"Mister Lynch, we've been waiting for you for a long time. Please come in."
The president of the Chamber of Commerce didn't look too happy, but he still invited him.
Lynch looked around leisurely. He took out a pack of cigarettes from his pocket and put one in his mouth.
With a "chi" sound, the assistant next to Lin Qi struck a match, covered it with one hand, and moved in front of Lin Qi.
Under the soft light, Lin Qi's face was covered with a layer of red light under the light of the match. The light came quickly and instantly overshadowed the light of the light bulb.
He casually took two puffs and exhaled a puff of smoke. "I'm not the Guevara People …."
The president turned his head and looked at the sign. He was furious. "Who put this thing here? Why aren't you taking it away?"
He walked down the stairs and stood in front of Lynch. "I'm sorry, Mister Lynch. We seem to have made some mistakes in our work. I apologize for that."
"But please believe me, this is definitely not our intention …."
The president walked down the stairs. It was not suitable for the others to stand on the stairs, even if the stairs weren't that high.
From being looked down upon, to being looked down upon normally, to now being looked down upon by others, the emotional changes of these merchants were particularly interesting.
"I also believe that this must be a misunderstanding!"
Lynch reached out and shook hands with the president. The two exchanged a few words. Under the guidance of the president, Lynch finally stepped onto the stairs.
Under the indescribable gazes of the people, he entered the house.
The merchants looked at each other and followed him expressionlessly. Tonight's meeting was held to welcome Lynch.
Compared to the other merchants of the Federation, Lynch had a natural special attribute. He was the baron of Guevara, a noble of the Empire.
However, this was only a verbal title given by the Emperor. The various ceremonies had not been held yet.
In Guevara, nobles were usually conferred in autumn. Autumn symbolized the season of harvest. The harvest could be food, titles, or other unspecific things.
In addition, in ancient times, the territory had to be allocated after the conferment. If the conferment was held in spring, it was very likely that they would miss the spring sowing.
If it was in the summer, the original owner of the land would be dissatisfied. Everyone knew that autumn would come after summer. If the land was given to someone else at this time, half a year's time would be wasted.
Conferring a title after the autumn harvest was different. Not only did it have various symbolic meanings, but at the same time, the wheat on the land was almost finished harvesting. At this time, arranging for a new lord to take office was not something to argue about.
At the same time, the new Lord would be able to organize a new planting plan as soon as possible. After all, during the Fief period, the seeds that were planted would also come from the Lord himself.
Therefore, due to various reasons, the conferment would usually be held after the autumn harvest, and the authority and boundaries would be determined before winter arrived.
Today, there were no longer any "fiefs" in the Gefra Empire. The nobles did not have their own territories, but many customs were still preserved.
It was still summer, and Lynch could only be considered a "baronet". As long as he was not conferred a title, he could not be considered a noble of the empire.
This was also the reason why the merchants dared to embarrass him. In addition, behind these merchants were large and small nobles. Their relationships in the empire were complicated, and it was not easy for a "Federation noble" to overthrow them.
Secondly, everyone more or less knew that Lynch's nobility was not that easy to be.
It was a very strange thing for a foreigner to be conferred a noble, and it was inevitable that people would think more about it. Moreover, it was later requested by the emperor himself, and it was not a product of some kind of diplomacy. Therefore, people had more room for imagination.
This house was not particularly luxurious because it was a local building. It was not built after the Guevara People came. They did their best to choose a suitable house for their use, and the less suitable ones were given to the garrison to live in.
Although the house itself was not luxurious, it looked a lot better after they renovated it.
Under the guidance of the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Lynch walked through a corridor and arrived at a hall.
The moment Lynch's right foot stepped into the hall, the conductor, who had been ready for a long time, suddenly raised his baton, and a slightly cheerful movement began to play.
At the same time, the hall seemed to have completely "come to life".
The messengers kept putting plates of food on the table, and some ladies wearing exquisite evening gowns entered the hall accompanied by music. It was a very novel experience.
This was obviously an ordinary banquet, but at this moment, one could feel that it was different from the Federation's banquet.
Everything here was too orderly, from the performance of the band to the entrance of the attendants to the entrance of the female guests. They had their own set of rules, and it was not as casual as the Federation's banquet.
And this was also the biggest cultural difference between the two countries. One had a strict hierarchical system, while the other was free and unrestrained.
"Let me introduce …" The president of the Chamber of Commerce stood in the crowd and introduced Lynch to the gentlemen and ladies who did not go out to greet him. "Standing beside me is the new noble of the Empire, Baron Lynch from the Federation …"
What the f * ck is this?!
Lynch did not believe that such an old man would not know how to speak. Obviously, this was done deliberately. He did not immediately retaliate, but politely greeted everyone with a nod and a look.
"Mr. Lynch, say something for us!"
The president of the Chamber of Commerce looked at him with a smile. This was obviously a good way to make things difficult for Lynch.
They did not believe that Lynch was as familiar with Amelia as he was with Najalil. He did not even have any friends here.
In this kind of situation, surrounded by the Guevara People, and only one person from the Federation, what would a person say?
He would probably say something to cater to the situation and the majority. As long as Lynch said something, he would lose.
Looking at the gleaming eyes of the president of the Chamber of Commerce, Lynch already understood what the other party meant. This was not a conspiracy, but an open one.
Even if you knew that these things were problematic, you could not avoid it and could not refuse.
Lynch looked at these people and asked with a faint smile, "What should I say?"
Without waiting for the president of the Chamber of Commerce to answer him, he said, "I'm not sure what I should say. I'm not a hypocrite. I won't change my original intention and position to cater to others for some purpose.
"I know that you don't like me. Not only me, but you also don't like the Federation and the Federation because we just did an 'unforgivable' thing.
And now, I'm here to do the same 'unforgivable' thing that you have no way to deal with! "
Without any hesitation, Lin Qi tore off his mask of hypocrisy. Looking at those stunned, surprised, unhappy, angry, and dumbfounded faces, Lin Qi didn't regret his words at all. Instead, the corner of his mouth was still slightly curled up.
Even if he said something nice to cater to these people, would they accept him?
No, absolutely not. They would only be more united to reject him. Since belittling his own achievements would not satisfy these people and make them change their position, why should he make himself suffer?
No matter what he said, these people would target him regardless of whether he said something nice or not, so there was no need to be secretive.
He used the word 'unforgivable' in this paragraph. This word came from the mouth of Emperor Guevra. When he knew that his fleet was almost completely destroyed, this was the roar he let out in the ruler's hall. Unforgivable!
Lynch did not hesitate to use this word to tell these people the reason why he was here. At the same time, he also used this word to tell these people what he was going to do.
He was going to steal profits from these people's pockets. To these merchants, this was indeed an 'unforgivable' thing!
There was no pretentiousness to cater to him, only direct fire.
Even the music in the hall went out of tune because of Lynch's words.
He stood in the middle of the crowd. Other than himself, everyone else in his line of sight was an 'enemy', but he was so confident and calm. With a smile on his face, he looked at the others. Very few people could look him in the eyes for a long time. Most of them only looked at him for an instant or half a second before moving their aggressive gazes away.
"Mr. Lynch …" The president of the Chamber of Commerce was at a loss. He originally thought that Lynch would say something to cater to the situation, such as hoping that everyone would get rich together.
After all, he did not know much about this place. It was reasonable for him to say something that would blur the boundaries. Then, these words would spread and be manipulated and adapted by people with intentions. It would become an expression of Lynch catering to the local Chamber of Commerce and the Empire.
The people of the Federation kneeling and licking the Empire's boots. Wasn't this the scene that the lords in the country wanted to see?
But he never thought that Lynch would directly fire at everyone here, even the Guevra Empire.
This …
Was this bastard drunk too much?
But he could not tell from his clean and handsome face!
The president of the Chamber of Commerce did not know what else he wanted to say, but at this time, it was best to interrupt him. "I …"
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Lynch. Lynch raised his hand and pressed on the president's arm, stopping him from continuing. "I know what you want to say. I know very well."
"My purpose here is not to meet up with everyone, drink some wine, exchange some appropriate pleasantries, and then leave."
"Ladies and gentlemen, I'm here to do business. I'm here to compete with you for the market. Regardless of nationality or position, we're not on the same side. Therefore, we're both friends and enemies."
"I hope that we can respect each other, show our elegance, and meet on the 'battlefield' that belongs to us. As two opposing sides, we will do our best to fight tenaciously."
"Whether we win or lose!"
He glanced sideways at the president of the Chamber of Commerce. "Instead of playing some meaningless tricks and making each other look down on each other!"