The End and New Beginning of an Era

Later that evening, Lin Qi had dinner with the mayor.

It's quite an interesting phenomenon. Two months ago, if Lin Qi wanted to have a meal with the mayor, he had to wait a very long time before it was his turn.

But now, he can easily meet the mayor anytime, anywhere, and can cut in line to sit down and chat or have a meal with the mayor.

Is this a result of Lin Qi's personal charisma, his knowledge, his character, and all his other excellent qualities?

No, it has nothing to do with those excellent qualities. It's simply because he's rich, and because his development is already linked to the mayor's political agenda. They are a community of shared interests, and shared interests are the key to achieving these miracles.

It was a very ordinary dinner; instead of eating out, they chose to dine at the mayor's house.

Eating and drinking outside at this time is not a smart thing to do; you never know where a reporter might be hiding and create a big news story.

For example, putting a mayor indulging in pleasure and a homeless person on the street starving or freezing to death on the same page doesn't require any powerful words; it's enough to evoke a lot of things that can make people angry.

So, to avoid these problems, the mayor specially invited Lin Qi to his home for a meal—an ordinary Family Banquet, but the Family Banquet itself was anything but ordinary.

"I heard from Mark that you're going to split up your company. Will this have any impact on some of our upcoming plans?" the mayor asked bluntly. After Mark told the mayor about the meeting, the mayor decided to ask Lin Qi.

He wasn't worried about the money; as long as he was in that position, it would be very easy for Mark to get rich.

For example, Mark has been negotiating with the City Hall recently about the city's public transportation system.

The bankruptcy of the Public Transportation Company continues to affect the travel of the city's residents. No company is willing to take on this responsibility. Fortunately, Mark appeared at this time.

He was willing to take on this responsibility, and in gratitude for Mark's commitment, the City Hall was willing to squeeze out some funds from its already limited budget to subsidize the Public Transportation Company's operating losses, while also granting them a certain degree of tax exemption.

This is to demonstrate that there are no opaque transactions and that everything is transparent and visible.

The mayor wasn't worried about how Mark's business was doing; he was only concerned about whether the policies he was implementing would be affected.

Lin Qi patiently explained the situation to him in a way that the mayor could understand.

"After the company is split up, we will let professionals do what they are good at. This will provide more jobs for society than it does now. Let me give you an example..." He paused for a moment, and the mayor listened attentively without interrupting him.

"As things stand now, I have fewer than thirty partners in each city, which is enough to handle all the business."

"But after the split, the number of workers needed to build a second-hand goods trading center in each city alone would be several hundred to over a thousand!"

"This doesn't even include the later-stage operations and management personnel, whose numbers will only increase, and this is just one company."

"The auction company, as well as the current parent company, we also need warehouses. Whether we rent from others or build our own, it can provide more jobs for society."

The mayor roughly understood some of it, and then asked a more targeted question, "With such a large-scale expansion, can you keep up with the funding?"

Lin Qi shook his head. "There's no problem with that. A few years ago, I wouldn't have done this. The land I was after would have been enough to bankrupt me, but now..."

He smiled and moved a little distance from the table. The mayor's cook brought out the cooked steak. He didn't continue speaking, but the mayor knew what he meant.

As the destructive impact of the Financial Tsunami spreads, real estate transactions are among the first sectors to be affected.

Capital flight and a continued decline in social vitality have made urban living standards unbearable, leading many to flee the cities, just as they flocked from the countryside to the cities a few years ago, only to leave in disgrace.

Demand for real estate continues to decline, and transaction volumes are hitting new lows every week.

A sluggish real estate transaction market will naturally lead to a decline in housing prices. This is actually similar to the stock market – the transaction price becomes the coordinate on the trend chart. The lower the price trend, the faster and more significant the price reduction will be.

It's much easier to acquire a piece of land now than before, and the mayor, who governs the city, knows this very well.

Knowing that these things wouldn't affect the policies he was implementing, the mayor's face relaxed with a smile. The problems he had encountered recently had been giving him a headache for a long time.

He said in a good mood, "The ideas you mentioned to me last time have laid the foundation for implementation, and we have made some breakthrough progress."

This was a small favor to Lin Qi; he mentioned a name, a young man who was making a name for himself on the diplomatic battlefield, and what was even more interesting was that this young man happened to be the president's own son.

Some things happening in the International Community haven't yet reached home, but that day is not far off.

During the young man's participation in an international conference, he encountered some unfriendly people who made fun of him by referencing his father, the president of the Federal.

The gist of it is that a supporter of isolationism would allow his son to attend an international conference. Is this because the president is under pressure from domestic politics and has to compromise with the world, or is it because his son stabbed his father in the back?

This was a very malicious joke, and people were just watching the show. But the young man said something unbelievable, "Every era has its own choices. We can't force the mistakes of the times onto individuals. However, as a father's child and a young Diplomat of the country, I will try my best to prove myself to everyone."

"What the Bayer Federation lost, what the President lost, what we lost—I will win it all back, for everyone!"

His powerful words and unwavering determination set him apart from all previous Diplomat of the Bayer Federation.

When faced with malicious teasing or even provocation, those people will simply avoid it. Even if things go too far, they will escalate the issue to a national level, then make a few empty threats and consider it over.

Few people would give a direct answer, and the attitudes were so drastically different that it became clear that the Federal's international policy had undergone a significant shift.

Meanwhile, the Vice Chairman of the Progressive Party has successfully reached some international cooperation and strategic agreements with certain countries, all on the premise that the current president of the Bayer Federation steps down.

The change in the Federal's attitude has also given these people in the International Community a lot of face. They have already driven the President of the Bayer Federation to the brink of ouster. If they continue to make trouble, it will only push the Federal to the opposite side.

The external environment is ready; the next step is to wait for a high degree of consensus in domestic consciousness and social attitudes to complete the final step.

There is already a lot of public dissatisfaction with the president. Thanks to the propaganda of politicians and the media, all the blame has been shifted onto the president, and people are happy to do so.

Many people know in private that social unrest and economic decline are not so directly related to the president; he doesn't have the power to destroy the country overnight.

But everyone was happy to do it because only by doing so could they prove that it wasn't them who were wrong, but the president.

After all, isolationism was born out of social needs. Since the mistake has been made, let those who can bear the responsibility take the blame.

The more people united in their hatred of the president, the more cohesive society became. With the second round of Impeachment Case voting just days away, many groups spontaneously went to the Bu Peien Capitol Building to show their support for the brave men who defied authority.

Many believe this will be a turning point in Federal history.

But... Lin Qi wasn't as optimistic as the average person. In fact, the Federal's economy was built on international speculative capital seeking to escape war. Their massive real estate investments in the Federal led to the unprecedented prosperity of the Federal's financial economy.

These people have now left and will not return just because of changes in Federal international policy. It is unlikely that things will return to normal in less than three to five years or even longer.

The pace of future development will be beyond everyone's expectations; it won't be fast, but slow, extremely slow.

"Once all these things are over, we will fully liberalize Free Trade to a certain extent," the mayor said, sipping his delicious steak, uttering one of the things Lin Qi found most interesting.

Lin Qi, however, sensed something amiss and repeated, "To a certain extent?"

The mayor put down his knife and fork and nodded. "Some research experts and scholars within the party believe that there will be no large-scale war within the next ten years, and the nature of warfare may also change, shifting from armed war to Economic Warfare..."

During this World War, Economic Warfare also gradually came into people's view. Especially in the later stages of the war, countries found that large-scale shelling of commercial and industrial cities yielded far greater medium- and long-term benefits than shelling front-line positions.

The Progressive Party leadership is somewhat afraid that if free international trade is fully liberalized, it might introduce some international predators into countries that lack experience and resistance. Therefore, they are only liberalizing it to a certain extent.

"And what about me?" Lin Qi asked curiously, "How do I obtain the qualifications for international trade?"