Initiative is a very special thing. Many people may not feel the difference between being active and passive in their daily lives, but it do
Initiative is a very special thing. Many people may not feel the difference between being active and passive in their daily lives, but it does exist and is a very important part of social interaction.
Seizing the initiative can help a person gain more benefits in social situations and better protect their own rights and interests.
Just like at this very moment, if Lance spoke first, what could he say?
“What should I do?”
“What can I do?”
“How should I solve this problem?”
“How do you want me to respond?”
No matter what he said, he would be in a passive position. He would become Councilman Williams’s “subordinate.” What he would do next would be equivalent to an instruction from Councilman Williams.
If he accomplished it, it was what he was supposed to do. If he failed, it was his problem. This was not a relationship of equals.
But if he didn’t speak and let Councilman Williams speak, he would say “I hope you will do such-and-such” or “You have to find a way to do such-and-such.” No matter what he said, it would become an equal interaction.
He makes a request, and then Lance decides whether to satisfy him. This is equality, not him giving orders.
In higher-level situations, the formalities and rules are more invisible, but they also need to be followed more strictly. Even who takes the first step, who extends their hand first, who smiles first, has very strict requirements.
Councilman Williams looked at Lance for a while, then at James. James spoke up, “My father and I were just discussing. We haven’t completely lost control of the situation. In fact, we still have a way to turn the tables.”
Lance nodded slightly, took a pack of cigarettes from his pocket, and lit one.
He gestured for James to continue. James glanced at Councilman Williams again, who pretended not to see, his head lowered as if lost in thought.
James had a very strange experience, because Lance showed a… very special temperament. He was not entirely like a gangster who hadn’t received higher education. Some of his methods were clearly beyond the grasp of a person from the lower class.
Perhaps he should investigate Lance’s background further. Perhaps he was not as simple as people saw.
“The striking workers at the docks are our chance to counterattack.”
Lance made no other movements. His previous interruption had made James feel that Lance would “control the rhythm” again, but this time he didn’t. Instead, it made him feel a bit subtly unaccustomed, a very contradictory feeling.
It was like wiping your ass. Logically, you should wipe at least twice to get it clean. He had wiped once, but not a second time. This would make people wonder if he had wiped beforehand, or if he hadn’t even taken a shit at all.
This suspicion would continue to surround James, affecting some of his thoughts and judgments.
He blinked, coming back to his senses. “If we make the workers believe that part of the purpose of the militia entering the city is to suppress the strike, and a few more people die, escalating the incident…”
“At that time, Congress will notice some of the changes in Golden Port. Once Congress begins to intervene, all of Sidney’s plans will fall through.”
Lance took a deep drag of his cigarette, then exhaled slowly. “What will be the result of Congress’s intervention?”
“What do they usually do?”
James shrugged. “Negotiate.”
Lance immediately followed with a word, “Tanfit.”
James nodded and said, “Yes, right now everything is about stability. They won’t interfere too much in local political affairs, but they also won’t allow similar things to happen.”
“If Sidney doesn’t want them to hold a grudge against him!”
Lance let out a long sigh. “If we artificially escalate the conflict, many people might die.”
The militia all have weapons. They won’t care if you’re a local or an outsider. As long as the commander gives the order, they will pull the trigger.
James was silent for a moment, then said in a slightly heavy tone, “Someone has to take the first step.”
Councilman Williams picked up his pipe and tapped it on the side of the wooden trash can. The sound attracted the attention of Lance and James.
While adding tobacco to his pipe, he said, “It wasn’t the slave owners’ mercy that ended slavery, Lance.”
“When you’re at the card table, people don’t pay much attention to you, unless you push all your chips in,” he picked up a lighter and lit the pipe, while continuously inhaling through it.
Soon, thick smoke began to emerge from his mouth. He put the lighter back on the desk, holding the pipe in one hand, took a puff, smoke coming out of his nose and mouth.
“Someone will definitely get hurt. We can take some precautions, even rally other industries to strike together.”
“The faster and larger the strike, the faster Congress will intervene.”
“And the more advantageous it will be for us.”
Lance frowned. “I don’t like to gamble, and I don’t like to go all in. Perhaps we can try another way.”
Councilman Williams became interested. “Do you have any better suggestions?”
Lance shook his head slightly. “Not necessarily better, but if someone has to use their blood to speak for us…”
“Who do you think, the life of a capitalist, or those muddy-legged workers on the docks, would attract more attention from people?”
Councilman Williams was taken aback, then frowned. He knew what Lance meant. Similarly, to escalate the conflict, if a few capitalists died, it would indeed also attract the attention of Congress.
But this way, it would also cause dissatisfaction among the capitalists!
And the capitalists in the Bay Area were not ordinary!
Councilman Williams was still thinking, but Lance had already started to talk about his idea, or rather, his plan.
“If a few workers from the docks die, at most it will only create a basis for our negotiations.”
“But then what?”
“At the negotiating table, no one cares if the chips are chipped. We don’t suffer any substantial loss of interest. The Mayor’s side actually gains an advantage.”
“A few people from the lower class die, who cares?”
He looked at James. “Do you care?”
“James?”
James didn’t expect the topic to suddenly shift to him. He was a bit embarrassed. “I… probably don’t care that much.”
“You told the truth!” Lance praised him. “Telling the truth is a virtue.”
He then looked at Councilman Williams. “Actually, none of us care. Would you worry about this year’s factory profits being reduced because your neighbor’s apples were eaten by worms?”
“No, you wouldn’t, because we all know that’s just a small matter.”
“No matter how many small people die, it won’t attract people’s attention. The death of a farmer is just the withering of a life, while the death of a king is the sorrow of a nation!”
“But if one or two high-class, influential people die, then we will seriously consider, seriously negotiate, to prevent such things from happening again!”
“Because no one knows, if this problem isn’t solved, whether the next unlucky one will be us!”
“A few workers die, who cares?”
“And, we can escalate the problem before the militia enters the city, forcing Congress to intervene directly, not giving our mayor a chance to use the militia’s power to achieve his goal!”
Councilman Williams puffed on his pipe, one mouthful after another. Lance’s words made him fall into deep thought. James was also considering the possibility of these things.
After more than ten minutes, Councilman Williams put down his pipe. The look in his eyes when he looked at Lance had also changed. “I need to make a few calls…”
Lance stood up with a smile. “My brother said your villa is very beautiful. It’s a good opportunity for me to take a tour.”
“James, take Lance and his friend on a tour of our villa,” Councilman Williams stood up. “Please excuse me for a moment.”
After coming out of the study, James was clearly happy to have closer contact with Lance. “Have you considered one problem?”
“What?”
He tilted his head and looked at Lance. “The wealthy people in the Bay Area might target you, and the workers on the docks.”
Lance, however, seemed very unconcerned. “Have you ever heard of a delicate crystal vase going head-to-head with a stone?”
Before he could reply, Lance said with a laugh, “We are stones, gangsters, the lowest dregs of society in their eyes.”
“And they are crystal, the upper class of society. They have power, they have wealth. We seem to be at two unequal ends of society.”
“But in fact, we are absolutely equal in one aspect.”
Lance held up a finger. “God only gave each of us one life, no exceptions!”
James had never met someone like Lance before. Those gangsters would all obey the Bay Area’s orders. This had always made him feel that gangs, or rather, the social order, should be like this.
It was a pyramid, from top to bottom, with absolute ruling power, until this moment!
Lance took Elvin on a tour of Councilman Williams’s villa. The architecture and decoration of the villa were all done with great care and looked truly extraordinary.
The two of them were each thinking about different things.
Lance was considering how to escalate the situation as quickly as possible and solve the problem within forty-eight hours.
And Elvin was thinking that in the future, he also had to buy such a big house and bring his whole family in.
In the Pasoretto Family’s estate, not too far from here, Paul was also thinking about this same problem.
He had used Mueller’s method to test all the senior cadres who had attended the meeting that day, but he hadn’t found anyone who had leaked the news.
At this moment in the room, he, Mueller, and Alberto were sitting together.
“They’ve all been normal these past two days…” Paul was visibly more haggard. A traitor, being attacked, the Cassia Family always being able to find their weak spots to launch an offensive…
This made it somewhat difficult for them to act freely. If they couldn’t find a way to break the situation, they would soon be trapped in this estate.
So the most urgent task was to find that bastard!
He glanced at Alberto. Alberto hadn’t given him a good look for the past few days, and he did feel very guilty.
“If it wasn’t them, who could it be?”
“It seems only they were there that day.”
Alberto frowned. He suddenly thought of something. “That day… I seem to remember that Dover was also there.”
Paul looked up at Alberto. Mueller also widened his eyes, as if remembering something. “He’s right. Dover was the last to arrive, but you had them leave not long after he came.”
“He was probably only here for two minutes.”
Paul’s face turned grim. “What has he been doing these past two days?”
“He brought some friends back and has been with them every day.”
Paul scratched his head. His scalp was particularly itchy right now!
“I need to talk to him.”
Alberto was still very confused. “You’ve been good enough to him. You gave him the best territory, the best income, and you let him get away with all his antics. You treat him better than you treat your own sons!”
“Even now, when he’s a suspect, you still want to talk to him?”
Paul’s expression changed slightly. “His father took a bullet for me. He saved my life. In a sense, he is also my son!”
“But does he see you as his father?” Alberto’s voice grew louder. “If you say it was him who betrayed us, I wouldn’t doubt it at all, because that’s the kind of person he is, Paul!”
Paul was still a little hesitant. “I need to talk to him. Whether it was him or not, I insist on this!”
Alberto let out a heavy sigh. “Alright, alright!” He stood up. “Paul, I respect you very much, but I also can’t stand this personality of yours.”
“Let me know if there’s any news. I’m heading back.”
Paul watched Alberto leave, his expression constantly changing. He sat in a daze for a while before letting out a heavy sigh.
Although Alberto respected Paul, he didn’t necessarily understand him.
Mueller was Paul’s cousin. He understood his cousin. From these changes in Paul, he could see that he was also beginning to suspect Dover, just subconsciously defending him.
“I’ll go with you.”
Paul nodded. He opened a drawer, took out an exquisite ivory-handled pistol and its holster, and put it on.
Although he took great care of Dover, if it was really Dover who did it, he would make Dover pay the price.
Mueller accompanied him. “Maybe it wasn’t him.”
Paul shook his head. “I don’t know. I will trust my eyes and ears.”
Mueller asked, “If it is him, what do you plan to do?”
Paul showed him his weapon. “Give him a dignified end. After all, his father gave his life for me. Even if he did wrong, I can’t let people judge him.”
“This is the last thing I can do for him. Even in death, I want him to leave quietly.”
Mueller sighed lightly. “Do you need my help?”
Paul shook his head. “I’m enough by myself. Although he’s a bit out of line sometimes, he still listens to me.”
“But you’re going to kill him!” Mueller looked at him.
Paul also looked directly at Mueller. “He won’t know.”
Seeing his insistence, Mueller didn’t say anything more. In fact, he knew that this was Paul’s guilt at work.
As someone who understood him, Mueller could only support, not oppose.
Dover still didn’t know that Paul was coming to find him. He was on the phone with Owen, who had told him the truth of the matter.
“The militia will enter the city the day after tomorrow. The assembly has already voted to approve it. The Mayor will also be back at work then.”
“Do you know what this represents?”
“It represents that all who do not submit will face their end!”
“Christopher, the Pasoretto Family has reached its most critical moment. The only person who can save the family now is you.”
Christopher’s brain was not working at this moment. He just followed Owen’s words and asked, “What should I do?”
Owen appreciated this kind of fool. He didn’t like smart people. Someone like Lance was clearly not a good partner for cooperation. Someone like Dover was.
“You’ve actually done very well, but you’re still a little short.”
“We need to get rid of Paul, and then you will become the next head of the Pasoretto Family. Only then, when you can represent the Pasoretto Family, will we let the entire Pasoretto Family go.”
Hearing this, Dover’s heart was already pounding and his hands were trembling. He held the receiver with both hands and lowered his voice slightly. “Mr. Owen, I am not Paul’s son. Although my surname is also Pasoretto, I cannot inherit the business here.”
“His cousins, and his children, are all more qualified to inherit the family than me…”
Owen chuckled lightly. “If all these people are gone, won’t it be your turn?”
Dover’s heart beat violently. The rumors about “if his father hadn’t taken a bullet for Paul back then, maybe his father could have become the head of the family” appeared in his mind again.
Although Paul had been very good to him over the years, every time he thought of these things, he felt that he was being fooled.
Because that position was very likely his father’s, and this family, in the future, could also have been his!
Paul had stolen what belonged to him and his father, and then rewarded him with what originally belonged to them, and he hoped he would be grateful?
To this day, he still had not joined the family’s core. He had always been excluded from the family’s inner circle. He was under a form of house arrest. What he had lost was not just freedom of movement, but more freedoms!
He hated Paul, but he also had a deep fear of him. He was still a little hesitant. “I’ll think about it again.”
Owen did not rush him. Leaving the Pasoretto Family was just a backup plan for when they were about to leave. At the current stage, having it or not actually didn’t make much of a difference.
So he was not anxious, not in a hurry for Dover to make a decision in his favor. “As you wish. Just remember that when the time is up, nothing will change.”
Not long after he hung up, Mueller and Paul arrived.
The hall was full of the marginal figures of the family who surrounded him. They all stood up when they saw Paul.
Paul squeezed out a smile, gave a random nod and a greeting, and then looked at Dover, who was walking out of the room.
The two didn’t look at each other for long before Dover looked away.
Paul’s heart had already turned cold. He walked towards a room inside and said as he passed by Dover, “Come in with me.”
The two entered the room. Mueller stood at the door, watching those people.
He didn’t go in, to prevent these people from running to the door to eavesdrop. As a butler in a large family, he knew these things too well.
In the room, Paul looked at Dover and asked directly, “Was it you who sold the family’s information to outsiders?”
Dover, who had been feeling a surge of adrenaline, suddenly felt his blood run cold.
He looked at Paul, unable to speak clearly. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Paul.”
Paul suddenly said loudly, “Why did you betray us?”
Dover forced himself to calm down. “Did you hear something from someone?”
“Paul, you know me. Although I’m… a bastard sometimes, I have never betrayed the family!”
He shouted loudly, his face turning red, as if trying to prove something in this way.
But the more he was like this, the more Paul, who knew him well, could see his panic and fear.
“It really was you…” Paul suddenly seemed to have lost his spirit, sighing heavily. “Did we do anything to let you down?”
“Why did you betray us?”
(End of chapter)