America 1919

Actually, since they all belong to top-tier New York families, they knew each other.

"Alice, I never expected you to join Starry Entertainment, let alone get together with Donnie!"

Walker didn't mind Donnie's teasing, but looked at Alice, filled with curiosity!

Alice laughed and said, "There's a lot you didn't expect!"

Walker hadn't seen Helen, so he didn't understand the meaning of Alice's words and guessed, "Are you two getting married?"

Alice glared at Donnie and didn't answer Walker's question.

Walker wisely chose to drop the subject after sizing up Donnie and Alice back and forth.

"By the way, when Maholi and I get engaged, you should come, too!"

Walker extended the invitation to Alice.

Alice naturally didn't refuse Walker's invitation, knowing that Donnie would certainly attend; she could go with him when the time came.

Thinking of this, Alice happily hugged Donnie's arm.

"Now that your transportation company is taking shape, maybe you could consider taking over the transport of raw materials from the South as well, and save a bit on logistics costs at that time!"

After chatting for a while, Walker started to discuss business with Donnie.

Previously, the raw materials for Donnie's wine, such as sugarcane, grapes, and apples, were grown on farms in the South purchased by Walker for Donnie. They were then compressed using some technical methods before being transported to Elwood Village by rail or road.

Now that Donnie had his own transportation team, this could naturally be handled by his company!

Donnie thought for a moment and said, "Let's wait and see how the private liquor transportation goes, then decide on this matter!" Enjoy new chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

Walker nodded but then shared something worth noting with Donnie.

"There is something you should pay attention to!" Walker spoke earnestly, "I was talking to Maholi and found out that in some plantations in the South, there are already some African Americans who have started to strike."

Although the end of the Civil War did improve the status of some African Americans, in reality, the situation of African Americans in the South was just slightly better than before the war, but not by much.

In other words, they were no longer called slaves but were still expected to do the hard work they were supposed to do!

Hearing this news, both Donnie and Alice showed expressions of disbelief.

"If you said this was happening in Atlantic City, I might understand, but you're telling me this is happening in the South?"

Walker helplessly nodded, "Yes, it's happening in the South, you know there are exceptions everywhere!"

Donnie asked Walker for the specifics.

The cause of the matter was a foolish white man.

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"Henry Hickman, originally a shareholder in a Steel Company in Philadelphia, bought a large farm in the South a few years back for some reason, using it to cultivate sugarcane. Once he had a farm, he naturally had to hire African Americans, and then this Henry Hickman continued his inexplicable behavior by paying them wages higher than those offered by surrounding farms, as well as building them cabins."

Hearing this, Alice asked, puzzled, "If that's the case, those African Americans have no reason to make trouble, do they? Don't they know that Henry Hickman has been good to them?"

Donnie and Walker both smiled at this point, as Donnie also realized the crux of the matter!

"The logic of a normal person would indeed be like that, and I think Henry Hickman must not have lost his mind at that time; it's likely that he bought so many farms that he became seen as a competitor by the other farm owners in the South. So, Henry Hickman could only attract more African Americans to work for him by offering higher wages and better treatment."

"Even so, those African Americans still have no reason to cause trouble, right?" Alice still didn't understand.

Donnie said, "That's the thought of a normal person, but when have you ever seen those African Americans thinking normally? In their eyes, Henry Hickman's actions were a sign of weakness, and they could exploit this weakness to make even more outrageous demands of Henry Hickman!"

Walker nodded alongside, "Exactly, that's the reason. After being quiet for two years, those African Americans started to demand higher wages and better treatment from Henry Hickman last year, but the wages and treatment that he offered were already the highest in the whole South."

To protect his own interests, Henry Hickman naturally did not accept their demands.

Consequently, a confrontation erupted, and those African Americans threatened Henry Hickman with a strike precisely at the time of sugarcane harvest. If they went on strike then, Henry Hickman's losses would be severe.

In the end, Henry Hickman had their houses burnt down and their wages stopped.

Seeing Henry Hickman act like this, those African Americans also cowered, which helped him to get through last year's difficulties.

This year, I've heard from Maholi that those African Americans are preparing to organize an even bigger strike demonstration."

After listening, Alice couldn't help shaking her head and said, "These people..."

In the end, she didn't know how to judge the situation.

Donnie was not concerned about the issue; he cared only about his own raw materials: "So, does this mean that this matter might affect us?"

Walker nodded, "If those people's strike actions truly succeed, it will definitely have an impact!"

Donnie shook his head, "They had better not affect us."

The labor rights movement in the United States was not as crazy as it would be later on; the real concern was the labor rights of African Americans. If those African Americans in the South really dared to go through with it, they would certainly face ruthless suppression.

"But as you know, those African Americans have always been an unorganized and undisciplined mob; getting them to create a disturbance like various industrial unions is practically impossible. I just wanted you to pay attention to this matter in advance!"

Donnie nodded. Although Walker had a point, to be safe, Donnie decided to send one of his own people to sit in at the farm in the South the next day.

As Donnie's business grew, he tried to avoid internal problems as much as possible, but the next day, Donnie still received news of a problem from within his own organization!

Doc Kearns and Tex Ricard had started arguing with each other!

With just over two months until the century boxing match, instead of staying with their own fighters and coordinating with Donnie's promotional plans, they had started quarreling!

Moreover, the reason for their argument was not because of the upcoming century boxing match but because of Donnie's plan to organize the UFC!

Since it was about the UFC, they naturally ended up arguing in front of Donnie!

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