Empire of Shadows

A pound of gold and a pound of scrap iron—everyone knows how to choose.

It was just that Lance hadn’t expected Mr. Rao to stand so clearly on his side. But after thinking about it carefully, he felt that this was where Mr. Rao was smart.

He had put his favor into practice.

He had to show this obvious decision of leaning towards Lance, to let everyone know that he had put in a great deal of effort for Lance’s election.

Only in this way would Senator Cleveland, behind Lance, be grateful for his favor.

If he had straightened out the relationship in private, or had done a favor but had done it in a way that everyone couldn’t see, when he went to find Senator Cleveland, Senator Cleveland could completely deny it.

Sometimes people feel that politics, politicians, are nakedly shameless, not because their level is not high enough, but because the purpose they want to achieve requires them to be so naked.

Mr. Richard snorted angrily. He did not nominate himself, but instead nominated the Good Dream Distillery Company.

That is, the liquor company run by the President’s cousins.

Richard knew very well that if he nominated himself, he would definitely not become the rotating chairman, so he directly nominated the company that was on the surface the strongest here.He had already reached some agreements with the President’s cousins in private. He would nominate the other party, and vote for the other party, and fully support the Good Dream Distillery Company to become the first rotating chairman.

And what the Good Dream Company needed to pay was to let Richard and his Gold Label Distillery become the executive committee member unit of the first industry committee.

And, to refuse Lance and his Golden Lion Distillery to become an executive committee member unit.

A transaction with no losses, so the representative of the Good Dream Distillery Company directly agreed.

Seeing the number of votes on their side getting more and more, a smile also appeared on the face of the representative of the Good Dream Distillery Company.

He had never taken those small companies seriously. In other words, he didn’t think that after he was nominated for the rotating chairman, these people would still choose someone else. Weren’t they fools?

He had also heard that the people behind these wineries did not want them to get involved in the dispute between the Golden Lion Distillery and the Gold Label Distillery, so now there was another choice for them to “avoid the war.” He would definitely be elected with a high number of votes.

Seeing that there was only a gap of two votes from winning the election, the representative of the Good Dream Company already had a smile of victory on his face. Just as he was about to make some excuses and then accept this position, Xavier’s voice came out, “I choose Mr. Lance.”

The people in the room were stunned for a moment. Their gazes all fell on Xavier. Richard couldn’t help but ask, “Mr. Xavier, may I ask why?”

Xavier had already considered all the problems he might encounter these few days. He was not flustered at all. “There are many reasons.”

“First of all, Mr. Lance is the initiator and promoter of the entire plan. Without him, we would not be able to sit here now.”

“Secondly, in recent years, I have often felt that with the change of my age, as I get older, I have been a little unable to keep up with the development and progress of this society, this era.”

“I noticed that we are all some old men. I have never worried about whether we have the mature ability to manage the committee well.”

“But I am worried about whether we have the ability, just as Mr. Lance proposed this plan, to find some more outstanding paths that are beyond our era and our vision, to find a future direction for us.”

“So I think Mr. Lance is the most suitable person to be the rotating chairman. No matter what the reason, he is the most suitable person!”

The speech was conventional, but it also explained very well why he had voted for Lance. It could be considered a reasonable explanation.

Richard pursed his lips and said nothing, then looked at another person who had not yet voted.

Under his staring gaze, that guy also chose to vote for Lance.

Richard couldn’t help it again. “I can still accept Mr. Xavier’s explanation. So can you tell me why you voted for Lance?”

The person first laughed twice. “First, I need to remind you, Mr. Richard, that it is my freedom to vote for whom, not yours.”

“Secondly, you have no right to ask me to tell you the reason why I did so.”

Richard’s face became very ugly. The cooperation plan he had discussed with the Good Dream Company was based on the premise that the Good Dream Company could become the first rotating chairman.

Now it was just… he looked, just two votes short. This shouldn’t be difficult, right?

Why was it like this?

He didn’t understand. He looked at the three people who had not yet voted. He knew that he could not show that kind of nakedly ugly eating posture now.

But he had remembered this person in his heart. When he became an executive committee member, he would find a way to mess with these people.

But before that, he needed to maintain his image. “I’m sorry, I have overstepped my bounds.”

“I forgive you, although your apology is not very sincere.”

“Don’t you want to know why?”

“It’s very simple, because I think Mr. Xavier is very right.”

Some people let out a laugh. Whether there was mockery and sarcasm in the laughter was a matter of opinion.

Richard’s face became a little red, hot, and swollen. He forced himself to calm down, stared at these two faces for a while, and then looked at the third person. “And you?”

“You’re not going to vote for Lance too, are you?”

The person he was staring at was not afraid of him at all. Everyone had someone behind them. Although some people’s status was higher, and some people’s status was lower, if they teamed up, they were not so easy to provoke.

Facing Richard’s somewhat provocative words, he did not mince his words. “You’re right. I also vote for Mr. Lance.”

“As for why, because I’m happy!”

Richard’s face was already as ugly as it could be. He looked at another person. The person pursed his lips. “I also vote for Lance, and I refuse to answer any of your questions.”

The representative of the Good Dream Company’s face had already returned to calm. He glanced at Richard. The result could not be changed.

Joseph also looked at Lance with a shocked expression, as if… he couldn’t understand why Lance could persuade these few small factories to vote for Lance even though they were facing the relationship behind the Good Dream Company and the President.

But this was destined to be a secret. No one would tell them why all this was.

Lance looked at the last person who had not voted. Whether he voted or not actually had no practical significance, but he still asked, “Who are you going to vote for?”

That person was also very tactful, and at the same time knew that in the situation where the victory and defeat had already been decided, voting had no other value besides offending people.

If he voted for Lance, Richard and the Good Dream Company’s side would think that he was also Lance’s man, which might affect him, the company behind him, and the people behind the company.

If he voted for the Good Dream Company, would Lance, who had already obtained the identity of the rotating chairman, deal with him?

So he directly raised his hand. “I’m not interested in these. I abstain.”

A very appropriate choice. No one could find fault with him.

A wider smile appeared on Mr. Rao’s face. “It seems that everyone is willing to let Mr. Lance be the first rotating chairman. Lance, is there anything you want to say?”

Lance nodded. “Since Mr. Rao has asked, then I will simply say a few words.”

“Because I currently mainly live on the Golden Port City side and can’t come over here often, so I plan to set up a professional team to be responsible for the work of the committee.”

“We may need to negotiate with Congress, the Department of Defense, and the military on some issues at any time, so I hope that at least two of the rotating executive committee members can be permanently stationed in New Golden City.”

“We are an industry committee. We also have to show our contribution to this industry, to set standards, and also to prevent some of the liquor mixed with industrial alcohol from appearing on the market.”

“We have an obligation, and also a right. This is a responsibility. I hope that each of us can treat this job well and seriously.”

“Because establishing an institution requires expenditure, what I thought of is that the four companies with the most investment will automatically become the first executive committee members.”

Mr. Rao had heard a rough idea of what he had said. He admired Lance for being able to think of all these things in a very short period of time, and they were also very appropriate.

Especially this matter of “buying” an executive committee member unit, they would definitely invest a lot of money.

Like the Good Dream Distillery Company, if they failed to get the rotating chairman, and if they couldn’t even get a rotating executive committee member, where would the President’s face be?

What if Lance arranged for a few shills…

Mr. Rao couldn’t help but laugh. He really wanted to know what other tricks Lance was going to play, but he still interrupted him. “You guys can talk about these things separately later. Since you have a result now, there are a few things you need to pay attention to…”

After he had read out some of the precautions, he took the initiative to stand up. “The rest of the time is left to you. If you have any needs, you can give me a call. You all have my business card.”

“Then my work is also over. Goodbye, gentlemen!”

He left with his things. Lance then stood up and walked to the main seat where Mr. Rao had been sitting before, standing with his hands on the desk and his body leaning forward.

He looked at Joseph. “Joseph, my friend, set an example.”

“Actually, I was originally unwilling to run for the rotating chairman, but you supported me too much. I also hope that in this matter, you can also support me as before.”

“Don’t let me down!”

Mr. Joseph was a little unable to sit still at this time. He had never expected that Lance would actually be sitting in that position.

Now he had just lifted a stone and smashed his own foot.

He squeezed out a smile. “I… will take out 100,000.”

This amount of money was already not a small amount, but Lance would not be satisfied.

“Are you looking down on me?”

“So you gave me such a number?”

“Hmm?”

(End of a Chapter)