Empire of Shadows
Author: 三脚架
Chapter 300
In fact, the Federation also has counterfeit money, and quite a lot of it.
Because people have discovered that the speed of making money is never as fast as printing money. Besides the huge risk of printing money, there don’t seem to be any other disadvantages.
Life, you always have to choose between risk and enjoyment!
Lance had originally planned to use counterfeit money to fool them, but what he didn’t expect was that counterfeit money was not easy to buy, and the current counterfeit money was basically mainly in denominations of one dollar and two dollars.
Because if you print higher, five dollars, ten dollars, twenty dollars, people will be more careful. After all, a large-denomination banknote is often a person’s income for one or two weeks.
They would definitely treat it with caution, and this kind of caution would eventually make it easy for the counterfeit money to be identified.
After all, the reason why counterfeit money is called “counterfeit money” is because it is not “real” enough. As long as it is not real enough counterfeit money, some flaws can always be found by people.
To go and talk to them with a small denomination of counterfeit cash… this kind of behavior looks stupid no matter how you look at it. You might not even get in the door.
So Lance decided to use real money, but only a part of it, not all of it.
The address that the president of Basil Investment Bank gave Lance through Wally was a golf course north of Golden Port. Many rich people from the Bay Area patronized there. For ordinary people, you couldn’t see how good its business was.
Most of the time, its entrance did not even have the kind of places that people imagined, parked full of luxury cars, with socialites and dignitaries frequently coming and going.
Almost many people who passed by the golf course would only find that it was very deserted.
But strangely, even though it was so deserted, it had persisted for so many years.
This is a cognitive gap.
For ordinary people, they think that a business place must be bustling with activity, must be crowded with people, and must be parked with high-end cars that can represent status.
But what they don’t know is that special social occasions like golf courses are not “instant consumption” places.
All the fees are already in hand when the membership period ends and is renewed.
Regardless of whether the guests come or not, they have to pay the annual fee in one lump sum, from $2,000 for the less expensive ones to tens of thousands for the more expensive ones.
And it can’t receive many guests at once. This requires an appointment in advance.
So even if it is always deserted, there has never been a risk of it going bankrupt.
A simple iron gate completely separates the world of ordinary people from high society.
This society is full of thresholds everywhere, full of classes everywhere, yet miraculously closely integrated.
Lance came with Mador. In fact, there were a few other cars, just following from a distance.
Today, everyone was dressed very stylishly. Lance was wearing the latest golf attire, with sunglasses, which made him look very professional, but in fact, he was not very good at playing this.
Under the guidance of the staff, Lance met the current president of Basil Investment Bank, Peman.
He was swinging his club under a sunshade. One golf ball after another was hit far away with a crisp sound.
Then the caddy would place the next one, waiting for him to hit it, and would show a surprised expression at the right time to provide emotional value.
After Lance arrived, he did not immediately speak to Lance, but continued to swing his club seriously. His secretary stood between them, “Mr. President will need a little more time. You can sit for a while first.”
If it weren’t for the fact that Lance knew these people were scammers, it would actually be very easy to be fooled by them.
But now was not the time to expose him. He smiled and nodded lightly, sitting down on the side.
A staff member brought good coffee, the kind that costs at least a few dollars a cup, as well as all kinds of exquisite small pastries.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, President Peman finally handed the club to the caddy, took a towel from the secretary, and wiped the sweat on his face.
He smiled and walked towards Lance. Lance stood up in time.
“You must be Mr. White, right?”
“Wally has told me about you. I heard you plan to invest some more funds?”
The two did not let go of each other’s hands. Lance tilted his head slightly, and Mador immediately opened a large travel bag he was carrying, revealing neatly stacked banknotes inside.
Lance let go, walked over, casually picked up two stacks, and placed them in President Peman’s hands, “I’m a person who loves to make friends the most. A meeting gift.”
President Peman’s fingers slid lightly over the edge of the banknotes. The sound and feel of the paper flipping let him know that this was real money.
He now had to play the role of an arrogant investment bank president, not a greedy scammer. He casually threw the money back into the travel bag, “I invited you here. How can I let you give me a meeting gift?”
He became more enthusiastic and then had Lance sit down.
“How much do you plan to invest more?”
Lance twisted his mouth slightly, “$500,000.”
Peman nodded slightly, “I thought there was a lot.”
The meaning in his words clearly carried a kind of intentional provocation. Perhaps he wanted to show Lance that this amount of money was nothing to him, but it was also possible that he wanted to see if Lance would impulsively say he wanted to invest a million.
But unfortunately, Lance did not do as he wished, “Besides not affecting my business, this is extra money. If it increases any more, my business might encounter some trouble.”
Hearing that there was still a possibility of squeezing out more money, the smile on Peman’s face grew wider, “Does your business bring you a net profit of fifteen percent every month?”
Lance seemed to think seriously for a moment and shook his head, “Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether there are orders.”
“So, Mr. White, I suggest you can temporarily stop your business and pay more attention to our products.”
“A fifteen percent net profit every month, this is definitely a crazy business because it has no upper limit!”
“You might invest $100,000 in your business, which can bring you a net profit of $20,000 to $30,000 every month.”
“But it won’t be because you invested a million that the net profit becomes $200,000 to $300,000.”
“But here with us, it is stable, it is reliable.”
Lance showed some interest, “I still need to think about it. This is not a decision I can make alone.”
He paused as he spoke and began to talk about some things about Count Basil, “I have some understanding of Count Basil from the company. He is a remarkable person. Can I meet the current Count Basil?”
President Peman was still considering how to squeeze more money from this “smart egg” in front of him. He didn’t expect the other party to take the initiative to provide him with an opportunity, “Of course, Count Basil will meet and talk with our important clients, but you know, a great figure like him cannot possibly spend all his time and energy on everyone.”
“Mr. White, I don’t want to say this, but it is also a fact, that is, people are different.”
“Some people have lower value, some have higher value. Count Basil hopes to talk with those high-value people more. At least you can have a common language and thinking between you.”
“But it’s very difficult for us to distinguish whether a person has enough value to meet Count Basil, so we have a simple and crude method.”
“If you invest a million, I can arrange for you to meet with Count Basil!”
Lance didn’t seem to care about this number at all. He just pursued, “Is he in the Federation now?”
President Peman said with certainty, “Yes, he is right here in the Federation!”
His secretary stood by the whole time, looking at Lance with a grin. Another fool has taken the bait!
He didn’t quite understand why there were so many fools, and why these fools were so rich?
He didn’t quite get it. Was God too fond of these people, so much so that they didn’t even understand such a simple trick?
Of course, he would not show it. He now needed to play the role of the secretary well.
They talked for a good while, far exceeding the time President Peman had mentioned. In the end, Lance left the money here.
President Peman seemed to have prepared in advance and had the secretary take out an investment contract on the spot.
While Lance was checking the contract, he also checked the money Lance had brought. The scent emitted when the banknotes were fanned made him intoxicated!
Seeing that Lance was still not signing, he was afraid that Lance would regret it and say he wanted to take the money away. He quickly explained, “If you need a lawyer, we can provide one here…”
Lance waved his hand, took out a fountain pen, and signed his name, Lance White.
“No need, I trust you.”
President Peman was overjoyed upon hearing this. He quickly signed his own name and gave a copy to Lance, “Keep this safe. This can prove that you are our investment client. I will give you the highest level of treatment.”
As he spoke, it was about time. Lance proposed to leave, but at this moment, Elvin, wearing a driver’s uniform, ran over, with an apologetic look on his face, “Sir, I don’t know why, but the car won’t start!”
Lance immediately became angry upon hearing this, “I have an important meeting later, and now you’re telling me the car won’t start?”
Elvin kept apologizing. President Peman, on the side, seemed to have thought of something and said generously, “I’ll give you a ride. I happen to be leaving as well.”
Lance glared at Elvin, then put on a smile, “Mr. Peman, would that be too much trouble?”
Peman, who was still thinking about Lance’s other half a million, where would he be afraid of any trouble?
“It’s fine. I have nothing to do this afternoon. Giving you a ride is just right!”
He gave the secretary a look, and the latter quickly said, “I’ll have the driver start the car.”
Watching the driver trot away, Lance looked somewhat embarrassed, “That would be too much trouble for you, Mr. Peman. You are a good person!”
President Peman couldn’t help but laugh out loud upon hearing Lance’s evaluation of him, “You are also a good person, Mr. White!”
Lance agreed quite a bit, “We are all good people!”
President Peman also nodded continuously, “Yes, yes, we are all good people!”
Because people have discovered that the speed of making money is never as fast as printing money. Besides the huge risk of printing money, there don’t seem to be any other disadvantages.
Life, you always have to choose between risk and enjoyment!
Lance had originally planned to use counterfeit money to fool them, but what he didn’t expect was that counterfeit money was not easy to buy, and the current counterfeit money was basically mainly in denominations of one dollar and two dollars.
Because if you print higher, five dollars, ten dollars, twenty dollars, people will be more careful. After all, a large-denomination banknote is often a person’s income for one or two weeks.
They would definitely treat it with caution, and this kind of caution would eventually make it easy for the counterfeit money to be identified.
After all, the reason why counterfeit money is called “counterfeit money” is because it is not “real” enough. As long as it is not real enough counterfeit money, some flaws can always be found by people.
To go and talk to them with a small denomination of counterfeit cash… this kind of behavior looks stupid no matter how you look at it. You might not even get in the door.
So Lance decided to use real money, but only a part of it, not all of it.
The address that the president of Basil Investment Bank gave Lance through Wally was a golf course north of Golden Port. Many rich people from the Bay Area patronized there. For ordinary people, you couldn’t see how good its business was.
Most of the time, its entrance did not even have the kind of places that people imagined, parked full of luxury cars, with socialites and dignitaries frequently coming and going.
Almost many people who passed by the golf course would only find that it was very deserted.
But strangely, even though it was so deserted, it had persisted for so many years.
This is a cognitive gap.
For ordinary people, they think that a business place must be bustling with activity, must be crowded with people, and must be parked with high-end cars that can represent status.
But what they don’t know is that special social occasions like golf courses are not “instant consumption” places.
All the fees are already in hand when the membership period ends and is renewed.
Regardless of whether the guests come or not, they have to pay the annual fee in one lump sum, from $2,000 for the less expensive ones to tens of thousands for the more expensive ones.
And it can’t receive many guests at once. This requires an appointment in advance.
So even if it is always deserted, there has never been a risk of it going bankrupt.
A simple iron gate completely separates the world of ordinary people from high society.
This society is full of thresholds everywhere, full of classes everywhere, yet miraculously closely integrated.
Lance came with Mador. In fact, there were a few other cars, just following from a distance.
Today, everyone was dressed very stylishly. Lance was wearing the latest golf attire, with sunglasses, which made him look very professional, but in fact, he was not very good at playing this.
Under the guidance of the staff, Lance met the current president of Basil Investment Bank, Peman.
He was swinging his club under a sunshade. One golf ball after another was hit far away with a crisp sound.
Then the caddy would place the next one, waiting for him to hit it, and would show a surprised expression at the right time to provide emotional value.
After Lance arrived, he did not immediately speak to Lance, but continued to swing his club seriously. His secretary stood between them, “Mr. President will need a little more time. You can sit for a while first.”
If it weren’t for the fact that Lance knew these people were scammers, it would actually be very easy to be fooled by them.
But now was not the time to expose him. He smiled and nodded lightly, sitting down on the side.
A staff member brought good coffee, the kind that costs at least a few dollars a cup, as well as all kinds of exquisite small pastries.
After waiting for more than ten minutes, President Peman finally handed the club to the caddy, took a towel from the secretary, and wiped the sweat on his face.
He smiled and walked towards Lance. Lance stood up in time.
“You must be Mr. White, right?”
“Wally has told me about you. I heard you plan to invest some more funds?”
The two did not let go of each other’s hands. Lance tilted his head slightly, and Mador immediately opened a large travel bag he was carrying, revealing neatly stacked banknotes inside.
Lance let go, walked over, casually picked up two stacks, and placed them in President Peman’s hands, “I’m a person who loves to make friends the most. A meeting gift.”
President Peman’s fingers slid lightly over the edge of the banknotes. The sound and feel of the paper flipping let him know that this was real money.
He now had to play the role of an arrogant investment bank president, not a greedy scammer. He casually threw the money back into the travel bag, “I invited you here. How can I let you give me a meeting gift?”
He became more enthusiastic and then had Lance sit down.
“How much do you plan to invest more?”
Lance twisted his mouth slightly, “$500,000.”
Peman nodded slightly, “I thought there was a lot.”
The meaning in his words clearly carried a kind of intentional provocation. Perhaps he wanted to show Lance that this amount of money was nothing to him, but it was also possible that he wanted to see if Lance would impulsively say he wanted to invest a million.
But unfortunately, Lance did not do as he wished, “Besides not affecting my business, this is extra money. If it increases any more, my business might encounter some trouble.”
Hearing that there was still a possibility of squeezing out more money, the smile on Peman’s face grew wider, “Does your business bring you a net profit of fifteen percent every month?”
Lance seemed to think seriously for a moment and shook his head, “Maybe, maybe not. It depends on whether there are orders.”
“So, Mr. White, I suggest you can temporarily stop your business and pay more attention to our products.”
“A fifteen percent net profit every month, this is definitely a crazy business because it has no upper limit!”
“You might invest $100,000 in your business, which can bring you a net profit of $20,000 to $30,000 every month.”
“But it won’t be because you invested a million that the net profit becomes $200,000 to $300,000.”
“But here with us, it is stable, it is reliable.”
Lance showed some interest, “I still need to think about it. This is not a decision I can make alone.”
He paused as he spoke and began to talk about some things about Count Basil, “I have some understanding of Count Basil from the company. He is a remarkable person. Can I meet the current Count Basil?”
President Peman was still considering how to squeeze more money from this “smart egg” in front of him. He didn’t expect the other party to take the initiative to provide him with an opportunity, “Of course, Count Basil will meet and talk with our important clients, but you know, a great figure like him cannot possibly spend all his time and energy on everyone.”
“Mr. White, I don’t want to say this, but it is also a fact, that is, people are different.”
“Some people have lower value, some have higher value. Count Basil hopes to talk with those high-value people more. At least you can have a common language and thinking between you.”
“But it’s very difficult for us to distinguish whether a person has enough value to meet Count Basil, so we have a simple and crude method.”
“If you invest a million, I can arrange for you to meet with Count Basil!”
Lance didn’t seem to care about this number at all. He just pursued, “Is he in the Federation now?”
President Peman said with certainty, “Yes, he is right here in the Federation!”
His secretary stood by the whole time, looking at Lance with a grin. Another fool has taken the bait!
He didn’t quite understand why there were so many fools, and why these fools were so rich?
He didn’t quite get it. Was God too fond of these people, so much so that they didn’t even understand such a simple trick?
Of course, he would not show it. He now needed to play the role of the secretary well.
They talked for a good while, far exceeding the time President Peman had mentioned. In the end, Lance left the money here.
President Peman seemed to have prepared in advance and had the secretary take out an investment contract on the spot.
While Lance was checking the contract, he also checked the money Lance had brought. The scent emitted when the banknotes were fanned made him intoxicated!
Seeing that Lance was still not signing, he was afraid that Lance would regret it and say he wanted to take the money away. He quickly explained, “If you need a lawyer, we can provide one here…”
Lance waved his hand, took out a fountain pen, and signed his name, Lance White.
“No need, I trust you.”
President Peman was overjoyed upon hearing this. He quickly signed his own name and gave a copy to Lance, “Keep this safe. This can prove that you are our investment client. I will give you the highest level of treatment.”
As he spoke, it was about time. Lance proposed to leave, but at this moment, Elvin, wearing a driver’s uniform, ran over, with an apologetic look on his face, “Sir, I don’t know why, but the car won’t start!”
Lance immediately became angry upon hearing this, “I have an important meeting later, and now you’re telling me the car won’t start?”
Elvin kept apologizing. President Peman, on the side, seemed to have thought of something and said generously, “I’ll give you a ride. I happen to be leaving as well.”
Lance glared at Elvin, then put on a smile, “Mr. Peman, would that be too much trouble?”
Peman, who was still thinking about Lance’s other half a million, where would he be afraid of any trouble?
“It’s fine. I have nothing to do this afternoon. Giving you a ride is just right!”
He gave the secretary a look, and the latter quickly said, “I’ll have the driver start the car.”
Watching the driver trot away, Lance looked somewhat embarrassed, “That would be too much trouble for you, Mr. Peman. You are a good person!”
President Peman couldn’t help but laugh out loud upon hearing Lance’s evaluation of him, “You are also a good person, Mr. White!”
Lance agreed quite a bit, “We are all good people!”
President Peman also nodded continuously, “Yes, yes, we are all good people!”