“The first problem is this: I plan to go into import-export, but I don’t have an import-export quota…”

Given the Federation Conservative Party’s isolationist policy and its fear of being dragged into the war, they believed that exporting goods to belligerent countries, or importing goods from them, would bring the flames of war back onto their own heads.

In the early days after the World War broke out, this was in fact the common view held by the overwhelming majority of people in the Baler Federation. Even within the Federation Progressive Party, they had been unable to reach a unified position on the question, which allowed the Federation Conservative Party to win the election with almost no difficulty.

And it was precisely because of that isolationist policy that, even today, after the World War had fully ceased, the Federation’s international trade had still not recovered. Only a limited amount of unavoidable trade was still being conducted.

For instance, using certain goods to exchange with other countries for raw materials the Federation could not manufacture on its own, or did not have locally. Apart from this sort of unavoidable foreign-trade policy, ordinary individuals or companies found it very difficult to operate large-scale international trade.

This brings us to a special office under the Cabinet government of the Federation Conservative Party President, the International Trade Approval Office. The International Trade Approval Office was formally under the Department of Foreign Affairs, though the War Department also exercised overlapping authority over it. That alone showed how wary the country still was about foreign trade.

Every year, what goods could be exported and what goods could be imported were decided by the International Trade Approval Office.

For an individual like William, who wanted to go into export business, there was basically no point thinking about it in the short term. It was impossible. He did not even have a chance to try.

The mayor’s brows slowly drew together, then tightened. Creases folded at the bridge of his nose, and his two eyebrows seemed to rise at the same time, giving him a kind of natural authority even before he said a word.

Of course, most of that authority came from his title: His Honor the Mayor.

Had the frowning man been a hobo, he would have met not reverent looks, but curses, and perhaps the spit-smeared sole of a shoe.

“I’ll need to ask around, but the chances are not good. At least in the short term, unless international affairs policy changes, the opportunity is small.”

He quickly gave his conclusion. In fact, quite a few people had already proposed entering international trade, but the World War had only just ended. No one knew whether one accidental exchange of fire along some border might once again sweep the entire world into flames.

So they still needed time to wait and observe. But His Honor, the Mayor, had not told the truth. Inside the senior leadership of the Federation Progressive Party, they had already concluded that the World War had basically come to an end.

It was not because everyone had suddenly become civilized. It was because most of the countries involved had beaten one another’s brains out. They no longer had the ability to keep fighting, unless they truly wanted national extinction.

Judging by the current state of the world, war was a contest of a country’s total depth of strength. Once that depth had been exhausted, once a country could not even afford to manufacture bullets, what was left to fight with?

However, the Federation Conservative Party, which had built itself on isolationist policy and gained certain results from it, did not see it that way. Or perhaps they had reached the same view as the Federation Progressive Party, but because isolationist policy had brought peace to the Federation, and because that policy had brought them political gains, they were not yet willing to abandon it before they had converted all of its influence into political capital. So it still had to continue for some time.

As for the inside, things had already loosened. It was just that this kind of loosening would never be made known to ordinary people. Never mind that the Federation Conservative Party’s President spent all day on television attacking the Federation Progressive Party’s “crooked arguments,” while the leader of the Federation Progressive Party went on television calling the Conservative President a pig. On a certain level, the two parties still shared some consensus.

Ah, and one must not forget, there was also the Federation Socialist Party. But that did not matter. They had already grown used to being forgotten. Sometimes even the newspapers simply said “the two parties” instead of “the three parties.”

If His Honor, the Mayor, truly wanted to handle this matter, it might not be impossible. It was just that if he spent his own favors helping William with it, he would not receive much in return. He did not think that was a suitable choice.

Sometimes politics was a headache. Other times, it was very simple, so simple it was only a matter of comparing size.

William was not especially surprised by this conclusion. He maintained his elegant composure as he cut his steak, and said in a seemingly casual tone, “If I can obtain free-trade rights, I can solve the employment problem left behind after the Ristowan Group’s departure.”

He put a tender, juicy piece of beef into his mouth. As his lips closed and his teeth worked, the juices burst across his tongue. It felt excellent. “Perhaps more than that. We can push the unemployment rate down. I also believe that, under present circumstances, people are more willing than ever to work. Wouldn’t you agree?”

There was no need to ask. If there was suitable work, or even unsuitable work that still paid wages, everyone would be willing to do it. Even if it was a little tiring, a little dirty, they would not care.

Having work at least meant income. At least it meant being able to keep living. If they had no income at all, the wealth they had accumulated over the past ten years, several decades, even across generations, would vanish in an instant.

It was cruel, but mercy could not save the world.

“Is the profit in import-export business that large?” The mayor was somewhat alarmed. If import-export business could generate profits on that scale, then perhaps this could become an important policy for the Federation Progressive Party to cleanly finish off the Federation Conservative Party. All they had to do was implement an opening policy. That sounded far too simple.

William smiled. There was something in that smile that made the mayor’s heart jump. The young man before him, his hair slick with pomade and combed straight back to make himself look more mature, was in fact only twenty years old. Yet the smile on his face was exactly like the ones the mayor had seen before on certain major politicians and great capitalists, a smile full of contempt born from seeing through people and the world.

But those smiles had once appeared only on old men. Now, it was appearing on the face of a young man who could have been his son.

William set down his knife and fork, picked up his napkin, and dabbed at the juices on his mouth. The smile on his face had not disappeared from the beginning until now. Instead, it had grown clearer and clearer.

He pressed both hands on the two corners of the table, leaned back slightly, and stretched out his upper body. He and the mayor were about the same height, though William was a little taller. Yet the way he sat made the mayor feel an unexpected pressure.

“This has to do with the second problem I’m facing. Interested in hearing it?”

In the silence, the mayor also set down his knife and fork. He reached out, intending to pick up his wineglass and drink a little to relieve the inexplicable tension that had come over him. But when he saw the red liquid, vivid as blood, he drew his hand back and nodded. “Perhaps I will be interested.”

“I intend to change the current employment model. I will no longer bear standards such as minimum working hours. Employment will be changed into cooperation…” William’s single sentence made the mayor’s brows knot together again.

The Minimum Wage Act had been passed many years ago. Every year, it was revised to reflect prices and published for the public. All factory owners, business owners, and anyone else who hired workers had to comply with the Act.

Each worker had to be scheduled for at least sixty hours per week, but no more than seventy-two.

If a plant or workplace scheduled fewer than sixty hours, then in addition to paying wages for the valid working hours according to the hourly rate in the labor contract, the remaining hours had to be paid according to the Minimum Wage Act.

In other words, if a plant hired a worker and did not let him work, it still had to pay him every month according to the standards of the Minimum Wage Act.

If the working hours exceeded seventy-two, wages had to be paid according to the overtime hourly rate. At present, the Baler Federation’s minimum overtime hourly standard was one hundred and twenty percent of ordinary working hours. That was the floor.

Overall, this had greatly protected the lawful interests of workers. When the Act was announced as having passed Congress, the entire working class and the lower-middle strata celebrated. Some people even took the newspaper to their employers and factory owners, then read the contents aloud to those hateful capitalists right to their faces.

People all said this was a law that protected the laboring class. In reality, it also protected capitalists, though that was another matter.

Since the Act had been established, many people had used enormous fines and bankruptcy to prove that it was a bottom line that could not be touched. Within the Baler Federation judicial system, there existed a guideline known as “punitive sentencing” or “punitive penalty standards.”

When a court believed it necessary to impose a heavy punishment on someone, so that both he and society understood that certain mistakes could not be made, it would invoke that standard. A fine that might originally have been only ten thousand dollars could become one million.

For example, a sentence that might originally have been only one year could suddenly balloon to five years, ten years, and so on. The purpose of doing this was punishment, and to make an example.

William’s words made the mayor tense at once. One careless step could trigger a chain of events. Workers’ protests could turn into mass demonstrations, and in the end, they could even become riots.

One had to know that while the rank and file of society were indeed pitiful at times, more often they did things that made people angry. For instance, they would blame their misfortune on social unfairness and other people’s unkindness. They would not look for problems in themselves.

William would trigger precisely that tendency in them. They would believe that their unemployment was the result of inaction, even persecution, by capitalists and politicians. When that happened, another storm would come.

Before William could finish, the mayor interrupted him. “Your idea is dangerous, William. One careless move, and it will become a grave mistake. When the time comes, even if I’m willing to pull you out, I won’t be able to.”

“There are some matters you can afford to get involved in. Even if you fail, people will forgive you, because you are a young man.”

“But there are some things you cannot touch. Whether you are young or not, whether you meant to or not, as soon as you touch them, you become a sinner!”

Double standards had always existed. From the feudal age onward, people had already developed a deep appreciation for their usefulness, especially rulers.

William did not yet have the weight to use double standards. In the mayor’s eyes, he was still too green. Even if he could build his business as large as he claimed, he still did not have the standing to apply one rule to himself and another to everyone else.

Things like the Minimum Wage Act, the Employment Act, and the Workers’ Rights Protection Act were not things even the most powerful capitalists were willing to change lightly. It was not that they lacked the ability. It was that the price and consequences of changing them were too severe.

So William really did want to change certain things. The mayor’s tightly knitted brows suddenly loosened again, and a faint smile even appeared on his face. In the end, he was still a young man.

He did not understand the world at all. He did not know that when facing this seemingly simple world, one needed to carry a certain reverence.

Still, that kind of drive stirred something in the mayor. It made him involuntarily recall the days just after he had graduated, when he, too, had wanted to change the world. But look at him now. He was already in his forties, and he was still only a mayor.

Perhaps he might eventually reach the governor’s office, but that was still a long way from the “arrogant” dreams he had held in his youth.

Everyone had moments like that, but reality would teach them how to face the world properly.

Thinking of this, perhaps moved by a little sentiment, the mayor lifted his glass and took a sip. The wine had already had time to breathe before they reached the restaurant. The ice in the dry ice bucket had kept the wine at the most suitable drinking temperature, while full contact between the wine and the air had softened its astringency until it was almost undetectable.

A good bottle. When the mayor set down his glass, he raised his brows slightly. Now, when he looked at the bright red wine in the glass, he no longer found it as repellent as he had a moment ago.

So many psychological changes occurring in such a brief span of time was, in truth, both interesting and complicated. He did not want to think too much about it, so he turned his attention elsewhere.

“Compared with that, I have an idea. I don’t know whether you’d be willing to hear it.” People seemed born with the urge to lecture others. In truth, the real essence of that impulse lay in using the act of passing on knowledge and experience to set off one’s own greater vanity.

It was an instinct. But the consequences it produced were not necessarily bad, so it could be counted as a good thing.

William nodded slightly, and the mayor continued, “I suggest you donate a sum of money to a university, then go back to school…” He paused as he spoke, then immediately offered an explanation. “What I mean is, you need a network that belongs to you. This is my advice.”

“There are nine top private universities in the Federation. All of these universities were originally funded and founded by an organization called the Sacred Harmony Society. If you can become a student at one of these nine universities, you will be able to come into contact with the Federation’s highest-level resources.”

“If you can become a prospective member of the Sacred Harmony Society, or even a full member…” The mayor smiled. There was something hard to define behind that smile, something faintly strange. “Then congratulations. You will join the same alumni network as most of the Federation’s governors in the Federation, the senior leadership of all three parties, the President, Cabinet members, and lifetime justices, the people who can decide the direction of this society. You may even belong to the Sacred Harmony Society together with them.”

The mayor’s feeling may have come from his appreciation for the drive he saw in William. Once, he too had been that kind of young man. It was only that time and reality had shaved away his edges and made him more practical.

So he wanted to give William some advice about life. If back then he had been willing to lower his head and choose someone he did not like in exchange for admission to one of the Sacred Harmony Society-affiliated schools, perhaps he would already be governor now.

The governor of this state was not much older or younger than him, but the other man was already governor, and held an extremely important position inside the party. All of it was because he, the leader of the Federation Progressive Party, and the senior leadership had all come from the Sacred Harmony Society.

That was a fast track to promotion. People were willing to give him opportunities for the sake of their shared school ties and society membership. But they were not willing to give the mayor opportunities, because he did not wear the badge of the Nine Universities.

William nodded and agreed, committing the matter to memory. The conversation that followed became considerably more relaxed. William no longer discussed his two major troubles, and the mayor no longer continued his annoying performance as a teacher. They began talking about fashionable things, and things related to everyday life.

“I hear your friends are planning to shoot a film in Sabine City. Have them contact the Department of Social Services. When the time comes, the Department of Social Services can step in to coordinate certain matters and make the filming go more smoothly.” As the mayor spoke, he brought up something the Foxes had been working on recently.

No one knew where they had gotten a script from, but they thought the script was good. And since they had a little money on hand, they had decided to turn the script into a movie.

In truth, whether ordinary people or those who had already realized their own value, everyone had an impulsive desire to spend money. It was as if money burned their hands. Leaving it in the bank made them uncomfortable. Only spending it could satisfy them.

Especially in the instant the money was spent, that pleasure… there were simply no words for it.

William really had not heard about this matter, but that did not stop him from dealing with the mayor. “I’ve heard every locality has some sort of subsidy for filming?”

This was also customary. In the Baler Federation, films were mainly shot in two major film-production hubs. On one hand, those cities had excellent supporting infrastructure and had built many places similar to studio lots, making location work convenient.

Secondly, there were local subsidy policies. Filming in those two cities brought greater subsidies, including tax exemptions. That was the real reason those cities attracted film workers.

But this did not mean other cities had given up trying in this area, especially city administrators in City Hall. A film could drive more visitor traffic than people imagined, and it was of great help in improving a city’s overall cultural atmosphere. So every city still retained subsidy policies.

The mayor pursed his lips. “Sometimes I feel you don’t resemble a twenty-year-old at all. Your friends aren’t nearly as smart as you.”

He was referring to the fact that the Foxes still had not thought to contact the Department of Social Services. If they contacted the Department of Social Services, not only would officials step in to coordinate part of the work, they could also help them apply for subsidies.

An old fellow who had spent more than twenty years in society did not know this, yet a young man who had only been out of school for two years did. It was enough to make a man raise an eyebrow.

The mayor fiddled with the napkin at the edge of the table. “You know how it is. The whole society is in poor shape now, and City Hall’s finances are tight as well. So the most we can provide is no more than a hundred thousand dollars in subsidies. But all public facility usage fees can be waived. If roads need to be closed, that can be negotiated too.”

It was not much money, but the important thing was not the money. It was the mayor’s attitude.

When filming a movie, it was often necessary to close roads or clear out a certain building. There had once been a famous film crew that wanted to shoot a highway chase involving a chain collision and a massive explosion.

The local government, citing a “threat to public safety,” not only refused to provide convenience by allowing them to use an already completed ring road, but also demanded a renewed safety review of their script.

In the end, the film crew had no choice but to go to a remote, abandoned stretch of countryside and rebuild a road around an existing derelict highway in order to shoot the sequence.

The money was secondary. The real problem was that it delayed the film’s release.

As he spoke, the mayor gave a light cough and said without changing expression, “My youngest daughter loves movies. When she heard someone was going to shoot a film locally, she was very excited. Do you think she could visit the set, or perhaps make a cameo in one of the roles?”

“Why not?”

Over the course of one dinner, several problems had been resolved, while two problems remained unresolved. For the mayor, the meal had value. His relationship with William had grown a little closer, and at the same time he had solved the problem of a thousand jobs.

Yes, eight hundred had become one thousand. William did not refute it. Everyone knew this sort of thing was only talk. If William could do it, he would. If he could not, it did not matter.

But whether it was William or His Honor, the Mayor, although neither of them seemed to mention William’s two major troubles again, neither of them had forgotten them either. Perhaps at some unknown moment, they would be raised again.

After dinner ended, William grew somewhat curious. He did not go straight home. Instead, he had the driver take him to Mr. Fox’s current residence.

As soon as he entered the room, he could feel a kind of artistic atmosphere of creation. A group of men who clearly looked like cultural types were gathered around a table, discussing details of the story. Mr. Fox Jr. was also among them.

William’s arrival made everyone pause for a moment, but very soon they returned their attention to the work.

Guided by a servant, William found Mr. Fox Sr. on the open-air terrace on the second floor. The elderly gentleman was playing cards with several older men about his age. There were not many chips placed in front of him, but everyone was in good spirits.

“Give me a moment. Almost done…” Mr. Fox nodded, and the card game soon ended. The old men studied William with mild curiosity, then quickly smiled, settled their chips with Mr. Fox, said their goodbyes, and left.

Watching them go, Mr. Fox let out a comfortable breath. Standing by the railing at the edge of the terrace, he patted the handrail with both hands. “This is life!”

He sounded a little sentimental, then turned back to look at William. “You saw it?”

William nodded. “Of course. We all know Mr. Fox is an old fox, especially where money is concerned. But this is also a kind of pleasure. At least it’s a healthy one.”

Mr. Fox burst into laughter after hearing that. “I knew you would see through it at a glance. Sometimes I envy your parents, having such a clever child.”

William did not seem to care much. “I think they would envy your wealth more, Mr. Fox.”

Before William arrived, the card game he had seen was actually Mr. Fox passing the time by deliberately “losing.” To put it simply, he was using the act of losing money to gather a few ordinary old men around him.

Some people might think this was a sign of loneliness. They might also think Mr. Fox was a pitiful old man with no real friends.

But look at it from another position. At least he still had money…

William saw through it at a glance. A man who dealt with money all day, and who was not strictly speaking a good person, could not possibly lose until he had only a few chips left in front of him. There was nothing normal about that.

Nor did he think Mr. Fox was pitiful. Perhaps in Mr. Fox’s mind, the people who played with him and took advantage of him were the pitiful ones. At least he would not pay for a few insignificant dollars with the most expensive thing in life: time.

People often said money could not buy happiness. William thought Mr. Fox had been quite happy just now. That pleasure of sitting behind the curtain, letting that group of old men think they had found an “honest man,” only for them to become the ones on the hook, was something they would never experience.

The two joked for a while, then sat down in wicker chairs. The open-air terrace was exposed to wind and sun, and sometimes harsher weather. A leather sofa or fabric sofa would not last more than half a year here. Wicker chairs, on the other hand, could endure longer and had a bit of cultural flavor to them, making them more suitable for this place.

People were basically like this. Once their most basic needs in terms of wealth had been satisfied, they began pursuing spiritual satisfaction. And the pursuit of cultural satisfaction was a more accessible method for the public.

“I heard from elsewhere that you found a script.” William took the coffee brought by the servant and sipped it. In truth, many young men like him preferred juice, because juice was sweet and tart.

But the real William was not a young man. He had already passed the age of liking sweet and sour flavors. That kind of taste could no longer attract him. Instead, certain bitter flavors with a lingering sweetness fascinated him more.

Mr. Fox nodded. “You know, that bastard son of mine is a university student…” He called Mr. Fox Jr. a bastard, but the pride on his face betrayed what he really felt. “One of his schoolmates found him and provided him with this script. Mr. Fox Jr. thought it was very interesting, so why not let him try?”

William could understand that feeling as a father. In truth, every father hoped his child could walk a bright road. Even the leader of a criminal family would have such thoughts.

He nodded. “When I had dinner with the mayor tonight, I brought this matter up. He agreed to give us a financial subsidy. I can’t guarantee the exact amount. I asked him to give as much as possible.”

“Also, you can go to the Department of Social Services and apply for assistance. They will assign dedicated staff to cooperate with your filming.”

Mr. Fox froze for a moment, then immediately thanked William. “You’re a good man, William!”

“We’re friends. Friends are supposed to help one another, aren’t they?”

Mr. Fox showed no hesitation at all. “You’re right, William, my friend!”

Perhaps William’s arrival had distracted Mr. Fox Jr. Or perhaps he wanted to hear William’s opinion and find a sense of approval. Not long afterward, he came up to the second-floor terrace with the script and handed it to William. “Do you want to look at the script? If nothing goes wrong, this will be the first movie we shoot.”

The Foxes had established a company called Fox Pictures, and William had also invested some money in it, taking a thirty percent stake.

Originally, he had meant to take ten percent as a gesture, but the father and son were very enthusiastic and insisted on giving him thirty percent. Because of that, William had paid an additional three hundred thousand dollars.

With the attitude of being responsible for his own money, he began reading it seriously. Thanks to his past experience and knowledge, he also had some connection with this line of fast-money business.

As he read, William’s brows began to rise in a less than obedient fashion. This was a very common road-trip thriller romance. The phrasing might sound a little awkward, but at present this sort of film belonged to a relatively common mainstream genre.

Before faster means of transportation appeared, when people traveled between different cities, they often chose to go by car. For one thing, the cost of riding in a car was lower than taking the train, and it was also freer. As everyone knew, freedom was written into the Charter, and Federation people were filled to the bone with the smell of freedom.

People liked highways. They liked the beauty and poetry of driving across a sunset desert toward the crimson sun about to sink below the horizon. For that reason, road movies had always been popular. Their low shooting cost was another reason.

But this script… William did not think highly of it. A woman’s car broke down, and when she hitched a ride, she got into the car of a psychopathic killer. Even more absurdly, after being hurt and tormented, the woman actually fell in love with the psychopathic killer, thereby completing some inexplicable redemption, bringing the killer back to normal, and making him turn himself in voluntarily. She even gave birth to a child for that killer.

The truly horrifying thing was definitely not the atmosphere, but the screenwriter’s head. William put the script down. He added some body language with his arms, trying to find a relatively mild word, but he failed.

“I don’t know how to describe it…”

Mr. Fox Jr. may have misunderstood. “You were shocked by it too?”

William glanced at Mr. Fox. The latter also seemed to be looking at him very seriously, wanting some reference value from him. William frowned slightly. “Maybe I don’t understand the deeper meaning of this script well enough, but I do know it’s not a script I like. I wouldn’t spend money on a ticket to see it in a theater.”

A look of disbelief appeared on Mr. Fox Jr.’s face. “It’s an outstanding script. There are a lot of metaphors in it. Didn’t you notice that it’s actually related to certain religious stories?”

Next, Mr. Fox Jr. began explaining to William what a certain section of the script represented, what metaphors lay behind it, and what else it alluded to. Under his description and explanation, some deeper elements of the script were revealed.

In truth, both the script and its writer needed someone who could explain what they were trying to do. That had also caused many interesting, deeper things in it to go undiscovered.

But William was not particularly interested in that. “Entertainment pursues pleasure, not thought. Making people think is philosophy’s business.”

“Audiences won’t spend several dollars to bring their whole family into a theater and sit for an hour or two pondering why this is so and why that is so. They only want pleasure. And as it happens, I haven’t found even the smallest bit of pleasure here.”

“Saying this may make you feel a little upset, but I have to say what I feel, because I also have to be responsible for my money.”

Mr. Fox kept a smile on his face the whole time. He did not understand movies very well, but he understood what made people interested and what did not. He also did not think this was a good story. But these university students all thought it was wonderful.

As a father, he was absolutely unqualified. So he hoped to make up, in some way, for certain things Mr. Fox Jr. had lacked. He did not say it was bad, but kept silent.

If Mr. Fox Sr. stopped Mr. Fox Jr. from filming this script, it might not be very effective. But William was different. From a certain angle, Mr. Fox Jr. admired William more than he admired Mr. Fox. At least the father and son had only transformed into successful men with William’s help, and that had merely been one small step in William’s own plan.

“Is it really that bad?” He began to come out of his fervor, and he began to sense, however faintly, that perhaps it really was a little… bad.

“Take it outside. Let people on the street who have nothing to do with this look at it. They’ll tell you the truest side of it.”

Mr. Fox Jr. left in some discomfort. Mr. Fox, however, asked, “Do you have any good suggestions?”

The question left William a little puzzled. “Which aspect do you mean?”

“The script. The story!” Mr. Fox immediately continued, “In fact, he has already rented the entire set of equipment needed to shoot a movie. Those things are truly not cheap, and the rental party has also said that even if we don’t use them, they won’t refund the money…”

In the present economy, getting money back was absolutely impossible. Perhaps someone would say it was only two or three hundred thousand dollars, or three to five hundred thousand dollars. If it could not be refunded, then so be it. The Foxes were making so much money, would they really care about such a small amount?

Perhaps that would be true when the economy was good. Now that the economy was bad, circumstances had become rather different.

Moreover, these things had not been sold to them. If they could not get a refund, it was not as if they could keep the equipment. All of it had been rented. Once the time limit in the contract passed, everything had to be returned to the rental party. They would not be left with so much as a hair.

Originally, Mr. Fox’s intention had been to let Mr. Fox Jr. suffer a loss. The boy always felt society was simple, and even felt that even if they had not taken the path they were on now, they could still have made something of themselves.

If William had not known about this matter, then everything would have proceeded according to Mr. Fox’s plan. The film would be completed, then fail upon release. Mr. Fox Jr. would recognize society’s complexity, and he would also recognize Mr. Fox’s correctness in terms of life experience. That would help the relationship between father and son.

But now not only did William know, the mayor knew as well. If the matter still proceeded according to his original plan, then Mr. Fox Jr. might not be the only one to “suffer a loss.” Even he might suffer one too.

People would witness the birth of a great joke. That was not part of the old fox Mr. Fox’s plan. He had to save it.

William was just about to say that he was powerless, when he suddenly remembered the truck driver telling him that there was a fool named James in the fleet who often wrote things. It was said he could even sell them to motion picture companies or labor unions. Perhaps he might have a way.

When Cooke called, James was still tutoring the children through their homework. Among the truck drivers, he was one of the few with any real education. Of course, high education here did not mean he had gone to university or anything like that. He had merely finished high school and then spent a year at a technical school.

This technical school was not the sort of skills-training class set up inside a plant to cheat special education subsidies. It was a proper technical school, and what it taught was truck driving and simple truck repair.

Back then, the repair skills Cooke and the others had learned had all come from James. He might not have been the most conspicuous man in the group, but to this small circle, he was an important core.

Whenever people had certain problems, they would sometimes come to him to discuss them, because he had the highest education.

James did not have a telephone at home. Installing a telephone did not actually cost too much money, but the problem was that even if they installed one, it had no practical value.

No one would be contacting him all day, and he had no need to contact others all day either. So most ordinary households did not have telephones. But they also had “telephones,” public telephones.

Every hundred yards or so, there would be a public telephone booth. When people filled in a home telephone number, they would put down the number of that booth. When the telephone booth rang, someone on the street would pick it up, and then…

“James, telephone!” A scream came from outside the window as if someone had run into something horrifying. On James’s child’s exercise book, there was now an extra line that should not have been there.

James straightened up. He walked to the window and looked at the neighbor standing outside the telephone booth, holding the receiver in one hand and looking at him. The man’s voice dropped a little. “Your call, James!”

“I’m not deaf!” he complained. But in truth, there was no real complaint in his tone. Instead, it carried something closer to gratitude.

This was an ordinary people’s neighborhood, and ordinary people’s lives. They rarely said thank you properly. Sometimes they even used fuck you and a raised middle finger in place of words resembling thanks. Yet they understood gratitude, and how to repay it, better than those people in the upper class who looked respectable on the surface and were rotten underneath.

By the time he appeared on the street, he already had a rolled flatbread wrapped in newspaper in his hand. If one did not mind the ink that might stain it, it was definitely something good to eat.

The neighbor took the flatbread and bumped shoulders with him, casually handed him the receiver, then wandered off to the side, biting into the flatbread as he strolled around.

Everyone was out of work. Apart from drifting around the streets all day, they did not know what else to do. If they stayed at home, the women at home would denounce them for being lazy and tell them to get out onto the street and find a job. God knew why these women had forgotten about things like equality at times like this.

After James took the call, he quickly nodded a few times, then hung up. The call had come from Cooke. Cooke told him to go to a certain place right now, and he silently committed the address to memory.

Most drivers, whether car drivers or truck drivers, had a rather marvelous ability. Given a detailed address, they could swiftly locate the place in their minds, and even “see” the scenery around it.

He stood downstairs, said a few words to his family, then left in a hurry.

With William paying his wages, his life was no longer as strained as it had been some time ago. The atmosphere between husband and wife had also become much more harmonious.

Around nine in the evening, James arrived outside the villa. Facing the enormous, luxurious residence, James felt extremely nervous. He flexed his hands. Both palms were slick with sweat, damp and uncomfortable.

He had meant to wait until the sweat on his palms dried in the air before going in. But to his surprise, Cooke had actually come out to meet him, so he had no choice but to wipe his palms on his trousers.

“What’s so urgent that you called me over this late?” James asked in a low voice on the way in.

Cooke’s expression was somewhat strange. “Aren’t you always telling us stories? Your chance has come!”

In truth, he did not think James could win the preference of these big figures. Because of that, he felt a little envy and jealousy in his heart, because he understood very clearly that once James succeeded, he would become different from the rest of them.

In fact, Cooke was overthinking it. Even if James became a screenwriter, he would not become that important, because screenwriters were the least valuable people of all.

Yes, the least valuable.

Directors had made trouble, and capitalists had compromised.

Actors had made trouble, and capitalists had compromised.

Behind-the-scenes workers had made trouble, and capitalists had compromised.

Even film critics, who did not actually have much to do with making movies, had made trouble, and capitalists had compromised too.

Only when screenwriters made trouble did the capitalists point at the door and tell them, “Get the hell out of my sight, now!”

All right, although he did not know that, it still could not stop him from feeling a small measure of envy and jealousy. He did not want James to succeed, and he did not believe James could.

But as a good friend, he also hoped James could succeed. At least a little light still remained in his heart.

He briefly explained the situation. James not only did not relax, he became even more nervous.

He knew this was an opportunity to change his life. He would not give it up, and he did not want to give it up.

With his mind in a mess, James appeared in the villa’s living room accompanied by Cooke. At this moment, apart from William, the young boss, the living room also contained two bosses who looked very rich at a glance, as well as several fashionably dressed young people.

They might not have been very wealthy, but their faces carried a kind of pride. James had seen that look on the faces of some university students before, a pride in themselves and contempt for the world. After all, in this era, anyone who could afford to attend university was not from the very bottom.

He became even more nervous. William took the initiative to pour a glass of wine and had Cooke bring it to him. “Don’t be nervous. I invited you here only because we want to talk with you. But first, please read a script and then tell us what you think of it.”

Cooke handed both the glass of wine and the script to James. After James drank a little, he immediately relaxed somewhat.

In truth, it was not the wine that had worked. It was merely a psychological suggestion. He had done it himself. It had nothing to do with the wine. Society had conditioned people to react that way.

He read very seriously. After roughly ten minutes, he closed the script and let out a heavy sigh. “A very fine script. The writer must have drawn on certain myths or religious stories. It’s full of metaphors of every kind.”

Smiles appeared on Mr. Fox Jr. and his schoolmates’ faces, but they faded almost at once.

“This kind of script can win awards, but audiences won’t like it. What audiences want is relaxation and pleasure…”

He forced himself to say what was in his heart. Over the past two years, he had also written some scripts and sold them to motion picture companies and the Directors Guild. In fact, at the very beginning, he had not been able to do even that.

At that time, he had been just like the author of this script, wanting to prove himself through artistry. All of his scripts had been rejected. Only after he studied many box-office hits and began giving up certain attachments did he succeed.

He successfully sold his scripts and made them part of the reserves of motion picture companies or the Directors Guild. So he was qualified to judge this script.

William nodded with satisfaction. “Then how do you think this story should be written to make it attractive?”

James had relaxed considerably, and this was one of the things he was best at, so he was not nervous. “Cut out the complicated plot. Make the story simple. Add some fashionable elements, aliens, spacecraft, road killings, tomato sauce, and scantily dressed actresses…”

“X-rated?” one of the script’s creators scoffed. He did not say anything more, but that line and his sneer seemed to be mocking James, this fellow who had commented on their work, as if that was all he was capable of in the end.

Relying on sensory stimulation to grab the audience’s eyes was also the most vulgar approach, and it was a choice they would never make.

Facing these young men, university students at that, James behaved much better than William had imagined. He did not rebut them in embarrassment and anger, nor did he curse. Instead, in a tone that sounded as though he were watching a joke, he lifted the script in his hand. “This is also an X-rated script.”

Those who had been mocking him immediately stopped talking, and their expressions became rather unpleasant. The investor had directly rejected their script, and a fellow practitioner looked down on it as well. This made them somewhat angry.

One of them stepped forward, took the script back from James’s hand, glanced at William and Mr. Fox with a contemptuous smile that said, sooner or later you will realize how stupid your choice was, then said goodbye and left.

The others also stood up one after another and took their leave. Since they could not secure investment from the Fox side, there was no need for them to keep wasting time here.

Mr. Fox Jr. looked a little embarrassed. In fact, by this point, he also understood that these classmates and schoolmates had come here to solicit investment, or rather, to cheat money. That made him very awkward, because he had previously questioned Mr. Fox’s judgment.

William did not care about any of this. He only looked at James with a slightly amused expression. “If you were to write this script, how long would you need?”

James’s heartbeat began to quicken. He faintly realized that the chance he had almost touched was about to become real. A brand-new life, the kind he had long yearned for, was facing him.

After careful thought, he gave a relatively suitable length of time: three days.

The three of them decided to look at James’s script first before making a decision, and had Cooke and James leave for the time being. They still had other matters to discuss.

William was a very professional and very committed man. Once he knew the Foxes’ plan had already begun to be implemented, he never considered ignoring it.

No matter what, these things would bring him wealth and influence, and lay one cornerstone for his legendary status in the business world.

He needed to discuss with the father and son how to make some money first, before the movie had even been filmed.

In this world, there were also films that had already made back their cost before filming even began.

That one told the story of minorities in the Baler Federation changing their racial status through hard work and gaining happiness. In the story, every minority was diligent, hardworking, unafraid of hardship, and willing to face the joys and sorrows of life head-on. In the end, the group led by the protagonist won positive recognition from society.

But this kind of film was not replicable in itself. The reason it could recover its costs before filming, apart from the main minority actors being willing to appear without pay, was that a large number of minority capitalists had donated and sponsored the film.

Of course, these minorities were only an extremely small part of the entire society. The ones who truly controlled the country were still the Baler majority.

But it was easy enough to understand why a minority could have money. In an era when transportation still was not sufficiently developed, any family that could afford a ship ticket from somewhere around the world to the Baler Federation was no ordinary household. And that was to say nothing of the fact that they had not only brought their families with them, but even their servants.

As for the “poor minority people” in the movie, perhaps that was only a method of presentation. What they lacked was not money, but political power.

The Baler Federation also thanked these people for their contributions. It was precisely because of them that the Federation’s economic development had been so rapid in previous years.

So how could William’s film, which involved neither religion nor race, begin making money before filming even started?

“It’s actually very simple…” William was in very good form. He had drunk some wine with the mayor at dinner, and had drunk some here as well. Add to that the fact that the Foxes had a good relationship with him, and he was now very relaxed.

Alcohol was a marvelous thing. So marvelous that no matter how tense a person was, one sip could make him feel incomparably at ease, even a prisoner about to be executed.

Give them a glass before the execution, and they might even joke with the guards: “Just give me enough electricity and leave it at that. I still have to lie in a coffin for the memorial service. I don’t want the whole church smelling like roast meat. They’re not coming to a barbecue buffet.”

He leaned back into the sofa, holding his glass. “Let’s talk about the first way to make money…” He looked at Mr. Fox Jr. “If you went to the theater and watched a decent X-rated movie, would you want to see more content related to the heroine?”

The rough content of this movie was a scantily dressed heroine, aliens, and a lively plot. At least according to James, that was what it was.

The corner of Mr. Fox’s mouth lifted slightly. Mr. Fox Jr. also nodded with some embarrassment. Yearning after the heroine or starlet of a movie was, in itself, a perfectly normal thing.

William raised his glass and took a sip. The liquor made his mood even more excited. “If, not long after that, you heard the heroine of this movie was going to shoot some pornography with simple plots and a more direct approach, would you be interested?”

The Foxes both froze for a moment. Then both of them nodded. Mr. Fox even asked, “Would we shoot it ourselves?”

William also froze for a moment. “Do you want to play a role?”

Mr. Fox’s old face reddened, and he shook his head repeatedly. “No. I’m just curious. I don’t know whether we would be shooting these things ourselves.”

William shook his head. “Of course we wouldn’t shoot it ourselves. We would hold an audition, select a pretty girl with a good figure, then sign multiple contracts with her, including the contract for the first movie, and the later…” He shrugged. “You know very well.”

“Then we sell that contract to the largest adult-film production company in the Federation. Stirring up this matter will bring us steady income, and also increased exposure.”

“Those adult-film enthusiasts who don’t usually watch theatrical films will make a point of paying attention to our movie, and they’ll enter the theater one step early to see who will become the heroine of the next series from the producer they follow.”

“At the same time, for the producers, those audiences who sit properly in theaters watching movies and have no interest at all in their films will also buy their products because of the heroine.”

“Of course, this is only the first step…”

There were simply too many ways to make money, from the television broadcast rights for the audition to title sponsorships, advertising sponsorships, and certain self-funded appearances. This was why there were so many swindlers in this line of business.

Even if a script was so rotten it could not possibly be worse, as long as it had been registered with the Directors Guild, they dared to take that rotten script everywhere to cheat investors and investor money, and their success rate was quite high.

Over the past few years, the film industry and the television industry had been climbing rapidly. Television in particular had surged because more people, having no money to go out for entertainment, had no choice but to stay home and sit in front of the television watching programs. That had driven television ratings to repeated new highs.

Many people had already realized the enormous risks in the financial markets. They came waving cash, eager to buy their way into the rising industry., but most of them became targets for swindlers.

William discussed it with the father and son for a while. They would use roughly one to two months to audition a suitable heroine in this state. In fact, realistically, the role could only be filled from a very narrow pool of women.. Most ordinary girls would not agree to shoot pornography, even if it was only “X-rated” rather than “adult” film.

But girls who had already entered that line of work might not necessarily be unwilling. According to certain tabloids, in recent years at least several thousand girls of all kinds entered the pornography industry every year.

For what reasons?

None. To put it plainly, it was because of money. The shooting time was short, the audience was small, the publicity was low, but the pay was not bad. Many pornographic films these girls made might never have any contact with their everyday social circles for the rest of their lives.

Even if they truly were discovered, it still sounded much better than being a streetwalker, though in the eyes of ordinary people the two occupations were all the same sort of thing.

Among them, there would always be someone who fit the role and was willing to show some skin. Moreover, between these girls and adult-film production companies, cooperation was signed one film at a time, with no long-term contracts, so they were even more convenient to use.

The various methods William spoke of so fluently left the Foxes in awe. It also confirmed their original thought: dragging William into the carriage had simply been the most correct decision they had made in all these years.

The next morning, a knock at the door woke William from sleep. He opened his eyes and lay there for a good while before he remembered that he had not slept in his own house last night, but in the Foxes’ villa.

Gradually, he recalled that he had talked with the father and son until quite late, so he had not gone back and had stayed here instead.

He patted his forehead. A faint dizziness still lingered. He took off his sleeping robe and entered the bathroom. Hot water would bring him fully back.

Before long, he appeared in the dining room, just in time for breakfast.

Some simple yet exquisite food had been placed on the clean white table, immediately improving one’s mood by no small degree.

“Did you sleep well last night?” Mr. Fox asked casually out of courtesy. By rights, people would answer, “That was a very fine bed,” or “It was a pleasant experience.” It was a form of etiquette.

But William shook his head as he sat down. “Honestly, not very well. I’m not used to spring beds, and that mattress was softer than any I’ve ever seen.”

A look of curiosity and inquiry suddenly appeared on Mr. Fox’s face. “Very rude of me, William, my friend, but have you ever been in prison, or been detained?”

“No!” William answered with certainty. He did not even need to think about it. “Why?”

“Nothing. Only people who have spent a long time in prison like harder beds. You may not know this, but at present, only prisons still have some very hard beds!”

When spring beds first appeared, they had indeed been luxuries only the rich could enjoy. But their manufacture was actually not complicated at all. Very soon, people found ways around the patented technology and produced cheap products. Later still, the developer of the first generation of spring beds simply shut down his own plant and only handled licensing.

This led to the trend sweeping almost the entire society. Some advertisements were especially seductive, such as “Enjoy a five-million-dollar night life for fifty dollars,” and so on. As a result, by now, the overwhelming majority of households slept on spring beds.

William said he was not used to such a soft bed. That meant only prisons still had plank beds. Oh, right. The countryside too.

He did not answer that question. When he had requested a custom-made plank bed, the people at the furniture store had looked at him strangely enough already. He had no comment on that.

He casually picked up The Wall Street Journal. There was no particularly special news on it, not much different from any other day before. But unexpectedly, in the gutter between pages toward the back, he found an interesting item.

A businessman had purchased war bonds from a country that had participated in the World War. At present, that country belonged to the victorious powers. By rights, once the war had ended, it should have redeemed them, but that country’s bond redemption service had not begun as promised when the bonds were issued.

A law firm located in the Federation capital had issued a warning to individuals and organizations holding that country’s bonds.

But perhaps because these matters had not received official acknowledgment, and perhaps because the Federation side had not verified them either, although it had successfully appeared in The Wall Street Journal, it had been placed in the awkward position of the page gutter.

William frowned and committed the matter to memory. If even the victorious powers could not redeem their bonds, then the global economic situation was terrifying.

Apart from this one item, there was no other news more worthy of his attention. Things like the Federation industrial index setting another new high had long since ceased to attract people. In at least the past three years, out of roughly eight hundred issues of the newspaper, at least six hundred had reported the same content: “Working Wonders.” Sometimes, when miracles happened too often, people grew numb to them.

William had barely returned home that morning when the maid told him Mr. Ferraler had called and asked him to call back as soon as possible.

That was the inconvenience of an age without mobile communications. If a person was not staying in a fixed place, the whole world could not find him.

William soon returned Ferraler’s call, and Ferraler explained why he had called.

The mayor had already submitted William’s application to join the Federation Progressive Party. William did not need to handle these things himself. The Federation Progressive Party’s development office would take care of the paperwork for him.

At the same time, probably on Wednesday, the day after tomorrow, the Federation Progressive Party’s state office would send someone to Sabine City to meet with William. Members like him, recommended by a city mayor and admitted into the Federation Progressive Party, would receive more senior treatment.

This Development Commissioner would talk with William about his impression of the Federation Progressive Party, about whether William himself had any suggestions for the Federation Progressive Party, and whether there was anything he needed the Federation Progressive Party to help him with.

Ferraler told William that he could say anything, but absolutely must not ask for help. That was not a good thing.

Many people who had just joined the Federation Progressive Party did not know this. They would talk about certain difficulties they faced in business or at work. Some of those things could be solved by the Federation Progressive Party, and after the party solved them casually, it would begin asking for repayment.

Not the ugly, bottomless kind of demand. They would only tell you, we gave you help, so shouldn’t you give someone else, some other Federation Progressive Party friend, whatever help you are able to provide?

In truth, this method could very easily make a person merge completely with the whole. But sometimes it also created certain problems. Not everyone liked this kind of “dedication.”

Apart from that, there would be a charity auction in the state on Saturday night to raise funds for part of the city’s unemployment relief subsidies. William had also been invited to attend. Then, next Monday, William had to keep his schedule open. City Hall would hold an inquiry meeting to discuss with everyone how to revive the city’s development.

William did not refuse any of these events. He carefully recorded the times. The higher a person’s value in society, the less he could guarantee complete independence.

Many people felt that after becoming wealthy, life ought to become very free. From certain angles, that was indeed true. But sometimes it also became very unfree, because every part of society’s development needed such people to offer their ideas or make their contributions.

As for the kind of person who had a great deal of money and could still do nothing all day except play, such people did not exist, whether in this world or another.

All kinds of meetings, all kinds of events, not one of them could be missed. Sometimes upper-class women and gentlemen were also very tired, and this double fatigue of mind and body was far more exhausting than the simple physical fatigue of manual laborers.

At this moment, William suddenly remembered what Eleanor had said that day. Perhaps so-called upper society was simply spent in conversation and meals.

The next day, Tuesday afternoon, William took a car to the place he had arranged with Lunite to visit his plant.

At the previous after-party, this fellow had met him and asked whether there might be an opportunity for cooperation. That was also why William had come here.

He believed that as the Federation’s situation grew worse and worse, the requirements on many things would be loosened, and naturally that included acts related to employment.

When people were about to starve, who would still care about acts and laws? Being able to earn money, buy food, and fill the stomach was what mattered most.

As soon as the car stopped, Lunite hurried over with his secretary. He even refused to let William’s driver open the door for him, and personally opened the car door for William.

If his current situation had not been hanging by a thread, how could a factory owner possibly do something like this?

“Sorry to trouble you to come receive me personally…” After William got out of the car, he straightened his clothes, extended his hand, and shook Lunite’s. Compared with William’s steadiness, restraint, and powerful confidence, Lunite looked like an unremarkable supporting character from some story.

His waist was slightly bent. It did not quite look like he was bowing, but he was definitely not standing straight either. He did not want to show his “flattery,” but he did not have enough backbone either. He was a man swaying uncertainly from side to side.

“It’s only right. The fact that you came already makes me very happy. Shall we tour my plant next?” As he spoke, he guided William inside.

The plant covered roughly seven acres, with three workshops and one warehouse. This kind of plant was very common in the industrial district. Perhaps in order to let William see a “busy” scene, all the workers in the workshops had actually shown up today, and all of them were wearing clean work clothes, heads lowered as they worked hard.

Lunite probably took William for the sort of young man with little social experience, assuming he had never entered a plant district and naturally would not understand how foolish his arrangement was.

In truth, whether sewing workers or heavy laborers, their work clothes could not possibly be clean. Especially workers on an assembly line, high-intensity work and greater pressure left them no concern at all for whether they dirtied their clothes.

But here, everyone wore clean clothes. They handled the work in their hands at an unhurried pace, as though what they were dealing with were works of art rather than commodities.

What William had mainly come to see was not these people or their skill level. He had come to inspect the condition of the sewing machines.

At present, the garment factories in the Federation used the same semi-manual, semi-steam-powered industrial sewing machines that Lunite’s plant used. They had one shift lever and four pedals. When handling more detailed areas, the operator used foot power to work the pedals.

Only long-line stitching used steam power. This also made the workshop very hot. Along with the hissing sounds of pressure release, heat continuously leaked out from the steam pipes.

In fact, apart from these steam-powered sewing machines, there were also some electric sewing machines. But the sales and usage rate of that kind of sewing machine were not high.

Compared with cheap steam, expensive electricity had hidden costs that were still too high. A single day’s electricity consumption might be enough to buy fuel for an entire week, so steam-powered sewing machines were still the mainstream.

As for the way they made the workbench and workspace hot and stifling, that was not something factory owners cared about at all.. They never cared whether workers were comfortable while working.

“The machines are very new…” William observed for a moment. These machines looked well maintained, and there was no obvious wear.

Lunite did not understand what he meant, but still nodded along eagerly. “These are new machines we replaced two years ago. You could say they’re no different from new.”

Two years ago, business had not yet become this difficult. He had invested a large sum of money in upgrading and replacing equipment, only to soon encounter problems such as production cuts, and his losses had been extremely severe.

His words were not exactly exaggeration. After these machines had been bought, they were used less and less. At first, they could still work one day and rest one day. By now, operations had basically stopped across the board.

If not for the need to avoid being petitioned into bankruptcy, he might long ago have applied for a complete shutdown.

After circling through several workshops, William went to Lunite’s office. His office was imposing, and one could tell he had indeed lived well in the previous years.

All kinds of refined, grand, and luxurious furniture and decorations made the place look less like a handler’s office and more like a president’s office. But this only highlighted Lunite’s present difficulty even more, along with a small touch of absurdity.

William sat down on an individual sofa. Lunite’s secretary brought him coffee. He did not drink it. God knew when those coffee beans had been bought. Judging by this plant’s operating condition, they might even need to make a budget before buying coffee beans.

Lunite looked at William with a face full of expectation. He desperately hoped William could give him a positive answer. Even a few trivial small orders would allow him to hold on for a while longer.

Many handlers like Lunite were in fact facing the same awkward situation. Once they announced a complete shutdown and could not resume production in the short term, they would be violating the land lease agreement they had signed with City Hall.

They would not only lose the plant land, but also all immovable property on that land. At that point, even if they could still hold out for a while, they would declare bankruptcy directly under that blow.

So even if these handlers truly could not scrape together any money, even if they had to borrow money or take out loans, they still had to start work every so often, at least enough to muddle through these problems.

He looked at William with longing, and William naturally gave him some hope. “Do you have the latest magazine related to fashion here? A newspaper will do as well.”

Lunite immediately looked toward his secretary. The secretary hurriedly said they did, and soon found a fashion magazine from two months ago. It was filled with attractive clothes and accessories, all things at the very front edge of the trend world.

William flipped through it casually, then tossed the magazine onto the table. “These clothes, and these bags and accessories. Can you make them here?”

Lunite was somewhat surprised. He was not sure what William meant by that question, but he still nodded. “That isn’t difficult. For accessories, my carpet factory has the capability. Clothes and the like can be completed by the garment factory. Technically, there’s no real difficulty. The main issue is design innovation and concept.”

William nodded noncommittally. “Use similar materials. Select some of the most fashionable and popular clothing styles right now. Start with one hundred pieces of each. For accessories and matching bags, one thousand pieces of each. I’ll give you one dollar of profit per item. Can you do it?”

Lunite picked up the magazine with some difficulty, looking at the introductions to the fashions and branded accessories printed on it. These were all products from major brands, and all of them had design patents. “If I make these goods without authorization, I’ll be held liable. I may even be sued…”

William only smiled. “Being sued won’t bankrupt you immediately. But without this order, you won’t last many more days.”

“Will you choose to let your firm continue, and face a lawsuit that may never happen, or will you choose bankruptcy for the sake of holding on to certain principles?”

“I respect people with convictions, but I don’t sympathize with them. What will you choose?”

“Mr. Lunite?”

When William spoke, his voice was gentle and mild. He never gave people the impression of being fierce. On the contrary, he was like some neighbor’s child, sunny, cordial, and faintly familiar.

But what Lunite felt at this moment was something else entirely. William was like a mountain… no, like a sea cliff, a sea cliff in a storm.

He stood in the middle of the boundless sea, with the mad storm whipping up waves and hurling them violently against him.

But in the end, those waves were only waves. After throwing up a burst of foam, they vanished without a trace, unable to harm him in the slightest.

Lunite was that wave. He was angry, he hated him, he was sorrowful, he was miserable, but when all his emotions faced William’s bright, smiling expression, they ultimately turned into the same helplessness as the foam thrown up by the surf.

“No problem, Mr. Carter…” He lowered his head, but he also let out a breath of relief for himself. Tens of thousands, even more, in pure profit could allow his plant to keep going for a while longer, about two months, or perhaps three. For him, that was a good thing.

As for the possibility of breaking the law… he felt perhaps he should approach it another way. Then he raised his head and looked at William with a sincere face. “Mr. Carter, I agree with your idea. So when do we sign the commission agreement?”

Lunite looked humble and deferential, but that was merely the result of his outward appearance and the fact that he had no retreat left. In reality, in this era, any businessman who could start from nothing, any successful businessman, was not a simple character.

A commission agreement looked as if the man only wanted some protection. Once this commission agreement was signed, he could set his mind at ease and no longer fear that William would go back on his word.

But William was not truly as young as he appeared on the surface. In terms of social experience and worldly knowledge, he far exceeded Lunite.

He smiled faintly. “Mr. Lunite, I have always believed that between true friends, there is absolutely no need for contracts or agreements to regulate one another’s duties. Those are protections between strangers, but they are a desecration of friendship. Wouldn’t you agree?”

Lunite touched his hair, his tone carrying a trace of pleading. “Mr. Carter, my current situation is difficult. If I can have an agreement or contract like that, my workers’ mood can stabilize, and the bank won’t press me to repay as soon as possible.”

“It may be insignificant to you, but to me it is very important.”

He looked pitiful, but inside, he was not pitiful at all.

If William and Lunite signed a toll manufacturing agreement, commissioning Lunite and his plant to produce a batch of clothing and accessories for him, then once the designers decided to pursue liability in the future, Lunite could take out the toll manufacturing agreement or production contract and tell the designers that they were responsible only for no-liability production. The actual infringer was William.

But without that toll manufacturing agreement or production contract, if others pursued the matter legally in the future, William would bear only the lightest responsibility as the seller. He could even claim he had been deceived, not only avoiding any legal responsibility, but turning around to sue Lunite for fraud or concealment of material facts.

It looked like nothing more than a simple little piece of paper, but legally it directly allocated liability for infringement. Lunite thought William was very young and could not possibly know everything. But William truly did know everything.

The two looked at each other, their gazes meeting in the air. William’s smile did not diminish. “It seems Mr. Lunite is not very interested in this cooperation…” He let out a light breath, placed his hand on the armrest of the sofa, and stood up. “What a pity. If there is another chance…”

“I agree!” Lunite directly interrupted William and stood up as well. “I agree, Mr. Carter.” There was only a kind of bleakness on his face, the withering of fallen leaves scattered all over the ground in autumn.

If this had been a few years ago, he could have slapped the table without hesitation and told William to get out of his office. But now, he had to bear legal risks far beyond his earnings for the sake of this money.

Yet he also had no good way to solve his funding problems. Once City Hall and the workers’ labor union believed he could no longer start the machines and resume production, City Hall would take back the plant land. At that point, he would truly have nothing.

All of this was so he could survive. Only by surviving was there hope.

“Successful man” Mr. Lunite understood his current troubles very clearly, so he did not emotionally choose mutual destruction. Instead, he rationally lowered his head in exchange for a chance for the plant to continue.

William nodded with satisfaction as he walked outside. “Very good, Mr. Lunite. You can send me your bank account. I will pay you a thirty percent advance in the near future. When I see the first batch of products, I will pay off the balance in stages. Any problem?”

He stood by the door and looked back at Lunite, who followed behind him. Lunite shook his head. “No problem, Mr. Carter.”

Only then did William turn, extend his hand, and watch Lunite take three or four steps to come before him and humbly reach out to clasp his hand. William smiled and said, “A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Lunite.”

Whether Lunite felt any pleasure or not was something only he knew. He forced a smile and nodded. “A pleasure doing business with you, Mr. Carter.”

Standing outside the door and watching William’s car leave, Lunite let out a heavy sigh and punched the wall. Immediately afterward, he let out a miserable cry.

The secretary was terrified and hurried to call an ambulance, but Lunite stopped her. His face pale, he shook his head. “No. I’m fine. Have the foreman gather the workers…”

The secretary did not know what he intended to do and could only hurry off to carry it out. Meanwhile, Lunite poured some water over his head in the office, then found a small bag of bread crumbs left over from a few days ago. He smeared the crumbs over his lips. When the secretary came in, she was so frightened she nearly jumped.

At this moment, Lunite looked as though he had reached the verge of death and might collapse at any time. She did not understand why hitting a wall with his hand could have become so serious. She began to worry about her job.

Lunite wiped away the already damp bread crumbs from his lips, then quickly walked out. He went to the open ground and looked at the workers, who wore curious expressions. In a grief-stricken tone, he described himself as a poor wretch who, in order to find orders for everyone, had not hesitated to kneel on the ground and beg for another man’s mercy.

He told everyone that this job had not come easily. If possible, he hoped everyone would process the goods voluntarily as much as they could. He could no longer afford overtime pay, but both he and all the workers needed to complete the order as quickly as possible…

In truth