Rebirth of America, this is my era

Chapter 111 Hippies and Taxes
"Dxxn!" Ethan cursed and got out of the car.

"What's going on? Damio?" Allen Massey was even more anxious than Ethan. As soon as he got out of the cab, he yelled at Damio Dean who was about to be pushed into the police car.

As they appeared, everyone present turned their eyes over.

After seeing the figures of Allen Massey and Julis Noble, both the crowd standing at the factory gate and the police officers who were escorting people into the car breathed a sigh of relief.

Damio Dean wanted to speak, but a policeman held his head and threw him into the car.

The same thing happened to several other thin men. The police took action before they could even open their mouths.

During this period, the leading policeman, who was about 40 years old, put away his gun.

"You guys came very quickly today. At least we didn't meet at the police station."

At the same time, he also turned his gaze to Ethan, "This is..."

"Our boss." Julis Noble said.

"Oh—the inventor of Pac-Man and Snake?"

"If I remember correctly, it should be Ethan Jones?"

The policeman nodded at Ethan, then pointed backwards with his right thumb and said, "After three conflicts in two weeks, Mr. Jones, you finally showed up?"

“This is really rare!”

Ethan frowned slightly at the slightly sarcastic words, but he still controlled his emotions and said in an apologetic tone: "Officer, I have been on a business trip for the past month. I just returned to the country the day before yesterday, and I just got the news today. I am sorry if my question has caused you any trouble."

"Hmm~" These words made the middle-aged policeman curl his lips.

Ethan knew that he accepted it, so he asked, "Officer, if possible, can you tell me what just happened? I believe my employees will not actively break the law."

Since the police had already started arresting people, Ethan did not question their intentions. At the same time, he also played a trick by not admitting that his employees had violated the law, but instead stated that his employees would not actively violate the law.

He wanted to use this to get some information.

His words made the middle-aged policeman snort twice.

He turned around and waved at his companions, signaling them to speed up. After all seven or eight people were thrown into the small van, he said, "Let's go to the police station and tell them."

Ethan had no objection and asked Alan Massey to go with him.

He left Julis Noble behind to take charge of the situation and to contact the lawyers working with the company.

After Ethan followed the police car to the Milbida police station, the middle-aged policeman raised his hand and pointed, taking him to his own office.

Although his attitude was a bit stiff, after sitting down, he did not hesitate and directly explained the recent situation, "Mr. Jones, in the past two weeks, we have called the police for your company three times. Including today, that is the fourth time."

"I can't give you a definitive conclusion about what happened today, but the three times before... those were all elementary school students having conflicts, you know?"

At this point, the middle-aged policeman looked painful.

And through his narration, Ethan also understood the details of what happened.

As Alan Massey and Julis Noble said, the laid-off employees did not disrupt the company's production and transportation, but their behavior was actually more troublesome than the disruption.

They did come to the factory to demand an explanation, but they never trespassed into private areas. Moreover, every time they made trouble, they would use some equipment in a very 'civilized' way, such as loudspeakers.

Every now and then they would stand at the door with loudspeakers, demanding that Damio Dean restore their jobs, and if that were all, it would actually be easy to deal with.

Because continuously calling someone names in public can actually be considered intimidation, and in California, causing a victim to be in constant fear for their safety is punishable by up to four years in prison.

but……

Those people didn't.

They might come at nine in the morning, shout for three to five minutes, and then run away.

During the factory's lunch break at noon, he came over and shouted for three to five minutes, and then ran away again.

In the evening when the factory gets off work, he comes over to shout a few words and then continues running.

This non-continuous shouting made it difficult for the police to track them down.

And whenever Damio Dean got tired of being yelled at...

"Your subordinate will bring a few workers out of the factory to confront them."

The middle-aged policeman rubbed his eyes and said, "He asked those people to stop such unreasonable behavior."

"Although his confrontation allowed us to catch the hippies, it did not allow us to obtain evidence of their illegal activities. So we could only detain them for 24 to 48 hours on the pretext of cooperating with the investigation, which was not an excuse, and then release them due to insufficient evidence."

“And today, as we were passing by, we saw them scuffling.”

"so……"

"I can only bring them back together."

"But don't worry. After my men have finished their questioning, I will ask them to release your people first. I will try my best not to delay your company's production. I know that you are a company that President Terman is optimistic about."

"At the same time, I also hope that you can resolve this matter quickly and stop making things difficult for me, okay?"

The middle-aged policeman looked straight at Ethan.

That old face was full of fatigue.

These words also made Ethan feel much more comfortable.

Because of the police's understanding of Stanford, he gained a lot of convenience in his actions.

But at the same time……

He also had certain ideas about the description of the whole thing.

"Thank you for your understanding, officer. As far as I know, those hippies who keep causing trouble..."

"Mr. Jones, I know what you're going to say."

Before Ethan could finish, the other party asked again: "Do you want to say that they are smoking? Or do you want to say that they are illegally in possession of Coke? Or do you want to say that they have connections with those dealers?"

"Your subordinates have told me these things countless times, but I'm sorry I can't do anything about it."

"It's not that I don't want to send them in, but I can't send them in."

Hearing this, Ethan's face suddenly showed surprise.

Because in California, using a controlled substance or narcotic is a crime, and if convicted, you may be sentenced to up to one year in prison or a fine of up to $1,000.

If those hippies didn't bother him, he wouldn't report it.

But now they are making trouble all the time!
In this situation, if they are not dealt a heavy blow, they will definitely not stop!

When the middle-aged policeman saw Ethan's surprised expression, a smile appeared on his tense face. "Oh - Mr. Jones - it seems that you haven't understood these things carefully -"

"Let me ask you, why do you want to hire those hippies to work here?"

"Isn't it just to get them cheap?"

“And since you’ll recruit these hippies, then the rest of the businesses, won’t they?”

The middle-aged policeman knocked on the table and said, "In our Milpitas, there are many semiconductor production companies. In addition to your factory, there are also Flextronics and Intel. They also employ hippies."

"I can send these troublemakers in."

“But I can’t send guys in who want to work!”

"If I arrest a hippie who wants to work in an electronics factory for smoking marijuana today, then tomorrow there will be countless reports of business competition! They will say that some factory employees have been smoking marijuana for a long time, and they want us to go and investigate thoroughly!"

"What will I do then?"

"We're going to arrest them one by one?"

"As long as I dare to arrest people, these companies will dare to move!"

"When MXG's labor plan was canceled, our labor costs in California soared several times! Countless factories moved to MXG!"

"Now, finally, a group of hippies who need jobs have appeared. They are willing to accept low-paying jobs. If I block this road, those who make a living by taxes will kill me!" The middle-aged policeman stared at Ethan with shaking eyes.

And Ethan understood what he meant.

He had talked with Evelyn before about the MXG labor plan, which was about MXG sending workers to America to do low-end jobs to fill the population gap in America.

When this plan was cancelled, countless low-end businesses and farmers fell into wailing.

Because labor costs have skyrocketed.

In this situation, the profit-seeking factories chose to move. They came to the US-Mexico border, on the MXG side. They wanted to reduce their production costs in this way.

This kind of industrial migration is inevitable because the purpose of a company's existence is to make profits.

Before, Ethan was also curious about why hippies were accepted by the public. Now... he understood that it was not that society was willing to accept them, but that capital liked this kind of cheap labor that had "turned over a new leaf."

In this case, if these guys who are willing to do low-end jobs and take low salaries are removed, the factories that rely on them to reduce production costs will definitely look for better solutions.

Although this situation may not be a big problem for Ethan, because the profit of their products is too high, the net profit is more than 50%.

But it would indeed be a devastating blow to the local economy.

When this situation occurs, the behavior of the police and the peacemakers can be understood. Oh no, they are not actually peacemakers because they are indeed biased towards Ethan.

After the middle-aged policeman finished talking with Ethan, he waved his hand and asked his subordinates to release the people who played the Destiny Game. At the same time, he told Ethan that they would keep those troublemakers in custody for another forty-eight hours.

Moreover, he sincerely hoped that—

"Mr. Jones, I know you are not a simple person, so I implore you to resolve these matters as soon as possible."

"Of course, I will also keep an eye on matters related to the traffickers."

"I may not be able to catch those hippies flying smoke, but I can help you get rid of the traffickers."

"As long as you keep running the factory here."

"Thank you." Ethan nodded slightly, "Thank you for your help."

After leaving the police station, Ethan returned to the factory with the employees.

Along the way, Damio Dean kept his head down and dared not say a word.

Ethan ignored his behavior.

After meeting the factory workers again, he first apologized to them for their hard work and promised to pay them a consolation payment of one month's salary for the trouble they had suffered.

Then let Alan Massey comfort those who entered the Orange and ask them about what happened today.

Finally, he called Damio Dean into his office.

"Tell me, what do you think about this matter?" Ethan asked after sitting down.

"Boss, I've tried my best to communicate with them, but I really can't let them come back to work." Damio Dean sighed and said, "I know they are innocent, but the incident was caused by them. If they didn't act like the others, none of these problems would have happened today..."

Damio Dean thought Ethan was blaming him for the way he handled things.

So after he opened his mouth, he kept explaining his point of view.

But all this meant nothing to Ethan, because he felt that Damio Dean did nothing wrong, and what he wanted to ask was - "I'm asking you a question! Why didn't you report this?"

Ethan yelled, “You were right to fire them, but why didn’t you tell me!”

"I know you want to work hard to deal with this matter, but why didn't you tell me when it has been two weeks and the police have been called three times!"

"Don't you know? People who are addicted to Feiyanfei may become insane!"

"In that case, they might pose a threat to your life!"

"I let you come here as a supervisor because I think you are capable of managing this factory, and you have also proved that when I am not around, you can make decisions that are beneficial to the factory and the workers when encountering emergencies. But these are not reasons for you to disregard your own life, right?"

That’s right! This is what Ethan is most popular about!

He is just being a hands-off boss, but he is not dead!

How could he know nothing about such a big thing happening in the company?
Isn’t this funny?
And what surprised him the most was that Damio Dean was actually at the front line?
Isn’t this guy mentally ill?

Since those people are looking for him, he should just hide!
If we let those people into the factory and cause trouble, wouldn't they be accused of violating private property?

By that time, it will be easier to deal with!

When the roaring sound appeared like a torrential flood, Damio Dean, who was standing there, was stunned. After hesitating for dozens of seconds, he finally told the reason -

"Boss, I don't want to disturb you because you are negotiating with Nintendo."

"Japan is a very large electronic game market, and cooperation with Nintendo can bring us huge benefits. In front of those benefits, such small controllable things are insignificant."

"As for my disregard for my own life?"

“I really didn’t expect that.”

"Because what I thought at the time was that staying here and confronting them would ensure production."

"Since you have handed the factory over to me, I must protect the production function."

have to……

When this reason appeared, Ethan really had nothing to say.

If this guy really cared about the company, Ethan really couldn't curse him.

I stared at the guy who was only a few years older than me for a few seconds...

Ethan suddenly remembered that this guy seemed to have told him when he applied for the job that he really liked the game "Snake" that he made and he was a fanatical fan of "Snake".

At that time, Ethan was still jokingly thinking that if there was an accident in the company, this guy would probably rush to the front line, and now... he has rushed to the front line.

And he rushed faster than anyone else!

"Rolling, rolling, rolling..."

Ethan didn't know what to say, so he angrily told him to get out.

And when Damio Dean went out for unknown reasons, Ethan felt something was wrong.

Damn it, this is Damio Dean's office, not his office!
So why is he staying here? Is he looking for trouble?
"I'm so pissed off!"

Ethan stood up and walked out.

When he found that the factory was operating normally and his three subordinates were standing aside, looking at each other, not knowing what to do, he waved his hand and said, "Just do whatever you need to do!"

"I'll find a way to deal with this matter!"

This roar made the three of them even more afraid to move.

But when Ethan walked out of the factory and was about to go back, he suddenly thought of something and turned back and said in front of everyone: "Damio Dean, your salary will increase by 50%!"

"Also, don't do anything stupid!"

When this fact came to light, the three people who were originally nervous immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Julis Noble smiled and nodded at Damio Dean, saying, "The boss is praising you."

Alan Massey patted the young man on the shoulder and said, "Well done."

Just when Damio Dean wanted to speak excitedly, Ethan came back.

This time, he yelled, "Oh! Sxxt! Allen, take me back!"

"I came here in your car!"

"FMxxK! You guys really make me mad!"

(End of this chapter)