Empire of Shadows

“What kind of wine is this?” Clara took a sip. She thought it tasted good, very strong.

After drinking someone else’s wine, she would definitely have to return the favor, so she was very curious about how much this bottle of wine was worth.

Clara didn’t know how to taste wine. She wasn’t sure how much this wine was worth, because she felt that it didn’t taste much different from the wine Bolton brought home, and was even better in some aspects?

In fact, this was a typical cognitive bias. As a cadre of the Lance Family, the wine he brought back was definitely the best.

But at this stage, the difference between the good and bad wine under Lance’s name was actually not that big!

At present, the aging of the Golden Lion was only a little over a year, and Lance had also suggested using some additives.

For example, fragrances, thickeners, and the like, which had improved a part of the taste, but the essential difference was still not that great.

The price difference of the wine was mainly not in the core things.

Wine is just brewed from grain. How much can grain be worth?

Just a few hundred a ton.Its price is expensive because of the production process. In an era where information transmission was not developed, and even making bread required finding a master to learn from, the production process of each brand’s high-end wine was the core value of high-end wine!

Clara, who often drank high-end wine but was not clear about these things, would subconsciously have a feeling that this bottle of unremarkable wine should also be not bad.

Her younger cousin, on the other hand, did not hide anything. “I don’t know either. Someone was selling it on the side of the road. I tasted a little, and the taste was very good. It doesn’t seem to be an inferior wine.”

“You don’t know, Clara, there are many thieves and robbers in the city. Maybe this wine was stolen from somewhere by them.”

“Otherwise, they could have clearly sold it for a higher price in a bar. Why did they only sell it to me for forty-five?”

This price was indeed not normal. He poured himself a little more. Following Clara’s thoughts, he suddenly felt that he had gotten a big bargain.

Maybe this wine was stolen from some rich man’s wine cellar by that liquor dealer and was being sold secretly.

Since even his well-informed older cousin said the taste was not bad, then it must not be a bad wine. He should drink more.

Watching her little cousin take one sip after another, Clara smiled and took another small sip. “If you like to drink, I’ll have someone send some over for you.”

The young man who had heard this immediately showed a look of pleasant surprise. Everyone knew that this older cousin had married a rich man, but they didn’t know how rich he was.

These relatives who lived in Indeno State did not know Bolton, nor did they know that Bolton was Lance’s man. They only knew that the old man was very rich.

The wine sent by a rich man would definitely not be this kind of forty- or fifty-dollar wine, at least it would be a few hundred, or even the current top-tier whiskey, over five hundred.

The directness of the people of the Federation is here.

If it were another civilization, the young man might have first declined a bit to express a reserved emotion.

But this was the Federation. No one was so reserved. The young man immediately said with a smile, “Thank you.” “No matter what you send, I will like it.”

This sentence also made Clara laugh. Isn’t this the life she was pursuing?

Everyone becomes friendly, and everyone becomes good at talking. What’s wrong with being a gold digger?

The dinner was very enjoyable. Because of the addition of the whiskey, everyone was a little tipsy.

The young man had always been a little envious of Clara. At a young age, she already had her own career. He asked a lot about life in Golden Port City.

When he heard that Clara’s daily life was just shopping, enjoying herself, and gathering with the other mistresses in the community, or when she had nothing to do, she would go for a swim, sunbathe, and the like, it made the young man’s family so envious and jealous!

This was the most perfect form of life!

After dinner, they tidied up a guest room and had Clara stay here for the night. Clara did not refuse. At the same time, she also, in front of everyone, made a phone call to Bolton.

“Honey, I’ve already arrived in New Birmingham. I’m now staying at… Uncle’s place…”

“They have treated me very warmly, and my uncle and my cousin both like to drink very much, so I want to send them some wine.”

“Okay, thank you, honey. I love you!”

Soon she hung up the phone, and then said with a beaming smile, “My husband has already had someone send the wine over.”

The young man was overjoyed. “Cousin, you are so good!”

This made Clara couldn’t help but laugh out loud. “Alright, alright, I have to rest. Good night, uncle, aunt, and my little cousin…”

Bolton didn’t pay much attention to his little wife’s request. As a high-level cadre of the Lance Family, the wine he took from the family’s warehouse was all at cost price.

Lance didn’t think of making money from his own people. The cost of a Golden Lion-grade whiskey was only a few dozen dollars, mainly the time cost of aging.

This amount of money, compared to his current income, was not in his eyes at all.

However, he would not send all Golden Lion whiskey. He had someone send a case of Golden Lion whiskey and two cases of Silver Lion whiskey, which added up to a cost price of about a thousand.

It might not seem like much, but for this era where the per capita income in Golden Port City was 47 or 48 dollars, this was already a very heavy gift, about the income of an ordinary person for two years without eating or drinking.

And this was still the cost price. If it were the retail price, it would be about five to six thousand, and in a bar or a restaurant, it would be sold for more than seven thousand!

He was very satisfied with his young wife, Clara.

After all, a man’s face, besides wealth, power, the female companion by his side is also an important display.

Although Clara did not have a prominent background, she was also from a middle-class family, and was much younger than him.

Every time someone asked, “Is this your daughter?” he would smile and respond with a tone of showing off, “This is my wife.”

He liked the surprised look in those people’s eyes, and this had also become one of his pleasures.

And Clara was a very easy-to-satisfy woman. She didn’t think of how to make a fuss. As long as you satisfied her demand for the high-quality “modern life” she wanted, then she was very obedient.

Every day, she would just take care of the child and enjoy life. There was nothing that made Bolton more relaxed than this.

He quickly put this matter out of his mind. He had been having people investigate where the missing wine had gone.

Although Lance did not say it, Bolton knew that he was still very concerned about the investigation result of this matter.

Those people could make a move on their wine once, and it was possible to do it a second, a third time.

Their courage would also get bigger and bigger, and they would encourage more people to join in their actions.

As long as an evil deed is not punished once, soon there will be more people, and more evil deeds!

He hoped that when Lance came back from the Harvest Festival, he would have figured out who had stolen Lance’s wine!

However, this matter was not so easy to investigate, because the Lance Family’s control in other states was far less than here. To expand some channels and relationships required not only money, but also time.

For several days in a row, no good news came, which also made Bolton so anxious that he was losing some hair. And the person he had sent to deliver the wine had already arrived in New Birmingham.

The one who had come to deliver the wine this time was one of Bolton’s trusted men who had a good relationship with him. After all, this was related to Clara’s relatives’ family situation, and also to his wife.

If he were to send an ordinary, not-so-reliable person, he would be a little worried.

The thing about feelings, at the beginning, there were none. It was just that after sleeping together more, and the ear-to-ear whispers after venting more, the feelings gradually developed.

When there is someone who can stick to your body and bring you warmth at night, and can accompany you to sleep, feelings will sprout and heat up.

It is not necessarily love, but it could also be family affection, or something else.

So he had arranged for a trusted man, not someone else.

Soon, the trusted subordinate had, according to the address provided by Clara, found the place. These few days, Clara had also participated in the grand parade of the Harvest Festival in New Birmingham and had had a good time for a few days.

She planned to go back to see her grandfather after the Harvest Festival was over. She needed to adjust her mood.

Bolton’s subordinate had specially chosen a time in the afternoon. He had heard that Bolton’s wife often slept until noon before getting up, and the younger a woman was, the more difficult she was to deal with. He certainly didn’t want to be reported on by her for disturbing Clara’s sleep.

At a little after three in the afternoon, he and his men came to the outside of the house, and then knocked on the door.

The one who greeted them was Clara’s little cousin. They had just come back from a meal outside. Clara was still commenting on the gap between the chefs here and the chefs in Golden Port City when they had arrived.

“Who are you?” The young man did not know these people. He stood behind the door with some vigilance.

The crime rate in New Birmingham could not be said to be high, but it was definitely not low either.

This was indeed a middle-class community, but this did not mean that no one could get in.

And the few people at the door did not look like ordinary people. They looked like gang members.

The guy standing at the very front looked at the face in the crack of the door. “Mr. Bolton has asked us to deliver some wine.”

“Who is Mr. Bolton?” The young man did not know what his cousin’s husband was called.

Clara, in the living room, heard this key word and immediately stood up and walked over. When she saw the familiar face outside the door, she immediately had the young man pull open the security latch.

“I’m sorry to have made you run an errand…” She still knew how to say nice things.

The few of them smiled, and then moved the wine in.

“A total of three cases of wine, one case of Golden Lion (six bottles), and two cases of Silver Lion (twelve bottles). If it’s not enough, we can go and get some more, but for the Golden Lion, it might take a little longer.”

“The market price of these wines is about five or six thousand,” he said, the market price, not the cost price.

The Lance Family had already begun to transport liquor to this side, but it was just the low-end Copper Lion and a small amount of Silver Lion.

Without fully opening the market and gaining a firm foothold, the Golden Lion had no sales at all.

It was also because Bolton had had them send a case of Golden Lion over, so they had come directly from the Golden Port City side, instead of getting some wine locally and having someone send it over.

Hearing this price, Clara’s uncle’s family also widened their eyes, which made Clara show a very comfortable smile.

Just as these people were about to leave, Clara suddenly thought of something. “Wait a moment.”

She went to the kitchen and brought over the remaining little, not much, wine along with the bottle. “What kind of wine is this?”

“I drank it when I came. It has no label. I think it tastes very good, but my brother says the price is not expensive.”

“You guys take a look, what kind of wine is this, and how much is a bottle.”

Because there wasn’t much left that day, if they continued to drink this, it would be a bit inappropriate. They had been drinking wine recently, and had also drunk a bottle of brandy.

To be honest, it was a little heartbreaking.

But at this moment, all the heartache had disappeared. Compared to this wine, what they had lost was nothing at all!

These people under Bolton were also members of the Lance Family. As one of the family’s biggest sources of income, their research on liquor was also very thorough.

The trusted man standing in the first place was not very serious when he received the wine bottle, but when he looked down at this wine bottle, he gradually felt that something was not right.

He looked at the raised part on the bottleneck. Although the small label and the hot stamping were gone, the unevenness of the glass bottle was still there.

He took the bottle outside and distinguished it carefully in the sun. The look of pleasant surprise in his eyes grew more and more.

“This bottle of wine, I’m not clear, but I will find out. Did you buy this?” he looked at the young man.

Now they all knew that these few people were Clara’s husband’s subordinates, so the young man did not deny it. “Yes, I bought it in an alley.”

“A few days ago, during the Harvest Festival, someone promoted it to me.”

The trusted subordinate asked again, “Can you still find him?”

The young man seemed to have also realized something. He quickly nodded and said, “He gave me a phone number.”

Soon he ran back, took out the business card, and handed it to this trusted subordinate.

He glanced at the number, wrote it down in his notebook, and then returned the card to the young man. “Don’t leave for this period of time. At that time, we may need your help.”

Clara was a little puzzled. “What’s wrong with this bottle of wine?”

A smile appeared on the trusted subordinate’s face. “It has solved a big trouble for Mr. Bolton.”

However, he was not willing to say more. “Don’t tell others about this, and don’t run around recently. If there is any further news, we will contact you.”

After saying that, they greeted Clara and drove away.

More than ten minutes later, they, through some simple means, had printed out the uneven pattern on the bottleneck of the glass bottle, a blurry lion’s head!

The trusted subordinate fiercely pumped his fist, cursed “fuck,” and then dialed Bolton’s number with some excitement.

“Has the wine been delivered?” Hearing his subordinate’s voice, Bolton’s first reaction was that the wine had already been delivered.

He then said, “Just come back after it’s delivered!”

“I still have a lot of things to do here.”

But his trusted subordinate said in a slightly trembling voice, “Mr. Bolton, I might know where the wine we lost is!”

Twenty minutes later, Lance received a call from Bolton.

“…So the wine we lost is in New Birmingham?”

Lance leaned back in his chair, basking in the sun. “Go and investigate first. Don’t alarm those people. We’ll talk about it after I get back from the farm.”

“If this wine is really what we lost, your wife has done a great service.”

“At that time, you can ask her what reward she wants.”

Bolton’s voice from the receiver was filled with joy. “This is what she should do. After all, she can also be considered a member of the family.”

In fact, he basically hadn’t changed much. Lance could also feel that he really wanted to know what the reward was, and also really wanted it, but he just politely declined.

This was not very similar to the people of the Federation, but it could also be said that his first half of his life had had his edges smoothed, and he had become reserved, and not good at expressing his strong emotions.

Lance laughed lightly. “If someone does something that is helpful to the family, and we don’t reward him, then the next time someone finds that doing something can help us, they will hesitate.”

“This is like a punishment, and it’s the same.”

“Not rewarding for merit, and not punishing for a fault, are both stupid performances. Do you think I’m a stupid person?”

Before Bolton could answer, “That’s it for now. Find out as soon as possible. Don’t let me down.”

After Lance had hung up the phone, old Hubert, who was sitting in another chair, looked at him. “Do you need our help?”

The family’s power was unprecedentedly strong. All the surrounding farms were providing them with grain. It could be said that the Lawrence Farm was still constantly expanding.

They had already begun to talk about acquisitions. At the same time, with the family having money, they could also hire more cowboys.

Hubert told Lance that they now had at least seven or eight hundred cowboys.

These cowboys usually did the work on the farm, herding, patrolling the farm’s territory, but when needed, they would pick up their guns and be gunmen.

The strength of the family had made old Hubert also want to show off his muscles, but Lance did not agree.

“This is just a small matter. When I need it, I will give you a call.”

Hubert, who was still thinking of leading the cowboys out, looked a little depressed. “Actually, I can still pull the trigger.”

Lance smiled and said nothing.

Life on the farm was just so leisurely. Besides the constantly expanding distillery and the constantly rising steam from the distillery, the slow-paced life full of rural charm could indeed make a person calm down.

When you have nothing to do, you sit in a place with sun, lean back on a lounge chair, and have some tobacco and wine by your side. This kind of life is too comfortable.

On the last day of the Harvest Festival, the Lawrence family held a grand bonfire banquet at the farmstead. The number of people who came was so large that it was unbelievable.

At least two or three thousand people had participated in this bonfire banquet, and maybe more.

And old Schubert had said that there were still many people who had not come. The portion that had come were just those who lived in the vicinity and had convenient transportation.

Like some of the farmers and cowboys who lived a dozen or even twenty or thirty kilometers away, they had not come.

However, the farm had also given them rewards, some cash, some wine, and also some meat and food and the like.

The bonfire illuminated everyone’s face, and also illuminated their hearts.

A beautiful life is like those fiercely burning bonfires, getting better and better!

(End of a Chapter)