Later, the profession of urban management officers emerged. This group is quite strange: if you have money, they leave you alone; if you don’t, they’ll crack down on you mercilessly. So, everyone started bribing the urban management, and as a result, the sex industry became even more rampant—some even went so far as to solicit customers right on the street. If you were unlucky enough to drive by, the ladies would actually dare to throw themselves at your car window, each one striking a “fire at me” pose, ready to face death unflinchingly.

One year, it was said that the city government thought the name “Lotus Pond” was too vulgar and lacked any literary elegance. Since the area was always sunny, the government planned to rename it “Daylight Pool.” This move immediately met with fierce protests. In the eyes of the pimps and the ladies, how could you expect to get something for free if you didn’t pay? Is there really such a good deal?

Right behind this red-light street was the city’s largest wholesale market for pirated discs. At the entrance hung a sign reading “No Loitering,” and a few burly men stood guard, meaning that if you didn’t have the right connections, you wouldn’t get any good goods here. Chief Bennett had been here more than once or twice, so he was naturally very familiar with the place. He made his way past stalls selling game discs, system discs, and movie discs, and arrived at the largest porn disc stall.

“Hey, Boss Bennett, I’ve been looking forward to your visit every day,” greeted Boss Martin at the door with great enthusiasm, handing Charles Bennett a Zhonghua cigarette.

“Save the small talk for another day. What new discs do you have? Bring them all out for me to see,” Chief Bennett said arrogantly. As a buyer, you can’t be too polite, or you’ll just get ripped off by the seller. Of course, you can’t be too cocky either, or you’ll quickly find out what a real-life PK is.

Boss Martin didn’t waste any time and asked directly, “Do you want black-haired or blonde?”

“So crude! Come on, Boss Martin, you’ve been in this business for years—can’t you say it a bit more elegantly?” Chief Bennett frowned, suspecting that Boss Martin must have been a stud horse in a previous life.

Boss Martin grinned and nodded, “Yes, yes, you’re right. These days, whatever you do, you need to have some class. Last time, a young lady was browsing here, and I scared her off with just one sentence. After that, I reflected on myself. You know, our country has joined the WTO, so we businesspeople have to keep up with the WTO trend or we’ll be eliminated. Thanks to your reminder, I finally get it—if you’re a cultured porn disc seller, you can go anywhere in the world without fear!”

“You’re really talented. I admire the new you—a true cultural celebrity. That’s right, we have to meet the WTO’s standards…” Chief Bennett struggled to hold back his laughter, then continued, “Doesn’t matter if it’s black-haired or blonde, just bring out all the new releases for me to see. Remember, I don’t want any old movies I’ve already seen, no bait-and-switch, no ugly leading ladies, and no mosaics…”

“Alright, take a good look.” Boss Martin called out like a big teapot, quickly picked out more than a dozen new discs, and neatly laid them out in front of Chief Bennett, smiling, “These are all top-quality, just smuggled in from abroad. You absolutely can’t download them online—try it at home if you don’t believe me.”

Charles Bennett flipped through each disc, examining them carefully, and asked, “Boss Martin, you’ve checked all these, right? What I hate most is bait-and-switch—cover says ‘innocent young girl,’ but the actual content is Animal World. That’s just fucking hateful!”

“Don’t worry, in our line of work, who doesn’t know these basic rules?”

“Good. How much for each disc?”

“Same old price. These soft-packaged ones are 2.6 yuan each. If you buy more than a hundred, you get a 10% discount.”

Charles Bennett nodded, “Alright, give me 50 of each.”

Boss Martin laughed, “No problem, Boss Bennett, you’re so straightforward—doing business with you is never tiring. But, Boss Bennett, your appetite seems to have shrunk these past few months. You used to buy hundreds at a time, but this time only 50 of each?”

If possible, I’d only buy one of each! That’s what Charles Bennett thought to himself, but in a wholesale market like this, if you dared to say you only wanted one, you’d better be ready for a brawl.

Frowning, Chief Bennett put on a pained expression, “Don’t mention it. The other day, my little shop was almost raided by the cops. Damn, I don’t even know which big shot I offended. You have to keep a low profile these days. I’d better play it safe for now. Once things cool down, I’ll come back for a big order.”

“Oh, I see. Then you’d better keep a low profile,” Boss Martin said, fully understanding.

He hired a small van, and Charles Bennett piled several hundred discs into his own shop. If reselling these discs to other shop owners counted as being a porn disc distributor, then being a boss was way too easy and ridiculous. In reality, Charles Bennett only needed one or two backup copies; the rest were useless.

Now, figuring out what to do with the remaining hundreds of discs was a real headache. With the scale of his shop, trying to offload them all at once was just wishful thinking. If he were a big celebrity, he could hold a signing event to sell the discs, and those few hundred would be snatched up in no time. But first, Chief Bennett wasn’t famous, and second, he’d never heard of a porn disc signing event, so his idea could only rot in his stomach.

Standing at the shop entrance, Chief Bennett silently prayed, “Heavens, please send me an idiot to buy all these discs.”

Chapter 014: The Professionalism of C City’s Porn Disc Industry