Empire of Shadows

Life has many firsts.

The first time walking, the first time running, the first time speaking, the first time eating by oneself, the first time going to school, the first…

“First times” will accompany people as they grow until the very end. It’s not that you won’t have first times just because you get old.

When it’s time, it will still be there, including the first death.

Some first times are meaningful, for example, the first time… wiping one’s own butt.

You have to overcome your fear to complete this very scary thing, so that you don’t get your pants dirty.

And the first time entering another stage, just like Lance and Patricia.

This was the girl’s first time truly experiencing the feeling of being pierced. To be honest, it wasn’t very good, but fortunately, Lance was very gentle and ended it early, not making her feel uncomfortable or tortured.

In fact, there is always a process from not being used to it to getting used to it. It’s not something that can be solved in one go. This is just the beginning.

Lance did not leave at night. He and Patricia talked a lot, chatting about some interesting or uninteresting things.When people who like each other are together, even boring things will become interesting.

When the Lawrence couple came back at night, they found Lance’s coat. Although the two had long accepted this result, when it really happened, they still didn’t quite know what to say.

Many people treat raising children as raising small animals, but children are ultimately not small animals.

You wouldn’t care if the small animals you raise have promiscuous relations with those stray cats and dogs, but you will care about your own children, whether they have done something stupid.

For one night, besides Lance and Patricia, the couple both tossed and turned and didn’t sleep very soundly. This actually also meant that, if there were no major accidents, they would be bound together with Lance and his people.

At seven in the morning, William and Emily got up. They couldn’t sleep, perhaps because of their old age.

The two were preparing breakfast in the dining room. William stood in the kitchen in a daze, “Why am I here too?”

He looked at Emily and asked, “I thought I should be in bed or on the toilet. You know scientists say that morning is when a person’s memory is at its best!”

Emily put the cut ingredients in her hand into a salad bowl and handed it to him, “You’d better have these things mixed before they get up!”

She ignored William’s words and started to pan-fry beef cubes again. The people of the Federation believe that eating meat for breakfast will give them energy for the whole day.

The large beef cubes became tempting in the process of being pan-fried. She also fried bacon and eggs.

This is the good thing about a multi-burner stove. As long as the person using it is flexible enough, they can do many things at the same time.

At 7:20, all the food was placed on the dining table. Emily washed her hands and walked upstairs. William seemed to want to call her back, but he opened his mouth and finally closed it.

He actually felt… he could wait until he had left before waking the two young people up, otherwise it would be a bit awkward.

Emily knocked on the door, “It’s already daylight, Lance, and Pat.”

“Okay, Mom, I know!” Patricia rubbed her eyes. She was still a little dazed just now.

Lance, what Lance?

Then she suddenly remembered that last night she just wanted to have a quiet word with Lance, and then somehow…

A little shy, but also an indescribable taste. She looked at Lance curled up in the corner of the wall and couldn’t help but laugh out loud.

She didn’t expect Lance to sleep like this!

You know, this is a gang boss, that kind of big shot!

But look at him, he’s now like an ordinary big boy, clinging to the corner of the wall, as if only this way can he have some sense of security!

He quickly woke up. He and Patricia greeted each other. Patricia suppressed her shyness, “They’ve already made breakfast and are waiting for us in the dining room.”

Lance rubbed his eyes and sat up, “I almost forgot about this!”

As he spoke, he went to the outside of the bathroom with Patricia to wash up, using a new toothbrush, which Patricia had originally changed for herself.

After more than ten minutes, the two came to the dining room together. Lance was not at all constrained. You couldn’t tell from him what he had done last night.

He even greeted William very warmly.

Perhaps because he acted very normally, it made William not feel too much embarrassment.

The four of them sat at the dining table.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Emily asked teasingly. She actually quite liked Lance.

Lance didn’t have the rudeness of an ordinary gang member. He seemed like a gentleman, very refined, and also very capable.

If he could have been born into an outstanding family, perhaps he would have had even greater achievements, but no matter what, she didn’t dislike this guy.

Not to mention he was also very good-looking and looked very good with Patricia.

Lance rubbed his neck, “The bed is too soft. Luckily, there’s a wall on my side, otherwise I suspect I might fall off!”

Emily couldn’t help but laugh, “You’re not used to sleeping on a soft bed?”

Lance shook his head, “No, I like it harder.”

Emily looked at William, “Honey, it seems we have to add a bed-buying plan to our to-do list.”

William nodded, “I’ll go pick one out when I have time.”

This actually represented acceptance. In fact, William still wanted to ask something more sensitive, but now was not a good time to speak.

The breakfast was very happy. In fact, breakfast can’t be described as happy, but everyone would have this kind of thought.

Lance had someone take Patricia to work, while William followed him in his car. There was still a lot of work to be done today.

As for Emily?

She would go for a beauty treatment in the morning, have a quick bite outside for lunch, and in the afternoon, she would socialize with some of the ladies in the community, and then prepare dinner…

Sitting in Lance’s car, William finally had the opportunity to ask the question in his heart, “Are you planning to marry Patricia?”

Lance looked back at him, “Why do you ask that?”

“My meaning is, why would you think I wouldn’t marry her?”

William shrugged, spread his hands, and didn’t know what to say, “I don’t know…”

Lance lit a cigarette and also gave one to William. He had hardly smoked at William’s house.

“Patricia is a very good girl. I like her very much, and you are also a good family. You don’t have to worry about these things, William.”

“I’m not just playing with her. We will get married and have children.”

“There might be a little bit of purpose in this!”

William continued, “You want to use our family to become a real local.”

Lance nodded, “That’s right.”

In fact, Lance’s identity could not really stand up to investigation. If he were really a local, why would Empire immigrants and illegal immigrants risk their lives for him?

If he were from the Empire, how did he get a local’s identity?

These things couldn’t stand up to investigation, but they could also be very “resilient.”

Before there was evidence to prove that he was not a Federation citizen, he could fully enjoy the treatment of a local in the judiciary.

And by marrying Patricia, he could better integrate into the local community. People wouldn’t care if he was a real local or not, because his child with Patricia, the one who would inherit everything from him, would be a local!

“If you need to tell a lie, I hope it’s a super lie, and that she’s the last one to know the truth!”

Lance said with a smile, “No one is lying, at least I’m not.”

After he arrived at the firm, he quickly found a group of people and had them follow William’s command. Including Bolton, they all had to listen to William today.

Because starting today, it was free clinic day.

This was Mr. Jobav’s campaign strategy. For the poor, anxiety about their health and body was always the number one major issue.

They would be troubled by their physical condition, but because they couldn’t afford the expensive medical fees, they were not sure if they were sick.

In this situation, some people would have a sense of panic, which would only get worse.

There were no well-known hospitals in the Empire District, only two small, obscure hospitals, and more private clinics.

But even for private clinics, the price was very high.

The strategic direction that Mr. Jobav’s campaign team gave him was indeed very meaningful. By regularly providing free clinics for the public, he could gain the support of this group of people. This was a very clever method.

At nine o’clock, the park was already crowded with people. This time, Mr. Jobav also put in a lot of effort, finding seven or eight doctors to come over, and also had people help maintain order.

These doctors cost him a total of $5,000. They were not any famous doctors, nor were they attending physicians of any department, just ordinary doctors who had just been regularized.

Because it didn’t involve treatment and surgery, the cost was not too high. And Mr. Jobav, through some rhetoric, made them feel that this was a meaningful thing.

The people at the scene were indeed very welcoming to them. Mr. Jobav would also give things with his campaign leaflets to the people queuing.

If nothing unexpected happened, this should have been a successful free clinic event.

But neither William nor Lance could let it succeed!

“Why isn’t it ready yet?”

“I’ve been queuing for more than half an hour. When will it be my turn?”

“Damn it, does it take you so long to see a patient?”

The people waiting in line for the free clinic started to make a fuss first. There was also some commotion in the queue, and the people further back in the queue became more and more dissatisfied.

The people responsible for maintaining order at the scene quickly went to solve these troubles, but it’s unknown whether their tone was not good. They soon got into an argument with those people, which then escalated into pushing and shoving.

This was not a civilized area, nor was it an era where everything could be treated rationally. When there was pushing and shoving, it meant there was a high probability that the physical conflict would escalate.

What’s more… these people were still arranged by Lance!

Soon they started fighting. The scene was in chaos. A doctor who went to break up the fight was also punched a few times.

The tables at the scene, some medical equipment, were all turned into a mess. Police cars quickly arrived here.

They not only took away the troublemakers but also the organizers.

In the words of the police, if you didn’t hit him, why didn’t he hit others but hit you?

In short, take them all back!

What was originally a good thing, a free clinic, was inexplicably interrupted.

The doctors were worried about being attacked here and also urged to leave one after another. The free clinic event, which was originally planned to last for a whole day, ended in less than two hours.

The ground was covered with Mr. Jobav’s campaign posters, all covered in footprints!

The news was quickly reported to Mr. Jobav. He frowned tightly after hearing it.

“What’s wrong?” the head of the campaign team asked him.

He told the truth, “The free clinic was destroyed. It’s said that our staff at the scene got into a fight with the people queuing, and then they were all arrested and taken to the police station.”

“The hospital said many instruments were damaged and asked us to compensate according to the price…”

The team leader immediately said, “This might be a measure by William or Russ!”

Mr. Jobav frowned. The call was from the hospital. The damaged instruments were actually not too expensive, a few thousand dollars.

But the other party reminded him that if he couldn’t ensure the safety of the doctors and instruments next time, it would be best not to look for them anymore.

The hospital and the doctors never lacked patients. If it weren’t for the fact that they wanted to continue to expand the hospital’s influence, they might not have come to the Empire District to do this kind of activity, even though it was for a fee.

Mr. Jobav put down the phone, “If this was done by them, I’m worried they might not just target us on this one thing.”

The campaign team leader’s face was not looking so good either. In fact, his plans were indeed very good and very targeted.

But alas… they were destroyed.

This destruction had nothing to do with his ability, but it would mistakenly make people think that his ability was not good.

“Joe, if the other party keeps using such tricks, I’m afraid we don’t have any particularly good way,” his tone was a little low.

“If they also use regular methods to compete with us, I guarantee our strategy is the best.”

“But they don’t play by the rules, which makes our strategy face some problems. We need to reformulate our strategy.”

Reformulating the strategy meant that all the previous ones were in vain, including the money, which was also wasted.

This made Jobav, whose funds were already a bit inconvenient, very dissatisfied, but for a while, he had no other good way and could only nod and agree.

But not long after, another call came from the bank. They were also causing trouble at the bank.

By the time he rushed to the bank, it was already surrounded by many people.

Some people were arguing with the manager in charge of loan approval. When Mr. Jobav walked up, he already knew what had happened. He pushed through the crowd and walked in.

The people he touched all took off their hats and greeted him. After all, he was one of the prides of the Empire people, and also a banker, which naturally made people pay attention to him.

“Gentlemen, if you have any questions, you can come to my office to talk,” Mr. Jobav issued an invitation.

He didn’t want to make things too bad, but obviously, these people did not follow his plan.

One of them shouted loudly, “If you can’t afford to do this kind of thing, don’t publicize it everywhere. It’s been half a day now, and not a single one of you has met your loan plan.”

“Mr. Jobav, you are the pride of the Empire people, but is this how the pride of the Empire people deceives the people of the Empire?”

Mr. Jobav looked back at the manager and then squeezed out a smile, “We can sit down and talk.”

The man’s attitude was very firm, “No, I’m going to talk on the street today. You tell me what’s wrong with my business plan and why you rejected me!”

Mr. Jobav looked at the onlookers around him. He knew that the best way now was to solve the problem in front of everyone.

He had someone bring the plans of these few people and quickly glanced at them.

A very mediocre business plan. To say it was excellent, there was nothing that made one’s eyes light up.

But to say there were any shortcomings, it was obviously non-existent. It was the kind that you could give to him, or not give to him.

Now the bank’s funds were not very much, so Mr. Jobav’s meaning was that this kind of unrepresentative one would not be given a loan.

The man read his business plan out loud. The onlookers had not received any high-level education. They could only analyze this plan with their limited ability.

This plan itself was very mediocre, but the wording was a bit powerful, which made the surrounding people nod one after another, thinking it was a good plan.

This gave Mr. Jobav a headache.

He hesitated for a moment and finally chose to solve these problems first. He had already seen a reporter coming over.

He looked at the man, “I have also carefully looked at your business plan. It looks very ordinary, but your ability is very good. I am willing to give you a chance…”

He had already made a compromise, but that person suddenly disagreed again!

“Did you see that we have now attracted people’s attention, so you had to, against your will, approve it for me?”

“Mr. Jobav, we see you as the pride of the Empire people, but you seem to just treat us as fools!”

“Before I came, many people entered your bank with dreams, but when they came out, their dreams were shattered!”

“If you can’t do this kind of activity, you can totally not do it, but you shouldn’t deceive people!”

These resounding shouts made some people around suddenly support him and cheer for him.

This person, in front of everyone, tore up the plan in his hand and casually said, “Even if I have to beg for food, I will never enter your bank again.”

“I used to respect you, Mr. Jobav, but now you are just like those Federation capitalists, taking advantage of our kindness. You make me feel sick!”

Before Mr. Jobav could say anything, he turned and left.

What was even worse was that the other few people also tore up the documents in their hands one after another, spat, and then left with him.

Some people who were queuing to submit their own plans looked at the documents in their hands, recalled the one they had just read, which was not even as good as theirs!

Doesn’t this mean that mine is definitely not going to work?

When the first person suddenly stopped queuing and left with their dreams, soon others also recognized the reality and left the queuing team.

Mr. Jobav wanted to stop them but couldn’t. He looked at them with a pale face, with dissatisfied, mocking, and even disgusted eyes, and then left.

He knew that his reputation in the Empire District, the prestige he had cultivated for so many years, was rapidly dissolving and collapsing!