Chapter 956: Strike first to gain the upper hand
Although Hassan also knew that he would never have the opportunity to traffic copper ore from Manila to Sanya to make such quick money, he still smiled and said that he would definitely serve Haihan well. Before getting evidence to expose the Spanish spies to the Haihan government, he did not want to expose any flaws.
After receiving the cash check issued by the Haihan Department of Commerce, Hassan did not immediately start purchasing activities as usual. Instead, he stayed in the hotel room and carefully planned the next action. There are two things he worries about. First, he must not let the other party notice any abnormalities in his contact with him, so as not to alert the enemy; second, when he reports to the government afterwards, he must be careful with his wording and cannot get himself involved.
Based on Hassan's past experience with the other party, he knew that the other party was an extremely cautious person. If he found anything wrong, he would disappear on the spot. Not to mention Hassan, not even the shopkeeper Su who helped him could find anyone. And after getting the other party's reply, he had to find a way to grasp the other party's whereabouts, so that after reporting to the police, he could ensure that the person was caught smoothly and clear his name.
As for his own safety, Hassan is not too worried. Every time he meets the other party, he is in a public place. With Haihan's control over public security, it is unlikely that the person would dare to take some drastic measures in this environment. .
Another day later, Hassan went to Zuixian Tower alone according to the scheduled time. Every time he met that person, he made an appointment here through the shopkeeper Su of "Nanyang Pavilion", so he was already familiar with it. Hassan sent someone here one day in advance to reserve a seat. After entering the store, he went to the counter to identify himself, and a waiter took him to the second floor and opened a private room. The waiter asked him about the tea and drinks required and the time for the banquet, and then left the room to prepare.
Zuixian Restaurant is a long-established restaurant in the Shengli Port area. It is said that some high-level personnel from Haihan have invested here, and the chefs in charge of the kitchen have experience working for the chiefs in Shengli Fort, so the business has been good. . The reason why Hassan chose this place in the first place was first of all to consider safety issues. It is located in a busy city, but the private rooms ensure enough privacy, and the guys here are well-trained and will not talk too much. Secondly, because the food in Zuixianlou does taste good and suits his preferences.
Of course, the customer groups that Zuixianlou targets and the services it provides are relatively high-end, and the corresponding prices are naturally not low. Fortunately, Hassan does not need to bear the cost of the meal. The other party pays the bill every time, so it can be described as a relaxed and enjoyable meal. . So every time Hassan would wait here first, enjoy the fine refreshments, and then order a table of signature dishes as a reward for taking the risk to deliver the letter.
After Hassan waited for about half an hour, the rightful owner finally arrived. After entering the room, this man closed the door behind his back, then sat across from Hassan and said in a deep voice: "This time you came several days earlier than scheduled."
Hassan responded: "There is no way. Your boss keeps urging me to leave early. I collect money to do things, so I can only do what your boss wants."
Hassan reached into his arms as he spoke, took out Sanchez's secret letter and put it on the table: "This is a letter for you, and your boss wants me to bring your reply back to Manila as soon as possible. What are you looking at?" Give it to me when you can.”
The man took the letter in his hand and carefully inspected the fire seal on it to make sure that it had not been tampered with. Then he took the letter into his arms and said: "I will write the reply after I get back tonight. Since I am in a hurry, I will do it tomorrow night." See you here and now.”
After the man finished speaking, he took out a piece of silver and put it on the table: "You eat slowly, I will take the first step."
"Wait a minute!" Hassan called out to the other party: "After sending the letter back to Manila this time, I plan to go back to my hometown in Persia and never come here again. When we meet tomorrow night, can we sit down and have a drink?"< br>
The man hesitated for a moment before responding: "Let's talk about tomorrow night... When you come, let the waiter serve the food and wine first. I don't want to stay here for too long!"
This person would leave quickly after handing over the letter every time they met, without any delay. Hassan was used to this person's behavior and nodded without any surprise. After the other party leaves, he can enjoy the banquet alone.
After the man left for a while, the waiter came in to ask if he should start serving food and how many sets of bowls and chopsticks he needed to prepare.
"Just one pair is enough." Hassan smiled and said, "I will eat it alone."
The waiter looked at the chair opposite him that was obviously occupied by someone, and without asking any questions, he nodded and left. Anyway, the people who come here to spend money are all uncles. As long as they pay the bill after eating, it's better to stay out of other business.
While Hassan was eating his food, he was thinking about how to deal with this man tomorrow. He has no other contact with the other party except exchanging letters. It is a genuine working relationship. In fact, there is no personal relationship at all. Moreover, this person looks very ordinary and wears very ordinary clothes. If it were not for his Filipino background, he speaks Chinese with a slight accent. , Hassan actually could not distinguish him well from the local Haihan people. It can be said that Hassan knew nothing about this person's private information. He did not know his name, nor his identity here or where he lived. If this person leaves after handing in the letter, and Hassan goes to the government to report it, he may not be sure that he can identify him among the tens of thousands of people in the local area. Therefore, in order to handle this matter safely, Hassan must try to find a way to do it tomorrow. We need to control his whereabouts later.
The simplest way is to use tracking tactics to find out where the other party is staying and then report it to the government. But Hassan’s local knowledge of Sanya is limited to areas where foreign merchants are allowed to enter. If the other party goes to an area that is not allowed to enter without permission, or an area where Hassan is not familiar with the terrain, there may be no way to track it. . The probability of this happening is quite high, because the areas where foreign merchants are allowed to enter and exit freely are commercial areas and ports, and they cannot come and go as freely as naturalized citizens. As long as they lose track of the person, all their efforts will be wasted.
For safety reasons, of course it would be better to find some helpers, but in order to keep the secret, Hassan did not dare to ask his own crew to participate in this matter. None of his people knew that he was secretly passing information to the Manila authorities, because He was also afraid that he would be betrayed, so Hassan had to do it alone.
Reporting to the authorities in advance is also a way. Maybe he can set up an ambush to catch the other party, but Hassan thought it was not safe enough because he did not know the identity of the other party, but he was in the open and could easily be monitored. After all, the Persian businessman It was not difficult to find out at the official local residence, and he did not know if the other party had any other companions helping to monitor him in the dark.
After much deliberation, Hassan figured out that the safest way was to keep the other person in Zuixian Tower. If he could, he would make him drink. Drunk was the best. If he was not drunk, he would hold him back and then take advantage of the opportunity. Let the clerk in the store report it to the official. As long as the Haihan people can catch the current living people, their risk will be minimized.
When it comes to wine, Hassan prides himself on having a pretty good drinking capacity. When he first came to Sanya to discuss business, he heard that in Haihan culture there is a popular saying that "drinking depends on one's character", so he single-handedly drank down a group of officials from Haihan's Ministry of Commerce and Port Affairs Center at a business banquet. He drank nearly four bottles of "Sanya Special Brew" packed in pounds alone. Of course, the wine was not in vain. Since then, he has received many business opportunities, and he is considered to be the first Persian businessman to obtain a local business license in Sanya. With such capital, Hassan thought that he could still try in this direction. If he could really drink the other party at the wine table, it would be much easier. And if the other party rejects the invitation, then Hassan will have no choice but to do the next best thing and try tracking. But that's not his specialty, and it's far inferior to his control over the wine bureau. But judging from the words the other party left before leaving, it seemed that he had agreed to his invitation.
Regarding his future trade prospects, although Hassan thought that he had considered all aspects thoroughly, he still couldn't help but spend the next day in anxiety. When night fell, he came to Zuixian Tower again.
Just like before, some time after Hassan arrived, the man quietly opened the door and entered the private room. Hassan very much suspected that this guy had actually been watching near the restaurant, and he only showed up after waiting for him to come in for a while to make sure there was no danger. If he had informed the official in advance of setting up an ambush, he might really have discovered it.
After the man entered the room, he still chose to sit down opposite the door, and then introduced himself: "My name is Duda. Of course, this is not my name here, it is just the code name given to me by my former boss."
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The name Duda is very common in the Philippines, as common as John Doe and John Doe, and he obviously does not want to talk about his true identity in the country, nor does he intend to leave Hassan the opportunity to ask questions.
Hassan nodded and said: "In your profession, you really can't expose your identity at will." After that, he opened the wine and poured it for the man named Duda: "To be honest, I admire your restraint. Every time I come here for a joint, I always leave without even taking a sip of water. I would have to drink two glasses of the good wine here... The Sanya special wine sold in Zuixianlou is different from the one sold abroad. It tastes better, of course. Yes, the price will be higher anyway. You have money to eat, so you might as well enjoy it.”
Duda calmly picked up the wine glass and raised it slightly to toast: "Safety first, it is better than exposing your identity and losing your life!"
Hassan forced a smile and said: "You look just like a local. You should have been naturalized, right? With the way you talk and dress, no one will doubt your identity."
Duda did not answer Hassan's tentative question. He was obviously very vigilant and would not easily reveal his identity. Upon seeing this, Hassan stopped asking questions, so as not to arouse Duda's suspicion, and instead began to talk about some of his experiences in the past when he traveled to various places. He has been engaged in maritime trade in Southeast Asia for many years. He has seen a lot of local customs and customs in the places he has visited. He is definitely a knowledgeable person in this era. In addition, Hassan had prepared the conversation topics in advance and selected some interesting content, so even if he talked alone, he would not be indifferent.
Sure enough, this trick seemed to have some effect. Duda would talk to him without saying anything while listening. It seemed that he didn't intend to leave here in a hurry. And Hassan also poured wine for Duda and clinked glasses while chatting, and persuaded him to drink without leaving any trace.
Halfway through, the waiter knocked on the door and came in twice to add food and wine. Duda got up early and walked to the window, looking out at the landscaped avenue. But Hassan knew that he didn't want the waiter to see him clearly. His appearance and thoughtfulness really impressed Hassan. Hassan originally planned to sneak out when he needed a chance to go to the toilet and let the waiter call the police on his behalf, but Duda had to come out with him every time, so Hassan could not find a suitable opportunity at all and could only go back to the bag after peeing. The acting continued in the room.
The two of them just chatted and drank, and the meal took a long time. Seeing that the three bottles of wine had been distributed, the other party showed no signs of being drunk except for his rosy face. Hassan knew that it would be difficult to accomplish the purpose of drinking wine today. If he continued to drag the other party here to drink, it might not be possible. Knock the opponent down.
Sure enough, after finishing the last glass, Hassan stood up and was about to go out to call someone to deliver wine, but Duda raised his hand to persuade: "No need to call for wine anymore, it's not early, it's almost done."
Hassan forced a smile and said: "I feel like I haven't had enough to drink, and you must be the same, how about one more bottle at the end?"
Duda shook his head and said: "Although there is no curfew in Victory Port, if you walk around late at night, your identity will often be checked by the night patrol. It is very inconvenient for you and me. I think it is better to check out and leave."
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In order to avoid arousing the other party's suspicion, Hassan did not dare to force him to stay at this time. He was wondering whether he should follow Duda to his hometown, or whether he should wait until the checkout time to cause trouble and attract the police.
At this time, Duda said something that surprised Hassan: "If you still want to drink, just follow me to another place. It is safer there and you don't have to worry about being discovered. If you are drunk, just stay here." Sleeping is fine too.”
Hassan thought to himself that Duda was probably going to take him back to his place. This time it really took no effort. He immediately said: "Then pack a few bottles of wine and a few dishes and take them over to eat and drink slowly."< br>
"No need, we have food and wine, just follow me." Duda stood up and took out a silver coin and put it on the table: "Let's go!"
Since Duda said so, Hassan did not insist, and the two of them left the private room together. Hassan said to the waiter standing outside: "The money for the meal is on the table. There is no need to look for it. The extra money is a reward!"
"Thank you, gentlemen!" After the waiter bowed and thanked him, he quickly went into the private room to clean up the mess.
(End of chapter)