In a dark bar in a slum, three people sat facing each other.
This bar is very shabby, with only three or four lights burning, and the drinks ordered are only bad ones, most of which are for the lower class to satisfy some spiritual needs, and are not delicious.
The wine was on the table and no one touched it.
Hope's posture was extremely relaxed. He put one arm on the chair and asked, "If you want to ask me anything, just ask me directly."
"I think..."
"I want to know about the situation in the slums. Why are there so many poor people gathered in the Holy City? How do they survive?" Father Solje asked before Lai Gouer finished.
Hope said: "Is it strange that there are so many poor people in the Holy City? These slums are the descendants of the craftsmen who built the Holy City at the beginning. They live in the slums during the day and go into the inner city at night to sweep the streets or help with repairs. This is how the house survives from generation to generation.”
"Then... the church has so much wealth, doesn't it want to help these people improve their lives?" Father Solje asked, "Besides, there are people like you in the slums, and their lives shouldn't be so bad. .”
"Improvement?" Hope sneered, "The church depends entirely on people like this. If they live well, how can the church survive?"
"I came here to do charity just because of an accident... Two months ago, an organization called the Mutual Aid Society appeared in the slums of the Holy City. The Mutual Aid Society has been helping the poor build prefabricated houses in the slums, cleaning up garbage, and I don’t ask for anything in return, I just took a look after I heard about it and got curious.”
"I didn't expect it to be true. I'm a little impressed by this. The slums you see now are much better than two months ago. At that time, the streets were full of feces, urine and garbage. If it weren't for the mutual aid association, there would be no place to stay. .”
"Later, I saw that they were indeed working hard, so I gave them a sum of money and took the time to come over to see how they were doing and whether they were wasting my money."
Lai Gouer felt a little happy after hearing this.
The Mutual Aid Association is the skin of the Brotherhood. They arrived in the Holy City earlier and Xiaoshuai has already reported it.
Da Zhuang and Fo Bole are active in the city.
I usually don't pay much attention to how they do things, but I didn't expect that they actually achieved some results here.
"Hygiene doesn't seem to be easy to clean, right? How did they do it?" Lai Gouer asked curiously.
Hope seemed to have remembered something and chuckled: "The people in the mutual aid association are a bit evil. Originally, these poor people had no rules at all and urinated in the street. Even if the toilets were built, no one went there. Later, the mutual aid association specially organized a group of People are wandering on the street, and when they see someone, a group of people go up to watch, and over time no one dares to mess around."
"Later, they distributed food and medicine and attracted many people to join. Now they are very popular in the slums."
"Father, if you want to stay more comfortable in the church, then make good contact with the mutual aid association. They can help you solve a lot of troubles. Those poor people look pitiful and sometimes they are very hateful. Don't wait until something happens. On my head.”
Father Solje nodded, and then took a sip of sour wine.
Seeing that he was speechless, Lai Gouer said: "I came from an eastern country. In the future, I will have to deal with the Holy See when doing business. I don't know the relationship in the church in this holy city..."
Hope knocked on the table and said: "Friend, I can drink with you, but if you want to inquire about this matter, it is not an ordinary price. But I am somewhat interested in Eastern goods. What are you selling?"
Lai Gouer took out a jade pendant from his arms and handed it over.
"How about this?"
Hope glanced at it: "The stone is not worth anything."
"This is jade."
"I don't care what you call it. Only gems can be sold at a high price here. If you don't recognize this thing outside, is there anything else?"
Lai Gouer pondered for a long time: "How about porcelain?"
porcelain! ?
Hope's eyes widened suddenly, and he leaned forward and put his hands on the table: "You have oriental porcelain... You are from Feka. Do you sell the porcelain in Feka from you?"
I found it, I found a treasure!
That thing is now basically marketable and priceless. It circulates very quickly on the black market and is in great demand.
Now that he accidentally touched the thread, Hope was ecstatic.
Lai Gou'er thought for a while and felt that it didn't matter, so he said yes.
Hope burst out laughing: "Okay! Okay! You met the right person when you met me. You shouldn't talk to the church about this matter. If they find out, they will at least peel you off, 50% of the time." Say less.”
"The person who sells goods on the black market must have encouraged you to come here. This business communicates with the church openly. If you don't cooperate, you will definitely be hit. If you want to make more money in the future, you can only rely on his channels, but if you encounter me, I will count you down. Lucky. If you cooperate with the church, he will eat meat and you will drink soup. If you cooperate with me, we will all eat meat together!"
Lai Gouer frowned.
He believed most of what Hope said. After entering the Holy City and seeing the style of the Taifu Sect, he no longer wanted to talk about it.
I just didn't expect that Duke Alves would do something like this quietly behind his back.
But the person in front of me had just met him, his identity was unknown, and he was not trustworthy.
"Mr. Hope, we just met, why should I trust you?"
Hope slammed the table with his big hand: "It's impossible to do business in the Holy City for my sake without any connection behind it. My business is spread across many countries. Even if you ask around in the Holy City, no one will not know me, Hope!" "
"Aren't you a furniture seller? How can you be so famous for selling furniture?" Lai Gouer said lightly.
Hope chuckled: "I, Hope, take at least five girls with me when I go shopping. It's different every time. Do you think there will be people who don't recognize me?"
Who is this person... He is over 50 years old and still has so much energy?
Lai Gouer was silent for a moment: "Then you are really awesome."
Hope spread his hands: "I can prove myself, but I can't believe all your empty words. If you can prove that you can produce porcelain, then go to my house and let's discuss it in detail. Even if the sale fails, I promise to know You can tell me everything. You should also be able to see that I am a very cheerful person."
Lai Gouer was not afraid, but he glanced at Father Solje hesitantly.
Father Solje was still drinking. When he saw him looking at him, he said, "Go ahead. I'll stay here. I'll go see the Pope again when he has time."
Hope looked at Lai Gouer, pointed at the priest and showed two rows of white teeth: "I like him. Such people are really rare in the Holy City!"
...
