After resting for a night in the RV, Lu Ming sent Christine back to Donghai early the next morning. He did not stay in Donghai, but changed to a special plane and flew directly to Antigua.
Lu Ming was in a very good mood. Although his kiss with Christine was just a brief one, any man who could hold Christine's lips without being torn into pieces would feel happy. He felt an incomparable sense of satisfaction and conquest, as if the whole world was at his feet.
As for what else would happen that night, that was naturally something that one could not even imagine.
…
In Antigua, the rubber plantation has been transferred, and the Donghai-Ferman City route to be operated by Qinghai Tourism Company has also obtained preliminary approval from the Antigua State Aviation Bureau and the Ferman Municipal Committee.
However, there was a problem in the rubber plantation. Lu Ming came to Antigua the day before yesterday to deal with this matter.
In addition, there were some problems within the observation group. Of course, problems within the observation group were not a big problem.
The Eastern Alliance Observer Mission in Antigua has a total of 20 members, most of whom are lawyers, journalists, writers, social group members, etc. Four of them, including the head of the mission, are from the East China Sea. The other eight member bodies of the alliance each have two observers.
The head of the group, Fetro, also has no official status. He is a senior freelance writer in Donghai and also the vice president of the Donghai Independent Journalists Association.
In name, these 20 observers are all civilians, so what they finally form is an independent investigation report for reference by the Eastern Alliance Secretariat.
The observation group had no accompanying staff and had to do everything by themselves.
However, after the observation group arrived in Antigua, the Antigua Governor, Chachai Zonglawimon, sent special service personnel and guards.
The observation group stayed on the eleventh floor of the Santoro Hotel. The staff and security personnel sent by Governor Chachai also stayed on the eleventh floor and booked the remaining rooms on the entire floor.
Chachai is very concerned about the safety of the observation team.
Although a military coup had just been crushed, in fact, the armed forces of the state of Antigua, the Antigua National Guard, was in a state of fragmentation. There were about 50,000 armed forces, officially divided into 12 brigades, controlled by different families. In addition to these regular troops, there were also armed forces of local tribes, etc.
The state of Antigua, after all, is a family and tribal political model, and democratic elections are just a formality.
Generally speaking, the governor only governs the Ferman Peninsula, and four-fifths of the population living on the remaining islands in the lake are almost out of control.
Even the mayor of Ferman, the most important city in the Ferman Peninsula, would become a powerful political opponent of the governor if he was not from the same political family and was not an ally of the governor.
The current mayor of Ferman, Prasong* Duisangkla, comes from a family that is hostile to Governor Chachai.
Governor Chatchai lost a very powerful ally due to the unexpected death of General Sukri, the once prestigious supreme commander of the National Guard. In addition, some mistakes in governance led to the unity of some hostile families, making his position extremely precarious.
The most stable and economically vibrant region in the empire is the Eastern Economic Union. Chachai proposed a package of economic cooperation plans to the Eastern Economic Union, applied for relevant economic assistance, and hoped that Antigua would become an observer economy of the alliance.
In this context, what he was most worried about was of course that hostile forces would disrupt the observation group's visit, so he put the safety of the observation group first.
It just so happened that there was an observer in the observation group who had been away from the group for a long time, which made him very uneasy. He sent a note to the observation group, requesting all members of the observation group not to act alone.
Fetro was also very dissatisfied with Lu Ming, but he did not expect that after he had finally found this lawyer Zhang and his earnest words of persuasion were still ringing in his ears, he disappeared the next day.
Today, as soon as Lu Ming arrived, he was called by Fettero to the business conference room on the eleventh floor, which is now a conference room exclusively for the observation group.
"Lawyer Zhang, I have said again and again that I ask you to travel with the group for your safety. Moreover, although we come from different regions and were strangers before, now that we are a group, we still have to have some group discipline, right?" Fetro said with a gloomy face.
He is a handsome man in his forties with elegant manners. When he talked to Lu Ming the day before yesterday, he was still very earnest and tactful in his words, but today he could not hold it back any longer.
"Lawyer Zhang, although some of us brought family members, none of us did as much as you did. I heard that you brought more than a dozen people with you?"
"Yes, you live on the top floor at your own expense. I have no right to interfere, but we came to Antigua for a common goal, right?"
Fetero poured out all the grievances that were pent up in his heart in one breath.
"You lawyers in Montenegro may have high status and be surrounded by people when you travel, but we are a team and we still have to take care of others' feelings, don't you think?"
Lu Ming looked like he was ready to learn. He didn't refute, but just listened quietly.
Seeing his attitude, Fetro's face softened a little, perhaps because he felt that he had said something too harsh. "Anyway, Lawyer Zhang, if you have any difficulties, you can tell me. There is nothing that cannot be solved, right?" After a pause, he said helplessly, "I don't know what you are busy with. You shouldn't take the opportunity to travel here, and there is no need to take advantage of the name of the observation group, right? You pay for all your expenses yourself."
Lu Ming smiled and said, "Actually, I've been busy with investment recently. Of course, I suddenly felt unwell after arriving here. I'll give you a leave note later. But please rest assured, Mr. Fetro, I will be there as soon as possible if there is anything in the group. Moreover, I promise to complete the tasks assigned to me by the group seriously. In fact, Governor Chachai is just worried about the safety of the observers who acted on their own. But please rest assured that I will not encounter any danger."
Fetero immediately felt powerless. He looked at Lu Ming and said with a wry smile, "It's up to you. But my assessment of you won't be very good. It will be difficult for you to participate in investigations by independent agencies commissioned by the alliance in the future. Although you are Montenegrin, I don't think Montenegro wants the independent observers they commissioned to attract criticism, right? Moreover, if the Alliance Secretariat needs to hire a lawyer as a consultant or to file a lawsuit, you will definitely be on the blacklist." Then he shook his head. This guy wouldn't think so far ahead. Besides, how could he possibly reach the level of hiring a lawyer for the alliance
Lu Ming nodded: "I understand, thank you for your patience."
His attitude was extremely serious, but his work was extremely careless. Fetro could only shake his head helplessly.
…
When Lu Ming went to inspect his own rubber plantation on Greenforna Island, he brought Mrs. Britney with him.
Among the four Fire Ladies, Mrs. Britney is the oldest at 32 years old. Her blonde hair is fluffy, and she has the most lazy and mature style. On the speedboat, her gorgeous dark red puffy skirt is rustling in the wind, but she still waves her feather folding fan, which vividly interprets the lady of the decadent era.
Maybe it was because he had just separated from Christine in the morning, Lu Ming felt empty inside. When Granny Tuolong looked at Lu Ming with concern and suggested that he should at least have a fire girl to serve him at all times for the next few days, the first person Lu Ming thought of was Britney.
To some extent, Mrs. Britney is regarded as a counterfeit of Christine.
In fact, Britney is the most obedient and timid of the four ladies.
Recently, she has also been involved in the rubber plantation business.
After arriving on the island, Mrs. Britney followed Lu Ming closely. Although she was dressed as a noble lady, she was doing the work of a maid.