The Shadow Tycoon
Copyright© 2026 by CaffeinatedTales
Chapter 180: Black October, Part One
As the car passed a relief station, William saw for the first time the long lines of people waiting for aid.
There were twelve relief stations in Sabine City. These places were used to redeem food vouchers and relief vouchers. Put simply, people could exchange the dole here for food, and use relief vouchers to obtain certain necessities of life, such as salt, small amounts of sugar, basic medicines, and even clothing.
After all, autumn had arrived, and winter was not far away.
At the front of the line stood several employees from the Department of Social Services. In addition, there were also several armed policemen carrying standard-issue submachine guns.
During this period, there had been more than one robbery targeting relief stations, and food vouchers and relief vouchers had become the new hard currency among the rank and file of society. They had replaced part of the currency market, and they were holding very firm.
In any antique shop, or in any alley by the roadside, one could find people buying and selling food vouchers and relief vouchers. They had mastered the balance of it well enough that whether a person was buying or selling, he would not feel the deal was unreasonable.
William watched with curiosity. Jorgreman, as one of those “elders,” once again let the teacherly habit deep in his bones take over. “Have you ever seen that kind of food?”
William turned back and shook his head. “Should I have?”
Jorgreman could not help laughing. “It is absolutely not a pleasant experience. I ate it about twenty or thirty years ago. Their formula still hasn’t changed.”
“Corn, potatoes, some vegetables, some meat meal and bone meal, mixed together and baked dry. It’s as hard as stone.” A look of recollection, even nostalgia, appeared on his face. “If you want to eat it, you either use a small knife to scrape it into powder bit by bit, then swallow it down in tiny mouthfuls with water, or you smash it apart and throw some of it into a pot to boil with water.”
“In the end, you get a pot of especially awful thick soup.”
William listened very seriously, then offered his view. “That doesn’t sound like a pleasant experience.”
Still caught in his recollection, Jorgreman nodded with lingering fear. “But you had to eat it.” He paused. “Actually, many people say things are terrible now. I don’t think it has reached that point. At least compared with before, things are already much better.”
“We survived harder times than this. There is no reason we should lose to a little difficulty like this.”
The luxury car, especially conspicuous in the stream of traffic, formed a stark contrast with the poor people lined up by the roadside to receive relief. Their numb eyes lingered on the luxury car for less than a second before withdrawing. They no longer cared about such things.
Soon, the two men arrived at a privately owned establishment. Places like this basically operated by recommendation. Only those recommended by someone and accepted as members could obtain the opportunity to enter.
Its strict confidentiality system made it the preferred place for many meetings, whether or not those meetings involved legal problems.
After they entered the room indicated to them, Hart came forward to greet them. In less than a month, Hart looked far more haggard than he had during their previous meeting, and there was more gray in his hair.
After the three of them exchanged simple pleasantries, they sat down on the sofa.
Hart stared blankly for a while at the liquor in the glass on the table, then apologized for losing focus. “My mental state has been very poor recently. The doctor prescribed me some medicine to help me sleep. Otherwise, I can only drink myself unconscious.”
As he spoke, he even showed them the small medicine bottle he carried with him. William and Jorgreman also expressed appropriate concern for his health.
Hart gave a bitter smile and shook his head. “All right. Let’s not discuss these things. Mr. Carter, after I went back, I thought it over carefully. Perhaps you were right.”
His words seemed as if they should have surprised people, but William remained unmoved. “There is no right or wrong in business. It is only that this time, you stepped back before I did.”
His sharp language left Hart unable to say the other words in his belly. In the end, they could only turn into a sigh. “Then we proceed according to what we agreed last time?” After William nodded in agreement, Hart took the Lakeside villa district’s layout plan from his bag.
On these layout plans, houses that had already been sold had been marked in blue. The remaining white ones were houses that had not yet been sold.
One could see that if not for the current crisis, he would not have needed to act like this at all.
The properties left in his hands would have become increasingly expensive, and these vacant properties were not failing to generate profit. On the contrary, they had been generating profit continuously.
Daily rentals during holidays and long-term leases had made him, his company, and those investors very satisfied.
Following the previous development momentum, in another three years, every one of these houses would have become staggeringly expensive. When sold, each would have produced dozens of times the profit.
Unfortunately, he had ultimately fallen. The age had lowered its horns and rammed him hard from behind.