Empire of Shadows

Clara’s younger cousin, holding the phone, looked at Elvin with some unease.

After a simple introduction from Elvin, this young man now knew that his older cousin had married a cadre of the Lance Family.

For him, this was a feeling he had never had before. He actually had a gangster brother-in-law?

For older people, it was a bit harder to accept gangsters. Many of them had often been bullied by gangsters.

Gangs had grown along with the Federation. The earlier, the more savage the growth of the gangs. Many people had been affected by them.

It was normal for the elderly to dislike gangs.

On the contrary, for the young people, in an era full of rebellion and doubt, it made many of them even yearn for the gangs.

The younger cousin couldn’t be said to be the kind of person who yearned for the gangs, but he wouldn’t refuse or hate them either, not to mention the relationship with his older cousin.

He was more curious about the Lance Family.

Elvin needed his cooperation.They had gone to the alley where the younger cousin had bought the wine before, but they had not found the vendor who was selling the wine. This made Elvin think that the vendor might have already moved to another location to sell.

After all, his shipment volume was not small. From some of the superficial news they had gotten so far, selling private liquor was not a gang’s mission. This might be a private job.

No gang would like this kind of private job. He might have changed places in order not to be discovered by the people of his own gang.

At the same time, taking on a private job also meant that he did not have the protection of a gang. If he did not change places often, once he was targeted by someone, he might lose not only the wine, but also his own life.

Considering this, Elvin had found the younger cousin and had asked him to cooperate.

In the morning, they had made two calls, and no one had answered. It was the same in the afternoon.

Now it was a little after eight in the evening. Elvin had the younger cousin try to make another call.

If the call still couldn’t get through, they could only continue to slowly search.

When the younger cousin had dialed the last number, a waiting tone came from the receiver, which made him and Elvin and the others breathe a sigh of relief.

After waiting for about twenty seconds, the call was finally answered, but there was no one speaking in the receiver, only a slight breathing sound.

The other party had already answered the call and was very cautiously not making a sound. The younger cousin pointed at the phone, and regardless of whether Elvin could understand his meaning, he made a “someone is there” expression.

Elvin nodded and mouthed some words, signaling for him to continue.

The two were both young men. In a very short period of time, they had exchanged their opinions.

The younger cousin coughed. “Is this the guy who sells wine?”

A voice came from the receiver. “You’ve got the wrong number. I don’t know what you’re talking about, and I don’t sell wine…”

Before the other party could finish, the younger cousin quickly said, “Harvest Festival, in the alley, I bought a bottle of wine for forty-five dollars. The one with the silk hatband.”

The other party’s voice stopped, and then a laugh came. “It’s you?”

“I remember you. I thought you would have called me earlier.”

The younger cousin said in a somewhat complaining tone, “I wanted to, but I didn’t have that much money a few days ago.”

“Do you have it now?”

“Yes, I have money now. Can I have another bottle?”

The other side was a little hesitant. Maybe he thought it was too late now?

The younger cousin added, “This time I’m drinking with my friends. I recommended you to them, but they have to try it first.”

“When should I go and find you? Is it still in that alley?”

The guy on the other side considered for a moment and decided to continue to trade with the younger cousin.

Because the younger cousin was a high-quality customer. The middle class meant that they could enjoy a high-quality life within a certain range.

A forty-five-dollar bottle of good whiskey was a part of a high-quality life. For an ordinary person, this might be the money they could earn after a month of not eating or drinking.

But for the middle class, this might be their income for three or five days.

If he could maintain these middle-class customers, then in the future, whether it was selling wine or selling other things, it would be very beneficial.

The liquor dealer immediately agreed. He wanted to develop his own network of connections and sales. “I’m not there anymore, and it’s too late today.”

“At three o’clock tomorrow afternoon, you go to the alley between number 17 and 18 on… street.”

“There’s an open space in the alley. I’ll be waiting for you there. Remember to bring the money, and you’d better come alone.”

The other party hung up the phone after saying that. The younger cousin quickly recorded the address, and then let out a heavy sigh of relief.

He had an excited look on his face. “What are we going to do tomorrow?”

“Are we going to arrest him and torture him?”

Elvin looked at him as if he were looking at a fool. “Tomorrow you take the money and go and buy the wine. Not doing anything extra is your most perfect performance.”

The younger cousin felt that this was not the same as the “spy” script he had imagined. “Should I ask him some things, for example, where this wine comes from?”

Elvin rolled his eyes. “If you hope that when we find you, you have a few more bleeding holes on you, you can not only ask these, but you can also beat him up.”

This sentence made the younger cousin so embarrassed that he couldn’t speak. He scratched his head and said, “Alright, I won’t do anything extra.”

Elvin patted his shoulder. “Think for yourself, think for your family.”

The next morning, the younger cousin got up early and waited. He couldn’t sleep; he was a little too excited.

After waiting until the afternoon, the somewhat lethargic person became excited again.

Elvin drove him to a place three or four hundred meters away from the alley they had agreed on, and then handed him a handgun. “Do you know how to use it?”

The younger cousin played with the handgun with great fondness. “I do. I’ve fired a gun before, but I don’t have my own.”

Elvin taught him how to use it, the on/off switch, and the safety. “If you run into big trouble, it can help you.”

“But if you don’t run into big trouble, and no one is looking for trouble with you, then don’t take it out. It will make others misunderstand.”

“Remember, don’t say much. You’re just there to buy wine. Don’t add to the drama.”

“We’ll be waiting for you to come back. Your family is also waiting for you to come back!”

He raised his hand and patted the young man’s cheek, and then made a “I’ll be watching you” gesture. “Go on, don’t let us down!”

The young man took a deep breath, then put the weapon in his pocket, pushed open the car door, and left.

At first, he was a little looking forward to meeting the liquor dealer, but as the distance grew closer, he became a little nervous, and even a little inexplicably regretful.

He forced himself to calm down. He didn’t know if he had done a good enough job. Now he could only do this.

Soon he had arrived at the appointed place, but there was no liquor dealer.

He even suspected whether he had gone to the wrong place because he was too excited. After confirming again and again that he had not gone to the wrong place, he was a little at a loss.

After all, at the appointed time and place, the other party had not come?!

He didn’t know if something had gone wrong.

He came out of the alley and made two more phone calls, but no one answered. Without any new communication, he could only go back to the alley.

What he didn’t know was that on the fourth floor of the building diagonally opposite the road, behind a window, the liquor dealer was hiding in a dim room, watching everything in the alley.

He had seen the younger cousin go in, had seen him kicking his leg in frustration, had seen him go to a phone booth to make a call, and had also heard the phone in the room ring.

He had been observing everything around the entrance of the alley. After observing for a long while, and confirming that there was no abnormal situation, he was finally ready to go downstairs.

To do this line of work, you have to be cautious.

It’s just that no matter how cautious, he could not possibly know that someone was already waiting for him.

Elvin, who was staring from across the street, frowned. He turned his head to look at the surrounding streets. If that person was not teasing the younger cousin, then he must be observing from the surroundings.

There were many buildings and rooms around. It was impossible for Elvin to carefully observe every window. He just took a rough look.

Most of the windows were reflective, and it was impossible to see clearly if there was anyone inside.

After waiting for about a dozen more minutes, Elvin suddenly noticed that another person had walked into the alley.

This guy was wearing a flat cap, a high-collared trench coat, and looked a bit sneaky.

At this time, the younger cousin, who was sitting on a step in an open space, saw the person who had come in and stood up nervously. He also grabbed the weapon in his pocket and stared at the person without blinking.

This was a very normal performance. The guy suddenly raised his head, revealed his appearance, and even said with a smile, “Did I scare you?”

“I had something that held me up just now. I’m sorry.”

In fact, he was just observing from a place across the street where he could see the alley. Once he had confirmed that this transaction was unsafe, he would not have shown up, would not have contacted, and would have just disappeared.

The younger cousin’s performance had won his trust, which was why he had shown up.

He walked over, took out the wine that was hidden under his trench coat, which was the same as last time, without any label, and even the cap had been changed.

The younger cousin, while taking out the money and handing it to the other party, asked casually, “What brand of wine is this?”

“It tastes very good. I haven’t tasted it before.”

The liquor dealer’s money-counting action paused for a moment. He looked up at the younger cousin again. After confirming that he was not asking with a hidden meaning, he made up a name to deal with it.

At the same time, he warned, “If you have wine to drink, then drink it. Don’t fucking go around asking about things, understand?”

“You’re just a person who has come to get drunk. You give me money, and I give you wine. Everything else has nothing to do with you.”

“This is good for you, and also good for me.”

“Otherwise, you will cause trouble for yourself, and also cause trouble for me!”

“I believe I hate trouble, and so do you, right?”

His tone of voice was very serious, and even carried a hint of intimidation, which made the younger cousin a little less lively at once, and he stammered and affirmed the other party’s statement.

Seeing that his goal had been achieved, the man with the flat cap patted the younger cousin’s arm, and then, after lowering his flat cap again, he left from another alley.

What he didn’t know was that when he came out of the alley, at least four people were already watching him!

(End of a Chapter)