Rise of the Argentine Empire

After leaving the courthouse, it was already almost six in the evening. Just reading out the crimes of the criminals took a full two hours. It was truly long and tedious, and this time there were so many people arrested. Whether it was a small fry or someone important, they all had to be read out once.

With nothing else to do, Saint-Hesse went home. The courthouse wasn't far from the Jacaranda Apartments. He only needed to walk along Saint Martin Avenue and then turn onto Little Cilicia Street to get home.

Logically, the courthouse should have been closed. Normally, people at City Hall leave work at six o'clock. Once, Saint-Hesse was handling an important document at the administrative service hall, and just after six o'clock, the young lady left right on time, leaving Saint-Hesse bewildered in the wind. He could only come back early the next day to handle it, taking three days in total.

But clearly, the courthouse was determined to work overtime today. Tomorrow is the weekend, and these bigwigs don't want to continue dealing with this troublesome matter next Monday. The surrounding audience had also gradually left.

Arriving on the street, Saint-Hesse strolled leisurely. Koke City had entered the early summer. From the trees along the road, there were occasional sounds of cicadas chirping. It was just dusk, and the sun hadn't set. Saint-Hesse looked at the street. There weren't many pedestrians. Saint Martin Avenue was mainly home to a large number of government agencies such as City Hall, the Police Department, and the Courthouse, as well as banks and large companies.

The natural environment of Koke City is actually quite good. There's no heavy industry now, and there won't be much in the future either. Things like the coal industry simply don't exist. Later on, it seems like a few foreign-funded automobile assembly plants will open. The weather is also acceptable, with clear, cloudless skies. Because it's the city center, the streets here are also relatively clean.

The road is lined with orange and tangerine trees, planted right along the side. They've already grown small oranges. Actually, Saint-Hesse was a bit curious when he first arrived, but now he's used to it and finds it quite unique. Sometimes when Saint-Hesse is thirsty, he'll secretly pick a few.

Saint-Hesse really liked eating oranges back then. He was quite mischievous at the time, always telling his soldiers and Aragon, 'Don't go yet, I'll buy you some oranges first.' They would always happily agree. But doing this kind of thing too many times became boring. Saint-Hesse smiled as he thought about it. He had only been here for a short time back then, and he was truly lonely. Sometimes, just spacing out could take up half a day. It's pretty much the same now.

You should know that in his previous life, Saint-Hesse had been to many places in China, but he had rarely encountered fruit trees planted on the roadside. He had seen some green mangoes, but they were also extremely rare. Most were things like camphor trees, ginkgo trees, birch trees, poplars, wutong trees, banyan trees, locust trees, and the like.

If it were rural village roads or provincial roads, some eucalyptus fast-growing trees would also be planted, but the leaves were mostly covered in car exhaust and dust. But it may also be because Saint-Hesse hadn't seen enough.

If it were a few decades later, Saint-Hesse wouldn't dare to eat them even if they were given to him. Now, there are relatively few cars in Argentina, and it's not a heavily industrialized and polluted city. Cement factories and the like are all in towns far from the city. Occasionally picking and eating oranges by the roadside doesn't cause much psychological burden. Saint-Hesse originally comforted himself this way.

Most of the other shops on the road were already closed, except for restaurants and supermarkets. Passing by a supermarket, Saint-Hesse planned to go in and buy some groceries to cook dinner.

Saint-Hesse skillfully walked towards the vegetable and meat shelves, then picked them out one by one.

"Damn, the price of beef has gone up again. At this rate, I won't even be able to afford meat," Saint-Hesse grabbed a piece of beef and found that the price per 500 grams had risen by another 50 pesos compared to yesterday.

Because of the Brotherhood incident, Saint-Hesse hadn't eaten pork in the past month, and the price of Argentine beef was quite affordable, so he could use it for cooking and replace it for a while.

Saint-Hesse also looked at the prices of potatoes, fish, chicken, lamb, vegetables, rice, flour, bread, noodles, and other agricultural products, all of which had increased.

When Saint-Hesse was taking the beef, there was a young woman standing next to him, probably in her early twenties, with a haggard face and empty, numb eyes. She was wearing a headscarf and an apron.

The gray-brown apron was covered in stains that couldn't be washed clean. Her hands were rough, with some cracks. She repeatedly picked up and put down a small piece of beef. Saint-Hesse estimated it was only about 200 grams. Don't ask Saint-Hesse why he knew, because she had been standing still, and Saint-Hesse had walked back and forth three times.

For a full ten minutes, she hadn't left the beef refrigerator. Finally, she gritted her teeth and put the piece of beef into her shopping basket. When Saint-Hesse had finished picking out all the vegetables, the young woman was still standing at the daily necessities shelf, struggling over whether to buy a bar of soap. In the end, she didn't buy it and went to the bread section.

Saint-Hesse shook his head, feeling that he didn't have the ability to change anything right now. After paying the bill, he left the supermarket straight away.

In Argentina, the rate of wage increases will never keep up with the rate of price increases. Price increases are really fast, and they've been getting more and more crazy recently.

However, when Saint-Hesse was still some distance from the apartment, he inexplicably saw the young woman passing by in a hurry again, holding only a large bag of bread in her hand. Saint-Hesse seemed to have thought of something.

He quickly took out a piece of beef from his cloth bag. He had taken an extra portion when he paid the bill just now, and then ran towards the woman, stuffing the piece of beef into the young woman's hand quickly and accurately.

"Madam, this is a gift from me, please accept it, no thanks," he left a sentence and then quickly ran away, leaving the young woman bewildered in the wind. This person is probably an idiot.

The woman finally accepted Saint-Hesse's kindness. After all, her child hadn't eaten meat for a long time. She worked part-time every day, and her salary was only enough for rent, but prices were getting more and more expensive.

Looking at the label, it was from the supermarket she had just been to. The young man had been wandering behind her, taking a few pieces of beef, she had seen it too. At that time, she was a little envious, but he didn't seem like a bad person, he should be a good person.

As if with a youthful heart, the haze in his heart seemed to dissipate a little. Saint-Hesse didn't know why he did this, and then felt that he was too naive, like an idiot.

After making a big circle, Saint-Hesse carried the groceries and slowly walked towards his rented house. The residents of Jacaranda Apartments were gradually returning home, and the orange lights lit up one by one. Saint-Hesse basically didn't recognize his neighbors, nor did he greet them. The lights in Elena's house were not on, she probably hadn't arrived home yet, she's really a good girl who loves to study.

After Saint-Hesse entered the house, he didn't close the door, then tied on his apron and started cooking.

This time, I plan to use my specialty as a foodie from a foodie nation, stir-fry a few dishes, and take out the ingredients in the bag one by one and wash them clean.

The other dishes were scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and then a simple portion of spaghetti was boiled and set aside to cool.

Dong dong dong, Saint Herse poked his head out of the kitchen. It was indeed Ms. Ilena.

"Mr. Saint Herse, what delicious food are you making?" Ilena asked, standing at the door.

"Hi, Ilena, have you had dinner yet? Want to join me later?"

"Not yet, really?" Ilena wrinkled her pretty nose.

"Of course, I knew you hadn't had dinner yet. The stores are closed now. You usually just have milk and bread for dinner, right?" Saint Herse guessed, then returned to the kitchen to continue cooking.

"Almost ready," Saint Herse's voice came from the kitchen.

He first took out the steamed sea bass with hot gloves and sprinkled some thinly sliced mint leaves on top.

Then he quickly stir-fried the celery with beef, fried eggs with scallions, spaghetti, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, one stir-fried green vegetable, one after another, and brought out the chicken soup.

Setting the table, Saint Herse prepared knives and forks for Ilena, while he used wooden chopsticks, and served a bowl of chicken soup to both Ilena and himself.

"Ilena, try my chicken soup, it's been simmering for over an hour. This is a magical chicken soup from the East, try it," Saint Herse said, taking credit, because he took red dates and angelica from Chen Lao Bo, which invigorates qi and nourishes blood, and is very suitable for girls to drink.

"Okay, I'll try it," Saint Herse felt quite confident about this chicken soup, wondering if Ilena would like it.

"It really tastes good," Ilena took a sip with a spoon, then took two more sips, and Saint Herse breathed a sigh of relief.

Saint Herse also drank a bowl of chicken soup, took a sip, and it was indeed delicious. Then he tasted the sea bass with chopsticks, which was sweet, fresh, and very satisfying. He quickly served a plate of spaghetti to Mary Kim, while he filled a bowl of rice for himself.

The rice in Argentina is of average quality, not as good as the Longjiang rice and Thai fragrant rice he had eaten in his previous life. Saint Herse had never eaten other more expensive rice.

The two chatted and laughed, and a hearty dinner was quickly wiped out, mainly into Saint Herse's stomach. Mary Kim only tasted a little, showing good manners, and then the two of them cleaned up the dishes together.

When saying goodbye, Saint Herse thanked Ilena again for her help when she was drunk last time, saying that he hadn't had time to treat her to dinner in the past few days. Mary Kim smiled and said nothing.

Then Saint Herse sat on the sofa and read the newspaper for a while, took a shower, and fell into a deep sleep.

It was truly an ordinary and fulfilling day.

......

Early the next morning, Saint Herse went to the Prari factory. The Prari factory, Factory Two, and Factory Three have all fully entered the expansion phase. He has leased all the abandoned farms around the area.

He is preparing to renovate and expand them. The construction team is demolishing and cleaning up construction waste. The original sheds can no longer meet the needs. Saint Herse needs real, sturdy, and easy-to-use modern factory buildings.

In Saint Herse's opinion, who holds a large sum of money, the dilapidated indoor breeding sheds that have been in disrepair for years must be demolished as soon as possible. Dangerous buildings cannot be used.

Set up a brand-new, more advanced soda production line like the one in Bu City to achieve greater production capacity breakthroughs.

While Saint Herse was waiting, Cross also arrived at the factory and said that most of the important goods on the ocean-going freighter had been cleared three days ago. Two days ago, more than half of the goods had been unloaded in Bu City, and Little Knicks had settled them.

The other goods and production equipment, and mechanical equipment, have been transferred to small steamships that day, and are expected to arrive at the pier in Maria Town today.

The freighter will be transported from the tributary of the Paranana River to the Maria Town pier. At that time, someone needs to be arranged to unload the goods. Saint Herse also nodded, preparing to go to Maria Town to arrange it.

Saint Herse then called Aragon, rented a car, put on a bulletproof vest and helmet, and took Cross, driving to the Maria Town pier.

When he arrived at the pier, Saint Herse saw this huge freighter, the "Marmins" freighter, a leader in river steam freighters, produced by the Virginia Shipyard in the United States. It is a younger brother in front of a 10,000-ton freighter, but it is enough for inland waterway transportation.

The "Marmins" freighter is a second-hand steel freighter that Saint Herse asked Cross to buy in Bu City. It is a discarded American cargo ship, 110 meters long, 16 meters wide, with a draft of 3 meters and a load capacity of 3,000 tons. It is like a huge steel monster, and it also emits huge black steam, exuding a metallic luster all over.

Saint Herse arranged for workers to unload the goods. Some important equipment was arranged to be unloaded by Cross and others. Saint Herse did not help unload the goods, but just looked at the relatively simple river port pier, watching the busy workers. Without modern gantry cranes, they could only open the containers one by one to unload the goods.

Saint Herse looked at the 1,000-acre industrial park in the distance, where the Maria Plastic Chemical Factory stood, producing large-scale plastic bottles. Further away from the chemical factory was the new soda factory construction site, which was also under intense construction and had initially revealed its framework.

For a moment, he was somewhat distracted and amazed at the rapid changes in Maria Town. The chemical factory is a catalyst. Maria Town will be one of the important industrial bases in Saint Herse's mind, the prototype of a future industrial city.

Next to the "Marmins" freighter were several huge freighters from the Argentine Oil Company, which were responsible for transporting petrochemical raw materials for the production of the Maria Chemical Plastics Factory.

This small port has become busier because of Saint Herse. From ten o'clock in the morning to ten o'clock in the evening, more than three thousand tons of goods were unloaded, a full one hundred containers, stacked in the port's warehouse, waiting to be sorted and transported to the Ke City and Maria Town factories the next day to play their role.