Chapter 1 The Resting Room

In the resting room.

After Karl sat on the sofa with a glass of red wine for about two minutes, a young man in a suit and leather shoes pushed the door open and walked in.

"Mr. Karl!" The young man nodded at him with a smile. He looked about thirty-four or five years old and was the secretary-general of the Dragon City office.

"Lu, come and sit down." Karl waved his hand.

Secretary-General Lu immediately approached upon hearing this, and habitually sat on the sofa with his legs together and his feet slightly inward.

"Take a look at this." Karl threw the document to him.

Secretary-General Lu took the document, glanced at it, and his face became serious.

"Lu, this is a document sent to me by the Seventh Military Intelligence Division. They have confirmed that since Order No. 1 was issued, at least nearly 100 million worth of materials have been continuously transported from Dragon City into the warehouses of the Mo Fei government army." Karl spread his hands and stared at him, saying, "This document embarrasses me. Those idiots in the Seventh Military Intelligence Division will call me trash."

Secretary-General Lu immediately replied upon hearing this, "The control order has just been issued, and laborers are returning to Dragon City in batches. During this period, perhaps a small number of lawbreakers are still taking risks to clear their inventories, but this situation will not last long, and we will come up with corresponding solutions."

"I don't want to hear your damn solutions." Karl waved his hand directly, "I want to see efficiency, ok? Lu, this is a serious time, and we all need to achieve something to report to the higher-ups."

"Ok, ok!" Secretary-General Lu nodded immediately, "I won't let you face embarrassment again."

Karl nodded with satisfaction and continued softly in Chinese, "Also, there must be two copies of this document. I received one, and the chairman of the Regulatory Commission must have received one on his desk! We need to show some attitude to appease the chairman's anger! You know, that guy... is very暴躁 (bàozào, irritable)."

"... What do you mean?"

"We need to catch some people to account for this." Karl shrugged, "You know what to do?! Your people have always been as numerous as locusts, right?"

Secretary-General Lu was not angry because of the other party's arrogance and rudeness, but nodded and bowed in reply, "Yes, I will have a way."

"You are very smart, Lu!" Karl smiled and stood up, picked up the wine glass and said, "Thank you for coming to my birthday party."

Secretary-General Lu immediately picked up the wine glass on the table and said softly, "You look as young as a twenty-year-old young man!"

"Hahaha!"

The two looked at each other and smiled. Karl said softly, "My subordinates were all transferred from District One. They have also worked very hard, and I hope you can let them earn some money."

"Of course!" Secretary-General Lu nodded again.

...

Five minutes later, Secretary-General Lu left Karl's resting room, came to the lobby on the first floor, and waved to several bosses worth over 100 million in the distance.

Several bosses nodded and bowed to greet him, their flattering expressions and postures exactly the same as those of Secretary-General Lu, as if taught by the same master.

The group sat down in the corner sofa area, and Secretary-General Lu loosened his collar and said, "The goods going out have to stop for a while. We'll talk about it when that idiot Karl leaves."

A boss from a pharmaceutical company lowered his voice and replied, "Leader, last year, the Sinaloa cartel fought fiercely, and we produced an extra 40 to 50 million emergency drugs. If we don't clear this inventory, we will lose a lot."

"Yes, the steel and building materials we transferred are also stockpiled in warehouses. This Order No. 1 was issued too urgently. We weren't prepared before. If this batch of goods can't be released, then we don't know when we can sell them." Another boss looked around sneakily and said in a very low voice, "Can you give us another week? Leader, I can definitely sell it within a week, and they are buying the goods at three or four times the price over there...!"

Secretary-General Lu frowned slightly, "Do you want your heads, or do you want money?"

Everyone fell silent when they heard this.

"Will you die if you earn money a few days later?" Secretary-General Lu pointed at everyone with a gloomy face and said, "Don't cause trouble for the higher-ups! Stop it quickly, and wait until the storm passes!"

Everyone had no choice but to nod obediently when they heard this.

While Secretary-General Lu was communicating with everyone, Jing Yan walked over with Gu Baishun, and said with a chuckle, "Secretary-General, busy?"

"Haha, Lao Jing, come, come, sit down!" Secretary-General Lu greeted.

...

One day later, at No. 86 Tufang Street, Zha Nan District, in the Labor Security Community, Xiao Yucheng had just bought breakfast and walked towards his home.

This community was built to mobilize labor to Mo Fei, and Xiao Yucheng was relatively lucky because he was among the first to respond to the call and leave Dragon City. Therefore, in the first two years, he was allocated a house here. Although it was only over forty square meters, it was completely enough for him in his current situation.

Back home, Xiao Yucheng put the soybean milk and fried dough sticks on the table for his son and said softly, "Come over and eat."

The son knelt on the bed, leaned against the window, and looked at the homeless people sleeping in the open air in the alleys on the street. He asked strangely, "Dad, why don't they go to sleep in the house?"

Xiao Yucheng replied numbly, "They have been forgotten and have no houses to live in."

"They are so pitiful." The son said kindly.

A large number of laborers returned to their hometowns. Many people were not as lucky as Xiao Yucheng. They left late and were not allocated houses. Currently, their economic situation prevents them from buying new houses or renting the recently soaring rental houses, so they can only set up small tents in the alleys and simply sleep on the streets.

The son walked to the dining table, sat down and ate, "Dad, my nebulizer is almost out."

"I'll buy it in the afternoon. You eat." Xiao Yucheng replied, turned around and sat on the bed, picked up the phone, and dialed Su Tiannan's number, "Hello, brother!"

"Brother Xiao! I have asked many people about your matter, but it is not easy to handle. You used to be in the Chi Army, and this resume is a bit sensitive. Now, if you want to become a citizen, you must have someone to vouch for you!" Su Tiannan replied, "But... many people are unwilling to do this, because they are afraid of getting into trouble."

Xiao Yucheng had been in the world for so long, and he understood the rules very well. He immediately nodded and replied, "Okay, since that's the case, then let's not owe people any favors! How about this, I'll go get 40,000 yuan at noon, and you take me to find an acquaintance, and we'll spend money to get it done!"

"Okay, then you come to the association to find me later."

"Okay, okay, thank you!"

"Don't mention it, hehe!" Su Tiannan replied and hung up the phone.

After the father and son had breakfast, Xiao Yucheng gave his son a bath and told him, "Dad has to go out later. You stay at home by yourself and don't open the door for strangers. I'll be back at night."

"Okay." The son nodded.

After taking a bath and explaining everything, Xiao Yucheng left home with his bank card, preparing to walk to the bus station and take a bus to the Tongji Association.

The sun was scorching. Xiao Yucheng walked quickly along the street for two minutes. Just as he was about to stand in the alley to avoid the shade, a越野车 (yuèyěchē, SUV) stopped beside him.

"Bang!"

The car door popped open, and four strong men got out of the car and reached out to hold Xiao Yucheng's shoulders.

"What are you doing?!"

"We are from the Materials Control Department. We have something to talk to you about! Don't talk, squat down!" The strong man showed his gun.

Xiao Yucheng looked at the other party in a daze, "What's wrong with me?!"

"Bang!"

The other party punched Xiao Yucheng in the face, "Can we arrest you if you have nothing on you? Shut up! Squat down!"

...

Inside the naval base of Tianhong Port.

You Yifan said to his follower, "The channel has been contacted. In the Old Triangle, you take the Yu family's people and the garrison's people and make a trip yourself!"