Chapter 1689: Chapter 765: Boss Wei’s Headache! (Part 3)
“The British watch the Italians die without offering help, the French mock the British, the Germans look down on everyone… These are all things we can exploit. When necessary, we can deliberately ease up on one front a little, let them ‘advance victoriously’ a short distance, and see if the others get jealous, try to steal credit, or show their flaws due to lack of cooperation.”
“We need to find a way to create chaos within them!”
“Additionally, through secret channels, make contact with the anti-war groups, union organizations, and those industry associations affected by inflation in Europe… We don’t need to appear directly, just provide so ‘materials’ and ‘funds’. Let them stir things up in their own countries. We want to ignite the fire of war in their parliants and streets.”
Casare quickly took notes.
War is inherently sordid.
“Casare, do you know what the hardest part of this war is?”
Casare thought for a mont: “Is it facing the united pressure from NATO?”
“No.” Victor shook his head, “It is maintaining our internal confidence and unity. At the root, war is fought with money, with people, with people’s hearts. Front-line soldiers need to know why they are fighting, and the people at ho need to feel that the sacrifice is worth it. We are in danger now, but not the danger of defeat; it is the danger of shaken beliefs.”
He exhaled a smoke ring, his eyes resolute: “So, next, I will adjust my schedule. I’ll inspect damaged factories, visit families of the fallen soldiers, chat with housewives in line at discount stores, so everyone can see that I am with them, I understand their difficulties, and I am determined to lead them through this.”
“In the afternoon, I plan to visit the largest store in Cancun.”
Casare nodded, understanding that the boss was doing his utmost to maintain the current conflict with his personal abilities.
“Good!”
…
xico City, Los Pinos District.
In a twenty-year-old apartnt building, Harvey Sterling’s family was having dinner.
The dinner table was unusually quiet, with only the occasional sound of a spoon clinking against the bowl’s edge.
A plate of beans mixed with rice, a small dish of sausages fried to a crisp black—the at content of those sausages was much less than six months ago, with a heavy flour texture. Beside it was a small bowl of lettuce salad, the lettuce leaves slightly wilted.
Harvey’s wife, Isabel, carefully cut the sausages, placing a slightly larger piece on the plate of their ten-year-old son, Diego, and another piece for their seven-year-old daughter, Sofia.
She herself only took so beans and rice.
“Mom, why aren’t you eating the at?” Sofia asked, her big eyes wide open.
“Mom’s not hungry, sweetheart.” Isabel forced a smile.
Harvey kept his head down, chanically feeding himself.
At forty-two, he used to be a production line supervisor at a dium-sized factory producing components for car manufacturers.
A third of that factory’s raw materials ca from the United States and Canada. Three months ago, orders started to plumt; a month ago, the factory announced a “temporary halt for restructuring,” and two weeks ago, the official layoff notice arrived, with Harvey’s na on the first list.
Unemploynt benefits? Yes, but only about 40% of his original salary, and the approval process is despairingly long.
Yet, prices are soaring.
Savings are lting away like ice under the sun.
The TV was on, its volu turned low.
It was the xican National Broadcasting Company (TNM)’s evening financial special. A “chief economic analyst” wearing gold-rimd glasses, with ticulously combed hair, was speaking confidently. The background screen showed complex charts and optimistic arrows scrolling continuously.
“We must understand the bigger picture of current global market volatility.” The analyst’s voice was steady and filled with confidence, “The continued decline in the US dollar index is inherently the growing pains of the old unipolar financial order struggling to adapt to the current reality of a multipolar world.”
The beans fell off Harvey’s fork back into his plate.
He raised his head, staring at the TV.
The analyst continued, his gestures vigorous: “And for the xican economy, challenges and opportunities coexist. Yes, we are facing temporary supply chain adjustnt pressures, but it is the price of transformation! Look at new data after Texas and California joined the Federation. Last quarter, investnt intention in California’s high-tech industries increased by 22%, Texas’s energy integration projects created over fifty thousand direct jobs! This is evidence of our holand economy’s enhanced internal drive! War? No, we’re reshaping the regional security frawork to clear obstacles for future economic integration. The short-term inflation pressure is controllable, and the governnt has already initiated a comprehensive price intervention and fair supply system to ensure the basic livelihood…”
“Bang!”
Harvey slamd the fork on the table.
The stainless-steel fork jumped on the ceramic plate, making a piercing sound.
Diego and Sofia were startled, stopping their eating, and looked at their father apprehensively.
Isabel’s hand trembled slightly, she softly said, “Harvey…”
“Liar.” Harvey’s voice squeezed out through his clenched teeth.
The TV analyst switched to another chart, starting to use more professional jargon to analyze the world’s major stock markets: “Affected by North Arica’s uncertainty and the expected liquidity of the US dollar, global major stock indices are under pressure. Specifically, look at the London FTSE 100 index, which fell 4.7% this week, hitting a 14-month low, with banks and insurance sectors leading the decline. Lloyd Bank Group’s single-day drop exceeded 8%, Paris’s CAC 40 index fell 5.2%, with luxury goods sectors particularly hard hit by the downward adjustnt in global demand expectations, LVMH Group’s stock value evaporated nearly 12 billion euros this week, and Frankfurt’s DAX index fell 4.9%, with auto manufacturers’ stock prices generally plumting, Volkswagen down 6.3% due to supply chain concerns…”
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