L.F-Hist.Novelist Chapter 12 The rules were set by us.
Chapter 12 The rules were set by us.
Fiona was stunned.
She couldn't keep up with this Easterner's train of thought at all.
Li Wei didn't wait for her reply. He stood up on his own and leaned the cleaned musket against the wall.
He walked to the center of the warehouse, bent down, and picked up a piece of burnt charcoal from the stove.
The rough, uneven warehouse floor became Li Wei's temporary canvas.
The charcoal made a rustling sound as it scraped across the ground.
With a few strokes, a simple yet discernible map of Boston appeared at Fiona's feet.
He first drew a circle to represent the North Wharf where they were located.
In the south of the map, a larger, cluttered area was drawn, which was the slums and dens of smugglers.
In the center of the map, he drew a square, symbolizing the governor's mansion and the neighborhood where the powerful and wealthy lived.
Fiona held her breath, watching Levi's movements. She didn't understand what he was going to do, but a strange premonition made her heart race.
Li Wei straightened up, tapped the circle they were in with his toes, and then used charcoal to draw a crooked line starting from that circle, extending all the way to the square in the center of the map.
At the end of the line, he wrote a name in crooked English: Boyle.
"This line is our 'open line'."
Li Wei's voice echoed in the empty warehouse, clear and steady.
"Boyle, and Andrew Gage, whom he's about to bring to us, and many more 'decent men' in the future. They are our source of wealth, our reputation, and our umbrella in the sunlight."
"They would trade large sums of shillings for the 'miracle drug' we possess, and they would smooth over any troubles with the authorities for us in order to get more. This line of work is responsible for making us rich, respectable, and even turning us into 'official' insiders."
After speaking, Li Wei turned his gaze to Fiona, his eyes filled with anticipation.
He dropped the charcoal in his hand again, drawing a second line.
This line also starts from the warehouse, but its route is completely different.
It wasn't so straight, but rather like vines, first wrapping around the North District docks, and then spreading towards the entire city's underbelly.
Li Wei wrote two names next to this line.
Finn, and Fiona.
"This line is our 'hidden line'."
Li Wei's tone turned serious, carrying a rare hint of ruthlessness.
"Finn and his Irishmen, and many more like them in the future, struggling to survive on the docks and in the gutter. They are our foundation, our sword, our eyes and ears."
Fiona's heart skipped a beat as she looked at the simple map on the ground, at the two distinct lines that originated from the same point. She seemed to have a sudden realization, but she didn't quite understand it yet.
Li Wei stood up, threw away the charcoal in his hand, and patted the ash off his hands.
He looked at Fiona with a gaze that made her feel as if she had been stripped naked, her very budding ambitions exposed.
"You, Fiona, are the linchpin connecting these two lines."
"Boyle will listen to you, and Finn will listen to you too. You must learn to use the money from the white thread to feed the wolves from the black thread. You must also learn to use the knife from the black thread to clear the stones from the road for the sheep from the white thread."
"The money we make through the open operations, besides what we use ourselves, is mostly used to make weapons, hot soup, and bread to feed our undercover agents, so they'll be willing to risk their lives for us."
"The power built up by our covert operations must be like a hunting dog lurking in the darkness, ready to pounce at any moment, bite off any black hand that tries to reach out to our overt operations, and deal with all the troubles that cannot be brought to light."
"One light, one dark; one white, one black. They are two legs. If either one is missing, we will fall. Only when both legs are strong enough can we stand firm and live like human beings on this land."
Fiona was completely stunned.
She thought she had brought back a deadly threat, but in this man's eyes, it was merely a piece of the puzzle to complete his plan.
Everything that had happened in the past few days suddenly became clear in her mind.
From an envoy disguised as a distinguished guest from the East to forcing Boyle to kneel; from using tea to subdue dockworker Finn to the two sides of the law on the ground.
It turns out that from the very beginning, Li Wei's goal was not as simple as selling a few packs of tea.
What he wanted was this city.
And she herself, Fiona Cahill, the maid who had been hiding on the streets just days before, was now standing at a crucial juncture in the hunt for the entire city of Boston.
She will be the bridge connecting light and darkness.
A shiver ran from her tailbone to her brain, a tremor mixed with awe and excitement.
She saw a future she had never imagined, slowly unfolding on this simple map drawn on the ground.
Li Wei seemed quite satisfied with her reaction.
He used his foot to draw a heavy cross on the map in the southern area, which represented the "Bloody Hands Gang".
"Finn was a good foreman, but he was still just a foreman."
"His eyes only see threats."
"In my view, this so-called 'Bloody Hand Gang' is not a threat, but a resource delivered to our door."
"It's a gold mine that's already been mined and neatly stacked; it just needs a new owner."
The idea was so crazy that Fiona couldn't understand it for a moment.
"A gang that has established a sophisticated system of violence, a group of desperados who are used to solving problems with knives, an organization that has already set up smuggling channels and distribution networks..."
At this moment, Li Wei's voice carried a strange allure, as if he were trying to seduce a chaste and virtuous woman into bed.
"Think about it, Fiona, how many times more efficient is this than us going to the docks and recruiting those good-for-nothing drunkards and thugs one by one?"
"We don't need to eliminate them, we just need to 'acquire' them."
Acquisition.
The word, spoken by Li Wei, carried a bloody undertone.
Fiona felt a chill creep up her spine.
She finally understood that the man in front of her thought process was different from everyone else in this era.
He views the world like a ruthless businessman views his own shelves.
All people and all forces are merely commodities with different labels; the only difference lies in the cost of purchase and the future returns.
Li Wei stopped explaining and just paced around the warehouse, knowing that Fiona needed time to process this.
In fact, Li Wei was quite satisfied with Fiona's performance as the third agent; she hadn't disappointed him at all.
As for the first two ungrateful agents?
Let everything they have be buried at the bottom of Lake Michigan.
A few minutes later, Fiona looked at Levi again, respectfully picked up a cup of tea with both hands, and placed it in front of Levi.
Li Wei took the tea, took a small sip, turned around and walked to the corner of the wall. From an inconspicuous burlap sack, he pulled out a small cloth bag and threw it at Fiona's feet.
The bag fell to the ground with a dull thud, releasing a rich aroma of herbs and tea.
Go find Finn now.
He pulled a money bag containing hundreds of shillings from his pocket and tossed it to Fiona.
"Tell him I need him to find a few trustworthy brothers to sell our 'Convenient Tea Soup' in the South District. Sell it to dockworkers, hawkers, prostitutes, and all those who are oppressed by the 'Bloody Hand Gang' but dare not speak out."
"The price must be cheap, so cheap they won't believe it. I'll even give some away for free to small vendors and poor workers. I want everyone in the South District to know that there's something better than smuggled tea and cheaper than strong liquor."
"Isn't 'Butcher' Jack trying to monopolize the market?"
"Very well. I'll light a fire under his table first. Before he smells the stench and comes knocking, I'll fill his yard with our nails."
Fiona clutched the money pouch tightly; the weight of the coins felt incredibly real to her.
This is no longer a plan on paper, but a war that has already begun.
"Also, inform Boyle. Tell him to use every means at his disposal, whether it's money or women, to arrange for me to meet with that quartermaster's nephew, Andrew Gage, within three days."
"Tell him that if he can't do it, the 'confession' might be sent to the Governor's Office first."
Fiona nodded emphatically.
She got it.
Two lines, one black and one white, are at war simultaneously.
A force lurks in the shadows, using small favors to infiltrate people's hearts and sow the seeds of unrest.
One path, operating in the sunlight, uses money and self-interest to corrupt power and seek protection from those above.
"Go, I need to get the British's strongest shield before the 'Butcher's' knife comes down."
Li Wei waved his hand, sat back down by the fireplace, and picked up the musket.
"The war has begun, my 'shareholder' lady."
"Let's fire the first shot."
Fiona picked up the heavy bag of tea from the ground, turned around, and walked quickly toward the door.
As her hand gripped the doorknob, Li Wei's voice came from behind her again.
"Fiona".
She stopped and turned around.
Under the dim light, Li Wei was looking down at the rough map on the ground.
"Remember, we are the ones who set the rules for the future."
"Whether it's the underworld or the legitimate world."
Fiona's heart felt as if it had been clenched by an invisible hand, and then suddenly released.
She didn't answer, but just gave Levi a deep look, then opened the door and walked into the cold morning fog of Boston without hesitation.
Her back turned, showing no further hesitation.
Li Wei walked back to the stove and added a piece of charcoal.
The flames rose again, illuminating his calm profile.
He picked up the ledger Fiona had placed on the table and opened it.
On the title page, those two childish yet earnest words, "home" and "Li Wei," lay there quietly.
Li Wei gently brushed his finger over the two words, then turned to a new page, picked up the quill pen, dipped it in ink, and wrote two words on the first line.
Income: Zero.
Expenditure: Three years of accumulation, a war.