Steal My Business Sorry, I Own the Company

1: 1

Noah Dickerson, I'm here to talk to you on behalf of the folks in the village.

I looked at the mayor standing in front of me, and at the crowd of villagers behind him, and had no idea what this was about.

You see, you've been using our village's fish pond for three years now. Back then we felt bad, knew starting a business wasn't easy for you, so we rented it to you for a hundred thousand a year. But now you've made your money. Don't you think it's about time we raised that?

At that, I couldn't help but smile.

Three years ago, my father's restaurant company needed a large steady supply of bass, so I decided to set up a bass farm.

When my old classmate Dominic Lambert heard about it, he pushed hard for me to build it in Lambert Village.

That fish pond in Lambert Village hadn't been leased by anyone in years. The first time I saw it, I thought it was a stinking drainage ditch.

I brought in excavators to dredge it deep and expand it, and as my operation grew, plenty of villagers ended up working at my farm.

"We're not asking for much. Just give us a million a year for the pond, and that's fine."

I honestly wondered if something was wrong with my ears.

"A million? Mayor, you can't be serious."

Before the old mayor could answer, Joshua Lambert, who is Dominic's father, jumped in first.

"Not just the pond. Our wages need to go up too. I'm a manager, so I want at least twenty thousand a month."

"And I want at least ten thousand."

"Anything under ten grand, and we're not working."

"Right. Everyone knows you got rich off our village's pond."

"..."

I saw plain greed in the eyes of these villagers.

Only after they'd all shouted their piece did I speak, slow and unhurried. "Three years ago, nobody would rent this pond even for ten thousand a year. I only came and invested because Dominic is my classmate."

Then I turned my gaze to the villagers and said coldly, "And the rest of you. Before I came, you were all off working in other cities, making two or three thousand a month. Now you can stay home and make over five thousand."

Before I could finish, Joshua jumped in again.

"Enough, Noah, cut the nonsense. You think we don't know? This year alone you made over three million off our village's pond, and this is all you're giving us? You ungrateful dog."

"That's right, Noah. Have you got any conscience? Think how much the folks here helped you."

"Just want to hog it all. Don't forget, if our village hadn't rented you the pond in the first place, you wouldn't have made a single cent."

"..."

Looking at these villagers with greed written all over their faces, unable to tell right from wrong, my heart went completely cold.

I scanned the crowd and finally spotted Dominic hiding in the back.

"Dominic, you know better than anyone how it went back then. The pond could've been rented for ten thousand, but you cried and said your family was poor, begged me to take pity on you and pay a little more."

Dominic's face clearly showed some struggle. Then, as if he'd made up his mind, he gritted his teeth and stepped forward.

"Noah, at the end of the day your farm is built on our village's land. You make that much money every year, so you should give something back to the folks here."

"You think I haven't given back enough? You only know I made over three million this year. Do you have any idea what the water-temperature control system for that pond cost? Let me tell you, five million, and I still haven't earned it back."

2: 2

"You say five million, so it's five million? Who knows the real number?"

"Right, anybody can make up a story. I don't care what you say today. I want my ten grand in wages, or none of us work."

"Yeah. Strike."

Once the mood had built up nicely, old Mayor Lambert stepped forward on his cane.

"Noah, for a big boss like you, this is nothing. Just agree to it."

"And if I don't?"

"If you don't, then don't blame us for playing rough."

I saw the sly grin spread across Joshua Lambert's face.

Right then, my assistant Blake came running over.

"Mr. Dickerson, we've got trouble. Someone's blocked the road in the village. Mr. Lambert's refrigerated truck can't get through."

I went straight to the village entrance. From a distance I could already hear women screaming and wailing.

Up close, I saw Joshua's wife, Crystal, and the mayor's wife, Winifred, rolling around on the ground at the front of the truck.

"They ran somebody over! Grab them, don't let a single one get away!"

"Running people down right here on our land? They've got a death wish."

The villagers swarmed the truck at once, packing in around it until there was no way out.

But what surprised me was that Antony Lambert, who'd come to haul the goods, was now sitting at the roadside with Dominic, the two of them smoking and talking about something.

In the end they seemed to reach some kind of deal. Dominic came toward me with a cigarette hanging from his lips.

"Noah, you can see it for yourself. If you don't handle this, the truck doesn't get into the village, and then you'll owe Mr. Lambert double the penalty for breach of contract."

I looked at my old schoolmate, and my face went colder.

"You put on this whole show today just to force my hand, right?"

"This is what the villagers decided on their own. Nothing to do with me."

"Nothing to do with you?"

My eyes fixed on Dominic and stayed there.

"Noah, if I were you, I'd agree to the mayor's demands."

"In your dreams."

Dominic's face twisted into a savage grin. He said it lightly. "I think you will."

Watching that look of certainty on his face, I couldn't shake a bad feeling.

Right then, my assistant came running again.

"Mr. Dickerson, we've got trouble. The power's out."

My chest tightened.

Once the power went, the aeration pumps and the water-filtration system at the farm would both stop. In heat like this, the fish would be belly-up in half a day, maybe less.

"Call someone. Get the power fixed."

"I already called. Someone's coming."

Right then Dominic came over again.

"Noah, save yourself the trouble. That power isn't getting fixed."

The moment I heard that, I understood. The outage was no accident.

"Dominic, you had someone do this, didn't you?"

He denied it at once. "Noah, this is the villagers acting on their own, nothing to do with me. Don't try to trap me into saying something."

I couldn't help shaking my head, looking at him the way you'd look at a fool, and then I said it flatly. "Dominic, you think I don't know what you're after? These past six months you've been getting cozy with Antony. You want to squeeze me out and run this yourself, don't you?"

His face changed on the spot. He glanced around, and once he saw no one was close, he leaned in to my ear and dropped his voice. "That's right, Noah. I've already got it settled with Mr. Lambert. Once you're gone, I supply him."

I looked at my old schoolmate and spoke slow and even. "Dominic, getting where you are wasn't easy. I'd think this through carefully if I were you."

3: 3

Noah, since we've laid it all out, there's no point hiding anything anymore. My goal is to make you get out of Lambert Village. And I'll be honest with you, even if you agree to all these terms today, I'll still send the villagers to give you grief, until you're gone from our village for good.

Dominic's face twisted uglier with every word.

I'm telling you, if you don't leave, one of these days you might just find all your fish floating belly-up.

Looking at that ugly expression on Dominic's face, the last trace of warmth in my heart drained away right then.

Fine, Dominic. You'd better remember what you said today. Don't you dare regret it.

I looked at Dominic the way you'd look at a dead man. My deskmate in high school, my bunkmate in college, a friendship solid as iron, and in the end it still lost out to greed.

I took out my phone and called my assistant.

Tell Lowell Lawrence's crew to send people over and haul all our fish to Base 2. And call the equipment supplier, have them come strip out every piece of our equipment.

The moment Dominic heard that, his face changed.

You, you've got a Base 2?

That's none of your business.

I ignored Dominic and went straight to the farm, dialing the police on the way.

Before long Lowell showed up with his crew and the harvesting gear.

Mr. Dickerson, all these fish going to Base 2?

That's right. Not a single fry left behind.

All right, everybody get to work. Bring the water tankers over.

At Lowell's word, my workers started scooping the fish out of the Lambert Village farm.

The mayor and a crowd of villagers watched with anxious eyes, and quite a few of their faces had already gone uneasy.

Noah, do you really have to take it this far? Folks just wanted to make life a little better.

I gave the old mayor a single glance and said flatly, You see the next village over? Their people can only go work out of town, a few thousand a month. You get five or six thousand a month right here at home and you're still not satisfied. If I agree today, are you going to come back tomorrow and demand another raise?

You, don't you worry. As long as you raise the wages we're asking for this once, we absolutely won't ask you for a raise again.

Is that so?

I looked at the villager who'd spoken.

You're sixty this year, aren't you? I remember when I first got here, you'd just been let go from the construction site, sitting at home with your two acres of land, pulling in less than ten thousand a year. Back then I gave you a wage of five thousand, and you got down on your knees to me, called me the parent who gave you a second life. Forgotten it all this fast?

At that, the old man dropped his head in shame.

Just then my equipment supplier arrived too, along with a few work crews, and they started hauling out the equipment from my farm piece by piece.

You're taking the equipment too?

That set all the villagers off.

Weren't you supposed to leave the equipment for us? Without it, how are we going to farm the fish?

Right, I heard this setup costs a few million. If it's gone, what are we supposed to do?

Hurry, stop him, don't let them take the equipment away.

Dominic and the mayor were off to the side discussing something.

Then the mayor gave the order, and the villagers immediately closed in and blocked the work crews.

Noah, let me tell you, this equipment of yours is sitting on our village's land, so it should belong to the village.

That's right, all this equipment is our village's. Nobody's taking it anywhere.

4: 4

The villagers were seconds from coming to blows with the crew. Then a siren cut through it all.

A few patrol cars pulled up outside my fish farm, and the moment the enforcement officers stepped out, Mayor Barnaby Lambert dropped to his knees with a cluster of old men behind him.

"Officers, you have to stand up for us. This heartless boss Noah Dickerson is trying to haul off our village's equipment!"

"He takes that away, he's cutting off the living of hundreds of families in this village!"

"Arrest that heartless boss Noah Dickerson, quick!"

"..."

The whole crowd was wailing, tears and all, and a couple of the old women threw themselves on the ground and started rolling around.

I just watched it, cold, barely able to keep the corner of my mouth from twitching up.

These people still thought it was the old days, like throwing a tantrum in the dirt could turn a lie into the truth.

The lead enforcement officer looked over at me. I had my assistant hand over all the purchase receipts and invoices.

"Officer, all of this equipment was bought and paid for in full by me personally. Here are the invoices and receipts. These people are trying to seize my property by force."

The officers started going through the receipts and the purchase list carefully, checking every item against the actual equipment, one by one.

"Confirmed. All of this equipment was purchased with Noah Dickerson's own money. Anyone who obstructs from here on is committing disorderly conduct."

Barnaby heard that and stiffly shot back, "Officer, this equipment is installed on our village's land."

Before he could finish, my assistant already had the village lease out.

"Take a look, officer. This is our lease agreement. We pay the village a hundred thousand dollars in rent every year."

Barnaby and the others wanted to keep arguing but couldn't find the words.

All they could do was throw looks, cueing the old people to start their theatrics again.

"Anyone who dares obstruct again gets detained plus fined."

Then the lead officer turned his eyes on Barnaby.

"Barnaby Lambert, you're the mayor, and you're gathering a crowd to make trouble? Looks like I'll have to file a report with my superiors."

"No, no, I didn't."

Barnaby was badly rattled and quickly told the old people to get up.

I had the crew take the equipment apart and haul it off, piece by piece.

Dominic came up to me, his face full of hate.

"Noah, you think you won? Let me tell you, I'll have fingerlings and equipment bought in no time, and then all of this will be mine."

"Is that so? Well, old friend, let me wish you a fortune in advance. Just don't cry when the time comes."

"Noah, quit talking tough. How many days do you think those fish of yours will last once they're out of the water? You think I actually believe you've got some Base Two?"

"If you don't believe me, there's nothing I can do about it."

I didn't waste any more energy tangling with the villagers of Lambert Village. I left an accountant behind to settle every last cent of their wages, then headed to Base Two.

The truth was, I had three fish farms in all, because my father's restaurant business had grown bigger and bigger over the years.

And this four-gilled bass was the signature dish across his restaurants and hotels. Demand stayed high, so I had no choice but to keep expanding.

Base Three was actually built in the village next to Lambert Village, a place called Lawrence Village.

Back then the mayor of Lawrence Village had watched the people of Lambert Village make money, so he came to me again and again, practically begging. Since I happened to be looking to expand, I agreed.

But Lowell had always run that one, and I rarely went out there, so the people of Lambert Village had no idea I had another fish farm in Lawrence Village at all.

The moment my car reached the entrance of Lawrence Village, I saw banners hanging on both sides of the road. They read: Welcome, Mr. Dickerson.