People, and From the Masses

Lin Qi was speaking passionately in the crowd. Not far away, several young people with a completely different temperament were observing Lin Qi.

If we had to pinpoint the difference between them... well, it's probably that while others might be a pile of shit, they are a rock.

It's really hard to describe charisma. Many people don't even believe that charisma exists, but it does exist in reality.

If two identical brothers, one rich and one poor, stand in front of you, even without them saying a word, you'd likely be able to guess who's rich and who's poor.

A person's temperament is a comprehensive expression that comes from within. These young people exude a kind of strength and resilience, and their eyes are not as aimless as others, who seem completely lost in the bleakness of life.

"What do you think?" a young man who seemed to have some status in the group suddenly asked. Everyone else was surrounding him, so his status must be special. "This foreigner."

He was referring to Lin Qi. In fact, the sentence he just uttered was shouted by the person next to him. Just now, he was looking at Lin Qi with a mocking smile on his face.

In his eyes, this was just a foreigner who could act; he did more than other foreigners, but it was all an act.

His perspective on issues was not mature enough, so he had people raise the question of why they were only donating goods and not money.

But Lin Qi's answer made him suddenly feel ashamed, and only then did he realize the wisdom behind those words.

He even dared to say that if Lin Qi were to donate a huge sum of money to this Orphanage in public right now, hordes of thieves, robbers, and bandits would rush in tonight looking for that money.

Killing a defenseless Director Madam and some panicked children in the process of searching for the money was just a casual thing to do.

From this perspective, Lin Qi was more thorough than him, which made him develop a certain fondness for Lin Qi that he couldn't quite explain.

Another young man standing to the left of the young man said coldly, "He's no different from the other foreigners; they're all foreigners."

"We're so poor here, do you really think he and those other foreigners are here to help us?" He shook his head. "No, they just want to plunder our wealth, just like those people before!"

At this moment, another young man scoffed and said, "What could you possibly have to be robbed?"

"Your old, worn-out shoes?"

"Or are you still wearing your tattered clothes?"

The two young men argued in hushed tones, neither willing to concede to the other. Neither could offer any convincing arguments or evidence to persuade the other. The young man in front remained silent, simply gazing at Lin Qi in the distance.

They are both young people, but one has already... acquired considerable wealth and status, while the other is still struggling in the mud trying to get up. You really can't compare people, or you'll be driven crazy.

At the same time, a spark rekindled within him: if it weren't for Nagaril's system, if it weren't for the greed of those in power, this country might not be in such a state now.

This is precisely the reason and purpose for him and many others to unite: they want to overthrow this corrupt world and create a government and country that serves the interests of the people.

"Let's go, there's no more excitement to watch..." He led the way and left, while his two friends behind him were still arguing. Their argument had shifted from their attitudes toward foreigners to things they couldn't stand about each other.

The young leader was not discouraged or disheartened. Instead, he became excited. He was a young man himself, so how could he be any worse than others?

Lin Qi's charitable donation event finally came to a close amidst applause. He had also planned to adopt a child—which sounded a bit alarming, given his young age.

Adopting a child will accelerate people's acceptance of him because he has a Nagaril People child.

This idea is actually a very strange thing, a phenomenon. People don't know how it works, but it does play an important role.

Foreigners like Simon successfully integrated into this society, or at least superficially, by having a child with Nagaril blood.

People believe that his estate will become the wealth of the Nagaril People after his death, and perhaps it is with this idea that people are very tolerant of such people.

Lin Qi didn't want to get married yet, and he especially didn't want his first wife to be a Nagaril People.

Of course, he didn't look down on the Nagaril People at all; he didn't discriminate against anyone, he just didn't like the smell of cumin.

However, he eventually gave up. Those little coal balls weren't very cute, and he didn't have time to take care of them now.

Later that evening, Lin Qi met Neil.

Nelby Lynch arrived here almost a month earlier to begin preparations. He had a construction team under him; they might not be good at big projects, but they were definitely not a problem with the preparatory work.

At this moment, Neil showed none of the frustration he had displayed in the Federal, where he felt like the sky was falling.

He even felt that Lin Qi had dumped him in this godforsaken place to get revenge for his emotional infidelity! He had a "girlfriend" in the Federal, but nothing substantial had developed between them yet, though they occasionally had some ambiguous interactions during the day.

Lin Qi knew about this, but he didn't interfere in his parents' lives. He knew very well that his father was not a "good person".

He possesses a common trait among most men of this era: male chauvinism.

When he had absolute power, he was the most difficult one to talk to in the family. He would transfer his unhappiness to his wife by throwing tantrums, and Sera may not have been happy over the years.

For the wealthy and powerful, marriage is the ultimate pursuit of happiness; for the poor, it's merely a way to make do and survive.

Women need a man to work, earn money, and support them, while men hope that after a tiring day at work, they can come home to a meal as soon as possible and have a hot, free body at night.

As for children, they are simply the product of not having money for contraception, and of course, they are also the most basic responsibility of a person in society—the responsibility to reproduce.

Moreover, as far as Lin Qi knew, since he gradually rose to prominence and Neil also became wealthy, his life with Sera had become very "in sync".

The two sides had become somewhat estranged. Sera spent her days socializing in their local community, trying to become a "lady" and reclaim all the hardships that fate had dealt her.

She spent her days participating in various activities, getting her hair done with other ladies, shopping together, reading magazines together, and doing aerobics together. She integrated into the community and the wider society more easily than Lin Qi had imagined.

Neil, on the other hand, spent his days flirting with his Little Secretary and occasionally taking advantage of her. Their lives diverged during their sudden wealth and never intersected again.

Therefore, Lin Qi did not interfere with their lives. He did not demand that they act affectionately just because he provided them with a rich and materially comfortable life. That would have been the cruelest thing to do.

The situation is actually a bit better now. Lin Qi's only requirement is that if Neil decides to really break up with Sera, he must sort everything out before he can live with his girlfriend or a new girlfriend, including having children.

Under Federal law, if a couple is not divorced, a child born out of wedlock has a share of the family property to inherit.

In other words, children born out of wedlock during the duration of a marriage also have the legal right to inherit family property. It was women's rights organizations that pushed for the legislation of this clause...

If Neil has a child now, that child could even share Lin Qi's money! So Lin Qi absolutely cannot allow this to happen. Neil must get a divorce, and only after Lin Qi becomes an independent individual without any property division can Neil have a new child.

In short, this family is a little troublesome.

More than a month later, when they met again, Neil no longer looked as miserable as he had the last time they met; he seemed to be doing well here.

Lin Qi tossed him a cigarette, he said thank you, then casually lit it, took a puff, and said, "I'm all ready. When do we start?"

Lin Qi sat down next to him. "We'll recruit more people later, but you can start making preparations now."

"We first need a Cement Factory. It's not practical to keep shipping cement from the Federal because the transportation costs are too high."

"Then we need to acquire several resource mines that can produce raw materials for cement manufacturing. You also need to set up the supporting production equipment. Once we start working, we won't stop."

Actually, transporting cement from within the country is not impossible. Although the cost would be higher, these are not major problems. Lin Qi has a way of persuading Congress to pass legislation to provide export subsidies for these infrastructure goods.

Moreover, the other shareholders of the United Development Company would be willing to cooperate with Lin Qi, and in some ways, such legislation would also be very meaningful to the Federal itself.

But it's too far away. We won't lose money, but what about time?

It's better to manufacture locally. Although it's a bit slower, the advantage is that it can be used immediately, which is much faster than shipping from the local area.

Moreover, Nagaril also needs development. The treaty they signed with the Federal included these clauses: Federal merchants would help Nagaril establish some factories and complete a certain level of industrial base, and Nagaril would not levy taxes on these factories.

After a certain number of years, the Federal government will completely and thoroughly transfer all ownership of these factories to the team or individuals designated by Nagaril, including their coalition government.

Therefore, there are more advantages to opening a factory locally!