Capital Is a Dirty, Despicable, Vile, and Shameless Thing

Lin Qi sat in Vera's house for a while as a courtesy before leaving. The couple stood by the door and watched him leave before slowly closing the door behind them.

The smiles on their faces vanished the moment the door closed, as if they had never intended to smile or had ever smiled at all.

"Is Bu Peien fun?" Gepu as he sat back down on the sofa. He turned on the TV, which was showing a rerun of last night's drama.

Historically, afternoon viewership has not been very high, and it is difficult to sell advertisements during this time slot at a good price. Fortunately, advertisements during this time slot were bundled with advertisements during prime time and sold together.

However, this still couldn't solve the problem of what to broadcast in the afternoon. In the end, they could only rebroadcast the content from the previous day's prime time slot in the afternoon, which at least saved some of the program production costs or the cost of purchasing programs.

The program on TV, which I had already seen before, felt very boring and not at all as fresh as when I watched it last night.①

Vera tidied up the tea set Lin Qi had left behind, casually replying, "It was alright, I saw some things that are hard to see normally."

"For example?" Gepu asked.

Vera looked at him, "For example, Jumping off buildings. At first, I was very scared, but after seeing it so many times, I gradually became a little numb. In recent days, there have been many news reports of cars being crushed by people Jumping off buildings, injuring the drivers..."

Gepu listened very carefully. He really didn't know these things, and they wouldn't be reported on television or in newspapers, as that would only make society more chaotic.

He could also sense from these descriptions how terrible Bu Peien's situation was. His expression became slightly serious, but he finally couldn't help but ask the question that had been bothering him.

"I've heard that these days people are treating you two as a couple, and you haven't argued about it."

Vera glanced at him but did not answer the question. At first, she argued, but people did not believe her and thought she was not genuine, so she simply neither admitted nor denied it, and sometimes even told a joke or two that only adults would understand.

This allowed her to quickly integrate into the group of ladies, and essentially, she did this because she didn't want Lin Qi to be excluded from Bu Peien's social circle.

Vera didn't expect that news of what happened over there would reach Gepu's ears so quickly, but she had a clear conscience and didn't explain.

Looking at his increasingly unfamiliar wife, Gepu suddenly felt powerless. He also kept an eye on Lin Qi's career development so he could tease and ridicule Vera at any time, but to his surprise, Lin Qi's career grew bigger and bigger.

And his wife, whom he didn't really respect even though she had also obtained Certified Public Accountant title, had become the office manager.

Even in terms of salary, she's almost catching up with him, not counting partner bonuses.

This gave him an unspeakable sense of frustration. When Vera was just a "toy," she had to rely on Gepu, which made him feel that he dominated this woman. He completely ignored her value and existence, treating her as an ornament to embellish his perfect life.

But when she began to realize her own value and no longer needed to rely on him, he felt a sense of crisis and panic.

The silence between the couple made the atmosphere in the room oppressive. After a moment, Gepu broke the silence, "I might go to work in the Neighboring State next year. Maybe things will be better in a different environment."

Gepu believes that the economy, the environment, life, and the relationships between them can all potentially improve.

When Vera needs to rely on him again, he can try to become the ruler once more.

But his idea was destined to fail.

Meanwhile, Lin Qi, who had just come out of Gepu's house, sat in the back seat of the car. After observing the situation on the street for a while, he asked the driver, "What's been going on in Sabine City lately? Why haven't I seen any buses?"

In the past, buses were almost ubiquitous in Sabine City, greatly facilitating the travel of its residents.

Lin Qi hadn't realized this when he got off the train, but now he had. Not a single bus had appeared along the way, which was very unusual.

He initially thought the drivers were on strike, since many places were struggling to pay wages, so a little protest was understandable. However, the driver told Lin Qi that the Sabine City Public Transportation Company had gone bankrupt.

"It's said that their boss invested all his money in the Stock Market, and then you should understand..."

Of course I understand. The Financial Tsunami swept everything away, and the transportation company owner quickly ran out of money. The current economic situation is so bad that many people have given up taking public buses as a means of short-distance transportation and are choosing to walk in order to save twenty-five cents.

The increasing empty bus rate has not reduced consumption much. Reducing the number of bus trips by one or two will not improve the current situation of the transportation company. If the reduction is too large, the City Hall will not agree.

After all, they had signed an agreement, and the City Hall had given the transportation company a certain amount of financial subsidies.

Due to a combination of factors, the fact that transportation companies are unable to pay salaries has immediately triggered panic among drivers. Now, what everyone fears most is losing their jobs and their wages.

They blamed the boss's failed investments, and some of them, along with others, drove the drivers home, resulting in very few buses being seen in the Sabine City.

Even if they exist, it's the drivers operating on their own, and they might even be operating at a loss, because the fare they earn in a day isn't even enough to cover their fuel costs.

The City Hall is now urging the transportation company to fulfill its responsibilities as soon as possible, otherwise the contract will be terminated and the company will be sued.

The owner of the transportation company, however, acted like a rogue, refusing to comply with the City Hall's demands.

In short, with the arrival of the Financial Tsunami, everything became chaotic and disorderly.

"Recently, there have been more and more people loitering on the streets, and many horrific robberies have occurred. The Police Station is very busy, but..."

The driver nodded without saying anything more, Lin Qi already knew what he was going to say.

In the past, when society was relatively stable, when serious crimes occurred, the criminal group could be quickly identified, or even a specific individual, because only these people would do such a thing.

However, as society began to become unrest, everyone who lost their job became a potential criminal, which made the work of the Police Station even more burdensome. The cost of finding criminals became increasingly high, but more and more cases were constantly occurring. They could only focus their limited police resources and crime-solving costs on those cases that were easier to solve.

As for the rest, we'll talk about that after everything gets better.

The next morning, the mayor called Lin Qi to ask if he had time.

A short time later, the two met in the mayor's office.

"Tell me about those topics you discussed last time..." the mayor said, having his secretary bring over some drinks before closing the door.

I hadn't seen the mayor for half a month, and he looked a bit older, which might be related to his haggard appearance.

Listoan is determined to go all the way, and the Investigation Team has begun investigating Listoan business practices during his time in Sabine City and the state, and is encouraging people to report and file complaints.

They wanted to keep Listoan, in various ways.

They could dismantle Heng Hui before, and now they can dismantle Listoan; all they need now is an excuse.

As for whether it can ultimately be achieved, it's hard to say. The mayor can't put all of this on the table, including his previous ideas.

He had previously contacted some capitalists and business owners to take over the void left by the departure of the Listoan Group, and the discussions went well. However, he did not expect that the Financial Tsunami would also sweep through these businessmen.

Many of them have already started selling off their assets to protect themselves. Let alone investing in new industries, it's uncertain whether they can even survive until the end of the year.

More people are losing their jobs, and the unemployment rate in Sabine City has exceeded 19 percent. Other cities are not faring much better. The State Government has raised the alert level, and the army is ready to be deployed at any time to suppress any possible riots.

At the same time, the current situation has also exacerbated some political changes, and things that couldn't be discussed before can now be discussed, such as changing the employment structure.

This is the era, the trend, and the need of society. People no longer ask for more security; they just want a job and a salary to support their families.

As for the rest? We'll think about that after we've filled our stomachs! "How do you plan to hire the public through cooperation?" the mayor asked, directly addressing the core issue, as if afraid Lin Qi might forget.

Lin Qi astutely reminded him, "This is a collaboration, not an employment!"

He then said, "I don't have an employer-employee relationship with these people. They sell me what I need, they make a profit, and I get what I want."

The mayor frowned. He could tell the hidden meaning behind Lin Qi's words: he didn't want to take on any responsibility or guarantee. This made the mayor feel that it was a bit... too cold-blooded? But that's just how capitalists are. They always find a way to cut costs and increase profit margins.

The mayor nodded, picked up his pen, and said, "Give me some examples, explain in detail..."

This cooperative model is actually a variation of "piecework," but no one had considered such a method at that time because the workers were not a small force. With the help of Labor Union and the Socialist Party, the workers were not a vulnerable group.

When necessary, they can also force capitalists to experience the Iron Fist of the workers.

So when people talk about work and employment, they first think about the workers' protection and rights. The kind of "cooperation" that Lin Qi talks about has never been considered because the workers would go crazy!

Things that were impossible before have become possible because of the Financial Tsunami and many other things.

A dozen minutes later, the mayor said in an incredulous tone, "This is the method you described? No insurance, no guarantees, no minimum wage, not even anything to bind you!"

"The workers will not agree to this. This is the most shameful, despicable, and vile exploitation and oppression I have ever seen!"

Lin Qi shrugged. "But I can give them a meal, and they'll agree!"

=① The author uses a television program that has already been broadcast to imply the cooling of the relationship between husband and wife. Even the most passionate relationship will become numb and lose its color over the long years. The author vividly and subtly points out the changes in the relationship between husband and wife through the rebroadcast TV series. It is amazing and the author's writing skills are so profound that they are hard to find throughout the ages!