Chapter 195: Capital Is Dirty, Despicable, Vulgar, and Shameless

Lynch stayed briefly at Vera’s house out of courtesy before leaving. The couple stood by the door watching him go, then slowly closed it.

The smiles on their faces vanished the moment the door shut, as if they had never smiled at all.

“Is Eminence fun?” Gap sat back on the sofa and turned on the TV, which was showing a rerun of last night’s drama.

Afternoon ratings were always low, making advertising slots hard to sell. Luckily, afternoon ads were bundled with prime-time ads and sold together.

But that didn’t solve the problem of what to air in the afternoon. Eventually, they just replayed prime-time shows from the previous day to save on production or purchase costs.

Watching a repeated program was dull—nothing like the freshness of last night’s viewing.

Vera cleaned up the tea set Lynch left and casually said, “Not bad. I saw some things that are usually hard to see.”

“Like what?” Gap asked.

“Like people jumping off buildings. At first, it’s terrifying, but after seeing it often, you get numb. There have been many incidents recently where cars on the road were crushed by jumpers, injuring drivers…”

Gap listened carefully. He didn’t know about these things; the news didn’t report them, fearing they’d worsen social chaos.

From Vera’s description, Gap sensed how terrible things were in Eminence. His expression grew serious, but he still asked the question weighing on him.

“I heard people have been treating you two like a couple lately, and you haven’t denied it.”

Vera glanced at him but didn’t answer. She had tried to deny it before, but no one believed her and thought she was dishonest. So she stopped denying or confirming and sometimes even told one or two subtle adult jokes.

This helped her blend in with the other wives. Essentially, it was to avoid Lynch being rejected by Eminence’s social circles.

She hadn’t expected Gap to hear the rumors so quickly, but since she was guiltless, she offered no explanation.

Watching his increasingly unfamiliar wife, Gap suddenly felt powerless. He kept tabs on Lynch’s career to find reasons to mock Vera, but Lynch’s career was only growing bigger.

And his wife—despite having a CPA title she didn’t care much about—had become an office manager.

Her salary was even nearing his, excluding partner dividends.

This gave him an unspeakable sense of defeat. When Vera was just a toy, dependent on Gap, he felt in control, treating her like decoration for his perfect life.

But when she began realizing her own value and no longer needed him, he felt threatened and panicked.

The silence between them made the room oppressive. After a moment, Gap broke it.

“Maybe next year I’ll work in the neighboring state. Maybe a change of environment will make things better.”

He hoped economics, environment, life, and their relationship would all improve.

He thought that when Vera needed him again, he could try to regain control.

But his plan was doomed to fail.

Meanwhile, Lynch sat in the backseat after leaving Gap’s house. After watching the street, he asked the driver, “What’s going on in Sabin City? Why haven’t I seen any buses?”

Buses were once everywhere, greatly easing citizens’ travel.

At first, Lynch hadn’t noticed, but now he realized it was abnormal that not a single bus appeared along the way.

He thought maybe the drivers were striking due to unpaid wages, which was common these days, but the driver told him the public transit company in Sabin had gone bankrupt.

“They say the owner invested all the money in the stock market. You can guess what happened next…”

Of course Lynch understood. The financial tsunami wiped everything out. The transit company’s owner was broke. With the economy in such bad shape, many gave up taking buses, choosing to walk to save twenty-five cents.

Empty buses increased while consumption barely dropped. Cutting one or two routes didn’t help; cutting more wouldn’t be approved by city hall.

After all, they had agreements and subsidies with the city.

Multiple factors led to the company failing to pay drivers, sparking panic among them. Their biggest fear was losing jobs and wages.

Blaming the owner’s failed investments, some drivers simply drove the buses home, leaving few buses visible in Sabin.

The ones still running were operated by drivers themselves, likely at a loss since fares didn’t cover fuel costs.

City hall pressured the company to fulfill its obligations or face contract termination and lawsuits.

But the owner acted like a rogue, refusing to comply.

In short, the financial crisis plunged everything into chaos.

“More and more people are roaming the streets lately. There’ve been many shocking robberies. The police are busy, but…”

The driver nodded, not continuing. Lynch already knew what he meant.

When society was stable, violent crimes could quickly pinpoint culprits, often just a few people.

But as unrest grew, every unemployed person became a potential criminal. Police workload increased, costs to solve crimes rose, and more cases kept coming in.

They had to focus limited resources on easier cases, leaving others for when things got better.

Early next morning, the mayor called Lynch to ask if he was available.

Not long after, they met in the mayor’s office.

“Tell me more about what you mentioned last time…” After the secretary brought drinks, the mayor closed the door.

They hadn’t met for half a month, and the mayor looked older and worn out.

The Liston faction was determined to see this through. The investigation team had started probing Liston’s business activities in Sabin and the state, encouraging people to report complaints.

They wanted to keep Liston under control by any means.

They could dismantle a EverBright before, now they could dismantle Liston. They just needed an excuse.

Whether it can ultimately be realized is hard to say. The mayor couldn’t count on everything working out, including his previous ideas.

He had contacted some capitalists and business owners to fill the gaps left by Liston Group’s departure. Talks went well, but the financial crisis swept through these merchants as well.

Many began selling off assets to protect themselves. Forget investing in new industries—whether they could even survive until year-end was uncertain.

More people lost jobs. Sabin City’s unemployment rate surpassed 19%, and other cities were struggling too. The state government raised alert levels; the military was ready to suppress any potential riots.

At the same time, the situation accelerated political changes. Things once off-limits were now open for discussion, like restructuring employment.

This was the era, the trend, society’s demand. People no longer sought more protections—they just wanted a job and enough wages to support their families.

As for anything else? That could wait until after they had enough to eat.

“How do you plan to hire people through cooperation?” The mayor asked directly, fearing Lynch might forget the core issue.

Lynch sharply corrected him, “It’s cooperation, not employment.”

He continued, “These people aren’t my employees. They sell me what I need, earn a profit, and I get what I want.”

The mayor frowned. He sensed the meaning behind Lynch’s words: no responsibility or guarantees. It felt… too cold.

But this was capitalism—cut costs, free profits. They always found a way.

The mayor nodded and took up his pen. “Give me an example. Explain in detail.”

This cooperation model was essentially a variation of piecework, but no one had seriously considered it in this era. Workers still had considerable power. With unions and socialists supporting them, they weren’t weak.

When necessary, workers could push back hard against capitalists.

So when it came to work and employment, people first thought of workers’ protections and rights. A cooperation like Lynch described was unthinkable—it would drive workers mad.

What was impossible before gained new potential thanks to the financial crisis and other changes.

After a dozen minutes, the mayor exclaimed in disbelief, “This is your method—no insurance, no protections, no minimum wage guarantees, not even anything to hold you accountable!”

“Workers would never agree. This is the most shameful, despicable, vile exploitation and oppression I’ve ever seen!”

Lynch shrugged. “But I can give them a meal, and they will agree.”