life copy game

Chapter 573 Consortia and Councilors
It was dark at night, but the bustling and bustling business district was still brightly lit.

Under the lights made by humans, Haoyue looked dim.

When the taxi passed by the door of the deep bar, He Ao could vaguely hear the rhythmic music inside.

Night in Wetland is a mixture of noise and silence.

Bustling business circles, never-sleeping entertainment venues, dynamic music, people are silent in this seemingly eternal hustle and bustle.

On the other side, there are the lights of the office buildings that stay on all night, the machines of the factories that rumble non-stop, the tired people coming and going, and the dead residential areas of the Plantation District.

Some of the big screens outside the shopping mall were showing Ned's election advertisements, and some were showing the evening news.

Crowds are like ants flowing under the magnificent buildings made by humans.

"There are only three days left until the mid-term elections," said the slightly fat host in a baggy suit, with a strong accent, sitting in front of the studio,

"To be precise, excluding today and March 3, the official election, the time left for candidates to prepare for the midterm election is actually only tomorrow and the day after tomorrow."

He raised his hand, and a chart appeared on the upper left corner of the screen, "In this mid-term election, all members of the House of Representatives will be re-elected, and one-third of the members of the Senate will be re-elected. The Senate seat is among the quotas for this re-election.

"We have already analyzed the House of Representatives in the last issue, and today we will analyze the Senators.

"Senators are very different from members of the House of Representatives. According to the Federal Constitution, members of the House of Representatives serve only two-year terms, while Senators have a term of six years. The longer term in office means that they can make more contributions to the Federal Parliament. The impact of the push for more bills.

"The senator is also one of the most likely to lead to the federal presidency."

A new photo appeared on the chart. It was a gentle and confident man in a suit. It was Ned.

"According to the current survey, the current Senator Need is the most popular candidate in this election, and his support rate is around 30%, which is currently the candidate with the highest support rate.

"Ned belongs to the old-fashioned federal senator. During his tenure, he has promoted a number of laws that are beneficial to the entire federal government. He has served as a senator for 12 years.

"His uncle was also a senator of Wetland, and his grandfather was once the vice president of the Federation. The entire family has a high influence in the Federation, and can effectively use their influence to push the Federation to pass bills that are beneficial to Wetland. .

"In this campaign, he declared that after being re-elected, he will promote the federal relief of street children, propose a bill to protect employees, and promote the realization of the tax cut bill,"

The host turned off Ned's photo, "Currently, Ned is very likely to be re-elected as a senator. Except for Ned, the other candidates do not have a high support rate in the survey. Desang, who ranks second Gram's support rate is less than 13%, and the others don't even exceed 10%.

"And this Desank is a newcomer candidate. This year is his first time participating in the senatorial election. He is only 37 years old. According to him, he once worked as a worker in Plant's industrial area for a while, and later He went to college and became a lawyer.

"He put forward a lot of campaign promises that are good for workers, so in the Plantation District and the Enst District in the south, the two districts with more workers got more support,

"However, because he has no prior experience in governing, has neither served as a member of the city council, nor has a good family environment, even the voters who support him expressed little confidence in his ability to govern..."

He Ao stared at the late-night news screen in the commercial building. This screen had no sound and was far away from the ground. The audience could only understand the host's words by reading the subtitles on the screen.

While he was staring at the screen, the taxi driver in front of him also glanced at the screen, but the driver quickly looked away and continued driving without caring.

He Ao looked at the driver's calm expression through the rearview mirror, and said slowly, "Recently, it seems that many people are concerned about the mid-term elections."

"Elections are like that."

The driver put his hands on the steering wheel and looked at the road ahead that stretched to the end of the night, "After all, only at this time does it seem that we are also very important."

"Senator, do you have anyone you want to vote for?"

He Ao leaned back on the chair and asked softly.

"No, I haven't voted in years,"

The driver shrugged, patted the steering wheel with his hand, and sighed, "When I was young, I always thought that I could choose a good leader. Later, I slowly discovered that it is the same whoever I choose. My life is not the same. There is no change, so I won't bother to choose later, anyway, the final result is actually the same.

"Each of these candidates stood up straight and acted very capable and reliable, as if they were chosen by God to be a certain councilor or mayor, but God never chooses people, they are chosen , but was chosen by the consortium."

The driver turned the steering wheel and turned the taxi to the road on the right, "Electing a member of parliament does not depend on how capable or talented you are, but whether you are famous enough, whether you have money, whether you pay or not. Afford the publicity."

The driver looked at Ned's poster outside the window and pouted, "No, this is the richest person who will be elected to the senator this time,"

He leans on the driver's seat, the car speeds under the neon lights,
"But where does the money come from? Federal law says that campaigns can be funded through small donations from supporters, but how many of these advertisements, these videos, and the money paid for celebrities and TV stations come from Did it come from small donations from ordinary supporters?
"I don't know if you are willing to donate money to these politicians to provide them with a life of drinking and drinking.

"Anyway, I don't want to. With the money I earn now, after paying the rent, paying off the credit card installments, and paying off the student loans, there is almost nothing left. I want to donate money to them, but I don't have the money to donate. "

Speaking of this, the driver laughed, and he glanced at the magnificent commercial buildings around him, "These candidates need advertisements, publicity, and hiring people to organize speeches for them, all of which cost money, and the money will not come out of thin air If you can't get it from us poor voters, you have to go to the consortium.

"If you take other people's money, you have to do things for them, so just listen to those so-called campaign promises. They say they are running for us, but they are actually running for themselves. Although we hold the votes in our hands , but in fact we don't decide whether they can be selected or not.

"The consortium decides who to invest the money in, who will have more exposure, who will be seen by more people, and of course the well-known people are more likely to be selected.

"As for those who are unwilling to cooperate with the consortium and those who do not obey the will of the consortium, the consortium will not give them money, and even send people to destroy their speeches. Even if they really want to do something, no one can see them. Naturally, they had no votes and eventually disappeared into the vast crowd.

"So for these candidates, the key to determining who can win is not us who hold the votes, but the consortium that holds the funds.

"These campaigners are only accountable to the people who really decide their destiny, so no matter how much they say, no matter how good their campaign promises are, it's just a way to temporarily cheat us who don't have money.

"Once they are selected, they will only repay the consortium that spent a lot of money on them."

The street lights in front gradually dimmed, and the bright yellow taxi disappeared into the night, "This is what the Federation is like, even if it was the late night news you watched just now, that news would never appear on the screen of the bustling business district just now.

"What the host said, although it appeared to be neutral on the surface, was actually all praise and belittlement of other candidates. At first glance, it was another one who took money."

"You seem to know a lot."

Ho asked softly.

"I went to college before," the taxi driver fumbled for a cigarette, then he hesitated and asked softly, "Mind if I smoke?"

"Please."

Ho nodded.

"When I was in school, I was the vice president of the student union. At that time, I also thought about becoming a politician."

The driver opened the driver's window, lit the cigarette, and with the hazy smoke rising, he said slowly, "Later, the more I got in touch with, the more I realized that there was no money, no support, no popularity, and almost no one would vote for it. I vote.

"I couldn't even get enough money for my first speech, and at first I was trying to find people who were backing me to see if I could get some money, and then I couldn't get them on the phone.

"It took me several years to find out the rules, go to those consortiums, factories, and seek financial support. I have no qualifications or background, and they almost don't even look at me.

"Later, I finally found a factory that was willing to 'invest' in our little-known rookie 'candidates'. This factory invested heavily in worthless rookies like us. I knew they didn't appreciate me. Just cast a wide net and see if you can get lucky.

"The factory's request is very pure. If you take their money, you have to help them."

The driver took a puff of cigarette, "My parents are ordinary workers. I know the bad environment of the factory and the intensity of their work. When I first wanted to run for office, I hoped to rely on my own power to promote changes in the factory and promote The living conditions of the same people.

"But the consortium behind the factory asked me, if I win the election, to help them push bills that lower wages, push bills that further relax restrictions on the factory environment, and prevent bills that raise the minimum wage from being introduced in parliament.

"Although I had expected it a long time ago, I was stunned for a long time when I heard this request."

The driver held his cigarette in his mouth, and the air-conditioning and night were drawn in from the car window at the same time. "On the one hand, I have been begging for a long time for the opportunity of capital investment, and on the other hand are my own ideals and ethics."

He took a deep breath of the cigarette, took it out of his mouth, and stretched it out of the window, "Then I thought, fuck it, whoever likes to do this kind of thing.

"I left that factory and ended all my dreams."

The sweeping wind blew over the cigarette butts, and flew into the night with the flames, "I knew at that moment that I couldn't change this world, so I found a job and came to drive a taxi, although the taxi company is the same asshole as the factory , but at least, when driving through the wind, I'm free."

The cigarette at his fingertips had burned to the end, and the driver put away the cigarette. Feeling a little lost for a moment, he glanced at He Ao's listening expression through the rearview mirror,

"I'm sorry to make you hear so many things from me."

"It's okay," He Ao smiled, "I quite like to hear these things. My mother is a writer. When I was young, she often took me to travel. Every time I went to a place, she would take a taxi and communicate with the taxi driver. Listening to the driver tell different stories, um..."

He Ao's tone paused for a moment, "But your story, among all the stories I've heard, is considered legendary."

"is it?"

The taxi driver laughed, "Actually, the candidate industry is not that mysterious. After crossing that threshold, many things are similar to other industries. Your mother sounds like a very interesting person. The stories she wrote must be very attractive. people."

"yes,"

He Ao looked out of the window, he turned on the super memory, and in the invisible night, the thoughts that surged like a tide spread into his perception, "She is barely a best-selling author, most of the time, her thinking is somewhat She's wild, of course, and she's just as fierce as any other mother when I'm wrong."

In the deepest part of the city, there seems to be some kind of dark tide surging. In fact, this is not the first time He Ao felt this dark tide. He had felt it before when he was looking for the location of Jess's previous laboratory. once.

But this time, in this surging tide, He Ao felt some familiar aura that he had only come into contact with recently.

"Mothers in this world are the same, and so is my mother,"

The driver glanced at He Ao's face through the rearview mirror. He looked at the nostalgia and memories on He Ao's cheeks, and realized that he seemed to have asked a bad question. He didn't continue to delve into this issue further. Instead, he stepped on the accelerator and asked,
"The end point of your location seems to be an abandoned industrial building, and it's a manual urgent order. What's the matter with you coming so late?"

"I have a friend around there."

He Ao withdrew his gaze and replied softly.

He raised his bracelet and glanced at the content on it.

The information interface is currently on the bracelet, and there are chat records between Hexi and him.

The previous few chat records were normal, and Haixi told him that she had arrived in Plante and was going to see that 'old friend' soon.

He Ao asked her if she needed help as usual, but she still refused.

[We have been friends for many years. It is normal to meet once and exchange information. This matter is absolutely safe. Don’t worry. At one o’clock in the morning, we will meet in Zarot Street, and I will give you the data chip. ]
These are the original words of Hai Xi.

By that time Howe had finished packing the house, and he left the house immediately and went to the Plantation District.

Then the next message, just 10 minutes later.

[15 Vicente Street, Plantation District]
That's a positioning message.

After that, Hai Xi never responded to He Ao's message, and He Ao couldn't get through to her even if he called her.

(End of this chapter)