African Entrepreneurship Record

Chapter 1467: Chapter 25: Bribery (Part 2)

The struggle between the Xiqueslav city government and the Labor Party organizations can be said to complement each other. Previously, Xiqueslav city was actually quite successful in its anti-Labor efforts.

After all, the Xiqueslav city’s Labor Party organization initially lacked experience, so it was prone to various mistakes, leading to the exposure of its members.

However, after several rounds of repression by the Xiqueslav city government, the city’s Labor Party organization gained experience and grew, with its activities completely moving underground and its structure becoming increasingly rigorous.

It can be said that under the ”training” of the anti-Labor team in Xiqueslav city, the Labor Party organization quickly matured.

This is also why Leonid, in the eyes of the Labor Party members, is a demon, executioner, and Yekaterinoslav war criminal, making his work increasingly difficult.

In the end, Leonid himself was not professionally trained as an intelligence agent. He became the leader of the anti-Labor team in Xiqueslav city thanks to Mayor Filatov’s ”appreciation.”

In fact, the two are distant relatives. Of course, for Filatov to promote Leonid, Leonid must also have personal abilities, such as being meticulous, loyal, and having a flexible mind.

After Filatov became Mayor of Xiqueslav, he naturally wanted to greatly promote his confidants, among whom relatives were the best choice.

However, favoritism also requires ability. Among Filatov’s relatives, those with abilities and connections aren’t much worse than Filatov; for example, Filatov’s brother is a member of Ukraine’s Verkhovna Rada, which is the Ukrainian Parliament, and his younger brother is responsible for the family business. Excluding these individuals, most of the others are ill-suited or not adept at political work.

Thus, Leonid being able to become Filatov’s confidant is akin to a general among lesser men. Those more capable were not as loyal as him, and those more loyal had lesser abilities.

In the following days, Xiqueslav city initiated a citywide lockdown. Backed by the mayor’s endorsement, Leonid believed that since catching the Labor Party organization was difficult, directly prohibiting gatherings in public places might yield unexpected results.

Especially public discussions on politics and individuals with suspicious identities — what constitutes ”suspicious individuals?” According to Leonid’s instructions to his subordinates, they are the poor. If a group of poor individuals gathers together, it’s bound to not be a good thing.

In short, Leonid’s mindset was ”judge people by their appearances.” He was well aware that the majority of Labor Party members lived very modestly. He was not familiar with the situation of the Russian Labor Party, but Labor Party organizations in other parts of Europe had not yet turned the tide!

Of course, if they ever turned the tide, what would Leonid do? From his own situation, he was well aware that if trouble arose in Xiqueslav city, he would definitely be the first to be hung up and paraded by the Labor Party organization.

Southeast of Xiqueslav city, near the Dnieper River pier, lies the Opishnya Tavern.

Two arrogant policemen walked into this low-end tavern primarily serving pier workers.

”Where’s your boss?” asked Jayka, wearing a police uniform, to the bartender at the counter.

The bartender, seeing the two visitors were unfriendly, quickly responded, ”Officers, our boss is in the lounge. May I ask if there’s anything we can assist you with?”

Jayka pointed to the white armband on his shoulder and said, ”We are members of the anti-Labor team. By order from above, we are conducting checks on suspicious individuals throughout the city. I’m asking you, have there been any suspicious individuals appearing in the Opishnya Tavern recently?”

The bartender hurriedly replied, ”Officer, our Opishnya Tavern has never had any suspicious individuals. This tavern was inherited by our boss from his father. It’s considered an old establishment on Klozevo Street, and generally those who come here are pier workers, all of whom are regulars...”

Jayka didn’t bother listening to the bartender’s explanation and said with a fierce expression, ”Just because you say there are none, does it mean there are none? Moreover, who said regulars couldn’t later join the Labor Party? I see there are quite a few people in this place, and it might very well be a base for Labor Party activities.”

His words frightened the bartender nearly to death. After all, if this label was pinned on them, the Opishnya Tavern would be doomed. Moreover, this tavern, counting his uncle, also the owner, Opishnya, had only the two of them, and they were relatives. If this black cop put a label on them, he would certainly suffer too.

Just as the young bartender was breaking out in a cold sweat from fright, Opishnya heard the commotion at the front desk and walked out from the back room.

He greeted Jayka and his companion with a smile, ”Officers, your visit is an honor for our establishment. This is my nephew, Ilya, who is only sixteen this year. If there is anything lacking in our service, please don’t mind.”

Jayka looked at Opishnya and said, ”I don’t care if you’re relatives. Who said Labor Party members couldn’t be relatives? You...”

Before he could finish his sentence, Opishnya quickly interrupted and said, ”Officer, you shouldn’t speak such nonsense. Who is in the Labor Party? We can’t be Labor Party members. Our tavern and the Labor Party share no ground.”

”After all, according to the Labor Party’s viewpoint, an owner of a small establishment like mine would be one of their targets. It’s that something small..., I’ve just heard it and can’t quite recall, but generally speaking, our kind doesn’t receive much favor from the Labor Party.”

As he said this, Opishnya pulled a stack of ruble notes from his pocket discreetly, with a pained expression, and quietly slipped them into Jayka’s hand.

”So, officer, you must believe we are law-abiding citizens loyal to the government!”

Jayka pinched the thickness with his fingers and said impassively, ”Hmm, I’m not unreasonable myself. Looking at your face, you seem like an honest and sincere man, likely not to be involved with so-called Labor Party elements.”

Opishnya patted his chest and said, ”Rest assured, officer, we definitely have no connection. I wish the Labor Party organization would disappear from the world.”

Jayka was already satisfied and was not interested in Opishnya’s words. He responded perfunctorily, ”Very spirited, keep it up. Next time I visit, I hope you maintain this attitude.”

Then, Jayka left the tavern with his subordinate and headed to the next store.

Watching Jayka and his companion leave, Opishnya cursed internally, ”Vermin, not without the next visit, you and the Labor Party are no good either.”

As Opishnya thought to himself, he indeed wasn’t keen on the Labor Party and even disliked and feared such an organization, considering he was the owner of a small tavern. The Labor Party’s attitude towards people like him wasn’t very friendly.

However, he had an even lower opinion of the current Ukrainian government. Since Ukraine’s independence, the people’s quality of life was inferior to the Tsarist Russia Era. Instead, the newly established Ukrainian government gathered all kinds of riffraff, including various capitalists, warlords, criminal syndicates, gangsters...

With these kinds forming the government, not to mention governing the nation, the fact that the Ukrainian government hasn’t yet collapsed is a miracle.

Every now and then, they levy various exorbitant taxes under various pretexts, especially lately, when the Ukrainian government claimed to be raising military funds and increased taxes.

Besides these extortions, there is also rampant corruption among various grassroots officials, which has become commonplace in Xiqueslav city. Particularly, stores like Opishnya’s, making small money and lacking any background, are most susceptible to being harassed by various government department personnel in Xiqueslav city.

Otherwise, Opishnya wouldn’t be so adept at bribing the two policemen earlier.

Whatever the anti-Labor team, if you pay, you’re a law-abiding citizen. If you don’t, you’ll be detained for a few days. Worse yet, they might directly seize your assets. In short, compared to being harassed, paying for peace, Opishnya can’t afford the risk of confronting these Ukrainian government’s law enforcement.

”Uncle, these scoundrels keep coming to extort us; how can we do business?” The nephew acting as the bartender asked Opishnya in a low voice.

Opishnya looked at his nephew and said with a bitter face, ”What else can we do but endure? Could we really join the Labor Party? That wouldn’t end well either. This tavern is your grandfather’s legacy. If the Russian Labor Party does take over, they might confiscate it directly.”

”As for these white-skinned dogs, they surely won’t die a good death. It’d be best if they and the Russian Labor Party inflict mutual harm and perish together.”