Empire of Shadows

“Call me Lance.”

Lance gently shook Debbie's hand, “It's a pleasure to meet you too, Madam.”

Mrs. Debbie had a good impression of Lance and then actively invited them to sit down, “What would you like to drink?”

Vaughn looked at Lance, and Lance said with a smile, “We just had coffee before we came, so I don’t need any, thank you. What about you, Mr. Vaughn?”

“Vaughn!” Vaughn repeated, he cared about this, “I don’t want any either, thank you!”

Mrs. Debbie then sat down opposite them and started the conversation, “So, gentlemen, what brings you here?”

Vaughn looked at Lance, and Lance took the initiative to say, “I have rented a piece of land next to the industrial area and plan to open a garment factory, but I have never done this before, so I want to find some skilled workers.”

She was very interested to hear this, “About how many jobs will this factory have?”

“About one hundred and fifty.”

“Are you doing processing with supplied materials, or are you providing all the materials yourself?”

“Or rather, are you taking orders to produce for others, or manufacturing for yourself?”

“For myself.” Lance added, “The situation at the pier is a bit complicated at the moment. Vaughn and I discussed it and want to avoid some situations that we both don’t want to see happen.”

“So I plan to provide some… you know, illegal immigrants and immigrants with easily identifiable clothing.”

“I want to use this method to warn them to be careful and cautious in their work and life, and also to facilitate management at the pier.”

Vaughn continued, “Yes, we studied it and both believe that this might have a miraculous effect.”

Mrs. Debbie was also a little interested after listening, “Special work clothes, very interesting, are they free?”

Lance nodded, “Denim or industrial cloth, the cost is not high. I will bear this part of the cost. I hope to do something for the people.”

Mrs. Debbie commented very seriously, “A lofty ideal!” She paused, “Are you a federal citizen?”

Although this is a free country, although the air and water here are so damn sweet, whether you are a native or an immigrant is particularly important to some people!

“Yes, I have a social security number.”

Mrs. Debbie's smile became more natural and softer, “I can provide you with… about twenty skilled workers, but I don’t recommend hiring so many at once.”

“For a small factory, five to ten skilled workers are enough. Divide the workers into groups and let them be the team leaders to help other workers become familiar with their work.”

“Their main job is to teach other workers how to do it, rather than being specifically responsible for production.”

She thought for a while, “If you are responsible for all the materials and labor yourself, you need at least one master cutter, who will help you turn the cloth into ‘parts’ for the clothes. This is a key process.”

“Then at least three sewing workers, one senior pattern maker, and then one shaping and ironing worker, probably… about ten people.”

“Sorry!” She said, getting up and walking behind her desk, taking paper and pen and coming back to do a simple calculation, “The salary expenditure for these people is about nine hundred dollars a month, can you accept that?”

It's really not cheap. The salary of ten people is equivalent to that of twenty-five ordinary workers, but this is the status of skilled workers in the federal, and even the global industrial system!

Their quality can determine the quality of a factory's products and is the most critical link.

“No problem.”

Mrs. Debbie breathed a sigh of relief, “It seems that we have solved one of the most troublesome problems. So, are you planning to have workers in every position on the assembly line?”

“If you don’t produce much, we can reduce two sewing workers, and an overall of fifty people is about right.”

At this time, Lance interrupted her, “Madam, I will arrange about fifty ordinary workers, you know I also have a lot of workers in my hands.”

“But I can provide thirty ordinary jobs for the Labor Federation.”

The main body of the Labor Federation is skilled workers, but it does not mean that they do not care about or play with ordinary workers. They also have very close ties with ordinary workers, but they will not show it openly.

Mrs. Debbie nodded slightly. Although she couldn't get all the job arrangements, thirty jobs were definitely not a small number.

“On behalf of the workers who are about to take their jobs, I thank you for your help to them!”

Vaughn was also very satisfied with this trip. In fact, skilled workers are not short of places to work. If they don't demand too high a salary and are willing to move around, they will definitely not be without work.

What really moved Debbie was the thirty ordinary worker positions. These positions, which do not require any skilled work experience, or even any experience, are what can bring influence.

Soon, the two parties reached a cooperation, and Mrs. Debbie even provided Lance with several suppliers of materials such as cloth.

The Labor Federation has in-depth cooperation with almost all industry factories, including selling their products.

She suggested that Lance not buy new sewing tools, but directly buy second-hand or even third-hand ones, as long as they can be used.

These old machines are cheap. After he has more ideas and plans in the future, he can consider replacing them with new machines.

Mrs. Debbie also said that if Lance is willing to take orders after his own production plan is completed, she can help introduce some orders to him.

Vaughn hinted from the side that these orders require kickbacks, which can also be said to be a “referral fee.”

Lance had no objection to this. Being able to get orders is a skill in itself. No matter how many orders Mrs. Debbie can bring in, he will pay according to the market price.

This also made Mrs. Debbie very happy, after all, who would dislike having extra income?

After discussing the general matters, Mrs. Debbie made a simple investment calculation for Lance.

First, the labor cost. According to thirty-two dollars for ordinary workers and three dollars for subsidies, fifty workers plus skilled workers is two thousand six hundred and fifty per month.

Then there are various production machines. A second-hand sewing machine costs about fifteen dollars each. Adding other things, the total cost is about one thousand two hundred dollars.

She heard that the factory is just a simple factory building. If you include some other things, the total investment is about four thousand dollars. Adding at least two thousand dollars for raw material costs and various consumables, it will take at least seven thousand to eight thousand dollars from investment to start production…

Then it costs about three thousand dollars a month to maintain. She looked at Lance with a smile, but did not see any nervousness or other emotions on Lance's face, which also gave her a rough assessment of Lance's financial resources.

After discussing the details, it was already dark. Lance wanted to invite Mrs. Debbie to dinner to thank her for her help, but Mrs. Debbie said that she had other things to do in the evening, so he had to give up.

Lance then returned to the pier with Vaughn. Vaughn also had something to do in the evening, but before he left, he gave Lance a list, “Don’t let others know about this, and don’t take action casually if you can’t handle them.”

“You know, very few people know about this!”

Lance nodded and assured him that he would not cause him any problems. Only then did Vaughn give him the list with peace of mind.

The day passed like this, fulfilling and busy.

When I got home at night, everyone was already looking at some materials brought back by Ennio.

When they saw Lance, they took the initiative to give him a seat.

Sitting on the sofa and picking up the promotional page in front of him, he looked at it carefully, while Ennio introduced from the side, “These are all townhouses, with front, back, and side views. We only need to simply modify a few of them to connect them together.”

“I asked the manager, and these houses can all grow super-tall plants.”

Some communities prohibit the planting of plants that exceed the specified height, such as exceeding one meter two, or exceeding one meter five. They do not allow it.

If someone does plant them, they will be required to prune them to the specified height or remove them.

If they refuse to comply, they may be required to move out of the community. These will be written in the contract and must be followed.

It is normal for different communities to have different requirements. For example, some communities require the lawn to be light green, even in the dead of winter, otherwise they will face penalties.

This is why some people paint their lawns—

Compared to expensive lawns, painting a layer of paint on a yellowing lawn is the cheapest solution!

Looking at houses like this, it's useless to just look at the promotional page, you still have to go and see it in person.

Early the next morning, Elvin knocked on Lance's bedroom door with a bang.

When Lance came out of the room, everyone in the house who didn't have to go to work today was ready!

For them, this is their first real “home” since coming to the Federation, and they are even more looking forward to it!

Seeing these people so active, Lance ate a sandwich while getting into the car.

In one morning, they visited four communities and finally settled on a high-privacy community. The sales manager said that if you want, you can even pull an electric grid for your house!

Moreover, what they sell is land, but they will give away construction drawings and construction materials.

If Lance and the others are unwilling to build the house themselves, the community can also provide construction services, which is one of the reasons why Lance chose this place.

He needs some space outside of the drawings!

The area of each plot of land is between three hundred and three hundred and fifty square meters, and the selling price is from four thousand five hundred dollars to five thousand dollars. The price is not cheap, but it is not particularly expensive either.

Lance took down five connected foundations in one go. For such a generous boss, the community manager said that he would waive the management fee for three years.

Originally, he had intended to find someone to help Lance and the others build their houses, but everyone else rejected the idea. They wanted to build them themselves, as if only in that way would they feel secure!

Everyone desires more security, especially compared to those who haven't yet obtained legal immigrant status but are already starting to feel safe.

Some others, clearly wealthier and legal immigrants, feel little sense of security.

For example, Mr. Chobaf at this moment.