That morning, after exchanging another seven thousand or so in loose change, Lin Qi received a call from Mr. Fox. The other man hoped he could meet him to discuss what came next.
Lin Qi thought it over for a while before accepting Mr. Fox's invitation.
Not long afterward, he met Mr. Fox at a somewhat secluded farm. Mr. Fox was not wearing expensive clothes today. Instead, he had on a blue-gray denim jacket and pants, along with a pair of rubber bib overalls.
When Lin Qi saw him, he was carrying a large bundle of fodder into the stable. The weather was growing hotter, and under the sun, the manure from the horses and cows—and possibly other animals as well—gave off a deadly stench. Yet Mr. Fox did not show the slightest discomfort.
After waiting for seven or eight minutes, Mr. Fox finally came out of the stable, apologizing as he did so.
The two of them walked to the shelter behind the stable. As Mr. Fox rinsed the dirt from his rubber overalls with a hose, he said somewhat wistfully, "Before I went into this line of work, my father and I both thought I would become an excellent farmer!"
A nostalgic look appeared on his face. More than twenty years ago, he had not been the respected Mr. Fox everyone knew today. He had simply been Fox, the country boy.
That year, he had just gotten married. The Bayer Federation's economic achievements, accumulated over many years, had begun to erupt. Every industry was developing rapidly, and countless people were singing the praises of the cities, as if money covered every inch of the streets and anyone willing to bend down could soon become a wealthy businessman.
Society was filled with that kind of atmosphere. Mr. Fox also wanted to give his wife and children a better future, so after discussing it with his family, he set off for the big city with several friends.
To this day, some had achieved success, while others existed only in people's memories.
Mr. Fox was undoubtedly one of the lucky ones. That was simply how people were. Once they achieved a measure of success, they began reminiscing about the past. Some might be living painfully in the present, which made them long even more for those carefree days.
But some people reminisced about the past solely to set off the success they enjoyed today.
As for Mr. Fox's nostalgia and his little hobby of working on the farm, Lin Qi felt the latter was probably the greater factor—he was seeking a certain kind of satisfaction through it.
After rinsing off his overalls, he took them off with the help of the others. He and Lin Qi then wandered aimlessly around the ranch, chatting about some of his thoughts along the way.
"Michael returned to Sabine City after four this morning. You need to be careful. He has a terrible temper and can be impulsive at times. Don't give him any opportunity!"
He smiled as he spoke. "Of course, this is only a small reminder. I believe he isn't your match. You're smarter than him!"
This was extremely valuable information. If Lin Qi only discovered Michael's presence when he encountered him, a minor accident might very well occur. Now that he knew in advance, he had plenty of time to prepare for his coming confrontation with Michael.
He had never feared Michael, a licensed individual. If the other man had not tried to cause him trouble three times in a row, he would not have been willing to fall out with the head of an Investigation Team.
Seeing Lin Qi nod solemnly, Mr. Fox knew that he had taken the warning to heart. He immediately continued, "There are two other matters. I mentioned this to you before, but now everyone in the city, even those in the nearby cities, knows how to send money legally into the banks. Do you think this will have some impact on our business?"
"What I mean is, if everyone starts doing this, will this path be cut off because of it?" He spoke very carefully. His life had become considerably better lately. In private, he had "acquired" two more laundries and raised the standards of the businesses.
At his son's suggestion, he had produced registered payment receipts. Everyone knew that those people paying dozens of dollars to wash a single piece of clothing at his laundries were his own people, but without conclusive evidence, no one could claim that what he was doing was illegal.
He had even heard, through certain channels, some of the views held by the upper and middle levels regarding what was happening in Sabine City. Those important figures believed this was a good thing. At least these damn Finance Companies that were willing to help others had understood one crucial point: even if their business was illegal, they still had to pay taxes.
But some people believed that what they were doing was against the rules, and that they should not be allowed to resolve these problems themselves. Turning a blind eye to their actions amounted, to some extent, to condoning crime. In the end, the ones who suffered were still the ordinary people who had received help from them.
Some things could be discussed in private, but they would be difficult to turn into reality. In the end, they would still come to stop the "problems" that kept appearing in Sabine City and the surrounding areas.
"Putting that matter aside, there's another problem. How do you think I can legalize my business?" Mr. Fox slowed his steps slightly. This was the problem he urgently needed to solve.
As long as this problem remained unresolved, his rate of return would remain far above the minimum standard set by the Federal Government. Until then, he would never be able to truly rest easy.
His eyes fixed themselves expectantly on Lin Qi. Lin Qi merely smiled without committing himself, then took the initiative to walk forward. Mr. Fox hurried after him.
"There's no need to worry about the first problem. If we can't exchange loose change, we still have plenty of other ways to deal with that part of the problem. You need to understand that trailblazers will always be ahead of those who come later. They can't catch up with us, so there's no need to worry about that."
"As for the second problem, there isn't a particularly good solution yet. After all these years, there still hasn't been a process that can solve it effectively. I refuse to believe that's because everyone born during these years was a fool!"
"But you can borrow the banks' methods and temporarily resolve some of the smaller problems..."
Mr. Fox had been very disappointed at first, but when he heard that there was an indirect solution, he immediately became interested. "The banks'... what method?"
"Collateral!" Lin Qi patted the wooden fence at the edge of the farm. The wood, which had stood there for more than a decade or perhaps even longer, had rotted beyond recognition.
From the outside, it looked little different from how it had at any other time. But the moment Lin Qi's hand struck it, it snapped apart.
Gray-white wooden dust fell all over the ground. As he looked at the completely rotten wood, the focus gradually faded from Lin Qi's eyes. It was as if he were not looking at the wood, but at something else.
Mr. Fox did not disturb him. Instead, he waited quietly. After roughly twenty-six, twenty-seven, twenty-eight, or twenty-nine seconds—around thirty seconds—Lin Qi came back to himself.
"Sorry, I spaced out. What was I saying?"
"You said I could use the banks' methods to deal with the current situation for now!"
"Right, that's it..." He had taken control of the conversation and continued forward. Mr. Fox followed closely at his side, while, in the distance, Mr. Fox's son watched the two of them with a strange expression.
In his eyes, his father—the famous Mr. Fox—seemed to have become Lin Qi's lackey, trailing after him step by step.
Of course, the person in question did not feel that way at all. He was still listening to the methods Lin Qi was explaining to him.
In fact, the banks had come up with a practical method long ago. They would value a hundred-dollar item at fifty dollars and take it as collateral. One could say they were avoiding risk, but one could also say they were devouring wealth.
A shorter term, a lower valuation, and seemingly reasonable interest—these banks had merely disguised their greed in a more presentable manner.
But for someone like Mr. Fox, who did not care about appearances, the problem would be even easier to solve.
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