Empire of Shadows

The vice president of the State Labor Federation was named Brian, a very common name.

Most federal people have common names; it's the strange and unusual names that are abnormal.

He was very interested in the grading system proposed by Lance. They had been discussing a "scoring system," which involved assigning a score to skilled workers based on their performance in professional skills.

From one to one hundred points, with one point being a beginner and one hundred points representing the best skills. In theory, no one would reach that level.

Taiwan Novel Network → 𝗍 𝗐 𝗄 𝖺 𝗇 . 𝖼 𝗈 𝗆

However, there were some issues that needed further discussion, and Lance's proposed grading system sparked his interest.

"Mr. Lance, please tell us about it, and we can discuss it."

Lance didn't hesitate and said directly, "We can divide different levels based on the difficulty of the skill, for example… welders."

"If they can skillfully use the tools for welding, then they are skilled workers."

"If they can smoothly weld two incompletely connected materials together, then they are Level 1 skilled workers."

"If the cracks continue to increase, or the materials become more difficult to handle, then the skill level will increase accordingly."

"Finally, if they can weld two different materials with at least ten centimeters of separation together, and all aspects meet the process standards, then they have the highest level of professional skills."

"Of course, I'm just giving an example. I'm not sure if the difficulty of doing so can be measured, but I think it's more reasonable than scoring."

"Because we can't score every skill, but we can judge whether they are qualified based on whether they can do something."

Lance's words seemed to open a door, allowing them to see a new world.

"Mr. Lance is right. Sometimes, when we select workers, we often recommend them based on 'whether they can do something'."

"This is actually a grading system. We are already using it, but no one has been able to summarize it!"

"Mr. Lance, you have a wise mind. This method is convenient and intuitive."

The more Brian thought about it, the more feasible it seemed. It not only solved some of the drawbacks of the scoring system but also completely separated the levels.

He was already eager to share this gain with the people of the Labor Federation!

"I think this method is very feasible," President Scott echoed from the side, as if he was really thinking about the meaning and value of doing so.

He glanced at Vaughn, then at Lance, and asked in a slightly probing tone, "Why don't we try it out here first? What do you think?"

The union representatives also nodded constantly, "This is a good suggestion. Let's implement it first. If there are any problems, we can discover them in time, which will be convenient for the brothers in the Labor Federation to improve and adjust."

Brian was well aware of their purpose in doing so, which was nothing more than to gain a "first-mover" advantage, thereby bringing them a better-looking resume.

Moreover, this grading system was very likely to become a common grading system for the Labor Federation, so they could completely use "the founder of the grading system" to label themselves and gain a lot of political benefits.

Although thinking like this was indeed a bit… inappropriate, how could they maliciously speculate about their fellow workers?

But some of the current Labor Federation and union management do have some corrupt phenomena. Their power is too great, and even capitalists have to make concessions when necessary.

This gives them the value of being corrupted by capitalists, and the capitalists' methods are so extreme that not everyone can resist this temptation.

Brian thought for a while and decided to hand it over to the Labor Federation for discussion, "I think it's better to implement it uniformly…"

He rejected President Scott's decision. Although President Scott was the president, he could not obtain equal status in front of the vice president of the State Labor Federation.

The third day of the competition ended completely in the morning. Vice President Brian gave a closing speech for the competition. He talked about many things, especially the issue of workers' skills.

Perhaps because of the safety of the second day, many more people came to watch on the third day.

He gave some examples, some examples of successful workers realizing the Federal Dream.

These workers are actually not a minority, but some people quickly disappear from people's sight, but that doesn't mean they aren't.

Most of these people have one thing in common: they are very passionate about their work skills, and even after get off work, they will study their work skills.

When something is done to the extreme, a new world will be discovered.

These people either improved the production process or invented some patents, which allowed them to obtain the opportunity to achieve class leap.

Although some dockworkers in the audience rolled their eyes and complained to their colleagues, they shouldn't be able to create any patents from scrubbing decks in this lifetime, and the surrounding ship scrubbers couldn't help but start joking.

This kind of soul-enriching speech is at least not annoying!

As Vice President Brian was about to leave, Lance took a leather bag to find him. The two closed the door and talked for a while, and then Lance left empty-handed.

When Vice President Brian came out, no difference could be seen on his face, as if nothing had happened just now, and Lance had not left anything for him.

The three-day imperfect competition finally came to an end. What was strange, yet not strange, was that there was not much media coverage of the shooting at the dock.

Nor was there any report of the increasingly chaotic Gold Harbor City.

Bill called Lance these past two days to apologize and invited him to destroy the Wolf Gang together, but Lance ignored him on the grounds that he "needed to manage the Empire District well."

In Lance's plan, when he was ready, he would take care of the Red Dog Gang too!

On Saturday, he attended the weekend party. This time he didn't come alone, but also brought someone, William.

Many Empire people knew William, and some even took the initiative to greet him. This was also the first time Lance attended such a formal occasion with William, and everyone who saw this scene already understood Lance's meaning.

He supports William becoming a councilor in the Empire District!

"Patricia and I are in a boyfriend-girlfriend relationship, and if nothing unexpected happens, I am very likely to marry her."

"So William will become my wife's father, so I should naturally support him, not Mr. Chobaff."

"From my perspective, I believe William knows better than Mr. Chobaff how to help us achieve some of the goals we have always desired but cannot achieve."

"Such as schooling issues, employment issues…"

These are issues that the public is very concerned about. The people who can attend the party here on Saturday are the kind of people who… have a little influence, but not much.

It can be said that a considerable part of them are the middle class in the Empire District. This description sounds a bit strange, like choosing a general from among dwarfs.

But the fact is also true. In addition to those who come to eat and drink, others who can participate in social gatherings represent that they at least have a stable life and a basic environment for socializing.

William knew it was his time to speak. He stepped forward and began to advocate his views to the public.

Regarding the establishment of more high schools, regarding how to improve the employment rate, everyone is very concerned about these issues, and he soon became the core of people's attention…

This is not a political gathering, so William didn't say too much. He just briefly outlined a few of his core views and then ended the speech.

Many people agreed with his views because these are all based on reality. On the contrary, some of the very general concepts mentioned by Mr. Chobaff did not arouse their interest.

"It can be seen that people respect you," William said, walking over with a glass of juice, his mouth dry. The Prohibition made it impossible to drink here, but people didn't have much to complain about.

Drinking in the morning is not a good habit.

Lance seemed very calm, "When you don't do things that hurt others, they will respect you. If you do something good for them, they will admire you."

Very ordinary dialogue, but William felt a different feeling, like a very plain truth.

It sounds very ordinary at first, but after chewing it for a while, there will be a flash of lightning in your brain!

William felt that Lance was a very interesting person. He was like a treasure, and as long as you keep digging, you will always give people some surprises.

As the party was about to end, the priest ran over. He obviously had something to say to Lance.

William found a reason to leave temporarily, which is the most basic social etiquette.

"Mr. Chobaff did not continue to supplement the funds needed for the party, so… I don't know what to say," the priest seemed a little embarrassed, after all, he was here to ask for money.

Lance was stunned for a moment, "Did he forget?"

The priest shook his head, "Actually, he hasn't come for three weeks in a row, and he hasn't talked to me about the fees. He used to transfer a sum of money at the beginning of each month, but now it's almost the end of the month, and he hasn't mentioned it."

He glanced at Lance cautiously, "Some people rumored that he had fallen out with many people, including you, Mr. Lance…"

In fact, he didn't need to be so careful to probe. He could confidently remove the "rumor". Mr. Chobaff had indeed fallen out with Lance.

The conflict between the two sides was irreconcilable. To cope with the run on the bank triggered by distrust, Mr. Chaffey sold off a portion of his bonds in advance, which caused him to lose a lot of money.

The situation at Jinda Bank is also not optimistic now. If there is another run, it may not be able to withstand it.

He doesn't seem to have a way back now and can only go down this path. During this time, in addition to accompanying the mayor to social events, he has been giving speeches everywhere.

He has already regarded becoming a municipal councilor in the Imperial District as his chance to turn things around. There are many members of the Imperial Chamber of Commerce at the gatherings, but he doesn't care about these gatherings anymore and simply doesn't attend.

Lance took out his checkbook and signed a check for the priest, "This is for next month's expenses, as well as some venue usage fees and compensation for disturbing God's rest. I hope God won't think it's too little."

The priest's eyes narrowed into slits as he looked at the check, "You are a devout believer, God will understand you, Mr. Lance!"

Lance said with a hint of sarcasm, "Can God understand what the numbers written on the check represent?"

The priest smiled indifferently, "God is omnipotent, Mr. Lance!"

As he spoke, he put the check into his pocket. If there really was a God, and if God was truly omnipotent, he should send down a bolt of lightning and strike the priest dead.

After the small interlude ended, Lance and William left together. Today is the weekend, and Lance will spend it with Patricia.

Emotion is a strange thing. Why do so many men or women prefer their other half to be simpler?

It's not that they necessarily think simplicity is better, but that it's easier to deceive.

Of course, this is not to say that Lance is deceiving Patricia. He does indeed like this relatively simple girl. Being with her doesn't feel tiring; on the contrary, it's very relaxing.

This is what emotional life needs. If you become miserable and exhausted because you fall in love with someone, and you have to rack your brains all day to figure out how to please them,

then you are just a simple simp, and this is not love, because simps cannot have love!

Lance had lunch at William's house. Emily had prepared another large table of dishes.

Recently, many sound films have begun to be released in concentrated fashion. Lance and Patricia's afternoon itinerary included going to see a movie together.

"I heard that you also invested in a movie?" Emily was very interested in this. "Do you think I can act in a movie?"

She even struck a few poses, imagining herself as an actress.

Lance looked at her for a moment and nodded, saying, "You have very good qualities, Emily. You are beautiful and you maintain your figure very well. If you are willing to make a movie, I believe people will watch."

"But whether you can become a star, I'm not sure about that. Everyone who can become a star needs not only their own efforts but, more importantly, luck!"

Emily repeated, "Luck?"

Lance nodded again, "There are many movies being filmed in Creek Valley City now. You can see those beautiful girls or handsome men on the street, but the vast majority of them will ultimately only become ordinary actors, not stars."

"Similarly, some people are very beautiful, and you will like them at first glance, but others you can look at for a long time and still not find them attractive. That's the idea."

"You have to have audience appeal. It has nothing to do with whether you are good-looking or have a good figure. The first time they see you, they decide whether they like you or not."

Patricia looked at Lance admiringly, "You know so much!"

Lance shrugged, "I'm just speaking from the perspective of an audience member."

William put down his knife and fork, "I said, you're not really suitable for acting in movies."

Emily was unwilling. This was one of the few things she had been so enthusiastic about in recent years, "I still want to try."

Lance agreed this time, "No problem. After my movie is released, I will start preparing for the next one."

William felt a little strange, "Are you so confident in the movie's box office?"

Lance smiled mysteriously, "More than just confident."

William could sense that there was more to Lance's words, but he didn't know what it meant.

After lunch, Lance and Patricia left the house together. They went to the movie theater as planned. There was a movie theater not far from the community where Lawrence and his wife lived, and they walked there.

"Do you think… I can also act in movies?" Patricia, like most girls, had all sorts of dreams.

Lance ruffled her hair, "Of course, you will become a screen goddess!"

"You're making me shy, Lance. You always praise me so much. I'll be embarrassed," she said, but from the bright smile on her face, it was clear that Lance's praise made her very happy.

Who can refuse to hear nice things from someone they like?

"I'm just stating the facts. I don't like to lie."

The girl happily hugged his arm, "My colleagues want to invite you to dinner. They all want to meet you."

Lance had picked her up several times, and Patricia's colleagues had all seen him, but they didn't know who Lance was. Patricia hadn't told them.

On the one hand, this was her private life, and she didn't want colleagues to get involved, even if they were very good friends.

On the other hand, she hadn't communicated with Lance about it.

Recently, their relationship had been heating up very quickly, to the point where they were already getting touchy-feely, so some of her ideas had also changed.

Lance agreed, "I'll treat them to dinner. After all, they took good care of you and then waited for me to come along."

"You choose a place, don't worry about the cost. You know, money is just a number to me."

This was not Lance boasting. In this era when the average monthly income was only forty-odd dollars, his daily income was hundreds or thousands of times that amount.

Even if a meal was very good, a few hundred or a thousand dollars would only be a small amount of money.

Sometimes time, at certain moments, can pass very quickly. Before they knew it, they had arrived at the movie theater.

After buying tickets, the two found their seats and began to enjoy the movie.

There were a lot of people in the movie theater, almost all the seats were full. Compared to Patricia, whose attention was focused on the screen, Lance was thinking about accelerating the acquisition of movie theaters.

He had already acquired several pieces of land and was in the process of building, but this speed was far from enough. He had to acquire more movie theaters more quickly, preferably finished movie theaters that could be used directly.

The movie came to its finale, a tragic ending. Lance even heard many girls sobbing.

In his opinion, this fifty-minute movie was a bit inexplicable, but perhaps it was not intended for people like Lance to watch.