Empire of Shadows

After Bureau Chief Blue left, he returned to the bank with a somewhat gloomy expression.

His assistant was chatting with a young man in the corner. When he saw Mr. Chobaff return, he quickly separated from the young man and walked over alone.

"I know his father and have some dealings with their family, but he refused to tell me what happened, only saying they were planning to make an investment."

"Investment?" Mr. Chobaff's expression changed. He and his assistant returned to his office.

He wouldn't leave here until this turmoil was over. After having his secretary bring him coffee, he tasted the fine coffee and then asked in a mocking tone, "What do they know about investment?"

During this period, he had witnessed some of the true faces of the federal upper class, which shocked him and made him feel fortunate to have finally entered this circle.

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So now, although he is no different from the past, he has a new understanding of himself and his position in the social hierarchy.

This also made him somewhat mocking of the "ordinary people's investment" mentioned by the assistant. Ordinary people are just God's lambs. What investment could they possibly understand?

The assistant's mood had also eased a bit. "I'm not sure, but they say that with a hundred dollars, you can get one hundred and thirty dollars, including principal and interest, after three months."

A 10% monthly return. Mr. Chobaff's first thought was that it was impossible, but then he felt that it might not be impossible.

Usury and the financial industry are the two fastest-growing industries right now. What is 10% monthly interest? In the financial field, assets doubling overnight has happened before.

However, considering so many people are participating, he was somewhat interested. "What kind of investment is it? Is it reliable?"

This question was obviously the opposite of what he had just said, but the assistant didn't notice this. "I'm not too sure."

No one knew exactly how much money Mr. Chobaff had, including the assistant.

No one can guess a banker's wealth based on some data. Even if Mr. Chobaff has no money now, he can apply for a loan from his own bank and then approve his own loan. As long as it complies with the procedures, the bank's money is equal to his... borrowed money.

His fingers tapped on the armrest. Since joining the mayor's side last September or October, he had spent hundreds of thousands.

This sum of money had already made him feel like he was bleeding. The reason he could still hold on now was purely because the money of those depositors in the bank gave him some confidence.

If he couldn't find a way to make money as soon as possible, and the mayor's demands were endless, then even if he could barely maintain it, it would be difficult to maintain it for too long.

He had even planned to engage in the usury business during this period. With the mayor's protection, in this city, even if usury was illegal, it wouldn't be against the law!

But if possible, he would avoid breaking the law as much as possible.

What he really cared about was the way to make money that these people were talking about.

Time passed by little by little in this waiting. It wasn't until after two o'clock in the afternoon that not so many people came to withdraw money, and the bank's order returned to normal.

The assistant came over with the tallied form and placed it on the desk.

This document recorded how much money was withdrawn today and who these accounts belonged to.

At first, he didn't really care. He felt that... even if a 10% monthly return was indeed not low, these investments must be risky, and these people shouldn't be so blindly following along.

But when he saw that almost all of the accounts had a neat "0.00" behind them, his expression became serious.

When he saw the bottom, he was already somewhat serious.

"Two hundred and seventy thousand withdrawn?" His hand gripped the edge of the form tightly, already turning a little white.

The assistant didn't notice this, but he was also shocked by this number. Just as he was about to say something, someone knocked on the door and stood outside the door, saying, "Mr. Chobaff, someone wants a loan."

Jinda Bank has its own loan department and office, and also has a dedicated "manager" responsible for reviewing loans. This kind of thing doesn't need to bother him at all.

He frowned and put down the document, gently smoothing the crumpled edge with his hand. "Let him go to the loan office. Isn't the manager here?"

"He's here." The person outside the door seemed a little hesitant. After three or five seconds, he continued, "But there are too many people coming for loans, we can't take care of them all."

Mr. Chobaff couldn't sit still again. "Forty or fifty, coming together? Do they have any collateral?"

"Yes, their houses..."

Houses in the Imperial District are not expensive, but they are not cheap either, especially those apartments in good locations, which cost at least 1,800 to 2,000.

Apartments that are slightly remote or in neighborhoods with poor sanitation also cost 1,500.

It seems unreasonable that apartments here cost 1,700 or 1,800, while Johnny (the bakery owner)'s detached house can only be listed for around 2,200.

This is actually related to the geographical location. Although Johnny's house is detached, it is more remote and not as close to the prosperous areas.

In contrast, the Imperial District, although the people living here are at the bottom of society...

But here, to the south is the developing New Port Area, to the north is the city center, and to the east is the Presia District, which gathers the middle class of this city.

Its transportation is very convenient, whether it is going to the city center or working in the port area, or providing services to the middle class in Presia, or continuing west to work in the industrial area.

It is the "labor heart" of this city, with 40% of its hundreds of thousands of residents being workers.

In addition, in the early years, those real estate developers tried to sell a worthless piece of land and villa area at a high price, touting the "New Bay Area", which also slightly increased the price of houses in the Imperial District.

One thousand seven or eight, a very reasonable price.

The assistant didn't notice Mr. Chobaff's difficulty. He was thinking about making money.

"Have you heard how long they want to borrow for?"

The staff truthfully replied, "About three to four months."

This answer had already made the assistant and Mr. Chobaff realize that the purpose of their loans was for those "investments" that people were unwilling to disclose.

"I think we can give them the money." The assistant talked about his own ideas. "Three months is not a long time, we can add some handling fees."

"Within the framework of federal law, they can bring us about 10% profit after three months, which is 120 dollars."

Ten would be one thousand two, forty or fifty would be almost five or six thousand.

In case someone can't repay the money, houses in the Imperial District are not difficult to sell, and 1,700 or 1,800 is easy, then their profits will be even greater.

However, what Mr. Chobaff was thinking about was how much money was left in the vault!

Hundreds of thousands, hundreds of thousands, tens of thousands, spent like this, his own money was almost bottoming out!

Otherwise, he wouldn't have considered doing usury. Now that there was such a large group of people wanting to borrow money for investment, he was becoming more and more curious about that investment project!

He gave the assistant a look. "Go find out, but don't let it go. I'm still a little worried, maybe this is just part of a conspiracy."

"Many federal banks don't like us very much, we can't give them any chance!"

The assistant nodded. "I understand."

Watching 270,000 being withdrawn, Mr. Chobaff was a little sweaty now.

It wasn't that he had no money, the bank had no money, it's just that there wasn't that much cash!

He had to reserve 300,000 to deal with emergencies and could no longer lend money out.

Unexpected changes made him have to consider whether to start the usury industry as soon as possible. He knew that this business was not easy to do, and he also lacked manpower here.

But he could talk to Lance. If Lance was willing to cooperate, he would provide the money and Lance would provide the people. They would split the money 50/50. He believed Lance would agree.

After all, the mayor only gave him 30%, and he agreed, didn't he?

Lance didn't know that his idea of ​​wanting to get rich together almost caused Mr. Chobaff and his Jinda Bank to be crowded and closed.

Even now, it is very unsafe, but even if he knew, he could only say sorry.

Everyone hopes to be the owner of a luxury car on the road of life, rather than a passenger sitting in the trunk taking a ride. Lance's car has begun to refuel and is about to start speeding all the way on the road of life.

At this time, it is unlikely that anyone wants to stop him.

In the evening, the distribution representative of Lijie, one of the three major federal agricultural product distributors, appeared in a high-end hotel room in the port. Lance was also here, as well as several people from the chamber of commerce.

Lijie has an office in the wharf, and Lance learned that the manager of this office is a senior partner of the company and also owns 0.3% of the company's stock, so he has some weight in speaking.

So the first choice he made was Lijie Group, a commercial group that directly connects farmers and customers and completes all intermediate processes.

Some people once accused them of monopoly because they internally rate federal agricultural products and then purchase these agricultural products according to their own rules.

In the past, they had almost monopolized the agricultural products in most regions of the Federation. Farmers in some remote areas had no choice but to accept their unreasonable prices.

It wasn't until new, powerful competitors emerged that the situation improved slightly, but only slightly.

There were also rumors that the core shareholders behind the three major agricultural product distributors were the same group of people.

These three companies jointly set the standards for agricultural products and then purchased them according to their standards. Although the farmers were still dissatisfied, it was much better than before, because they felt that the current prices were fairer.

The capitalists and conglomerates of the Federation loved to do this kind of thing. Anyway, anti-monopoly measures were just for show to ordinary people. As long as they could fool these people, it was enough.

You say that my one-person rule is a monopoly and sue me?

Well, that's okay. Now I have two clones. I discuss with my two selves how much money to give you. That's democracy, right?

The manager of this Liji company was named Lenny, with black hair and a typical mixed-race appearance. His bluish chin and neat suit made him look very "elite."

After a brief handshake, everyone sat down.

"Mr. Lance, I have long heard of your reputation. This is our first meeting. You are younger and more imposing than I imagined."

"Vice President Vaughn always speaks highly of you when he talks about you."

This "big shot" was introduced by Vice President Vaughn. Although Vice President Vaughn was only the vice president of a dockworkers' union, he held a very high position in the eyes of these business people who needed to rely on the docks.

At least Vaughn could make them lose a lot of money with just one phone call. They didn't want to offend Vaughn.

So even though this Manager Lenny was not very willing to meet with a family leader, he still came.

Lance raised his hand and shook it slightly, "I must thank Vaughn for his praise. I asked him to help me make an appointment with you this time because I have a business deal I want to discuss with you."

Manager Lenny still had the same expression, "Can I know what it is now?"

"I don't want anyone else to know about our conversation today, regardless of whether we can reach a cooperation."

Lenny showed some smile, "No problem, please trust my professional ethics."

In fact, Lance didn't believe it, but he had to say it.

It's like when you meet someone who is trying to test you, he pushes you, you just step aside, and then you say to him "Don't fucking touch me", the effect is completely different!

Since he agreed, Lance no longer hid anything, "I want to buy the first season's grapes."

Manager Lenny still had the same expression, "No problem, how much do you want?"

"Is ten tons enough?"

He felt that these people probably only needed that much, and this was still with the added fame of Lance and the Lance family.

If it weren't for these, he might have even asked, "Is ten pounds enough? You can't finish any more than that."

Lance shook his head, "At least ten thousand tons."

Manager Lenny still had the same expression as if he hadn't heard, but he didn't continue Lance's expression and say anything. He just sat there for a while, "Just now, did you say, ten thousand tons?"

Ten thousand tons was actually not a big deal. They handled hundreds of millions of tons of various agricultural products every year.

But this was different, because he was not facing a chain supermarket with distribution points all over the country, nor a capital behemoth that monopolized the import and export of fruit in a small country.

This was just a Goldenport City…gangster?

When did they start doing fruit business too?

Is the gangster competition so fierce now?

"The price of grapes is rising very fast. The company expects the price of the first batch of grapes this year to exceed 110 yuan,"

he said slowly, considering his words.

Lance gave a different opinion, "We all know that the price of grapes will plummet when they are concentrated on the market every season. Even if you can sell it at this price in the first week before that, it will be at most eighty-odd yuan after the market."

Manager Lenny was silent for a while, "Can I know how you plan to pay?"

Lance nodded, "Cash, cashier's check, transfer, anything is fine."

This confirmed to him that Lance was not joking. He pondered for a while, "The company's guaranteed price for me is 97 yuan, but I can't give you this price because you are not our 'senior partner'."

"But I have a very good relationship with Vice President Vaughn. So, if you can accept a price of 103 yuan, I can give it to you."

Lance considered it. In fact, that was about the price he had told Alvin before, but he also had his own conditions, "No problem, but half of it will be paid in cash."

Cash is not sensitive to people at the bottom, because in their perception, cash is probably three or five yuan.

But for large companies, it may be a little sensitive.

However, Manager Lenny only hesitated for about a second, not even hesitating, "No problem."

It was too easy for a group company like Liji Group, which covered the entire Federation and also had multinational offices, to dispose of hundreds of thousands of black money!

Lance then made a new request, "This batch of grapes is very important to us. We need to sign a formal contract, including compensation for breach of contract, etc."

"If we suffer losses because you cannot pay for our goods, you need to compensate us at least five times the total payment for the goods."

Manager Lenny shook his head directly, "This is unreasonable, the maximum compensation can only be one time."

"What if we can pay at least 40% or even 50% of the deposit?"

The deposit for agricultural products is generally relatively small, a few percent, and what Lance said is indeed very true. The price of any product will plummet when it is concentrated on the market.

From Manager Lenny's point of view, this business was guaranteed to make a profit!

At that time, they could just find a reason to delay it, and then collect a batch of grapes at a low price when the market was concentrated and sell them to Lance, making a profit of two or three hundred thousand in one fell swoop.

Manager Lenny took a deep look at Lance, "I need to make a phone call."

Lance indicated that there was a phone in the room, "Please do."

Spring was coming soon. The farmers made trouble in the autumn and they would also make trouble in the spring. They made trouble every day.

Cash flow was very important for companies with many crisis events.

After Lenny communicated with the duty director on the phone for a while, he came out.

"If you can pay 75% of the deposit, then we can sign this contract."

"Also, I must say that if you cannot pay the subsequent bills, then we will not refund the deposit to you, and there will be no grapes."

He was afraid that Lance and the others didn't understand, so he had to make it clear.

Lance didn't care about this, because even if he really didn't have money, the bank would help him take this order, pay the money for him, and give him a lot more!

However, before facilitating this deal, there was one last small problem left.

"Do you mind a little more cash?"