truly made everyone equal—
No one can survive with a pound of warhead pumped into their body, whether you are a corporate executive, a homeless man on the street, a gangster, or… the President of the Federation!
The moment a bullet lifts your skull, no matter what their identity is, in the end, it is simply reduced to one.
Human.
As long as a vital spot is hit by a bullet, you will die. This is the only principle of the underworld.
And buying a weapon, loading a bullet, and firing a gun does not require heavy rules. It only requires you to have the courage to walk up to that person and pull the trigger at his head.
So it is said that it is very easy to create a miracle in the underworld: kill others, and then not be killed.
Questioning authority, challenging authority, becoming authority—this is what the underworld is about, not the world above.
Jonathan felt that Lance could go further, because he was shining in the field he was best at. This was his confidence.
After hanging up the phone, Lance sat in his chair, his hands propping up his chin in thought. Since they wanted to go head-to-head, then he would give them a chance to go head-to-head.
He even found it a little funny.
Using exquisite porcelain to go head-to-head with a roadside stone?
He hoped they didn’t have heart disease.
Lance made a phone call to Elvin.
He had been at the labor agency these past few days. Sean had officially started his university life, so Elvin was often needed there to help.
Lance had already scouted a few professional managers, but he had not yet made formal contact. He needed to observe these people for a period of time.
Although the business there was legal and compliant, after all, it was still more or less possible to be involved in some family business, so it was necessary to be more cautious.
“The Liji Group has decided to drag it out with us, and from the feedback from Luca, it’s highly likely they’ve determined that we did it.”
“I need you to do something. Have our people check all of the Liji Group’s warehouses and properties in Golden Port.”
Elvin readily agreed. “I’ll have Johnny do this…” He paused. The sound of a match being struck came from the receiver. “Are you planning to take out all their warehouses?”
Lance did not give a definite answer. “This relates to the second matter. We have to have a chat with the insurance company, but this matter… I’ll find a way to handle it.”
“You just handle what I asked you to do first.”
Elvin was a little confused. “What does this have to do with the insurance company?”
He had not received a better education and was not very familiar with the operation of many fields in the Federation. He did not know that most of the warehouses on the docks were insured. This insurance was for the warehouses themselves.
After a warehouse is rented out, the company that rents it may also insure the goods inside.
In the Federation, insurance is a very important business practice, because you never know when an accident will happen.
And the Federation has a relatively high level of social acceptance of insurance. There are not a few cases of insurance companies going bankrupt due to natural disasters, including the great Golden State earthquake, which directly caused a large insurance company to go bankrupt.
Shops on the roadside, especially those in the city center, also have the habit of taking out insurance.
Whether it’s a robbery or other accidents, the insurance company will pay in full.
This is also why many shops are very cooperative in the face of a robbery, because they have insurance. They can report it to the insurance, and although they may not be compensated, and not in full, at least they are not afraid of this.
That wheat was not insured because the Liji Group believed that it would be shipped out soon.
And for $2 million worth of wheat, even if the premium was only two or three percent, it was still a considerable sum.
People were coming and going at the docks, including at night, so they were not at all afraid of special circumstances like theft or fire, and there was only a one-week storage period.
The profit of this common wheat was generally not high. If another two or three percent of the net profit was compressed, their profit margin would be greatly compressed.
And they didn’t think anyone could steal so much wheat.
But who the fuck could have thought that those people not only didn’t steal their wheat, nor did they set it on fire, but instead crazily watered it, causing the wheat to sprout.
Even if they had insured it, there was no company whose contract would have a clause stating that “if the wheat sprouts, it must also be compensated.”
As for the other warehouses, other properties, whether they were insured or not, Lance was not sure, so he had to find out first, and then decide what to do.
After hanging up with Elvin, he shouted, “Alan, come here!”
Soon Alan pushed the door open and entered. He had become a little more composed now. His popularity was still very good, but he was not as active as before, where he could become good friends with anyone.
Now he would think, he would discern. He would distinguish whether those people were really worth his association.
After Alan sat down, Lance gave him a task. “Go to the toy store, buy some toy trucks, and send them to the management of the Liji Group’s Golden Port branch, one for each person.”
“That’s all.”
Alan, who had just sat down not long ago, stood up. “I’m on it.”
Lance nodded. “Get the money from Mello’s, or come back and get reimbursed.”
The company had a very complete reimbursement system. Lance really hated the kind of thing where employees had to spend their own money to do things for the company.
If you are disgusted and loathe something or someone, then it is best not to become that kind of person yourself.
He went to Morris’s office. Morris was recovering well now. Except for his body still being weak, he was actually not much different from a normal person.
But anyone who knew him could feel that his body was much weaker than before.
At least he couldn’t do any physical work now. He couldn’t even run. After running a few steps, he would stop, gasping for breath.
Just as he entered the door, Lance found that there was another girl in Morris’s room.
Lance met their gazes and then showed a slight smile.
The girl was named Piper, a nurse. Before, when Morris was inconvenient, someone had to take care of him.
And it was not very appropriate to ask anyone to do this kind of thing. His mother had already remarried. It would be even more inappropriate to ask his mother to come.
As for his father… if his father came, it would only make a mess of everything.
So Lance had hired a professional nurse, a professional girl. The private nursing in his condition was actually a very private matter, but fortunately, the girl did not resent these things.
Actually, at first, the hospital had planned to assign a male nurse. In this period, the hospital was also dominated by male nurses, but Lance had given enough money, so naturally, a girl was willing.
The female nurse helped Morris walk from the window to the sofa and let him sit down.
“Something wrong?”
Lance nodded. “I want to find someone who is familiar with insurance to understand some things. I thought about it, and wasn’t Ennio’s father an insurance salesman or something before?”
Morris nodded. “His third job was an insurance salesman.”
As he spoke, he looked at the nurse. “Get me the phone. I’ll call him.”
Since the last incident, Ennio’s father had not continued to work. He had been thinking, re-observing this strange world.
He felt that he didn’t understand the Federation at all. Everything here was both familiar and strange. He had to adapt.
Soon the call went through. He would be over soon, it would take about ten minutes.
These people all lived nearby, and transportation was very convenient.
Before long, Ennio’s father came over. He was very familiar with Morris. After all, they were neighbors, and the two families had always had a good relationship.
He had also come to Morris’s father’s funeral and felt quite wistful.
But when he saw Lance, he became a little reserved, not even knowing how to address him.
To use honorifics or something else with a young man younger than his own son made him feel an indescribable awkwardness.
Fortunately, Lance saw his trouble. “Just call me Lance. Ennio and I are good brothers. You can just treat me as your nephew.”
He paused. “I hear you’ve had many jobs before, including an insurance salesman?”
At the mention of this, the middle-aged man’s expression was a bit embarrassed. That was a very bad memory.
At that time, a newspaper had reported an article titled “From One Dollar to an Insurance Empire,” which introduced the story of the birth of an insurance company.
The chairman and founder was originally a low-level salesman in a company. Through his love for his work and his loyalty to his clients, he quickly gathered a large group of clients in his hands.
Because of some interest relationships between the clients and the company, he stood on the side of the clients, which led to him being fired by the company.
But his clients supported him in the first instance. He also had the idea of starting his own insurance company, and then raised the start-up capital through loans and other means.
Of course, this part was mentioned in passing. The newspaper would not tell people how this money actually came about.
In short, he had now become the chairman of a large insurance company, a major shareholder, and a billionaire.
This filled him with confidence and passion for this industry. But when he really entered this industry, he found that everything was fake.
The obedient and friendly clients all only existed in the newspapers, and he also could not be loyal to his own clients, because denying claims was also one of his jobs.
You clearly know that this person, after listening to your bullshit, bought insurance from you. When he needs your help, the company tells you, either you refuse him, or the company refuses you.
Perhaps at the beginning, he hadn’t seen through these things, but as time went on and he came into contact with many things that ordinary people didn’t know, he became filled with disgust for this profession.
Lance listened to him narrate the events of those years and was a little confused. “Uncle, I don’t mean to be… pedantic, but I just feel that since you know the nature of an insurance salesman’s job is not so good, why did you still become a salesman?”
The middle-aged man was silent for a long time. “I think… selling things and selling insurance are different. You can’t tell if everyone has a need to buy insurance.”
“But if someone needs the product you are selling, they will definitely be interested and buy it.”
Alright, a very simple logic. Lance couldn’t find any problem with it. “Then can you still contact your former colleagues at the insurance company?”
“It’s best if they are supervisors or something with some authority. I need you to help me find out something.”
“Which company is handling the Liji Group’s insurance business at the docks, and what are their specific insured items?”
The middle-aged man did not refuse. Lance had helped Ennio a lot. If it weren’t for him, Ennio might still be messing around on the streets now, living a life where he couldn’t even fill his stomach.
How could he give him a sum of money from time to time and let him spend it as he pleased?
For both emotional and rational reasons, he needed to obey this order from Lance, whether for himself or for his son.
Lance withdrew $2,000 from his account and gave it to him. Talking about friendship with those insurance people who only knew money was not as good as talking about money with them directly. “If it’s a problem that can be solved with money, then it’s absolutely not a problem.”
“As long as they name a price, agree to them. As for whether it’s reasonable or not, that’s my business.”
“Even if they ask for a hundred thousand.”
The middle-aged man nodded. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”
Inexplicably, he suddenly had a sense of mission.
This was the first time he had so much money in his pocket. A whole stack of $20 bills. This made him feel a little nervous.
He drove to the outside of the insurance company. This car had been assigned to him by Lance. Looking at this brand-new insurance company, he wondered how many people’s blood and money had forged its glory today.
The moment the middle-aged man stepped into the insurance company’s lobby, someone immediately came up to greet him. “Is there anything I can do for you?”
He looked at the twenty-something-year-old young man with a happy smile on his face and saw a reflection of his former self in a daze. “Is this job not very easy to do?”
The young man’s expression was taken aback for a moment, but he continued to maintain his smile. “I don’t quite understand what you mean, sir.”
He quickly explained, “I’m here to find someone.”
He said a name. The young man’s expression was a little surprised. “You need to go to the front desk on the sixth floor. Do you have an appointment?”
The middle-aged man shook his head but still got on the elevator.
Two minutes later, the secretary at the front desk on the sixth floor made a call to the manager. He was given ten minutes.
The moment the office door was pushed open, the former supervisor had been promoted to department manager. After meeting again after so many years, he had aged a lot, but the other party seemed to look still very young.
He thought it should be because of his spiritual outlook. The other party’s spiritual outlook was clearly better.
“When they told me just now that you wanted to see me, I thought it was someone with the same name. I didn’t expect it to be you.”
The manager pressed a button on his phone. “Send in two cups of coffee.”
He invited Ennio’s father to sit down. “It’s been many years. You look good.”
Only then did Ennio’s father remember that he had changed into the clothes Lance had prepared for him. Purely handmade by a master, it looked very expensive.
He felt that he had aged a lot, but in the manager’s eyes, he had not actually aged that much. On the contrary, he had a bit more of a successful person’s temperament.
Otherwise, he wouldn’t even have called for coffee.
Ennio’s father pursed his lips and smiled. “It’s alright. I was just passing by and wanted to come in and see. I thought you might have already been transferred, but they told me you are now the manager.”
The manager emphasized one point, “And a partner.”
The pride that came from the bottom of his heart on his face. To be able to become a partner of an insurance company, even if it was just a partner of a branch, was to have reached the top of the mountain.
This was the achievement that Ennio’s father had once fantasized about, but now, he saw through it.
Because under this mountain, an unknown number of people’s lives and fortunes were buried.
His deepest impression was of a person who needed to be hospitalized due to illness and came to apply for a claim.
According to the terms of the contract, the insurance company should have compensated that person with about six or seven hundred dollars in claims.
This money might not be enough for him to be completely cured, but at least it could help him get through the current difficulties.
But the company refused to pay, and the reason was also ridiculous. Because he had a fungal infection (athlete’s foot), but had not told the company, so the company’s health assessment of him was wrong, and the policy would not take effect.
In the end, that person died because he had no money to see a doctor and missed the best opportunity.
This was one of the records of this partner in the past. He could always find a reason to refuse a claim from a special angle, saving the company a lot of money.
The coffee was quickly delivered. After the secretary went out, the manager sat down opposite him. “Tell me, I know you’re not here just to see this old friend of yours. There must be something else.”
Ennio’s father took a sip of his coffee and threw a straight ball. “Do you know which company is handling the Liji Group’s insurance business?”
(End of chapter)