On Capitol Hill, Song Ya, who had made an appointment, got his temporary documents and passed through one checkpoint after another under tight security before he was able to reach the door of Congressman Underwood's office in the Capitol.

The people in the hallway were talking in whispers or holding thick papers, all in a hurry, and no one was interested in his status as a singer.

"This is the heart of America, right?"

Song Ya was thinking to herself, "Come in, Councillor Underwood is waiting for you." The white man in his thirties, who led the way, pushed open the door and let him in.

"Thank you, Mr. Stamp." Song Ya thanked him.

"Just call me Doug."

This capable Douglas Stamp is Underwood's most trusted assistant and thinker, but when Song Ya first met him, he mistook him for an IRS or FBI agent, the kind of person who doesn't say a word when others speak, just stares and observes each other with cold eyes, and sees through your reality with one mind.

In the Capitol building, where a brick can hit nine members of the House and a senator, the office of the newly appointed Congressman Underwood is not large, the entrance is a small office, a female clerk sits in front of a typewriter, then a simple reception room and waiting room, a few sofas, and finally there is a door, which should be where Underwood works, and the door is currently closed.

After a while, Doug asked Song Ya to sit down on the couch, knocked on the door, stuck his head in and said, "APLUS has arrived." ”

"Let him in!" Underwood's breathless voice came out.

Song Ya stood up again and followed Doug inside.

In addition to Councillor Underwood, there were three black and one white man, sitting around his desk, all turning their heads to look at themselves.

"Hey, welcome to our Chicago star kids." Underwood stood up and smiled and held out his hand.

"It's an honor to see you again, Mr. Underwood." Song Ya hurriedly stepped forward to shake hands with him.

"You all know each other, right?" Underwood said, gesturing to the four guests.

Song Ya could only recognize the two blacks on the left, both Baptist ministers, one had cooperated with Mira in the propaganda to De Klerk, and had a great influence in the black community in Southside, it seemed to be called Allison, and the other was the pastor of the church near the home in Southside, the male goddess of Aunt Susie, named William.

"Hello Pastor Allison, hello Pastor William." Song Ya shook hands with them first, "Hello, hello." He shook hands with a black and a white man on his right, and Doug brought a chair, and he went over and sat down.

"Alexander, you haven't been to my church for a year, have you?" William complained to him.

"Uh, it's been a busy year, Pastor William, I'll be going, Connie asked me to be her child's godfather." Song Ya could only deal with it.

"Young people nowadays don't love church." Allison muttered and turned to business.

Song Ya didn't understand what Underwood had put him in, so she could only sit and wait.

After listening for a while, I had a rough idea of the purpose of the four of them, the black man on the right was the representative of the workers of the bus company, and the white man was the lawyer of the bus company, because of the recent deterioration of the law and order situation in the southern city, the bus drivers organized a strike, demanding the reduction of the frequency of dangerous sections of the road during the day and the cancellation of some night shifts.

The two priests on the left, who are representatives of the residents of Southtown, naturally do not agree.

"Now that the law and order in the South City is getting worse and worse, and there are more and more poor people, if you agree to cancel the bus service again, Councilor Underwood, our church will not endorse you again in the next vote." Allison warned.

Song Ya knew that this was a serious warning, and that 'endorsement' was originally an accounting term that meant the transfer of ticket rights, and was later extended to political terms, presumably as an opinion leader expressing trust in a politician and calling on voters under his influence to support him. There are many handouts in the southern city, the union is not strong, the gangs cannot go on the surface, only the religious leaders have the ability to appeal to the electorate, so the pastors in the slums are the target of political scramble, and once Allison announces that he will not endorse Underwood, it will have a great impact on his future election results.

"Don't do that, Pastor Allison." Councillor Underwood's face didn't change, but he must have been a little panicked, and he kicked the ball, "What do I do about this, the city of Chicago ......"

"You can manage, you have a lot of energy, everyone knows it." Allison doesn't eat that.

Councillor Underwood turned his gaze to the two on the right.

"The demands of our bus drivers have been clearly expressed." The union representative said: "Some shifts, especially night shifts, are simply gambling with their lives, and last month a car came back with two bullet holes in the fuel tank, and two weeks ago one of our workers was injured by a couple of boys in the car, and the case has not been solved until now." ”

"I'll contact the local police and get them ......"

Councillor Underwood's words were interrupted again, "We don't count on the police, now our appeal is very simple, we are going to work to earn hard-earned money, not to play with our lives." Said the union representative.

"Alas!"

Councillor Underwood sighed and looked at Song Ya, "APLUS, YOU'RE ALSO A CHILD OF SOUTH CITY, RIGHT?" You give some advice. ”

"How ......"

Song Ya didn't expect the other party to call out his name, "I'm still in high school......" He played the old trick with ease.

"Chengbei private middle school, good school, good environment, he has long lived in the south city." Reverend William knew him well, and seemed to have learned a lot from Aunt Susie's words.

Song Ya was embarrassed and looked at Underwood.

"You can freely express your opinion from the perspective of ordinary residents." Underwood beckoned at him, "COME ON!" No one here will blame you for saying the wrong thing. ”

"Uh......"

Song Ya estimated in his heart, the current situation is not like the last time Kenneth arbitrated, Old Joe and Pablo could not be offended, the pastor had the votes, and he still had to count on Underwood to help with the acquisition, as for the bus drivers' union, he had no stake.

"The law and order in the southern city really needs to be improved." He spoke first.

"Everybody's working on this." Councillor Underwood replied.

Then, emmmmm...... There are many poor people in Nancheng, many families do not have cars, and they can only rely on public buses to travel, I used to take them often, if there are no buses, many poor people who are inconvenient to travel can only take risks and find ways to get money to buy cars......"

Song Ya's words were nodded in affirmation by the two priests, and the union representatives were not happy, "They are inconvenient to travel, and we have to fight with our lives." ”

"You're exaggerating." Councillor Underwood complained.

"If you don't say it, go on strike if you don't agree, and the unions and union families won't support you anymore, Councillor Underwood." The other party also warned.

"Hey!" Pastor Allison was so angry that he ran out, "You can't be like this~ Aren't your driver groups also from South City?" I know, many of you live in Southside too, I know. ”

"So what? The law and order problem is not caused by us, and your pastor has not done a good job of indoctrination. ”

"What can we do, young people, especially boys the age of APLUS, never go into church, only women and old people come to listen to the sermon......"

On both sides, you and I have a mouthful.

Song Ya listened to their quarrel, and her thoughts drifted away, saying that rap seemed to originate from the rhyming rhythmic tirade of black pastors' sermons, like MC Hammer, who won the Grammy award before, his rap style was deeply influenced by black pastors.

"Calm down, calm down." Councillor Underwood's hands were spread out, and he finally managed to silence both sides, "APLUS, WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO DO?" Doug? He lay back in his chair and looked at Song Ya and Doug.

Doug shrugged and didn't speak.

"Your driver's focus is on personal safety, right?" Song Ya suddenly remembered a Chinese idiom, and had an idea, after the other party nodded, he looked at the two priests again, "The bus frequency in Nancheng can't be reduced......"

Receiving an affirmative gesture from Allison and William, he said, "Isn't that easy?" Under the principle that the total number of bus trips does not decrease, we can adjust the route and the number of departures...... In this way, I have been in the South City for more than ten years, and as far as I know, after the public school is out, the students who did not catch the school bus will spend too long waiting for the bus, and that line is safe, and the gangs will not be embarrassed, we can reduce the frequency of dangerous sections and increase the frequency of that route. In addition, before the supermarket closes, many poor people have to wait for half an hour or more for the bus after buying discounted goods, and they can also move from the dangerous section to increase the frequency of that route......"

"There are other routes that can solve the practical difficulties of the residents, and those routes are not easy for the gangs to fight, because they are all women and children sitting next to the house." With this move, it seems that the total number of shifts will remain the same, and Allison and Reverend William will be able to account for the residents of Southside when they go back, but the number of departures on night shifts and dangerous road sections has actually been reduced, and the personal safety of drivers has been more guaranteed. ”

After speaking, the two groups of people who were arguing just now were silent at the same time, and they were all bowing their heads to calculate the gains and losses.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! APLUS！ Councillor Underwood clapped his hands and laughed, "That's what I'm here to keep you on the discussion!" What do you think? He looked at both sides, "Can we negotiate a solution on this basis?" ”

The union representatives and the lawyer looked at each other and nodded, and the two pastors naturally had nothing to say, picking up children and buying discounted goods were generally done by women, and these were their main audience.

"You behaved really well today, don't blame Claire for complimenting you on the phone." Underwood sent the four of them away, came back and put his arm around Song Ya's shoulder, "Why did you come here?" ”

Song Ya looked at Doug, Doug stood up with interest, and Underwood signaled no, "Doug is the person I trust the most, you can just say it." ”

Song Ya spoke of the obstruction of the local lawmakers in the takeover case.

"Uh......" Underwood touched his chin, "little things." He looked at Doug, "You heard what APLUS said just now, right?" ”

Doug nodded.

"You can help him do this." Underwood said.

That night, Doug turned down an invitation from Songya's French restaurant and chose to meet him at a remote light restaurant.

"Can you take out a loan at your local First Bank of New Jersey?" He whispered.

"Yes, I was just thinking about taking out a loan,......" Song Ya also replied in a low voice.

"How much?"

"I don't know yet, it depends on the ...... of the acquisition"

"At least two million, the more the merrier."

After saying this, Doug dropped the money for his light meal, got up and left.