Darkstone Code
Chapter 197: Capital is a filthy, despicable, vulgar, shameless thing.

Chapter 197: Capital is a filthy, despicable, vulgar, shameless thing.

Lynch courteously sat at Vera’s house for a while before leaving. The couple stood by the door, slowly closing it after seeing him off.

The smiles on their faces vanished the moment the door closed, as if they didn’t want to smile, or had never smiled at all.

"Was Bupen fun?" Gap asked, sitting back on the sofa and turning on the TV, which was playing a re-run of last night’s drama.

Afternoon ratings have never been high, and it’s hard to sell ads at a good price during this slot. Fortunately, they bundled the afternoon ads with prime-time ads, selling them together.

But this still didn’t solve the problem of what to broadcast in the afternoon. Ultimately, they could only replay the previous day’s prime-time content in the afternoon, at least saving some costs on program production or purchase.

The program already watched on TV felt very dull, not at all as fresh as when watched last night.

Vera tidied up the tea set Lynch left behind and casually replied, "Not bad, saw some things you don’t usually see."

"Like what?" Gap pressed.

Vera looked at him, "Like people jumping off buildings. At first, it was scary, but after seeing it so often, I became a bit numb. There were also many incidents of cars crushed by jumpers on the road these days, injuring drivers..."

Gap listened carefully; he really didn’t know about these things. They wouldn’t be reported on TV or in newspapers, as it would only make society more chaotic.

He could feel from these descriptions how terrifying Bupen’s situation was. His expression became somewhat serious, but he couldn’t help but ask the question troubling him.

"I heard that lately, people think of you two as a couple, and you haven’t refuted it."

Vera glanced at him but didn’t answer. Initially, she did refute, but people didn’t believe her; instead, they thought she was insincere. So she simply neither confirmed nor denied it, sometimes making one or two jokes that only adults would understand.

This quickly integrated her into these circles of ladies, and essentially, she didn’t want Lynch to be ostracized by Bupen’s social circle.

Vera didn’t expect the news to reach Gap so soon, but she had a clear conscience, so she didn’t explain.

Looking at his increasingly unfamiliar wife, Gap suddenly felt powerless. He was also following Lynch’s career development, ready to hit back at Vera at any time, but he didn’t expect Lynch’s business to keep growing.

And his wife, who he didn’t take seriously even when she earned her CPA title, actually became an office manager.

Even her salary was close to catching up with his, not counting the partnership dividends.

This gave him an indescribable sense of defeat. When Vera was just a "toy," she had to rely on Gap, which made him feel like he dominated her, completely ignoring her value and existence, treating her as a decoration to embellish his perfect life.

But when she started to realize her own value and no longer needed to rely on him, he felt a sense of crisis and panic.

The silence between the couple made the atmosphere in the room oppressive. After a moment, Gap broke the quiet, "I might go work in the neighboring state next year. Maybe a change of environment will make everything better."

Economically, environmentally, in life, and in their relationship, Gap thought everything might improve.

When Vera needs to rely on him again, he can try to become the dominator again.

Only his idea was doomed to fail.

Meanwhile, Lynch, who had left Gap’s house, sat in the back seat of the vehicle, looking at the situation on the streets for a while before asking the driver, "What’s happened in Sabin City recently? Why haven’t I seen any buses?"

In the past, Sabin City’s buses were almost everywhere, greatly facilitating the citizens’ travel.

When Lynch first got off the train, he hadn’t realized this, but now he noticed that no buses had appeared along the way, which was very unusual.

He initially thought maybe the drivers were striking; after all, many places were unable to pay salaries right now, and a strike seemed normal. To his surprise, the driver told Lynch that Sabin City’s public transportation company had gone bankrupt.

"Apparently, their boss invested all the money in the stock market, and you can imagine the rest..."

Of course, he understood. The financial crisis had swept everything, and the transportation company’s boss quickly ran out of money. The current economic situation is so poor that many people have given up taking buses for short distances, choosing to walk to save twenty-five cents.

Idle cars increased, but consumption didn’t decrease much. Missing a couple of bus schedules couldn’t improve the transportation company’s situation. If they cut more, City Hall wouldn’t agree.

After all, they had signed an agreement initially, and City Hall also provided some financial subsidies to the transportation company.

Under multiple factors, the transportation company’s inability to pay salaries immediately sparked panic among the drivers. What everyone feared most now was having no work and no salary.

They blamed the failed investment on the boss; under the influence of some people, these drivers simply drove the buses home, resulting in very few buses in Sabin City now.

Even if there are some, it’s the drivers operating on their own, and they might even be running at a loss, as the fares earned in a day couldn’t cover their fuel expenses.

Currently, City Hall is also urging the transportation company to fulfill its responsibilities quickly. Otherwise, they would terminate the contract and take them to court.

However, the transportation company’s boss was acting like a rogue, refusing to comply with City Hall’s demands.

In short, with the arrival of the financial tsunami, everything became chaotic and disordered.

"Lately, more and more people are wandering the streets, and many horrifying robberies have occurred. Although the Police Station is busy over there, but..."

The driver shook his head and didn’t continue speaking, but Lynch already knew what he was going to say.

Previously, when society was relatively stable, when heinous crimes occurred, the criminal group could be quickly identified, even pinpointing a specific person, because only these people would do this.

But as society started to become turbulent, every unemployed person could be a potential criminal, making the work at the Police Station heavier. The cost to find criminals is getting higher and higher, and yet more cases keep happening. They can only devote their limited police force and crime-solving budget to the cases that are easier to solve.

As for others, let’s talk about them after everything gets better.

Early the next morning, the mayor called Lynch, asking if he had time.

Shortly afterwards, the two met in the mayor’s office.

"Tell me more about the topics you discussed last time..." After the mayor had some drinks sent over, he closed the door.

Half a month without seeing each other, the mayor had aged a bit, which might be related to his haggard appearance at that moment.

The Ristone Group is determined to walk a dark path; investigative teams have already started investigating Ristone’s business activities during their property placement in Sabin City and the state, encouraging people to report and complain.

They want to keep Ristone by all means.

Previously, they could dismember a Henghui, now they could dismember a Ristone, all they lack is an excuse.

Whether it can be realized or not is hard to say, the mayor can’t place all of this on can, including his previous ideas.

Earlier, he had contacted some capitalists and business owners to take over some of the gaps left after the departure of the Ristone Group. Everyone talked quite well, but unexpectedly, the financial tsunami also swept through these merchants.

Many among them have already started selling assets to protect themselves. Don’t even mention having them invest in new industries; whether they can survive until the end of the year is an unknown.

More people lost jobs; the unemployment rate in Sabin City had already exceeded nineteen percent, and other cities aren’t better off. The state government has already raised the alert level; the military could be deployed at any time to suppress the riots that may occur at any moment.

Meanwhile, the current situation has also accelerated some political changes; things that couldn’t be discussed before can now be discussed, such as changing the employment structure.

This is the time, the trend, the social demand; people no longer demand more security, they just want a job, a salary to feed their families.

What about other things?

Consider them after filling their stomachs!

"How are you planning to employ the people through cooperation?" The mayor feared Lynch might not remember, directly naming the core theme.

Lynch sharply reminded, "This is cooperation, not employment!"

Then he said, "I am not in an employment relationship with these people. They sell me what I need, they earn profits, and I get what I want."

The mayor frowned, discerning the meaning hidden behind Lynch’s words; he doesn’t want to undertake any responsibilities or guarantees, making the mayor feel somewhat... too ruthless?

But this is indeed a capitalist’s way: compress costs and liberate profit margins; they always find a way.

The mayor nodded, picked up a pen, "Give examples, detail..."

This mode of cooperation is actually a variation of "piecework," just that in this era no one has considered this method because the workers’ power isn’t small. With the help of the Workers’ Union and the Socialist Party, workers are not a vulnerable group.

If necessary, they can also coerce capitalists, making them taste the workers’ Iron Fist.

Therefore, when talking about work and employment, people first think about the workers’ security and rights, like the "cooperation" Lynch talks about, hasn’t even been considered, because the workers would go crazy!

What previously seemed impossible gained some turnaround due to this financial tsunami and more other things.

Ten minutes later, the mayor said in an incredible tone, "This is your method, no insurance, no protection, no minimum wage guarantee, there’s not even anything to bind you!"

"The workers won’t agree, this is the most shameless, most despicable, most vile exploitation and oppression I’ve ever seen!"

Lynch shrugged, "But I can offer them a meal, and they’ll agree!"

=

①, Using already broadcasted TV programs to imply the cooling relationship between couples, no matter how passionate, relationships will become numb and lose color through a long life. The author vividly and subtly describes, through the rebroadcasted television series, the change in couples’ relationships, brilliantly hitting the point with astonishing insight, profound literary skill, unparalleled in history!