Empire of Shadows

Small loan businesses are doing very well.

Federal citizens don't have the habit of saving, or rather, in the process of rapid economic development in recent years, people have gradually adapted to the concept of not saving.

In fact, Federal citizens used to save, but in recent years, as the economy has gotten better and better, experts have been warning people that if they let their money lie in the bank, it will depreciate.

Five years ago, when people only had twenty dollars a month, fifteen dollars could buy a bicycle, but now, a bicycle costs more than twenty dollars.

Five dollars have been devalued in this process. The more money you save, the more severe the depreciation. On the contrary, timely consumption helps to preserve the value of your assets.

A bicycle bought for fifteen dollars five years ago can still be sold for seven or eight dollars on the second-hand market, which means it cost a little more than one dollar to ride for a year.

You can't say that the experts are wrong, because these are all real cases. The better the economy, the more places need currency, and the Federation will print more currency to cope with the shortage in the currency application market, and prices will change.

But if you say it's right, it's not entirely true, because in terms of purchasing power, three-quarters of a month's income versus one-half of a month's income actually shows that the actual value of the bicycle is decreasing.

But people don't care about this. All they know is that the price of bicycles has gone up.

This kind of hedonism, coupled with the endless stream of financial companies, various installments, and loans, has promoted people's habit of spending money as soon as they have it.

At the same time, this consumption habit has also promoted the rapid growth of the Federal economy. The things manufactured in factories are never short of sales channels. Experts believe that this economic benefit will last for ten years, or even longer.

Everything seems to be beautiful, except when encountering things that suddenly require money.

Many workers on the docks are also hedonistic, going to the bar every day for a drink, and watching the strippers who come out to work for their passion, giving them a few cents or a few dimes to approve of their optimism and positivity.

There's not much money left in their pockets each month, and when they need money, it becomes very troublesome.

Don't expect to borrow money from your workmates. They don't have any money to lend you, because they are all broke too.

Borrow money from the company?

The company doesn't have this business, and it's easy to cause disputes.

Financial companies are a good option, but if the borrower doesn't have real estate, doesn't have valuable things, and only has an income of thirty dollars a month, they won't lend the money either.

Plus the extremely high interest rates, borrowers are also reluctant to borrow money.

So in the port area, in just a few days, "Wanli Financial Consulting Services Company" has become a topic frequently mentioned among the lower-level workers.

Within one hundred dollars, full amount loaned on the same day, cash or check, and the interest is not too high, and they also support installments.

Someone borrowed one hundred dollars, and only needs to repay one hundred and ninety dollars in six months. With installments, they only need to repay thirty-eight dollars each month.

This interest rate is much lower than ordinary financial companies. The most important thing is that they can really borrow the money, and they are not worried about not being able to repay it.

The price of work cards is rising. Now it's generally eighteen, nineteen, or even twenty dollars. As long as they do a few more part-time jobs and rent out the work cards, even if they don't work themselves, the money they get each month is enough to repay the loan. If they work full-time, their income will be even higher.

Many people are like this, they will have an expectation for their future life before making a decision.

Will doing this lead to a difficult life, or even a situation where I can't repay the loan?

But now it won't, because even if they really can't repay the loan, the company said that as long as they take away their work cards for a period of time according to the regulations, they can't repay the money, and the company will hire people to work and repay the money for them.

What the hell are they worried about?

Some people who aren't short of money, but just don't have any money in their pockets, even go and borrow twenty or thirty dollars to experience it.

Especially some people, when they hear that they can borrow money as long as they have a work card, some people who are unwilling to work also go to borrow money. In their opinion, this is much better than dealing with those illegal immigrants.

After all... the influence of the movement hasn't faded yet. Some typical "Old Federal Citizens" believe that renting work cards to those illegal immigrants is a harm to the country and the interests of these Old Federal Citizens.

But if the work card is taken away by the company because they can't repay the money, it has nothing to do with them. This seems to be becoming a solution for some people.

In this process, Lance also had the plan to open a second company—a labor service company.

In just a few days, the company has issued more than two hundred orders, some for one hundred dollars, some for twenty dollars.

These are all the ones that those financial companies don't like, and people are unwilling to bear the huge interest of the financial companies. In the end, they all benefited Lance, with a total amount of more than thirteen thousand dollars.

If calculated with a three-month term, this loan of more than thirteen thousand dollars can bring him a profit of almost nine thousand dollars.

At the same time, the loan and vouchers of more than thirteen thousand dollars allowed him to borrow sixteen thousand dollars from the bank. The more money he lends out, the more money he has in his hand. This may be the reason why people often say "the rich get richer and richer."

Sometimes life is so magical.

Whether you can make money doesn't depend on whether a person is diligent, nor does it depend on whether a person has excellent and noble qualities. This may be the biggest irony to people's hard work!

On the weekend, Lance asked Patricia to go out for a walk. The girl was a little shy, and there was still some difference from the "heretical girl" in people's eyes.

At this time, most normal Federal citizens still value the issue of "chastity", and conservative women still occupy the mainstream of the female group.

Even holding hands would make them feel shy.

Lance's reserved date location was the Golden Port City Amusement Park. Various large-scale amusement equipment filled the entire amusement park with the laughter of young people and children.

The pariahs of the Empire are still worried about life, and the Federal citizens are already on the roller coaster.

But from a certain perspective, everyone is actually about the same—

Their hearts are all beating wildly!

"That was so exciting!", Patricia covered her chest and supported Lance, "My legs are softening, I swear I will never ride this again!"

It can be seen that she was indeed frightened.

In fact, the roller coaster in Golden Port City Angel Park is not the kind that is particularly exciting, but it still brings joy and shadows to many people.

It can be seen from the surrounding signs that read "Please do not vomit on the ground" that there should be as many people who dislike it as there are people who like it.

Most of Patricia's body was leaning on Lance's body. Her legs were trembling. Although there was a layer of clothing between them, she could still feel that hot body.

"I thought you would like it. You see, the main visitors here are young people.", He helped her sit on the chair next to her.

Patricia's heartbeat finally slowed down a little at this time, "I… This is my first time riding a roller coaster, Lance. When I was a little girl, I told my father about it."

"But he told me that this is not a game that a lady should participate in. You don't know him, he is the kind of rigid guy like a stone."

"So…", she pouted, took a deep breath, "Although I was very scared, you have made my life complete."

"If it were me, I definitely wouldn't dare to ride this."

"Thank you, Lance."

Lance said with a smile, "You are my angel, I am your genie in a bottle, I can fulfill all your wishes."

"So my angel, what is your next wish?"

Patricia suddenly laughed. That kind of vivid smile made the midsummer pale in comparison, "Too sweet, Lance, sometimes I even suspect that this is my illusion!"

Lance looked into her eyes and slowly leaned closer. The distance between the two became closer and closer. Patricia's face began to turn red and hot, and her eyes were a little evasive.

When she could feel the breath exhaled from Lance's breathing, she felt dizzy.

Too fast!

Her heart told herself that she was not one of those sluts who could sleep with a man the first time they met. The education she received kept her holding some traditional ideas on these issues.

"Your collar is a little messy, let me tidy it up for you.", Lance helped her tidy up her hair and collar, which relieved her while also making her feel a little lost.

Just as she opened her mouth to say "Thank you", Lance suddenly kissed her.

Her mind went blank.

Patricia had been attending church girls' schools since she was a child, schools where there were only female teachers and nuns, with very strict management systems. They told every girl that this was something that could only be done after marriage!

Perhaps it was because of this suppression of nature that the women's rights movement was in full swing in the Federation. They even networked everywhere for voting rights, and their momentum was very strong.

But for Patricia, this kiss was completely contrary to the education she had received in the past. For a while, she didn't even know what to do.

Fortunately, Lance's kiss was not long, and he didn't stick out his tongue... It was just a simple kiss, and what made her feel even more moved was the slightly hot connection that was tightly attached to Lance's cheek. The things brought about by that skin contact made her heart tremble slightly.

That feeling made her feel like the weather yesterday, humid and sticky.

"I couldn't help myself, you have to forgive me.", Lance moved back a little distance, "So I will fulfill one more of your wishes."

Patricia held her face with both hands, it was too hot, and a little aggrieved, "I didn't promise you to kiss me."

Lance scratched his head. "You're too beautiful. How about you kiss me back?"

The girl, who had been feeling a little aggrieved, couldn't help but laugh. "You really are the most shameless person I've ever met!"

Lance didn't feel embarrassed or ashamed in the slightest. "If you see a beautiful girl you like and don't even dare to express your feelings, that's what's shameful."

The girl rolled her eyes. She had to admit, every word Lance said made her feel as sweet as if she'd eaten honey.

"How many girls have you lied to?" she asked.

An easy question to score points. "You're the first."

"I don't believe you!"

Lance never passed up an opportunity to score points like this.

"I wasn't like this with girls before, but ever since I met you..."

He suddenly opened his clenched fists, making a gesture similar to an explosion or a blossoming flower. "God opened a window for me, and I have countless sweet words I want to say to you!"

He didn't give her a chance to continue speaking, taking her hand. "Shall we go ride the carousel?"

She didn't refuse; it was also a favorite of girls.

As for putting his arm around her waist?

That's something only a virgin would do!