Chapter 4 third quarter

Come lunchtime, Greek Lo's restaurant is booming.This restaurant has not engaged in any external publicity and marketing, and its style is very different from popular perceptions and preferences.The walls of the dining room are carved with decorative shapes such as alcoves, and the entire environment and atmosphere retain traditional customs for a certain generation in this society.From a business point of view, its location is not good, just across the street from the judicial building.While there are plenty of bars and restaurants in the area, none are doing as well or as long as the Greek restaurants.If you have strict visual requirements for a place, it also has some obvious flaws.Nevertheless, people from all walks of life like to come here to appreciate the unique comfort.

After entering the restaurant, you have to go through a corridor. Its shape is similar to the place where slaves were held in the slave era, with urine-stained horizontal bars erected on both sides.Then came an unlit six-step staircase.Walking down the stairs, at the end is a double door covered with artificial grass.The restaurant is five feet below ground level, so even on a good day it's dimly lit inside, never attracting attention, let alone exciting.On one side of the wall in the restaurant, there is a row of small windows at the height of the customers' eyebrows when they are seated.They sit just above ground level and are the only source of the little natural light available to the restaurant.What's worse is that when customers sitting inside look out from these windows, what they see are the shoes on the feet of passers-by in the alley outside, as well as the garbage collectors in a row, all kinds of urban garbage , a mess of paper lunch boxes and things left by the homeless who spent the night by the wall outside the window.The walls were upholstered in the sort of imitation velvet that is often used in brothels, but the original chestnut gold was all black now.

Greek bars open at six o'clock in the morning to welcome the first wave of drinkers of the day, and business will be light for a few hours after the peak.If it is a weekday, there will be a short period of time before eleven o'clock, but as soon as eleven o'clock, the kitchen starts to get busy, and the restaurant will soon be full.Luo's wife, Cui, cooks only one special dish every day, using countless ingredients from China and Greece, and that is the only dish offered to customers on the menu that day.Luo, or call him an alcoholic who wants to drink when he wakes up in the morning, calls the dish Guanbao Chicken or Family Portrait, and the customers seem to understand the meaning of these dish names.The reason for Lowe's restaurant's popularity as a lunch spot has always been puzzling, even among the regulars themselves, when it comes to the quality of the food and the variety of options available. unclear.

There are such a group of regular customers sitting around the big round table facing the kitchen near the door of the restaurant.For several months now, this group of professionals, in large and small numbers, has spontaneously met here for lunch almost every Tuesday.Such a practice began after the mayor appointed Clarence Jackman as district attorney general.At the time, Jackman was a partner in a top law firm in the city, Rand & Jackman LLP, after the previous district attorney, Sharon Pratt, had just stepped down because of the scandal. Jackman tends to think of himself more as a businessman than as a politician.The mayor put him in what is often a contentious political office and put his agency back on track, including prosecuting crimes, keeping the books in check, and prosecuting the city's business problems .And Jackman, who was seeking a different perspective from his new position, convened a group of colleagues from different fields, almost all legal, to Lowe's restaurant for a low-key lunch.Such a move is surprising in itself, and what is even more surprising is the cautious attitude of each participant.Lunch at Lowe's, however, is no secret.If anyone noticed the same group of people at the same table every week, they would get used to it over time and wouldn't comment on it, which would never create gossip.

Jackman sat facing the kitchen, his custom-made striped blazer slung over the back of the chair.He wore a carefully starched white dress shirt, cinched tightly around his muscular back.His face was dull and dark purple, and the huge head rested directly on his shoulders, and there seemed to be no support from the neck in the middle. Lowe's Greek restaurant must have done a good deal of buying wedding cakes.Because for several weeks, every table in the restaurant has a bowl of wedding cakes for customers to enjoy, but it is unbelievable that the wedding cakes have gone bad.Today, the district attorney general's luncheon was a somber discussion about the serious topic of municipal health insurance contracts.The tense atmosphere at the table eased a little when Jackman broke a piece of wedding cake in his hand and burst out laughing. "I love this," he said. "It's a wonderful thing, and what we're talking about fits perfectly with the words 'Don't get sick' written on the wrapper." He looked at the table and asked, " Who wrote these things? Did any of you pay for Luo to put it here quietly?"

"I think when they ran out of plate number registration forms in San Quentin..." It was Gina Locke who spoke.She was a longtime public defender and is now a practicing attorney in a private law firm.Despite the thirty-year age gap between her and fellow guest David Freeman, there were rumors of an affair between the two. "Impossible," Marlene Yash continued before Gina could finish, "A criminal would never write something like 'Don't get sick', write something like 'Die, eh' Something like that is more likely." She was an assistant U.S. attorney under District Attorney Jackman.She took off her coat when she was seated, and the pair of plump and towering breasts under the brown sweater were clearly visible. Her shoulder-length chestnut hair set off a childlike innocent face. The only fly in the ointment was that her right eye looked a little bit sagging.

"Then he'd be a very elegant criminal too, wouldn't he?" Treya Gent asked. "Unprecedented," Griski agreed, "but it's unfortunate anyway. Lucky people are busy planning for the future." The captain put his fists on the table, two seats away from the District Attorney, next to him. It was his wife, Treja Gent. Dismas Hardy said, "It was found in the wedding cake, Abu, so in that sense it was lucky." "So what if a bug is in the wedding cake, is it lucky too?" "Hey guys, guys," John Strout, a medical examiner in San Francisco, gestured for them to stop arguing, and adjusted his glasses on the bridge of his nose.This thin and humble southern gentleman crushed the wedding cake in his hand, looked at the white paper that fell out and said: "Now here is another auspicious saying: 'You will be rewarded in the industry you choose. Success.'" He glanced around the table, then added, "I don't see where this is going."

"I think you're already in your chosen industry," Locke responded. "Yeah, that's right," said Strout. "Damn it, so what?" Everyone responded with a smile, and fell into a brief silence.Jackman spoke again. "That's what I wanted to ask, too, John, what about now?" He scanned the group gathered around him and saw that only two had so far remained silent during the wedding cake debate.One was David Freeman, about seventy years old, Hardy's landlord and the city's most prestigious and radiant lawyer.The other was Jeff Elliott, in his early forties, confined to a wheelchair because of multiple sclerosis, and a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle's "Talk of the City" column.

This is Freeman speaking now. "It's all clear, Clarence. You got Parnassus to send the city a thirteen million dollar bill for the Medicare services they provided, but in reality they've spent the past four years They demand full payment, including interest, within about sixty days. They say they are facing collapse due to financial difficulties. This is nothing but blatant extortion, even if you owe It’s not an exaggeration to say that about their money.” "It's nonsense," Marlene Yash said. Freeman shrugged nonchalantly and replied: "Okay, let's take a step back and say it. You publicly sue their group of greedy donkeys in the name of fraud, and let them close their doors."

"Can't do that," Jackman, who was picking his teeth with a toothpick, interrupted here. "I mean shutting them down. Although I have already started to review the relevant situation of some other service providers, in any case this Things won’t come to fruition soon, we have to take it step by step. There is no doubt that this year is impossible. Besides, the contract of Parnassus Hospital will expire in two years.” "None of these providers you mentioned are the best, am I right?" Hardy asked. "You're defining the word 'most,'" Jackman made a playful grimace, "I hope that will make some changes."

Treya put her hand on her boss's arm and said, "Then why don't we let them go bankrupt? Just because we didn't pay them?" "We're not going to pay them at all," Marlene Yash replied, "but we're not letting them go bankrupt either. When they're bankrupt, who's going to take care of your health?" "Then who is taking care of them now?" Locke asked rhetorically.As soon as these words came out, the table fell silent. On the issue of medical and health services, San Francisco implements such an approach: employees in the city can choose their own medical insurance issues, depending on the individual's needs for different levels of medical services, so it is simple and clear up.People are willing to pay more for their own health issues to get better opportunities and more choices.In theory, this mechanism works because even minimally-priced medical care at a hospital like Parnassus can meet people's real needs.But it should come as no surprise to anyone that that wasn't enough. "Can't Parnassus borrow enough money to stay afloat?" Griski asked Jackman.The district attorney general shook his head. "They say it's impossible." Gina Locke choked on a sip of coffee in her eagerness to answer. “They can get a loan, trust me,” she said. “It might not be a huge amount, but a few million dollars or more shouldn’t be a problem.” "I've heard," said Jackman, "that their situation is like this: They can't pay any debts, they're losing money every day. And the fundamental problem is that if the municipality pays what they owe them, they don't have to go Got a loan." "The city doesn't owe them money," Marlene Yash repeated. "I don't think so." "Can you prove it?" Grisky, out of policeman's habit, always wants to see evidence. "I intend," said Ash, "to go back and review the original bill." "Give them to the grand jury." Hardy said, his hands not idle, and he broke a wedding cake. Yash nodded grimly and said, "That's exactly what I was thinking about." "Then how can they say they've accumulated over thirteen million dollars in debt and never seen it come back?" Locke asked. "That's what I want to know, too." Jackman turned to look at her. "In fact, that's pretty smart. They say their contracts with the city include services like outpatient HIV treatment, mental health, drug counseling and wellness therapy, and they've been providing those services to patients for a long time. , but did not receive relevant compensation. What needs to be emphasized is the key word 'outpatient'. They have spent all the money and have provided the relevant services stipulated in the contract, and we owe them service fees." He shrugged and looked Helpless, continued, "They are misinterpreting the content of the contract and trying to put themselves in a favorable position, but all unions want to see those services included in their medical insurance contracts. So from this point of view, Parnassus has some political support." "Then, it's a dispute over the interpretation of the language of the contract," Freeman said. "Then tell them to appeal to you in civil court." "We'll do that," Jackman said, "unless we consider..." "We know what it is." Before Jackman could finish speaking, Ash interjected. "We're starting to think," Jackman said, glancing at his assistant attorney general, berating her for being too talkative, and continued, "they're not offering services that they make up out of nothing. They're outpatient anyway." The stuff that's within the scope of medical services. The records they keep look like a mess, quite literally." "Take them to the grand jury," Hardy repeated. With a professional smile on his face, Jackman said, "This is probably the first time I've heard you talk here, Hardy. I'm also considering freezing their funding accounts and appointing a receiver to keep the hospital going." It’s the last resort Parnassus wants to keep going. But if they think the government is going to pay their bills ... they do need that money.” "Are you sure?" Freeman asked. Jackman nodded. “I took that as a clue that they didn’t pay their doctors. We’ve had dozens of complaints over the past six months that they didn’t pay their doctors. So we sent them a letter telling them This situation must be improved and the staff paid, otherwise we will intervene as necessary in this matter. At the same time, copies of the official letter were also sent to every member of the hospital board. After that, they began to give the staff Salary, but this problem has not been completely solved. By the way, the average annual salary of their doctors is $350,000." "One year?" Griski asked in surprise. "That number per year?" "It's a bit more than that, I think," Jeff Elliott said. "Every year?" The captain was still thinking about it, "I must be in the wrong profession." "No, you haven't, dear," Treya told him. "Your place couldn't be better for you." Seeing the couple singing together, Hardinu opened his mouth and blew a kiss to Griski on the opposite side jokingly. "Anyway," Jackman said, frowning, "this crisis has their attention. In fact, if you want my opinion, that's the immediate reason for the demand for the thirteen million dollars." "So what happens if we let them go bankrupt?" Griski asked. "How bad is it going to be?" Freeman took the bait and said, "May I say something, Clarence?" He was asking the District Attorney, but before he could reply, he continued, "Let me Tell me what might happen, Captain. The first thing that will happen is that every employed person in the city, including you, will lose their health insurance. At that point, it's not just ten dollars Doctor. Instead, you pay sixty, eighty, or one hundred and fifty dollars, and that's just for one visit, and the prescriptions are full price. Then every union in the city will sue the city, Because the government provides medical insurance guarantees for employees in the employment contract. Now everyone in the city has to go to the County Welfare General Hospital whenever they encounter health problems, no matter whether they are serious or minor. There's no ward for the wounded, let alone the capacity to take so many. If you just have cancer, take two aspirin and get over it, then call me every morning and let me know if you're still alive .In the final analysis, if there is an unfavorable year with flu, AIDS, or earthquakes, Parnassus will go bankrupt, and the city government will go bankrupt immediately." Freeman smiled and glanced around, bad news Always seemed to get him excited, "Did I miss anything?" "You're very concise and clear, David, thank you." Jackman said while playing with the leftover wedding cakes on the table, "Anyway, if this method is adopted, Parnassus must be Not far from bankruptcy." "We have to charge them for certain issues," Yash said. Freeman had other ideas. "I would prefer to take steps to freeze their financial accounts, appoint a receiver to look into their books and keep the hospital afloat." The old man's words made it seem as if he himself was willing to take on the job. Jackman shook his head. "We've got a long way to go to prove their fraud, David. We can't just start going in that direction and want to take it over." "Even if they haven't paid the doctors yet?" Locke asked, "I'd call that the sparking incident." "Probably," Jackman agreed, and it was clear from his expression that he had come up with some interesting idea. "Guys," he said, "thanks for the discussion. I'm sure I'll make some comments about it." Decision. Jeff," he asked Jeff across the table at this point, "you've been uncharacteristically quiet today. I seem to remember you've written a few articles about Parnassus recently. Don't you want to talk about that? Would you like to share your opinion on the topic?" A stiff smile appeared on the reporter's bushy bearded face. "You've heard it all, sir, and it's 'Don't get sick'."