novelSusiti Chapter 71 Even Hyenas Have Differences
Chapter 71 Even Hyenas Have Differences
In Boston, the night is bright with whale oil lamps in the wealthy areas and flickering bonfires on the docks, but in the depths of a secluded alley in the North Side, there is darkness permeated with the smell of lead type and ink.
This is the back room of a printing shop, where the air is filled with the musty smell of damp paper and the faint metallic odor.
John Hancock, a wealthy businessman accustomed to Persian carpets and crystal glasses, was irritably stomping his expensive leather shoes across the stained wooden floor.
His expensive dark purple velvet coat looked completely out of place in this environment.
"He's a viper, Samuel! A viper coiled in the heart of Boston!" Hancock's voice was low, but the anger and a hint of fear he himself was unwilling to admit were clearly audible.
Two people were sitting in front of him.
One was Silas, a tall and muscular blacksmith, whose crippled left arm hung limply at his sides, while his right hand was clenched into a tight fist. As he listened to Hancock's words, his chest heaved violently, like an enraged bull.
The other was a young Samuel Adams. He simply sat quietly, the dim candlelight casting a deep shadow on his once fervent face.
He had experienced Levi's methods earlier than Hancock. Every word Hancock said tonight was just adding a few more objects to the already turbulent lake of his heart.
"Not only can he sit and drink tea with the people of the Governor's Mansion, but he can also turn around and use the Governor's Mansion's knife to cut our flesh!"
I gave him five hundred silver pounds before he relented and agreed not to interfere in our dock affairs.
Hancock did not reveal the specifics of the deal, but instead portrayed Levi as a villain who straddled the line between the law and the underworld, ready to devour his master at any moment.
"He might cooperate with us today for profit, but tomorrow he could send all our names to Hutchinson's desk for an even higher price!"
"I knew it! You can't trust this kind of person! He took our bribes, then cooperated with the governor's office, and now he's trying to blackmail us!" Silas slammed his fist on the wooden crate next to him, making a dull thud.
"Samuel, we should cut off all ties with him immediately! This kind of man should be hanged on the tree of freedom! We should do it now..."
"How about now?"
"Go tell those thousand-plus dockworkers that your chairman is a puppet, and the real boss is a two-faced speculator? And then what?"
"Would they give up their daily wages, their guarantee of medical care if they were injured, and their ten-pound pension that would sustain their families, all for the sake of our noble cause of 'freedom'?"
Silas's face turned bright red, his mouth agape, but he couldn't utter a single word.
Samuel stood up and slowly walked over to Hancock. He looked at the richest man in Boston, the biggest financial backer of the "Sons of Liberty."
"Mr. Hancock, you're quite right to say that Levy is a hound."
"But have you ever thought that not long ago, we weren't even qualified to be hired hunting dogs? We were just a bunch of rabbits being hunted by the king's army."
"You..." Hancock was speechless, choked by the young man's words.
He discovered that in just a few weeks, the unrealistic fervor of the young man in front of him had faded, replaced by a cold chill formed from the repeated crushing of reality.
"We need this hound now." Samuel's gaze swept over Hancock and then landed on Silas.
"We need the weapons he has, the intelligence network he has built, and even his ambiguous relationship with the Governor's Office, as a barrier between us and the executioners."
"He's using us, treating us as part of his business. That's true."
"But we must also learn to use him. We must squeeze every last bit of value out of him. We must learn to run with the hounds, become familiar with their scent, and understand their habits, until one day we ourselves grow claws and fangs."
A long silence fell over the back room of the printing shop, with only the candlelight flickering gently.
Looking at Samuel in front of him, Hancock felt for the first time that this young man, whom he once thought he could easily manipulate, was turning into a dangerous stranger whom he did not recognize at all.
Silas, however, gradually lost his anger, which was replaced by a deeper sense of confusion and pain.
They were too weak, so weak that they didn't even have the power to choose their enemies.
This secret meeting did not yield any conclusions that could refute Livy's claims.
On the contrary, it led to a more dangerous consensus among the "Sons of Liberty" between their two key figures and their biggest financial backer in Boston.
They had to bind themselves more tightly to that Easterner, like vines entwining a tiger.
It is both dependence and constraint; in the process of trying to get something from a tiger, one seeks an opportunity to retaliate.
……
Under the same night sky, the study at Oak Bay Estate was filled with warmth and peace.
The flames in the fireplace licked the birch wood, making a soft crackling sound. Li Wei was personally brewing tea for his guests.
His guest was British Army Lieutenant Hank.
Lieutenant Hank was as upright as a pine tree, his back ramrod straight even when he was sitting in a comfortable armchair.
His red military uniform was perfectly pressed without a single wrinkle, and his white belt and gloves gleamed cleanly in the candlelight.
He sat there like a monument moved directly from the Governor's House, exuding the majesty of the British Empire.
Lieutenant Hank came here on orders from Andrew Gage.
"Mr. Li, your Qimen black tea truly lives up to its reputation." Lieutenant Hank took the teacup, made a polite remark in perfect King's English, and then got straight to the point.
"Lord Andrew sent me here to confirm with you the customs clearance process for certain 'special goods' in the future."
"Thank you for your hard work. I thought Andrew would come in person after receiving the letter." Li Wei tapped the table lightly with his knuckles, the sound of which was particularly clear in the quiet study.
"Lord Andrew has been very busy lately. Moreover, he believes that having me, the one in charge of execution, communicate directly with you, the one in charge of planning, can save a lot of unnecessary intermediate steps and improve efficiency."
This reason is perfectly reasonable.
Li Wei understood that Andrew sending Lieutenant Hank was itself a clever test.
It would be disgraceful if word got out that a quartermaster's nephew was personally discussing tax evasion with an Eastern merchant.
Sending a smartly dressed British lieutenant changes the nature of the operation. It looks more like a routine procedure within the imperial machine.
For this reason, Lieutenant Hank did not use the terms "smuggling" or "tax evasion," but instead used more formal terms such as "special goods" and "customs clearance procedures."
Li Wei pushed a cup of tea in front of Fiona, gesturing for her to take notes.
He picked up his teacup and gestured as if listening to Lieutenant Hank's insightful opinion.
Lieutenant Hank, on the other hand, displayed a flexibility that was quite different from his stereotypical military image.
He seemed completely unconcerned about the right or wrong of the matter itself; all he cared about was technical perfection.
"According to Lord Andrew, we need a process that cannot be traced by any auditing department. My personal suggestion is to split Mr. John Hancock's portion of the goods into two parts upon entry."
"Oh? Which two parts?" Li Wei already had a plan in mind, but now he became interested.