America: Starting with Daily Intelligence

Chapter 98 Treating the Talented with Respect

After careful consideration, Zhang Ailun immediately woke up Dominic and asked him if he had heard of the Modern Brothers, the Irishman, and the Short-tailed Dog.

Dominic woke up groggily, rubbing his eyes. "Why are you asking about this? The Modern Brothers? It seems to be a group of local scavengers. They're a bunch of gamblers and smokers, real street thugs who are often arrested and imprisoned for zero-dollar purchases and insurance fraud."

"The leaders were two white men from poor neighborhoods who developed a family business, owning more than a dozen streets and several ordinary neighborhoods. Outsiders who wanted to join the Modern Brothers had to change their surnames. They used to have as many as thirty people, but they offended street gangs when they tried to switch to drug trafficking, which led to a shootout. Now there are only seven or eight left. One of the Modern Brothers was even run over by a garbage truck."

"The Irish are scavengers living in abandoned sewers. They don't have much fixed territory, but they often take advantage of their numbers to cross over into other people's streets to rob and hoard cans, mainly dominating the automatic recycling machines on the streets and in shops."

To prevent unfair competition, the city government limits the can recycling machines to dispensing only $200 per day, but almost all of it goes to Irish people because no one else can compete with them. Using automated recycling machines also prevents recycling stations from making a profit from the difference.

"Many of them are illegal immigrants and criminals from Europe. There are people of all eye and hair colors. I don't know why they always call themselves Irish," Dominic said, puzzled.

"The short-tailed dogs are a group of unemployed Mexican workers who have settled in an abandoned building after failing to get their wages. They often engage in petty theft and cannot be driven away by the police because they are like sticky candy."

"Back then, when an unemployed worker was accidentally injured by a police officer, they blocked the city hall and police station entrances and staged a protest, refusing to leave, which caused quite a stir. The construction site contractor shirked responsibility, and the city government tacitly ignored them, so eventually no one was willing to take action anymore. Many of the zero-dollar purchase events in the vicinity were proposed and planned by them, including the zero-dollar purchase event the day before yesterday! They had the largest number of people, more than thirty."

"These three teams are also well-known scavenger organizations in the Fifth District. They often have conflicts of interest in private, but they have nothing to do with us, and we don't need to provoke them."

Dominic was not interested in this at all, because before this, Lori Louis 19 had always maintained a street-level social attitude of "I won't bother anyone unless they bother me".

They'll only participate when there's work to do, otherwise they just laze around, completely lost and confused – this is the typical mindset of many street groups.

"That's precisely why, if we want to make more money, we need to expand our territory and talk to them," Zhang Ailun said. "With so many of them, they should be able to easily get guns, right?"

"Unlikely. There was a Japanese-American group that was arrested and sentenced to decades in prison for illegal possession of firearms. Most were deported, while a few fled to San Francisco. Having guns already involves gang activity; there's no need for anyone to report them. Other gangs would take down their hideout!"

"Unless some of them also have CCW credentials, but those people are all illegal immigrant Mexican workers and Europeans. Their identities are so illegal that they can't even get gun licenses, so how could they legally own guns?"

Dominic explained, "The reason why so many people gathered together and there was no trouble is simply because they didn't engage in drug trafficking, organ trafficking, or any gang-related activities. At most, they did illegal zero-dollar shopping and begging by collecting cans, which meant they posed relatively little threat."

"We're in the same situation with Lori Louis 19, but Sigurd's case is a bit more special. And we have a pretty good relationship with the police now!"

Police officers have been rarely seen shopping here lately; when they do come, it's usually to inspect the area under the bridge next door.

The little yellow duck design of Louis XIX is basically ignored.

But you'd better be sensible and not commit crimes on your own initiative. If you do commit a crime, don't get caught by the police. Even if you are caught, don't admit that you are a member of the Little Yellow Duck group. You should say that you are a good citizen and an ordinary homeless person.

Otherwise, the police officers will also have a headache. They will want to find an excuse to let you go, but they will be hesitant to speak because of the body camera they are wearing. Aren't you making things difficult for them?

As long as the Beggars' Sect disciples don't cause trouble for the police officers, and don't deliberately provoke them by getting too close, the police officers will generally turn a blind eye to you.

After learning about the recent situation of the three scavenging organizations, Zhang Ailun told Dominic to continue sleeping.

He turned around and got out of the RV, where he found Sig sleeping in a tent under the bridge.

The other person had already gotten up, finished exercising and washed their face, and was sitting on the sofa wrestling with the wheels of their Trek bicycle, disassembling it completely.

There was also a tactical chest pack on the sofa next to him, which was bulging with what was undoubtedly a pistol and a submachine gun!

"Boss, is there anything you need me to do?" Sieg asked curiously, already used to Zhang Ailun's arrival.

Basically, every time Zhang Ailun comes to see him, it's because he has something to arrange.

"Sieg, you don't need to collect cans for the next few days. I want you to recruit some homeless people to join us. Let's move up the plan to expand our team," Zhang Ailun explained his purpose.

He didn't actually expect Sieg to bring many elite talents to the Beggars' Sect. Haste makes waste; people can be won over slowly, but their quality must be high.

"Ideally, it would be an outstanding veteran like you who ended up on the streets after his discharge, which would make it easier for him to get his CCW certificate later," Zhang Ailun thought to himself.

"If we weren't a scavenger team, I'd even think you were trying to incite a rebellion, hahaha," Sieg joked.

"There are indeed quite a few people like me, but there are probably not many who are in a worse situation than I was before, and who don't even have legal status. Many of my old friends, former classmates, and former military subordinates have also lost their jobs in recent years. I've also met many homeless veterans recently, and I can only try my best to persuade them to join us."

Sieg, finding humor in his predicament, waved the wrench in his hand and readily agreed, "I'll help you recruit people after I fix the bicycle. But I still need to think about how to persuade them to join the team, after all, I don't have your eloquence."

"Sincerity is the ultimate weapon. If there's someone who can truly impress you, you can message me, and I'll personally persuade them!"

In ancient times, Liu Bei visited Zhuge Liang three times at his thatched cottage to persuade him to come out of seclusion and assist him in achieving great things. Today, I, Zhang Ailun, run the Beggars' Gang business on the West Coast, and I am perfectly capable of treating talented people with respect.

But it's one thing for Sieg himself to be deregistered and become a homeless person, but even his subordinates and old comrades in the army are not doing well. Isn't that a bit too much?

Can you honestly say you weren't influenced by this?

(End of this chapter)