Chapter 718 I Come and My Plan

Early in the morning, Lance was awakened by the ringing of the phone.

He scratched his head, sat up from the bed, rubbed his face and picked up the phone, “This is Lance.”

“Mr. Lance, Francisco wants to go to Sumuli!”

The voice coming out of the receiver sounded familiar to Lance. It took him several seconds to realize that this was an uncle of Francisco’s family.

Not all of Paul’s brothers and sisters are bad people. There are two or three of them who are nice to Francisco, and he is one of them.

He vaguely remembered that Alberto had introduced this person to him at a dinner.

“Why does he suddenly want to go back to Sumur Island?” Lance had just woken up, his brain was still in a cold start state, and his brain was still solidified.

Only when it is fully started and can rotate at high speed can thinking become faster.

Francisco’s kind uncle sighed, “I asked my connections on the island and learned that Alberto failed to assassinate Christopher last night. They have been killed.”

“Shet!”

All the sleepiness in Lance’s body disappeared, “Where’s Christopher?”

“How is he?”

“I’m sorry, Mr. Lance, Christopher has serious injuries that are not life-threatening.”

When Alberto insisted on going back, he had a premonition that this guy might never come back.

But he just wanted to go back, and no amount of persuasion was helpful, as Lance had already told him that whether he succeeded or not, he would die on Sumurri Island.

If he failed, he would naturally be killed by Christopher’s men like what is happening now.

If he succeeds, the people from the four major families will kill him. They will not allow someone who betrays orthodoxy to kill their flag and then leave the island alive.

So he is dead.

But people are like this, even if they have anticipated the worst outcome, they will still fantasize about “what if”?

What if the development of this matter is beyond everyone’s expectations, and we can find a way out even in a desperate situation?

People always think this way involuntarily, it is human nature.

Lance also thought that if Alberto had reliable connections on the island, he could hide after killing Christopher. After hiding for a while and waiting for the storm to pass, he would find a way to leave Sumurri Island. What if that worked?

It was not until this moment, when the news of Alberto’s death came, that he sighed heavily.

The outcome of how things developed coincides with rational predictions. There are no what-ifs and no ifs.

Lance took out a cigarette from the cigarette box on the bedside table and lit it. “Why did Cisco go to Sumuli?”

Francisco’s kind uncle explained, “The funeral home over there asked him to come over and claim Alberto’s body.”

Hearing this, Lance couldn’t help but ask, “This is obviously Dover’s trick. How did the funeral home know Cisco’s phone number?”

“Is he stupid or crazy?”

The kind uncle smiled bitterly and said, “We have all advised him, and he actually knows it. He said that all he wants to do is bring the people back from the island.”

Hearing this, Lance sighed again, “Put Cisco on the phone.”

After about seven or eight minutes, the phone was answered again, “Uncle Lance…”

“I already know everything. This is Dover’s trap. If you go, there is a high probability that you will not be able to come back like Alberto.”

“If you don’t want everything he did before he left to go to waste, his efforts and goodwill, the best thing you should do now is to work hard to develop, and then find an opportunity to kill Dover.”

“Instead of taking a boat back to be killed by him!”

“He will stand in front of your and Alberto’s bodies and tell people that he is the most suitable successor to the Pasretto family!”

Hearing what Lance said, Francisco couldn’t help but growl, “I’ll kill him!”

Lance sneered, “Anyone can talk big, but when there are dozens of guns pointed at your head, you’ll cry like a baby!”

“will not!”

“You will, you know this, you are as afraid of death as the common man, and when you get off that damned ship you will find yourself surrounded by the men of Dover.”

“You won’t even have time to realize your dreams before you are beaten to a pulp and thrown into the sea to feed the sharks, along with Alberto.”

“You’ll end up with bones that have been broken up by fish and scattered all over the place.”

“You can’t do anything, you can’t do anything except make Dover greater in the eyes of those people.”

Francisco suddenly fell silent because he knew that what Lance said was right.

He is not a fool, he is actually very smart, otherwise Paul would not always ask him to study hard.

Paul discovered that he had a smart brain and sent him to school, trying to have a “college ruler” appear in the family, but unfortunately, he died too early, so none of this became a reality.

But that doesn’t change the fact that Francisco is a smart guy.

If they might not care about who got to the island illegally before, then after Christopher was assassinated, the four major families would definitely strengthen the management of this aspect.

They will put a lot of pressure on those organizations engaged in smuggling, and if they are not careful, all the organizations will be purged. The four major families have never been reasonable in their own territory.

As long as Francisco was a stowaway, the moment he got off the boat was the moment he was doomed.

As for going there through official channels and taking a cruise?
This is a good idea, but at the same time, there must be people from the four major families and even Christopher on the dock. After they see Francisco, he will not survive more than 24 hours.

He could understand all this, but the pain of losing Alberto made him want to vent.

It’s like people often say words like “fuck” when they feel hurt, but that doesn’t mean they’re actually going to fuck someone, especially if the person is of the same sex.

Now that he has vented his anger, it’s time for him to calm down.

“What should we do, Uncle Lance?” There was a sense of confusion in his voice, and he couldn’t see the future.

Lance took a drag on his cigarette, and the lit butt seemed to brighten the dim room. “I’ll bring their bodies back.”

“As for Dover, I’ll take care of him after I finish the things I’m doing now.”

Francisco also knew that this was the right and only choice, “Thank you, Uncle Lance.”

“You’re welcome. Paul has helped me and Alberto is also my brother. I should take responsibility for this.”

“You should be careful and stay safe these days. Since Dover intends to lure you over, it means he wants to do something to you. You are in danger.”

“If you need anything, whether it’s people, money, weapons, or anything else, call me.”

“Before he left, he asked me to take good care of you.”

“Okay, I get it, Uncle Lance.”

“If there’s anything you need, I’ll tell you straight away.”

“Well, that’s it for now.”

“Goodbye.”

Lance hung up the phone, leaned against the head of the bed and smoked a cigarette, thinking about everything Alberto had done in the past.

After thinking for a while, he shook his head and said, “This idiot.”

He took another puff of his cigarette, put out the butt in the ashtray, walked to the window and opened the curtains with a rustle.

The light from outside the window shone in. The morning sun was not dazzling, but golden and brilliant, shining through the window onto his face and body.

He looked down at the bustling city, looking at the people who had gotten up early and were already walking hurriedly on the streets. The city was waking up little by little.

At 8:30 in the morning, Lance had finished his meal. Yesterday, he asked Tom for help and got the information about the current residences of sixteen wine merchants other than himself in Xinjin City.

Originally, he didn’t want to compete for the position of rotating chairman of the industry committee. It sounded like a glamorous position, managing these people. But in fact, it was not a comfortable job.

In the past, Lance had many titles, such as director, committee member, and various others.

When he was at the lower level, he felt that having these titles was meaningful and proved that he was a successful person.

At that time, there were more than a dozen such titles on the business cards he printed, and they were carefully selected and occupied half of the business cards.

He had even seen business cards with titles written all over the back.

But as his business grew bigger and he came into contact with higher levels, he discovered that the higher up he went, the less people cared about titles that had no practical significance. The higher up he got, the simpler his business cards, or the side of himself that faced society, became.

Often it is just a person’s name.

Gradually he came to understand that as the core heir of a big family, people would not look down on him even if he had no title or position.

But if he is just an ordinary person, even if he has titles as thick as a phone book, those high and mighty people will not look up to him.

One’s own strength is the root of everything, not those vague titles.

Besides, being the rotating chairman itself is not an interesting thing. You will be tied up by the affairs of this committee, and it is not good to manage it, nor is it good to ignore it.

These winemaking companies must have interests tied to those senators in Congress or some heavyweight politicians in the political arena.

Their demands are often not ordinary ones. Rather than being a “manager” or “ruler”, the rotating chairman is actually more like a person who provides services.

The position wasn’t that good, and Lance had no intention of going for it.

But now that his Joseph has been put in a difficult position, if he doesn’t fight back he’d be showing weakness.

Whether it is the Federation or other countries, as long as it is a capitalist society, they will never play the game of propriety, righteousness, benevolence, wisdom and trustworthiness with you. If you show weakness, they will definitely step on you!
Lance has no room for retreat, he must stand up now!
Tom came over early in the morning, “I heard what happened to you with Mr. Rao. How did you get into trouble with them?”

Lance briefly explained the reason, and Tom shook his head after listening. “From what you said, it seems that they are not very magnanimous.”

He then gave the information he had investigated to Lance. If someone else were to get these materials, it would be very likely that they would not be able to obtain them. Only someone with a strong background like Tom could get them.

“What are you going to do now?”, he asked.

Lance looked at the materials and said, “Joseph wants to use me as a target to attract firepower, so I will do as he wishes and compete for the rotating chairmanship.”

Tom nodded slightly after hearing this. “The senator has also heard about this. If you can do it, he will support it.”

As Lance said, it’s no longer just a small matter of who will be the first rotating chairman, it has risen to a higher level.

A hidden competition among seventeen wineries and the forces behind them.

Lance took out a few documents and said, “Excluding me, there are only sixteen. I vote for myself. In other words, as long as half of the people stand on my side, I will definitely be the first rotating chairman.”

Tom nodded. He agreed with Lance’s point of view. He liked to communicate with people like Lance who had a quick mind and could give him some ideas.

I feel like my brain is going to fail after communicating with those idiots for so long.

“Although Joseph is a villain, he has linked up with the other three people and has made his position clear, saying he will support me.”

“So, I only need to convince four more people, and I will be the first rotating chairman.”

Tom was stunned for a moment after hearing this. He didn’t think about this matter carefully at first, he just felt it was difficult.

At least half of the people from the seventeen wineries, including Lans, must support Lans for him to become the rotating chairman. This is too difficult.

But now after listening to his analysis, this matter is actually not that difficult!

He began to cooperate with Lance more actively. Two documents popped out of his pocket. “The relationship between these two wineries and the senator is pretty good. You should be able to convince them.”

“So there are two left, which one are you going to choose?”

Lance looked around, then took out three more and placed them on the table.

These three wineries are not the best choices in terms of their size and the supporters behind them.

The scale is small, and the supporters are not like Senator Cleveland, who is obviously on the rise. They are just ordinary senators who are told how to vote most of the time.

Even if they are not marginal characters, they are almost at the level of marginal characters.

Tom was a little surprised, “Why choose them?”

“Because they are weak?”

Lance shook his head. “For those large-scale wineries, there are powerful figures behind them…” He tapped his hand on a file. It was a brandy winery, and behind it was the President’s cousin.

In fact, everyone knows that the President’s cousins ​​are apparently the owners of those wealth, but in fact they are only the managers of those wealth.

All that wealth belongs to the President.

Most mature politicians have someone holding their wealth on their behalf, some of whom are family members, such as brothers, sisters, or nephews.

Their blood ties make their interests one, so there is no need to worry that they will put your money into their pockets.

Some are wives and family members. This closer relationship is safer, but there is also a disadvantage to doing so, which is that it is easy to be attacked by public opinion.

Therefore, the first ladies basically will not engage in purely commercial activities. Most of them will run some private charity funds, which not only have a good reputation but also can bring actual benefits.

Tom thought Lance would choose to work with the wineries supported by the president rather than the weak ones.

This powerful combination will surely intimidate other small wineries.

Lance had a different view. “These wineries with strong support don’t lack an ally like me. And it will cost me more to convince them.”

“Maybe I can convince them, but I’ll lose my profits, and that’s not what I want.”

“It’s actually much easier to convince these small wineries. I don’t even need to pay anything. I just need to give them a promise and they will stand on our side.”

“This is not a shareholders’ meeting. We are not comparing the number of shares on each side.”

“The major shareholders hold more voting rights, while the minor shareholders hold fewer voting rights. One major shareholder can be as powerful as ten minor shareholders.”

“What counts here is the number of people. No matter how much share they have in this project, they all represent one vote.”

Tom nodded after listening to it and said, “It’s a very mature point of view. I didn’t think too much about it.”

He had so many other things to do that he couldn’t just focus on serving Lance.

As Lance Bonnie moved up the Cleveland Senators’ team, he was given more work and responsibility, which was a huge promotion.

“Anyway, call me if you need anything!” He pointed at Lance, who immediately said, “We are friends!”

This made Tom couldn’t help but laugh, “It’s good that you have mature ideas. I won’t give you any random advice.”

He stood up, and Lance followed suit. He took the initiative to hug Lance, “We are friends!”

Lance nodded, and then did not send him away. “I still need to look at these materials. If you need anything from me, give me a call.”

“I can’t give you anything else, money, gunmen, no problem.”

Tom nodded and turned to leave, while Lance began to browse the small wineries.

In fact, there was nothing much to study. At around ten o’clock, he already had a target to visit first.

A “small” winery whose annual output value was only 20 million before it stopped production.

Considering the scale of the enterprise, this output is indeed not high. At present, they can only produce more than 100 million bottles of wine a year.

Lawrence Farm produces more than this amount of wine a year, and this time his supporters hope that he can make a fortune from it, a small amount, so this is an opportunity.

At eleven o’clock, Lance knocked on the door of the winery representative. They were also staying in a hotel, but not Lance’s hotel.

The winery representatives were a little surprised by Lance’s sudden visit, but they still invited Lance in.

(End of this chapter)