Silent Tides Episode 12 Recap
> Silent Tides Recap
Following the arrival of grain in Macau, Yang Chang saves Mary Jones from a dangerous situation but is frustrated by her reckless and amateurish attempts at espionage. He points out that her disguise as a vegetable seller while spying on the Sawa Agency and various smuggling warehouses was easily seen through. To ensure her safety and the mission's success, Yang proposes a formal partnership where he is hired as a secret intelligence operative for the British Army Service Station.
He sets three conditions: his salary is to be recorded based on his former water police pay (plus interest), they will have a clear division of labor with Mary handling internal coordination and Yang managing field operations with full autonomy, and finally, all of Mary’s decisions must be approved by him. Despite her being the station chief, Mary agrees to these terms.
As the city stabilizes, He Xian and Guo Qiwen help Qiao Yinwan move into her new teacher’s quarters at Kiang Wu Elementary School. While organizing her belongings, He Xian discovers a precious photo album that Yinwan risked everything to save during her escape from Hong Kong. Yinwan recounts her childhood, explaining how she and her brother, Qiao Renyu, were orphaned young and raised at the Benevolence Orphanage.
She shares a memory of hiding inside a concealed wall behind a statue of the Virgin Mary—activated by the statue's shoes—only to be found by her brother who had been crying in despair while she sang "Moonlight" to keep her courage up. Though they were once inseparable, Yinwan laments their recent arguments over her resistance activities, as Renyu’s fear for her safety made him appear cowardly to her. Now, with no word of his fate, her worry for him grows.
In occupied Hong Kong, Qiao Renyu and HSBC Chief Manager Mr. Grayburn are being coerced by General Yazaki Kanju to sign off on the issuance of over 100 million Hong Kong dollars that lack any equivalent reserves in pounds sterling. Renyu warns that this will destroy the currency's credit and trigger a financial crisis, but Yazaki resorts to brutal coercion, ordering his men to execute bank staff and their families at a rate of ten people every minute.
Unable to bear the sounds of children crying and the impending massacre, Renyu finally breaks and agrees to sign the banknotes. Back in Macau, Tai Fung Bank celebrates its grand opening. During the festivities, Lok Pak from the General Economic Bureau announces that the Macau Financial Exchange will officially open on Avenida de Almeida Ribeiro in five days. The celebration is interrupted when Suzuki and the new manager of the Yokohama Specie Bank, Ogata Yozo, arrive.
Ogata deliberately challenges Tai Fung’s strength by demanding to exchange ten million Hong Kong dollars for gold or hard currency. When He Xian, acting as manager, admits the bank lacks such physical reserves on its first day, Ogata mocks their lack of capital and warns other depositors to stay away. However, Liang Yanming arrives and counters the provocation by entrusting Tai Fung Bank with 2. 5 million Customs Gold Units to be exchanged for Hong Kong dollars.
Since these units are directly pegged to gold, He Xian is able to accept Ogata’s ten-million-dollar request, even offering a discount on the handling fee. Following this, Liang Yanming and the Chinese merchants meet with Rodrigues to discuss purchasing rubber. Rodrigues reveals that the legendary "Rubber King" Lee Kong Chian had his massive stockpile moved to Hawaii by the U. S. Navy just before the Japanese arrived.
While rubber is scarce, Rodrigues agrees to source other vital supplies like lubricating oil for the Resistance within fifteen days. The Japanese, meanwhile, are executing a predatory financial strategy. Ogata explains to Sawa (Ze Rongzuo) that they intend to dump their worthless Hong Kong dollars into the Macau market to seize total financial control. He views the Chinese merchants as "frogs" to be boiled slowly.
When the Financial Exchange opens, the exchange rate for the Hong Kong dollar begins at 3. 75 and starts to slide. He Xian notices that the influx consists entirely of brand-new notes printed after 1937, bearing the signatures of the captive HSBC managers. Suspecting a trap, he worries about the market's stability as Tai Fung alone has already absorbed over five million Hong Kong dollars. The crisis deepens when Hong Kong Governor Isogai Rensuke holds a press conference.
Flanked by a coerced Mr. Grayburn and Qiao Renyu, the Governor falsely declares that only ten million Hong Kong dollars were issued and that they are fully backed by reserves. During the event, Renyu and Grayburn stage a distraction involving a faked medical emergency, allowing Robert, the bank’s treasurer, to escape. Robert is shot while fleeing through Causeway Bay but manages to disappear into the water, prompting a massive manhunt by Yazaki’s forces.
In Macau, the devaluation of the currency leads Rodrigues to threaten the cancellation of his supply contract unless the Hong Kong dollar stays above a closing price of 3. 4. Faced with the potential loss of supplies for the front lines, Liang Yanming appeals to the local Chinese banks to unite. Despite his heavy suspicions regarding the new banknotes, He Xian agrees to join three other major Chinese banks—Wing Lung, Tianxiang, and Hengyi—in a desperate bid to support the market.
The situation takes a turn when Huang Zixia’s men find the wounded Robert hidden on a smuggling boat. Yang Chang is brought in to translate and hears the man’s delirious mumbling about HSBC and the Hong Kong dollar. Realizing the man holds the truth that could shatter the Japanese financial plot, Yang Chang has him moved to Dr. Ke’s clinic for secret treatment.
Meanwhile, He Xian rushes to the school to hide copies of the "Xiangdao Daily" that report on Renyu’s "collaboration" with the Japanese, desperate to protect Yinwan from the news of her brother’s forced betrayal. At the same time, Sawa’s agents begin to close in on the trail of the missing treasurer.
