Chapter 11: It's All Hoover's Fault
2023-05-02 Author: Yue Shang Xintou
A single instance doesn't prove a rule.
The case of Luke Cage alone was not enough to determine the specific method for obtaining a Time Shard.
Then there was the function of the Black Iron Mark and Faith.
Colin could more or less tell that the former was likely related to the Time Shard. But as for the latter, Faith, he was somewhat baffled.
The number 32 displayed next to Faith, in particular, left Colin completely clueless for a moment.
"Just where do these Faith points come from?"
Lying in the hospital bed, Colin silently pondered the source of the Faith points as the injected painkiller gradually took effect.
"...Doctor Strange, we have a critical patient..."
Half-asleep and half-awake, he seemed to hear a shout from the hospital corridor.
"Strange?"
Hearing this familiar yet unfamiliar name, a flicker of clarity passed through Colin's hazy consciousness.
However, in the next second, that sliver of consciousness was completely drowned by drowsiness.
...
"Mellon pulled the whistle, Hoover rang the bell,
Wall Street gave the signal and the country went to hell."
Early morning, Main World.
A biting cold wind swept through the streets of New York.
In the line for free relief aid, people wrapped in thin coats shivered in the biting cold wind.
The winding queue stretched out of sight, yet the expressions on most of their faces were predominantly numb.
Newsboys waving copies of The Messenger passed by the line. Hearing the nursery rhyme they sang, the gazes of those in the queue shifted slightly.
"Give me a newspaper."
A pedestrian reached out, stopping a newsboy. He pulled two cents from his coat, handed them over, and then asked with a curious expression.
"Kid, where did you learn that nursery rhyme you're singing?"
Carefully accepting the change, the newsboy handed over a folded newspaper and said, "Mr. Colin from The Messenger taught it to us, sir... Mr. Colin not only taught us the nursery rhyme, but he also promised that any newsboy who learns it can buy newspapers from him for five cents cheaper per bundle..."
"The Messenger?"
"Colin."
He repeated the two names aloud.
Evidently, the pedestrian had no recollection of either Colin or The Messenger.
Shaking his head, he unfolded the newspaper in his hands.
"Mellon pulled the whistle, Hoover rang the bell; Wall Street gave the signal and the country went to hell!"
The front page of The Messenger was emblazoned with the very same nursery rhyme the newsboy had been singing.
Below it was a picture of a destitute mother during the Great Depression.
The mother and her two children in the photograph were all in tattered clothes. The children huddled beside her, hiding their faces behind her shoulders. The mother held one hand to her mouth, her gaze fixed on the distance, her eyes filled with a sorrowful, lifeless despair that saw no hope.
The photograph vividly conveyed the despair and anxiety in the hearts of people living through the Great Depression, making the pedestrian who saw it empathize deeply. Although he hadn't been reduced to lining up for relief aid like the crowd nearby, his twelve-hour workday earned him less than a fifth of his previous wages. The burden of life was already crushing him to the point where he could barely breathe.
He let out a silent sigh and continued reading down the newspaper. Beneath the photograph, a headline was printed in bold font.
"Hoover—'Hunger President'!"
"If there's a limit to stupidity, then I guarantee, Herbert Hoover is the one who has surpassed it."
"Everyone is facing unemployment, but not Hoover, because we gave him the easiest job in the world—to be a fool!"
Flipping through The Messenger, the entire paper was filled with mockery and curses directed at Hoover.
The pedestrian read The Messenger from front to back but failed to find a single piece of useful information. It was as if he'd read nothing at all.
And yet, for some unknown reason, after finishing the newspaper, an inexplicable feeling of satisfaction welled up inside him.
Rolling up The Messenger and tucking it under his arm, the pedestrian continued walking, but couldn't help humming aloud, "...whistle, Hoover rang the bell; Wall Street... America went to hell!"
Scenes like this were unfolding all over New York.
The newsboys sang the nursery rhyme as they sold their copies of The Messenger.
Among them, some might have been indifferent to The Messenger's sensationalist approach, but a portion of them felt that the newspaper printed exactly what they were thinking.
The response was particularly fervent among the working class.
After all, under the impact of the Great Depression, they were the ones who were hit the hardest.
In the midst of the wave of unemployment, large numbers of the middle class flooded into the labor industry, competing with them for the already scarce jobs. It was said that in the hardest-hit areas, like San Francisco, a posting for three or four movers would draw a crowd of over a thousand people to the door. A thousand people would fight like a pack of hyenas over these few scraps of meat, with only a few lucky ones securing the work in the end.
In such an environment, a massive number of workers were forced into unemployment.
The workers didn't understand what was happening to them; they just knew that they woke up one morning and the whole world had changed.
Unemployment was a painful experience, not only depressing but also shameful.
But now, The Messenger was clearly telling them in its pages that it was all Hoover's fault.
This gave the workers an outlet for their frustrations. That's right, they hadn't lost their jobs because they were incompetent—it was all Hoover's fault. His stupidity had caused the Great Depression.
It's all Hoover's fault!
Just as the lyrics sang, the inept Hoover was leading America straight into hell!
...
"Boss, sales for The Messenger this week have more than doubled compared to last week!"
At the Messenger Newspaper, Old John spoke with an excited look on his face.
"According to feedback from the newsboys, our newspaper is selling better than ever, even outselling some of the small and medium-sized papers..."
As he spoke, Old John's tone became even more invigorated.
This was the first increase since The Messenger's sales had begun to decline, making it incredibly significant.
"You were right, Boss."
"I apologize for doubting your decision earlier, Boss."
Initially, Old John had not fully agreed with Colin's decision to sell newspapers to the newsboys at a discount and to change the content of the publication. Even though he had stopped voicing his opinion, it was largely out of deference to Colin's identity as his boss, and he hadn't dared to say more.
However, all of that changed completely as the newsboys scrambled to buy their stock and The Messenger's sales soared.
(end of chapter)