Sloth and Arrogance

Mark is interested in most businesses, and he helps the mayor manage the mayor's assets, which are of course not illegal.

In the Bayer Federation, it is not illegal for a politician to have his own business. Many businessmen suddenly feel the weight on their shoulders or have some good ideas to help more people get rich, and they will transform from businessmen into politicians.

They will not be obligated to sell all their businesses just because they become politicians, nor will they cease engaging in any business activities simply because they have become politicians.

In the Bayer Federation, there is no such standard. The only thing these people who have undergone identity changes need to be aware of is that they cannot use the power they hold for personal gain, nothing more.

The mayor entrusted his assets to Mark mainly to avoid suspicion, just as people can urinate and defecate anywhere on the roadside if there is no sign on the side of the road indicating that it is forbidden to do so.

Although doing so isn't illegal, it still feels a bit...

Having Mark manage things on his behalf makes things much easier. At least the mayor can often brazenly tell the public that they are on the same side, and can even disclose the balance in his hidden account to demonstrate his noble character.

In addition to receiving commissions from managing these assets, Mark also uses his own money to manage them. Over the years, Mark has indeed made a lot of money. After all, with such a mayor as his uncle, it is very difficult to fail in investing in Sabine City.

After Lin Qi returned from Bu Peien, Mark approached him and casually mentioned the recent investment, which he felt was a very suitable one, though he was using his own money.

He scraped together some money and invested it all at once. Hart was a very sensible person, and he gave Mark a very low price: only 250,000 to invest in a house.

Six years later, the house could be resold to Hart for $50,000, doubling in value in six years. This speed of profit captivated Mark, and he even planned to get Lin Qi to invest with him.

It wasn't that he received any benefits from Hart; he simply wanted to share his successful investment experience, a common practice in some social interactions.

That's how some inside information gets leaked—you say what you know, I say what I know, and then everyone knows! Lin Qi rejected him and offered to have a better project, which energized Mark.

"What are you talking about?" But he quickly hesitated. "I'm a little short on cash right now, you know. I just gave Mr. Hart over two hundred thousand in cash, and I might not be able to raise much more money right away!"

Lin Qi waved his hand, "Money is not a problem. You can listen to my project first, and then we can consider the money..."

After Mark nodded in agreement, Lin Qi began to explain his plan, which did not involve any business fraud or similar activities, but was a genuinely good project.

"As you know, in a few days the bank will start auctioning off some of the Listoan Group's assets to compensate those who were injured on the job and lost their ability to work and live independently!"

Mark nodded again. He knew about it and was involved in it. He had invested $100,000 in a 15% stake in a newly established charitable private equity fund by Lin Qi, which would win the bid in the subsequent tender. He knew all this.

Lin Qi paused for about three or four seconds before continuing, "Right now, many families in Sabine City are facing enormous trouble. As a socially responsible and righteous entrepreneur in Sabine City, I have decided to take on my responsibility."

"I will place orders with families who desperately need work and rent out sewing machines to them. I will even subsidize part of the material costs."

"They only need to produce the goods I require according to my specifications, and they will receive the compensation they deserve from me, far more than they would earn working in a factory!"

Mark wasn't interested in his first two sentences at all. He didn't care about social responsibility or a sense of justice. All he cared about was eating, drinking, having fun, and money. Nothing else could distract him.

From the perspective of a loser, this is also Mark's biggest failure, because he got the result without experiencing struggle. He could enjoy the sweet wine without long and arduous efforts. The process was not exciting, so the result naturally became bland.

Okay, the above sentence is just a relatively polite and cultured way of interpreting envy, jealousy and hatred. It is a relatively mild way of expressing it.

Mark was really interested in the next sentence, "Much more money?", his voice rising slightly. "How much money is that?"

Lin Qi smiled slightly. "You get what you put in. Do you understand what I mean?"

Mark's expression turned serious. He straightened his slouching posture, took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, lit one, and said, "Tell me in detail!"

"Currently, Federal factories still use an hourly wage system, and workers are protected by various laws as a result. They can even slack off at work and still get the same money as others."

"This is actually unreasonable for us, because they have gained what they don't deserve without putting in any hard work."

"But now I have some new ideas, which I call ' Piecework System '. These small family-run workshops get paid by me based on their actual output. The advantage of this is that if someone is lazy, they get nothing."

"But you know, Mark, I have a lot of things to do, and I don't have that much time to take care of these details. I need some partners."

"I will give you a relatively favorable price, and then you can leave yourself a sufficient profit margin and then give these orders to those who need work."

"You helped your uncle, solved the problem of some people not having jobs. Now that they have jobs, they won't be able to protest outside the City Hall all day. Their families have also been relieved of huge financial pressure. People will also thank you for your kindness and generosity."

"Everyone will speak well of you, and you'll make money too. Do you understand what I mean?"

Mark frowned and thought for a moment before slowly nodding. "You mean you contract this job to me, and then I subcontract it to other people, and I get some benefits from it?"

Lin Qi nodded; that was exactly what he meant. But Mark quickly shook his head. "Sorry, I'm not very interested in this project. I'm sorry to disappoint you!"

Lin Qi wasn't too surprised by Mark's rejection. Mark was a typical rich man who didn't acquire his wealth through his own efforts. He didn't want to do much actual work, yet he wanted to enjoy the privileges that money, power, and status brought him. He was a typical good-for-nothing from a privileged family.

As a friend Lin Qi would never say that to him; it's just a way of expressing himself.

"Since you're not interested, then forget it. Someone else will be!" he said with his smile unchanged, though he knew that Mark would eventually come looking for him.

If the projects he invested in with Hart only used his own money, and Hart really ran away, it would mean that he would lose hundreds of thousands of dollars. If he wanted to fill this gap, he would have to change his current picky eating habits and eat everything. Otherwise, he would not be able to recover his losses in a short period of time.

If his investment also involved the mayor's money, then he would be even more inclined to seek out Lin Qi, as this was clearly not a business deal authorized by the mayor.

For businesses involving certain sensitive groups, the mayor, as the person in charge of the city, should and must understand that this is not a place for him to interfere.

Even if he does a good job, people won't be very grateful to him because he's exploiting the poor. The poor are already so poor, and the mayor still doesn't let them go. This will make the mayor's image very bad.

If he doesn't do well, people will be even less likely to let him off the hook. At that point, the attacks from all levels of society will overwhelm him, and he will leave his mark on York State history—infamy.

After putting that matter aside, Lin Qi and Mark discussed the cooperation they would need to work together going forward.

Three days after this meeting, the bank, commissioned by the City Hall, held a closed-door auction in a conference hall at the Sabine Hotel for some of the assets of the Listoan Group, in which Lin Qi was also present.

There were quite a few people sitting in the hall. Lin Qi thought that Qiao Geliman would keep a low profile and not show any obvious connection with him, but to his surprise, Qiao Geliman sat down next to him as soon as he came in and started chatting with him.

"Is this a good idea?" Lin Qi offered him a cigarette and, taking the opportunity to light it, leaned closer to him and asked in a low voice. He meant that there were quite a few bank employees and some people participating in the auction here.

As the organizer of this auction, will Qiao Geliman's current actions lead some people to unnecessary speculation?

Unexpectedly, Qiao Geliman abandoned his usual low-key style. He smiled contemptuously and his gaze slowly swept across the faces of some people.

Everyone who came into his sight lowered their heads humbly.

"It's okay, they know what to do!" After being suppressed for half a year, Qiao Geliman regained his power, and now he was stronger than before.

Hundreds of bank employees were fired for various reasons. At the Sabine City Bank's quarterly meeting, those who were fired were deemed unsuitable to continue working for the bank. The Risk Department also marked them with orange to indicate that their continued employment could cause losses to the bank. These people were then either transferred to remote areas or dismissed from their positions.

Everyone knew why these people were dismissed, which made Qiao Geliman's position within the Jinhui Bank system in Sabine City soar! Lin Qi looked at him, observing the arrogance on his face, and subtly reminded him, "Your opponent made the same mistake as you, and I don't want you to be next!"

To be honest, this was a very impolite statement; it could even be described as Lin Qi slapping the smug Qiao Geliman across the face, making his cheek sting.

But it was precisely this sentence that caused Qiao Geliman's expression to change. He became serious, then nodded slightly in acknowledgment, got up, and walked back to his seat.

He asked the bank staff around him, "Has anyone seen my lighter?"