While in America, the system says Roosevelt was an emperor.

Just as Sean was weighing the pros and cons, there was a knock on the office door.

"Knock knock knock!"

Sean locked the safe, and the knocking continued unabated, growing more and more urgent.

Despite Sean being practically bankrupt, he still maintained his boss-like attitude, directly yelling and cursing:

"Come in! Why are you knocking so urgently? Are you rushing to your death?!"

As soon as the office door opened, the last few dozen redneck employees filed in.

Before Sean could even begin his "lecture," the rednecks chorused:

"Get paid for these past few days, we're all quitting!"

I love the railway company because there are ongoing projects, and they are all laborers working on the construction site in the morning.

The construction site is quite far away, so they only just got back to resign.

Sean, as usual, yelled at the rednecks:

"This is outrageous!"

"You haven't finished your work, and you're already trying to quit? What kind of pay are you going to get?!"

"You only get paid if you finish the work, that's the rule."

"Because you abandoned your posts and left your workstations without orders, even if you go back to work now, your wages for this project will be reduced by ten percent!"

"No, it's twenty percent!"

Before Sean could continue his arrogance, a redneck slapped him across the face and led the charge in shouting insults:

"You bastard, are you still trying to fool us?"

"Strong Engineering Company (an engineering company protected by the Corleone family) said that laborers are paid daily, not per project!"

"If you don't pay us our wages today, we'll make you regret it!"

One of the illegal workers, emboldened by his evil intentions, directly threatened:

"Anyway, without this pay, my money won't last long. I'll fight you to the death if I have to!"

Another boomerang came back to them: Sean's wages were so low that the undocumented workers had no savings and no ability to withstand risks.

As Tom said, "surrounding three sides and leaving one side open" means that if you don't leave people a way out, they are likely to go to extremes.

If illegal workers don't get paid, they will starve to death. They don't care about rules, morality, or even the law. All they want is to live!

With one person taking the lead, the others' gazes became increasingly hostile.

Sean knew the laborers' backgrounds; many of them had committed murder in their home countries of Europe and had smuggled themselves into America.

Now, with his fierce and menacing posture, he immediately intimidated Sean.

Sean took out some loose US dollars from the drawer and said, "Even if I lose, I won't back down,"

"snort!"

"Since we're from the same hometown, we'll make an exception and pay you your wages this time."

Sean distributed the money, and the laborers counted it right in front of him. Then they spat at Sean a few times and turned to leave.

After everyone left, Sean instantly breathed a sigh of relief and plopped down in his office chair.

There wasn't much money; the combined wages of the dozen or so laborers amounted to just over three hundred US dollars.

But that pride and dignity seem to be gone forever.

Sean looked around the office, wanting to take one last look at his workspace, but instead saw a woman—his chess practice partner, his secretary.

The female secretary is only twenty-four years old this year, which is the most beautiful age when she would be too young and naive if she were a few years younger, and too old if she were a few years older.

Sean rallied his spirits and, as usual, pointed to his female secretary and said:

"Come here, let's play a game of chess."

Sean never expected that his female secretary would also give him the cold shoulder.

The female secretary extended a hand to Sean and said:

"I'm not putting up with you anymore, I'm quitting today."

"Besides, I know a lot of inside information about your company. Don't expect things to end peacefully unless you give me a thousand dollars!"

Sean also knew the female secretary's background: a single mother raising a child, whose daughter was just eight years old this year.

Sean habitually threatened:

"Your daughter is only eight years old. You need to support her for at least four more years before it's convenient for her to get married."

"Two hundred and fifty dollars a year, what can that do for you and your child?"

"And even if I gave you a thousand dollars, could you hold onto it?"

"Why don't you stay with me? I'll support you until your daughter is old enough to get married."

"If all else fails, you and your daughter can come together, and I'll support you for a few more years."

"You wouldn't want your daughter to end up on the streets, would you?"

Normally, whenever Sean mentioned the other woman's daughter, the female secretary would tremble uncontrollably and occasionally shed a few tears.

Sean couldn't love that unique charm more than anything.

But today, the female secretary acted out of character, her face turning fierce as she said:

"You know I only became your secretary and played chess with you to support my eight-year-old daughter."

"You don't actually think I'm so lowly that I only stayed with you because I liked your big belly, do you?"

"You're not the boss anymore, how many more years can you support me and my daughter?"

"I'm still young, I'm only twenty-four."

"Can't I just find another boss to be my secretary?"

"I don't care who the boss is, as long as I can be the boss's secretary and earn money to support my daughter."

"I've already contacted two or three employers, and they've agreed to conduct interviews this afternoon."

Upon hearing this, Sean realized that he probably had no choice but to give them the thousand dollars.

Sean wasn't afraid of his female secretary being alone, but what about the new boss she had joined?

Add to that a whole host of scandals involving engineering projects, and Sean dared not gamble; he had no choice but to pay hush money.

After counting out a thousand dollars, Sean handed the money to his female secretary.

The female secretary tried to pull him out several times before Sean reluctantly let go.

His last shred of dignity was also taken away by his female secretary.

From that moment on, Sean completely transformed from a domineering engineering company boss into an ordinary redneck white man who could be bullied by everyone.

After the money left his hand, Sean fell backward again with a thud.

This time, however, Sean didn't sit in his office chair; instead, he collapsed onto the floor.

The female secretary didn't care about any of that. After counting the money, she turned and left the office, leaving Sean alone and forlorn.

Sean opened the safe, looked at the $80,000 beneath him, and began planning his future retirement.

But two scenes kept lingering in Sean's mind:

1. Tom's usual cowardly, timid, and bookish demeanor;

Second, Tom arrogantly held up his Finance Bureau badge and smugly showed off in front of him.

Sean grew increasingly angry and started yelling and cursing in his office all by himself:

"It's all Tom's fault!"

"It's all his fault! He's the one who caused all my employees to leave!"

"He's the one who made me get humiliated by my employees!"

"He's the one who caused my top-notch private chess coach to run away!"

Sean's face turned even redder, and his body began to tremble. He said viciously:

"Did the employer kill Tom?"

"No, killing Tom wouldn't be enough to vent my anger!"

"I'm going to contact the Peaky Boss and get them to help me get my employees back. I want to be the boss again!"

"As long as I'm still the boss of the engineering company, what is Tom, a newly hired junior employee, to me?"

"I want Tom to be as subservient to me as his boss as ever."

This situation wasn't limited to I Love Railroad Engineering Company; other company bosses, unwilling to relinquish their "status," disregarded the costs and benefits and contacted other gangs to oppose Tom.