At five o’clock, the newspaper distributors in Golden Port City had already gathered at the place designated for distributing newspapers.
In this era, newspapers had three main sales channels—
Fixed Address Subscription: Whether for a family or a company, they would pay the newspaper’s publishing house periodically, and then the newspaper would be delivered to the designated mailbox or newspaper box, or to a place like the company’s front desk, by a delivery person every day.
Sales by Newsstands: The newsstands would adjust their orders based on the previous day’s sales. Generally, the number of copies ordered was 125% of the previous day’s.
That is to say, if ten copies of a newspaper were sold on the first day, then the next day, the newsstand would most likely order twelve or thirteen copies. This involved some other knowledge.
Distribution by Newspaper Hawkers: “Newspaper hawkers” referred to groups in various regions who made a living by selling newspapers retail on the move
They would get cheap newspapers from the publishing house, and then distribute them to the low-priced child laborers they had hired, to have them hawk and sell them.
The main sales scenes were in places with a large flow of people, such as train stations, markets, etc.
Although the individual sales were not large, when combined, they were a powerful sales force.
Many people were accustomed to holding a newspaper in their hands to pass the time on the road while waiting for or riding a bus, and by the way, they could also learn about the news and the like.
Generally, the newspaper hawkers would dynamically adjust the number of newspapers they bought based on the news of the day.
If there was no special news, they would buy fewer copies.
But if there was some explosive news, they would buy more.
This morning, the newspaper hawkers were yawning while chatting about yesterday’s income.
When the freshly printed newspapers, still warm, were thrown to the ground from the truck, everyone gathered around.
They needed to “inspect the goods” first before they could decide how many copies to take.
For them, the more the number, the better.
The light at this time was also dim, and the sun had not yet come out. A newspaper hawker rubbed his eyes.
Although it was very satisfying to rub away the granular eye gunk in the corner of his eye, he could no longer care about this comfortable feeling.
He took out a lighter, struck it, and let the faint light illuminate the front-page headline of the newspaper.
As they read the content of the newspaper, each of them couldn’t help but suck in a breath of cold air!
But then their faces showed a look of ecstasy!
Such sensational news meant a market that was about to explode, and huge profits!
“I want a thousand copies!”
“I want twelve hundred copies!”
“I want…”
They were afraid that they would get less than others, and buy slower. Each of them waved their banknotes like those rich people, wanting to take away all the newspapers in front of them.
The person in charge of selling the newspapers saw them being so crazy and showed an expression of “I knew this would happen.” While collecting the money, he continuously split the newspapers and then handed them to them.
At seven o’clock, the sky had begun to brighten, and the number of people on the street had also increased. A child wearing a woolen coat and a red, brown, and gray checkered woolen flat cap was running on the street while waving the newspaper in his hand, shouting loudly—
“A shocking scandal! A certain big shot in the Bay Area is involved in a prostitution scandal! Come and get a copy of Golden Port Today to see the fresh news!”
A gentleman who was smoking his morning cigarette by the window couldn’t help but widen his eyes. The common people were most keen on the scandals of such big shots. Even if he didn’t have the habit of reading newspapers, he couldn’t help but take out some loose change and shout at the newsboy downstairs, “Give me a copy!”
The newsboy caught the coin thrown from upstairs, then rolled up the newspaper and tied it with a paper band. With a forceful throw, the newspaper landed on the windowsill.
The passersby around, hearing these hawking sounds, also couldn’t help but take out money to buy a copy. In fact, some people used to specialize in picking up newspapers that others had already read.
But today’s front-page headline was too explosive. They couldn’t wait to see the content inside.
Every newsboy was surrounded by a lot of passersby. This scene happened in every corner of the city, and it was the same in front of the newsstands.
After people got the newspaper, they were engrossed in browsing the explosive scandals, and even missed the bus they were waiting for to go to work!
Even those who were illiterate would buy a copy and have those who could read read it to them, or follow behind those who could read, scratching their heads and ears and asking what had happened.
The scandal and evidence of three named big shots participating in prostitution were published by the Golden Port Today.
In fact, the Golden Port Today was not very willing to publish this newspaper. After all, it also represented a part of the vested interest group in Golden Port City.
But now was not the past, where some concepts, camps, and stances could be confused.
A huge war had already broken out!
After careful consideration, the investors behind the newspaper office decided to stand on Mayor Williams’s side.
On the one hand, it was because Mayor Williams controlled the “power of the mayor” and had a natural advantage.
Secondly, they were also afraid of Lance. After all, Lance had unified the entire underworld of Golden Port City. What if Lance was unhappy and set fire to the newspaper office? Who would compensate for the huge losses?
On the contrary, there was not much of a problem in standing on the opposite side of the wealthy people in the Bay Area. At most, they would just find a way to make things difficult for the newspaper office.
With the current circulation of the newspaper office, they were not really afraid of ordinary difficulties.
So the content that was originally unlikely to appear in the newspaper had, as it happened, appeared in the newspaper.
Early in the morning, Mr. Hoff rubbed his eyes and sat up. He couldn’t sleep.
In the next two or three days, three or five days, there would be a result. He was almost suffering from insomnia now.
He had gone to bed at a little after three o’clock last night. He glanced at the clock on his bedside table. It was only a little after seven now. He had no sleepiness at all.
Although he could feel that his body was still very tired, he just had no sleepiness at all.
He had just put on his clothes and came out of the bedroom when he saw the butler anxiously pacing back and forth in the main hall on the first floor.
“What’s wrong?”
“Did a rat bite your ass?”
He grinned, not humorously, but humorously.
When the butler looked up and saw him, he immediately picked up the newspaper on the table and rushed up the stairs. This was not simple for a middle-aged and elderly person.
“Sir, you should take a look at today’s newspaper!”
At first, Mr. Hoff didn’t pay much attention. He took the newspaper with a smile. “Is there something good on it…”
The moment his gaze fell on the front-page headline, his face immediately turned ashen.
He immediately flipped to the second page and found his own photo.
He suddenly closed the newspaper, turned, and strode towards the study. As he walked, he said, “Get me a pot of coffee, and something to eat.”
He returned to his study, opened the newspaper again, and began to read it seriously. It was illustrated with pictures and text, and detailed the whole process of Mr. Hoff’s prostitution at the Red High Heels.
It even introduced that he had once had a girl, and when the girl came back, she was covered in bruises. There was even a photo with a blurred face!
Others didn’t know who that girl was, but Mr. Hoff did!
“Fuck!” he couldn’t help but slam the table, not knowing who he was cursing.
He continued to read with a stiff upper lip, wanting to see if there was anything he could use to defend himself. But the more he read, the more terrified and uneasy he felt.
Below, there were also detailed records. On a certain day of a certain month of a certain year, he had called and asked for a certain service. The company had sent someone over, and when they had picked up the girl, what state she was in when she came back.
It seemed that on the pages of the notebook, there were also the recorder’s speculations about some of Mr. Hoff’s sexual fetishes, with no lack of words like “pervert” and “fetishist.”
What was even more fatal was that there was also a photo of a check on it!
The amount on that check could be matched with the price of the prostitution, and the date could also be matched. And there was also his own signature.
The newspaper claimed that there was also his fingerprint on this check!
He couldn’t even curse now!
A dead memory suddenly attacked him. In a daze, he seemed to have experienced it again.
The night before that day, he had just attended a card game, and all his cash was used up, so the next day he needed to vent a little. He had lost a lot!
After he had vented, he realized that he had forgotten to withdraw money. He was also not willing to owe a pimp for prostitution, even if it was just for a short period of time, a few hours, or a day.
Even if it was for such a short time, it would make him a laughingstock.
At that time, the Red High Heels was still safe and reliable. They could be erased at will, so he didn’t have so many scruples and directly wrote a check!
Thinking about it now, he was still too naive!
The phone on the desk suddenly rang, startling him.
He hesitated for a moment before picking up the phone. The voice of a certain executive committee member of the Likalai State Socialist Party Committee came from the receiver.
“Hoff, you’d better give me an explanation. Why does today’s Golden Port Today say that you have repeatedly solicited prostitutes, and… shit, are you a sadist?!”
He knew this executive committee member, and also knew that this executive committee member was not a good person either. He also solicited prostitutes, also accepted bribes, and also did many bad things…
But now the one in trouble was him, Hoff, not this executive committee member. He could only bite the bullet and explain, “This is slander, it’s a frame-up!”
The executive committee member gave him no face at all. “It’s easy to convince me. It’s very difficult for you to convince the public. You represent the image of the Socialist Party in Likalai State.”
“To be honest, I believe that the public cannot accept a sadist and a pervert holding an important position!”
“You have forty-eight hours. If you can’t handle this matter after forty-eight hours…” the executive committee member paused for a moment. The sound of him inhaling could be heard through the receiver, “then I will fucking handle you!”
Then with a bang, the phone was slammed down.
It could be felt that this executive committee member must be very angry!
It could be imagined that soon, a member of the Federal Socialist Party National Committee would call and ask him what the fuck was wrong with the Socialist Party in Likalai State?
Why couldn’t they control public opinion and let it continue to ferment!
The Likalai State Socialist Party Committee was the largest management and ruling organization of the Socialist Party in Likalai State. The executive committee member was equivalent to a senator in Congress.
For something that had alarmed the National Committee and the National Congress to happen in this place, the local executive committee member was the first person responsible!
He was sleeping soundly, and suddenly a pile of shit was smashed on his head!
If it were just dry shit, that would be fine. Although it was disgusting, you could just pick it up and throw it away.
But as it happened, it was fucking diarrhea. You couldn’t even wipe it clean!
Not cursing was already his limit!
(End of a Chapter)